A Work of Art [Yandere!Armin x Reader]

Armin couldn't keep his mind off of you.

Even during missions, he would find his thoughts wandering over to you and was unable to refocus them on the task at hand. He would always see things from the outside, animals and plants, and wondered if you would like them; and when he wasn't on missions, he was by your side.

Being with you was the only thing that kept his mind at ease between the stress of titans and the nonsense his friends came up with. You were the one little piece of perfection that made this hectic and chaotic life worth living.

It was the second reconnaissance mission this month.

No leeway had been made against the titans while the number of members dwindled by another forty-percent, much higher than the norm. It was rigorous, but just thinking of your cheerful face was enough to get Armin through the day.

He walked into the dining room, where he knew you would be drawing in your scrap book like you did after every mission. He remembers you telling him it was the way you kept yourself together after missions, remembering the images you drew of the friends you used to have and those you still had. Drawings to you were the same thing that his books were for him.

It was comforting.

Armin smiled as he got closer to you; your shiny [h/c] hair curled against your [s/t] cheeks while your bright [e/c] eyes scanned over the picture you were working on. Your delicate fingers wrapped loosely around your pencil as your tender lips blew away leftover eraser shavings.

Armin couldn't fight the smile that came to his lips when you noticed his presence. You beckoned him over with that gentle grin of yours. His heart beat cranked up another three levels as he came over. His palms were sweaty, and his fingers curled up with anxiety. "Damn his nervous nature," he thought.

“Hi, Armin,” you greeted with that adorable voice of yours and scooted over for him to take a seat.

“H-Hi, [Name].” Blushing slightly, he sat down next to you and looked at the picture you were working on. You smiled, noticing his curious blue eyes and hid the scrap book from him.

“It's just-uh,” you started bashfully before closing the page, “it's not finished yet,” you finished quietly and averted your gaze away from the blond boy.

“Everything you make is a work of art,” he chuckled, knowing that the comment would cause goosebumps to appear on your skin, and Armin loved that fact, but not as much as knowing that he caused that pink shade to appear on your face. He marked his success in the way you shifted awkwardly in your seat and blushed harder.

Armin smiled: you were twice as adorable when you blushed. “I have something I want to show you, [Name],” he said and reached into his pocket, cursing his sweaty palms and his nervous shaking. You glanced over to him in time to see Armin pull out a bright delicate looking flower.

Armin felt proud as your soft [e/c] eyes widened. He knew you loved nature and that you were especially fond of flowers. He always made it his duty to bring you some from outside the wall, ones that didn't grow within the walls.

You blinked and looked at Armin thoughtfully before letting your eyes fall down to the striped-flower between his fingers. “What type of flower is it?” you said with a giggle and gently gripped the flower, bringing it to your nose. “It smells nice,” you smiled and took another inhale.

“I found it during recon,” he grinned while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “It's called an asphodel. A book I read said it means my regrets follows to you to the grave.”

Your eyes furrowed slightly at that fact, and Armin frowned. "Idiot." Armin mentally slapped himself. Maybe, that wasn't the best information to tell you at the moment. "You should have told her it meant something like happy thoughts." Looking down at the flower in your hand, you smiled weakly and choked out a laugh.

“That's a shame for such a pretty flower. ” you smiled and twirled the plant in your sights. Armin let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you, Armin. I love it.”

“I have to get ready. See you at training today. Don't be late.” You smiled and stood up, grabbing your drawing tools. Armin watched you walk away, slightly ashamed to say he let his eyes linger longer on your swishing hips than appropriately, but the pride he felt when you stopped and took another smell of his gift defeated that feeling.

Armin arrived at practice and found that everyone was pretty much goofing off. He knew the reason why. When you were assigned the duty to watch over the cadets, everyone took the time to goof off since they knew that Squad Leader [Name] wouldn't punish them like the Corporal. It irritated him to see everyone taking advantage of your kindness, and you allowed them to get away with it. Though, his mind quickly dropped the argument and instinctively went on search for you.

You were sitting on the edge of the building platform, kicking your legs over the edge and drawing in your scrap book like you did every training session. Armin could feel his heart speed up again like before; you had his flower tied up delicately in your hair. It looked absolutely beautiful and complimented your [h/c] locks very well.

