Warnings: Violence and gore, alcohol, sexual content, 1920s slang, and a lot of angsty Eren/Mikasa feels.

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or any of it's characters.

Imprisoned Hearts

Prologue

A hand grasped her arm tightly, startling her as she began to roll out of bed.

"Mikasa?" he murmured gruffly. She supposed he was half conscious, so she moved to grab her gym bag again, but Eren's hold only tightened. "Where. . .where are you going? It's late."

Stiffening, Mikasa kept her back to him. She swallowed when she heard him shuffle under the covers.

"Eren," she started, biting her bottom lip, refusing to look at him, "I'm going to work. I'll be back later, I promise." He didn't answer. Tension hung between them through the silence. Mikasa could already feel her heart breaking. She hated lying to him.

". . .Okay." Came his low response, and Mikasa inaudibly sighed with relief, moving toward the door with her bag.

"Mikasa?" At the sound of his voice, she halted in her steps. Her fingers lingered on the door knob as she waited.

"Yeah?"

There was a pregnant pause. She could feel his emerald gaze burn into her back.

". . .Be safe."

She wanted to die when she detected the underlying concern in his tone.

Mikasa pressed her lips together and hung her head. She felt her body shake, and she prayed he wouldn't notice.

She was tempted to throw match and run into his arms.

Anything, she'd do anything, just so she wouldn't have to lie to him again.

". . .I will," she finally whispered, her voice cracked.

Then, she was gone.

"He won't know," Armin tried to reassure her.

But she was doubtful.

Her muscles tensed as she brought her fists closer to her face, effortlessly blocking each reckless punch that was thrown at her. The man released a barrage of frustrated grunts at each hit she blocked.

With the force of his hits, Mikasa was sure her arms would bruise. She bit her lip as the thought of him surface in her mind.

Eren...

She had to win. The pain she endured didn't matter, as long as she could keep a roof over his head, that's all that mattered.

She noticed his gaze flicker as she held her scarf close, for comfort. Mikasa closed her eyes.

It was then that she heard Armin sigh.

"You bailed him out again today, didn't you?"

Mikasa didn't answer; she only tightened her fists. She averted her gaze, refusing to look at him, because she knew that stare all too well. But she didn't want his sympathy.

The man pulled back and spat off to the side. She watched, unfazed as his countenance contorted with rage as he stepped away. His fiery gaze never left hers, and from behind, she heard Armin shout.

"Mikasa! His right side!" She didn't move, instead, she curled her fists at her sides when she dropped her guard. Her stormy, gray eyes narrowed and she moved to the tips of her toes, allowing her legs to loosen as she bounced lightly on the mat.

"Mikasa. . .you and Eren can't keep living like this. Look at you! You're so. . .skinny." She swallowed thickly, her throat tight with emotion. She knew he was right.

"I-I know. . ."

Her opponent charged.

Tch, predictable, she thought. His large arms caved in around her, and she ducked. However, she immediately realized her mistake when—out of the corner of her eye—she saw his other fist swing toward her face.

"Mikasa," he murmured and gently took her hand in his. Her dark eyes brimmed with tears as he watched her cautiously. "Trust me. I-I want to help you and Eren. The matches are at night, I'll train you—"

"But Eren—" she started.

"Won't know a thing."

Mikasa tasted blood on her lips when his knuckles made contact with her jaw, but the cry of pain that threatened to escape was held in.

She fell silent, casting her gaze to the ground. Armin's hand tightened on her's. She didn't like the idea of hiding something like this from him. It wasn't right; but, she knew Eren wouldn't approve, and they were on the verge of loosing everything.

Mikasa would never forgive herself if Eren had to live on the streets. She wanted the world for him. Anything he wanted, she'd give him.

She wanted to see him smile again.

Grunting low, and with Armin's words over her head, Mikasa jumped off the toes of her feet and whipped her leg upward as she body propelled off the cold, bloodied surface of the mat.

A ghost of satisfaction curled at her lips when she heard the familiar crack of bones when her foot slammed against his right side; into his ribs.

Lifting her free hand, Mikasa clenched the material of her scarf.

He had given the world to her once when she thought it had ended. When she thought she would never be able to feel alive again, he was there. He warmed her frigid world.

The tears she held back began to cascade down her rosy cheeks.

"I'll do it, I'll fight for him," Mikasa choked out, her heart hammered in her chest.

A scream of agony wretched from the bastard's mouth, and she watched, frozen as he collapsed.

Her dark gaze was vacant, unfeeling.

The roar of the crowed sounded, but it fell upon deaf ears when all she could think about was how she was going to hide her bruises in the morning.

A/N

Pretty deep, huh?

This has been in the back of my mind for months, so I decided to give everyone a taste of the prologue. I make no promises for a consistent update, but I'll try for every two weeks. At first, I wasn't planning on releasing anything at all until I had a good amount written, but I'm curious to see how many people really would be interested. I figured this would motivate me a little more as well, but nonetheless, I'm determined to write this from start to finish.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated, if not then I'm glad that you took the time to read this and I hope you like what you have read thus far. Until next time~