A/N: Hello everyone! Hope you didn't wait so long for an update. I tried to make this as fast as I could!

I would like to address a quick thank you to everyone who supported me, especially the lovely people on tumblr. You're all really amazing, and it warms my heart to see you guys enjoy reading my work, supporting me through the process, reviewing it, telling me which moments you loved reading, or what you're looking forward to. It's all greatly appreciated and it's what keeps me going.

Without further ado, let's proceed with this!

FORBIDDEN

CHAPTER IV:Jumbled

He was doing it again; pushing her away with every word he spoke, but she was standing at a point where she could understand this tactic he used. His eyes betrayed his mouth, for no matter how harsh his words were, his gazes were no match to them, just pure softness and warmth spilling out of them. And perhaps his last statement proved her point even more, for his voice had softened, and her heart had throbbed uncontrollably at that.

You're a smart girl, Mikasa. Don't waste your time with someone like me. She replayed those words in her head over and over as she turned around, halfway through giving up on her plan to get him to confess.

He was scared, she could tell, hesitant about making the first move. She couldn't blame him, really. How risky would it be if some student or teacher heard their conversation? The risk was undeniable, being in the school grounds.

Getting him in trouble wasn't her aim; that was unquestionable. But with every step she made to that door, as the distance seemed to grow bigger than it actually was, she hoped he'd change his mind. Her patience ran out when her tempting gazes didn't seem to have any sort of effect on him, and she thought maybe he'd stop her before she'd leave the classroom, like in those good, old romance movies. But she was standing at the door by then, and nothing happened.

Maybe he wasn't ready. Maybe he needed time. Maybe she was wrong about her assumptions. Maybe he was right about what he said.

No, she paused. She couldn't find it in her heart to back down so easily, to let the couple of words he tossed at her shake her confidence. She couldn't possibly let him decide what was and wasn't good for her. If it wasn't him she wanted, she'd have to figure it out on her own instead of letting him decide that for her. And she let the strap of her backpack slip down her arm, placing it on one of the desks as she held the knob with her other hand, closing the door slowly. She pressed her back to it, gathering the courage in her heart. What she was about to do could either solve everything or bring nothing but complete chaos. And when their eyes met again, he was standing a few steps away from the window.

Without wasting another second, her fast, confident steps led her back to him. His lips were her only target, and she was thankful to god above he was shorter than her, for it made it easier for her to simply grab him by the collar and force a kiss on him.

She felt him stiffen, and she made sure to tighten her grip around his collar so as to prevent him from pulling away so soon. She'd need all the time she could have to taste him, understand exactly what those feelings she had for him meant. And for a second there, a really quick one, she felt him relax. His guards were down, and it gave her the pleasure of enjoying the kiss instead of focusing on maintaining it.

The softness of his lips smoldered hers lusciously, and she parted them just enough to wrap them back around his upper lip. But she lost that pleasure when she sensed his long fingers wrap around her hands tightly, his thumbs trying to unfold her grips from around his collar as he pulled away. And once the kiss was broken, he took a couple of steps back.

Her arms dropped to her sides, watching the interesting, shocked expression he still wore before his brows furrowed again, drawing an angry portrait on his face to conceal what other emotions could possibly rise behind it.

His lips parted to take in a short breath before he snapped at her, "Have you lost your fucking mind?" his eyes instantly stared into the windows, his heart beating fast at the thought of someone having possibly seen what happened. "Do you have any damn idea how much trouble you could've gotten us into if someone saw us?" he turned to her again to scold her, "Do you even realize what you just did?"

"I just wanted to check how low I'd need to bow for our heights to match." Her voice was composed, and she calmly pushed her bangs behind her ear with her fingertips. "Apparently I miscalculated it."

She damn sure did! "No. You kissed your goddamn teacher." He raged, "Ackerman, I'll be kind and pretend this never happened. Now get the hell out."

Her eyes narrowed at him, loving the flustered stare he was giving her, the subtle trembling in his voice as he failed so miserably to sound ruthless, "Is the air getting heavy for you? Your face looks red."

