Squad Levi
Chapter 1, the newcomer.
The final verdict was for the titan shifter to be transferred over to the Scout Regiment, directly into squad Levi, our squad. Petra looked down at herself as she remembered the first day that Jaeger arrived into their squad, he seemed...Nervous, and a little lost. However, there was no mistaking the look in his eyes, those of a warrior, a true titan killer.
First sights aside, Petra walked up to the rest of the group, Oruo, Eld, and Gunther, to greet the newcomer. Eren looked at everyone, sizing them up, analysing them almost...It creeped her out. Oruo wore that stupid serious look he had whenever he was trying to imitate the captain, Eld looked like he was about to give a command that could rival the coldness of ice, and Gunter just...Looked hopeful. Petra on the other hand, was putting on a cheerful face, though she didn't trust Eren and was suspicious of him.
As Eren looked at all of the members, only one thought was able to sneak it's way into his mind. These are the soldiers that will kill me if I go on a rampage… Eren bitterly thought to himself, however it also gave him motivation in a strange way. On the far left, Oruo was the first to speak up.
"I don't think you should be here, brat. You should have been exe-" Oruo's speech was cut short when he bit his tongue with such force that it burst a bit of blood. Petra leaned forward a bit with her arms stretched to the side as she angrily looked over at Oruo.
"You idiot! You were trying to imitate the Captain again, weren't you!?" Eren watched Petra say as she smacked Oruo, adding on to the injuries that Oruo had. All Oruo responded with was a half-assed, " Bleh," as he stuck his, still bleeding, tongue out at her. Eld sighed as he was the next to speak up.
"We're keeping a very close eye on you, Jaeger, do not try anything funny or you will for sure be dealt with. If you think you're hot stuff, you're wrong." As quickly as his speech started, it ceased. Probably not a real talker, Eren thought to himself. Gunther merely said, "It's great to have you aboard, I'm sure you'll do great things!"
That's the friendliest statement I've heard all day. Eren thought to himself as Petra stepped up.
"I'm Petra, it's great to meet you Eren, I hope that you'll be of great use to humanity, and us!" Petra cheerfully, but quickly blurted out as she innocently cocked her head to the side. Eren couldn't help but check her body out...That was until she realized what he was doing, and stepped back while wrapping her arms around herself, and slightly glared at him. Great going Eren, first impressions last. He scorned himself while shamefully looking away.
"Oiiiii, I think it's about time for lunch! I dunno about you, but I'm going to go grab some grub!" Oruo, " desperately," called out as he started to run off towards the mess hall. Petra sighed and shook her head. Eld just simply started walking towards the mess hall, followed by a slightly more cheerful and enthusiastic Gunther. Not sure of what to do, Eren looked at Petra again, hoping she wouldn't mistake this for being another creep stare.
As I looked up from my slight annoyance with Oruo, I saw Jaeger staring at me again. I was about to send him a more intense glare, but then I realized that he looked more lost than creepy. I realized he must have been wanting guidance.
"U-Umm...Do you have a question…?" I stumbled over my breath for a second, the reason I do not know. His stare did have a piercing vibe to it, even from just making eye-contact. It took him a second to register my question, which leads me to believe he was just gawking at me again, I got self conscious again…
"Oh right! I apologize, I uh...Am I supposed to do anything special? I'm assuming I can't do the things you all do.." Eren's words confused me, I didn't really understand what he was asking. I think he saw that in my confused expression. "Like go to lunch, do I have to be isolated…?" Eren managed to choke the words out, he must have been nervous...It was cute, it made me giggle a bit. Eren gasped a bit, he seemed to be a bit embarrassed, or insulted, or maybe both.
"You're a member of Levi Squad, you can do what we do and then-some silly!" I blurted out...Rather a bit too kind than I intended, but I was in a good mood...I even rubbed his head much to his obvious dismay, it was quite funny! I giggled again, and I think he actually chuckled along with me! "Come on, let's go get something to eat, " Rookie." Eren looked a bit insulted by the tease, but she ignored it and led him to the mess-hall.
