''Excuse us! 104th Training Corps! Sasha Braus and Y/n L/n!''
The two girls entered HQ, each of them clad in their green cloaks. Sasha carried paper with her as the two of them neared Hange, who was with Eren, Mikasa and Armin, as well as another man. Once they'd split from Sasha's father and his group, the two had rushed over to HQ to report about the breach of Wall Rose to Commander Erwin, who in turn had sent them to deliver a message to Squad Leader Hange Zoe.
''We have a message for you, Squad Leader,'' Y/n said. She made eye contact with Hange for a moment — their eyes were wide, though eyebrows were furrowed with curiosity — as Sasha tried to hand over the paper.
''You must find her at once. She may be able to tell you truths that even we do not know,'' the man said.
Realizing they'd interrupted something, Y/n and Sasha quickly took a few steps back, standing behind everyone.
''That's all the information I can share,'' the man said. ''You must do the rest yourselves.''
''If that girl is in the 104th, she'll be on the front lines right now,'' Hange said.
Y/n furrowed her brows. What girl? Was there yet another mystery within the 104th? How many weird people had been in her grade?
''L-Let's go!'' Eren called as he stared running backwards. ''We have to go now!'' As he ran, he ended up bumping into Y/n, sending her to the ground.
''Ouch!'' Y/n said as she fell on her ass, looking up at Eren with anger. ''Hey, watch it!''
''Y/n!'' Eren quickly extended his hand out to her and helped her up. ''Sasha, too?''
''What are you two doing here?'' Mikasa asked.
Sasha's eyes widened. ''Right!'' She quickly pushed through Eren, Mikasa and Armin, rushing over to Hange. ''A few minutes ago, we reported to the Commander! We were instructed to deliver this message to you, Squad Leader!''
Sasha held out the paper to a confused-looking Hange. ''Message? Thank you. Good work.''
Y/n looked at Eren, Armin and Mikasa. ''Have you guys seen Jean?''
Mikasa nodded. ''He's okay. Don't worry about him, we have other things to do.'' Y/n wanted to roll her eyes and walked over to Sasha, who'd magically acquired a steamed potato.
Y/n chuckled. ''No wonder people still call you Potato Girl.''
Sasha scoffed, talking with her mouth full and letting her dialect slip. ''Shaddap!''
''Just now, I finally received a copy of Annie Leonhart's background check.''
Y/n perked up at her words. Annie? Why would they investigate . . . Holy fuck. Annie was actually the Female Titan?
''Annie?''
''Yeah. Our records are a mess right now, so it took them forever to dig this up. It says that there were two people in the 104th Training Corps who acme from the same area as her. The names of those two are Reiner Braun and Bertoldt Hoover.''
Y/n's eyes widened. They . . . were her accomplices? Reiner, who just yesterday wanted to help Connie sneak back to his village? Who was always there to help if someone needed it?
''Thanks to the chaos five years ago, the family records for all three of them are spotty or missing. However . . . During the long-range scouting formation, each unit was given different information. Their unit was told that Eren was in the right wing.''
Armin's eyes widened. ''The right wing is where the Female Titan first attacked!''
''Huh? What does that mean?'' Sasha asked.
''It means they could've told Annie where to attack,'' Armin explained.
''What?'' Sasha asked. ''Why would they do that?''
''Hey, wait a second, Armin,'' Eren interjected. ''You can't go and—''
''I'm aware, Eren.'' Hange cut him off. ''Circumstantial evidence alone doesn't prove anything. That's why I want you to tell me how those three interacted during training. Remember anything?''
''I knew Reiner and Bertoldt grew up together, but they weren't friends with Annie,'' Armin said.
''Yeah. I don't remember seeing those two talk to Annie very often,'' Eren added.
Y/n nodded, looking at Hange. ''Annie never really talked to anyone, though. Not even with us in the barracks. But she was nice to me during the Trost attacks. She tried comforting me.''
