He felt his heart throbbing hard against his chest. Was it the situation? Was it that someone was menacing him with a pair of scissors? Was it the presence of that girl?
He dodged her while stepping back to the window. He felt the room become smaller and smaller. When did the situation come to this?
He rested both hands behind his back on the window sill. Sweat was rolling down his forehead. "Annie, just calm down, I-" he dodged an attempt from the girl to cut a strand. "I know you're not thinking straight, you are not like this!"
Suddenly, she stopped cornering him, and folder her arms over her chest. "So you think you know me, huh?" inquired with annoyance in her voice.
"No! Not the slightest, but I would really like to, you seem really nice!" Armin didn't know what he was saying, maybe it was a fight-or-flight response his brain had made up. Annie wasn't buying it.
"Don't try to be charming, I want that hair short NOW!" the cutting sound of the scissors snipped near his face. Some single golden hairs fell to the floor.
Armin starting running around the room, trying to get his way to the door. Unfortunately, she was quicker, waiting for him with open blades. Armin skidded on the wooden floor and it cracked, making his way to one of the bunk beds. He jumped and reached the higher one, being impressed of what fear could do to his body. He didn't understand the situation. That girl went completely nuts!
Annie let out a small devilish giggle and starting climbing the bed's ladder. Armin backed up against the wall, knowing he didn't have many opportunities left. Could he jump? It was not that tall, but his ankles were not warm, so he could see himself falling miserably. Annie showed up her head above the mattress. She seemed focused on her task.
He then remembered the book he had been reading over the last weeks. Praying mantis courtship could be a dangerous affair; females had been well-documented biting off the heads and eating other body parts of the males that they mated with. However, they did not always do it. Only if they were starving or the male irritated her, she would engage in such cannibal behaviour. Armin felt like one of those miserable male praying mantis.
Before realizing, he had the girl all over him. He had no scape whatsoever, he had to come up with something quick. He managed to grab both of the girl's wrists, keeping the scissors away from his face. She could have stabbed him with the scissors accidentally. What was she playing at?
"Arlert! You are getting your hair trimmed NOW!" she raised her voice. She seemed kind of having a good time. Armin felt actual terror. He shook his head nervously as an answer. She fought her wrists free, although the boy's grasp was stronger than she could have imagined. Armin was afraid she would use on of her body-locks. She had to be on her knees though, so she didn't have much room to move. She broke free of his grasp using her elbows, so now she could use her hands again. Armin collected himself and brainstormed since words didn't seem to work on her.
She was just going for his mane when he managed to cup her face with both hands and left a brief peck on her lips.
What the hell had he just done. He was dead, dead, dead. How could that work with the coldest girl he had ever known? First of all, what kind of idea was that? He doubted it would have worked with any other girl. He came back into reality and stared at her unreadable expression. He was blushing intensely.
The door cracked open and a group of girls entered to observe both Annie and Armin being in a weird position… in bed. Sasha, Christa, Ymir and Hannah froze in their places, eyes widen as they could not believe what they were witnessing.
Armin removed his hands from the blonde's face. He wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Annie seemed so annoyed she would spit on his face, but she didn't. Instead, she parted her lips slightly in utter shock.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED YOU FILTHY-!" screamed Sasha in shock. She wavered her arms in the air, trying to get their attention.
"Time to change these sheets," laughed Ymir, teasing Sasha. "Actually, they were the last people I would expect to find kissing in a room."
The other girls were mute, surprise left them speechless.
Annie realised she was being mistakenly judged and came down of the bed. She left almost running, she really had the urge to cry her heart out. She wouldn't let opinions of others affect her self-esteem, nevertheless this was just another level. What was that? She just wanted to get rid of all these people, not that she hated them, but she had a weight on her shoulders no one could understand, and she rarely slept through the night. Naps somehow saved her from fainting out of exhaustion. Night's darkness reminded her of worst fears.
She kept running through the halls, with no fixed destiny. She put the bright scissors on her pocket, wanting to throw them away.
Armin jumped out of the bed and brushed against the group of girls in a rush. He saw platinum blond locks turning the hall's corner. He followed immediately. He needed to apologize, realising that affected her more than he would have thought. He hated hurting people. She was the first to be threatening him with a pair of scissors, but still. Armin was a patient and sympathetic kind of guy.
Suddenly, the bell rang, indicating it was time to head to their respective classes. Armin clicked his tongue, in frustration. It hadn't been a kiss, just a brief peck, but it had felt like his whole face would fall from embarrassment.
He picked his books from his room, running into Eren on his way to their lessons. He seemed really happy to see him again.
"Hey Armin! What happened? Who was the mysterious person behind that note?" asked Eren impatiently. He was not a gossip person, but that sure woke up his curiosity. Armin looked down at his books, trying to hide his redden cheeks.
"Oh, actually they didn't show up… I waited for twenty minutes! I'm sure it was just a prank," the blond lied. He could trust Eren with anything, but what had just happened ten minutes before was just insane.
"Really? Man, people are weird," he answered disappointed, scratching his hair.
They took their seats on the first row of benches, next to Mikasa. The classroom started to fill with people. Jean, Marco and Connie entered laughing, followed by Reiner and Betholdt. The latter gave Armin an strange look. The blond just made as he hadn't noticed.
Looking like she wanted to hide, Annie Leonhardt entered the room very close to a group of girls, going unnoticed. Much to her disappointment, Armin caught her eye, but she looked away immediately. Armin felt his cheeks blushing.
"Hey Armin, are you okay? You're all red," stated Eren, giving a worried look at his best friend. Armin opened one of the books abruptly and pretended he was reading.
"Oh, oh yes, sure. It's just hot in here, isn't it?" dodged Armin.
"Armin, it's 5 degrees out there," intervened Mikasa, as a matter of fact. Armin felt cornered again. He did not answer, feeling it would make their friends cut their asking.
He low-key turned his head, looking for Annie. She had sat at the end of the room, not that she always did. Armin was just really worried. Had his actions impacted that much on her? He felt terrible. He believed you must never touch a woman without her permission, but the pressure forced him to. They had never really talked that much. She wasn't a talkative person, although they always jumped into a conversation easily, which he found relieving. Did she hate him now?