(Levi Ackerman x OC) Melting A Frozen Heart ~ Attack on Titan

Chapter 36: No Regrets

[f]

"The outside?!" Chi repeated in awe, her bright eyes widening. "Tools against humanity? But—but then, what can explain why I have an uncontrollable urge to kill a titan whenever I see one, and not when I see another human? It's such a normal reflex; I don't even think about it anymore, I just do it."

"That's actually quite strange," Alabaster murmured, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "My guess is that there is something holding you back from killing another human. I mean, there must be some tie between you and someone significant to your past life; someone from your childhood?"

"Hm..." Chi's thoughts first ventured to Maki, then Mina, then Sato, but their deaths only made her rage towards the titans flare. She felt a shattering astonishment when the memories of their deaths resurfaced, but she didn't dare make a physical reaction; at this point, she didn't even know if that memory was truly hers. Then she dared to think about Levi, but he wasn't someone from her childhood—childhood. As soon as the word childhood crossed over her mind. It was the face of a man—an old one with wrinkles crinkling the corners of his eyes and smile. His dark eyes sparkled with kindness and laughter.

Chi's eyebrows furrowed and she whispered, "Who is this man?"

"Perhaps if we go through the documents we stole from our last raid, we can find yours?" offered a voice behind Chi. She jumped in her seat and whirled around, startled, to find a woman at least ten years older than her smiling warmly. "I'm sorry, did I startle you? I really didn't mean to." She held out a hand, one Chi timidly shook. "My name is Peony. I overheard your conversation, and I couldn't help but come and offer you a little help."

"She does that a lot," Clare whispered across the table a little too loudly. "Startle people, I mean."

Peony shot the younger girl a warning look before returning her gaze to Chi. "My whole table, actually," she said, "is very excited to meet you, but I was the only one with enough courage to speak to you." She tucked a strand of her red-tinted chocolate locks behind an ear, the curly piece almost falling loose . "On the contrary, you can't seem to remember something. It's common for a Deviant to have holes in their memories from the time before they were disposed of by FADE, but we usually find the information we need in the documents we steal. Alabaster, I heard, was able to take their entire archive before the retaliation of FADE members began. Would you like me and my friends to take you to see if anything of interest may be there?"

"I—" Chi started, but she was cut off by Clare.

"She'd love to go, but I'll be coming along too," she declared, standing abruptly.

"Don't count me out!" Alabaster chimed, getting to his feet.

"You aren't gonna forget the old men like us, are ya?" Rowan chuckled, both he and Ruff clambering out of their seats.

"Guess we're bringing the whole town then," Clare harrumphed, linking her arm into Chi's. Peony narrowed her eyes when she traded glances with the pig-tailed brunette, but she pivoted and flipped her hair over her shoulder, saying, "Alright then, I'll lead the way."

Without a second thought, Chi was pulled forward, Clare dragging her along with a tight grip.

"Don't trust that woman," she whispered into Chi's ear. "A majority of the time, all she's trying to do is find out someone else's secrets so she can use it against them later on."

"She seems like a nice person," Chi countered quietly, keeping her eyes on the back of Peony's wavy-haired head. "I mean, at least she offered to take me to see the documents."

"You should listen to Clare," Alabaster added, coming up onto Chi's right side. He walked with his hands in his pockets, a suspicious stare kept closely on the woman ahead of them. "That's why Clare hates her so much; she peeked into Clare's file and found out that when Clare was born, she had the ugliest pinched up face anyone had ever seen."