Konnichiwa~~~

It's been a week! I may have crossed the line a tiny weeny bit in terms of rating at the end, so please forgive me. Also, please give some feedback as to whether yuu want more of it or just a plain no, no. xD

Anyways enjoy~~~

Chapter Two : Ignition

Several days after the accident, Annie noted that Armin had stopped asking her for help. He still greeted and smiled at her whenever they made eye contact but instead of feeling relief, Annie felt her heart prickle. Maybe it was because she was so used to him coming up to her. After all, the event did drag on for quite some time. It was practically part of her daily routine for Armin come up to her and start a conversation before asking the same question again.

When Eren came up to her to question about the scenario, Annie had dismissed him and feigned innocence by simply replying detachably to all his questions with a; "I don't know." Even the hot-headed Eren simply gave up after facing the indifferent Annie.

By the time she finally got over the strange hollow feelings, Armin reappeared again. Turns out he was only waiting out until the worst of his injuries were better and to lie low from Eren's suspicions.

"Annie." He greeted. "Please. Isn't there a way I can get you to change your mind?"

She ignored both him and the tingling feeling in her heart and continued to walk forward.

"Ann-"

"HAVEN'T YOU LEARNT YOUR LESSON!" She snapped at him uncharacteristically before letting out an exasperated sigh. "I don't want to deal with you...just leave me alone." With that she left the stunned Armin for her room.

In one swift movement, she entered her room and slammed the door. She then leaned her back against the door in resignation. With a defeated sigh, she leaned her head against the wooden door before closing her eyes to calm down and empty her mind of any unnecessary thoughts. Especially those related to a particular weak, blond boy.

There has been something wrong with her lately. She couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to Armin. His face would pop up in her mind during random occasions. And when she does think about him, a warm feeling would spread throughout her body. When she saw him, her stomach would do flips or her heart rate would increase slightly.

Despite everything, she kept dismissing these symptoms over and over again. She was still in total denial. There was no way her heart would be moved by that weakling. Yes, that's right. It must be guilt. Her mind would swirl in confusion to the point where she would get a headache if she thought too much into the matter. Sometimes she wondered if they were side effects from her titan power.

It got to the point where her eyes would always follow him. She would unconsciously watch him whenever she saw him. Strangely enough, he seemed to shine and stood out against the rest of the crowd. Without realising it, her attraction to him only increased from watching him.

She found his smiles and laughter endearing, a frown would appear on her stoic face whenever he was injured and his determination never failed to impress her. Before she knew it, she had developed over protective feelings for him.

It started when the appearance of Titans were sighted in a village nearby. It was rare but occasionally a few insane Titan worshipers would sneakily open the gates for them to enter. Unfortunately, the 104th Training Squad was sent out as back ups. They were responsible for the evacuating the civilians whilst their more experienced seniors set out to kill.

The cadets had split up into groups to take care of the remaining people who were hiding in their homes. Along the way, people were bound to be separated or killed and Armin had found himself in that exact position as he unsuccessfully dodged a Titian. He was barely able to get out of the way as a gigantic hand slammed down on top of him. Instead, he was caught up in the impact as he was thrown across the rooftops, before crashing into the red tiles of the roof and falling to the ground. Thankfully it wasn't a long fall down the roof but, his 3D Maneuver Gear had been damaged in process. Unable to activate his weapon, the already powerless boy was forced to make a run for it.

From a distance, Annie noticed him running away from a 7 metre class Titan. Her heart skipped a beat before she launched forward and flew to his direction. With her advance skills, she easily defeated the Titan with a swift but steep slash on its neck.

"Annie! Thank you!" Armin exclaimed with relief.

She gave him a cold shoulder and proceeded to go towards the direction of the incoming Titans. From then on, she would concentrate on protecting him from any possible dangers by eliminating Titans before they could even reach him. Of course her course of actions were subtle. Armin had no idea she was only aiming specifically at the Titans that were heading towards his direction.

The two parties continued to harbour their feelings secretly and watched each other at a distance. Armin had also long given up on his sparring plan after seeing Annie's reaction. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her hate him.

As usual, Annie did not partake in the sparring lesson, however, she did not walk off but simply sat down against a tree by the edge of the field to observe Armin. Her eyes watched with irritation at Armin's uncoordinated and sloppy movements. It's really a wonder how he was able to survive against the titans for so long. Annie doubt he would have made it if it weren't for Eren and Mikasa's protection.

Before she knew it, she was walking across the field to Armin. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw her heading towards his direction.

"Annie." He greeted with a small smile.

"Arlert, has your brain died from doing too much thinking?" She asked tonelessly.

"Eh-"

"Your stance is all wrong. What could your brain be thinking when you throw all those useless punches around? You don't even have the basics down yet and we've been doing this for months now."

Both Armin and his sparring partner, Macro, gaped at her impassive face in surprise. It's probably the first time they've seen her barging into someone's business at her own will.

"Macro, go and spar with someone else at your level. Leave this idiot for me to deal with." She then turned towards Armin and commanded, "Follow me."

