When Annie awoke, an intense pain spread throughout her face and she couldn't help but let out a cry. She instantly sat up and brought a hand up to her nose, only causing herself to wince in pain a moment later. The Omega didn't want to look in the mirror; she already knew it probably looked terrible based on how bad it felt. Along with her throbbing nose, the deep wound on her hand pulsed with a dull pain. It was too much. Annie wanted to take a handful of painkillers so badly, but she decided against the thought, knowing that it might do more bad than good. She sighed and glanced out the window, noticing that there were very few cars in the parking lot now. Anxiety started to well up in the pit of her stomach as she hoped that nobody had seen her sleeping. Annie was embarrassed as it was with her entire situation, but someone finding her in this way would be the cherry on top. Her anxiety died down when she realized that if someone did see her, they would have woken her up for questioning.
Annie let out a deep sigh before she got ready for her day, starting first with peeling off her blood-stained clothing. She was careful about pulling off her hoodie, making sure it didn't catch on her nose. However, her hand was bursting with all sorts of pain from every slight movement she made. Her pregnancy wasn't making things any better either. Annie just prayed that she wouldn't get hit with sudden morning sickness. After getting dressed, she went to the closest school bathroom to brush her teeth, wanting to look somewhat presentable during these tough times. Once she showed up, she realized that she was frightened of finally seeing her reflection. She may have been able to dodge seeing her reflection earlier, but there was no way she'd be able to. Their school bathrooms were littered with mirrors above the sinks and Annie was one-hundred percent sure she couldn't avoid looking at them.
She sucked up her fear and decided to look now, hoping to get it done and over with. Her eyes widened as she finally saw just how much damage had been done. For some reason, seeing it somehow made it hurt worse. Her bridge slightly jutted out to the side, in the opposite direction from its normal position and further confirming to Annie that her nose was indeed broken. The bruising this injury caused was atrocious, stretching from her nose to around her eyes. She was surely going to get stares from everybody and have rumors spread about her.
"Nothing I can't handle," Annie said to herself before continuing with her morning routine, brushing her teeth quickly so that nobody could walk in and question why she was doing so. After she finished, she tossed the toothbrush into her bag and walked out, only to bump into a taller figure head-on. A sharp pain shot through Annie's nose, eliciting a scream from her as she brought a hand up to cradle her nose. She started to silently panic when she realized that blood was ever so slowly bleeding from it.
"Ah! Annie! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to slam into you! I was in a rush to get to my classroom! We have a big test today and I wanted to make sure everything was prepared for my students. I- Are you okay?"
Annie internally groaned at running into her science teacher of all people. Just her luck. Slamming into her science teacher, Hange Zoe, a teacher who was known to be one of the few who cared for their students. Annie herself knew that this was true because Hange had sent someone to check if she was okay in the past. She turned away, getting ready to run off and skip Hange's class so that she didn't have to speak to her. However, Hange firmly grasped Annie's wrist and pulled it away from her nose, revealing the severe injury. Hange let out a gasp and immediately shook their head.
"Oh, Annie, that doesn't look good. Why didn't you go to the doctor? Your nose is broken."
Annie didn't understand why their words fueled her with anger, but they did. She yanked her wrist out of Hange's grasp and sent a glare their way.
"You don't think I know it's broken?! If I could've had it fixed, I would have already! It's not a big deal! I can still breathe just fine and it'll heal on its own! Now leave me alone. I'm going to skip your class later!"
"Woah! I'm not trying to insult you, Annie! I'm just worried! It's not every day you see one of your students with a broken nose!"
Hange took a step back, creating space between them and the teen. Annie examined their expression closely, finding nothing but pure worry in their eyes. She felt terrible for lashing out at them when Hange meant well. The teen looked down at her feet and began to mutter an apology.
"I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to get defensive with you. I just... I'm just really tired right now and there are so many things that I'm dealing with. Going to get my nose checked out and fixed was the least of my worries. I'll... I'll go to the school clinic, or something, so don't worry about it."
"I understand," they said, not prying any further.