He was ready to come over to you; but when Jean beat him to the punch, Armin could only look on angrily.

“Hey, Squad Leader [Name],” he managed to choke out with a slight blush. You smiled and greeted him before returning to your work. Armin growled and gritted his teeth. Jean always took training as an opportunity to talk to girls, primarily you.

Armin didn't know why he disliked it so much, but it made his blood boil to see you talking to the bi-color haired teenager. Oh, he knew why. It was because Jean was an incurable flirt, and he chose to hit on the one girl that Armin loved almost everyday.

After a long pause to think out what he was going to say, Jean sat down next to you and slung an arm around your shoulder. You blushed darkly as he pulled you closer to him. “What are you drawing today?” he asked nonchalantly. Armin scowled.

“Jean, she's a squad leader. You should treat her with respect,” Armin suddenly cut in, struggling to hide the frustration in his voice while his hands balled up in fists at the side of his hips. Jean looked taken back by the rude comment and slowly removed his arm from you, muttering something about being interrupted.

You shook your head slightly. “It's okay.” You showed him the picture and grimaced slightly. It was that of a horse trotting through the fields outside the wall. “I still can't get the eyes to look the same,” you explained through a defeated sigh.

“It looks great to me,” Jean said. “I can't draw anything to save my life. But, I make some badass stick people. They're up in my room, I'll show you sometimes if you want,” he finished with a dorky grin and a wink before you nudged his shoulder with a playful laugh. Armin was not amused.

"Jean, don't speak that way to her." Armin huffed while the ashen haired boy looked back at him.

"What's your problem today?" Jean asked.

“It is nice,” the group looked up to see that Eren had made an appearance onto the scene. So many people in one place always tended to lure him over. “Can I see?” he asked, and you hesitantly loaned your sketchbook to him.  

Tilting his head side to side with his hand, Eren turned the book in several directions for a better perspective of the image. “Just as I thought,” he mumbled thoughtfully, causing you to swallow hard.  “Look at the texture, the shading... the uncanny resemblance to horse-face,” he snickered loudly.

Jean stomped onto his feet and pointed at Eren accusingly. “You bastard! No one asked for your opinion to begin with, Jaeger!”

Eren scoffed and argued back with him. Armin sighed; here they go again. “I didn't need to be asked!” he yelled and stepped away from the taller boy. “Besides, it's [Name]'s drawing so I don't see why you're upset, horseface.”

Jean growled and grabbed the collar of Eren's jacket. “I dare you to say that again!” he spat out and pulled the brunette in closer to where they were almost eye-to-eye.

He slapped Jean's hand away. “Let go of me!” he yelled, grabbing Jean's wrist and tearing it away from him. They pushed each other back and forth while you watched in horror as your art book was being tussled around between the two of them.

You made a pounce for it while Eren was distracted, only for you to miss completely as the boy was pushed back onto the ground. The gray book went flying out of his hands, and your eyes widened with disbelief as it spiraled through the air and landed directly in a puddle of murky red water.

Armin looked as you slowly got on your feet and walked over to the puddle with your jaw dropped. He gritted his teeth. “You idiots!” Armin yelled, unable to keep his thoughts to himself and ran up to comfort you by rubbing your back softly. Their concentration broken, Eren and Jean looked back at you in time to see you kneel down and pick up the sketch book while tears slowly began to form at your eyes as water slowly dripped from the edges of the pages.

“Do you have to drag everyone into your petty fights!” Armin continued to yell at them while you slowly opened and cautiously flipped the the pages. All your hard work ruined with just one slip of the hand. Eren and Jean both swallowed hard. It was rare enough for Armin to actually get mad; and despite his small appearance, that was more scary than even the colossal to have the usually meek tactician scolding them.

“Oh, man! [Name], we're so sorry!” Eren managed to speak up. “We-We'll fix it! I swear,” he said; however you just looked at him with eyes lost somewhere between anger and sadness while you tried to fight back the need to yell or cry or whatever your body told you to do.

