Part 2: Settling In

2 weeks later:

Armin jumped out of bed as soon as he saw the time on his bedside clock; 8.50 a.m, his class would start in 10 minutes. "Shit, must've forgotten to set the alarm", he grabbed some clothes from the wardrobe and got changed, he didn't have time for a shower so his deodorant would have to suffice.

Connie and Marco were still eating breakfast as Armin rushed out of his bedroom door. "Everything okay, man?", Marco asked him

"Running late, my class starts in ten minutes"

"Don't let us delay you, I'd say have fun but it's statistics after all", said Connie

"Sure, I'll see you guys later", he rushed out the door to his class.

To his credit Armin had taken the time to memorise the various locations of his classes over the past week. His 'Statistics 101' class was one that he chose, to fulfil his course credit requirements, it meant that he would be grouped in with all kinds of majors. He would only be five minutes late, hopefully he could slip into the lecture without creating too much attention.

As he crept inside the theatre he noticed there was only one seat left. He breathed a sigh of relief as the lecturer took no notice of his tardiness, the same could not be said for the person sitting next to him. As he took his pencil case out of his bag he dropped one of his pens. He was about to reach down for it when it appeared in a hand right in front of him; "Here", said the hand's owner.

"Thanks", he looked up and his heart stopped in his chest, he was looking at the girl he was spying upon when he was on the balcony last week.

"Don't mention it", her voice had a deadpan tone, not unlike Mikasa's, her expression remained uninterested but Armin could make out the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.

As the lecture went on Armin did his best to keep his attention fixed on what was in front of him, doing everything in his power to avoid looking at the girl to his right. This would be the longest 40 minutes of his life.

Annie could not believe that fate would play a game with her like this. The boy who caught her attention last week and was the source of her late night sweats, and butterflies in her stomach was now in the same class as her. She caught a sly peek at his face now that she was physically closer to him than when she first saw him. She still found him cute but he definitely looked a lot more youthful, almost boyish and not a hint of any facial hair. She made sure she wasn't being obvious when peeking at him.

As the lecturer signaled the end of the session Armin made his way out of the theatre as quick as he could without running. Why did he have to be late, why was that girl in his class, and why did she have to be the one sitting next to him? He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into a tall figure in the corridor causing him to drop his books everywhere and fall back onto his rear end. "Whoa, sorry buddy, are you okay?", the tall stranger crouched down to pick up Armin's books. Placing the books in one hand, he offered the other to assist Armin and helped pull him up. "Sorry, I'm not with it this morning" he dusted himself off and took his books from him.

"Ah, don't mention it", he looked behind Armin "Oh hey, Annie, you ready to go get coffee?"

"I guess, got nothing better to do", Armin tensed up when he heard her voice and as he turned around, time seemed to stand still. There she was AGAIN. Armin did the only thing he could do in that situation; run. "Hey pal, wait up" the boy called after him.

Bertholdt sighed as the little blond boy ran away and turned to Annie again "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing, all I did was help him pick up his pen in class when he dropped it"

"You'd swear he'd seen Pennywise in the flesh when he saw you"

Annie just shrugged "Well I didn't do anything to him"

Bertholdt laughed "Well, I think something's going on there, but we can leave that 'till later, don't worry I won't say anything to Reiner".

"Are we going or are we going to stand around here until judgement day"

"Whoa, someone's being a little poetic today"

"Shut up", she gave him a jab on the shoulder.

"Okay, okay, let's go"


Eren had managed to secure a decent seat for the lecture. The lecturer, Dr. Hanji Zoe was busy setting up her presentation, bobbing her head impatiently from side to side as she waited for the computer to warm up. Eventually she opened up her Powerpoint presentation and fidgeted with her portable microphone to get it placed onto her shirt. "GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!", she had unknowingly shouted into the microphone and feedback rung in both Eren and the other students' ears. "Sorry, I can never get used to using this poopy thing", she pointed to the mic, "Anyway, if any of you were still half-asleep, you should be awake now".

