A/N: Hi! And welcome to, 'High School Daze'! A little Attack on Titan fanfic inspired by all of the amazing writers on this website. This story takes place in an AU where the Titans never existed, instead, our heroes find themselves as average American high school students, just trying to survive the average adulations of high school life with a few twists and turns along the way. The ships are a little crazy in this one, some unconventional, some are what everyone wants to see, and some may even surprise me as I write this!
Let me see if I can give you a rough idea of what we're looking at here: [Levi x Eren, Jean x Mikasa, Eren x Mikasa, Sasha x Eren, Armin x Annie, YUMIKURI OF COURSE, ((Light) Reiner x Bertolt (at least some recognition that they're both gay)), Hange x ?(TBA at a later date), etc., etc., etc….] These ships will all have their intermittent moments, and some may or may not come true in the end *wink wink, nudge nudge* (Yeah that means certain ones will come true upon this fic's finale, whenever that'll be…)
Well, off of that tangent and on to another; DISCLAIMER: I,IN NO WAY/SHAPE/FORM, OWN SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN (ATTACK ON TITAN), THIS IS MERELY A FAN-MADE WORK OF FICTION THAT IS INTENDED TO ENTERTAIN AND NOT TO INFRINGE ON ANY OF SNK'S (AOT'S) RIGHTS/COPYRIGHTS/ANYTHING. PLEASE DON'T SUE ME.
Ok, now that that's out of the way, onwards to fiction!
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Ah, high school; I suppose everyone who's anyone has their ideas and delusions about what high school should be: a nice environment that fosters learning, cares about its students, and wants to push them towards a bright future, and a new tomorrow! Well, unfortunately, most high schools don't follow the scripts of bad 1980s movies; Instead, for the majority, high school signifies a daily routine of early morning rising, regret, remorse, boredom, lunch, more boredom, being in the mood: 'maybe if I bash my head against my desk enough times I'll die…', bell rings, homework, then wash/rinse/repeat for 9 months out of 12, for 4 years total. Yippie…
But, despite most people's overwhelming pessimism, there were some that remained unhindered by it all, and persevered throughout it, confident as could be. This is their story; their escapades that they got into, the lessons they learned, the-(wow, this is sounding like the opening to a really shitty dramatic novel isn't it? Oh well, whatever…) The experience they gained, and the romances they discovered. Now, IKUZO!
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Cold, icy, late January winds ripped through the air around Glennback High, as the end-of-class bell blared throughout the school. Students in every class hurriedly gathered up their folders, books, and homework, and began to run off to their lockers to gather up their materials for the next class. Among them, 16-year-old sophomore, Eren Yeager. He stumbled out of the 3rd period Biology 2 classroom, along with the rest of his classmates, as his teacher, Mr. Scott, echoed after them,
"Have a good day, everyone!"
Eren strutted out of class, his expression dark, and then he heard Scott call again, "Oh yeah, Yeager, I wanna see you after the day's out!"
Eren turned his head around, and in a half-assed voice, replied, "Yeah…sure…" and then turned the corner and began to head towards his locker.
Glennback High School was a three-floored school laid out in a fairly simple manner. There were several hallways that diverged from several wings of the high school that all connected to the a large courtyard in the middle of the campus that had a large statue of some historical figure no one recognized, nor ever gave a shit about. There were concrete sidewalks to take you to each hallway/wing, but the rest of the courtyard was all grassy, hilly, and had benches and tables for studying and the like. The northernmost hallway led to several classrooms, the gymnasium, the sports complex, and other sports related rooms as well as the school infirmary. The easternmost hallway went to more classrooms, and the clubrooms. The southernmost hallway went to the main lobby area where the entries and exits were, along with the admin offices and more. And the westernmost hallway led to even more classrooms and several other minor study halls and the computer lab. Each hallway was littered with lockers and students galore. The second floor and third floors (if you could even call them that, they were actually just additions that were built on top of each wing, but everyone got accustomed to calling them 'floors' that the name kind of stuck) boasted roughly the same attractions as their predecessors. And at their tops, cleared off roofs that were decorated with some trees and flowers along with random shrubbery, and some benches. Students would often hang out there on the off time they had between or after classes (Note: Between class periods at Glennback lasted 20-25 minutes, each student had a total of 4 hour-long classes per day, and school lasted from 8:30 A.M.-1:55 P.M., unless you had extracurricular activities to attend to, and those usually drug on until 2:30 or so. Regardless, the roofs were a popular hang out spot), some students with keys to the school even hung around there on weekends because it was so peaceful!
Eren's locker was located in the westernmost wing, ground floor, Locker #175. It was a nice, out of the way locker that gave Eren a chance to be alone to himself when he wanted to, but also with his friends when he wanted to as well. His friend's lockers were all around him; Armin's was the locker directly to his left, #176, and Jean's locker was the one directly to his right, #174. Connie's locker was also right within the guy's vicinity, #173, right next to Jean, and Marco's locker was #177, right next to Armin. The guys were so close, they often found themselves using one another's lockers to store things in when necessary, as they all knew each other's locker combinations (No comment on how wise of a decision that was…). Eren found it funny to, more often than was welcome, shove his trumpet for band class into Jean's locker, and rig it to blare loudly when Jean opened his locker. It never got old to anyone, except for maybe Jean, but even he was getting used to laughing it off. Armin and Connie always stored books, if anything, in anyone's lockers, and Jean and Marco often threw in sweatshirts or other sweaty sports materials in the other guys' lockers just to piss them off. But no one took it seriously, everyone was familiar with the pranks that would often be pulled around that locker block, so most if not all of the other students that were initially there moved to different lockers in different sections or different wings of the school entirely. The guys didn't mind though, they actually quite enjoyed it; they had the hallway all to themselves, and that was as good as anywhere else for them.
