III

Cockshut

"Okay, but to be fair they were as sharp as knives. Who in their right mind wouldn't say something about it?" A small Armin Arlert said to a modest dinner table of newfound acquaintances.

"Bruh, I saw that, too! I thought the same fucking thing!" Connie was whole-heartedly on Armin's side of this conversation.

It was new for some of them. Having a blind meetup with strangers in hopes to become close friends. On one hand Armin was extremely sociable and most of the group clicked with him. On the other hand some were having more trouble.

Growing pains are a thing of youth that we all must cope with and find experience with.

"So, uh. Annie? Right?" Marco gave an apologetic grin on his freckled face. "Sorry. I don't know too many athletes. I don't mean to offend you or anything."

"It's fine. It's nice being somewhere where no one knows my name well."

Annie was a monotone powerhouse. She gave off such a strong and dominant energy without even saying anything. The only person her energy rivaled in the dining room was Mikasa's. Both had very definitive tones that immediately set the chain of command in a room. Right now, it was Sasha who was trying to be the host and keep things going.

"So does this feel like a safehouse to you?" Jean asked, sitting across from her.

"Not really." Her ice blue eyes emotionless. "But I do enjoy relaxing for a bit."

The energy seemed a bit off. Her words didn't match what her eyes said, but Jean met enough former war vets in the force to know not to ask questions about stuff like that.

"So what about you guys? Seemsa bit unfair all of these questions are one-sided."

"Well, Jean and I are officers with Maria. We only graduated a year ago, but we're pretty set in our positions." Marco got excited when he got to talk about his job. Ever since he was a kid he's always wanted to help innocent people and wear a badge with pride. It's not a superiority complex, he was just a genuinely good guy. It was a good thing he had friends like Jean to look out for him.

"And buzz-cut over there graduates at the end of this month and maybe gonna get stuck with me." Jean said casually, motioning across to the other end of the table.

"Huh?" Connie looked over at Jean, Marco, and Annie and waved. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, dumbass." Jean chided.

The dining room was divided as such: Jean, Marco, Annie, Sasha on one end, and Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and Connie on the other end. As Connie got pulled into a conversation on the other end of the table. The three childhood bestfriends found themselves in a conversation with each other once again.

"Hey, Mikasa." Eren called. "Why did you ask if I was gonna come tonight?"

"Isn't your brother in town?"

"Yeah. But I don't know him very well. Also how did you know he was in town?"

"My parents asked if you were going to be at your family home for dinner since he came in. Dr. Jaeger invited mom and dad over to catch up."

"Ah."

Jean stared at a diagonal. Never in all of his life would going out and meeting strangers be as eye opening as this moment right now was to him. A fleeting moment? No. A depression that had been burned into his eyes so that whenever he closed them he would always be able to see.

A strong girl with oritental features and beautiful black hair ignoring him and talking mostly to the brown haired firecracker called Eren Jaeger. Between Jean and Eren was Armin. A much smaller boy than the two of them. Jean knows you can't compare people, but it's a mystery to him how such a brainiac is friends with two very athletic people. Mikasa may have brought Annie and the other two to this get-together, but she doesn't seem to interact much with many of the other people. Sasha occasionally.

Jean felt a small ping of jealousy wanting Mikasa to at least acknowledge that he was here, too. Even if they never met before. Jean wished somehow deep down that the drama trope of 'love at first sight' was a thing that could happen to him right now in this moment so he wouldn't have to suffer what he did the day before with Commander Hange.


"Okay, Jeanny-boy! Reception is right there. Just ask for a schedule and pick something."

You don't have to treat me like some little kid, Commander.

Jean walked up to reception where a girl with aggressive eyes stared indifferently at him.

"Uh, is there a, uh, schedule for the classes offered here?"

"Right there." She pointed at a display of pamphlets lined on the counter.

The girl didn't seem very interested in her job, even if it was simple as A, B, and C. She smacked her gum loudly and flipped through a magazine of women's swim models nonchalantly.

