Already dishing out a new one! So this was a request from Shiranai Atsune here on ffdotnet, who gave me a lot of genderbend options! Of course I chose my favourite ship, Eremika and of course I had to throw in some Aruani. So here it is, my most fanfic-y SnK fanfic. Tiny amount of borderline smut awaits in the last chapter! Other than this, the summary should explain it all, lol.

Thanks a lot Shiranai Atsune for the request, I had a lot of fun writing this!

Hope you guys have as much fun reading it!

Armin

"Eren."

"..."

"Eren."

"..."

"Eren."

"What?"

Armin took a deep breath. "This is just my opinion, okay, but… this is really stupid."

Eren huffed. "Good thing I didn't ask for your fucking opinion, then."

Armin sighed and massaged her forehead. She could feel her one of her usual stress headaches coming on. It figured. Armin had never stopped getting stress headaches since she had met Eren in kindergarten.

"Eren, seriously. Let's just go."

"Shh!"

Armin glared at her. "Did you just shush me-" Eren didn't wait for her to finish and just clamped her hand fiercely on her mouth. Armin let loose a noise of protest and Eren shushed her again with more force.

"Armin," she whispered furiously, "I love you and all, but I swear to every god that ever existed that I will knock you unconscious if you get us caught right now."

Eren whipped back to peek around the corner, where they could see their best friend talk to a tall, copper-haired girl. Neither of them seemed at ease, and Armin could guess why. Curiosity trumped discomfort and without being particularly aware of it, Armin leaned forward as well, her chin on Eren's head, straining to hear the conversation.

"...swimming."

"Oh yeah, of course you… athlete and all that." Jean performed a cringe-worthy shooting motion with her hands and clicked her tongue loudly. Armin could see her mouth the word "Gotcha."

Oh dear god. Armin scrunched up her nose with pity. Below her, Eren snorted with disdain. "Yeah, real smooth, shithead."

"Eren," Armin nudged her gently. "Cut her some slack, she's clearly nervous."

Eren tilted her head upwards, her thick eyebrows meeting together in a dark frown. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're sympathising with the enemy, Armin."

Armin sighed again. "I actually am."

"What!" Eren hissed. "You traitor!"

"Oh my god, Eren, we're not in middle school anymore."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with your immaturity."

"The hell-"

"Hey."

Both Eren and Armin jumped a foot high at the voice that was suddenly too close to them.

Eren recovered first. "Heyyy, Mick. How's it going, man?"

Mick's dark grey eyes narrowed. "What were you doing?"

"Just chilling," Eren said airily. "You know how it is."

There was a minute pause. "You were spying on me." Mick said flatly.

"Whaaat. Spying? Us? Really?"

Armin wanted to smack Eren upside the head. She was a terrible liar.

"So what did Jean say?" Armin asked eagerly, choosing not to speak of their stalking at all.

Mick raised an eyebrow. "Nothing important," he said quietly, his eyes boring into Armin's own bright blue ones. But Armin was used to the glare and held her own. Eren, unfortunately , was another matter altogether.

Mick stared for one long, accusing moment at Eren and she gave in. "Okay, fine, we just wanted to know what the bitch was saying."

Mick's frown deepened. "Eren, language."

Very predictably, Eren exploded. "Oh, right, blame me for looking out for you and telling it as it is! Take the bitch's side, see if I care."

Before another word was uttered, Eren stormed away, characteristically leaving behind a strong smell of wet earth and a general sense of helplessness in the air. Armin exchanged glances with Mick.

"She is so opinionated," Mick sighed as they made their way back to the main academic building.

Armin chose not to say anything. She had seen that Eren's ears had turned a bright red and that fact interested her enormously.

"Tell me again why you call her that."

"Hmm?" Half-distracted by the book in her hand, Armin didn't realise he had spoken for a solid second.

"Why do you call her that? 'Eren'?"

"Everyone calls her that." Armin shrugged.

Anton crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I sense a story here, Arlert. Spill it."

