AN: Hey guys! As I promised I haven't given up on this fic yet. I made a few minor changes to the first 9 chapters, nothing life-altering. Chapter 10 did become longer, so make sure to catch up on that.
Originally I had planned to wait with editing these until chapter 11 was finished, but I just wanted to update! But I'm working on it, so keep your eyes open. And if you're new here, welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on titan/ Shingeki no kyojin.
Chapter 9
A crowd had already gathered when they reached the square in front of the dining hall.
"Ok kids!" Shadis said. "There are signs spread across the terrain, you are to find them and write down the answers. Hanji will hand out flashlights, pens and papers, groups of maximum five people. We expect you back by midnight. If you get lost, our phone numbers are on the paper. Those who try a prank call will spend the rest of their year in detention. Dismissed."
Eren and Armin found the girls and offered to group up, much to Annie's dislike.
Besides the phone number the paper had several numbers lined up along the left side of the paper. It counted from one to twenty, indicating the amount of questions they had to solve.
"So, where should we start?" Eren asked, his eyes trained on Armin.
"Without any kind of guidelines, I think it would be a good idea to follow the path around the lake."
"The lake it is!" Eren cheerfully took the lead.
"Eren wait!" Mikasa shouted, he didn't have a flashlight.
Annie sighed. Everyone knew that when Mikasa was around Eren, she was not likely to pay much attention to others. Why did it have to turn out this way?
After five minutes of walking the first sign came into view. It carried the number six, the question being "How many times can a stone be skipped across the water?" They all looked at Armin.
"Errr, this isn't exactly an easy question. I guess we can assume they mean the water in this lake, but 'a stone' is simply not precise enough. The shape, weight and size of the stone make a difference. Also the technique and-"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Let's just try it, alright!" Eren said and started picking up stones and skipping them across the water. "That's four times! That's two... three... five!"
Annie sighed and turned her attention back to the blond boy. "Why don't you just write down 'from none till the other side of the lake'. It doesn't seem like the question is that serious anyway."
"That's a good idea." he smiled and wrote down the answer.
"Eren let's go, we're on to the next!" Mikasa called.
Eren threw all the stones he had still left at once, causing the water to splash up and soak half of his pants. "What? Stupid water!"
Annie laughed at his silly behavior, and even caught Mikasa with a smile on her lips. Those beautiful lips... She shook her head to clear it of the imaginations that started to pop up. This was not what she needed to think about. At all. Still, before Hanji ha knocked on their door, it seemed like Mikasa was going to kiss her. No! She couldn't go there. She was just imagining things.
After fifteen more minutes of walking they found their second sign. This one was marked by an eight, the question was: "How many people can climb this tree?"
"What? Another stupid question?" Despite having said that, Eren started climbing the tree in front of the sign.
"Well, he's right about one thing. These are stupid questions. They so random and there's no real answer to them." Annie said.
"Guys! I'm stuck!" Eren yelled. The closest branch right above and below him were out of his reach. Mikasa went to help him, which was hard since there was no more place in the tree.
"How about 'One at a time'?" Armin asked, his attention still on the question.
Annie chuckled. "I guess that fits the situation."
An hour and a half and seven questions later they returned to the dining hall.
"It seems you've all come back alive." Shadis said. You may all write your names down and hand the papers to me. After that you can go to your dorms. And you'd better be quiet!"
The students quickly did as he said and retreated to their cabins in pairs.
When the girls came back to their cabin they quickly washed the dirt of off their bodies and put on their pajamas. They were both tired and went to bed without much talk.
Annie tossed and turned in her bed, but no matter how tired she was, she couldn't fall asleep. Something wasn't right. She sat up and hugged her knees, trying to figure out exactly what it was that kept her from sleep.
She looked to her right and vaguely saw Mikasa's features in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains. Was it because of her? But she fell asleep much easier the previous time she was with her. Then again, they weren't so far apart back then.
As silent as she could, Annie slipped out of her bed, tiptoed over to Mikasa's, grateful the wooden floor didn't squeak.
Mikasa's breathing was shallow and even. As carefully as she could, Annie sat down and slowly laid herself on the bed, facing the raven haired girl. Though there still was a sheet separating them, Annie quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, Mikasa woke up to a surprise. At first she didn't notice anything strange. There was a nice warmth at her front, and Annie's scent tingled her nose. She inhaled deeply once, and then it got to her. Why could she smell Annie? Her eyes jerked open, only to see the blonde's sleeping face a few inches from hers.
"Annie." she whispered.
Her blond hair was messily spread out over the pillow, her lips slightly parted, and her pajamas revealed most of her collar bones.
Mikasa let her eyes drift back to her face and wrapped an arm around her friend. "So beautiful."
After staring at Annie's face for a while, Mikasa found herself closing the small distance between them, slowly lowering her eyelids.
Annie's lips were warm and soft. After a few seconds Mikasa pulled back a little and looked at Annie's face, only to find out that she was no longer asleep.
