Disclaimer : I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan nor its characters.

Love. It can hurt.

Before Eren could finish his sentence, the bell rang, cutting him off. "Ah crap! C'mon we can still make it to class on time, let's go!" Eren spoke before rushing off, Mikasa and Armin following right after.

Fortunately enough, the trio managed to reach class on time and everything went smoothly. Well, until Geography came about. The teacher had paired the students for a project that was worth a quarter of their grades. Coincidentally enough, Mikasa got paired with Armin. Whereas for Eren… he wasn't as fortunate— and that's when the trouble began.

"Can't you pair me with someone else?! There's no way in hell am I pairing up with this horse-face!" Eren protested, clearly resenting his partner, in which, was Jean. "I actually agree with this idiot for once—Horse face?! Who are you calling that?!" Jean scowled, the two men glaring daggers at one another.

Armin sighed quietly as he watched their argument, Geography was supposed to be a peaceful period. Why did this chaos had to break out? Mikasa on the other hand, was trying to calm Eren down, but it was to no avail. It was only when the teacher yell at them to stop, did they shut their mouths.

"Watch your language! One more word and both of you are heading straight to detention." The teacher reprimanded sternly, before letting out a sigh. There was no way in hell she would be able to tolerate their arguments during discussions held during class about the project. So, grudgingly, she relented. "If anyone is willing to trade partners with either one of you, I don't see an issue."

Although, despite the teacher's solution to their problem, no one seemed like they wanted to partner with either one of them—especially after that 'vulgar' argument. Well, no one except a particular raven.

Mikasa glanced towards Eren and Jean. She felt the awkward atmosphere intensify as everyone ignored the situation at hand. Even the two males looked around in desperation, they really didn't want to work with one another. And as much as Mikasa wanted to volunteer herself, to save Eren from the current situation, she decided not to. After all, what would happen to Armin then? She wasn't familiar with Jean's character and personality, and wasn't sure if she could trust him partnering with Armin on the project. The last thing she wanted was for Armin to end up doing all the work, or suffer through any offensive insults that he may or may not spout out.

The raven's eyes softened at the brunette who looked pissed off and rather devastated at the fact that he would most likely end up partnering with Jean, seeing as to the whole class was unwilling to volunteer themselves. She felt pity towards him, she understood how much of a pain it could be when a person ended up grouping with someone they dislike. But unlike Eren, Mikasa wouldn't really openly voice out her issues on such things, she saw it as trivial and a really unnecessary thing to complain about. Moreover, she had more tolerance as compared to Eren on these sort of things. But all in all… she wouldn't ditch Armin like that. He was her friend, her close friend after all. And she never wanted him to feel like a lesser person as compared to Eren.

The teacher heaved out a sigh, as she spoke, "I guess no one's willing to—"

"I don't mind." A voice had cut in, it had been Armin.

At that moment, all eyes darted towards him, mostly in shock that he bothered to get himself tangled up in such a situation. And what he said next was definitely something that caught everyone, especially Eren and Mikasa, off guard. "I'll partner with Jean, Mikasa can pair with Eren instead. Right, Mikasa? You don't mind it, right?" Armin asked nonchalantly. It was odd to everyone, they all knew Eren, Armin and Mikasa were friends but they hadn't expect Armin to really… get out of his comfort zone or even volunteer himself, to say the least.

Moreover, given Armin's personality, everyone had assumed he would rather partner with Eren since he'd be more familiar and comfortable with the brunette— and that he would leave Jean to Mikasa. Since the raven could, well, tolerate more. But that wasn't the case.

"I... don't mind but—"

"I guess it's settled then, right?" Armin spoke, cutting Mikasa off as he glanced over to the teacher, who gave a hesitant nod. "I guess so… class is dismissed then." The teacher spoke, before walking off as the bell for lunch rang. With that, the class dispersed.

"Hey… Armin, why did you—" Mikasa had called out, however she was cut off by Jean who approached the blonde. He proceeded to pass the blonde a small piece of paper. "Here's my number. Text or call me whenever you want to start the project." Jean spoke plainly before walking off. Glancing at the paper which Jean had messily written his phone number, the blonde let out a weary sigh before stuffing the piece of paper in his pocket. 'Well… at least he cares enough to get involved with this project… can't be that bad working with him…right?' Armin thought silently to himself, drowning in his own worrisome thoughts—until he was dragged back to reality after receiving a firm and abrupt grip on his shoulder.

"Thanks for saving me there, but you sure you want to work with that Jerk-face?" Eren had asked, which Armin gave an unhesitant nod of reassurance. "Yeah, it's fine…" Armin assured before noticing the concerned expression both Mikasa and Eren suddenly wore.

