Chapter 21: Reiner

Two weeks lapsed after Ymir and Krista's talk with Erwin, and they have never been happier. Krista had heard nothing from her father, which worried her, but Ymir kept her busy. Students still kept away from Ymir. Their fear of her was both a blessing and a curse, for they remained distant and kept from bothering them, but at the same time it made Ymir look like a monster.

Krista tried her hardest to help Ymir look good in front of everyone, but the brunette was not interested in cooperating, and rarely took up the blonde's offers to do nice deeds for others. Krista grew discouraged with Ymir's lack of progress, but she refused to give up – she would definitely see to it that their peers welcomed Ymir much like they welcomed her by the end of the year.

Over the course of the two weeks, they kept close and spent time learning more about each other. Krista learned that Ymir preferred not to fold her clothes, therefore she took on the task of keeping her room in good condition. They shared a wardrobe with clothes brought in from Krista's home with help from Pixis and Erwin, they shared bathroom space, food, a bed – nearly everything.

Krista learned that Ymir liked to hum to herself while she did the dishes, and Ymir noticed the tender singing Krista did as she went about cleaning the house and when she showered. They took turns preparing the food every day, as well as cleaning up after their messes. However, Ymir took on the heavier jobs, such as taking out the trash and moving things around. Her argument was that Krista would destroy her furniture or break something, to which Krista playfully replied by mentioning how she hadn't slammed Ymir's head in a while.

Even with their closeness, they still had fights, small arguments or just bickering. Sometimes, Ymir would plop down on the couch beside Krista, who was busy doing her homework, and she would turn on the television to one of her favourite shows. It was at this point that Krista learned just how annoying Ymir could be at times, though she developed a method to deal with it, mainly just asking Ymir to turn down the volume or leaving the room completely.

Ymir still had a lot of catching up in school to do, but had procrastinated heavily on the matter. When confronted by Krista, her usual response was, "I'll get to it, squirt". The blonde made sure to remind her every day, not to annoy her, but to keep her in line. The brunette often ignored her warnings, but she was quickly running out of excuses to not work. Krista had resorted to withholding affection if Ymir refused to comply, and the tall girl was not willing to take that risk. She would have to pay Hanji a visit later at Krista's behest, for it was mainly her class she was flunking.

They were extremely affectionate, and usually Ymir was the instigator in their more passionate sessions. They held hands whenever they went out, they woke with a smile and fell asleep to the sound of their heartbeats. Krista loved to put Ymir's head in her lap as they relaxed on the couch, and the brunette usually tried something saucy when the blonde's mind wandered.

Krista liked to lay in bed and cuddle up against her girlfriend's side, while the brunette simply inhaled her love's scent and tightened her scrawny but strong arms around her. Krista felt the safest in her arms, and Ymir could only relax fully when the blonde was breathing against her pulse. They spent their time either doing chores, homework, watching television or simply talking. Of course, Ymir spoke of getting a new job, since she had quit her other one when she had had a dispute with her employer a few months ago – there was a particularly nasty client who she took to setting straight, however that client then complained to her boss, who in turn yelled in her face.

They worked in a balance, and they supported each other in times of sadness or distress. Whenever Ymir came across the picture of Berik, or when she accidentally touched the letters from Kirsten and Niklas, it was Krista who held her as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to block the memories from resurfacing. It was scary to be so dependent on a person, but Ymir learned to flow with her feelings rather than resist them. They were happy with each other, and she could feel the scars of her past slowly dissipating into something much more pleasant. Every time Krista kissed her, touched her, greeted her, a warm feeling bubbled in her chest and descended to her toes and straight back up to her gut. For every kiss, a scar was erased, for every touch, a memory was buried deep into her mind, and for every lovely word murmured past her lips, and a negative thought was dashed away almost instantly.

Petra had only come by once in those two weeks, and commended them for their mature and appropriate behaviour. This made Ymir snort and laugh raucously, but Krista was so happy over the praise she ignored Ymir's rude behaviour until Petra had gone to run an errand for Levi. The nurse would never forget the screams for help emanating from the balcony above her car.

Only Petra, Erwin and Pixis had direct access to their apartment building, yet even their liberties were limited. The brunette was super careful about their journey home, and though Krista hardly noticed, she took different routes every other day to keep any suspicious people off their track. Sometimes, they went straight to the mall after school, or stayed a bit longer than usual. Ymir always made sure to keep her paranoid and cautious actions casual, and Krista was none the wiser.

