People have been asking for ages 'where's the mikaani? Is there going to be a sidestory?' And here's the answer! This will be uploaded alongside The Worst room-mate but the chapters will be shorter and the story a little bit darker. I hope you enjoy it!

A smile played on her lips. She was finally free. As she held the letter in her shaking hands the relief flooded over her in waves. She traced the lines of the letter several times with her thumb, making sure what she was reading was indeed reality. She had worked so hard for this, studying in secret when she knew he wasn't watching her.

She'd attended the interview alone, telling him she was off to see a friend. Looking up the directions online was difficult, she had to delete her history every time she used her laptop but she managed to find a way. Several buses and a taxi ride later she was there, sat in a tiny interview room with a kind-looking strawberry blonde. The interviewer didn't care about how dishevelled she looked; the only clean clothing she had was an old hoodie and some horribly ripped jeans, her hair messily tied into a bun on one of the bus rides to avoid the interviewer seeing her bed head.

She was smiled at warmly once she left the small room, her heart filling with hope that she'd soon be away from the terror she'd been living in.

She arrived home late that evening.

Clutching the now damp letter tighter in her hands she shook away the memory.

No more. I'm free.

September was only a month away, she needed time to pack away her things. And to tell him. Could she tell him? He wouldn't let her go. The acceptance letter had been carefully hidden under her mattress since she had received it. There was just no way she could say anything to him.

It was moving day. Her bags were packed. She tied her hair back in the bathroom, watching to make sure every hair was tucked away neatly. Her hands shook as she slid the last bobby pin into place. Blue eyes met blue eyes in the mirror. They were determined.

He was out, working early or at the pub who knows, and a car was beeping outside for her to leave. It was still dark out but she recognised the burly man leaning on the bonnet as she exited the house. For good this time.

"What took you so long Annie?"

"Psyching myself up I guess, it's just weird to know I'm finally leaving."

The man nodded, taking the larger suitcase from her and popping open the boot of the car to place it inside. Annie followed him, dumping the other bags in beside it.

"You're packing awfully light," he commented, opening the passenger door for the blonde.

"It's mostly clothes and a few books, anything else I can buy when the rest of my scholarship comes through."

"Hmm," he responded thoughtfully, shutting the door and wandering around the car to hop into the driver's side.

The vehicle hummed into life as the pair settled into contented silence for the journey. The sun was rising slowly, casting a grey glow over the outskirts of the town.

"You know I won't be able to hang out with you all the time, today i've got orientation duties and..."

"Reiner I know, you don't have to worry about me, i'm used to being on my own."

Annie sighed deeply. She had nearly always been on her own, the blonde boy being one of her only friends who had ever bothered sticking around after they had met her Father. Reiner scratched his chin.

"Well maybe you'll make friends with the girls in your dorm, Zoe said there were a lot more applicants this year."

Annie relaxed back into the seat, closing her eyes.

"I'm just glad to be gone from there," she said, a contented smile gracing her lips.

Reiner patted her head with a gruff chuckle. Annie heard the click of the glove compartment.

"You still a smoker?" he asked.

Annie opened her eyes and took one of the cigarettes from the open box. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out an old lighter.

"Living with him? What do you think?"

"Point taken, roll down the window I don't want my car reeking of smoke on the first day back."

Annie obeyed, opening the window and taking a long drag from the cigarette.

"How long until we get there?" she asked, tapping the ash out of the window and flicking the stub onto the road.

Reiner checked his watch.

"About 10 minutes I guess, then you'll have to find an orientation group to hang around with, Bertholdt's working too," he added fondly.

"I'll go find Bert then," Annie replied dryly.

Reiner smiled slightly, turning onto the track leading to the college campus.

Throngs of people were winding in and out of the packed car park, shuffling through with arms and trolleys laden with pillows and suitcases.

"Wow the overbearing parents are really out in force today,"Annie commented, amused.

"They always are," Reiner replied, turning into one of the few available parking spaces, "Will you be okay from here, i've gotta run to orientation?"

Annie nodded once, drawing her hoodie as high up as it could go, and leaped from the car in one swift motion. The blonde boy tossed her the car keys and raced off towards the main college building. Annie sighed and clicked open the boot to retrieve her bags. She had no need for a trolley, she didn't have enough baggage to warrant it. She made her way towards the main building to find Bertholdt, being so tall he shouldn't be too hard to find.

Noticing an enormous mop of brown hair ahead of her, Annie made a beeline for the group, not noticing the car trundling it's way around the car park to the exit.

