AN: So this is an idea that I hope to turn into a complete story someday. Meanwhile, I'll use it for Aruani Week!
Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan.
Day 2 - Highschool
Armin stretched his hand out as far as he could, trying to reach the book that was on the far end of the shelf. He leaned his body forward, careful not to go too far, in case he slipped from the ladder he was standing on. Why the book he had wanted to read was placed on the topmost portion of the shelf, he had no idea. All he knew was that it took him years to search for this book, and now that he finally found it, he was going to get it.
His fingers brushed the book's leather spine; he smiled, and reached his hand out further. His finger latched onto its cover, and the thick volume slid out of the shelf and fell to the carpeted floor with a soft thump, making him groan in frustration. Armin let his arm drop to his side as he sighed. He got ready to climb down, but he stopped short when he saw the book gently rise up from the floor — the thing floated in the air, as if some invisible string was pulling it up.
Not knowing what to do, Armin held out his hands, and the book landed on his palms with a soft thud. He gazed at its dark blue cover with confusion, and before he could fully register what had happened, a voice from below him said: "Be careful next time."
Armin looked down and saw a girl standing at the foot of the ladder. She was staring at him with pale blue eyes, her hands inside the pocket of her hoodie. Everything about her seemed pale — her blond hair, her skin, her lips. He noticed that she had a strong, European nose. She looked like she was in a perpetual state of boredom, with the way she was looking at him. Armin felt like she was some sort of vampire, and that any minute now she would melt under the sunlight.
"You should be more careful next time," she repeated. Her voice was flat, like air coming out of a pipe. "Someone could have been standing here, you know. That book's so thick it can put a person into comatose if hit."
"S-sorry," he stuttered. He hugged the book closer to his chest. "It slipped."
She shrugged. The girl turned away from him and started walking out of the library. Armin, snapping out of his daze, quickly scrambled down the ladder and followed her.
"Thanks!" he said.
"Voice down, please," Ms. Ral, the librarian, told him.
He gave her an apologetic smile before turning back to the girl, who had stopped and faced him.
"Thank you," said Armin. "You did it, right? You picked up the book?"
"Yes."
"So you can move objects? That's so cool."
"I guess."
Armin smiled. She wasn't much of a talker, was she? "I'm Armin, by the way. Armin Arlert." He extended his hand to her.
She took it and said, "I'm —"
"Annie Leonhardt," he blurted out. Realizing what he did, he quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.
Annie raised an eyebrow. "How...?"
"I read your mind," he replied. "I didn't mean to, though. I promise! It's just that, I'm not wearing my earphones right now, and when there's no music to block out the voices, my mind automatically reads all the thoughts around me..."
"So you can read minds," she stated.
"Yeah," he said. "It's my gift."
"And you need earphones?" she asked.
"It's a long story," he said. He rubbed his temples. "And now a hundred voices are threatening to enter my head. Can we please leave the library?"
Annie nodded, and they exited into the school corridor, which was practically empty save for a few students who were stuffing things into their lockers. Armin gave a sigh of relief, and he smiled at Annie before plugging his earphones on.
"Finally," he said, when a loud song began to play.
Annie turned her head to the side. "You can't seem to control your power."
Armin scratched the back of his neck, blushing. "It can get out of hand sometimes."
"I bet. Anyway —" said Annie, but he cut her off.
"Gods. Again?" Armin winced, and he raised the volume on his phone.
"What are you talking about?"
"I have to go."
"Why?" said Annie. "Did something happen?"
"My friends are fighting again," he replied. He began running towards the exit, but he turned back to Annie at the last second. "Uh, Annie, would you like to have lunch with us tomorrow?"
Annie seemed taken aback. "With your friends?"
He nodded. "You're new here, right?"
Annie sighed. She guessed he read her mind again. "Okay. See you tomorrow."
"I'll meet you here, alright?" Armin smiled and went off in search of his friends.
He found them at the school steps. His best friend, Eren, was nose-to-nose with Jean, and both looked really pissed. A crowd of students surrounded them, eager to see a fight. He spied Professor Zoe watching on the sidelines, but even she seemed excited to see how this would turn out.
"Take back what you said, horseface!" yelled Eren.
"Will not," said Jean. "There's nothing wrong with what I said."
"Eren, calm down," said Mikasa. She placed a hand on Eren's shoulder, and her touch seemed to make him momentarily forget about his anger.
Jean scowled. "That's it!"
With a loud cry, he lobbed a fireball at Eren's direction — but Mikasa jumped in front of Eren and took the impact. She barely flinched when the fireball hit her, burning some of her clothes off. Mikasa tsked when she saw her favorite red scarf turn to ash, and she gave Jean a steely glare.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mikasa!" said Jean, putting his hands up. "I was trying to hit Eren —"
"Die," she said, as she ripped off the bottom layer of her shirt, leaving her abdomen exposed.
Jean blushed, and he was too busy staring at Mikasa's bare skin to even notice her lifting a large boulder. She grunted as she picked up the giant rock, spinning on her spot until she unceremoniously threw it towards Jean.
Jean screamed before running, and the boulder hit the street with a crash. The students murmured in awe. Eren winced when he saw the damage, and Armin facepalmed.
"Oh no," he said. He shouted at Eren: "The principal!"
"Shoot," said Eren. He grabbed Mikasa, and they turned invisible. The crowd quickly scattered as Principal Smith walked down the school steps, his hands on his back.
"What happened here?" he asked, when he saw the huge chunk of rock on the street and the broken pieces of cement. "Anyone care to explain?"
"It was my fault," said Professor Hange. Armin tried not to grin. The brown haired teacher smiled at Principal Smith before continuing. "I was doing some experiments."
"Hmm."
"I'll fix it."
She took out a her silver pocket watch and clicked it. Armin looked on as the boulder returned to its original position and the road started repairing itself, the debris falling back into their places with ease. He heard Eren in his mind, telling him that they would be escaping. He shook his head. Professor Zoe clicked her watch again when she saw that the damage was gone.
"Ta-da!" she said.
Principal Smith narrowed his eyes. "It's all settled, then. And Hange, no more dangerous experiments."
"Yes, sir!" she said.
Armin went back to his locker. He guessed he shouldn't have ran out there; he didn't do anything useful, anyway. Maybe it was better if he had stayed and talked with Annie instead. That would have been far more interesting, though seeing Mikasa throw a large rock at Jean was pretty entertaining.
"So that was your friends back there?"
Armin jumped. He turned and saw Annie leaning by the lockers, her eyebrows raised.
"Yeah," he said. "That strong girl was Mikasa, and those two airheads who were fighting are Eren and Jean."
"They seem nice."
"If nice is them trying not to slit each other's throat for a minute, then yes, they are pretty nice."
"I never took you for the sarcastic type," she commented.
"And I never knew that you could be talkative," he said. He looked outside the windows and saw that the sun was setting. "Hey, do you wanna go and eat some pizza or something?"
"Are you asking me out?" she said. "We only met about an hour ago."
"That's not how it is!" he said hotly. "My friends are probably off to who-knows-where, and I'm really hungry right now. Also, I can show you around town if you want."
Annie cocked her head to the side. "Sounds like a plan."
"Is that a yes?"
"I don't know. Read my mind."
He smiled and said, "You're thinking 'gods, he's so cute' right now."
"You suck at mind reading," she replied dully. "I was actually thinking, 'I hope he pays for everything."
Armin laughed. "Okay, then. Come on. School's about to close."
