Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin
15 years earlier
With a bounce in his step, Armin Arlert pushed through the doors of the small schoolhouse. The rucksack on his back was near empty, but between his two tiny hands he clutched a small, papier-mâché blob. A happy grin was plastered on his cherubic face.
"Armin!" he heard, still standing at the top of the steps. He looked around at the swarms of parents that were outside, waiting for their children. Finally, he spotted a woman, not so far away, waving to him.
He ran to her, papier-mâché monstrosity still clutched between his hands. He tried to be conscious not to let it fall from his grip as he ran, but in the process he tripped over a stray stone laying on the ground. He tumbled over, but at the last second managed to turn to his side, as not to crush his prize.
"Armin!" the woman said again, rushing over to him.
She helped him up, checking him over with a worried gaze. She had really beautiful green eyes. But aside from her eyes she looked just like Armin, with her gold hair, and delicate facial features.
"I'm ok mama" he assured, feeling a bit embarrassed.
His mother brushed the dust off his brand new school uniform, sighing.
"What am I going to do with you?" she asked, but she obviously couldn't help the small smile forming at the corners of her mouth.
Still feeling slightly abashed, and wanting to quickly put the incident behind him, he presented the papier-mâché object to his mother, a blush creeping onto his face.
"I made this for you, mama" he said in a soft voice. "It's a cat."
"Oh, of course it is!" his mother said in a happy voice, taking it from him. "It's lovely, Armin! Did you make it in class today?"
He nodded, smiling at how happy she seemed. His mother was very charming and very beautiful. Her happiness was infectious.
"Well, let's keep it in your bag until we get home" she said, standing up straight again. She gestured for Armin to turn around, and opened his rucksack to put the "cat" inside. Then she offered him her hand, which he gladly placed his own in, and together they began to walk toward the school gate.
From not so far away, he heard the voice of one of his classmates. "Mama!" she giggled.
Armin turned his head to see a little girl with brunette pigtails rush into the arms of a man who looked about the same age as his mother. The man looked like the little girl, for sure. He smiled at her.
"How was school, baby?" he asked.
"Armin"
His thoughts were interrupted by his mother's voice. When he looked up at her she was looking at him in concern.
"Are you ok sweetie?" she asked. "You seem quiet."
He looked over at the little girl again, who noticed his attention this time. She grinned at him, waving.
"Bye-bye, Armin!" she said loudly.
He waved back, hesitantly. "Bye-bye" he said.
"That's my friend, Armin" he could hear the little girl tell the man as he and his mother continued to walk away.
"Is that a friend of yours?" his mother asked. He nodded silently in response. "Did you make a lot of friends during your first day of school?"
Armin felt a little lump in his throat, and he shook his head. The little girl had been really kind to him, but Armin hadn't played much with anyone else. He wanted to, but it was so hard to talk to people. He just wanted to read some books in a quiet place.
"No" he said in a shaky voice.
"Don't worry! You will!" his mother chirped. "You're smart and kind. Lots of kids will want to be your friend."
He nodded, a small smile forming on his face again.
They walked for a while toward their home, taking a detour through the marketplace. It was pretty lively at this time of the day. But, overall the marketplace was a drab place. The cloth awnings over the different merchant booths were faded and tattered. Some booths had little to sell. Even the goods were largely basic. Roots and onions, potatoes and rice. It was hard to get goods from beyond the walls that kept them in Shiganshina. At five years old Armin had never even been beyond those walls before.
A little boy in tattered clothing ran out in front of them, his hands outstretched. He looked so hungry and tired, which made Armin feel sad.
"Please, ma'am" the boy said to Armin's mother. "Please, do you have any change to spare?"
His mother shook her head, her brow wrinkling with sadness. "I'm so sorry" she said. "I-I don't have anything to give you."
As quickly as he came he was gone. His mother looked down at Armin, clutching his hand a bit tighter.