I groaned a bit when I heard the meal for today was meatloaf. I have nothing against meatloaf, meatloaf has done no wrong by me. I just have grown sick of it in the same way that you think you really like this person but then once they start living with you and you see them over and over and over and over again you get sick of it and want a break from it...
Of course, I realize that's an extreme, as I would never cheat on my significant other-...Ha, like I'll ever have time for that. I must've been thinking pretty deeply about this because I snapped back to reality right as I bumped into someone quite violently, it send me flying backwards onto my butt!...Something also fell in my hair, something sticky, warm and-...
"ACK!? Meatloaf?!" I yelled out, not even bothering to look up at who I bumped into. "I'm so sorry for bumping into you!-" As I looked up, I became horrified when I realized I bumped into the Captain. He was looking straight ahead, his one eye twitching as he looked down, expecting the worst...I saw it right before he did, the meatloaf staining onto his white shirt now. Eren just stood there looking just as horrified as I was.
"Ca-Captain! I'm so so so SO sorry!" I blurted out quickly while standing onto my feet and helping wipe off the chunks of meatloaf on the captains' shirt. As usual, he didn't reply. All he did was let me wipe off the chunks.
"I'll go get a wet rag!" Eren said as he walked further into the hall, leaving me alone to deal with this for now. I felt absolutely mortified. Not only did I stupidly bump into someone and spill food on them, I bumped into the CAPTAIN! How could I be so STUPID!? So clueless!? I can't believe what I did!
"You don't have to down yourself so loud in front of everyone." I froze as soon as I heard the Captain say that...I must've been saying everything out loud, when I looked around I saw quite a few people looking at me like I'm some kind of insane nut. My face turned an absolute red as I waited for Eren to return. After what seemed like eternity, Eren returned with a few wet rags, which the captain took from him, "Petra, come help me with this." I heard the captain say, all I could do was nod my head and follow him while looking at the ground.
Eren stayed there for a moment, then he looked around and found Mikasa and Armin sitting at a table, he quickly wandered over there.
When I got to the table, Mikasa immediately stood up and looked me right in my eyes.
"Are you okay, Eren?" Mikasa started questioning me, and I sighed in slight annoyance. I didn't like how she always treated me like this, but at the same time I did. She was looking at me, waiting impatiently for a response. Even Armin was looking at me curiously.
"I'm fine, Mikasa...I just….Ggh, I can't get over the fact I-" Mikasa cut me off by putting her finger on my lips.
"Don't talk about that, Eren...It's in the past, alright? You'll get stronger, I know you will," My eyes were tearing up after hearing Mikasa's words, but I dared not show it. Closing my eyes while looking away for a moment, I sat down next to Armin, with Mikasa across from me. "Come on Eren...Wasn't this your dream? Being a part of the Scout Regiment? We...Had heavy losses...However, we survived. They gave their lives to support the cause, we can't dwell on their deaths. If we do that, then we won't be able to move on, if we can't move on, we can't ensure their deaths weren't in vain." I looked at Mikasa, and gave her the warmest smile I have ever given her, causing her eyes to widen...Then smiled back at me.
"Thank you, Mikasa….I think you saved me again, heheh!" I chuckled, Mikasa teasingly glared at me.
"What, you meant like I've done your entire life?" I laughed with Mikasa, Armin joined in.
"God...It's been too long since we could actually hang out like this and just….Talk...Joke around…" I said aloud, reminiscing five years ago. Life wasn't easy, but it definitely wasn't like this. Fighting just to survive and not go hungry isn't something I'd recommend though. Mikasa nodded as she chuckled a bit in agreement.
"Well, much has changed hasn't it? We've gone through training now, and...Well, haha...After everything that happened…" Armin looked down as he recalled the deaths of his comrades during the first few minutes of that first invasion...Another result of my poor judgement.
"Hey, hey, hey gang! How is everyone?" That cheery voice could have been none other than Christa. She sat next to Armin and gave us all a smile. Mikasa smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, Armin smiled and waved...I just nodded.
