Attack On Titan Online (Attack on Titan Computer Game AU)

Chapter 8

Eren sighed frustratedly and got up from his chair.
"That son of a-"
"Eren! Come downstairs!" called his mother
He trudged down the steps and entered the kitchen. His father, Grisha Jaeger, who was a doctor at the local hospital, sat at the table reading the paper while his mother was washing a plate at the sink.
"Is everything alright? I heard a bit of crashing earlier, and how you were screaming..." asked Carla in a concerned tone
His father looked up from the paper
"Everything's fine", replied Eren as he sat down at the kitchen table
"Then what was that crashing?"
"I was just", he began, then lowered his voice to mutter the last part, "kicking a bin around..."
"What?"
"Just kicking a bin around"
His mother sighed
"Why on earth were you doing that?"
"Annoyed", he mumbled
His mother was about to speak up again when the sound of paper hitting the floor after coming through the letterbox sounded. She left to go and collect the post, leaving the two males alone.
"What were you annoyed about?" asked Eren's father
"It's just a game, nothing serious", replied Eren
"You know, if you're getting so annoyed that you're attacking the furniture about unimportant things like games, I think it would be best to talk to someone about it"
"What do you mean?"
Grisha folded up the newspaper and set it down on the table.
"Your mother and I know about the fights at school. Your anger-issue is beginning to get out of control and we think it's best for you to see someone about it"
Before Eren could reply, he was interrupted by his mother yelling from the corridor.
"Eren! What's this!?" said Carla as she swiftly entered the kitchen and dropped an open envelope on the table.
Eren's heart dropped into his stomach when he realised what it was. He opened his mouth to speak when his mother interrupted him again
"The army?! Do you really think we'd allow this? Don't you know how many people die out there!"
"Please just let me explain!" said Eren in reply
Even though he knew his parents wouldn't want him to join, Eren had always dreamt of joining the army when he was older. The soldiers were heroes to him, he thought they were so brave and awesome fighting for his country.
"Yes, I applied for the army. You know I've always wanted to do this"
"You think we'd just let you be sent to your death like that?"
"No, I think you'd let me help protect our country!" said Eren as he began to raise his voice
"No way. I won't allow it. Grisha, talk some sense into him"
Eren's father, who had been silent since his wife had entered the room, cleared his throat as he prepared to speak.
"Eren", he said calmly, "Why do you want to join the army?"
"I want to see what it's like out there!" Eren replied, "And, if no-one continues their fight then the all the casualties so far would be in vain! They would have died for nothing!"
"I see", said Grisha as he stood up and began walking to the front door
"Where are you going? You need to talk sense into him!" Carla called after him
"Carla, human curiosity isn't something that can be restrained by a lecture. Now, I must go and catch my train. I'll see you all when I get back", said Grisha as he waved goodbye to his family
"Bye Dad!" called Eren
"Be back soon!" called Carla
As soon as the door closed Carla turned around to face Eren.
"I'm still not letting you join the army"
"What?!?!" yelled Eren
"I just", Carla sighed before pulling out a chair and sitting down next to him, "I don't want to lose you"
Her eyes were pleading, and Eren knew that if he continued arguing it would just upset her more.
"Don't worry mum", said Eren, lowering his voice to a softer tone, "You're not going to lose me"
"Good", smiled Carla as she pulled Eren into a hug
He was still determined to join the army, but bringing it up again would only make matters worse.
The school day was just like any other day for Eren, except he couldn't stop thinking about that game and the friends (and enemies) he had made on it. His blood boiled when he thought of Jean.
'The cocky bastard...' Eren thought as he was eating his lunch, 'It's not as if I like Mikasa or anything, because I don't. I just hate the thought of him being with her after kicking up such a fuss when she was teaming with me'
Eren was quickly brought back to his senses when one of the other boys that were at his table pointed out that he'd been staring angrily at a plate of macaroni and cheese for the past five minutes. He quickly finished his lunch and got out of his seat to take his tray to the counter. He was almost there when he crashed into someone else, causing both of them to drop their trays.
"Hey watch where you're-" Eren began, but then stopped when he saw who he had knocked into
Looking down because they were shorter than him, Eren found himself looking into the eyes of a... Girl?
"Sorry!" the girl apologised
But there was something different about this girl, it was her voice. It was slightly lower than most girls voices, also the clothes they were wearing...
'No way', thought Eren, 'It's a boy?!'
"Oh, um", Eren was brought back to reality when he realised that he had been staring at this boy, and had gone slightly red because he felt silly for mistaking him for a girl, "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going", apologised Eren
The boy looked a bit surprised at first, but then they smiled. And to Eren, it was one of the cutest smiles ever.
"It's alright. These things happen, and usually to me"
"Here, I'll get these", said Eren as he knelt down to pick up the dropped trays that had been forgotten about in that brief moment
"Oh, thank you"
"I'm Eren by the way", he said as he straightened up, holding both the trays
"I'm Armin"
They stood there awkwardly, neither of them knowing quite what to say.
"I-I'll put the trays away", said Eren hurriedly as he made a quick exit with both trays
He wanted to get away quickly so that nobody could see he had gone red.
After clearing and putting away both his Armin's trays, he looked back and to his surprise saw that Armin was still standing there where he had left him.
"Ah, you're back!" said Armin with a smile when Eren returned
"Yeah, um, let's go", said Eren as he began walking
Armin happily followed him. It looked like Eren was going to be stuck with Armin tagging along with him for the rest of the lunch break.
Not that Eren minded, of course.