"Annie look out!"

The car narrowly avoided the blonde as she lazily changed her walk angle towards the main college building and the voice that saved her.

"Jesus Annie you need to be more careful and watch where you're going," the voice panted.

"I'm fine Bertholdt, I was actually just coming to find you, Reiner said you were part of the orientation crew."

Bertholdt's eyes were still filled with worry but he said nothing, merely leading Annie over to the rest of the group he had amassed. They all followed the titanic boy towards the main building, where Annie saw Reiner exchange a quick nod with the boy before continuing with his own group.

"Okay now everyone if you could just gather around i'll direct you to your dorms, boys to Sina and girls to Maria," he pointed in the direction of the dormitories at the other end of the campus.

From the main college building it was easy enough to find the girls dorm, Maria. It was west of a large mouldy-looking fountain that was already switched off for the season. The boys dorm, or Sina dorm, was past the car park and right on the edge of the college campus' grounds. Whereas Maria, and the third campus dormitory Rosa, were newer and built alongside the new main building, Sina was older. Much much older. According to Reiner, one good night of partying would raze the building to the ground.

Annie glanced around her lazily, taking in the faces around her. A girl with long brown hair tied neatly into a ponytail was almost bouncing towards the dormitory. Her eyes locked for a split second with another girl, a black-haired girl with a red scarf tied neatly around her neck. The same stony expression she knew was painted on her own face stared back at her and sent a chill along her spine. The girl pulled the scarf over her mouth against the cold and took off ahead.

A pile of other people's belongings awaited the small group when they entered the dorm. Noting quickly which floor her room was on, Annie set to work dragging all of her belongings up the narrow staircase.

Luckily she didn't have to carry them far, her room being the first as you entered the long hallway. Dumping her bags, and one large suitcase, she reached for the door.

"You're in the way," came a voice from the stairwell.

"I'm just trying to get into my room," Annie replied dryly, swinging the door open and rolling the large suitcase inside.

"Apparently it's my room too, and you're blocking the hallway."

Annie peered out of the doorway where, sure enough, a large crowd of girls were gathered, arms laden with suitcases and bags.

"I'll move my stuff just give me a minute," She sighed, kicking a heavy bag through the door.

She could feel eyes boring into the back of her head as she shifted her remaining bags through the narrow doorway. A loud crash accompanied her as her new room-mate started tossing her bags through the door as well.

"Sorry, didn't want to wait any longer."

Annie's eyes narrowed, glaring at the other girl. A heavy lidded gaze glowered back at her. Fellow students had started skirting around the scene, some mumbling and exchanging small amounts of cash between them. Annie backed down first, letting her shoulders drop with a long sigh.

"I'm not fighting you."

At least half of the students gathered cried out in disbelief. One girl, with a smug grin on her face, pocketed a large handful of bills before picking up some luggage and racing down the hallway to her assigned room. Annie to one last look around to make sure everyone was clearing out before finally entering the room.

Owing to the fact that her room was on the end of the hallway, it was slightly bigger than the others. Each side was equipped with a small desk and bookshelf above it, a small bed, a wardrobe and a chest of drawers beneath the window that was supposed to be shared. Annie doubted her new room-mate would be much up to sharing after their less than stellar greeting so she dumped all of her baggage on her bed and set about unpacking everything on her side.

Her room-mate was silent while they unpacked, face wrapped closely in her red scarf. Annie pulled out a small box from her suitcase and set at the desk to open it, not noticing the dark-haired girl watching her from her bed. Careful not to open it too quickly she eased the lid from the box and picked up the first items.

"Crystals?" came a voice behind her.

Annie nodded, unwrapping the gems and placing them one by one on the bookshelf above her desk.

"I like crystals," she said, pulling more and more beautiful gems from the box.

Her room-mate nodded.

"That one has something in it," the black-haired girl commented, pointing to the largest rock on the shelf.

"It's a piece of amber with an insect inside, it's beautiful."

The corners of the scarfed-girl's mouth creased.

"Whatever you say, listen about earlier..."

Annie turned in her chair.

"Think nothing of it, I wasn't going to fight you. I mean i'd just destroy you anyway,"she said smugly.

Her room-mate smirked.

"I'd like to see you try."

And that's it for chapter 1, as always i don't know when i'll get the next one up owing to the fact exams are coming thick and fast and i need to study like crazy for them and i need to get The Worst Room-mate up too but please bare with me and i hope you enjoyed it!