Part 2: Eren, Mikasa, and Armin

Armin's POV

I waited in the kitchen area, eating the eggs that Mrs. Jaeger- she told me to call her Carla... she told me that I was welcome to eat breakfast anytime I wanted. A few minutes ago, Mikasa left the table to wake Eren... as he overslept. He's always been late, and I never really did figure out why he acted like that. Dr. Jaeger was sitting next to me, sipping his coffee and Carla was too busy making all of our lunches.

It was a bold, yet a stupid move... "Dr. Jaeger? I have a question... a medical one..."

"Oh? What's the question, Armin?"

"What's wrong with Eren? He's becoming a bit... extreme..." Instead of eating the eggs, I played with it, flipping it over and over, across the plate.

Dr. Jaeger started to chuckle, "You're worried about him? I thought I had enough to deal with when Mikasa came over, then puberty hit her... aren't you a bit young to know this-"

"Dr. Jaeger, what's wrong with Eren?"

He started to chuckle again, "Like I said for Mikasa, he hit puberty... and soon, you will too." Thankfully, Eren came down- physically hurting.

It hurts when you wear socks on your feet and going down any type of stairs. Hurts when you go down the stairs when it's carpet, especially tall carpets, makes you slide anytime. When it's wood, painful. Your feet could slip and as you fall down, your back isn't greeted with carpet, but the sharp edge of the wooden stairs. 

So, Eren tripped and fell down the wooden stairs. His feet went up and his back started to hit the stairs. Mikasa walked behind him as he cried while falling down. "Gah!" Once he reached at the bottom of the stairs, he rubbed his spine and his tailbone. "Oww... that hurts..."

"Well, if you don't run down the stairs like that, you won't get hurt." Mikasa sighed behind her red scarf and that I watched Eren recover from his fall. 

"Come on, give me a break... we're late..." He walks over to me, smiling, "Oh hey, Armin! I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah... hurry up, Eren. Please? School's gonna start soon... I don't wanna be late, especially on our first day at junior high. Not to mention that this is our first day there as a freshman. I wanna make a good impression on the others, okay?"

Eren nodded, "Yeah..."

Carla walked over with a plate full of eggs and 2 pieces of bacon. "Now Eren, sit down and eat. And I want you to eat the whole thing before you leave home, understand?"

He listens to his mother's words, "Yes Mom..."

Sighing, I knew I couldn't leave until this last piece of egg was gone. Once it disappeared into nonexistence, I grabbed my plate and walked over to the sink. Carla didn't notice that there was a stranger with her in the kitchen.

Her reaction when I turned the water on to wash the plate was surprised, panting hard from fear. "Armin, you don't have to wash the dishes. I'm here to do that while you guys go and learn from school."

"Mrs. Jaeger... please, I would love to do the dishes for you. Me washing dishes is a favor paid back for the eggs."

Carla must like the formality as she giggled, "Oh Armin... it's okay." She hands me a plastic bag, filled with lunch. "You can have some lunch as well."

I take it, graciously. She was the nicest mom that I ever met! "Thanks Mrs. Jaeger!"

There was a shock of jealously from Eren as he gobbled his breakfast up, racing to the sink to wash them. Sometimes, I wish that I had Carla as my mom... I never knew my parents, only my grandfather. "I think we're gonna go now!" He says, grabbing his backpack from his mother.

"Now Eren, you're lunch's inside there, okay? And remember!" She pulls his ear, "No fighting."

Eren rubs his red ear, "Yeah yeah... I won't..."

"Good luck at school."

Mikasa was already up ahead, waiting for us. "Took you guys that long to get ready?" She complains as we started to walk together. 

"Excuse me, Mikasa! I was sleeping before you jumped on me to wake me!"

She pulls over her scarf, she would do anything for Eren. "It worked, didn't it?"

"T-That's not the point!"

Their argument stopped there as we heard some people talking. One sounded... grumpy... "Hear that?" I asked, slowly creeping up on them.

"Yeah... let's check it out."

We hid in the dark alley, almost stalking the people talking. Two distinct voices, one female and the other male. The male one was the grumpy voice that I heard earlier. We took a peak around the corner, seeing two older people. Obviously, they were seniors, based on how well they behaved- actually, the female brunette was a bit... childish. The female brunette wore a track suit and something was written on it, like Japanese characters. The male was shorter than the brunette, probably shorter than us. His hair swayed in the wind as he was talking to the brunette. That black hair and his eyes were similar to Mikasa... who were they?

