It All Started With a Needle. And then I Became a Titan.

A/N: 09/02/2017: This story is something of a time-sink, so I am just uploading the first chapter to see If there is any interest in such a story like this, if not, I will simply get rid of it, I'd hate for my other stories to be once again left in the dust because of this story. Let me know what you all think please.

Don't know why I did this. Chances are, when this eventually gets uploaded will be much further in time when I originally wrote this. This was one of the stories that I have been writing on the side to practice my writing ability. Let me know what you think about Eren and Annie's personality please. I personally liked the way I wrote Annie in this. But with Eren? There's only so much "angry kid being angry" that I can write before I want to choke myself. So I hope I didn't make him seem too OOC due to his not always being "angry McAngerson".

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I always wondered why I was so violent when I was young. Naturally I assumed that it was purely because of the fact that I grew up in a harsh environment. But that couldn't be the sole reason as my friend Armin grew up in the same area and grew up kind and caring. I was unique, I was violent. It wasn't like the other kids growing up in the Shinganshina were all incredible kind, most of them in fact were violent as well. But they were never as violent as me. I looked for fights, I argued constantly with my adopted sister; Mikasa. I was constantly beaten up by taking on far much more than I could chew but I never stopped looking for fights. Mother despised that horribly, she hated to see me come home covered in bruises, Mikasa supporting me as most of the time I was beaten so badly that I couldn't walk or see straight. But my wounds never lasted for more than a day and the day after I was back outside, looking for even more fights. Of-course I wasn't a pushover, I mean, I was always beaten. BUT, I always gave as good as I got and I got a lot. Ten versus me? I would knock at least five to six unconscious by myself before Mikasa would have to step in and help me.

She's freakishly strong, like stupidly strong.

I got of topic… where was I?

Oh yes, my unusual lust for battle, I guess I could blame it all on my father's experiments.

"Da-Dad! What are you doing!?"

"It's okay son, just relax, It's just a needle. I promise nothing bad will happen".

"NO DAD, STOP DAD!"

"I'm sorry Eren, so sorry. But I have to do this, all I can do is pray that you won't remember this".

"DAD NOOOOOOOO".

I felt a sting in my arm as my father stabbed me with the needle. I should have passed out after that, the shock alone should have knocked out any child. But I didn't forget, I didn't pass out. I remembered… everything.

Pain spread through my body as my body started to grow and expand exponentially, my injected arm grew first, turning into the arm of a giant. Next came my head, the growth of my head could be compared to an explosion going off in my head, expanding it. Then came my other arm and my legs. Everything grew. Everything HURT. The pain lasted for a few moments after the initial expansion and suddenly my whole body felt warm and safe. It felt strong. It felt big. Then I suddenly lost control of my body.

That night was the last time my father would be alive.

That was the first time I turned into one of them and it most certainly wasn't the last. I lost my father, when I woke up after my loss of control I was still in my other form. I instantly knew what had happened to my father. The taste of copper in my mouth was all the information I needed.

I had eaten my own father. I cursed this form, I cursed it to the depths of hell, but I realised that I couldn't just sit in my own depression until someone found me and killed me. The first thing I had to do was return to my human form.

I claw at my face in desperation, tears staining my titanic-like form. I begin to panic as I try to gain my bearings. I was still in the forest, what was left of my father's form was strewn about the forest clearing. Unsure of what to do right away I go about burying what was left of my last blood-relative. Something that was made much easier due to my incredible size. I easily manage to dig my bloodied hands into the dirt floor and heave a chunk of the ground up. Feeling it was the best thing I could do I scraped what was left of my father into the impromptu grave. Making sure that all of the parts of my father were in the grave I replace the dirt and pat it down to smoothen it.

I felt incredibly conflicted. On one hand I had just killed my father and had just buried him. I felt sick. However, on the other hand, what my father had done to me was unforgivable. How could of he deliberately turn me into one of those. Titans, the name of the monsters that plagued our world, and I was now one of them. Obviously now knowing what I was, I tried my best to turn back into a human.

I scratched at my face, taking note of my lower-jaw and how bizarre it was. I remember that the Titans weak point was its neck and with nothing else to lose I begin to feel around the back of my neck. I scratched deeply and feel relief when my fingers gain a foothold in my neck. Taking my chance I place my other hand at the back of my neck and pull apart my hands. I wince as I feel my skin tearing. Somehow I knew, I knew what I was doing was right. Holding my neck open with one hand I reach into my body with my other hand. I feel my muscles and feel disgusted as I hear the squelching. It was then that I felt it. There was something strange in the back of my neck and for some reason, I grabbed onto that thing and pulled.

I pulled as hard as I could.

TEAR

The first time turning back into a human was rough. I was still inexperienced with returning to my human form. I had ripped my Titan forms neck muscles apart removing my human body. I didn't care though, I had escaped from my internal torture.

I wake up and instantly run my hands over my body, glad to see that my body was no longer huge. I find myself still in the clearing, my titanic form dead nearby. I'm still unsure of what to do, tears unintentionally fall from my face as I stand up from the ground and move towards my father's impromptu grave. My feelings swirl within me like a vortex upon the matter of my father's death. I close my eyes in trauma as I give an internal prayer to my father. With nothing else to do I run. I just run. But I knew, I knew that from that day on, my life would never be the same ever again.

My god what a cliché line of thought that is. Something you'd see littered through fictional books. However on this occasion it was true. Almost to true for someone at the age of twelve. But I soldiered on, soldiered on for six months with Armin and Mikasa, but then I had another transformation.

I was running, running for my life. I had just moments ago stolen some food from some stall vendor in the market. I'd thought it'd be an easy meal, run in, swipe some bread and get the hell out of there. Too bad I didn't account for the local gang to be in-charge of "protection" for that certain food vendor. Honestly, out of all of the vendors in the market that sold food I decided to steal from the only one protected by the "Titan's hand". A quickly growing gang located near the farm that I was working on until I reached thirteen. Why was I stealing food if I worked on a farm?

Well, the fact is that ever since I transformed that first time, I had adopted an appetite that would put most Titans to shame. I assumed that the transformation also transformed how much food I needed to eat. And what the farmer gave me was no-way near enough. I turn down a corner, my feet slapping against the stone floor as I desperately tried to get away. Alas it wasn't meant to be as the alleyway I turned into was filled with even more members of the gang, all looking incredibly fierce and dangerous. I turned to head back but was stopped by a vicious back-hand from one of my many pursuers. The only thought running through my mind as I fell to the floor was how much effort this gang was putting into catching a small kid who stole a loaf of bread.

