Warning: Rated M for graphic descriptions of violence, coarse language, rape, homosexuality, character deaths, etc.

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters (but that would be totally awesome if I were to at least have them for a day), and I only own this story.

Note: I'd prefer not to reveal who will be paired up with who right now, but I will say who's with who throughout the story in their own special ways. Also, I've decided to put some special twists on the characters, their backgrounds, and their relations to each other.

Enjoy, and don't forget to comment!

Tainted

Chapter 1: Gates

Screams of the female students about being late for school erupted, but Armin Arlert refused to let this distract him. He pushed through the sea of bodies, sometimes the smell of sweat or perfume hitting his nose. Despite his usual punctuality, this morning he had accidentally turned off his alarm clock due to his tiredness from studying during the previous night; there was no way he was planning on letting himself tarnish his no tardiness record just because he slept in fifteen minutes later than usual, though.

All he had to do was pass those gates before they closed, and he would be home free. The faster he ran, the harder it became to breathe, but he could not let his short, thin stature get in the way. He slowed down his pace a little once he was near the gates and was finally able to control his breathing, remembering what he had learned from his regular cross country meetings. Something about how "pushing oneself over their limit ensures improvement, but pushing oneself far past their limit will induce too much stress"... or something like that. He chose not to focus so much on it, as he had started to now jog into the building with his backpack carried by its two straps behind him.

He made it inside before the bell rang to signal the students to finish whatever they were doing and head to class. Luckily his English class was close by - the third door down the far right hall, to be exact. He hurriedly unlocked his locker and set the materials he would not need until after his first three classes inside before slamming and locking it shut once more. He did this in a matter of a minute and twenty seven seconds. Not bad.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out and read the Caller ID labeled as "Eren Yeager". Surprised, he tapped the green icon to accept the call and held it up to his ear. "Hi," he mumbled loud enough for Eren to hear.

"Hey Arm'," was the breathless reply. By the pitter-pattering sounds in the background, he could tell that Eren was running. "I slept in really late this morning, like REALLY late! You think you can warn the teacher that I'm gonna be late for class? Thanks, you're the best. Bye!" And Eren hung up quickly after that, all before Armin could process and produce a proper answer.

I suppose this is what became of us after that, he thought grimly for what seemed like the hundredth time. He sighed as he walked to his class, his usual strides now like baby steps. Even at this pace, though, he made it before the bell rang.

Christa Lenz greeted him at the front of the door. "Good morning, Armin," she beamed happily. "Hey, did you finish that This I Believe rough draft assignment over the weekend? I'd like to read it to see your personal philosophy, if that's okay. I'm just curious."

He shined his cousin a small smile when they took their seats next to each other, and he quickly passed her his rough draft, all typed up and in MLA format. He glanced at the way she read though the paper carefully and intrigued, the way she looked so absorbed in his work. He guessed he is a good writer. She read it for half of the time used for the opening activity before looking across at him and mouthed, "This is really good," to which he mouthed back, "Thanks, I try."

Behind his seat, unfortunately, was Eren's. At the moment, fortunately, it was empty. He did not want to think about him and remember the way Eren hurt him. He prefers to just pretend like he does not exist.

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
Watching you stand alone
All of my doubt
Suddenly goes away somehow...

Music was the only thing keeping Mikasa Ackerman calm in this situation with the students panicking around her. She pressed her hands against her ears, covered by long, straight black locks of hair, and clenched her eyes shut. Her silvery white-colored earbuds sunk deeper until the music made everyone else sound like an eruption of muffled whimpers and groans. Her chest heaved and deflated at an unsteady pace, her heart racing, pounding, threatening to burst out of her very being. Music always keeps her calm, but sometimes it is already too late to stick her earbuds in before reaching something such as the state she was in at the moment.

This anxious state she is in right now came upon her when she realized that she had been studying the wrong chapter for her World Geography class's test today. Damn myself to Hell, she thought.

She is a gifted student, the school knew already. Not only is she smart and beautiful, but she is also one of the most physically strong students of Trost High School - an honorary member of the MMA Club who is both admired and feared for her strength even if she is only a freshman. However, even she has her own flaws. These flaws became more apparent after the "fall out" between the two people whom she had viewed as her family all her life. People saw these flaws but did not mind them; they only minded when her anxiety affected her behavior.

Ever since the "fall out", she had been paying regular visits to the Music app on her phone for therapy.

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath, every hour has come to this...

Her music collected onto her phone kept her calm, kept her from buckling under pressure. She would stick her headphones in any time she can, listen to a few songs, and pensively count the number of beats and focus more on the music than the lyrics. Music keeps her sane, and about everyone has noticed it, which is why she is allowed to listen to music during class time. The "fall out" had beaten her emotions senselessly until she took refuge in her music.

... I'll love you for
A thousand more...

And all along, I believed
I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for
A thousand more...

She checked her phone when it vibrated in her sweatshirt pocket to find a text from Eren. "Running really late, just to warn you," she read to herself in her head. She sighed and put it away, returning to her class work and her music.

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid
I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for
A thousand more...

Shitshitshitshit, ran through Eren Yeager's head like a mantra as he sped towards the school. Shit, this is the latest I've been so far!

