Snk Various x Reader | Lemon

Chapter 17: A Loud Response

I despised sitting in class for four hours straight. The commander's voice never once changed from its monotone, making everyone feel as if they were about to fall asleep. But finally, once class was over, it was the time of day that I had been waiting for, ever so patiently. Lunch and free period. It was the best four hours of relaxation, before dinner. When the commander announced the end of his lesson, everyone stood up in unison and rushed out the door. I got up off of the bench, along with Armin and his friends. I walked through the crowd of my peers and through the door. Armin caught up to me and walked with me. I thanked him for letting me sit with him and his friends. He told me that class was boring and that I could sit with him whenever I wanted to.

I was quite hungry because I didn't eat much for breakfast since I was in a rush to get to Armin. I speed walked to the mess-hall trying to avoid the chaos by arriving there early. Once entering and getting food, Armin and I split paths. He, as he always did, sat with Eren and Mikasa while I sat on my own at the table in the corner of the room. I indulged in enjoying my well-deserved vegetable sandwich with a cup of water. I was beginning to adjust to the food that they served.

Once I finished my meal, I left my tray at my table. I didn't bother cleaning up because I was eager to get back to my cabin. I desired some serenity. As I walked outside I heard someone call out from behind me.

"Hey, Y/N!"

I turned to see Armin huffing and puffing, running up the hill toward me. "Hey, don't tire yourself out!" I yelled at him, stopping in my tracks so that he could catch up to me. "It's fine!" he tried to assure me. Once he approached me, I stood with him so that he could catch his breath. He wasn't the most athletic person. "Hey, are we spending free time together?" he asked me through a series of staggered pants. "There's no need to ask, we always do," I answered.

"Oh, okay."

I began to walk again, and he kept up with my pace. "Hey, um, you know that thing from the other night? Oh and the thing from that day I didn't want to tell you about?" he asked vaguely.

"Yes, what about them?"

"Well, I've decided that I want to talk to you about it. But only if you want to listen. I mean, not everyone wants to listen to my problems," he explained, sounding discouraged. "Sure, I'll listen. Are you sure that this is what you want? I don't want you to feel like I've pressured you into doing something that you don't want to do," I told him.

"I'm sure, I promise. This is my decision. I really need to get it off my chest because I've never been able to tell anyone the whole truth. I trust you more than most people."

"Alright, well, let's go then," I said, continuing down the separate pathway to my cabin.
Once we arrived at the said location, we walked up the steps and into my cabin. Both of us kicked off our shoes at the front door. I sat down on the couch and Armin did so, as well. I presumed that what I was about to get into would be a long story. I pulled down my pink blanket and lay it over our legs. After all, it was fall and it was getting cooler outside. Indoor heating hadn't been invented yet so the interior of buildings quickly became cold.

"So," I said, breaking the silence. "Uh, are you ready?" he asked. I looked at him strangely. "I'm ready, but are you? You're the one who said you wanted to talk to me about something," I replied. "O-Oh yeah. Uh, where do I start?" he rhetorically questioned himself.

"Back when I lived in the Shiganshina District, with Eren and Mikasa, nobody really knew what really went on in my life. I... I had a tough time. I mean, I got bullied by kids my age but I mean that's expected when you look like me. That's not really what I want to talk about, though."

Armin paused mid-sentence. His breath began to sound shaky.

"Most kids my age would hurt me but things weren't all that great at home. My parents were, at least how I see it, cruel toward me too."

He looked down at his fingers and fumbled them. I really didn't like the way the conversation was going but I couldn't stop him there because I wanted to be a good, understanding friend. I reminded myself to be compassionate towards him because confessing whatever this was was tough for him.

"They'd always laugh at me while I was changing clothes and call me a girl. It made me feel really self-conscious. But it wasn't really their words that hurt me the most because, as I said, I was used to it. The beatings are what hurt me the most. Sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, they'd kick me in r-really painful places a-and beat me until I would lose consciousness. O-One time m-m-m-my m-mom broke my arm and told the doctor that it was because I jumped off of the roof."

Hearing this devastated me. I was stunned and could not fathom what I was hearing. I knew that this was going to be a train wreck. I nodded, showing him that I understood what he was saying.

"They did, at least I think, inappropriate things to me a-and they touched me places I really did not want to be touched."

His voice hitched and cracked. Tears began to gently roll down his soft little reddening cheeks. "They always told me that they wanted a boy, not a girl. They'd make me wear dresses when I went out with them. I was lucky that n-nobody I knew recognized me out there because I'd never hear the end of it. They um-"

His voice got tiny and he couldn't bear to speak anymore. He hid his face in his knees and sniffled. I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tightly. I rest my head on his shoulder and listened to his muffled cries. He wailed loudly. "You don't have to say anything else-" I began saying before I was pushed away from him, being interrupted. He looked up frantically and began to pull up his pant leg.

"I um- I have this scar on my leg. They were trying to cut it... a-and they cut my leg."

Sure enough, there was a massive scar on the inside of his left thigh. It looked really painful. "When did this happen? Does it still hurt?" I exclaimed in shock. "N-No... it was a long time ago," he told me, fading into silence. He had stopped crying. The poor boy had a traumatic childhood and people still picked on him. I had no clue how he was able to stay so strong and composed. He was so much stronger than he gave himself credit for.

"What happened to them- your parents," I asked him, out of the blue. "They left about a month before the Colossal Titan incident. I lived with my grandfather after they were gone," he answered. "How was that?" I interrogated further. "It was a bit better, although, he was old and couldn't take care of me. It wasn't all that different though, because I was still all alone. He died when the military sent that massive group of people into Wall Maria. It was a massacre. Now I have no one," he whimpered, wiping away tears with his fist.

"I'm so sorry. Please remember that you always have me, Armin. You're never alone," I muttered underneath my breath.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I do. If you don't leave me too."

He sniffled and wiped away more reappearing tears. "I wake up delusional sometimes because I think they're coming back for me. I think my parents are coming back to me. Sometimes I relive my life with them but sometimes it's a new story. I don't know. It's stupid. That's it. The end," he announced. I pulled him close to me and I rest my face in his silky blond hair. "Listen Armin, I'm really sorry that you went through that. It hurts me so much to hear that you went through all of that. Please know that you never deserved any of that and that you were wronged. Nothing you could have ever done would have justified any of that. You are so strong, Armin. The fact that you've made it here today, into the fucking army, just goes to show that. I'm proud that you told me. You're really strong, you know. And please, if you ever need to get anything off your chest, know I'm always here to listen," I explained, trying to make him feel a bit better. I wrapped my arms further around him and gave him a nice, long hug.

"Y/N," Armin whispered, so quietly that I barely heard him. "Yes?" I answered. "Thank you so much for listening to me. You don't know how long I've been wanting to say that for," he revealed to me, then bursting into tears again. I rubbed his back and closed my eyes. His arms tightened around my torso. "I always like listening to you, no matter what you're saying," I informed him. All of a sudden, he murmured, "Y/N, I really like you." I felt as if my heart had just skipped a beat. I was flattered and yet so confused. "I really like you, Armin," I responded.