Eren approached the guy's hallway, and saw Armin and Jean talking casually at their lockers. Armin was berating Jean for something or other, anyone could've told that from a distance given Jean's flustered appearance. Despite Jean's manners and appearance, he did alright in classes, maintaining mostly B's with the occasional A or two mixed in there. Armin was one of those valedictorian type people, and was always at the top of whatever class he was taking. Eren often had to seek Armin's tutelage, along with the rest of the guys, but that was one more reason for them to all hang out together, as far as Eren was concerned at least.
As Eren approached the two, he called out, "Hey, Armin! Jean!"
The two turned from their debacle towards Eren, smiled a little bit, and then replied, "Eren!"
Eren ran over to them, upon reaching there, he opened up his locker, then threw in his bag in, and slumped down, remembering what happened in Biology 2, and sulked for a minute.
"Biology again?" Jean inquired in a condescending tone, leaning against the locker.
"Hey," Armin began, kneeling down to Eren's level, "haven't you heard of beating a man while he's down?"
"Yeah," Jean replied, turning his head from Eren towards the window that looked onwards at the courtyard, "but have you? What with that condescending pose."
"Now look-" Armin began, but Eren put on hand on Armin's chest and stated,
"It's fine."
Armin looked back with a face that was painted with a lack of assurance.
"Really, it is." Eren continued looking up at Armin, giving a smile, then looking over at Jean, "And, you were right, Jean. It was Biology."
"As always!" Jean retorted, his attention now back on Eren and the situation at hand. Armin gave him a look of slight disgust at Jean's cockiness, but then gave him a look of acceptance, realizing that this was Jean's normal way of helping Eren, then just rolled with it.
"So what was it this time?" Armin inquired, "A quiz? A project?"
"Worse." Eren replied, "An exam."
"But you normally do well on those," Jean replied, his voice wrought with confusion, "don't you?"
"This is true," Eren replied, "but this one tripped me up a little bit, I guess. And now Mr. Scott wants to see me after class about my 'unusually unsatisfactory performance'." Eren took his gaze off of Jean, and stared out the window, "Fucking hell…"
"What is it that Marco always says?" Armin inquired, calculating a master 'cheer-up' plan, "'There's a reason behind everything!'"
"That is what he says." Jean replied, catching on to Armin's little plot. "He also told me one time that you should always seek out that reason, and see how you can better yourself from that reason."
Eren looked back at his two friends, vexed to the core.
"What we're saying is," Armin began, putting his hand on Eren's shoulder, "there's probably some really weird reason behind all this, just watch, it'll get better in the end."
"Armin has a point." Jean added, putting his hand on Eren's other shoulder, "So cheer up, buttercup!"
Eren and Armin giggled a little bit, and Jean merely responded angrily, "WHAT?!"
"Cheer up…" Eren muttered underneath his breath, "buttercup…"
Jean's face blushed crimson red out of embarrassment, "WHAT?! IT'S A PERFECTLY PROPER PHRASE!"
"Yeah, from when?" Armin responded, almost in tears from laughing, "1945?"
"You guys are dicks…" Jean replied, his face still flushed with red, as he buried himself in his locker, eventually starting to laugh as well.
Then, right at that moment, the door to the courtyard swung open, and there she was. Her chin-length black hair wafted elegantly in the wind as she proceeded towards the group of guys. She wore a girl's sweatshirt, along with jeans that were torn and tattered in various spots, significantly around her left thigh. On her back, she toted a standard grade dark blue backpack, heavy with books and other school supplies. The guys all knew who it was, who else could it be but Mikasa Ackerman; Eren's sister. Well, adopted sister, but it's all the same really.
"Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed as she ran towards Eren, disregarding everyone else around her, even the profusely blushing Jean, who took a moment to straighten his clothes and fix up his hair in her presence.
Eren looked up, and his expression lightened a little bit, as he stood up, and smiled a broad smile.
"Mikasa!" Armin exclaimed as he too stood up.
Jean was overcome with emotion as he straightened his posture, turned his head and body towards Mikasa and said in a flustered yet somehow monotonic tone, "What's up, Mikasa?" Much to his despair, Mikasa had long passed him, and was hugging Eren tightly. Jean's expression darkened as he slinked down his locker to the floor, listening in on the conversation that was unfurling next to him.
"What's going on?" Mikasa inquired as she broke embrace with Eren. "I heard something about you failing a Biology exam or something?"
Eren blushed as he heard Mikasa utter those words. "Uh…well…yeah…" Mikasa's expression darkened, but Eren was quick to reassure her, "Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle! What's one bad grade in the face of the rest of the other good grades I get? Am I right?" Eren's tone was wrought with trepidation.
Armin straightened up at that remark from Eren, and interjected, "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Eren could sense the situation was getting tense, and he seemed to know something the rest of the crew didn't, regardless, he began walking away, simply saying, "I have to go talk with Mr. Scott about my paper. Hope you guys understand!" and with that, he was gone.
