Chapter Text
It was the start of a new school year. Trost High buzzed with students’ chatter in the hallways as they gathered into their respective classrooms, eager to catch up with each other about their summer holiday.
“All right, settle down and take a seat everyone. My name is Keith Shadis and I will be your homeroom and maths teacher for this year. As you all probably figured out, we have a new student, Annie Leonhardt. Please make her feel welcome.”
Just two more years left and I’m out of here.
“Annie!” Annie looked up, her two childhood friends smiling at her exactly the way they did all those years ago.
Reiner and Bert?! What are they doing here?
She tried to hide her shock and walked quickly to sit next to them, ignoring everyone’s stares. By the looks on the blonde boy’s face, it was clear he had a lot of questions to ask. “What are yo-“
“There are two things I will not tolerate in this classroom. One is speaking over me. The second is-“
A student ran in, stopping at the door panting. “Sorry I’m late sir the car broke down so I had to run here and then I couldn’t find the class list so I had to go to reception to ask.” Shadis turned towards the class. “The second is tardiness.” Looking back at the boy, Shadis asked, “Eren Jaeger, I presume?”
Eren nodded.
“I’ll let you off since it’s the first day back. Take a seat.”
Annie watched Eren as he sat next to a small blonde boy and an Asian girl. It was customary for her to take note of the people around her, so she knew who to avoid and who was bearable enough to talk to. Eren was definitely one to avoid. She noticed the Asian girl seated next to him wearing a thick crimson red scarf.
Who even wears a scarf in the middle of summer? Weird. Oh well. Not my business anyways.
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“You’re back! Where did you go?” asked Annie’s tall and lanky friend.
“My mum divorced my dad and took me with her. She got remarried last year and she’s starting a new family so I came back to live with Dad.”
“You’re still short,” laughed the well built blonde.
“Reiner, don’t be mean!”
“Bert, it’s fine.” She punched Reiner.
“Ow! What the hell?!”
“And you’re still a weakling.”
Although she’d never admit it, Annie was glad to see Reiner and Bertholdt again.
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Shortly after, it was lunch time.
“And that concludes the tour of the school. That’ll be five dollars, please,” Reiner joked.
Annie let out a laugh through her nose. “That was a shit tour. You didn’t even show me the toilets. I need to pee.”
“Oh! End of the corridors on your left.”
Reiner grinned. “You owe me and Bert five bucks now.”
Ignoring Reiner, Annie followed Bert’s directions.
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“Eren I went to your room to wake you up but you were dead like a rock.”
“I bet he was watching porn all night,” the blonde boy chuckled.
“Armin! I was not! I thought school started next week so I stayed up watching anime.” He turned towards the Asian girl. At this point, she started to space out. Mikasa was thinking about the new student.
Annie. Annie Leonhardt. Pretty name. She was kinda cute too.
“Mikasa tell him!”
“..Huh? Oh.. yeah.” Why am I even thinking about her? “I’m gonna go toilet.”
The two boys nodded in acknowledgement while bickering as Mikasa stood up and left for the bathroom to wash her face. She walked slowly, trying to clear her thoughts on the way.
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Upon opening the cubicle door, Annie noticed Mikasa washing her face. It’s Eren’s scarf wearing friend. Better wash my hands quickly and get out of here.
The splashes of water felt cool and refreshing on her face. Looking up to see herself in the mirror, she also saw Annie next to her washing her hands. Thinking Annie couldn’t notice her staring, she continued to watch her, captured by how pretty she was up close. Annie had crystal blue eyes that showed no emotion, her hair was tied in a bun with her fringe covering mostly the right side of her face. Although she was taller than Christa, she had a short and petite build, Mikasa noted.
Little did Mikasa know, Annie could feel her intense gaze, and decided to feign oblivion with the assumption that Mikasa would stop staring after a few seconds. Expecting her to say something considering how long she was staring, Annie started to feel uncomfortable.
“Is there something on my face?”
Annie's voice brought Mikasa back to reality. Realising that she had been caught staring, Mikasa blushed rose red.
“Err no it’s not that, uhh- sorry, you’re Annie right? I’m Mikasa.”
Annie looked up and blinked at her, nodded, dried her hands and left without saying a word.
Not knowing what to do, Mikasa stooped her head down and sighed. What the hell is wrong with me? Why did I do that, now she’s gonna think I’m some creep. She took a deep breath and decided to wash her face until the coldness of the water numbed her.