#cadets aot

[felidalaxy]

mob psycho + attack on titan sketch

[rorynni]

i love the implication that whenever they don’t understand something they simply go to armin and force him to educate them

[ettas-stuff]

Aruani angst cause erm they r amazing and silly

[lesuerts]

Maybe unpopular opinion: I didn't want to have another spin-off of levi despite loving him very much.

This is what I wanted to have:

• hange's, miche/mike's and nanaba's past

• how petra and co were chosen to be levi's squad

• training of the warrior cadets (reiner and co gen) and more of them (especially galliard brothers)

• the 5 year gap where reiner and co were in paradis but what happened in marley (more of gabi, zofia, udo and falco; pieck and porco; colt and zeke (as mentor); or more of the situation of the eldia in marley)

• veteran trio (hange, erwin, miche/mike) or also with moblit and nile in the training corps and their first expedition outside (except nile ofc)

Just little short stories, a few chapters about that

[foruko]

Maybe you’re my love - sakura kiss (OHSHC OP)

Twitter | Instagram | BlueSky

~ Please, do not edit or repost my art ~

[l8niteth0ts]

𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄: 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐧 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: Reader and Reiner are always placing bets to see who's stronger, who's quicker, who's more accurate. Here are some little drabbles of how that would go!

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒: No warnings! Just a little bit of fluff if you squint hard enough. Cadet training era.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 880

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: Thank you, Anon, for your request! I hope you see this post! 🤍 (Since it is Cadet Training era, I opted out for the smut. Hope you understand!)

Please feel free to leave a like, comment, and feel free to reblog! I am grateful for all of you—thank you for reading my work!

𝐍𝐎 𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓, 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃, 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐘 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐈𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘'𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐌𝐔𝐓.

You and Reiner are always at each other’s throats—at least, that’s what the others say. It’s not mean fighting, not really. It’s more like you’re always trying to one up each other, see who can run faster, hit harder, last longer during drills.

Maybe it started as a joke, a way to pass time during those grueling training days. But now? It’s something else. Something warm and breathless that settles under your skin every time he smirks at you, every time his shoulder brushes yours during sparring.

Today, it’s the obstacle course. Again.

You stretch your arms out, bouncing on the balls of your feet, and Reiner is already next to you, arms crossed, grin cocky. “You sure you’re ready for this?” He teases, eyes flicking down to your stance. “Wouldn’t want you falling behind again.”

You scoff, rolling your eyes but hiding your grin. “Please. You’re the one who tripped last time, remember? You almost kissed the dirt.”

“Only ‘cause you distracted me,” he mutters, more to himself than you—but you catch it. Your cheeks flush just a bit, but then Sadies blows the whistle, saving you from having to come up with a reply.

You run.

You don’t think—your body moves automatically, muscle memory taking over. You leap over logs, dodge swinging sandbags, scale wooden walls, and you can feel Reiner just behind you the whole time. Always on your heels. Always chasing.

Part of you wants to win. The other part... kind of wants him to catch you.

And then, right before the last hurdle, you stumble. It’s slight, just a misstep—but Reiner’s there, catching your wrist before you go tumbling. His fingers wrap around yours like it’s second nature, like he always planned to be there.

“You good?” He pants, close—so close you can see the sweat trailing down his jaw.

“Yeah,” you breathe, and your voice wobbles a little. He’s still holding you.

You both clear the final hurdle and land at the same time. A tie. Again.

Neither of you says anything for a few seconds. You’re too busy trying to catch your breath. Or maybe you’re trying to calm your heart down because it’s going crazy in your chest.

“You okay?” He asks again, quieter now, and his hand drops from yours a little too slowly.

You nod. “Yeah. Thanks... for catching me.”

He shrugs, but his ears are pink. “I wasn’t gonna let you fall. Not like that.”

You laugh, but it’s soft. “What, only if it’s dramatic and embarrassing?”

“Something like that,” he mumbles. You expect him to gloat, or say something cocky like usual. Instead, he glances at you out of the corner of his eye and says, “you really had me pushing to keep up today. Guess you’ve been training harder.”

Your heart skips a beat. A compliment. From Reiner. “Yeah? Well, I’m not gonna let you win next time,” you say, nudging his shoulder.