They were currently walking to school, Krista against Ymir's side and the brunette's arm around her shoulders. Students remarked on them every now and then, but those occurrences were few and far between – they had gotten used to the idea of those two in a relationship by now, though there was some opposition, usually in the form of cowardly fools unable to admit what they truly thought to Ymir's face.

"I can't believe Ymir snatched her up like that. I was sure that she'd die alone or something."

"Yeah, man, but what can we do? She's got Krista in her trap now."

And they would ponder over their meaningless babble, forever ensnared within their own prejudiced stupidity. Meanwhile, Ymir would glance over Krista's head, smirk at their ignorance as she tugged the blonde closer to her. She knew they would never understand, nor did she care for them to understand. All she cared was that Krista would look up at her with her gorgeous blue eyes and lift her lips in that special smile she saved for her.

They entered Shadis' class and took seats near Mikasa and Sasha. Krista greeted her friends, as usual, with the addition of Ymir, however when she turned to Reiner, she frowned slightly and sighed. Reiner had been ignoring her as of late, and she had a sinking feeling it had to do with that favour she asked from Jean two weeks ago. Whenever she tried to speak with him he always had somewhere to be or someone to talk to, and it didn't help that Bertholdt supported his horrible excuses by giving alibis. It hurt, but there was nothing she could really do that didn't involve a conflict of some sort. She wanted to fix the relationship between Reiner and Ymir, not worsen it, and she feared that bothering Reiner right now would destroy whatever progress she had.

As for Ymir, she couldn't care less about Reiner and his dramatic ways. She much preferred having Krista to herself, and though she did feel her heart squeeze every time the blonde looked away dejectedly at another failed attempt at conversation, she had no interest in interacting with Reiner. Talking to the blonde hulk always enraged her, because he made her feel like every problem in every situation was her fault, or that she wasn't good enough for anything. He was good to his friends and good to his peers, but he absolutely detested Ymir. Yet Krista persisted with her tactful advances in reconciling their old and frail friendship.

"Hey, Reiner," Krista greeted quietly. When the blonde teen stared straight ahead in response, she frowned deeply and turned to Ymir with a pleading expression. The brunette scowled and shook her head no, instead focusing on another of Sasha's quips with Keith. Apparently, the girl had taken to popping cherries in her mouth and spitting the seeds at the back of the professor's head whenever he turned away. She vehemently denied it, of course, and Mikasa provided a convincing alibi.

"I say you did!" Keith fumed, his eyes darkening menacingly.

Sasha flinched but shook her head in defiance. "I say I didn't!" She stuck her tongue out to protest Keith's unfounded accusations.

The teacher grabbed her arm and shoved her out of class, along with Mikasa. "Get the hell out!" he roared, "and I better not see your faces until tomorrow!"

"But–!"

"OUT!"

He slammed the door on their faces, ignoring the pounding and pleadings to be let back in. Soon enough, the noises faded, and two pairs of footsteps were heard walking away and down the hall.

Professor Shadis turned to his other students, a nasty grin on his face. "Anyone else want to try something? No? Great. Open your manuals, you piles of dog shit, we're reviewing for a unit test that I'll be giving after tomorrow. I better not hear your pubescent mouths utter a word of contempt, or I'll make it harder than it already is!"

The class remained silent, obeying their frightening and moody teacher. Ymir had half a mind to tell him to stop menstruating and taking his anger out on them, but wisely kept quiet. She peeked over Krista's shoulder and smirked at her doodles in her notebook. All hearts, with her name in them.

"What's that you got there?" she whispered into the blonde's ear. Said blonde jumped in fright and whirled around to scold Ymir for scaring her, but said nothing when the brunette motioned at their teacher. Her face steamed as she processed Ymir's words, and she reluctantly handed over her doodles for the freckled girl to read over.

"Just some stuff," she answered shyly, trying not to grin when she saw Ymir's smirk lift into a genuine smile.

"I like it."

"Do you want some more?"

"Does she want some more what, Lenz?" Keith shouted furiously. The couple turned to the front and saw that their teacher had a ruler rigidly held with both of his hands, looking as though he wanted to snap it in half and beat them both to death with it.

"S-sir," Krista began.

