Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin
Glances
Annie Leonhardt was strong and smart stone faced woman with the nickname of Ice Queen. Nothing could really make her laugh, cry or even smile and absolutely nothing would be able to catch her off guard.
Or so she had thought before a certain chain of events took place.
It had been going on for a while now. Whenever she was training, doing chores, eating or simply going for a walk she could feel eyes on her from time to time. It was no constant staring, more like subtle glances from time to time, but it still annoyed her. Annie knew that whoever was watching her was one of the guys, for she never felt those pair of eyes on her in the girls' cabin. That didn't help much tough since most in the 104th trainee squad were guys.
So who could it be?
It might have been Reiner or Berthold keeping an eye on her, but she doubted it. The glances she was given were subtle, but those two wouldn't have a problem staring at her openly if they so decided.
Eren Jaeger, then? No, it just couldn't be. He didn't seem like a subtle guy and besides, she always felt someone's eyes on her when she trained with Eren; there were no exceptions. So he was on clear waters, but who else could it be? She didn't really interact with anyone but Eren, and that too was because he insisted to train with her.
But who was it? She didn't usually speak unless spoken to, and those three were pretty much the only guys who spoke to her. Some of the girls seemed to try being her friend, but she ignored them since she didn't need friends. Right now she only needed to find out who was watching her.
It was at dinner that Annie felt it again: someone's eyes on her again. She wanted to find out who it was, but every time she tried the person was already looking elsewhere, so this time she decided to try something new. Picking up her knife she used it as a mirror to look behind her to see who was watching her, raising an eyebrow as she recognized the culprit. Armin Arlert, pretty much the weakest guy in their squad, was looking at her from the corner of his eye. She put the knife back down, losing interest. Arlert was weak; whatever he had in mind wouldn't be able to harm her.
XXXXX
At first Annie had decided to leave it be, thinking that Armin would stop soon enough. However, it had been two weeks since Annie found out who was watching her and he still hadn't stopped. Needless to say, she was starting to lose what was left of her patience and these useless combat training sessions they were forced to be on didn't help either. At the moment she secretly hoped that Eren would come to challenge her just so that she could blow off some steam by beating someone up. Sighing slightly she turned around to leave, only to lock eyes with Armin who was looking at her from a little further away. After Armin realized he had been caught he turned his head away in hurry, making Annie scowl. Forget about Eren; she was going to beat up the person who was guilty to her bad mood in the first place.
"Arlert" she said to get his attention after reaching him. The boy's bright blue eyes looked at her, clearly nervous "Spar with me."
The look in Armin's eye turned in to disbelief; he definitely hadn't been expecting that. Why would she want to spar with him anyway? She was one of the strongest in their squad while he was one of the weakest; everyone knew that. He'd be no match at all for her!
"Uh Annie, you should spar with someone else, like Reiner or Mikasa. You- you'd just take me down in seconds." Armin stuttered, not eager to get beat up by a girl 10 centimeters shorter than him in front of everyone. Plus, he hated bruises.
"I know that" Annie said, getting in to a fighting stance "So spar with me"
Armin gulped; it was like she just simply wanted to beat him up. But what reason would she possibly have to-
"Oh" the thought hit Armin like a thunder. At some point she had caught him staring at her, and now her patience had ran out, so she wanted to show him his place. Armin sighed; he had thought he'd been able to hide it from her amazingly well, but looks like he wasn't so good at it after all.
"All right then" Armin said, going to a battle stance. He knew that he deserved the beating that was about to come.
XXXXX
"Hey guys, come check this out!" Connie yelled to Eren and Rainer, who stopped their spar for a moment "What is it, Connie?"
Connie motioned for them to come over and they did, seeing that everyone else had stopped sparring and were now watching two people who were still going all out.
"Who is it?" Eren questioned and he and Reiner went closer to get a better look at the sparring pair, their eyes widened at the sight. Annie was standing her ground, her hands dirty and bloody while Armin was half sitting on the ground, bruised with a bloody face.
