Work Text:
Armin's parents were proud of their son. True, most parents are proud of their children, regardless if said children actually deserve such pride. But in this case, Armin's parents were quiet justified in their feelings.
Armin was a bright boy, something that was apparent from the moment he could communicate. Soft-spoken and caring, he was everything his parents hoped for in a child.
The only problem was the bullying. It had started in kindergarten. Just a couple of larger boys teasing him. Armin's parents had called the school, and the boys had been reprimanded. Only it hadn't really stopped anything. Soon other kids in the class were figuring out that Armin was easy to push around. Instead of lashing back he kept everything inside. Instead of running to the teacher in tears, he stayed quiet.
It only got worse from there. To complicate matters, as the kids of his grade got older and started forming their own friendship groups, Armin increasingly found himself isolated and alone. Most of the time it wasn't anything malicious. Just Armin being overlooked because most of the kids in his class didn't really know him, and so couldn't say he was their friend. The increased isolation however, merely made him a bigger target for bullies, this time kids from the upper grades looking for someone smaller to torment.
His parents fought an uphill battle trying to put a stop to it. They called up the school, they met with Armin's principle and teachers, they tried talking to the bully's parents. (Those meetings rarely went well.) When they finally got Armin's bullies to stop harassing him at school, the bullies simply started to hound him outside school hours.
The most worrying part however, came when Armin was in third grade. Armin had taken a tumble down a rocky embankment during a class outing. The other kids all said he had slipped on the mud, but his teacher shared the suspicion that she thought Armin had been pushed. Either way there was no proof that it hadn't been an accident, and so nothing that really could be done.
Armin's mom had found him in the bathroom, washing the mud and grass from his cuts and putting band-aids on them. He was muttering the whole time, and Armin's mom was sure she caught the name "Eren" mentioned here and there.
"Is Eren the boy who pushed you?"
"Huh?" Armin's head shot up to look at his mother. "Oh... No. He's my friend."
"Oh?" His mom sat down next to him. This was the first she had heard of Armin having any friends. But, maybe this was a good development for once. Armin could certainly use a friend. "What can you tell me about him? Is he from school?"
"No," Armin shook his head. "He lives in our backyard. He says he sleeps in the old cherry tree, but he sometimes goes inside the house when it's too cold out. He just crawls through the cat door."
"Oh? That's... interesting." A worried feeling was starting to build in her chest.
"Yeah. I told him where the spare key was so he doesn't have to try and squeeze through anymore. But he says it's fine, if it gets really cold out he can just turn into a giant and then he's so hot he doesn't need to worry about the cold."
"A giant?" The worried feeling intensified.
"Fifteen meters tall," Armin nodded. "He's really strong. He said he could lift that large boulder in Trost Park up over his head. I think he's just exaggerating though."
"Oh, that's nice," His mom hummed. "Have I seen him around here? I don't recall seeing any fifteen meter giants."
Armin shook his head. "No, you wouldn't have seen him. Eren says most people can't see him. He says that's okay though. He said in means bad people can't see him too, so he can sneak up on them easier."
"Well, that's good sweetie," his mom smiled. "It's nice that you have a friend."
Inside however, she was even more worried.
---
That night, when Armin had gone to bed, both of Armin's parents, along with Armin's grandfather, sat down to discuss the issue of Armin's new "friend."
Both of Armin's parents were worried. Armin had never had an imaginary friend when he was younger. Pretty much all kids his age had long ago outgrown that phase. They were worried. Partially because such untypical behavior might make the bullying worse, but mostly because they feared that it might make it harder for Armin to make his own real friends.
Armin's grandfather however, wasn't the least bit concerned. The way he saw it, Armin was just trying to cope with the fact that he didn't actually have any real friends. He was lonely at school, so creating an imaginary friend was only natural. He would outgrow the phase on his own soon enough, maybe later than most kids, but he would outgrow it nonetheless. More importantly, Armin needed to know his parents loved him. Telling him that his new friend wasn't real wouldn't help anything. As far as the grandfather saw it, the problem would take care of itself, what they should focus on was giving Armin good emotional and family support so that he knew he wasn't alone in dealing with his bullies.
They argued their points back and forth until well past midnight. But, in the end everyone decided that the old man was probably right. So from then on, whenever Armin mentioned his imaginary friend Eren, his parents just smiled and played along.
Meanwhile, kids from Armin's school, specifically those who frequently bullied Armin, began reporting strange nightmares. Horrible dreams of large glowing green eyes, which followed them through the dark accompanied by the sounds of giant footsteps and the overwhelming smell of rotting meat.
---
When Armin was in fifth grade, his parent's decided to try something different. They had long been considering adopting another child. Maybe step-sibling would be good for Armin. Someone his age he might be able to get along with. They had been toying with idea since Armin was ten, and that year they decided to try it. They contacted the Ministry of Social Services, waded through reams of paperwork and jumped through all the hops. The ministry in turn sent them several profiles to look through.
In the end they settled on Mikasa. She hadn't been their first choice. Her story, what little they could pry from the ministry, read like a late-night TV horror show. Both her parents had been murdered in front of her eyes during a break-in, she had then been kidnapped and held for several hours by the thieves. When the police had finally tracked them down, they arrived to find all three men dead, and Mikasa huddled in the corner, drenched in blood, a hunting knife in her hand.