"You what? Answer me, Lenz, I don't have all day!" He grew more impatient and frustrated by the minute, as evidenced by the sound of the ruler slowly cracking in half. When it finally did splinter into two pieces, he threw the useless lengths out the window and marched up to Krista's desk. Spying the notebook on Ymir's desk, he reached for it and grasped it between his rough fingers, clenching around the material tightly. Ymir immediately jumped forward and stood between the both of them, snarling at Keith dangerously.

"What the hell's your problem? I was the one that started talking, not her, so I should be the one getting in trouble, idiot," Ymir snapped, angry with how irrational her teacher was acting, "what, did Sasha seriously rile you up that much?" From the corner of her eye, she saw Reiner glance between her and Krista, his expression stoic but his eyes shining with the memory of a time from long ago.

Keith backed away, exhaling deeply and returning to the board. He ignored Ymir's taunts and continued with the lesson. He shoved the notebook into a random drawer in his bureau for future reference. The brunette sat back down and scoffed at her teacher, dismissing Krista's apologies with a grin.

"Don't worry baby, I've got your back." She winked and rubbed her knuckles on Krista's head, effectively messing her hair. Krista pouted as she blushed, but smiled happily and returned to taking notes on a sheet of paper provided by Jean. She could worry about her notebook later. The class ignored them as a whole, but Reiner watched them intently, while Jean stayed out of it, except for a muttered curse under his breath.

The blond boy pressed his lips together in thought but shook his head. No, there was no way that Ymir had changed for the better – he refused to believe it.

The bell rang and he stayed behind to watch Ymir and Krista interact with each other as they left for their second class. Keith exited in a rush, handkerchief pressed to his forehead and curses under his breath. Just as Reiner was about to leave, he overheard two boys talking.

"It's fucking disgusting, the way those two act around each other. I mean, they're girls, why don't they date boys? My parents told me it's a sin and that we'll burn in hell if we don't do things the right way."

The other boy nodded excitedly. "I heard that too! They shouldn't be allowed to have a relationship, especially if it makes us uncomfortable."

"And why the fuck should it matter if it makes you uncomfortable?"

Both boys turned to Reiner, who towered over them angrily with his expression furious and his brows furrowed heavily. They were quite lanky and scrawny, and they realized they stood no chance against a hulk like Reiner, who could snap them like dried twigs on a cold winter evening.

"I-it's n-nothing really, Reiner," one boy started, "just a matter of opinion."

Reiner crossed his arms over his muscular chest and narrowed his eyes. He may not like Ymir, but that didn't mean he didn't like Krista. He'd been ignoring her as of late in order to set his feelings straight, because he did have a tiny crush on her. With the news of her dating Ymir, he needed to overcome whatever sentiments he had for her and get over the little blonde.

He still cared for Krista, and hearing two complete strangers talking about her as though what she felt was wrong and filthy angered him greatly. His band mates were gay, and these boys had no right in condemning their love for the sake of a few words in a dusty old book. He took what they said personally, and felt rightly offended by their words.

"Yeah, a stupid one," he retorted, "what they do is their business. You shouldn't gossip about them like you're some kind of righteous good-doers. It pisses me off, you know?"

"R-right! Sorry, we won't d-do it again!"

"Good, now leave."

They scrambled away, nearly shitting their pants when they exited the classroom and bumped into Ymir in the hallway just outside the door. She glared at them evilly, reaching to attack them, but they dashed away just in time. She had heard every word, and she waited for Reiner to exit before going in and retrieving Krista's notebook from Keith's drawer.

Flipping through the pages, her eyes hooded in concentration as she thought about Reiner's words and the way he defended Krista. Maybe she could try. For Krista... and for Berik.

In second period, Krista once more dragged Ymir with her and sat her near Sasha, Mikasa, Connie and Bertholdt. Sasha greeted the couple heartily, Connie's greeting just seconds behind hers and Mikasa waving lightly. Bertholdt raised his hand in greeting and nodded with a smile. His mind was elsewhere, however, preoccupied with Reiner's behaviour and his strange depression.

Krista sat beside him and reached a hand out to rub his shoulder, wanting to comfort him out of the goodness of her heart. Ymir rolled her eyes and sat behind her, watching them talk. Sasha sat with her back against her desk and her front against the chair. Her arms rested on top of the plastic and she rested her chin on them, smiling up at Mikasa. The black-haired girl spoke in a low tone about a dream she'd had from the night before, Sasha hanging off of every word.