His glare darkened, wiping away the flush of red on his cheeks within an instant, "You should be grateful I'm not reporting your ass to the principal." The smirk that lay between her lips pissed him off. Pride tainted every inch of her dark-lashed eyes, and he couldn't allow her to overpower him, not twice in a row. "It's a shame your parents didn't teach you how to draw the line between you and your teachers."

Something in her eyes changed instantly the moment those words fell from his mouth. Her lips parted, a silent gasp of air being sucked in as her eyes widened, a hint of sadness seeping into them. She lowered her head, her bangs falling again to her front, but her frown was still noticeable to him. Her lips curled down, dim eyes fixed to the ground in shame as she spoke, bitterly and wretchedly, "My parents are dead…"

Oh! His glare died right away upon hearing that fresh fact. And he threw silent curses at himself, biting hard on his bottom lip. Before he could say anything to her, she stormed out of the classroom, leaving him with nothing but guilt devouring his chest.

There she was! Eren's eyes popped open slightly wide upon finally spotting Mikasa walk out of the classroom, and she didn't look so happy. He was at least sure it wasn't because she messed up the test. Her figure reflected on his turquoise eyes as they followed her, saw her rush through the hallway almost blindly, accidentally bumping into Jean, but not even pausing to apologize to the boy. Something must have happened! Did she perhaps argue with her 'boyfriend'? He silently hoped so. Maybe they finally came to their senses and broke it off.

"If you're going to keep looking around like that, maybe I should leave." Annie's voice broke through his thoughts.

He glanced down at her and shook his head, "No, it's not… Sorry. It's just that…" My adoptive sister is sleeping with our Math teacher and I don't know what the fuck to do about it! He wanted to tell her—he needed to tell somebody. How could he possibly keep hiding that? He felt guilty even if he had no hand in it. "Say, Annie… if…" his gaze lowered softly, "If someone you cared about was… doing something wrong, that could eventually get them in trouble… really big trouble… you'd try to stop them, right?"

She looked into his eyes inquisitively, wondering what it was all about. Eren wasn't someone who'd get his nose up people's business, and she guessed this must be a really important matter to him. Her arms crossed against her chest as she thought for a second, "I'd beat their ass until they're convinced to stop." Not that it had worked on him, though.

"Oh?" he arched his brows in uncertainty, "What if they're the ones who'll beat your ass if you try to convince them, though?"

"Eren…" Annie let out a soft sigh, and he eyed her curiously with big eyes, "Do you remember what I did when you kissed me back in the gym?"

His thick brows furrowed, and his eye twitched at the memory before he answered, "You punched me. I felt like my guts were about to spill out of my mouth."

"And what did you do after?" she dropped her arms to her sides and bantered, "Did that make you back down?"

No, certainly not, for his determination to prove himself to her gave him the power to endure any sort of physical pain he'd have to go through. But Mikasa… he'd hurt her before, and he wasn't sure he had any right to decide for her what relationship she could have and with whom. He would've probably still hated it if she'd dated Jean instead, but still, that wouldn't have been half as bad as dating their teacher. Just, what the fuck was wrong with her?

"Let's go grab lunch together…" Eren snapped out of his thinking and decided to give more attention to his girlfriend before she'd beat his ass again in front of everybody. His hand took hers, fingers intertwined as he proceeded to walk.

She walked with him, her eyes on him as she sensed his growing concern. "Mikasa isn't dumb like you, Eren." Annie said, and he paused at her words, "Whatever it is she's doing, she knows what she's up for, unlike you, who act without consideration of the possible consequences."

He shot her a questioning glance and resumed walking, dragging her across the hallway with him. "Since when did you know Mikasa so well?"

"Since—" she was about to answer, when her attention was suddenly driven elsewhere, and her words caught in her throat. She looked to her right, where Armin stood with Marco, and he was staring at her with an inexplicable frown. His gaze immediately averted away once meeting hers.

