𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒉

He pauses.

There is a heavy silence.

"Jaeger... since when do you wear a bra?"

SHIT.

I realize with a pang I left my bra hanging on the bedpost. I watch, queasy with humiliation, as Jean walks over, picks it up with two fingers and dangles it in the air.

Eren stutters. "S-Shut up, horseface. Some of us... uh, need them. Okay?"

"Pfft, yeah right!" Then the realization. "Oh, she's here isn't she?" He lets out a groan. The kind you make when you find out more than you wanted. He drops the bra. "I knew I heard some stuff last night. Where's Jo? Is she— I swear, if she's under the bed..."

Well, its too late to defend myself now.

I stick a hand out and wave. "Good morning, Jean."

"Eugh," He grimaces again, placing a hand on his forehead. I watch his feet go towards the door. "Just... get dressed, both of you."

And the door shuts.

꒰ 🥀 ꒱

I'm hardly given a chance to say good morning when I sit down at the table. Bad news is delivered instantly.

"Pastor Nick is dead." Hanji announces somberly. She looks awash with guilt.

Everyone at the table shares the shock. I look at Corporal Levi, and even he looks surprised, in his own Corporal Levi way.

"How did this happen?" Eren asks.

"Today in the Trost barracks. I figured the church would go after Nick once they found out he was cooperating with the Survey Corps. Thats why I hid his identity and had him stay in the barracks. But I never imagined they'd use soldiers from the interior to kill him." Hanji explains. She frowns. "This was my fault... I should've been more careful."

A heavy silence blankets the room as we digest this alarming casualty. Not only is it depressing, but it forces us to meet the cold, harsh reality of our situation. The military... they are not playing around. They will no longer entertain us and sit by to watch our small victories and countless failures. They've realized the true weight of our small successes, how each one fuels the fire, and now they want to extinguish us.

Well... too late. We are a wildfire and we are already out of their control.

Armin puts his thinking cap on. "So the military police tortured him? Wow. For information right? Did they just want to know what he passed on to us?"

"But these are the interior MPs we're dealing with..." I speak up. I feel this is a point that shouldn't be ignored. "I don't know, but I think that means something deeper is at work here."

"Exactly. Now Hanji—" Corporal Levi turns to the scientist. "How many of his nails were ripped out?"

"I only caught a glimpse of him. But all the nail beds I saw were empty." She says.

"People who talk will talk after one." The corporal says knowingly. "I'm impressed... I didn't think highly of Pastor Nick, but whatever his faults, he stuck to his beliefs until the very end. Which means, they don't know that we know about the Reiss family."

The majority turn their heads to look at Historia.

"But the government is at work here, and we've got a target on our backs."

Well... I guess titans aren't the only things we're running from now.

The front door bursts open. "Corporal, sir!"

A redhead soldier with intuitive hazel eyes files into the room and hands him a letter. Well, more like a hastily put-together note. She is sweaty and tired from the journey. "Its a message from Commander Erwin. I went to tell him about Pastor Nick, but he gave me this instead, and he sent me off."

We wait, eyeing the note in his hands curiously. The Corporal's eyes only need to dart across the paper twice and he snaps back to us again. Sharper. Alert.

"Get your gear." He stands up. "We're leaving. Make it look like we were never here."

Eren and I look at each other.

This can't be good.

We spread out and scour the cabin. We pick only the necessities to bring with us. For me thats my green cloak, my blanket which I keep folded in my backpack, and a switchblade I found lying around. Nobody claimed it, and I figure it might come in handy.

I'm buckling on my gear when I notice Eren not doing the same. Instead he is bent over the kitchen counter, jotting down something on a piece of paper. This piques my curiosity, but now isn't the time. I'll ask later.

We count heads to make sure everyone is present before we leave. After reassuring Sasha that yes, 20 loaves of bread is more than enough to bring, we climb out of the back windows. Our green cloaks keep us somewhat camouflaged as we trek across the field, into the forest, and up the mountains. We walk in dead silence, too weary to talk, until we come across a large plateau. Looking down, I can see tiny figures- men in uniform- circling the house like predators.

Its an ambush.

"That was close." Connie says, a little shaken. "If they had caught us, would they rip our nails off?"

"How did Commander Erwin know they would come here?" Armin asks.

"The government's passed down some new orders. There's been a freeze on all Survey Corp activity outside the wall. We are to hand over Eren and Historia."

"What?" I say. Things are getting more ludicrous by the second.

"Captain," The soldier who delivered the news speaks up. Nifa, her name is. "I didn't tell you this before but... the MPs came for the Commander right after I left him. It looked like... an arrest."

Hanji is outraged. "What, like he's some kind of criminal?"

"I guess they're done trying to maintain their righteous, holier-than-thou image. They're bringing this fight out in open. No more working from the shadows." I say grimly.

"They're going to protect the wall's secrets at any cost." Hanji contemplates. "But why? And what exactly do they want Eren and Historia for? They don't want them dead. So what are they planning?"

"Who knows." Corporal Levi shrugs. "But they want these two and they are not being subtle about it. Which makes lingering here dangerous. Let's move Eren and Historia to Trost."

Several people look opposed at the idea.

"We're taking them to the same place where Pastor Nick was just killed?" Moblit asks doubtfully.

"Heading towards the interior would be worse." Corporal Levi quickly shuts him down. He sounds sure of himself. "With Trost in a panic it should be easy to slip in. And if we get into trouble, we can use these in the city." He gestures to the maneuver gear. "We don't have an identity on our enemy yet. I know a way we can change that. Hanji, lend me some of your squad."

"Okay." She says and turns to her soldiers. "I'm going to see Commander Erwin. Moblit is with me, the rest of you go with the Corporal."

"Wait!" Eren steps forward before she can get on her horse. "I remembered a conversation between Ymir and Bertholdt. I wrote it down," he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and gave it to her. "I thought it might be important."

"Thank you." Hanji nods. "I'll take a look at it later."

We watch her mount her horse, and before we can waste any more time, her and Moblit are off. Who knows when we'll see them again?

Its okay. Hanji's smart... she'll be fine. I trust her enough to know she'll solve our problems.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I sigh, pulling up my hood. "Let's pay a little visit to Trost."

꒰ End of Chapter 8 ꒱