Maybe food was scarcer than I initially thought?

When I hit the floor I didn't even think of the consequences, that blood-lust I had acquired when I was younger rose up through my body and before I knew it, I held my hand up to my mouth.

One of the thugs laughed, probably assuming I was going to suck my thumb.

"What's the matter kid? Scared?"

I didn't even have to think of a reply.

"No. But you should be…"

I bit my hand and all hell broke loose.

That was the second time I transformed. It was stupid and messy and stupid and brutal and did I mention stupid? Because I was, as soon as I transformed and squashed a few of the thugs, most of them realised they had messed up and tried to run. I couldn't let them escape, they had seen my face. I killed them all, blood was splattered all across the alley-way wall. And it was at this specific moment, where the blood was coating my hands that I realised that I had just transformed in a heavily populated district. Thankfully I still wasn't big enough to reach over the building. It seemed that my Titan form grew as my human form grew. This is when I heard shouting, most likely someone had heard the screams and alerted the Garrison. Having absolutely no Idea what to do I quickly yanked my neck open and ripped myself out of there. And as I fell from my Titans neck the thought struck me.

I really needed a more efficient way of turning back into a human, ripping my open neck open hurt like you wouldn't believe. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the shouting was from the Garrison who came around the corner to see strewn about body parts, a dead Titan and a crying young boy. I added the crying just before they saw me, best to act like the terrified victim eh? Anyway, after that I was questioned as to what happened.

"What happened here kid?" asked a garrison member, he was a man looking about his thirties, a kind, worried look in his eyes.

"I… I… I…" I couldn't answer I was blubbering like a baby. But only I knew that this was all a clever ruse to trick the men from accusing me.

The man comforted me, placing his arms around me and cooing sweet nothings into my ear. It was a very kind sentiment but I still needed to figure a way out of this mess.

I decided very heavily edited half-truths would work wonders. And so my bizarrely analytical mind weaved an unbelievable story that would be my alibi. And an unbelievable story was just what was needed for an unbelieve occurrence.

I told them that one of the thugs transformed into a Titan suddenly and all the other thugs tried to kill him. They succeeded at the cost of their own lives. I was just an unfortunate witness who happened to be in the alley-way at the time. I survived by hiding underneath an upturned wagon if remember correctly. I know what I did was horrible and inhumane, but I wasn't all that bothered. It was at this point that I think I might've subconsciously realised that the death of both my parents and my transformation might've affected me much more deeply than I had initially theorised.

To sum it up. My head was fucked.

Any-who! I was escorted back to the farm where I was enveloped into a bone-crushing hug from Mikasa and even Armin got involved with the hug. It was nice to be worried about, it reminded me that I wasn't alone in this ordeal at the end of the day.

It was also this incident that inspired me to do what I did next.

I snuck out after dark, it was easy as Mikasa had fallen asleep worrying about me too much and Armin slept like a log. A blonde haired log that liked to read a lot. I was heading towards the nearby forest, it would be the perfect location for what I was planning to do. I entered the forest with no trouble, farmer John never let anyone worked during the night, too much risk of thugs coming by. Well there was no more risk now. I walk through the forest, a certain destination in mind. It would take a few moments to get there but I knew no-one would be there. I had been walking for about ten minutes now, and I had finally come across what I was looking for.

The hastily roughed up ground and the almost fully-decayed Titan corpse was all I needed to know where I was. I walk into the clearing, taking extra care to avoid walking on my father's hastily made grave. Thankfully, I reached the centre of the clearing, a few feet away from my previous Titan's corpse. I needed a lot of space for what I was going to do.

I raised my hand to my mouth.

When Mikasa and Armin had hugged me before, I realised something important. Something so very, very important.

I moved my thumb into a better position.

That I would use everything in my power to protect the ones I cared about.

I readied my mouth.

I would save this world. I would save humanity.

I bit into my hand, and yellow lightning struck me where I stood.

And that was how I started my Titan training. Every night I would head into the forest and transform and each time I would get more acquainted with my new form. I didn't know this but I didn't actually know how to walk for a while. That took at least a couple of nights of pure will to learn how to walk. And running? That took weeks. It was weird, learning how to use my Titan body was like relearning all of the basics of life. How to walk and run. Talking was out of the question at first, all I could manage was a few guttural noises that I didn't want to practice in case I woke someone up. I could be really loud. But after a few more months of practice I had managed to choke out a few words like my name and Mikasa's name. No small feat If I do say so myself.

I also noticed something else, every time I used my Titan form, my human form would grow stronger as well. Not incredibly strong mind you. But I was slowly but surely becoming as strong as Mikasa who as I stated before was stupidly strong.

I was still having trouble getting out of the thing itself. I had managed to get rid of the whole rip my neck open thing and now I would sit still for a moment before allowing my body's incredible heat to melt my Titan's body. This was surprisingly painless, the only drawback was that it was considerably slower than my other way of removing myself.

I also tested my Titan's strength, I was able to lift up a whole oak tree up and carry it around with ease. This test also helped test my regeneration factor that all Titans seemed to have. The tree had slipped from my grasp and crushed my foot. I didn't feel any pain but I instantly toppled to the ground. Basically, it took a few seconds for my foot to be as good as new. And this healing factor didn't just account for my Titan form evidently, as one day when I was working the farm, one of the horses kicked me in the chest, breaking more than a couple of ribs. The doctor, the farmer called in said I might never be able to breathe as well as I did ever again. But just the next day, my ribs had healed and I was back out there, making doubly sure to stay away from the horses from then on.

The whole Titan thing wasn't as bad as I initially thought it was.

Nothing else really happened that was worthy of note. Hang on… There was that one time that Mikasa asked me if something was up.

I had just finished my days work at the farm and was heading to the market to get some extra food, hopefully this time wouldn't end with multiple deaths over a single loaf of bread. However, as I was walking to town I heard someone following me. Another addition from my Titan powers were my increased senses, my hearing and sight had practically doubled from what it was before. And it was that same increased hearing that allowed me to hear the hurried footsteps following at a certain distance behind me.