"You ready?" The male one says, adjusting his bag.

"Wanna race?" The brunette's eyes gleamed as she said that. Definitely a childish person.

"No, I don't-"

He was quickly cut off by the brunette as she took off, shouting at him. "Last one there buys the winner lunch!"

The male one shook his head as he watched the girl run off. "Tch... Hanji, why are you this childish? Sometimes I just wanna teach you a lesson..." The brunette's name must've been Hanji... she was the only brunette around and that the boy was only speaking to her.

Who was he? Before we could come out of the darkness, he started to walk, quickly. He didn't bother to look at us, even when we popped out, waving our hands and everything. "We missed them." Eren says, looking at me. "Armin, what time is it?"

"Um..." Checking the watch on my arm, I gasped. "Uh... Eren? I think we need to run..."

"Why?"

"It's 8:17... school starts at 8:30. It should take us 10 minutes to-"

Without another word, Eren takes my arm and Mikasa's, and started to run. I felt that I was dead weight, so I started to run with my legs. I never felt this way as we ran. Never had my heart pounding this fast, never having my breath run out this quickly, or having sweat drip down.

I looked ahead, searching for that boy we saw earlier, but he was out of sight. I scanned every alley as we ran passed them, no sign... how did he run that fast when we're running at top speed?

Mikasa was practically dragging Eren behind and I was at least 6 feet behind them. With every step that landed on the concrete, I fell tired. My brain wanted me to stop, to take a breath or two. But then... they started to go faster, or was I going slower? I couldn't take it anymore... I tripped over a stick on the ground, collapsing to the ground.

As I collapsed, my knee was scraped against the rocky surface of the road, leaving it bloody. I laid their, examining the damage done to my knee, overreacting.

"Hey." I looked up to see a girl, about my age. Her blonde hair was up in this weird bun and her blue eyes looked dully at me. She held out her hand, "Need some help?"

I nodded, taking her hand. "Yeah..."

"If you want, I can give you a ride." Her words were cold, but I felt emotions behind them. She really didn't want to leave me behind, not like this.

"Please..." I begged her as I followed her. I should've went with Eren and Mikasa, but this girl... she was kind and helpful...

"Follow me."

I did what she told me, and she takes me to the front of her house. Two people were out by a car, holding backpacks in their hands. One had broad shoulders with blonde hair and blue eyes. Was he this girl's brother? The other wasn't related to them, for sure. Unusually tall for his age, dark brown hair, almost black... who seemed nervous to be here.

The girl spoke to them, strong and boldly, "We're taking this kid with us to school."

"Does he even go to our school?" The blonde boy asks, looking at me weirdly, like he was examining me.

"I-I do! Rose Junior High? Yeah, I go there." I say, quickly covering for the girl.

The blonde boy laughs, "Heh, name's Reiner. Yours?"

"Armin."

"Armin... nice name." He points to the tall boy, "That's Bertholdt, and I see you met Annie."

Annie... I turned over to the girl, finally knowing her name. It felt... weird. Weird about knowing her name... like I heard it before. Maybe I know her name from elementary school- no, it was a small school... I would've heard about a cute girl like her there...

But then... Bertholdt was staring at me. His pale green eyes stared at me, giving me this warning, 'Stay away from her.'

Annie took my arm, which probably made Bertholdt growl in anger, "Come on, we're gonna be late if we don't hurry."

"Okay."

I enter the van, sitting in the back with Annie still holding my arm. Reiner and Bertholdt followed after us and sat in front. A young woman, possibly Annie's and Reiner's mom, was starting the van. Before I knew it, we were out of the driveway and onward to school.

"So... Annie..." It was so embarrassing to talk to her. I felt my cheeks turning warm, possibly pink as well. You and you're brother get along well?"

"Brother? I don't have one." She responds.

"But-"

Reiner turned around, smirking as he sees me, "You think Annie and I are related?"

"Aren't you guys related?"

"No... we're not. I'm one of her closest friends friends, along with Bertholdt."

Ever feel that you made a stupid mistake? Well... I felt stupid... stupid that I thought that those two were related. But they looked so similar... similar hair and eye colors... ugh, I should stop assuming things. It's a terrible habit of mine.

Music played while we sat in silence. I didn't want to make another mistake... 

"We're here." Annie says coldly as the van stops. Pre-teens were walking and talking, on their way to class.

After the guys got out, I got out, holding Annie's arm. Bertholdt gave me that stare again, so I released it. No need to get into a fight that I would never win. I turned to the woman who drove, "Thank you, Mrs..."

