JULY 4TH, Day 2: Spicy (e.g. Saffron)

Mikasa woke to a throbbing headache that seemed to resonate all the way to her eyeballs. She opened her eyes, and realising this was a mistake, she quickly closed them again. Even with her eyes closed she felt as if the whole world was spinning around her. She was nauseous, and she knew exactly what was wrong with her. She had a hangover. More precisely, this was her first ever hangover. Her stomach was doing flips, or at least that's what it felt like.

"Uuuurghh."
"Wow, Mikasa. You look like crap." Sasha's smug voice cut through the air.
"I feel even worse. And please lower your voice, my head feels like it's going to split open." Mikasa called back almost whispering.
Mikasa recalled the previous night's events and began to cringe. The night had started off well enough with the Survey Corps celebration party. Mikasa decided the turning point had been when she inadvertently challenged Captain Levi to a drinking competition. She remembered that he had surprised her, when he had asked her to dance with him. She also recalled drinking glass after glass of the Titan Tears punch that Sasha had provided for the night. Her memory started to get cloudy from then on, but she could remember talking to the Captain outside the girl's dormitory, but she couldn't exactly recollect what they had talked about.

Even though Mikasa's eyes were still closed, she could sense Sasha coming closer to her bed, and heard the sound of a glass on her bedside table.
"Water. Drink up."
"Thank you." Mikasa wasn't even sure she could manage the water, but she was willing to try anything to get rid of this hangover.
She gulped down the water, not realising until that moment how thirsty she had been, and how dry her mouth and throat was. As soon as she had drained the glass, she knew that she had made a mistake. Her stomach was now doing forward and backward somersaults and flips.
"I'm going to be sick!"
Mikasa immediately jumped out of bed, finally opening her eyes to find her way to the bathroom.

Mikasa and Sasha headed to the dining room for breakfast, although Mikasa did not think that she would be able to keep anything down.
"Not a word about me throwing up, Sasha. I mean it." Mikasa warned.
"Not a peep!" Sasha retorted a little too enthusiastically.
As they passed the scouts eating their breakfasts, the smell turned Mikasa stomach, and she stopped in her tracks.
"I really don't think I can eat, Sasha." Mikasa's stomach rolled again, as the familiar feeling of nausea washed over her.
"Follow me." Sasha said as she grabbed Mikasa's arm. She was being pulled in the direction of the kitchen.
"No Sasha. I think I should be going in the opposite direction of food, not closer to it." Mikasa managed to say.
"You won't be eating. Just trust me." Sasha said, as they entered the kitchen. "Sit over there, and don't move."

Mikasa sat down on an empty box that had once been used to store vegetables. Most of the scouts had already eaten their breakfast so the kitchen was deserted. Mikasa watched as Sasha zoomed around the kitchen preparing something. Mikasa rested her elbows on her knees and propped her head up, in her hands. She closed her eyes as she tried to preoccupy her mind away from the sick feeling in her stomach. She was thinking about the events of last night. She had never thought of Captain Levi much before that night, but something now was different.

She had of course respected him, as did all of the members of the Survey Corps. But when they had danced together, the way she looked at him was different. She remembered the surprise she felt when she felt his muscles ripple underneath the layers of his suit. Even though his wasn't the tallest of men, he was still a force to be reckoned with. Mikasa remembered how unnerved she felt whenever he looked at her that night, like he could see inside her…

"Here!" Sasha said, thrusting a glass with a thick red liquid inside it. Mikasa wasn't even sure exactly what she was looking at.
"Sasha. Explain. And what the hell is this?" Mikasa said while plucking out something that resembled a long green vegetable, from the glass.
"Haven't you ever seen celery before? Besides, this will cure your hangover." Sasha said, pushing the glass closer to Mikasa.
"Oh I forgot, one last thing." Sasha said, whilst grabbing something from the cupboard. It was a bottle of hot sauce and some black pepper. Sasha liberally added both ingredients.
Mikasa raised the glass to her nose and took a whiff.
"Sasha this is craziest recipe I've ever seen: tomatoes, hot sauce, pepper and celery." Mikasa took another sniff. "Don't tell me there is alcohol in this. I'm trying to get rid of my hangover, not make it worse." The defeated tone in Mikasa voice was evident.
"Seriously this will work. Trust me Mikasa – everyone in Trost does it."
Mikasa felt she had no other choice, and was willing to do anything to at least lessen the symptoms of night of drinking. She took the glass from Sasha and sipped.

Mikasa headed up to the tower parapet at midday to begin her watch. She counted herself lucky that it wasn't the sunrise watch that she was assigned to that day.
"Hey Mikasa," called Jean. He had been assigned to the tower that morning, the bags under his eyes confirming it. "Are you relieving me?"
"Yeah, you can go now." Mikasa said with a smile.
"I-I can stay a while if you want?" Jean stammered.
"Thanks Jean, but its ok." Mikasa replied. With that, Jean head down the stairs. Mikasa looked out to the horizon. Flat plains stretched across, while in the immediate vicinity of the Survey Corps headquarters was surrounded by trees. Strategically it was perfect because it provided natural cover from the titans, and if the titans did manage to find their way here, the scouts could use the trees and use their ODM gear to take them down. The tower was the best place to keep watch as it provided a complete 360 degrees field of vision. If the titans approached headquarters, at least the scouts would not be taken unawares.

