Chapter Text
Armin was an intelligent guy. He wasn’t bragging, it was simply fact. Unfortunately, with that intelligence came a paranoia of being unprepared for any problem that he had not guessed would happen ahead of time. (Mika said that was life. Eren laughed at him and told him he was going to end up in more trouble than him one day.) (That had not happened so far.) So many of his decisions were carefully decided on and weighed against other, alternate choices and planned ahead for each before then choosing a single path and following it to the best of his abilities. This, of course, required a lot of thought, concentration and stress, so as he got older, he narrowed down his thinking process’ into the decisions that would most likely impact his life and those closest to him. At a certain point in his youth, he had realized that he didn’t have to wait for opportunities to present themselves to him, he could manipulate the variables around him and technically make events happen in his favour. This was at some point of time in grade school, so the timing and the events that happened were a little fuzzy( he may be a genius, but he didn’t have an eidetic memory). But he did remember his first tries at it, clumsy and still tainted with the impatience of youth, no matter how much calmer he was than most children his age. The adults started to notice and he was left with a slight warning. It would come to pass that it was too light a warning for such a child to heed.
His parents had died when he was even younger than he had been then, but his grandmother had been alive. She got sick easier than the other, older adults around him and with his higher understanding of what was going on around him, he had understood the severity of the situation quickly. With that realization came the need to show that he could somehow help; be responsible enough to help with her deteriorating health. About this time was also when he acquired Eren, and a little later Mikasa, as friends. Even at that age Eren had a ‘strong moral compass’ --as his grandmother would say-- and it would oftentimes both fascinate and frustrate young Armins mind as he tried to convince his new-found friends in what he knew to be correct. They argued as much as they laughed, although the ‘arguing’ quickly grew into what could be considered light teasing and banter speedily enough. He learned when each of them could be convinced of something and when there was no hope of getting anywhere. That was about the time he became very good at damage control.
As Eren had a definite idea of what was right and wrong, he would try to enforce these ideas on young Armins mind. Honestly, Armins not sure what would have happened if Eren hadn’t been there to point out how cruel it was to convince other and even older kids to give him things or do things for him. Now, Armin wasn’t mean or cruel or rude on purpose, he just saw a way to get something he wanted and no one(other than Eren) was really close enough to the young boy to see the harmful repercussions. His grandmother was getting worse, his grandpa was busy, and Armin was a naturally solitary and independent person. Along with Eren guiding Armins more ambiguous thoughts on ‘the proper thing to do’ Armin also influenced Eren on when there was a proper time and place for things. When to give up a fight, how to resolve one(although Eren didn’t usually use that method), and he also (reluctantly) taught Eren how to poke out an opponent's weakness; weather physical or mental. With some relief, Armin had noticed that Eren didn’t usually use this method as he didn’t have the necessary patience and forethought to use such a technique. It was also using this last method that required Armin to make a deal with the devil (almost literally, he later learned).
It was a while after his grandmother had been taken away from home so that she could get constant care in a hospital. Armin as sad that he wouldn’t be able to see her as much anymore, but he understood the necessity. However, understanding does not mean that Armin didn’t wish for it to happen and he started acting out. Depending on how one looked at it, it was understandable that Armin did what he did, but that didn’t excuse it at all. After the event, while sitting on a chair outside of the principals office, two police officers inside and his grandfather on his way to the school from the hospital(he tried to spend as much time as he could with Armin even with his beloved wife in the hospital, but Armin had told him that he had had a project after school and not to worry about picking him up), he had met the she-demon named Hanji. Back then, she had had short hair and constantly dirty clothes(not that that part had much improved), but was still just as devious and possibly more terrifying. No matter when Armin saw her, her hair stuck almost straight out and had constantly wide eyes like one of the children in the horror movies who had seen something scary. Only instead of fear in those brown depths, impossible knowledge and an all-seeing gaze seemed to lurk there. She had popped out of nowhere, vaguely somewhere to his right(the memory’s still so horribly clear) and had plopped herself onto the high backed chair a little ways next to him.
