"Cleaning has never been one of your strengths, but please try putting in a bit more effort when wiping the windows," Levi scolded, but at this point, it was more like pleading.
I groaned, going over the same spot I already had wiped for several minutes with my cleaning rag.
Was he planning to make me wipe my fingers off? That window had been clean for the last 5 minutes – any more and it was literally going to disintegrate! To make matters worse, we hadn't even begun cleaning the rest of the room.
I could just imagine what he'd say to say about the other cadets' work.
That, was what he had gathered the cadets for: to clean the entire HQ building after it had been left for renovation for several weeks. He called it cleaning day, and had put us both, as well as the other scouts in those ridiculous outfits with our hair being held back by a cleaning rag, another one tied at the back of your neck like a scarf – all because he thought we wouldn't take it seriously unless we wore them. I didn't think he understood how difficult it was to take anything seriously wearing that, but pointing it out would only provoke him into making me wipe that window forever; so I kept my mouth shut.
"No, not like that," He groaned, and I really didn't get how he had the energy at that point. He'd complained so much that I lost count after the first few minutes.
"Here, I'll show you," He stepped forward, putting his hand over mine, guiding it in the 'correct' way of cleaning the glass.
His chest grazed my back with every movement and I felt my cheeks grow hot. I knew we used to be close a while back... still, did he not think it was weird to be so intimate with me after I lost my memories of him?
Speaking about close... Should I have told him about the potential-titan-shifter? He'd listen – I'm sure, although...that girl, she would probably be upset if I ratted her out, and I didn't know what kind of extreme measures she'd take if she found out...
An image of a lightning flash so bright I had to close my eyes, and then... a huge titan appeared – stomping and smashing every. single. one. of. us – popped in my head.
I did my best to suppress a shudder. It all felt so... real – like it had happened before. Also, who was that girl in the end? She... looked so familiar...
"See? It's not that hard-"
"Levi," I cut him off.
His hand paused its circular movements, still resting atop mine.
Immediately I regretted my decision. What was I going to tell him? That I saw a blonde girl with a ring that terrified me so much I thought she was going to blow us all up? That we had made some psycho-promise and I didn't know if I would put everyone in grave danger by telling him?
As if he could sense my unease, his grip tightened on my hand.
I bit my lip.
Then again, Levi wasn't one to run around and gossip.
I swallowed the short-lived hesitation.
"Are there, other titan-shifters... except for Eren?" I tried – spelling everything out for him still didn't feel like the best course of action.
His inhale was cut short – resulting in some sort of choking sound leaving his throat.
He let go of my hand, stepping away. With the cleaning rag still in my hand, I turned around just in time to witness Levi pulling down the cloth covering his mouth – an action he did too slow for me to miss the tightly pressing together of his lips.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I scolded myself; I already knew the answer, heck, I even encountered what I believed was one not long ago! Its disgustingly life-like eyes, hairy body, and it's too coordinated movements... It...couldn't have been anything else than a human controlling it. Levi saw it too, so why...is he giving me that look?
Maybe I shouldn't be so blunt with my questions – especially considering the subject I was asking about – but the information could be vital. If that girl really was like Eren... what kind of bizarre promise did we make and... was it safe to keep it to myself?
His softened eyes studied me as I made sure not to fiddle with the odm gear straps on my thighs, gulp, or shift around under his gaze; anything that would reveal how much I dreaded the answer I had asked for.
"Is this about the most recent expedition? He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. I bit my cheek harder; of course he'd figure it out. Why was I even trying at this point?
"Well, it's...uh..." I frantically tried to brainstorm a suitable answer. Should... I have told him? Would it have been a good decision? Or... would she know?
Giving in to the urge to swallow the built-up saliva in my mouth I watched him attempt – and probably succeed – to read my mind yet again.
"Kind of." It wasn't exactly a lie, what happened on the expedition hadn't left my mind, it just wasn't the whole truth.
Levi looked past me to the polished glass.
I rotated my head to observe the spot he was so intensely inspecting. Although when I did, I wasn't met with a speck of dust I had missed, but his reflection.
His expression was stone cold, mouth pressed in a fine line. His dark eyes lacked their usual spark, almost as if he'd been reminded of something he would like to forget.
