...Graduating...
The night before Graduation, you and your friends sat in a circle in the corner of the girls' barracks.
"Three years gone just like that? Imagine how fast it'd be until we're in our damn thirties," said Sasha, her head rested on your shoulder.
"Time goes by fast when you're having fun, right?" you suggested. In your small girl group, there were Mikasa, Annie, Sasha, Krista, and Ymir. Ymir really just invited herself because you invited Krista over.
"It was a good three years," agreed Mikasa. Her arm was resting on your other shoulder, so you eventually just embraced your role as the head and arm rest.
"I'm really glad that I've spent all of it with you guys," said Krista, like the sweetheart everyone knew she was.
"Look at my Krista, always knowing the right things to say," said Ymir, putting a protective arm around her. "None of you deserve her, you hear me?"
You snorted. "Calm down, Ymir. No one's trying to steal her away from you."
"Yeah, you made sure of that when you started climbing into each other's beds," said Annie. The other girls turned their attention over to Ymir who was smirking and Krista who looked horrified.
"Oh?" Sasha wiggled her eyebrows. "What do you guys do in there?"
"It's not what it looks like!" Krista frantically waved her hands. "Sometimes I just get cold at night, you know? And the blankets aren't the thickest either."
"Yeah, so do I, but you never see me going up into Annie's bed, to you?" you asked.
"Uh, you liar, yes you do," pointed out Ymir.
You reassembled your thoughts. "Okay, but those were just little girl talks. I didn't actually spend the entire night up there. Mikasa came with us once, right?"
"Only once. I don't know what else you two were doing together on the other times."
"I would never even dream of touching her, if that's what you're wondering," said Annie, staring at Ymir through bored, half-lidded eyes. "Or Eren might finally man up and actually beat me in a fight for once." They all bursted into muffled laughter.
You groaned, shrugging Sasha's arm and Mikasa's head off your shoulder. "What is with you all, bringing him up the moment I say something?"
"Oh, Y/n, you're so silly sometimes," teased Sasha.
"Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me throughout all three years, he hasn't once confessed to you?" asked Ymir. "Not even tried to?"
"What does he have to confess? I swear, we're just friends. Only friends!"
"Hey, hey, leave her alone or she's going to get mad," said Annie. "Might cut all our hair and lashes or something."
"That was actually you?" Sasha asked you. "I thought they messed up their own hair and were too embarrassed to admit it so they just pinned the blame on somebody else. What'd they do?"
"Said some stupid things with their stupid mouths. Whatever, the past is in the past, so it's not even that important anymore," you said. "Anyway, back to this bullshit every single one of you are talking about, except for the ever so kind Krista-"
"I actually... kind of agree with them on this one."
You let out a deep, frustrating sigh. "I would insult you right now, but you have nothing about you to insult over. You're damn near perfect. And, Mikasa, wipe that smile off your face. You're not slickâI know it's directed towards me."
She glanced at you from the sides of her eyes. "Just imagining how Eren would react if I told him you and Annie shared a bed sometimes." The rest of them muffled their laughter again.
"Oh please, what would he do? Kill her?" You rolled your eyes. Ridiculous.
"Obviously he doesn't stand a chance, but he might come swinging one day," said Annie. "Y/n, can't you see that he doesn't play around when it comes to you?"
"Well obviously you've never had a boy best friend since you were about five years old. Of course he's going to be protective."
"Y/n, he's damn near being my brother," said Mikasa. "And he isn't ever as protective with me as he is with you."
"SeriouslyâI called you all over to have one last night of girl talk. Why is Eren always brought up?"
"You can't blame us. The two of you literally come in a matching set," said Ymir.
"Speaking of him, I wonder what the boys are doing right now," said Sasha, looking out the window. "You think they're having a fun talk like us right now?"
"No, with their peabrains, the only things they're talking about is something stupid," you said with absolute certainty.
"You mean about you?" asked Annie.
You bit back a smile, clenching your teeth. "Annie, one day I'm going to end up hating you."
She smirked and looked down. "Probably."
