Titan academy
Dr. Jeager made a turn to the right with his car. “Five more minutes and we should be there.” he said to the others.
Next to him, in the passenger seat was Armin’s grandfather. “You hear that Armin, soon you can start studying at your new school.” he said to the boy behind him.
“Yeah.” Eren, who sat in the middle, rolled his eyes at his friend’s enthusiasm and continued to look outside with a displeased look on his face. Mikasa looked at him in concern.
The school they were being sent to was very strict. It had a reputation of being able to turn even the most unreasonable teenagers into well-mannered students, while weaker and timid ones came out strong and confident.
Dr. Jeager wanted only the best for his son and adoptive daughter, and Armin had made it clear he didn’t want to be separated from his friends, so he got them all a place at Titan Academy.
They drove through a small but lively town with lots of shops, bars, arcades and movie theaters. All young people were bound to find a place here they’d love to spend their time at.
Soon the bright little village made way for a concrete wall, reaching up to at least three meters high. Where the wall made a corner to the right, it revealed a parking lot, and they had finally reached their destination.
They got out of the car and took in their surroundings. The only opening in the wall was a currently open iron-bar gate, complete with camera’s. Beside it stood two men in a uniform consisting of white pants and a deep green jacket. They noted down who entered on a checklist.
“Mikasa.” Dr. Jeager said, “I know you’ll be living in different dorms, but try to keep an eye out over Eren, I don’t want him to get in trouble. Now, will you take the suitcases out?” After a nod from the girl he went to the boys, who were saying farewell to Armin’s grandfather. “Boys,” he started, “I arranged it so you two have the same dorm room.”
“Good, then I won’t have to deal with some idiot.” Eren said.
“Eren! ...Now, back to what I wanted to say, try to help Mikasa open up a bit. It’s good that she has you guys, but I really think she should get some girl friends too. Help her out if you can.”
“Ok.” the boys said, just as Mikasa joined them with their luggage.
The adults looked at the youngsters, proud, but also sad to let them go for such a long time. “I’ll come pick you up for Christmas. Have fun.” Dr. Jeager said.
After their goodbye’s the trio gathered with the rest of the students at the other side of the gate. When they were all present a man dressed in the same uniform as the men at the gate came forward. One long stare of him later everyone had gone quiet.
“My name is Keith Shadis, that’s master Shadis for you! Here are the rules: the girls dorm is on your left, the boys dorm on the right. Under no circumstances can you enter the opposite dorm! During school hours you will always wear your uniform. The cafeteria is on your immediate left after entering the school building behind me, it is open from seven to eight in the morning, in weekends until one. Twelve to one at midday, and six to seven in the evening. No one is allowed outside the dorms after eight, ten in the weekends, at ten all lights will be out, twelve in the weekend. You are allowed outside the school’s territory during the weekends, HOWEVER, if you sneak out during the week that right will no longer be yours for an undefined duration. Also, no one is allowed out on the first weekend, if you do, you won’t see anything beyond these walls for the rest of the year. More detailed information is available in your dorms. Dismissed!”
As he walks away the crowd grows loud once more.
“Today is a Monday!” Eren shouted. “I can’t believe I’m stuck here for two whole weeks without a break!”
“After that we’ll go have fun.” Armin said. “But first we should go to our dorms, it’s already past five. If we still want to eat and hang out we don’t have much time.”
“Ah, come on. We just drop our bags in the room and unpack later. We’ll be back here in ten minutes.” Eren said.
How wrong he was.
By the time Mikasa reached the reception desk of her dorm to pick up her key, more than forty minutes had passed, all thanks to the crowd of people who got there before her.
She walked through the hallway, looking at every door to find her room. Copper numbers spelled out 427 on a wooden door, she unlocked it and went in.
The walls and floor where white, and the furniture was made out of a light colored wood. A window with green curtains was on the opposing side of the room, the potted plant before it perfectly dividing the room in half. In front of the window stood a desk with two chairs, with on each side a bedside table and beds. So far everything was symmetric. On the right were a book rack and closet, beside the door leading to the hallway. On the left there was a door, and another book rack and closet took up the only free space left alongside the wall.