"Since?" Eren turned to look at her when she went silent, and he saw her look behind for a couple of seconds before fixing her gaze on him again. His eyes briefly scanned the crowded hallway, trying to point where her eyes were going just then, and he saw Armin glance over at them in half a second.

"Since we started taking PE together…" Annie finally finished her words, "Even if she doesn't think it through, she always knows how to make the right move."

Eren decided to ignore that and carry on with the conversation, looking ahead of him as he sighed, "Yeah, well, she still got her ankle sprained that one time, though."

"People make mistakes, even the most talented." She said, and he let those words sink in for a little while.

If even talented people could make mistakes, how could he be sure that Mikasa wasn't making one?

"As far as mistakes go, I'm sure Mikasa isn't doing something horrible that deserves to make a fuss about." Annie added to reassure the overly-concerned Eren, "What could she possibly be doing? Sleeping with a teacher, perhaps?" she mused.

Eren's heart skipped a beat, almost choking on his own breaths. Fuck! He gulped, his hand squeezing hers a little, "You know what? You're right. It's nothing she can't get out of." He should probably just stop drawing unwanted attention. He could be the one to put Mikasa in trouble if anything. "What do you say we go out this weekend?" he changed the subject.

"Sounds fine by me." She nodded at him, and he met her with a smile.

"Mikasa!" Sasha walked into the girls' bathroom after having her lunch, and she found the girl standing by the sink, seemingly lost in deep thoughts. "Did you do well in the test?"

Sasha's voice didn't seem to reach Mikasa, however. It almost felt as if the world around her no longer existed, for she got lost in an endless flashback of the stupid mistake she committed.

His words had hurt her, saddened her. She hated him, and she regretted having dared to kiss him even. It made her feel frustrated and humiliated. How was she going to look him in the eyes now? How stupid of her to think she could have what she wanted that easy!

"I'm so glad Mr. Levi didn't punish me and Connie for what we did." Sasha continued to ramble, trying to get the girl's attention, and she noted how her eyes twitched at the mention of Levi. "He was staring at you for so long and I thought it was a glorious chance for me to make a move. It was funny; if I didn't know better, I'd say he has a crush on you." The girl said jokingly, chuckling innocently at her own statement, but she swallowed her laugh when Mikasa turned to look at her at last, and she looked as if she were ready to take her soul and sacrifice it to the devils. "Um, I'm just kidding. Sorry, that wasn't a very appropriate thing for me to say."

But Mikasa merely frowned and tucked her backpack around her shoulder as she walked out of the bathroom in silence.

After all it was a mistake, making such a dangerous move so early. She shouldn't have allowed her impatience to get the best of her. She should have waited, given him time to consider his own feelings. Perhaps she surprised him and his reaction wasn't what he intended it to be. But being patient was simply not how she rolled. Impetuosity had always been her key to everything, something she now thought she should change.

She didn't cry that night when she got home. She wouldn't let him make her cry, but she was upset, hurt, and she swore to get those thoughts out of her head, to just forget and never think back, no matter how hard it would be.

He lay on his couch, the test papers in his hand as his eyes skimmed through the answers and names. The more he read through the answers, the more he questioned his life choices and the value of his existence in this world. He was no longer sure whether he couldn't get the message across, or his students were just plain idiots. Only when he got to Armin's paper did his glare vanish, a satisfied smile settling on his lips.

The boy was a natural, he thought. It was thanks to students like him that he had a reason to carry on with his job. He spent quarter the time he'd need to spend with most students' papers to put the final grade; 'A+' was marked on Armin's paper before he added it to the ones he'd finished grading.

He went through a couple more before pausing once Mikasa's name appeared. A light sigh escaped through his parting lips, and every muscle in his face relaxed, his expression softening at the mere lettering of her name.

He was having a hard time wrapping his head around what happened today. He sought distractions, and he drank three cups of tea to bring himself to focus before he started grading the test papers, the fourth cup was carefully placed on the table by the couch in case his mind started drifting away again.

