The paper was blank.

You breathed a sigh of relief before ripping the paper into many pieces and throwing them into the sink in your bathroom, before rummaging in your drawer for matches. Striking one and lighting one of the many pieces of paper, you watched as the flickering firelight devoured all of the evidence. Students had very weird ways to deal with these letters. Some, like you, destroyed them regularly whether they had a dot or not. They were the clever ones, the ones most likely to survive until graduation.

Others paraded their letters around, proudly showing off that theirs didn't contain the dot - but no one really trusted them anyway. They could easily fake being innocent, keeping a blank piece of paper from the weeks before. So you didn't count on anything - especially when there were a few crazy students who all claimed that they had been chosen and fought between themselves to prove which one of their letters were realistic. As you rinsed the ruined ashes down the sink, you looked at your reflection once more and turned back into your room, with every intention to fall asleep. As you crossed your small room, however, a knock made you change course towards your door. Stopping just before the barrier between you and whoever it was on the other side, you take a steady breath.

"Who is it?"

"Isabel, so let me in. Unless you're too busy wallowing."

You flung the door open and glared at the beaming girl. "Y/N L/N does not wallow!"

"No, she sulks," Isabel replies before stepping in through the door and closing it behind her. You both lay on your bed on your backs, looking up to the ceiling. "Y/N, there is no shame in what you did."

"I didn't win."

"I know that you didn't win, and I know how that must hurt your enormous pride. But you can't let it swallow you - you've just got to become better and be ready to win next time."

"But there might not be a next time."

"Oh, stop being dramatic, Pride." Isabel groaned, calling you by your team nickname. "Of course there will be a next time. If you want, I'll even challenge you to beat Strawberry this Saturday."

"Isabel, did you not hear the terms to which Levi and I raced?"

"No. What did you agree to?"

"I agreed to do whatever he wanted for twenty four hours, because I didn't realize that there was even the slightest possibility that I would lose."

"Serves you right, Pride."

"Shut up! What if he's a sadistic person and orders me to stand still, and then he attacks me?" You say, sketching out that scenario in your head. No matter which way you looked at it, one of you ended up in a deadly situation. Not that you'd let him do anything of the sort – and somehow, you couldn't see him doing anything that you would severely object to.

"Aniki isn't like that, Y/N. He cares about you, in some weird way."

You roll onto your stomach at that and look at her, and you knew immediately from her face that she was speaking her truthful opinion. "That's ridiculous, Isabel. Don't joke like that."

"I don't think that you get it. You haven't known him for as long as I have, and I have never seen him accept someone as quickly as he accepted you."

"You weren't there when he nearly beat me to hell. He only accepts me because I'm his most dangerous enemy!"

Isabel sighed then, throwing her hands in the air as she stood up from your bed. She walked out, bidding you a good night and a good luck for the tests that started tomorrow and closed the door behind her. You stayed where you were, looking at your ceiling as you mused over what Isabel said. A rustle sounded near your door, and you leaped up with your heart banging, but relaxed when you saw that it was only a piece of paper that someone had slipped under the gap of your door.

You clutched the paper in your hand as you brushed your teeth and hair before climbing into your bed. Only then did you look at the paper, which was clearly from Isabel as her handwriting was loopy and scrawling across the paper.

'If you're his worst enemy, then he's accepted you as his best ally.'

"Sasha, haven't you had enough yet?"

"I'll never have enough food! Can you pass me more, Annie?"

"Get it yourself."

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN?!"

It was Tuesday morning, and you and the girls sat at the breakfast table with various notebooks full of notes or textbooks that were dull and boring. Christa sat next to you, tentatively sipping her orange juice and nibbling on bread as she wrote out her notes again for the fifth time as Ymir slouched in her seat dozing. Isabel and Sasha sat opposite you, squabbling over their cue cards and books whilst Sasha just ate more and more. Seriously, your stomach hurt as you saw how much that girl was piling onto her plate. Annie was on your other side, drinking her water and reading a book.