“You sure it’s not ‘cause you like the way I look when I’m sweating?” He grins now, teasing again—but his voice is softer, more playful than usual. You punch his arm lightly, but your face is on fire.

“Maybe,” you mutter. He blinks.

“Wait—what?”

You don’t give him a chance to process it. You’re already walking away, cheeks burning, tossing a grin over your shoulder. “Come on, golden boy. Race you to the mess hall.”

And just like that, he’s chasing you again—just like always.

pt 2? 👀 sure.

You’re paired with Reiner for hand to hand combat drills. “Ready to lose again?” He teases, already bouncing lightly on his heels as the rest of the cadets start sparring around you.

You roll your eyes. “You got lucky last time. Don’t get cocky.”

“Who says I’m not just naturally good?” He smirks, and oh—if looks could punch, he’d already be on the ground.

You charge first.

He sidesteps and grabs your arm, trying to flip you, but you twist at the last second and catch him off guard, your legs sweeping his out from under him. He hits the ground with a thud and a shocked laugh.

“Well well,” you gloat, crouching over him. “Who’s naturally good now?”

He props himself up on his elbows, flushed and out of breath, but his eyes aren’t annoyed—they’re glowing with something warm and proud. “You’re unbelievable,” he murmurs, and you feel your own heart stumble.

“What?”

“You’re just…” he trails off, then suddenly flips you, and now you’re the one on your back, staring up at him.

“Cheater!” You gasp.

“Strategy,” he corrects, but he’s not moving. His face is close—too close. You could count every freckle on his nose if you weren’t so busy trying not to short circuit.

You blink up at him, caught between exasperation and butterflies. “You gonna pin me all day, or…?”

His smirk softens into a smile. “You okay with it?”

You nod, just a little, your fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt. He leans in, but before anything happens—

“Hey! Stop flirting and fight!” Jean yells from the side.

You both spring apart like you’ve been electrocuted. “We weren’t flirting!” You and Reiner shout at the same time, then exchange a guilty glance.

Reiner clears his throat, face redder than a sunburn. “Rematch later?”

You smile. “You’re on.”

ⓒ 𝐋𝟖𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐓𝐡𝟎𝐭𝐬 -- 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊, 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊 𝐈𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆.

AOT MASTERLIST

OTHER AOT CHARACTERS MASTERLIST

REINER BRAUN MASTERLIST

ʚɞ

[itsnathateasy]

Armin Week | Day 6 | SFW Prompts | Bunny Armin OR Cadet Corps Shenaningans

word count: 863 warnings: none author’s note: there are a few shenanigans in there, i promise!

@armin-week-2024

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

i couldn’t resist writing some headcanons about cadet!armin and you dating!

cadet!armin DEFINITELY stays up late with you. you casually plan these dates during supper, then pretend to go to bed, only to sneak out a couple of hours later hehe

these dates are mostly reserved for snogging

and you literally always get caught by eren and mikasa who share your not-so-secret plan

cadet!armin is the cutest by always waiting for you to be done with your food and walks with you to the kitchen where you leave your empty plates and glasses

cadet!armin also makes sure you’re together for cleaning and kitchen duties, armin is so meticulous, but you keep distracting him, making up choreos with sasha and putting on the funniest of shows and connie always joins in the dancing

but captain levi is never satisfied with your cleaning, and even less with your terrible dance moves someone pls write a hc where levi joins in a broomstick and mop/bucket dance off to sum up, your cleaning duties tend to last quite longer than they should

cadet!armin isn’t the best at hand to hand combat but the fact that you practice together all the time has helped him greatly improve and has also filled his head with nasty thoughts

cadet!armin is very protective over you and gets kinda possessive (in a cute way) when you’re not allowed to pair up for tasks because why should you be allowed to gather apples with jean just the two of you when he’s stuck with mikasa?

and no, secretly saving him a few apples to snack on when you’re sneaking out didn’t really help, but no apples were left and armin was much calmer and confident about you hanging out with the other guys from then on

cadet!armin makes sure you study together, teaching each other the material you find most difficult to understand. you even expand those study dates to invite the rest of the group, which you both regret because no studying was done BUT you both find great joy in spending time with your friends, these study dates somehow make your alone time feel even more special

also, cadet!armin used to tutor eren and connie when they needed help, but he found out they only asked for help so that they could secretly plot their pranks and needed armin’s intel

cadet!armin takes AGES to properly confess to you and ask you out even though you two have been practically an item for who knows how long

“armin, we’ve been dating for months, what are you talking about?”

