Disclaimer : I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan nor its characters.
Love. It comes in many shapes and forms. Love between friends, Love between family, Love between lovers and many others. However, along with love, it can be unrequited— not returned. And sometimes in love, people become selfish, people change and people become different.
Love brings people together, as obvious as it is. Although, it can tear people apart as well.
It was a typical Monday morning, Armin Arlert laid tiredly on his bed. His alarm echoed around his room, and possibly to other parts of his house. But it didn't matter to him, it's not like he would be disturbing anyone—he lived alone.
'I don't want to be late for school… nor do I want to leave her waiting…' Armin thought quietly before slowly dragging himself out of bed. As painful as Mondays were to wake up to, he wouldn't want to miss lessons, especially with the given fact it had one of his favourite subjects that day—Geography.
Since he was young, he had always thought about travelling around the world, just like how his parents did—before they had met with an unfortunate and tragic incident, leading to their deaths.
The oceans, the islands, nature itself… he wanted to see them all with his blue orbs. Not only did he want to see them, but he wanted to understand them. So, with his curiosity, school wasn't that much of a pain for someone like him. It was more of… the people there that made him reluctant to even take a step onto school grounds.
As he dragged himself to the washroom, his phone rang. It was Mikasa Ackerman. Picking it up, he was greeted by the raven's voice, that didn't sound all too pleased.
"Armin? Where are you? I've been waiting outside your house for quite a while… if you don't hurry up, we'll be late."
"Late…? It's only…" Armin murmured, trailing off as his eyes squinted at the top of his phone screen which read, '7.37a.m.'. His eyes widened in shock, he didn't expect to be this late. It wasn't the first time he had read the time wrongly.
"Armin, next ti—" Before the raven could've completed her sentence, the blonde hung up and rushed himself in his preparation for school.
Mikasa sighed, shaking her head when the blonde had hung up. Usually, he wasn't as disorganized as this as compared to a brunette she knew—Eren Jaeger. She wondered if that brunette was even awake, but she knew even if he overslept, his mother would wake him up immediately and made sure he'd reach school on time.
Mikasa had been neighbours with Armin since… well, forever. They were close friends, best friends. And of course, Eren was included in that category as well, except, he lived around two or three bus stops away from them. Regardless of this small distance, they'd hang out often anyway. And as much as Mikasa would've wanted the brunette to join her and Armin on their morning walks to school, she knew he probably wouldn't want to, considering he'd probably have to wake up earlier.
The raven fiddled with her red scarf that she currently wore. It was a gift from Eren, in which she treasured dearly. After all, that particular scarf had kept her warm during… cold and cruel moments of her life, especially one in particular which she… really, really didn't want to remember. That particular moment of her life had changed her so much, it wasn't something so easy nor trivial that she could just... forget. Although, she wished that were the case—that she'd be able to forget. It would probably make her life a little better.
A few minutes went by, and the blonde was nowhere to be seen. Mikasa heaved out another sigh, taking out her phone and was just about to phone him until she heard fast-paced footsteps coming towards her direction. Looking up, she saw the blonde running towards her.
"Sorry! I read the time wrongly…" Armin spoke, giving a nervous chuckle towards the end. Mikasa only shook her head as she responded, "This isn't the first time, I told you to wear your glasses before reading the time." There was a certain nag in her tone, which Armin gave another nervous chuckle at as he adjusted his glasses. His sight wasn't that bad, it was more of the fact that early mornings made him a little… blur, to say the least. Letting out another sigh, Mikasa continued, "Never mind that… you are here now at least, that's all it matters. I was worried for a while that you were sick again, like before..."
Armin let out a sigh as he spoke, "Even if I was sick again, you need not worry as much as before, I can take care of myself, Mikasa…"
Mikasa gave a nod. "I know you can. But, I care for you, Armin. What do you expect?" The raven responded, a small smile cracking on her lips, causing the blonde's eyes to widen for a while. Although, before he could reply, the raven continued, "Anyways, we have ten or fifteen minutes left before school starts, and it's around a ten minute walk… we'll make it if we speed up our pace, let's go."
Without even waiting for the blonde's reply, Mikasa grabbed his hand and started to walk in a fast paced manner. "I-I can walk by myself, Mikasa!" Armin spoke before squeezing his hand out of Mikasa's grasp as he kept up with her current speed. The last time people saw Mikasa grabbing Armin's hand and well, dragging him, he got made fun of by some bullies. But of course, they stopped when Mikasa and Eren came to his rescue.
He always hated that—that he had to be a burden and let others fight for him. He wished he could defend himself. He didn't want to trouble anyone… he didn't want to feel useless. These sort of feelings, he kept to himself. He didn't want them to know about such insecurities, he didn't want them to feel his burden. Although, he didn't hate the warmth that came along with Mikasa's hand whenever her hand held his. But even that, he didn't want to admit.
