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Word Counnt: 2420

"Sick undercut,
mind if I give it
an uppercut?"

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    GERMAN LITERATURE. Ever since you were little your parents had you study many different languages since the company your parents owned often did business overseas. One day you'd be taking over the group and with that heavy burden on your shoulders, you could barely enjoy your childhood. Day after day, you'd be either at a study academy or stuck in your room studying.

Pottery was another skill you were required to have if you were to take over for your father. You were extremely against his decisions because there was a person who he should've prioritized over you. Your older brother, Kouji L/N. There had always been a rift between you and your brother growing up. You never fully understood why but at the age of sixteen he moved into his own apartment.

"It's always your fault our mother is getting sick."

"She cares for you too much. So does dad."

You could recall those words he had told you vividly. The main point of you studying abroad was to spend time away from your mother so she could heal without having to think about you. You wouldn't cry, you'd stop and think. You wouldn't talk back. You were raised not to raise your voice at your older brother.

When your parents weren't home he'd chastise you, repeatedly reminding you that you were the reason why mom was sick all the time. Being naïve you totally believed him. Why? Because he was your older brother. This must've been a different form of love but instead of feeling warm, it felt cold. You continued to smile at him, hoping one day the rift between you two would come to a close.

At the sudden stinging pain traveling up your ankle, you were snapped out of your thoughts. You inhaled sharply and bit down on your lower lip.

"Jean!" Marco frowned, going down on one knee to examine your ankle. "Be a little more gentle? It's no wonder Mikasa can't stand you sometimes."

"Tch. I realized that Mikasa is totally way too into me and that's just a turn-off, you know?." The ash-brown haired boy chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "On the other hand Y/N might be my new Mikasa. So how about after this, let's head back to Mi Casa?"

"Wow." A small laugh escaped your slightly parted lips. You hated yourself, but you found it funny. It was an idiotic pun. "That's disgusting."

Jean's face lit up at your reaction. Suddenly his ego was skyrocketing. He pointed at your face with a confident grin, "You laughed at it! Trust me Y/N, eventually you'll open up to me and laugh at ALL my jokes."

You swatted his hand away and rolled your eyes. "Shut up Kirstein."

"J-E-A-N." He corrected you pursing his lips into a thin line. "You're allowed to talk to me casually because starting today, I choose you as my new friend."

"How charming." You slipped all your belongings into your bag before got up, following Marco out of the room. Leaving Jean rambling on his own.

"Hey!" He swung his bag over his shoulders, jumping over rows of seats to catch up to you.

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It was around noon when Marco brought you over the the mess hall and led you to a table to sit at. You were surprised with how almost all the seats were taken considering how big it was. At the end of the table you spotted the 'four-eyes' girl and Levi sitting across from each other. Levi ate silently while she rambled on and on about the anatomy of fictional Titans she had read about in a book.

"Everyone!" Marco clapped his hands to gather all of their attention. "I'm sure you remember Y/N from this morning at the plaza."

They all stopped what they were doing and stared at you. You rubbed your arm awkwardly and offered them all a small smile. "Hi."

One by one, they introduced themselves. You sat next to a blond boy with large blue eyes. His voice wasn't as deep as the others but you actually found it quite delightful. He was shy and would often bring up the Ocean in his conversations.

Son of the Arlert family. Unfortunately his parents had passed early on in his life, leaving his grandfather to raise him. It didn't affect him as much since he was very young when it happened. They were on their way to pick him up from school to head to the beach but didn't make it.

"I've never thought about going to the ocean since then, but it's funny I talk about it so much. Isn't it?"  He scratched at his nape, a sheepish smile curling upon his lips.

Your mouth formed into a shape of an 'o' at his words. A part of you wanted to show sympathy for him but you figured doing that would only make him feel uncomfortable.

"It's gorgeous." Without realizing, you were getting lost in his blue irises.

Armin released an inaudible gasp, turning a light shade of red. He waved his hand in front of your face, "You're staring.. are you okay?"

"He's right." Jean's pushed himself between the two of you, creating a space for himself. Leaving his face only inches away from yours.

You widened your eyes in shock when you had finally been knocked from your daze. "What do you think you're doing?!" You pushed him back, causing a domino effect with those behind him.

"I knew I was handsome but I didn't expect being that close would shock you." He rubbed his thumb across his jawline, he was thoroughly impressed with your reaction. "You're falling for me aren't you?"

"You brats, this isn't a zoo! God Hanji you're not making it any better by shouting all this nonsense." Levi brushed his dark strands of hair back, releasing an agitated sigh. "Erwin would definitely beat all your asses if he saw this mess."

The boy who went by the name Moblit bobbed his head in agreement to what he said. He furrowed his eyebrows at the brunette with glasses, who was currently stuffing her face with bread. "He's right Hanji. You're too obsessed with whatever these Titans are."

The entire mess hall grew silent at the Ackermans voice. Even if it wasn't directed towards them, they all simmered down. Levi threw his utensils towards Jean, sending him a menacing glare. "Act tolerable for once Kirstein."

"Short-stacks thinks he's all that." Mikasa snorted, putting her hands behind her head.

"Mikasa!" Eren clasped his hand over the girls mouth.

"Knock some sense into her will you Jaeger?" Levi wiped his hands with his handkerchief before leaving the table, Moblit and Hanji trailing behind him.

You mentally scolded yourself for losing it in front of the upper class-men. Especially Levi since he kept tabs on you for your father back in Japan. Just when you thought it would be an easy-going semester, everything began to spiral into disaster.