You smiled bitterly and turned to them. “Don't worry about it! It was just pictures,” you laughed, but the hoarse sound of depression was impossible to hide with laughter. “I can remake them. I hope,” you mumbled to yourself at the end and walked off towards the building entrance, dragging your feet behind you.

This was all Jean and Eren's fault.

That's what he continued to repeat to himself. Armin never seen you look so depressed, even after missions you kept such a strong face. This time though, you were genuinely showing your emotions, and he didn't like them one bit. It wasn't until the survey corps returned to the inner walls that Armin had the opportunity to change that.

It was traveling through the crowds of shoppers when he noticed it. The beautifully covered sketch book was settled between old antiques and the rare items that could only be purchased within Wall Sina. The paper stocked inside it was thick and clean, perfect for drawing, while the outside had painted decorations of forestry and was covered with a layer of plastic, so that meant if it ever fell in mud, thanks to those idiots, there was less damage to be taken.

If you had that, it would definitely bring a smile to your face.

Though, there was one major problem. It was expensive. way too expensive for Armin, but if it was for you, he wouldn't mind putting in the work and money for it.

That meant taking on extra chores under Levi's supervision. Every time the opportunity presented itself Armin would take on any job that would bring in the slightest income, including things people despised doing like stable duty. Each time you had the day off, Armin would travel to the inner district in order to make sure your gift was still there.

Armin couldn't wait to see the look on your face. The feeling of your arms wrapping around his shoulders in a caring hug. There was nothing in his life he wanted so bad. It took longer than he expected; but using his off days to run odd errands[1] in town, he was finally able to afford it. The nice seller even wrapped it for him for no extra charge.

He held the present protectively against his chest. Armin would make sure nothing happened to your gift until it was in your hands and even after then. That meant he'd definitely keep Jean and Eren away from you. Armin checked the training field, where he knew you were assigned supervision duty again.

Just as he thought. Everyone was goofing off again. Armin sighed and scanned the area for you. You weren't in your usual spot. In fact, you weren't anywhere. Armin decided to ask Eren and Mikasa where you were.

"I think she went to deliver some papers to Corporal," Eren responded and look to Mikasa for confirmation.

Armin nodded and went to find you. There was nothing but empty hallways heading to the corporal's office, and he didn't even find you there. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to find you. Heading down the hall, Armin stopped when he thought he heard your voice.

"Were you talking to someone?" he wondered and peeked around the corner. It was you after all. He smiled, but it fell just as quickly as it had came when he noticed another person. He gritted his teeth angrily as that cocky jerk continued to talk. "Was he flirting with you again? Didn't Jean have anything better to do with his time than talk to my girlfriend?" Armin thought angrily.

Jean nervously undid your braid with shaking fingers. "That's getting kind of old," he commented. You mumbled softly about a friend giving it to you, and slowly slid the flower from your hair. "your hair looks prettier with red flowers," he said, blushing as he replaced it with one he found.

Looking down bashfully, you ran your fingers through your hair. "You think so?"

He nodded. "You should wear red more often," Jean mumbled.

He hesitantly leaned in closer to you. You blushed slightly as his lips nearly pressed against yours; Jean hesitated for your response. His eyes looking in yours for any clue of whether you would reject or accept him. You could feel his shallow breath lightly brush against your skin as he nervously panted, waiting for anything. Suddenly, he connected your lips. You didn't waste a second before kissing him back.

Armin fled from the scene, but not before witnessing that. He didn't bother to pick up the gift he spent so much time trying to buy.

Armin couldn't believe it.

This entire time. The entire time that you were with him. The entire time that you talked with him. You were in love with Jean. Armin was supposed to be the smart one, yet he didn't see any of this coming.

It was obvious.

The way you always laughed when he talked to you and the cute blush that would spread across your face when he would give you one of his lame pick-up lines. You didn't have any qualms about him looking at your work; you seemed to welcome his opinion more than anyone else, and you didn't even bother to stop him from throwing away Armin's flower.

It hurt.

He clenched the fabric above his heart. Armin had always heard people talk about a broken heart, but he never took the expression literally, but it hurt. There was an sinking, aching feeling in his chest where his heart should be.