"Here, come follow me. You don't need to go to the school clinic. There probably isn't much they can do except give you ice."
Hange began walking back to their classroom, hoping that Annie was following behind.
"Come on! Let's go! I'm going to fix your nose! I was a medic in the military before I pursued teaching. I know what I'm doing and I always keep emergency medical supplies just in case something bad happens. Looks like I finally get to put my old skills to work again."
Annie was naturally skeptical of Hange saying that they would fix her nose, especially since everyone had screwed her over recently. However, her nose was so painful that even a slight touch could send her into shock. So just this once, she decided to allow someone to help her out. She jogged over to catch up to her teacher and silently walked beside them. Once they arrived at the classroom, Annie kept quiet and stared as Hange gathered their supplies.
"So how did it happen, if you don't mind me asking? You don't have to answer, of course, but it's my job to report if any abuse is going on in your household or if a student did this to you."
"I'm eighteen years old and living on my own now, so there's nothing for you to report on. I just got into an altercation with someone over some... information... I'm not going to press charges against the person who did this to me either. Please just fix my nose and let me go on with my day."
And so, they left it at that, not wanting to push anymore boundaries with the blonde girl. Hange prepared their supplies, putting on gloves for sanitation before turning their attention back to Annie.
"Okay, I can't sedate you since I'm not allowed to have those drugs if I'm not on active medical duty. So you're going to experience extreme pain as I set your nose back into place. Thankfully, your nose isn't too broken, so you won't need surgery. I'll set it back into place then place a splint so it won't move. From there, it'll heal properly and I'll make sure to check on it a few weeks from now."
Annie assumed the whole procedure was going to be painful, especially with the lack of other professionals around them. She gave a soft nod to Hange before the teacher got to work on her nose. Immediately, Annie bit her bottom lip and held in a scream as Hange reset her nose. Tears built up at the corner of her eyes and she let them freely trail down her cheeks. However, the pain faded as quickly as came and Hange merely finished with securing Annie's splint on her nose. Pain still lingered throughout her face, but it isn't as intense as before. She released her bottom lip from her teeth and looked at Hange, debating on if she wanted to thank her or not.
"No need to thank me or anything Annie. I'm just glad you allowed me to help you with this. I know you're slightly stubborn from what I've seen between you and Ymir, so allowing me to do this for you makes me happy. I love knowing that all of my students are healthy." Hange removed their gloves and pulled out a bottle of painkillers. "Here are some of my painkillers. You should head over to the doctor's to get your own, though, since mine isn't that heavy-duty for the type of pain you have."
They turned around and offered Annie the painkillers, which she only stared at. She was still hesitant about taking painkillers, not knowing how they would affect her pregnancy. However, Annie didn't want Hange to question why she didn't take the pills. If anything, her teacher might even force her to take them just so they could know that Annie wouldn't be in too much pain. She took in a deep breath and looked up at Hange, allowing herself to do something responsible. Instead of hiding the fact that she was pregnant, she spilled her secret.
"I'm pregnant and I have no idea if I can take those painkillers or not. So if you know what I can take, I'd greatly appreciate it," Annie said, immediately causing an awkward silence to break out between them.
She wasn't sure how Hange would react and that was the scary part of all of this. Telling one teacher about her pregnancy was a big risk, especially since Hange could tell her coach at any moment. But at this point, she wasn't even sure playing in the upcoming games was possible. With her wounded hands and broken nose, Annie's coach probably wasn't going to even allow her near the field. Annie figured that she didn't have anything to lose at this point, so she just prayed Hange didn't spread the information like wildfire.
"Oh… Well from what I can remember, Tylenol is safe for pregnant women to take, and luckily for you, I have some." They opened their desk and pulled out a bottle of it. "Here, you can have the bottle. I have more than enough other painkiller brands that I can use, so it's not a big issue. Just make sure to read the instructions on how much you can take as a pregnant woman. Other than that, I have nothing else to tell you other than to be careful with your nose."