Armin tried hard to hide the smile that was threatening to break on her face. Anton Leonhardt was notably an ice-cold statue of a boy, and yet he was always more animated and more curious, more talkative and forthright in Armin's company. She tried not to read too much into that, but often failed.

"Well, you know her given name is Ariadne, right? As a toddler, she could barely pronounce her own name." Armin smiled fondly. "'Eren' was the simplest pronunciation she managed to get and it stuck. Even the teachers back home called her that."

She set down her book and leaned back against the tree, her heart thudding faster when her shoulder brushed Anton's and he didn't move away. "I remember we played a prank once, when we managed to convince the new Matron that 'Ariadne' was Eren's twin sister. It was hilarious until they decided to to file a missing person's report on Ariadne."

Anton's eyes glimmered with rare humour. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Armin chuckled. "Boy, were we in trouble."

"Huh." Anton dug in his pockets and fished out a cigarette and a tattered matchbook. "I just find it weird. You both have masculine names."

Armin looked at her shoes, feeling self-conscious. "I started to identify as female only five years ago."

"I see." Anton offered her the lit cigarette. "Wanna share?"

Armin raised an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to cut down." Anton sighed.

"And dooming me to lung cancer is the way to do it?"

"Do you want it or not?"

"You know I do." Armin smiled and took the cigarette. She found herself glancing around reflexively as she took her first drag.

"He isn't around." Anton rolled his eyes. "What's his deal, anyway?"

"Mikio is… complicated." Armin said carefully.

"You don't say," Anton drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Armin hesitated, wondering if she should go ahead and say what she was thinking. Anton noticed, of course. "What?"

"Why… why don't you like him?"

Anton shrugged and passed the cigarette back to her. "He creeps me out."

"You're just as much of a loner as him."

"Ouch," Anton deadpanned. "You're not one to mince your words, are you."

It wasn't a question. "You wouldn't have it any other way," Armin shrugged.

"No. I wouldn't." Their fingers touched as she passed the smoke back to him and they held each other's gaze for a long, heavy moment.

They broke the moment simultaneously, turning away and refusing to look at the other. "So why does Mikio creep you out?" Armin said casually, too casually perhaps, as Anton relit the cigarette.

He shrugged again. "He just… looms about everywhere. And the way he stalks Eren is just -weird."

"If we're talking about looming, we should talk about Bertholdt," Armin grinned.

Anton's expression darkened. "I'm regretting telling you about him."

"No you're not," she said easily. "How else would I buffer your interactions with him?"

"He's a good guy," Anton said, a shade of concern slipping into his voice. "He's just not… not my type."

"Ooh, a type," Armin teased, trying to ignore her faster heartbeat again. "So what is Anton Leonhardt's type?"

Anton didn't hesitate for a moment. "Blond."

Her stomach felt incredibly hollow and her heart was beating even faster. Armin wondered if she was too young to get a heart attack because that seemed to be the way she was headed currently.

"Oh? Like Reiner?" Armin marvelled at how calm she sounded.

"Too tall." Anton himself was surprisingly short so that made sense. Armin suddenly found herself wondering why the conversation had to make sense at all in the first place.

"Like Krista, then."

"Sure. Except, you know, she's…"

"Gay," Armin nodded.

"And Ymir will fucking murder me if I so much as look at her."

Armin laughed, even though that probably wasn't an exaggeration. Ymir was fucking scary.

"So yeah, my choices are pretty limited."

"You sound like you already have someone in mind."

"I do."

At that point, she couldn't help it; she risked a glance at Anton, then froze at the look in his eyes.

"Oh." She whispered, feeling incredibly nervous.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, that the training grounds were within hearing distance and the sounds of forest critters and bugs were trilling all around them, Armin felt a strange sort of silence descend upon them, as though they were sitting in their own private little bubble.

Slowly, almost hesitantly, Anton reached out and tucked a lock of her blond hair behind one ear.

And Armin panicked. "So Bertholdt doesn't have a chance, huh," she blurted.

Anton paused, his hand hovering near her ear, a small smirk on his face. "Not the slightest."