She started to pace around the stage in front of the huge projector screen. "So, welcome to pre-med 101", she started flicking through the slides "Let me introduce myself, my name is Hanji Zoe, I'm a doctor in Trost University Hospital, specialising in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, and I still somehow have time to lecture the next great medicinal minds of your generation". As the lecture went on she went through the various details of the module's admin. She had started to move on to the course material. Eren found it hard to ignore her eccentricity, but she was fiercely intelligent and was clearly passionate about her love of medicine.

Eren had scribbled his notes furiously over the course of the lecture but was satisfied that he found them readable, it's not like anyone else would be using his notes anyway. After the lecture ended he went up to Dr. Zoe to make sure nothing was amiss in his notes. She was more than happy to help fill in any information gaps, she seemed to be taken aback by the young man's interest in the subject. "Anyway, if there's any confusion just shoot me an email, make sure it's the college email though, with the module code as the subject".

"Will do, thanks Dr. Zoe"

"Please call me Hanji, only my patients call me that", she beamed at him.

Eren nodded and headed off. He took a look at his timetable, which he downloaded to his phone, it looked like he had a full day of academics as he still had another 7 hours of classes to get to.

He sent a text to Mikasa: "HEY BABE, MY ENTIRE DAY IS FILLED WITH CLASSES...I'M FREE AGAIN AT 6 IF YOU WANT ME TO COME OVER TO YOURS OR YOU TO MINE". He was tempted to add an emoji but he knew she would tease him about until their dying days so opted against it. He got a text back "SURE THING...I'll COME OVER TO YOURS". "Well at least I've one thing to look forward to today", he thought to himself, he put the phone away and headed to his next class.


Historia hit the snooze button on the alarm and wriggled out of Ymir's embrace. Ymir rarely slept in her own dorm, she usually crept into Historia and Sasha's when the dorm supervisors changed shifts, being able to pick locks was no small help either.

Historia threw a pillow at Ymir "Come on get up, you don't want us to be late for class, do you?"

"Five more minutes", she groaned while burying her face into the pillow. Historia rolled her eyes and started tapping on the heel of her girlfriend's foot.

"Hey, cut that out, you know I'm ticklish there"

"Why do you think I did it then?", she raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh yeah", she sat up, grabbed her, and pulled her onto her lap "I think you need to be punished for that", she bent her over her knee and playfully started spanking her. "Stop", Historia struggled to say through laughter, "We'll wake Sasha"

"No, you will if you don't stop giggling", they got their answer when they heard movement in the living area.

Sasha rubbed the sleep from her eyes and walked over to the fridge taking out a pack of eggs. She stifled a yawn as she reached for the chorizo and peppers " 'Morning roomie", a voice said from behind causing her to jump. She turned around to see Ymir sitting at the kitchen table. "Oh hi", she blushed as she just remembered that she was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of panties. She pulled her t-shirt down to cover her modesty "Relax I've only seen your ass half a dozen times since yesterday", Ymir smirked at her. Sasha's face had turned an even darker shade of red, "Why does she do this to me", she thought to herself.

Historia came into the living area, "Good morning Sasha, sleep okay?"

"Fine, thank you Historia", remembering why she came into the kitchen "Do you guys want an omelette?"

"Sure thing, I'm starved", she noticed Historia glare at her a little, arms crossed "Please?"

"No problem", she started chopping the chorizo and noticed Historia had come over and started chopping the peppers.

"This is the life, my girl and her roomie making breakfast for me"

"Since you're over there why don't you set the table?" Historia gave her a smile.

"All that work on an empty stomach, really are the slave-driver aren't you shorty?", she mock fainted.

"Pretty please", she fluttered her eyelashes at her

"Well, since you asked nicely"

Sasha brought their plates over to the table, enticing spices danced around Historia's and Ymir's nostrils, Ymir even caught herself drooling a little. At the first bite of her omelette Ymir's eyes lit up "Holy shit, who taught you how to cook like this?"

