I absolutely hated cleaning, especially when it was just four people. Mike was nice enough to offer a hand when Eren, Levi, and I walked out of the cafeteria to start our cleaning routine. It was only our squad that did this, Levi had us working like maids. I raked the fallen leaves from the grass and piled them under the tree. Levi and Eren swept the ones on the pavement into the grass for me to rake, it was teamwork. Mike cleaned inside the building, I could see him wiping the windows with a wet cloth from down below. Why did Hanji have to say awkward things? Why couldn't she be normal...I glanced at Levi, he was sweeping calmly. He was probably used to her weirdness... I swiped at my bangs, huffing and watching fog escape from my mouth into the coldness of the air.
"Is it winter here?" I said to no one in particular. The weather was too damp and cold for it to be autumn.
Levi answered me. "It's November, so yes winter is on it's way here."
"Do you hate the winter Sakura?" Eren spoke out, resting his back on the wall.
"No I like it, just not when i'm not prepared with warm clothes." I said smiling. "Say, Corporal, just when is your birthday?" I asked curiously.
"December 25th." He stated. I gasped.
"That's coming very soon! How old will you be?" I pressed. He stood silent for a while before responding.
"That's none of your business."
"Awww" I pouted. So he was going to avoid my question...I would find out his age...somehow.
"How do you two like Mike?" Levi's random question was unexpected. Eren and I exchanged glances.
"Mike is okay...why?" Eren looked at Levi with questioning eyes.
"I'm resigning as captain...and leaving you two in his care, i'm sure he will do just fine as your new leader." He stated matter of factly. I was stunned. Levi was no longer going to be my captain? I should have been glad...I should have been jumping in the air happily, thankful that I would no longer have to clean. So why...why did I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach? Why did I feel like my heart was growing dark?
"Why?" Eren was surprised, completely taken aback by the corporals sudden decision.
Levi stopped sweeping and looked Eren in the eye. "Aren't you happy brat? I just want to rest, I'm not ready for a new team yet..." so this was about his dead comrades. He didn't want new people to replace them.
"But corporal, what about keeping us in check? Your humanities strongest soldier right? Only you can be our captain!" Eren screeched, he was upset.
"Calm down, you don't give yourself enough credit, I trust in you two to behave, so trust in yourselves, Mike is stronger than he seems." Levi began sweeping again, an act that said he was done with the conversation. Eren stared at him pleadingly, not wanting to give up. I gripped the handle of the rake so hard my knuckles hurt.
"I don't want you to leave!" I shouted, making him turn in surprise. I didn't know what was happening, I just spoke. "You're being selfish! I know you feel sad about the loss of your squad, but Eren and I are still here." I finished, pleading with my gaze.
"Well...this is a surprise, what happened to hating me? weren't you going to get me back for the way I treated you in the trial?" He waited for my response patiently.
I blinked several times, losing composure, "I-Um, I forgot about that, wait, but I still do hate you!." I said lamely. He stepped up to me and ruffled my hair. I staggered back, swatting his hand away. "Stop that!" I exclaimed, clutching my head.
"I don't care if you hate me or not, I know I don't hate you, you're a good soldier, small but strong, it's people like you that gives others a reason to fight, so in the short time I spent being your captain i'm proud to say I was glad to have you, now wipe that look of your face and stay strong, i'm not going to be around forever." He muttered in his usual tone. My face fell. All this time I have been calling him a Sasuke clone, yet he was nothing like him on the inside. I didn't want him to go, I realized, to my surprise, that I liked arguing with him, complaining about the cleaning, and whining about why he had to barge into my room to wake me up every morning. It felt right as odd as it sounded.
"but..." I started, wanting to convince him to stay. Mike interrupted us by shouting out the window.
"Hey! We should head to the meeting now! It's almost time!"
"Right!" Levi responded. He set the broom down against the wall and had us do the same with our tools. "Let's go, this meeting is extremely important and cannot be missed."
"What is it about?" Eren asked, walking alongside him quickly. I kept up with their long strides effortlessly.