Connie prepared his writing tools and waited for Hanji to enter the classroom. Ymir leaned back and crossed her arms behind her head. Krista's notebook sat in her lap, opened, and she grinned as she read its contents. She chuckled to herself at the elegant scribbles dancing across the lined paper, doodles in the margin and her name obviously drawn in different sizes and fonts.

Krista tried to talk to Bertholdt, to find out what was wrong, but the tall boy insisted he was fine and tried to avert her attention to a different matter. However, when she wouldn't budge, he relented with a slump of his shoulders.

"Reiner's been depressed lately," he conceded, "and it's affecting me too."

"Why is he depressed?" Krista asked in shock, eyes wide.

"I can't say," Bertholdt answered, shaking his head, "but he says he's got it under control. I trust his judgement, but I still worry for him."

"I wish he and Ymir would get over their differences and get along."

"Me too, I'm tired of all this fighting and misery. I just want us to be happy for once."

"If you help me, then maybe we can put an end to their fighting and misery. Bert, you care about Reiner, so you should tell him when he's wrong so that he can stop hurting himself."

Bertholdt lowered his eyes and clenched his fists tightly in his lap. His eyes prickled slightly with traitorous tears, and he rubbed a fist across his eyes in frustration. It felt like betraying Reiner by agreeing with Krista, but both his heart and his mind told him otherwise. By agreeing with Krista, he was agreeing to let go of the past and allow Berik's memory to rest. He was accepting that Reiner wasn't always right, and that he had to be told when he was wrong.

The tall boy nodded and smiled when Krista grinned happily. "I'll still need to think about it," he added, shifting his eyes to the side at her deflated look. "I'm sorry Krista, but I need to think about how I'll confront Reiner about this."

"That's okay, I understand. I'm just glad I have someone else to help me. I just need to convince Ymir and then we can actually accomplish what we set out to do!"

"Sounds good!"

Krista turned around when she felt a tap on her shoulder and received a face full of paper. She pulled the notebook down and blushed heavily at Ymir's suggestive grin. It seemed as though the brunette hadn't heard her discussion with Bertholdt, but there was still the issue of a serious amount of teasing approaching.

"So, you want two girls, huh?"

"Ymir!"

At lunch, the couple went to the same tree to take their lunch. Ymir held Krista's hand tightly, fingers intertwined, and allowed the blonde to drag her over to Sasha and Mikasa. She narrowed her eyes when she saw her girlfriend make eye contact with Bertholdt, discreetly nodding like some sort of secret agent in a mafia. Ymir smirked; Krista was so cute when she tried to gain the upper hand on her.

The brunette played dumb, however, deciding to simply observe and react accordingly to what has happening. She watched as Bertholdt pulled on Reiner's arm to make him sit, an action that surprised even Annie. Bertholdt had always agreed to whatever Reiner said, and always supported him, so this change in pace made Reiner blink in disbelief.

"Bert?" the teen asked in surprise.

"Reiner, stay for now," Bertholdt pleaded, looking directly into his best friend's eyes, "please."

Unable to refuse his friend, Reiner nodded and complied, sitting next to Bertholdt and returning to eating his sandwich. He glanced over at Ymir and Krista every so often, looking as though he wanted to say something but holding his tongue due to the circumstances. Ymir ignored him, watching the way Krista interacted with her friends.

Near the tree, Eren kept his arms caged around Annie, preventing his girlfriend from leaving the vicinity. He had agreed to help Krista improve Ymir's reputation, and his contribution was to talk with Annie and try to convince her to help as well.

"I don't want anything to do with her," she muttered defiantly, glaring at him with fiery blue eyes from under her blonde fringe. Eren moved his face closer, an equally hot fire in his green eyes countering her own.

"Krista doesn't want you to kiss her feet – she just wants you to forgive her and stop treating her like shit," he retorted, gritting his teeth when she elbowed his gut.

Annie pushed Eren away when the teen grabbed his stomach. She shoved her hands into her sweater pockets, the fire dimming from her eyes and instead being replaced by something that chilled Eren to the bone when she looked at him from over her shoulder.

"I will not forgive Ymir until she can prove to me that she will not hurt Krista." Before she could make her exit, Eren grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, grinning at the surprised look on her face. It was rare that he caught her off guard like this.