Hange finished off their reply with a gentle smile, something that Annie wasn't expecting at all. Her teacher's reaction was nothing compared to Annie's father's and it worried her for some reason. 'Are they quietly judging me? Will they go behind my back and tell all the teachers about my pregnancy? They're probably going to treat me differently and give me a harder time with their class now… God, why didn't they give me a lecture and tell me how I made a terrible choice…' After the entire incident with her father, Annie felt like any adult guardian figure around her would have something terrible to say, so not getting a negative reaction from Hange made Annie start to question her life. It was becoming slowly noticeable in her facial expressions, but thankfully, Hange caught on and decided to speak on the issue at hand.
"I know you're probably confused about why I didn't ask you any questions about your pregnancy or lecture you about having safe sex. If you want to know the reason, then I'll tell you. If I find out one of my students is pregnant, I treat them no differently, especially since I have no idea how their parents are reacting at home or even how their friends are reacting. I'd rather not add to the shame that they already carry for getting pregnant. I like to give them a sense of normalcy and allow them to not feel any different because, at the end of all of this, they're just teens that messed up. So don't be so worried, Annie. I'm not going to treat you any different because you're pregnant, okay? You can come and ask for help with certain things. I'm not going to make fun of you, even if you think you have the most ridiculous questions to ever exist."
Annie genuinely didn't know how to respond to Hange's words; this was the first time where she felt that she wasn't being looked down upon or told to do things just because she was pregnant. She parted her lips, but nothing came out. Annie just stared in response to Hange's words with a new hopeful shine in her eyes. Even though Annie said nothing, Hange knew that she needed this talk and was more than glad they had it together. Hange gave a comforting pat to Annie's arm before excusing themself to finish preparing for class. From there, Annie sent a small smile their way but made sure Hange couldn't see it. Annie not only left that classroom with a fixed nose but with some new views too.
'Maybe it's not too bad to let others help me ...'
Once Mikasa set foot on campus, she began searching for Hitch so that they could have a little talk. The Alpha had planned to properly speak with Hitch and question why she was blackmailing Annie, then hopefully de-escalate the situation and get her to leave Annie alone. However, Mikasa also had plans that would make sure Hitch would stop holding this information over Annie's head. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but Mikasa knew that if it did, then there wasn't anything she could do.
It took a few minutes to locate Hitch since she already had an idea of where she hung out. Mikasa had passed by Hitch's friend group here and there during lunchtime, so finding her wasn't such an issue. She kept her pheromones low while approaching the Omega woman sitting with her friends. Mikasa was aware of how noticeable her pheromones were to others, so she didn't want to set off Hitch before they even got the chance to speak. When she finally got into Hitch's perimeter, Mikasa set a firm hand onto the Omega's shoulder.
"Hitch, can I speak with you for a moment? Some important things I'd like to discuss with you." Mikasa said rather calmly while her grip on Hitch proved her true emotions towards this woman.
Hitch stopped her conversation with Marlow across the table to glance at Mikasa's hand on her shoulder. She rolled her eyes and excused herself from her friends before agreeing with Mikasa to speak. Mikasa was glad she was cooperating for now but knew this could change at any second. She didn't know much about Hitch except that the woman would spread rumors like wildfire, so Mikasa was already choosing what she said wisely. Once getting to a more secluded area where they were out of earshot, Mikasa began the conversation.
"Why are you trying to blackmail Annie? She's already under so much stress and there's no reason for you to be doing this unless you're trying to protect her. The way she sounded about all of this proves that's not the reason you're doing this. Honestly, I don't care for your reasons. I know I asked why you're doing this but I only came here to tell you to stop. I want Annie to stop stressing over everything and if I get you to stop then it'll make her life a little better."
A shit-eating grin made its way to Hitch's face and Mikasa already knew that this wasn't going to go easy. The brunette woman leaned in closer and got in Mikasa's face, looking her dead in the eyes as she prepared her response.
"Oh yeah? Or what? What's the big scary Mikasa going to do?"