Her heart seemed intent on tearing through her ribs and her chest and then jumping out. We were talking about Eren, she thought giddily. How did we get here?

Still her nervous chatter persisted. "Poor guy, I mean you were right, he is a good guy and he's not bad-looking either and-"

"Armin."

Her babbling stopped abruptly. "Yes?"

"Shut up."

Armin took a deep breath and closed her eyes. As she felt his rough hand gently touch her cheek, she let out the breath even more slowly, joy burning her insides and curving her lips for her.

"Okay," she whispered.

Their schedule for the rest of the afternoon consisted only of hand-to-hand combat. Unsurprisingly , Armin was knocked out in the first half hour. She patched herself up to the best of her abilities and settled down on the hard ground to watch the others.

"Sooo," Sasha drawled in her ear so suddenly she jumped, "how're you doing, Armin?"

Her tone made her wary. "I'm...fine."

"Just 'fine'?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothing. Just asking." Sasha's eyes seemed to glint knowingly and Armin felt irrationally nervous. What the hell was she implying?

Sasha said nothing more but kept throwing curious glances at her that made her more antsy. Armin wished her friends would finish the training soon so they could leave already.

Within five minutes of that last thought, she saw Anton flip Eren onto her back with effortless grace. He held her down for three long seconds, then let her go. Eren got to her feet, scowling, and made her way towards them. Armin's eyes, however, were fixed on Anton. He noticed and gave her a small, sharp nod, before turning away to rejoin his team.

"Oh my god it's true!" A loud voice just behind her made her jump again. She turned around to see Connie tugging Sasha's arm violently, his eyes wide with more disbelief than joy. "Did you see that -did you… He nodded at her! Holy shit, you weren't kidding!"

Sasha grinned. "I don't lie about these things, Conman."

"What the fuck are you two on about now?" Eren grumbled, grabbing a skein of water irritably.

"Why don't you ask your best friend?" Connie and Sasha both sent pointed glances at her and Armin felt like her stomach had dropped from a great height. They knew. She pretended to watch Mick grappling with Marcine with more interest than necessary.

Eren guzzled the water and flung the skein away. "If you're going to keep speaking in riddles, I have better things to do with my time. Tell me what it is already." Uh-oh. She was in a bad mood.

"Sasha saw Armin and Anton sucking face in the woods at lunch!" Connie blurted out, louder than before.

In the ensuing silence, Armin felt like crawling right into the ground and curling up where no one could see her. She wasn't sure why exactly she was reacting that way. It wasn't like she was ashamed of what had happened. All she knew was that she didn't want to be a stupid source of stupid, annoying teenage gossip in the camp, especially not with Anton. But of course, there was also the issue with Eren…

Eren crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow, and snapped, "So what?"

Both Connie and Sasha paused mid-cackle, their jaws agape. "Huh?"

"I said, so what. What, it's weird if Armin makes out with anyone or something?" Eren's eyes narrowed dangerously, something that always happened when Armin's gender became the topic of discussion.

Both Connie and Sasha took a literal step back, their eyes wide.

"Dude, no! Of course not!"

"We love Armin and want her to be happy!"

They turned to her anxiously. "Armin," Sasha said quickly, "we didn't mean-"

Suddenly Armin felt calmer. She knew these two, had been their comrade for almost three years. She knew they meant well.

"I know, you guys, just chill."

"Armin, seriously man," Connie said, then blanched. "I mean, bro -shit! I mean… babe?"

And that was it. A split second of silence followed Connie's flustering, followed by Armin and then Eren's laughter.

"Oh my god, Connie," Armin breathed through her laughter, "please, never call me babe. Please."

Connie looked relieved. "Deal."

They lingered for a couple minutes more to make sure Armin was not hurt or offended by their teasing. They were good people, Armin mused as she watched Connie chase after Sasha in their impromptu race.

"You're welcome," Eren muttered and sat down next to her.

Armin grinned. "That was unnecessary, Eren."

"They were being annoying."

"Yes, but you can't always pull my gender card."