"That's fine, because Ymir doesn't even let a mosquito get near her," Eren laughed, resting his chin on the shorter girl's head. He pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her delicately. She frowned slightly and leaned into his touch, blaming the heat in her cheeks on the air temperature.

The short blonde turned slightly in her boyfriend's embrace to see Ymir swatting at something near Krista's head. The brunette was angrily yelling about how Krista seemed to attract even bugs. Eventually, she took the blonde into her arms and placed her in her lap. Annie shook her head and pulled away from Eren, walking away with an unwanted doubt forming in her head.

Jean and Marco sat on the other side of the tree. Marco and Connie were discussing the future of the band while the other boy leaned against his boyfriend, scribbling potential lyrics and music notes for a song. He tapped the butt of the pencil against his chin, looking up and watching the leaves shake gingerly in the breeze. The sun shone against them, displaying a beautiful green hue that made him want to reach up and smear it across his page.

Marco stopped mid-conversation to smile at his contemplating boyfriend, moving his hand across the grass to place his hand over Jean's. The singer smiled unconsciously and returned to writing in his notebook. Connie laughed and Marco blushed in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

Mikasa fed Sasha playfully, sometimes eating the food intended for Sasha and pointing at her lips suggestively, though her expression remained blank. The hungry girl knew not what to make of her teasing girlfriend, so she simply opted to take her bait and retrieve her food herself. When Ymir asked about the taste, Sasha choked on her spit and refused to play their game. Mikasa sighed and simply rubbed her girlfriend's back in comfort. Armin leaned against Mikasa, reading a dissertation on mathematical theories and equations. He had his reading glasses propped up on the bridge of his nose, his eyes skimming over the words in calculated haste.

"Oh, Armin!" Krista started suddenly, startling the boy. Armin thumbed the page and put down his reading material, turning to his friend with a kind smile.

"Yes?"

"What happened yesterday? With the girl who gave you the confession letter?" she enquired.

She was taken aback when Armin flinched and sighed, taking off his glasses and setting them aside. "She never showed up," he answered simply, despondently.

"I'm so sorry, Armin."

"Don't be, I was naive to think that anyone could have feelings for me. I'm not strong like Eren, nor am I charming, or exceptionally gifted in flirting. I only have my intelligence going for me, as well as my honesty. And physical appearances are really the hook that bring people together nowadays," he said, "but at least I have my friends, and I am ever so grateful for that."

Mikasa turned and placed a sisterly kiss against Armin's temple, offering her own brand of silent comfort. Armin looked up, genuinely grateful, and smiled across at Sasha. Ymir pulled Krista tighter against her, brooding over something in her mind. The blonde on her lap traced her girlfriend's hands with her fingers lightly, tracing delicate patterns on her tanned skin.

The blue-eyed genius returned to his reading, and Krista swore she spotted the corner of an envelope in the shirt pocket of his sweater. Poor Armin was most likely extremely heartbroken, and it would take a while for his heart to mend. At least he had friends to help him heal.

The bell rang at that moment, and Krista slid off Ymir's lap and stood, extending a hand to help the brunette up. Ymir stared at her soft hand, remembering the times she simply pushed it away or refused her help. With a grin, she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and allowed her to hoist her up. Krista smiled happily and tugged her to the door gleefully. Ymir laughed and, on pure instinct, turned her head to see Reiner brush past her in a hurry.

On instinct, she reached forward and grasped his shoulder tightly. He halted suddenly, and an icy cold feeling filled the brunette up and made her clench her teeth tightly. He turned his head to her, his eyes emotionless and empty. It made her recoil slightly – she'd never seen that look on his face before.

Krista gasped to herself, hand pressed to her mouth in worry. She backed away and bumped into Bertholdt, who seemed equally worried. They looked at each other in fear and watched their close ones interact in what seemed like years.

Ymir and Reiner stood there, simply staring at each other, before the tall brunette slid her hand off of his shoulder and crossed her arms.

"Thanks," she said, "for defending Krista."

Reiner turned his head back around, resuming his normal pace and walking away. He stopped at the corner leading down the hallway and turned around again. His eyes held an intense emotion within them, something Ymir had only ever seen when he defended Berik or when he had something to confess. He looked like he wanted to spill three thousand words, but settled for three.

"It was nothing." He turned the corner, leaving Bertholdt to chase after him again.

Krista giggled joyously and hugged Ymir's arm. "Thank you, Ymir," she murmured against her sleeve emotionally.

"Yeah, whatever."