"Man, I wish I could get Connie over here. Too bad he's just a boy," said Sasha. "Or can we still find the cut hair from the trash and make a wig for him?"
Then an idea struck your mind. "Hey, why don't we go find him right now? Matter of fact, why don't we go and get the boys and sneak out altogether?"
Krista's eyebrows jumped up. "Sneak out? Break the rules?"
"It's not like they're going to kick us out the night before graduation. Besides, all of us are in the top ten. Besides Ymir. No offense."
"No worries. I take pride in being lazy."
You headed over to your bunk and bent down to reach the cardigan from under your bed. Then you layered it over your nightgown."Come on, guys. One last night of pure fun until life takes us by the throat and choke us all until we die," you told them, shaking your fist as if you were clutching something.
"Is that supposed to be motivation?" Mikasa headed to her bed right after you. "It's working."
All of you put on your shoes, grabbed your outerwears, and headed out. It was a bit windy, but not too cold, at least not for you. Neither for Annie. But Ymir and Krista were already snuggling up to each other, Mikasa tied her scarf tighter, and Sasha was shivering while hugging onto your arm.
Remembering which room of the boys' barracks the rest of your friends were in, you threw a rock at the window. Then two more. Then the window slid open just as another was thrown, but Connie dodged it. "What the hell?" He squinted his eyes. "Am I dreamwalking again or did I end up at the girls' barracks or something? Why am I seeing so many of them?"
"Connie, get the boys," whispered Sasha. "We're all sneaking out!"
"Seriously?" Connie grinned. "Hell yeah, on it!"
He closed the window. Not long after, the rest of the boys came out from the entrance. There were Connie, Eren, Reiner, Bertholdt, Jean, and Marco. "So where're we all going?" asked Eren.
You glanced at the rest of the girls but they were all looking at you. "What are you guys looking at me for?"
"This was all your idea," said Mikasa. "So where are we going?"
"Oh..." You scratched your neck. "I didn't think that far yet." The girls either scoffed, rolled their eyes, or shook their heads.
"Seriously?" asked Jean, an eyebrow arched.
"Hey, I might know a spot," said Reiner. "It's in the woods. Trust me, it's beautiful."
Having basically no choice other than to go back to the barracks, you all followed Reiner through the woods. After a hike up the hill, you all came to the cliff, overlooking a crystal pond that reflected the moonlit sky.
"Well shit, Reiner, never thought you were a big adventurer," said Jean.
"You know me, I like to travel everywhere."
You broke your shining eyes away from the sky to Eren, who you noticed was staring at you. "Eren, look at the sky! It's beautiful!" You pointed up, taking in the scenery with awe.
"Yeah," he breathed out. You glanced at him to see his eyes were still on you.
"You dumbass!" You grabbed his chin and pulled him close, faces side-by-side, pointing up to the sky. "I said look at the sky, not me!"
Reiner chuckled. "Y/n, hate to say it, but you're the dumbass here."
"Says who?"
Armin sighed. "What he really means is that Eren was looking at you on pur-"
Annie hovered a hand in front of his mouth. "Don't. Let them figure it out themselves." Armin nodded and averted his eyes from her.
"We have nothing to figure out."
"Yeah, we're completely fine!" added Eren.
"My god." Jean shook his head in disbelief. "I have never met anyone as clueless as the two of you."
"Seriously, they're hopeless," said Ymir. "They're going to end up dying before they actually realize it themselves."
"What are they talking about?" asked Eren, quiet enough for only you to hear.
"Don't mind them. They're just being stupid," you said. The rest of them moved on to tease Jean about Mikasa who looked like she couldn't give less of a shit, panning the attention away from the two of you.
"Y/n, you're not joining the MPs tomorrow, are you?" he asked. "You're still staying with the plan of joining the Scouts?" Although you weren't holding his chin anymore, neither of you moved away from each other.
"Hell yeah. I'm not leaving you alone to the titans. Imagine us fighting together. How cool is that?"
He smiled. "Yeah. Slaying the titans side-by-side. Promise that you won't forget me when you climb up the ranks faster? Because I know they'll want someone like you."
