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Growing up within the outer districts of Wall Maria had always been exceptionally hard. This was because the further the district from the center - in other words, from Wall Sina - the poorer its' civilians. The residents of Shiganshina had always struggled with basic human necessities, especially since the district was nearly the farthest from the center out of them all. Food and water were scarce, clothes were incredibly expensive, and the amount of people who had lost their land and had been forced to move to the underground with whatever they had left was rapidly increasing with each year that passed. Therefore, spending money on entertainment for children was something unheard of - there was simply no money to waste on such trivial, insignificant things.
The children, however, appeared to be perfectly fine with this, adapting to the harsh conditions and finding multiple ways to keep themselves busy when they had nothing else to do. They'd gather around in small groups and play games of catch and hide-and-seek, disapproving adults occasionally smacking them across the head when these activities would get out of hand. They'd giggle as they climbed trees and skipped across small streams, running around until the sun set and their mothers called them home. Against all odds, the children had found ways to entertain themselves without the luxuries that the kids of rich families from the center districts got to experience. Despite this, there was still one small problem.
You see, over the years it had become tradition for the people of the Shiganshina district to gather around a blazing fire in the town square each night as they ate dinner. Mothers and fathers would drag their family members out, and everyone would crowd the city center, sharing food and engaging in small talk (which usually consisted of complaining about the price of fish). At first glance, you might think that there was no problem with this cute little tradition, however this was not the case.
The problem with this was that the children of the district, still hyper from running and jumping and skipping, had absolutely nothing to do. Talking amongst each other grew boring very fast, and playing in the dark was far too dangerous, leaving the poor kids to sit around in boredom and wait for their parents to finish their incredibly long conversations. However, this problem was solved very quickly when one night one of the older teens suggested they act out some of their favorite stories, sharing with everyone else the tales their mothers would tell them as they tucked them into bed.
Soon enough, this too became tradition, and it was a known fact that while the adults sat and chatted amongst themselves, the children would huddle next to the fire and choose the groups in which they'd tell their stories, a different one told by different people each and every time.
Armin Arlert was incredibly fond of this newfound activity, liking it more than any of the others they had managed to come up with over the years. He had never been physically gifted, something that burdened him quite a lot whenever they'd play games that required a lot of running around or climbing on high surfaces. Instead of incredible strength, Armin had something else to offer. He was incredibly intelligent - preferring to bury his nose in a book so big he could hardly hold it with his skinny arms over any and all other activities other children seemed to like. Because of this, he had hundreds of stories up his sleeve, and his tales had always been favored amongst the others.
As the days passed and story after story was excitedly told, Armin soon found that it was his turn to entertain his friends tonight, and as they gathered around in a small crowd, eyes shining and eager, he prepared himself to tell yet another cliché story about a princess being saved at the very last moment by the love of her life. Usually when he'd act out fairy tales like these he'd ask Mikasa to help him and act as the princess in the stories. This time, however, he could not do that. You see, Mikasa had fallen ill and hadn't attended todays' gathering, and so it appeared he'd have to come up with a quick solution.
"Eren" he said with a smile as the other children asked him who he'd pick out to help him with the storytelling today. Armin really had no other choice. The bullies that would constantly torment him had convinced all the other girls that he was weak and ugly, telling them not to go near him or they'd get infected, so it wasn't exactly like he could choose anyone else. He didn't really mind, didn't see a problem in Eren helping him today instead of Mikasa.
It appeared that the other children didn't think so, gasps and whispers erupting across the small cluster of kids. "But Armin, didn't you say you were going to tell us a love story today? Eren can't be the princess" a petite girl he was almost sure was named Agatha asked.
Armin frowned, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Eren do the same. He opened his mouth to speak, but it appeared that Eren had beat him to it.
"Why can't there just be two princes instead of a prince and a princess? I don't see a problem with it"
Everyone fell silent, considering Erens' words for a moment, tilting their heads in thought.
"Eren's right! Mr. Usoro and Mr. Abott live across from us and my mom says that they're in love so it should be alright" another one of the children spoke up, and this time everyone nodded in agreement, shrugging their shoulders and whispering amongst each other as they came to a decision. A bunch of jumbled agreements came out all at once, and Armin couldn't understand a word for the life of him. All he could catch for the scramble of sentences and mumblings was that the rest of his classmates and friends were okay with Eren participating in the storytelling today, and he was incredibly grateful for that, grateful he didn';t have to go through the embarrassment of having each and every girl in the crowd turn him down.
And so he began telling his little fairytale, dramatically pausing as Eren was kidnapped by the villain, his tone going high and low as the story went along, crying out whenever he got injured during his mission to save him. Soon enough, the story had come to an end, and Armins' chest heaved as he tried to regain his bearings, the long sentences of the tale he had just told rendering him quite out of breath.
"The End" he breathed, smiling as he saw the invested looks of his friends, clearly enraptured by his story. However, it seemed that this particular one couldn't come to an end yet, for it was missing one very crucial thing.
"No! It can't end! What about true loves' kiss Armin?" a girl he wasn't quite familiar with yelled.
"Um... Well-" he stuttered, looking over to Eren for help. He was surprised to see that Eren was blushing, his cheeks so red he looked as though he'd glow in the dark.
"I-I don't mind... Y'know... If-if we kiss" Eren said, finally meeting Armins' eyes.
"You have to! A kiss is a crucial part of a love story!" Agatha yelled once again, standing up from her place seated on the floor. Before Armin could even understand what was happening, the children of Shiganshina had started to chant, demanding that the story end as they pleased.
"Come on Armin, it's just for the story right? There shouldn't be a problem" Eren whispered, and Armin gulped.
He suddenly realized that maybe he wanted to kiss Eren. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with him and he wanted to bring him gifts and see him smile and he wanted to kiss him. Why did he want to kiss him?
And so, Armin nodded, and the children cheered, watching intently as Eren hesitantly leaned in and pressed their lips together, pulling apart after just a second. It was brief, but in Armins' mind it lasted forever because oh how wonderful this was, how sweet and lovely this felt.
Eren smiled as he pulled back, a wide toothy grin that made Armin want to stare at it forever. He wanted to make Eren smile, and he wanted to perform countless love stories like this with him, and he wanted to kiss him, again and again and again.
The adults smiled as they watched the little exchange from afar. It didn't matter to them because children are oh so young and they don't yet understand what their actions mean, and so it was okay if children kissed each other, because they know that that's their way of showing love and they don't yet know for who these actions are reserved.
However, in this case the adults were wrong. Because Armin realized that day that he very much liked kissing Eren. And Eren realized he liked kissing him back.