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Chapter Text

{No new messages}
Armin sighed and put down his phone, returning to the toast he was buttering. For several moments he sullenly buttered the crisp bread until his phone buzzed with life. Tossing away the knife, Armin snatched up his phone and looked at the caller I.D.
{From: Jaegeren} How's the birthday boy?
Armin sighed and glanced behind him, his knife had fallen into the trash bin. Giving up, Armin picked up a piece of toast and glanced it over before biting down into the dry bread. 'Ugh, too hard,' Armin spat out the half-chewed food into the garbage and looked at his phone, which was buzzing again.
{From: Jaegeren} Armin? Buddyyy. Are you awake birthday boy?
{To: Jaegeren} Don't call me that. Have you heard from Annie?
{From: Jaegeren} Nooope. Why?
{To: Jaegeren} Can't find her... I'm sure she'll turn up though, be back later.
{From: Jaegeren} Okay, see you tonight!
Armin groaned and fell back into the stool behind him. Once he had spun for a bit, Armin tossed out the remaining toast and heated up two new slices. "She'll come back," the blonde murmured, "she'll come back." Mere moments later, a burning scent filled the room along with the shrill wail of a smoke alarm. "Of course," Armin jumped up from his stool and rushed to the source of the dark smog filling his kitchen.
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{From: Ackasa} Armin? I heard Annie left?
'Of course,' Armin sighed as he ran his fingers through his damp hair. He had just exited the shower but his hands were stained black from his, now ruined, toaster.
{To: Ackasa} She didn't /leave/, I just don't know where she is right now. She'll be back sooner or later.
{From: Ackasa} I could go find her, you know I could.
{To: Ackasa} No, no, NO. We both have different definitions of "find."
Armin sat down, draped in a towel and ran his fingers through his hair again. 'I really hope she doesn't do what she plans,' untangling his fingers, Armin picked his phone up again, reading through the newly displayed message.
{From: Ackasa} Alright... Just give the word. Happy birthday!
{To: Ackasa} Okay, okay. Thanks, Mika.
"Wow, when she said you were scrawny, she wasn't kidding." A deep voice interrupted startled Armin onto his feet, "you're Armin, right?"
"Wh-who are you?" Armin stammered, "how do you know my - ah!" The owner's voice, a gargantuan, titan of a man hoisted the petite boy over his shoulder and began to March to the door. "Hey! Let me down!" Small fists slammed into the mystery man's broad back.
"Hold on," the man stopped and snatched a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from Armin's open closet, "here, put these on in the elevator."
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"You are an idiot," a sharp voice cut through the haze in Armin's mind, "why did you knock him out?"
"I didn't mean to!" It was the mystery man, "he hit his head when I put him in the backseat!"
"Reiner, Annie shh! He's waking up." Armin's eyes flickered open and he was greeted by Eren, Annie, Mikasa and the mystery man Reiner's faces looming over his own.
"Happy birthday, Armin!" The chorus of voices rocketed through Armin's ears as he propped himself up.
"You guys kidnapped me," Armin chuckled, "I'm not even surprised."
"It was Annie's idea," Reiner explained, "sorry for K.O-ing you." Offering a hand, Reiner hoisted Armin up onto his feet and grinned.
"Sorry for the getting the klutz to come get you," Annie muttered, "but the only other person you don't know who could get you is out of town." Annie pulled Armin up close and kissed him, "happy birthday, blondie."

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"Hey, are you paying attention, blondie?" Armin jolted up in surprise and looked from his binoculars to Annie. The two were sitting on a rooftop looking into an office building across the empty street where a tall, blonde man was slouched over a desk, "you got everything done? Security cameras down?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah," Annie gave him a narrow-eyed gaze and Armin relented, "are you sure we should do this? I mean we've worked under him for years."
"Exactly, under him." Annie let out a huff, "look, this gets both of us promoted up the ladder and we get paid. Why are you so worried anyway? I mean, we've done this before, for Reiner and Bertolt in New York, and Mikasa and Eren in D.C."
"That was different, we didn't know the people they wanted gone, but Erwin's been my mentor for years." Armin ran his fingers through his hair, "look, you go. I'll stay up here and keep watch in case Levi comes back from wherever he went." Moments later, Annie had gotten up and slid her switchblade into her pocket as she walked to the elevator sitting in the middle of the building's roof.
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"Ah, Ms. Leonhart, what brings you in so late?" Erwin hardly glanced up before going back through his papers on his desk again, "nothing troubling you I hope."
"No, nothing." Annie said coolly, "just here to ask you about a report, when do you need the analysis of the Yeager case?" Still standing by the door, Annie felt her phone buzz once, then twice in her pocket, "excuse me a moment," Erwin hummed as he signed at the bottom of another paper.
{From: Arlert} Levi just pulled up.
{From Arlert} Do it, quick!
Annie clicked her tongue and looked at Erwin, easing the closed blade out of her pocket and flicking it open between her gloved fingers. Erwin looked up as a shining flash of cold metal struck him between the eyes, instantly killing the blonde man, who slumped over his desk as his own blood stained the papers dark red. Turning to the door, Annie was met by a sudden fist to her cheek.
"Care to explain, Leonhart?" Levi's eyes were alight with adrenaline, lashing out with his foot, Annie narrowly rolled out of the way as Levi's foot struck the wall underneath the window where she once was. The raven-haired man's forehead furrowed with pain as he balanced himself on the shelf behind him. Before Annie could get up, the window shattered and Levi staggered, then collapsed onto the floor of Erwin's office.
Blood poured out of Levi's forehead as he lay on the floor. Stepping around the fresh corpse, Annie pulled her knife out of Erwin's forehead and slipped into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
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{From: Leonnie} Good support, Arlert. But you're paying for dinner tonight, my jaw still aches from the midget's punch.
{To: Leonnie} I'll gladly pay for dinner, you paid last time after all. You up for Japanese? Sorry about your cheek...
{From: Leonnie} Sure, see you in the car. It's no problem, you'll have to make up for that later tonight though.

Chapter Text

An old legend says, whoever you are meant to be with is whoever's pain you shall feel, that way you can support them.
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"Good, Annie!" A deep voice echoed through Annie's head as she kicked away at another hanging sandbag, "don't stop until your can't feel your feet anymore!"
'I left home to escape him, but I still do this every day.' Annie kicked the bag with enough force that the chain holding it up broke and it slid across the polished floor, 'I wonder if anyone feels this.'
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The next morning, a blonde teen winced as his feet hit the cold wood floor of his shared bedroom. His roommate was already fussing with their bags and had gotten dressed. "About time you got up," the brunette called from across the room, tossing some sweatpants and a gray shirt at the other boy, "we've been planning this trip for weeks, why so dead, Armin?"
"The other half's been at it again," Armin groaned, standing up and balancing against his headboard, "I don't know what they do, but it's killing my feet."
"Well at least they do something," Armin's roommate laughed, "instead of staying sitting at a desk writing essays until their poor roommate has to carry them to bed when they pass out."
"One of us has to be working hard, Eren." Armin muttered as he looked over the papers on his desk, "we can't all be out with Reiner every other night."
Stopping what he was doing, Eren whirled around and held his hands over his heart, "that really hurt, Armin. I don't think I can go on..." Falling over dramatically, Armin had to lunge across the room to keep Eren's head from hitting the chair behind him. Opening one eye Eren whispered, "you know, Professor Zoë was out last night too, they were running around barefoot looking for something in the parking lot. Asphalt can do a number on someone's bare feet..."
Dropping Eren, Armin turned to the bags, "I don't think it's Dr. Zoë, didn't you see Ms. Ral scolding them for burning themselves during an experiment in a chemistry class? She wasn't even in the building when that happened. On top of that they're like twice my age."
"I'm just kidding," Eren grumbled, rubbing the back of his head, "that was uncalled for by the way." Armin held out his hand and pulled Eren up to his feet.
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Once the duo was outside their dorm with their suitcases, Eren's eyebrows quieted up. "Hey, did you notice Annie's been limping lately?" Armin huffed and opened his mouth to respond but Eren had already left his bag with the blonde boy and jogged over to Annie, "hey, Annie!"
Annie looked up from the essay in her hands and her eye twitched when she saw Eren running to her, "what do you want, Yeager?"
"Wow, everyone's so down today," Eren muttered. Gesturing to Annie's feet Eren asked, "so what's with the limp? Doing night training again?"
"None of your concern," Annie turned away from Eren and began walking down the sidewalk.
"It's my concern when my best friend's involved," Eren called out, almost immediately, Annie turned around with a light glare on her face.
"I didn't touch your precious Armin," Annie continued walking away only now with Eren trailing behind her. Armin was behind both of them, carrying both his and Eren's bags with him. "Stop following me."
"When were you training last night?" Eren asked, "were you doing upper body or -" Annie spun around and Eren stopped talking.
"Look, when I said I'd help you work out I didn't expect interrogations. Back off or the deal's off," Annie continued walking. "If you must know I was working on kicks from midnight to one last night."
"There you go!" Eren grinned, "Armin had problems with his feet this morning, there must be a connection."
"Eren back off," Armin pleaded, "sorry about that, but he's a bit bull-headed when he puts his mind to something." Armin noticed Annie looking at bandaging on his forehead, "what's wrong?"
"When did you hurt your head?" Annie asked, gesturing to her own forehead.
"He hurt it on Monday!" Eren piped in, "he slipped on a book on our floor."
"I see," Annie mused, readjusting the strap of her bag, "Arlert, meet me here the night you get back, I trust you won't forget." Turning around again, Annie walked off quickly before she could be stalled again. Armin and Eren stood where they were for a few seconds before they began to head to Eren's car.
Once both of them were seated and had their bags put away, Eren smiled and looked over, "you're welcome."
"For what?" Armin asked, strapping in his seatbelt, "that was the most awkward position you've put me in as long as we've known each other."
"True, but.I got you a date!" Eren pointed out, "and don't worry, that won't be the only awkward position I'll get you in!" Armin groaned as Eren twisted the car key and laughed while he backed his car out of its parking space.

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Annie blinked open her eyes and let her arm fall off of the side of her bed that was just big enough to hold her. Stretching her arm back up, Annie clicked on her phone and sighed when she saw the time, 1:15 p.m. Clicking off the device, Annie pushed up and out of bed, walking into the small bathroom next to her bedroom. "It's too late to go to work," she told her reflection, "you don't need the hassle."
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Stepping out of her apartment building, Annie looked around the cold and
quieter-than-usual December street. Looking around through still sleepy eyes, Annie found her target, the small coffee shop down the street. Walking down the sidewalk at a lazy pace, Annie entered the shop and reveled in the quiet murmurs of the café's three occupants, all staff members. Going up to the counter, Annie was greeted by a small blonde man, "hello! I'm Armin, how can I help you?"
"Just a regular green tea to go," Annie said, sliding three dollars onto the countertop. "Keep the change."
"Thank you ma'am," The boy, Armin, smiled, "Eren, one small green tea!"
'Shit, shit shit,' Annie flipped up her hood. Eren was the only one of her students who cared about her lessons and not just getting her number. "You got it Armin!" Eren called from the kitchen through the door. A few moments later, Eren walked down to the end of the countertop and dropped off Annie's order. Walking back, he saw the hooded, grinned and spun back around. As she walked over, Annie got a wink from Eren who patted Armin's shoulder as he exited back into the kitchen. Quickly, Annie snatched up the cup and hurried out of the shop.
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Sitting down in her slightly torn chair, Annie took a sip of her tea and noticed the writing by the base of the cup.
'Nice disguise! I wrote down Armin, the cashier's, number, I think you'll like him.'
Annie stared at the writing and string of numbers behind it and finished her drink. Looking at the number for a few more minutes, Annie resigned and typed the number into her phone and started the call. 'If he doesn't pick up, I'll forget about this.'
Against her plan, the call was answered after a few moments. "Hello? Who is this?"
'Dammit,' Annie grit her teeth, "is this Armin? Your friend Eren gave me your number."
"Yeah this is Armin," the voice responded. A pause, "this, wouldn't happen to be Annie, would it?"
"This is Annie, sorry if you were expecting someone else."
Armin's voice rose slightly in protest, "I didn't mean to be rude. Eren's been telling me a lot about the girl who could plan three moves ahead and flip a man twice her size."
"I don't think Yeager counts as 'twice my size,'" Annie corrected. "What are you getting at here?"
"Eren told me you're free the rest of the day," Annie bit her lip, "I was wondering if you play chess and if you'd like to play against me later." Annie remained silent for a minute, going over what was just asked, "Annie?"
"I'll be at your coffee shop in ten minutes," Annie informed Armin, "I hope you have a board with you." Hanging up her phone, Annie picked her hoodie back up off her table and walked out of her apartment for the second time in two hours.
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Armin placed down his phone and began picking around under the counter, "so, who was that?" Eren cracked open the door to the kitchen and smiled at Armin, who glanced over his shoulder just long enough to see Eren grinning at him.
"You know who that was and she'll be here in ten minutes," pulling out a worn chessboard, Armin put it on the counter and slipped off his apron, "so you get to work the counter and kitchen." Eren smacked his forehead while Armin carried the chessboard out and around the counter. "Thank you though."
"It's my job to keep you on your toes," Eren laughed, "try not to lose to her, she likes to gloat."
"You would know," Armin teased as he set up the board and peices at a two-person table by the shop's door.