"Get up, Arlert" Annie ordered and the boy did so with difficulty, managing to block Annie's next punch only to be sent back to the ground as she kicked his legs out from under him "Up."
"Annie that's enough!" Eren yelled, going to stand between the two blonds "Are you trying to kill him!?"
"It's okay Eren; we were just sparring" Armin assured, but Eren had to agree with Connie who said: "It looked more like one sided attempt at murder."
"Don't put in into other people's spars, Jaeger" Annie simply said, ready to literally throw Eren out of the way if necessary. However her attention was caught by Reiner who took a hold of her shoulder "That's enough Annie; you'll kill Armin at that rate."
The two entered a staring, or in Annie's case glaring contest before the shorter blond finally looked down, giving up. She left the scene without a word.
"Geez, what a bully. Why'd she have to beat up Armin of all the people? It's almost as bad as beating up Christa!" Connie voiced his thoughts, making some people nod in agreement. Armin looked down, fighting back tears of frustration and embarrassment. Did he have to say that out loud? He knew he was weak, everyone knew that, but he tried so hard to become stronger. Why did his every spar always end up with him eating dirt?
"Are you okay Armin?" Reiner asked, kneeling down next to him "Can you stand up?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" Armin said, falling on his knees as he attempted to stand up "...but I might need some help."
"Looks like it" Reiner said, picking the smaller boy up. The others laughed as he said: "I don't need this much help; I'd be fine with just some support."
"Nonsense; it's almost time for dinner anyway, so we have to get you patched up first." Reiner said "And it would take forever from you if you walked on your own."
Arming sighed, knowing he'd lost. He also had the feeling that he was going to hear about this for a long time...
XXXXX
"I always knew that Annie was a bitch but I never thought she was such a bully" Connie said at dinner "I mean seriously, she beat up Armin of all the people. Everyone knows he doesn't stand a chance!"
As much as Armin wanted to tell Connie to shut up, he didn't. He wanted him to stop calling him weak, but supposed it wouldn't happen any time soon. However, at the moment he was more worried about Annie than himself. She didn't really seem to have friends and she certainly wouldn't have them after this. Armin felt guilty; it was his fault that people were avoiding Annie even more, not to mention he had deserved a little lesson... well, he supposed Annie did go a bit too far. But he asked for it with his actions; he wasn't going to hold it against her. He also hoped that she wasn't mad at him anymore either.
"No kidding; it's like horse attacking a mouse" Reiner put in, obvious to Armin's discomfort. The blond boy didn't like being compared to a mouse.
"Guys, it was not like that" Armin insisted "We were sparring; she wasn't trying to kill me or anything."
Or at least that's what Armin hoped.
"Well if she starts bitching at you just tell me and I'll kick her ass" Eren said. Armin thanked him but couldn't help but add: "But I think that if you'd try you'd be the one to get your ass kicked."
"Agreed" Reiner answered with a laugh, making Eren scowl "But seriously Armin, if she tries to beat you up again then come to us; surely we can handle her together."
"Damn right!" Eren cheered, hitting his palm with his hand. Armin sighed; this didn't go so well.
XXXXX
Annie got her dinner and went to sit at her usual table, across from Mina Carolina. They weren't friends or anything, but this spot was always empty so it had pretty much become her habit to sit here. Usually Mina and the others sitting at the table would say something like "Hi Annie", but this time they all kept quiet, not that Annie minded. She did register the looks the others gave her though. Later she noticed that she was getting lot of those looks, the disapproving and disgusted ones. She wasn't stupid; she knew that this was about her beating up Armin. The anger of Armin's friends was understandable, especially if they didn't know of Armin's staring habits, but everyone else gave her those looks, too.
Well, almost everyone.
Annie gave Armin a glare as she caught him staring at her again. He hadn't stopped his bad habit after the beating, but it hadn't changed the looks he gave her disgusted or even angry, but he did seem a little afraid of her. That suited her just fine, but if he didn't drop this habit of his soon he was so getting another beating.