She kissed him, and he could practically still sense the force at which her lips pressed to his. It was so real and not at the same time; it almost felt like that moment when one was stuck between a dream and reality. At this point he was no longer sure how he truly felt about that kiss.

He'd been mistaken, falling for her like a fool, although he'd hated to label himself as such, for only a fool wouldn't fall for her. Eren was the biggest one, probably. But he was grateful to him in so many ways. Had it not been for Eren's ignorance, and inconsideration of the girl's feelings, he wouldn't have brought her to his apartment that day. Had it not been for Eren rejecting her, he wouldn't have managed to plant the courage in her heart to get over him. Had it not been for Eren being a big moron who constantly hurt her, she wouldn't have kissed him today. And as grateful as he was to that fact, he was also unthankful. Because had Eren loved her, decided to be with her, and treated her like she well-deserved, he would have never been part of the picture.

He'd let that thought circle his mind, until he'd finally found it in himself to stop her right there. His hands had grabbed hers, forcing her to let go of him as he'd broken away from the kiss. He'd felt the heat spread across his cheeks, and his breaths stuck in his throat.

And to his surprise, she'd looked as calm and contained as ever, and his frustration had grown unbearable as he'd tried to maintain a controlled, serious voice, scolding her for her unbelievable action. It hadn't seemed to affect her in any way, though, at least not until he'd mentioned her parents, and her stare had suddenly gone dark.

He hadn't known about her parents, and so hearing her words had silenced him for good. A rush of regret had made his chest tighten –even now as he thought about it-, silently cursing himself for saying that to her, even when he'd had no awareness of that fact. She'd left the classroom before he could form a proper apology in his head.

It wasn't fair, he sighed; life.

She was heartbroken. The boy she loved was with someone else and that must hurt her. But he didn't want her to use him as a temporary shelter; a replacement, where she could hide until the storm ended. He didn't want her to let confusion consume her wholly to the point where she'd just throw herself at anyone she stumbled upon, even if she didn't want to be with them. Or did she? He wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to do with her, what he was supposed to do with all those feelings he bore for her.

There was Jean, he thought, and if she'd truly wanted a replacement for Eren, she could have gone to Jean. Everyone knew the boy was head-over-heels for her, even Levi. He'd satisfy her, and be good to her. He'd be good for her, unlike him. But she chose him instead and it got him wondering—hoping that maybe, in the end, she did have feelings for him too.

It still wouldn't change much, though. No matter if they both had feelings for one another, it was still wrong. But he could always hope that maybe in a couple of years, when she'd be old enough, they'd have their chance together. He'd wait for her, but would she wait for him? Would life wait for him?

With a sigh, he added Mikasa's paper to the ones placed on the table. 'A' was marked on it, and he reached his hand to grab his cup of tea, sipping from it; he'd let his mind drift away again. He placed the cup back down, and proceeded with the few papers left in his hand.

The next day was Friday, and Levi had no class with them, which he thought was a good thing, for he'd at least get a chance to spend some time away from her to clear his mind, not that it had ever helped him before, anyway.

He still caught a glimpse of her now and then, walking in the hallways to attend her classes, but she hadn't glanced at him even once, which should have reassured him, but it had only made him feel troubled. She looked soulless, and he hated to think that he'd hurt her feelings so much. He hated to think that his words were the reason behind the deadpan face she wore the whole day.

And she wasn't really one to let words hurt her feelings. She wasn't one to feel hurt at all, unless it concerned her family, and the people she held most dear to her heart, and she couldn't tell just when Levi had become any of those. She was a mess of sadness and anger, and her frustration with herself only grew more whenever she remembered what she did, whenever she remembered what she told Eren, whenever she remembered that she caused this mess, and she, for once, did not know how to get out of it.

"Mikasa…" Annie called for her opponent's attention, bouncing the ball against the squeaky, hard floor, "A little shaky today, aren't we?" she moved swiftly away when Mikasa made a weak move to take the ball from her, and she passed it over to one of her teammates across the court.