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"Did you do it?" Connie shoved Armin down the bench into Eren as he slid into a seat. Looking over at Eren, Connie interrupted the blonde's chance to respond, "did he do it?"
Armin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Eren, "he didn't do it."
"What didn't he do?" Sasha asked sitting on the other side of Eren, "study for a quiz? That's very irresponsible young man, and my parents want you to influence me to study harder! How am I supposed to do that if you aren't setting a good example?"
"No, no it's nothing like that," Connie laughed, waving his hands at Sasha. Looking around, Connie covered the side of his face closest to Armin and whispered to the brunette, "we're trying to get him to ask out Annie." Sasha grinned and began to congratulate Armin but Connie shushed her, "be quiet! We don't want the whole school to know!"
"Basically everyone knows already," Armin sighed, picking at the strawberries he had packed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she knew, too."
"All the more reason to go ask her!" Sasha tugged Armin's wrist, "c'mon, what do you have to lose?"
"My dignity?" Armin tugged against Sasha's grip but she held firm. "It's not easy to approach someone who can one, flip your school's star football player and star wrestler over her shoulder, and two, is intimidating enough as it is."
"Why bother with her then?" Eren asked through half a mouthful of a now un recognizable food, "there are plenty of girls and guys here who think you're smart, and cute too," Eren's eyes narrowed, "pretty sure I saw horse-face staring at your ass yesterday..."
"She intrigues me," Armin puffed flexing his finally free wrist, "and I doubt Jean would do that, regardless of what you feel towards him."
"We're getting off topic!" Connie whined shoulder bumping Armin and shaking his lunch, "you need to do this if you want to!" Thinking for a few seconds, Connie broke into a wide grin, "idea."
"That's new!" A far-off voice called out, causing Connie to flush in embarrassment.
"Fuck off, Ymir!" Unfortunately, Connie's threat fell on ears defeated by their own laughter, "anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, here's my idea." Connie leaned his face close to Armin's, prompting the blonde to scoot towards Eren, "I'll make a bet with you."
"A bet? About whether or not I can ask out a girl?" Connie shook his head and smacked Armin's knee in response to the question.
"No, no, no, whether or not you will ask out a girl! I bet ten bucks you won't do it!" Connie fished around in his bag before pulling out two crumpled five-dollar bills, "and here's proof I can back up my gamble!"
"Fifteen dollars says he will!" Eren pulled his own five-dollar bill, as well as a ten-dollar bill and held both next to Connie's money. "Sasha? Are you gonna bet?"
"No way!" Sasha shook her head, her ponytail slapping Eren in the cheek, "I'm saving up my money for a car next year!" Eren stuck out his tongue and plucked out a piece of Sasha's hair, to which the duo grimaced at before Eren flicked it away.
"Are we really betting on me?" Armin sighed, readjusting his glasses.
"Yes!" Eren responded. Leaning in inches from Armin's ear, Eren whispered, "please do it. I owe Mr. Ackerman these ten dollars for breaking a beaker in his science class, if I don't pay him back, I have to clean Dr. Zoë's classroom!" Both had been in Hange's classroom, and new of the terrible disorganization of the bookshelves and layers of dust across unused counters.
Shutting his plain tin lunchbox, Armin slipped his remaining food into his bag. "I'm gonna do it," Armin relented causing Connie to hold his head and Eren to grin widely along with Sasha, "but not because of your bet!"
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'Alright, here it goes,' Armin rounded the corner and up to Annie who was reading a book by her locker. "Uh, hey Annie!" Annie hummed in greeting and continued flipping through her book, "ah, sorry to interrupt, I'll go then."
"Wait," Annie held up her hand as she scanned the last few lines of her book. Clamping it shut, Annie turned back to Armin, "what is it, blondie? Got something to tell me?"
'She knows, she knows, she knows!' Armin grinned nervously, "you must be psychic, huh?" Losing the grin, Armin puffed out a deep breath, "I've been meaning to ask, would you like to hang out after school sometime?"
"Sure, meet me here tomorrow after school." Annie's response was what Armin wanted to hear, turning away, Annie began to walk off, "lose that grin though, it's freaky."
"Y-Yeah, okay!" Waving, Armin called out, "see you then!" Turning around, Armin saw the grinning faces of Sasha, Eren and Connie peering around the corner.
"Smooth, Armin," Sasha cooed, "real smooth."
"It worked though," Connie pointed out. Reaching into his pocket, he thrust his ten dollars in Eren's face, "here's your stink in' money."
"Thank you!" Eren smiled, taking the bills and slipping them into his own pocket. "Seriously though, good for you, Armin!"
Armin smiled, "thanks. Even though your way of 'helping' is a little questionable."
"It worked though!" Connie repeated. The four friends laughed and walked out of the hall and into the nearby classroom of one Mr. Ackerman.
"Hey Yeager, here's my money?" Eren handed Levi Connie's two fives and continued to his seat. Looking at the crumpled bills, Levi clicked his tongue, "be more careful with your money, br -" Levi was cut off by a crash from Connie and Sasha's table. "Springer, you better hope you have some money on you, too..."

Chapter Text

((NOTE: PREQUEL TO TODAY'S PROMPT HERE https://archiveofourown.info/works/2553467 ))
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"Drill time, maggots!" Keith Shadis' roaring voice blasted the 104th male trainees awake. "Get your belts on and head to the woods to receive your gear!" The door to the barracks slammed shut and the teens let out a collective groan of exhaustion and relief.
"This is ridiculous," Connie grumbled as he rolled out of his bed, Jean climbing down the short ladder at the head of their bunk. "What is it, six, seven in the morning?"
"Five-thirty," Connie twisted his neck over to Eren's bunk and shook his head at Eren, who was rushing on his belts and jacket. "We're working on pair exercises on the 3D gear, same as yesterday."
"It makes me even more tired watching you hustle like that," Connie nodded thanks to Jean, who had tossed Connie his jacket and belts. "At this rate, you'll probably die from lack of sleep before a Titan gets a chance at you." Looking behind Eren, Connie spotted Armin, who was picking around under his bed, "what're you looking for down there, Armin? Lose a book?"
"No, just my belts," Armin backed back out, narrowly missing being stepped on by Eren, who was going through stretches. "Watch it, Eren!"
"Sorry, sorry," Eren stopped his stretches and sat down on Armin's bed, "hey didn't you sleep in your belts last night?"
"Yeah I thought I saw you wearing them too," Reiner spoke up. "C'mon, Bertl, wake up," the brunette was sprawled across his bed, with one long arm hanging off the bed while one of his legs was stretched vertically with the wall behind his bed.
"Oh, I, uh, took them off." Armin slipped the upper portion of his straps down his back at adjusted the clasp across his chest, "didn't you all hear me get out and take them off? I'm glad I didn't wake you if you didn't."
"So that's what that was," Jean was off to the door, having finished the task of putting on his uniform. "By the way, fly's down." Armin flushed red and began to hurry off his leg straps and pants.
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The 104th stood in neat rows despite their obvious tiredness. At the front of the group of teens stood the horse of Keith Shadis, with the man himself riding in its saddle. "Based on Braun and Springer's shit work yesterday," Shadis took a few moments to pick out Reiner and Connie a quick glare while their own fellow cadets elbowed them in their sides, "I have chosen your partners for today's practice, the listings are on the announcement board outside the mess hall. Get your slop for the morning and hurry your asses to the woods!"
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"Hey, you alright?" Marco jogged up to Armin's side, "you were looking off all throughout breakfast."
Armin shrugged, "just preoccupied with some stuff." Looking back over his shoulder, Armin smiled at Marco, "you go on ahead, I'll catch up." Marco nodded and picked up his pace, leaving Armin by himself.
"We're paired up," a monotonous voice spoke from just out of Armin's periphery. Jumping up, Armin sighed in relief when he saw it was just Annie, who had a small smile tugging at her cheeks, "why so worked up, blondie?"
"How do you know we're paired up?" Armin asked, readjusting his chest buckle and brushing invisible dust off of his shirt.
"Peeked at the lineup for today's practice last night," Annie answered coolly, " I knew that bald maniac wouldn't let us choose our partners after Reiner and Connie's performance yesterday." The blonde girl began walking off, "for the record, I probably would have gone with you anyway."
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The 104th was lined up again, this time with gleaming metal blocks attached to their hips and lower backs. "Alright you worms!" Shadis was at the front of the class on his horse again, "you should have all seen your pairings for today's 3DMG session, unless you happened to go blind." Gesturing behind him, Shadis continued, "cadets Ackerman and Hoover will show the techniques you will be going through, since they are our top two thanks to the rest of you slacking!" Mikasa and Bertolt dropped from a semi-distant tree and began weaving around each other as the headed to a wooden model of a Titan. Bertolt dove down and made motions like he was cutting around the Titan's legs while Mikasa dove behind the wooden figure and shot up again, slicing the cushion serving as the giant's weak spot.
"The object here is not taking down the target as fast as possible," Shadis explained, "if you ever see a Titan without crying away to your mommies, then you'll hopefully have someone backing you up. In this scenario, one of you should take out the Titan's legs and then the other will strike the final blow." Looking over his students, Shadis narrowed his eyes, "I chose this exercise because a good tenth of you are the worst team players I have ever had the displeasure of teaching." Kicking his horse, Shadis yelled out, "find your partner and head out! No swapping partners, I don't give a damn about who you want to work with! Hear a whistle, both you and your teammate have to quit!"
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"I'll go to the neck, you go around the legs," Annie nodded in the direction of numerous shouts and whoops, "we're staying away from there, no point trying to beat everyone else to a few unmoving targets." Pressing down firmer on the trigger in her hand, Annie accelerated forward, forcing Armin to increase his speed as well and follow her through the trees. "There," just ahead, a wood figures loomed.
"Wait!" Armin performed a hundred-eighty degree turn and landed on a branch which Annie followed him to, "look." As the duo watched, two other teens rushed the target but one was smacked out of the air when the wood dummy's arm snapped up, it's cushioned forearm slapping the student down one of the brown cushions surrounding the platform where the pseudo-Titan stood. One of the instructors whistled and the other cadet landed and began yelling at their partner. "We can't go straight to the neck, I guess it's a new training method," Annie brushed some stray bangs out of her eyes and huffed. "But I do have a plan."
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The instructor tending to the trainee that had been swatted down looked up at the sound of whirring gears and waved at her comrades, who were holding onto ropes connecting to the arms of the imposing wooden humanoid next to them. In a few seconds, two blonde teens came into view, whirling around each other as they circled the target. Holding up her hand, the instructor who waved swung her arm down when the smaller figure dove at the target, signaling the others to tug the ropes connecting to the giant wood arms above them, moving them to swat the rapidly approaching attacker. Pulling out her hooks, Annie vanished in a cloud of gas as the arm swung at nothing.
On the ground, small thumps signaled the falling of the ropes controlling the Titan. Quickly, Armin rushed in from a tree and sliced into the cushion behind the Titan's head. Unexpectedly, an instructor whistled and Annie and Armin exchanged a glance before swooping down to the ground. "Excellent work," the woman who was attending the two recruits greeted the two blondes. "Rico Brzenska, Garrison Regiment. I was sent to help look over your trainee squad's work and assist in operating our new practice targets."
"Thank you ma'am," Armin offered a hasty salute, "but why call us down?"
"Shadis told me to call down any recruits who were able to work well and take down the new targets in one go, you have the rest of the day off." Annie's eyebrows twitched up in surprise, "drop off your gear where you got it. Dismissed."
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Chapter Text

Armin was slumped over his desk, idly flipping a snow globe. Watching the fake snow fall sent a cold shiver up the blonde's spine, and he glanced at the foreboding clouds outside the window of his study. Moments later, his window opened and a figure clad in dark clothes slipped in. Jumping out of his chair, Armin hit his head on his lamp and fell back into his bookshelf, pushing a pile of hardcover books off of the shelf's top. "Nice moves, blondie," the mystery figure stepped up and offered a gloved hand, "need some help?"
"You need to stop doing that, Annie!" Armin took the hand as Annie pulled down her hood and loosened her scarf, "you'll give me a heart attack sooner or later, and what's with the getup?"
"It isn't just snowing in your trinket there," Annie heaved Armin upright and watched as he steadied himself. "It started coming down on the other side of the city, Reiner and Bertl decided the best way to stay warm was by sharing body heat, in other words -"
"Got it, got it," Armin clasped three of the fallen books to his chest and hefted them up onto the shelf, "anything I can do for you? Drink, food, place to stay?"
"Yes, yes and yes." Annie shuffled around Armin and easily lifted the remaining four books onto the top of Armin's bookshelf, "if it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all!" Armin checked all seven books and patted the one on top, "I'll set some soup on, ah!" The curtains of the still open window flapped wildly as a strong gust carrying a flurry of snow and sleet swept through the small room. Hurrying over, Armin pressed the window shut and rubbed his hands together, "cold, cold."
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Annie crouched by the electric fireplace in Armin's neatly organized living room and fussed with the power switch. In the nearby kitchenette, Armin stirred a metal pot filled with steaming contents. "I wouldn't bother with that," Armin called, "it's been broken for," the fireplace clicked and began to flame, "weeks."
Looking over, Annie smiled, "broken because you haven't bothered to figure out how to fix it, or couldn't?" Armin waved his spoon in the air and Annie laughed, "haven't bothered, got it. You read so much, I figure you'd read instruction manuals."
"They're no fun," Armin explained, setting down two bowls of soup. "No story, just a list of numbers and words."
"You read textbooks," Annie pointed out, turning away from the burning fireplace, "how's the story of Sir Isaac Newton and the adventure of gravity going?"
Armin laughed, "my parents read me that when I was younger!" Taking a spoonful of soup Armin grinned, "just kidding, of course."
"I wouldn't really be surprised," Annie took a bite of the chicken in the soup. "Not bad, blondie. Reading recipes now?"
"Well, one of us has to be able to make soup without setting off every fire alarm possible," Armin laughed at Annie's responding glare.
"That was one time and it wasn't soup it was steak!" Annie took an angry spoonful of Armin's soup, "I don't want to be remembered for one food incident like Sasha."
"I have a feeling you'll be remembered for something else," Armin promised, stirring his bowl.
"And what may that be?"
"Breaking into people's houses," Annie huffed in faux annoyance. "And then convincing them to serve you dinner."
"I never convinced you to do anything," Annie pointed out, "you're just such a gentleman that you decided to serve a poor young woman like myself a warm dinner on a cold night." Armin grinned and leaned across the small table to kiss Annie's cheek.
"A poor young woman who likes to climb in through people's windows."