And me, being the abrasive young person that I was decided the best course of action would be to turn around and address my stalker.

"Whoever's following me; come out!" I spoke assertively, a ruse to show my follower that I wasn't worried when in fact I was. I didn't want to have to transform again. Too risky.

Thankfully, all of my worries were for naught as the person following me walked out from behind a building. I instantly recognised the person due to their scarf.

"M-Mikasa? Why are you following me!?"

Mikasa only rushed towards me, stopping only a few feet away from me. I could see an embarrassed blush adorn cheeks, probably caused from being caught red-handed.

"Eren. Is everything… alright?"

Mikasa's question disturbed me. Had she noticed my difference in personality ever since that fateful day when wall Maria was broken into?

"What do you mean by alright?"

Mikasa looked uncertain as she formulated her thoughts, her forte had never been discussing problems or any kind of talking in general. A habit probably gained from her terrible past. She clenched her fingers on the scarf I gave her, a habit of nervousness that she developed over the years she lived with my family.

"I- I mean, you haven't been acting like yourself since THAT day…"

So she had noticed, she had noticed my new-found personality. My new… subdued personality. But I couldn't let her know she was right, I didn't want her to worry about me anymore, I had decided three months ago that I would be the one to worry for my friends, I would be the one to protect them, by any means necessary. So with that thought, I placed my hands on Mikasa's shoulders, ignoring the blush that grew on her cheeks when I did so.

"I'm fine Mikasa. I just realised a couple of things a while ago. Nothing to worry about, trust me."

My reassurances seemed to alleviate some of Mikasa's worries, but her doubt stayed within her eyes.

"Eren, you do know that I care about you, don't you?"

"Of-course I know that Mikasa! Honestly, you need to stop worrying about me! I've just matured a bit, nothing else. I promise!"

To prove my "honesty" I enveloped Mikasa in a hug, a hug that Mikasa was absolutely shocked by, if her body going completely still told me anything. I felt Mikasa's hand twitch in anticipation.

"Eren… D-do you promise to al-always stay wi-with me?"

I mentally sighed at Mikasa's insecurity's, at first glance she seemed like someone who was unaffected by feelings. But in reality, her attitude was just a cover for her damaged mind and feelings. This wasn't the first time that I have had to reassure her since the day I found her in that cabin in the woods.

I hugged Mikasa tighter than before.

"Mikasa, I promise that I will always stay with you."

It took all of one second for Mikasa's arms to wrap around me, hugging me as tightly as I was hugging her. We stood there for at least a minute, Mikasa allowing her insecurities to show to me only. Thankfully, the street that I confronted her following me was usually empty at this time of day.

"Okay, Mikasa, I still need to get some food from the market, so could you errr…"

It seemed that my words brought her back to her senses and she quickly jumped back, embarrassed once again. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days.

Mikasa adjusted her scarf before looking at me again.

"Why are you going to the market in the first place?"

"Well, I'm super hungry, so I go into the market to get some extra food".

"Why? You could just have some of mine!"

"No, no, no! We barely get enough food in the first place, I'm not about to take some of yours!"

Mikasa looked determined to change my mind, but we both knew she wouldn't, I wasn't about to let her win this one.

"I'll see you back at the house Mikasa, I'll be there in an hour."

I turn around and continue onwards to my destination.

I honestly expected to hear Mikasa following me still. But surprisingly, she just went back to the farm.

I scratched the back of my neck as I walked towards the market, that action being brought on by the loads of times I have had to rip my Titan's neck apart. It seemed that trait followed me into my human form. Albeit, at a much more controlled rate. E.G. I don't rip my human neck apart.

And that was really, the last major thing that happened in the short year we lived at the farm. I continued practicing with my Titan form each night and each night I became even more proficient in using said form. I was able to walk, run, talk to some kind of degree and even learn to fight to some pathetic level. I'd probably be able to take on a single Titan, maybe two at the same time at that current skill level. But one's like the armoured one would rip me apart.

And that was when I had that thought. The armoured Titan, was that something every Titan could learn to do? If so, could I learn it? But how would I even go about learning it? I didn't know so that kind of training for armouring my skin was a very, very slow process. Practically non-existent at that point. Not even worth mentioning honestly.

Let's see, is there anything else to mention during that year? Oh yeah! I don't even know how I forgot about that!

On that night when I first transformed and my father… ahem. On that night my father also gave me a key. A key that I knew all too well, but didn't know anything about what the key unlocked to. All I knew was that it opened the locked door to my old homes basement. And my father also left me an important message.

"You must retake Shinganshina, you must find our house. The basement. The basement, you have to go into the basement. Don't forget son, whatever you do, remember to find the Basement."

It's the last memory I have of my father besides his untimely demise. But at the point I was at then, I had no chance to retake or even get into Shinganshina at my current power. The whole district had become Titan territory and one kid able to turn into a Titan with basic combat skills wasn't going to be enough.

What happened next? That was simple, I, Mikasa and Armin decided to join the cadets after the first year at the farm finished up.

"Name, age, first living location and reason as to joining."

The recruiter spoke in a bored attitude, as if he had been at this all his life. I didn't particularly care though, It just gave me an easier way into the cadets.

"Eren Yeager, 13 years old, I come from the Shinganshina district, and I want to join the cadets to help humanity".

I imagine my reason for joining was pretty generic, but it would suffice, I wanted to say, to kill all the Titans, but I would rather not be laughed out of the recruitment centre to be honest.

"Okay, I've signed you up, be here at 6:00 Am sharp tomorrow, you head instructor will come to collect all of you. NEXT!"

I nod as I hurriedly move out of the way for Mikasa to sign up. Armin was just behind her, waiting to join up as well.

I clench my fist in anticipation, I was ready to join the fight for humanity. By using the enemy's own form against them if necessary.

I turned to walk outside and wait for my friends, but by per chance I managed to bump into someone a bit shorter than me. However due to my increased strength due to all the times I transformed, I managed to bump the person onto the floor while I stood up straight as if I didn't just get bumped into. I quickly look at the person I pushed onto the ground and extend my hand in apology and to help them back up. But the moment my eyes met hers, my heart skipped a beat. When my eyes caught her blue eyes, I knew something was up with me.