"Forgetting you? Like that'll ever happen. And you better not forget me for your rage against the titans. Judging from your hate towards them, you might just leave me hanging just to go and kill them all."
He shook his head. "Never."
He came in for a hug, wrapping his arms around your waist. You put your arms around his neck, resting your cheek on his shoulder, eyes closed. Unconsciously wishing to stay like this, forever in his embrace, forever in his arms. When you pulled apart, your faces were awfully close to each other. His cheeks were lightly dusted red, and his eyes looked down below your eyes and nose. And suddenly, out of nowhere, your heartbeats started speeding up. That never happened before, not when you weren't exercising or nervous, and definitely not with Eren.
"Ugh, kiss already."
You and Eren jumped away from each other, realizing that no one else was talking anymore and all eyes were on the both of you.
"Goddamn it, Jean! Look at what you did!" yelled Connie.
"Go back to hugging each other! That was so cute!" whined Sasha.
You scoffed, fighting back the heat creeping up your face. "You guys are so weird! Stop spying on us like that!"
"No, I agree with Jean," said Ymir. "Three years have been more than enough torture for the rest of us to watch. Might as well just get into each other's pants to get it over with."
Your jaw slackened. "Ymir, you fucking pervert! Go back to getting into Krista's pants!"
"Sure thing."
Krista covered up her face. "Stop! That never happened!"
"Hey, Mikasa, now's the time to bring it up," said Annie.
"Bring what up?" you asked.
Mikasa, with her tiny and devious smile, turned to Eren. "You should probably know that Y/n crawls into bed with Annie on some nights."
Some of the others whistled but Eren's eyes bulged out in horror. "What?!"
"So what? Like it's some big deal?" You crossed your arms, not understanding the sudden rise in his temper. "We just talk."
"You scared I might steal her away, Eren?" taunted Annie.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Why're you so worked up about it?" you asked.
"He's worked up because he wants to be the one you crawl into bed with," said Reiner.
Everyone bursted into laughter, all but you and Eren, who were both trying to defend yourselves with all your mights. During the entire time there, to the way back, to sneaking back into the barracks, no one gave either of you a sliver of peace.
* . * .
Next night, it was it.
"As of this moment, you have three options open to you! Choose wisely! The Garrison Regiment whose job is to reinforce the Walls. The Scout Regiment, who rides out into titan country to take back what was once ours. And the Military Police Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from his Royal Majesty.
"Those cadets eligible for the MP have already been named. The rest of you, take a look. These are the top of your class!"
The eleven of you pounded your fists to your heart in salutes. For the first time in history, there were two cadets who shared the number one spot. You and Mikasa. Starting in the second rank, you two were followed respectively by Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Eren, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha, and Krista.
After the ceremony, there was the big celebration. Everyone cheered, people fought over foodâSasha specifically, and apple cider was passed around. After years, you were back into your old clothes for once. A cardigan, a button down, and a f/c skirt that reached to your ankles. Similar to Mikasa's attire.
You found Annie at a table by herself and sat across from her. "So the MP, as planned?"
"The Scouts, as planned?"
"Yeah."
"You know, it's not too late to change your mind."
You tilted your head. "And why would I do that? Can't live without me now or something?"
She clicked her tongue. "You always find a way to flatter yourself, don't you?"
"Can't help myself. Everyone always gives me the window of opportunity. So are you going to be an MP just to sit lazily behind the walls or for something else?"
She drew invisible pictures on her empty plate with her fork. "I've got my father waiting for me."
Right, she has a dad. "Nice. You going to tell him about your years here?"
"Probably."
"Going to tell him about your friends?" you pointed to yourself with a cheeky smile.
"Maybe."
"Going to tell him about our girl talks?"
"Isn't the purpose of a girl talk to only stay between the girls?"
"Eh, it's your dad so I don't mind. But I'm happy for you, Annie. You have someone worth staying for. I've basically got no life within the walls so that's why I'm going to venture outside. Who knows what I might find? Maybe a purpose to grow old and have wrinkles?"
