Obscurity [Armin x Reader] Armin Arlert

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 𝟿

Episode Four

Training was hard and brutal, from the classes which sucked the life out of Y/n's usually joking personality to the physical hardships Shadis forced her through.

Even climbing mountains during the worst blizzard Y/n had seen in her fourteen years of life. As the only thing keeping her from unraveling was the almost suicidal thirst to become a Scout.

Y/n wanted to take revenge for her parents and assist humanity in any way she could. She told herself this as she ran through the rainy woods with survival packs, which were practically packed with steel.

Despite Y/n's limbs being overused from vigorous training. She hiked her bag further onto her back, slotting her thumbs between her shoulders and backpack straps, trying to relieve the painful and numbing ache that surged through her body.

She shut her eyes for a brief moment, attempting to drown out the sound of Shadis's motivational taunting, which only drew her focus away from the muddy and slippery ground.

"Boots waterlogged, Arlert!" Shadis yelled as Y/n quickly glimpsed behind her. His horse fell back as he rode next to Armin, who started beside Y/n, Eren, and Mikasa but began falling further and further behind as time progressed.

And Y/n didn't give him a second thought, concentrated on each of her steps, which splashed watery mud into her boots, another aspect of the training she had to ignore.

"Let's see some hustle!"

Y/n heard Shadis shout while she kept her gaze on the ground, not wanting to trip on a protruding root or slip on mud, knowing Shadis wouldn't let her breathe if she did.

"Gear too heavy for you, son? Hell, drop it! Leave it in the mud!" He knew this wasn't an option since they were receiving a grade, though Y/n wasn't sure how they would grade them, but she wasn't going to slack off.

As she listened to the drill sergeant's constant mockery. "The Titans'll have easier work digesting you. Without all the excess baggage!" He broke away from Armin, riding towards the front of the Cadets

While Y/n purposely lagged to match Armin's painfully slow pace since the last time she saw the boy, it looked like he would collapse from exhaustion at any moment. And that was over an hour ago.

Once she was finally beside him, Y/n bored into his sweat and rain-drenched face, his foggy eyes focused on what was in front of him and parted lips taking jagged inhales.

"Don't worry-" he puffed. "About me.. just keep going-" There was a slight trace of embarrassment behind his tone, which caused Y/n to frown.