Suddenly, my subdued demeanour I developed due to my traumatic past vanished and I felt like a completely new person. I believe my mother would call it a crush, something that I personally never expected to experience.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't thinking correctly. Here, let me help you up!"

However, instead of accepting my hand, the person just brushed my hand aside and pushed themselves up. I placed my hand back to my side in embarrassment as my other went to scratch the back of my neck. A nervous smile crossed my face as I tried to start some kind of conversation.

"Sorry about that again. I hope I didn't hurt you or anything."

The blonde haired girl in-front of me just continued to glare at my face. Awkward didn't even begin to describe the situation I found myself in. But I didn't particularly care at the moment.

"My names Eren Yeager, I er… just signed up for the cadets, what about you?"

Even, I, with my incredibly rubbish social skills understood that all I was succeeding in doing was making a fool of myself in-front of this girl.

Once again the girl didn't respond, she just continued to glare at my face. At this point, my neck scratching was starting to scratch some of my skin away. It seemed that my habit was connected with how nervous or embarrassed I was. I realised that all I was doing was being even more of a fool than before. With one final harsh scratch of my neck I bid my farewell.

"Well, it was nice to meet you! Whoever you are…" I manoeuvre myself around her form as I attempt to rush outside with a least a piece of my dignity in-tact.

"Annie…"

I turn my head to the girl who had just spoken. I see her not glaring at me this time, just staring at me, almost quizzically.

"I'm sorry?"

"My name… Annie Leonhart, I'm joining the cadet's as well. Maybe I'll see you around. Yeager." And with that, Annie turned away from me and walked over to a pair of males, both very taller than her. I see the blonde male ask her something before she casts a quick glance at me before turning back to her companions.

I have no idea what any of what just happened would mean later. All I know was that I had a stupid grin on my face for the rest of my day.

That was until Mikasa walked over to me and looked at where I was looking and sent a vicious glare at Annie. I chuckled at that, before walking out of the recruitment office. I needed to Titan train earlier than usual if I wanted to make it to the recruitment office at six in the morning.

And that was how I met the one known as Annie Leonhart, I still to this day don't know what came over me to act that way in-front of her. It may not seem that extreme of a personality change to most people. But to me, whose social circle only had two people in it, not counting me, talking to a stranger like that was something I never expected. But I did, and I'm glad I did. Anyway, that day came and went, Mikasa tried to get me to tell her who that was but I didn't, something that infuriated her to no end. I enjoyed doing things like that, it was cute seeing Mikasa flushed or annoyed. It was a nice change to her usual personality; non-existent or brooding.

The next day, all three of us arrived at the recruitment office on time. I couldn't find Annie within the crowd before our head instructor came to collect us. Head instructor Keith Shadis, a bald demanding man who at first glance seemed to have seen some things. He collected all of us. I believe his exact words were; "ALL THE SUICIDAL MAGGOTS WHO SIGNED UP YESTERDAY, GATHER ROUND SO I CAN MARCH YOU TO YOUR LIVING QUARTERS FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS".

Real inspirational stuff I know. He escorted us to the cadet training ground, a barren field with six huge cabins, presumably two were the male and female cabins, and one was the shower cabin with separate male and female showers. A canteen with a food storage shack behind it, strangely enough there was a girl already at the shack as I walked by. The next building was the officer hall where the instructors would sleep. And last was where the classrooms were. All of this was surrounded by a huge forest. A perfect place for my Titan training I theorised.

We were all lined up and our measurements were taken, we were told that we would claim our bunks and relax for today and that the training would start tomorrow. All the cadets went into the canteen to eat and talk with each other. It was there where I saw her again.

I had picked up my tray of food which consisted of some bread, beans and some meat which I assumed looked like chicken. We also had a glass of water and a full apple. Not exactly a meal fit for a king but for orphans that were fed once a day, three meals like this a day seemed like paradise. I sat down by-myself, waiting for Mikasa and Armin to join me. It seemed like it would take a while as I managed to grab my food quickly. So with nothing else to do I dug into my bread. It was nice to have a meal. I expected no-one to sit at my table until Mikasa or Armin grabbed their food, but when I saw the tray be placed across from me, it wasn't either of them. I looked up to see her.

Annie Leonhart from yesterday was sitting across from me.

Unsure of what to do, I offer her a nervous smile. She just stares back at me before shortly continuing her meal.

"It's err… nice to see you again Annie."

Once again, no response. Normal people would find this kind of attitude incredibly rude, but I just found it entrancing. She was like a safe, and I wanted to crack said safe.

Not the best metaphor I've ever made but it'd suffice.

Not sure what to do next I started to spoon around the beans on my plate with my utensil. I suddenly wasn't that hungry, honestly, I just wanted to talk at this point.

"Did you come with those two guys from yesterday?"

Annie looked at me quizzically at my question as if saying I should clarify.

"Err… those two tall guys, the blonde and brown haired guys. Did you come with them?"

No answer. I had a feeling this would become common-place with her.

Let the neck scratching commence. If this level of scratching kept up, I'd have to have a permanent bandage around my neck, otherwise I'd cut my neck open at this rate.

And unlike my Titan form, I will not find a smaller version of me hiding within the back of my neck.

At least I hope I wouldn't.

"Reiner and Bertolt."

"Who?"

"The names of the guys I came with…"

"You grow up with them?"

No answer.

I sigh.

"Is it going to be like this every time we meet?"

Annie looks up at me, she was probably expecting to see an annoyed look on my face. It would explain why her eyes widened slightly when she saw my amused smile on my face.

"You're a strange person Annie Leonhart."

My statement was clear and concise, Annie, for her part didn't change her facial expression, except for her eyes going back to unamused look.

"It's probably why I like talking to you."

Annie's head snapped back up so fast that I thought I heard a crack. But her surprised look was what I paid more attention to. Her look told me that she was expecting anything else except from what I had just said.

"You're a bit of a mystery Annie, and I want know more about you to be perfectly honest."

I imagine Annie had never had such a massive look of surprise on her face in her life.

I smile as I continue to eat my bread. I cast a glance at my friends to see Mikasa about to receive her food. From her haunch shoulders, I could tell she wasn't exactly happy about Annie sitting across from me.

"I lived in a small village, when the wall was breached, I, Reiner and Bertolt left the village and decided to join the cadets."