"We should be thankful we have it so well" she said with a tight smile. "We're very fortunate, Armin."
Armin didn't really understand, but followed her as she continued the journey homeward. Once again his thoughts turned to the man he had seen with his classmate.
"Mama" he said. "Can I ask a question?"
"You don't need to ask permission" she chuckled. "What is it sweetie?"
"Hmmm" he hummed, thinking. "At school, my friend… you saw, remember? She was with that man. And she called him mama. But he's a man. Can a man be a mama?"
"I guess anyone can have their children call them whatever they want" she said. "But actually, Armin, he's an Omega."
Armin cocked his head to the side a little in confusion. "An Omega…?" he asked. He was pretty sure he had heard that word before, but he couldn't remember.
She stopped, crouching down next to him. "Do you remember when the boy who lives next door was really sick? He was presenting."
Armin wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded frightening. "W-what's that? Does it hurt?" he asked in a shaky voice.
She laughed a little. "I guess" she said. "It certainly doesn't feel good. But I wouldn't say it hurts, really."
She waved her hands around at the crowd around them. "There are three presentations, Armin. There are Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Daddy and I are Betas. Most people are. But some people are Alphas. Sometimes they're extra strong. Sometimes they're not. But they… they smell different. And they act different. Sometimes."
"Smell different?" he asked. He felt more and more curious as his mother spoke.
"You won't smell it until you're a little older" she said. "Everyone has a special smell that is all their own."
"Do I smell good?" he asked in a hopeful voice.
She pulled him into a big hug. "You smell so so so good!" she said. "The best!" She began to tickle him, making Armin burst into a fit of giggles.
Finally she let him go. "Mama" he asked. "What about Omegas? Do they smell different too?"
"Yes, sweetie" she said, standing again. She took his hand, and they started to walk again. "Omegas usually smell extra nice. And they're very, very special. They're rare – that means there aren't many of them. And Omega men can have babies, like how I had you."
Armin wanted to ask more, but she put a finger over her lips, smiling at him.
"That's all for now" she said. "I promise someday you'll know more about all that. Come on, let's hurry home. We're having stew for dinner."
Present
"Armin! Wake up!"
"Huh?"
He sat up in bed, looking around his room frantically. Jean was standing in the door, with his hands on his hips, frowning.
"You're going to be late!" he said, pointing at the clock.
Armin glanced at it. 5:45.
"Oh no!" he said, quickly scrambling out of bed. He pushed past Jean, and rushed into the washroom.
Their washroom, like the rest of their apartment, was old and cramped, but they did their best to keep it clean. Armin splashed a bit of water onto his face, grabbing a towel to pat it dry. When he was done he opened up the mirrored medicine cabinet, grabbing a blue jar. Inside the jar was a thick, white cream, which Armin scooped a generous amount of onto his fingertips. Reaching behind him, to the back of his neck, and lifting his bobbed blonde hair up with his other hand, he massaged the cream into the skin of his neck, covering his scent glands completely.
He put the jar in the cabinet again, pulling out a pill bottle. He opened it, shaking one large blue pill into his hand. Three cups, labeled "Armin", "Jean", and "Marco" were sitting on the counter. He grabbed his cup, filling it up with tap water, and popped the large pill into his mouth. Quickly he downed it with the water, grimacing. Taking suppressants was never fun. They were so huge that Armin was always afraid he would choke on one.
Better than going into heat, he reminded himself.
He quickly brushed his teeth, before rushing back to his room. Jean was in there, rummaging through his closet, and pulling out a shirt to match a pair of brown trousers already laying on Armin's bed.
"Jean, stop" he whined. "What are you, my mom?"
"Stop complaining and get dressed!" he grumbled, tossing the white button up shirt in his hands at Armin, who just barely caught it. "You want to catch that train or not?"
Armin sighed, and quickly slipped out of his faded striped pajamas. He pulled on the shirt, his fingers fumbling a bit with the buttons.
"How did I sleep in so late?" he asked woefully.
