AOT Castes AU [Reiner Braun Centric]

Reiner cringed. He watched the mini version of himself on Bertholdt's phone push Armin up against the wall.

"Damn. You're freaky." He listened to himself teasing Arlet in the bathroom. The video angle was not helping.

He paused it before he could make himself feel any worse. Anyone watching this without context would definitely misinterpret it. Conveniently, someone cut out the bit where he clarified he was talking about the damn manga.

Great.

He looked over at Bertholdt. "How long ago did you get sent this?"

"Last period?" Bertholdt shrugged. "But really? A public bathroom? I don't know what you expected to happen..."

"I didn't hook up with that dork, Bert!" Reiner scowled. "I don't like guys! You should know that!"

Bertholdt squeaked and muttered a half-hearted apology and something about being in denial. Reiner's frown deepened. Here Bert was--the only person to see the video so far and still talk to him-- yet Reiner scolded him. He oughta be more grateful.

"No. It's okay." He looked up at the duster hanging over their heads. Skipping class in a janitor's closet was the most pathetic thing he'd done this year. "All we need to do is clear up the misunderstanding and get rid of this video, that's it"

Bertholdt blinked. "And what's your plan for that?"

"My plan? You're the one who's coming up with the plan." Reiner slapped him on the back. "I trust you to help me, man."

"Yeah. Because I definitely volunteered."

~

"Didya hear the rumor bout Reiner?" Ymir said as she scribbled down the answers to Historia's math homework for her.

"Mhm," Historia lied, "never would've expected it."

She had heard people whispering about the big gorilla. Only, she hadn't listened much to the specifics of it all. She didn't care to gossip about it. As far as she was concerned, his long-expired reign of popularity had finally come to an end. It didn't matter why; this had always been inevitable.

Bertholdt shifted in his seat. "Reiner's not... He's still the same person, y'know."

Historia's eyes flickered up at Bertholdt. He was one of Reiner's chief goons. Usually, slaves like him flocked to a new master as soon as their first one died. After all, everyone wants to keep their status. She had to give it to him. Bertholdt was more loyal than most.

But then again, he was sitting at the best table in the cafeteria. Siding with a newly deemed outcast would not help him keep that seat.

"Hey!" A gruff voice called out.

Speak of the devil.

"Reiner, what's tan mean again?" Ymir looked up at him before Hitch elbowed her.

"We don't like him anymore, Ymir." She scowled. "You just gotta Google it."

"Google says it's a color."

There was a long, drawn-out silence. For a brief moment, Historia wondered if she was choosing the right person to do her math homework for her. Then she remembered the alternative was Marlo. She'd given him her essasy prompt from English once. But after he'd written her a twenty-page-long speech on politics, she'd learned her lesson.

Ymir was the safest option.

"Reiner, hun..." Historia sucked her teeth with her usual fake kindness. "How bout' you sit somewhere else today."

He stared at her like a lost puppy. Gosh, he was always so obsessed with her. To be frank, she was kinda glad she had an excuse to dump him now. The clingy thing was not cute. It was annoying and embarrassing.

For him, not her. She had nothing to be embarrassed about.

"If this about the video, that was a misunderstand--" Reiner started.

"Bud," Ymir leveled, "I don't care what you do in your free time. I'm not really the person to judge for that. But the fact of the matter is, nobody needs to see us with you until you fix your rep."

Reiner's face dropped. For a moment, Historia thought he might cry.

Ugh. Crying people were so annoying. Like, there's no need to be doing so much.

Then, the blonde looked over to Bertholdt. "Let's find Armin."

"Uh, maybe later." He fidgeted with his fingers. "Now's not really the time..."

Historia wasn't surprised. Loyalty didn't ever last too long unless you had something to gain. Now that Reiner was for sure banished, even Bertholdt would turn his back on him, and for good reason. After all, there was no need to get himself dragged down with Reiner.

"Bert." Reiner stared at him, deadpanned. "You're not doing this to me now."

Historia stifled back a laugh. Surely, Reiner had been at the top for long enough to know how these kinds of things worked. There were no real friends up here. You talked to whoever benefitted you the most. Then when they had nothing left to offer you, you abandoned them.

She, for one, was well aware that all her friends were this way.

If she ever lost her spot as Queen Bee, there wouldn't be one person willing to stand by her side. Likewise, if any of her friends lost their spot, she wouldn't stand by theirs eithers.

"You're right," Bertholdt said after a moment. "Let's go talk to Armin and clear this whole thing up."

Historia sat there, not even processing what had just happened. So, apparently, she was wrong. There were some people willing to give up their spot for their friends. Idiots mostly. Like Bertholdt.

~

Armin was feeling terrible. After everything that had happened, he was ready for the day to be over. He'd put up with Reiner in the bathroom. He'd tolerated Mikasa nagging him to attend her ritual after school. He'd held back tears when one of his favorite underground manga series got cancelled. Now, he just wanted to bury his face in Eren's white polo shirt and cry.

"Heyyyyyyyyyy, Armin!" Reiner slid into the booth across from him, next to where Mikasa sat, "Long time no see, buddy!"

Just what he needed. This jerk again.

"I saw you two periods ago when you pinned me against the wall in the bathroom." He bit back.

Beside him, Eren looked between Reiner and Bertholdt standing outside the booth. Armin knew what he was thinking without him even speaking. What was the star Quarter Back and his right-hand man doing at their table?