"Jeez," Jean began, upon Eren's exit he was out of his slump all of a sudden, "what's up with him lately?"
"I don't know." Armin replied, obviously deep in thought about something. "Hey, Mikasa?"
Mikasa turned towards Armin, replying, "What is it?"
"Who all's in Eren's Biology class?" Armin inquired.
"Eh?" Mikasa replied, her face painted with confusion, "How should I know?"
"I'm just curious." Armin replied. "At the very least, is there anyone that you know? Or that you're familiar with?"
Mikasa sighed, then thought for a minute. After thinking, she replied, "No one really, except for maybe Reiner and his friend Bertolt. That's about it."
"I see…" Armin's voice was surprisingly silent, and he began to walk away from Mikasa and Jean.
"Hey!" Jean exclaimed, grabbing Armin's arm, "Where are you going?!"
"To do some detective work." Armin replied, not turning his face for a single moment to Jean as he walked out of the doors that led to the courtyard.
Jean sighed heavily as he leaned back up against his locker. It was only after he got over his initial frustration at his two idiot friends that he realized he was alone with Mikasa.
'Shit Jean, what're you gonna do?' Jean thought to himself as kept a calm expression while Mikasa leaned against the wall next to him. 'Okay, NOW YOU REALLY HAVE TO THINK OF SOMETHING TO DO, JEAN!' By now Jean's mind was in more than overdrive. He had to think of something he could do that would give off the right impression to Mikasa, he didn't know too much about him, but Eren talked about her occasionally, so he had a vague read on her personality. He decided to just play it cool, and figured that he should make the first move in conversation. Just something casual, something normal, something relatable. As Jean began to open his mouth, Mikasa spoke,
"Hey, can I ask you a question?"
Jean was startled at Mikasa's initiative to start a conversation, since, from what he had gathered from Eren, she usually just played into conversation. Regardless, he rolled with it, and replied, "Sure, shoot."
"Why is your name pronounced 'Jun'," Mikasa began, "but spelled like a pair of pants?"
Jean turned to Mikasa with a confused look, but regardless, answered with, "I have no idea. How would I know?"
Mikasa turned her head back towards the window that faced the courtyard, "Just wondering. I always thought it kind of funny, that's all."
Jean blushed a little bit, and thought, 'Funny? Like "ha ha ha!" laughing out loud funny? Or bizarre funny? Idiot. What kind of a question is that, of course she thinks it's the weird kind of funny…why do I even try with her-' there was more to Jean's thought train, but it was cut short by something Jean unmistakably heard. It was quiet, it was short, and it was hardly detectable, but it was there.
Mikasa giggled. And we're not talking about your average boyish chuckle she often gave, it was a full on, cutesey-wutesey-girly-type giggles that any other average girl had. Jean had never seen this adorable, shy side to Mikasa before. Before he knew what he was doing, Jean was chuckling profusely.
Mikasa took note of this, and inquired, "What's wrong? Did the boys finally drive you insane?"
Jean genuinely laughed at that, and dryly replied, "No, not yet at least." After he calmed down, he continued, "I was actually laughing at that girly chuckle you did."
Mikasa tensed up, and it was hard to tell, but it looked like she was blushing. Jean didn't have much of a time window though, because he heard Mikasa's knuckles crack as she balled her right hand up into a fist, and took a swing at Jean's gut. Jean keeled over, and after coughing up what felt like a lung but was in all actuality just a lot of dry air, he continued,
"No, you don't understand." Jean pulled himself to his feet, "I thought it was really cute." Jean braced himself for the impact of another fist to his gut, but instead was greeted with a demure,
"Thank you…" from Mikasa, who abruptly rushed off, dropping a few papers and a pencil or two in her wake.
Connie rushed up from the end of the hallway, trailed by Marco, both dressed in heavy sweatshirts and jeans, except for Connie; he was also wearing a blue beanie cap that was way to big for his head, but he wore it regardless.
"Yo, Jean!" Connie called out.
"Jean!" Marco echoed.
Jean turned and saw his two friends rapid on the approach, and eagerly ran to meet them. He greeted Connie casually and fist bumped Marco, then asked of them, "Wait, what're you two doing down here? Shouldn't you two be headed towards class?"
"That's kind of the reason we're down here in the fist place." Marco replied.
"I don't follow." Jean said, vexed to the core.
"Truth be told, we should be on our way to class," Connie began as him, Marco, and Jean began wandering the halls, unsure of exactly where they were destined, "but something happened…"
"Oh, God…" Jean replied, face palming as he spoke.
"If you want," Marco began, "I can give you the light version of the whole incident, that is, if you want."
"No," Jean replied, "If I'm going hear this let's hear it from the mouth of the blunt, and the arrogant. Connie, go ahead…" Jean instantly regretted that decision.
Over the next 10 minutes or so, Connie weaved the magnificent tale of the whole reason they were there.
Apparently (for some odd reason), someone thought it would be hilarious to loosen Mr. Klein (4th hour Algebra II teacher)'s chair's bolts, causing it to collapse and him to sustain injury enough to warrant hospitalization. So the students had the rest of the day off. Even though Connie and Marco rambled on and on about no knowing who it was, and how it will 'remain a mystery', it was blatantly obvious that the perpetrators were standing right before Jean. Though he wasn't surprised in the least.