“i mean uh, we’ve never really- i mean it’s official now! we never properly discussed are relationship status before”

“have you been seeing anyone else besides me?”

armin is now PROFUSELY blushing and stutters at your remark “YOU KNOW THIS ISN’T WHAT I MEANT, I LOVE YOU”

“he has been seeing eren behind your back y/n”, a comment from jean which only earned him a glare from you and a punch from eren

“this was unnecessary” armin says to eren

“punching jean is never unnecessary armin, trust me” he said and rubbed his fist against his palm

cadet!armin is the one to pour you your tea in the mornings while you and the other cadets are still having breakfast, only to mess up and spill it all on you, him and whoever is sitting beside you because you kept talking to him and looking at him with those eyes “and this is how you waste an entire kettle of fine black tea cadets” a snear remark from captain levi

levi didn’t even bother putting armin, sasha and you on cleaning duty again, he knows this battle is long lost

cadet!armin pretends to have such a hard time getting his odm straps on once in a while, so he can come to you for help, only to see you tying all these straps and knots and have you touch him, he’s cunning like that

cadet!armin was often scared because he wasn’t as strong and skilled as his classmates, but he was never afraid to admit his fear or back down, he was particularly afraid the first time you tried your odm gear and he practically smashed himself flat on the wall, the incident was a running joke in your year

connie would always make fun of the incident and he even tried to imitate armin’s face when they took him down, “it’s not even funny anymore connie, just drop it” eren would step up for his friend

“yeah, remember that time captain caught you trying to cook when the fire was out? THAT was funny” said jean and pulled armin closer with one arm, ruffling his hair

“th- thanks jean. was my face really that funny?”

“yes, it was, but it’s been 6 months, connie should entertain himself with a new joke”

the blush on armin’s face was beyond words

“maybe we’d all be funnier if we were foods, right?” sasha asked, looking at you, then at mikasa

“drop it potato girl” reiner exclaimed in a pissed off way

“NOW THIS JOKE IS EVEN OLDER THAN ARMIN’S!” sasha screamed as she started chasing reiner around

[reddamselette]

just realized while rewatching aot that before i had jean and jeremy, i had jean and armin and i think that says a lot.

[leaoverthehills]

Warrior

[kimasousparky]

104th cadet corps

[opalofhiseye]

Just thinking about the veterans using pet names/nicknames for the kids for completely different reasons.

Like Hange uses them mostly because they think it’s cute.

Levi uses them subconsciously and will never admit that he actually said anything in the first place.

And Erwin uses them because he cannot remember any of those fuckers names 😭😭😭

[ettas-stuff]

Lil doodle

[i-am-pixxie]

Gang's all here 😌

[melishade]

Attack on Prime The Future Anthology: Valentine's day

Main Story

Music IV

Therapy

World War 2

Today was slower compared to others. At least in Falco's opinion.

He would have done more today, but the Autobots and the U.S. Military were doing more of the heavy lifting. Even the Survey Corps weren't asked to help out much today. Jack explained that they were ahead of schedule on what they wanted to do, and they all thought that they deserved to relax for a little bit while they took care of the work.

The Survey Corps accepted it, deciding to go back to the island and check on their government. However, Falco, Gabi, Colt, and Pieck...really didn't have anywhere to go.

Liberio was destroyed, and Pieck was still concerned about the actual safety of the outside world. Just because of Optimus fought for them during the peace treaty, didn't mean people were going to treat Eldians better on a dime. Luckily, Earth was kind enough to provide the four of them a home. Annie was also offered a place to stay, but she found herself keeping company with a few other members of the Survey Corps. Falco felt like her relationship was strained between the four of them, probably because Annie was able to get her father out of Liberio and away from the Rumbling. It didn't seem like Pieck and Annie were on the best of speaking terms.

But for the rest of them, they had been remaining on Earth in Unit E. Colt and Falco were sharing a room while Gabi and Pieck were sharing a room of their own. Jack had explained that this was where they had stayed when they themselves were on the run and their home was destroyed by Megatron.