“Hey.” She had announced, sounding all the world like she expected for this statement to be followed by what was sure to be a spectacular moment. As it was, an awkward and still silence followed the abrupt greeting. Armin had heard of this particular brown-haired mess on several occasions, most often followed with a warning to stay away from anything that would get her involved. Well, here he was, managing to completely disregard sound advice for the eighth time in his life, with it also being the second time it had happened with disastrous consequences. He stared at her for a moment before sighing a sigh that would have done any world-weary adults proud. He closed his eyes and let his head fall to the back of the chair he was in. He was sure he was going to regret this.
“Hi.” He finally answered back. He was vaguely surprised to note that the brunette hadn’t started talking again. She was famous for it. She grinned at him, if you could call the demonic stretch of her mouth going past what could be considered the natural human length that it started at a smile. He watched in fascinated horror as her mouth seemed to almost overtake her face for a second before it settled.
“I heard something come along the grapevine.” She sang. She was a grade above him, yet she could almost seem several years younger than him at times. He had to internally shake his head before answering.
“Is that so.” he said wearily, already prepared to get up and walk away. Except, you know, he wasn’t supposed to leave the room. Dang it. He thought to himself, his head pressing deeper into the chair behind him. He flopped to the side to look at the she-demon easier. She was still grinning at him.
“Yep.” she said gleefully, looking all the world like she was about to start rubbing her hands together like the villains in those old tv shows. “And it's a big one.” She couldn’t seem to resist doing something with her hands and clasped them together to hold between her swinging legs. He looked at her warily, trying to weigh the possible outcomes from accepting the help that she was going to inevitably offer.( Legends always had a drawback) Taking in a deep breath, he sat up and said, “How big exactly?” Her grin seemed to twist slightly to become a smirk of smug pride. She crossed her legs and placed her clasped hands on top of her uppermost knee. Her posture straight she started tapping her toe in midair in an indiscernible pattern. A few seconds later, a boy with dark hair and a bored expression walked in. Even though people weren’t supposed to be in the office when there was a punishment going on, the secretary only glanced up before going back to her work. The dark-haired boy gave a long suffering sigh as he stopped by Hanjis side.
“Yes, oh great and powerful one.” he intoned, looking for all the world like he was about to roll his eyes, the sarcasm in his voice practically dripping off the words. Hanji was back to manically grinning. She never turned away from staring at Armins face, even as he turned back to look at her again.
“Now,” she said, producing a pocket notebook from somewhere on her person and whipping out a pen that was somehow hidden in her shaggy hair, “this is indeed one of the biggest favors I’ve ever seen, so lets get down to business.” As the so-called girls eyes twinkled, Armin couldn’t help but have only two thoughts, even as he realized that this could end very badly. 1) There is no doubt that that is a she-demon I’m looking at. And 2) I might possibly be signing my soul away. Armin couldn’t help but feel that his soul was definitely going to be held in the unrelenting grasp with the other poor suckers who had had the misfortune of meeting the She-Devil of Kyojin Elementary School.
It was now 5 years later, sliding into the 6th, but his wariness of the brunette had never decreased, although respect grew in place of any fear. He wasn’t sure if she would ever use her sway on him in high school or wait until he was out in the world, one of the few who would not be held under the grip of her goal (self-claimed world domination. He didn’t doubt her in the least). It was with some relief and trepidation that she came to him now with that expression, an echo of the one she used when he first met her face-to-face. They had had conversations before, he personally believed it was to ascertain that it was to make sure her investments continued to be useful as well as, to no small degree, make sure they stayed properly terrified of her. How she also seemed to make and keep genuine friends along the way, he was never sure as to her method. He had it on trusted confirmation a large part of it was persistence. Hanji strode to the back of the library, Armin scrambling slightly to grab his papers and laptop off the table and hurrying after her. Built into the wall was a padded bench which she sat on and then seemed to melt over the cushions, her arms braced at her sides on the lip of the bench and a foot rising to stretch out in front of her, leaving Armin just enough room to sit comfortably.