Last minute revision was going on everywhere as the spring tests had arrived. Even the second and third years were quiet as they reviewed their notes, even though there was one girl that never seemed to shut up. You could hear Hanji from where she was elaborately teaching a ginger haired girl biology, who had looked at everyone with a plea for help.

"Does she ever shut up?" Annie asked, voicing your thoughts whilst she never looked up from reading.

"I'm afraid not," you answered, putting your head in your arms. You normally didn't have to revise before a test, but even so - you were nervous. If anyone failed these tests dismally, they were thrown out to live in the nearest town. Still, your marks were perfect, so you didn't really have anything to worry about.

But neither did Annie, who always came a close second to you in classes, and she was still revising as you all stood up to make your way to the main manor house.

Isabel and Annie still had their noses in their books as they walked outside, and since Sasha was busy juggling all of the food that she had sneaked from the table, you grabbed their elbows and steered them away from the obvious dangers. Isabel shot you a thankful glance before burying her head back in a maths book, obviously hoping to absorb more information. Annie only showed an inclination of her head, but you didn't mind - from her, it was impressive that you got any reaction at all.

You met up with the boys at the top of the road, where they were waiting in the courtyard of the manor. Bertoldt waved at you all, grinning as you smiled back and patted Reiner's shoulder as the huge boy was also reading a book. Connie ran to meet Sasha, and the two immediately started whispering equations to each other. Everyone was so tense...

"Yo, Y/N!"

Jean ran up to you with his tie off-centre and his jacket tied around his waist. You hated to admit it, but that boy had an impressive muscular figure. You'd have to watch out for him in the sparring exams. "Hey Jean. You're not revising?"

"Nope. I can't be bothered."

"I'll just forget it all if I revise now, anyway," you agree, leaving Annie in the hands of Bertoldt and Isabel in Reiner's care.

"What exam do we have first?"

"Um, Japanese Literature. Then we have an hour to prepare for English."

Jean made a face as he stretched. "Only two exams today?"

"Guess so." You open the front door and you both step through, where Marco ran towards you. He linked arms with both you and Jean and steered you towards the library, expertly dodging the people studying in the halls. "Marco, what are you doing?"

"Well I want to take a book out of the library, but there are all of the second and third years there and I don't want to go alone."

"You big baby –"

"That's alright," you interrupted Jean, holding your head up higher in what you hoped was a confident pose. "What's the book on?"

"Um, it's a book on the kanji signs. I have a bad memory, but I'm hoping that if I can just look over them one more time..."

"Marco, you'll do fine. You were revising in my room all of last night, surely that's enough?" Jean scratched the back of his head as you opened the doors, and stepped into the huge room.

Bookshelves were everywhere, bordering the walls and creating aisles, and there was a huge long table running down the length of the room which was piled with books and second years studying, their blue ties jumping out at you from everywhere. There were several plants here; ivy was creeping up along the tall shelves, and long vines were suspended from the ceiling - which was very high up because the library was two floors, with stairs and balconies allowing access to the highest books. You walked towards the Japanese Literature section and leaned against a chair, watching Marco and Jean pull out books and replace the wrong ones.

"Y/N L/N - right?"

You turned to see the ginger-haired girl that Hanji had been talking to earlier look at you with a smile. You nodded. "Yep, that's me. I'm sorry, but I don't think that we've been introduced?"

"Petra Ral, second year, in case you couldn't tell," she beamed, tugging on her blue tie. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just waiting for a guy," you vaguely gestured to Marco and Jean, "he's trying to learn kanji in the last fifteen minutes."

"My first exam is physics," Petra groaned, looking down at the heavy book in her arms, "but it isn't for another hour yet. I've always liked analysis and maths, to be honest."

"Really? I've always found English easier - but it helps that I'm not bad in my other subjects."

"Are you kidding me? You're always one of the top scorers!" Petra wiggled her fingers at you. "I never expected you to be modest. Isn't the nickname that your team has for you 'Pride'?"

You sighed and watched a few of the other second years begin to take an interest in you. "Yes, but I normally try to keep a level-head. Normally I only act haughty towards the people that I know."

"How come?"

"Well, I don't want to rely on anyone," you said, struggling to explain it, "and if I act horrible, they go away of their own accord and then I physically can't rely on anyone."

