Daitan Futekina - Fearless

Chapter 2 - Night Terrors

Daitan Futekina – Fearless

Chapter 2

“You abandoned us, when we needed you most.”

“They’re all dead, you know.”

“Because of you.”

“It’s all because of you.”

“Why did you leave us, Kukri?”

“Do you hate me?”

“Do you wish I was dead?”

“You weren’t there. I died, Kukri. I’m dead.”

“Eren! Mikasa! Armin!”

Erwin burst through the door, blue eyes quickly taking in the sight before him. His eleven year-old adopted daughter lay, drenched in sweat, and screaming at the top of her lungs. He didn’t doubt that some of the members of his squad were now awoken from their slumber, ready to face the day ahead.

“Don’t leave me! Please!”

Even in sleep, tears trickled down Kukri’s pale cheeks, knuckles turning white as she gripped the crisp-white bed sheets. Erwin frowned at the sight, but he could do nothing to stop it, he could speak from experience.  All he could do was sit and wait.

“I didn’t mean it! I’m sorry!” the tiny girl yelled, eyes clenched shut. She sobbed for several long minutes, her friend’s voiced resonating in her ears, before her tears began to dry, and her heavy breaths turned into shallow ones.

“I won’t do it again! I promise!”

This hadn’t been the first time, either; it began the day she found out the walls of Shiganshina were breached by titans. After no word from Armin, who she had continued writing to after all these years, she panicked, convinced the trio of friends were dead. She dreaded to think how, but the nightmares just made her face the sight of it, time and time again. Erwin had tried to make her see reason, but whenever he opened his mouth to talk about it, she would either glare heatedly at him until he stopped, or she would go completely comatose, both ending in her crying herself to sleep as her adoptive mother had done before she committed suicide.

“I’m sorry...” She muttered, fresh tears trickling from her eyes to create a wet patch on the pillow, which quickly evaporated like a titan’s blood, and Erwin considered giving her the day off.

No, bad idea, you know how much she loves training with Levi. He told himself, knowing that she would give him a stern talking to if he did end up telling her not to train. With a heavy sigh, Erwin moved to retreat from the room, knowing she would just avoid him if she found out he knew of the nightmares.

She didn’t think he did, but his, and his group’s ears were better than she thought, so they heard every word. Every plead. Every cry for help. Yet they could do nothing, lest she avoid them, which was something none of them wanted. Despite their doubts in the beginning, every member of the group loved her and though of her as family, especially Petra. He saw the two often, whenever they could get a moment away from Levi’s intense training (why she likes it so much is beyond him), and he knew that that was some of the rare times she smiled and had fun.

It had taken a while, but eventually Petra broke through the girl’s cold exterior, quickly seeing the tiny albino as an adopted sister, which in all honest, Erwin found considerably amusing. Petra could be serious, of course, but she was nothing compared to Kukri, and Erwin wondered how exactly his group member had done it. When Kukri came to him in the first place, all he would get as responses were grunts and occasionally one-word answers, but that was it. She never initiated conversation, and Erwin realized how alike her and Levi truly were, stubborn as mules, but with the strength to back it up.