"You bet your ass I can, and I will in the future, as many times as you need."

"My hero," Armin laughed.

"Was it true though?"

It was like a balloon had popped within her, and all her happiness just fizzled away. "What?"

"About you and Anton?" Eren had her eyes fixed on the combat area, where Armin absently noticed Mick grappling with Reiner, despite being from the same team. Her glance flickered over to Anton almost as if it had been pulled to him: he was watching Mick and Reiner too intently to look at her.

"Yeah," she admitted finally.

"Oh," was all Eren would say.

Armin was floundering for words again. "You -are you okay with that?"

Eren finally turned to her, her face expressionless. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Armin felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "You know, it's Anton…"

"Wait, you're worried about me?" Eren's pokerface broke and her eyes shone with incredulity. "You're kidding."

"But you guys have… history…" Armin said weakly.

"We made out, like, once," Eren dismissed it impatiently. "Doesn't count."

"So why do you look pissed?"

"I'm not pissed, you fool. I'm worried. About you. Anton has a reputation."

"I'm perfectly aware."

"I know you are. You're not stupid… usually."

"You think I'm being stupid now?"

"I don't know, Armin. You're the thinking one, you tell me." Eren looked at her earnestly. "Do you think you're being stupid?"

Armin paused. Eren's calm, logical side was so rare that she couldn't help but take her question seriously, couldn't help but give it all due consideration before answering her.

"Anton and I have been friends from almost the very beginning," she said slowly. "I've known him for years now. I have no illusions about him."

"So you're serious about him?"

Armin squirmed. These were things she hadn't even discussed with Anton himself. "I don't know, Eren. We'll figure it out as it goes. But this is what I want. And I am happy."

"Okay," Eren sighed, then frowned. "If he breaks your heart, though, I'll break his ass."

Armin snorted. "Yes, because you're already so good at breaking his ass."

"Oi! I'm excellent at hand-to-hand!"

"Meh. Just in case, Eren," Armin said loftily, "I'll leave that to Mick."

Eren's bright, sparkling face dimmed immediately. "Yeah," she muttered. "Makes sense."

Shit.

"It was a joke, Eren."

"Yeah, yeah."

They watched as Mick ducked under a powerful jab gracefully, almost as if he was dancing. With the same effortless grace and almost blinding speed, he tackled Reiner and threw the bulky blond boy a good ten feet away. Several gasps and murmurs broke out amongst the students.

"Mikio Ackerman, full points!" Came Shadis' bark.

Eren's frown darkened and Armin could only watch wordlessly.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," came a familiar playful drawl.

Armin didn't even look up from her book. "What do you want, Jean?"

"Just a confirmation of some sort." Jean sat down opposite her and slammed her tray down with unnecessary force. Internally, Armin cringed. Not Jean, too.

"What are you talking about?"

"I hear you're the Lion's new mouse to play with," Jean smirked.

That made Armin look up. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Jean waved her hand airily. "You know, the story. The Lion and the Mouse." When Armin continued to stare at her blankly, she sighed. "Never mind. Serves me right for trying to bring some culture into the setting, but whatever."

"Wow, fuck you too." Armin rolled her eyes and stole back the fries Jean had taken from her plate. Jean ignored her and leaned forward. "Anyway, is it true? You and Leonhardt?'

Armin chose to act naïve. "What about Anton and I?"

"Don't fuck with me, dude." Jean's eyes narrowed and it was a wonder how much like Eren she looked at that moment. "Are you two boning or what?"

Armin cringed at the choice of words. "Yup, definitely upping the culture in this conversation, Jean."

"You're evading my question."

"No I'm not. If you want answers, why don't you ask Anton?"

Jean snorted, she actually looked amused. "You're kidding me, right? I mean, sure, the guy saved my life once or twice but goddammit, Armin, I value my pretty face too much, okay?"

Armin shrugged and turned back to her book. "Well, in that case, I can't help you."

"Nah, no no no no." Jean said, slamming her palms on the table and leaning forward. "Why won't you give me a simple yes or no?"