"That sounds lonely, though," Petra said. A boy approached her from behind, with light brown hair and a few wrinkles on his face despite him obviously being young. "I know that I'd hate to work alone all of the time. Isn't that right, Oluo?" With that, she turned lightly punched the one you assumed to be Oluo, who smirked terrifyingly at you. His light brown hair stuck up in weird directions, as though he was trying to follow a certain trend but had tried his own disastrous spin on it.

"Yeah, it's alright Petra - you can always fall into my arms," he said, with an irritating nasal voice.

"No thanks," she replied, pushing him away teasingly, "I'd rather fall asleep."

"And Petra's being sassy towards Oluo – what else is new?" Two other boys come around the corner, one with immaculate uniform that hadn't a crease in sight, and the other with a uniform that was everywhere - tie was loose and the top button undone, with his jacket tied around his waist. Oluo turned to them, annoyance strutting over his features.

"Sorry," Petra hurriedly said, gesturing to the incomers, "this is Eld and Gunther."

"Good morning!" They both waved and dragged Oluo away and down another aisle, where lots of laughter could be heard.

"Anyway, haven't you got to get going now?" Petra inquired, looking at her watch. "It looks like Japanese Literature is about to start."

You were already running before she had finished her sentence. You caught and dragged Marco and Jean, who promptly dropped all of their books to run alongside you. You sprinted out of the library and onto the stairs, where you collided with someone and fell down several stairs before someone caught your body with two strong arms. It would have been a flawless rescue if your head hadn't smacked into the oak banister with a loud crash, sending your vision into stars and forcing tears to well up in your eyes.

"Oh my -! Are you alright, Y/N?"

You groaned in response, opening your eyes slowly and letting a tear roll down your face. Farlan's worried face swam into view, and you realized that he was holding you in bridal style, with you bundled into his chest. You tensed up and Farlan immediately set you down on your own two feet.

But he righted you too fast, and you fell against him again, squealing because your head was screaming at you. "Farlan...? I thought you were in the Infirmary?"

"I finally managed to get out," he smiled, holding you until you could stand up again. "Levi! That was not very nice! You sent Y/N flying!"

"Serves her right. There's supposed to be no running in these halls."

You looked up towards the first landing and sure enough Levi stood there with his arms crossed and a deadly aura around him. Marco and Jean had long gone, probably not even noticing your absence in their rush to get to your exam.

"Eeek!" You yelled, startling Farlan and beginning to run back up the stairs. "I've got an exam! I need to go!"

Farlan laughed from down the stairs, and you were running past Levi as he grabbed your arm and tugged you back. "Your head - is it alright?" He asked, looking you right in the eyes.

"Y-yes?"

"Levi!" Petra's voice floated up to you from your dazed state. "I thought I heard your voice!"

"Petra," Levi greeted her, his eyes still on you. You couldn't move, utterly captivated in the stare that Levi had caught you with.

"Are you coming to eat lunch with me today?"

His eyes didn't move from yours, even as he answered Petra. You met his stare with one of your own, that was equally unforgiving. "That's what I said yesterday, isn't it?"

"Yep, just making sure! Erm, L/N, isn't your exam starting in one minute?"

Levi seemed to come to his senses then, looking at you with more of the glare that he presented to everyone. "Good luck," he said meekly, letting go of your arm. You were frozen into place, before coming back to the world that you were in and running again. As you ran away, you looked back and saw Petra linking her arm through Levi's and tugging him upstairs towards the second floor. Farlan was laughing with Eld and Gunther as Oluo hurried to catch up the couple at the stairs. The look on Petra's face was beatific... She was in love with Levi, you realized, tearing your gaze away to look in front of you again.

You stopped just in front of the doors that lead into the Japanese Literature exams, and teachers cast disapproving looks at you as you sat in your normal desk at the front of the class, next to Annie. You caught exasperated glances from all of your friends as you sat down and took a breath, preparing yourself for the exam ahead.

But even as you forced yourself to focus on the symbols in front of you, you still saw Petra as she linked arms with Levi, her gaze clearly stating 'he's mine.'