"So," she started with a smile that had shrunk from its usual gleeful smirk into a secretive smile, close-lipped. Her hands tangled together, the two index fingers rising to tap against the other in a vaguely ominous style. "I have need of your assistance." Armin always tried to keep track of Hanji and the events that she set in motion, but he was mostly clueless as to what she might want. There was nothing that had happened recently for which she would require his skills. Armins only response was a hesitant expression and a wary glance around them, reaching for any clues. Hanji only had a thin shoulder bag with her, about the size of a large binder. Hanjis smile widened slightly at his reaction. She nodded her head towards her bag, keeping her eyes on the blondes face.
"In that case is the most promising and most important of deals that I have made through the years." She suddenly stated, her expression tinting slightly until her face was almost pensive, her smile more of a quiet thing. "I have them labeled, you know. One through Four, Most important to Least. And you, my friend, are most definitely a level One. So lets get down to business." Hanji untangled her hands, her gaze brightening a bit. She reached down to her bag, finally removing her gaze from Armins face to open the zipper and rifle through the plastic tabs before puling out a single, stained piece of paper. For reasons that Armin was not privy to-nor was he sure he wanted to be-a good portion of the papers corner was soaked through with some substance that had seemed to both expand the paper in half (Armins only thought was how she had managed to make a piece of paper look like a tortilla shell that had been over cooked on that account) and was an incredibly odd color between the spectrums of brown and yellow, a nearly perfect shade for some hair colors. Armin stared at the corner, trying to puzzle out why the color looked so familiar, only to be brought from his thoughts by the brown-haired she devil holding up the paper carelessly.
"This is the original contract created on the date of Febuary 12, nearly 7 years ago as agreed between Armin James Arlert and myself." She read from the paper, giving Armin a smug smile over the top of the paper. She set the possibly toxic piece of paper on the bench and tapped it to Armins side with the tip of her index finger until it hit his hip. She grinned mischievously. Armin started at the paper, the words staring up at him surprisingly eloquent even after all these years. He looked back up to her.
"Yes." He replied shortly,"Have you come to fulfill the contract?" Hanji stared at him for a brief moment of complete bafflement before openly starting to guffaw.
"Y-you sounded like-like you had sold your soul to the devil!" She giggled, desperately trying to pull in air through her laughter. Armin frowned and then shrugged after a moments thought. He supposed it had sounded a little odd, but she was practically the devil, so that was good enough for him. When she paused to take a bigger breath and attempt to quiet her giggles slightly, she saw his expression and her smile turned decidedly shark-like. "Ah, well. Can't confirm nor deny, yeah?" She said, the words almost rolling from her tongue, the amusement of a queen on a struck-dumb subject coloring her voice. Armin continued to stare at her steadily. She smiled again, satisfied and smug. "Mhhhm. Well, to business then. You can stop looking so tense by the way, it's not like it's anything illegal." Armin let disbelief and skepticism color his face while he relaxed into his seat. Thank goodness, not illegal. The sudden worrying thought that she had come to him of all people to fill the necessary favor suddenly became a insistent thought, however. She continued to smile through his discomfort. "As this favor fills only a third of the so said 'contract', you will still be beholden to me, however, it will not hold the same weight as it does now. If what I hope happens, happens, then it will not count at all towards the contract, but the deal will still hold less weight. Thoughts?" Armin leaned into a bookshelf at his shoulder while he thought over what she had said. He couldn't think of anything that was important enough to call on him and yet still only fulfill a part of the agreement. He hummed quietly to himself, thinking it over. Finally, after a few quiet moments, he looked up into her eyes.
