Chapter Text
𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢𝗡’𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 what you did to become the object of disdain for Porco Galliard. Upon your first encounter with him at freshman orientation, he was nothing but an arrogant, rude, pretentious snob - but that was beside the point. Ever since he spoke to you with a tone you couldn’t quite decipher, you became sworn enemies. It wasn’t like you had any reason to despise him as well, but the mere fact that he was rude to you for no reason was enough to label him as such.
In simpler terms, you couldn’t stand each other. Everything about him irritated you, from the way he walked like he owned the place, to the way he held his pencil, and even the type of cologne he used. He was insufferable, and it was as if the Universe conspired to torture you by making sure your friends associated with him more frequently than you’d like. You kept your distance, but he always found a way to be in your little orbit of space where only a few friends and your cat managed to reside. He was inevitably always there, just lingering.
You had already spent a year and a half attempting to understand why he acted the way he did. Did you rub him the wrong way? Did you leave a bad first impression? Were you annoying? But you could never find a reasonable explanation. He had never even given you a chance, his rudeness and general loathing of you clear before you even had an individual conversation with him. The detest he held for you radiated off of him whenever you were in his vicinity. So you came to the logical conclusion that he was just an asshole who couldn’t handle criticism, and that not every girl was at his feet.
That was another thing. The girls at Paradis University practically worshipped him. You couldn’t see what was so great about this mediocre soccer player. The more the girls around you swooned for him, the more you grew disgusted by him. Begrudgingly, you could admit he was easy on the eyes. But his terrible personality and evil demeanor should be enough to cancel that out! And you were sure he emptied half a bottle of gel on his head every day. Yet the Porco Fanclub persisted. Some days you felt like you were the only one with sense around him, who saw him for who he was. And who that was is not a good person. No matter how hard he might try to appear as one.
So when you caught sight of him, wearing his letterman jacket, backpack slung over one shoulder (another annoying habit of his) entering the Student Center, you lowered your head to avoid eye contact, acting engrossed with your Child Development homework. It was odd how even though Porco couldn’t tolerate you, he always made time to leave a snide remark or provoke you with a comment as he passed by you. Determined to not let him get to you, you acted as you normally would: pretending he didn’t exist.
Unfortunately, he seemed to have caught on to that trick.
“Yo, L/N.” He placed a beefy hand on your textbook, blocking your line of sight from the paragraph you were pretending to read. “Where’s Eren at?”
You glared at his hand, refusing to look up. If you did, it would be too late, and an argument would ensue. “As I’ve told you countless times before, Galliard, don’t call me that, and I am not Eren’s guardian. Get your greasy hand off my book.”
Porco scoffed, but removed his hand. “What bit you in the ass today?”
You rolled your eyes. “I was actually having a good day before you showed up. So are you done pestering me now? Are you lost or something? The school therapist is the other way.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I won’t take up any more of your precious time. I can see you’re so busy, reading about-“ He bent down, bringing his head close to your hand to see the page heading, which just happened to be about egg fertilization. The action caused your breath to hitch in your throat. “Reproduction.” Porco snorted. “I gotta say, I wasn’t sure you were into that kind of stuff.”
You snapped your textbook shut. “It’s for a health class.” You mumbled. “And I doubt you even know much about the subject.”
“I know plenty.” Porco replied defensively. “Whatever, I just need to know where Eren is. So if you feel like actually being helpful for once-“
“I already told you I don’t know.” You snapped.
Just then, Mikasa arrived at your designated study table, holding two iced coffees. “What’s going on?” She asked, her eyes switching from yours to Porco.
“Do you know where Eren is?” Porco asked her, in a much nicer way than he had ever spoken to you.
Mikasa set the coffees down. “Yeah, he’s on his way to the cafeteria. Why?”
“I have to do a project with him. He told me he would be here.” Porco explained.
“Well, he should be on his way. You’re welcome to wait with us.”
Y/N shot Mikasa a glare. Since when was Porco welcome?
Noticing your look, Porco side eyed you as he declined Mikasa’s invitation. “I think I’ll have to pass. You said cafeteria?”
Mikasa nodded, and you squinted. “Did she not just say the cafeteria?” You blurted.
Porco stared at you. You stared back, not wanting to back down and appear intimidated by his gaze. His jaw clenched, and your grip on your pen tightened.
