I do not own Attack on Titan.
AN: I'm definitely not going to finish this or write any more of it, but I really liked the idea and wanted to get it down. It's actually been half finished on my computer for months and I recently found it again. If anyone likes the idea, feel free to make it your own. I kind of didn't know how to add in Armin, but whatever.
I could barely walk in the damn things.
I mean, obviously, they weren't meant for walking in. I mean, they're stiff-ass boots with huge fucking knives on the bottom. 'Blades,' Mikasa would've corrected me. Whatever. If I couldn't walk in them, I had no idea how I was supposed to skate in them. She was crazy to think that I was going to get on the ice with her, but I didn't have much of a choice as she dragged me by my gloved hand.
I felt ridiculous. Hockey gear was the most awkward thing you could ever wear. There was a cage on my face, huge pads on my shoulders, and there were cushions in the pants that made me feel like an old lady scared to bust my hip.
"Don't be a baby," she murmured as I stumbled.
I didn't bother giving her a response. My dignity was about to be shred away anyway, for the moment she pulled me onto the ice, I knew I was a goner. I wasn't prepared at all; I landed on the frictionless surface with one foot, which instantly flew out from under me, resulting in my face flying towards the ice at an alarming speed. I squeezed my eyes shut, wincing for my nose to hit when there was a loud clang and my head bounced before settling on the floor. I blinked, only realizing that the cage to my helmet was what had saved me, but I had no idea how to get up.
I could see Mikasa's skates beside me, still upright. She was telling me to get up in a hush-hush kind of voice, but my face was red and I was embarrassed beyond belief. I'd rather just lay there forever than face the other skaters, who had probably seen the whole thing.
I hadn't even been on the ice for five seconds when I heard the scraping sound of blades against the ice coming closer, and I realized another skater was coming over, probably to see if I was alright. That being said, I was totally unprepared for the sound of an abrupt stop right before the cage protecting my face. My eyes opened wide and I cried out as ice plastered my whole face. The combination of the force of the ice and its temperature felt like a slap, and it was fucking freezing. I instantly turned over and went to take off my helmet, struggling with the buttons on the side before throwing it off, ignoring it as it slid across the ice to join my stick
"Eren!" Mikasa dropped her stick to kneel down beside me, eyes full of concern. "Are you alright?"
I wiped my face with the rough sleeve of my jersey, beginning to shiver. "I'm fine," I mumbled, sniffling. I lifted my head to see who the culprit was, and I knew it was the person who kicked the ice in my face because they were practically cackling as they skated away, kicking my helmet like a soccer ball as they went. He passed it on the ice to another tall skater, who passed it to another guy.
Mikasa watched too, and turning to her, I could see that she was starting to get a little angry. Me? I was just mortified, no big deal. But Mikasa quickly got to her feet and gripped at her stick, ready to rescue my helmet before she paused, blinking at the guys.
Turning to see, I realized that a short guy with a dark green jersey was gripping the guy who'd ice'd me by the front of the jersey and was real close to his face, saying something that I couldn't quite hear. The taller backed off, hands raised defensively, and the shorter guy bent down to pick up my helmet.
He was incredibly graceful, gliding over before calmly stopping away from my face, and I looked up to see his face as he offered me my helmet. His face was actually downright scary; his eyes were narrowed, seeming almost nearly black, his expression looked permanently angry, and his black mouth guard made him look like he was sneering.
But, the guy averted his eyes as I took the helmet from him, placing it back onto my head. I had no idea what he was about to say, because judging by his actions, he would say something nice, but by how angry he seemed, he could be a total dick head, so I wasn't really surprised when he brought his hand up to take his mouth guard out and said,
"Get up, brat. It'll happen again if you stay down."
But his actions contradicted his words as he offered me a hand to help me up and I hesitantly accepted it. He was stronger than he looked and he hefted me up with little strain, though I wobbled dangerously. Mikasa caught me, of course, and I realized, standing on the guy's same level, that he was a lot shorter than me. He must've realized I was eyeing his height and narrowed his eyes at me before skating off, kicking my stick back to my general direction on his way.
Mikasa made sure I could stand without falling before quickly bending down to pick up my stick for me. She transferred it to my hands, making sure I was holding it properly, and told me to use it to keep balance.
I didn't have enough time to question what the fuck that even meant before another player came up to us.
He had his stick in one hand and was sheepishly rubbing the back of his helmet as he laughed. Peering closer, I realized there were freckles on his face and he actually looked nice, which was certainly new around here.
"I'm sorry about him, er, the guy who got ice on your face. That was Jean—He's really rough with the newbies, but I'm sure he means well! I'm Marco, by the way. Are you guys gonna be joining our team?"
He spoke with his mouth guard still in, causing his words to be kind of muffled, but I couldn't blame him for not taking it out. There was a black cage on his helmet like mine, unlike the previous guy who only had a plastic shield above his eyes.
"Yes," Mikasa answered before I could say anything. I deadpanned.
"That's great!" Marco lifted his stick a little in celebration, his orange mouth guard showing as he grinned. "We really need more players before we can play an actual game since our roster isn't big enough, so we all really appreciate this!"
A shrill whistle blew and Marco jolted in alarm before giving us a nod, gesturing for us to follow him as he skated off to the other side of the rink. Mikasa took my arm so that I wouldn't fall again and slowly but surely, we made it, which was damn embarrassing with every eye of the team impatiently waiting for me to join them in the line against boards.
"Alright, brats. Looks like we've got some new players today. I'm Coach Levi, now introduce yourselves."
He was the coach!? He barely looked tall enough to be a player. How old was he anyway? And was he always that harsh? Granted, he did help me up, but I had a feeling this guy was going go really hard on the tough-love act.
Holy shit, this was going to suck.