"Hey, Armin! Did you find her?"

He turned to see Eren call out to him from the training field, but ignored it. Armin shared a second to glance at his friend before looking away and walking off with defeat weighing on his shoulders.

"What was that about?"

Armin never experienced this sort of pain before. There was always the physical pain from the beatings he received from titans and people. The mental stress of coming up with battle plans and the emotional ache of losing his friends, but this hurt way more than losing anyone. He didn't have the weight of not having his feelings returned; he knew they were his friends when they died, but now he had to face the constant nagging feeling that you obviously didn't share any mutual feelings of love.

Just what exactly could he do? What could he do with you? It would never work now.

His mind had gone just as numb as his heart, and he found himself climbing the stairs with his parring blades dragging behind him. Armin didn't care for any evidence left in scratches on the floor as he trailed down the dimly lit hall. He found himself in front of your door; unsure of what he was going to do, he slowly pushed open the door; the creaking grew louder with each centimeter it was pushed, and Armin's hollow footsteps echoed in the hall before he slammed the door closed.

The room was covered in paint, and the smell was even stronger; yet oddly, it still smelled sweet to him. It held the same lingering scent that you had. He had walked around the room aimlessly, looking at the decorative drawings that covered the wall and not bothering to pick up the paintbrushes he unwittingly knocked against.

there were even preliminary sketches of his squad laying across the tables; however, the most noticeable figure in them was always Jean. It was sickening.

The door opened quietly and you walked in, not expecting for a pair of dull blue eyes to be soullessly staring at you. Your brows furrowed and you hesitantly slid into the room as Armin turned his body fully towards you. “A-Armin? What are you doing in my room?” you questioned.

You felt uneasy as you looked at the discord that you did not have in your room this morning. The way Armin was looking at you, so broken and distracted, did  nothing to ease your mind. You eyes lowered to the two blades held in his hands. “Why does he have those?” you asked yourself, but you weren't quite sure if you wanted to know the answer.

Armin blinked before giving you a crooked smile that made your shivers run down your spine and your legs cautiously back towards the door as if preparing for something, but you were drawn back to your senses when your heel tapped against a paintbrush. You had never seen such a sinister look on his face. He laughed slightly, but it wasn't the same laugh you were used to like; it was dark and deep unlike his usual cheerful chuckle.

He turned rubbed the back of his head and turned away from you. “Ah, I'm sorry Squad Leader [Name]. I saw you walk off from training,” He made his way closer to you, and you gulped deeply. “And, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling okay.”

Your face grew red from remembering that you had actually left when Jean persuaded you to meet him in private. “I-I'm fine,” you stammered nervously as he took another step.

“You don't look so well,” he said before quietly finishing, “Maybe, you should sit down.”

His arm suddenly lifted up, and you didn't have time to even blink as he sent one of his blades flying towards you. The oversized box-cutter barely missed you as it sliced by your cheek and impaled the wall behind you. Your eyes were open wide and your body trembled. The shock was enough to knock you off your feet momentarily. “What just happened?” you thought, completely convinced this was a dream. You hissed as the stinging realization in your cheek. You brought your quivering fingers to your cheek and smeared the blood that dripped from it.

You were brought back to reality by the crumbling sound of Armin digging out the blade from the wall. Dream or not, you knew you had to get out of here. You stood back onto your feet with lightning fast reflex and made a dive for your door. Armin quickly cut off your exit by stepping in front of you. He lifted his weapon to your chest and lightly cut through your shirt just enough to lightly scratch your skin. “I want you to know the way I feel, [Name].”

You yelped when he suddenly thrust the blade forward. You jumped back, tripping over the corner leg of your painting easel. You fell to the ground with a sharp 'thud', but the pain you were feeling was ignored as Armin bore down on you. You kicked away from him and continued the game of cat and mouse until you were completely backed up against the wall.

“A-Armin, you don't want to do this,” you panted; your chest heaving up and down. “We're friends, right?” you whimpered slightly, pressing tighter against the wall; your frightened [e/c] eyes closely watching the blade as it adjusted to your new position.

“We're friends, after all?” he asked and lowered his blade. You nodded and hesitantly stood onto your feet.