After a short, unspoken battle of gazes, Porco retreated, opting to ignore you instead. “Great, so I’ll go see if I can find him.” He said to Mikasa. “Thanks.” He turned and left the student center.
Sitting beside you, Mikasa whistled. “What was that about?”
“What? Porco being an ass? That should be normal by now.” You sneered, resuming your homework.
Mikasa shook her head. “No. Why was he talking to you like that?”
“Like what?” Your brow furrowed. You didn’t understand what she was trying to say. “Like he usually does? As if I’m a pest?”
“Like…” Mikasa pondered for a bit, trying to find the right words to express what she saw. “Like he knew you.”
You looked at her, perplexed. “I mean, doesn’t he know me? He hates me. He knows he hates me.”
Mikasa shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just an observation.”
You sighed, still not understanding her point. Changing the subject, you picked up an iced coffee. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Mikasa hummed in response. The dark haired girl pulled out a textbook, setting it down infront of her.
“Do you think we’ll actually get any work done this time?” She asked after a few minutes of silence. You blinked. She had noticed you were still on the same page of your worksheets since Porco left.
“Honestly… No.”
“Didn’t think so.”
-
“I’m going to work.” You called to Mikasa. “I’ll be back at ten.”
“See you! Be safe!” Mikasa called back.
She didn’t like you taking the bus so late, but as you were car-less, you didn’t have much choice. She offered to drive you or walk you, but you didn’t like to burden her too much with the chore of driving you places. Plus, she had a lot of homework to do.
Plugging your headphones in, you adjusted your beanie your friend Historia had made you and began the fifteen minute walk to Garrison’s, the local craft store you were employed at part time.
Mikasa Ackerman was your best friend, and coincidentally your roommate. She was good at being both; clean, neat, respectful and she made some quality meals. As a friend, she was honest, generous and had a sort of dry humor that never failed to crack you up.
You were sort of the opposite. You weren’t exactly winning any awards for cleanliest living space, and your cooking skills often fell short, but you were open to accepting your faults. Add to the list that you had no reliable way of transportation. You were extremely grateful to have been blessed with a roommate like Mikasa. Luckily, much of Paradis, and Trost, where you resided, was a pedestrian friendly city. Almost everything you did was within walking distance. (Although you and your friends often argued what ‘walking distance’ fell under; for you, a 30 minute walk was no biggie- for them, it was unspeakable.) You were used to not having a car, and as a consequence you were always on time to events.
Mikasa had introduced you to her ever present best friend, Eren Yeager. The green eyed boy was like her brother, and you had grown used to seeing him slouching on your shared couch whenever you returned from classes. He was cute, but completely off limits, as Mikasa was extremely overprotective of him. They had been raised together, which is something you could tell after just a few times meeting them. They often did things in sync, and unwittingly committed some of the same mannerisms.
Armin Arlert had also become your shared friend, as he was the self proclaimed “third wheel.” Once you came along and joined the friend group, he jokingly said you made them a “quadricycle.” After Eren asked “What the hell is a quadricycle?” The joke was retired.
You had met a lot of people your freshmen and now sophomore year at Paradis University, some becoming closer than others. For example, you were friendly with Pieck Finger and Bertholdt Hoover, but due to their relationship with Porco, you didn’t get any closer than that. You were close with Historia Reiss, and her girlfriend Ymir Fritz. But your best friend would always be Mikasa, and you were hers (second to Eren, of course.) You had also become familiar with Jean Kirstein ( star soccer player) and his two fools of friends Sasha Braus and Connie Springer. You hadn’t hung out too many times, but they were always the life of the party.
Overall, you would say you were well-acquainted and accustomed to life at Paradis. But for some reason, you could not explain why Porco Galliard wouldn’t like you. You were sure you were kind to him the first time you met, and you couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment where you wronged him. So if you were able to form so many friendships, how was he the only one you couldn’t befriend? It was insane. You weren’t exactly begging for his approval… but his dislike for you was offensive. You didn’t like to argue, yet it was inevitable whenever you two tried to have a normal conversation. No matter how hard you tried to figure him out, he always found a way to puzzle you.
You shook your head. Why was he on your mind, of all things? You had a job to do, and your silly psychological analysis of the idiot made you slow your pace. You quickened your steps. Porco could insult you, and make passive aggressive gestures, but he would not be responsible for your tardiness.