"You'll see when we get there." He responded calmly. Mike joined us and we proceeded onwards into wall sina, passing through the gates and into the town. I stared at the small stores lining the sides and stopped, eyeing a black skirt on display.
"W-wait! I need to um, buy stuff...things." I murmured, making them glare at the clothes in hatred. Shopping, every mans nightmare.
"We need to go, you can shop on your own time." Levi said with narrowed eyes. "Whats so important about doing it now? Women take hours staring at a shirt their not even going to buy, I don't get it"
I gulped, embarrassed. I was not going to tell them I needed Underwear outloud, hell no. I stared at Eren, trying to tell him with my eyes. His blue hues widened and he nodded, understanding my silent message, he remembered our talk last night after all. "Sakura needs undergarments and clothes, she doesn't have a bra or underwear." he stated bluntly. My mouth dropped to the floor. I wanted to strangle him on the spot.
"Well you should hurry then, we'll wait." Mike exclaimed. Levi groaned loudly and stepped into the store, tearing the skirt off the rack and grabbing a handfull of size M panties from inside. He raided the womens section quickly, grabbing a bunch random clothing and top undergarments, checking the size quickly before draping them over his arm. I never wanted to die so much in my life, I wanted the floor to open and swallow me up. I glared at Eren menacingly. He was dead, so dead. He avoided my gaze and looked to his left, as if the dresses were the most interesting things in the world.
"He likes you." Mike whispered lowly to me. I glanced at him quickly.
"Huh?" I muttered out.
"He wouldn't be caught dead doing that for just anybody, I'm not sure if he even realizes it." He pressed. I contemplated Mike's words in my head. So what did that mean? Nothing...Levi already confessed he grew fond of me while cleaning, it was nothing new. Nothing more.
"I'm sorry Sakura..." Eren murmured. I humphed, not accepting the apology right away.
I watched as Levi walked up to the lady behind the table and took out a small black leather wallet to pay for the items quickly as she put them into two bags. He grabbed them and walked out swiftly, handing them to me. I averted my gaze.
"We're already late, LETS GO." He ordered in annoyance.
"I didn't tell you to pick my clothes." I hissed angrily.
He looked down at my lithe form, clearly not amused with me. "I just shopped for you and payed for it, you can repay me by being quiet and listening to what I say at least for today." I pouted as he turned with a huff and began walking forward. We followed suit, walking at a fast pace. I held on to the bags tightly, angry and embarrassed, shooting glares at Eren, who mouthed 'sorry'.He was right, Levi ended up paying for the things...so at least I should be happy about that...but he looked and touched them. He TOUCHED my damn bras dammit, PICKED them out like he was shopping for potatoes. I stabbed Eren in my head multiple times as we walked, my boots scraped against the dirt as we made our way to the survey corps building. He grabbed a bit too much, wasn't it pricey? Well it didn't matter, it's what he got for being impatient. It was weird how he shopped in less than two minutes.
Once we came across the familiar building we walked inside and made our way into the main room. Eren walked closer to me. "You think this is about us?" He whispered so as to not have Levi and Mike hear. I shrugged, staring at a door that said 'Corporal' on the glass window. So that was Levi's office.
"I don't really know..." I muttered. We came across a door on the far side of the silent hallway, Mike opened it and let the three of us inside. I spotted Erwin in front of a desk and Mikasa sitting next to Armin across from him. The room was poorly lit by a single candle. Mike shut the door behind us as Levi stood to lean against the desk, leaving Eren and I standing there awkwardly.
"Please sit." Erwin instructed, pointing at the two chairs beside Armin. We sat down, I held the bags on my lap in anticipation.
"What is this about?" Eren asked, a bit confused. Erwin rested his elbows on the smooth surface of the table, staring at each of us.
"you have to promise to never disclose this information to anyone outside this room, understood?" We nodded. He continued, "This is about the female titan, Armin has reason to believe it's Annie." Eren gasped, eyes wide with confusion.
"It makes sence, when marco's corpse was found, his gear wasn't right. We polished our gear together and I personally saw him carve a V on the side of it, the gear he was wearing didn't have that V, He wasn't wearing his gear when he died." Armin whispered.
