Reluctant Heroes

Chapter 6 - Theory

A/N: Hello my little stinkers, and welcome back to the mess.

I totally forgot to address it last chapter so I'll do so now. I'll be referring to Hange with she/her pronounces throughout the fic. The official English translation uses she/her whilst in the Japanese version she's not referred to with any gender. I'll be sticking with the English translation, for consistency's sake. Feel free to replace all the she/her with they/them if it helps you feel more comfortable!

Anyways, enjoy the mess like usual!

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Deciding it was now or never, I told them, "This bracelet... ever since it has gotten into my possession, my life twisted and turned."

I looked up, seeing I got the attention of everyone present, "It all really solidified my suspicions that it had some strangeness to it when I got injured once when training. I cut my finger, which caused blood to trickle down to the bracelet and promptly be absorbed by it with a weird glow.

"Tch. Brat must be going insane." Levi muttered, but I soldiered on.

"I didn't believe it myself at first, but once I tried to take off the bracelet after that, it refused to budge." I quickly continued, sensing the incredulity, "I tried everything in my power, save for chopping my hand off, but the bracelet seemed to be stuck to my skin."

I breathed in deeply, surprised I wasn't being interrupted more, "When Trost just got breached and I was assigned to the rear guard, titans were flocking to me even though I was in a low-risk area. The same happened with the gate sealing mission."

I paused briefly, seeing that at least Hange was still regarding me with great interest, "Before what I assumed was my transformation, I saw a flash of light and it felt like the bracelet was burning into my skin. Now it's magically gone."

"Could jewellery have something to do with the titan transformation?" Hange started muttering, about to go on a long tangent, but I interrupted her.

"I don't want to say this is an outlier, but I don't think jewellery is the answer to titan transformations. There must be something special about that bracelet causing me to transform. Eren didn't have anything of the sort happen to him. That concludes what little theorising I have done until now." I ended, looking at the various expressions coating the faces in the room.

"It surely is an interesting tale, but we can't confirm or deny anything with the bracelet gone. For now, let's wrap up here." Erwin spoke, ending our small meeting.

Before I knew it, Eren and I were being whisked away with the Levi squad in tow, riding on horseback to the temporary new outpost.

Eren and I couldn't both shadow Levi closely, so I surprisingly got assigned to stay near Petra.

As I accidentally bumped into her horse, having tailed a bit too close, I mumbled out an apology. The girl smiled kindly at me, "It's OK!"

Poor Eren in the meantime was having to put up with the bossy Levi, making me feel a bit sorry for him. I got the sweet angel Petra, but he was stuck with someone who wouldn't extend any kindness yet. I only felt fractionally sorry for him, not keen on pretending to want to switch with him.

As soon as we arrived at the castle that would become the temporary Survey Corps outpost, we were properly introduced to the squad members, even though I knew all of them already unbeknownst to them.

Soon enough we were whisked away to clean the whole place, each being assigned a section to do. I let myself get caught up in the brainless task, letting my mind wander.

The next opportunity to save lives had arrived.

Not just that of named characters, but that of many nameless faces as well. The upcoming expedition would spell disaster for the Survey Corps. While it all ended somewhat ok in the original show, I definitely could improve the survival rate.

How though?

I don't know what my titan form looks like or is capable of, causing my strategising to quickly come to a halt. I needed to find out what I could do, because that would ultimately be the big changing factor.

Determined to begin testing my abilities as soon as possible, I scrubbed the floor with vigour, knowing I'd have to make it look squeaky clean.

"The floor did nothing wrong now, did it?" the voice of Petra rang out behind me, a kind smile on her face.

I stopped my aggressive scrubbing of the floor to turn towards the girl, saluting, before saying "I just had a hunch Captain Levi's standards for cleanliness are a bit above average."

Petra huffed softly, "A bit very above average would be more apt. Let me help you out, I already finished my area."

I couldn't protest to that, letting the young woman grab some of my supplies to aid me.

"So, why did you want to join the Survey Corps?" Petra asked, deciding to start some amicable chatter.

"A few reasons. I wanted to make a meaningful change to the world, not sit back and watch it burn." I shrugged as I named my original goal, "That and apparently I had an aunt who was a commander in the Survey Corps."

Petra smiled knowingly, "Francine Berger, right?"

I nodded, "Yep, that's the one. I never got to meet her so I'm curious what she was like."

"I joined after her passing, so I wouldn't know either. Apparently, commander Erwin was briefly under her command, so he might know some more." Petra told me casually.

I perked up at that. That was new information.

"I suppose if I ever have the chance to chat with him, I'll ask him about it," I muttered when another voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Less chatting, more cleaning. The floor still looks filthy." Levi monotonously announced before he moved on again.

I sighed, having thought I'd really done my best. Petra giggled softly at my dismay, patting me on the shoulder as she passed me, "You'll get used to it eventually."

Let's hope I would. I was a Mary Sue in fighting, not in cleaning.