Chapter One – Announcement

It was a day that everyone dreaded.

The day where that one thing people had been avoiding since the beginning came to light.

It seemed even the anxiety was stuffing the air, making everyone in the room glance nervously at each other. There was no escape; no way to wiggle yourself out of it. Eventually the tension came to an end as the situation was put into words.

Mr. Erwin Smith strolled into the classroom, blonde hair in place as always as he sat down behind his desk. He placed his large hands onto the desk and cleared his throat, raising one of his bold eyebrows. The class immediately sat up straighter, fearing the next words coming out of his mouth.

"Good afternoon class. Today we will begin working on our final for this class."

A small groan spread throughout the classroom. Someone slammed their head down on the desk, a sound that represented all their agony. His eyebrow shot up even higher. Why had he decided to work with high school kids? He didn't even know. He gave a small shake of his head and continued.

"As I'm sure many of you know, the final project consists of working with a partner in taking care of a baby. But not of an actual baby, of course."

He stood up and walked over to a small closet on the side of the board. He disappeared into the tiny room and returned with a box marked PROJECTS. He ripped off the tape from the top and bent down to pick one of the projects out of the box. In his hands was a baby, or a figure similar to a baby, dressed in simple baby clothing. Sighing he set the baby down on the desk and turned to the class.

"I will be assigning your partners randomly. Now don't give me those faces! I'll have you know I've had nothing but great results from this projects! I've set people up that to this day are still dating!"

In the back of the room junior Eren Jaeger rolled his large, turquoise eyes. Forget that dating mumbo jumbo this was absolute bullshit. He had been told by his upperclassmen friends that the baby project was probably the worst part of the course. According to them, you were practically forced to work with someone and raise something that isn't even alive. He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head.

"This is such bullshit."

Beside him, his blonde best friend Armin turned to face him with wide blue eyes. "Eren, this is for our final grade for this semester! Maybe you should take this more seriously . . ."

Eren rolled his eyes again and pushed off the chair, landing back on the ground with a gentle thud. Mr. Smith had begun taking out the baby simulators and placing them on the desk. He grabbed a roster from his drawer and called for the classes' attention. His blue eyes flickered from student to student as he spoke.

"Alright like I said before, the pairings will be random. Let's see . . ."

He cleared his throat and began calling off names. "Alright Sasha Braus and Connie Springer!"

From the table next to Eren's the duo shot up, exchanging glances. A slow grin began to form on Sasha's face, eyes twinkling with joy. She dashed to the front, wheeling a confused Connie with her as they were handed a baby girl and given a packet with the project information. Eren scowled; the two were practically together so the project would probably be easy for them. Erwin checked them off and continued.

"Okay now Franz and Hannah come get your baby."

Was Mr. Smith seriously putting all the couples together? Eren's frown deepened as he watched the couple step up and take a baby boy. He crossed his arms and muttered under his breath, "Like I said, total bullshit."

The names continued on; much to Eren's surprise, Mr. Smith did pair some random people together. There were people who never exchanged a glance that were paired or duos who had only shared a few conversations. He was amused, however, when Armin was paired with Annie Leonhardt, a petite blonde who always seemed disinterested. Eren laughed as Armin stood up shakily and walked up to get their baby girl.

"Way to go, Arlert!" Eren whooped as his best friend returned. Armin had had a crush on Annie since middle school and was constantly flustered when she was around. He glared at Eren and hissed, "Shut up Eren you're not helping the situation."

Eren was still laughing so hard that he almost didn't hear Mr. Smith call his name. He was about to stand up when he heard who he was paired with.

"Ah yes, Mr. Jaeger. You will be paired with Levi Rivaille."

Eren froze. He heard Armin snickering beside him. He turned his head sharply, eyes narrowed. "Oh God you deserve this," Armin said in between snickers.

He let out a gust of air and stood up, letting his head hang down. Was this real life? He took another breath of air and strode up to the front, eyes trained on his teacher. His eyes flickered to the small figure standing beside the desk, arms crossed across his chest. Just breathe he kept telling himself.

"Wait a minute Mr. Smith, they're both . . ."

"I was waiting for someone to comment on that."

Erwin flashed a dazzling smile to his pupils. "Because of the times same sex couples will be included! What a time to be alive, isn't it? Regardless of orientation and gender anyone can get married. Absolutely glorious!"

Eren tried hard not to roll his eyes in front of his teacher. He turned to Eren and said, "You know Levi, right?"

Of course Eren knew who Levi was. The midget was the bane to his existence, the Kryptonite to his Superman. He had known Levi since middle school and had hated him from the second he had walked into the room. Who was this kid, walking around acting like he was the best? The one thing that really ticked Eren off was the kid's sarcasm. It seemed like every sentence that he uttered was laced in it; couldn't the kid be serious for once? Plus why did the kid always look so bored all the time?