They were in the gym, and Mikasa's team was losing for the first time in so long, and even people like Eren, who were supporting Annie's team, were surprised to see that. Something was wrong with her, and Eren grimaced as he watched sloppiness wash over her, the ball slipping from her hand before she could touch it, wasting countless of otherwise perfect shots, and ironically ignoring her team members.

Mikasa gave off a dark glare, huffing as she saw the ball being tossed around between the other players. Annie, for some reason, seemed persistent on sticking by her side and keeping her from moving freely, for she kept popping up in front of her whenever she tried to reach out for the ball.

She never really talked to her before, not on a personal level, but she knew they wouldn't get along. Eren was one reason why.

"It's a shame." Annie spoke to her again, seemingly seeking to hit a nerve, "I'd rather lose against you than win because you're not focusing enough…"

"Annie…" Mikasa's arms dropped to her sides as she eyed the girl with grim eyes, "When was it again that you lost against me?" You got Eren, didn't you? She finished in her head.

"Hm?" Annie was confused, and before she could respond to that, a loud whistling sound interrupted the conversation.

"Alright, girls! Time's up!" Hanji clapped her hands, dropping the whistle out of her mouth, "That's enough for today. You did well."

Annie then looked at Hanji before she brushed her hair behind her ear and turned to leave, dropping the conversation right away.

"Go get a shower and get changed!" Hanji kept on addressing the girls as she watched some of them stretch, others fall to their knees to rest, "Mikasa, dear, lacking some energy today, I see?" she then approached the girl with furrowed brows.

Mikasa turned to her teacher and sighed, "Sorry, I wasn't…" her attention seemed to avert to something else as her eyes stared to the distance behind Hanji, but she quickly focused her eyes back on her teacher to finish, "I didn't sleep well."

"That's alright, dear!" Hanji gave the girl a quick pat on the shoulder as she walked past her. "Make sure to get enough sleep next time."

As soon as the woman left, Mikasa's eyes seemed to drift back to the distance again, only she was staring at an empty doorway. She could swear she saw him there just a second ago.

"Annie!" Eren walked into the court, stepping towards Annie, and carelessly pulling her in for a quick kiss. "That was a good game, huh?"

She kissed him back, though had to helplessly restrain the strong urge to punch him when hearing his next statement. "You're kidding, right?!" she scoffed.

"Ah, well!" he let out a sorry sigh and threw a quick glance at Mikasa. She looked tragically miserable, he thought. "You did your best and won. That's what matters." His eyes met Annie's again.

"I don't know why you and your adoptive sister think winning is all it's about…" Annie's pleasingly blue eyes rolled at his dull words, "But I'm sure it's a stupid-ass reason."

Eren's lips pressed together in a thin line, eyeing her sharply, though he was far from feeling offended by any insult she'd shoot at him. His lips parted again to let out a soft sigh, "You have no classes after this, right?" he asked a little urgently, "Maybe we can go have brunch outside?"

She nodded after several moments of exchanging silent gazes, and even if her uninterested eyes didn't speak of it, excitement tickled her insides cruelly, giving her a fluffy feeling in the stomach. "I need to take a shower first."

"That's okay. I'll wait!" he spoke, a hand reaching to her hair, giving it a gentle ruffle before caressing her cheek tenderly and leaning down to press a kiss to her yieldingly soft lips.

Annie impotently gave in to the smoothness of his touch, closed her eyes when his lips joined hers, allowed herself to delight in the ardent kiss, and a hint of a smile melted in between. She felt his hand leave her cheek, abandoning ghostly warmth that spread across her face when his fingers trailed down her bare arm, sliding behind her back to hold her close to his body.

Her breathing hitched as she broke away from the kiss, an annoying blush obdurately shading her cheeks, and she gave him a threateningly pointed look. "Are you trying to make me punch you again?"