They had hummed and hawed over her profile. Neither of them were remotely close to being therapists. Could they deal with whatever emotional damage Mikasa inevitably would have sustained? What about Armin? Could she be a danger to him?
The ministry psychologist however had waved away their concerns. Mikasa wasn't a danger to anyone. She had acted in self-defense, not out of any kind of psychosis or desire to do harm. As for Mikasa's emotional state, the best thing for her, the psychologist claimed, was to have a stable home with caring people. She would likely still need to attend therapy sessions, but a loving and stable new family would be the best thing for her.
What drove their decision home however, was the fact that Armin seemed to like Mikasa. He had read over all the profiles and decided he liked Mikasa the best.
"Eren says she's a nice person," was all he supplied as explanation.
---
Armin's parent's had been nervous when they first went to meet Mikasa. To their shock however, Armin had not acted shy as he usually did. Instead he had walked right up to Mikasa and held out his hand to introduce yourself.
"Eren probably told me about you didn't he?" Armin had asked after introductions had been made.
Armin's parents had expected Mikasa to give Armin a strange look, maybe back away, especially after such a blatant referral to his imaginary friend. Instead, a warm smile had crossed her face. "He said you were all nice people."
Armin had smiled at that. "Eren's a great guy isn't he?"
Mikasa's hand went up to the red scarf she wore around her neck. "He is."
---
Bringing Mikasa into the house turned out to be one of the best things Armin's parents ever did. To their great relief, their fears turned out to be groundless. Mikasa soon proved to be just the kind of step-sibling Armin needed. In no time at all, the two of them were great friends.
For the first time in his life, Armin actually had a real friend. His parents were relieved. Instead of being put off by Armin's imaginary friend, Mikasa seemed to take it all in stride, playing along with Armin's game as if she could see Eren herself.
More to the point, she made it her personal mission to protect Armin from his bullies. Just a week into the new school year, Armin had been accosted outside of school by a gang of his usual tormenters. Mikasa had attacked back without hesitation. In the end she had broken two boy's noses, concussed another, and broken another boy's leg. The principle of course had hauled her into his office, and called Armin's parents. They in turn had made a big show of being furious at her.
When they had finally brought both kids home. Armin's dad had simply turned to Mikasa and said, "They had it coming. Good job."
Thankfully, word spread around the school quickly. Soon everyone knew that Armin's new step-sister wasn't the same push-around he was, and that she wasn't going to tolerate anyone harassing her step-brother. Incidents of bullying involving Armin dropped sharply, they didn't go away completely, but no one wanted to risk Mikasa's wrath just to bully Armin.
---
To his parent's worry however, Eren did not simply vanish as Armin got older. Not even when he entered high school. Sure he may have stopped discussing his imaginary friend in public and no longer had one-sided conversations with himself whenever he was at school. But sometimes, late at night, his parents sometimes heard him conversing with himself. Another one-sided conversation with Eren.
To that end, they had taken Armin in to have a psychiatric test done. But in the end the doctors had simply shrugged and said that aside from a mild social impairment, no doubt cause by the frequent bullying he had experienced, Armin seemed to be a healthy and mentally sound teenager.
When they confronted Armin, he had just shaken his head and told them that he had grown out of that ages ago.
However, his parents noted that the one-sided conversations continued on, when Armin thought they couldn't hear him.
---
It was a chilly autumn day during Armin's tenth grade that found him standing outside the school, waiting for Mikasa to be done with her martial arts class. He had been warned that the class might run a little late, and from what he had noticed, "a little late" was looking like it might be a massive understatement. With a sigh, Armin reached into his bag and pulled out his geography text. He might as well get started on his readings.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the grass, his geography book sprawled out beside him, and a familiar pain in his head. Someone had punched him.
"Looks like your freaky sister ain't around to protect you now, huh you little heretic," someone spat. One of Armin's old bullies was leaning over him. The boy was supposed to have graduated two years ago, but had failed the final grade twice. He reached down and hauled Armin up by his jacket and slammed him against the wall. "Been wanting to do this ever since that bitch broke my nose."
Armin's eyes darted around frantically. The school was empty. The gym was far enough away that no one would be able to see or hear what was happening. No one in sight. No witnesses at except the two of them.
This was bad.
"L-let me go!" Armin stammered, struggling in the boys grasp.
"Or what you freak?" the boy sneered. "Gonna have your invisible friend give me an imaginary beating. Ha! Let me tell you..."
The boy suddenly froze. The air was suddenly awash with the putrid smell of rotting carrion. It felt like an invisible force was wrapped around his throat. The boy tried to move but his limbs were paralyzed. It was like he was being grabbed by a giant invisible hand. The force on his body suddenly increased, like the giant hand was squeezing him tighter and tighter. He was sure he had just heard his ribs snap.
"Eren," Armin's voice was calm. "Let him go. He's not worth it."
The boy felt a deep rumble vibrate through him, like some invisible beast was growling. Then suddenly the force was gone. He dropped Armin and took off.
Armin just shook his head and dusted himself off. He bent down to retrieve his geography text and straightened up in time to see the boy go flying through the air into a wall, as if he had just been kicked by an invisible giant.
"Really Eren," Armin sighed. "He's not worth it. There's worse monsters out there than that creep."
Armin sat down on the school steps and flipped open to the correct page in the text. He turned to look at the massive giant sitting down next to him.
The massive giant only him and Mikasa could see.
He smiled.
"Thanks anyway though."