''In the mess hall, Annie would always sit by herself and eat silently,'' Sasha added. ''Oh! I remember something! I heard that she had a sweet tooth even though she was always so serious!''
''I . . . don't remember anything,'' Mikasa said.
''Well . . . After training together, I find it hard to doubt them,'' Eren said. ''Bertoldt is quiet, so he's one thing, but Reiner was like a big brother to us, and he's not the deceptive type.''
''Besides, it doesn't make sense,'' Y/n continued. ''When me, Armin, Jean and Reiner attacked the Female Titan, she almost squished Reiner in her palm. Why would she almost kill her subordinate?''
Armin's eyes widened and he and Y/n made eye contact. ''Reiner got away from her, but Annie suddenly changed course after that and ran straight to where Eren was. I . . . Shortly before that, I mentioned Erin's position at the read of the center rank, but Annie shouldn't have been able to hear me.''
''Did Reiner seem unusually interested in Eren's position?'' Hange asked.
Armin's eyes widened even more, if possible. ''It couldn't be . . . I only mentioned Eren's position because Reiner specifically asked me about it. And on top of that, after Reiner escaped, the Female Titan stared at her palm. He could have written a message on her hand with his blades. Reiner could have . . .''
Hange ordered everyone not to let Reiner and Bertoldt in on their suspicions nor mention Annie's name.
What the fuck is wrong with this unit?
———
After the Scouts rescued Connie, Reiner, Bertoldt, Ymir and Christa — now Historia, apparently — everyone was brought back to Wall Rose. Ymir was in a dreadful condition from what Y/n could see. Y/n and Sasha stood by as Mikasa helped Connie up the wall. He still didn't have his gear on, but Y/n was glad to have her ODM on her sides. It made her anxiety quiet down, even if just a little.
''Thanks, Mikasa,'' Connie said as he was fully on top of the wall.
''Are you hurt?'' Mikasa asked.
''I'm fine,'' Connie said. ''Reiner's arm got bit, though, and Ymir is over there with only half her limbs.''
''I never would have imagined that Ymir was also a titan.''
Y/n's eyes widened. She and Sasha shared a look as Sasha said, ''What—''
''Sasha, Y/n.'' Mikasa gave them a look. I'll tell you later. Y/n wanted to laugh. Ymir was a titan, too, much like Eren. Seriously. Just how many special people was I training with?
''Everyone made it up?'' Hange asked as they approached them. ''We can worry about Ymir later. And Connie . . . I'll have a Survey Corps squad sent out to your village soon. For the time being, I want you to focus on the mission. Can you do that?'' They put a hand on his shoulder.
''Yes!''
Hange put their hand down from Connie's shoulder and looked towards Sasha, Mikasa and Y/n for a moment — or, rather, at Y/n only. The two made eye contact, but Hange was quick to break it before they stood at the ledge of the wall. ''This is strange. The whole area should be crawling with titans.''
A group from the Garrison arrived soon after, their leader a man Mikasa, Armin and Eren seemed to know. He said they hadn't been able to find any breaches on the wall, meaning no one really knew where the titans had come from. Eren accused the man of being drunk, but he quickly denied it.
''If there's no hole in the wall, so be it,'' Hange announced. ''We're retreating back to Trost for now.''
Soldiers started walking off, the man from the Garrison left, and Y/n, Sasha, Armin and Mikasa started following the rest of the regiment. ''Why is this all happening now, after five years of nothing?'' Armin asked.
''The world keeps getting more and more confusing,'' Sasha said.
''More like more and more fucked,'' Y/n added, earning a somber nod from Sasha.
Y/n watched her feet as she walked. I hope at least Jean is okay. She hadn't had time to worry about him, but now that they were going back to Trost, she was holding he'd be there, waiting for her. She couldn't wait to talk to him, to clear the air, maybe start something more. A little light in their oddly dark lives.
''Hey!'' Armin had turned around and was now calling Eren, Reiner and Bertoldt, who'd stayed behind. ''We're leaving!''