"Maybe…" he teased, and pressed his forehead to hers, a light smirk lingering between his lips, "Cause then I might get to hold you in my arms again…"

Annie rolled her eyes at him again, "Flirting makes you sound dumb." She pushed away from him and walked, headed to the locker room. She let a smile curl the corners of her lips up once denying him the honor of seeing her face, but she felt him wrap a firm arm around her waist from behind, his fingers smoothing over the exposed skin of her stomach as he pressed her back to his front.

"At least give me some credits for trying…" he mumbled sweetly close to her ear.

Annie felt a slight shiver spread through her body at the feel of his breath against her skin. She didn't really mind being in his arms, not at all. She actually loved it, wouldn't admit it to him, but she knew that deep down he secretly knew it too. However she didn't understand why he was getting all affectionate with her so suddenly, holding her so possessively, at least not until her eyes fell upon the figure standing across from them; Armin.

And she didn't know why she felt uncomfortable when his eyes met hers, as if he caught her committing a crime. His mere stare showered her in guilt and she instantly elbowed Eren in the stomach, forcing him away from her.

Eren stumbled back, holding his stomach tightly as he balanced himself. His jaw clenched, "Could you maybe make an exception for your boyfriend and use less force when hitting him than when you're hitting someone else?"

"You don't get any privileges from dating me." She huffed with crossed arms, eyeing him dangerously from over her shoulders, "I'm all sweaty and sticky. You really don't want to hold me now." She justified as she started to step away, "I'll take a shower and meet you, alright?" her eyes briefly traveled back to Armin, and she saw him headed to Mikasa.

"Okay, see you!" Eren nodded, rubbing his stomach a little, glaring when seeing her look in Armin's direction, and soon he turned to face his friend who was standing with Mikasa.

"Eren!" Armin waved at him to come with a bright smile.

With a sigh, Eren walked over to them, "Hey, Mikasa!" he greeted, giving her a suspicious eye, "What the hell happened back there? You looked as if you never touched a ball before."

"Eren!" Armin sneaked a glare at him, as if indirectly telling him he knew the reason, "I was telling Mikasa about our plans for the weekend."

Their plans for the weekend? Eren's brow furrowed for a brief moment, and relaxed once he remembered. Yes, they'd agreed to take Mikasa out somewhere to cheer her up since her parents' anniversary was approaching, and suddenly he understood what could possibly be the reason behind her shaky performance today. "Right, yes!" he nodded, but suddenly realized something else, and he sounded uncertain, "Actually…"

Armin's face went blank. Why did he feel like Eren was about to cancel their plans?

"I can't go out with you guys…" he said apologetically, "I told Annie I'd go out with her."

Mikasa glanced at him with as less emotion as one could possibly possess. "That's okay. I didn't really want to go out anyway."

"Don't say that!" Armin cut her off, turning to face Eren next, "Why don't you cancel your plans with Annie? I'm sure she'll understand and won't get upset if you hung out with us instead. We're your friends…"

"Armin!" Mikasa shook her head, "He doesn't have to cancel his plans with her for me. We can still go out, just the two of us."

"Yes but… He promised he'd come with us…" Armin insisted, "Eren, come on, man. You can't ditch us like that. I understand, you have a girlfriend now, but when did that mean you no longer had time for us?"

"You tell me that, Armin." Eren glowered down at the boy skeptically, "When did my relationship with Annie become a threat to our friendship?"

Armin's blue eyes opened slightly wider, blinking at the dubious query. His expression broke into a frown, as he lowered his head and dug into the ground with his gaze. "Forget it."

"Stop it, you two." Mikasa's hands shook the boys by their shoulders, "There's no need to argue over this. We'll still have plenty of chances to go out together."

"Yeah, sorry…" Armin looked up with a repentant smile, "It's just that it's been a while since we hung out together and… I miss you guys."

Both Mikasa and Eren looked awfully guilty. He was right; Eren had been busy going out with Annie, and Mikasa hadn't been in the mood to hang out much, for she seemed to fish for every chance of solitude she'd get.

Armin's statement was enough to erase the tension that built up moments ago, and Eren's eyes grew big with keenness and warmth. A loving smile broke the thin, straight line between his lips, his hand holding Armin's shoulder reassuringly, "Alright, next week, I promise we'll go out, all three of us."

