I stood up, and headed to the window to push my scarlet curtains off to the side. The sun was bright as usual, not a cloud in the sky. A perfect day for Titan killing actually. I was about to sit back at my desk until I heard someone slam my door open.

"Heichou~"

"What the fuck do you want, Titan food?"

"Aww~ Don't be so mean~ I just came to see what day it was today to write on the reports! I
accidentally got my calendar destroyed yesterday…"

"How the hell did your calendar get destroyed?"

"I was trying to teach one of the Titan experiments the days of the week! They responded so well~ They did throw it up eventually but I couldn't read anything on it,"

"It's August 15, now get the hell out of my room, shit face."

"Someone needs to get laid," Hanji mumbled under her breath. "Bye Rivaille~" I watched as she slammed my door, making my desk tremble.

"Tch." It was a good half an hour before I heard another loud knock on my door.

"I swear to god, if you're going to ask me what day it is, I will fucking rip your head off your body, piss on it and throw it away."

"I promise I won't ask what day it is but I would like to know how you came to that conclusion." I heard a giggle on the other side of the door and I froze. (Y/n) was behind the door. I paused for a moment before telling her that she could come in. She walked in casually like all the other times she's been in here.

"What do you want?"

"Wow, blunt as usual but anyways, it's a beautiful day! Do you wanna join me? We can go to the market or training grounds, anywhere really!"

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick…

.

.

.
The ticking ceased. That damn plastic clock on my desk finally broke. It was a birthday gift from (Y/n) when she noticed I didn't have a single clock in my room. It was actually designed to be in the shape of a spray bottle so that I could clean and look at the time at once. Dumb idea, but it's been useful in some situations. Taking a good look at it, I realized it stopped at 12:29:55pm. Guess I was going to have to get new batteries, why not now with (Y/n)? Getting up, I wiped my uniform and on my way towards the door, I grabbed her hand and dragged her along with me. She didn't bother asking where we were going and smiled silently as she said hello to a few people we passed by.

An hour later, we had arrived in town.

"You know, even though it's a nice day, I really hate the summertime."(Y/n) smiled at me warmly and wandered off on her own somewhere. Confused, I went ahead to buy some new batteries. As I observed the different types of batteries, (Y/n) came up behind me and smiled, holding a lamp that was colored the shade of a faint sky blue. There was already a fire lit inside that nearly reached the top. I stared at her dumbfounded.

"Why the hell did you buy that?"

"I needed a new desk lamp and this one looked so cute! Look, see? This one has a pattern of white cats and black cats!"

"Tch, whatever, just help me look for batteries for my clock." I didn't need to tell her what kind to get, since she's the one who usually buys me batteries for the clock. As I found some on the left side of the stand, I paid for it and looked around for (Y/n). It looked like she wasn't near me at all. As I wandered away from the batteries, I decided to search for her at the place where she bought her lamp. It was about a good one mile away.

I was at least half a mile away before I heard a massive explosion behind me. It couldn't be the Colossal and Armored Titan, right? Turning around, I saw the place I was at previously in flames. I immediately started sprinting and by the time I got there, everyone was crying and screaming. I saw burnt bodies lying around everywhere, some people were unconscious, others, not so much. By now, I was frantic in looking around for (Y/n). I was close to giving up, believing that she wasn't in the area of the explosion, when I saw the lamp she had bought earlier near the battery stand. Now I knew what that explosion had been. Erwin had once told me that the gas in batteries could burst into flames if they got too close to a fire. (Y/n)'s lamp had a fire. That must've been the cause of the explosion, especially since so many batteries were in one place. I looked around for her and nearby I saw her body under some rubble, her head poking out, and my heart started beating rapidly against my rib cage. Adrenaline ran through my veins as I ran towards her. I noticed her hair splayed around her head, most of it was burnt off or crisped and black. She seemed to be semi-conscious. I started removing most of the rubble and rocks off her body, and that's when I saw the real damage. Most of her skin was burnt the color of coals. Her right arm and ankle were twisted in odd angles and puddle of blood was starting to form under her. From where, I don't know.