"How are you, Christa? You doing fine adapting to everything?" Armin asked Christa. Christa giggled, and nodded. I never understood how she could still be so cheerful after everything...Everyone has their coping strategies I suppose.
"I heard the meatloaf is killer! So I'm really excited to try it! Heehee!" Christa was being more enthusiastic than usual...The meatloaf being killer? Yeah, as in kills all that eats it? Eren didn't care for meatloaf too much. Christa must've seen me glaring at the meatloaf because she giggled. "It's not going to come to life and eat you, Eren! Haha, you're looking at it like it's a titan!" Armin couldn't help but laugh with Christa. To be honest, I did too. Mikasa looked unamused, but that's nothing new. Days like this are precious, not trade-able. I realized just how much I valued our friendship, how much I love everyone here…
...I'll protect them all.
Meanwhile
My heart kept racing as I followed Captain through the hallway of the office buildings. I dared not look up, but I had just enough view to see his legs moving so that if they stopped, I would realize it before I knocked into him again...Hopefully. The walk, to me, felt like a great walk of shame. I was completely mortified the whole time. Looking down at my feet, I wondered what the captain was going to do that would require him to remove us both so far from everyone else. All sorts of thoughts filled my mind, and it made my heart want to burst out of my chest desperately, allowing me to just sink into the ground forever.
How my heart bursting out of my chest would allow me to liquify myself I have no idea, but I wanted it to happen! I hit something rather hard again, making me stumbled forward on top of whatever it was I walked into.
"Oof," I heard a male's voice grunt out as we hit the ground, "Woman, do you not look where you're going?!" I froze when I realized who's voice it was...Captain's.
"Eek! I'm so sorry, Captain! I'm sorry sorry sorry!" I helplessly blurted out over and over again, quickly getting off of him and offering my hand to him, to which he refused as he coldly stared past me. I could tell he was pissed this time
"There is something seriously wrong in your head if you can't even focus on simple things such as, you know, walking. Or do you not know what walking is either? In case you dont know, " Captain paused, and I gasped as he knelt down and grabbed my upper leg and forced me to take a step, "Putting one foot," He paused again as he grabbed my other leg, although tingles shot through my body as he grabbed much higher, and with both hands, and did the same thing, "In front of the other!" He mockingly spat out. I was broken in multiple ways, I was destroyed that the captain made absolute fun of me and berating me for not being able to walk properly...And broken with butterflies and blood rushing to my face from how, I'm pretty sure, he just felt me up- No, no I quickly put that thought aside and resumed to feeling miserable. Captain has no interest in that whatsoever. She noticed the Captain was down the hall a bit, staring at her again with an expectant look.
"AH! Coming right away, sir!" I breathlessly and shamefully blurted out as I ran down the hall to catch up.
How stupid was this girl? Sighing, I shook my head as I faced forward again to resume walking while she ran to catch up. Of course, I kind of liked how clueless she could be sometimes. Though, you wouldn't guess from her combat record that she would be like this at all. After spilling disgusting, horrendous food on my shirt, she has the nerve to knock me down, and fall on top of me. Then, she makes me wait for her, again, while I'm trying to move on...There was one thing I did enjoy from that though, I was able to get a good feel on her legs- What the hell am I thinking? Levi, stop being stupid. You need to just-
"Captain!" My thoughts were interrupted when I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder and yanked me backwards, but not enough to make me fall over. I was about to turn and ask her what the deal was, but then I realized something that made me almost cringe so hard that I vanished from existence. I almost ran into a god damned wall.
I paused for a moment to regain my composure, "Oh...I see, thank you, corporal." I gave her a grateful nod. That damned over cheerful, geeky smile appeared on her face again, I looked away quickly, seeing that smile made me feel….Different, I didn't like it but then at the same time I did, it's hard to explain. After another minute of silent walking, we got to my office. Unlocking the door, I bid her to go in first. Once again, Petra hesitated, wasting my time, so I gave her a glare and she bolted into the office quicker than when she ran away after soiling herself on that very first expedition.