"Right. Uh. Thanks." Jean felt awkward and out of place. "So do I just come back up here to register or do I just show up at the times listed?"

She stared at him like he was an idiot. "I'll leave that one to you, Long John."

Bitch! How the fuck is she here?

Jean went back to Hange irritated, all the pamphlets in hand.

"Sooo?" Hange was excited for Jean, an emotion he currently couldn't feel through his own anger.

"That lady at the counter was rude as fuck. I honestly don't want to come back here."

"Aw, come off it! A few transactions, and you won't have to deal with her much. They have more than one person that works here, you know." Hange reassured.

"Sure, but she made me feel like an idiot. I feel dumb comong here."

"Well, you can't get anywhere until you make a damn fool of yourself, can you?"


"Jean!"

"Huh?" Dazed, he shook his head.

"You're falling asleep. Are you okay? Do you need to go home?" Armin asked Jean.

"Nah, I'm good. I was just thinking about some stuff."

"Loser." Connie said lowly.

"Huh? Wanna repeat that?" John said jokingly angry way.

"Before the two of you start play fighting. I have a question." Annie intercepted. "Do any of you go to Paradise University?"

"Yeah, me and Armin do!" Eren responded.

"I have a couple of friends there who are also involved in sports. If I tell them about you guys don't freak out if one of them offers you a fight mano e mano."

"Really? But why tell them about us?" Armin asked.

"They also don't know many people. But I also think they'll like you guys. They're good people." Annie reassured.

It was Eren's turn to ask, "But, uh. Why would they want to fight, though?"

"It's just how he is. Big guy, can only show himself true through testosterone."

It was an awkward silence among the group of twenty-somethings. As to be expected. Most of them didn't know each other until about three hours ago. But it was comfortable this time. Jean and Connie knew it was due to how calm Sasha was the entire night once Connie told them her story from yesterday.

Sasha's apartment wasn't large, but it was warm and had character and boy for the moment did it feel like home to them.

Marco stood from his chair at the table, "Well, I kinda do have to get going right about now. I've got some things to take care of before I go to bed." He gave a sheepish smile in apology.

"Oh! That's okay!" Sasha said. "I really enjoyed meeting you, Marco! Oh.. and uh, and all of you guys as well! I thought this was really fun!" Sasha had a way of showing her excitement in a very awkward and nervous way, but it showed true genuity.

"Yeah. Marco's right. It's getting pretty late. I'm gonna go back to my dorm and get some sleep." Armin said next. "Coming, Eren?"

"Nah. I'm gonna head back with Mikasa and say hi to my family. You're always welcome to join us."

Annie found amusement in the departure. "My manager is probably going batshit insane right now trying to figure out where I am… Heh."

"It's fine if I crash here, Sasha?" Connie asked.

"Duh."


"Hey, Marco! Wait up a bit!" Jean called, running after his freckled friend.

"Hey whatsup? Need something?"

"You've been acting a bit differently since I saw you yesterday afternoon. Something happen?"

"Not really. Just kinda…" Marco paused for bit, "Something's been on my brain lately."

"Care to share?"

"Not right now. It won't make sense to anyone but myself for the time being."

"I won't press you on it, then. Later."

"Good night!"


10AM and the first customer of the day was already waiting at the doorstep of Levi's café with a bag full of paper and texts. From experience, the opening employee could easily assume this person was here to do work until they fell asleep at the table.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence by any means, but it did seem a bit early in the season for students to be studying the way she was prepared. And for a Saturday? Must be backlogged on work.

The employee let the woman in and told her to give him a moment to get ready. The cold hasn't come yet, but he wasn't gonna let the poor lady stay outside and look miserable doing it. His boss wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

"Your lack of chivalry disgusts me. Show some damn respect to others and they'll do the same for you, dumbass."

Shivers went down the young male's spine thinking about it.

Once business was up and running, the woman went straight to work right away. Ordering the largest size of coffee offered, she was working a mile a minute. An absolute madwoman.

