𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓.ᴀɴɴɪᴇ ʟᴇᴏɴʜᴀʀᴅᴛ, ᴍɪᴋᴀꜱᴀ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ

『 𝟑 』𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐉𝐎𝐆

𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟔𝐓𝐇, 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟒:𝟒𝟗

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  Never once had you genuinely thought you might die of overexertion during training, but this -this was definitely showing you what you were and were not capable of doing. It wasn't like anyone was slowing you down -in fact, if anything your fellow comrades around you only motivated you further to push yourself. And while you weren't physically bogged down -aside from the twenty-kilogram backpack you had to carry- you sure were mentally.

  Currently, the entirety of the 104th Training Corps was in the middle of a dense woods, everyone in training running through the many fallen branches with backpacks while Shadis got to supervise everyone on top of a horse -and while you couldn't help but complain about it in your head, you wouldn't dare actually say anything verbally. The sun was up and shining brightly, slipping past the cracks of the tree's branches that loomed over your head, and if you listened really closely, you supposed that maybe under all the pounding of boots into the squelching mud you would have been able to hear wildlife of some sort.

  Ever since you came to the conclusion that you would ask Annie to help you in your quest to impress your girlfriend, you had been trying to find the perfect opportunity to speak to her without Mikasa being able to hear, 'And I think that this is the best shot I'm going to get at doing it. After all, Mikasa won't be able to get too close to hear what I'm saying because Armin and Eren are right next to her,' you reasoned, sneaking a glance up ahead a bit to your right and seeing that the three of them were in fact running together -Mikasa and Eren slowing themselves a bit for the blonde given that this was just a practice run that wouldn't be graded. It wasn't like you were trying to hide the fact that you 'wanted to be friends' with Annie from Mikasa because you thought you were doing something wrong or akin to cheating -you would never dream of that- it was just that you knew the black-haired girl would question what would motivate you to do such a thing -and it would just be so much easier to just not get to that point altogether if you kept your distance during this exercise. Granted, that was riding on the idea that Mikasa wouldn't bring it up later on, in which case you'd have to make something up.

  Your (E/C) hues turned back ahead of you, your sight locking onto the blonde keeping a steady and rather effortless pace ahead of the four of you -Annie Leonhardt, 'All I have to do is push myself to run a bit faster, and then I can save our relationship. C'mon (Y/N), you've got everything planned out. Now all you need to do is carry through with it, for Mika!' With a burst of heightened confidence and determination, you partially squinted your eyes in focus as you pushed your legs to jog faster -the dense backpack seeming to push down on your shoulders even more so once you gained a speedier momentum. It took you a good bit to catch up to the trio from Shiganshina, and even then you were panting a little heavier than you were before.

  Earlier, Armin had offered for you to join them -but you had declined, not wanting to risk upsetting Mikasa by being too close with her in front of them once again. So that was why, even with your already laboured breathing, you still pushed yourself to go even faster -not only would it have been partially awkward lingering near them after you had declined, but it also might have made Mikasa uncomfortable, 'And that's the last thing I wanna do.' It took a good part of your willpower not to look back and see if Mikasa had even noticed you passing them once you did -and although you tried to convince yourself otherwise, you couldn't fool yourself into believing anything else other than that you hadn't peeked because you didn't want to see that she was completely oblivious to you. It was childish, something that an eight-year-old would do -you knew that.

  And yet you couldn't stop.

  Once you finally got close enough to the platinum blonde, you went over the plan you -pretty much just now- had made up in your head, 'Ok, so first I'll introduce myself and try to become her friend first in a sense. After all, it'll be much easier to ask for her help if we're acquaintances first -on top of the fact that I do need more friends here.' Jogging the smallest bit faster, you came up to her left side and garnered her attention, "Hello!" you cheerily greeted her, "I don't think we've properly met before, I'm (Y/N) (L/N)." Mentally cheering to yourself for a somewhat decent introduction, you sent one of the best grins you could muster to her -which was rather difficult given that you were running- as you waited for her response.