"My mom, I've picked up a few tricks over the years, but you should try hers, she uses fresh eggs and herbs that we have on our farm"

"Remind me to pay your folks a visit, I need physical proof that any omelette could be better than this"

"Thank you, it would be nice to have a few visitors over for breakfast", she let her country accent slip out for a second.

"Be careful what you wish for", Historia said as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Someone's sassy this morning", Ymir squeezed her thigh causing Historia to sputter on her coffee "Cut that out", she gave Ymir a small kick to her calf.

Sasha began to clear the table and once again Historia rushed over to help her "It's fine go get ready for class, I can manage"

"You sure?"

Sasha flexed her toned bicep "Years of growing up on a farm means doing the dishes is nothing for me".

"Leave her alone, babe don't be a kiss-ass"

Historia stuck her tongue out between her lips at her "I guess I'll have a shower then"

"Care for me to join you?", Ymir had a cheeky glint in her eyes.

"Ymir, no"

"Oh you're no fun"

Historia grabbed a towel from her bedroom and headed into the bathroom.

Sasha started to do the dishes as Ymir headed back into the bedroom. Ymir turned on the radio on her phone she noticed Sasha bend over to take the washing-up liquid out from under the sink. She didn't hesitate to take a peek at Sasha's smooth and toned legs in the process. The radio played as the three girls went about their routine. "Does your roommate even know you exist?" Sasha asked Ymir over the noise of the radio.

"Ah, Hitch has no issue, sure she has the whole dorm to herself at times, I wouldn't complain if I were in her situation."

"I suppose, don't take it that I don't appreciate your presence here though, you add a bit of humour"

Ymir laughed "You need to get laid, girl"

Sasha returned her laughter, albeit nervously "Not high on my priorities at the moment"

"Waiting for that special someone, eh?"

"My lips are sealed", she mimicked zipping her mouth shut.

"Ooh, a challenge, I'll get it out of you eventually, country-girl".

They were interrupted by Historia who exited the bathroom, draped in a towel. Ymir playfully tugged at the towel as she walked by her

"Don't you dare!", Historia wagged her finger at her.

Ymir laughed as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Sasha waited until she could hear the water running from the shower "You two are literally the definition of 'opposites attract' ".

"I know, we're both two sides of the same coin" Historia turned on the TV and settled on a random news channel and went back to her room to get dressed.

Sasha's phone pinged and she picked it up to see who texted her this early; Connie, of course: "I CAN SMELL YOUR OMELETTE FROM OVER HERE, ANY LEFT?". She texted back "SORRY, FRESH OUT"

"I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN THEN"

"DON'T BURN THE DORM DOWN (laughing cry emoji)"

"PUT THE FIRE BRIGADE ON STANDBY"

Sasha let out a small giggle "What's so funny?" Historia asked her coming out of her bedroom while brushing her long blonde hair.

"Oh, just my friend, he's planning on making his breakfast, so hopefully they won't need to evacuate the boys' dormitory"

"You're harsh", she giggled.

"No, he's very honest about his lack of culinary skills"

"Oh, come on being compared to you isn't very fair now, is it?"

"Thank you, but believe me, my ma is way better", her country accent became more pronounced.

After Ymir got out of the shower and got dressed both her and Historia headed off to class. Sasha checked her phone; it was still only 8.30 and her first class didn't start until 11.00, she had finishing washing the dishes and decided to watch a bit of TV before getting ready.

Ymir and Historia only had to make a short walk to their lecture as the building was situated not 200 yards from the girls' dormitory. They began to find their seats as the theatre filled up. "Do we have to sit so close to the front?" Ymir groaned, "Yes, if we want to make sure we learn anything", Historia smiled up at her.

"Whatever you say", they both took their seats.


Armin had managed to go back to his dorm to have a shower since his next class wasn't for another couple of hours. Marco was still there so they both decided to head to their class together: Politics 101. Having found seats near the front of the lecture, Armin took notice of the person who took a seat next to them "Hey, Armin".

