In an open field, the 107th trainees are practicing one-on-one combat. Two particular trainees are dueling. A girl who has short black hair easily flips the 14-year old boy who has brown hair to the ground.
The boy hit the ground in frustration and noticed the woman lending a helping hand. Instead of taking it, he swatted it away and stood up by himself, dusting off any dirt on his uniform.
"I can stand up on my own, Mikasa." The boy said to her before walking away, Mikasa blankly looked at the stomping boy as if she heard this a million times, she followed him.
"Why are you following me?" The boy asked, glancing at Mikasa, with annoyance visible in his face.
" So you don't get into fights again, Eren" Mikasa replied thinking about how he always fights a certain person whose name she don't really care about. All that matters is he doesn't get into fights, she did promised his mother after all to take care of him if he went too far in his recklessness.
Eren stopped walking and faced Mikasa and she also stopped. The 5-second silence was enough for Mikasa to know where the conversation is going again and she also needs to explain it to him..again.
" I'm not a kid anymore , Mikasa! Stop treating me like one! " He shouted ,some trainees looked at them and some only ignored them. Maybe because they do this almost daily. Some even teased Eren that Mikasa's his babysitter when they heard what they were fighting about.
" I am not treating you like a kid. I'm just making sure you're out of trouble" Despite Eren's loud voice, Mikasa did not raise her voice.
" Yeah, right! By coddling me?! I can do things on my own!"
" And when you're on your own, You always get into trouble "
" No ,I don't! And even if I did, I can get out of it easily! I don't need you helping me!"
" Eren , Mikasa . Are you at this again?" Armin ran towards them after losing his duel with Reiner. He saw them about to fight again and so he went to them to stop it. He sighed and smiled at them trying to ease off the frustration of the other party.
Eren , seeing Armin stopping them ,realizing it's going to earn him another teasing from the other trainees, stopped talking and was about to walk away and get some food but Mikasa spoke again, her head hung low.
" You can't blame me, Eren... I... We already lost Rie... I can't handle losing you too" Mikasa's voice was quiet and low but Eren and Armin can still hear her.
"I told you, She's alive...There's no way a girl like her would ever let herself be killed by a Titan" Eren said before walking away. After Eren's gone , Armin heard a sound from Mikasa. He glanced a look at her face before seeing an almost frustrated scowl that was unusual from her calm demeanor.
" You don't understand.. Eren. She's been missing for 3 years already. If she is still alive or for some reason, hiding in the darkest streets of either Wall Sina or Rose, She will still find us and tell us she's fine but.." she paused for a second.
"..I, too, want to believe she's still alive. I refuse to believe someone like her could fall so easily, just like you said.. but..it's a cruel world...and the more I believe, the more it will hurt" Mikasa silently followed after Eren to his table, who in turn just ignores her.
Armin also made his way to grab a tray of bread and soup and sat down on Eren's table.
For Armin, It's uncomfortable to see the calm and composed Mikasa to let out her feelings and be..frustrated but Armin felt like that Mikasa may not noticed that he was there listening to her nonetheless he both understand how the two felt..about Rie..and about how she's missing.
Armin may had find the girl scary before but as time grew on, he also felt attached to Rie. Her red eyes scared him to death back in the day, it looked like it did not carry an ounce of humanity. It was dark and when Rie looks at him, It felt like a doll was staring. It was empty .
But as time grew on, Her dark, empty red eyes seemed like an imagination Armin had because there was light in her eyes whenever she looks at them, namely Mikasa, Eren and him.
But her empty eyes may sometimes return. The three of them once found Rie alone, in a dark corner, her dark, empty eyes seemed more dangerous and the more they stare, the more it reminded them of death.
Armin can never forget the spine-chilling and goose bumps he felt all throughout his body and how his heart beats quickly in fear when the moment those eyes finally landed on she noticed them, her eyes quickly returned to it's normal bright state and she just greeted us like nothing happened.
Nonetheless, they never saw those kind of eyes again. But the point is,She maybe a violent girl who can annoy someone endlessly but Armin did get attached to her because like Eren, She was always there for him. When Eren's not around , She was the one who saves him from bullies although her methods were different...but also just like Eren and him, She expressed curiosity about what's outside beyond the Walls. She believed them when no one else does. She trusts them and it's about time they do too
"Yeah, I, too, believe she's alive."The two looked at Armin.