By the end of the week, you were tired and stressed. Exams were hard on you, and there was the extra factor of Jean and Marco were not letting the fact that you nearly missed the Japanese exam go without a fight. If they said anything like, 'Pride's here! Shocker, that is!' one more time then you were going to lock Jean in the stables, right where he belonged.

But it was Friday evening now, and you and the girls were relaxing in the dining room eating dinner. Isabel was studiously ignoring Annie, who was reading out all of the questions again and again, before explaining in great detail what she had written and what she should have written... If you were fair, it was getting on your nerves too.

Sasha just looked on with her eyes dull as though she was dead inside. She was still eating, but her movements were slow and sluggish, and she never even looked at where her fork was. So when she dripped beef stew over her uniform, she didn't even notice.

You were eating your own stew with much more dignity than your half-dead friends, taking the time to sit and just watching everyone in the room. It was Friday. The game would begin again at midnight – and here you were, contemplating how much you didn't even want to play. You were just so tired... You'd rather just to stay in bed.

There were students who couldn't be bothered some nights, and instead of getting up at midnight, they just stayed in bed. You were sorely tempted to follow their routine, but if you didn't guess the name then either no one would or 'Team Justice' would. And if no one guessed it – then a random student would be chosen to befall the fate of the murderer, had they been guessed. Both options went with their own risks... But as you sat contemplating staying in bed, Annie glared at you and smacked your hand, hard.

"Annie!" Isabel yelped, snapping out of her reverie and standing up over Annie. "What was that for?"

"Although I sometimes want to hit Y/N,' Sasha offered, a light entering back into her eyes as she reached for your hand, "even I think that was mean."

"No it wasn't," Annie said, looking only at you. "She was contemplating something stupid."

You looked right back at her with wide eyes, ignoring how Isabel rolled her eyes and Sasha spilled another spoonful of beef onto her lap. "H-how did you know that?"

Annie shrugged and stood up from the table, obviously planning on turning to bed early. "I know you a lot better than you think, Pride."

You, Isabel and Sasha watched her walk away through the double doors with open mouths. "Well, that was weird." Sasha sighed as she stood up as well. "I suppose that I'll see you all around midnight, huh?"

"Goodnight!" You and Isabel chorused. As you both sat in a tired silence, another person sat in Annie's vacated seat and waved at you both.

"Hiya!" Petra grinned, leaning over and grabbing a piece of bread from the plate in the centre of the table. "Did you make it to your exam in the end, Y/N?"

"Barely," Isabel answered for you, glaring at Petra. You raised an eyebrow at her, wondering about her snappy attitude and the glare. Did she know Petra? Isabel's darkening mood suggested that she did indeed know the pretty girl, but did not exactly like her. Petra seemed to follow your thoughts as she looked at the glare your friend was giving her and smiled.

"Oh, Isabel! It's been ages!" Petra turned to your best friend, her smile still lighting up her fair face. "How are you?"

"I was fine," Isabel snapped, standing up and leaving without even a farewell glance in your direction.

"What - wait!" You called, but Isabel only ignored you as she walked through the doors and shut them with such an attitude that you felt proud. "What was that about?" You asked Petra, who looked slightly relieved now that Isabel was gone.

"Isabel does not like me very much," she said, nibbling on her bread. "I think that it's got something to do with the fact that –"

"Y/N!" Hanji yelled as she sat in Isabel's seat, her uniform creased and her hair all over the place. "Long time, no see!"

"It's been a week," you answered, not looking away from Petra. The girl looked happier now that Hanji was here in Isabel's stead, and she smiled at Hanji as she too grabbed a piece of bread. "That's not exactly a long time."

"It was to me, Y/N," Hanji wept, clutching her heart. "I feel so hurt that you obviously don't care about me the way I care about you!"

"And how is that?" Petra asked, looking at you with amusement. You got the feeling that she was enjoying herself immensely.

"I care about Y/N as a sister of fate, obviously. The scientist and the assassin always make the best team, don't you know?" Hanji smirked at you, and you looked impassively back at her while begging your cheeks not to blush.

