Will of the Broken (Levi x OC)

Chapter 79: Ehrmich

Entering the district was simple enough, but since we weren't all on the same mission, our group split off and chose a different path.

To get to the refugee camps, we chose to go around, rather than stick to the main road like the rest of our comrades, and took small alleyways through the district.

Those tight spaces set me even more on edge, closer to a panic attack with each step we took.

I stood right behind Levi, who was pushing Pastor Nick forward impatiently.

Behind me, was Mikasa, Eren, Hanji, and then Armin. It wasn't like the kids split up on purpose, but Hanji enjoyed Armin's intellect and interest in her research.

My skin prickled with unease and we slipped into another tight alley. I wasn't in the back or front of the group, so I felt trapped.

Nowhere to run, and certainly no room to fight.

"Why are you with that midget? Do you want to fix him?" Mikasa's rather bored tone dragged me away from the edge and back into a calmer mindset.

Did I really want to fix Levi?

"No, I don't. He is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. I'm with him because I want to be. Neither of us really and truly need one another. But we want to be together. Fixing Levi is not a healthy choice. He needs to grow like I do. We'll grow together as a pair. Who told you? Why do you ask?" I answered her with nervousness, accidentally rambling.

"Eren let it slip. I ask because he seems broken, and dangerous. You're a good person, and I don't think he deserves you." She bluntly spoke her mind, making me feel slightly attacked.

However, I couldn't deny her truth. It was right in its own way. Furthermore, I wouldn't let her badmouth Levi.

"We're all broken and dangerous people. In fact, a relationship is probably ill-advised in our line of work and with the mentality we have. You're right, but it's working so far. A good person is only someone that is helpful to us, he's only bad in your eyes because he attacked the boy you adore. He wronged you, but he still saved Eren. You can't judge everyone based on one action alone, Mikasa. Stop worrying about my love life and focus on your own. One day, he's going to think about it. I hope you'll give Eren the right answer."

With that, our conversation ended. She went silent in thought and dropped behind me a bit, back to Eren's side.

Of course, the dense teen was thinking in his own world. So deeply in fact, that our conversation went unnoticed.

How lucky is that?

Even if I wanted to remain calm, the pit in my stomach grew to full size again, and filled itself with dread.

Something bad had happened today, and carried through the night.

My hunches had already been solidified in my mind. Even without proof.

My friends were dead.

There was so much I didn't know.

About everything.

I knew limited things.

The first King wanted us to forget our history, why is that? We have walls made of giant Titans, but how did they come to be? Are the First King and the walls connected? Titans can't reproduce, so how are they being made at such a high amount?

Marley is a place beyond the walls, but how? Why did we have traitors among us? How? Humanity had been living peacefully, so why disturb that now?

If the traitors had a leader, who was it? How would I be able to tell? Why did it feel like they were testing us? Did they have some sort of knowledge against us?