"You never give up on things, do you?"
You shook your head. "Never."
"Might become the reason you die one day."
"Or it could be the reason I end up surviving."
She smiled, a rare sight. "You've never changed since day one."
"But you have. I got you to talk to me whenever I want." She spared you a small glare. "What? It's true." Then a moment passed by. "So this is it for now?"
"Yeah," she said. "I guess this is goodbye."
God, I hate that word. "I'll see you around, Annie. Hey, maybe one day I'll run into you and your dad. Then you'll be forced to tell him the shit about me."
"You wish."
And with that, you left to find your other friends. You weren't worried one bit about her. She was strong and she took nobody's bullshit. She'd stick around.
Because of the rankings, other cadets started crowding around you all. "You two are really gonna turn your back on the MP for the Scouts?" asked Thomas.
"Why in the world would you do that? You're both in the top ten. And Y/n, you're ranked first with Mikasa," spoke another.
"Which just shows how ready I am for the titans," you simply said. "You think I trained everyday in the past three years just to rot behind the walls and let all my talents go to waste? No, I'm not dumb." At least not too dumb.
"Neither was I training to live in the Interior," said Eren. "I trained to fight titans."
"But you'll never beat them! Don't you know how many tens of thousands have been eaten? We lost a fifth of our population! Humans cannot defeat titans!"
"Not with that attitude," you said. "If you already think that way before you fight them, then you've already lost. I'll say it right here, right now, Thomas. You're dead meat." A little harsh, but the truth was always harsh.
"And so are you!" he fired back.
"Things have changed," said Eren. "Maybe not a lot, but still has!" You watched and listened to him talk about his beliefs, about his dreams, or rather, Armin's. He was speaking as if it was the last time he'd be able to defend his own honor. At a point, you were sure there were tears threatening to leak out from his eyes. Damn, he's taking it reallly serious. "Humanity's future lies outside the walls and I'm going to clear the way! I'm going to take back what was ours! I'll drive them out and at as long as at least one of us can say that, we're not done!"
When he was finished, no one said a thing. And when he realized all eyes were on him, he ran out the hall. You, Armin, and Mikasa followed right after. The four of you ended up sitting on the stairs outside the building.
"Eren, those words about the outside weren't yours, was it? It was Armin's," you said.
He nodded. "Yeah. It was. To live outside the walls, not inside."
"I'm joining the Survey Corps," blurted Armin suddenly.
You were genuinely stunned. "Why? You're way too smart for that. You could join the MPs and switch occupations to a school teacher or something. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
"Maybe in another life. But don't worry about me," he said. "I won't hold you two back. Even if it gets me killed."
"Then I'm joining the Survey Corps too," said Mikasa.
"What?" Eren turned to her. "But you're ranked first! You should join the MPs!"
"Y/n's also ranked first and she's not joining the MPs either. If she were, then I might have considered it. But Eren, face itâyou're never going to keep up with her out there. So I'm coming too."
"Glad to know you have faith in me," he grumbled.
"I don't want to lose any more family. Not you, not Y/n, not Armin, not anyone."
None of you said a thing for a few minutes. Then you broke the silence, by stating, "So it's decided. We're basically staying together forever until our inevitable deaths."
"Don't make it sound depressing now, Y/n," muttered Eren.
"You're really one to talk. The whole reason why we're all sentimental right now is because you were being all dramatic, running out like that."
"Well I never asked for any of you to chase after me!"
"Guys," said Mikasa, her voice raised, which immediately shut the two of you up. "Not tonight. Fight tomorrow for all I care. Just let me and Armin have one night of peace, please."
"Fine." "Okay." the two of you said, having no choice because she was Mikasa after all.
"Look up there," Armin pointed up to the sky, "a shooting star. Make a wish, guys."
You clasped your hands together but the star passed before you could even start to think of a wish. Aw, fuck. You closed your eyes and made a wish anyway. Let us all live to one hundred years old, please. Impossible, but so was the fact of "ever beating the titans." And you believed it was possible. So maybe living long lives with your friends was possible too. As long as you believed in it.