Guess who's back! (Hint: It's me.) I know it's been practically forever since I updated, and I had a different one-shot I was in the midst of editing when this idea hit me. Next thing I knew I was typing away and had 1,000+ words in practically no time. Now my fingers are kinda sore from so much typing, but it was worth it.

(In other news, the fanfic based off the one-shot last chapter is currently in production. The first chapter is a beast to say the least. Hey, that rhymes. Hehe. ) Okay, onto the story, since that is what you came here for, not my endless rambling.

Title: Hiding Place (Might change it later)

Rating: T (mainly language, but I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle, as well as some somewhat suggestive adult themes [no smut tho]( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Small Summary: Mikasa refuses to take off her scarf, making Armin and the others suspicious why.

WARNING: Contains some spoilers from the manga.

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The morning sun blazed down on the training grounds outside the Survey Corps' temporary headquarters. It was only the middle of spring, yet it already felt like summer with the unnatural heat and suffocating humidity. But this was the Survey Corps. Mother Nature wasn't about to get the best of them.

Grunts and the sound of punches finding their marks filled the small clearing soldiers were using to train while Levi and Hanji discussed their next plan of action inside the nearby cabin. Regardless of the heat, sparring was still comforting to the remaining members, as it kept their mind from wandering to their inevitable battle that was quickly arriving.

"Your punches are too easy to predict," Mikasa explained, offering a hand to her sparring partner, who waved it off. "You need to vary your moves without establishing a pattern, so your opponent has no way to know what you're going to do next. It'll give you the upper hand."

Eren stood up, dusting himself off after being knocked to the ground yet again by the hands of Mikasa Ackerman. And her foot. And her elbow. And her knee. Point was, he was just trying to find some opening to get the better of her. He nodded after hearing her tip, trying his best to focus in the unbearable heat and in such close proximity to woman he had grown so close to over the years.

When he looked over to said girl, however, her face was flushed crimson, much like the deep shade of her scarf. Her hands loosened said item, desperate to let air onto the overheated skin of her neck without lowering it too much. She sent an irritated glare to the tanned boy across from her. She loved her scarf, but on days like this, she typically survived without her precious gift. This particular day, unfortunately, she had to deal with the heat in her scarf, thanks to a certain Titan-Shifter.

She positioned herself so she faced him, signaling that they could move onto the next round of sparring. "Are you sure you're okay? That scarf has to be gathering some major heat," Eren pointed out, guilt apparent in his tone and facial expression. He knew the only reason she had to wear the scarf was because of him, and he was kinda regretting his decision that caused her to do so earlier.

"It's fine," she assured, swiping her bangs off her damp forehead. To put it simply, she felt like complete shit.

Eren gave her a disbelieving look before he ultimately shook his head, and positioned himself in a fighting stance. He charged at her, readying himself for her easy dodge, as she had successfully performed the effortless movement time and time again, but this time, her moves were more sluggish and lazy, her body just barely managing to dodge his. He decided to take this opportunity while he could and hooked his arm around her waist, locking it with his other hand while she struggled to break free of his grasp. She wasn't as coordinated as she typically was, and failed to escape before her back made contact with the burning ground and Eren pinned her down.

He smirked triumphantly, his eyes taking on a mischievous look as he leaned down until their noses were inches apart. Emerald met obsidian as he whispered so only she could hear, "I won."

A shiver shot down her spine at his tone. She recalled a rather similar situation from several hours prior, but she was pretty sure this wasn't going to end the same way.

Eren continued to wear a boyish grin, his gaze softening as he moved some bangs from her pale face. His hand lingered on her rosy cheeks, his thumb tracing the scar he had left on her face so long ago. Their eyes never left each other for a moment, and they swore they could stay like that forever. Unfortunately, forever was cut off by an awkward cough from a third person.

The two looked up at the newcomer, their face turning fifty shades of red at the sight of their childhood friend staring down at them with an amused grin. "Sorry for interrupting."

"You didn't interrupt anything," Mikasa mumbled, Eren still hovering above her. Eren didn't make a move to get off her. His knees straddled her hips, and his arms caged her in, making escape impossible for his partner.

Armin raised a brow at his friends, skepticism written all over his features. "Sure," he replied slowly, clearly not believing Mikasa. Armin once again observed their positions, and Eren only then realized that he was still pinning Mikasa.

Before Armin could get any more ideas, Eren leapt off Mikasa. The raven haired girl wasn't exactly sure what happened, but she followed the brunette's lead regardless. Eren tried to play it off as if nothing had just happened, but the red tint on his cheeks was enough confirm Armin's suspicions.

"So," Eren began, resting an arm around Mikasa's shoulders casually. A single questioning eyebrow from Armin was enough to make him realize his mistake, and he quickly removed his arm from the girl. She frowned the slightest bit, but knew they had to at least try to keep the act up, so she resisted the urge to wrap his arm back around herself. "What was it you came over for, Armin?"

Armin's inquiring gaze never left the two, taking in their awkward stance and nervous behavior. He decided he would keep his suspicions to himself until the time to disclose them presented itself. "I was just concerned about Mikasa," Armin stayed, turning his attention to the onyx-haired woman in question. "You shouldn't be wearing that scarf in this heat. Connie and I just carried a half-conscious Jean to Hanji after he passed out from a possible heat stroke. With that scarf around your neck, it's highly probable that the same will happen to you."

"And your point is?" Mikasa asked, her tone becoming protective as her hand reflexively grasping onto the comforting fabric around her neck. While the article of clothing had gathered a lot of heat, she wasn't about to remove it at any costs. 

Armin's face morphed into one of annoyance as he clarified with a sigh, "Mikasa, just take off the scarf. It's at least a hundred degrees out here, and I would rather you not suffer from a heat stroke." Armin crossed his arms when he saw that this did nothing but cause her to tighten her grip on said item. 