Mikasa didn't consider herself violent but if it was needed then she would. She also didn't like hitting Omegas just because she was aware of the extra strength Mikasa had over them. Sometimes, just sometimes, they needed to be put in their place and this was one of those times. So without another thought, Mikasa's fist dove forward and connected with Hitch's face at full force. Hitch fell back from the sheer force behind Mikasa's punch but didn't have time to react before getting struck again. Mikasa caught her jaw this time and a small crack was heard, indicating that a few teeth had been broken. The Alpha was going to continue, hoping that this last hit would finish up the lesson she was teaching Hitch. But when pulled back her arm to wind up her punch, Reiner grabbed it and physically removed the Alpha from Hitch.
"Mikasa! Stop it! What are you doing?! You're going to put the rest of your football season at risk! She's not worth it! Why are you even attacking her? What did she do to you?!"
Mikasa could care less about her football season, she wasn't going to allow this woman to continue terrorizing Annie. She fought back against Reiner's grasp, sending a million daggers towards Hitch at that moment. Mikasa fought against his arms a few more seconds before giving up and resulted in screaming instead.
"Take this as a warning Hitch! If you don't leave her alone then I'll personally come back and finish you off! I'll make sure you can't breathe out of your nose!"
Reiner removed Mikasa from the perimeter and prayed nobody would get teachers involved. Considering Mikasa's threatened Hitch though, Reiner didn't think she'd go out of her way to tell on her. It was still a risky situation as a whole but at least Reiner was there to break it up. He sat Mikasa down once they were far away and shook his head. He'd never expected to ever see Mikasa in such a way. She was usually so calm about everything, even when Mikasa WAS angry she would just leave and not get herself involved in it. So what could Hitch do to drive her over the edge as she did? He wanted to question Mikasa and get to the bottom of this, yet his fear of getting attacked outgrew that curiosity. Instead, Reiner took a step back and gave Mikasa her space until she was fine again. Mikasa slowly pulled herself off the ground and let out a deep breath before nodding to Reiner.
"Thank you for that Reiner, I don't know how far I would go if you weren't there to break it up. Why were you even there to begin with? Aren't you usually hanging out with Ymir, Bert, and Annie right now?"
"I was actually on my way to see them then got interrupted with saving your ass from going overboard." He softly chuckled. "I'm heading over now though, you're welcome to come along if you like. Annie will probably give you a tongue lashing for what you did but I'm sure she would still like to see you."
Mikasa felt her Alpha perk up at the mention of getting to see Annie again but felt saddened. She had promised to give Annie a few days of space and Mikasa didn't want to intrude when their relationship was already on thin ice. Despite wanting to see her badly, Mikasa shook her head in response to Reiner and thanked him one last time before leaving.
"Jesus fucking christ what happened to you?! The one day we don't hang out after school and you go get yourself beat up!"
Annie glared Ymir's way as she took a seat with her friends, all of their eyes glued to her nose. She was trying to act normal and not bring it up in conversation, hoping that her friends would get the message too. But once again, Ymir had to prove her wrong and point out everything she fucking saw. Still, Annie chose to ignore what Ymir had said and acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I didn't get beat up, It's not even a severe injury. So what are you guys up to?"
Ymir, Bert, and Reiner glanced at each other after Annie tried to brush off a broken nose as nothing of severity. All of them were worried, to say the least, especially with Annie's pregnant vulnerable state. But Reiner was scared that Mikasa had been the one to do this because she was who Annie was with yesterday. Then from what he saw earlier when Mikasa snapped and started beating Hitch, it caused more worry to spur throughout his head. So to put his mind at ease, Reiner decided to ask Annie.
"Mikasa didn't do this to you, right? You were with her yesterday and… and well I just witnessed her attack Hitch earlier in the cafeteria. I didn't think much about it but after seeing you in a state like this and the fact that she didn't come to see you is making me suspicious."
Annie's eyes widened as she heard about Mikasa attacking Hitch and knew it was because of yesterday's conversation. 'I should've watched my words yesterday, goddammit I hope that idiot isn't in too much trouble.' The eyes widening on Annie worried Reiner and gave off the wrong impression towards his question. Instead of seeing it as an act of surprise like Annie meant it as Reiner took it as confirmation that Mikasa did this to her and he was not happy. He immediately got up from his seat and was about to leave before Annie caught on to what he was thinking.
