It got pretty boring for me when the guys were asked to go slay some Titans. I understand why I wasn't asked to go. People only see me as a strategist. They don't expect someone so short and weak-looking to go slay Titans. I mean, I haven't gotten my first kill yet, so it makes sense.
So, here I am. I'm laying flat on my back, looking up at the sky, trying to find shapes in the clouds to get my mind off the thoughts of my friends and brother maybe being killed. Oh yeah! Armin hasn't even returned either.
"Hmm..." I hum. "That one sort of looks like a...duck? No...a rabbit? It could be either I guess..." Yes. I'm talking to myself. Well, mumbling to myself.
Suddenly, there are huge vibrations, making me sit straight up, leading me to stand up. I gasp at the distant sight. Eren's Titan was finally carrying the boulder.
I punch my fists into the air, letting out an excited shout. "Yes! I knew you could do it, Eren!" With that, I begin to run to get to the area right above the breach. I want to see this up close. No. I have to see this up close.
I hardly round the corner and I see that Eren is getting closer to the breach.
"Come on..." All I've got to do to is run straight and not worry about any turns.
I let out an anomalous scream, which sounded like a battle cry, as I start to run as fast as I can now to reach my destination. Man...my knees are begging me to stop running.
Am I suppose to be there? No. I'm suppose to still be in the corner, attracting Titans with everyone that wasn't told to go slay Titans, but...what's wrong with a little rebellion every now and then?
Eventually, I reach my destination and want to fall on the ground, but I just place my hands right above my knees and start panting.
"Oh God..." I look out in front of me with my eyes squinted, because of the setting sun. "Why...why did I think...that was a smart idea?" I stumble my way over to the edge and see that Eren is practically right in front of the hole. "Good...I made it in time."
I cup my mouth. "Go, Eren! You can do it!" At the same time, Armin yelled a long, "Go!" It's a twin thing, I guess.
Eren wedges the boulder right inside the hole, sealing it and keeping other Titans from entering. I'm so happy I think I could cry.
Suddenly, Armin flies over to the nape of Eren's Titan and is trying to get him out safely.
I quickly jump off the wall and shoot my hooks into a nearby building, then fly over to where Armin is. "Need any help?"
He looks at me with a gasp. "I thought I heard you earlier, but, uh, yes. Please."
So, I grab one of Eren's arms and start pulling. "I couldn't miss seeing-" I grunt, as I'm still trying to pull out Eren's arm. "I couldn't miss seeing this happen. It's a miracle that our plan worked after all."
Armin grunts, as he's still pulling from under Eren's arms. "Yeah. It's almost too good to be-"
"Armin!" Mikasa exclaims, from the ground below. "Y/n! How's he doing?!"
I look at her. "He's scorching to the touch, but it's not burning me yet."
Just as I said that, Eren's body becomes free, making Armin and I fall back and land on the ground near the Titan corpse's leg.
"Ow..." I mumble, as I sit up.
Suddenly, a giant shadow looms over Armin, Eren, and I. Armin and I both look up to see two Titans practically drooling over us.
They both start to reach to for us, but a lightning fast person takes both Titans down in a matter of seconds like it's no big deal. They now stand on top of one of the Titans.
"Mikasa..." Armin and I both mutter.
She then lands beside us, causing both of us to hum in confusion, as she asks. "Who is that?"
The person on the Titan looks over their shoulder at us, revealing that it's a male. "Pay attention, kiddos. This is the part where you explain to me exactly what it is I'm looking at."
Studying the man a bit longer, I realize him to be Captain Levi. Humanity's Strongest. He really is intimidating, even with his height. I still bet he's taller than me, but explaining all of this is going to be long hassle, isn't it?
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
(Get your tissues prepared everyone. For this is the part I'm going to write that will never leave my head...prepare for some screaming and a lot of crying)
It's been two days, since Eren sealed the hole and all the Titans were blasted until they were dead. Any stragglers were killed by the Scouts. Well, except the two they captured for a Titan-loving Scout named Hange. How strange...I'm sure it's for research though.
As of now, I'm roaming around the streets of Trost, alongside Jean, looking for any bodies we can identify on the second day of identifying. We have to wear cloths over our mouth and noses, because of the diseases and germs spreading around with all the corpses.
I decided that I was going to keep my eyes glued onto my parent's rings, that I'm fumbling with in my hand. It's so hard to look around at all the blood of our fallen comrades and comrades themselves that hadn't been taken away yet.
"Shortie, I understand how you four felt that day when the Colossal and Armored Titans broke through Wall Maria..." Jean remarks. "I mean, I wasn't as young as you guys were, but..."
"It's still hard seeing your childhood home go to ruins?" I question, looking directly at him and not letting my eyes wonder anywhere else.
He nods stiffly. "Yeah..."
"Mmm...it leaves you wondering where home is then..." I reply. "Do you know if your mother is safe?"
"Probably." He answers with a shrug. "That old hag can live through anything. I'll make sure soon though."
I shake my head softly. Jean has always complained about his mother and always calls her a hag. When really, I'm sure she's a very nice woman. I know he loves her though.
Soon after, Jean finds someone who's in really bad shape. Everything was gone from their waist down and both arms were gone.
"Any idea as to who this is?" Jean asks. "You were always ready to be friends with anyone while we were in training and this girl was a cadet."
I shake my head. "No...I don't remember her..." Jean went on ahead, while I stayed back and did what I've done for everyone else we identified or attempted to identify, I bow my head. "Your death was not in vain..."
I sigh and close my eyes, as I pick up the rings once again to distract myself. "Damn all the Titans that killed these-"
I bump into Jean, who seems frozen. "Hey, uh, what's-" I didn't even have to continue my questioning, because I looked at the person on the ground in front of us.