"Oh, Thomas, hi, are you studying politics as well?"

"Economics, actually, I took this module to get enough credits"

"Oh, anyway, this is Marco, we're both roommates"

"Pleased to meet you", Marco leaned across Armin to offer his hand

"Likewise, Armin and I went to high-school together"

"Really, I could've sworn that I heard a Trost accent there, for a second"

"Your ears aren't fooling you, I moved to Shiganshina from here when I was 14, it's not an easy accent to lose."

Their conversation came to a close as the lecturer began the session, she introduced herself as Rico Brzenska. Armin thought she looked rather young to be a lecturer but received clarification when she announced that she was a final year PhD student in the political science department.

She gave a break-down into how the module worked, her colleague, Ian Dietrich, would take over from her in the next semester. For the most part the lecture covered the admin of the module while also specifying what the module would cover "Please forgive me, In my personal opinion, this module is very broad and doesn't give us a lot of leeway to work with in terms of expanding on material, but trust me; once you get through this module the material in political science gets a lot more interesting as you progress."

Armin was taking notes down in his pocket diary when he felt his phone vibrate in his bag. He took a sly look to see who the text was from; Mikasa: "EREN IS IN CLASSES UNTIL 6, DO YOU WANT TO GO GET LUNCH TOGETHER...IF YOU'RE NOT TOO BUSY?"

He texted back; "SURE I'M DONE FOR THE DAY AFTER THIS CLASS"

"COOL...NOODLE BAR IN 1 HOUR THEN?"

"SURE."

Marco and Thomas mock tutted as Armin put his phone back into his bag. After the class finished he let the two of them know of his arrangement "Hey don't let us keep you", Marco told him. "No worries, see you later Marco", he ran off to meet up with Mikasa.

Mikasa was waiting for him at a table near the window, in a rare sight she had removed her signature red scarf. She greeted him with a wave as he came in. "Hey Mika, how's psychology treating you?"

"Fairly enough, picture the intensity of a medical course with the timetable of a humanities student"

"I guess that means plenty of time in the library?"

"You know it", she deadpanned, but he was aware that she was being light-hearted.

As they worked through their respective orders they each caught up with how their day had went.

"It's not like you to forget something so crucial as to set your alarm"

"I know, I've only myself to blame, reading until 1 a.m definitely didn't help"

"Armin you know you shouldn't miss sleep, even intelligent people like yourself don't function correctly without it"

"I know that, but isn't losing sleep part and parcel of a college student's life?"

Mikasa rolled her eyes "Yes, but through socialising and assignments not reading until the witching hour...are you okay?", Armin had turned his head in, away from the window and covered the side of his face with his hand.

Mikasa noticed Annie walk by the window, earbuds embedded in her head, a book held tightly against her chest and her eyes conveying a steely determination. After about a minute Armin returned to his original position. "Care to tell me what that was about?", she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Eh, nothing sun got in my eyes"

"Armin, the sun's in the opposite direction", she still hadn't lowered her eyebrow.

"There was a glare from the building facing it"

Mikasa wasn't satisfied but knew she wouldn't get a straight answer from him "Sure, whatever you say".

They managed to get through the rest of their lunch without any further awkwardness. Mikasa looked at her watch "This was nice, the last thing I wanted to do was look like the saddo in the corner eating their lunch alone"

"Ah come on, don't act like you don't enjoy the peace of people ignoring you, and what is it you once said 'the smaller your circle, the greater its value' ".

Mikasa laughed "It's not even mine, something my grandmother once said, and I enjoy being with you and Eren"

"Don't mention it, do you've somewhere you need to be?"

"Not exactly, just thought I'd head back to the dorm and veg and then maybe hit the gym when it quietens down"

"Don't let me keep you"

"You sure?"

"It's fine I was going to head to the library after this anyway"

Mikasa shrugged, "Don't work yourself too hard, and best of luck in football practise tomorrow, I'll make sure Eren keeps you safe"

Armin had almost forgotten, "Oh, y-yeah thanks".