Falco couldn't help but sigh in contempt at that conversation as he flipped through the channels on the T.V. in the recreational area of Unit E. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, while Colt was taking a nap on the couch with a blanket over his body. He was so baffled that Matthew, or Megatron, truly was the bad guy. Just as much as he resented Eren, nearly every single human on Earth recoiled in disgust at the sound of his name. He hated how things...were so complicated.

As Falco continued mindlessly flipping through channels, he paused when he noticed a strange commercial, at least that's what Jack, Miko, and Rafael called it. He was bombarded with a symphony of red heart, displaying candy and and messages about 'Valentine's'.

"Find anything good on?" Rafael asked as he walked up the stairs to the common area.

"Not really," Falco admitted, "Although this commercial hurts my eyes."

Rafael hummed at the sight of the commercial. "Valentine's Day."

"What's that?" Falco asked, "Is that another human holiday?"

"Yeah, it's for couples, or crushes," Rafael sighed as he moved Colt's legs so he could sit on the couch, "You send them roses, candy, chocolates, do something nice, or just be a secret admirer or whatever."

"You don't seem to like it," Falco remarked.

"Too mushy for my tastes," Rafael admitted, "Not to mention, the corporate greed that comes with it or any other holiday. Only benefit is the candy that gets put on clearance the day after Valentine's Day."

"You're...quite cynical about love," Falco commented.

"College makes you cynical." Rafael leaned his head back against the couch, "Now I'm gonna sleep. Don't bother me."

Falco watched as Rafael removed his glasses before shutting his eyes. Falco turned his attention back to the T.V. as the commercial continued to play. It was for couples, but...crushes too. Falco blushed a little when he thought of Gabi. He had a crush on her for a long time, but he never really got the chance to tell her. He never found the right time. After Udo's death, she became more hostile to everyone, then the attack on Liberio happened, he got knocked into a coma, and he woke up in a world without titans...and without his parents.

He still had Colt, Gabi, and Pieck, which he was still grateful for, but they were all orphans. They had no one. It sucked. Even so, it was a time of peace. Maybe...Falco saw the Valentine messages on the screen. Maybe he could finally tell Gabi how he felt.

Hopefully she would take a hint.

========

AOT World

"Valentine's day?! Are you kidding me?!" Miko exclaimed as she wiped her face with a towel.

"Well...I saw the commercial yesterday," Falco sheepishly explained, "And I thought I could ask you guys for help? Rafael didn't seem to care about it."

"Yeah, cause Raf is drowning himself with work," Jack commented.

"Do you guys have any tips on how to be someone's valentine?" Falco asked.

"Maybe. Who's it for?" Jack asked, earning a snort from Miko.

Falco rubbed the back of his neck. "...Gabi."

"Oh boy," Miko grunted as she slapped the towel atop of her shoulder, "Isn't she like, super stubborn?"

"I thought you liked her," Jack recalled.

"Sure, but I know stubborn," Miko retorted.

"So, what should I do?" Falco asked.

"Well there's a variety of things specifically for Valentine's," Jack stated, "You could get her candy, write her a card or a telegram, take her out to eat."

"By the way, we're not helping you out with any of that!" Miko declared, "We're not buying anything lavish!"

"Maybe a rose," Jack offered.

"Jack, no, we've been breaking our bank!" Miko retorted as Megatron walked by in holoform, "And I've been wanting to get discounted Valentine's day candy after with Raf!"

"Well, Gabi does like sweets and I'm certain that stuff from Earth would entice her," Falco began as Megatron paused in his step to eavesdrop on the conversation, "But I'm still not sure if she would accept it as a romantic gesture? Maybe a card? But if I'm too vague, then she might not get it. And I feel like I'll mess up my writing. And Gabi can be...dense when it comes to something she doesn't care about."

"Oof," Miko said.

"Um...I don't know any good places to take her out to eat. We've been stuck in Liberio for most of our lives, and a good portion of the places here have been destroyed anyway," Falco continued.

"Well we can't really take you guys anywhere on Earth without supervision," Jack said, "I mean you can write drafts and we can look it over."

"No puns! Puns are weak," Miko added.

"But what should I say?" Falco asked, "How do I even begin?! What-?!"