"I don't know. It might be because you stay up all night reading" Jean said, sarcasm lacing his words.
Armin shot the other a sharp look, snatching the trousers off his bed. "I'm studying for the university exam" he said. "I need to study so the information stays fresh."
Jean's face softened, and he sighed. "Well, do it on the train or something, ok? Don't let it affect your health."
Jean grabbed a blue cardigan off the hanger in his closet, tossing it at him.
"Here" he said. "I trust you can pick out your own socks."
Minutes later Armin was bounding into the small kitchen. Marco was at the sink, cleaning some dishes from his and Jean's breakfast, and nodded to the old, rickety wooden table in the middle of the room. The table was surrounded by four mismatched wooden chairs, and covered with an old, patched up tablecloth. Marco had made Armin breakfast, and had put it at his usual place at the table.
"It's just toast and an egg, and coffee" he said. "They're cold now, sorry"
"That's fine. Thanks Marco" Armin said. He took a big bite out of the toast, followed by a huge gulp of coffee. He was finished with the whole thing in less than three minutes.
Armin moved to clear his dishes, but Marco came over and took them from him.
"Don't worry about that. You'll be late if you don't hurry" Marco said.
"Thank you!" he said.
Marco smiled, taking the dishes to the sink.
"Be safe out there today" he said, suddenly sounding a bit more worried. "I hear that some of the local gangs have been Omega hunting in some of the local neighborhoods lately."
Armin nodded solemnly. A number of Omega in Shiganshina had been disappearing lately.
"I'll be careful" he promised. "I'm going now!"
"Have a nice day" Marco said from the sink.
"You too"
Their apartment was pretty small. They didn't have a living room, just a kitchen. The apartment was technically a one bedroom, but Jean and Marco were living in what was supposed to be the living room, and Armin was in the small bedroom. It was cramped, but the hall and kitchen were relatively uncluttered, and the three of them tried to keep it nice.
Jean worked in Maria, not so far outside the walls, and Marco worked right down the street at Mr. Pixis's bakery. Neither of them had nearly as long of a commute as Armin did.
At the entry of the apartment, Armin slipped on his old, worn shoes. They were getting pretty beaten up, weren't they? Maybe he should start saving up for a new pair. Or maybe Jean could get him a defective sample at the clothing factory he worked at. Armin couldn't remember if they made shoes or not though.
He grabbed his worn out brown messenger bag, and left. How fast did he need to hurry to catch his train? Armin didn't own a watch, but luckily the post office was across the street from his apartment, and had a large clock on its exterior. From the landing outside their apartment, on the second floor, he peered across the street at the large clock. 6:00. He was still running behind, but he'd been faster at getting ready than he expected.
Quickly he descended the stairs of the apartment building, and started to make his way down the street. Mr. Pixis was outside his bakery, opening up shop for the day. "Morning Armin!" he called.
"Good morning!" Armin replied.
Armin rushed through the streets of the Shiganshina ward, clutching his bag a little closer to him as he did. You never knew who might come out of nowhere and try to take your bag. Armin, as an Omega, was an especially prime target for theft.
As he passed an alleyway something caught his eye, making him look in for a moment. Immediately he regretted it.
There was a man pressed up against the wall of the alley, his head thrown back, and his pants around his knees. In front of him was a scantily clad young man. He was a petite brunette, with rather pretty features, and looked like he was probably around the same age as Armin. He was crouched down before the man, with his mouth -
The boy's eyes turned and looked at Armin, startling him. But he made no move to stop his ministrations. Armin didn't realize he must have stopped for a second, and had been staring. He felt mortified at having been caught doing such a thing. The boy, on the other hand, didn't look embarrassed at all. He continued on with his work, also continuing to watch Armin with curiosity. The fact that he was disconnected enough from what he did to pay attention to Armin at all unsettled him.
"Hey" the man said, grabbing the boy's hair. "Look at me".