Connie always had a knack for getting himself into these kinds of situations. Whenever he pulled it all off, he would be smiling from ear to ear, so confident in his abilities that he felt invincible. But when he got caught, he got all panicky, and scrambled to find whatever excuse he could to get himself out of the situation. That's normally when Marco came in.
If Jean had ever met someone with a silver tongue and a mind of steel to match, it was Marco Bodt. Marco always talked himself out of anything; whether it be not doing his homework, getting an answer wrong on a test, or being late for class, Marco had a method to madness, a way out of the darkness, and a manner of speaking that confused the ever-loving shit out of any adult who ever spoke against him. So it was only natural that Marco was the one to get Connie out of any binds that he got himself in. He even saved Jean a few times when he got caught up talking up with him, and was late for sports practice.
After the story was all said and told, Jean simply said, "Uh huh, and that's how it all happened?"
Through stifled giggles, Connie replied, "When have we told you otherwise?"
Jean gave the two a casual glance that said, 'Would you like a list?'
Marco gave a grunt, then simply said, "So, was that Mikasa Ackerman we saw running off?"
Jean jumped back a little at Marco's remark, and replied, "M-maybe!" his stuttering confirming Marco's thoughts, "Why?!"
"No reason." Marco replied with a smug smile, "But when are you going to grow a pair and just ask her out?"
"Yeah, Jean." Connie added, "You can't keep beating around the bush like this, I mean, c'mon man."
Jean stepped back a little bit as his friends ganged up on him, flashing smiles of Cheshire Cats. "It's not as easy as it seems!" Jean began, "First of all, how do you approach someone like her, who's great at everything! Sports, school, even out of school! Have you seen her walk home! I bet everyone else in this school likes her!"
"Correction, my friend." Marco interrupted, "They don't 'like' her," he threw his arm around his friend's shoulder, "they admire her." Jean felt a moment of realization within himself, as Marco continued to speak, "And the two are far from synonymous."
Connie threw his arm around Jean's shoulder (well, actually just his back, as he wasn't tall enough to reach Jean's shoulder), and said, "You know what I bet?"
"W-what?" Jean shakily replied as he looked down towards Connie.
"I bet," Connie began, "she's never had anyone who truly loved her, like you do."
Jean was thrown aback. He never considered that option before. Had Mikasa ever really known true love?
"I completely agree with Connie." Marco chimed in, capturing Jean's attention, "I bet that she's so used to adoration and idolization, even, in certain instances, objectification, that she's forgotten what it feels like to truly love someone, or be truly loved by another. Is all this getting across to you?"
Jean had been speechless throughout this little ordeal, conducting all his responses in his head. 'They normally have a good eye for these things, especially Marco.' Jean thought to himself, his face still painted with astonishment as he remained silent, 'But are they right in this instance? Can anyone really read Mikasa? And if they can, wouldn't they be a better person for her than me?'
Marco quickly took his hand off of Jean's shoulder and flicked Jean in the back of the head, eliciting an "Ow!" from Jean, as well as a "What the hell?!"
"You were doubting yourself." Marco replied. "Were you not?"
Jean couldn't deny this truth, and simply replied, "So what if I was? I have good reason to. Do you not see the odds stacked against me?"
"You've been in worse situations." Marco replied. "Do you remember the situation at the basketball game a week or two ago? We were down 3 points, 4 seconds left in the game, 3 guys in front of you, all taller than you, but you went for the full court shot, and made it, winning us the game?"
Jean mused at his own magnificence, "How could I forget? The team still hasn't let me forget about it."
"You see?" Marco stated, "Fate has a way of playing in your favor, more so than I've seen anyone else. So I have no doubt Fate will create a situation where your questions will be answered, and from there, you need to make it work for you." Marco gave Jean a pat on the back at the end of his statement.
"You're a relatively smooth guy." Connie reassured Jean. "You'll work it all out."
"Relatively?" Jean dryly replied.
"Now that that's worked out," Marco began, "let's go to the lounge area, I'm thirsty."
"Same here!" Connie chimed in.
"Then the drinks are on me today, boys!" Marco lightly replied, his face painted with a smile. "Jean, you in?"
Jean almost agreed, but then he noticed the papers that Mikasa had dropped as she was running away, and replied, "You guys go ahead, there's something I have to take care of."
"Suit yourself, c'mon Marco!" Connie stated, grabbing Marco's arm and dragging him onwards.
'Atta boy, Jean.' Marco thought to himself as he looked back and saw Jean picking up Mikasa's papers, 'Make that situation work…' He then turned his attention towards Connie, and the two dashed onwards out of the hallway, and towards, the lounge.
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Jean spent a solid 5 minutes picking up the loose sheets of paper that Mikasa had left in her wake, some of them were application forms for clubs that he assumed Mikasa was joining, including Art club, Dance club, Track club, Soccer club, Drama club-
'Drama club?' Jean thought to himself as he gazed at the sheet of paper. It was light pink, and had the masks of happiness and tragedy up in the top right corner, along with the words 'EMBRACE YOUR INNER ACTOR' at the top center in a really cheesy cursive font. The rest was just some standard information regarding the way the club operated, as well as it's upcoming play, 'Romeo and Juliet', and that got the cogs in Jean's mind turning. But that could be saved for a later time, he had to haul ass down the hallway that Mikasa took. He hadn't be away from the original spot very long, about 10 minutes or so with Marco and Connie, and then another 5 picking up papers, so he figured he pretty much had Mikasa cornered. There was only an exit, and the Art club down this way, and since Mikasa wasn't the type to ditch, this situation couldn't have been more perfect.