Chapter Text

The blonde man stopped his horse and gazed at was was before him off of the edge of a rocky cliff. A vast expanse of water greeted his eyes and the tang of salt struck his nostrils. Even after all these years, he was able to achieve his childhood dream of seeing the ocean. Unfortunately, the man had lost the three people he wanted to share this dream with.
Two of them died alongside the many people he lived and fought with for several years. Those two had saved him when he was a crying child, and he had repaid them with nothing but stories of a world just beyond their grasp. Both vastly outclassed him in strength, each could even look their enemy, their oppressors, in the eyes and fight on.
The Titans.
Those beasts had trapped the exhausted man and those dearest to him in a cage for his entire life. His parents had died trying to flee the cage. His grandfather, killed after They destroyed the Hell he was tormented in for his entire childhood. Even though he had worked since he joined the military to not be a burden, his two closest friends, his family, died protecting him. Yes, he wanted to see the ocean with all his comrades Jean Kirschtein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, Commander Hange Zoë, Captain Levi Ackerman, none of them survived the final battle, and it was all his fault.
Yes his plan had led to the demise of the Ape, Armored and Colossal Titans, but it also cost the lives of his comrades. Yes humanity was freed, but he had no one close to him to share the taste of victory with.
Annie Leonhardt, the third person he wanted to show the world to, was also dead. She had died upon exiting her self-made prison, avoiding torture and unavoidable execution by the government.
The man had managed to obtain her body after pleading with Queens Historia and Ymir, his only two remaining comrades but who were bound to the old territories by their new duties, and made plans to bring Annie to the ocean in a casket using a horse-drawn cart, which were now completed. Walking over to his duo of horses, the man removed their reins and set them free, watching as they galloped off into the field beyond. Now, for the final duty to his once upon a time love.
Digging a small trench, the man carefully placed the once feared girl's casket into the hole before covering her with dirt and smoothing out the area with his shovel. He then placed a pre-carved tombstone just above where the top end of the casket was located, reading in thin letters as, 'Here Lies Annie Leonhardt. A Good Person not to All, but to Me at Least.'
After sitting by the fresh grave for what seemed an eternity, the man stared at his now reached dream again. He saw a pair of geese flying as free as he once had. The man remembered when he flew with his friends and comrades through forests, across fields, and through storms with wings on their backs and freedom in their hearts. He had received injuries from the final battle as well, and he could no longer fly for they were to far out of reach for him to walk to.
But he still had his wings, and he could fly to them. The man walked over, and continued walking, right over the cliff. And for just a moment, before he flew off to another new world to soar with old friends,
He flew above his dream.

Chapter Text

When you’re with an Aries, be prepared for anything. Rolling her eyes at the short and unspecific horoscope, Annie continued to scroll through Zodiac Mind. Reiner often made jokes about her “obsession” with horoscopes, but now that he no longer lived with her Annie was free to do as she pleased. ”Bertolt can have that headache, I lived with him for ten years.” Next to her, Armin stirred in his sleep, his face nuzzled up against her outer thigh with his arms wrapped tightly around her calf. Smiling fondly, Annie ran her fingers through his thick blond hair and looked back to her phone.
When an Aries likes you they are pretty obvious. They are not subtle. Reading this horoscope had a different effect than the first, Annie was taken aback and looked back down at Armin, who slept on unaware of her now embarrassed state. Her father had been quite the cautious and superstitious man, and he had passed those traits down to his daughter with some differences. Fortunately, rather than never eating anything that wasn’t grown or hunted by them or a choice friend, Annie only inherited a now slowly decreasing social aversion and other habits; including Zodiac reading. ”Have I been too forward? I let him in fast… We moved in together after dating for only a few months.” Without realizing, Annie had balled up the hand locked in Armin’s hair into a fist, pulling his hair with it.
“Annie..?” Hearing Armin’s still-sleepy voice put Annie’s anxieties at ease and brought her focus down to him. “Why are you pulling my hair?” Noticing her fist’s entanglement in Armin’s golden locks of hair made Annie sigh, annoyed at how easily her control slipped.
“Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.” Quirking a brow, Annie followed Armin’s gaze to her still active phone screen. Knowing her secret was revealed, Annie sighed and leaned back so her shoulders met the carved wooden headboard and tilted her face up towards the ceiling, “Look, I read them for fun. I think they’re interesting -”
“You read Zodiac Mind?” The question was unexpected, and Annie looked at her boyfriend with surprise.
“Yeah, why?”
“I do too!” Snaking his hand up her leg and out of the blanket, Armin reached for Annie’s phone but found his reach was barely too short. Patting the space on the blanket as close to the phone as possible, Armin looked up at Annie over his shoulder with his best pleading eyes.
Annie shook her head and ran her fingers through his hair again, “The bags under your eyes really take away from that effect blondie.” When he opened his mouth to protest Annie just pinched his nose before leaning down to get the phone for him. Doing so left her cheek completely exposed to a surprise kiss from Armin, which he immediately took advantage of. Feeling Armin’s cold lips peck her cheek, Annie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then pinned him to the spot with her best glare.
“U-um…” Armin shrank back from Annie slightly, smiling at her sheepishly. Brushing the phone away, Annie repositioned herself so her face was above Armin’s and he was on his back. Moving her knee, she pressed it down into the mattress between his thighs, eliciting a small sound of surprise from the now blushing young man, “Well this was unexpected…” Icy blue eyes still glared down at him, but Armin couldn’t help but continue to smile shyly beneath Annie’s imposing stare. No warning came as Annie closed her eyes and allowed her head to fall onto Armin’s chest, causing him to let out a small noise of surprise from the sudden weight. The unexplained change in behavior made Armin’s expression change to one of worry and his heart pound, “Annie, what’s wrong?”
“I’m so weird… I take things like horoscope posts seriously and I have a ton of bottled up emotions. It’s like I’m constipated 24/7.” Pressing her chin into Armin’s ribcage Annie looked out of their bedroom window, at the rolling gray clouds in the sky, “Really I don’t get why you stick around me blondie, do you have a fetish for freaks or something?” Silence met Annie’s ears and she sighed, ”I knew he was too good to be true… I expected to much of this, of him.” Bringing her hand to the opposite side of Armin’s hips Annie moved to push herself up off of him but stopped when she felt his hand on her cheek. A shift in body mass told her Armin was sitting up, and when she looked up she found herself gazing up the slope of his torso to his face. He was balancing on his elbows, more heavily on his right since his left hand was on her cheek for some reason.
“Annie, being different and liking different things isn’t something to be ashamed of! You have your ideas and interests and that’s not a bad thing! It’s only natural to-” Mockingly harsh laughter cut Armin off, and he tilted his head in confusion, “why are you laughing..?”
“I, I don’t know!” Rolling shakes of laughing made Annie’s sentences fragment, and she buried her face in Armin’s abdomen as the unexplained outburst subsided. Feeling the last laughs leave her, Annie turned her neck and looked at Armin, her eyes narrowed to hold back any tears that may spill over and a tired grin pulling her lips skyward, “You see? That right there is not normal. Breaking out into laughter like that… You might as well call a shrink and have me brought in for mental testing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with something like that, it’s natural for-”
“Is everything natural?!” Pushing herself up with the hand next to Armin’s waist, Annie pushed him down by pressing the other heavily onto his chest and straddled her hips on top of his. Looking him in the eye, Annie pressed heavier onto his chest leaning in close enough for stray strands of her hair to swing down and brush against his increasingly pink cheeks. “I could kill you like this Armin, there’s nothing stopping me. Do you really want someone like me in your life?”
“Of course..!” Armin’s voice was growing wheezy due to lack of oxygen from Annie’s compression, but he still looked at her unflinchingly.
“Why?” Her question made Armin glance to the side, which Annie assumed to be a response meaning he had no reason. No, she wanted to hear him admit to it. “If you don’t say it, I will kill you right here and now.”
“The timing’s all wrong, I had a whole plan for telling you…”
“Telling me what? Some cliché shit like you love me?” Immediately, Armin’s face grew ten shades redder, and not from oxygen deprivation, his wide eyes and pursed lips made that quite clear. “Oh my fucking god…” Leaning up off of his chest, Armin took a quiet but deep breath, not wanting to reveal the extent to which Annie’s pressure had impacted his breathing. Refocusing his vision, Armin immediately saw Annie still sitting on his lap, with her head in her hands and shaking back and forth. “Of course, it had to be that didn’t it? That just makes perfect sense. Of course I’d threaten to kill you over something like that, that’s me isn’t it?”
“Annie…” Despite the, albeit quiet, interjection, Annie’s frantic murmurings continued ceaselessly. Biting his lip, Armin contemplated what to do, and at one second an idea came to him. One that could either go incredibly well, or terribly wrong. “This does seem like a ‘me’ kind of plan…” Leaning up and ignoring the soreness in his sternum, Armin sat up as best he could and wrapped his arms around Annie, who stopped murmuring after a few seconds in the position but did not move her hands from their spots on either side of her. “I do love you, even if you don’t believe me I really do Annie. I wanted to tell you next Tuesday, it’d have been three months since we’ve started dating by then.”
Taking in all of Armin’s words, his explanation, Annie just sighed and pressed her face into his shoulders, ignoring their surprising boniness, “You’re so damn cliché, you know that? It’s a good thing you’ve got looks because you are hopeless romantically.” Lifting her hands up, Annie placed them on Armin’s upper back and clenched them onto his plain white night shirt, “Don’t ever change, got it?”
How Annie phrased her opinion on Armin’s planned confession compared to what she asked him was contradictory, but Armin got her point clear enough. Giving a small nod, he rested his chin on Annie’s shoulder, her muscle serving as a pillow of sorts, but very firm. “She has more muscle mass than I do… Well then again, so do most people.” “I won’t change if you don’t Annie, sound fair?” A quiet hum signaled an agreement, and Armin sighed in happiness, “I love you…” The words slipped out so easily Armin hardly registered he said it until seconds later. When he opened his mouth to try to apologize, Annie nudged her shoulder up to startle him.
“Love you too, try not to overthink things. Just let it happen for once, don’t plan everything so meticulously.”
Armin didn’t know what to say, for once he was at a loss for words. She loved him back? It was almost unbelievable. Thinking on his feet, Armin snidely said, “Well, I planned out our first date! That worked out nicely, didn’t it?”
“Did you plan for the waiter to spill my drink on me so I would just have to go to your place and shower?” Armin blushed at the memory, and looked off to the side with a drawn-out “eh” kind of noise. “I had a good time though, and every time after. Each day with you has been different which is good, something interesting happens every time. Like when my idiots and yours teamed up to spy on us.”
That memory made Armin laugh out loud, closing his eyes due to the wideness of his smile. “Eren got so into it, he wore a fake mustache and everything!”
Armin’s laughter made Annie smile as well, and she shook her head remembering what Reiner had done thinking it would somehow be subtle. “Reiner wore that wig, and got one of Ymir’s dresses to top it off.”
“Oh yeah, didn’t it rip and that’s how we found him and Bertolt?”
“Mhm, on the front no less. Guess his man boobs are bigger than Ymir’s, Historia has a choice to make…” That got Armin laughing so hard he snorted once, which made him instantly stop, leaving both him and Annie in silence for a moment. After several seconds, both of them started chuckling uncontrollably, for reasons not having to do with the shenanigans of their respective pairs of childhood friends.
“Ahah, ah…” Annie smiled and hugged Armin close, keeping her face tucked away to hide her uncharacteristically broad grin. Tapping Armin’s back twice, Annie murmured; “I like this confession better than whatever you may have been planning.” Hearing those words made Armin smile so much his cheeks hurt, and his eyes closed so tight the inner corners started to tingle a little bit, “I love you, blondie.”
“I love you too, blondie.” At that Annie leaned back and regarded Armin with narrowed eyes and the best pout she could muster at the time. Fearing he had said something wrong, Armin gulped, “Wh-what?”
“Blondie’s my nickname for you, find something else.” Returning to her previous position, Annie mumbled through Armin’s shirt, “Knowing you, you’ll probably make an equation to figure out the best possible one…”
”Maybe that’s not too bad an idea…” There were 42 different ones Armin could think of at the moment, but he was unsure of which to choose. That would come later he supposed, and rather than think further he rested his chin on top of Annie’s head and began stroking the ends of her hair.