After some time of removing rocks, I was able to lift her body over mine and carry her away from the scene as paramedics arrived. One of them even tried to take her away from me, but I knew she couldn't be saved, her body had been literally crushed and even if she did survive, I don't think she'd be able to handle all the pain when she wakes up. Hell, she might even need to have some of her limbs amputated. As we walked away from mess, I found a large tree where I could lay her down. Placing (Y/n) under the tree gently, the shade was providing a cool area while streams of sunlight shined from between the swaying leaves. A butterfly landed on her hair and if she wasn't in such bad shape, I would've actually decided to compliment her beauty instead of being an ass like I normally was. After taking a close look, I could see where the blood was coming from. Her right arm was not only broken, but a large gash could be seen from her elbow to just below her shoulder. There were other little minor cuts that weren't as bad.

"Levi?" I looked down to see her awake, a pained smile to see me by her side. I smiled back and she lightly gasped.

"Levi, are you smiling?" she said quietly. "I never knew you could."

"Very funny, I wouldn't be making jokes if I were in your position right now. So shut up and just enjoy the nice weather." I wanted her to enjoy whatever little time she had left. She grabbed my hand and held it tightly. When I turned my head, she simply smiled at me and went back to her original position, looking up at the leaves in the tree. We were like that for a few minutes, until I felt her hand was slowly losing its grip on mine and it felt lifeless against mine. I barely heard her whisper her last words.
"I'm sorry Levi." My eyes were threatening to cry. I looked over at her lifeless form. She had the most peaceful expression in her eyes. I was so absorbed I didn't hear someone from a distance say, "Let's try again, shall we?"

I saw a thousand clocks in a dark room. Some were moving slowly, others were quicker. One in front of my face wasn't moving. I saw a figure flash by me for a split second, and the next thing I knew, the clock was smashed and covered in something red.

I woke up and checked my clock.
06:01:47 am
Was I dreaming? Was (Y/n)'s death all a nightmare? I shook my head and got out of bed to get dressed. I then did my daily routine of making sure everything was in order: the kitchen was clean, everyone was still in their beds, the nasty Titan experiments were still alive, etc. I even made a secret stop to see if (Y/n) was in her bed. My heart was pounding at the mere thought of her being dead. Thankfully, when I opened the door, she was sleeping peacefully in her bunk, her hair a wild mess. I silently closed the door and left to head back to my room.

By the time I got back, it was about 12 in the afternoon. I pulled the curtains until they were about five inches away from each other. The sun was shining and the sky was cloudless. I was working on the papers on my desk when Hanji barged into my room.

"Heichou~"

"What the fuck do you want, Titan food?" I said, sensing some serious de ja vu.

"Aww~ Don't be so mean~ I just came in to see if you knew what day it was today~ I do!"

"Wow, congratulations. What day is it then? August 15?" I replied sarcastically.

"Wrong~ Its August 14, Erwin reminded me since he knows how forgetful I am, so now I'm going to teach the Titans something new today!"

"Is that all? If you're done, then leave."

"Meanie," pouted Hanji. "Fine, bye Rivaille~"

"Tch." It was a good half an hour before I heard another loud knock on my door.

"What the fuck do you want now glasses?! I am not going to help you feed the Titans!"

"Well then, someone needs to relax a little. Wanna go out into the ever so relaxing sun with me instead of staying in your stuffy room, Levi?" I paused for a moment before telling her that she could come in. A giggling (Y/n) came into the room and leaned against the door.

"So, I'm guessing Squad Leader Hanji came in here earlier?"

"Judging from the clock you gave me, about half an hour ago." I said, looking at the clock, until I noticed that it just stopped working. The time was paused at 12:29:55pm .

"What's wrong, Levi? You're staring rather intently on that clock. Are you sexually attracted to it right now? Am I interrupting something? I can come back later after your hormones are settled." (Y/n) replied, grinning. A very faint pink dusted across the top of my cheeks.

"No, I am not sexually attracted to the clock. The batteries just died so I'm going to have to get new ones."