He opened up the door to the Art club room, walked down the hall that led to another door into the actual room itself. The hall leading to the other door was made entirely of smoothed over brick, and was constantly chilly, but was the safest place in the school in the instance of a tornado. The Art club room itself was a small room, with only a few tables and desks for drawing, easels and paint supplies, cupboards that held said supplies that were all at the back, as well as a closet with other materials for more finite drawing, and the desk for the Club President at the front of the room, to your immediate left as you entered. As he walked towards the door to the room, he realized that his time was running thin; he had to give these to Mikasa, make a good first impression, get his things for class, and make it to his class, all in a little under 10 minutes. He ran over in his mind what he was going to do and say roughly a thousand times, and when he reached the door at the end of the hall, he saw through the window on the door, the figure of a someone in there. Confident in his abilities, he swung open the door, and declared,
"Hey, I think you dropped-" but cut himself short mid-sentence when he saw who was actually there.
This person was too tall to be Mikasa, but it was woman, though Jean couldn't tell at first glance. It was only when the girl turned herself around that Jean could see her face, and the unmistakable breasts that were beneath her shirt. She was wearing a black men's blazer, with a Bring Me The Horizon band tee underneath, tattered jeans, and boots. She had freckles as well as a short, dark, ponytail, and her expression could best be described as, unamused. She took her headphones off which were blaring heavy metal music, a song that Jean barely recognized as 'The Death of Me' by Asking Alexandria, only knowing its name because he heard it on the radio once and paused them.
"What are you doing here?" the girl inquired as she got up from the seat that she was drawing at.
Jean was taken aback, but knew he had to adapt to what was happening, and simply replied, "I came to find someone, but now I've found you. Who are you?"
The girl scoffed, and replied, "The better question is who are you? And who did you come looking for?" her tone was aloof, but you could sense that there was still emotion within it.
"I'm Jean Kirstein," Jean replied, "and I was looking for a girl with black, chin length hair named Mikasa Ackerman."
The girl stood there for a minute, then began to move towards Jean. She offered him a seat across from her at the table nearest to the door, which Jean accepted. "Ymir." she simply stated.
"Come again?" Jean inquired as he began to shove the papers he originally had in his hand into his backpack which he laid down next to his seat.
"Deaf and confused, are you?" the girl inquired, "I said, 'Ymir'. My name is Ymir."
"Oh, ok…" Jean replied. "That's an interesting name."
Ymir rolled her eyes at Jean's comment, and then kicked her feet up on the chair next to her. "So, what's so special about this Mikasa chick?" she inquired.
Jean blushed slightly, "Nothing really," he began, "we were just talking earlier, and she dropped some papers, so I came to return them to her. I saw her come down this way, and assumed that she was here."
"You wouldn't be wrong." Ymir aloofly replied, "She was in here for a minute or two." Jean's ears perked up at what Ymir was saying. "She was asking about how to join this club, I told her that she needed a form. She said she had one, then dug in her bag for a few minutes, didn't find it, and then said that she must've left it in her locker or something. So she left. That's all I know."
"I see," Jean replied. "Well, thanks for that, but I should be going to class now, so…" Jean began to go for the door.
"Hold it." Ymir sternly said, stopping Jean in his tracks, "Sit back down."
Jean didn't normally take orders from people, but something about this girl seemed different. Jean obliged and sat back in his original spot.
"I'm guessing you like this Mikasa girl, right?" Ymir inferred.
Jean blushed at the assumption, but figured he had nothing to lose with honesty, and replied, "Yeah…so?"
"But I'm also guessing," Ymir began, "that you get all shaky when you're around her, and you can't confidently speak, or communicate your feelings well, as a result, you end up only falling deeper for her right?"
Jean was amazed at Ymir's ability to read him, it was like she had been in the exact same place as him. "That's exactly it!"
"I knew it." Ymir replied, "Puppy love is adorable, isn't it?"
"It really is!" Jean replied with a smile, but then, confused, he inquired, "Hey, how did you know exactly how I feel?"
"What, a girl can't have emotions?" Ymir inquired, her face painted with a small smirk.
"No, that's not it." Jean replied, but was unsure how to continue.
"I know, because I'm in that situation right now." Ymir replied.
"You're in love with a guy?" Jean assumed, his face painted with relief.
"I'm in love all right." Ymir replied, "But I'm ashamed that you would even insinuate that it's a guy."
Jean's relief was shattered, yet after he thought about it, it was built up again. "So you're a…" he began, unsure if he should say it or not.
"Lesbian?" Ymir said. "Yes. And I'm madly in love with the girl of my dreams."
Jean felt it would be prying to ask, but he did it anyway, "Have you told anyone else this? And who's the girl?"
Ymir chuckled a little bit at Jean's curiosity, but simply stated, "Ah, what the hell. You were honest with me, time for me to return the favor." Ymir took her feet off of the chair next to her, and stood up, leaning on the table. "I knew I was gay when I sat down and took a look at girls; how mystical yet enticing they really are, and how they're objectified by men. I knew from that moment onwards that I was destined to love and marry a woman. As far as telling people, my parents know, and they don't care; I think some other people at school know, but they don't say anything because they're afraid to. And the girl," Ymir lingered on those words, "the girl is the most beautiful thing to ever grace this planet. She's elegant, fair, cute, just like a princess or something, and we understand each other perfectly. We've known each other for a year or two now, and I fell in love with her from the moment I first saw her. She's amazing, and I couldn't imagine loving anyone other than her."