Armin's gloominess got swept away upon hearing the sincerity in Eren's words, and he looked up at him with a face as bright as sunlight.

"We're going to have fun, like we always do, yeah?" Eren stretched furthermore, his eyes glittering with pride when a smile finally peeked into the boy's cheeks.

"Yeah, alright!" Armin gave a buoyant nod, "I'm sorry if I sounded pushy. I just don't want us to be too occupied with life and no longer have time for each other."

"That won't happen!" Eren avowed with poise.

And Mikasa felt as if she turned invisible as she watched the boys exchange promises and affection through fond gazes and compassionate words, and in that moment she realized; their lives wouldn't have been any different had she never been part of them.

"I have to go take a quick shower. I'll catch up with you later." She ruined the intimacy of the moment with her gelid voice, silently backing away.

Armin blinked a couple of times at her, but nodded, and so did Eren. "Okay!" he gave a quick wave, and watched her leave the gym, silence falling upon them once again. "Say, Eren…" Armin spoke once Mikasa was gone, "Did Mikasa tell you something recently?"

"Something?" Eren cocked a brow questioningly, "Like… what?"

"Like why she's been looking so lost for the past few days?" Armin clarified, "I saw her yesterday after lunch break and she looked really upset over something, and I don't recall her being so at all when we got to school." He paused, noticing Eren's countenance unfold with every word he spoke before he continued, "I got the impression that you knew what was up with her." He gave him a serious look as he asked, "Do you?"

Eren gulped. Oh, yes he knew, and he wondered whether Armin could read through his thoughts at that moment. The little bastard had to be so smart, didn't he? He shook his head nonetheless, "I don't. Maybe you should ask her." He claimed with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, "I didn't notice anything wrong with her. You're the one who's always noticing things."

"Oh?" Armin raised a brow, unconvinced, "That's weird. It seems lately I've been assuming many wrong things about you two. It's almost as if I hadn't known you for years."

Eren's eyes twitched nervously at Armin's shifty statement, but decided to drop the topic instantly before he'd end up telling him the secret he'd succeeded to keep all this long. "I'm… I'll go wait for Annie outside. See you!"

Armin wore a disappointed look, watching his friend walk away. "Eren!" he called for him, and waited for the boy to turn to him before he added, "Your ears were red…" he noted.

Eren's lips parted slightly at his friend's sharp remark, but he merely pressed them back together tightly in a nervous smile, rubbed the back of his head as he waved goodbye, walking off.

Armin no longer doubted it; Eren knew something.

To be continued.

A/N: I've been working on this fanfic for weeks and as of right now I have up to chapter eight drafted. I've struggled so much with editing this chapter, originally because it had 9k+ words, and at some point in the process I got so overwhelmed and could no longer focus on editing, and so even though I didn't want to do it, I ended up cutting this chapter. On the bright side, that gave me an extra chapter drafted, but as a result, this chapter ended up with 5k+ words left. I thought about it and saw that I should probably stick to short chapters, because I know not everyone has time to read longer ones, especially with school and all that, and also because I don't want to get overwhelmed when trying to get an update ready.

I can't promise you that I'll keep updating this fanfic regularly, since I'm going back to uni soon myself, but since I already saved chapter drafts, I'll make sure to work on editing those on my free time and post them when possible.

I stated this in the previous chapter, but I'm going to say it again; I'll be including more of EreAni in this fanfic as well as other ships, solely because I'm a multi-shipper and I truly love every single one of these characters and I feel like they deserve at least a mention here and there. Don't worry, though. I started this as a RivaMika and EreAni fanfic, and I shall stay true to that!

I apologize if this chapter felt a little slow-paced. Since I had to cut it, it took out some interesting events, which you'll see in the next chapter, anyway.

Thanks again for reading my fanfic, a review is much appreciated! I hope everyone is having a good day/afternoon/evening wherever you are!