Mask-An Attack on Titan Fan Fiction

Chapter Thirty

I awoke on the roof the next morning, stiff-limbed and shivering. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, shattering the darkness like glass. I stood up, stretching.

The sleepy daze drained from my body, replaced with a dull pain in my chest and the reminder that I was needed elsewhere. I headed down the stairs, taking deep breaths. At the first landing, I did a few jumping jacks to get my body warm. I tried to remember which landing was Levi's, but I had been so disoriented the night before that I hadn't bothered to pay attention.

The watery morning light that crept through the windows was my only guide as I moved down the stairs, trying to remember how many flights I had passed after leaving the Corporal's office.

That method came to naught, because I almost immediately bumped into Squad Leader Hanji as she entered the stairwell.

"Pardon me, Ilsa," she said, scooting around me with a box overflowing with rubbish in hand.

"Sorry, Hanji," I said, pressing myself against the wall. I had done my best to avoid the woman since she discovered my identity in Trost. To be honest, her intensity unnerved me most of the time.

Hanji paused and turned to look back at me. Her eyes examined my face briefly. 

"What are you doing up in these parts so early?" she inquired, light glinting off of her glasses.

I peeled myself off of the wall, trying to find an excuse that wasn't exactly a lie, but not the full truth.

"I was looking for Corporal Levi," I said carefully, "He needed to see me about something."

"Oh," Hanji said, "You've gone a bit too high if you want to see him, I'm afraid."

"Sorry," I replied, shrugging embarrassedly, "I'm still not too good at finding my way around."

Hanji shifted the box around in her arms. "Well, go down about two more flights. His office is down there."

She then turned and headed up the stairs in the direction I had come, leaving me alone again. I followed Hanji's instructions and descended the two flights of stairs until I reached the landing from the previous evening.

The hallway was exactly the same as it had been; quiet and empty. 

I strode to the door I had snooped at the previous evening and knocked.

The door swung open, and I came face-to-face with the Lord of Shortness himself, or as face-to-face one could get with someone of his stature.

"Bright and early, I see," the Corporal said, running a hand across his eyes, "Do you really love punishment that much?"

I stood there in confusion for a few seconds, trying to understand why he was smirking.

"No, sir," I said, "I just woke up early and had nothing better to do. And you told-"

The smirk grew slightly larger. "I can see you don't understand the joke. Whatever. Come in and we will get this over with."

"If I don't get the jokes, then perhaps you should just stick to your usual sarcasm," I suggested, tugging on the edge of my jacket, hoping that I hadn't crossed any boundaries.  

The Corporal raised an eyebrow coolly, unoffended. "Alright, then."

He opened the door wider to let me through. I walked in and sat down in front of Corporal Levi's desk, taking in my surroundings. I got an overall aura of tidiness before my attention was diverted to the desk, where Corporal Levi had taken a seat.

He began writing on a sheet of paper.

"Name of Guilty Party?" he asked without looking up.

"Ilsa Larsson."