I paid close attention to all she said, I still don't know what, but I wanted to get to know Annie better. Call it; child-like curiosity.

"What about you?"

A sad look crossed my face as I recalled my origins to joining the cadets.

"I lived in the Shinganshina district, I… became an orphan after the breach and I wanted revenge on the Titans that…"

I sigh as I don't finish my sentence, I knew Annie could piece together why I wanted my revenge.

"But more than that. I just want to be able to protect the people I care most about."

Annie stares at me for a few moments, before she grabs her tray and stands up. Finished with her meal. My eyes follow her, I feel kind of sad that she hadn't said anything to me after I revealed my past. However, as she walked past me after putting her tray away, she whispered in my ear.

"You're a strange person. Eren Yeager."

And with that she walked away, probably to go claim her bunk.

Shortly after Mikasa and Armin managed to sit with me, Mikasa burning holes through the door Annie left through with her eyes. I just chuckle as I dig into the rest of my meal when suddenly another person sits down next to me. I look to my left to see a girl with brown hair, tied in a pony-tail looking at my tray of food.

"You gonna' eat that?"

That's how I met Sasha Blouse.

That concluded my first day at training. The next morning we were assigned our new uniforms and were ordered to line up outside. It was time for Keith "Shouting" Shadis to give the new cadets a "pep" talk.

"ALRIGHT YOU LITTLE SHIT-STICKS! LINE UP AND LOOK SHARP OTHERWISE I WILL PERSONALLY INSERT MY BOOT UP EACH OF YOUR ASSES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"SIR YES SIR".

So we all lined up.

"WELL I MUST SAY THAT I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED IN WHAT WE HAVE THIS TIME. A BUNCH OF PANSIES WHO LOOK LIKE THEY JUST STOPPED WEARING DIAPERS. SOME OF YOU EVEN LOOK LIKE YOU STILL WEAR DIAPERS."

Keith stomped down the line, probably looking for any easy looking prey.

To this day I still don't know why he decided I was easy prey.

I winced as Shadis stomped in-front of me.

"HELLO SHITBIRD, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"EREN YEAGER SIR."

"EREN GODAMN YEAGER EH? TELL ME EREN YOGHURT, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?"

"SIR, I'M FROM THE SHINGANSHINA DISTRICT SIR".

You could hear a pin drop at that statement. I suppose it was because I was still alive and not dead in the Shinganshina district.

"AND WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STAINING MY EYES RIGHT NOW WITH YOU'RE PRESENCE."

To this day, I still don't know why I said what I said. Maybe it was because I wanted to be seen as brave to everyone else.

"SIR, I'M HERE TO KICK THE ABSOLUTE FUCK OUT OF EVERY TITAN I CAN FIND… SIR"

I suppose I should have expected the head-but I received. It was never a smart idea to swear in-front of a superior officer.

Thankfully, due to the uncountable amount of times I have ripped myself out of my Titan's neck (which hurts like crap by the way) so I didn't really react to the attack, I just flinched at the contact. Keith steps back from the attack and looks me up and down.

"I'M IMPRESSED YOGHURT, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU DO INDEED HAVE SOME BALLS, I EXPECT GOOD THINGS FROM YOU YOGHURT."

"SIR, THANK-YOU SIR."

And that was my first personal interaction with head instructor; Keith Shadis. What a nice guy. Instructor Shadis continued onwards to shout at some more recruits. I took the chance to glance around at my fellow cadets. My eyes caught hers. Annie was looking at me with one of her eyebrows raised. I smiled at her and she simply pointed at her forehead. I reached up and was surprised when I felt the warm feeling of liquid coat my forefingers.

Blood. If there was one thing I wasn't going to expect, it was the idea of bleeding from a head-but. But here I am, bleeding from the forehead after a surprise head-but.

Check that off the list I suppose.

I grabbed a tissue out of one of my uniform pockets. I dab my forehead, there wasn't a lot of blood, I was just trickling down from a small injury. It took a few moments but soon enough my forehead was clear of blood. I cast a glance at Shadis to make sure he wasn't looking my way. I turn back to Annie and give her a thumbs up. She only nods before turning her head back to the front, having finished with the "conversation" that we just had.

I could just feel the annoyed look Mikasa was giving me as well as the piercing glare she obviously would be sending Annie's way.

"WELL, LOOK AT THIS POSH KNOB! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

Keith's shouting gained my attention once again and I saw him standing in-front of a decently tall boy with ash-brown hair.

"MY NAME'S JEAN KRISTEIN SIR. PLEASURE!"

"IT MAY BE A PLEASURE FOR YOU JOHN! BUT FOR ME, I JUST HAD SOME SHITSTAIN TRY TO GET ON MY GOOD SIDE. WHY ARE YOU HERE JOHN?"

It seemed like mocking our names was Shadis's only form of entertainment.

"Err… the names Jean sir and I'm here to live a comfy life inside the walls."

I winced for poor Jean, even before the attack came I knew he was going to be in pain.

The head-but caught the brown-haired cadet by surprise it seemed, as when he was hit, Jean fell to the floor holding his forehead in pain.

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO CORRECT ME MAGGOT. YOU'RE NAME IS JOHN AND WILL STAY AS JOHN UNTIL YOU PROVE YOUR WORTH. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

A weak and mumbled "sir yes sir" was Jean's reply.

"THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO YOGHURT. YOU HEAR ME?"

"INDEED I DO SIR".

"GOOD. Now, who's next? OH MY SWEET GODDAMN WALL, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING CADET?"

I looked at where Keith was storming to. I saw Sasha from yesterday eating a potato.

The sound of funeral trumpets played in my head. Poor, hungry Sasha.

"NO I DON'T WANT YOU'RE FUCKING POTATO".

That was our introduction speech. Real kind stuff I know. Nothing of note happened for the rest of the day, we were introduced to the rest of our instructors, were told what was expected of us a brand new cadets and were informed of meal times, waking time and curfew. Curfew was kind of a blessing in disguise for me, it meant that when I snuck out at night, that nobody else would be out of fear of being caught by head instructor Shadis. Well, that's what I thought anyway, it didn't actually go that way as the first night I went to Titan train was when I met two more people.