Eren and Mikasa had been with Armin since forever, and they knew the terrible experiences he had been through with people—especially in group projects, where he had to take up most of the burden alone. "Don't worry, if there's anything wrong, I'll tell you two, I promise." The blonde assured once again, flashing a small smile. And before Mikasa could continue her question—wanting to ask him why he did what he did, considering he wasn't one to really interfere in such situations, Armin shuffled towards the door, excusing himself. "I have to use the washroom… I'll meet you two in the cafeteria!" And with that, he left before either one of them could say a word.

As the blonde walked off to the washroom, he thought quietly to himself, 'Mikasa… looked like she really wanted to work with Eren instead of me… at least she's probably happy with the partner she has now. That's all it matters. That she's more comfortable and happy. I wouldn't want her… to see me as a pest or burden after all…'

But, of course, Armin dare not say that.

After the blonde left to the washroom, Mikasa and Eren left the classroom, making their way towards the cafeteria.

"That really wasn't like Armin, don't you think?" Eren asked, glancing towards the raven who nodded in agreement.

"I agree… he doesn't like to interfere in situations like that much. But maybe it's a good thing—that he's learning to speak up… plus, you looked very desperate back there. I wanted to do the same thing b—"

"Shut up, who wouldn't be desperate to get out of partnering with Jean?" Eren sighed, shaking his head. "Well... what's done is done. I'll come by your place for the project, if you don't mind." Eren queried. The brunette personally would rather to go to her house for projects, considering the last time either Armin or Mikasa came to his house regarding a project, his mother would tell embarrassing things about him—and then, would constantly nag at him to work harder in the project and stop slacking off, things like that. Sure, she may be just teasing him, but he would rather not deal with that.

Mikasa gave a nod, and just as she was about to respond, Eren reached out his hand, flicking the back of Mikasa's hair a little. "On another note, I think you should get your hair cut a little shorter before it starts bothering you during practice. Even when you tie a ponytail, you still seem annoyed with it at times." Eren suggested.

Mikasa had been in the track and field club, along with Eren. The boys' and girls' team would often race together since there weren't that many members—most of the members in which had decided to ditch training. And whenever during training, Eren would notice her hair seeming to bother her. But he didn't really bring it up till now, having assumed she'd deal with it on her own, but it didn't seem so.

"You think so?" Mikasa murmured, glancing towards the brunette. She never really considered short hair. "How short should I go for?" Mikasa asked, which Eren gave a shrug at. "It's your hair, you decide… just don't get the exact same haircut as Armin if you planned on getting it cut to his length. We have enough coconut heads." He joked plainly, which Mikasa rolled her eyes at slightly. "Yeah…" She sighed, as she adjusted her scarf slightly.

"You still wear that old thing? It's not even winter, Mikasa. Plus, it's getting all old and stuff, I can get a new one, if you want." Eren groaned as he noticed the raven adjusting the red scarf he had gifted her back then. His rather… 'Insensitive statement', accompanied by that tone caused Mikasa to flinch slightly.

The raven had always been hurt, just a little, by that statement. The fact he couldn't understand the scarf's importance to her till now, after all this time, was just… painful and possibly disheartening. The red scarf that Eren had given her, that she wore, had meant so much to her, she treasured it dearly. And yet… Eren couldn't understand why, even after all these years, even after all that time went by ever since… that.

"You… wouldn't understand…" Mikasa murmured out her thoughts unknowingly, causing the brunette to frown at. "What do you mean I won't understand?! I'm not a kid, Mikasa! I…" Eren spoke, a little frustration mixed in his tone. Although, he paused at his words when he noticed the pained look Mikasa suddenly wore. That expression of hers… caused a rather familiar pain to ache in the brunette's heart. Eren instantly looked away, not wanting to see such an expression on her face— he couldn't look at her whenever she'd have that expression for whatever reason.

Whenever he felt Mikasa would be treating him like a kid, he just couldn't… take it. He just wanted some independence for himself. Even if Mikasa didn't mean it, there would still be some… frustration that would accumulate within Eren. Why did Mikasa had to be so overprotective? Why did she treat him like a kid? All these questions were created by how Eren viewed things—how Eren viewed Mikasa. He didn't want to be seen by her as her little brother or anything like that, it was irritating enough. As his emerald hues made contact with her obsidian orbs, he bit his lip. Even if he was dense about the deep meaning behind a few trivial things, he still had the ability to notice the hurt in Mikasa's eyes which she failed to hide.

Eren never meant to hurt her, ever. He… did care a lot for her, even if he did find her annoying at times. He just didn't know how to express that care he held for her, at the same time he didn't know how to properly explain and express the many reasons why he didn't want to be treated… like that. He just wanted her to see him as… something other than that, but he didn't know what particularly. The idea of friends didn't seem… very suitable, for whatever reason.

