mikasa was what you would describe as the embodiment of pure beauty. she's strong willed, pretty, and tough as hell. well, she is an ackerman, after all, so of course she was absolutely perfect in every regard.
everyone knew that - you especially knew that.
she wasn't someone you ever thought you'd have the courage to talk to. just looking at her made all words die in your throat. your mouth felt dry as your head went empty. she always had that effect on you.
yet somehow, eren had roped you into the little group him, armin and mikasa had. you were grateful, really. having friends made you feel less nervous about leaving home for the military. and the three of them were good company. eren, despite his tendency to let his anger cloud his thoughts, was fun to be around while armin always managed to make you feel included.
and then there was mikasa.
she'd never really initiate conversation. maybe here or there she'd ask you how your training went, or what your thoughts on the past lesson were. but compared to the other two, she was never overly talkative.
maybe that's what you loved about her so much. despite her not being the most verbal, there were subtle things she did that showed she appreciated your friendship.
mikasa was an early riser. most days you were, some days you weren't. today was one of the latter where you found that sleep couldn't escape you. even as the sun was pouring through the windows, you still found yourself in the comfort of your bed.
by the time you did manage to get going, it was way past time for breakfast in the mess hall. you cursed under your breath as you got dressed. if you didn't manage to eat something before morning drills, the day was going to be hell.
"well look who finally woke up," eren smirked as you entered the mess hall and sat down with him and the others.
"shut up. i barely get any sleep as is, just let me sleep in some days," you rubbed your eyes as your stomach growled, loudly. it only egged eren on further.
"was it worth sleeping in if it meant you got to miss breakfast?" eren teased you yet again. you shot him a glare. he ignored it, thankfully, but mostly because jean had walked by and started to pick on him.
a nudge to your shoulder made you look to your left. mikasa was looking at you with a small loaf of bread in her hand.
"here, take it," she placed the bread into your hands. a confused look crept onto your face.
"i grabbed an extra one for you. when you didn't wake up after sasha dropped her gear, i knew you wouldn't make it to breakfast," she explained. you felt the heat rush to your face at her thoughtfulness.
"oh.. thank you, mikasa," she nodded silently.
you began eating the bread as you tried to calm the flutter that settled into your heart. it was such a small gesture, but it meant so much coming from her. the fact that she thought of you and went out of her way to get food for you.. it was so mikasa. and it made your stupid childish crush on her grow.
you didn't have much time to think on it, however, as jean and eren started exchanging punches across the table. and mikasa being mikasa, quickly got up and broke up the fight.
silently, you watched as she placed herself in front of eren. a subtle angry look was on her face and directed at jean.
"you're lucky mikasa's here. if she wasn't, i'd have given your ass a more thorough beating!" jean scoffed as connie held him back. the fight dispersed soon after as connie dragged jean away. mikasa and eren were left standing in front of your table.
"you don't have to protect me, you know," eren complained as he kicked his chair in. he started to walk out as mikasa followed close behind.
as they walked out, you could see how she berated him. it happened every time that eren acted recklessly like this; she'd always get mad at him for starting some fight.
you knew she wasn't actually mad, just worried for him. you knew because you could see her constantly glancing over at eren as they walked out of the mess hall. there was a glimmer in her eye that she only got when she looked at eren.
as if on cue, eren made some sort of comment that made mikasa blush and hide behind her scarf. it made her eyes light up.
you kept eating your bread, knowing she'd never look at you like that.