Once again an electric jolt of surprise ran through him, and Armin ran as fast as he could away from there.
That boy had definitely been an Omega. Armin had been too far away to tell by scent, but he could still tell. He was built pretty small, like Armin, and like most Omega males. That, and Omegas were more likely to prostitute themselves like that than Alphas or Betas.
Things were so hard for Omegas. There were so many laws holding them back. But he guessed that ending up like that was probably better than some of the less than savory alternatives. He shivered, not wanting to think about it anymore. Armin was very fortunate and very privileged, and it wasn't something he wanted to take for granted.
He was worried that since he was running late the line at the gate checkpoint would be long, but thankfully it wasn't. He looked around the crowd of soldiers and Shiganshina residents, spotting Annie at one of the desks, and jumped into her line. It was shorter than the others. Most people were afraid of her, but Armin wasn't, so he made sure to stand in her line whenever she was on duty.
As he drew closer and closer to the desk he fished his paper visa, and his green passbook from his bag. His stomach felt like it was full of butterflies as he finally reached the front of the line. He caught a pleasant smelling scent on the air, and it made him smile. Annie was an Alpha. Normally Alpha scents were heavy and powerful. Annie's was too, but something about it smelled unique. It wasn't as overbearing as a lot of other Alpha scents were. He liked it.
"Good morning, Annie!" he said.
Annie was normally pretty stoic, even for a soldier. But she was awfully nice to Armin, so he didn't mind. Annie was much kinder than a lot of the other soldiers. And he couldn't help but think sometimes about how strong she looked in her uniform. The white pants, high brown boots, and tan jacket made her look so dignified, and….
Armin mentally shook away the thought. He promised himself he wasn't going to think of Annie like that anymore. It wasn't allowed, after all.
She gave him a small smile. "Good morning" she said in the same serious tone she always used. "Passbook please".
He handed his passbook and visa over to her, as usual. She didn't even glance at the visa. She had seen it so many times already. Instead the grabbed the passbook, and flipped it open. The passbook was full of lines of two vertical boxes. In the morning, when people with working visas left, they would stamp the top box with a red stamp. When he came home from work Armin would get his passbook back, and they would stamp the bottom box with a green stamp.
"Armin, you've only got a few weeks on this thing left" she scolded. "You need to go to the city office and renew your passbook."
"O-oh, ok", he said with a nod. "Thanks. I'll do that"
There were three long wooden boxes next to her, just wide enough for the books, and sorted by color. The box with the blue passbooks was by far the most full. Blue was the color of passbooks for Betas. The red passbook box was about half as full as the blue one. Those were the Alpha passbooks. The last box, where the green passbooks went, was the Omega box. There were only two books in there. She placed Armin's passbook in that box.
"That's a nice sweater" she commented.
Armin felt his heart leap in his chest, and knew he was probably blushing. "Thanks" he said sheepishly. "It's new. From Jean's factory."
She nodded. "Those two certainly look after you" she said with another small smile. She waved him through. "Ok, have a good day at work."
"Thank you, Annie!" he said, running off toward the gate.
Shiganshina was surrounded by a massive wall, like most districts were in the city. Just beyond the checkpoint desks was a gate leading in and out of the district. It was manned by several soldiers. Soldiers also patrolled the walls around the district, making sure no one escaped.
You couldn't go in or out of the ward without proper paperwork. Anyone from outside could get in with just their normal citizen registration, and stay as long as they wanted. For anyone born inside, you couldn't leave without some form of visa. And those were not easy to come by.
After all, Shiganshina was a district of criminals. Armin himself was a criminal by blood association.
The other soldiers were not as kind to him as Annie was, normally. When he reached the gate a tan soldier with dark hair looked down at him with a scowl.
"Papers" he said in a gruff tone. Armin fumbled to show the man his visa. The man looked over it for a few moments before grunting again. "Alright. Move along."