He looked back to Sasha and Connie who had come over to see the scene, which was definitely more entertaining than sparring. They both nodded to him in tacit agreement. In the blink of an eye, the two were dashing towards Mikasa. Typically, she would be able to dodge their attack with no problems, but the heat was finally starting to take a toll on her body, making escape difficult in her weakened state. Before she could form a plan to avoid them, Sasha and Connie each grabbed onto one of her arms, trapping her. As Mikasa regained her senses, she began to writhe out of their grasp, but they were still overpowering her.

Eren was too bewildered by how the situation escalated so quickly to do much else but watch the scene unfold. All this over a scarf? 

None of them noticed a just as flabbergasted Jean walk into the area with ice pressed to his head. "What the hell happened while I was gone?"

Eren shook his head in response, mouth still agape, "I honestly have no idea." At this point, Mikasa, Sasha, and Connie's limbs were all tangled together as the two latter struggled to keep the former in place. The entire thing looked too ridiculous to be real, yet here he was watching it go down. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be with Hanji?"

"Nah, it was just a false alarm. You won't be getting rid of me that easily."

"Whatever, Horseface." 

Jean was about to make a retort when something new caught his eye. "What the hell?"

Eren looked back to where the others were and immediately regretted doing so. Sasha was flopped atop a squirming Mikasa's back, barely managing to pin her arms. Connie was sitting on her legs, trying to avoid the pissed girl's flailing powerful kicks. "Armin you better make this quick. i don't know how much longer we can hold her down!" Connie yelled, his fear evident.

"Shut up, Connie! You sound like you're about to piss your pants. You know she can smell fear!" Sasha retorted, narrowly avoiding an elbow to the jaw.  

"Get off me! I'll give you all my rations for a week!" Mikasa bargained, knowing her comrade's greatest weakness. Sasha paused, considering the deal until Armin sent her a look that could kill. 

Armin slowly approached his struggling friend, bending down so he was eye-level with her. He placed a wary hand on her shoulder, "This is for your own good." He then yanked off the worn fabric from her neck before she could get a hold of him, but his victory yell was short lived as silence ensued among the soldiers. "Is that a hickey?"

Mikasa took this opportunity to escape the soldiers' grasp and stand on her feet once again. She retrieved her prized possession from the blonde boy's grasp without protest, the latter still trying to piece together the events that just unfolded, but it was too late. They had all already seen the dark bruise decorating the porcelain skin of her pulse point. At this point all eyes were on her, and her face was flushed bright red.

Oddly, the brunette, who at some point during the fiasco snuck up beside her, was an even deeper shade of red, something that didn't escape his perceptive friend's eyes. Armin looked between his two childhood friends at least twenty times, taking in every detail of the awkwardness as he pieced it all together. "Y-you," he began, gesturing to the raven-haired girl nuzzling into her crimson scarf, "A-a-and you."

Armin pointed his other hand to his left where a flustered Eren shifted his weight from foot to foot. The others spectated from the side, too in shock to utter a coherent sentence. In truth, they all had a sneaking hunch that the two had something going, but never expected them to actually act on those underlying feelings.

Eren was the next to speak up, deciding anything would be better than the awkward silence currently engulfing them. With an nervous gulp, Eren gathered up what confidence he had left to protest, "It's not what you think, Ar-"

"Your ears are turning red!" Armin practically screeched, his mind finally functioning again. He pointed an accusing finger at Eren, just to point out the shifter's fatal mistake.

"Shit," Eren spat under his breath. So much for getting out of this one. He just thanked the heavens that they had only seen one of the bruises he left last night. Goodness how awkward it would have been if they had seen the one peeking out from under her shirt collar or hiding beneath the white material.

Jean seemed to have gathered his thoughts, too, as his face morphed from a shocked shitless expression to one of pure rage. "Jaeger!"

"Looks like that's my cue to leave," Eren stated, prepping for a getaway. He wasn't exactly one to run from a fight, but something told him Horseface wasn't one to test right now, yet he still couldn't resist getting one more jab in. In a single swift motion, Eren pulled Mikasa to his chest and turned her still stunned face to himself. In that same movement, he placed his lips on hers for longer than he probably should have considering the others had just learned about their relationship, but he couldn't help himself. She was intoxicating. He moved his lips up to her ear and whispered huskily, "See you tonight." He placed a gentle kiss on her scarred cheek before making his escape. It wasn't long until a pissed Jean took off after him, out for blood.

Connie, Sasha, and Armin dashed after the two boys, attempting to calm Jean down. Meanwhile Mikasa remained in her spot on the training grounds, her delicate fingers skimming the point of contact where Eren's lips met her cheek. A sly smile formed on her features at his last comment. See you tonight.

An uncharacteristic giggle left her lips as brushed a few strands of dark hair behind her ear and headed towards the cabin, looking forward to finally escaping the heat. She didn't even pay mind to the yelling and screaming behinds her as the others did their thing. Or the taunting of a certain green-eyed boy to his jealous comrade.

Again, sorry for the wait (again). Shit has been hectic, and thanks to those of you who stick around to read my writing nonetheless. Not sure how well this one turned out, but feel free to leave your thoughts. I'm also taking requests now, so feel free to leave those, as well! I'll have that new story out soon, too.

The image at the top is pretty irrelevant, but I ended up finishing this thing over five hours before I published it because I started looking for Eremika pics, forgot what I was doing, got lost in the depths of shipperland (*cough cough* Tumblr), and somehow ended up watching at least an hour's worth of Shane videos. ._. Long story short I ended up picking whatever pic I left off on.

Oh, and thank you for 150+ views! All your support means the world to me!