A few hours had passed and the early afternoon rush had passed when the same young man who let the woman in noticed she was out cold.

Was she sleep deprived? ADHD? How much work has she done?

"Well, well, well." Levi walked up beside the young man in front of the woman sleeping quietly. Dressed to the nines as always, this time in a crimson suit, black vest and white cravat. Not the most subtle, but it wasn't exactly flashy either. It was impossible to even think that he had a bad outfit in his closet.

"Looks like our loud friend here finally quieted down."

Lo and behold here she was. The eccentric cop who had no volume control suddenly was mute on a polished table here in his teahouse.

"Go on. Get back to work, kid. I'll take care of this."

"Sorry for the inconvenience, sir."

"It's no inconvenience." Yes it was.

Hm.. what to do, what to do…

"Oi! Four eyes! Wakey-wakey." Levi poked the woman hard on the top of her head in an effort to wake her up.

He tried it again, but harder. "Hey! I need you to wake up! This is a public place. Anything could happen to you if no one's watching."

Levi was very stern in his words and was actually trying very hard to wake the loud woman up.

A snore.

"Seriously…" This made Levi's eye twitch. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to figure out how to not attract too much attention from other customers and bystanders.

How the fuck… this damn woman really is a bulldozer.

"Excuse me, sir." Another employee came up to Levi and offered her suggestion. "Try waving this shot of espresso by her nose."

Levi made a face that didn't seem to agree with the idea, but what could he do? Hesitantly he did just as the young employee suggested. What came next?

A set of brown eyes snapped open and immediate response followed. "Where?!"

"Well, jeez. That took more effort than I wanted."

"Oh! Well if it isn't Mr. Owner! How may I have the pleasure of speaking with you all dressed up like that?"

The woman had disheveled hair pulled up into a loose ponytail and was dressed in casual business attire. A god awful pale yellow button down and light beige khakis with brown boots. In comparison to Levi at this moment she felt incredibly underdressed. Truthfully speaking, she felt a bit embarrassed at the whole ordeal.

"You need to be careful sleeping out in public spaces like this."

"Are you saying your business is a place where danger happens?"

"No. But anything can happen anywhere. You have so much shit here in front of you that if none of my employees were watching you might have a few missing items."

The woman gave a small smile, "Oh, Mr. Owner. I didn't know you could care so much with the aggressive way you speak."

Levi tried to defend himself, "It's my shop. I have every right to concern myself with customers who deem themselves defenseless."

"Hmmm… okay." She deadpanned.

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

The woman got an idea. "Hey, mind if I poke your brain a bit, Mr. Flash and Class?"

"Huh?"

"Come. Sit. I've got a mountainload more of work to get done, and I need someone to talk to so I don't fall asleep again." She patted a chair next to her in hopes to gain acquaintance.

"I'm a busy man, no thanks."

"Aw, well. Okay. You look like you need someone to talk to."

Beep beep beep

Been a while since I've heard a pager go off. This woman a colonial?

"Oh, well I guess it doesn't matter now. Sorry for asking, Shortie!"

This pulled a trigger in Levi. "HUH?"

And as quickly as the woman offered him to sit next to her to chat, she packed up her things and headed straight out the door waving everyone in the building off to have a nice rest of their day.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"I… I'm going to send my numbers in and I'm going home. Excuse me."

Spoiler: He's not.


"Yeah, I'm really excited I'm able to do this. Yeah. I'll be home late, don't stay up for me. I might just crash with Eren and Armin here on campus.

"Yeah. I know. Love you, too."

Mikasa pressed the 'end call' button on her phone and walked back into the training room. The A/C was just starting to kick in so nobody would get overheated, but the grime of sweat still filled the air.

"Alright, everybody! Let's get stretching!" Mikasa commenced the training for this evening's class. Annie wanted to join in one of the more advanced classes this time around with permission from her manager.

When she walked in the room all eyes were on her.