School starts at eight o'clock in the morning. His alarm clock goes off at six and then the snooze button lasts for five minutes. It takes twenty minutes for him to walk from his house to school, around ten if he runs most of the way. The time he finally woke up that morning was 7:45. That is right, he had pressed the snooze button twenty one times in all. When he had realized what time it was, he had hurriedly gotten dressed into a plain olive green t-shirt with a dark forest green jacket over that, a pair of jeans, and a pair of fairly worn-out sneakers. He also stuffed a ten dollar bill for buying lunch later on, grabbed his backpack and his lanyard of keys, and locked the house up before running out.

He first texted Mikasa to tell her that he was going to be late, having ignored her when she came in his room this morning to wake him up herself. He was barely thinking when he had called Armin and then hanging up soon after. Now that it had come to mind, he let guilt tighten his chest until it was too late to push it away. It physically hurt him as much as it did emotionally. That is how hard the "fall out" had impacted the three's now strained friendship.

Maybe... I can talk to him later and finally sort us out... Shit, I know that we should talk about this after so long, but if I think like this any longer I'm going to be later than I already am!

Eren made it five minutes after the bell was rung a second time to signal the beginning of classes. He made out three figures at the front gate, the PE freshman year coaches Keith Shadis, Rico Brzenska, and Ian Dietrich. They must have seen him from afar, one of the misfortunate who could not make the bell in time and would then suffer the consequences. After the bell, it is up to these three and any other staff members to pick up the tardies.

"Late again, Yeager?" Shadis said, his tone rough. "I'd expect more from someone who is the son of two skilled doctors, even if you do already have good grades." He tugged out the key to the gates held on his lanyard and inserted it into the hole. With a click, the steel gates opened and Eren was pulled inside by the man.

"Hold up, here comes another one," Rico stopped Shadis before he could close the gates. "Yeager, you stay here. We can deal with both you and your new buddy once she comes."

A girl slowly walked towards them until she was totally noticeable. Her light brunette hair was frayed at parts - a combined cause being from probably hurrying to make it here and not giving it a proper combing - and her eyes had slightly dark rings around them. Her light pink sweater was disheveled and drooped on one of her shoulders with a dark red stripe down the middle, but that must be just the style. She appeared tired, emotionless even, as she continued to limp, perhaps having had hurt her leg along the way.

"Looks like we have Hitch Dreyes," Ian announced. Once she was at the gates, Shadis grabbed ahold of her. "I guess your citizenship grade is going to drop even lower than it already is."

Hitch groaned in response, lifting her free arm up and holding onto the coach with it. Her nails slowly dug into his skin but he did not seem to be affected. Eren held his guard up, weirded out by her behavior. His green eyes darted to her neck. Was that some kind of hickey? No, it was definitely more like a bite mark. And her sweater, that cannot be some red design. That had to be blood.

In one fluid motion, she yanked Shadis' arm backwards until there was a loud SNAP! resonating in the air. The man gasped and growled in pain as she continued to push it that direction with just one hand, none of them understanding where she could have gotten the sudden increase in physical strength. She pushed and pulled at his arm until the white of bone stuck out through torn skin. Rico pushed Eren back to make sure he was away from the commotion while Ian tried pulling Hitch off of the other coach, but she showed no motion of budging.

"FUCK!" Shadis shouted as she broke the bone off with her teeth before sinking them deep into the wound. More blood drip, drip, dripped onto the concrete pavement. Then she pulled him down and bit deep into his neck, ripping at the skin and muscle until it was a bloodied mess and he had collapsed, eyes wide open in frozen pain and shock.

Crap, is he dead? Eren thought. This is getting even way more out of hand.

Ian finally managed to pull Hitch away and push her until she was against the gates, not caring that he was rough since it was already apparent that she was not acting human at all. He crouched next to Keith to check his pulse on his arm. The woman and teenage boy heard him cuss under his breath and confirm he was dead. What the hell was happening?

The three saw fingers twitch as the fallen one sat up. "Keith, are you okay?" the other man asked. "Do you need assistance? We'll take you to the infir-"

Shadis stood up unsteadily on his own. His eyes were now bloodshot and his wounds already showing signs of decay. He grabbed Ian and started biting him the same way the female student was doing to him just moments ago. Meanwhile, the girl in mention had regained her footing and was upon Ian as well, her movements even more savage now as she joined Keith. Her fingernails ripped his shirt before scraping at his stomach until blood seeped from her marks. It was too late for Ian to be saved from that moment.

"We've got to get out of here!" Rico urged Eren to start running while Ian was turned into a meal. They hurried around to the track and field area, where there were the three classes of freshmen standing there, having been waiting for the coaches to come back. Some students came up to the two, asking them where Ian and Shadis were.

"I need some people to go and warn the other classes that there is a dangerous threat at the front gates!" she ordered them once she made them quiet down. "The rest of you, there isn't much time right now to be standing here. Find any janitors, gardeners, and other staff members to set up a lockdown on the school and then find any places where you can hide yourselves. I will stay here and help you all. Go! Yeager, if you need to warn any of your friends, then I suggest you go now!"

"Right!" He nodded and ran off into the school building. He needed to find Mikasa, Armin, and anybody else, and then get them to safety. The "fall out" has no part in stopping him from doing so now.