Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan.

Hand-to-Hand
by. Poisoned Scarlett

The first time Eren fought Annie, it was completely against his will. Reiner had challenged her, calling her a slacker with the intention of getting her ass into gear. He hadn't anticipated her responding and nearing him with a predatory grace, blue eyes icy and unforgiving.

Reiner had pushed Eren to fight her instead, and promptly had his ass handed to him in less than two seconds flat.

Eren's neck still hurt from the encounter.

Thankfully for him, Reiner had also gotten his ass beat.

It was not all a loss: seeing a huge man like Reiner eat dirt by a girl half his size was satisfying.

The second time Eren fought Annie, she ignored him, but he got through to her eventually. He went in with the intention of showing her he had some skill, because the thought of being looked down upon by one of the squads best fighters rubbed him wrong. It was bad enough Mikasa had to completely overshadow him when they fought. At least if he won a match with Annie, he could safely say that he could actually make it into the top ten.

"Hey, Annie!" Eren shouted, waving her down. She spared him a disinterested look, pausing her gait only enough for him to catch up to her. She continued her stealthy avoidance of their field instructor with Eren hot on her heels. "Do you want to spare with me like yesterday? It doesn't look like you have a partner, and if you're caught slacking, you'll get in huge trouble. Punishment this time is twenty laps around the track."

"No, thanks. Yesterday was a one-time thing," she said shortly. She faced him suddenly, raising her fists to her face. Eren's eyes lit up with anticipation for a fight and he rose his as well. But just as quickly as Annie had raised them, she lowered them, and continued her stroll. She ignored Eren's puzzled face to weave past a sparing pair.

"Annie! Hey, slow down, would you? If you would just spar with me, you wouldn't need to sneak around like this!"

Annie cast him a sharp look. Eren stood his ground, eyes holding hers. There was a familiar spark of determination in them, and Annie was too smart to think that he would give up pestering her now. She placed a hand on her hip, looking distinctly annoyed.

"Why do you want to spar with me all of a sudden?" She demanded, coldly. "You never showed any interest before, why the sudden change?"

Eren stiffened, losing that glistening spark for one of nerves. She read the confusion that crossed his face, the anger, before he could even open his mouth to explain.

"Well, you always looked like you would rather be on your own, but yesterday you spared with me and Reiner, and you looked like you enjoyed it."

Annie's face remained bored.

Eren crossed his arms, frowning at her.

"Didn't you?"

"No."

Liar, Eren thought, and it must have showed on his face because Annie's eyes narrowed a fraction and she faced him fully. He recognized the familiar tenseness of her shoulders and he dropped his arms from his chest, tilting his body slightly as his eyes regained their fiery spark. Annie hid a smirk by raising her fists to her face, her blue eyes remaining cold and vast despite the thrill that wound her muscles tight.

"Are you finally going to fight me?"

Annie only angled her body towards him. "What's it look like?"

He pursed his lips, but shook it off. "It's a spar, so using your full strength—ah, wait, SHIT!" Eren barely managed to block her blow, eyes widening at the amount of force such a small fist could carry. He felt his bones ache with the blow, and he immediately went for her gut. She anticipated his strike and countered with a swift dodge, aiming her knee into his side. She brought her foot down on his back when he keeled over and stomped on his shoulder, her smirk widening when Eren groaned painfully.

"What the hell was that for? You didn't have to hit me that hard!"

"This is a fight," Annie told him simply. "In life, you won't have spars. You'll have fights. You won't be offered a second chance when you're in the field. If you don't use your full-strength now and adjust your mistakes, what's the point of learning how to fight?" Annie removed her foot when she caught sight of Mikasa, black eyes deadly and promising pain if she did not remove her foot in that instant. She looked away once Eren managed to stumble upright, a deep frown lining his face. But his eyes had only grown more determined, excited; they sparked with a blinding glare, and Annie found herself staring at him for a second longer than was appropriate.

"Will you fight me, now?"

Eren nodded, face set. He rose his fists, eyes cool. "Yeah. I will."

Annie smiled imperceptibly.

Eren caught it all the same.

The third time Eren fought Annie, she taught him how to deliver a crippling blow to the back of one's neck.