"By the Allspark, just tell her the fragging truth!" Megatron shouted dropping the box of supplies in his possession.

"Megatron?!" Jack gawked, "What are you doing here?!"

"Cringing over this abysmal advice you're giving him!" Megatron shouted.

"And what makes you an expert on love, you genocidal freak?!" Miko demanded.

"Nothing!" Megatron answered, "But I've known them for four years!"

Megatron kneeled down to face Falco. "Listen, Falco. You need to be blunt with her and tell her the truth. Directly to her! Not in written form or anything like that! She's not going to get it any other way!"

"But that seems-!"

"Zofia didn't care about anything! She was rather apathetic, which was why I liked her the most!" Megatron began counting with his hand, "Udo was riddled with anxiety! You are too empathetic!"

"Why is that a bad thing?!" Miko demanded.

"And Gabi is too full of pride and too dense to get anything else unless it's told to her!" Megatron finished, "She'll be so focused on one thing that she doesn't understand any other social cues! You need to tell her the truth to her face! None of this pathetic nonsense that they've been spouting!"

"Okay?!" Jack emoted in frustration.

"But what if I can't?! What if she says no?!" Falco asked.

"Then she fragging says no! By the Allspark, take the risk! You were willing to die for this girl! Just tell her the truth and stop being a coward!" Megatron grabbed him by his shirt.

"Is supposed to be backhanded or good advice?!" Miko demanded.

"YES!" Megatron snapped at Miko, "I'm sick of dealing with Falco's feelings for Gabi! It's been over two years since I noticed it!"

Miko looked at Falco, who was blushing. "Seriously?"

"Shut up!" Falco yelled.

"You are in a new world, with an unknown future ahead of you. Not dictated by Marley," Megatron reminded, "Take the chance and tell her the truth."

Falco could only stare in surprise before nodding his head. "I will...Thank you."

Megatron sighed as he stood up, grabbing the box that he had left alone. "Don't be stupid."

Jack and Miko stared in disbelief as Megatron walked away. "What the hell was that?!"

====

Later on Earth

"Gabi, how has therapy been going for you?" Pieck asked her as Gabi folded her clothes on the bed.

"Fine," Gabi mumbled, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure?" Pieck asked her, "I did talk to the therapist-!"

"She doesn't disclose anything about what we talk about!" Gabi yelled at her.

"She doesn't, but she was giving me some tips on how to better manage a few things," Pieck explained, "You were brought up a few times, and for now, I guess I am your legal guardian."

Gabi huffed in response.

"Gabi, I'm not much of a fan of it either, but someone has to watch out for you, and I can't burden Colt with more responsibility. He has his own brother to watch after," She reminded.

"...Well what about the agents in Unit E?" Gabi suggested, "Or Annie?"

"Jack and Miko have their own lives to lead that are very different from ours, and Annie has her own father to worry about," Pieck reminded, "We need to work together, okay?"

Gabi reluctantly hummed in response. Both paused when they heard a knock on the door. Pieck stood up from the bed and walked over to the door to open it, seeing Falco standing there and out of breath.

"Falco-!"

"Can I talk to Gabi?" Falco asked, "It's urgent."

"Um...okay?" Pieck elected to step out of the room to give Falco and Gabi some privacy, but was stunned when Jack and Miko grabbed her and pulled her aside. She was also stunned to see Rafael, the 104th, and Colt and Annie waiting behind the door too?!

"What are you doing?!" Pieck hissed.

"Megatron gave Falco advice and now he's gonna act on it," Colt informed.

"Megatron and advice in the same sentence should be a curse," Rafael groaned.

"Falco, I'm a little bit tired. I had a long day, and I want to take a nap," Gabi explained as she finished folding her clothes.

"It'll be quick! I promise!" Falco insisted.

"Falco, it can wait until tomorrow-!"

"Gabi, I like you!" Falco blurted out before covering his mouth.

Gabi snapped her head to him in confusion as a blush crept onto her face. "Huh?!"

Falco groaned in frustration as his ears and cheeks turned red. "Gabi, I like you! And I saw something about Valentine's Day and they said it was for couples and crushes and secret admirers and....well I've always admired you and I've always liked you and I've always wanted to marry you!"

Miko pulled out a bag of popcorn and started snacking on it. "Want some?"

