You gave a sigh of relief when you sat down in your office chair. Hanji gave you permission that you were dismissed from the infirmary, but you couldn't fight for another week or so. You never thought you'd be glad to do paperwork. Asher walked through the door with a stack of papers in his arms.
"Welcome back Y/n," he said with a grin.
"Feels good to be back," you replied, "Rather boring in the infirmary." You grabbed a portion of the stack. He let out a chuckle before taking a seat in front of your desk.
"Commander Erwin would also like me to inform you that there'll be a meeting a little after four."
"What about?" You asked.
"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me, but it sounded important."
"I see." You quickly finished off a paper. "How's Levi been doing?"
"Don't know. He hasn't really been socializing with anyone a lot since you were emitted," he replied.
"Then I better visit him later." You started on another paper. Asher glanced up at you.
"You know, Y/n... he's been acting strangely," he said. You paused your writing and looked up.
"What do you mean?" You asked, furrowing my brows together.
"You may not have noticed, but during this past month, Levi seems a lot more... nervous around you, I've noticed."
"Well, what do you think that means?"
"I don't know. He's been with you for years, but what else would make him nervous? You don't think he's..." He trailed off. You narrowed your eyes at him.
"Are you insinuating he's cheating on me?"
"What? Of course not, but you know, everything is possible."
You stared at him for a few seconds before looking back down.
"I don't want to blame him for something he didn't do."
He nodded in understanding.
"By the way, I heard from Ruby that you commanded my squad after I fell unconscious," you commented. He seemed to jump slightly.
"Yeah, I just..."
You looked at him and smiled.
"Good job."
"Thank you."
~
When you got done with the stack, you figured it was around the time when you should get to the meeting. You pushed your chair out. Asher was asleep on your desk, so you just threw a blanket over him and walked out. On your way to the meeting room, you spotted Levi.
"Hey, Levi," you greeted. He glanced at you before looking away.
"Hey," he greeted back. You rose a brow before stepping in front of him.
"What's the matter with you?" You asked, leaning towards his face. He met your gaze head on.
"Tch. Nothing." But his voiced wavered slightly. You stared at him longer before sighing and moving away.
"Alright, but if there's anything you wish to tell me, you can," you said. He clicked his tongue.
"I'll tell you later." He walked past you and down the hall. You stared at his shrinking back for a moment before speeding up your walk.
'What the hell is he hiding?' You thought. Once the two of you arrived at the room, he slowly opened the doors, and allowed you in first. Erwin, Hanji, Mike, and a couple other high ranking soldiers were already in there. Levi and you took a seat and stared at Erwin.
"I understand this is unexpected, however I received this letter from the Military Police," Erwin began, "The contents stated that a small group of soldiers from regiments should ride out to the ruins of Wall Maria in three days time."
"What for?" You asked.
"To search for any survivors, since there have been multiple villagers stating that some people are still there," he replied, tossing the rolled letter onto the table. You leaned forward to unroll it and read it.
"How do we even if those people are telling the truth?" Mike asked.
"We're not," Erwin replied.
"Then what's the point of doing all of this?" Levi piped up.
"There is no point, but it gives us an excuse to go out and find more information on the Titans," Erwin replied, "If the citizens are willing, which they are."
"We would be foolish to go," you said, lowering the letter. "That's an unnecessary risk."
"I've heard and seen a lot of unrest," Hanji said, "They're adamant that there are people out there."
"For the first time, the citizens have taken the liberty to make a request list of who to send," Erwin said, pulling out a piece of paper.
"The citizens chose?" You asked.
"Six people who were requested the most who are Xavier Moore, from the Garrison. Elliot Turner, from the Military Police. Amelia Heart, also from the Garrison. Aria Gray, from the Survey Corps. Sienna Crawford, from the Military Police. And the last person they requested was..." There was a tense pause to his words. "Y/n L/n of the Survey Corps." Everyone's eyes went over to you.
"Commander Y/n has just gotten over a serious injury," Levi said, "She can't just jump back into titan land like that."
"She doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to," Erwin replied.
"Her ribs haven't recovered fully," Hanji added, "They're still pretty susceptible to injury."
"As I said before, she doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to--"
"I'll go."
Hanji and Levi were the most surprised.
"Y/n, you're still in recovery," Hanji said seriously.
"You're being too reckless. You'll die," Levi said sternly. You sighed and placed the letter back on the table.
"I know, but we have no idea what those five soldiers are capable of. Besides, they're just cadets right? They could die just as easily," you protested.
"Y/n, you may have been requested, but in your condition we can't afford you to injure yourself further," Erwin agreed. You sighed.
"I'm well aware, I'll just be sure to be very careful." You stood up, silencing any backtalk. "I'm going to accept the request as the Second Commander of the Survey Corps." They could argue all they want, no one was above you. Except Erwin, but he truly would not stop you.
"That's my final decision, excuse me," you said before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind you. A few seconds later, the door opened and Hanji ran out of the room after you.
"Y/n!" She called, grabbing your wrist. You were forced to stop walking, so you turned to look at her.
"What is it?"
"You can go if you want, I can't stop you, but remember Levi still has to ask you something," she said. You stared at her for a few seconds.
"I'll keep that in mind," you replied, gently sliding your wrist from her grasp, and walking down the hallway.
'Why would Hanji come out here instead of Levi?' You thought, turning a corner.
'Never mind that. I have to focus on those people from the Garrison, and MP. Aria is in the Survey Corps already... so nothing should or will go wrong... I hope...' You thought while closing your office door.
Ja ne!
{Ruby Red}