"FUCK!"

"Get up. We're not done here!"

Eren fell over on his side instead, cursing to himself as he rubbed the back of his neck furiously.

Unfortunately, he had been her unwitting example for the move.

Connie had teased him about it all throughout dinner.

The fourth time Eren fought Annie, she taught him how to dodge close-range blows, and that time he had not hurt. She had been methodical, her words precise and monotone, but Eren caught the threads of emotion all the same. She was not a cold girl like everyone thought her to be; she was like Mikasa in a sense.

She was good at being empty.

But she was kind inside.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," Eren nodded, showing her the technique step by step for her eyes to critique. She nodded when he finished, then thrust her fist forward unexpectedly. But he knew her teaching style by now, so he had no problem reacting. He pushed it away with the back of his hand, aiming for her. He froze his fist just before it hit her stomach and spun away, launching a fierce kick at her.

Annie's eyes widened and she caught his foot with her arm, using his weight to throw him off.

Eren caught himself.

This time he did not fall.

This time he grinned at her, eyes fierce and victorious, sliding back into his defensive stance like she had taught him to.

This time he earned her respect.

The fifth time Eren fought Annie, she taught him how to incapacitate someone by going for their legs.

That time, Eren had hesitated too long, because going after a girl like a rampaging horse and twisting his arms into hers, bending her over and painfully throwing her to the ground, seemed like too much, even if it was a real fight. He and Annie fought seriously, but there was difference between waking up sore and not waking up at all.

She had done it to him twice before she stopped, looking extremely irritated.

"If you're not going to fight me seriously, then we can call it off now," she told him sharply. "I'm not teaching you how to fight only for you to back out when it gets serious."

"No! I mean..." Eren wiped away a smudge of blood from the corner of his lip. That one had hurt: she had been angry that time. He had been tossed around enough by Mikasa to know when it was real and when it was not. "This move looks like it can really hurt you."

Annie rose a brow. "It's supposed to."

Eren pinked, scowling heavily right after. "I mean, if I actually hurt you, the instructor is gonna' have me by the balls! It's supposed to be a spar, not a real fight!"

"What would you know about balls?"

"What?" Eren stiffened at her smirk, his heart speeding up. Sometimes Annie looked at him like that: her eyes would lid, her smirk would widen, and she would gaze at him as if he was simply the most entertaining thing she had ever come across. Those times, his heart would pound, his hands would sweat, and he would have the most irrational urge to get away from her. He had never felt that sort of adrenaline rush in this sort of setting. He had never felt like running away from a person before, most definitely not a girl.

"You deaf now, Eren?" She approached him and he did not have enough time to stand back up and defend himself in case she rushed him. But she did not rush him: she stopped a step away from him, offering her hand. Eren looked at it guardedly: Annie had never offered her hand to him whenever he fell. For some reason, she was doing it now.

"Quit playing around," he groused. "I'm being serious!"

"As am I."

He took her hand and Annie flipped him over her back and slammed him on the floor without wasting a beat, watching him groan and curse apathetically.

"Dumbass. Never let your guard down."

"I didn't think you'd actually flip me over that time, what the fuck? I thought we finished!" Eren snapped, sitting up with a hand at the back of his head. That one would leave a bruise. Annie's eyes narrowed and she returned to her stance, watching him with taunting eyes. Eren, irked he had been taken advantage so easily, stood right back up and rushed at her, letting his fist fly with all the strength he had.

She dodged it like nothing.

Their fight lasted awhile. Swipe, blow, kick, dodge, but Eren kept up with her. That is, until Annie tried out the technique she had been teaching him today. Then he faltered and she took the opening with a sneering curl of her lip. She slid beside him, slipping her hands under his arms, thrashing him sidelong and throwing him to the floor. But this time, she went down with him, and flipped him over on his stomach, her knee digging into the middle of his spine. Her mouth was at his ear, and her breathing was hard, her hands gripping the front of his shirt to keep him still. They moved to his neck and she pulled back, cutting off air for a second before loosening enough to let him breathe shallowly.

Her fingers curled under his chin.