A half unpacked suitcase lay on the floor near the left bed, on which several clothes were spread out. Mikasa placed her own suitcase at the end of her bed, she’d unpack later. She looked out the window, all she saw of the terrain was some wilted grass and the wall. Since she was on the fourth floor she could see over the wall, but all that awaited there was more wilted grass and a few trees. She lowered her gaze and her attention was drawn by a note stuck to the potted plant.
“Dear students, please take care of me.” Her first task, but at least the plant was nicer to look at than the rest of the room.
Mikasa entered the door on the left of the room. The bathroom contained a shower, a sink, a towel rack and a toilet, just what she needed.
It was already past six when Mikasa finally found her way to the cafeteria, she hoped she didn’t make her friends wait. She scanned the room several times, before deciding they hadn’t returned from their dorm yet. She took a food tray and got in line, waiting for a hot plate of (hopefully) delicious food.
“What do you mean I can’t have seconds on meat?!” the girl in front of her shouted. Her brown hair was up in a tail, and she returned to her table with a disappointed look, despite the large amount of potatoes and beans on her plate.
Mikasa accepted the food without complaints and searched for an empty table near the entrance. She had only just taken a seat when the boys came in. They waved at her and got their own plates before joining her.
“I can’t believe how long it took to get our keys!” Eren complained. “And then there is this plant we are supposed to take care of. It’s almost as if they’re asking us to escape from here, and we only just arrived!” he went on about all the little details and stories he had heard about the school.
Armin interrupted his rant by asking Mikasa a question. “So Mikasa, have you met your roommate yet?”
“No. She must have been one of the first, half of her stuff was already unpacked, but she wasn’t there when I came in.”
“Eren and I were lucky to get the same room, but it is important to get along with your roommate.”
“Hm.” Mikasa wondered what he was getting at, as long as they didn’t fight it would be fine, but he didn’t continue so she soon forgot about it.
After they finished dinner they walked around the school grounds, trying to get an idea of the layout. Eren started planning ways to escape, while Armin and Mikasa constantly reminded him why that was a bad idea.
Time quickly passed and soon Mikasa found herself running towards her dorm, she didn’t want to be late. She pushed the glass door open and stared right into the face of the lady who had previously given her her key.
“What’s your full name?”
“Mikasa Ackerman.” she said, wondering why she needed her name.
“Well Ackerman, you are two minutes late.” she said while scribbling something on a clipboard. “My colleague will fill you in on your punishment.”
Mikasa walked over to the woman next to the desk, she just handed someone a bucket and mop.
“What floor do you sleep on?” the woman asked without even looking at her.
“Uh, the fourth floor.”
“Then you will mop that hallway. Here you go.” Mikasa accepted the mop and bucket of water, silently cursing that only people in wheelchairs were allowed to use the elevator. As she headed for the stairs, two other girls came rushing in, only to be put to work.
She knew this school was very strict, but this? Having to mop the hallway just for being two minutes late on the first evening? Wait, didn’t that Shadis guy say no one was allowed out for the first weekend? Maybe they just wanted to make it very clear at the start of the year how they worked. That way there might be less trouble during the rest of the year.
Mikasa shook her head, thinking about it wasn’t going to change the fact that she had to mop the floor all by herself.
Several long minutes later another girl dragged herself up the stairs, it was the same girl who wanted seconds on her meat. As soon as she saw Mikasa she started talking.
“I can’t believe this school! I was lucky to be the first to get my key, if I had been in that crowd who knows when I would’ve gotten it. But then I couldn’t get seconds on meat, and then I got thrown out the dining hall, and I couldn’t even take a dessert with me! And now I have to clean this damn hall for being ten minutes late!”
“I was only two minutes late.” Mikasa said.
“Moaah, I want to go home.” the brunette said and slumped against the wall.
“You might want to clean though, there are camera’s in the hallways. If they catch you slacking off, who knows what ’ll happen.”
“Oh.” The girl looked up to see there was indeed a camera. “Thanks. I’m Sasha by the way.”
“Mikasa.”
“I sleep in room 463, you?”
“427”
They continued to clean while Sasha talked about all the things she wanted to eat if she survived through the two weeks they weren’t allowed out. Apparently she saw a few promising restaurants on her way to the school.