After school the head-master of the campus forced everyone involved to clean the mess hall. Although it was a prestigious school, there were still rules. It was a private school with its own rules. Levi was there to keep watch on all of you, occasionally marking down people for slacking off.

"This isn't middle school.." You muttered, pushing the mop across the floor.

"Right? Sometimes that man is intolerable. The audacity he has to tell me to act tolerable." Jean wiped his forehead and pulled down the bandana over his mouth.

"Tell me you're joking before I stick this mop up your ass." You chuckled, delicately raising an eyebrow at him.

He shook his head with a dumbfounded expression. "What makes you think— ouch!"

Before he could finish his statement you pinched the flesh on the back of his hand. "Stop talking or I'll lose my mind."

"Kirstein, L/N! We'll be having a nice talk after this." Levi's voice echoed across the hall, leaving the both of you frozen in shock. He marked both of your names of the paper.

You sighed with irritation before proceeding to mop the floor, this time you did it with much more vigor. Attending an all-girls school in Japan never got you in this much trouble. Probably because all of them were eloquent and daughters of rich families, just like you. You never thought about how much of a nuisance boys could be.

"Hey," Marco gently grabbed your arm, leaning in close to your ear. "Don't overdo it or we'll have to wax the floor again. Also, the wrinkles on your face tell me that something is bothering you." He whispered before continuing on to wipe each bench with a sanitary wipe.

You looked down at your feet, softly exhaling. "I'm alright."

At least there was Marco to keep you in line. It was only the first day and you already gotten in trouble. It was already half-past five and you were beginning to worry because your dog had never been alone for this long.

"Y/N you let this moron get to your head too easily." Levi tapped his foot on the floor, glaring at both of his under class-men. "You know better than to act this way, you're from a family of aristocrats. And you Kirstein. I thought you would've stopped causing trouble around school by the time you reached college."

For what felt like hours he continued to scold you and Jean. In reality it was only fifteen minutes of his nonstop chastising. The entire time Jean's focus was on you but you were too scared to even look away from Levi's face as he was talking.

Levi narrowed his view onto the taller boy and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Y/N you're dismissed. After you drop off Y/N you'll be dismissed as well. I have to meet with my study group."

"Drop?" Your jaw dropped.

"Her?" Jean's did as well.

"Off?" You both finished off your thoughts simultaneously.

The smaller man turned his back on you and Jean, slowly walking further and further away. "I don't want any excuses. While you're at it apologize to each other."

In the end, you ended up with the person you disliked the most. He was the bane of your existence at this school and was so chaotic compared to his friend Marco. You wanted to go home and rant to your mother but whenever you thought of your mother, the image of her bed-ridden in the hospital always flashed through your mind.

Enduring this meant that you'd probably be able to wrap your arms around her without the IV tubes getting in the way. It was only for a semester anyways.

You trailed close behind Jean, squinting your eyes every second to make sure you were following the right person. In the dark your eyes were close to useless, you hadn't upgraded your prescriptions in a while and you were paying for it. As long as you could see that undercut you were fine.

Jean whipped his key out and approached a black motorcycle with white accents around the grip. He picked up a helmet and chucked it your away.

You grunted in slight pain at the heavy force that suddenly pressed against your stomach. You felt your jaw nearly drop to the ground. "A motorcycle?"

He met your gaze with a small smirk growing on his face. "Yeah, she's my pride and joy." He patted the seat with joy. "Don't be jealous though. She's just an inanimate object." He winked.

A loud groan escaped your throat as you put on the helmet. "There's nothing to be jealous about. Now how do I ride this thing with you? I've seen it in movies but come on now. Tell me how."

Jean straddled the leather seat and motioned his hand for you to sit behind him. "Just sit down with your legs dangling on one side."

You did just as he said, awkwardly shifting closer to his back. You were at a lost for words, you couldn't even manage to look at him. The warmth of his body immediately transferred to yours. It helped you calm down a bit.

"Don't be shy Y/N. This is for your own safety too." He snickered, grabbing both your arms and wrapping in around his waist. "Now you hold on tight, okay? I don't want you flying off."

You nodded silently and tightened your arms around his waist, leaning your head against his corduroy jacket. For some reason you heart could not stop pounding in your chest. Your cheeks felt warm too. For the entire ride you stayed quiet, as so did Jean.

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As soon as you entered the front door of your apartment you were greeted with a horrific sight. You stepped back, eyes enlarged with pure shock. The white husky pranced up to you with its tongue hanging out with pride. It barked gleefully and brought you a pillow he had managed to rip through.

"Woah." Jean's raised both his eyebrows at the scene. "Your dog completely wrecked this place."

"Dad is going to kill me!" You cried out in fear as you scrambled to the floor, picking up glass shards from a wine glass the dog had managed to knock over. You winced as a stinging sensation traveled to your brain. You looked at your hand and witnessed the crimson fluids come out of a wound from a piece of glass.

Jean immediately kneeled beside you, gently grabbing your arm. He sent you a small glare, "Don't you know how sharp glass shards are?" Without hesitation, he took the navy blue handkerchief in his pocket and wrapped it around your hand.

"I know that. I was just in a state of panic." You sighed with frustration evident in your voice.

"I'll help you out." Jean gently placed his hands on your shoulders and pulled you back to your feet. "Where do you keep a broom around here?" His eyes carefully surveyed the living room.

"Inside the bathroom." You pointed at the door next to the entrance. Then you brought your gaze over to Yuki. "Just this morning you were acting like such an angel."

"Let's get cleaning before it gets too late." Jean pulled out all the cleaning supplies he could find and laid it out on the island counter.

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authors note;
just.. jean brain-rot