The week prior when she started her training with Mikasa it was just the two of them. Annie had been swayed by Mikasa to join in actual class so she could spar with more than one person and work with different body weights and types. Reluctant at first, but Annie agreed that having someone on the outside check her form then she could develop faster. Plus she had the actual gym she actually boxed at. This was just an MMA class with a badass instructor. She could learn techniques and skills here to transfer to the ring.

Her manager actually couldn't care less. As long as Annie wasn't swarmed by paparazzi or missing was all they cared about. Kind of sad. The one person that the athlete should be closest to next to their coach and they didn't care about a damn thing Annie felt.

"Nice job, guys! Get some water and let's immediately start on the next phase. Those going to nationals for competition this way, those still learning upper level technique come this way. I will observe both sides equally. Annie Leonhart is here to work with us and help you reach your fullest potential as well as refine her own. She will be leading the nationals half. Those not participating get with a rookie and help them out."

Annie stepped in front of the group of MMA students and gave a small bow. "While I'm here I will be expecting you to give me everything you've got. In return I won't hold back either. It's the only way to increase efficiency."

The group of people in front of her seemed frightened.

Is this how a deer feels when they see headlights? Or what pigs feel when they're at the slaughterhouse?

"Interesting…" Annie whispered to herself.


"So you guys called me in? You know I'm trying to get my ideas and research ideas in order for my doctorate?"

"Sorry about that, Hange. But I need as many hands right now as I can get."

Erwin Smith, lead commander of the patrol unit at the City Maria Police. A tall man with nerves of steel and a resolve for justice. He didn't call things unnecessarily. He did like to ramble on a point he had, but never one to be off topic for too long.

Everyone in the force respected his determination, spirit, and resolve. Erwin was never one to stop dead in his tracks even if his feet were still.

To a normal person… they would probably call him a crazy bastard. But compared to his closest and highest officers he was a normal person. Even the one who checks him had more oddities.

What's it like to live as an Ox? Charging in first and figuring the rest out later. That's usually how most of Erwin's plans worked anyway. He had his comrades to aid his decisions, but with most people he's encountered in his ex-military life it seemed to throw them off enough for his insanity to work.

To put it simply. He prefers the door-in-the-face over foot-in-the-door. Only those as crazy as him or worse would understand.

"So what's going on?"

"I want everyone to sit down and listen. Pay attention because we'll have to inform our lower ranks as well." Erwin explained.

"We have reason to believe that there is suspicious activity on the tri-border of Maria, Rose and the sea. Unlike the ports off the Maria coast, if we close this section off for investigation it could mean a much worse situation for our populations."

Hange raised her hand, "Sir. If I may ask a question."

"Go ahead."

"If this is a supposed joint-operation why not involve the Capital Sina Force?"

"If I may be so bold to answer simply that I don't trust their judgement. Premier Zachary is the only one that may have a level head there. But we also only really know him as a judge and not a politician."

"So what sort of animal are we lookin' at here, captain?" Mike was curious.

"To be honest I'm not sure. There have been a string of petty crimes, but they're inconsistent. The first to report the crime were from cities on the east. Next it came from Trost District in City Rose. now all of a sudden a shooting right off at the docks near west here in Maria."

"So how are we connecting these? I don't see this narrows at the tri-border port, sir."

Hange immediately bounced off of Mike's suspicion, "Could it have anything to do with the bullet shell we have in the evidence room? We only have one lead from that."

"Precisely. And what's the one lead we have, Hange?"

"The shell was a foreign issue. One that we don't sell here in Paradis, either."

"So you're saying that the crimes that are being reported are by some foreigners?"

"Yes. That's what the people and police reports are saying, anyway. As it's the only thing we have it's the thing we must go off of to play it safe by the public."

A pause to digest the information.

"Specifically the bullet shell Hange discovered was of a Marleyan issue. We just received an import of guns and ammunition yesterday morning so we could try and match up burn marks and get a bigger identification of what gun we need to be looking for."