Chapter Text

Not this again, after three weeks they were still at it? Crumpling up the small slip of paper, Annie chucked it over her shoulder and took what she needed. The notes had been showing up in her locker nearly daily and showed no sign of stopping. Closing the locker and making sure it was sealed tight, Annie walked off to class, pushing the words on the paper out of her mind.
**********
Pursing her lips tightly, Annie ignored the inquisitive stare of Reiner Braun, by far the buffest young man in their school. Even though they were family friends, she felt no need to interact with him during school. Unfortunately, the memo failed to get through Reiner’s thick skull. “What’s bugging you today, Ann?”
“Don’t call me that.” The nickname had stuck once Reiner heard her father say it once. Hearing a blatant chuckle behind her, Annie resisted the urge to drive her elbow straight into his Adam’s apple.
“Answer the question~” A small poke to Annie’s back made her sit straight up, turning around to face Reiner. Grinning broadly, he waggled his pencil between two fingers, “What’s up?” Without a word, Annie pressed her index finger just below the tip of Reiner’s pencil and her thumb slightly lower on the opposite side. Looking him dead in the eye with a blank expression, a quick flex of her fingers snapped off the upper section of the pencil.
“Stop bothering me,” Turning around, Annie resumed her earlier task of ignoring everything Ms. Ral said and writing random words in Russian on her desk.
“Бассейны в тундре”
Seeing what she had written, Annie quickly scratched it out with a furious expression so only a gray spot of graphite remained on the desk.
**********
“I’m telling you, you can’t go on like this!” Armin shied away from Eren, blushing from his lifelong friend’s accusation. “How’s she even gonna know it’s you?”
“That’s the idea, she won’t know it’s me. This way I can voice my emotions without actually having to say them aloud.” Eren ran his fingers through his already messy hair, totally at a loss due to Armin’s actions. Sighing, Armin wrung his hands together and looked up to count the tiles on the ceiling, “Six per row, one foot by one foot…”
“Armin, just tell her how you feel.” Mikasa spoke up from where she sat in a chair stolen from the lunch room.
“Yeah, before she kills all of us! You should’ve seen her in Bio earlier, she was absolutely fuming,” a tug on the sleeve from Mikasa drew Eren’s attention to her, “what?”
“Watch what you say.” Eren quirked a brow, wondering what she meant until he saw Armin’s tomato-colored face.
Hearing Annie’s reaction had only served in making Armin even more embarrassed, “See? All I can do is get her upset, there’s plenty of people out there who would make her happy…”
Letting out a loud groan that built up to a yell Eren tore up his hair before flinging his hands into the air, “You’re killing me!” Seizing his friend’s arm, Eren began running down the hallway with his best friend in unwilling tow.
“E-Eren! No!” Armin attempted to drag his feet and slow Eren down to a stop, but the determined teen’s charge was unstoppable. Looking after her two boys for a moment, Mikasa sighed before getting up and walking after them, picking up their bags as she went.
**********
Hiroyuki Sawano’s “DOA” played loudly through Annie’s headphones, the music barely audible to those walking past her from where she sat outside of the cafeteria. Burning through her homework for Bio, Annie was deaf to the rapid approach of Eren Yeager, who had Armin Arlert in unwilling tow. The two stopped beside her, at that point she noticed them but still chose to ignore them. Amazingly, she could hear the faint sound of Eren yelling her name through the din of her music, ”Dammit, these are supposed to be noise cancelling..” Pausing the playback Annie was immediately greeted with a loud cry of her name. Clenching her hands into fists and crumpling her paper, Annie looked at Eren out of the corners of her eyes, “What.”
Sensing the very apparent danger, Eren took a step back and elicited another escape attempt from Armin, whom he held firmly. “W-well you see, I came to tell you something-”
“Ah, it all makes sense now.” Of course it was Eren, it had to be him. The constant questioning about her techniques during wrestling practice, which were always met with flat refusals to talk. Putting down her notebook and standing up, Annie glared right through Eren, causing both him and Armin to widen their eyes in fright. “It’s you.” Sliding her right foot back and dropping slightly low, Annie took hold of Eren’s arm and inadvertently freed Armin. Reaching up she locked her other hand behind his neck.
“A-Annie, wait-!” Too late, she had performed a duck-under on Eren’s right side and proceeded to push him forward with the hand on his neck before kneeing him just millimeters above his genitals and sending him skidding on his face into the tile floor. “Oh, no…” As if they were in some science fiction show, Armin could practically sense the hatred emanating from the person just behind him, “Eren…”
“Annie.” Mikasa’s tone was just as flat as Annie’s, and her eyes carried very much the same intensity. Knowing what was coming, Annie dropped back into her stance. Wordlessly Mikasa responded by placing her right foot a shoulder-length behind her left and bringing her right hand to her hip, her left rising to serve as a guard. Behind Annie, a line of students began to come out of the cafeteria to see what was happening between the two strongest girls in the school.
Furrowing her brows, Annie began to shift her back leg in preparation for an attack as the entire student body held its breath. “And just what in the hell is happening here?” All excited whispers ceased as Keith Shadis, head of school security, walked onto the scene. Taking in the sight of Yeager on the ground, Arlert wringing his hands and Leonhart and Ackerman about to rip each other new assholes, he made a decision.
“You four, with me. The rest of you, if you all don’t get your asses back in there in five seconds-” Before the countdown even began, the students retreated back to their lunch tables, leaving Keith with the ghost of a smug smile on his face as he looked at the four students remaining.
**********
“So then, why are you four here today?” Erwin Smith, the student counsellor, regarded each of them through thin glasses. Looking to Annie, he nodded at her, “Annie, what was your reasoning behind flipping Eren here?” After waiting a few moments for a response, Erwin sighed at Annie’s ignoring him tucking his glasses into his shirt and giving the table a firm smack which made Armin and Eren jolt up in their seats. That got Annie’s attention, and she looked at him with new interest. “Ms. Leonhart, I will ask again.” Erwin’s tone now carried an apparent warning, “Why did you attack Eren Yeager and almost Mikasa Ackerman?”
For a few moments Annie remained silence, Armin silently pleading for her to respond before she got in trouble. “Eren has been leaving messages in my locker.” At that, Eren opened his mouth to retort but was silenced when Erwin raised a finger to silence him.
“What kind of messages, Annie? If it’s anything suggestive or derogatory I will surely punish him for it.”
“He’s been leaving small poems, haikus, to make it seem as if he has an interest in me.”
Now Mikasa spoke up, “That’s a lie! Eren would never-”
“It was me!” Armin rose from his chair and spoke with a volume that made him cover his own mouth out of shock. “I… I left those messages.”
Eren bit his lip to keep back his grin at Armin’s confession, earning a light elbow from Mikasa to keep him quiet. Annie looked at him with her face barely betraying anything, before standing up and taking a step forward, “Is this a game to you, Arlert?” Taking a step back, Armin contemplated what to say to her, “You cannot play me like you do other students in this building. You want to cover Eren’s back, that’s why you’re taking the blame here.”
“Annie.” Erwin’s continuously even tone was starting to wear thin on Annie’s nerves, partially because she could not hold up the same face right now. “He’s not lying to you, are you Armin?”
“N-no I’m not Mr. Smith, Annie…” Biting his lip, Armin clenched his hands into and out of tight fists, “I left those messages in your locker because I didn’t know how to approach you. I know I’m not much and you deserve someone way better than me but I couldn’t do nothing and I’m sorry for causing so much trouble and-”
A small chuckle from Annie cut off Armin’s frantic explanation, “Wow, for someone who was been a teacher favorite for years you are an idiot, Armin. Why would you think all of those things?”
“Well I guess it’s because I can never think straight around you and I have no idea what to do or say and um…” Rubbing the back of his neck, Armin’s cheeks lit up like fireworks, “I r-really do like you Annie…”
Erwin stood up behind his desk and walked in front of it, standing between Armin and Annie but back enough for them to still face each other. “Annie, I understand why you got upset over this, Armin should have told you.” A small mutter of agreement from Eren was met with another nudge from Mikasa, at which he rolled his eyes, “I can’t excuse your behavior though. You will get after-school detention tomorrow from 3:00 to 4:30. Armin, I believe apologies are in order?”
“I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you Annie, I understand if you dislike me for it.” Annie only shrugged and looked Armin over, causing him to look away nervously. To Eren and Mikasa he continued, “I’m sorry for dragging you two into this as well, I’m sorry I got you hurt Eren.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine! I’m just glad you finally confessed, seriously Armin waiting for that was excruciating!”
Erwin’s gaze tilted upwards at the clock bearing the school’s emblem, and he clicked his tongue at the time. “Your next classes start in ten minutes. Ms. Leonhart, I will see you after school tomorrow. Mr. Arlert, don’t do any more of this. While I can understand why you chose these actions, continuing them makes no sense.” With a wave of his hand, Erwin sent Armin and Annie out of his office, the former standing beside the door to allow the latter to exit and then waiting several seconds before leaving. Eren and Mikasa began to leave to, but stopped when Erwin continued speaking; “Mr. Yeager, go to the nurse and get something for your back. I’ll tell Coach Schultz why you’re missing practice. Ms. Ackerman, to class. I’d like both of you to do something for me; please, keep an eye on Armin. He won’t do anything else like this after today, but check what he plans to do next and then tell me. And, make sure Annie won’t harass him at all for this.” Both nodded, then left Erwin alone in his office to recover from the drama that had unfolded.
”I hope it works out for those kids…” Going back into his chair, Erwin looked at a small invitation he had been sent last year from the neighboring high school’s principal, Dot Pixis. A small cocktail party was being held at his apartment at 8:00 that evening, “I think I’ll have to take him up on that...”
**********
Several trips to the bathroom followed for Armin, as well as the need to get a spare inhaler after his ran out during the second to last period. Hands shaking still from what had happened as well as the questions people bombarded him with all day made opening his locker a nightmare. Three tries later and the door was opened, allowing for a small paper to drift down from the upper shelf. Fearing the worst but hoping for the best, Armin carefully unfolded the paper and stared at its contents
Ты убиваешь
меня Блонди , к счастью
для вас вы мило
A. Леонардт
For a few moments, Armin stared in wonder at the words on the page. He knew of one person fluent in Russian, but did not know the language himself. Carefully he folded the paper back up and put in in his pocket before grabbing his bag and closing the locker door slowly. Leaning against it with his hands for a few seconds, Armin pushed off and began hurrying to the library to look for a dictionary with Russian to English translation. From down the hallway, Annie watched him go, his hustle bringing a small smile to her lips, “мило.”

