Chapter Text
Mikasa paces back and forth in the hospital's waiting room. Did she overdo it? What if something really happens to the unborn child because she didn't keep her temper in check? She'll live with guilt all her life.
"Calm down." Erwin reminds her.
Levi just watches her quietly.
"I can't. I slapped the girl. What if something bad happens to the baby? What should I do?" Mikasa protests, her feet wouldn't stay put.
"I'm getting dizzy with all of your movements." Levi pulls her to sit beside him.
And she's quite surprised herself that she complied. But the unnecessary movements didn't cease. Her head jerking left and right, her fingers fiddling over her lap as she chews on her lower lip and shakes her legs.
They had been chased out of the emergency room. And now, they're just waiting for Hange to come back. She's an attending physician in this hospital and even though she's not on duty, she's still authorized to receive patient information first-hand since it was her who responded to the patient first.
When the door opens and Hange arrives, Mikasa immediately stands up. "How is she?"
Hange nods positively, "She's fine, so is the baby."
Mikasa lets out a breath she doesn't realize she's holding. However, behind Hange stands a familiar face – Eren. She can see the conflicted emotions in his green eyes as he contemplates whether he'll approach her or not. But Mikasa doesn't give him more time to think as she skillfully lands a fist straight to his face that made his nose bleed.
Hange staggers back in shock and Erwin races to her side to hold her steady.
Eren loses his footing too but covers his face as Mikasa raises a foot. He shields his face expecting another blow that never came.
"What the fuck are you doing? You stink of alcohol!" Mikasa seethes, her eyes bloodshot red. God, she's so stressed out and drained. She's exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally. She massages her temples, "You shouldn't let the mother of your child approach me. Have you really lost your mind?"
"I–I just want to talk to you, Mikasa. Let me explain." Eren croaks, looking up at her, eyes brimming with tears.
Mikasa inhales deeply, calming herself internally. In a soft voice, she starts again. "Can't we just end this in a nice and peaceful way, Eren?" She forces a smile that doesn't reach her eyes as grey meets green. "For the sake of the seven years we've been together and the ten years I've been in love with you? Can't you just help me? I've already given you my all. Was that not enough?" Involuntary tears cascade on her cheeks. "Have you ever thought of what I'm feeling right now?"
Eren prostrated himself on the ground, one hand over his broken nose and the other supporting his upper body. "I can't live without you. Please don't leave me. I'll change. I'll do whatever you want. I'll be a better person. Just please, please give me one last chance, Mikasa–"
Hange finds herself covering her mouth. Erwin just watches the scene unfold silently, his eyes sharp. While Levi just smirks. Indeed, Mikasa's affairs always never fail to disappoint.
Mikasa runs her fingers through her short tresses, her other hand wiping away the tears. Unforgiving eyes look down at Eren's stooped form. She is so tempted to kick him, but he doesn't deserve any more attention than she had already bestowed him. "Set me free, Eren." She breathes, her voice cracking. "I'm sure I'll be able to forgive you someday. But not now," she shakes her head and Eren looks up at her as he breathes through his mouth, "I can't see a future with someone who disrespected me in such a way. Even if we get through this, my resentment will always be there. And the trust will never be the same–"
Eren clings to her feet, "We've done it before, Mikasa–"
"This one Eren is a bitter pill to swallow." She sniffs, kicking his hand off and taking a step back. His green orbs trailing after her. "Take care of your child. That means you have to take care of the mother as well. I won't lie and tell you that I wish you both happiness–I don't." She inclines her head, "I want you both to suffer every time you look at your child, you'll be reminded of me. However, I wish for the child to grow up happy. I am not playing the bigger person here, I just want to remove myself from the equation and give the child a chance to have a whole family."
"You can be the mother–"
Levi can't take it anymore as he kicks Eren on the face. Mikasa's eyes widen, so did Erwin's. "Who are you to decide for the child? Being the father doesn't give you the right to get rid of his or her biological mother? Are you the one who will carry it for nine months? Are you the one who will give birth to it? You can't even ask for forgiveness for what you did. You did this to yourself. You should learn to face the consequences. Bastard." The short man is about to walk out when Erwin throws him a set of keys.
"Levi will drop you off, Mikasa." Erwin declares, nudging his chin to Levi's direction who had already stepped out.
Mikasa blinks, her brain unable to fully process what just happened.
Eren grits his teeth. "Mikasa–"
Furrowing her brows, she glares at Eren. She ignores the urge to ask if he's okay. That kick must have hurt. But she has to be firm about this. "Please stop while I'm still being nice, Eren. I'm hoping you have some sort of backbone to indeed face the consequences of your actions. I never want to see you again or I'll kick your balls, crush it and make you regret ever meeting me. You've taken me for a fool. The ten years I've given you should've been enough. Please quit asking for more. If you really love me as you claim, prove it by taking care of the mother of your child. I'm so over this!" She then walks out without looking back.
Hange guides Eren to the emergency room for urgent treatment. Poor guy seems to be beaten up pretty often. It's a good thing he is under the influence of alcohol – damn, Levi's kick and Mikasa's punch must have hurt. She won't be surprised to find a missing tooth or two, thankfully there's none.
When the doctor goes back to the waiting room, she is a bit flabbergasted to find Erwin still there.
She sits beside the blonde and folds the edge of her sleeves, "You should've gone with them. She needs you now."