"Reiner! Get your ass back here! Mikasa didn't do this to me you fucking idiot!" She shouted at him and Reiner stopped in his tracks to walk back. Still clearly angry that someone had laid hands on his pregnant friend.
"Then who did? I want to know because I'm about to fucking beat the ever-loving shit out of them and if you don't tell me then I'm not going to leave you alone until you do. So tell me right now and I'll promise I won't completely kill you since you're so hesitant to let me know."
Annie wanted to keep this all to herself, she didn't want her friends getting involved with the issues her father had caused. Yeah, she may have been planning to ask Ymir to let her stay a few days but that was only until she figured something out for herself. She wasn't going to even mention her injury and if she needed to then would lie, saying it was a sports injury. But Reiner had to open his big ol' mouth and ask who hit her, so now she couldn't lie about it happening during practice. She took in a slow and steady breath before looking away from everyone's glare to stare at her hands instead. Figuring out how she was going to tell everyone that her father had been the one to do this. There was no way she could beat around the bush, so instead of lying, Annie was blunt with it.
"Yesterday when I got home my father was enraged, he had found a letter in the mail from the clinic I went to and figured out I was pregnant. I locked myself in my room and he yelled at me through my door. I didn't think he was going to do anything terrible and kept calm. I thought I was safe because the yelling suddenly stopped but then he broke my door down and punched me. He was going to hit me again, thankfully I landed a jab to his jaw and he backed off. When I thought that was the end, he told me to find my own place to live and kicked me out right then. I packed as much as I could and slept in my car for the night. There, you know everything. Please don't go after my father, I'm not sure what else he'll do and I'm not in the mood to find out."
Not even a second passed by until all of her friends began to respond.
"Wait, you got kicked out and decided to sleep in your car? Why didn't you fucking call me?! I would've picked you up and let you stay with me!"
"Ymir please, you should be happy that I even told you what had happened to me. I didn't want anyone to get involved at all since it was my fault in the first place."
"Annie none of this is your fault, he had no reason to act in such a way towards you. He's your father yes but that's no excuse to hit you the way he did, especially when you're pregnant. What if he harmed your baby? You should've told us so we could help you, never think this is something you have to handle on your own. I, Ymir, and Reiner are more than happy to be there for you.." Bertholdt reached over and placed his larger hand on top of Annie's, giving her a caring stare.
Annie saw his hand on hers since she was still staring down at her own, she quickly looked up and blushed to see Bertholdt's stare. She gave a small nod to him and slid her hand away from under his, not wanting to send the wrong impression like last time.
"Listen, it's hard for me to accept help from you guys but I'm warming up to the idea. Hange was the one who fixed my nose and well… They spoke with me and I've realized that I'm not in this alone. I'm still not one-hundred percent there though, so don't expect me to always open up so easily."
"That's great and all Annie, I'm glad you're going to be more open with us but what about your father? You can't let him get away with this, especially since he could've put your baby at risk. Either you do something about it or I'm going to go deal with him myself."
Reiner stared Annie dead in the eyes, showing that he was completely serious about this situation. She also knew that if Reiner did something about her father, he might end up putting his future at risk. Annie had already put her future at risk with this child and Mikasa's too, she didn't need another person potentially giving up their life. The Omega took in a deep breath before giving Reiner a nod.
"I'll speak with him after a few days, I don't feel like going back home just to potentially be yelled at again. Now that I'm going to deal with it, sit your ass down and calm down. I don't need you going to jail for beating an elderly man."
Reiner finally sat down after Annie assured him she'll take care of her father, he was still skeptical but had to take her word for it. When everything seemed calm, Ymir made plans with Annie about having her stay over. She said to stay forever long Annie would like but the blonde assured her it wouldn't be long. Ymir disregarded Annie saying that she wouldn't stay long, knowing that she'll force her to stay if it's the last thing she did. Everything was looking up for now and Annie couldn't help but allow herself to smile.