After more than an hour they finally returned the cleaning material, and retreated to their rooms. With a sigh Mikasa closed the door behind her, it had only been a few hours since she arrived, but she was exhausted. It was dark in the room, except for moonlight filtering through the narrow gap between the closed curtains. After her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed the sleeping form of her roommate. Her suitcase was gone and she had placed some of her things on the desk.
Mikasa looked at her watch, she had about half an hour before all lights had to be out. With another sigh she pushed herself away from the door and turned on her bedside table lamp. She quickly looked at her roommate, who continued to sleep with her back turned.
As quiet as she could Mikasa opened her suitcase and took out her pajamas, teddy bear and a uniform. Tomorrow night she’d be on time, so she only took out what she really needed. She took a quick shower and crawled into her bed. She remembered to set her alarm for the next morning, and soon drifted off to sleep.
The next morning a beeping sound woke her up. Mikasa opened her sleepy eyes, her arm stretching out to shut the alarm, only to find out it was too early. It was only six fifteen. She was sure she set her alarm at six forty.
Suddenly the beeping stopped, followed by a groan. A blond girl sat up in the other bed, her hands covering her face as she groaned again. Mikasa closed her eyes, hoping to get a bit more sleep.
She didn’t get much chance however, ten minutes later the alarm went off again. Mikasa opened her eyes, annoyed as she once again found that it wasn’t her alarm. She looked over to her roommate, who was currently trying to turn the alarm of by kicking at it. For some reason, instead of getting up, she had decided to continue her sleep on top of the covers, her head down the back end. Her left foot finally hit the alarm clock, sending it flying across the room, plugging it out.
Sighing Mikasa turned around. Hopefully it wouldn’t be like this every morning. A bit later she heard footsteps, the closing of a door, and the faucet turning on. Just when sleep caught her again, her own alarm went off. Annoyed she shut it up. She had already heard enough alarms for the rest of the week.
She got out of bed and put on her uniform. It consisted out of white pants and shirt, and a brown vest. Her roommate was still in the bathroom, so she was glad her brush was still in her suitcase. She wrapped her scarf around her neck, hoping they weren’t so strict to forbid wearing it inside.
Walking to the cafeteria took over ten minutes. Only a few people had arrived before her, including Sasha, who appeared to have two food trays for herself. Next to her sat a bald boy, who seemed to be telling something funny, because Sasha started coughing and she nearly choked on her food from laughter. Mikasa picked out her breakfast, and since she didn’t see Eren or Armin, she sat down across Sasha.
“Oh, goow woring wikaha.” she said while chewing on some bread.
“Um, morning.” Mikasa said.
“Morning, I’m Connie.” said the boy.
“Mikasa.” she introduced herself and started eating.
Eren and Armin came in a bit later and joined them. After the introductions were done Eren started complaining about having to clean the hallway of the second floor, and some guy named Jean laughing at him. Soon it turned out all five of them had been put to cleaning for being late.
“They’re way too strict with that curfew! There were like ten guys cleaning, and that was only our floor.” Eren said.
“You were lucky, until Sasha came I was on my own. And I had to drag that bucket all the way to the fourth floor.”
“I also had to clean the staircase!” he added.
“That’s because you mopped Jean’s face. I warned you about the camera’s.” Armin said.
“Really? I’m so glad Mikasa told me to do it. If I also had to clean the stairs, who knows when I would have been done?” Sasha said.
“How long did it take?” Armin asked.
“It was about nine thirty when I got back to my room. And my roommate was already sleeping, so I had to be quiet. I still have to unpack.”
“Nine thirty? Who goes to bed that early?” Connie said.
“Someone who sets her alarm really early and needs it to go off twice before she gets up.” Mikasa said, irritation in her voice.
“Eren always puts it on snooze, even when he is already awake. It just kept going of every five minutes, in the end I had to turn it off.”
“Armin! That was planned!”
“My roommate kicked her clock out of the plug. I almost tripped over it on my way out.”
The rest of the group stared at her in disbelieve. “Talk about not being a morning person.”
A short man dressed in the uniform of the personnel came to their table, handing out their timetables.
It looked like a schedule like any other school would give, except for the hour of sports at the end of every day.
“Besides PE also sports from four thirty to five thirty. Is that obligated?” Mikasa asked the man.