Chapter Text

Standing off to the side while leaning against the wall, Annie’s sought to avoid the swarm of people taking up her small apartment as she nursed her Guinness Golden Ale. Living with Reiner and Bertolt lent itself to large groups often gathering on any given day of the week. Mostly it was Reiner’s fault, but Bertolt had never once objected. Taking a drink from her beer, Annie continued to look over the crowd to pick out faces she could recognize. Ymir and Historia were there, with Ymir fending off random men who were trying to get closer to her girlfriend in spite of Historia pointedly ignoring them.
Continuing to people watch Annie picked out who she liked to call the “Shiganshina Three”: Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. All three had gone to the same high school, a separate one from Reiner, Bertolt and hers. His energetic personality as well as friendship with Reiner made it sensible for Eren to be there, Mikasa likely came along to make sure he did not pick any fights. Armin on the other hand… Maybe for Bertolt? The two did study together often according to her roommate, but Armin looked even more skittish than he did on the occasions Annie saw him going around campus out of classes.
Mikasa caught Annie looking and gave her a hard stare, which was returned. Ever since Eren had nagged Annie into helping coach him at the local gym, Mikasa was suspicious of her. ”Then again, when it comes to nagging I’m not sure who’s worse…” Out of the five sparring bouts Annie had with Eren, up until recently he had rarely beaten her in one round and came out with many injuries. Between classes Mikasa often approached her and warned her to be lighter on Eren, Eren had also told Annie Mikasa discouraged him from the classes, a fact which only confirmed Annie’s suspicion; Mikasa had a thing for Eren. Not that Annie would ever tell Eren, it was not her business. Besides, she wanted to see if he would ever figure it out.
There was the slight chance Annie was wrong though, she wanted an outside opinion besides the ones of Reiner and Bertolt. They both agreed with her hypothesis, but Reiner usually rolled with the potential for drama while Bertolt had a tendency to be somewhat of a yes man. Not many people talked to her often, she preferred to watch from the sidelines rather than be in the middle of a crowd. Bringing her bottle up to her lips again, Annie sighed and fogged up the neck of her bottle. It was empty, and the cooler was somewhere behind the mob. “Excuse me,” A voice from Annie’s right startled her and made her flinch, “s-sorry.”
Standing next to Annie was Armin Arlert, bearing a can of Diet Pepsi in one hand and a Corona Light in the other. ”When did he..?”
“I saw you standing here by yourself,” He explained, “so I figured I’d bring you a drink, but it seems you already have one…”
Placing the empty bottle on a nearby table with a lamp, Annie took the Corona and uncapped it with the knife she carried in her back pocket, “Thanks, but couldn’t you see me drinking that one?”
Reaching up, Armin scratched under his chin with his now free hand, his eyes following the polished blade. “I thought it would open up a conversation…”
Flicking off the cap, Annie put away the knife and took a long sip from her beer. Armin was famous for his overly philosophical way of conversing; Annie knew to get to the point or risk Armin flying off into a random topic. “Well we’re talking, so I have a question for you, does Mikasa have a crush on Eren?”
“Yeah… She’s not very subtle about it,” Looking over his shoulder Armin smiled at his Mikasa, who was watching as Eren began to dance amongst the crowd, “of course Eren is the only one who doesn’t realize. But honestly,” Bringing his gaze back to Annie, Armin gave a little thumbs-up, “I think Eren wants to be with Mikasa just as much as she wants to be with him!”
“What makes you say that?” Having her suspicion confirmed made Annie hunger for deeper information, especially since in this case the deeper information was not something she had predicted.
“Eren always gets protective around her when another guy comes along, you could say it has to do with how close they are but honestly… When that happens, I’ve never seen Eren get more upset.”
“That’s ridiculous.” The bluntness of Annie’s statement made Armin nearly drop the can of Pepsi he was trying to open, “If he likes her that much then he should buck up and do something about it.”
A chuckle from Armin made Annie quirk her eyebrows up, “That’s what I’ve been saying!” Opening the drink, he took a short sip and eyed Mikasa, who Jean had started talking to, “Watch this.” Moments later, Eren had come over and grabbed Mikasa’s arm, urging her away from Jean and towards the dancefloor, “Huh?!”
“Wow, he’s actually going for it,” Annie and Armin watched from the sidelines as, admittedly awkwardly, Eren and Mikasa began dancing together, “finally, watching them flop around like that was painful.” People began to space out around the duo, continuing to dance but keeping some focus on them. In the background Reiner yelled support to Eren while Sasha did the same for Mikasa. Their friend’s support made them laugh as well as Armin. Seeing how happy he was for his friends reminded Annie of when Reiner and Bertolt had finally gotten together and she could not help but crack a smile. Noticing Annie’s smile Armin blushed and coughed nervously, leaning back against the wall, “You’re fine you know.”
“H-huh?”
“You’re allowed to smile and be happy for them. I was when my two idiots finally got together. Unless of course you don’t feel comfortable around me, in which case you can leave if you want.” Caught off guard by the flippancy in the shadow of his friends’ achievement, Armin began to stutter, “You wouldn’t be the first, it’s fine.” Sipping on her beer, Annie looked off in the opposite direction of where Armin stood.
“I am comfortable with you, in fact I came over here to ask if, um…” Now this was an unexpected development, Annie had seen enough teen drama flicks with her childhood friend Mina in her youth to know where this was going, “wanted to dance with me...?”
Turning around to face Armin, Annie leaned her shoulders back and crossed her arms. Narrowing her ice cold eyes and glaring, the intended effect of intimidating Armin was immediate, but short lived as he recomposed himself quickly, “Are you fucking with me. Arlert? Don’t try to joke around here, I can promise it won’t end well for you.”
“I’m not messing around!” His raised voice attracted the attention of Marco, who was standing a few feet away. Shaking his head and giving a little thumbs-up, Armin assured his friend that all was well. Taking a deep breath, Armin scratched under his jawline again and bit his lip. “I’ve really wanted to get to know you better… You get the same if not higher grades than me, even though you sleep through every class we have together. I want to know more about you, I just have been nervous about talking to you since I know you’re way out of my league…”
“And who told you that?” Annie’s question, added to the fact her glare had softened to some degree, caught Armin off guard.
“C-Connie, I asked him for advice but -”
Cutting off Armin with a sigh, Annie locked her fingers together and pulled her hands above her hands in a slow stress that dragged out the sigh, “Y’know,” Letting her hands fall back down, Annie resumed her earlier position but had a small and smug smirk rather than her earlier glare, “if you wanted advice, Bertolt or Marco would have been your best bets; but Connie?” Shaking her head Annie sighed, “You’re no better off than if you had asked Eren.”
“I did ask Eren!”
Pursing her lips Annie pressed the tips of her right hand’s fingers to her forehead. Lifting her head back up, she shook her head at Armin with a smile tugging her lips even more than before, “Why would you, never mind don’t answer that. What did Eren tell you?”
Shrugging, Armin brought his left hand to his right shoulder and looked to the side. “N-nothing really… Just to be forward and tell you. See what happens.”
“I have to say, you did a better job of that than he did.” Walking a step forward, Annie frowned when she noticed the height difference of several centimeters between them. “Still… From what you’re saying it sounds like you were waiting quite a while. You sure you want to ‘see what happens?’”
Annie’s typical aloof attitude made Armin feel a confusing mixture of nervousness and excitement, her behaving like this was different than how she usually brushed people off. “Y-yes, of course!” The stutter in Armin’s voice made Annie snort in quiet laughter, the repetitive verbal tick growing on her, “D-do you want to dance?”
“Maybe once those two are done,” Nodding her head to indicate Eren and Mikasa, “this is there moment. Plus, everyone has been waiting for them to get their shit together for a long time.” The phrasing of Annie’s reasoning made Armin chuckle into his hand, “What’s funny, Arlert?”
“Nothing, just that you’re absolutely right,” Annie rolled her eyes, not believing his excuse but letting it slide anyway. Taking another sip of his Pepsi as Annie drank from her Corona, Connie noticed the two standing side by side. To Armin, he gave a little wave and said something lost to the cacophony of music and voices, “Thanks?!” Armin said back despite not hearing what was said to him. Meanwhile Annie blew at a stray bang that had crossed her eye before jerking her head to the side, looking away from Armin in the process. Noticing Annie had turned away, Armin looked to her and realized his response to Connie may not have been appropriate given the fact that Annie had not said yes to him yet, only maybe. “He means well, he’s just a little… Over the top sometimes.” As if to emphasize this fact, Reiner snuck up behind Connie and somehow managed to get down under him and then lift him onto his shoulders. As they rose Connie narrowly managed smacking his head into the ceiling by putting his hands and forearms up against it. In a chorus of laughter, Reiner slowly sank down into the crowd, Connie gradually vanishing from sight too. During his descent, he pointed his middle and index fingers at his eyes before turning the gesture to Armin.
“Sometimes, huh?” Bringing up her bottle, Annie killed the remaining half of her drink in one go, much to Armin’s surprise. Taking a hold of Armin’s hand, Annie looked at him, “Well? Are we going out there or not?” To both Armin and Annie, the moment they were in felt surreal. Nodding once, Armin walked behind Annie as she led him into the crowd. Of course, at this very moment, a slow song began to play.
“This one’s for all the couples out there!” Connie had taken it upon himself to add a song to the playlist for the express purpose of having Armin and Annie dance as soon as they were together on the floor.
“I swear, I had no idea he would -”
“Do you have any idea how to dance to a song like this?” Turning around, Annie kept Armin’s hand in hers, “You invited me out here, you lead.” Breathing in deeply to clear his head, Armin nodded. Removing Annie’s hand from his own, Armin put his hands on her waist after a moment of hesitation to see whether or not she would object. “Y-you can put your hands on my shoulders,” Armin suggested, remembering how his mom had taught him to dance when he was younger. Annie nodded and did so, looking at Armin the entire time they swayed and moved in a circle together.
Near the computer attached to the speakers, Connie and Reiner watched Armin and Annie dance with cheeky smiles on their faces. “I knew she would say yes,” Reiner assured Connie, “she brought up how annoying it was to have to compete with him for the top position in class. This was the first time she ever cared about that.”
“Sure you knew big guy,” Connie rolled his eyes overdramatically, scoring himself a shove on the head a shove from Reiner, “it’s not like I told you or anything.” Reiner flicked his ear this time, which Connie responded to by shoving his shoulder and failing to budge him and falling back a few paces after his attempt. Looking at each other for a moment following Connie’s failed shove, both boys laughed, Connie holding onto Reiner’s shoulder for support.
Hearing the laughter behind her, Annie recognized Reiner’s deeper voice and assumed the other to be Connie. ”They had better not be laughing at us…” Returning her focus to Armin, Annie noticed him smiling coyly and blushing bright scarlet. The sight made her smile almost unperceivably, noticed not by the people around her but by Armin alone.