"Levi?" I tried, getting a low hum in response. I pressed on, "Has any new cadets joined us today?"
He frowned, finally returning his gaze to me.
"What?" He exclaimed, and I've never seen him look that puzzled.
"I saw someone earlier that didn't seem to be... a regular, so I thought she might've just started working as a scout," I explained, though it seemed to do anything but clear everything up.
With his mouth ajar and eyebrows raised Levi stared at me; almost as if I had spoken in morse code.
He swallowed, quickly snapping back to reality.
"First of all, if there were to arrive new cadets, it would have been announced long before they got here," He stepped forward – taking the cloth from my hand – stepping back with a low: "You won't be needing this," He folded the fabric and put it in his jeans pocket.
"Secondly, how the fuck does this have anything to do with titan-shifters?"
I crossed my arms over my chest.
How does this have anything to do with titan-shifters?
You see, I'm terrified of a short blonde cadet that may or may not have threatened to turn into a titan and blow us all up – while blabbering on about some kind of promise we made before I lost pretty much all my memories in a murder attempt, and now I'm discretely trying to find out if she actually was of any danger, and if what we both had agreed on was safe to withhold from everyone.
Did you get all of that?
I exhaled; I'm not sure any normal human being could take all that in.
Rotating my head slightly, the room's yellow wallpaper suddenly looked extremely entrancing; maybe they put it up while we were away. Or maybe it had always been there, who knows...
While I was admiring the wallpaper, my ears picked up the sound of the obnoxiously loud cadets walking through the corridors. I could make out two– no, three voices heading in the direction of our room; two of them being more prominent than the third.
Levi let out a frustrated sigh, pinched his nose bridge and exclaimed, "I swear these fucking shitheads..."
As soon as the three cadets were outside the door he spun on his heel – heading for the door. I followed suit and watched as he slammed the door open on the cadets.
The one closest to the door screeched and jumped backward – right into the taller one behind him, knocking whatever he was holding onto the wooden floor.
The metal bucket collided with the dark floorboards with a clang; spilling the transparent liquid inside it. The blonde froze, eyes and mouth wide open.
The cadet behind him – Jean – stared at his drenched leather boots in shock, his empty hands still in the air.
"Armin..." He trailed off, still processing what had happened.
The cadet at his side – Eren – swallowed, slowly raising his gaze to meet the corporals.
"C-captain he didn't mean to-" Levi held his hand up; silencing Eren's pleading.
The boy shut his mouth so quickly that he bit his tongue – letting out a choked cry and covering his mouth. Levi clicked his tongue, giving the boys a disapproving look.
"As far as I'm concerned I instructed you to be quiet when going from one room to another." His fingers drummed vigorously on his hip as he spoke. "It seems you didn't listen."
Eren huffed, removing his hand from his face. "Horseface started it!" He snapped.
The said boy jerked his head in Eren's direction. "I did not!" He retorted, his hands balling into fists.
"You did! And you're not even helping us!" The brunette's frown grew more prominent.
"Stop lying, I've cleaned more than you have!" Jean stomped towards the turquoise-eyed boy; the two of them grabbing each others' collars.
"Face it, the only reason you're here is to look for your boyfriend!" Eren spat, causing Jean's cheeks to grow red.
"He's not my boyfriend!" The taller boy growled.
"Yeah right!"
Armin, who had silently been watching the two boys go for each others' throats put his hands up in a defensive gesture and began speaking in a calm voice, "Why don't we all just take a step back and stop making the situation worse-" The blonde quieted down when Levi's hand was placed on his left shoulder.
"I'll take it from here," He assured. The next second, the two boys were on the floor gasping for air.
Armin once again screeched and jumped backward -- this time into me. I -- being unprepared -- stumbled into the wall behind me, letting out a low groan.
The blonde swiftly turned around. "I am so sorry I don't know why I-"
"It's fine," I stopped the cadet's rambling and gave him a small smile as confirmation. It wasn't a big deal or anything.
Levi watched us over his shoulder; stepping on Eren's hand when turning around which caused the brunette to let out a cry and bring the sore body part to his chest.
Jean snickered – rolling over on his back and covering his mouth with one of his hands.
"Shut up horseface." Eren hissed through his teeth – only causing the other boy's snickering to intensify.
