Eternal Rivals
Chapter 1: Rivals
A/N: I give to you another fleeting figmant of my imagination, internet. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: If I owned SnK season 2 of the anime would have already aired by now xD
-xx
I can't remember exactly when it all began. Even from the beginning, the moment her ebony eyes locked onto mine, I knew we wouldn't get along.
I was right. Yes, I was certainly right.
Throughout pre-school, we would fight over toys, destroy eachother's sandcastles, who could paint the prettiest pictures, all of that stuff.
It didn't really get serious until middle school. Facing one another,
stood in a desolate schoolyard, we made a vow.
"It's settled then" I had muttered coldly. "From now on, we're rivals"
"Yeah. Rivals"
"Oi, Annie! Wait up!"
I heard heavy footfalls and ragged, uneven breaths approuch from behind me, then a hand fell on my shoulder. I peered behind stiffly. "Oh, its you, Reiner"
The blonde man was hunched over, a palm on his thigh as he grips my own shoulder for balance. I wait as he recovers, then fix him a solid glare.
"Why are you giving me that look?" He whines. "I just wanna to walk to school with you"
I don't waver my glare, replying dryly as he adjusts his satchel, "I prefere walking alone" then continue my pace down the sidewalk. Reiner appears beside me almost immediatly.
"Yeah, I know you do, but Burthold's sick and nobody else is around this early"
With a sigh, I decide it's not worth the effort and just drudge the remaining distance to school, all the while my new companion yammers on beside me.
Geez, why do I call this loser my friend again?
My name is Annie Leonhart, I'm sixteen years of age, am currently attending the world's shittiest highschool in downtown Trost, and I hang around with a bunch of idiots.
I've never sought out friends, if I'm gonna be completely honest, people have just kind of become drawn to me.
Reiner Braun and his pal Burtold Hoover, for example, approuched me when we were in middle school. Before that I was pretty much a loner. But for some reason, they came to like me, or so they say, and just, well...stuck around.
Our little trio soon grew as time passed. Some smart ass chick named Ymir and her,uh, 'pet' Krista Lenz soon showed up, which I'm sure those two have a thing going on at the moment...
Then they were followed by Sascha and Connie some time after high school started. I think those last two are the most moronic out of us all, though, so I don't really pay attention to them all that much.
So yeah, there you go. That's me, in a nutshell, on my way to school with a blonde giant still talking on about what he had for dinner two days ago.
Some people would say that I'm a moody, occasionally violent, cynical bitch most times. But hey, everybody has their flaws.
Speaking of flaws, there's this other thing...
Ymir is sat lazily sprawled across the staircase towards the main building of the school when we arrive. And she's not alone, either.
" 'sup" she salutes at us in greeting as we approuch, though my squinted gaze isn't quiet focused on her right now.
"Hey Annie, it looks like our three favourite people got here before us!" Reiner chirps from beside me, and I nudge him slightly as he chuckles.
He goes to join the small gathering, myself unenthusiastically joining him.
And wouldn't you know it, sat around Ymir in a huddle is that timid 'boy-genius' Armin Arlert, who I can never bring myself to hate, Eren Jaeger, Arlert's brooding buddy with a not-so-subtle crush on me. And...her.
Mikasa Ackerman.
I feel myself scowl just by looking at her. She returns it with a look of contempt.
"Leonhart"
"Ackerman"
The others look between us warily, Ymir chuckling in amusement. "Oi, no getting catty you two, little ol' me's got a hangover"
I sit down beside Reiner with a frown, then Eren shuffles next to me.
"Hi there, Annie, how are you this grim morning?" The brown-haired teen asks politely.
I give me a small grin, "I'm alright infact, now that I'm here with you"
I put a hand on his shoulder, making sure his overly protective sister sees the act, who fidgets in irritation. It's great knowing I can piss her off just by doing something so small.
Eren blushes noticably, scratching his rosy cheek.
"Well, I-"
"Fine, take the damn thing, it's yours!"
A sweet, girlish voice interupts the boy and I see Ymir rush up to embrace little Krista Lenz, who flinches at the sudden contact. Behind them is Sacha Braus, munching happily on a ice bun Krista shoved at her her beforehand.