"Do you think Eren's at school already?" Mikasa questioned the blonde, glancing at him briefly. Armin, in which, let out a small scoff. "Probably not." He responded, "Then again, it's the first day of school after the long break, and knowing how his mom can be… it might be possible that he had reached school earlier than us."
Armin in particular, didn't really mind Eren's absence on their walk to school. This walk to school was just… something he had—something he had with only Mikasa, something that Eren didn't have. This was something he treasured, after all, Armin liked—no, he loved Mikasa.
Armin didn't know or rather, he couldn't remember when he started to feel this way for the raven. All he could clearly recall was that he found peace and reassurance in Mikasa's warmth. He remembered as kids, they would often play around, both with and without Eren. He remembered how beautiful her smile was, how much it made him smile. But it wasn't just that, he admired her strength, her will and just… so much more. He loved everything about her. However…
"I see him by the gate! And we have… three more minutes before the bell rings, come on! …Eren!" Mikasa called out as she rushed towards where the brunette had been waiting for them for who knows how long. She began to sprint towards the gate, Armin following right after, but he slowed down his pace as he watched the sight before him.
However… she had eyes for someone else.
There he was, watching someone who he loved dearly chasing after someone else. It was a painful sight to see on his part, but… the smile she wore as she approached him was just bittersweet, in a way. He loved her smile, but the reason behind her smile, pained him.
Even if she didn't know, even if he didn't know, it had been clear to the blonde a long time ago.
Mikasa Ackerman is in love with Eren Jaeger.
Eren had been waiting by the gate for quite a while. The blonde and the raven would've normally reach much earlier than him. Then again, his mother had practically woken him up an hour earlier before his own alarm could and rushed him to school. Eren didn't really dread the idea of school, it was just a 'shrug of a shoulder' thing. But of course, preferably, he would rather stay at home.
'I wonder what's taking them so long…' Eren thought quietly as he glanced at his watch. A few minutes left before the bell would ring, signalling the start of class. He didn't really mind being late, it was more of the fact that he didn't want to hear a lecture from his mother… or Mikasa. But even she was going to be late, probably. However, he knew how Mikasa was like, along with Armin—they would never be late.
While Eren waited by the school gate, his emerald orbs caught a glance at another male—a horse faced one at that. It was Jean Kirstein. Coincidentally, Jean had made eye contact with the brunette, and then gave Eren an agitated look, followed by a scowl. Eren returned the favour, shooting a glare towards him. Eren didn't like Jean, just the sight of him would just irritate him as it already did— the same went for Jean. They would normally cause fights—and thank goodness one didn't break out, it seemed Jean was preoccupied with other things—chatting with his friends, that is.
One of the brunette's many reasons for disliking, or rather, hating Jean was due to their opposing opinions on particular things. For one thing, Jean called out Eren for being a fool and a suicidal idiot for well, doing impulsive and mindless things that would only cause him harm and no good, like pissing the wrong people off. Eren had argued back that it wasn't a mindless thing to do, and that he pissed off particular people for a reason, picking up fights as well for a reason. Majority of the reason would involve those people having bullied a certain blonde friend of his. He had also called out Jean for being the real idiot, for not doing as such.
Another thing was that, Eren didn't like the way Jean would stare at Mikasa sometimes. He found it weird, and would often get pissed off and call him out for it. He didn't know why he was staring at Mikasa in such a… weird manner though. He didn't know how to describe the expression he made when he would stare at her—the only word that came to mind was stupid. Although, whenever Jean would stare Mikasa in that way, he couldn't help but feel something… something linked with the rage he would often feel.
Shaking those thoughts off, he turned towards the entrance of the gate when he heard a familiar voice calling out his name. It was Mikasa, and behind her, was Armin.
"What took you guys so long?" Eren asked with a sigh as Mikasa approached him. "Armin read the time wrongly and—" Before Mikasa could finish her sentence, she glanced to where Armin was. He had apparently paused in his tracks, looking towards the two in such a pained manner… but why?
"Armin? What's wrong?" Mikasa called out to him in a concerned manner. Her voice managed to drag Armin back to reality as the blonde shook his head before entering the school gates. "Nothing… it's nothing. I'm just tired. I was up all night reading a book." Armin assured, it wasn't really a lie considering that was what happened.
Mikasa shook her head as she spoke, "Are you sure you're alright? And please tell me you were reading with proper lighting, at least… and Eren, your hair is messy." Mikasa sighed as her hands reached out to adjust the brunette's hair, except the brunette was quick to push her hands away. "Mikasa! I'm not your kid brother or whatever. You don't have—" 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.
Love brings people together, as obvious as it is. Although, it can tear people apart as well.
And with love, it also forces people to make a choice.
Author's Note: I hope this chapter is okay! Please stick around for more! Please leave a review as well, I would love to hear your thoughts. I think this new story may be around 15 chapters hm.. oh well.