"I told you," Armin said tiredly. "Ask Anton."

"You would've just said no if it wasn't true." Jean surmised shrewdly. "So you are boning him. Unless -unless you want people to think you're boning him. But why would you want people to think you're boning Anton Leonhardt? Because you're boning someone else? But who could you be boning that would make you want people to think you're boning Anton? Who are you boning, Armin?"

"Can you stop saying that word Jean?" Armin snapped irritably.

"Why?" Jean asked her smugly. "'Boning'? What's so wrong about that word? Boning, boning, boner. Boning, boner, boning, boning, boning-"

"Hello, Jean."

Jean's chin slipped off her palm and her face nearly fell into her plate. "H -hey, Mikio!" She scratched her head. "Um. Ssup?"

Armin had to choke back laughter. Mick had perfect timing, as usual. He simply nodded politely and sat next to Armin.

"You -er, you were pretty amazing at sparring today. Like, that was pretty kickass."

Mick began to tear his loaf of bread into pieces. "Thanks."

An awkward moment passed in silence. Then Jean stood up abruptly. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Bon appetit, mes amis!" She cringed at the random French before Armin or Mick could, and scurried away from the table.

"Hey," Mick said, finally relaxing as Armin laughed again. "What are you reading?"

"Twelfth Night," Armin admitted. "Can't get enough of the bard."

Mick sipped his juice. "Have I told you before you're wasted in the military?"

"Mm, I think so," Armin muttered, tipping some fries into his plate. "Only, like, every other day for more than two years."

Mikio sighed. "You're an idiot."

"Gee, thanks, Mick."

"Stop giving me your food."

"Stop eating so little."

They glared at each other, then Mikio's look softened. "You look tense. What did Jean say?"

"Nothing," Armin lied.

"Tell me."

"It was nothing."

"Armin."

Armin looked away, and, of course, met Anton's cold glance from across the room. She could see how he had earned his nickname of 'Jack Frost' but Armin only felt warmth in her belly when their gaze met.

"What did he do?"

"Huh?" Armin was jarred back to reality painfully. Mikio looked grim. "What?"

"What did Leonhardt do to you?"

"He didn't do anything to me!" That was a lie, too, and she really did not want to lie about this to Mick. It seemed odd, somehow, that Eren knew what was happening with her and Anton, but Mikio didn't.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"You're doing it again, Mick."

"What?"

"Interrogating."

Mick huffed and turned back to his plate. "You're not telling me anything yourself."

"Fine." Armin slammed her book down on the table and lowered her voice. "This afternoon, when we were hanging out in woods after lunch, Anton and I...kissed."

Mikio's expression became dangerously stony. "Did he ask for your permission?" He asked, his voice tight.

Armin sighed. She loved that her friends were so protective of her, but really, she could handle herself. "I wanted it. I kissed him back."

She could see a number of thoughts flicker through Mikio's grey eyes. Betrayal - how could you want him - he's going to hurt you, bad.

"You're overreacting," Armin huffed.

"I didn't say anything."

"You're thinking it."

Mikio didn't deny it. He simply looked at her, his eyes still glimmering with concern.

"Mikio, stop it," Armin sighed. "It was like, one kiss." She paused, caught another flash of icy blue eyes in her direction, and smirked. "Okay, fine. It was more than one kiss. But that's it. And I'm fine, and he's fine, and there's nothing to worry about."

"If he hurts you-"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll break his ass. Eren covered the speech."

The corners of Mick's mouth twitched. "I'm sure she did."

"Where is she, anyway?"

Mick's good humour seemed to seep away. "Training," he said shortly.

"What, now?"

"She wouldn't come when I called her." Mikio shrugged, clearly more hurt than he let on.

Armin floundered for something to say. "You know how she gets. She wants to be the best."

"Yes."

Neither of them had anything further to say and ate their dinner in silence for the most part.

"Over here." His whisper was so quiet Armin almost didn't hear it. She followed the sound and found herself behind the stables. Leaning against the wooden wall, the orange tip of his cigarette glowing in the dark, was-

"Anton," Armin whispered.