Where one of them had things clear up, the other found themselves in a whole load of shit. Mikasa was going to be honest, she expected Hitch to stay quiet and she'll get by scott free. But as she sat here in the principal's office with , she knew that might not be the case. She couldn't find it in herself to worry about the consequences that may be on her way. In her eyes, Hitch deserved every part of it for the way she was treating Annie. Mikasa was just doing what any Alpha would do if someone was threatening their Omega. 'Well Annie isn't mine... but she's carrying my child, so it's the same thing.' Either way, even if Annie wasn't pregnant Mikasa was sure she'd still react in such a way.
"Just got word from my assistant that your parents are here, they'll join us soon and we'll speak on your punishment. You should already know that attacking another person, let alone an Omega, will result in some pretty harsh consequences. Might even put your football season at risk."
Mikasa gulped at the mention of her football season ending early, there were only a few more games left but it still might affect any scholarship offers. She already had a few lined up for her already, yet something like attacking an Omega on her record could destroy all of them. The young Alpha looked at and nodded, showing him that she was aware that might come. After a few seconds of silence, the office doors opened with Mikasa's parents right behind them.
"Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman, I'm sorry for pulling you away from your day but your daughter attacked an Omega girl today. She suffered a black eye and multiple broken teeth, thankfully said Omega doesn't want to press charges. But she does want a fitting punishment for Mikasa, so that's why you two are here. We'll discuss what seems fit for your daughter."
Her parents sent a death glare her way and Mikasa knew she might get an ass whooping when she got home. But before they proceeded and discussed Mikasa's punishment, decided he wanted to ask a question.
"I'm all for discussing punishment for my daughter's actions but I have to ask, why was all of this caused? Did the Omega Girl somehow provoke her in a way? I know that's still not a valid reason to attack someone but I'd like to know the full story."
Erwin let out a 'Hmm' while picking up the report Hitch had made, finding no information on why this altercation had begun.
"There's nothing listed here in the Omega's report but I suppose we can have your daughter give her side of the story. I'm willing to work out something less extreme as her punishment if there was a justifiable reason for her doing such things." He looked over to Mikasa once more and she felt herself freeze.
"Well, go ahead Mikasa, tell him your side of the story. It better not be some stupid reason or I swear to god I'll let him take away all of your privileges."
Mikasa was internally panicking, trying to quickly decide if telling the truth was worth it. On one side, would probably understand and choose a fitting consequence. On the other side, however, her parents might flip and send her ass to military school or something. She glanced at her father and slightly shook under his angry stare then looked to her mother but was met with a more loving one. Mikasa could never understand how her mother was able to be so loving in a time where she was supposed to be in trouble. At that moment, with her mother staring in such a caring way, Mikasa wasn't scared any longer, to tell the truth.
"She was threatening to blackmail my girlfriend, I know it doesn't sound like a good reason but my… My girlfriend is pregnant and Hitch was holding that over her head, threatening to tell everyone if she didn't do what she wanted. Or that's why I'm assuming Hitch was doing it for, I don't know the full story… I just knew that my girlfriend was extremely stressed and I didn't want her to go through it anymore. I tried to speak with her and get her to stop but she laughed in my face and asked me what I was going to do about it. I was doing what any Alpha would do for their pregnant significant other so I don't feel sorry. However, I will take any punishment you give me because I still attacked someone and caused harm to them."
stared as Mikasa finished up her sentence and kept quiet for a moment to let everything sink in. This was an entirely deeper situation than it seemed and Erwin wasn't sure if he believed Mikasa entirely. He took in a deep breath and began to form his response to her.
"If we call in your girlfriend, can she confirm that you're not lying? If so then I'll just take away your graduation ceremony privileges and suspend you for two weeks. This is a tricky situation and I understand that you felt like what you did was right but I still need to punish you. If you're lying though, I'll be taking away your football season and will make sure this appears on your disciplinary record. So if you're lying, tell me now and if not, give me the name of your girlfriend."
Mikasa looked him straight in the eyes and spoke.
"Her name is Annie Leonhardt, sir."