Jean was astounded at Ymir's openness to a complete stranger, and how she spoke so high of this girl he had never met, but he somehow knew that she was the perfect girl for Ymir. "Wow." was all Jean could say, but after a minute of so, he said, "I'm sure the two of you are the happiest people alive together."
Ymir's expression darkened, "Therein lies the problem." She sat back down, and said, "She doesn't know how I truly feel. And each time I'm with her, I get all shaky and stutter. And I can't speak my feelings well."
"So we're in the same boat then?" Jean stated.
"Yeah, I guess we are…" Ymir trailed off, ashamed at herself for her inability to communicate her feelings.
Jean took pity on Ymir, and was about to say something when the door opened up. The girl on the other side of the door was a vision of loveliness and elegance. Her blonde hair flowed down to below her shoulders, and her face was flawless. She wore a red beanie that fit her perfectly, along with a light blue blouse, a black skirt, and a messenger bag that hung at her side, adorned with buttons from various bands, and fit her perfectly. Ymir's head perked straight up when she sensed her presence, and she gained a slight blush.
"Historia!" Ymir exclaimed, her face painted with a smile, her tone elated.
Historia's face lit up as well, and she too gained a smile as she said, "Hey, Ymir!" she looked over to Jean and asked, "Who's this?"
Ymir shot a glance at Jean that implied that Jean should keep quiet, and she said, "He's Jean, he came looking for someone so I was just giving him some guidance."
Historia walked over to Jean and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Historia, Historia Reiss! Nice to meet you!"
Jean shook her hand, practically feeling Ymir's eyes boring holes through him, so he broke the shake as quickly as he could. "Yeah, I'm Jean Kirstein."
"I assume you've gotten acquainted with Ymir here." Historia said.
"Y-yeah…you could say that." Jean replied, avoiding as much confrontation with Historia as he could.
"Isn't she just the greatest?" Historia said as she ran over and hugged Ymir's arm. Ymir's face was instantly flushed a deep crimson red, and you could see the feeling of euphoria on her face. The height difference between them was extremely obvious when they were that close. Ymir stood a few inches taller than Historia, but if Historia got on her tip-toes (or Ymir bent down a little bit), they would be on face level with each other.
"Yeah, she's pretty great." Jean replied, keeping Historia's attention on Ymir.
"S-so, what's up Historia?" Ymir asked as she wrapped the arm Historia was previously hugging around her shoulder. "What brings you by here?"
Historia blushed at the fact that Ymir's arm was around her, but she didn't have long to relish in the feeling, and replied, "W-well, I came here to submit my application for Art club since we agreed to sign up for our clubs together. And afterwards, I was going to ask you to sign up with me for Drama club as well. Oh, no!" Historia buried her face in Ymir's chest, "I messed up! Asking you to come with me to Drama club was going to be a surprise, and now I messed it all up! I'm sorry…"
Ymir cupped Historia's chin with her free hand, "Nothing you do is ever a mistake, to me…" she longingly said. Jean thought he could hear the dramatic music swelling, but decided to disregard it, and instead let the situation play out. The two gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, but then both blushed, and just resumed their previous position.
"S-So, I'll see you at Drama club signups after school?" Historia demurely asked.
"Of course!" Ymir confidently replied. "Two o' clock, right?"
"Yep!" Historia replied with a smile. "Then afterwards we can go out and get something to eat!"
"Sounds great!" Ymir replied. Jean had noticed that Ymir had blushed a little bit at the words 'go out'.
"Good! Now," Historia straightened her bag, "I have to get to class, see you there!" And with that she hugged Ymir goodbye, and walked out the door.
When she was gone, Jean stood up, and mockingly said, in Ymir's tone of voice, "She doesn't know how I feel. We're not a couple-" his sentence was cut short by a sharp pain in his stomach that, when he looked down, was revealed to be Ymir, more specifically, Ymir's boot.
'Damn, she's flexible…' Jean lamented to himself when Ymir retracted her foot, and when he was able to think straightly again.
"Yet…" Ymir muttered.
"What?" Jean hacked heavily before he continued his sentence, "What are you talking about."
Ymir walked over to Jean, and said, "Her and I aren't a couple, yet…" and with that she began to leave the room.
Jean mulled over what just happened, and stopped Ymir right before she left, "Wait!"
Ymir turned around and asked, "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to say, I support you two fully." Jean said with a smile. "And I'll do anything I can to help you two!"
Ymir gave a shrewd look to Jean, but then smiled and said, "Yeah, whatever..." and with that she did leave, leaving Jean alone in the Art room, with his thoughts. He looked over to the clock in the corner, and his eyes widened as he realized he had only three minutes to get to class. Whatever thoughts he was going to have, he had to abandon them, and focus on the mad dash to his class.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As the end of class bell ring, the same bell that signaled the end of another day, the students of Glennback all rushed out to their lockers to get their respective belongings, and begin heading to their clubs, or to their cars to get home. However, a much darker side of the school was being shown elsewhere.
Eren Yeager sat in the middle of the courtyard on a bench; there weren't many people around, and he would've been freezing had it not been for his heavy winter jacket with a fur-lined hood, gloves, and stocking hat.
