Under the Tree [Attack on Titan self insert]

Night of the Graduation Ceremony

The next year, they continued their training, and of the recruits, two-hundred and eighteen cadets graduated. Surprisingly enough, Eren stopped being such a dick to Jean. They didn't like each other, but they didn't fight so much. Armyn's little friend group expanded too. Somewhere in the year, Jean started dating Marco—to no one's surprise—and then not too long later the two of them met Percy. The three of them were extremely gross, but in a good way.
Armyn started to realize he definitely had a crush on Armin. It was kinda hard to process—not only was this the friend he'd grown up with, but he was a boy, too. It's not like he was homophobic, but he wasn't exactly... not homophobic? It wasn't something he saw a lot, or even heard about. Jean and Marco was the first real exposure he had to it, so after that it kind of became easier for him to come to terms with liking other boys. Percy definitely gave him an extra hard shove in that direction too.

Finally, with most of them here and ready to finally graduate, they stood in lines in front of very official people—including Commadant Saidies. Armyn puffed his chest out as they were told what was going to happen next.
             "Do you have heart?" Saidies shouted.
             "Yes, sir!" Every cadet shouted back and saluted with their fist over their hearts.
             "Every one of you now has the honor of saying that you have graduated from your training. As of right now, you all have three options available to you!" He went on to explain each role of the military, and what their job was. Of course, only ten of them could choose to be part of the Military Police—the top ten in the class. Eren and Mikasa made it—although, it didn't matter anyway. Armyn knew what Eren wanted, and wherever Eren and him went she would follow.
             They all ate and celebrated together. They ate—real food. Not that same old slop and stale bread! Armyn moaned in satisfaction as he stuffed his face. "Oh my gof," he spoke with his mouth full. "Finally, finally a real meal!"
             "You're telling me!" Sasha sighed, grinning like an idiot. "And I can get this everyday as an MP!"
             Jean sighed, staring down at his drink. "I can't believe I ranked under Eren..."
             Without looking up from his food, Percy responded to him. "It's probably because you look like a horse, hon."
             To his side Marco held back a laugh. Jean huffed. "Well, well... at least I don't have some creepy ass blue eyes!"
             "I think you're jealous." Marco laughed a little.
             "WHY WOULD I BE JEALOUS?" Marco and Percy looked at each other before they burst into laughter.
             "So, wait... you're seriously not going for the military police position?" Armyn looked over, hearing Wagner talking to Eren.
             "The scouts were always my goal. I think it's pointless to put all that work into learning how to fight titans, and then never going out and fighting titans." Eren was surprisingly calm while explaining his position.
             Armyn stood up and walked over to join them. Wagner looked at him. "So what, are you gonna take his place?"
             Eren looked at him as if he didn't know the answer to that. "Of course not—that's probably illegal, for one, for two I'll always stay by Eren's side."
             Wagner seemed almost offended. Armyn had no idea why. "Do you have any idea how many people have died? You two have to be insane!" The whole room went quiet. Wagner didn't stop. "A fifth of the population has died. We can't beat them. It's time to give up."
             Armyn glared a little. "So... you'll just lay down and take it?"
             "Things have changed." Eren's fists clenched and Armyn could see tears in his eyes. "Maybe not a lot, but enough to make a difference. We've learned more. We're stronger."
             "Can you really blame us for having this hope? For wanting to further the progress we've made? I think you're insane if you don't want to!"
             "You won't accept that humanity's future lies outside the walls, just to hold on to a fleeting sense of security? We can take back what's ours, we don't have to be controlled!" Eren stopped as he realized he was starting to cry. He shook his head and ran off. Armyn, Mikasa and Armin followed him immediately, calling after him.