Chapter Text
Eren blinked himself awake in the watery light of an early morning as it seeped through the blinds.
It would soon be his and Mikasa's second year of being at the orphanage, and Armin's first. It felt like such a stroke of luck that Armin ended up with his closest friends after the death of his grandfather, even though it meant ending up in an orphanage.
Eren squeezed his eyes shut again and attempted to stretch the sleep out of his body, but he quickly realised that two warm bodies pressed into him on the bed, rendering him stuck.
Mikasa was on his left, her head right next to his and her arms around his neck. Armin was on his right, curled up like a kitten, with his head resting on Eren's chest.
Eren sighed, partially miffed with his predicament, but also partially fond of his friends.
As his stomach started making him more aware of its emptiness, he decided to attempt an escape. But predictably, the ever-vigilant Mikasa was the first to awaken as he started wriggling out of the human jigsaw puzzle.
"Where are you going?" She asked softly. The kind of softness she only reserved for her two closest friends.
"Breakfast." Eren stated simply, as he gently eased Armin's head onto the mattress before scrambling off the bed.
"It's a bit early." Mikasa observed.
"Exactly. They might still be serving those early morning biscuits, the other kids are always so fast to scoff them all up."
Mikasa nodded in understanding, before turning to gently shake Armin awake. Then she adjusted the scarf that sat loosely around her neck, and went to the bathroom to get changed.
They were supposed to have separate rooms, but the trio were so close and determined to look after one another, that they ignored the rules and slept in a pile every night.
They reached the canteen As the building began to stir with more liveliness, people were waking up and preparing for the day, but it was still reasonably empty.
There were indeed biscuits being served with breakfast, and after grabbing three of them along with some bread and butter, Eren was satisfied.
"I'm getting tired of fighting for biscuits and eating with strangers every day." Armin sighed, glancing around as they all sat down with food at their usual table, tucked in one corner of the room. There were only a handful of other kids in the canteen so far, but the noise level was rising. The tumult of the crowd could get pretty obnoxious, as the numbers grew.
"We'll get out of here eventually. I've planned like, fifteen escape routes." Eren pointed out proudly.
Armin clicked his tongue. "We can't escape, Eren, we'd have nowhere to go. We need to get adopted."
"Together." Mikasa emphasised.
"Who's gonna adopt three twelve year olds at once? We'd have better luck running away. We could find a house and share the chores and never need any dumb adults." Eren huffed before sinking his teeth into a biscuit.
Armin shook his head, but there was a small smile on his face. "That would never work, they'd catch us eventually, or we'd struggle too much to get jobs and groceries." His voice softened a little, and he picked at his slice of bread. "Though I wouldn't mind living like that, in an ideal world."
"I would end up doing most of the chores." Mikasa said in her usual monotone, but her close friends knew her well, and they could tell she was being light-hearted.
"I can do chores!" Eren insisted.
Armin chuckled. "Only when you want to, but you never want to."
"I want to sometimes..." Eren mumbled around his biscuit. He knew he couldn't exactly defend himself. He just found chores boring, especially when there are games to play and movies to watch.
"Where would we live in this 'ideal world'?" Asked Mikasa.
"Oh! Oh! I know!" Armin exclaimed. "I read about a really cool place in a book yesterday, can I show it to you guys?" His eyes glinted with excitement.
"Sure." Mikasa smiled at Armin.
"After breakfast, please." Eren sighed.
_____
After the trio finished their breakfast, they followed Armin to the library. It was a small library, with only a few lines of bookshelves, but it was a quiet spot that had some of the comfiest chairs in the whole building. Said comfy chairs had luckily not been colonised by other kids yet, so Eren and Mikasa settled down while Armin grabbed a hefty brick of a book and carried it over.
"So basically, there are some places in the world where the ocean literally glows!" Armin had sat down with them and flicked to a page in the book before holding it up to his friends triumphantly.
The photos showed beaches at twilight, but where the waves crashed and rolled, they glowed a sparkling bright blue like some kind of enchanted sea foam.
