"Hey guys!" Armin exclaimed, gathering the attention of his classmates "look what I found!"
Eren sighed at his friend's antics. Day by day, the bespectacled blonde would spend all of his free time, browsing the internet, looking for whatever uninteresting things that could possibly come to his mind. Maybe it was time he had told him to stop…
"What is it?" Historia asked, walking over to look at the screen of the boy's laptop.
"It's a site that can tell you who's your best match, based on your social media activity and internet searches" Armin explained with satisfaction "it's called P.A.L. 9000…"
"Why?" Mikasa asked, approaching them.
"I don't know I wasn't the one who named it."
"So, basically" Ymir expressed with a grin "it's a matchmaking app."
"What?" Reiner exclaimed with interest, before coming over "a matchmaking app?"
"It's all just a stupid game" Annie spoke, before turning her head to look out the window.
Eren looked at Armin's laptop. It did seem like a silly game, but if the program really analysed their personalities…
"Why would it use social media activity anyway?" Mina asked dubiously "people are so much more than just stupid posts online…"
"Yeah, yeah we all know" Ymir said with annoyance "that's why you keep posting your pictures on Instagram twenty-four hours a day…"
"Hey…!"
"Okay, let me try it" the freckled female said, waving her hand at the other girl "who knows, maybe it'll tell us something interesting…"
As she was saying that she gave Eren a sly grin. The boy knew that despite their adventure with looking for the Phantom of the School, she was still sour that Historia became his girlfriend.
"What exactly are you trying to prove?" The said girlfriend asked Ymir as she sat before the laptop screen.
"Nothing, my sweet Historia" the freckled female responded, smiling towards her "maybe except for you two being a complete abomination of a relationship…"
"Are you still…?"
"Shh!" Ymir shushed them as she clicked the button that started the program up.
Momentarily, a weird atmosphere enveloped the classroom. On the screen, a small text interface appeared, along with a red lens, looking directly at Ymir.
"Hi, are you Dave?" The program spoke, surprising everyone.
"Who's Dave?" Ymir typed in after a few moments of consternation.
"Classified." P.A.L. responded.
The atmosphere became even weirder, as students looked over themselves, trying to figure out what exactly did the program mean.
"Okay" the freckled female typed "can you tell me who is the best match for Ymir Fritz?"
The program fell silent for a moment as a text 'Analysing data' appeared on the screen. Everyone was looking with apprehension as if whatever the computer would say next was the most important thing in their lives.
"Do you really think that if it says my name anything will change?" Historia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't speak!" Ymir exclaimed suddenly as the text disappeared, replaced again with the same red lens from before.
"Best match for Ymir Fritz is Eren Yeager. Congratulations."
"…"
It took a few moments for everyone involved to process the results. Slowly, Eren turned to look at Ymir. The girl had a look of disbelief plastered on her face.
"But…" She stuttered after a moment, before standing up "…but I'm not even into guys…"
"No way!" Armin exclaimed "computers never lie."
The duo in question looked at each other in puzzlement. All of a sudden, Eren felt blood rush to his cheeks.
"No freaking way!" Ymir shouted, before turning around and walking out of the classroom.
Eren stood still, processing in his mind what exactly happened right now. The program said they were the perfect match. But it was just a stupid piece of code, wasn't it?
"Here, let me try…" Historia said, before sitting in the now empty seat.
"Best match for Historia Reiss is Farmer. Congratulations."
"What…?" Eren asked "Historia, you can't honestly believe…"
"I'm sorry…"
The dark-haired boy looked at his girlfriend. Tears were falling from her eyes, but she managed to give him a smile.
"Come on…" the boy tried to argue "…what even is this result… We don't even know which farmer it meant…"
"I'm so sorry!" The blonde girl exclaimed before running out of the classroom, just like Ymir did.
Eren stood in front of the computer with an empty expression.
"So…" Armin spoke after a long pause "…who wants to try next?"
The recess went on and on and after that, more lessons came. But Eren didn't care about anything. He kept thinking about what that program had told them earlier.
'It's just a stupid piece of code' he thought as he sat on a bench near the playground 'it's not real. They all lost their minds…'
But Historia's tears were real.
He looked up.
The only other person close to him was Ymir, sitting on an opposite bench. She was intensely looking at him.
"What?" He asked, with annoyance in his voice.
"What, what?" She replied, with a dose of anger "what is wrong with you?"
"And what is wrong with you?"
The duo was staring each other in the eyes, as if they were mortal enemies. At the time, everything else was a minor inconvenience.
"What do you feel?" Ymir asked suddenly.
"What?"
"What do you feel when you look at me?"
Eren widened his eyes at that. All this time he hadn't asked himself this one important question.
'What if the program was right?'
He concentrated on his feelings.
It was true that in a way, he admired Ymir. She was strong and decisive, full of resolve that Eren sometimes lacked and needed to find elsewhere. In those instances, he would often look up to Ymir, regardless of their status.
"I admire you" he spoke "that's what I feel."
"Why…?"
"Why do you ask?"
The freckled female looked down. Something was clearly troubling her.
"I admit, I like you" she said slowly "you are everything I would have sought in a man…"
The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow at that.
"…If I was interested, that is!" Ymir exclaimed, before looking away from him.
But that was enough to put a smile on his face.
"That's alright" he responded, "I like you as well."
He could swear that a smile crossed the other female's face.
"Alright" the girl spoke before standing up "how about we go to those computer freaks and give them a piece of our mind."
"Yeah…" Eren seconded, before standing up and walking up to the other female.
He didn't know why he commenced with what he did next. For some reason, he came way too close to her for his own comfort. The female must've noticed it as well, but she just closed her eyes. Upon her reaction, he closed his.
Their lips were just inches away from each other.
"April fools!"
The sudden yell made the pair jump back and fall to the ground.
Eren looked towards the source of the sound. To their left, Historia was standing with Armin, who was holding his laptop.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it seems that our plan worked" the blonde girl exclaimed with pride.
"Your plan…?" Ymir uttered in disbelief.
"Yep!" Armin exclaimed, opening his laptop for them "there is no P.A.L. 9000, I made it up. It was a little hoax to bring the two of you closer."
The duo that was still lying on the ground couldn't believe those words. How could their own friends play with their feelings like that?
"You…" Ymir spoke angrily, before standing up.
At that, the bespectacled boy started to sweat.
"Oh, I guess I got to bolt, now" Armin expressed, before running off with his laptop.
"Come back, you little!" The freckled female yelled as she started running after him.
With the other two gone, Eren looked Historia in the eyes.
"I'm sorry" she said, "after your little adventure, the two of you weren't quite as close as I would like, yet."
"Yet…?" He simply uttered.
"Oh, come on!" The blonde girl exclaimed "there is much more chemistry to you two than you think!"
Now that Eren really thought about it, there was some logic to this. In a way, he liked Ymir. Maybe sometimes, she was a little bother, but nonetheless, she could still bring a small dose of joy to his life.
But toying with his feelings was a crime worthy of a severe punishment…
"Historia."
"What?" She asked.
"I'll tickle you…"
"I'll be leaving then" the girl spoke, before running away, towards the school.
The boy shook his head, before standing up and following suit.
Season 2 coming soon...