I had just snuck out of the boy's cabin and tip-toed down the porch steps onto the ground. I was now out of my uniform and in my casual clothes. I checked if the coast was clear before I walked around my cabin to go into the forest. That's where I bumped into a tiny blond haired girl. It seemed like my introductions with all blonde women would play out with me knocking them to the ground accidentally.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry for that, here let me help you."

I reached my hand out and was momentarily surprised when the girl on the floor accepted my gesture. Then I remembered that not all blondes are like Annie. I heaved her to her feet with little effort.

"I'm really sorry about that again. I wasn't looking where I was going."

The small girl shook her right hand in-front of her face to dissuade my worry.

"Its fine, I wasn't paying attention either."

I smiled in relief.

"I'm glad I didn't hurt you, my names Eren Yeager, what's yours?"

A look of recognition passed through the petite girls large blue eyes.

"Oh, you're the cadet who Head instructor Shadis head-butted first! Are you okay after that? I saw some blood on your forehead and I was a little worried he might've hurt you pretty badly."

"Oh no. I'm fine, much better off than that Jean guy anyway. Thanks for your concern though, its sweet."

The small girl just shook her head in disagreement.

"It's nothing… It's just what anyone would do."

I laughed good-naturedly.

"If you say so. But I'm pretty sure only a really kind and caring person would make sure I was okay."

Our conversation was going to continue when suddenly something came flying past me and I only had a split second to grab the small girl away from the incoming projectile, unfortunately the object that she was carrying in her hands was stolen by the flying thing. A startled sound came from the girl's mouth as I placed her behind me for protection.

Thankfully it was all unneeded as the unknown attacker was simply Sasha; the potato girl who had just grabbed what seemed to be some rolled up meat from the blonde girl.

"Damn-it Sasha, you scared the hell out of us!"

The feasting girl simply ignored us as she continued to gorge away. I was unsure on what to feel, disgusted at her eating manners or amused that she was acting like she had been starved for days with the way she was devouring the meat. I felt movement behind me and looked down to see the small blonde girl looking around my form, before giggling at Sasha's antics.

For some reason, the giggle sounded hollow to me. It sounded fake. I shrugged my shoulders, chalking it up my mind playing tricks on me.

"If you're that hungry Sasha, then I have some water here if you want it?"

I was barely able to once again grab the small girl out of the way of Sasha's flying charge for the water. She managed to grab it and began to chug the water down her throat.

I debated running in all honestly, potato girl was beginning to scare me more than a Titan at this point.

I heard footsteps heading our way due to my enhanced hearing. I saw a tall girl heading our way.

"Oh look, Krista has that girl eating out of the palm of her hand. Such a cute little trickster you are!"

I turn me head to look at the small girl behind me.

"You're names Krista eh?"

"Yes. I'm Krista Lenz, the tall girl who misunderstood me giving out food is Ymir."

I nod and look at Ymir, she was a little taller than me.

"You're Yoghurt right? What are you doing out here?"

Krista moves in-front of me and sends a half-hearted glare at the considerably taller female cadet.

"Ymir, don't be rude!"

"What!? Afraid I might hurt wittle Yoghurt's feelings?"

I'm unsure on how to feel at Ymir's insulting jabs towards me. If I was still like me before wall Maria was breached I'd of probably shouted at her and got all of us caught by Keith Shadis. But being the way I am now, I simply send a glare at the taller person in-front of me.

"You must enjoy insulting people. How hollow is your life that you enjoy mocking other people?"

My words may have been a little too harsh if Krista's gasp and Ymir's irritated look told me anything. I see Ymir about to open her mouth to retort but I cut her off by turning around.

"Well, it's been a pleasure Krista. Not so much for you Ymir but I must say farewell for now."

I head off towards the forest.

"Wait, Eren! Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk, I need some fresh air. I.. I had a nightmare."

My lie was instinctual, I hadn't been asleep yet to have my usual nightmare of that terrible day. I honestly shouldn't have been surprised when Krista ran to catch up to me, her personality seemed too kind to let someone go off alone.

"Don't go Eren. Why don't you talk about it? I find that talking with people about your troubles always helps!"

Her kindness touched me. It was rare to find someone as kind as her, but still, it felt… fake somehow.

"Thanks for the offer Krista but I'd rather be by myself to be honest. I'm not really comfortable with talking about problems…"

Another lie, well half-truth really. I have problems but I've never even tried talking about them. I couldn't really see talking to someone about my problems with my Titan transformation going over too well.

I could see it now.

"Oh hi Krista, you said I could talk about my problems with you right? Well sit down and get comfortable because this is going to take a while. It all started when wall Maria fell and my mother died in-front of me. Then five hours later I killed my father due to him injecting me with something that transformed me into a Titan."

Yea. I'm sure that would go over perfectly…

"Oh… Okay Eren… just know that you can talk to someone if you need to…"

I look back at Krista and give her what I hoped looked like a reassuring smile.

"Thanks Krista. And I'd really appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about this whole going for a walk thing. I'd hate to worry people."

Krista nods, giving me a hopeful smile.

I nod back and continue into the forest, ready to begin my Titan training as a Cadet.

And that's how I met Krista and Ymir. Both of them were obviously keeping secrets, it was even obvious to me, captain oblivious as Ymir had later began to not so kindly refer to me as.

Bitch.

That night I tried a new technique in my Titan form, I was going to try to use the steam that I could generate when leaving my Titan body slowly in a new way. If I could generate intense heat in my Titan body, maybe I could use that same heat as a form of attack. Maybe I could super-heat my hands and increase my damage capability so that when I punched a Titan in the face, I could simultaneously melt and bruise a Titan.

It was worth a shot considering my training with trying to harden my skin was still a fruitless endeavour.

By the time I had reached an acceptable distance from the training ground, I knew I had been walking for at least twenty minutes. Not even waiting I bit into my hand and the yellow lightning struck me, deforming my body into that of a Titan. I didn't worry about anyone coming to see what that lightening was, it was night-time and lightening was common these days.

That was my misguided logic anyway.

I adjusted to my new form and took a moment to guess at my height. My Titan form had also been getting taller and taller the older I got. I was told that this training forest had trees that reached at least twenty-five metre's tall. Even in my Titan form I couldn't see the top of the old trees. I guesstimated that my height was around ten to fifth-teen meters at best. So I reached into the tall category of Titans (not counting the colossal of-course). Anyway, remembering why I was here tonight I sat down and began to go through the process of super-heating my body. To do so I had to dig deep into my Titan's form and bring about the regeneration process that generated the steam in the first place. What I was doing was taking the regeneration ability and transferring that into my skin, this would do two major things.