"Oh, then do you want to go to town today and buy some? I need to get a new desk lamp anyways." As she finished that sentence, a faint memory of her burned body crossed my mind and I stood up so abruptly, (Y/n) flinched a bit and stared at me.

"You okay Levi?"

"Yeah, let's go to town another day, why don't we just go to the training grounds and see how well everyone is doing."

"Whatever makes your maneuver gear work."

"Isn't it supposed to be 'Whatever floats your boat?'"

"Not as classy."

As we walked around the training grounds, Hanji was there as a substitute instructor.

"Hey glasses freak, aren't you supposed to be teaching Titans today? Last time I checked, these trainees were definitely human. Well, all except for Yaeger." I heard a 'Hey!' somewhere but ignored it. Hanji shot me a flashing smile and yelled at them to train using their blades today.

"Hello Heichou~ I was taking a break when Erwin told me to teach these guys how to use their maneuver gear on the ground, so that they don't have to rely on trees and buildings."

"So you're actually doing something useful for once?"

"Aw, you're so mean Heichou~"

"At least I'm not an idiot who practically sticks my head in a Titan's mouth every day."

"At least I know how to smile~" We kept going back and forth with each other that I didn't know (Y/n) had wandered near the trainees, as she watched them slicing cardboard Titan necks from the ground to 15 feet up high in the air. I finally noticed she had disappeared and ignored Hanji when she called me short. Letting (Y/n) out of my sight was definitely a big mistake.

My usually stoic face turned to one of fear and shock. I watched as the one of the trainee's blades impale (Y/n)'s body, going through her stomach, and heard her piercing scream as it echoed around the training grounds. My eyes widened as I saw parts of her blood-covered intestines hang from where the blade was exiting, it was like the drapes in my room. She fell to the hard, dirt floor, along with the blade that struck the ground like a pole, blood was seeping through her uniform, and staining the terrain around her a dark crimson. My heart felt like it was being stabbed, just like how (Y/n) was. Her face was quickly turning pale, her eyes were wide and dilated for a few seconds, and blood was dripping out of her lips. The air smelled of metallic and it burned my nose. I started walking towards her steadily, as if all of this wasn't real. Tears were brimming my eyes when I neared her until I heard the sweet melodic voice that I always love. Yes, love. I finally admitted it to myself when I realized how important she was to me when she got injured one day from a trip outside of the walls. She meant the whole world to me that I would give up killing Titans for her. Hell, I would sacrifice humanity's future for her constant happiness. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to see her die again.

"Is humanity's greatest soldier about to cry? I never thought I'd live to see the day." (Y/n) teased, a small smiled graced on her features. I heard her voice crack mid-sentence and it broke my heart even further. How could she be joking like that about her own life when she was clearly in pain? What was there to smile about when you were dying in front of me?

I looked over to my left when I heard a familiar voice and saw someone who looked like me, leaning against the wall, smirking.

"What you see is exactly what you're gonna get." With that, he pushed me back, away from (Y/n) and the cruel world was quickly growing black. Just before I passed out again, I took one last quick glance at (Y/n) and she was still smiling.

Another clock was painted with a dark, crimson color that I began to suspect was (Y/n)'s blood.

I woke up again, and I was cautious. The clock read 06:01:47am. Was this a dream again? I wasn't sure but the nightmare I had was something that made me want to throw up. I threw the blanket off my body and got up to do my regular routines. Maybe all of this isn't a dream. Either way, I can't let her die again. I'll test it out to see if this is really a dream or not.

As I was doing my paperwork, I quickly glanced at my clock. It read 11:57:23am, this is supposed to be around the time Hanji comes in, like in my dream. As if on cue, she slammed open my door and yelled my name in a high pitch voice.

"Rivaille~"

"Hanji, today is the 15th, right?"

"Eh, um, yes it is, why? You finally got yourself a date?"

"No, I have a favor to ask of you."