"Ah. Satan has blessed me with two more sacrifices for my shrine." Mikasa said, monotone. Her skull earrings dangled at either side of her jaw.

Bertholdt shivered. He grabbed Reiner's sleeve and gave it a light tug. Reiner did not stand up like he wanted, much to Armin's dismay. And Bertholdt, oh-so submissive, didn't try to make him.

He just turned and put his focus on Armin. "We were just wondering... Well, there's a video going around the school of you and Reiner. Rumor has it you two, uhm, did it in the bathroom."

Mikasa and Eren exchanged glances. Armin groaned. He'd hadn't mentioned what happened in the bathroom to them. After all, he was humilated enough already. He didn't need Mikasa to try excorising Reiner as revenge.

"It's not true." Reiner glared at the two. "But nobody will take just my word for it. What we really need is for you to set things straight. Just explain I caught you reading that smutty manga and that this is all a big misunderstanding."

Armin snorted. "No?"

Reiner and Bertholdt stared at him. The two idiots were dumbfounded. They were so used to everything going their way, it must've been quite a shock for them to realize Armin had free will. He didn't have to help them at all.

Mikasa dunked under the table and grabbed Eren's shirt from underneath it. She dragged him down with her. Armin, understanding what she was doing, dipped down after them. He squatted down to face her and her killer eyeliner.

"Wait, why are we rejecting them again?" Mikasa ran her fingers through her pitch-black hair.

Armin smirked. "Why not? Everyone already thought I was a gay twink so this rumor doesn't effect me. No need to stop it."

"Ohhh!" Mikasa's face lit up but then she paused. "Wait, why aren't we helping them to get em' in our debt?"

"You think a guy like Reiner cares to return a favor?" Armin shook his head. "Nah. He'd go back to teasing us again as soon as we clear this up for him."

Mikasa considered this before looking back at Eren. "And what do you think, my Dark Knight?"

"Do we have to discuss this under the table?" Eren furrowed his brow. "I'm pretty sure they can hear us either way."

Armin grabbed Eren's hair and yanked him back up. Mikasa popped up a second later. Clearing his throat, he turned to Reiner and Bertholdt and a sense of power ran through his veins. After all that time of Reiner making fun of him, it felt good to be the one in control.

"The council has spoken. I maintain my silence," Armin announced, "you gotta figure this one out yourself, buddy."

And in the moment, Armin did not regret his decision one bit. This way of the world, after all. It was every man for himself.

~

Connie slid on his green and silver jersey, the shining colors of Marley Academy. This jersey meant something. It gave him dignity, honor even. It didn't matter if he got a twenty-six on his business presentation today. Or that he'd spent more time on the bench this season than any other varsity player.

He had been good enough to get on the Marley Academy football team. That was all he gave a damn about anyways.

The door to the locker room clicked open. Connie looked over to see Reiner, the pride and joy of the school's sport program. He slung his sports bag over his shoulder like he did everyday. Really, Connie envied him.

Sure, he had friends to talk to but Reiner had worshippers who loved and adored him like he was a god. Connie got C's after studying all night. Meanwhile, Reiner got the same grade as him after sleeping through the whole class. When Connie had bench time, college recruiters flocked to Reiner like he was a celebrity.

Then again, there'd been a lot of rumors going around today about the guy. So maybe Reiner wasn't the best person to be jealous of anymore after all.

"Someone's got balls coming to practice today." One guy elbowed Connie, grinning at Reiner who kept his head down and walked to his locker.

"Uh-- Yeah." Connie stuffed his arm through the sleeve of his jersey.

If Reiner heard the boy or anybody else's comments about him, he didn't argue with them. He just plopped down the bag with his cleats and turned to face his locker. But when he started to smash in his combo, one of the other bigger guys landed a hand on his shoulder.

"You changing in here?" the guy said like he was untouchable. Yesterday, talking to Reiner Braun like that would've been social suicide. Things change fast though.

"Course'." Reiner pulled his arm away, letting the guy's hand fall to his side. "It's the locker room. We all get ready here."

The guy wiped his hand on his pants as if touching Reiner were some sort of infection. A tiny bit of disgust filled Connie's throat. It didn't make sense to him. They just found out Reiner liked men, sure. But, besides that, the guy was still the same person as he was yesterday when they all loved him. So why was he being treated so differently now?

"Thing is--" the guy sighed-- "me and some of the other guys don't feel too comfortable having you change in here anymore. Y'know, with you being what you are."

Connie watched as Reiner's eyes falter and sank down to his own feet. A part of him demanded that he tell Reiner to stick up for himself. But he didn't. He only watched without saying a word.

"Whatever." Reiner scooped back up the handle of his sports bag. "I'll go the bathroom."

This was cruel and Connie knew it. If his mother was standing in this room, she'd be horrified at him sitting by and letting it happen. She would say Reiner was a person, regardless of what happened in the bathroom. And she would be right about that.

But she wasn't here. There was nobody to judge Connie for not making a move to defend the guy. He could just... go with the majority.

Reiner turned and started out the locker room. A few guys laughed as his head fell like a shameful child. He looked pathetic and that earned him no pity. It only encouraged the "class clowns" around them to keep on laughing.

"Ukgh, now I need hand sanitizer." The same guy waved his hand through the air as if shaking off the germs he'd gotten from grabbing Reiner.

The other boys in the locker room started cracking up. And though he didn't see what was so funny, Connie laughed with them. He didn't want to be the odd one out, after all.