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Lightning cracked against the black sky, followed quickly by a booming roar. The thunder was intense enough to cause the wooden barracks in which the 104th cadets were sleeping to groan and the tightly sealed windows to shudder. The rain first started to trickle during dinner, but it didn’t cause anyone to stir. That is until Shadis barked at the new cadets to finish stuffing their faces and retire to their dormitories immediately. By the time everyone had made it into the bunkhouse, it was coming down in buckets.
Eren had noticed that Mikasa was being very clingy ever since they were told to turn in quickly due to the incoming storm, well, more clingy than usual at least. He finally had to pry her fingers from his coat sleeve so he could enter his dorm room, which was directly across the hallway from hers.
“What’s with you tonight?” He asked indelicately.
“I, um-“ there was a low rumbling from the impending storm outside. Mikasa let out a hushed gasp and gripped her scarf, which was carefully draped around her neck. “Nothing. Goodnight.” She turned and slipped into her room.
Eren frowned and cocked an eyebrow before going to bed himself.
“What’s her deal?” he thought to himself once in bed. He laid on his back with both hands clasped behind his head. His was the lower bunk at the very end of the room, right next to the window, which he was now looking out of and watching the large drops slap against the glass. Even though it was pouring then, the worst of the storm was still on its way.
“Maybe it’s nerves? But we’ve been here two weeks already and she’s been steady as a rock this whole time.” His gaze growing lazier with each passing minute, Eren gave up on his attempts to understand his companion’s curious antics and shut his eyes, welcoming sleep to overtake him.
The peak of the tempest did not reach the training grounds until several hours later. Lighting repeatedly illuminated the otherwise pitch-black area and was always closely followed by deafening bellows of thunder. Most sleep cycles would be interrupted by the cacophony outside, but after a long day of physical and mental strain, the 104th cadets slept soundly. All but one, at least.
Eren’s eyes opened slowly. He laid still for a moment, staring into the darkness of the room. The rain was still pouring steadily and there was a bellow of thunder. He let out a confused groan, unsure as to why he had awoken now.
“Eren?”
The voice was timid and barely audible over the noise coming from outside.
“Huh?” He was still groggy and not sure if he was still half asleep.
Another flash of lightning illuminated the whole room for a mere second. Two eyes were locked onto him, only inches away from his face. He recognized the them as Mikasa’s. She kneeled by his bedside, hands gripping her scarf, which had been tugged up to her mouth. The light left the room.
“Mikasa?” Eren swung his legs over the edge of his bed, eyes adjusting to the darkness. The rain alone was loud enough to drown him out, permitting him to speak in a low voice rather than whisper without fear of waking the other guys in the room.
“What are you doing? You’re not supposed to be in here.”
The training instructors imposed strict rules regarding dorm activity. One of these rules was no girls in the boys’ dorms and vice versa, at least for first-year cadets. This was to prevent distraction and horny teenager activity. After the first year, the excitement and curiosity is trained right out of the cadets and the dorm leaders are more lenient with bunking rules, but most everyone has the good sense to get as much sleep as possible. Even if you don’t your bunkmates most likely won’t appreciate any disturbances in the night.
Eren leaned towards Mikasa slightly as he awaited her response.
“I… Um…” She stuttered for a moment.
BOOM
A clap of thunder shook the entire building. With a gasp Mikasa flung herself at Eren, burying her face in his chest and clutching his shirt. After a moment of surprise, Eren wrapped his arms gently around her, recognizing her distress. He could feel that she was shivering slightly. The thunder echoed and faded as the rain continued to beat mercilessly against the roof.
Eren sat in shock for a moment, holding her closely. He was used to Mikasa being even and stable emotionally. In fact, he really hadn’t seen her this shaken up since-
“That day…” Mikasa’s voice trembled and she turned her head so that her ear was against Eren’s chest. She took in every beat of his heart.