Chapter Text

Another boiling hot day, another training session on the barren field located in the center of the 104th Trainee Corps’ living space. Today was a day for hand-to-hand combat skills, without the usual drill of taking a knife from your partner. Now they had moved forward and begun more complex fighting techniques. Many took the day as a chance to take a load off from the normal training, standing around talking or slacking off whenever Commandant Shadis was looking somewhere else. For those as enthusiastic as Eren, today was no different than if they were doing 3D maneuvering exams in a rainstorm.
Every so often Armin looked at Eren from his position nearby; his friend was doing training with Annie, his usual partner, while he worked with Marco. “Okay, it’s your turn to hit the move now Armin.” Refocusing himself back on Marco, Armin nodded and bent his knees in preparation for the attack they were practicing. Surging forward he angled his head down and brought his arms around to grip the back of Marco’s thighs.
The shot was sorely taken, Armin had held his arms too far apart and left himself open to Marco’s counter. Stepping his right leading leg back, Marco hooked his right arm under Armin’s left and twisted his hips to bring him to the ground. Upon landing Armin felt the wind go out of him, Marco completed the move by pressing his chest heavily on Armin’s and keeping him from getting up as well as taking in more air. The two boys remained on the ground like that for three seconds so Marco could ensure his positioning was accurate, and then he stood up and allowed for Armin to sit up and regain his breathing, “Sorry, I didn’t hurt you did I?”
Kindly, Marco held out a hand to his friend to help him up. Taking the offer, Armin allowed to be pulled up to his feet, “No, I’m alright. Good job on the counter, I need to keep practicing…”
“Yes, excellent reversal Bodt.” Keith Shadis’ monotonous yet intimidating voice sounded behind the two teens, surprising them both into turning around. Quickly marking down something on the clipboard he carried, Keith then looked back up with his usual furrowed brow and angry eyes. “Arlert, keep practicing! Seeing you run at him with your arms spread like some dumbass bird is driving me insane.”
“Y-yes sir!”
“I’d have figured that with your name you’d know to keep your arms close to your body.” The jab at Armin’s name made him look down in embarrassment, while Jean snickered behind him. “What’s so funny there, Kirstein?!”
“N-nothing sir!”
“Damn right it’s nothing, give me forty!” Knowing the repercussions of delaying, Jean dropped down and began to do push-ups while Armin and Marco watched. Giving Armin a tap on the shoulder, Armin brought his attention back.
“We should keep going,” Marco whispered, nodding to Keith who was still berating Jean, “or that’ll be us.”
“Right, it’s your turn.” Taking a stance, Armin waited for Marco to shoot at him. When the charge did not come, he rose up slightly, “What’s the matter?”
“You should keep going instead of me, I mean this in the nicest way possible-”
“But I need the practice,” Armin finished the sentence, he was used to it by now, “you’re right. Are you sure you don’t want to keep practicing on me though?”
“Positive! I want to make sure you’re learning too.” Smiling reassuringly, Armin nodded and looked across Marco’s stance for any flaws. Noticing his right shoulder was raised up slightly more than the left, Armin decided on his strategy. Latching onto Marco’s right bicep and bringing his other hand behind his head onto his neck, Armin held firm. Moving him from side to side, he successfully prevented Marco from reversing the control.
“Now!” Snapping Marco’s right arm up and causing him to let out a grunt of pained surprise Armin slipped underneath the opening, his right hand rushing down from Marco’s neck to his right leg. Rolling himself behind Marco and pulling him down simultaneously, Armin pushed his knee into Marco’s rear and forced him onto his stomach. As fast as possible, he kneeled in such a way that his toes locked under Marco’s knees and his hips were behind his.
“What move was that?” Marco asked, looking back at Armin over his shoulder with his face smeared with dirt and sweat, “I don’t remember learning it!”
“Oh, um… I learned it out of a book I found.” Out of the few books available in the trainee corps’ library, Armin had managed to find one including detailed diagrams of hand-to-hand techniques. Getting off of Marco and standing up, Armin held out a hand, “You’re not hurt are you?”
“No, I’m fi-ine!” When Marco reached up to take Armin’s hand, pulling forward aggravated his shoulder’s condition. “Maybe not…” He laughed, standing up on his own and rubbing his shoulder, “ow… I must have hurt it doing 3D training.”
“Bodt, step out,” Keith had returned, “go to the infirmary to check that shoulder.” In spite of his harsh attitude towards his cadets, Keith took injuries seriously. “Arlert, since you’ve apparently been holding back with your friend; I’m assigning you a partner myself.” Pointing to where Annie had flipped Eren to the ground again, Armin gulped at the prospect of fighting his overzealous childhood friend or Annie, who Eren constantly claimed to be the best fighter there, “Take Eren Yeager’s place, let Leonhart teach you some of her moves.” Not giving him time to respond Keith began to walk towards them, leaving Armin trailing behind. “Yeager, go work with someone else. Kirstein maybe, I don’t care who.” Eren nearly began to protest, but Armin gestured behind Keith for him to agree. Nodding sullenly, he walked over into the group of practicing teens.
Watching him go to ensure he did not come back, Keith turned back to the two cadets still with him. “Leonhart, I want you working with Arlert but further away from this rabble, I don’t want him running off. Don’t hold back.”
“Not a problem.” Brushing a stray bang out of her face, Annie looked Armin up and down. The way she made him feel simply by looking over him made Armin glance to the side, the dust on his cheeks serving as a cover-up for the dusting of red now present. After giving both Armin and Annie a stony glare, Keith turned away and resumed in corralling the other trainees. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Not bothering to wait for a response, Annie began walking in the direction of the forest where they typically practiced horseback riding and maneuver gear drills.
“Y-yeah,” Inwardly berating himself for his stuttering, Armin followed a few paces behind Annie. When they reached the edge of the woods she did not stop, causing some confusion for Armin, “Where is she going…?” Picking up his pace he followed her down a winding path, following her through the occasional bush and fallen branch, “U-um, Annie? Isn’t this far enough?” Before receiving a response, Annie stopped short of a small drop and Armin paused behind her. The two stood there for a moment, the blistering midday sunlight blocked by the thick leaves of the branches overhead. Nearby a noise like water over stones could be heard. Having such a serene place so close to the training grounds left Armin in awe, “It’s beautiful here…”
Not bothering to respond, Annie hopped off the ledge onto some step below. Curious Armin approached from behind and saw here jumping from one rock to another towards a small stream, which had carved out an indent in the forest floor. Eager to follow Armin began a slow descent down the rocks, nearly slipping several times. Having sat down with her back against a natural dirt wall Annie watched him with a blank expression, causing Armin to look down away from her. Reaching the ground Armin looked around to take in this mystical space, “You found this place? It’s amazing…” Suddenly remembering why they were granted permission to leave in the first place, Armin looked back at Annie; “But what does this have to do with training?”
“Nothing, that’s the whole point.” The curt response was unexpected as well as Annie’s demeanor towards their purpose here, “I’m tired from dealing with Eren, you know him so I figured you would understand. I come here when I don’t feel like dealing with everyone.” Raising her arms, Annie gestured around to indicate the small gully they were in, “If you want to work out go right ahead, but be quiet about it.”
“We are supposed to be doing this together,” In spite of the knowledge that he could not convince Annie to get up, Armin wanted to keep the dialogue going. Walking towards her, he continued; “How will we get any stronger if we don’t practice?” Annie looked up at Armin with bored eyes. Giving no warning or hesitation, Annie brought her knees under her and pushed off of her back foot at Armin, who tripped on a rock as she lifted his leg and pushed him down. Falling onto his back, Armin coughed for a second and attempted to sit up but found Annie had brought herself up so her chest held down his. Slipping her arm under his shoulder, Annie proceeded to clasp her hand on the back of Armin’s head to hold him down more firmly.
“I’m plenty strong already, in case you haven’t noticed.” Annie’s cool tone held a threat and it was clear to Armin. Her lips were just under his chin and he turned his head to the side to try and escape the hold she had on him. Repositioning her hand to have her fingers behind his ear, Annie succeeded in pushing Armin’s face against the dirt, “Why do you continuously try so hard? You aren’t getting as high scores as Eren or Mikasa and physically speaking you’re a mouse. Why haven’t you given up yet?”
Ceasing his vain struggle Armin looked at Annie out of the corners of his eyes. He already knew everything she had said, he knew others knew it too, yet she had not hesitated to say it. On one hand Armin admired her honesty with him, but the truth of the matter still stung. “I want… I want to make a difference.” Twisting his neck to the point where something made a small popping noise, Armin looked up at Annie in defiance even though tears had begun to gather in his eyes, “Staying on the side will change nothing. My friends are stronger than me and I know it, I have to get stronger too so I can stand on equal footing with and support them. I know the risks; I know I could die. That’s no reason to give up! Why die doing nothing but dreaming instead of risking something?” A tear slipped down Armin’s cheek, “I want to change this world, so I have to be willing to lose something in the process.”
Hearing Armin’s tearful confession Annie instantly thought of Eren, but this felt different somehow. Eren shouted his ideas at everyone around him in the hopes of changing someone’s mind, Armin was more reserved. Given how he was less out in the crowd than others like Eren and Reiner, he had no chances to speak like this with anyone but the select group he was closest with; two people. Releasing the half nelson she had on Armin, Annie sat up so she was on his lap looking down at him. Propping himself up by the elbows, Armin rubbed the tears out of his eyes. “You’ve got guts Armin,” Annie admitted, she could see the shock visible in Armin’s expression, “not many people can say what you are saying and mean it. How you push yourself is a clear show of you meaning what you say, I can respect that.”
“Th-thanks…” Still shell-shocked he watched Annie get off of him. Furthering his surprise, she held out a hand to him. Taking it, Armin was hauled to his feet and began dusting off his shirt and pants.
“I’ll help you out training, but only if we meet here, and not every day. People may get suspicious if the two of us are consistently absent together. At night, sneak out just after midnight and meet me here in the darkest clothes you have, understand?” For a moment Armin was still, mulling over what Annie had offered him. Then he nodded, and Annie nodded back. “Good.” Taking a step closer, Annie looked down when she heard a small noise and saw that Armin had stepped back a pace to match her advance. Choosing not to comment on it, Annie looked over Armin’s face. He was muddied and had a few small cuts on his cheek from her pushing him down against the earth, but his eyes were their usual wide and blue selves. Walking another pace forward, Armin fell back again in response but quickly moved back when he heard his foot hit water. Stepping up made Armin’s chest bump into Annie’s and sent his heart racing a thousand kilometers per minute.
Pursing her lips for a moment at the suddenly apparent difference in height, Annie grabbed the front of Armin’s shirt and pulled him in for a quick kiss directly on the mouth before releasing him. “I’m curious to see where this leads” Was all Annie said before turning away and beginning to head for where they had come from. Standing like a statue for several moments in an attempt to process what had happened, Armin snapped out of it and hurried after Annie.

Chapter Text

Stohess District, Wall Sina. Year: 850
“The people brought up from the underground city could be moved to this area here,” Using a thin metal pole to reach the opposite side of the map table, Historia indicated an area to the northeast of Wall Rose, “after the Titan appeared there, many people fled further to the south and west. I’d like for a small team of Garrison troops to be sent there to make sure the area has enough rooms. Commander Pixis, can I count on you for that?”
“Of course your highness, and please just Pixis will do. I will arrange for two squads to be sent on a patrol there, it has been two months since you and the Levi Squad of the Survey Corps killed the colossal-type Titan in Orvud District. If I may,” Receiving a nod from Historia, Pixis pointed to a spot to the north of Trost District, “near the training ground of the Southern Guild; there are clusters of forests scattered over a larger plain. Having a settlement there, and keeping it far enough to avoid problems with the training programs, would also allow for more goods to be produced for Trost’s recovery.”
Mulling over Pixis’ idea, Historia sighs; “You do have a point… Trost’s reconstruction is below sixty-five percent complete despite the growth in other areas of our Walls. I want those two squads sent to the area and report on how much logging can be done, Trost needs timber to rebuild the damaged buildings.”
“Excuse me, Hist- er… Your highness, I have a proposition.” Armin spoke up from where he sat beside Commander Smith, who had invited him into the meeting.
“Yes, what is it Armin?”
“Eren was telling us at dinner last night how our old commandant, Keith Shadis, knows something about his father’s past.” Mentioning Keith brought a small murmur of side talk into the room, his exiting the Survey Corps leaving him as the only commander to not have died in the line of duty to humanity, “Could the Survey Corps’ Levi Squad also be dispatched with the Garrison? We can talk to those in charge of the 105th Trainee Corps about our plans to settle near their grounds.”
“There’s one problem with that, boy.” A Military Policeman, who remained silent up until now, spoke up from the end of the table, “The esteemed Captain Levi and his squad left this morning.” Hearing of their departure, Armin widened his eyes in shock.
“They… Left me?”
Noticing the expression on Armin’s face, the policeman smirked. “Oh right, you’re with them yeah? Guess that’s what you get for missing the memo, oh well.” Shrugging, he leaned back in his seat as if he had no cares in the world.
“That’s enough. We’re through here,” All moved to stand up, “and you” pointing at the MP who had spoken Historia’s eyes became dangerously narrowed, “tell Commander Dok to send someone else to the next meeting. As well as a message for him to come himself, clearly his soldiers are not able to stay in line without someone keeping an eye on them.” The unexpected remark made Pixis snort with laughter as well as causing the policeman to grow red in anger. Spinning on his heel he stalked out, making a point to slam the door open as he went. “Armin, I’m sorry for how he spoke to you…”
“He was right; I should have known about the trip into Rose today…”
Placing his hand on Armin’s shoulder, Erwin smiled reassuringly, “You did not do anything wrong, Armin. I invited you here myself and told Levi you were coming, that’s why you weren’t told about them leaving.”
“But why didn’t anyone else tell me?” Keeping the question to himself, Armin gave as much of a smile as possible in thanks to Erwin’s attempt at improving his mood. “Thank you, commander.” Turning to face Historia, Armin gave a salute, “Thank you too, Queen Historia.”
Rather than salute back, Historia gave a wave of her hand, “No need to be so formal Armin, I’m the same person I was two months ago.” Giving a quiet apology and nod, Armin excused himself from the room and walked out of the double doors.
Navigating through the winding passageways of the government’s Stohess base, Armin eventually managed to make it to the front door. Stepping out into the cool autumn evening, he looked over the quiet city. Further out he could see buildings under repair and construction, “Even here the process is slow…” Following Eren and Annie’s battle many merchants had abandoned Stohess for fear of more businesses being harmed by future Titan attacks. “Annie…” Down the road a small, average looking building stood with a closed sign perpetually on the door. If someone were to go in, they would find a basement that led underground, to where Annie remained in her crystalline slumber.
Without thinking about or realizing it, Armin began to walk towards the building. Halfway down the block the door slammed open and an achingly familiar person rushed out into the middle of the road. “Annie?!” Armin’s shout caught her attention and she looked his way for a brief moment before returning her attention to a group of Survey Corps soldiers rushing through the door she had just exited. The blinding flash of light which occurred seconds later was accompanied by a terrific roar of noise and blast of wind. Covering his face Armin found himself blown off of his feet and onto the gravel road. Uncovering his eyes, he was met with a familiar sight.
The Female Titan’s hand was less than a meter from him and had a hold around his hips and torso mere seconds later. A whirring noise signaled the arrival of soldiers on 3D maneuver gear. Opening his mouth, no sound came out as Annie clasped Armin to her chest. Peering through the gaps of Annie’s fingers, Armin saw her quickly and efficiently dismember each soldier who attacked her. One unlucky soldier was grabbed in midair and squeezed so her blood sprayed out from between Annie’s fingers before being raised up out of Armin’s field of vision. Seconds later a deep gulping noise sounded behind Armin, Annie had swallowed her latest victim. “To steal her gear…” Knowing her intentions from Reiner and Bertolt’s actions in the past did little to soothe Armin, although now he knew she was killing with a reason.
With no warning Armin was slammed against the Female Titan’s chest, his hand touching a strand of muscle not covered by skin. Recoiling from the high temperature and odd fleshy texture, Armin was tossed back to her chest immediately. The tossing motion signaled Annie had increased her speed to a run, the noises of soldiers on maneuver gear hurrying behind. “She’s approaching an open area!”
“If we go to an open space, they can’t follow us on the gear!” Thinking back to the maps of Stohess Armin had reviewed before the original plan to capture Annie. “If I’m right, this is where Annie and Eren fought back then, by the church building… If we go from here; there’s a wide road leading to the Wall!” Grabbing onto Annie’s fingers as best he could, Armin hung on for dear life as he bounced up and down with the motion of her legs running. For a moment Armin experienced a feeling of weightlessness, his grip on Annie’s fingers loosening. Falling the short distance to Annie’s chest again, his head collided with her skin and then he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
**********
Coming to, Armin found himself sitting in the fork of a massive tree. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the dwindling light he looked around, finding himself to be in the Titan forest. Across from him Annie sat silently, her right sleeve ripped off. “Is this a dream…?” A pounding in his head said otherwise, and upon reaching up Armin felt a cloth wrapping around his head. Annie had torn off her sleeve to use as a bandage in order to stop the bleeding there. “Thank you, Annie.”
“There isn’t much use kidnapping you if you bleed out,” Her usual flippant responses made Armin’s chest ache, she was really back, “now, I have questions for you, Armin. How long have I been asleep, and what’s been happening in the world? Also…” Careful not to fall off of the tree, Annie walked over to Armin and kneeled in front of him with an accusing glare on her face, “why did you wait a month before telling the Survey Corps about me?”
So much had happened, Armin was unsure how to narrow everything down for her. “W-we found out Bertolt and Reiner are the Colossal and Armored-type Titans,” The news of her comrades being uncovered made Annie utter a quiet profanity, “we couldn’t capture or kill them though… They escaped with Ymir, who was also a Titan in hiding, and we haven’t seen them since. We discovered Krista’s real name, Historia Reiss, and identity as the true heir to the royal family. After overthrowing the false king, we restored her to the throne.”
Annie knew of Krista’s identity as the illegitimate daughter of a high-ranking nobleman, but the news of her belonging to the true royal family was unheard of. Ymir being a Titan Shifter came as a shock as well. “What about Eren? I assume he has made progress with his Titan powers, unless he finally gave it a rest or kicked the bucket.”
“N-no he’s alive, he was able to beat Reiner one-on-one and he learned how to harden his skin, like you did.”
It had taken Annie years to master the crystallization ability, and Reiner had been the only one in their village who she knew to have a naturally hardened Titan body. “How long was I in there?”
“… Over three months.”
“Really? Only three?” Leaning back, Annie looked over Armin’s features. Even though it had been such a short time his appearance had changed. There were frown lines across his forehead and near the corners of his lips, he had changed since she had last seen him. “How did Eren learn to harden his skin in such a short time?”
“Squad Leader Hange has been doing experiments with him, closing up caves… They’ve built a new weapon as well.”
“Hange… They were the one who nearly trapped me in Stohess back then.” If Hange learned too much about the secrets of the Titans it would spell serious trouble for Annie’s allies outside of the Walls. “Closing up caves? Of course, they want to plug the holes in Shiganshina… Erwin Smith was talking about answers regarding the Titans in Eren’s old basement there.” “New weapon? Do you mean that thing they put on Trost’s broken gate?”
“Yes, it works like a guillotine; crushing the napes of Titans who lean between the two large blocks to try and grab a soldier used as bait.”
“Interesting, but you skipped one of my questions.” To have advance in their technology was no small feat either, they had grown more dangerous in these short months than in the seven years she had lived in the Walls. Leaning in, Annie put her hand on Armin’s chest to push him against the tree trunk he was leaning on and earned a noise of surprise in doing so. “Why did you wait to tell the Survey Corps that I am the Female Titan?”
“I d-didn’t want to believe it was you…” Turning his gaze down and to the side, Armin’s bangs fell over his face, “I couldn’t believe it, sometimes I still can’t.” Looking back at Annie he asked; “Now, tell me why you attacked us on the expedition and why you chased Eren. And… Why you didn’t kill me.”
“My objective was to capture the coordinate -”
“Was?”
“- and bring whoever it was back to my superiors.” Annie finished, ignoring Armin’s interruption and pressing down on his chest with slightly more force but not enough to injure him or keep him from breathing. “Bringing down as much of the Survey Corps as possible was necessary to achieve my goal. If all of them attacked me together I doubt I could escape or survive. Eren having the Titan ability was unexpected, it stopped our advance in Trost but made it clear who we needed to capture.” Easing her hand from Armin’s chest, which led to him taking several deep breaths, Annie sat back on her knees. “Why didn’t I…? I’m not too sure myself. Maybe because I saw you during training.”
“During training?” Besides his falling behind physically and above average test grades, Armin found no reason for him to stand out. In any case Annie had received nearly equal scores to him on tests and far exceeded nearly everyone in training drills.
“There were plenty of opportunities for you to leave, but you didn’t. You wouldn’t have been judged harshly for it you know, they offered wagons to take people out. I was curious to see your reason for not quitting, and I figured letting you live would give me the opportunity to find out.”
“I wanted to make a difference, and to be like Eren and Mikasa. I know I’m weaker than the average person but that doesn’t mean I can just give up. Plus…” Armin’s expression became melancholy, “I have a dream of exploring the world. If all I did was wait for someone to grant me my freedom, then that’s no better than letting myself be protected by others.”
Laughing through her nose Annie shook her head, “You’ve got guts Armin, I’m impressed.”
“Thanks…?”
“But.” Yet again Annie leaned in, but this time her hands met the wood behind each side of Armin’s head so her face remained some distance from his, “You gave all that up, why? After everything you’ve gone through to get this far, you threw it all away, and why?”
“It’s selfish of me, but I put my own desires above humanity’s. I decided to go into the outside world by myself because that has always been my goal.”
“Yeah it is selfish, but I did something similar. I allowed someone who I knew could come between me and my mission to live because of my own desires.” Closing the gap halfway, Annie hesitated out of fear that Armin would reject her. He sat still for a moment out of surprise and disbelief, then leaned in and tenderly planted his lips on hers. Bringing his hand up he entwined it in her hair, which was down rather than in her signature messy bun, to bring her close to him. For what felt like a much too small length of time; the two remained kissing each other before breaking apart, “I’ll take you to the outside world, I can’t go back home after failing.” Annie’s voice was breathy from their kiss and Armin’s acceptance of her despite her actions, “And you can’t go back after betraying by coming with me, plus the Titans out here.”
Armin nodded, his throat tight due to the prospect of the times ahead. Mostly he was happy though, and excited to see the world, “Okay, I’m ready to go. I’ll stay with you, Annie.”