“Yes,” you restated and stay pressed against the wall. “We've always been good friends since day one,” you continued and slowly made your way towards the door, stumbling over some of the wreckage that used to be your room. Armin's shadowed eyes never left your body. "You and everyone else in the core, are my best friends. Even if we make each other angry sometimes, we're still comrades," you smiled to the best of your ability, "and comrades protect each other."

"You're right, [Name]," Armin agreed slowly. "I wish you would have told me that before Jean," he mumbled to himself before looking up towards the ceiling as if he was in deep thought.

You hated to think what he was referencing, and hesitantly asked, "A-Armin, what happened to Jean?"

The boy brought his head back down; those empty, once bright, blue eyes fixing back on your shaking form. "Nothing's happened to him, yet," he answered and scowled. "Do you care about him that much? Did he ever stop to help you with your work or went out of his way to make up destroying your work for you? How can you still care about someone who's so thickheaded?"

"I-I care about all my friends," you replied without much thought, knowing that any hesitation could lead to your death.

“You say you care, but you never noticed how I felt about you, [Name],” he whispered harshly and cornered you once again near your dresser. You froze to the spot. "I cared about you so much! I even risked my life just to bring you back stupid flowers. I worked everyday in the hot sun and cold rain just to make you feel better. I'm the only one who treated you with respect! You were my girlfriend, but you chose that playboy bastard over me. After all I did for you," he finished weakly; his voice cracked and strained when he talk, as if he was on the verge of tears.

You panted slowly, looking around for anything that could be used for defense. You eyes fell on a dull sculpting blade that you owned. It wasn't much, but it was something. "I'm so sorry, Armin," you said, keeping his eyes focused on yours while you slid your foot over the small blade. "I had no idea."

"Of course, you didn't. You were too busy flirting with Jean," he answered for you.

You slid the blade a bit closer. "I never meant to hurt you."

"It's too late for apologies, Squad Leader." He raised the blade up high.

Your breath hitched. "I'm so sorry-" you kicked the blade back towards your hand. "that you feel that way!" Gripping it roughly, you launched yourself at his knees, knocking the petite boy over. You straddled his waist and forced the blade down on him. Armin grunted deeply and grabbed your wrist, holding you back from stabbing him.

"All this nonsense about friendship was nothing but shit," he gritted his teeth. "You never meant to hurt me? What do you call this?"

"Like you're any better. You complain that you love me, but attack me," you hissed and pressed your other hand down on the blade. His hand began to shake as you begin to win over him. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but I refuse to die by the hands of any human!"

He released your hand, and you stabbed down with all your strength. Armin curled towards the left and barely dodged your attack as your weapon stuck deeply into the floor. "Damn it," you cursed. He pushed you off of him with a strong shove and sent you tumbling back. You tried hard to keep any sort of footing underneath all the rolling pens and other art utensils.

You managed to kick him in the face as he tried to stand. Armin held his bloodied nose with one hand while he knelt down to pick up the blade with the other. You gulped and saw your chance for the open door. Stumbling as you ran, you swiftly made your way towards the door. Just as you were about to make it out, his fingernails dug against your scalp before pulling back and gripping your hair forcefully.

You let out a painful howl as he pulled you back. Your neck bend to his will painfully, and your knees buckled underneath you. The last bit of freedom you would see was slammed shut right before you eyes. You were so close, you whimpered. You fell back and you blond hair slowly entered your line of vision as Armin lowered himself near you. The cold length of the blade pressed against your neck.

"Don't feel sad, [Name]," Armin whispered darkly, "my love will go with you to the afterlife."

"A-Armin?" you gasped. Then, there was nothing.

A painful whimper left your lips as you weakly stared back into those blue eyes. The last image of him was hazy and almost as if you saw a demon. "Jean was right. You do look beautiful in red."

You closed your eyes tightly as you felt his hand brush against your cheek and slowly drop down near your face and carefully picked up a near lying paintbrush. The last thing you saw before black was that twisted smile. "I love you, my wilted asphodel." Armin succeeded. He would finally have you all to himself forever.

In a beautiful painting of blood.