𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

LXXVI - Strength And Weakness

Was the thing that scared me the most the fact that he's potentially the supposed mythical mass murderer feared by the walls? Or was it the fact that he stopped dead centre of the street and looked up, knowing exactly, where I was?

***

I froze, all noises that sounded seemed to disappear as I held contact with the mystery man on the street. My heart was in my throat, my breathing was shaky, I felt sick to my stomach. I could even feel my palms begin to sweat as his lips curled up into a crooked smile, his hand leaving his pocket and moving up towards the front of his hat as he tugged it down a little more, turned away and allowed himself to get whisked away into the crowd.

An interaction like that, if it could even be classified as such, could be a mere coincidence. Anyone could've looked up and found me sitting up there. I tried making any excuses as to why and how he knew I was up there. I searched through my head but my mind kept going back to the squad, because if it wasn't a coincidence, does that mean they're in danger?

I had been outside for what felt like hours, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it had only been a minute or two, if that. I pondered in the thought for a while, regaining my line of thinking, and settled on only telling Levi, whether the squad were to know about it or not would be his decision entirely.

I retreated back to the warehouse, seeking out the raven haired captain amongst the squad and few hostages that say restrained on the cold stone floor throughout the buildings. Somehow, they had multiplied, Sasha and Jean seating them in a line with the others.

"Oi, fix his gag." I hear Levi's voice ring out from around a large crate. I peeked around it, noticing Armin bending down to remove the same dude who had been violating him while he was tied to the chair. I walk around the corner, the mans spit stringing from his mouth the the gag that Armin pulled away to fix before he began speaking.

"I heard you... you're a boy." The man panted, a smile spreading across his features as his eyes met Armins. "It's all your fault, I used to be normal. But look at me now, you have to do something about this." His eyes stared through the blonde who crouched in front of him, before I crouched beside Armin and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'll take over. You go do something else." I say, slipping the strip of fabric from his hand. The mans gaze shifted from Armin to me, a noticeable and somewhat excited exhale sound coming from him before I turned to glare at him. "Say it, I dare you." I spit, venom clear in how the words left my mouth. The blondes grip left the gag as he stood, my hand slipping from his shoulder.

"Thank you." He murmured before he walked away. I turn to shove the fabric in the mans mouth before he could even think to utter a word. Tying it, I feel his prying eyes staring at any part of skin that showed from beneath my clothes, only making me tighten the gag to the point it made him wince.

"Tch, scum." I voice lowly, standing slowly, turning and nearly walking into Levi, his hand meeting my shoulder to stop me before I made contact with him. A wave of déjà vu hit me, this moment nearly an exact replica of what happened just before that one training six years ago, just minutes before I raced him for the first time. Though, instead of pushing me backwards, his hand remained on my shoulder and his face ducked down to catch my attention, eyebrows pinching together ever so slightly to display minimal concern for my low attention span.

"Are you okay?" He asked. A question he tended to ask quite frequently when he somehow seemed to sense some type of difference in my behaviour. I hum quietly, a small nod gestured before it morphed into an uncertain shrug.