Chapter Text

“Come on Annie, just try it!”

“Nope, no way in hell am I putting my hand near that thing.”

“Please?” Armin begged, “I promise that he doesn’t bite!” In the glass terrarium in front of the two blonds, a tarantula sat quietly under the leaves of a small plant. Armin turned away from Annie and knelt in front of the tank, “Isn’t that right, Julius?” As if he were answering, the tarantula waggled his short forelegs at his owner.

Annie watched their exchange with disgust and a small degree of concern for Armin’s level of sanity. “Nothing on this good earth should have that many legs, that much hair, or that many eyes.”

Armin pouted and put his hand against the glass, “She didn’t mean that,” he soothed. Julius did not seem to care either way, and rotated himself left and right with slow movements of his longer six hindlegs. The repetitive motions made Annie feel queasy, so she looked pointedly in another direction. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Julius had stopped turning and was staring directly at her with his forelegs slowly drawing circles in front of his hidden mouth. Annie’s eyebrows rose and she slowly turned her gaze to Armin, who was looking up at her with his signature doe-eyes. He raised his hands to either side of his mouth and slowly began rotating his fingers in front of his mouth. “Please feed me, Annie,” He whispered in an overly innocent voice.

Annie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. Armin’s smile broadened when he misread her body language as a sign of her giving into his wants but it vanished when she turned and walked around Armin towards the door. “W-Wait a minute, Annie!” Hurrying to his feet, Armin rose behind her and stepped forward. His foot slipped on the worn blue rug lain in front of his door, and he careened headfirst into his bookshelf.

Quick as a flash, Annie hunched over Armiin and shielded him from the falling books, which included a particularly thick volume from Encyclopædia Britannica. Once the books had finished falling, Annie leaned back and knelt in front of Armin, who had curled up with his left hand over his head. “You okay, tiger?” Annie asked, reaching behind herself and putting pressure on the spot where the corner of Britannica had struck her.

“I’m hit…” Armin groaned, weakly moving his right hand, which was half-covered by Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “I don’t think I’m gonna make it…”

Annie gasped dramatically and rested her hands on Armin’s shoulders, “Is there anything I can do for you, my dear?”

Armin let out a fake cough and looked at Annie weakly, “There’s only one thing... Please, take care of my son when I’m gone.” With that, Armin let his head loll forwards, closed his eyes, and sighed.

When a moment had passed, Annie inhaled through her teeth and patted Armin’s shoulders, “Yeah, that’s not happening,” Armin’s response was a low groan, “come on.” Annie slid her right hand under his armpit and eased him onto his feet. Acting like a deadweight, Armin leaned against Annie’s side as she walked him across the room. On the way, they passed Julius’s terrarium. The spider was now atop a gray rock, sunning himself beneath the heat lamp. Annie grimaced at the thing, and the way its eight red eyes lacked pupils, like they were soulless.

Armin lifted his head and whispered in Annie’s ear; “Someone still needs to feed him, bearcat.” Luckily for him, Annie had already brought them to Armin’s bed, where she tossed him. He landed on his side, but Armin quickly righted himself and sat upright on his elbows with his legs dangling off the side of the bed.

“Do you really have to?” Annie asked, kneeling forward so that her knees met the bed on either side of Armin’s waist. Her hips came to rest on his lap and he was forced to look up in order to see her face. She reached behind her head and undid her bun, then shook out her now free hair and raised her eyebrows at the boy before her, “Hm?”

“I mean…” Armin stammered. His eyes were wide as saucers and his mind felt like it had turned into pudding, “Maybe not right now?” Annie smiled at her victory and kissed him on the cheek, then moved closer to his jawline. Armin’s hands moved to her lower back and his head naturally leaned to the side. Over her shoulder, Armin saw Julius looking at them. ‘I’m sorry’ He mouthed at his tarantula. The spider made no motion in response, but he continued watching. Armin’s breath caught in his throat when he felt Annie’s hips move slightly and he quietly made a waving gesture with one hand as he felt himself leaning more backwards.

Julius watched for another second, then turned and crawled behind his plant.

Chapter Text

Day 2: High School

Messages

Tiger: Any plans for the last few days of summer? Senior year starts in T minus four days!

Annie blinked at her phone, trying to decipher the hieroglyphics of Armin's five-hours-old message. With a tired sigh, she turned her phone off, then back on and read the time.

13:23, August 21, 2017

The barely concious girl groaned and sat up in bed. As if it had a mind of its own, her long, platinum blonde hair swept almost entirely over her face and blocked her vision. Annie let out an inhuman sound and pushed her hair backwards. Once she had blinked the stars from her eyes, Annie stood and walked out of her room. As she went, she put her phone into the loose pocket of the grey sweatpants that she had stolen from Mina.

The house was noticeably silent, and Annie realized that her father had not bothered trying to wake her for early morning exercises today. When she entered the kitchen, Annie noticed a yellow Post-It on the refrigerator.

Gone for the day, be sure to practice your basic kicks in the back for 40 minutes. Be home at 2145

Annie re-read the note from her father twice before tearing it off of the refrigerator and tossing it onto the floor. The still-tired teen made a point of stepping on it as she opened the metal door. She found two hardboiled eggs with their shells still on and a small carton of blueberries, took them out, and shut the refrigerator. When the door shut, her phone buzzed twice. It was not hard for Annie to guess who it was, so she put her late breakfast on the counter and pulled out her phone.

Messages

Tiger: I'm not doing anything today if you aren't :)

Annie half-smiled at the message and unlocked her phone.

To Tiger: Woke up late, if I was doing something would you be too?

Tiger: Possibly, but probably not :P Is that a no, then?

To Tiger: What time can you be over?

Tiger: ~15 minutes, do you want me to bring anything?

To Tiger: Nope just you

Annie put her phone facedown after she sent that message, not wanting to see Armin's response. 'I need to talk to Reiner less…' She thought. Her childhood classmate and at-times confidant took pleasure in giving her unwanted advice for flirting with boys, and it often appeared when she was texting Armin while tired. Still avoiding her phone, which had vibrated again since her latest message, Annie picked up her food and brought it into the living room, where she quickly devoured it.

Once she had finished eating, Annie swept the bits of eggshell into the empty blueberry carton and carried the trash back into the kitchen. She emptied the contents of the container into the regular trash bin, then brought it to the sink where she rinsed it. 'It doesn't take much to help our world!' Marco Bodt's cheerful message from the previous schoolyear's environmental club grated in Annie's mind.

'He's right, I guess,' Annie reasoned as she shut off the faucet, 'and it's the least I could do to rack up some good karma.' Mechanically, she tossed the empty blueberry carton into a small cardboard box that she had set on the counter for recycling. It shifted the empty beer bottle that her father had put in the night before and made a small "tink" sound.

With the trash put away, Annie stretched and picked up her phone to check the time. The message that she had evaded earlier was waiting for her on the lock screen.

Messages

Tiger: Just you and me? ;D

Armin had left his house and was walking hurriedly down the road with his face still hot. He had felt an uncharacteristic surge of boldness before he left his house to go to Annie's and sent her what he felt was an overly risqué message. "I shouldn't let Connie or Jean give me advice anymore…" The blond teen lamented.

Luckily, Annie had not responded and there was no Read sign next to the message so Armin figured that she had not seen it. 'But she turned off her read receipts a long time ago...' Armin recalled with a grimace, 'I messed up, that was such a creepy thing to say.' Tormented by his anxieties, Armin nearly walked right past Annie's house but a buzz from his pocket jolted him to a stop.

Messages

Bearcat: Yep, my dad's out for the day ;)

In the meantime, Annie was slouched over in her kitchen with her forehead pressed against the cold countertop. "Reiner Braun, get out of my fucking head." She muttered, her hand tightly clenched around her phone, which was still on her and Armin's Messages page.

