Attack on Titan © Isayama Hajime
Her every female friend was right. They figured her out to be late bloomer based on her petite frame. No wonder she hadn't had her period yet. Krista blamed it on her innocence. Maybe if she were more daring, acting more grown up, she would have gotten it by now.
So she had tried that little episode with Armin. During that nauseous game of 7-minutes-in-heaven (with more than half of drunken participants), she had agreed to get inside the closet with the gentle nature boy.
Every male trainee grumbled, jealous of how lucky Armin got. Except for Eren. That one person is always ambiguous, at best, toward her. He tolerates her presence but unwilling to make more contact. Even to this day he never got involved directly with her. That's why she couldn't help but to think that he avoiding her on purpose. And to tell the truth, this attitude of his hurt her somehow, though she had no idea why.
She silently watched him unusually cheerful under the alcohol influence. She wondered briefly, what would his reaction had she chosen him over Armin to get into the dark closet…
He turned his head away when Connie called blond boy's name. Armin left the table unwillingly as he gave him a push with a forced smile plastered on his face. That smile was unreadable… cold and hard…
"You know the rule of the game, don't you, Armin?" Franz asked.
"How could he not?" Reiner sulked.
Thomas laughed, "Well… It looks like he never got any experience with girls before. It's better if we explain."
"Ha.. ha… Please do," the nervous blond stuttered, eyeing Krista in wonder, how she unexpectedly picked him in the first place.
"It's simple, really. You go to the closet and during the seven minutes course, you are free to do whatever you want to do with the girl."
"But… but... We are barely legal!" Armin panicked, looking at Krista again in disbelief. Behind her, Ymir shot him a dirty look.
"Reiner put his big hand on Armin's shoulder. "Relax. You are such gentleman, Armin. You will not do anything rash without the lady's consent..." He put more pressure on Armin's shoulder as if to make a point. "Don't you, Armin?"
"Come on, come on. It's a fair game and we don't have all day," cut Franz fast. "Now get into the closet!"
Armin was about to bolt, but in the end was getting shoved to the closet forcefully. Krista began to feel bad for him, regretting her choice to get him involved.
Once the closet was locked, she could hear the crowd cheered. Her heart thumped so loud. The place was too narrow that they had no choice but to move closer to one another.
The first minute was eerily silent. Nobody made a move and they listened to each other's breath. His knees were touching hers.
"Sorry…" he whispered, trying to move his knees to no avail./p
"It's okay. It's impossible to move since there is barely no space," she tried to keep her voice bright despite her nervousness.
"It is a very risky game," he commented which she replied with uneasy laugh. "That's why I was surprised that you chose me," said him as a matter of fact.
Krista was glad he couldn't make out of her blushing face.
"What do you want to do?" he asked uncertain. They would expect them to do something outrageous…
Krista was struggling to come up with something, just like the good girl she was. But nothing came out of her mouth and suddenly she began to feel tired.
She blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the dark, but the darkness only grew bigger. She stared at it with empty eyes, suddenly feeling swallowed by an unknown emotion.
Being a good girl sure was tiring. Always put other's need before her that what she wanted wasn't matter anymore. How come she didn't see it all this time? She wanted a lot of things… but she was unsure. Shed her innocence and perhaps she could see more clearly…
Armin cleared his throat. He has been waiting and was getting no reply from his opponent...
"Whatever you want to do is fine by me."
He sat straight hearing her words. There was something dark in her voice, unlike her usual bright self. Did she just say that he could take advantage of her…
Armin clenched his fist. Sweat formed on his forehead. He was unsure he was feeling hot either because of their proximity or her recent promiscuous words. Shaking his head, he tried to take a grip of himself.
"This is Krista, his fellow trainee… whom everyone dubbed a Goddess… the prettiest girl he has ever known… who asked him to take control… to stop being a gentleman for once…
She was still busy talking to herself, not realizing he had moved closer. At first she felt he leaned in forward. Their forehead bumped gently into each other. His long fingers made his way into hers, tangling softly. She could hear the sound of heart beat so deafening to the point she couldn't hear anything else anymore.
Then something must have snapped within him, because in a second he cornered her and landed his mouth hard on hers. Not ready for the assault, she tried to push him away. He expertly gripped her hands and pinned them to her back, deepening the kiss. She blinked tears. He was unexpectedly strong for someone with lithe stature.
When the closet was opened, they found the blond pair was sitting at their corners respectively. There was no sign of forced making out. In fact they both looked as if they had stayed unmoved from their corner.
"They did nothing!" came disappointed (and some relieved) voice from 104th male trainee.
"That's Armin for you," Reiner came and extended his hand to help him come out. "He respects the lady!"
"He might be even more scared than Krista so he was unable to do anything, right Armin?" Connie teased, grinning.
"That's a gentleman, Connie! Gen-tle-man! Remember that!" the big guy said sternly beside the silent, smiling blond.
For the rest of the evening, Krista smiled like her usual self. An hour later, she excused herself to bed after telling Ymir to watch over slightly drunken Sasha.
Walking by herself, as she passed through a certain table, a pair of cold eyes drilled a hole behind her head. She had a feeling that the dark-haired boy was watching her… and the way he looked was full of accusations, effectively putting her into shame…
"Eren!"
Somebody called his name. And just like that, she could no longer feel that sharp gaze on her. Breathing in relief, she kept on walking.