"Tell me what it is first." Hanji hummed at his reply. Pursing her lips, she looked down. Armin took the chance to study her body language without staring directly into her face. She was sincerely contemplating his offer at least. In many ways, she held all the cards here, but if what she said was true, then he might have more power here than he would usually. When she finally glanced up, he was just starting to wonder
if he had perhaps gone too far. She looked at him consideringly as he did his best to blank his face. Hanji smiled slightly, then relaxed backward.
“Alright, fair enough. You’ll need to know what it is to execute it anyways. But I’m warning you, I’m only going to give you half of the equation. Don’t ask for more than that from me.” she warned. Armin nodded, satisfied enough. It wouldn’t be Hanji if she didn’t hold at least some of the cards. She nodded as well before leaning forward again.
“It's simple, really. I need to talk to Eren.” Armin was suddenly very aware of the fact that Hanji could never be predicted. For some reason, it was only now that that caused more than tired wariness though. As the she-devil grinned at him, Armin realized that there was a reason she was confronting him about talking to Eren instead of just going to the teen herself; bypassing any sort of normal social conduct and throwing herself at the brunette. Armin took a deep breath in and leaned back, closing his eyes. How did Eren always get into these messes?
~~~~~~~~~
Eren suddenly sneezed as he read an article in his textbook. Rubbing his nose, he took the unexpected break to look up from his reading material. It wasn’t a very interesting article and so wasn’t doing much to hold his attention. He glanced at the clock, hoping that the class would let out soon. 15 more minutes, practically an eternity. Mikasa was quietly reading across from him in a quiet position, still sitting up straight even while reading a book on a desk that was more comfortable to slouch at. She had seemed thoughtful this morning as she had walked into the classroom, but Eren had gotten sidetracked (and ended up sidetracking her) and ended up rambling about the first time they had met Mike. Mikasa had been there right along with him, but he had felt the need to remind her. Although he no longer took the classes, Mikasa had and planned to continue into her senior year. She happened to glance up at that same exact moment as well, though Eren highly doubted it was a coincidence. Mikasa was odd like that and her instincts had never failed her yet, much to Erens chargrine.
Eren shrugged and went back to reading, even though his nose still itched and he really wanted to be out of class.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Levi was minding his own business, huddled in a dignified heap away from prying eyes. What Hanji would give to see him in such a position was not lost on him and was one of the prime reasons he never told her that it existed. This was the one place in the entire school that Levi was nearly positive that Hanji didn’t know existed...Which was the reason Levi usually avoided it. Hanji could sniff him out like a bloodhound and he would prefer it if there was a place that he could go where she wouldn’t jump out at him from random shadows and fly at him which her crazy cat lady glinting glasses.
…
Shut up, he knew his metaphors made sense. Anyway, after leaving the History classroom, he had decided not to leave the school as he had seen new security cameras at all the exits. Shitty-Eyebrows sometimes did that; randomly bought, replaced and added new equipment around the school. The fact that this usually occurred after one of Levis bigger infractions had seemed to be unnoticed. It was one of the few ways Levi outwardly appreciated having Hanji as an acquaintance(read friend). She seemed to have an innate sense of when she was being watched and that included cameras. Levi had yet to capture a picture of her without her somehow managing to look directly at the camera in an as composed as she can be-considering the many compromising positions she always seems to be in- manner.
It amused Levi that all her pictures from 8 and up made her appear as a cool, mature young lady who sometimes happened to be dressed oddly or in what sometimes appeared to be where a natural disaster had struck. The one and only time he had asked her about it, she had only replied that what was on the internet, stayed on the internet. That she went so far as to only act herself around a polaroid camera had infected Levi with her paranoia somehow and he now insisted on watching any and all interaction he had online to the point of near-insanity. The fact that he had double-coded his computer and put practically uncrackable passwords on all profiles did little to prevent the excessive behavior.
But back to the point, Levi was in fact hidden away in a place that Hanji wouldn’t look at twice for several reasons. First of all, it was dirty as hell and always had to be cleaned when the weather got extreme outside and was barely big enough to fit him. Levi would never admit it, but it was in these moments that he was glad he was so small.