"So what does that have to do with Annie?!" Eren wasn't willing to believe so easily. I had no idea who this woman was so I wasn't even surprised.
"When Annie joined us at the burning of the bodies after our second mission, I saw the V on her gear. She was wearing Marco's gear. I was so confused...I wanted to ask her why she was wearing his gear...but I didn't want to think about what that might mean...so I didn't."
"Are you saying Annie tampered with her own gear and swapped it with Marco's?! That can't be true!" Erwn breathed out. Mikasa pounded the table.
"Eren! You know it's true, Annie murdered Marco, and apart from that she resembles the female titan, it's obvious your titan forms resemble your real body, you saw Sakura's, hers had pink hair and green eyes, the female titan has blue eyes and blonde hair, just like Annie, didn't you recognize her fighting style when you two fought?" Eren was shaking, unable to believe what he was hearing. Mikasa leaned over, pressing her face to his, breathing hard. "Annie IS the female titan." She spat.
"Annie is also the only woman besides Sakura who isn't originally from the walls." Erwin muttered, deep in thought. Eren shook his head, gritting his teeth.
"Sorry, but...who's Annie?" I asked innocently. It was hard to be a part of the conversation without knowing just who we were talking about. Erwin looked me in the eye steadily.
"That's right, you don't know her, she was one of the trainees from Bertholdt and Reiners team, Marco led her team during the mission to take back wall rose, she's a member of the city police now, serving to protect the king." He stated.
"Annie must be it, but I don't know why Eren is unwilling to accept it...what is Annie to you Eren?" Mikasa leered at the brown haired boy with the scariest look ever.
Levi snorted. "Of course we could be wrong about all this, we are merely speculating without any real facts or evidence, which is why we came up with a plan to lure her out."
"What are you going to do?" Eren muttered, frowning.
"She trusts Armin the most, so he's going to sneak into the police force and have a talk with her, he's going to convince her to help you and Sakura escape wall sina and go to wall maria, supposedly because the court decided to kill you two for your uselessness in the expedition." My eyebrow twitched. It wasn't as if I was expecting to turn into a damn titan..." I'm not talking about Sakura, shes far more competent than you brat, anyway,then you two and Mikasa will wait for them in the middle of the street by the library, there's an underground tunnel that leads to the underground caves there, you will lead her there and keep her there, Erwin, Hanji and I will come and handle the rest, if she senses our ambush and tries to turn, people will be there to stop her, act neutral, as if you don't suspect her of anything." I smiled, taking my last comment back.
"What then? What if she isn't the titan?" Eren stated stubbornly.
Levi's face grew menacing. "I will beat the shit out of her until she confesses, if she's not the titan and I break a few bones...well then I guess I would have to apologize." I shuddered at his stare. I was glad I wasn't this Annie person.
"And if she turns anyway?" I asked. Surely she would think something was fishy...
"That's where you and Eren come in, if she turns then turn as well, team up and take her down, but i'm hoping that doesn't happen, especially because we're inside the walls." Erwin said eloquently. It was up to us then, we couldn't screw up.
"Is the plan clear to you four?" Erwin stated with authority. We nodded, determined not to fail.
"Yes!"
...
We have been waiting for a while now. Eren and I were covered in grey blankets to hide ourselves. Mikasa stayed by our side in her uniform, posing as an escort. I looked around the the place wearily. Erwin had everyone hide, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Annie if she figured it out. I thought it was a bad move...this plan would be more believable if the streets were filled with people like usual. Would this really work?
"They're taking a long time, do you think Annie refused to help?" I asked, doubt washing over me.
"Armin is smart and capable, he will convince her, Annie has no reason to refuse him." Mikasa answered me with faith, changing my skeptical feeling. She was right...I had to have more faith in Armin. He just had to succeed.
"you think those figures are them?" Eren muttered, cupping his hands around his eyes. The afternoon sun shone upon two blonde figures heading our way.