“Once a week, you can choose the day. Of course you’re free to go every day.” Mikasa nodded. It didn’t really matter, at home she always trained on her own, and she planned to continue that here. But she would have to skip today, thanks to that awfully strict curfew she still had to unpack.
“For gods sake, please learn to eat decently. Clean that mess up, would you.” The man said to Sasha.
“Hm? Don we ‘ave pewsonel fow tha?” she said with her mouth full.
“Gross.” He walked over to the next table with a disgusted look on his face.
They didn’t learn much on their first day, they just got their books and a thorough explanation of how the school worked. At four they left the school building, their bags cramped with heavy books.
“Let’s go look for weak spots in their security!” Eren proposed. “After we ditch these books of course.”
“I’m going to unpack first, I’d like to get that done as soon as possible.” Mikasa said. “I’ll see you guys at dinner.”
“Ok, see you later.”
Mikasa entered her room and dropped her books on her desk. She just started unpacking her suitcase when the door opened. A short girl with her hair in a bun entered, and Mikasa noticed that she wore a white hoodie under her vest, instead of a shirt. She kicked the door shut behind her and dropped her bag on the floor.
“Hi.” Mikasa said.
The blonde looked at her, not even bothering to hum as a greeting.
“I’m Mikasa.”
“Annie.” the girl said and picked out a sportive outfit.
Mikasa turned her attention back to unpacking as the other girl changed out of her uniform. Soon Annie exited the room, leaving a mess on her side, even her alarm clock was still on the floor.
Mikasa placed her books in the rack, her own and the school books on different shelves. When all her clothes had been placed in the closet and her other belongings had been given a place, she shoved the empty suitcase under her bed. She picked up the alarm clock and put it on Annie’s bedside table. She changed out of her uniform into something more comfortable. After taking a moment to enjoy the result of her work, she picked out a book she discovered a few days earlier.
She sat down on her bed and started reading. It was written like a logbook, and if the writer hadn’t mentioned that he was a dragon slayer, it might actually have been a true story. As she flipped through the pages she soon forgot the time. Until someone made a not so subtle entrance.
Annie smacked the door shut behind her, causing Mikasa to look at her with raised eyebrows.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“Wrong?” Annie paused and looked at her. “If that Shadis wasn’t someone important I swear I would’ve dragged his face across the dirt. No one says that to me.”
What ‘that’ was Mikasa never knew, since Annie headed for the shower with a fresh pair of clothes. Ten minutes later she emerged again, her anger flushed down the drain. She was wearing her white hoodie again, on top of a loose pair of jeans. Mikasa eyed her over her book, with the little she had seen from Annie, she was a rather strange girl. And in Mikasa’s experience of observing people, strange ones were always the most fun.
“Hey, you put my clock back.” she noticed.
“Yeah, next time, try to shut it normally, instead of kicking it across the room.”
“I make no such promises.” she said while plugging it back in.
Mikasa really hoped that was a bad joke, and left the room to eat.
“So did you get everything unpacked?” Armin asked as he sat down next to her.
She nodded, looking around the table, there were a few new faces. Sasha saw her looking and swallowed before talking.
“That’s Ymir, my roommate.” she pointed.
The brunette looked up at the mention of her name. “Oh, hi. And this little cutie is Krista, I saved her when she got lost earlier today.”
“Ymir! I didn’t get lost!” Ymir laughed at the small blonde’s attempt to headbutt her.
“I’m Jean.” said a guy who looked at her with dreamy eyes.
“Jean? What are you doing here?” Eren said cockily.
“I could ask the same of you! How’d you ever get friends with a girl anyway?”
“We’re family.” Mikasa said. The boys continued arguing, but with a table in between them she didn’t worry.
“Did you get to meet your roommate yet?” Armin asked her.
Mikasa gazed over the cafeteria, until she saw the blond sitting by herself at a corner. She pointed. “Her name is Annie.”
“Why don’t you invite her over?”
She averted her gaze to look at him. “If she wanted to sit here she could’ve done so when she came in.” With that said she returned her attention to the food on her plate.
