A/N: I wanted, I mean I reallllllly wanted a student/teacher AU for Jean and Armin and then this happened. Yeah so here is a one-shot/drabble and there really isn't any plot I just wanted some teacher!Armin. Enjoy. Oh and Jean is a senior so he is 18 and Armin is… late 20s early 30s.
When Armin decided to become a teacher, his decision was driven by his passion for learning and his undying love for geography. There had been a point in his life where he had his mind set on traveling the world and seeing all these places for himself, but it was nothing more than a pipe-dream and he knew it would never be anything more than that. That's not to say he was bitter about his profession – he actually quite enjoyed teaching and sharing his knowledge. Sure the rowdy teenagers got on his nerves sometimes and when he had first started the job he'd been a bit of a pushover, but once he got comfortable with the mechanics of everything he really blossomed as a teacher. The students knew him to be strict, Mr. Arlert wouldn't put up with anyone that dare interrupt his class and he certainly wasn't lenient in the homework department. However, Armin had a certain passion about geography that students recognized and his class was actually highly requested because he made sure the lessons were not boring and he just had a knack for hyping his students up.
There was one particular student it seemed, who he was unconsciously hyping up a bit too much.
Jean Kirschstein was your typical student – he had average grades, but goofed off occasionally in class, but also understood when he needed to be serious and pay attention.
Armin, for his part, never had a problem with Jean – he was always paying attention and genuinely seemed to enjoy Armin's class and from what the teacher gathered, seemed to hang off his every word.
"I'm telling you Armin – that kid has a crush on you," Eren, a fellow teacher and a close friend of Armin's, had said one day. The two of them were sitting in the teachers' lounge, sharing the lunch Armin had brought for them.
This wasn't the first time Eren had said it, and while the accusation had been teasing at first, Eren was steadily making it out to be more and more serious. Armin denied it vehemently though, Jean was just a good student is all – the teen was entitled to have a favorite subject.
"Will you stop saying that," was Armin's response as he absently picked at his food. The only reason why he had brought up the student in the first place was because recently the once all A student's grades (low A's mind you) had been slipping. The recent material hadn't been particularly challenging and so Armin couldn't fathom as to why the sudden drop in test scores.
"I'm serious," Eren said, "He is always screwing around in my class and I wish we still had corporal punishment so I could knock him upside the head."
Armin 'tsk'ed at Eren's at times brutish nature, "I believe you," he sighed – all of the other teacher's said Jean was a decent student though he had a tendency to horse around. Armin never had that problem, so at first he had been a bit skeptical, but all the other teachers seemed to be on Eren's side and so the odds were stacked against the student.
Crush or not, it didn't matter to Armin anyway – it's not like Jean had ever acted out on his supposed feelings or done or said anything to make Armin aware of it – so he wasn't too worried about it, though he was still 99% percent positive Eren was imagining things and that Jean did not like him in that way.
What he was worried about, was the boy's slipping grades. Graduation was just a few short months away and if Jean wanted to keep his 4.0 he really needed to get out of the rut he was in.
"I just don't know what to do," Armin lamented, "Maybe I should pull him aside for a conference."
Eren scoffed, "I bet he'd love that."
The blond scowled wishing his friend would just drop it already – Jean didn't have a crush on him, he just really liked geography is all.
Okay so, maybe Eren was right. Scratch that – Eren had hit the nail on the head. That much was obvious when Armin had asked Jean to come to his office after class that day. At 3 o'clock on the dot, Jean sauntered into his small office, and Armin politely asked him to shut the door – there were still students wandering the halls and he didn't want people eavesdropping when he told Jean he was borderline failing his class.
The tall teenager had an air of confidence about him that Armin was not used to – typically Jean sat in his class staring at him with a goofy grin – and to see the teen lazily reclining in the chair in front of Armin's desk, one leg crossed so his ankle rested on his knee and his back hunched as he learned forward to prop his arm on his lap and rest his chin in the palm of his hand, lips upturned in a smirk; made tingles run down Armin's spine and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable being alone with his student.
He swallowed the lump in his throat nervously, "Do you know why I asked you to come in here?"
It was the same question he always asked when holding a conference with one of his students. It was his way of gauging if they cared about their grades or even realized it was a problem. The students that cared would always have an inkling of an idea why they had been called in.
"Of course I do," Jean said; that infuriating smirk still on his face, "its cause you wanted to see me."
Armin's eye twitched. He could briefly remember Eren complaining once that Jean was "a sarcastic little shit always trying to start something," but Armin had just laughed it off because while yes Jean was a bit cocky at times, he was never like this.