"Hi." She could see the small smile on his face in the dim moonlight and she felt her heart leap -Anton almost never smiled.

"Hi," she whispered back breathlessly. She took his proffered hand and stood next to him, leaning against the wooden wall, too. She had a sudden silly thought about how glad she was Anton wasn't too tall. Even their heights were compatible. Then she scolded herself for thinking like a moonstruck silly teenager.

You know better, Armin.

"You know, there's so much hay here, that cigarette is probably a fire hazard."

"Probably," Anton agreed, still holding her hand. Then he smirked and offered the cigarette to her.

With a smile and roll of her eyes, she took it.

They didn't speak as they shared the cigarette, but Anton's thumb kept tracing slow patterns on her hand. When they stubbed it out carefully on the ground, they were silent for a moment.

"How did you get that note in my pocket, anyway? You were nowhere near me."

"I passed by your table when I left the mess hall."

"But you didn't even slow down!"

Anton simply shrugged.

"What are you?" She whispered, incredulously.

He turned to her then. "An idiot." He said slowly. "An idiot is what I am."

Before she knew it, they were at it again, noses brushing, lips pressing, arms roving. She never wanted it to end, but when he began peppering kisses down her jawline and further down her neck, she whispered, "Stop."

He did, immediately, and his ice-blue eyes held hers for a long moment.

"Okay," he murmured, and she felt herself smiling, "Thanks."

"What the hell for?" They had broken apart but not completely; her arm still twined around his neck and his arm still grasped her waist firmly.

"I don't know," she said frankly. "Just… for being yourself, I guess."

He stared at her. "I'm an idiot."

She ruffled his hair gently and he closed his eyes. "Why? For choosing me?"

"No," he said quietly. "For thinking that there ever had been a choice."

She felt her breath catch. "Why me?" She found herself asking.

Anton opened his eyes, then he said, hesitantly, "Because you're not like other girls."

She couldn't help it, a sardonic giggle escaped her. "Seriously? That's your line? I already knew that, genius. My name is Armin."

"You don't understand." His eyes seemed to be boring into hers again. "You're not like other girls."

There was a small pause.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Anton leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "That remains to be seen."

"A good thing." Armin muttered resolutely. "I'll make sure of it."

"You don't have to do anything," he said. "This is on me." And before she knew it, they were kissing again.

It was only later, when she was back in her bed, that Armin found herself wondering why he looked so sad when he said that.

A/N: I swear, I SWEAR this was supposed to be an AU. Hence the talk of kindergarten/Shakespeare/Jack Frost, etc. Unfortunately, I am such a stickler for canon that this could easily be the SnK canonverse without all those references. Sorry guys, I tried, I really did.

Let's just say that these people are in a war-torn country, still have had shitty lives (Eren saves Mikio from something as a child, doesn't have to be murdering sex-traffickers). After a terrible catastrophe that I was too lazy to flesh out, EMA have been shunted around in orphanages, none of them getting adopted since they insist on sticking together. In this AU, they are also slightly older, since I have included middle school in their backstories, so let's say they're closer to 17-18 years old?

Other minor plot points: RBA are still effing traitors, which is why Anton considers himself an "idiot". Armin is basically forbidden territory for him because they're supposed to be enemies, but what can I say, ma boi Leonhardt loves playing with fire.

Also, my headcanon is that Eren and Anton got drunk before that "made out like, once" situation. Eren is as unromantic here as in canon (FOR NOW), so I don't think there was anyone else after that for her. Anton is, you guessed it, a glorious fuckboy.

And non-binary Armin ftw, can I hear a 'hell yes'?!

Also I realised very, very late that keeping Eren/Armin's names unchanged can be confusing. But I was almost done with the story guys, and I couldn't go back and change it all with new names. For the record, I loved the Ariadne/Eren bit and still can't believe I came up with it, so yaye for me? Yes?

Sorry for the huge-ass notes, I can NOT shut up about these people, yeesh. Let me know what you think of the story so far! Next chapter coming soon!