The three still didn't move. What is going on? It was starting to get suspicious. Y/n was still trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but at this point . . .
Y/n stood a little further than Mikasa, watching, though she couldn't hear anything. The whole squad had stopped by now, watching, waiting. Reiner took off his sling, starting to yell about is actions. His arm was smoking. Fuck. Fuck, no way.
''Reiner! Are we doing it? Right here? Right now?'' Bertoldt, quiet, timid Bertoldt yelled.
''We're going to end this, right here and now!'' Reiner yelled, starting to walk closer to Eren.
Mikasa was quicker, flying over with her ODM gear and attacked Reiner and Bertoldt before they could touch Eren. Y/n quickly took her blades out, starting to run over. She gasped as Reiner sent Mikasa flying off the wall, then yell Bertoldt's name. Lightning started to engulf Reiner and Y/n stopped as she watched him.
''Eren! Get out of there!'' Armin yelled. The rest of the squad was running and Y/n straightened her blades again, following along. The wind from Reiner's transformation, however, send her flying back. She held tightly on her swords, latching her wires to the ground so she wouldn't fly too far back.
She watched with wide eyes as the Colossal and Armored Titan manifested in front of her within the smoke and dust, her blood running cold, her whole body stiff. What the fuck? No, this couldn't be happening.
''Eren!''
Reiner and Bertoldt had caught both Eren and Ymir. Before they knew it, Eren's titan formed as well, punching Reiner straight in the jaw.
———
''Can't believe we didn't see any titans.''
Jean put his jug down, looking back as he heard that. ''Were there really none at all?''
''Seems so. It's almost strange how quiet it was out there.''
Jean looked down, a frown on his face. ''Where is she . . .''
Jean had heard everyone who'd been left behind under suspicions had had to go out and evacuate the nearby villages without any gear, which included Y/n. He'd almost thrown up from worry when he'd heard that, though he was calmer now, convincing himself she was okay and they would reunite soon. They mustn't have had many encounters with the titans, if not any at all. She's okay. It's fine. She's fine. If she's not . . . No. He wasn't going to think about that.
''The scouting party is back!''
Jean perked up at that, quickly getting up. He ran over to where a crowd with the Garrison and Survey Corps emblems stood, his eyes scanning through. Sasha was there, drinking water as if she hadn't drank in days. Y/n wasn't with them. His stomach sank. Where is she? If she's not with me, she's usually with Sasha. Where the fuck is she?
He hadn't heard anything the panting Garrison member had reported, his eyes remaining on Sasha, furrowed. Did Sasha even know where she was? They'd been together under the house arrest. She must know.
''I see,'' Commander Pixis said. ''So there was nothing wrong with the wall?''
''That's correct!''
''As I suspected.''
''H-However, another situation has developed! On our way back to Trost to report in, we ran into Squad Leader Hange's unit of the Survey Corps. They were accompanied by several members of the 104th, who were missing their equipment. And three of those recruits . . . were titans!''
He looked down at the Garrison member. ''What are you talking about? More of them were . . . Three of them?'' Jean looked Sasha. ''Who was it?!'' No. Y/n couldn't have been there to fight those Titans, right?
''W-Well—''
''Jean, relax.'' Commander Erwin cut Sasha off. He placed a hand on Jean's shoulder. He would've been more scared if he hadn't just found out three more of his classmates were Titan Shifters. ''What happened after they were found out?''
''The Survey Corps started fighting the Colossal and Armored Titans! By the time we were ready to join the fight . . . it was over.''
Everyone was ordered to mobilize and go back to the Hange Squad to help. As everyone started moving about to get ready to leave, Jean rushed over to Sasha, who was still clutching her jug of water. ''Sasha, where the hell is Y/n?''
Sasha's eyes softened and a frown appeared on her lips. ''She's back at the wall with the Hange Squad.''
Jean didn't like that answer. Not one bit. Why was Sasha frowning. ''Is she okay?''
Sasha pursed her lips. Jean's stomach dropped. No.