Mike raised an eyebrow, "So now we need to set up patrol schedules for both the tri-border and the harbor warehouse?"

"Yes and no. We can open the harbor warehouse backup and have a light guard there at all times, but not as heavy as we have been before. In this circumstance we will be coordinating our patrols and investigations with City Rose on this. I've spoken to Commander Dok about this and he loosely agrees with my idea."

Hange spoke next, "How will we identify the gun in the field, though sir? We can figure it out and match it up in the range all we want, but nobody's just let us see their guns if they have one. In fact if we do see a gun it might just be staring us down in the face. At that point it'll probably be too late."

Erwin thought for a moment, resulting in a glance between Mike and Hange.

"Best to say to leave that to chance. We'll use it as a backup if ever we come across that information in the field."

"Alright."

"Where's Commander Pixis, sir?" Mike asked.

"He's off in the capital having meetings of his own." Erwin sighed.

"I assume they're meetings with Mr. Jack and Mr. Daniels." Hange joked.

A shared laugh between the three comrades.

"Oh, Hange. I can always rely on you to keep the mood from getting too dark." Erwin confessed.

"We should start on those patrol routes now if we want to present this to our subordinates and the officers at Rose tomorrow. Best we get a head start on this as soon as we can." Mike suggested.

"Yes. To the drawing board."


Social media is one hell of an influence. Oftentimes depression and anxiety are snakes in the grass and creep up on one when they finally break down. You never realize that it's there. The people around you see it before you do.

The self-image of one can quickly change when you see a repeated image getting more attention than another, or when people openly shame or ignore you for something you haven't even done.

Staring in the mirror before a shower. Examining one's self through their own eyes, picking apart what could be fixed or what should be fixed. Comparing yourself to others bodies in your newfound idea of 'perfect.'

Experimenting with hair, clothes and makeup was an easy way to shape yourself into something new. Was it to fake confidence? Was it to show yourself that you, too, could be beautiful or handsome?

The most influential times were in teenage and early adolescent years. Some twenty year olds in college were either showing out, or just making it through.

Brains could only get you so far, and Armin knew that. Appearances were important too. Even if his brain could cure the world of pain forever, if he didn't look the part no one would ever believe or respect him.

Armin was small. He knew that. Ever since he was a child he was never bulky. That's where he took after his mother. It made him susceptible to being bullied because others knew he couldn't protect himself.

His friends were the strong ones. Always taller and a better constitution than Armin had.

If he had spent more time outside playing soccer with Eren or went out for a run every now and then with Mikasa instead of reading and learning new things about the world he lived… would he be stronger? Would he have a stronger constitution to hold himself together today?

He couldn't help but wonder where his life currently lead him. Was he meant to become a top researcher? Was he ever going to have the opportunity to defend himself?

In a way you could say the young man was already becoming derailed. Not yet insane, but a distorted perception of the reality around him.

"Armin."

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go grab some food? Mikasa said she was gonna crash with us since she's working late tonight. Get us all something,"

Eren Jaeger. Armin's best friend. Always confident in his ability to show how strong or brawny he could be. Right now with his clavicle injury he couldn't show out like he usually did.

Hot-headed, Eren didn't seem like he was calming down as fast as others do when they hit their twenties. Armin always took note of how fast situations escalated when Eren was involved.

He doesn't realize it as fast as he should, but Armin is very good at reading situations and understanding or picking up things around him. Things that may seem unrelated clicked differently in Armin's mind. It was always a scene when he, Eren and Mikasa would play Monopoly or another board game that required brain power.

The two of them went to a local food stall near their campus that was still open.

The sun was starting to go down, and with the recent string of crimes going on around them most street food stalls closed earlier than they did before. You couldn't blame them, though. They were out in the open. What if someone came after them next?

Armin also felt a wave of anxiety come over him. If he and Eren were to get jumped, it would be Eren versus however many people came after them. Eren knew this, too.