" I mean ,you're right. Someone like her? Who blackmails other kids and enjoys when they're pissed off or scared of her? Who also pick fights with adults just because she found them annoying or either insulting us ?.. She's way beyond us"Armin laughed,remembering times with Rie.
Eren unconsciously smiled at the thought " She's not going to be taken down easily by Titans. " Mikasa also softly smiled ,returning to her composed self slowly.
•••
Around the same time, a silver- haired girl is also practicing at the Survey Corps. Headquarters. She is together with Hanji in an open field.
" So, first of all.. You're doing hand-to-hand combat!" Hanji cheerfully said to Rie who only shrugged.
" Not complaining but why?"
"Hmm..They only said you never know who you fight. It's not only Titans that are our enemies."
Rie only shrugged at that statement, stretching her arms and legs getting ready.
" Is Levi my opponent?" Stating the obvious, Rie feels like Levi is the only capable opponent here but maybe because he is the only one she has already fought with.
"No, He's busy right now. That's why I'll be your opponent!" Rie almost scoffed at that but the way she cheerfully said that made her think that she shouldn't underestimate her.
Rie readied her stance while Hanji did the same. No one made the first move. Both of them were silent.
"You shouldn't underestimate me, Rie . I'm stronger than Levi when it comes to close combat" Hanji talked to Rie .None of them still made the first move.Rie blankly stared at Hanji. Hanji smiled.
Hanji made the first move. She moved swiftly to Rie and was about to deliver a punch to her right cheek. Rie noticed it and dodged to the left. She proceeded to send the next attack. Rie aimed her left fist at Hanji's temple but she dodged to the side but before she could deliver the next offense, Rie acted quickly and just tried to hit her face with her elbow but Hanji bended backwards, so far that it actually surprised Rie on how flexible she is.
"Whoa" Hanji blurted out, who tried to balance herself. She proceeded to grab Rie's elbow and throw her over her shoulder. As soon as Rie was high up in the air, She pressed her finger on a nerve in Hanji's wrist that made her lose grip on her and she landed safely. Hanji was a little surprised at it which Rie took to her advantage. She ran at full speed towards Hanji and planned to use all her strength into one punch straight to Hanji.
Hanji gasped at the sudden attack and quickly made a defensive position using both of her arms to cushion the incoming punch. The strength of Rie's punch send her falling to the ground. Rie exhaled an exhausted sigh.
" If I may ask, Who taught you hand-to-hand combat?" Hanji asked
"...Someone I knew" Hanji almost smacked herself for assuming she would give a clear answer.
"Well then, Whoever that was, needs to teach you something..." Rie turned her back and stretched her arm, a few bones crackling.
"-that you should NEVER let your guard down!" Rie half expected her to do it so when she turned around, she's prepared to block it off using a move she learnt from her "teacher" but she didn't expected Hanji to grab hold of her arm and was about to punch her stomach at full force.
Panic took over her. Her free hand tried to grab her gun that was always strapped behind her but realized it was back in her room. Knowing it's her defeat, she closed her eyes and prepared for the hit...
"We're done with hand-to-hand combat for today! We'll do it again tomorrow so those marvelous skills of yours won't rust!" Rie heard Hanji's obnoxiously cheerful voice and peeked an eye open to see Hanji creepily smiling at her.
Rie's expression turned to a scowl as she was almost about to slap Hanji's face but remembered it IS her "superior". She rolled her eyes in her mind at the word.
"Got to say, Rie . Your close combat is really amazing! Yours are...yep! For self-defense, right? I mean you were trying to hit weak points to end the fight early. Yeah, I think that's partly the reason why you're on par with Levi! He's great at offensive and YOU are great at defensive! Oh,that doesn't mean he lacks in defense ,you too,you don't lack in offense. You were dodging almost all the time and sometimes attack in a way you could also defend yourself in time. Hm, but you're still missing something, really! Oh yeah, I noticed you're heavily reliant on your gun. That's no good! Anyways, what I said is right, right?!"