"Is that any way to treat a fragile girl like me?" She said lowly, tightening her lock when he struggled. "I'm going to teach you how to talk to girls," she breathed hotly into his ear and, for a split second, he feared her more than he did Titans. He feared her for all the wrong reasons, and this fear made his loins ache suddenly. His eyes widened exorbitantly when he felt her lips brush the back of his ear. "Eren."

He grit his teeth and Annie jerked back before he could headbutt her, quickly flipping over before he could attack her. But he didn't: he only scrambled to his knees and stared at her with wide-eyes, face visibly red, chest heaving. The thought of it being from exertion never crossed her mind: she knew exactly why his face was so flushed, eyes so bewildered, legs snapped shut suddenly and without reason. She knew because she had aimed for that, because boys like him were predictable and easy to read.

Eren always wore his emotions in his eyes.

Eren liked her, and he did not quite know why.

Lucky for him, Annie rather liked him as well, but she knew why.

Because boys like him, boys with honorable intentions in their hearts and ideals in their minds, always fascinated her. He would go die in a heartbeat if it was for the betterment of mankind. He was so eager to die, even if he said he wasn't.

He was so absolutely honorable.

It was foolish.

But it fascinated her, nonetheless.

"Get up," Annie told him. She held her hand out to him.

Eren looked at it and hardened his eyes, breathing leveling. "I'm not falling for that one again," he scoffed and slapped her hand away. "Training's over for today. I'll see you at dinner."

Annie watched him storm past her blankly, but when she looked down at her boots, a tiny smile lifted her lips.

"Heh. Idiot."

The sixth time Eren fought Annie, Reiner had interfered.

"Those are some impressive moves you're teaching him," he told her, his eyes open and curious. Annie only gave him a cool look, waiting for Eren to pick himself off the floor. "Mind if you teach me one, too?"

"Hey, butt out, Reiner, you can ask her tomorrow!"

"C'mon, don't hog her, Eren," Reiner boomed with laughter, setting his hands on his waist. "She's one of the best female fighters here aside from Mikasa. Mikasa's already got her hands full with all the people that come up to her asking for some tips so I figured, since Annie is teaching you a thing or two, maybe she can teach me, too," he explained, good-naturedly.

"I guess," Eren pondered, considering it. Mikasa had been quite busy recently. He always saw her nearby with a different sparring partner, although most times it was Armin. "Say, Annie—hey, where you are going?" He sputtered, both men watching her walk away. "Annie, hey! Dammit!" Eren scrambled up to his feet and chased after her, tossing an I'll catch you later, Reiner, over his shoulder. She was heading for the very edge of the formation.

"Why did you—!"

Eren gasped when she suddenly attacked him, her moves quick and fluid. He evaded her at every turn, her name only grunted and snarled in halves because of each sharp blow. Her eyes were ice and her blows aimed to hurt, Eren knew, but he fought her all the same, allowing her to take out whatever anger she had on him. He grabbed her by the arm and finally her icy facade cracked, eyes widening and mouth parting, because he had just grabbed her arm. He grabbed it like nothing, with no other motive, and it had caught her off-guard because of the sheer idiocy of grabbing someone so casually in the middle of a real fight. She had fallen into his trap, and Annie saw her world turn upside down when Eren brought her down.

This time it was his knee on her spine.

This time it was his mouth by her ear.

"What's your problem, Annie?" He hissed into her ear. She grunted and Eren cursed, letting her go to avoid an elbow to his jaw. He did not get off her, however: he only pinned her arms to the floor when she flipped on her back. He brought his face near hers, nose scrunched and eyes burning with fire. "Annie!"

She stopped suddenly, staring at him.

They both breathed hard, their eyes locked with each others.

Eren's softened with concern and he tilted his head. "Why did you walk away like that? Did Reiner piss you off somehow?"

Annie said nothing. Instead, she made a noise of derision in the back of her throat. She looked sidelong and then Eren found her looking back up at him, her eyes glowing with that playfulness he knew she had now. He saw her lips curl upward, and her tone was husky as she said, "Ha, is this anyway to treat a girl, Eren? Our squad might get the wrong idea, with how you're holding me," she smirked when he realized their position and she sat up before he could scramble off. It was a split second, but she ground their hips together, noses brushing, her eyes holding his, but the rush that he felt in his veins had nothing to do with their hips. It had to do with the soft sadness he saw in her eyes, the way her bottom lip brushed his chin.