"It's called bioluminescence, and it's caused by little sea plankton, who flash a bright colour when disturbed by movement. Apparently they do it to confuse predators." Armin was practically glowing like plankton himself, as he rambled excitedly about all the facts he'd learned.
"Wow Armin, that's actually pretty cool." Eren marvelled at the pictures of foreign oceans that sparkled brighter than starlight. He always enjoyed hearing Armin ramble about his interests, always managing to make anything seem incredibly interesting.
Unfortunately, the trio's fun didn't last long. They were distracted by their conversation, and only noticed the three other kids in the library that had strode right up to them when it was too late.
"What are you losers reading?" Sneered the leader of the group. He was a lanky young teenager named Liam, with a greasy mop of dark hair and a pair of sharp eyes.
He snatched the book roughly from Armin's hands and started examining it like one would a dirty sock.
Eren leapt to his feet immediately.
"Give that back, asshole." He snapped.
"Or what? Are you gonna cry?" Liam dangled the book in front of Eren's face like he was a dog.
"You can have the book, just leave us alone, please" Armin had stood and spoke calmly, trying to de-escalate the situation. Mikasa stood too, but she just watched with her keen, dark eyes.
"Pfft. I don't want your nerdy shit, anyway." Liam scoffed, not taking his eyes off Eren, who was glaring with ire. He dropped the book unceremoniously at Eren's feet, which bent the pages. "Well? Fetch it."
"I'm not a fucking dog." Eren snarled.
"Oh really? Then why do you always follow your friends around like a good boy?" Liam taunted in a mocking tone that made his two lackeys chuckle.
Venomous frustration burned beneath Eren's fingertips. These gasbags were all the same, picking on others for a reaction. Maybe they had some deep seeded issues which made them the way they are, but that didn't matter much when you were on the receiving end of their verbal jabs.
Eren snorted an angry puff of hot air and clenched his hands into tight fists, trying to quell his emotions. He felt Mikasa's stare piercing through his back.
"You heard Armin. Just piss off and leave us alone." He growled through clenched teeth.
"Or what?" Liam stepped closer, until his face was inches away, and Eren tried not to flinch from his warm breath. "You gonna do something about it?" He poked Eren hard on the chest as he addressed him, clearly trying to get a rise out of the boy.
Armin stepped in, trying to encourage them to separate. "Please! Just leave us be, we didn't do anything to you, and if you want something from us just ask or go elsewhere, you aren't benefiting from doing this."
"Hey I'm not talking to you, wimp." Liam shoved Armin back with one hand, making him stumble and a squeak of surprise passed from his lips.
Something inside Eren snapped. "Don't touch him!" He bellowed, pushing Liam backwards, maybe a little harder than necessary.
That's when hell broke loose. Liam regained balance quickly, and threw a punch at Eren, cussing him out all the while. Eren staggered but swung around to return the strike. Mikasa had swooped in, swift and cunning as a raven, and probably would have successfully stopped the fight if it wasn't for Liam's buddies. One guy tried to grab her, but she had him on the floor in a matter of seconds. The other tried to swing his fist, but she snatched up his arm and twisted it behind his back.
Just as the fight started, Armin sprinted over to some nearby orphanage staff who had stepped into the room to gossip with the librarian.
Eren was on top of Liam, they were grappling like animals and bleeding from their mouths and noses when the staff pulled them apart.
Eren writhed in the grip of the adults, still brimming with hatred, while Liam immediately became the teary victim, bemoaning to the staff about his pain and the crazy kid who just attacked him for no reason.
Mikasa ran towards Eren, but she was blocked by the staff as they practically dragged him out the door. By the killing look in her eyes, it's conceivable she might have planned to knock the adults down too, just to get to Eren. But Armin put a reassuring hand on her arm.
"They won't hurt him. Let's just follow, for now." He reasoned.
Mikasa seemed to calm down minutely, but she kept a fast pace as the two trailed after Eren, leaving behind the scene in the library with Liam and his gang, still waxing poetic sob stories to the remaining staff.
