Chapter Text
Walking into Hanji's office almost always lead to some form of chaos. Considering this was Hanji, there really was no way around it. Armin steeled himself before the door, taking a deep breath and quickly walking into the room to deliver various paperwork. The moment he closed the door, he was greeted by Hanji's enthusiastic voice and a statement he had hoped never to hear again.
"We're going to need you to help out Leonhardt."
It was a miracle that he managed to hold on to the paperwork in his hands. Armin stared at Hanji as he carefully placed the stack of papers on her desk before taking a seat in a nearby chair. "Is it that time of year already?"
Hanji grinned, practically bouncing as she walked to his side and locked her arm around his neck. "You should be more excited! We can't let that genius of yours rot away in an office all day." Armin turned to her with a sigh and Hanji ruffled his hair. "You'll do fine. You seem to be one of the few that are actually able to walk away afterward."
"You do realize that she hates me, right?" A shudder ran through Armin as he recalled their last assignment together. Although he made every effort to stay in shape and keep on top of the various training regimens, working with a certain officer would always prove to be a challenge.
Hanji was hardly phased by the argument. "You just need to know how to handle her. Our Annie is like a cat. You can't make any sudden movements or she's bound to attack."
Armin paused, unsure of how to even respond to that comment. Especially considering the many times he had witnessed Hanji practically tackling the smaller girl in an effort to give her a hug on the rare occasions she even entered the main building.
Standing, Hanji turned to face Armin. "I won't make you do this if you're really against it, but I just want you to keep something in mind." Tears began to well up in her eyes and she sighed dramatically. "I honestly didn't want to use this if I didn't have to." Hanji leaned forward, arms placed on either side of Armin. "Do it for Bean."
"Bean."
"It hurts to even think about, doesn't it?" Hanji's voice began to waver. "Bean is the only other person I could possibly spare at this time. And I would hate to send the little guy out there completely unprepared."
Hanji's eyes were boring into his and Armin found himself unable to look away. As much as he hated having to assist with the new recruits, he had to admit that it did make for a nice change of pace at times. While Annie was difficult on the best of days, he did have a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to dealing with her. He gave Hanji a resigned smile. "I wouldn't dream of sacrificing Bean to save myself."
"I knew you would understand!" The sudden hug nearly ended up toppling the chair over and Armin quickly braced himself, patting Hanji's back as she sniffled and promised him that Bean would surely have something amazing for him upon his return.
"Just try not to blow anything up while I'm gone."
Annie tended to avoid the main building as much as possible but she knew that failing to show up in Hanji's office would only lead to unspeakable things. It was best to just arrive as quickly as possible and endure whatever orders were no doubt coming her way. It most likely had something to do with the new recruits, which was expected, but one could never be too sure when Hanji was involved. As she made her way to the office, Annie attempted to scan the area to spot Hanji before the other woman saw her. She would never understand how someone so loud always managed to sneak up on her.
A muffled curse escaped as someone forcefully wrapped their arms around her from behind. Her whole body stiffened as soon as the contact was made. The resounding laughter made her skin crawl and Annie fought the urge to elbow the other woman as hard as possible in order to escape. Unfortunately, she had learned the hard way that that specific course of action only served to make Hanji even more unbearable and she bit her lip in an effort to keep herself in check.
"Just the person I was looking for." Hanji's grip tightened around her and she firmly lead Annie to her office, humming happily the whole way.
Once she was in the office, Annie refused to sit. There was no way she could even begin to relax when forced in an enclosed space with the one person who insisted that a hug each day would certainly improve her demeanor. She tried to keep her back near the door and her eyes on Hanji as the other woman seated herself behind the desk.
"I'm sure you know why you're here today."
Hanji placed her elbows on the edge of the desk, clasping her hands together and leaning forward. In this lighting, her glasses practically glinted and Annie fought the urge to just run out of the office as fast as she could. It was almost scary how Hanji could go from loud and hyper to deadly quiet in the blink of an eye.
"I know you prefer to work alone, which I'm fine with for the most part, but when we get the first wave of recruits I am obliged to have a partner assigned to you for a few weeks. Just until we thin the crowd, I assure you."
Annie nodded, biting back her sarcastic comments. She didn't miss the way Hanji's eyes trailed over her form, taking in her stiff posture.
"Erwin has pretty much told me that Ackerman is out of the question since they are still trying to repair some of the damage done to the grounds from your last bout. It took a while to narrow down the potential candidates, but I'm fairly certain the two of you will get along just wonderfully."
A shiver ran down her spine as Hanji met her gaze.
"I am not about to interfere with your training style or how you work together with your partner, I just want you to keep one thing in mind. Injure this one and you'll have to work side by side with me until they recover."
If there was anything Hanji could use to keep her in line, it would be this. Annie nodded briefly, acknowledging the comment. She hardly dared to move until Hanji excused her with a bright smile.