"It is." Mikasa said, frowning at the slightly taller figure. It must have been Annie. We watched and waited patiently as they got closer. Armin too had a blanket over himself, probably to hide himself while sneaking off to meet her. Once they got close enough to talk I examined the blonde girl beside Armin. She had her blonde hair up in a neat knot behind her head, with long bangs falling on either side of her face. Her crystal blue eyes seemed bored and nonchalant, but what caught my attention was her nose. It was high, like a crows, even so, she had a certain beauty about her. Mikasa was right, she looked just like the female titan. She stared into my eyes, scanning my face. I couldn't see any hints about her recognizing me from our fight outside the walls, she masked her expression well. She gave nothing away.
"You must be the other titan Armin was talking about." she said in a bored, lazy tone. Jesus, it was like talking to a rock. She was very apathetic and expressionless.
"Yes, but no time to talk, we need to stop by the underground tunnels to collect our gear, we hid them there to avoid suspicion." I said quickly. It wasn't a total lie. We actually did have gears waiting for us there in case the plan failed and had no choice but to fight.
She looked around slowly, then bore her eyes into mine again. "Okay."
Armin had Mikasa and Annie walk behind us while the three of us, cloaked in sheets, walked ahead. "We should be there shortly, it wont take long." Armin called out behind us. The blonde woman didn't respond. Our steps echoed across the empty street, lt penetrating the eerie silence. What was Annie thinking right now? I felt a bit nervous just thinking about what was going to happen. I clenched my hands tightly. If it came down to it, I was going to give it all I had.
We turned a corner and I spotted our destination. This was it. We made our way over the the entrance and stared down and the blackness. It was like one of those places that you feared as a kid, because you knew, just knew, that if you went down there and got swallowed up by the darkness, you would never be heard from again. But I wasn't a kid, and I wasn't afraid. Our goal was to get Annie down there and familiar was not an option. We proceeded down the stairs and into the dark abyss that was the underground tunnels, our feet caused echoes with each step we took.
"Come on Annie, the gears are down here." Armins voice stopped us and we turned. Annie was standing just outside the entrance with a fearful expression, which looked odd on her.
"N-no no no no, i'm afraid of the dark, how about I just wait for you here?" She stuttered while wrapping her arms around herself. I inwardly groaned. This was just what we needed. It was probably better to just knock her out and drag her body down the damn tunnels.
"Seriously? You're afraid of the dark?" Armin asked in disbelief. Mikasa frowned.
"Yes, so very afraid." Annie was shuddering now.
"Annie! Stop that fake crap and get down here, we need you to help us!" Eren growled, his eyes afire. Annie's face grew dark, she bent down and shook violently. We stared, confused by her strange behavior. What was she up to? She threw her head back and erupted in high pitched laughter. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to smother her with a pillow while shouting at her to shut up, and her whole body shook with the giggle, blue eyes lit up and pale cheeks blushed red, her mouth was wide open in a strange angle, probably not used to the sudden stretch. It was by far, one of the most creepiest things I had seen. We continued to stare until her laughs died down.
"Ahhh...do you think i'm stupid? It's odd that the streets are so empty, almost as if something is waiting for me." She said smiling. I knew that would be the source of her finding out, I just freakin knew it.
"Annie...we know it's you, and this happened because you didn't kill me when you had the chance, you lost your bet." Armin whispered. She grinned.
"Yes...why didn't I kill you?" She said giddily. "Well, I must have lost that bet, but I won't lose this one." She held her hand to her mouth, ready to bite down. We gasped.
"Now! Hold her down now!" Mikasa shouted at the top of her lungs. Towns people appeared out of the roofs, falling on Annie and holding her down. She was imobilized.
"You think that could stop me..." Annie whispered ominously. She unclenched her hand, showing a pointy ring wrapped around her index finger. Mikasa's face grew in panic.
I shouted."No!" It was too late. she stabbed the ring into her palm. Red lightning hit her, making the ground shake and the people around her to fly off. We watched as she turned, The giant head of the female titan emerged and rose up from the smoke, followed by shoulders and a torso. Crystal blue eyes stared down at our forms. We staggered from the mini earthquake but held our ground as air swished around us. The plan failed, we were going to have to fight.