The train stop was the last one on the line, and was waiting for him right outside the gate of Shiganshina. The locomotive stood there, large and imposing. The engine part of the train was black, while the cars were bright red. He normally tried to get there before the train arrived, but as long as he got there before it left it would be fine. He probably wasn't going to have a problem with seating in his compartment.
He quickly boarded his train, in the first car. Each car had a sign on it. Some had signs saying "First Class". Others had ones saying "Free Seating".
Armin couldn't afford first class, where he could sit anywhere he liked, so he had to sit in the first car. The sign on the car read "Unaccompanied Omega Seating/Free Seating".
As he approached he flashed his visa to the station worker standing by the door. The only benefit (if he could call it that) of being relegated to the "Unaccompanied Omega Seating" section was that he got to ride for free. They wanted the few Omegas who worked to be able to do so in the inner districts, like he did.
How are all the Alphas living further into the city supposed to meet us and sweep us off our feet otherwise? he thought sarcastically.
The Unaccompanied Omega car was actually only half a car. The train car was specially built to separate them from the rest of the other half of the car with a wall, and a door with no window. Once, when his parents were alive, he had taken the train with them, and he'd seen what the other train cars looked like. He had been very small then, however, and that was before he had presented as an Omega. He'd never seen the inside of the other cars since then.
It was a rather small space, but then again, Omegas were pretty rare. And even then, a lot of parents, spouses, and guardians didn't allow their Omegas to travel anywhere by themselves. It was pretty radical for Armin to be by himself on this train almost every day. On the off chance that there was an influx of Omega passengers, he'd heard that they changed the whole car to an Unaccompanied Omega car. But he had never seen it for himself.
He found a seat by the window easily. There were maybe ten other Omegas there in the car. Half of them were other workers he recognized from seeing every day. Just seconds after he sat down the train whistle blew, and they began to move.
Armin lazily watched the world go by outside his window, his forehead resting against the edge of it. He knew he should be studying some more, but he was really sleepy. Jean was right, he should start to study more on his commute. He was just so bad at getting himself to do that kind of thing. Armin was a brilliant student in his day, loved to study, and was a pro at organizing and making plans for things. But as for getting to bed on time? Not so much.
He dozed off for a little while, only to be awoken by a hand shaking his shoulder. He woke with a start. A train conductor was standing over him.
"Excuse me" the man said. "Papers please"
Armin looked out the window, and realized they had already reached the edge of wall between Maria and Rose. Quickly he pulled out his visa, showing it to the conductor. Satisfied, the man moved on to the next passenger.
People's visas or identifications indicated their travel allowance. This depended on their presentation, and their status as citizens. Marco was originally from Jinae, a district in the south of Rose, and he was allowed to travel anywhere in the city or country he liked. Jean never talked about where he was originally from, but his family was sent to Shiganshina when he was a child. His is work visa was only for traveling as far as the inside of Maria. Armin held a much coveted work visa, which allowed him to go all the way into the inner city, Sina.
For Omegas they were especially adamant about checking paperwork, in case someone was on the run.
Eventually they started again, and things were black outside the windows for a few moments while the train passed under the wall.
Their city was actually separated into three different smaller cities, built around one another. Armin was technically from Maria, but he lived in a walled off district called Shiganshina. It was a terrible place to live, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Maria was built around Rose, which was built around Sina. Each area had their own districts and smaller wards inside. It could get a bit confusing, so people often referred to where they lived by which direction it was in – like "South Maria" or "East Rose".
And in the center of all of the city was the palace – home of the king. That was why all the walls were built around the inner city. So that in the case of an enemy attack, the citizens of Eldia could better protect their noble king, and the two princes, with their lives.
King Grisha and the heir apparent, Prince Zeke were rather public, and Armin had seen images of them many a time in his life. Prince Eren, the younger son however, was quite hidden from the public. Some said it was to protect him from danger, as next in line as heir. Some said it was to hide him from those who had killed his mother, Queen Carla, years before. Still, others thought maybe he was just sickly.