'Damnit!' he thought to himself, 'Why did I loan my scarf Mikasa this morning? She said she'd return it after school, yet here I am, and she isn't meeting up where we promised we would…wait….'
Eren remembered something Mikasa had told him this afternoon before the second to last class. She had said something about staying little late to go check out clubs, but that she would be home before dinner, and that he should just go straight home.
"Wow, I really am inattentive…" Eren said to himself out loud, making sure that no one had just seen him talking to himself. After five minutes or so of just watching the snow gently fall on the campus, he got up off of his bench and decided maybe he should go home, so he began walking towards the hallway that led to the exit wing. But before he got there, he heard a stern voice call his name,
"Hey, Yeager!"
Eren recognized that voice, and he turned around and saw that it was none other than Reinter Braun stood in front of the statue in the middle of the courtyard And of course, right next to him, towering over him, was his best friend, Bertolt Hoover.
"What do you want!?" Eren exclaimed back at them.
"You know damn well what we want!" Bertolt replied, his cocky voice causing Eren to make the mistake of walking towards Reiner and him. The students around them were beginning to take notice of the situation, and drawing a little closer.
"We had a deal!" Reiner said in a more relaxed tone, now that Eren was within a reasonable distance of him. "We just want to make sure you followed through with it."
Eren cringed as he remembered the deal that he had made with the two figures before him. He replied, "Yeah…I failed the Biology 2 exam."
Bertolt moved in on Eren, gave him a punch on the shoulder, and a maniacal, "Atta boy!" and then shared a cackle with Reiner.
"Where's Annie?" Eren inquired, as he scanned the courtyard for the blonde.
"Out sick today." Reiner replied. "But she'll be happy to hear this news. You did good Yeager, as always."
"But is it right?" Eren replied. Reiner and Bertolt froze, and instantly diverted their look off of each other and towards Eren.
"What was that, little shit?" Reiner asked as he moved towards Eren.
"I said," Eren began, "Is this really right? I can't keep saving your asses forever you know. I have to pass!"
"No one ever said this was right." Reiner began, as he moved in closer, Bertolt in tow, the two now an arm's length away from Eren. At this distance, Eren could smell the alcohol that tainted the two's breath and clothes.
"Yeah, you don't have to keep this up." Bertolt said, "But," he added, "you don't have to keep living either, now do you?" At the end of that statement, he gave Eren a little shove.
"Really, until we pass at least," Reiner began, as he too gave Eren a shove, "you have no choice." Eren shoved Bertolt right back, and assumed a defensive position.
Reiner scoffed, "Well, well, well…" he grabbed Eren tightly by his jacket, "since when did you become the physical type?"
"When I realized I don't have to keep dealing with your bullshit my entire life." Eren confidently replied.
Reiner snapped at those words, and hoisted Eren up like he was nothing. Eren struggled to break free, to no avail, and Reiner slammed Eren hardly against the bronze plaque on the stone pedestal that was beneath the statue. Eren grunted, but held back and kept fighting. Bertolt gave him a jab in the side, and Eren stopped fighting for a minute while he regained his surroundings. Reiner used his free hand to deal Eren a blow in the stomach, to which Eren gave no reaction, but on the inside, he was in immense pain. Bertolt reached in his pocket, and produced a small switchblade, which he flipped out and handed to Reiner. Reiner hesitated for a minute, but grabbed the blade, and drew it back. Eren couldn't really tell, but he thought he saw something in Reiner's eyes. Apprehension. Eren lingered there for a solid 30 seconds, while Reiner contemplated his actions.
"Reiner, what're you waiting for?!" Bertolt exclaimed, "Cut the little bastard!"
"I know! I know!" Reiner sharply exclaimed, as he continued to shakily fiddle with the blade. By now, a large crowd had gathered around the trio. The girls screamed out of fear for Eren, and the guys had to be held back by their friends who wanted to see a little bloodshed on this boring day.
Eren closed his eyes, awaiting the feeling of the cold steel penetrating his flesh, but instead, what he felt was a sharp pain in his butt as he was dropped to the ground. He looked forward and saw Reiner, down on one knee, clenching in pain, along with Bertolt, who was on the ground, unconscious.
Reiner turned around, and saw someone behind him. It was a man, his height made him appear about the size of a freshman, but there was a senior's lanyard hanging out of his pocket. His face was painted with disdain, and it wasn't just at Reiner, it seemed like that was his average expression. His hair was dark black, and styled in an undercut that caused the bangs to fall next to his piercing green eyes, and to fall above his ears in the front, but directly behind those ears fell to about halfway over them. He was dressed in a dark black men's tuxedo jacket, with a white undershirt, spotless black dress trousers, and a cravat that looked like it had been meticulously taken care of to be spotless.
"What the hell was that for?!" Reiner exclaimed as he got to his feet and confronted the man. Reiner realized that he had to look down at the man, as Reiner towered roughly 10 inches or so above him. "Who are you?!"
The man looked up Reiner, scoffed at him, and then pushed him aside, and walked over to Eren.