Eren gave a tense nod and hastily grabbed the packet from Mr. Smith. Levi gave an almost inaudible sigh and rolled his eyes. It seemed their teacher just wanted to torture him. In his eyes Eren Jaeger was the biggest absolute brat in the world. The kid had the worst temper; just dropping a pencil could set the boy off. Also the kid never seemed to shut up. It seemed he couldn't walk anywhere without hearing his loud, obnoxious voice. And his sense of humor? Terrible. Absolutely terrible.

"Well good luck you two! Next couple will be . . ."

As Eren trudged back to his desk he heard a snicker, followed by a snarky voice saying, "Hey Jaeger, looks like you got yourself a new boyfriend!"

He snapped his head towards the source of the voice. Jean Kirstein, his childhood rival since elementary school, was smirking at him. Eren felt his fingers twitch with the urge to punch him in the face. He took in a deep breath and snarled, "Shut it, Horse Face. I'll make you regret those words."

Before Jean could respond he heard Mr. Smith call his name. The two boys turned to the front of the class where their blond teacher was scanning his clipboard. Smiling he said, "Ah yes, Mr. Kirstein you will be working with Marco Bodt."

Eren covered his mouth to stop the loud laughs from escaping. "What were you saying, Horse Face?"

Jean flushed. Marco was his best friend and the two were basically inseparable. There were whispers that the two were more than "just friends" but Jean was quick to fight the rumors. Marco, on the other hand, was the sweetest guy in their grade and didn't think much of it. The freckled boy smiled at Jean and simply said, "I guess we should go get our baby."

Jean's face flushed even more at his statement. He gave a slow nod and walked with Marco to the front. Meanwhile Eren had arrived back at his seat and slumped into it. Armin chuckled and patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Well at least it's only for three weeks," he said, trying to comfort his best friend.

"Three weeks is a long time!" Eren complained. "At least you're working with someone you like."

Armin blushed and stammered, "Well, I-I mean I g-guess."

Once the couples had been put together Mr. Smith proceeded to put the leftover "babies" away and stood in front of his desk. "The handouts I gave you have the guidelines and the grading scale for this project. It also has some advice for both parties on the baby. Now there is one thing I did not have a chance to discuss that is in the handout."

He sat down on his desk. "Now if you will turn to the last page of the packet. Both people in the group must put their name at the top. This is a log of time the two of you have spent with the baby. It is a requirement that you spend at least four hours together a week taking care of the baby!"

A chorus of anguished moans filled the room. Frowning Erwin stood up and began walking through the classroom. "Please, listen to me! Raising a baby includes the help of both parties. That is why I decided this. Also! It is also required that you bring the baby with you to school as well. You have to figure out with your partner who will have the baby and when."

Eren laid his head down on his desk. He decided in that moment that this Health class was truly hell. Mr. Smith continued to talk a bit more about the project until the bell rang. Everyone awkwardly shuffled over to their partner and began planning the project out. Armin's face was as bright as a tomato as he walked to Annie who, like always, seemed disinterested. Sighing Eren figured there was no way he could put this off. Armin was right; this was his final and he definitely couldn't mess it up.

Most of the class was already gone by the time he got to Levi's desk. The shorter male was turning the baby boy over, examining every square inch of it. He gave a brisk "tch" before looking up at Eren. His eyes narrowed a bit as he realized who had approached him. Frowning, Eren tried hard not to snap at him. Sighing he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Look, I'm not looking forward to this as much as you are. Let's just get this over with, yeah?"

Levi's eyes narrowed a bit more. His pupils were barely visible through the slits.

"Listen up, I'm not putting up with your bullshit any more than I need to. You got that?"

Before Eren could respond he stood up and strode out, baby in tow. Incredulous, the brunette followed after him and yelled, "Hey! Wait up for me, you asshole!"

Levi stopped in his tracks and whipped around to face Eren. "What did you just say?"

Just great. It hadn't even been three minutes yet and the two were already arguing.

"Can you just calm down for one second?!"

"I am calm, Jaeger, you're the one who started all this!"

Several people walking by in the hallway were beginning to eye them strangely. They must have been an odd sight, with Levi clutching a baby haphazardly and Eren yelling his head off. After a few minutes of arguing they eventually fell quiet and waited to see who would break the tension. Sighing Levi adjusted the baby in his arms and glared at Eren.

"I'll take care of the baby until the bell rings. Meet me at my locker so we can work out a schedule of sorts. My locker is by the gym."

He spun sharply on his heels and stalked off, leaving a relieved Eren. At least he's gone for now he thought to himself. He ran a hand over his face and realized that today was quite possibly going to be the longest day of his life. If the long day didn't kill him, he was more than sure that Levi would.