"Annie's looking at Armin again" she heard Mina whisper to Hannah "Do you think we should go tell Eren to watch Armin's back?"
Annie resisted the urge to glare at them instead of Armin. She taught one nosy boy a little lesson and now she was the bully of the squad? Life was just wonderful.
"Probably; there's no way Armin could handle another beating like the one last week" Hannah said "But then again if Annie finds out we warned Armin we might be her next targets."
Those two were idiots, for the lack of better word. Didn't they really realize that Annie could hear every word they said?
"You're right; we should let it be."
Annie scowled, muttering under her breath: "Spineless cowards."
XXXXX
It was after some training in the woods as Annie just happened to look at Armin's direction. He was covered in sweat, handing out towels to everyone else. Annie would never understand that boy; he was clearly more exhausted than the rest of them and yet there he was, handing out towels to everyone else who could do it just fine on their own.
"Annie, do you need a towel?" Armin asked. Annie didn't need to look around to know that all eyes were on her. What were they expecting her to do? Beat Armin up here and now? Well, in a way she did want to do so, for the boy was still getting on her nerves and had now gotten everyone's attention on her.
"Thank you" she said, taking the towel. It wasn't the best time to cause a scene. Armin smiled at her before continuing his towel tour. Annie did her best to ignore the whispers, but still caught Mina asking: "Do you think she would've hit him if everyone hadn't been looking?"
"I probably would have" Annie snapped at her, wanting to shut her up. It did work, but it wouldn't do any good to her reputation as a bully.
XXXXX
Annie was really starting to get tired of this. Almost everyone were still giving her those disgusted looks, whispering behind her back and avoiding her and on top of all that, Armin god damn Arlert still hadn't dropped his staring habit. At this rate she'd really beat him up again soon.
"Attention!" the head instructor of their squad called out, making everyone salute "Today you all will go in to the locations shown in these maps, retrieve the items there and come back before the day changes to another."
He showed the maps, continuing: "You will move in pairs and every pair has different maps, three groups aiming for the same place. Every pair must bring the item described at the back of their map. Those who return with the wrong item or with no item at all can say goodbye to being soldiers, as well as those who return without their partner and those who don't make it back before midnight. Now team up, get your maps and go!"
The others started pairing up immediately, but Annie just stood there. No one was sick, so there were enough people for everyone to get a pair, so she waited who'd be the unfortunate one that had no choice but to team up with her. The only problem in this system was that waiting who was the last one left was a total waste of time.
"Annie?" Annie was pulled out from her thoughts by Armin who said her name. She turned to look at him, apparently with a bit too annoyed look on her face as Armin looked at her like he'd run away any second now. But he didn't. Gathering his courage he asked: "I uh... could you be my partner?"
Annie's eyes widened a little, having thought since the beating that Armin was afraid of her, but she started to doubt it now. If he was why would he be asking her to be his partner? Even if he wasn't afraid of her it was still weird. Did he want something?
"It's okay if you don't want to; I'll just ask someone else" Armin said, running to Berthold before Annie could even react. She had been quiet too long and missed her chance. Sighing, she decided to wait for another person who couldn't get a partner.
XXXXX
Annie stormed to girls' cabin, anger showing clear on her face. She couldn't believe she had ended up being the pair of the idiot Connie Springer. How was that even possible, considering he had so many friends? Had she answered Armin in time she could've avoided this and gotten a chance to ask Armin why he kept staring at her. She didn't get a chance like that often; Armin was always surrounded by his friends.
"Did you enjoy your time with Connie?" Ymir called out to her, earning a glare.
"Sorry Annie, we just couldn't resist" Sasha said with a grin "We told everyone to turn Connie down so he'd have to be your partner. His face was priceless when he found out; I have never seen him so terrified!"
"Armin almost ruined everything tough" Ymir said "So glad you turned him down!"