When everyone had filled their bellies, or rather, when Sasha got kicked out of the cafeteria, the group set out to continue Eren’s mission. The boy ran ahead of everyone else, leading to where he left of before dinner. The group continued to walk past the wall, which had barbed wire covering its entire length.
“What are we looking for?” Ymir asked after a while.
“A weak spot in their security. I really don’t wanna stay here for two whole weeks.” Eren said.
“Shadis had us run along this path during the extra hour. It’s about two miles long and the wall is this high all the way. So unless you have a way of getting over it without shredding your clothes, you’d better forget about it.”
“I will find a way out of here!”
“You really are a moron. If they catch you out in these first two weeks, you’ll never get out again. That’s just the way it is.” Jean said. “Anyway, I’m going back.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, run away, you coward!” Eren shouted after him.
“Say Krista, why don’t we go as well? I can think of more enjoyable things to do.”
“Huh? What do you-” The rest of her words disappeared at the sight of Ymirs smirk. The brunette swept her of her feet, carrying her away bride-style. “Ymir! Put me down!”
Krista’s protests became fainter as they walked away. “What’s up with them?” Eren asked.
“I think Ymir’s a lesbian. She was reading dirty magazines yesterday.” Sasha said.
“How come you know that?” Connie asked.
“She placed them right next to my food stash! How was I not supposed to notice! She even said I could borrow them if I wanted! Of course I told her that doesn’t mean she can have any of my food.”
“Really? Can you ask her if I can borrow them?” Connie asked.
“Connie!”
“What? If she said you could, then why would she have a problem with me borrowing them?”
Sasha ignored his question, and ran off a bit later because she saw an apple tree. She returned with a disappointed expression on her face. “They’re not ripe yet.” she explained.
Mikasa checked her watch. They had half an hour to return to the dorms, but they were pretty far away, especially from the girls’ dorm.
“Guys. We should head back if we don’t want to be late again.”
They turned around, and as Mikasa expected, the boys still had time to spare. She checked her watch again. Seven minutes.
“Maybe we should run. It’ll be a close one as it is, and if their clock runs a bit faster than mine we’ll be in trouble again.” Sasha nodded and they ran most of the way back.
“Close one girls.” the woman said as they entered. Mikasa looked at the clock hanging on the wall, one minute to eight.
“Good thing we ran here. Thanks Mikasa.” the brunette said.
As they reached the stairs they heard the doors opening and the lady asking for the girls name. They made it, in the nick of time. Deciding she’d use the time she had left to exercise, Mikasa ran up the stairs, catching her breath as she reached the fourth floor. Running up stairs was more of a challenge than running laps.
She entered her room, placing her scarf neatly on the desk. Then she started doing push-ups.
Annie, who sat on her bed, scribbling something in a sketchbook, let her eyes rest on Mikasa. She toyed with her pencil as Mikasa finished her set of sixty push-ups. Without allowing herself a break, Mikasa turned on her back and started on her sit-ups. After she finished five hundred of those, she turned around again, this time to do one-hand push-ups. She managed five with her right hand, two on her left.
As she slumped against her bed to let her muscles rest a bit, she noticed Annie staring at her. She lifted an eyebrow, to which the blonde replied with an upward twitch from the corner of her mouth.
“Not bad.” she said.
“As if you can do better.” Mikasa said.
“I’d show you better, had I not already done my exercises for today. Don’t worry, I’ll beat you tomorrow.”
Mikasa narrowed her eyes. If a challenge was what she wanted, she had found one. Annie went back to her drawing, while Mikasa went to shower. When she returned, the curtains were closed and Annie lay in her bed. Mikasa wasn’t sure if she was still awake, so she tiptoed across the room, slipping into her bed. She pulled her teddy bear from behind her pillow, she couldn’t sleep without holding something. She would never admit it though, which was why she hid it behind her pillow during the day. Even Eren didn’t know.
The next morning Annie’s alarm woke her up again, the blonde however, didn’t seem to notice. The only sign that she did hear something was her muttering “Shut up dad.”
When the beeping still hadn’t stopped after almost a minute, Mikasa threw the first thing she got her hands on at the blonde, only looking a second to aim.
She abruptly pushed her upper body up, looking around for what had hit her. When she noticed her alarm, she quickly turned it off, and Mikasa relaxed.
