Chapter Text
The first time Ymir saw her, she didn't think much of it.
She was just another pretty girl. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Sure, she was a blessing to the eyes in a classroom where eighty percent of the students were men—ugly, smelly, ill-mannered men—but that blonde girl, who happened to be a few centimeters (okay, quite a few centimeters) shorter than her, wasn't the only pretty girl in the room. Or on campus, for that matter.
There were actually plenty of pretty women at the university. Unfortunately, being in STEM meant there weren't that many of them around. More often than not, Ymir had to suffer through group projects where she was the only person with common sense... I mean, the only woman. Seeing women around campus was like a breath of fresh air. Not just because she was sapphic, but because she was proudly a misandrist. Haha. Kidding (...)
Her major had a reputation for attracting "weird people," and that offended Ymir deeply. Not because it wasn't true. Precisely because it was, there were a lot of weird people in her major! But there were normal people too. Like her!
...Or at least, that's what she liked to believe.
Then she'd meet people like... her. That "her" had a rather peculiar name: Historia. It was a pretty name. It suited her. She had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. And the more Ymir looked at her, the prettier she became.
But there was one thing Ymir had learned during her time in college: girls like that were straight.
Boo. Tomato, tomato. How boring. But it was true. Girls that pretty and sweet usually were straight, and they tended to stay far away from girls like Ymir, who was very obviously... not.
Ha! As if she cared whether some straight girl liked her back. It wasn't even the first time. She was a lesbian, duh. Every lesbian had gone through the "falling for a straight girl" phase at least once.
And so her university life went on, stealing little glances at pretty girls every now and then. Mostly at Historia because... damn, she really was pretty. Almost... her type, actually. But she was straight. Ymir wasn't into straight girls... what if she just asked whether she was straight? Nah. What would she even gain from that? It's not like she wanted a relationship anyway—
"So, how's your love life?" Her closest uni friend, Mikasa, asked. Another hopeless lesbian. Life would probably be easier if the two of them just dated each other, but Mikasa already had her girl, and besides, she wasn't Ymir's type in the slightest. Way too rough around the edges.
"How do you even eat that?" Ymir asked with a sigh. "You know nobody wants me. The kind of girls I like are usually... y'know... boy crazy."
Mikasa laughed. The bitch.
"There are some girls who'd be... okay for you. Annie, for example—" The look of utter disgust on Ymir's face was enough to shut Mikasa up for a moment.
The two of them stood in the hallway like complete weirdos instead of looking for seats. Mikasa pulled out her phone once the silence became unbearable, while Ymir stared off into space, thinking about how lonely she felt... and how badly she wanted to hold hands with a beautiful girl.
"Aww... I think I'm gonna skip the next class."
"Huh? Why?" Ymir blinked, snapping out of her daydream. "You're abandoning me again?"
"Sasha's hungry. I have to take her out for dinner." Mikasa smiled differently whenever it was about her girlfriend. Ymir sighed. Yeah, fair enough. They bumped fists goodbye, and once she was alone, Ymir wandered around the floor until class finally started.
The very first thing she told the professor was that her friend had a terrible stomachache and had to go home. He accepted the vague excuse without question and started the lecture a few minutes later.
About five minutes into class, the classroom door opened. Ymir looked over absentmindedly.
Historia walked in holding a soda.
She sat about three seats in front of Ymir, then greeted her with a small smile and a delicate little wave, her manicure looking absolutely flawless.
Ymir tried very hard not to look like an idiot when she waved back.
She spent the entire class staring at Historia's back instead of paying attention to the lecture. She'd probably fail the midterm later and blame the professor's terrible teaching instead of admitting it was entirely her fault for not listening.
By the time they were finally released from the torture known as evening classes, and everyone crowded around the classroom door like a pack of wild animals, Ymir packed up her things at the slowest pace possible. Mostly because Historia was taking her time too, and Ymir wanted to look at her for as long as humanly possible. Also because she lived only a few minutes away in a tiny studio apartment she really wasn't looking forward to going back to.
"Bye, Historia," she said as she walked past her toward the exit.
The blonde had just finished putting away her things, so she hurried after her. Ymir held the door open.
"Thanks, Ymir. Goodnight." She smiled. The prettiest smile in the entire world.
...Oh. Ymir loved her.
Just kidding. She didn't like her. She was just another pretty girl... nothing out of the ordinary.
A few days later, during the painfully boring physics lab, Ymir was diligently writing down her group's experimental data while the rest of her teammates cleaned up the equipment.
Suddenly, she felt a hand on one shoulder. Then another. She turned around.
Historia.
Sweet, beautiful Historia smiled at her before casually beginning to massage her shoulders. Ymir could've passed out right then and there. Seriously. They couldn't even be considered friends yet! Why was she doing this!? Not that Ymir disliked it, but... she was so unbelievably touch-starved that something like this could probably give her a nosebleed. She wasn't exaggerating.
"How did your group do?" Historia asked. Her hands left Ymir's shoulders only to start gently playing with her hair instead.
"Uh... good. We're basically done," Ymir answered, praying she didn't sound like a complete idiot. "What about yours?"
"We did pretty well..." Historia's hands were firm, but gentle. Ymir never wanted her to stop. "...I like your hair color."
"O-Oh... th-thanks. Yours is really pretty too. And shiny."
Historia smiled. Unfortunately, she stopped touching Ymir. Instead, she pulled over a small stool, placed it beside her, and sat down.
"Thanks... Hey, Ymir, are you understanding anything in Algebra? I swear I don't understand a single thing that professor says."
"Ah... me neither." Why the hell did every sentence she spoke start with a one-syllable word? She had to sound like an idiot. "It's not like I pay much attention anyway."
Historia giggled. Ymir desperately wanted to know what she'd said that was so funny. She was definitely blushing, she just knew it. Her train of thought came to an abrupt halt when Historia casually placed a hand on her thigh.
"Me neither! That class is soooo boring." Haha. Okay...But why was she rubbing her thigh? Her small hand, with those ridiculously pretty nails, looked way too good moving up and down over Ymir's dark jeans. Ymir loved her. "And ugh... it sucks that we have a three-hour lecture right after lab. I feel like I've spent this entire semester trapped in this room. I'm exhausted."
"Yeah... me too." Ymir looked straight at her. Historia was gorgeous.
...And she definitely liked touching people. A lot. God, Ymir wished she'd only touch her like this. But more than anything, she wanted to know one thing.
Why was Historia touching her?
(Spoiler: she still has no idea.)