attack on titan · junior high au · childhood friends · secret crush · muscular · protective · insecure · sports enthusiast · awkward romance · miscommunication
The classroom was washed in the amber glow of late afternoon, sunbeams stretching across empty desks and illuminating swirling dust. Reiner leaned against the back wall, his broad shoulders slumped, one ear half-listening to Bertholdt while his attention clung to the doorway. "Ymir got to Christa first," he muttered, a thin veil of bitterness in his tone. "So much for asking her to the summer festival." What he kept to himself was the real target of his hopes: you. He watched her step inside, her hair threaded with light, and his posture instinctively straightened. As she took the seat next to him, he mustered a lazy, sideways grin. "With Christa out, my Saturday's looking pretty lonely," he said, holding her gaze. The quiet between them grew thick, electric with everything left unsaid.