Frigid (Erwin Smith x Reader)

Chapter 5 - Suspicion

Participating in the Scouting Regiment for a few weeks now, you had become more comfortable with the people you were once afraid of. Some of the other trainees had become too comfortable, their cockiness earning them a job of mucking out the horse stalls, but you learned from their mistakes and kept to yourself.

The sense of camaraderie that was present in the Regiment was astonishing, as it was not present at all during training. However, that was most likely on account of the individual competition to reach certain rankings that was present during training. Here, the camaraderie gave you a comfort that you had not felt in a long time. It was for this that you had no second thoughts about trusting the people here with your life, as they trusted you with theirs.

Besides, you had finally found a group of people who knew exactly how you felt. Everyone here watched someone close to them die at the hands of the titans, you could see it in their faces- but they hadn't lost the will to continue fighting the titans fervently. It was their motivation that fed your own.

Walking across the base that your regiment was working to clean and secure, you passed a couple of soldiers, murmuring something about a "shifting titan." You looked down at the ground, wondering if that "shifting titan" was the thing that was making everyone extremely chary.

That's the second time I've heard something about a shifting titan... But if it was important to the soldiers, I'm sure the commanders would inform us.

You shook your head as you entered the building where your barracks were located.

Right now, I'm at the bottom of the ranks because I'm a newbie. I shouldn't go prodding around for information anyways, especially now.

"Hey, what's wrong, (Y/N)?" Krista asked you with a worried look on her face.

You returned a small smile.

"I'm fine, I was just in thought," you meekly replied.

She nodded and smiled, turning away to continue sweeping the hallway. You took care to step around her pile of dust that she accumulated together on the floor, and continued down the hall.

~~(Timeskip)~~

Hearing yelling, you shot out of bed and threw on your uniform, making your way down the hallway with the other soldiers to the main courtyard to see what was wrong.

"What's happening?" someone asked next to you.

"I don't know," you replied.

Filing outside into the morning air, you noticed some higher ranked officers running to the right of the main sea of soldiers coming out of the barracks. Realizing that was where the yelling was coming from, you turned and followed them, most of the other soldiers following behind you.

"What happened to him?!" Squad leader Hanji was screeching in front of a chained up titan that was apparently killed. The hot steam from the titan's body was slightly concealing vision of the titan's body and what was happening around you.

"Who did this?!?" another officer shouted into the soldiers.

Everyone began turning to one another and murmuring, confused by the events in front of them. A second burst of steam briefly sputtered out of the titan carcass.

You felt a hand quickly land on your shoulder.

Not wanting to freak out, you looked out of the corner of your vision to see Commander Erwin standing next to you, concealed by his cloak and the surrounding steam coming off of the titan's body. You cocked an eyebrow at his presence.

"Who is the enemy?" he questioned you in a hushed tone, his hand not leaving your shoulder.

"What are you taking about?"

It was his fault for asking such an open question.

"Who is the enemy here?" he reiterated.

"The titans are the enemy," you replied. "You and I both know that."

He was quiet for a moment, as if pondering your answer.

"Come to my office when things are finished here."

You nodded, your attention turning back to Captain Hanji's bent figure on the ground at the head of the slain titan. You felt Commander Erwin's hand leave your shoulder, and assumed he left.

Slightly shaking your head, you tried to decipher why he asked you such a question.

"Let's get this cleaned up," you heard Captain Levi command from somewhere near the front of the crowd.

After you helped the others to clear away the titan's remnants, you walked down the empty and dimly lit hallway to the Commander's office. You weren't sure at all why he was asking you to go to his office- it's not like you were the one to kill Captain Hanji's titan.

You knocked twice on the large oak door.

"Come in," you heard a deep voice from the other side of the door.

You slowly pushed open the door, walked in, and closed it behind you. Turning to Commander Erwin's desk, where he was seated, you gave a small bow as a pleasantry.

"You wanted to see me?" you questioned.

"Yes," he said, blue eyes seemingly piercing your being. "Have a seat."

You nodded, and sat in the wooden chair in front of him. You crossed your legs out of habit.

"Were you involved in the killing of Hanji's experimental titan?"

You knitted your eyebrows, offended that he would even consider you to be involved in that.

"Of course not," you replied, trying to keep your voice level.

"I know that," he replied. "But some of the other captains, due to your strange circumstances upon entering the military, suspect you to be involved in the killing and other collusion."

You folded your hands in your lap. At least you had one person on your side.

"Why?" you questioned. "Just because my parents were killed by titans and I did what I saw necessary to escape them with my siblings does not mean that I am a bloodthirsty killer. "

"Have you proved that to them?"

"I didn't realize it was my job was to impress people."

He rubbed his eyes.

"Look, you're a good soldier, and I trust you," he said. "I'm going to take your side in this. But I can't help you unless you do something on your part too."