Mikasa set down her bag by the chair on top of the tower. She would be up here for the next four hours by herself. She looked forward to this time as she could be alone, without anyone to interrupt her thoughts. Plus, she didn't have to keep up false pretences. Out of her bag she took out a jam jar, which was now filled with Sasha's hangover cure. Mikasa couldn't believe it, but she actually thought it was working. Although the consistency and texture of the liquid did not please Mikasa, she counted herself lucky that her stomach had calmed down considerably since the morning. Mikasa continued to scan the horizon, looking for any signs of titan activity. But all was silent and calm.

"You're drinking again?" A cool voice came from the stairs. Mikasa turned towards the voice even though she already knew who it was. His short cropped hair swayed slightly in the breeze. His gaze was dark, his eyes narrow. "I'm surprised at you Ackerman. I didn't think I'd have to give you a court martial for drinking alcohol whilst on duty."
Mikasa's pulse began to race. She looked down at her jam jar, why hadn't she thought of this earlier.
"Captain!" She said in a desperate tone, "It was a mistake. Please let me explain!"
Something flashed behind Levi's eyes. Was he amused by this?
"Then explain." was all he said. Now she had the chance to explain how could she go about saying it?
Mikasa looked at the floor as she tried to explain to the Captain about how unwell she had felt this morning, and Sasha's theory about drinking more to settle the hangover. Levi's eyes narrowed to the jar in Mikasa's hand.
"Let me try it." Levi said, his hand outstretched waiting for the jar. He took a sip, his nose crinkled slightly. "There's hardly alcohol in this." He looked at her for a moment. "Well is it working? Is your hangover subsiding?"

"I believe so, Captain."
"Hmm. Even so, you have been drinking alcohol whilst on watch. Your perception could altered and your ability to detect titans with it. Therefore I will have to accompany you for the remainder of your time on watch."
"Are you still going to give me a court martial?" Mikasa said hesitantly. Her record had been spotless until now, and she didn't want something stupid, like drinking whilst on duty to taint her record.
"I haven't decided yet." Levi replied as he walked over to the edge of the tower. He looked out to the horizon as he leaned against the weather-beaten bricks that formed the tower's parapet.

"How did you enjoy the party last night, Ackerman." He said suddenly, still looking out towards the plains of lush green grass.
"I had fun, Captain. At least I can cross off dancing at a party from my bucket list before I die." Mikasa said quietly.
Levi turned his head in Mikasa's direction; his gaze was strong and unnerving. "Is that how you think about things? About crossing them off from a list of things to do before you die?" Levi questioned.
"Well, we are all going to die. Those of us in the Survey Corps tend to have a high mortality, and we tend to die relatively young." Mikasa tone was even and measured, like she was reading from a script.
"Are you scared of dying, Ackerman?" Levi's gaze was still aimed at Mikasa.
"No, sir. At least I don't think so. But I think more than anything, I'm scared of dying without a purpose." Mikasa couldn't believe what she was saying. But it is true though.
"Tch." Levi turned his whole body to face Mikasa; he folded his arms, and leaned back against the parapet. "Maybe you're more naïve than I thought, Ackerman. Surely you have learnt by now that we have no purpose – except maybe to kill titans. I bet you can't count the amount of times you've watched your fellow recruits die in battle in vain, and without purpose."
Something inside Mikasa's stomach twinged. She recalled the day Trost had been attacked by the Colossal Titan. Countless of her friends had been lost that day. Some only left arms or legs to be burned as evidence that they existed at all. They did not die gloriously in battle. They died, some screaming for mercy, some cried so hard they couldn't even get their words out to plead to the titans.

Mikasa didn't say anything; instead she only looked at the ground. The silence lingered, and Levi thought that maybe he had made a mistake in saying what he did. But she has to know the reality of the life we have chosen by being in the Survey Corps.

Mikasa raised her head and looked at her Captain straight in the eye. "Even if that is the case, Captain, I would at least find it reassuring in my final moments to feel like my life meant something."
Mikasa could see something in Levi's eyes change, like there was softness about them.

Suddenly she had an image in her mind. She was standing outside the girl's dormitory, and Captain Levi was standing in front of her in his suit. He stepped closer…
"Captain, what happened last night?"
Levi's expression changed, "What do you remember?"
"Well…I'm not sure. That's why I'm asking, sir." Levi pondered for a moment, which Mikasa did not find reassuring. "Did..did I say something I shouldn't have last night?
Levi's mouth twitched. Was that a smirk?
"I sincerely apologise, sir. I had a lot to drink, and I can only imagine what I said. I take full responsibility for my actions." Mikasa said looking at the ground.
"Tch. You're always apologising. Besides you didn't say anything inappropriate last night."
Mikasa was relieved, but now she was more intrigued. "I didn't say anything inappropriate? But someone else did?"
Levi had an almost vacant look in his eyes, "You really don't remember do you?"
Mikasa shook her head. Levi turned his gaze back to the horizon.
"I'm relieving you from watch Ackerman. I'll finish up for you. Go get some rest." Levi said, not looking at her.
Mikasa knew better than to question him, so she simply said, "Yes, Captain."

She headed down the stairs, still not sure what to make of their conversation. She passed down the corridor to the girl's dormitory. Someone had said something inappropriate, but who said it, and to whom? Mikasa stood at the foot of the girl's dormitory door. She turned around, like she had in the image she remembered from last night. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what happened only a few hours ago. She was sure she could feel something touch her cheek…