Hanji 's face was really close to Rie's. Rie's idea of slapping her came up again. Her right arm is actually raised which was about to slap a certain brunette's cheek but stopped herself again. Rie coughed and narrowed her eyes at Hanji.
"First, You're excessive talking and Observation are both annoying. Second, It is for self-defense, My aim is to just either disable the opponent or make him incapable of fighting back. Lastly, All my life Outside the Walls, I just use my gun and my survival instincts, that's why I'm obviously reliant on it" Rie crossed her arms while explaining it.
"And like I said! That's no good! Your gun can't help you forever" Hanji started walking to another location in which Rie followed after.
"But it did..for 3 years"
"And you are lucky for that. You're a Survey Corps. soldier now and you need to learn on how to use 3DMG and how to use your blades to attack a Titan." They are currently going to a forest just up ahead and Rie's sweat dropped at what they were about to do next.
"Speaking of 3DMG, how's your skills in using it? Levi mentioned he found you using it for a moment to climb a tree" Hanji glanced a look at Rie who avoided her stare.
"...It's shit. It was a few months ago that I started using it but I was busy so i wasn't able to use or practice much"
"It may not be that bad! Let me see you try! Come on" Hanji pointed at a nearby gear offering to show her Rie's "skills" in 3DMG.She clicked her tongue.
•••
"Okay, you weren't joking when you said it was horrible" She awkwardly laughed at Rie who was glaring at her, minor scratches and bruises were covering her body.
When Rie started doing a test run on it, she was balanced, as much to Hanji's relief that she knows the first and the most basic thing required to use 3DMG.
Her hooks, however, are too far. She aims those hooks to faraway trees and so it cannot reach. Another thing that worried Hanji was she uses too much gas, It wasn't even 3 minutes into the test that she yelled that she ran out. She was so fast,That's why when she turns, she crashes to a tree first. Sometimes, she also forgets to release a hook from it's hold.
"Well,now we know where you're bad at,which was surprising, We'll spend the whole day practicing you to be able to use a 3DMG properly and efficiently" Rie clicked her tongue again.
•••
At around Dinner time, the two finished for the day. Hanji told Rie to have Dinner and she could go back to her room to rest.
Hanji went to a room and closed the door, smiling at the two occupants of said room. Erwin was working on papers before glancing a look at the visitor and Levi,well,he was leaning on a wall.
"Hanji.".Erwin called,acknowledging her presence "How was Rie's training?"Erwin asked while continuing his work.
"Well,quite great,I say" She approaches the blonde man "She's good at close combat which we already known before. We only did close combat, Horse riding and 3DMG today. For tomorrow, we could do all of those again for a short amount of time just to see if she improved and if it did we'll proceed with a test of killing Titans,you know, the dummy titans"She explained flipping through her notes.
"Oh,forgot to tell you, she's not really that great at 3DMG. Her hooks are bad and also her turns. She also uses way too much gas. I tried teaching her today to use gas efficiently and to land her hooks properly. She improved, thankfully, at the last dry run"
"Horse riding went strangely well. At first, none of the horses wanted her,they all backed away from her but I was surprised that she chose a horse that actually is fine with her riding it. You remember that black horse we found outside the Walls?"
"The one that doesn't listen to any orders from anyone? I remember we lost good soldiers who rode it while outside the Walls..that's why we never let anyone ride it again"Erwin stopped his work for a moment.
"Yep, that one! And you know what's surprising? Rie chose it and it actually complied! At first, I thought it would be dangerous for her so I asked her to ride it for a good 2 hours to see if it is actually safe for her but surprisingly, the horse listened to her every order! It did not even try to kick her off of it's back"Hanji said, her smile wide as she waved her hands around.
"That...is interesting..Hm,Anything else?"Erwin looked at Hanji,knowing what he means by that,who only shook her head.
"Nothing at all. She keeps giving brief and unclear answers. Her close combat was taught by 'someone she knows'. In fights, she only aims to defend herself or make the opponent incapable of fighting.That's all"
"I see, nothing much, I presume"
"If we really want information from her,Why can't we just force it out?"Levi suddenly said ,looking at Erwin.
"Levi,What can you say about her eyes?"Erwin,once again,continued his work.