Carefully shifting his feet to the side of the duct, he scooted forwards slightly to look down through the conveniently placed vent cover. The bell hadn’t wrung yet, so he was staring at an empty hall, his vision restricted only to a few feet away from where the cover was placed. Nudging a piece of paper from his side, he stretched out to continue the most recent addition to his Plan. Hanji had been severely unhelpful in the actual planning part, but she had told him that she’d pay him a favor to pay off her debt. He still didn’t know what she was talking about all these years, and he never asked what is was about anyways. If she wanted to keep it to herself, he wouldn’t try to pry it from her.
Just in time, he glanced at the clock in the hall and covered his ears. Just as he had learned to avoid Hanjis hugs(read mauling), he had learned that he did not want his ears to be unprotected from the piercing clang of the old fashioned school bells posted throughout the hallways. Why Eyebrows had such otherwise sophisticated technology but still stuck with the ear-damaging bells was beyond him. (Hanji said it was just to spite him. Levi wasn’t sure that was incorrect.) The bell began to shrill, the sharp noise muffled from under his fingers.
When the noise ceased, he cautiously removed his fingers and peered back down through the slots in the cover. He suddenly saw a pair of dark-heads heading to his direction from one of the English classrooms. His eyes narrowed as he recognized Kendo Girl. Mikasa. He silently corrected himself as he looked at her scarf. With a wild gesticulation, the boy next to her drew his attention. When he saw who it was, he was shocked that he hadn’t noticed him first.
~~~~~~~~~
Eren jerked his head up and stopped short as he heard a dull Clang a few feet away in the ceiling. As he was jostled forward from the momentum of the crowd behind him, he continued moving forward, but still stared upward as he went beneath the origin of the sound. All there was was a slotted vent, some of the streams of light from the skylight catching bits of sprinkled dust as it fell. He frowned at it and turned his body to stare at it as he passed. He caught a flash of something as he did, the slots facing towards him allowing him to peek inside the duct. He nearly stopped again, but was tugged along by Mikasa, who pulled them into the small alcove of the janitor door.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mikasa asked, shaking his bicep. He ignored her instead of answering and intently studied the vent. He would have seen her frown if he had bothered looking away from the ceiling. Instead, he was surprised when she hit him on the top of his head with her fist.
“Hey!” He exclaimed, rubbing his head and reluctantly tearing his eyes from the roof. She hadn’t hit very hard, but it had still had some force behind it. She continued to frown at him, raising a single eyebrow to add to the mix. He huffed.
“Didn’t you hear that?” He said, pointing towards where he had been looking. She peered contemplatively at the spot before shrugging and looking at him, always one for as little mincing of words as possible. Eren huffed again, this time in a more amused manner before narrowing his multi-colored eyes at the vent again. He shook his head and turned back to his friend. Rolling his eyes, he gestured forward.
“Come on, it was probably nothing anyways. But you still haven’t heard about what Connie did in History yesterday!”
~~~~~~~
Levi laid stiff-straight as he braced himself on the vent walls to hold himself up and still. Too close. He thought to himself, eyes wide and heart racing. It had been a long time since he had felt such a panicked sense of adrenaline. Trying to reduce his panting breaths into a less ragged rhythm, he took in a deep breath and held it. Thinking about his plan. He contemplated the best way to begin...
After History came Band and was one of the few classes that he attended on a semi-regular basis. He was proficient in most of the instruments in the band, so usually just worked on an instrument that they didn’t have in the band. And, of course, managed to scowl all the way through. The teacher had long ago given up on getting him to make a different expression during concerts and festivals, so she had settled for just getting him involved in as many competitions as possible. For reasons unknown to him, Hanji had gifted her a conducting stool for her effort.
As Mrs. Lenz stepped up to her bench, she tapped her stand with a sharp rapping noise. Her angelic face beamed at them from her slightly higher position, her hands placed primly in front of he, clasped together and her conductor's baton sticking wildly from her fingers.