"Hey, Ymir, not so rough!" Said petite girl cries, the bruenette ignoring her only to bend down to squeeze her cheeks. "Apologies, sweetie, I forgot you like me to be gentle with you" Ymir winks, making her target flare up and pull away.
"Isn't that something you're suppose to remember?!"
I see Reiner glance jealously at the two as they chat animately, his eyes roaming down Krista's dainty frame longingly. Huh, poor bastard.
Before long, more students begin to filter through the gates, the morning bell not chiming fast enough as I'm forced to spend my time preventing Sascha from stealing lunch out of my bag. It's almost tragic the way I practically sprint to class as soon as the day officially begins.
"Alright ladies, lesson begins now! I want to see you all drop and give me thirty!"
What is this, the military?
I lower to the ground and begin the regular pushups, as defying Keith Shadis meant a swift demise. At the corner of my eye, I spot Ackerman bobbing up and down furiously, putting more effort in then any sane person. Then, as if she noticed me staring, a hand is thrown behind her back and she begins doing pushups with just her right arm.
That little-
"Good work, Ackerman! Show these losers how to do it!" Shadis bellows overhead.
Me, a loser? Bitch please, if she wants to try and make me look bad, Ackerman's got another thing coming.
With admittedly some difficulty, I too wrap one of my arms around my back and press more agressively, shifting my weight to my left arm. It doesn't go unoticed.
"It would seem that you've set off a trend here, Ackerman" the bald gym coach laughs. I swivel my head to lock eyes with the dark femme, her face looking as overheated as mine felt. I won't stop until you do, so go ahead.
Ten minutes later, the rest of the class has either given up or collapsed, except us. Others watch in facination as we continue the gruelling exercise, refusing to let up until the other one does.
My arm aches, my legs are going numb, I can feel a slight headache, but I won't stop. Not until she sdmits defeat.
"Alright" Shadis sighs, "Thats enough you two, let's call it quites and continue with the lesson before I lose my temper"
Begrudgingly, Ithe two of us stand at the same time, panting in exaustion while glaring at one another. Before we can recover though, the class is sent outside to the track field.
Walking past the bleachers, I see the guys messing around near the basketball courts. They whistle and chant as we walk by, which automaticaly makes me look after in disgust, but then I see Eren staring at me from the sidelines.
I give him a wink, which makes him freeze and turn bright red. How...cute?
Its sascha who pulls me away from my current state, yelling at me from were the rest of the group are now standing. Well, now I feel embarresed.
"Leonhart, could you please stop ogling the opposite sex so that we can get on with class!?"
Mikasa shoots me an icy look as I stroll past her, probably because I was simply breathing the same air as her her brother again.
Shadis sets us in a line beside the track and sends us off into groups. As usual, I come first in every event, my athletic prowess far greater than any of the others in the group.
After laps, we are told our times and all that crap.
"To nobodies supre, Mikasa Ackerman recieved the best times with exactly sixty-eight seconds around a single full lap" Shadis announces. I let out a stiff chuckle, causing a few people including golden girl herself to look towards me.
"What, you think you could do better?" Shadis barks.
"Sure I can"
Ackerman glares at me.
"Well then, go ahead" she growns, coming close to my face.
"Lets see if you can, Leonhart"
Ok, so it took me three or four attempts to actually beat her time. But I did it, right? Sixty-three seconds and a backflip over the finish line, I guess I don't really have a right to be smug now but-
I tense as Ackerman approachs me not long after, ending my internal celebrations abruptly.
"Don't feel so proud, Leohart, it did take you, what, four tries?" She leans over to my ear, so close I can feel her warm breath acoss my skin.
"No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you'll never surpass me"
I stand silently as she heads back the locker rooms, flipping her hair from her face.
"You should know that by now"
Slamming the door to my house shut, I still hear those same words echo in my head.
Geez, that bit was right.
No matter what I do, how far I push, Ackerman has always been one step ahead of me. Thats why I'm so bitter, I guess. She's the only person around who can actually one-up me in absoloutly everything I do.
And no matter how much I try to deny it, nothing else matters until I finally beat her, finally truly get under skin.
So that's what I'm going to do, I think to myself as turn on the tv, sat on the loungue leather sofa. I will find a way to make her acknowledge me as her better, weather I have to play dirty or not.
We are rivals, after all.
Xxx
A/N: ok slow start but there is going to be a plot and I wanna establish a few things first. Until then though...