Armin sunk back into his chair after she left, how had he forgotten, how was he going to get through it? He had no business on a football field, he was at Trost on an academic scholarship and he would be practising with some of the most talented youth players in the country, Eren included. He placed his hand on the table and was surprised to feel something silky, he looked down and saw his hand was resting on Mikasa's signature scarf, arguably her most prized possession, Eren had given it to her when they first met after he saved her from the kidnappers nearly ten years ago. He sent her a quick text to let her know and told her he'd drop it off to her room.

After Mikasa texted him the directions he headed off. Mikasa's dorm was only a few paces from the elevator after he got off on her floor. He wasn't expecting Mina to open the door to him, "Armin", she wrapped him in a hug "Long time, no see", she stepped back "Wow Mikasa was right, you did grow, you're taller than me now"

He rubbed the back of his neck "Eh, thanks I guess, is Mikasa still here"

"Sure thing I'll get her now" she skipped off to Mikasa's room.

Armin noticed the bathroom door of the apartment open and his jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw who walked out. "I don't believe it", he thought to himself, the mysterious blonde girl, was Mikasa's roommate. "How could I have been so blind", he thought to himself "That really tall guy addressed her as Annie earlier, and didn't Mikasa say her other roommate was called; Annie Leonhardt , and wasn't she known for being a little emotionless". She had noticed him and stopped dead in her tracks, her expression was stone-faced but her eyes were wide.

"What the fucking hell?", Annie thought to herself, did both her and the little blonde boy have some magnetic pull to one another?. Their uncomfortable silence was broken when Mina and Mikasa stepped into the room. "Oh, Armin this is Annie our other roommate", she turned to Annie "Armin is a friend of Mikasa's"

"Eh, h-hi", he rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to avoid fidgeting with his thumbs and he struggled to make eye contact with her.

"Hello, Armin", she spoke with a low deep voice in a monotonous tone.

Armin suddenly remembered why he came here in the first place "Your scarf", he handed it to Mikasa.

"After all these years, you would think this is the last thing I would forget"

"Funny, right", he let out a small nervous laugh, just his luck to be in the same room as his high-school crush and the girl who had invaded his dreams over the past week.

Mikasa eyed both her roommate and her friend, the incident at lunch earlier all made sense now.

"Well I best be off", Armin began to walk out the door.

"Won't you stay?", Mina asked him "I made tea"

"Um, well I-"

"You said you needed to go to the library earlier, right Armin?"

"Oh yeah, I did", he nearly breathed a sigh of relief, thank God Mikasa had his back "Thanks for the offer Mina, maybe some other time", he had regained some of his composure.

"Oh well, looking forward to it, don't expect the same excuse to work next time though, have fun, studying"

Armin let out a heavy sigh as he closed the door behind him and noticed his phone buzz. "YOU'RE WELCOME", Mikasa had texted him, Armin rushed to the elevator not looking back lest he somehow catch a glimpse of the mysterious Annie Leonhardt for the fifth time in one day.

"Such a kind-hearted boy, any girl would be lucky to have him", Mina said after Armin had closed the door. Annie stomped into her room and slammed the door. "What's her problem?" she turned to Mikasa, who only shrugged, "Like I would know".

Annie collapsed on her bed and buried her head in a pillow. Her breathing became more laboured and she felt tears begin to run down her cheeks. Am I really crying?, she thought to herself. She remembered how her father had practically forbade her from crying and it had been so long since she last did that she didn't remember the reason why on that occasion.

She waited until she heard Mina and Mikasa leave the living area and made her way back to the bathroom. She splashed hot water on her face to disguise the evidence that she had been crying. "How can a skinny, little, blonde boy make me cry and ten broken bones not?", she muttered to herself. She went back to her room and grabbed her gym bag, perhaps working out would help take her mind off of him, she hoped. She left the apartment, as usual, without saying a word, despite Mina calling after her.