Annie was now very, very angry, but did her best to control her anger since nothing good would come out of losing her control now. Swallowing her anger she changed her clothes and went to bed. One thing was sure tough: she'd get Armin to tell her why he kept looking at her the way he did tomorrow, even if she had to do it in front of everyone else.
XXXXX
In the next day's 3D maneuver training Annie felt herself to be lucky as she saw Armin alone on the ground. Her guess was that he had fallen without anyone noticing and had hurt his leg, which is why he hadn't caught up with the others. To Annie, that was just perfect.
"Arlert" Armin jumped when he heard his name being said. He turned to face Annie who had that usual bored look on her face.
"Oh, hi An-"he had no chance to finish as Annie lifted him up from his collar and pushed him against a tree, saying: "I have a question for you, Arlert."
"Y-yes?" Armin stuttered while trying to pry Annie's hands off without any success. Annie leaned in closer. They were face to face, foreheads almost touching as Annie asked: "Why do you keep staring at me?"
"I-"
"What the hell?!" Annie dropped Armin as soon as she heard this, making the boy land on the ground with a painful thud. They both turned to look at wide eyed Connie, who after a while stuttered: "Sorry to interrupt your little uh... fun. I'll uh, see you guys later."
And with that he was gone. Annie raised an eyebrow, surprised that he didn't come between them. Well, it was no time for this; she still had to get the answer from Armin. As she turned back to face him he was still on the ground, his face deep red, making Annie think back to what Connie said.
"..."
Now she got what he meant by their "fun." She groaned in frustration, but decided to think it later. Now she had more important things to worry about.
"Connie, wait!" Armin called out "It's not what you think!"
Armin was about to go after Connie, but his twisted ankle slowed him down.
"We're not finished here, Arlert" Annie said, making the boy freeze in his tracks. Right, he still hadn't answered Annie. But right now he had another thing to worry about it "Annie, I'll talk to you later. I'll have to stop Connie before he starts any false rumors-"
Annie tripped him so that he fell on his back. Stepping on Armin's stomach she said in deadly tone: "First you will answer my question."
Armin kept his mouth shut, not knowing how to say it. Annie stomping on his stomach didn't really help either.
Annie however, took his silence wrong.
"Are you too worried about Connie to answer?" her face darkened "Is the idea of the rumors he might spread so disgusting to you?"
In her mind Annie did hope that she was wrong. Armin was a good person, so if even he thought of her as something so disgusting then there was no chance that anyone else would ever like her company. As the seconds passed Annie became more and more desperate, but hid it from Armin professionally.
"No, it's not" Armin finally said, looking away from Annie "I've just caused you so much harm already; I don't want to be the reason you have even more trouble."
"What?" Annie was surprised by his answer. What did he even mean by him causing her trouble?
"I know the others started to treat you differently after we sparred, and that was my fault for making you angry" Armin said "I'm sorry."
Annie, although taken back by his answer, still managed to say: "You didn't answer my first question."
Armin was actually hoping she'd drop it, but it seemed like there was no chance for that.
"...I just like looking at you" seeing Annie's slightly confused and even more annoyed face Armin continued: "I-I mean that... well..."
He swallowed, saying: "What I meant is that I really like you, Annie, as in more than as a friend."
A long silence took over before Annie finally understood what he meant. Removing her leg she said: "Your feelings are wasted."
"I see" Armin said, slowly getting up "Sorry for all the trouble I've caused you."
Once again he said something Annie definitely hadn't expected. Sorry for all the trouble he had caused her? She was the one who beat him up, she was then one who made him look weak, and she was the reason why Connie might currently be telling false rumors about him to everyone not to mention it was her fault that he was still stuck here with his twisted ankle.
"...why?" she asked, so silently that Armin barely heard her "Why do you continue being so nice to me?" she clenched her fists "What do you even see in me?"
"...I don't know" Armin admitted, and Annie's heart ached from the answer. It was not good enough; she wanted to know what about her was so good that a guy like Armin would even give her a second glance "...in other words it's just a lie."
"No it's not!" Armin protested "Annie, I don't know how to explain it, you just... well, you're you. I don't really know what I like about you, but I really do."