Annie sat up, holding the projectile in her hands. “You still sleep with stuffed animals?” she said in a mocking tone.
Mikasa's eyes opened wide, only then realizing what she threw. Sleepy as she was, it took her a few seconds to retort. “What about you, calling for your dad instead of turning that noise off.”
“Tch. Whatever.” Annie threw the bear back and headed for the bathroom.
“Don’t take too long.” Mikasa called after her, pulling the bear back in her arms.
Mikasa was buttoning her shirt when Annie came out of the bathroom. When the blonde saw her, she walked over to her bed and threw a pillow at her.
“Hey! What’s that for?”
“Payback.” she said and went to make her bed.
Mikasa picked up the pillow at her feet and threw it against her back. Slowly Annie turned around.
“So... you want to play it like this, huh.” Annie reached for the pillow, Mikasa realized how serious she was and quickly grabbed her own pillow.
Sasha walked through the hallway, she wanted to be there once the cafeteria opened. She heard muffled shouts as she walked past one of the doors, stopping to listen. Wait a second, wasn’t that Mikasa’s room? She knocked, followed by a silence inside. Carefully she opened the door, peeking inside. Both girls stood in fighting stance, each a pillow in their hands. Their hair was messy, some of it standing up. They looked at Sasha with big eyes, while white feathers fluttered down.
“Um... good morning?” Sasha said unsure.
They relaxed when they saw she was not there to punish them.
“Let’s call it even.” Mikasa said.
Annie huffed. “For now.”
“I’ll see you at breakfast.” Sasha said to Mikasa before leaving as soon as possible. She did not ever want to be in a pillow fight with either of those two. Or any fight, for that matter.
The rest of the day went by uneventful, until the extra sport hour. Shadis made them run alongside the wall as a warm up. Right from the start it was obvious who was in shape and who wasn’t. Armin stayed behind, he had never joined Mikasa on her training. Eren had joined her on irregular basis, leaving him in the middle of the group. Mikasa ran at the head of the group, together with a few who seemed to run on a daily basis. She recognized Ymir and Annie. The latter smirked at her before speeding up to truly lead the group. Mikasa followed her, staying about a meter behind her. If this was a race, all that mattered was who crossed the finish line first, no need to exhaust herself on the way.
“What’s the matter, Mikasa?” Annie said mockingly. “Am I too fast for you, or do you just like to watch me run?”
Mikasa scowled, but someone else replied before she could.
“I just like to watch you run. A fine pair of asses indeed.” Ymir ran right behind them, a smirk on her face.
Annie looked around in surprise. “That what you wanted to hear?” Mikasa deadpanned.
“Oh, shut up scarf-face.” Annie sped up again, not wanting to talk.
Mikasa kept running a bit behind her, but when the finish came in sight, she sped up, surprised Annie, who increased her speed as well.
Shadis almost lost his balance when the two girls dashed past him at both sides. He was glad the girls only had eyes for each other and no one else was around.
“I win.” Annie stated as the two of them stood panting across each other.
“No you don’t. I was first.”
They glared at each other for a few seconds, then they snapped their heads towards Shadis. “Who was first?” they asked.
“I was not aware anyone was racing. But you are free to fill the rest of the hour with exercises of your own choice. I can help out with that.” He offered. The competitive tension between the girls was almost visible, he hadn’t seen anything like it before.
The girls locked eyes. “Push-ups.” They said and agreed with a small nod.
By the end of the hour there was no clear victor, and their final battle of the day was who would reach the bathroom first.
They were able to keep their competing for the extra sports hour, the classes were really getting started, and next thing they knew, it was weekend.
It was Saturday, about ten in the morning. Mikasa had just returned from breakfast and started on her homework. She knew she didn’t have to worry about Eren with Armin as his roommate. Annie was sitting on her bed, sketchbook in hand, glancing at Mikasa every once in a while.
A loud knock came from their door, followed by a voice calling “Inspection!”
Alarmed Mikasa’s head shot up, looking at the plant, she had completely forgotten it. But thankfully it was still fresh and green, Annie had probably taken care of it.
A woman entered the room, let her eyes absorb the content, then checking their bathroom.
“Very good, ladies. Everything is clean, make sure to keep it that way. Cleaning supplies can be found at the entrance, just ask for it at the reception desk.” She scribbled something on her clipboard and left the room.