Once the haze of adrenaline began to dissipate, Eren began to feel weary and very sore. He stopped struggling with such fervour, a kind of reserved obedience overcame him as he saw no option other than to let himself be manhandled down the corridor.
He stared blankly at the smooth, pale floor that he dragged his feet across. He held a quiet indignation in his chest that he usually felt after a fight or argument. It was a determination to not let anyone make him feel ashamed of his actions. He did what he did, and there was no taking it back. Besides, it wasn't entirely his fault. He wasn't proud of what he'd done, of course, but he wouldn't let these grown-ups make him feel small if they decided to tell him off. They didn't understand. They never understand. How could they stand and berate him like they have full authority and moral high ground, just by the circumstance of being older? And yet, they still held a certain amount of power over him, from the fact that he was physically smaller, and legally under their care. So he held his firm sense of righteousness in his heart like a lifeline, and outwardly showed a mock tameness, just to let his unwanted caretakers do as they saw fit, so he could get away from them again as soon as possible.
They stopped in front of a door to an office, as soon as Eren recognised it, he felt his stomach drop and he had to suppress a deep groan. He knew well the conceited old nuisance who took residence here, she frequently decided to make herself the bane of his existence.
The door was opened and Eren was pushed in alone. He kept his stance rigid and his eyes glued to the faded grey carpet, refusing to look at the woman who loomed up from behind a desk in front of him.
He heard the door click as it was shut behind him.
It was just the two of them, now.
"Yeager..." She slurred his name with vitriol, like it tasted foul on her tongue.
Eren remained frozen.
"Look at me, boy. What have you done?" She snarled her words without a drop of sympathy. It was evident that she'd decided he was to blame, without even hearing the story.
Eren dragged his eyes upwards to meet hers. She was a stout, puggish sort of lady in her forties, with what seemed to be a permanent glower on her countenance. Her name was Mrs Morrison. Somehow she managed to retain a position in an orphanage, despite clearly having an animosity towards children. Perhaps it was because she was more than willing to deal with rule breakers and problem children, the other staff only had to whisk the kid into her personal office and then clean their hands of the situation. Some of the carers were more sympathetic, but many just took the easy way out, and left the lambs to the lion's den.
Eren gruffly wiped at some blood that was still dripping from his nose. His cuts and bruises were really starting to sting now, but he'd be damned if he was going to show his pain and weakness in front of this harpy.
"Speak boy, I don't have all day." She snorted.
"Liam started it. He was making fun of my friends for no reason." Eren's voice was small.
"Liam? Liam Cowan? But that boy is so polite and well behaved. While you, on the other hand, have a history of getting yourself into fights. Isn't that true?" She leaned her hulking figure over the desk and glared down at Eren.
Eren averted his eyes to stare at the carpet again. He didn't trust himself not to snap and say something he might regret, if he had to keep looking at the imperious glint in her eyes.
"Yes, miss."
"And now you've gone and gotten into another one. You know it's against the rules, you can't just start punching people you don't like." She scoffed.
Eren chewed on his tongue to keep any bitter words behind his teeth. "Yes miss."
"I'm going to have to take action to stop this kind of behaviour, so I'm booking you an appointment with our behavioural therapist. The room is B06, at 1pm next monday. In the meantime, if I hear word that you've strayed even one hair from the rules you're supposed to follow, I will not hesitate to give you a harsher punishment. Have I made myself clear?"
Eren choked out one final "Yes, miss."
"Good. Now go to the nurse and get that muck cleaned off your face."
When Eren stepped outside the office, Amin and Mikasa, who had been sitting on the floor, jumped up and ran to him.
"Eren! Are you okay? What happened?" Armin's eyebrows were creased with concern. Mikasa didn't speak, but she was examining Eren up and down, taking his face in her hands and tilting it towards the fluorescent lights to see all of his injuries.
"Come." She grabbed his hand and pulled him quickly towards the nearest bathroom, Armin followed them.
Luckily the bathroom was empty. Mikasa immediately got to work wetting a handful of paper towels under the tap, and then gently wiping away the blood that was starting to dry on Eren's face.
"You should probably go to the nurse for that." Armin pointed out.