"Stop it already" Annie said, confusing Armin "Stop saying those things before I actually start believing them."
Armin was stunned. Was this really the cold, calculating Annie he knew? ...no, she was not. She was the lonely girl Armin had seen climbs of, the lonely girl he'd seen watching others talk and have fun with their friends while she couldn't do any of that. This was the side of Annie that she always hid but which he was able to find.
"But it's true" Armin said. To Annie, it was like he had pulled a trigger. Not being able to take it anymore she sank on her knees and cried. Armin walked over, pulling her in to a hug. For a long time they just sat there, even after Annie's tears had stopped flowing.
"Armin" Annie says, using his first name for once.
"Yes?"
"Thank you" Armin smiled at her, but his smile fell when she said: "But I can't answer to your feelings. You shouldn't waste your time on someone like me; I'm not worth it."
"Annie-"
"You don't know me, Armin" she cut him off, looking at him straight in the eyes "I'm not the kind of person you think; I'm not worth your time."
"Why don't you let me decide about that?" Armin asked "Please Annie, tell me what's so bad about you and let me decide if you're worth my time or not."
"...you're so stubborn" Annie said, looking away "But I really can't tell you."
"...I'm bound to find out someday" Armin said, adding with a nervous smile "If I don't get killed by titans before it."
Annie laughed, she actually laughed. Armin liked the sound.
"If you ever even survive all the way to battlefield" she said "We're late; instructor Shadis will make us run some extra laps."
"Right... we should get going"
"Yes" Annie agreed, helping Armin up and supporting him as they left the woods. By the time they reached the instructor Annie's eyes had lost all the signs of crying and her poker face had returned.
"What in the world took you two so long?" Shadis barked. The two saluted before Armin replied: "We're sorry, Sir! I twisted my ankle and Annie had to help me back."
"Oh really?" Shadis asked "And how come it took you hours to get here?"
"We got lost, sir!" Annie said without missing a beat. Needles to say, this didn't please Shadis "Got lost? I expected more from you two, especially you, Arlert."
"Sorry sir"
"Whatever" he said "Leonhardt, take Arlert to the infirmary. After dinner you will be running laps until you collapse. And Arlert, I expect you to have memorized the map of the area where you two got lost at before the next 3D maneuver training session. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir!"
XXXXX
At dinner Armin noticed everyone was giving him rather weird looks.
"Guys? Is there something on my face?" he asked.
"No, not at all" Reiner said, chuckling. Everyone except Armin burst out in laughter after Connie said: "Not anymore."
Wait a second... Connie?
Armin froze, remembering how Connie had come over when Annie had him pressed up against that tree. He had completely forgotten about it by now.
"Connie, please tell me you didn't" he said. He was pretty sure he had told the others, but in case he hadn't Armin didn't want to slip anything.
"Tell you he didn't what?" Eren asked with a chuckle "That he caught you and Annie making out in the woods?"
"Eren!" he screamed in embarrassment, causing all eyes on the room to fall on him.
"Calm down; only the ones at this table know" Rainer said.
"Plus Jean and Marco" Connie added with a snicker "Sorry."
"This is your fault to begin with" Armin said, hiding his face in his hands "Especially since it even wasn't like that."
"Sure it wasn't" Reiner said with a roll of his eyes "But why Annie tough? You're smart; you could get someone prettier too."
"Reiner" there was a warning in Armin's tone, which was rare itself "Drop it."
"Sorry"
"...guys?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't care if you believe me or not, but please, don't tell anyone else, okay?" Armin asked. If word got out and Annie found out he was as good as dead.
"Okay, sure" Reiner said and the others agreed to keep their mouths shut too "Someone should tell Jean and Marco too before-"
"What?!" Thomas' voice rang through the dining hall "Connie caught Arlert and Leonhardt making out in the woods!?"
A.N: A bit OOC Annie I know, but think about it, doesn't romance always end up like that with her? Yeah, sorry excuse, I know.