It was a quiet walk to the open stall. Two other people were there ordering as well. So at the very least there were bodies to witness.

"Alright Armin, know what you want? I'll pay this time."

"Uh.." Armin had never been to this stall before. To be honest, he didn't know what was good. He'd never had this cosine before. "Have you been here before? I've never had any of this food."

"I recommend the dürüm. Real basic. It's basically kinda like a burrito." A voice behind the two of them spoke.

The man was tall and beefy. To Amin it looked like he could take down hordes of people without even trying. Or punch a door harder than needed be. A real Redfield in Armin's mind. The man next to him was also tall, but nowhere near as built as his companion. They gave off different energies, but they synergized, in a sense.

"Oh. Okay." Armin went with it and Eren followed up with his and Mikasa's order. It might not be hot and ready by the time Mikasa got off, but he didn't want her to starve, either. Armin would agree with the logic.

"Hey." The man called again. "Did I hear your name was Armin? Do you know Annie by chance?"

Eren looked over at the pair and answered for him. "Yeah, he and I met her the other night. I'm Eren."

"Are you two the guys she told us about?"

"She told you about us? Hey Bertholdt, Annie's making friends. Whatdya know, huh?" the tall blond nudged his friend with his elbow trying to elicit a reaction. "Probably so, then. I'm Reiner, and this is Bertholdt. Nice to meet you guys."

"So you guys are also students at Paradise?" Eren asked.

"Yeah. I'm on the wrestling team and Bertholdt here is a swimmer. Annie learned from your friend that you're on the soccer team, Eren?"

"Yeah. I'm off training right now. Got a fracture I need to heal."

"So that's probably why Annie told us you'd want to fight upon meeting us." Armin thought out loud.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bertholdt asked Armin.

"Oh. She said that Reiner could only show himself through dominance and would probably ask Eren to fight him. I thought it was kind of funny, actually."

"What? Annie always tries to criminalize me and I haven't done anything wrong to that girl."

"That is actually pretty funny, Reiner."

"Yeah, cause she's got you totally whipped."

"I-!"

"It's fine, dude. When the season's over and you finally win something, just talk to her."

The four of them clicked instantly. Sharing pleasantries and jokes they all walked back to the dorms together. To Armin this made him feel much safer. It also made him feel incredibly small, too. Everyone here was at least six feet tall except for Armin. He stood at a dainty five foot seven inches in comparison.

This is how Armin found the connection in the disconnect. None of them looked to be friends but here they are being friendly.

Armin would be lying if he said that this wasn't an interesting encounter.

They parted at the dorm entrance lobby with plans to meet up tomorrow and take a tour and give tips around campus.

"Well they were much nicer than Annie told us. Especially Reiner." Armin said.

"Yeah. The damn guy is the size of a giant, but he has a lot of self-control."

"Heart of gold, too."


"Sorry for keeping you guys so late, but this should be good enough for me to present to the Rose Office."

Erwin compiled all of his copies of the notes the three officers had made of the new plan they were to launch as soon as the new week came.

"Shadis will be in early tomorrow with some top officers, so you can come in a bit later, Mike. I know I've kept both of you longer than necessary." Erwin apologized again.

"It's fine. See you, Erwin." Hange and Mike were left behind to collect their things and to close up the meeting hall.

It's been a long day for Hange. Starting research for her doctorate was no issue, but now a new variable had presented itself and Hange now had another thing to put in her schedule.

She was tired, to say the least. A silver lining would have been sitting in that small teashop she stumbled upon a week was quiet and she could concentrate on her research and studies. The best part was that none of her coworkers would be able to find her now.

Well, except maybe Mike. he goes there often from what he's told her.

Sadly Monday's are a no-no. But that's okay. Maybe she could give herself the day off, then.

...maybe. It wouldn't be that simple, though.

"Hey, Mike?" she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for making me go out the other day."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Kool-Aid Man."

"Idiot."


A/N:

Chapter Three, out of code.

Cockshut means evening, by the way.