-Kaisa-
The sun's soft glow beams through the cracks of my curtains. I respond with a groan along with a stir in my blankets, burying myself further into my pillow to escape the vibrant rays intruding from outside. My body reminds me of the excruciating experience I put it through yesterday, almost making me regret going on the expedition altogether. Now awake, I hear the footsteps outside in the hallway calling me to get up from my slumber to deal with my duties for the day. I want to ignore them, but I know we have an important duty to execute today.
Annie Leonhart.
The female titan's alter ego who recently joined the Military Police from the 104th Training Corps. Yesterday in our meeting, we discussed a project to capture Annie to find some answers regarding her intentions and also the presence of others. The plan was to bait her with Eren, Armin, and Mikasa in hopes she'd help Eren escape from a false narrative we provided. After my experience travelling the night in titan territory and Hanji's discoveries with her two titans before they were killed derived a theory: titans require sunlight as their source of power. Therefore, by leading Annie into a cave—or for the sake of this quest, an alternate tunnel—we'd be able to prevent her from transforming. The probability of her complying with it seems unlikely in my eyes, but I suppose it's the best bet we have.
Remembering this, I sit up slowly in my bed, rubbing the exhaustion from my eyes. I open my green orbs and blink a couple of times to clear my vision a bit more. I yawn and let a soft sound out as I stretch my arms, feeling my muscles breathe for the first time today.
"You're up." A voice calls out to me. Still in my sleepy state, I lazily turn my head towards the sound and respond with a sound of confirmation while nodding. My hands drop after my reply and the sound of my arms hitting my blanket shake me out of my trance.
"Wait what?" I think aloud as my brain processes the situation unfolding in front of me.
"What're you doing here?" I mumble quietly, still tired.
"Came to wake you up, I'm surprised you didn't hear the door open." He stands up from his position walking towards my bed.
"Well, I'm sure my body was more concerned with repairing itself than listening for any stalkers." I accept the helping hand he's put out for me, knowing that my body is too weak to move on its own at the moment.
"What time is it?" I yawn through my words.
"Tch, have some manners, Kaisa." He scolds.
"Don't come into my room if you're going to tell me what to do." I snap.
"It's six in the morning." He ignores my retaliation and answers my initial question. I turn to the desk and realise the tea set has been put away neatly, along with the little hole in my wall.
"I put it away last night since you fell asleep. I can't believe you made a hole in the fucking wall." Levi reads my mind, letting out a little snicker at the end.
"Did you take the tea too?" I shuffle my way towards my drawer to grab my new clothes for today.
"I put it back in your make-shift, shitty safe." He responds.
"I bought it for you, you know." I say, pulling out a new white shirt.
"It'd be selfish to keep it to myself." He begins. "You don't need to wear your regular uniform—you're with me today. Erwin doesn't want either of us involving ourselves in combat." Levi informs.
"Lame." I put the shirt back in the top drawer before slowly bending down to open the next one, grabbing a cream coloured dress.
"Meet at the carriage after breakfast." Levi doesn't say bye as he shuts the door behind him, leaving me alone for the morning.
If it's six, that means breakfast is in thirty, but I can probably get away with making it down in forty. For the first time in a while, I find myself dressing up for no particular reason.
Well, maybe for one purpose, but that was about it.
Walking to my washroom, I look in the cabinets to find the small makeup products I bought the same day I purchased the tea leaves for Levi. I have no idea how to use them, but I've seen other women use it enough to the point where I think I can make it work. There isn't much makeup available in town, in fact, it's quite expensive and really difficult to find. Most of the regular things I need (like food, clothes, etc) either are provided through the Survey Corps or gifted to me by young store owners who were always nice. My best guess would be my looks, but even if this were true, I'd like to convince myself it's because of my nice demeanor.
I find the two products I'm looking for: blush, and mascara. I know there are more items available in the market, but they kinda intimidate me so I stick to the basics. First, I start with the blush, opening its plastic container revealing the soft peachy hue. I dip my finger into the creamy texture, looking at myself in the mirror while letting out a breath. I carefully dot the product across both of my cheeks, a bit nervous of what the outcome would look like. Just by looking at other women with caked faces, I've decided that it's better to add product than to remove it.
I tap the pigment into my skin softly, watching it melt into my skin with every motion, blending in seamlessly. Once I'm done, I take a step back to see the effects of my work. Even with last night's clothes on, the person staring back at me looks happier and healthier than who I usually see.
I...actually enjoy it?
I smile at the woman in my reflection, my face's natural glow is enhanced! My face has a beautiful flush of colour and I'm happy enough to almost bring a natural pink hue across my cheeks. I peek my head out of my washroom to look at the clock sitting on my desk. I have about fifteen minutes before 6:30, so I should be fine to start mascara.