Armin opened his mouth to ask Jean to elaborate some when suddenly the teen was standing up and walking right in front of his desk, one of his hands dropping on the surface of the wood as he leaned a little too close to Armin for comfort.
"I have to admit Arlert-sensei; I was beginning to think you didn't like me."
To say Armin was shocked was an understatement, and he wished he would have taken Eren more seriously because there was no denying his student was hitting on him. Armin pressed himself back against his chair, trying to put as much space between them both since Jean felt the need to invade his personal space.
"Uhm Jean, I just wanted to talk to you about your grades – they have been slipping recently and I'm concerned." Armin flushed when Jean smiled slightly – it was closer to the dorky grin he was used to seeing – and with the brunet this close, Armin could see the unmistakable lust swirling in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it sensei-" Jean's face was getting even closer and Armin had to resist the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. He was the adult here – he needed to man up and not let the teen bully him like this.
"I am worrying about it!" Armin snapped, and Jean jerked back a bit at the sudden exclamation, "Your grades are very important and I refuse to sit by and watch as you throw away all your hard work for a stupid little crush!"
Jean's eyes flashed in anger, smile dropping before he was grabbing the collar of Armin's shirt and yanking him forward, "Stupid little crush? You think that's what I'm feeling?! How can you be so dense?! I like you sensei, I really do – this is more than just a crush for me."
Armin tugged at Jean's hands softly, trying to pry his fingers away from his shirt, "You don't even know me."
The student only shook his head frantically, "I do. I know you love to read and I can see how passionate you are about Geography – especially the ocean even though the subject focuses more on the land. I know that you are childhood friends with Jaeger-sensei and you really care for your students and your eyes are so beautiful that they make me wanna spew poetry and you're so small it's cute and I just want to hold you," and under his breath, "amongst other things."
All of those things were obvious, and Armin was sure all his students knew those things about him (minus of course the whole beautiful eye thing and everything that came after it), but Armin still couldn't help his heart jumping up into his throat. It was all really flattering, but Jean was his student and it didn't matter if he thought the brunet was handsome or if this aggressive side of Jean he wasn't used to made him a bit hot and bothered.
Armin patted Jean's clenched hands, offering the teen a brilliant smile, who blushed (Armin liked that look better) and reluctantly let go of his now crumpled shirt, his hands dropping to his sides as he leaned back to give the teacher his personal space back.
"Jean-"
"Give me a chance sensei!" Jean practically whined, seeing how his seducing tactic had failed miserably.
"You know I can't do that. You are a student and I am your teacher," Jean looked like he was going to say something and so Armin quickly added, "It does not matter if you are eighteen or not – these kinds of relationships are frowned up."
Jean kind of looked like a kicked puppy, or maybe a sad pony and Armin sighed, and pinched at the bridge of his nose because he really shouldn't have thought the teen looked cute like that, "I really am flattered you feel this way about me, but I must reject your advances."
Jean clenched his fists, he felt like a giant idiot – of course the teacher would reject him, he should have known. He had just been so excited when the blond had asked him to come see him in his office, that his blind optimism made him jump to the impossible conclusion that his feelings were being returned. Angry at himself, he kicked the edge of Armin's desk before huffing loudly and throwing himself into the chair he was sitting in earlier.
Armin watched the display with a frown, the teen really seemed to be taking the rejection pretty hard – it made him feel bad and maybe a little bit guilty. Armin sighed again; this kid would be the death of him.
"Maybe…" Armin started hesitantly and Jean looked up at the teacher curiously, and maybe even a bit hopefully, "Maybe after you've graduated we could try going on a date… or something."
Jean stared at the red-faced Armin in shock, before he too was blushing and he dropped his gaze to his lap to hide the giddy grin on his face. He had the strongest urge to scream at the sun or something else utterly ridiculous, but he had to look cool in front of his teacher – had to look mature and prove that he wasn't a kid.
He stood up, stepping in front of Armin's desk once more, who gazed up at him curiously, before Jean was grabbing his shirt again and wrenching him from his seat so he could press their lips together. The kiss lasted not even a solid three seconds before Jean was pulling away, the corner of his lip twitching from the urge to smile like a kid in a candy store.
"You won't regret this sensei!" and then he was striding towards the door, because he seriously needed to go scream in a pillow or something before he exploded from all the excitement he was trying to contain.
"Wait! Your grades!" Armin yelped, suddenly remembered why he called Jean into his office in the first place.
The teen turned to him and winked, "I'll get 'em up in no time sensei," and then he was walking out of the room, goofy grin in place.
Armin sighed before burying his face in his hands, "What have I gotten myself into?"
A/N: Open ended ending is open ended. Maybe I'll write a sequel for this someday. Maybe not.