"Um...Why are we in your office, captain? I-I thought we were going to go to the...Er, what's it called...U-Uh…" Oh my god, I couldn't think of the word, I looked like such a moron! I didn't dare look at the captain to see his expression, I already knew what it would be. It would be the same expression, but with a more, what an idiot, tone to it. Yes, the captain's expressions have their own tones.
"The wash room," I heard the captain plainly say, finishing my sentence. I nodded and finally looked up at him, only to see the face I tried to avoid, "We passed ten of them, Petra...I don't see how you would think that," Yep, I felt like a complete idiot, "Not to mention, why would I bring you to the washroom with me?" Yep, yep, yep...Excuse me, I'm just going to go melt in my spot for eternal losers now. I have never had this many problems with the captain before, I'm always on spot with the routine and everything else, I've never been this clumsy until today!
It's probably that new recruit, he spread some kind of bad luck to me. The captain was probably waiting for a response, but I never gave one. He sat down in his chair, and pulled out some kind of...Device would be the word for it? It peaked my interest. The device had a cylinder-like body with a short vacuum hose attached to it. At the end of the short hose, probably only about four inches long, it had a flat nozzle with fibers all around it.
"Captain, what is that? I've never seen anything like that before…" The captain didn't respond, instead he grabbed the cord and plugged it into an outlet. The device suddenly roared to life, rumbling very violently and making a really creepy, screeching noise. Then the realization hit me, it was some kind of punishment device! I started to shake, I was terrified! The captain just plainly stared at it and looked over at me. I prepared my body for the worst and closed my eyes, but then I heard the screeching almost stop.
When I opened my eyes, the captain had the nozzle going up and down his shirt in the area's where the meatloaf hit him. After a few swipes, his shirt was good as new! He turned the device off and looked at me, seeing my extreme confusion.
"It's the stain remover 01. I had Hange develop it for me." I felt even more of an idiot- I've called myself that a lot now haven't I? Nevertheless, I felt like it even more. My face flushed red as I started to realize how ridiculous my thoughts and worries were. I should have expected the captain to clean himself up after that horrendous food got onto him.
"Don't scare me like that captain! That was so mean, so so so mean!" I blurted out in embarrassment and a bit of annoyance, was that the only reason he brought me here? To scare me for me getting his shirt dirty?! That was mean! The captain just looked at me, unamused.
"It scared you? How can something this god-like scare you?" Excuse me? God-like?
"U-Uh...What?" I choked out, it was very strange to hear the captain speak like that. Not to mention it was just super confusing as well!
"This thing can remove the worst of stains man ever made, without it I dont think I would ever be happy again!" I was shocked, in a good way...The captain was actually playing around and joking!..With me! I giggled and the captain did something that made my heart almost melt. He very faintly smiled. There was a question that stayed in my mind.
"So why did you have me come with you, captain? If you didn't need help getting the stain out…" I wondered to him out loud.
"Oh, I thought I'd need help with learning to stabilize myself after blind people bump into me," the joke was more hurtful than funny. Nevertheless she giggled a bit, "You got the food over yourself as well, so I'm going to clean it off of you." My heart lept to my throat and punched me in the nose, causing my face to engorge itself with blood. However, the dreamy moment was ruined when he turned the device back on and I realized where most of the food was...My hair.
"AH! Nononono, captain! I think I can get it off myself! Ahahaha!" I shouted rather than calmly said as I backed towards the door. The captain got up and started walking towards me with the Stain remover-whatever the number was.
"No, you need to be cleaned properly. You can't represent my squad looking like that." The captain said as if he was ready to snap like a Mr. Clean that went off his meds for too long. I yelled as I opened the door, running for my life with him yelling and chasing after me with the device while the cord was flowing in the wind like something out of a horror movie.
A/N: Let me know what you all think, I welcome reviews and ask you for them(But only if you want I dont want to make you feel obligated, lol) Anyway, see you all in the next chapter! ^^