Without tearing his gaze from Armin and I the corporal raised his left heel, planting it firmly on Jean's hand on the floor.
This time, it was Eren's time to chuckle as Jean clutched his hand.
Levi clicked his tongue, glaring at Armin rather than the two troublemakers on the floor.
The blonde stiffened at my side; a sweatdrop trickling down his temple.
"Arlert..." He almost growled, though it was hard to catch due to the laughter of the turquoise-eyed boy behind him.
Armin pressed his arms to his sides, shaking slightly. I put a hand on his back; hoping to ease some of his nerves.
It was just Levi after all.
The corporal cleared his throat – turning around once again to face the two behind him.
"Jeager, Kirschtein," He spat. "Causing such trouble when I've specifically ordered you not to? How ignorant can one be?" He crossed his arms while glaring at the two cadets – who shot up from the floor as fast as they could.
Both stood as still as possible – as if Levi was some animal only able to detect prey by movement.
Levi clicked his tongue before speaking.
"Both of you will stay after curfew and clean what the other brats have missed, understood?" He asked, though the boys had no other choice but to comply.
The two scouts replied in unison, "Yes sir!" Although they continued to glare at each other when Levi glanced back at us – revealing the smirk creeping its way onto his face.
I gulped. Giving out more work to scouts was his specialty, but did he really enjoy it this much?
"Oh and Armin?" His voice came out silky smooth, surprising all of us. The blonde clenched his hands and let out a weak reply, "Y-yes sir?"
Although his long blonde hair shielded most of his face from where I was standing at his side, I could tell he was trying his best to meet the corporal's sinister gaze.
The corporal faced us, his smile showing off his teeth now.
"You're cleaning the stables, alone." He finished.
With furrowed eyebrows I tore my eyes away from Armin and directed them on Levi; just what was he thinking?
Why would he give Armin – the least troublesome one – the most arduous task? To finish on his own as well... What kind of extra training was that?
The boy wasn't exactly strong either, which only added to everyone's shared confusion.
What reason could he have?
"Now shoo, we've all got work to do," He ended, flicking his hand; though none of us acknowledged him.
Levi met my questioning gaze – quickly shifting it elsewhere.
Strange
I attempted to regain eye contact, although it only made him squirm a bit and eventually turn around and leave.
Jean and Eren stared with wide-eyes at the dark-haired man passing them – turning their heads to continue watching him stride through the corridor.
"Wow Armin, you're in for it now." The tallest of the boys said carefully once Levi had turned at a corner; as if the smaller boy would somehow break if he wasn't cautious enough.
"To think all of this is Jean's fault, I'm almost impressed," Eren added, a grin playing at his lips. As if on queue, the other boy immediately blew up on him, grabbing his shirt as both of them got into yet another heated argument.
I sighed softly, propping my hands up on my hips and letting my eyelids droop.
Punishing individual cadets harder than others wasn't new for Levi. Even so, doing it to someone who hasn't done anything wrong... I didn't want to stand by that.
I would have to seek him out later to discuss it. Although he's probably just moody because everything's a mess. He could be such a drama queen if something wasn't clean enough. One time I caught him furiously moping the floor of that Hanji-person's lab, wearing his cleaning attire and mumbling all kinds of curses.
"If pms was a person, it would certainly be Levi."
I opened my eyes – surprised at my own thought; though I let the tugging sensation at my mouth corners loose and slowly grow into a smirk.
"He really said fuck you in particular," My mouth ran before I could stop it.
Jean and Eren stopped arguing and stared at me with a mutual look of bewilderment.
Armin – who up until now had been lost in some sort of trance – turned his head and revealed he too had his eyes wide open.
A pang of regret hit me. There's no telling what kind of agony Armin was feeling at the moment, how could I be so inconsiderate?
"I... I didn't mean to-" My apology was cut off by a snicker emitting from one of the boys in front of me, which turned into full-blown hysterical laughter in no time.
Jean let go of the brunette's shirt and held his stomach. "Good one!" He managed to say in between his laughter.
Eren – who was still holding the other boy's collar – soon joined in, and as I looked over at Armin I saw he too had begun to chuckle.
"Yeah, he really did," The blue-eyed boy sheepishly admitted.
I smiled, maybe that joke wasn't so badly timed after all.