Regardless, the identity of the younger prince was kept hush-hush. It didn't stop him from being a figure of interest though. Eren, like Zeke before him, had become a popular name for children born around Armin's time.
When he was younger Armin had wondered what the young prince looked like. Sometimes he still did. He couldn't help it. It was interesting to wonder about. He knew that he had to be around Armin's own age.
Armin dozed off again, waking only when it was time to check papers again at the boarder of Rose and Sina. He willed himself not to fall asleep again after that, watching the scenery go by. Sina was quite obviously a much wealthier place than Maria, or Rose, and definitely more so than where he came from. Townhouses and manors, with beautifully kept laws sprinkled the outer parts of the city. As they approached the shopping district the buildings became much more condensed, but still beautiful and clean.
At last they reached Armin's train stop. He yawned as he departed the train. It had been so nice to sleep through most of the hour and a half train ride. He felt much more refreshed now.
He didn't need to worry about being mugged as much here, though the occasional thug or beggar from Underground sometimes appeared. He leisurely made his way down the streets of Sina.
Sina was a really beautiful place. In the merchant district there were so many nice shops and cafes. A lot of beautifully dressed people were wandering around, looking in shop windows, and enjoying their time out and about.
The bookstore he worked in wasn't so far from the station. It was a quaint looking place from the storefront. But, it was one of the best bookshops in the whole city.
He saw a shop up ahead and across the street, with a sign above it that read "Fritz books". Perfect! He was going to make it just in time.
Just as he was about to begin to cross the street, to his right another young man with brunette hair came rushing around the corner, crashing right into Armin, and sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
The boy quickly jumped to his feet. "I am so sorry" he said.
A bit confused by what had just happened, Armin looked up at the boy, who was brushing his clothes off. The brunette's gaze caught his, and his eyes widened a little bit. They stayed like that for a moment, the brunette young man looking at Armin with a wide eyed, curious gaze, and Armin awkwardly sitting on the ground. Since he was still standing over him, Armin assumed, for a moment, that he was going to help him up or something, but he didn't. He seemed distracted.
The boy was lithe, not much taller than Armin, and he looked like he was probably around the same age. His brown hair was cropped short and neat around his ears. His clothes were well tailored and looked like they were made of fine materials, which made sense. This was Sina, after all. People living here had money to be fashionable.
Armin felt a little out of sorts here, in his tattered shoes and his ordinary looking clothes. He tried to dress as nicely as possible to fit in as best as he could while at work. Even then he still stuck out enough that he tried to avoid drawing attention to himself in Sina. No matter how many new clothes Jean got him, they were still defective samples from a factory in Maria. People here often looked down on people in the outer part of the city, and would be especially judgmental if they were to find out exactly what part of Maria he was from.
Armin was starting to feel a little antsy, still sitting awkwardly on the ground. The boy was still just standing there, looking at him with that awe-struck looking expression. Armin was used to being looked down at, or leered at, but not that look. It made him feel self-conscious. He looked into the boy's eyes again. They were a nice green color, and sort of reminded Armin of his mother's eyes.
Finally, he realized that the boy wasn't going to make a move to help him. He'd already been sitting there, being stared at, long enough to make him uncomfortable. As he began to pick himself off the ground the other boy finally seemed to come to his senses, offering Armin his hand.
"Are you alright?" the boy asked in concern. Even if he seemed odd, he still had a nice voice, Armin thought. He looked warily at the outstretched hand, not sure if he should really take it or not, since the boy seemed a bit off. However, his parents had forcefully instilled excellent manners in him when they were still alive, and he wouldn't have felt right pushing the hand away. Hesitantly, he placed his own hand in the one that was outstretched to him.
"Y-yes" Armin said quickly, letting the boy help him up. "I'm ok."