"Aside from the fact she considers it as a big deal, It is unusual and creepy as fuck"Levi replied
"They're empty. When I take a good look at it, It seems like I was not looking at a human. I doubt that she will say anything even if we force it out. I doubt she even have fear of pain."
"How about we try to find out?" Levi lifted himself off from leaning on the wall.
"As much as I want to try that out also,we don't want our little silver kitty to run away,don't we?"Hanji butted in,placing a hand on Levi's shoulder. He flicked the hand away.
"She might not know fear of pain or whatever fears we think she have,but she knows when a situation proves dangerous for her own good. She can escape without us knowing since I've granted her freedom to do whatever she wants. "Erwin added
"Yeah, Rie's a… hmm a logical kind of person. She does not act if it does not benefit nor harm her. If it does,she'll take the chance if it benefits and if it harms, she'll find a way to avoid. I seen it in our fight today. When I was stunned shocked on the move she did on me, she wasted no time to attack." Hanji added next.
"So what? We're going to just do this for who-knows-how-long?"
"Yes. She knows something and whatever may that be will may or may not help humanity. It is a chance I'm willing to take"Erwin finished looking at Levi who only stared back,contemplating his calculative eyes.
"Do whatever you want…"
"..also,..I want her in my squad"Levi said,Hanji was the only one showing a shocked expression.
"Huh? Levi, You haven't even seen what she's capable of! You handpick soldiers for your squads based on their performance in the field,right?"Hanji said
" I'll see it on the fields firsthand. Besides, I can handle her easily that way if she ever do something stupid or try to run away."Levi finished,turning to leave the room.
"Well, I guess that's it for today? I'll report back to you tomorrow again,Erwin~! Have a good night! Have some sleep sometimes! Your eyebrows will fall off if you keep staying up late"Hanji said before closing the door and her footsteps fading away.
Hanji thought she would like to sleep for the day but decided to drink first so she went to the dining room. Once she was there, she also found Levi drinking tea again and staring somewhere else.
"Yo,Levi! Staying up late again?" She waved her hand before getting a glass of water.
Receiving no reply, she sat down on a chair and continued to talk…
"Hey,what made you to recruit her into your squad?" She asked
"…Just like I said. It was in order to control her.I'll teach the brat to respect."Levi sipped from his holds it from the brim which other soldiers find strange but there was a rumor going around from a certain titan-obsessed brunette that Levi broke a cup when he held it on the handle and from then on,he holds it like that.
"Hahaha, Rie sure is interesting huh? ...Like the titans" Levi noticed a familiar gleam in Hanji's glasses and decided it was time to leave her alone but thankfully ,it was gone so quickly.
"but unlike the titans, she's a human. She can think."
"Speaking of Rie, I'd better go and check on her."She stood up and waved goodbye to Levi who still kept his stare somewhere else.
"LLLLEEEEEEEVVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
A few minutes only had passed when Hanji's loud voice rang across the Headquarters,waking up some soldiers who just slept.
Levi only continued drinking tea,not minding the hurried footsteps approaching. In a split-second,Hanji's worried,nervous and about to cry face is infront of Levi. Levi almost spat his drink in her face,not that he cared if he did it though.
"Damn Glasses, Get your face away!"Levi said pushing away Hanji's face but she resisted his strength .
"But Levi-"
"What the hell is it?! Spit it out!"
"RIE'S MISSING!"
•••
"What did you told her before you went to Erwin's office?"Levi asked Hanji who was currently pacing back and forth in Rie's room in which the said owner is not present.
"I only told her she could go back to her room to rest!"
"Could. You did not order her. You just suggested she could" Levi glared at the now-crying Hanji.
Her room was neat and tidy. The bed looked like it hasn't been occupied since this morning. Some clothes are still here but her gun was nowhere to be found.
Before this happened,Hanji went straight to Rie's room after talking to Levi. When she knocked,she received no reply. She tried knocking again but there were still none ,she opened the door and found no one. She tried knocking on the bathroom door to see if she was taking a shower but she can't hear a sound of running water.
Now at this time,she was getting nervous. She tried searching for her in the kitchen in case she decided on a late night snack but she's not there. She searched next through every room she might've accidentally gone to but she's nowhere to be found.