“That day there was a storm. I was on the floor and all I could hear was the thunder.”
Finally it clicked. The day Eren rescued Mikasa a storm was rolling through the mountains. That was the last time she was alone, laying on the floor of the vacant cabin after watching her kidnappers murder her parents. After the Jaegers took her in, and even after the two of them and Armin were on their own, they always had each other. This was the first storm she had to face in her bed alone.
There was another flash of lightning. Almost instinctively, after recollecting the events of the past, Eren pulled Mikasa in tightly and rested his head on top of hers.
They endured the thunder’s groans together.
Eren knew they only had a moment before the next lightning strike. He moved his hands to Mikasa’s shoulders and moved her from his chest. Her knees still rested on the ground as she was once again met with the cold night. She had half expected him to send her back to her room, and she felt a choke of fear grip her throat. Eren, however, had no intentions of neglecting his closest friend. He scooted back to the wall and lifted the blanket up.
“Come on.” He beckoned.
Relief swept over Mikasa and she crawled into his bed shakily, still jarred from the emotional scars that had resurfaced. Eren pulled the blanket over both of their bodies. One arm Eren laid over Mikasa behind her back, the other her tucked under and around the back of her neck. She nestled her head beneath his chin, both of her hands clutched between their bodies.
They stayed like this, neither speaking, both taking in each other’s warmth. After a few minutes, Eren felt Mikasa’s breathing grow steadier. When she did not react to the next round of lightning and thunder, he knew she had fallen asleep. He was wide awake.
This was not the first time the two had shared a bed. The first two months of living together Mikasa would sneak into his room and crawl into bed with him. But they were children then, and he always attributed it to recurring nightmares she must have been having. But this was different. He felt different, at least. The warmth he felt was not just from her body, but he felt it emanating from his own. Was it a feeling? An emotion? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that, in this moment, all he wanted was to hold her closer. He wanted to protect her.
After what like both a lifetime and a blink of an eye, the storm had passed. All that was left now was the delicate shadows of rained that trailed behind the deathly clouds. Eren once again grew tired, but knew that if he fell asleep now and was discovered with Mikasa in his bed when the sun came up, the consequences would be dire. He propped himself up on an elbow and gingerly swept his hand up Mikasa’s arm to her shoulder and gave a little shake.
“Hey” he whispered, suddenly aware that the retreating rain meant no muffling for him to speak in more than a whisper.
“Wake up. The storm is passed.”
Mikasa let out a slight moan, still sleeping.
Eren stared at her for another moment and decided that he had best let her stay asleep. She had no doubt been awake all evening before coming to him.
He pulled the covers down and gingerly reached his legs over her still body and onto the floor. Biting his lower lip in concentration, he slowly and tenderly slipped his arms under the sleeping girl: one under her knees and the other behind her shoulders and neck.
With a heave he lifted her out of bed.
He struggled to his feet, adjusted her in his arms, and regained his balance before moving with Mikasa out of his room and into hers, which was directly across the hall. After wandering in the dark, straining to find the empty bed and hoping it was a bottom bunk, he was finally able to lay her down gently onto her mattress in the corner. He pulled the blanket over her body and was turning to leave when he once again felt a tug at the hem of his shirt. He knelt by her bedside and was able to make out that her eyes were still closed.
“Hmmm thank you,” she said with a soft, breathy voice before releasing his shirt and rolling over.
Eren smiled slighty, not sure if she was actually awake or sleep talking.
“Goodnight.” He whispered in response before tiptoeing back to his quarters.
Lying in bed once again, Eren collected his thoughts before drifting off the sleep. He knew he would pay for the hours he spent awake tonight when the morning bell sounds. Plus, he knew that he and Mikasa would have to talk about what just happened. Having her crawl into bed with him every time it rains for the next three years would not fly if anyone ever found out.
“Still,” he thought, as he shut his eyes, “I wouldn’t mind another rainstorm every once and a while.”