A few moments later, there were three quiet knocks on the door. "Annie?" Armin's muffled voice called, "Could you open the door, please?"

Annie took a deep breath to recollect herself and rose from the counter. She attempted to brush her bangs from her face as she approached the door, but they fell back to their starting points almost immediately. Annie nearly choked when she saw the Armin's wide blue eyes peeking through the half-circle window at the top of her front door. "Jesus christ, Armin," She breathed as she unlocked and opened the door, "you nearly scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry…" Armin said sheepishly, "I was wondering where you were."

"It took me like five seconds to get to the door," Annie stepped aside so that Armin could enter, "where did you think I was?"

"Out back exercising?" Armin offered. "Showering? The possibilities are endless, really."

"Uh huh…" Annie replied, watching as her boyfriend removed his shoes and set them beside the doormat, "well my dad's out late tonight, so I'll practice later."

"R-right…" Annie's reminder brought Armin's mind back to the message that he had sent to her earlier, "um, Annie?" She had started walking into the living room so he followed her, "About the message that I sent you earlier…" Annie stopped where she was and kept her back to Armin as he continued; "I'm sorry if that was too forward of me, I wasn't thinking straight."

There was a moment of silence before Annie smiled and turned around, "I was thinking of saying the same thing to you."

"Really?" Armin laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, "Why's that?"

"Reiner's been giving me 'advice' recently," Annie sighed, falling onto the couch, "it's not good, but I follow it sometimes when I'm not thinking or if I can't think of anything else to say."

"I've been having the same problem!" Armin said happily and sat beside Annie, "Well, sort of. Connie and Jean have been trying to teach me how to talk to girls too, and sometimes their advice appears even if I didn't want it to."

Annie looked at Armin blankly before responding, "Okay, I understand why you'd go to Connie for advice since him and Sasha have been a thing forever, but Jean?"

"Jean seems like he knows what he's talking about!"

"Then why hasn't he tried to use his charm on Mikasa?"

"What do you mean?" Armin asked, not picking up what Annie meant.

"Nothing," Annie sighed, leaning against Armin's side. On reflex, Armin's hand slid behind her back and rested on her hip. "You don't need anyone's help," Annie said, "you've always been perfectly fine when you're talking to me."

Armin blushed, "Thanks, the same goes for you, bearcat." Annie hummed at the nickname and stretched her left leg out. The two of them sat comfortably on the couch for a few minutes, with Armin lightly tracing lines and circles on the waistline of Annie's sweatpants with his fingers. Suddenly, Armin remembered what he had brought, "Oh, I got something for you!"

With a groan that communicated just how much she did not want to move, Annie leaned back and looked at Armin with half-closed eyes as he dug into his pocket, "I thought that I said 'just you' earlier."

"I know but I had extra school supplies! Here," Armin held out his hand to Annie. A small yellow pencil sharpener with a keychain attached was in his palm, "You always asked for me to lend you my pencil sharpener last year, so I figured that this might be helpful for you!"

Annie took the small item without saying anything. She looked at Armin's sunny face and then back at the sharpener. In her mind, she went over whether or not to tell him a secret of hers. "I broke the tips of my pencils so that I'd have an excuse to talk to you in class," She admitted, not looking up out of embarassment, "The only other way that I could get your attention was by throwing the pencils at you."

Armin's left eyebrow went up after he heard Annie's confession, "That was you?" He asked.

"Mhm."

Without warning, Armin wrapped his arms around Annie and buried his face against the back of her head. "That is the single cutest thing that I've ever heard."

Annie blushed furiously, but she did not bother to push Armin off of her. "I'm not cute," She muttered, only half joking. In response, Armin pressed his lips against the back of her neck and Annie leaned her head down and back to escape. She remained in Armin's embrace, but now their eyes were level. "You're pretty cute though."

Armin's cheeks became slightly rosier and he pecked Annie on the cheek, "Not as cute as you," he murmured against her skin. Annie growled in reply, so Armin kissed her cheek with slightly more pressure.

Chapter Text

She was superior to him.

She was superior to him in what seemed like every way. Her skill on the 3D manuever gear was nigh unparalleled, her hand-to-hand skills far exceeded any of their peers', and her dexterity with the flesh-paring blades was perfect from day one. Even in the classroom, where he felt the most confident, she outshone him at times. All of this, and yet –

"I'm impressed. For a mouse, you've guts."

She, the girl who everyone categorized as aloof and cold, complimented him out of the blue for no reason. He knew that it was a genuine compliment, since she avoided speaking unless she deemed it necessary.

"Uh, thanks I guess…? You know, I'm beginning to expect that you care more than you let on."

"Huh?"

"It's just, the way you're trying to discourage us from the Scouts. You're looking out for us. Is that why you're joining the MPs? I bet you think you could do some good there too, huh?"

"No, not really. I just want to live. The only person I'm looking out for is myself."

'Annie...' Armin thought as he looked down at what appeared to be Marco's gear, 'You always were a bad liar.'

'And that… Is your only vice.'

Just over one month later, and Armin stood halfway down a dark tunnel with Eren and Mikasa by his side and Annie looking down at them from the sunlit entrance, alone.

"Annie, tell me." The trembling boy said, flare gun in hand. "What were you doing with Marco's ODM gear?"

Quiet.

Eren looked back and forth between his childhood friend as his once-upon-a-time sparring partner with his mouth agape at this new detail. "It had all the same dents and scrapes. See, I helped him with maintenance so... I know you used it.

There were a few more moments of silence, and then:

"Yes, I found it. Found it, and took it."

"Then... Those two Titans we had in custody…" Armin's grip on the flare gun's handle tightened, "It was you that killed them!"

Annie's mask of aloofness reappeared, quickly hiding any show of emotion with a cold, unconcerned stare at a reflection in the window of an empty rowhouse: "No one knows. But if expected of all this a month ago, why did you wait this long to say anything?"

"Because even now, it's difficult!" Armin's throat grew hoarser as the atmosphere began crackling with tension. "I just didn't want… I didn't want to believe that I was right. So I stayed quiet…" Armin had been looking up the dark stairwell at Annie until this point, even though she was staring blankly at a something just out of sight.

Within the span of ten minutes, the quiet street where there was once an open tunnel into Wall Sina's underground passageways was in chaos.

"Annie!" Armin yelled at the looming figure of the Female Titan. The giant glanced away from the crushed body of a just-killed soldier, "Are you going to kill me or not?! I seem to remember you making a wager, well here's your chance to make good on it!" Now Annie faced him directly, and Armin's eyes widened at how hurt, how human the mask of her Titan form was.

Taking advantage of the opening, Jean swooped down from the sky and brought down his swords, but the strike was effortlessly blocked by Annie's crystallized hand. He grimaced and pulled away. "Armin! Follow my lead!"

"You got it!" On foot, Armin ran towards the suddenly stilled Female Titan before activating his 3D gear. As he rushed past her knees, he spared a glance at her face. Her sky-blue eyes were fixated on him, her jet-black pupils followed him as he sped past. Still, the corners of her lips were pulled downwards in a very human frown.

In the aftermath of the battle for Stohess District, Armin had a moment alone. 'What could be driving a person to do what you did…?' The boy-turned-soldier wondered in the hall of Stohess' Garrison headquarters.

"Armin," Jean cut into his thoughts, walking from the direction of Eren's room. "He's awake."

"Oh, yeah, thanks…" Rising from his seat, Armin walked to his comrade's side. The duo then headed towards the room where Eren lay resting after his violent clash with Annie Leonhart.

"I still can't believe it," Jean sighed, rubbing his temples. "She wasn't anyone's best friend by any means, but she was still our classmate just a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, it's a little sad." Jean snorted and dropped his hand to his side. They walked in silence for a few moments until the shorter teen spoke again, "But, she must have had a reason. Something gave her the strength and the courage to fight that hard."

"Heh, well I'd love to hear what that 'something' is. Too bad she decided we don't deserve to hear it."

"Yeah, too bad…" Armin glanced at the sky between the pillars of the open-air hallway. He could just barely make out the top of Wall Sina from over the roof of the parallel passageway. 'Annie… You're from out there, aren't you?' He thought, 'One day, maybe I'll find the thing that gave you the strength to fight in this backwards world.'

"Eren told me about your theory." Armin piped up from behind Annie, who had her back pressed against one of the supporting columns of the training camp's belltower. "About how it's strange for people to practice killing Titans so that they can run from them more easily."

"Oh?" She asked in a disinterested tone. Annie tilted her head back and regarded Armin from over her shoulder, "And what do you think?"

"Well," Armin began, his hand rising to his chin. In the meantime, Annie turned to face him and leaned her shoulder against the side of the column, "You're right. It's a backwards system, but you have to factor in that before Wall Maria was broken down, only people in the Scout Regiment had any reason to have supplementary ODM training. No one else expected to have any encounters with Titans."

"I see," Annie mused, "so they realized that they would need more capable soldiers closer to the nobility in case the Titans got further in?" Armin nodded, "That's pretty selfish, don't you think? Meanwhile the rest of us are left with drunkards from the Garrison regiment as our first line of defence."

Armin shifted on his feet, "Th-They're not all like that…" Annie's only response was a quiet hum as she pressed her toe against a cricket, which quickly hopped away. "Anyway, it's impressive that you were able to figure out the hidden reason for why the system is how it is."

Annie closed her eyes and sighed, the light blush on her cheeks hidden by the murk of the cloudy night, "You give too many compliments, Arlert." The blond boy chuckled and glanced around himself nervously. "Where are we going tonight?" The girl asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, right!" Armin's face lit up at her question and he pointed into the darkness behind him. "Connie told me about a spot by the lake where wild blueberries grow, you want to give it a look?"

"Sounds good."

Chapter Text

"How much further?" Fallen leaves crunched and hidden insects chirped as a pair of golden-haired teenagers passed through one of Wall Rose's few remaining natural preserves. The land had been saved from human developments by the arrival of the nearby training camp, which made much of the surrounding area into the private property of the crown.

"Connie said that it should be right around here!" Armin called from a few paces ahead. His voice rang through the quiet forest like a bell, but he spoke in a hushed tone despite their isolation. "Shhh," Both he and Annie stopped where they were and listened.

For a moment, Annie thought that they were being followed and tensed her muscles to flee. If she were caught off-base, after hours, alone with a boy, her score would plummet as would her guaranteed ride into Wall Sina. However, she noticed Armin's calm stance and relaxed slightly, allowing her to focus on the sounds of the forest around them. Slowly, Armin's head turned to the right and Annie followed his gaze. Only then could she hear the murmuring of a nearby creek. "You said this place was by the lake."

"W-Well…" Armin stammered, caught off-guard by the sudden accusation, "it's near the lake!"

Satisfied, Annie merely shrugged; "Lead on, soldier boy." With a nod, he adjusted his course in the direction of the sound. Annie followed a few paces behind, glancing in the direction of the increasingly distant barracks.

"You can go back, if you'd like." The quiet tone of Armin's voice surprised Annie, who had become accustomed to the sounds of the world around them.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You seem nervous," The boy said, his voice barely revealing the emotion that his observation instilled in him, "I understand if you want to go back. It'd be bad for your score if we got caught sneaking out, right?"

She hated how easily he could uncover her thoughts, as if he were reading her like a character in a book. That perceptiveness was fitting for him, since Eren often ignored his surroundings and charged headfirst into things while Mikasa would sideline every task in order to follow him.

'Where do I fit into that equation?'

"No, it's not that." Annie replied, withholding her musings. "I'm just," Her explanation halted when she could think of how to get her companion's mind out of the dark place where he often took it, "cold…" The blankness of her tone left a foul taste in Annie's mouth.

Armin turned around with a raised eyebrow, "You're… cold?"

"Yep."

"In July?"

With a sigh, Annie crossed her arms across her chest and shook herself where she stood as an act to go with her white lie. "I get cold at night sometimes, I left my hoodie on my bunk."

"Oh!" Armin had failed to question the absence of Annie's signature hoodie. Instead, she wore the standard white pants of the Trainee Corps and a worn, grey shortsleeved shirt. "I'm sorry," He said, fumbling with himself in the dark, "here."

Although she could vaguely make out what he was doing, Annie said nothing as Armin fumbled with his brown sweater-vest. She quietly watched as he pulled the light piece of clothing over his head, leaving him with just a thin, collared longsleeved shirt. He held the sweatervest out to Annie by the collar, and offered a shy smile. The blonde girl looked down from the offering, then back to Armin. "Won't you be cold?" She asked, half-hoping that he would say:

"No, it's not so cold out!" Armin fulfilled her expectations, his smile broadening in assurance.

"Alright, thanks then." Gingerly, Annie took the vest from Armin. She fit her arms through the appropriate holes, then her head through the bottom. Her torso flexed forward as she slid into the top, which was slightly small on her. Absentmindedly, she fiddled with the left shoulder of the vest before noticing that Armin had looked away and was blocking his face with his left hand. "What?"

"N-Nothing!" Armin stammered, his face beet red. He had caught a glimpse of Annie's lower abdomen when she was putting on the vest and quickly looked away out of respect for her.

"'Nothing,' wouldn't have you stammering like that." Annie retorted.