They walked into the forest in silence. Annie finally stopped at a clearing and turned around to face him.

"From now on, we are meeting here during sparring session to polish your basics. I am not doing this for you, but for the Squad. The last thing we need is people dying to save you. Now let's start."

"Y...Yes Annie!" Armin stuttered enthusiastically. Never in his dreams did he think that his initial plan would ever occur. Meanwhile, Annie reassured herself that she was just doing all of this to ease the weird feelings she been getting lately.

Although, visually he seemed small, weak and even slightly feminine, there was times when she forgot about those notions. As she trained him, she began to notice his presences when he is near her. He may have appeared to be short when standing next to his friends but he was afterall taller than her. Contradicting her intimidating appearance, she was quite a short person. There was also times when she felt it was difficult to maintain her usual glare when she noticed little details about him.

His eyes may have a similar blue shade like hers, but in the glistening sunshine, a hint of emerald would lurk in his eyes. When he grabbed her hand for a defensive technique, she would note how small her hand seemed to be in his before she quickly retaliated to his attack and flipped him over her shoulders. She also found out that despite his petite appearance, his shoulders was broader than hers. No matter how feminine he seemed, he was still a boy and it was only obvious that he had the potential to be stronger than her with time and the right guidance.

Even though it meant going through pain, Armin found their time together enjoyable. He wouldn't call himself a masochist but currently he had no other options but to feel pain to be with Annie. Plus there was other benefits. Afterall, he was killing two birds with one stone.

Not only did his relationship with Annie open up a bit but it also gave an opportunity for him to become stronger. He loved Annie's strength and all but one day, he would like to hope that he would be the stronger one out of the two.

Each day he looked forward to their private lessons even though they left him physically and mentally exhausted. Afterall, he was a young teenage boy with raging hormones. Even though he doesn't look like he has hit puberty, he still had urges when he was near the girl he loved. Especially when they shared skinship that did not involve her punching or injuring him in some form or another.

They had been training together for quite some time. Along the way, little accidents had occurred between them. Yet each time Armin would apologise instead of gathering up his courage to confess whilst Annie would deny any feelings that was erupted during the sessions.

However, things took a dramatic turn as the forest transitioned into shades of red, orange, yellow and brown instead of green. They were training as usual. Armin had improved but still no where near good yet. As he swung a punch towards her, Annie saw his obvious opening. In flash, she flipped him down on the ground and secured him to the ground with her body.

Armin's body was sprawled against the ground that carpeted with colourful autumn leaves of different shapes and sizes. His sandy hair had created a halo around his bright, innocent face as the sunshine glowed around him. The only sound that could be heard of was the occasional rustling of leaves from the gentle breeze and their laboured breathing.

Their eyes met, crystal blue against sapphire. She noticed his long blond lashes which complimented his large round eyes. Aside from his pudgy nose which she found adorable, his face was perfect and beautiful. Even when he was sweating from exhaustion, it was almost as if he was meant to be an angel.

Likewise, he too was enjoying the view. Sometimes during their session, time would pause. He enjoyed those moments the most. He would take advantage of the moment until she snapped him into reality.

The vibrant colours of the trees in the background, paired with the sunshine settling down on her head, made her look like a goddess. Her silky golden hair had undone itself sometime during the fight. It hung loosely and slightly past her shoulders. Unable to help himself, he reached up and tucked her right fringe behind her ear for a better view.

His actions snapped her out of her trance, however, she maintained her position and aloof expression out of curiosity.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere or the evening sun, but he had lost himself in her sullen eyes, which seemed to call out to him for comfort. Slowly, he let his hand trail down from her ear to her jaw line. Lifting her chin slightly as his own face gradually came closer to her's. They got close to the point where they could feel each other's breath against their lips. Yet during that whole moment, their eyes did not tear away from each others.

Just as Armin almost closed his eyes for the kiss, she turned her face to the left. She concentrated on her self-control to maintain her usual indifference whilst Armin blushed at the rejection. Yet neither spoke nor moved.

It seemed like a million years to Armin before Annie turned her face back and pushed him down again with her hands. She then proceeded to untangle herself and get up but the friction from their movements that had her faltered in bliss as she felt something warm spread across her stomach. She wasn't the only one affected as an involuntary moan escaped his lips when he felt her against his lower region.

Without further notice, Annie stood up and fled the scene. Her heart was racing at an unbearable rate. Whatever the cause was, she did not want to stay any longer to find out.

Armin on the other hand, had turned into a bright, red, cherry tomato. Damn him. Why couldn't he hold it in? He watched her back disappear into the forest of trees before lying back on the ground and to stare absently into the soft pastel colours illuminated from the sunset in the sky.

Ain't they so adorable?! Please rate/review :)

BTW tell me if yuu guys want this to remain as T-rated, or should I turn up the notch a bit? It's been on my mind, and even if this becomes M-rated, there will be nothing hardcore. Afterall, I want this to be a sweet and innocent love story xD

So tell me what yuu guys think :)

Special thanks to my beta : Jessica x3 and Brandon