Eren sucked in breath, flinching away from her in the next instant.

"Q-quit with the jokes! I was just asking! You left so suddenly, so I thought you were still sore with Reiner because of last time."

Annie only picked herself off the floor and dusted her jeans off.

"Nothing's wrong," she told him finally, turned away from him. Eren swallowed but kept his face set, brows furrowed. "Reiner's just a dumbass. By the way, Mikasa is waiting for you. Training's over."

She walked away then and Eren rubbed his chin a lot afterward, Mikasa's blank look noticed only by Armin.

The seventh time Eren fought Annie, it was not on the field but in the yard behind the barracks, and it was a different fight than all the others. The sky was dark with night and the pinprick of stars, and the insects were alive in their ears. She had secluded herself from their group of friends and Eren had followed her after catching that gray look in her eye. It was not the usual coldness, it was something graver, and it always made her look sadder than they should.

She told him to leave when she spotted him coming her way.

He refused.

She had repeated the statement, her eyes slitting; a sign of impending violence.

But he did not move and that was what she hated most from him. She hated how much he cared for his friends, for people who would abandon him if they had the chance. She hated how absolutely desperate he was for security in other people, for comrades, for humans who were ugly inside and knew how to use knives. He was so naive and she knew she should keep her distance, but he was also so warm, and it was hard to stay away from someone who made her feel something other than nothing.

He grabbed her wrist and jerked her towards him, his eyes holding hers fearlessly. Her name on his tongue was strong; it was solid, unlike how she felt inside. He was such a foolish boy, the most foolish boy she had ever met. He was fearless when he needed to fear and he was full of fear when he did not. He always wore his emotions in his eyes. He always left himself open; he was bound for failure.

"Why do you keep seeking me out?"

"Because you're hiding something," Eren told her simply. Her eyes widened. "Your eyes, they always look gray when you're sad."

Annie clasped her hand around his wrist and looked up at him, her eyes hard but her mouth twisted. It was not quite a smile, not quite a grimace, it was something in between, like she could not decide on which. They pressed together with pain and she jerked him towards her, her mouth colliding with his.

She placed her hands behind his neck and kept him still when he tried to pull away. Their kiss was feverish and rushed and Annie thought nothing as her mouth moved with his, as his hand gripped her shoulder tightly and he pressed harder, only that it was regret that made her heart feel so heavy in her chest. But it was the sweetest thing she had ever felt. When she pulled away, her eyes watching his expression closely, she was sure that she would be the only one to see such shock because she had been his first, she knew this certainly. He did not fluster and back away like she expected; in fact, he did not even lean in for another kiss. His shock melted into one of grim sympathy and Annie wanted to carve his face off and scream at his grave.

"Annie," he rasped. His eyes lacked that fire she always sought. They were solemn, and worst of all, they were pained. "You're not okay, are you?"

Eren Jaeger, the boy eager to die.

Eren Jaeger, the boy who wore his emotions in his eyes.

Eren Jaeger, the idealist with murder boiling in his blood.

Eren Jaeger, the fool who made her smile.

Eren Jaeger, the boy who understood her.

Eren did not fight Annie an eighth time.

Annie kept her distance from him, and did not engage him in any sort of fight despite him approaching her various times over the past few days. She only gave him cold looks and left him to Mikasa, who did an adequate job at keeping him away from her. It was visible by the hostile look in her eyes: Mikasa knew what had transpired that night, but Annie was not concerned. She might be top of their class, but she was too attached to Eren to ever attack her. She valued his opinion too much despite the violence she harbored especially for her.

Annie did not seclude herself anymore despite it.

And Eren made sure that she knew he was there, even if she didn't want him to be.

They never spoke about the kiss, but she was sure that look in his eye when he realized what she had been hiding was betrayal.

It hurt so bitter sweetly, but Annie was beyond listening to her heart.

Annie was steel, and she only had her father.

But she forgot that even steel melted under enough heat.

By then, it was too late.