Just as love knows no boundaries, neither age, race nor gender, so too with its antithesis known as hatred.

My name is Annie Leonhart. I am a person who has been called many things by the people who've known me: loner, stranger, cold as ice, and even heartless. Little do they understand that I, too, have a heart; it merely seems on the surface that such a heart doesn't exist.

Once, I was the same as anybody else my age: carefree, joyful, and blissfully ignorant of the darkness of reality. But I have seen many things transpire in these 25 years, things that reduced my innocence to dust.

Hate and cruelty in humans was a concept that I used to firmly view as simply a matter of fiction, or a thing of the past. What a fool I was to believe that. I've watched the byproducts of hatred consume the lives of so many people, even those who clearly never wanted to do anybody wrong.

I stopped asking why the innocent suffer from hatred. In the end, no human will ever truly know the answer to that somber question. That knowledge lies not with us, but in Heaven above.

Why, do you suppose, am I choosing to burden you with all of this? The answer is simple: the world must understand that yes, wicked people are very much real, and their favorite target is the one who seems free of darkness. For light and darkness, while they do coexist, will always clash until the end of time.

Now then, dear reader, let me tell you the tale of my first-hand experience with this battle. It happened during the time of our lives when we most experience the journey of self-discovery: college.

It is a story that still hurts the hearts of myself and my loved ones, because the one who was targeted this time was a boy whom we thought that everybody cherished, who would never go out of his way to hurt another human being.

His name is Armin Arlert, and this is the recounting of his own struggle with hate.

Even on the day to move onto campus, Armin's new dorm building seemed as empty as a ghost town. It was one of the few dorm halls on campus comprised solely of single rooms, typically claimed by those who hated the idea of sharing their living space with a stranger. Armin had chosen Sansburg Hall because he had been unable to get the amount of alone time he desired last year, when he had lived in Wickson Hall with Jean. Jean Kirschtein had been a decent roommate, but there had been days that year when Armin had constantly willed to be left alone to his thoughts, only for Jean to refuse to budge.

Armin chuckled to himself, remembering one night he had spent in that room, having to listen to Jean grumble about Eren Jaeger, Armin's best friend, who always seemed to be pissing his roommate off to no end.

His grandfather stood next to him, exhausted after finally getting Armin completely settled in.

"It's awfully quiet for move-in day" the old man grumbled. "Shouldn't your floor mates be out and about?"

Armin shrugged and said "Well, grandpa, it is a single dorm, you know. Chances are they want to be alone."

"I suppose so, grandson. Well then, will you be seeing Eren and Mikasa later today?"

"Of course!"

The two of them walked back down the stairs towards the first floor, both yawning heavily. The car ride, coupled with the effort of taking everything up to Armin's room, had taken a toll on them both. Back outside, cars were drifting away from the campus in droves, with numerous students waving goodbye to their parents. Armin bit his lip, silently wishing that his parents were here to see him off like everybody else.

As if he had read his mind, Armin's grandfather looked down at him and gently told him "You know they're proud of you, Armin. Even now in Heaven, they're smiling down at you. You know that, don't you?"

Armin sighed and replied "Yeah. I just…I miss them."

His grandfather tenderly wrapped a thin arm around his shoulders and whispered "Me too, Armin. Me too."

They arrived at his grandfather's old Jeep, which was starting to show serious signs of overuse. His grandfather wanted to hold off on buying a new car as much as he could, but even he could tell that the time to say goodbye was coming soon. The biggest reason for his stubbornness was that this vehicle had carried his late wife with him through numerous journeys; to give away this car would mean saying goodbye to a precious reminder that she had lived.

Armin stood there, wondering what his 2nd year would be like. Last year had been much more than he had bargained for; after several strange dreams, prayers and a great deal of soul-searching, Armin had finally accepted that he was gay, something that he had really known for several years, but had been unwilling to admit. His winter break last year had been spent coming out to everybody, including his grandfather and his closest friends. To his shock, nobody seemed the least surprised. As they had all told him, they had never seen nor heard him be fascinated with any girl. Their only question was why Armin hadn't accepted himself sooner.

He knew what the answer was, and it still brought him shame whenever he thought about it: he simply couldn't accept himself as gay, when he had been raised by his family to have a strong Christian faith. He had read in the Bible multiple verses that seemed to bellow condemnation at him, and everywhere he looked, gay people were slandered and mistreated constantly. Why, in his right mind, would he want to be a part of that? But ironically, it was constant prayer that removed that fog in his mind; begging God for answers resulted in Armin facing a sudden surge of self-insight that yes, he was indeed gay, and no, there was no changing that.

In the first few weeks after coming out, Armin had been worried that his grandfather wouldn't view him the same. But that, too, had been a surprise; despite acknowledging to Armin that he had questions about what this meant for his grandson spiritually, he grandfather had made it clear that he wouldn't love him any less. And so, his grandfather became his staunchest supporter amongst his remaining family members, bonding with him even further after the revelation.

Next to Armin, his grandfather looked around at the campus, a keen interest in his eyes.

"Being here with you, remembering that this was me some 50+ years ago…oh geez" he mumbled. "This brings back so many memories. Meeting your grandma, getting drunk for the first time…"

Armin laughed hard. "Grandpa, you got drunk at college? That's amazing!"

"You wouldn't be so amazed if I told you what happened afterwards, grandson."

That only made Armin laugh harder. Trying to picture his grandfather as a drunken college student was a hilarious thought that made his sides hurt from mirth.

"Well, it's time" his grandfather said. "Give me a hug, boy. I won't see you 'til Thanksgiving."