"Oh, yes. And there was me thinking that Team Justice was the best!" Petra smiled, rolling her brown eyes. "Are you guys going out again this week?"

"Of course not," Hanji said, chewing on her bread, a warning light entering her eyes behind the glasses. "We agreed on alternate weeks, didn't we?"

"Wait, I'm lost," you said, holding up your hands, "what's going on?"

"Oh, of course you wouldn't know," Petra smiled nicely at you. "It's just that Hanji's team and my team got into a little disagreement in our first year."

"A little? Is that what you'd call little?" Hanji gaped in disbelief, but quickly shut up as you whacked her over the head.

"What was the disagreement about?" You asked, and Petra sighed happily. You didn't miss the look of disdain that Hanji shot her, and you got a sense of foreboding at the enjoyment Petra took in the power she had in knowledge.

"You've met Levi, haven't you?"

Your heart stopped, and you froze for a second. It was only a second; you then threw yourself back into the conversation with new vigour. "Oh, yes. I don't think he likes me very much..." You trailed off as you remembered all of the glares that he'd sent your way.

Petra and Hanji laughed. "Levi doesn't like anyone very much, so don't get offended." Hanji said before Petra went back to explaining.

"Well, Erwin san wanted Levi to be on his team immediately once he'd seen the potential. But I'd already asked Levi to be on my team, with Oluo, Eld and Gunther. So then we just decided to share, I guess. Our team didn't go out last Friday, but tonight it'll be Hanji and Erwin who don't go out."

"And Levi agrees with this – this weird sharing system?" You say, wracking your brains to think of yourself in a situation like that. Petra shrugs. You didn't like the term 'share'. What was Levi to her, an object? But then you remembered the look of love in her eyes and you knew that wasn't the case. "That's impressive. I can't see him agreeing to anything I say."

"Maybe you have to change the way that you ask," Hanji suggested as she stood up and gestured for Petra to do the same. "Anyway, Y/N, we're going to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow! Enjoy the game."

"And I might see you tonight." Petra winked at you as she followed Hanji out of the doors. You gave yourself a minute just sitting at the tables alone before you stood up as well. You walk out of the grand dining room into the just as grand entrance hall, and you walk over to the doors. They were never locked, but the handles were polished every night at seven o'clock... And it was half seven now. There were no fingerprints, however. So that was a dead end.

Next, you walked over to the long table at the side of the hall, where lots of paper sat in open books. Behind the table, there was a large board where notices could be pinned and photos could be stuck. But you weren't here to look over the pictures... You grabbed the register and looked down the long line of names. There were no leads here, either. Everyone's name had a tick next to it, so everyone was here... Unless they had snuck out.

You climbed the stairs and walked along the first floor, checking the doors. Thankfully, no one else was in the corridor, so no one could tell you that you were being creepy or weird. Seeing that every door had a light on behind it, you then proceeded to the second floor and checked all of those... And then, just to be sure, you climbed to the third and checked all of those as well.

Only then did you walk back to your door on the first floor and unlock it. You fussed around, the nerves getting to you a little, before climbing into bed and staring at the candle that you had set near the open window sill. It flickered a little, casting shadows everywhere in the smallest of places. Focusing on the candle, you felt your eyes slip closed...

The bell rang all too soon. You jumped up immediately and began putting on your uniform from where it was perfectly folded on your desk, and checked the candle - still alive and flickering. You opened your door to the darkness of the corridor, and step out boldly, coolly. You wouldn't be scared tonight. You were an assassin - you could handle death.

"Yo, Pride. I'm right behind you."

You smiled. For the girl who never failed to make you feel better, who was standing right behind you as she always did, you'd handle death.

"Y/N, are you absolutely sure?"

"Connie!" You yelled, semi-exasperated. It was lightly raining, and that did not sit well with the hot-headed boy, who trudged along the path alongside you. The rest of your team were behind you as you all walked along in silence, listening to the sounds of rainfall - apart from you and Connie, of course.

"I know that you have your gut feeling and all, but we are walking through the woods at midnight. It is cold and wet and dark and I don't like it."