I wasn't going to take any chances. I ordered Hanji to cancel practice for the rest of the afternoon and even steered clear of that place, dragging (Y/n) along behind me when she came into my room at 12:29:55pm and asked if she could hang out with me. I decided that since the market place and the training grounds was off-limits, we could go to the kitchen for a change. Everyone was crowded around a single person who was doing unique tricks with the knives in the kitchen such as juggling and tossing it up and down in the air. Eventually, he started showing off that he could hit the chopping boards from a distance. I started to get uncomfortable for no reason at all, but I decided to keep watching as (Y/n) was enjoying it.

We watched the trainee skillfully throw the long knives at the target from a distance. Everyone in the kitchen clapped at his talent and started making it a game of throwing fruit midair, only for him to strike it with a knife and pin it on the chopping board a few meters away. (Y/n) clapped behind me, her eyes filled with excitement, but I knew better than this. The damn thing that I saw for a split second was going to kill her. Deciding to leave right now, I tapped (Y/n)'s shoulder and motioned to leave with me. A frown made its way across her face but it quickly went away. Turning around to head to the exit, I decided that I wanted to take (Y/n)'s hands into mine after taking a few steps, just to exit more quickly. Before I got to turn around, I suddenly felt something warm against the back of my uniform. Quickly spinning on my boots, I saw something that will be scarred into my mind again. There were two knives that went through her body, though I suspected that more were stuck in her back. The person who had been throwing knives earlier had apparently been pushed and the knives between his fingers had slipped the moment he threw it, only for it to land in (Y/n)'s back. The warmth that I felt earlier on my clothes was her crimson blood. The people around me that had been happy moments before were now panicking and yelling orders for help but I knew better. She was going to die again. As I was pulling out the knives slowly, I felt her wince against the pain. When all of them were out, I held (Y/n) in my arms as her breathing started to slow down and her eyelids started to droop. I bent down to kiss her forehead before she got to black out. Suddenly, I was quickly pulled back and thrown against the kitchen wall, my head making first contact. Looking up, blood pounding in my head and veins, I saw a clear image of the cause of all of this. It was me. Not a doppelganger, but more like a completely red colored me with a twisted smile that I hated so much.

"Bet you wish you were asleep, but it's not a dream," he said, and I glared at him. I looked over at you, but your chest had stopped moving long ago. I took one last look at the other me who I decided to nickname Heat Haze. He wasn't looking at me, but at (Y/n) with a kind of sorrowful gaze.

I watched him smile at me as he painted your name on one of the clocks with your blood. He smiled wickedly at me as I scowled at him. He gave soundless laugh and disappeared. I saw that three clocks had been painted with her blood. Three times where I had failed to save her.

I woke up and I didn't even bother to check the time. I knew it all too well. I did my daily things and when a certain time rolled around, I immediately pulled you out of my room and to the market place. You didn't even object, but I did notice a faint blush on your cheeks when I took your hand. From there, I dragged you to a different part of town. Considering all the places we could go to, I decided to take you to a small stand where they sold sweets in the rich part of town. As you were looking at all the delicious delicacies, I finally noticed that there was construction about 15 meters behind her. My eyes grew wide and I decided to stand behind you to protect you just in case. When you finally decided to choose which treat you wanted, I bought it immediately and grabbed your right arm to take you to a safer spot.

"Levi…" Not another single sound was uttered from your lips. I haven't heard you scream yet but I did feel your arm become lighter. When I turned around I was met with a sight that made me gag. You were standing there; several wooden bars were pierced through your body. One on your right shoulder, two in your stomach, one through your foot and another where your elbow was. I looked down at my hand and saw that I was holding your arm. It was disconnected from your body.

You were trying, helplessly, to stop your body from moving downwards in the poles, pushing against the ground as your body sunk further. It was useless, they were at least six feet long and weren't moving out of the ground any time soon. Blood was dripping out of your wounds and your mouth, the wooden beams that were in you were stained with your color. I watched as every time you tried to move, the wound in your stomach stretched further, increasing your pain, as it tried to adjust to the large size of the lumber. One of the reasons I was in love with you was because you never stopped trying, even if the situation seemed hopeless.

You gave me the biggest grin you could muster and closed your eyes, tired from even smiling. I watched as your body went limp; that was when I sank to my knees. I felt a hand squeeze shoulder but I didn't need to know who it was. I turned around and faced the Heat with my dull dead eyes.

