Only Exception

Oneshot

"I realized, over time as I watched your encounters.... that I did not truly love him.... not like you," Petra started, tears filling her big eyes. She turned away, hiding her face from me. She reached a hand out, clasping a withered petal from the tree.

"Petra..." I whimpered, "it's not like that. You know I don't have feelings for the midget.." I tried to reason with her, my own tears causing my voice to choke up. How could she think I had any emotion for the clean freak, besides hatred? I could never fathom how she did. Now, she was accusing me of?

"Shh," She shushed me, "it's ok Ingrid," she looked at me finally, her tear finally falling as the wind picked up, blowing her short hair. "I loved him for his ability. His power. How he carried himself and took charge of us. I admired him," she trailed off, as if reminiscing. "Too much... I realized, I was infatuated with him," she finished.

"Please..." I pleaded, "stop this." My tears clouded my vision. How could she, after all these years of chasing him, say she didn't actually love him? "Petra.. only you noticed his love for books, why he holds his cup weirdly, and why he sleeps with his window open," I tried once more to reason with her. Surely that would cause this behavior to stop.

She smiled. She actually smiled. Not a melancholy one, a genuine happy one. A knowing one. "Ingrid, how do you think I learned those?" I blinked, confused. "Don't you remember?" She giggled, and I felt it had no warrant in this setting.

——-
Petra and me were jogging, one of the few times we could see each other. We decided to jog to stretch our muscles for the upcoming session. We had a routine: jog, spar, 3DM maneuvering, blade tricks. "And then heichou said-" Petra blushed, her eyes going off into her dreamland, her mind playing over whatever Levi had mentioned.

I stopped, noticing something peculiar. Off. The suns heat was intense, increasingly humid as the afternoon rang closer. Skin was burning from the intensity, so why? "Petra..." I trailed off, catching her attention.

"What's wrong?" She hmmed, only to pause and finally stop, realizing I was no longer next to her.

"Isn't that captain Levi's barracks?" I questioned, furrowing my brows. Her eyes followed my finger, and widened at the open window. Bingo, it was. "Why does he keep it open? It's hot out... wouldn't it be sweltering?" It was true. No one kept their window open in summer. It was suicide. No longer caring, I shrugged, and picked up where I left off, leaving Petra to watch after me wide eyed. She had noticed his window before, but thought nothing of it. She assumed nothing. But here you were, with one glance, thought about the hot humid air and how it was suffocating outside, so wouldn't it be worse inside? He had to be dying of heat in there. So why...

Why hadn't she thought of it?
——-

"Isn't he so cool!" Petra squealed, trying to contain it. We were only sitting a few tables away, close enough for ear shot if loud enough. Hanji had pulled Levi and Erwin to their own table to discuss the upcoming expedition, so cadets couldn't interfere.

Oluo rolled his eyes, "how do you think he- gah!" He bit his tongue, trying to mimic Levi's monotone voice. The Baka.

"All he's done is drink tea," Erd rolled his eyes, ignoring Oluo as usual. Everyone did when he bit his tongue; it was habitual.

"Yeah! But he holds it so uniquely!" She squirmed in her seat, batting her long lashes as she giggled. All over him placing his fingers on the rim, not the handle like normal people.

Ingrid flipped a page of the book she was reading, musing, "he probably had one break prior."

"Eh?" "Huh?" The three questioned, staring at her blankly.

"What?" Noticing their looks, she looked up with a blink.

"N-Nothing.... it's just... we never thought that.... what makes you so sure?" Erd questioned, a brow raising as he finished. Petra furrowed hers barely, taking a glance at the leader's table. She took notice this time how Levi took great care in lifting the cup. Even from the distance between them, she saw how his fingers were taut against the rim, as if it would fall.

"I wonder..." Ingrid scratched her cheek, an itch. "If you picked up a glass cup and it broke, what would you do?"

"Get a new one, tch," Oluo glowered, obviously.

"But if you were a clean freak? How would you avoid a mess every time? How can you predict when it will happen? Oh well, he could just be weird," Ingrid shrugged, her interest in the matter had dissipated and she packed up. She ignored their stares as she left.
——-

"Ugh.." Ingrid groaned, moving her right hand out from under the stack of books, so she could open the library door. Hanji has decided to leave a mass amount of books laying around again, so Ingrid picked them up, as usual. "Such a pain.... dammit," she groaned, unimpressed as always.

"Ingrid-San!" Hiko, the librarian, beamed. She loved that her books always got returned thanks to her. Hiko couldn't tend to the library often due to expeditions, and was always happy when she could. "Here, let me help," she grabbed half and took off with a wave. Ingrid sighed in relief and waved back, before walking away to the shelves.

"Finally~" She chirped, as she let her fingers slip from the shelved book. She yawned with a stretch, and her back cracked from the pressure. Carrying all those books weren't good for her back, not on top of all the heavy 3DM gear. "I'll have to get her for this!"

"Get who, cadet?" A cold voice asked from behind her. She spun around, salute already in place. She knew that cold voice, everyone did, but she spent all her time avoiding it.

"Captain, Hanji sir! She always leaves books laying around and it's an eyesore!" She closed her eyes, expecting a retaliation on wanting payback against a higher up.

"Tch. Shitty glasses?" He mumbled, and Ingrid stole a glance. She noticed him pull his green cloak closer to him upon her inspection, and how his eyes narrowed further into a glare. "Stop staring." Ingrid rolled her eyes but nodded, letting him leave with her eyes up. As the heavy doors to the library slammed shut, she couldn't help but wonder,

Why was he hiding a book?
——-

I choked on my sobs more as she spoke her next words, making me realize it finally.
"You knew him. Only you could see him for him."