"Gimme." Sasha pinched her hands together, indicating she wanted some popcorn.

"W-why?" Gabi stuttered, "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Well..." Falco trailed off, "Because...I get the chance to. We don't have to become Warriors. Our futures aren't decided for us anymore. We get to make that choice. So...I'm choosing to tell you...and...yeah...."

Falco found himself sitting in silence, noticing that Gabi wasn't saying anything. "Um...Gabi?....Please say something. I don't like this waiting-!"

"You're lying," Gabi mumbled.

"What?!" Falco exclaimed.

Miko gasped. "A twist!"

"Damn it, Gabi," Annie groaned in annoyance.

"Why would you say that?!" Falco yelled at her, "Why would you think I'm lying?!"

"Because I've been a terrible friend to you!" Gabi shouted, "To you! To Udo! To Zofia! I treated you all as competition to become a Warrior!"

"Well, you can blame Marley for that-!"

"I took my anger out on you and Zofia after Udo died!" Gabi reminded.

"Yeah, because Udo died in front of us!" Falco retorted.

"I called you a bad friend and got you shot!" Gabi shouted, "You would've fallen to your death if Sasha hadn't saved you, and...you were in a coma because of me! I made your life hell! Why would you even say that you like me?!"

"....Dios mío. Esto es una telenovela," Rafael muttered in Spanish, causing Armin to dart his eyes to him.

Falco clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. You called me a bad friend and you nearly got me killed."

Gabi flinched at that.

"You're stubborn. You're prideful. You can be annoying when you don't listen!" Falco raised his voice.

"Falco, what are you doing?!" Colt hissed.

"Not to mention, you've been so annoying when it came to training! Always bragging about being the best and 'Oh, my cousin is the Armored Titan!'" Falco listed off in anger, "Yeah, I got real mad about all those things!"

"I'm sorry," Gabi mumbled.

"But you're also really pretty!" Falco continued, "And you're really brave! And your laugh is infectious! And you care about us by trying to be strong just so that you can protect the people you love! And damn it, I just need you to take the hint!"

Falco grabbed Gabi by her shoulders. "Gabi, I like you! I want to go out with you! I want you to be my Valentine! Do you want to be mine?!"

Gabi's whole face was red, speechless at Falco's declaration of love. "Uh...are you sur-!"

"Damn it, yes!" Falco yelled in her face.

"Okay!" Gabi screamed back, allowing Falco to let go of her, "...Now what do we do?"

"YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!" Miko hollered.

"Shut up!" Gabi yelled.

"We're not there yet!" Falco declared.

Pieck hummed at that. "Valentine's day...anyone could be a Valentine?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Rafael answered.

Pieck turned to Jack. "Jack, would you like to be my Valentine?"

"What the hell?!" Jack yelled with a blush on his face while Miko cackled.

"What? I think you look cute, and you've been accommodating for all of us," Pieck explained, "It's only for the day too, right?"

"Screw Valentine's day. Who wants the discounted chocolate?" Rafael asked.

"I DO!" Sasha raised her hand.

Mikasa glanced back at Falco and Gabi's flustered faces before walking down the halls of Unit E. Valentine's Day. To do something for someone you love. It sounded nice. She wondered...if Eren were still alive...would he had ever been interested in that.

Mikasa sighed to herself at that. Primus did tell her that Eren did love her, but he chose his freedom over his love. She wasn't certain if Eren telling her his feelings was a last ditch attempt at trying to stay alive. The fact that she was doubting his intentions made her feel even more conflicted.

Mikasa reached for her neck on reflex, but paused when she realized that the scarf was no longer there. She kept forgetting. It's been part of her for so long. It represented her love, tainted by her pain now. Her devotion, and yet, her prison. Her compassion for someone who kept on running, but refused to look back for any of them.

Mikasa clenched her fists. She was done with that. If she was going to move on, and be free from this poisonous love, then she would choose to pursue someone. One day, she would find someone that would have the bravery to continue running, but would have the compassion to look back.

(Wasn't expecting to do this, but I need to do some set up for more parts in the Anthology.)

[the-last-thread-of-my-sanity]

I am back from self-imposed sabbatical friends- ARUANI 2025 LET’S GO!

[pinkmirth]

they’re such idiots . . .