The first is that it would cancel out my regeneration ability. The second one is that, I used that same heat generated from the regeneration to burn my skin, which would normally begin the process of getting out of my Titan body painlessly. Instead of that though, I transferred all of that heat to my hands and watched the results.

Let's just say putting all of the heat that could melt a tall category Titan into two hands was not necessarily a smart idea.

To put a long story short, my hands melted off.

Now, being in my Titan form made it so my pain was heavily dulled. So it would've been a really funny sight to see a Titan sitting on a floor just looking at where his hands used to be. I'm not sure how long I stared at my stumps. Somehow I managed to miss the fact that I would probably burn my hands off.

My jaw lowers as steam escapes, followed by a sigh. I was able to make quite a few human noises and words out now in my Titan form. However my voice was heavily altered, I sounded like I was trying to speak underwater but the words were actually able to come out. They came out gargled somewhat and echo-like, my voice also rose a few octaves, but it didn't make me sound prepubescent, it gave my voice a certain intimidating edge in my opinion. I personally found it very cool. Whilst I waited for my hands to regenerate I decided to practice some new words to say.

"Ahhh-neee. Annn-ehhh."

My voice was being reverberated heavily, it sounded like I was putting far too much emphasis on my vowels. I chalked up the trouble to having no lips. However, not being dissuaded by this, I tried again.

"Arrrneee."

That one was particularly terrible in my opinion.

"Annehhh."

Better, but no dice as they would say.

"Aghney."

I threw my stumps into the air in frustration, I gave up at that point in saying her name. Anyway, my hands had begun to reform, it was a fascinating sight to see. First the bones in my hand grew back, next the muscles. (That was certainly a disturbing image I wouldn't be getting rid of anytime soon.) And finally my skin reformed followed by the steam rising from my hands.

I would never get used to seeing that.

Now having my hands back. (Never thought I'd say that either). I tried heating my hands again, but this time I would spread the heat throughout the entirety of my arms. Results proved more effective this time as when the steam began to form on my arms, my hands didn't instantly melt away. Instead, my arms began to melt very, very slowly. It was a visible thing, I could see the heat slowly eat away at my arms. Quick to test this new ability, I stood up and moved towards the closet tree. I placed my right hand on the trunk of the tree and was surprised when my hand began to burn straight through the bark of the tree. I pulled back and was amazed when I saw my hand-print about 2 feet into the trunk. The trees were about five feet thick and I had only put my hand on the tree for at most three seconds. Impressed at the damage just gently placing my hand on something could do, I tried something different.

Noticing that my arms were still going strong, I continued with this unique training. Moving up to another tree, I prepared myself, going into a fighting stance I took a deep breath and launched my right fist forward into the tree's trunk.

"HRRRRAAAGGGGHHHH".

My fist went straight through the tree.

I took a deep breath and allowed the steam to dissipate from my arms. I took my arm out from the tree and took a step back. I attempted a whistle which only sounded like I was trying to choke on my own tongue.

New point of knowledge about Titans. They can't whistle.

So that blew the dream of being a Harmonica playing Titan out of the water. I figured that I had trained enough that night so I took the time to super-heat my whole body and begin the process to detach myself from my Titan's body. This process as said before took far longer than ripping my neck apart and pulling myself out. I fell out of my Titan's form and landed heavily on my back, grunting in pain.

"God-damnit!" I roared as I stayed where I fell.

A side effect of leaving my Titan's form was that it left me incredibly drained of energy. The first time was the worst, I passed out. The second time I burst into tears and wasn't able to move from that alleyway for at least an hour before the guards managed to get me to move.

Now, all it took was a few moments of relaxation to regain the feeling in my whole body. It still sucked though.

Finally having my body back, I heaved myself to my feet. I glanced at my Titan carcass and was still amazed at the size difference between me and it.

The body would disintegrate shortly.

That concluded the second day of training. I got back to the male's cabin and went straight asleep. I always needed a good rest after transforming, it was never a good thing to transform two times in the span of a couple of hours. The last time I did that during my Titan training, my Titan form had collapsed in exhaustion. Gradually, I realised that I shouldn't attempt to transform twice so close after another. Not until I grew stronger within my human body anyway.

You're Titan form is only as strong as you're human form is what I realised.

I figured that I wouldn't be able to transform multiple times in one day until I was older. Maybe when I graduated is when I could do something like that. But first I would have to graduate, something that I don't think I was fully aware of how difficult it would actually be. I did excel in a few areas though, it Titan basics (where we taught the weaknesses and different types of Titans). Being a secret Titan myself I knew almost everything from the Titans regeneration capability, to the different types of Titans. Normal, abnormal, those kind of things, I figured I myself would be classed as some kind of special abnormal.

An abnormal, abnormal you might say. I was the cream of the crop in that specific lesson. I did well in other procedures we went through. On day five Keith began to get serious with our training. That day, every individual cadet's abilities would be tested.

Speed, Endurance, strength, intelligence. You know, the basics. I did alright in them, my endurance and strength were in the top three of the cadets, unsurprising considering the fact my Titan form had altered my human boy's capability.

Obvious Mikasa came out on top in all of these things, she outright terrified me at some points, and how can someone like her beat someone like that Reiner in a strength test? Hell, he even beat me in that test and I'm technically cheating due to my… condition. If I didn't know better, I'd say that she was a Titan in human skin with that strength.

After that day Keith told us that we were through "pussy-footing about" and that he was going to get serious. Even though he already said he was going to get serious, none of us called him out on it. No-one was that stupid. But for that day we were let off to rest and eat. That's where I had another meeting with Annie, this one however ended a little differently.

I had just grabbed my food and turned to see for anywhere I could sit. This time, Mikasa had gotten her food first and was expectantly looking at me, I shrugged as I headed towards her, in all honesty, I hadn't talked to her as much as I should've since we got here. I circled by a few benches and brushed passed a few people to get closer, when suddenly I felt a hand grab my shoulder and pull me towards somewhere.