"Connie!" You cried again. "I've already said this! Reiner checked the boy's register and found that one boy had signed in late, and when we investigated his window, we found the footsteps in the mud where he had climbed in to avoid being seen. We're following them now. So therefore, they have to lead us to the body."

"I hate it when you're right," he grumbled before dropping back to join Sasha in singing a depressing funeral march.

"What I don't understand is how he manages to stick around with you at all, Pride," Reiner joked as he picked you up and swung you over his shoulder. You squealed, kicking out but laughing at the look of stunned astonishment on Annie and Bertoldt's faces; obviously, they hadn't thought that Reiner would dare to touch you at all. "After all, you're just a real bundle of terror, aren't you?"

"Reiner!" You giggled, punching him lightly from where you dangled over his shoulder. Normally you'd be cold and raging, but tonight you just wanted to let go. It had been a hard week. Bertoldt smirked at you, and as you could only see everyone upside down, you watched the cool curve of his lips turn. "Bertoldt, if you dare laugh I swear I will –"

"It's hard to take your death threats seriously with you upside down, Y/N," he told you, leaning forward and flicking your nose. "You look..."

You raise an eyebrow, and Isabel looked at Bertoldt with something akin to absolute fear on her face. "Like what?"

"Cute," he said, shrugging, and you flopped in shock. Reiner gripped your thighs tighter so that you didn't fall from his tall height, and you just dangled and looked at Bertoldt. Annie glared at Bertoldt, but when she saw that he was still laughing at you, she also turned to survey you. With your pout and shocked expression, she also nodded.

"She is quite cute, actually," Anne said, almost unconsciously. Luckily, everyone had the sense not to comment on it, and Isabel ran up to Reiner so that you could see her out of the corner of your eyes. Isabel and Reiner then started chatting about random things, and you could occasionally feel Reiner's laughter through his back as Isabel told a joke. Annie and Bertoldt were talking about your face and what was cute about it, so you carefully tuned the rest of their conversation out as you then turned your attention to Connie and Sasha.

Or you would have, if they had been there.

All of your team minus two were huddled around a tree, the rain still lightly landing on the ground. You paced like a caged cat, up and around the huge tree trunk. Reiner and Bertoldt's eyes followed you warily as they saw your worry for your lost teammates, whilst Annie and Isabel made the call using the phone.

Because hung by their neck over the tree was the teacher, stuck forever in a position of agony. The student, whose name you didn't know but Reiner did, had obviously dragged the poor guy out here and had left him to hang. It had been long and painful, you had surmised, from looking at the sores around the teacher's neck and his ruined nails from trying to tear the noose from around his neck.

But that wasn't what dominated your mind right now. Sasha and Connie had been singing a funeral march the last time you had deigned to notice them, and because you weren't careful enough, they were now gone.

"They probably got lost, Y/N," Bertoldt suggested, "maybe once the bell rings - because we know all three answers now - they'll give up and head back to the dorms with everyone else."

"Bertoldt," Annie said quietly, but you were too caught up in a fury to notice her shake her head at the tall boy, who quickly fell silent. The bell rang in the distance, and Isabel sniffed as she joined you all on the other side of the tree.

"Isabel, you're getting sick," Reiner said, and after a sidelong glance at you, he scooped her up in his arms. "I'm taking her back... We can't risk ourselves just because those two got themselves lost."

Bertoldt nodded in agreement, and the three walked slowly away.

"Y/N...?" Isabel whispered through cold lips. You smiled at her, with the rain running down your face as you made the peace sign with two fingers.

"I'll find them, Isabel, don't worry. Go and get warm."

And with that, Reiner and Bertoldt began running back down the path that you had come down. Annie, however, stayed right by your side. You didn't question her motives, because you soon began running down a completely different path and you needed your breath. You heard her footsteps close behind, and so you two completely allowed yourselves to become animalistic creatures of the forest. You knew Sasha and Connie. They were right behind you - they could plainly see and hear you from where they had been. They wouldn't have got lost, because they were fully able to hear you and your team.

But if they could hear you, then the people who took them could as well.

You became the wind.

You became the rain.

And you became the fury at the people who had taken your friends.