"Look… Mikasa…" Eren murmured, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as he searched for the appropriate words to say to her, to make her feel better. However, just before he could continue with his sentence, he heard some whispers that caught his and the raven's attention.

"I heard there's a fight behind the school right now…"

"Really? With who?"

"Some blonde kid with nerdy glasses and with those bullies."

"Really? Poor thing, wouldn't want to get involved in that."

Mikasa and Eren looked at one another in fear, in anger, and without a trace of hesitance, they turned their backs as they sprinted to the location of the fight.

"For the third fucking time, do our homework or—"

"…No. I already told you—" The blonde mumbled out, however he was cut off as he received another excruciating punch right to the stomach before he was then thrown to the ground.

It would've been so much easier to comply. It would've saved Armin the trouble of getting into shitty situations like this... and getting a new pair of glasses. However, the resentment he held towards the group of bullies had caused the stubbornness in him to rise—in which, resulted his now bleeding cheek, broken glasses and of course, the new bruises. But not tears... not yet, not now. He fought the urge to so desperately hold them back. He didn't want the role of a 'weakling'.

The leader of the group of bullies proceeded to grab the blonde's collar, before shoving him up against the wall in a ruthless manner. "What's wrong, shit-face? If you got a problem, why don't you punch me back?" He had spoken in a rather mocking way, having expected for the blonde to cower and finally give in… but that wasn't the case.

"No…I won't stoop that low." The blonde started before continuing, "You're asking me to do your homework so as to help your grades, and like I keep on telling you, making me do all your work won't help anyone. You're beating me up because you can't seem to comprehend the fact that—"

"Shut up!" The bully screeched as he clenched his fist, raising it up high before giving another punch straight to his stomach once again. "Oi, Oi, don't leave too much of a mark, that stupid couple may come hunting us down for their lost runt." One of the bullies scoffed as he only then took notice of the many bruises they left all over him. Either way, it didn't seem like they planned to stop their violence. The blonde had been used to this by now. The pain, the bleeding, the wounds… he was so used to it, to the extent he was numb to it, sort of. It wasn't the first time these sort of situations have ever happened. Pitifully enough, he grown… adapted to it— to being…. 'Weak'. At the same time, he still struggled. He struggled to escape that role— the role of being a 'weakling'.

"Eh? Couple？Ackerman and Jaeger? That's news to me… whatever, that brown-haired moron doesn't bother me." Another bully scoffed, and at hearing those names, Armin lifted up his head wearily, facing them.

'Couple…? Even they… see them as that, huh?'

It was a very odd thing to think about that in these sort of situation, especially with the given fact that the blonde was currently bleeding in all sorts of areas after receiving quite a few blows all over during earlier parts of their 'conversation'. But, he couldn't help it. The topic of Mikasa and Eren being possible future lovebirds had always stung him in the heart, and that possibility was always haunting him. Moreover, that bully's words seemed to have… evoked a memory from a few years back.

It was after school that day, and he was probably around thirteen or fourteen… he couldn't recall clearly. Either way, it had been a few years since that conversation, yet he managed to remember it so vividly. He wish he didn't.

"Hey, Hey! Mikasa and Eren look so cute together don't they?" Sasha spoke, giving a nudge to Armin.

"Uh… I—"

"Eh? What makes you say that?" Another student spoke, Connie.

"There was this movie I watched, and they're exactly like that! Just think about it, bad-boy Eren and good-girl Mikasa! I mean, Mikasa's always getting him out of fights and stuff! And Eren's like the guy who, you know, helps her live life to the fullest!"

"Eh? If you are so into bad-boy stuff why don't you just date Eren? I heard he likes potato girls." Connie scoffed, teasing Sasha a little, in which she gave an annoyed huff at. "He ain't my type, meat is a much better option… and stop callin' me potato girl!" Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Armin. "It must be hard, for you to be their wing-man. They're so dense… just like that movie! Ahhh!" Sasha squealed a little. Armin only remained silent, his eyes glancing away for a moment as his hands fiddled with one another.

'Wing…man…?' The blonde pondered on that term for a while. He knew what he meant but… he couldn't decide if that was a compliment—that Sasha saw him close enough to Mikasa and Eren to assume his role of a wing man, or if it was just an… unintentional insult. He didn't feel offended or anything, it was more of… he had felt some form of resentment to at the thought of being placed in that role, the role of a 'wingman'. He didn't want that.