She giggles, "Braun. I'm Reiner's mother." She leaves once I properly thanked her and I started to wait.

Annie noticed, so she walked over to me. Her eyes were soft, unlike earlier... "You waiting for somebody or..."

"Yeah... I left behind my two friends, Eren and Mikasa..."

When she sighed, it sounded... sorrowful... "I'll wait here with you, Armin." She sits next to me, looking out as well. It was impossible for me to not look at her... she was... cute, strong, and powerful, like a tigress. No, a lioness... "Armin, can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing."

Her eyes darted away from the view to the key-chain that was hanging on my backpack. It was something that Eren designed for me... said it came to him in a dream. He said how it seemed so realistic, like he was in a horror movie. People were dying, his close friends, and he was the monster. Eren told me that there was something there that inspired him... a pair of wings. They were two different colors, the left wing was under the white wing on the right... and it was blue. In the dream, Eren said that the people there who wore it as their symbol called it, The Wings of Freedom.

"Did we meet before?"

"No... I don't believe that we have... why?"

Once more, she sighed, "It feels that... that I met you before... but if I recall, I never met you. Do you have that kind of feeling?"

Smiling, I finally felt that I wasn't alone. "Yeah, I had it when I saw you." Her eyes changed into this killer look, and I surrendered to that. There's no way I would mess with her... she could beat me into a pulp. "I-I didn't mean it like that! W-When I saw you... well, it felt that I met you before, like you said. It felt like... déjà vu..."

"Déjà vu, huh?"

"Yeah..." Then, something struck me. I remember something what my parents told me when they passed away. Something about reincarnation. They told me that reincarnation happens when you die and you want to be reborn into the world. Sometimes, you get memories from past life, giving this feeling of déjà vu. Did I meet Annie before dying?

Annie looks at me weirdly, "What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?"

"You were just laughing softly at yourself. Why?"

Hoping I won't make a fool outta myself, I said my thoughts. "Thisdéjà vu talk reminded me of reincarnation that my parents once told me... do you think we met in a previous life?"

She chuckles softly, one of the most beautiful things I ever heard... next to bird chirping and the sound of waves crashing into the sand. Something so beautiful... "I dunno,  you think that?"

"I believe so."

"What class do you have first?"

I chuckle, remembering my schedule as clear as day. "I have science up first, along with Eren and Mikasa. You?"

"Huh... science as well. Which room?"

"121, why?"

"Okay, we have the same class as each other..." She smiles as she moves her bangs out of her face. "At least I know some other people rather than those jocks that hangs out with me."

"Jocks? You hate them? Why do you even let them hang around you?"

She chuckles softly, "They're the only friends I got... I rather hang out with you more than them. Hang out at lunch?"

I smiled, "Of course."

"I'm gonna head inside... see you in class later on, okay?" She gathers her things up as she spoke.

"Alright... I'll wait here for Eren and Mikasa."

"Don't wait too long."

I waited for another 4 minutes, seeing them run up the hill, panting and tired. 2 more minutes until the bell rings. Eren couldn't take it anymore, collapsing to the ground onto the soft green grass with the dew water on it. He panted hard, reaching for air while Mikasa stood above him, watching him wither in pain.

"H-How did... you... get here... before us...?" Eren questions as I picked up his heavy back.

I nearly collapsed to the ground because of that... but it reminds me of how strong Eren was... that he was stronger than me. He kept telling me that I'll be stronger... how could I? "I stumbled nearby someone's house... and they gave me a ride."

"That's... nice... of you... getting... a ride... while we... run..."

"I tried to tell you, but you guys were long gone..."

We walked into the school, and I saw those two people from this morning. Both blushing as they walked up the stairs with this tall, blonde man in front. They did attend to this junior high, and at least seniors, as I thought.

"Come on, we're gonna be late." I say, practically dragging Eren's bag while Mikasa did the same to Eren.

We entered the classroom, a second later, the bell rang. We weren't considered late... but still... it was embarrassing to see all those kids snickering and smirking at me. They never seem to stop, the echoes of their laughter. They just haunt you down... that's the effects of bullying... and it needed to stop.

Looking around, the only one that didn't laugh or snickered at us was Annie. She looked at me with sorrowful eyes with an empty seat next to her and an empty table behind her. Was she saving it for me?

Grateful for her help, I take a seat next to her, greeting her with a smile. Eren and Mikasa took their seats behind us... and it felt nice to be around her... this seemed like a great first day at school...