Breathless •Eremika (Love. Me. Now. Or. Never.)

V: Sparks Fly

Mikasa faltered, seeing Sasha's eagerness, Jean and Connie's disgust, Armin's unsettled facial expression and Eren's radioactive rage. Eren was seething, exploding on the inside, his emerald orbs illuminating in the light of the bonfire.

"I've done this heaps of times. Let's just get on with it," Levi rolled his eyes, leaning forwards towards her. This was going to be her first kiss. Was she really going to give it to Levi? The one who had challenged Eren to a fight?

"Come on, it's just a game, we can't move on if you keep hesitating, Mikasa," Connie sighed, reclining into the untrimmed bush behind him.

Tantalizingly slowly, Mikasa let her eyelids drop and inclined towards Levi. She could sense Eren stiffen beside her. She leaned in further. There was no way for her to see properly with her eyes closed, but a rigid hand gripped her arm suddenly, reeling her in. She sucked in an acute breath, disorientated, and felt a pair of lips ram into hers.

A tang of metallic blood exploded in her mouth as their lips glided, causing her eyes to flutter open instinctively. Levi appeared very different close-up, He had a rather caramel complexion, with chocolate brown hair, with his eyes sealed shut. Mikasa gasped against his mouth, too intoxicated by the kiss to care. At that, the boy's eyelids peeled open to slits, showing a pair of teal-green irises.

Mikasa froze in horror. The person she was kissing did not resemble Levi at all, in fact, he reminded her a lot of- "Eren?" She sprang away from Eren, breaking off the kiss, giving him a hard shove against the chest to distance him from her.

He toppled backwards, back-crashing on the foliage strewn below, a heavy, crunchy 'thud' announcing his impact. He gawked at her, mesmerized and dazed, and licked his lips, reminiscing on the taste of her lips.

Mikasa whipped her head around to see Levi, on his feet, his lips curled into a sinister snarl, his fists furled into iron balls by his sides. Before anyone could register what he was about to do, he leaped, colliding into Eren who was still sprawled on the ground. His fist connected with Eren's jaw, and a blood-curdling 'snap' wetted everyone's eardrums. It sent a spray of blood jetting out of Eren's mouth.

Armin yelped, petrified. Jean and Connie cringed, and Sasha choked on her marshmallow.

"Levi! You promised not to hurt Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed, slipping herself between Levi and Eren. She struggled to force the words through her battered lips, boring her gaze into Eren, "Eren, why did you do that? Why?" Did she just blame him for kissing her and thus agitating Levi?

Eren was cupping his chin with his hand, the blood pooling in his palms. His face was streaked with grit and pain, accompanied by specks of red fluid. He glanced up at Mikasa sheepishly, as if he was a child being reprimanded by his mother.

"It was my turn. The can spun to me, not you, Yeager," Levi spat. He reached out before Mikasa could react and grabbed Eren by the collar of his shirt, hoisting him into the air. Eren tried to speak, but more blood simply gushed from his mouth. He grappled for Levi's steely arms, flailing about.

"Stop it, the both of you!" Mikasa snarled, seizing Levi's wrist and Eren's shirt, digging her fingers in.

"Why 'both'? I didn't do anything wrong," Eren spluttered overbearingly.

"Why did you do that? Why, Eren?" she raised her voice, "Look at what you got yourself into again."

"Mikasa," Levi softened instantly, releasing the other boy's collar. Eren heftily thumped to the ground, letting out a pained grunt, curling up on himself.

At that particular moment, Mikasa was in dilemma, pondering on whether she should tend to him or give Levi a lecture about being aggressive to him again. Eren should not have kissed her. His actions had always been so reckless and rash.

She spun on her heels, holding a hand to her right temple, and lumbered away from the group, slightly swaying. Her mind screamed in bewilderment, uncertain of what she what she was doing and where her legs were taking her, as she made her way through the clawing bushes.

She had shared a moment she never knew she would with her closest friend. Her first kiss. Should she return to the group and ensure that Levi does not make another violent attempt with Eren?

Mikasa had arrived back at the girls' dormitory within a minute, her heart hammering against her ribcage. She couldn't bring herself to confront either Eren or Levi. She entered the room without flicking on the light switches, latching the flimsy door shut behind her and flipped her worn-out body onto the bed. Rubbing the sheets against her cheeks, she sucked in a breath and held it, giving her spinning mind some well-deserved peace.

An emotional string within her snapped. Eren. What was happening now at the bonfire? Something told her that she was being irresponsible by bolting back to the girl's dorm. Eren was apparently injured severely by Levi. What was she doing, resting on the bed? Shouldn't she be by his side now?

A brief knock on her door shattered her complex tapestry of thoughts.

"Sasha, just leave me alone, please," she whimpered, drawing the sheets over her head to seal the din of the world away.

"It's not Sasha, it's me, Armin, I'm here to talk to you about Eren," the person behind the door muttered.

As soon as Eren's name was mentioned, Mikasa felt thorns prick at her heart. Propelled by a foreign feeling of fear, she propped herself upright with her elbows, "What is it, Armin?"

"I'll tell you once you unlock the door."

She fumbled in the dark, searched for the door knob and twisted it. Armin was at the doorway, his cheeks damp with tears, his azure eyes reddened. Mikasa grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him close to her, "Armin, why the tears? Tell me what happened. Now."

"You should go easy on Eren," Armin's voice was annihilated.

"How's Eren?"

"Levi almost knocked his tooth out. That's why he was bleeding so much," he murmured, "He's back in the boys' dorm now but he sent me to tell you that he's sorry he kissed you. But why did you blame it on him, Mikasa?"

"He wasn't supposed to do that. It seems to me that he loves getting involved in fights with Levi. If he didn't do what he just did, Levi wouldn't have punched him," Mikasa reasoned, immediately realizing how childish and ludicrous she sounded. She was not meant to side with Levi. Eren was her closest friend. Wasn't it her duty and obligation to stand on Eren's side no matter what?

"He's hurting. I don't know if you can really see that but every time you approach Levi, it kills him," Armin's tone was subtle but his words were as corrosive as acid, savagely ripping Mikasa apart. She ached from the thought.

"What should I do now? Armin, help me," she clenched onto his sweater with more force, "What have I done?"

"Go to him, now. He needs your presence, your moral support, Mikasa, he always has and he always will," Armin advised, giving her a pat on the back, "by the way, as I've said before, go easy on him."

Mikasa gave a word of thanks and uprooted her feet to leave, but stopped abruptly, turning to face the boy before her, "Armin, tell me honestly, why are you crying? This doesn't really have anything to do with you."

"Don't worry about me," he hid his face in the crook of his elbow, "Go find Eren now. Just remember not to take him for granted, my dear friend."

The girl nodded surreptitiously, contemplating on what he said, but headed off anyway, towards the boys' dormitory, leaving Armin to himself.

"Go, Mikasa, you won't want to regret this when Eren's gone," he whispered to no one in particular before he, too, began to walk away.