I managed to correct myself just in time to avoid banging into one of the tables. I looked at who was the owner of the hand and was surprised to see the tall blonde male that Annie said was Reiner smiling at me.

"Sit with us Yeager!"

I don't really know what happened next, somehow I managed to end being sat down next to Reiner as he congratulated me on my surprising strength. His taller friend; Bertolt on his other across from him, looking slightly embarrassed from his friend's antics. And finally there was Annie was once again sat across from me, sitting quietly as she ate.

"Let me introduce ourselves Eren! My name is Reiner Braun and my tall friend over here is Bertolt Hoover. You've already met Annie and she's told us quite a bit about you!"

I cast my gaze towards the blond girl across from me, I could tell that she was purposely trying to avoid my eyes.

My god! She was embarrassed.

"Err, it's nice to meet you Reiner. Bertolt, I'm Eren Yeager as you already know. What's up?"

"Nothing's up! We just wanted to get to know you better is all!"

It seemed that Reiner did the majority of the talking out of the three, Bertolt didn't seem as anti-social as Annie, and he just rather let his friend do the speaking.

"Oh, er… that's fine… why though?"

Reiner grinned as he leaned in closer to me and whispered into my ear.

"Just between you and me. It's because Annie wanted you to sit next to us but she was too shy to say anything."

The moment the last word was spoken I felt the cold hand of despair grip me. I glanced at Annie to see her glaring holes into me.

Wait, not me. No, she was glaring at Reiner who simply pretended not to notice her detest for him.

"Reiner behave yourself!" Bertolt scolded. Reiner just waved his arms in in-front of him.

I chuckled at their antics. That is until Annie sent her glare at me. Now, when Mikasa would glare at me like that, I would seize up, but when Annie glared at me like that I simply smiled back at her cheekily. My response caused her to recoil slightly, causing her eyes to widen slightly, before quickly looking back down at her food.

Reiner laughed at that, when suddenly he jolted in his seat. He sent a glare towards Annie who didn't react in the slightest. She had kicked him in the shin.

I smiled at this groups antics, it may not look it, but I could tell that these three had been through thick and thin together for quite some time. It almost reminded me of me, Mikasa and Armin a little.

Maybe, possible, if you squinted and looked at the trio with your head tilted.

Where was I going with this thought again?

I was broken from my thoughts when Reiner slapped me on the shoulder, in a good natured manner.

It may have been in good nature, but when my head hit the table because of the strength behind Reiner's hand, I didn't much care for "good natured" injuries at that point. I pull my head back up as silence covered the entirety of the canteen. The sound of my head smacking against the desk had reverberated throughout the room. I noticed Mikasa about to storm over here and beat the crap out of Reiner.

"Whoa, Eren, you're bleeding man!"

A voice belonging to a short cadet, named Connie as I had found out previously informed me that yes. I did have a little bit of blood dribbling form my forehead. I pondered whether or not my head bleeding would become a common occurrence for me, as not even more than week ago my head had been bleeding in the exact same spot.

"Aw shit. Eren, I'm so sorry, I thought you'd be able to handle my strength considering you came third in the strength test!"

I just turn my head to give Reiner a strange look.

"It doesn't matter if I was the strongest person in the world, who the hell does that!?"

Reiner just scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. I cast a quick glance at Annie, to see her giving a fierce look at Reiner, shortly before seeing Reiner once again jump in pain. Annie had kicked him again.

I don't know if it was because what Reiner did was stupid, if it was because she was angry that he hurt unintentionally hurt me. In all honestly, I wanted it to be the second option to be perfectly honest. I looked at Mikasa and mouthed to her that it was okay. Reiner already had one angry, violent female on his case, he didn't need that, plus Mikasa angry at him.

No-one deserved that, it was far too harsh a punishment.

A handkerchief suddenly invaded my eyesight. And before I knew what was happening, the blonde girl across from me was kneeling next to me, taking care to wipe the blood away from my head.

I was stunned, from what knowledge I had gathered of the cold cadet, it was that she didn't like to touch people in any way that didn't involve hitting them. And that she rarely, if ever showed concern over someone else.

"An-Annie?"

She didn't respond, she simply continued to gently wipe away the blood. She continued for a few more seconds before deeming that she had wiped enough of the copper liquid away. Before she moved away however she leaned next to my ear.

"You're an intriguing person, Yeager."

With that, she turned and left the canteen.

I unintentionally ignored Reiner's outburst at what just happened. My mind replaying what had just happened over and over again. Unknowingly, a small smile graced my features.

I was intriguing?

She was like puzzle within a puzzle, within another puzzle. All wrapped up in another large complex… puzzle?

She was a mystery alright! Okay!?

I went to bed that night, after my Titan training (nothing exciting happened, I just continued to practice using my super-heat ability). I was confused, why did Annie intrigue me so? Was it her deep blue eyes that had so many secrets hidden within? Was it her blonde hair? The way she sometimes moved a few bangs of her blond hair out of her right eye?

I fancied her didin't I?

Ugh! Good job Yeager! You go, pinning for a girl whose total word-count you have heard was probably less than fifty in total! You go for impossible dreams, first I want to kill all the Titans and now I like Annie!

I sighed. I just seemed to love making my life harder for myself didn't I?

That night, I had a rather disturbing dream. Not a disturbing dream as in, the dream was hard to watch or anything like that. It was more disturbing in the way how impossible it seemed to be. I dreamed of my Titan form being revealed, and not only was I not instantly executed on the spot. I ended up being seen as some kind of hero. I actually enjoyed the dream, not the hero part exactly but at the end of the dream, I saw myself hugging a girl lovingly, her face blurred horribly. It was weird, before I became a cadet, my main dream had been to protect my friends and kill all Titans. But now, it seemed my dream had changed somewhat.

And not necessarily for the worse.

Enough about that though. The next day, Shadis had us take an aptitude test, no-one dared ask why the aptitude test was given after the cadets first day. Ignoring that though, I was determined to show of my skills.

My body flew forward and I smacked my forehead into the hard dirt floor. The warm feeling of blood trickled down my face, as I heard a few people gasp at my accident. Only one thought passed through my mind.

Yep. Definitely going to become a common occurrence.

CHAP END

Not much to say that I already haven't said in the chapter start; authors note. So without keeping you, I'll just bid you a-due.

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A-due.