The two embraced awkwardly, the older man towering over Armin, despite him being 19.

"Bye, grandpa. Have a safe drive back!" Armin told him, sad to say goodbye once more.

"Bye, Armin. Stay safe" he said before adding with a wry smile "And remember, one guy at a time."

Armin's entire face flushed a furious red, and he said awkwardly "Well, of course!"

Chuckling, his grandfather drove off with a final wave, joining the dozens of other cars trying to get out of campus. Armin watched the throng of traffic for a minute, before finally walking back to his dorm. He was trying hard to ignore his grandfather's earlier remark about the emptiness of the floor. Armin had indeed chosen his new hall out of a desire to find more solitude, but he hadn't been prepared for a floor where nobody ever left their rooms.

When he got back to his floor, he saw that the atmosphere hadn't changed one bit. There wasn't a single person in sight. Armin stood next to the massive glass window overlooking the area, musing to himself about what the year might bring. Over the summer, Armin had prayed and hoped that he would finally find a good guy at the campus. The loneliness he had always dealt with had surged during the summer, and on some nights, it took all of his will to not cry from the pain it brought. The prospect of spending his life alone did not sit well with him.

While he pondered over this, he heard the door by the stairs open and close.

"Well, it's about time somebody else showed up around here!" Armin thought in exasperation.

He remained by the window, looking out over the campus, and saw out of his peripheral vision a girl pass him by. As she walked by him, she gave Armin a weird look that reminded him of the face his grandfather made when he found spiders crawling around their house. The girl continued to stare at Armin with that strange expression before walking into her room at the end of the hall, the one that overlooked the entire floor in front of it.

"What's the deal with her?" Armin wondered. "I get that I don't have much of a fashion sense, but am I really dressed that bad?"

He shrugged indifferently, and walked back to his room, planning on catching up with Eren and Mikasa later that night.

"If that Kirschtein prick makes one more jab at my German speaking skills, I'll smash his skull in!" Eren shouted, frightening the other people around them in the dining hall.

Armin and Mikasa groaned, annoyed that Eren had already started fuming about Jean, who they hadn't even seen yet. Eren and Jean were taking German as their language requirement, and for whatever reasons they had, they frequently butted heads in class. Much of the friends' social gatherings had been spent trying to calm Eren down while he went off on yet another tirade about his classmate's snarky comments.

"Just ignore him, Eren!" Mikasa shot back, exasperated and doing her best to not snap at her foster brother. "He's not worth the discipline you know you'll get!"

"Bah! There you go, taking his side again, Mikasa" Eren said. "No wonder he has a crush on you. You're too soft on him!"

"Shut it" she hissed, her eyes glaring daggers at Eren. He gulped in terror and continued to eat.

Armin gave an irritated huff, and silently wondered if Eren was becoming jealous of Jean's feelings. The idea of Eren developing feelings for his foster-sister wasn't too confusing, seeing as they had spent more than 10 years bonding after Eren's parents had adopted her. But if he had any crushes on anybody, neither Mikasa nor Armin could see it under Eren's constant anger at almost everything.

Hesitantly, Armin asked her "Have you ever thought about Jean, Mikasa? He does seem pretty nice."

She gave Armin a small smile and asked in turn "Are you only saying that because you don't want to talk shit about your roommate?"

"No, no! …well, maybe. But besides that, what do you think of him?"

"Look, he's nice, but he's also full of hot air."

"Ah.

"And Armin, you don't really think that I enjoy hotheads like him, do you?

Armin chuckled, remembering the many times in their past when he had seen Mikasa brutally shut down the advances of numerous other arrogant boys, and said "Not at all."

Eren said "Hey, what about me?"

Mikasa gave him an irritated side glance and told him "If you changed your temper, maybe. Otherwise, absolutely not."

Her foster-brother rolled his eyes and went back to eating. Wanting to defuse the tension, Armin asked them "Are you two excited for classes tomorrow?"

All he got from Eren was a snort of derision, which earned him a whack on the head from Mikasa.

"Of course we are, Armin" she told him over Eren's grumbling. "And you?"

"Yup! Japanese will be awesome this year!"

It was Armin's favorite subject, partly because his other best friend Annie was his classmate. The older girl had become Armin's unlikely friend after the two had spent much of class bonding over school and other things. From the get-go, Annie had apparently been aware that he was gay, as she had asked him numerous times if he had found a boyfriend. When Armin finally came out to her, Annie had smirked and said "I told you so", no doubt pleased that he had finally accepted the inevitable.

"I'm glad you're happy" Mikasa told him. "But…Armin, will you enjoy your new dorm?"

"Probably. Why?"

"Because I've heard things about Sansburg Hall. It has a reputation for being the most anti-social dorm hall on campus."

That remark made Armin nervous, as he remembered that girl who had given him that odd look earlier that day.

"I mean, I won't know if that's true until a few weeks pass, right?" he asked Mikasa.

"I suppose. But if anything happens, let me know."

"Will do!"

When they finished eating, the trio walked out of the dining hall into the night, parting ways for their separate dorms. The three friends were living in different dorms across campus: Mikasa would spend her year in a quad, Eren in a double and Armin in a single. Armin was slightly worried how Mikasa would fair with 3 roommates, given how quiet she was.

"No point in worrying" he thought as he walked back to his room. "She can handle anybody."

Armin couldn't help but wonder again why that girl had acted so strange earlier. Before he fell asleep that night, he prayed that his 2nd year would be decent.

That night, Armin dreamt of his parents and grandma looking at him from a distance, with sad smiles on their faces.