After a while of listening to Sasha's squeals, the blonde managed to garner the courage to ask, "What… happened in the end? The movie, I mean…"

"They got together in the end and I heard they got married in the sequel!" Sasha squealed, which Connie scoffed at mockingly, resulting in a childish argument between the two.

Armin bit his lip as he felt his heart ached a little. He didn't understand why it had hurt. After all, if anything, he should be happy for Mikasa and Eren if they do ever… get together… right? Just like that movie… they did live happily ever after, right?

Mikasa had eyes for Eren, and Armin knew that… he was reminded of it every day. The way she would look at Eren, and the way she would look at Armin differed so, so much.

"Speak of the devil." Sasha smirked, causing the blonde to look up—only to see Mikasa and Eren standing by the door. "Armin! The bell just rang, c'mon already!" The brunette groaned impatiently.

"A-Ah sorry!" Armin spoke, before quickly packing his bag, giving a wave to Sasha and Connie before he left.

The three strolled through the school hallway, making their way towards the school gate. "Armin, is there something wrong?" The raven asked quietly, having noticed a rather… gloomy aura surrounding the blonde. Armin only shook his head, "It's nothing, gym class just made me tired…" Armin laughed a little nervously. "Oh…" Mikasa muttered in response, seeming a little dissatisfied with his answer. "I mean... it's just—" Before the blonde could finish, Eren had turned towards them. He had eavesdropped on their conversation a little. "Did people pick on you again?! I swear I'll—" And before Eren could finish his sentence, Mikasa had cut him off as she went forward to adjust his messy collar. "Eren, your collar is tucked in instead of out again." Mikasa sighed.

Eren had been caught off guard by her sudden action. "M-Mikasa?!" The brunette stuttered as his eyes widened, trying to pull Mikasa away, it was clear that he found it embarrassing. "Stop moving, your whole uniform is only getting messier." Mikasa chided.

Armin watched them silently, his hand gripping onto his blouse in a pained manner. 'Why do I feel so…' Armin thought, however, mid-way, he wasn't able to think of an appropriate word to suit his… current emotion, during then.

'… Why—no… when. When did I start feeling this way?'

Ever since then, Armin had been questioning himself that a lot, especially when he felt that particular emotion. Sasha's words had seemed to have left an impact on him as well. He often wondered, if he should just resign from feeling this way towards Mikasa, and accept his role of a 'wing-man'. But, something about that role made him feel discontented. However, it wasn't like the role he was currently playing made him feel any better.

Bringing himself back to reality, he continued to listen to the bullies' conversation which consisted rather pathetic jokes of his two friends. One of them eventually called the blonde a damsel in distress—and that stung him even more than the fresh wounds probably could. He resented that particular role so much. He didn't want to be helped every single time… just once, just once he didn't want to be a useless burden—and that was probably one of the reasons why he didn't even bother shouting for help.

"Do you think you can ever beat Mikasa?" One of them suddenly asked, and the latter replied, "That bitch? Well—" And before they could continue in their conversation, the blonde suddenly glared daggers at him as he spoke, "Don't you dare call her that." Armin suddenly spoke, in a rather agitated manner.

"… If anything… you are—" Before the blonde could finish his sentence, he saw the bully raising his fist high up in the air. It seemed he planned to shut him up by knocking him out rather than spouting insults at him. The blonde then closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the worse. Even he knew, he had no strength to avoid or defend himself… that's how cruel the world was. The weak are defenceless against the strong. The weak, the prey. The strong, the hunters or predators. That's how Armin viewed the world at least. It was merciless.

'At least… they aren't here to waste their time and strength… to save this burden…' Armin thought silently.

Well, that was he thought until he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.

"Stop! Or I'll beat the living crap out of you!" A brunette screamed, causing the bullies' attention to be redirected. However, they didn't seem that fazed by Eren's sudden entrance. Well, that was until they saw another one of his ally. "Pft, it's just that moron. We can take him, right—wait… Fuck! Mikasa's behind him!"

Clicking his tongue in an agitated manner, the bully gave the blonde a parting ruthless kick right in his liver before scrambling off along with the others.

The kick to the liver seemed to affect Armin a lot, considering a loud yelp of pain had escaped his lips right after that—followed by his body collapsing to the ground. Still conscious, the blonde looked towards the raven and the brunette that were now rushing towards him in a worried manner… and he never felt so damn useless in his life till now.

'Why… why did you have to come? Why… Why am I so… useless? Why…' And before he could finish his thoughts, the world went black for him.

Author's Notes: Hope this was okay and not boring. I promise the more (?) interesting parts will come soon! Please leave a review! I would like to hear your thoughts. I didn't really write any stories that mainly focused on the concept of a love triangle. So i hope this pace is fine and stuff.