Eren felt relief, he had been saved from Bertolt and Reiner, and the man was about to defend him, no matter what the cost. At least, that's what Eren thought. His hopes were dashed by the feeling of a dress shoe striking his jaw from his left side (the man's right), and blood flying from his mouth, along with a tooth that struck the iced over concrete. Eren didn't know what to make of this, but he didn't have time to react as the man's left foot struck Eren in the stomach. The man continued his attack as he again struck Eren, this time by bashing his right kneecap into Eren's face. Blood streamed down Eren's face from his nose and mouth, as Eren took a second to breathe through the blood. Only a second though, as the man uppercut Eren with his right foot, then, with the same movement, used the downward momentum to slam Eren's face to the ground, with his foot on top of Eren's head. Eren looked through blurred vision at the blood that tainted the snow on the concrete path, leading to the hallway, that led to the wing with the exit. If only Eren hadn't stopped walking. Eren's thought train was interrupted by the impact of a fine dress shoe impacting his face. Blood once again spurted from the immediate pores of Eren's face, as the man repeatedly kicked Eren, until he finally let up, grabbed Eren by his hair, stared into his bloody face, Eren thought he saw him crack a small smile and mouth the words,
'Just go along with it.'
and then the man turned to Reiner and said, "Well?" His voice was deep enough to command a crowd, and carried enough force to show that there was meaning in any word that was uttered by this man, but was elegant and eloquent all at the same time.
Reiner was in shock at the events that had just transpired, and could only respond, "Wh-what do you mean?"
The man responded, "You wanted to kill him, didn't you? This is your opportunity." The man slammed the back of Eren's head against the stone of the statue's pedestal, undid Eren's jacket, pulled down Eren's shirt, and gestured to Eren's bare chest saying, "He's open, go ahead."
Reiner remembered the switchblade in his hand, and stared at it for a moment. He gazed over to Bertolt, who was still unconscious, and then stared at the bloody, near dead, Eren. Reiner got to his feet and stared once again at his friend, Bertolt, who was still unconscious on the walkway behind Reiner. Reiner threw the blade to the ground then proceeded sling Bertolt over his shoulder. He casted an angry scowl at both Eren and the man, then dashed off towards the exit.
The man looked around and exclaimed, "Well, what are you all staring at, there's nothing left here to see, leave!"
With that, the crowd disbanded. Through the crowd, an panicked Mikasa and Armin bursted out. Mikasa's face was painted with a look of worry and fury as she grabbed Eren's shoulders and shook him to keep him awake.
"EREN! WAKE UP!" Armin exclaimed as he too shook Eren from the side.
"EREN! EREN!" Mikasa exclaimed, as she began to undo her scarf.
But before she could get it fully undone, Eren put his bloody hand on Mikasa's and said, "N…no. You need this more than me…" and then his head slumped down into his chest. Eren was unconscious.
Mikasa's attention was immediately turned towards the man. Her emotion could only be described as pure fury. "Who the fuck are you?! What made you think you could-" She exclaimed, her voice full of contempt, but she was cut short by the man's icy glare. Somehow, it halted Mikasa right in the middle of her sentence.
The man continued to glare down Mikasa, despite their major height differences, and calmly replied, "Levi. You are?"
Mikasa was taken aback by Levi's unflappable demeanor, and equally as calmly replied, "Mikasa. Mikasa Ackerman. Eren's sister."
Levi showed what appeared to be worry at the words, 'Eren's sister', but regained his composure and went over to Armin, who was still intent on attempting to wake Eren.
"Calm down." Levi said as he pulled Armin off of Eren. "He's not dead, just unconscious."
"Wh-why did you do this?" Armin inquired, panicked at his friend's state.
Levi continued to closely inspect Eren's face and body for severe damage, and replied, "To prove a point. You saw them dash off, didn't you?"
"Reiner and Bertolt…" Mikasa said as she stared onwards at Levi.
"Yes, those pitiful excuses for humans." Levi replied. "I knew they wouldn't take action, so I provided them a situation where they would have to take action," Levi then turned his gaze towards Mikasa and Armin, "or be deemed cowards."
Mikasa and Armin trembled as Levi's eyes seemed to pierce the very fibers of their beings.
Levi then proceeded to sling Eren over his shoulder, as Mikasa and Armin marveled at Levi's strength despite his size.
"Come." Levi sternly said as he began to walk off with Eren.
"Wait, Levi!" Armin exclaimed. "Where are you taking him?!"
"Idiot…" Levi replied, "The school infirmary." He continued to walk onward with Eren in tow, "Come on! Or do you not care about him?…" Levi, again, stared straight at Mikasa when he uttered those last words.
Mikasa, for the first time in her life, felt true fear. Who was this man? And why did he randomly defend Eren of all people? What was happening here?
"Hey, Mikasa!" Armin called from all the way at the entrance to the northernmost wing. "C'mon!"
Mikasa, now back in reality, called back, "Coming!" and then rushed onwards towards the group.
From a distance, behind the stone pedestal, a lone girl watched on. Her dark auburn hair was done up in a sort of pony-tail like fashion, but her bangs hung down, whipping gently in the chilly winds. Her hands were tightly clasped over her heart as she watched Levi and the rest leave. She stepped out from behind the pedestal, and whispered to herself,
"Eren..."
before she too, dashed off after them.
A/N: Well, this is shaping up to be interesting! Will Jean ever get his feelings across? Will Ymir ever get her feelings across to Historia? And what's going on with Levi? What does he want with Eren? More importantly, WHAT'S WITH ALL THE DRAMA CLUB MENTIONS?! These answers and more in the next week on 'High School Daze'!
Until then, please review and leave your honest criticism! And, as always, have a great day/month/year of your life!