Eren snorted in displeasure at the idea. "I've had enough of adults grabbing me and telling me what to do for one day." He huffed, then winced as Mikasa pressed a little too hard against a bruise that was forming on his cheek. She shot him an apologetic look.
Armin shrugged and leaned against the tiled wall. "What did Mrs Morrison say to you, anyway?"
Eren gave a weary sigh. "Apparently I have to go to therapy now, starting next week."
"Well. It could have been worse." Armin smiled softly, trying to be reassuring.
Mikasa nodded. "Yes, it could have been. You need to be more careful, Eren." She moved from his face to his hands. The cold, damp paper felt relieving against his aching knuckles.
Eren bowed his head. "I know. I'm sorry, I just hate watching people bully you guys like that, and then trying to restrain myself from doing anything about it."
Armin shifted closer so he could bump his shoulder against Eren's in a friendly gesture. "Well we hate watching you get beat up. And besides, if you keep getting in trouble, they might take you away." A shadow cast over his eyes, and Mikasa froze for a moment, before continuing her work. It was clear they were distressed by the very idea. Eren understood, he himself felt a cold pit form in his stomach. "You know, it's already obvious that Mrs Morrison doesn't like you." Armin continued.
"Hah. That's an understatement." Eren grumbled coldly. "I think she's been trying to skewer me with her stare for weeks. It doesn't matter, though. I'd never let her take me away from you two. Never."
"Alright, I think I'm done." Mikasa threw the bloody paper towels in the bin. "Do you have any other injuries? Are you in a lot of pain?" She patted down Eren's arms and sides, fussing over him and checking for damage.
Eren grabbed her arms gently to stop her. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I just wanna go back to our room. I'm tired, and sick of people. Except you guys, of course."
Mikasa nodded, and they all left the bathroom. The sun was reaching the summit of its arc as it moved sluggishly through the sky, flooding its light through the many windows of the winding corridors. It was approaching lunchtime. There was a daily schedule, with meal times and some activities going on for the children, but Eren, Mikasa and Armin didn't care. They stuck together, and followed their own rules.
Just as they reached the door to their room, Armin stopped abruptly. "You two go in, I'll be right with you." Then he started hurrying off down the corridor.
"Where are you going?" Called Eren.
"You'll see!" Came the inexplicable reply.
Eren and Mikasa exchanged a puzzled glance, but headed into their room, anyway.
They made a sort of nest with pillows and blankets around the headboard of the bed. As they settled in and got comfortable, Eren felt a blanket get draped around his shoulders.
"Are you warm enough?" Mikasa was looking him up and down with the usual concern and attentiveness she held for her friends, probably amplified by the fact that Eren's face was still bruised, and he sure as hell wasn't hiding his weary exhaustion.
It was a little cold. Outside, the leaves of the trees were already starting to bathe in the fiery red shades of autumn, and the air was beginning to nip at any exposed skin with icy teeth. The orphanage had heating, but the warmth didn't always reach the far rooms, like the one Eren, Armin and Mikasa occupied. So Eren accepted the blanket gratefully. He then watched Mikasa tucking herself in for a moment, before reaching up and gently securing the scarf around her neck. The one she always wore, after Eren gave it to her several years ago. It had become a great comfort to her, and a symbol of their bond. Her expression always bloomed with deep appreciation and love when Eren wrapped it or fixed it around her, and today was no exception.
The duo glanced up as the door creaked. Armin shuffled in, holding a poorly disguised lump underneath his jacket.
"What have you got there, Armin?" Eren asked as he made room on the bed for his friend to join them.
Armin squeezed in with them before revealing what turned out to be a stash of food, consisting of a pack of chips, two apples, a muffin, and a cookie. "I thought I'd get us some lunch."
Mikasa smiled warmly and Eren laughed. "You're not even allowed to leave the canteen with food! How did you sneak all this through the doors?" He asked, eagerly going for the chips.
"I have my ways." Armin giggled. They divided the food amongst the three of them, all distress and worry was forgotten, in the little bubble of warmth and safety they created for themselves.