“Did you know we get inspection?” Mikasa asked.
Annie looked up from her drawing. “Yeah, they have a list of rules hanging out downstairs.”
“… Okay.” Mikasa said and returned her attention to her homework. Luckily this school cared more for test results than assignments than most schools, so it didn’t take as long as she thought it would.
As she stretched her eyes fell on Annie, who was eyeing her while lightly biting her lip. Once she noticed Mikasa looking, she quickly reverted her attention to her sketches.
Mikasa raised an eyebrow, then closed her books and got up from the desk. It was about time for lunch.
When she arrived at the cafeteria she saw all her friends were already there. She quickly joined them, and was informed of Ymir’s plans for a party.
“A friend of mine is visiting today, and he’s bringing some drinks, too much for me. Figured we might as well throw a party while we’re at it. What do you say, Mikasa, you game?”
“I read the rules before I left the dorm, we’re not allowed to have alcohol even in the weekends, though that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.”
“As long as we keep it out of their sight it’s ok.” Ymir grinned.
“Where would we do it? We have to be back in our dorms at ten and we can’t go in yours.” Eren said.
“Good point, boy. Guess this one’s girls only. Not that I mind.” She chuckled.
The boys groaned at the news, while Ymir and Sasha discussed how they would stay out of trouble.
“I have some soda and stuff, I could put that on the table and we keep your drinks hidden, open one bottle at a time. As long as we keep everything inside our room they can’t pick up on anything on the camera.” Sasha said.
“Great, and as far as I know there’s nothing wrong with playing some music and having people come to your room. Or did you find something in the rules?”
“No, there doesn’t seem to be a problem there.” Mikasa answered.
“And just in case they do come up all the way to the fourth floor, we’ll just tell them we’re getting to know each other now we have the time.”
“So Mikasa, are you gonna come?” Sasha asked.
“I’ll take a look.” She said.
She spent most of the day reading, and for once in her life she could not complain about noise at all. Besides the sound of pages turning and the soft scratching of Annie’s pencil it was quiet. Until music started to play at eight o’clock.
A bit later they heard Ymir shout on the hallway. “Party! Room 463! Party!”
Annie dropped her sketchbook. “A party is no party without booze. Idiot.” She muttered.
“Actually she said she’d sneak in some.” Mikasa said, eyes still on her book.
She didn’t look up until she heard Annie jump out of her bed and leaving the room. She decided she’d read enough for one day and joined the migration to Sasha’s and Ymir’s room.
There weren’t many people yet, but considering the size of the room, it was pretty crowded. Mikasa saw her roommate chugging down a cup, Ymir watching her with a smile. By the time she reached them Annie’s cup was already refilled.
“You sure like to drink.” Mikasa commented.
“That’s where parties are for, dumbass.”
“Still a bitch I see.” Mikasa mumbled.
Annie huffed and left after emptying her cup for the second time.
“Guess we already know who’ll be drunk first.” Ymir said. “And what about you, want some?” she raised the bottle questioningly.
“No, I think I’ll play safe this time. I’ll have a soda.”
“Well, in that case just help yourself. Drinks and cups are on the desk.”
More girls came, even from other floors, and a few started dancing in the hallway. After half an hour someone came to check on the situation, calling to those in the hallway to let them pass. Thankfully Sasha used enough air freshener to hide all traces of alcohol while her roommate hid the bottle. After a discussion they were given permission to carry on as long as they promised not to make it a habit and turn off the music at eleven. And they had no choice because there would be another checkup then.
Mikasa mostly watched and listened to the other people. She saw a lot of new faces and watched the number of empty beer bottles under Ymir’s bed grow. Said girl seemed to get more drunk on Krista’s words than on beer, unlike the other people in the room.
By ten o’clock she got tired of being around drunk people and returned to her room. It was a lot quieter once the door shut.
Annie tilted her head to look at her, lying on her bed in a weird position. “Welcome home, beautiful.” She said.
“Er… thanks?” Mikasa said as the blonde tried to stand up.
Annie smiled a little as she walked towards Mikasa. “C’mon, let’s dance, the music is still playing.” She took Mikasa’s hands, pulling her to the middle of the room.