Now she was panicking,She searched for her outside. At the training grounds, At the forest they trained with, At the horse stables, She even went as far as the nearby village but she's not there!
And that's why she went to the only person who can help her.
And now,they're at Rie's empty bed.
"She's not in any room in HQ?" Levi asked at Hanji who was visibly nervous and shaking.
" No. What if she escaped? I should've made sure she was sleeping in bed first. what do I do? Oh,Erwin's going to be mad at this even though I've never seen him angry before.I don't even want to know .She's gone. Rie's gone. I still want to know more about her.I want to know how she can kill titans with a gun.I want to know how will she kill titans using 3DMG .I want to still know what she knows.I'm pretty sure it's interesting but she's gone!Oh no. did we do something wrong? Did we do something that made her run away?What was it?LEVI!WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"
"…First of all,calm down shitty glasses. Second, She was in your responsibility until the expedition,you should've done a better job at watching her , We'll search again outside so shut up already"Levi said to Hanji who was trying to hug him again.
"Oh! LEVI! Thank you so much!"Hanji tried to hug him again but Levi already proceeded to go outside so Hanji only hugged air before falling down…
Levi and Hanji splitted ways to search for Rie. Hanji searched again in previous places she searched,checking out every corner she might've missed. Levi went to nearby villages to search.
It was already so late at night yet they still can't find Rie. Hanji met up with Levi back in front of HQ.
"We still can't find her…" Hanji is panicking once again.
" Where did that brat go? Did she really escaped?"Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"What are you two doing here?"
The two turned their heads to the female voice to find out it belonged to the person they were searching for all this time.
"RIE~!"Hanji jumped towards Rie to hug her but the 16-year old girl only sidestepped to avoid the hug,letting the brunette fall.
"You. Where have you been? We've been searching for you all night,you goddamn brat"Levi glared at Rie who only blankly stared at him. Hanji was trying to reach out to Rie's arm but she moved it away.
"Why?...Oh..You thought I ran away or something? You don't have to worry. I joined because it's my choice…and because I was given freedom with it but rest assured, I won't run away unless you are sure that you did something wrong to me" Rie explained but her explanation may have not convinced Levi to trust her word.
"I was worried,Rie!" Hanji stood up quickly,bringing her face close much to the annoyance of Rie.
"I could care less about your concerns"Rie blankly looked at the brunette but Hanji was unfazed by it.
"It's late at night! You're a girl for good sake!"Hanji exclaimed
"What of it?"
"Huh?"
"What's me being a girl have to do with staying outside late at night?" Rie crossed her arms,confusion in her tone.
"Huh?...Strange Men will attack you,Duh!"Hanji was also just as confused at what Rie is saying.
"I can defend myself,in case you forgot , also are men targeting my life? Why so?"Rie,for some reason,took a serious tone. Hanji was still confused but she kind of has an idea on what's going on.
"Rie…do you know what sexual intercourse is?"Hanji asked and Rie only raised an eyebrow.
"It is how babies are made"
"Yeah,but do you actually know know it?"Hanji is kind of getting embarassed asking about this
"What do you mean?"
"Like how it was done?"
"Inserting of a male's sperm cell into a female's egg cell"
"Yeah,scientifically but-…ugh nevermind this"Hanji got embarrassed and asked another question but she was secretly giggling.
"Okay,what is the term 'rape' for you?"
"Taking advantage of a person's weak stature to overpower them in order to have benefits…At least that's what my sister said"Rie said
Hanji can't handle it. She bursts out laughing. Rie's right but not entirely. She held her stomach and continued to laugh. Levi only clicked his tongue and sighed beside her. Rie was dumbfounded at what is happening. She 's confused as to why is Hanji laughing her ass off or why Levi glaring(?) at her as if she was a disappointment in life.
I'M ALIVE. Sorry I didn't update last month. There were a lot of breaks and I thought I could focus on this but my family planned trips and I didn't really had a quiet time to focus on this but now I have.As compensation though,I'm already on my way on the next chaptef! it's where the expedition is happening now!
I drew a digital art of Rie so you know how she looks like.I'll be posting it up soon on my deviantart.
In case you don't know my DA acc.:
deviantart. yurinyx .com
