Skeleton Flowers [Shingeki no Kyojin]

✾ Chapter 5 ✾

A pair of long, muscular arms encircled Izanami the moment Sasha had let her go, and Izanami felt herself press against a firm body as she was lifted upward, and her feet left the ground. Her open hair had covered her face but as she blew them out of her face, a familiar scent entered her nostrils as she realised who had hugged her.

It was Reiner Braun, and Izanami could not see his face with the way he was hugging her tightly to himself. But all the constricted feeling that she had felt within her body left her the moment she realised it was him. Instead, she felt strangely liberated as she reached to wrap her arms around him in return, tying them around his abdomen that she was pressed against.

"You're alive, Izanami," Reiner breathed against her head, and Izanami felt the heaviness in that breath. "I heard that the vanguard was wiped out – but you're alive – how could I have ever thought so lowly of you? Of course, you're alive and breathing here, Iza,"

Never had Izanami expected to see Reiner react like this, but as he set her down on her feet again and grabbed her face in his palms, Izanami found her eyes meeting his. Today, those sunlit eyes were clouded black with worry, and Izanami felt strangely sorrowful that his eyes no longer resembled the ones that were the reincarnation of the sun itself.

"You didn't get hurt anywhere, did you?" asked Reiner, almost frantically as his eyes traced the length of her body for any sign of hurt. "If you're hurt, let me know and I will carry you to the rear immediately and we'll get you checked out by the medical –"

"Reiner," Izanami interjected softly, reaching her hand up to place it on his lips so that he would halt. "I am uninjured," Reiner stared at her. "I... I apologise for worrying you like this, Reiner. And I am more than happy to see you doing alright as well,"

But Izanami was not the only one surprised by this sudden public display of concern from Reiner. She found her eyes tracing past him to fall upon Annie and Bertholdt, both of whom were watching the scene unfold with strange, inexpressive yet cold expression on their faces. Her eyes returned toward Reiner, watching him let out a long, heavy sigh as he dropped his head on her shoulder.

"You don't have to apologise to me," muttered Reiner against her shoulder as if he could not hold the weight of his head any further anymore. "You don't ever have to apologise about anything to me. No matter what you do... it's justified in every sense of the word..."

It sounded like Reiner was talking more to himself now than her, as if he was comforting himself more than he was trying to assure her. There appeared to be a strange burden on him, but Izanami only rubbed his back gently to comfort him, and he mellowed out more into her.

"... I am curious about why all of you are stationed here," Izanami said, looking around at everyone. "And now that I am here... let me know if any one of you is injured. I shall give first aid to you all,"

✾

While Izanami listened to everything that they had to say in regards to their own whereabouts, Izanami confirmed what she had already deduced: humanity had failed once more, regardless of how well-prepared they had been in the situation that the events of five years ago were to be repeated. Izanami had kept her silence for the most part, not keen on sharing her own experience.

For some reason, Reiner stuck around her for a while and appeared to continue to be worried about her even when she was the one helping others out with the first aid. His friend, Bertholdt, was suddenly keeping a distance from Izanami – and this distance was even larger than the one he had already had with Izanami back when they were trainee cadets.