She started dancing slowly, not in sync with the music still blazing in the hallway. Mikasa moved along with her, since she still didn’t let go.
After a few minutes of swaying about in their room, Annie let go of Mikasa’s hands and wrapped her arms around her waist, putting her head on the taller girl’s shoulder.
Mikasa looked at Annie, unsure of what to do. Hesitantly she patted the blonde on her head.
“Hmm… you smell good. Mikasa.” Annie murmured.
“… I think you drank too much.” Mikasa said as she peeled the other girl off of her.
“And you didn’t drink enough. Have some fun, will you.”
“… Annie.”
“Wanna take a shower together?”
“What? No!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! Go by yourself! Now leave me alone.”
“Fine. Geez…”
The blonde made a show out of removing her hoodie, wearing nothing but a bra underneath. When Mikasa looked away she simply danced back into her sight before doing the same with her pants. By the time she disappeared into the bathroom Mikasa’s face was bright red.
“I am never going to drink.” Mikasa said to herself, shaking her head in an attempt to get what she just saw out of her head.
Luckily her roommate went to bed once she left the bathroom, allowing Mikasa to relax as she stepped into the shower.
Mikasa had returned from breakfast and was enjoying a game Eren had given her when Annie woke up. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, her hair messy. She looked around the room, freezing when she met Mikasa’s eyes.
“Please tell me I did not do what I think I did.” the blonde said.
“If you’re thinking you danced with me and tried to get me to shower with you, the answer is yes.” Mikasa said, the memory still vivid in her mind.
Annie buried her face in her hands. “Fuck.”
“If you’re going to regret it, then why do it in the first place?”
“Because I was drunk. And you’re hot.” Those last three words barely loud enough for Mikasa to hear.
“Then why did you run off the moment you knew there were drinks?”
“Because I’m an idiot.” Mikasa raised an eyebrow. “I’m getting breakfast.” Annie quickly put on some clothes, then went for the door. Before she could leave however, Mikasa spoke.
“Do you really think I’m hot?”
Annie paused, hand on the doorknob. Without looking back, she answered. “Do you really want to know?” With that she left, closing the door behind her.
Mikasa frowned. “That was weird.” She returned her attention to the game. She did not look up when Annie returned, and they spent the rest of morning in silence. After lunch they continued their routine training, the competition between them clearing the awkwardness.
It was nearing dinner time, and Mikasa had received a text from Armin that he was helping Eren with his homework. Since she couldn’t join them in their dorm, she read a bit. Her mind was absorbed in the novel, when a hesitant voice reached her ears.
“Mikasa?”
She looked up. “Hm?”
“I was thinking maybe we should work out when we do the cleaning and stuff.” After their pillow fight earlier that week they had cleaned the room, but they hadn’t spoken about it since.
“Yeah. We know they check on Saturday now, so how about we clean on Friday?”
“Sure. Is it okay if you get the mops and stuff? I’m already watering that plant every day, so I guess that’d be even.”
“Fine by me.” She watched Annie fumble with her fingers for a moment, she wasn’t wearing her hoodie, then returned her attention to her book.
“What are you reading?”
“Telmar’s journal. It’s fiction written like a logbook, following Telmar on his travels. He searches for dragons to slay, helping people along the way.”
“Nice.” Annie took her sketchbook and sat down on her bed. “I guess I could try drawing a dragon for a change.”
Mikasa hesitated a moment before speaking. “Can I see your drawings?”
Annie looked up, flustered. “Uh, sure.” She handed Mikasa the sketchbook and watched her nervously.
The first drawings were mostly of plants, then a playground with children. People in a bar, a man driving a car. Next Mikasa saw herself hunched over the desk, working on her homework.
“These are really good.” Mikasa handed her work back, seeing a rare smile forming on the blonde’s lips.
“You don’t mind me drawing you?”
“Not really.” A thought crossed her mind and she laid down on her bed. “Why don’t you draw me like one of your French girls?” she said on a teasing tone.
“Okay.” Annie said down and took her pencil.
“That was a joke.”
“Still gonna do it.” Annie replied.
“Whatever. Your French girl is going to read though.”
Annie hummed, glancing over her sketchbook every now and then.