I look down at the charcoal pigment in a little box, opening it to find an applicator which resembles my toothbrush inside the package. Looking for instructions, I flip the container over and find that water is the activator for the product. After finishing all the appropriate steps, I gently rub the black pigment onto the bristles of my applicator and lean in closer to the mirror. I blink my eyes while moving my brush in side-to-side motions, seeing the length of my lashes grow exponentially. Unfortunately, I blink too fast and a streak of black sits next to my right eye.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, what do I do?!" I mumble to myself, looking around my washroom for something to clean my mess with. I find a cloth, damp it with water and bring the fabric up to my fatal mistake. Luckily, the streak goes away, so I'm left with the effect I desire. Finishing up with my face, I brush my teeth and decide to put a bit of the berry powder I bought a while back onto my lips for a rosy tint—thankfully, it did the trick. Lastly, I take my hair down from it's ponytail and brush through my now relatively long brown locks. It's been a while since I wore my hair down but now is the perfect excuse to wear it the way I want to.
Rushing back into my room, I take a glance at the clock realising that I only have five minutes until 6:30. I quickly, but carefully shimmy myself into my dress, cringing at the times the fabric runs roughly down my back before swiping on a pair of flats. My eyes flicker to the clock again. 6:29. I decide to relax and use my injuries as an excuse for my tardiness but knowing what I look like now will definitely not convince anyone.
I prepare myself for the truth: I don't give a single fuck about what anyone says about me.
With this reminder, I open my door, sauntering down the hallway. Okay, maybe not sauntering, but I did my best considering I have the back of an 87 year old woman at the moment. I notice the extra glances from the cadets I pass by in the hallway, but I pretend not to notice their selfish intentions. I give the people I see smiles as I walk by, but not anything more as I reach the Mess Hall. Smelling the delicious breakfast of bread and tea, I try to suppress my hunger a little more before I step in. After grabbing my food, I walk the newly recruited soldiers to congratulate them on their first expedition. Instead, I find myself in the middle of an argument.
"-told you already she's not my sister!" Eren yells at his table.
"She totally is! Look at you two, you're practically siblings!" Jean, the boy I met on the expedition, says.
"Who's Eren's supposed sister?" I tilt my head, veiling ignorance.
"Captain Kaisa!" Armin says with wide eyes.
"You really fucked up this time, Kirstein." The other blonde, Reiner, snickers.
I lean an arm on Eren's head knowing this'll be the only time I'll be able to do such a thing.
"Get off me!" Eren squirms.
"If you move, you'll hurt my back, Jaeger." I threaten. He stops moving immediately and stays still while I turn back into my fluffy persona, facing the rest of the table.
"She's scary...even when she's dressed up." A buzzcut soldier says, leaning into a redheaded girl.
"Hi everyone! I hope Eren here isn't causing you too much trouble." I dig my arm into his head as I say his name. "I just wanted to stop by and thank you for all of your service in the Survey Corps. I know this last expedition was rough, but thanks to all of you, we have some new information to work with!" I smile at the rest of the table then leaning down to face Eren.
"Don't be late again for training!" I sweetly sing.
"Y-yes, ma'am!" Eren stutters.
"Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me or any of your squad leaders. Right now is an uncertain time, but we'll get through it." I remind the rest of the table. Their faces surprise me, they share a straight face which can be explained through one idea: discipline. It's here I realise that someone of importance is most likely coming in our direction; probably not Levi since they're too calm, which leaves one option.
"Hello, Commander Erwin." I smirk through my words without having to turn around. A gentle hand is placed on my shoulder, which reminds me of last night's events between Levi and I.
"Good morning, Kaisa. I see you're making acquaintances with the new soldiers this morning." He answers as he walks up next to me.
I look up at the incredibly tall man. He reminds me of how I am every time I see him, but that was expected considering I wasn't even taller than Levi.
"They're a fine set of soldiers, hopefully I'll get to work with you directly sometime soon." I give a wave and use Erwin as a way to escape the conversation. Eren's sister? Me? Yeah right—I'm pretty sure that I would know if the kid was related to me considering I saved his ass a couple of years ago.
However, based on our habits and stubbornness, I can definitely see some similarities which is eerie. Brown hair is common so I'm not going to consider that, but we share a relatively similar nose, along with our eyes. But this definitely wasn't enough to make such a claim, so there's probably nothing to worry about—it's just some young soldiers having fun.
"Let's head to the table, shall we?" Erwin looks down at me. I nod my head back in confirmation, spinning on my heel. My back reminds me of my limits, and I wince in pain. Erwin sees this and places a hand on my upper back with a genuine heart.
"Careful, we're gonna need you to be on the battlefield as soon as you get better!" He reminds me.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I wave it off and we leave the table towards the others while smiling at the man.
----
hi hey hello ~
a bit of a filler chapter, but it'll get more exciting soon :D
much love and take care,
~cendiain