“Students!” she glimmered at them. Next to him from his position as a trombonist, one of the boys in the tuba section whimpered a ‘too bright’ as the blonde smiled at the gathered group. “Our annual school concert is coming up in a couple months, so I will give you all the music I have chosen and if there are any questions you will be able to do so after class! If there are any pieces you think will fit the theme, then be sure to tell me so I can review it and get back to you! There are three themes the student council have closed down on and will be getting back to us next week on the finalized theme!” Moving the white board aside she gestured airly at the elegantly written writing. A year or two back, it had looked suspiciously familiar, but surely the pure Band teacher had nothing to deal with the, ah, incident.
“These are the competitioning themes,” Her smiling face turned distinctly homicidal as she continued, “and unless they decide to randomly switch all of them out and pick one not remotely similar to these, it should be one of these that we end up playing to!” A few of the kids in his section shivered as her glacial tone waved over them, her face unchanging in her smile even as waves of killing intent washed off her. As dramatically as she had turned into a capable serial killer, she switched straight back into the disturbing(to levi) visage of an ever-calm and cheerful saint. Jumping off the highstool, she walked to the piano a small distance from her stand and gathered up a series of papers. The next few minutes were devoted to the handing out of papers, a few of which wouldn’t actually be used for the most soon-to-be-concert that would instead be saved until the winter concert timed after the school one.
Levi had decided to try a hand at trombone as there were only three valves and he had so far not tried a brass instrument. Unfortunately, he had not taken into fact that the key would be in sharps. Frowning, he mouthed along some of the notes, pressing down a few of the keys as he went along. It was many of the same rhythms and slow enough he could adjust as he went, but still...fucking sharps. Glaring at the first sheet he was given, his view was obscured by the second pile coming around. Huffing annoyedly, he grabbed a sheet and passed on the rest. Half an hour and an extremely irritated Levi later, class was ending and he was putting his newly acquired trombone into its case, meticulously cleaning the inside of it the best he could. From the corner of his eye, he caught Mrs. Lenz approaching him, armed with nothing but a strong will to live and a few sheets of paper.
“Hello Levi!” She chirped. Levi sighed and sat back on his heels, looking up at her from his kneeling position. He hated looked up at people. He hummed up at her, quelling his rising annoyance at being at an even lower height than he was normally. She grinned at him cheerfully and thrust a few sheets of paper into his face. He continued to glower at her, leaning back to avoid the paper determinedly trying to scratch at his face, for a few seconds more- just to get the point across- before sighing and looking down upon the music sheets fluttering from the air he breathed across it, they were so close. He sighed again before leaning back even farther and reaching up to take the music pieces. The spritely teacher beamed at him again before hurrying off to pester the freshmen about ordering a band t-shirt for concerts. Wanting very much to simply lay on the ground and never get up again, he glanced through the sheets, noting the more difficult rhythms and tempo. This was extra work then. If he wanted to play random instruments, he needed to be at least nearly as good as the trombonists with less skill. However, Mrs. Lenz was a slave driver and even the worst student in her class couldn't be called that if you were comparing to most schools. Their lovely band teacher had taken it up with the principal once and the school board at least three times to keep their music program up and funded; there was no way she would handle poor sportsmanship of a lackluster band.
Packing his music into his folder and putting his instrument away, he stored them in his cubby and prepared to head to his next class. Hanji and him were in the same homeroom class, for some God-Forsaken reason(most likely due to their unwavering ability to twist anyone's arm into getting what she wanted, but he wasn’t saying nothing.), and there was no doubt that she had followed through with her part of the plan. As levi walked down the ramp that had led to the music room, he suddenly and disquietingly became aware that this could have gone much simpler.
He grimaced and continued walking down, as he had stopped his progression when the epiphany hurt. Naw. He thought to himself. The brats the big shits father. There is no way this is going to need anything less than a goddamn, shit-fucking miracle.