He suddenly caught the boy's scent on the air. It was musky and seductive, and strong. Definitely the scent of an Alpha. Armin hated to admit it, but it made him shiver a bit. He blamed biology. It wasn't his fault that Omegas were more affected by the scents of Alphas.
What a powerful smell, he thought. Was it coming from this boy? But he looked so small! He looked like he might have been a Beta! If someone had told Armin he was an Omega, he wouldn't have been too shocked by that either. Was he really an Alpha?
"I'm sorry for that" the boy said, still holding Armin's hand in his, and still looking at him with that weird gaze. "I'm glad you're alright".
He then paused a moment. Those green eyes roamed over Armin's features. For an awkwardly long stretch of time he stood there, not yet releasing the hand in his grasp. The Alphas gaze traveled to their joined hands, and he seemed, suddenly, as though he was lost in thought. Armin could feel the other young man's thumb start to slowly run back and forth over his skin of his hand.
Oh shit, had he caught his scent? Ugh, maybe Armin hadn't put enough cream over his scent glands before he left home. Being a working Omega could often get annoying exactly for this reason. Single Alphas could become pretty pushy when nothing was done about Omega scents. The cream couldn't cover up his smell completely, but it certainly got a lot of them off his back.
He gently pulled his hand out of the other's grasp, bringing the attention of the Alpha back to reality. He'd be late to work at this rate. "Well, thanks for helping me up" he said. "Goodbye."
The brunette nodded, his eyes still a bit wide, and a blush creeping onto his face. "O-ok. Bye."
Armin passed him, continuing on his way to the bookshop. What a weirdo, he thought, starting to cross to the other side of the street.
The front door jingled as he entered, and Ymir looked up from behind the counter, where she had been looking over some documents.
"Good morning" he said, closing the door behind him.
She frowned at him. "You've got a new sweater" she noted.
"Yeah, Jean gave it to me. It's from his factory."
"It's dorky" she said bluntly. Armin didn't mind. Ymir was like that. She didn't mean anything by it.
She slid a paper across the table, and Armin took it, scanning it quickly. It was his to-do list for the day.
"Here" she said. "Mina finished most of the reorganization before the shop opened, but we just got some deliveries."
She gestured to a pile of boxes next to her. Armin sighed. If they were all still here that meant he was going to have to be the one to carry them all to back of the shop. He wasn't very strong, so lifting heavy boxes wasn't his forte.
"They came late today," she explained. "Mina took some boxes, and is doing inventory on them now, and pricing them. I need you to bring the rest of the boxes to the back. Then and I need you to put the new volumes that she's finished working with on the shelves. There are some restocks I need you to fill out the paperwork for too, so I'll be putting you in the back room a while, and bringing Mina out to cover you on the floor."
Armin nodded, his blue eyes still reading over the list of tasks for him to do that day.
"And also…"
He looked up, and saw Ymir was gesturing to the window. The brunette boy from moments ago was still visible a little ways down the street, where he had crashed into Armin, looking in the direction of the bookshop. Seeing Ymir bring attention to him seemed to cause him to become self-aware, and he quickly moved along.
"Is that your boyfriend?" she asked.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm happily single" he said.
"I saw him holding your hand" she said, wiggling an eyebrows. "Looked pretty romantic to me."
"It wasn't". He groaned, but he couldn't help but smile a little. "He knocked me over by accident. He's not my boyfriend. You know I wouldn't do that."
"Good. I like you, and I don't want you getting in trouble", she said, returning to her paperwork. "That, and he looks even dorkier than your sweater."
Author Note: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading the first chapter of Before Daybreak! I've been playing with this idea for a while now, and am really excited to publish it. I've been writing fanfiction for a while, but this is the first one I've posted online. I'll try to update as often as I can, but I don't have a schedule for it for now. However, if I get a good response I'll try my best to work harder to update regularly. If you like it leave a comment and let me know! And if you don't like it also leave a comment and tell me what you don't like. I want to improve myself as a writer, so your feedback is important to me!
Thanks again for reading!