"Would you like another chance?"

The fourth clock had a red, messy cupcake drawn on it. I stared at the now four clocks that had stopped working. Another failure in saving (Y/n), another chance gone. Maybe I could avoid the market place altogether. Maybe I could just spend the day straying far away from her and hoping she won't meet her death because of me. From the corner of my eye, I could see the Haze leaning against one of the clocks, smiling.

I kept failing over and over again. In one timeline, she had been mauled to death by stray dogs, in another, she was held hostage and shot in front of me. Somewhere around the 400s, she was gobbled by one of the experiment Titan, somewhere after that, I had accidentally killed her and elbowed her to her death on top of one of the walls. There was even one where she had committed suicide. Nothing would work. Every time I tried, I started losing hope, more and more. I stared at the last moving clock and was determined to save her this time.

As I woke up, I planned out everything using the last timeline. This will work. I decided to do what I did during the second time (Y/n) died. When she came into my room near the afternoon, I had suggested that we go to the training grounds before she even had a chance to talk. She simply nodded. When I was about to walk past her, I turned around and kissed her on the cheek and watched as her whole face flushed. Smirking, I grabbed her hand and took her to where I knew Hanji would be teaching the cadets.
When we got there, Hanji had just finished her lecture with them and when she spotted us, she gave a big wave.

"Yoo hoo~ Rivaille! (Y/n)! Whatcha guys doin here?"

"Obviously we're here to watch, four eyes."

"Are you still cranky shortie?" I snorted and pushed (Y/n) away to talk with shitty glasses in my place. This was the start of my plan. I had figured that (Y/n) could die in two places here at the training grounds in the past thousands of deaths she had. One during the second time she died, and the other was when she was in mid-air, but that wasn't going to happen today. I was watching her carefully, making sure she was doing exactly as she did the second day this whole damn thing started. I watched as a brown-haired, shitty horse faced boy accidentally dropped both of his blades and that was my cue. I immediately started sprinting over to where (Y/n) was, pushed her away in time to have the blades hit me and smiled. I didn't notice my Heat Haze running towards me to try and save me but that didn't matter, (Y/n) was finally going to live. I watched as (Y/n) got up from the ground to yell at me, only to see the sight unfold before her. She slowly started walking to me with tears in her eyes. When she was close enough, she faced the ground and her hands balled up into fists.

"This wasn't supposed to happen to you Levi. Why do you try so hard to save me..." I heard her murmur. I was beginning to see black and watched as you began to fade in and out of my vision. From a distance, I could see the Heat Haze stare at me, shock on his face, stray tears began to fall down his face and he didn't sound as cocky as before when he spoke.

"Maybe this summer day has finally gone away…"

"This is where it ends now!" My ears heard (Y/n)'s voice and when I saw her, she was on the ground crying near me, but I saw a faint blue figure behind her that looked similarly like her. The blue version of her was crying and looked at me with determined eyes. It was safe to say that she was the one who said that last line.

"I really, really hate the summertime."(Y/n) cried out as my vision faded and eventually all I saw was black.

(Y/n) watched as another clock broke. Her crying Heat Haze smashed another clock with her fist and gave (Y/n) a look as if to say, "You have to save him this time, we're running out of chances." Around that one clock, many others had been smashed. Most of them were broken, some were scattered around (Y/n)'s feet. Some of them were painted in smudged, blue handprints. She stepped on the broken glass and walked towards one of the few clocks that were still ticking. She gently placed her hand on it and sighed.

It was about seven am when (Y/n) woke up in bed. She was facing the wall and silent tears were falling from her face.

"Guess I failed again… Maybe I can save him today…" Her Heat Haze was leaning against her bed looking at her window, the curtains were closed. It decided to push the curtains aside to let in the sun. The sun was bright as usual, not a cloud in the sky.

(A/N) SURPRISE!

That's right! I'm alive! And lazy as ever. I proooooobably shouldn't have uploaded this since I should be fixing my disastrous OHSHC fic but... well I have no ideas for that whatsoever... but I have been editing it. I cringe for every word I read.

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