The Bonds of Blood" [Fem OC X AOT]

Chapter 7

That evening, Rae was sitting with Annie as usual at their table. After that talk with Yoshi, she was feeling much better. It wasn't like the problem was solved, but the thought that someone would be there when she needed them warmed her heart.

Rae had a smile on her face, which caused Annie to also have a slight smile. These past few days, Annie had noticed that Rae was feeling blue, her usually bright demeanor replaced with a shadow of worry.

"Did something happen today? Everyone looks happy," Mina asked, noticing her two friends' uplifted spirits. Rae looked up from her plate and glanced at Annie, who had a hint of a smile lingering.

'She's beautiful,' Rae thought to herself, her heart skipping a beat. But just as she saw the smile, it disappeared from Annie's face. Annie had seen her staring and realized that she was smiling, quickly reverting to her usual stoic expression.

"It's just Rae and Annie," Ymir answered Mina while reaching for a glass of water. Christa, sitting close by, quickly passed her the glass. Ymir grabbed it and passed Christa a smile, a subtle but warm exchange that didn't go unnoticed. Mina saw the small act and internally scolded Ymir for being hypocritical, given her usual tough exterior.

"Can I not be happy without a reason?" Rae said, her tone carrying a hint of annoyance.

"Of course you can, but Annie can't," Mina replied nonchalantly.

"Huh, of course she can, she is a human too after all!" Rae defended her friend, giving Mina a glare. She looked up at Annie to see that she had her head down, just staring at her plate, seemingly lost in thought.

"Annie, are you okay?" Rae asked, her concern evident. "Yeah... I'm..." Annie began, but before she could finish her sentence, a loud voice was heard in the cafeteria.

Everyone turned toward the commotion and saw that it was Eren and Jean arguing again. Their arguments had become a common occurrence, almost a routine.

Rae didn't think much about it as these types of arguments happened often between the two of them. She was getting ready to intercept them if it got too far and stood up from her seat. Before she could even fully stand, Jean grabbed Eren's collar. Realizing that it was about to get physical, Rae started to walk over to them but was grabbed by a hand. She turned around to see Annie, who shook her head, signaling not to intercept their fight.

Rae was about to protest when she heard a 'thud' sound. Turning around, she saw Eren had knocked Jean down.

"Ow, what was that?" Jean shouted, still on the ground. "It's the hand-to-hand training that I went to hell to learn while you were slacking off," Eren replied, a smirk on his face.

Annie looked at Eren with an unreadable expression. Rae realized it was the same move that Annie had used on Eren that morning during their hand-to-hand training session.

Rae was about to go to Eren when the creak of the door opening was heard. Everyone looked and saw the demon-like eyes of Keith Shadis staring inside.

"I heard a commotion. Anyone care to explain?" he said, his presence casting a shadow of terror over the cadets in the cafeteria.

There was complete silence for a moment. Jean and Eren returned to their seats, trying to appear inconspicuous. Mikasa then raised her hand and spoke.

"It was just the sound of Sasha farting, sir," she said with a dead serious expression.

The look of betrayal on Sasha's face was almost comical upon hearing that.

"So it was you again," Keith said with an expression of disgust. Sasha's look of betrayal deepened.