"Is that-" Jean stops himself, obviously not wanting it to be true. There was only half of this person left, and I mean vertically half not horizontally.
I don't even care if I get sick from the damn diseases and germs floating around, I crouched down right in front of the person's face. I see the oh-so familiar freckles that's also paired with the black hair with a middle part. "No...no, no, no, no..."
I start hyperventilating, as I fall to the ground beside him and pull down my cloth to help me breathe. "Jean...i-i-it's Marco...I-I-I-I...WHY HIM?!" I beat the ground with my fists, as tears stream down my face. I'm sure people are staring.
"Y/n-" Jean starts. "I- he didn't seem like the type to go out on his own. Somebody...surely somebody knows how he went out..."
"HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO LOSE HIS LIFE THIS EARLY ON!" I scream and look up to the sky. "REWIND EVERYTHING SO I CAN TAKE HIS PLACE! PLEASE!!!" I couldn't stop crying, no matter how many times I wiped under my eyes.
At this point, I just let out multiple blood-curdling screams, but they were cries more than anything. It was now to the point that my throat feels very sore and I probably won't be able to talk well tomorrow.
Once I stop screaming and only continue to cry, I pull my long glove off of my right hand and pick up his cold and limp left hand into mine, intertwining my fingers with his.
"Hey!" Jean shouts, barley sounding over a whisper. "Get your glove back on, Shortie. We can't stand losing you to some-"
I whip my head around to look at him and wipe the oncoming tears with my left arm. "I don't give a damn about getting sick." I look back at Marco. "Is taking a genuine and deep liking to someone going to be a curse for me..?"
"Huh?" Jean hums, confused.
"Oh? I figured he told when we were all at HQ..." I run my left arm under my nose this time. "I told him I liked him and it turns out he felt the same..." I let out a soft sob.
"Oh..." Jean replies. "I see why this is even harder on you than it would be anyone else...besides his parents."
"Uhm, excuse me." A woman enters our conversation. "If you have a name for this one, it'd be helpful to pass it along. Please do hurry, kids. We've already been at this for two days now." I really wanted to scream at her, but she's just doing her job.
I stand up, pulling my cloth up and putting my glove back on. I still face Marco with tears still running down my cheeks. "Marco Bodt...he was a member of the 104th Cadet Corps and captain of Squad 19..."
"All he wanted was a spot in the Military Police..." Jean adds. "He always said it'd be an honor to work beside the King..."
"Bodt." The woman repeats. "It's noted. Thank you, cadets. I appreciate the help. Continue." She walks away from us.
I immediately put my face into my hands and start crying even more tears. I'm surprised I still have any left.
"Come here..." Jean holds out his arm toward me. He sounded on the verge of crying.
I trudge over to him and lay my forehead a little above his upper abdomen, since that's where my height gets me. I wrap my arms around him and start sobbing.
Jean runs his hand up and down my back, in a way to comfort me. He himself was shedding a few tears, because he knew that he'd never be able to have one more laugh with, whom he could consider, his best friend.
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
I groggily step through the door of the dining hall and yawn. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I barely had the energy to brush my own hair and teeth.
I barely got two hours of sleep last night, due to the events of all that happened yesterday and because all I could do was cry, which I want to do now. I could easily go to sleep just by standing still. That's how tired I am.
"Y/n!" The voice of my brother calls out. "Over here!"
I slowly but surely make my way over to him and Mikasa. I sit down beside Armin and cross my arms on the table, resting my chin on my arms.
"Tell us what's wrong." Mikasa demands, but in a gentle tone.
"Yes. Please. I can tell you've been crying, because your eyes are very red and puffy. What's the matter?" Armin asks.
I turn my head so that I'm now laying on my arms and looking at them both. "I was...I was identifying bodies with Jean yesterday and..." Tears start threatening to spill out. "And we...we found Marco's..." Tears begin running down my cheeks. "...body."
Armin's expression became more sad than it did concerned now, while Mikasa's expression remains as it always looks. I knew she was a little disheartened though.
I move my head to where I'm looking straight down at the table now. "I don't think anyone was there when he died either...no one knows how he went down." I let out a sob.
"Did you ever tell him how you felt?" Mikasa asks.
"She did." Armin answers for me, as he lays a hand on my shoulder. I can't answer, because I'm crying too much. "She told him when we were at HQ."
"Then, he died knowing she had mutual feelings for him." Mikasa replies. "It was obvious he had feelings for you as well."
Armin sighs. "Come on, Y/n. I understand what you're going through right now, but, uhm, there's going to be a debate over Eren today."
I lift my head up and sniff. "A debate...over Eren? Seriously? Can things get any worse? What's going on?" I wipe my cheeks.
"Armin thinks it might be about what they plan to do with Eren." Mikasa answers.
"Oh God..." I hide my face in my hands. "That means he might not be alive after today..."
"We know..." Armin and Mikasa reply in unison.
Suddenly, the door slams open and there stands a man with two other men, holding shotguns. "Cadets Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and Y/n Arlert! Hop to!" The three of us immediately stand up.
"Sir?" Mikasa questions, turning to look at him.
"You three have been ordered to attend and act as witnesses at today's deliberation!" The man answers.
I shake my head softly. I hardly had the energy to get out of bed, not to mention barely brush my hair, and now I have to go to this debate as a witness? I'm not physically nor emotionally ready for any of this.
A/N: Hey, cadets. I really didn't like having to write the certain scene, but it had to be done. I'm probably going to have Y/n being pretty emotionless the next few chapters. Nonetheless, this is going to make her stronger and more willing to take out Titans with no hesitation.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, despite what's just happened. Have a wonderful rest of your day/evening/night. Bye, cadets.