"Levi can handle her. She can handle Levi." He sighs, "Besides, we're not done talking."
Hange grinds her teeth. "Don't push her to Levi. I clearly heard she's someone you love."
Erwin rolls his eyes, "If you are to eavesdrop, you should've listened more attentively. I've let her go already. I'm over it. Did you really think I'll date you just because?"
"Why not? You weren't interested in me at all–"
Erwin cuts her off with a kiss. "It's terrifying how fast feelings change, you know." Hange grins. It's cute how easy it is to please Hange with just a single kiss. It may be true, Erwin isn't interested in her at first. But gradually, he seems to be enjoying her company. She is always there, and her persistence is too prominent to ignore. Hange is the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hange stands and hops to the door, "I'll just change. Let's go home."
Eren stares at the white ceiling. Gauzes inserted inside his nostrils and he had no choice but to breathe through his mouth. That was a combo. A punch from Mikasa and a kick from Levi. With Mikasa, he understands but with Levi? Why? Did he hit a sensitive spot? Or are Mikasa and Levi that close now?
But yeah, even to someone as clueless and ignorant as him who speaks without thinking first, he knows what he said was impertinent. Indeed, what right does he have to brush off Historia and make Mikasa the mother of his child? Historia got disowned because of the child. He's such an asshole. At least, he'd admit that.
Mikasa is his dream come true. If given a chance to reverse time, he would've studied harder to get into the university Mikasa and Armin went to. He would've listened to Armin when he said that Mikasa might like him too. He would've confessed as soon as she transferred. He wouldn't have caught himself fooling around. He wouldn't have even thought about the idea.
He was selfish, and he still is.
She is cool and beautiful. She is unlike other girls who play the victim – not a damsel in distress. And even if half of the student body then, were scared stiff with just the sight of her (well, Mikasa got a veteran hero as grandfather and a soldier of a father, who wouldn't be scared to go after her in their small town?), they still appreciate her beauty and grace. Imagine his joy when she confessed to him. That time, he told himself – he'll never let her go.
But he became complacent. Mikasa forgives him even if he had wronged her. Armin has warned him over and over. "What if Mikasa gets tired of you?"
And he'll always say, "She won't. We're meant for each other. Mikasa will never leave me."
Hot tears gush out of his eyes.
There's an old fable in which a scorpion asks a frog for a piggyback ride across a river. The frog fears he'll get stung along the way, but the scorpion argues that stinging the frog would be fatally stupid. The frog would die and sink and so is the scorpion. It is common sense, as simple as one, two, three. So, the frog concedes. Halfway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog. While both drown, the scorpion can only apologize and say, "It's just my nature."
But it's too late.
Eren shouldn't blame it on his hormones. Just like the scorpion, he is predisposed to behaving badly. Even though he says he loves Mikasa so much. He got caught multiple times, but Mikasa still stayed. And he took that for granted. He points fingers and he doesn't take responsibility for his actions. It's time for him to grow up. Mikasa is right.
In the seven years they're together, it was only Mikasa who's always fighting.
Eren seldom sees her cry. Why he never realized that until now only shows how self-centred he was. Mikasa would always cry silently. What should he do? What is the right thing to do? He pushes himself up and sits upright. Ah, his head hurts now. With his feet reaching for his shoes, he stretches his legs. He stands then and walks toward the partition where Historia lays.
The nurse approaches him, "She'll be transferred to a ward soon, Mister Yeager. Are you feeling better?"
Eren nods, "Yes, thanks. The baby is fine, right? Doctor Zoe told me a while ago."
"Yes, both the mother and baby are fine. There's nothing to worry about. She needs to avoid stress to keep this from happening in the future." The nurse reminds him.
"Nurse–" A patient cries.
The nurse turns to look at Eren and bows slightly. "Well, then."
Eren only hums and fixes his gaze to Historia. "You're awake, right?"
Historia twists her neck and opens her eyes, meeting his gaze. "Are you okay? You look like you broke your nose."
"I did." Eren retorts, barely touching his bandaged nose. "Well, Mikasa punched me and I got kicked by our nuptial photographer." He chokes a laugh, his voice crackling.
Historia sighs and bites her lower lip. "I have to tell you something–"
"Should I fully take responsibility and marry you, Historia?"
The blonde girl's eyes widen significantly. Words die down her throat. That is something she wants to hear, she wishes to hear but why does it sound painful?
Eren ruffles his hair as he sits on the edge of her bed. Her eyes following his every movement. He licks his lower lip. "If you say yes, will you be fine that my heart belongs to Mikasa alone?"
Historia grits her teeth; her jaw clenching and her eyes feel hot.
"I just realized," He sighs in defeat, "that I was the scorpion and Mikasa is the frog. If I keep pushing what I want, I'll end up killing her." He sniffs then, green eyes now waterlogged. "I've been hurting her so much."
Historia pulls the sheet up to her mouth, covering half of her face. Seeing him cry, she bursts out crying too. "I'm no match for Mikasa, am I?"
"I'm sorry!"
There, that apology again that Historia is beginning to loathe every time it was Eren who utters it.
"I'm sorry, Historia."
Historia realizes then, that even if she manages to keep Eren by her side, she can never get him whole. Not anymore. Not even before.
Because Eren Yaeger had always belonged to Mikasa Ackerman.