Author's Note: Hi. Sorry for the long wait. I am really occupied with school stuffs for the past weeks and some relatives died so I have to be still for a while.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.
A Thug Life of Loving You
"Auruo!" Petra exclaimed, merely surprised, when she saw her comrade's wrinkled face and undercut hair.
"What happened to you?" he asked in a rude tone but worry was still reflecting in his eyes.
She shook her head and sat with her knees on the wood. She was shaking because of the impact of the grip on her body earlier. She looked down to watch Levi, Gunther and Erdo got themselves busy on the battlefield. She couldn't figure out why did it happen to her earlier. Why did her hook couldn't able to attach on the trunk?
'Why in times like this?' she asked herself and changed her damaged blades to new set of sharp ones.
Earlier, Gunther was grabbed by a titan, he immediately escaped from its grip since he was able to slice its fingers before it could squeeze him. He then maneuvered and aimed for the nape and sliced it deeply. For that, Auruo chose to go to where Petra was since she's the one nearest to him. Along with it, her condition was crucial and her blades were damaged. Worst of it, her gas was only a quarter filled. On the other hand, when a new titan appeared before Erdo, he immediately took it down, setting aside his female comrade's situation because he saw his comrades coming to rescue her.
"Auruo." Petra said.
"What?" he asked. His attention was focused on where their comrades were.
"Thank you." she said though it's against her will to show gratitude to him.
He raised an eyebrow and was a bit surprised. "Huh? Thanks for what?"
"For saving me, idiot!" she replied, quite pissed for Auruo's slow processing brain.
He scratched his head. "It's nothing. You should be more thankful to Levi Heichou. If he didn't cut the titan's hand, I wouldn't be able to get you out there." he confessed.
Upon hearing it, Petra was stunned for a moment and her mouth slightly opened. Her amber gaze drifted to the man she admires who was currently making his way on the trees and went to where they were standing, along with Erdo and Gunther.
"Petra!" the two men said in angst.
"What happened to you?" Erdo asked her.
She couldn't respond immediately. Her eyes were fixed on Levi who was looking at her.
"H-heichou." she said, afraid that her corporal might be disappointed.
Levi stood in front of her while maintaining an eye contact.
Her body was still trembling but she pushed herself to stand and be strong. Despite of her femininity, she has to show them that they weren't differing in strength.
When the corporal saw that she could still manage to stand, "Let's go." he said.
It was their fifth time to be in an operation, apparently the Levi squad's fifth expedition all together. They don't lack trainings, rather there were just unexpected situations that put them to risk. On Petra's case, she couldn't focus when all she could think was the gas on her gear.
They whistled to gather their horses that fled from the woods nearby. While calling for her horse, she kept on asking herself many things.
'Seriously, Petra Ral, why can't you focus on this expedition? It's just gas! Don't let your guard down, okay? The corporal is watching you, remember?' she told herself and grabbed the rein of her horse and saddled on it. She started to feel the aching muscles while on a horseback ride.
Any moment, they saw a signal on the east which means Erwin's squad stopped at a certain area. It was a relief for her so she could take some rest and a first aid.
They were travelling for about three kilometers when Gunther shouted.
"Titans! Two at the back approaching!"
"Tch." Levi tensed, "Keep going. We need to reach the location of the smoke before it fades in mid-air."
"Yes, Sir!" the four replied.
Deep in Petra's thoughts, she was grateful that their corporal didn't order them to switch on 3DMG again. If that's the case, she'd be in trouble again.
"Petra, fire it." Levi commanded her.
"Ah..! Yes, Sir!" she replied, quite surprised, and fired another red ammo for the nearby squads to see. They continued the mission with their horses as they travel in a faster pace.
"They're coming in, Heichou!" Gunther exclaimed, pertaining to the titans who were running towards them.
"Damn brainless faggots. I guess I have no choice." the corporal said with an irritated voice. "Switch to 3D Maneuver Gear!"
'For Sina's sake!' Petra told herself in a horrified facial expression.
There was the rear part of the Forest of Giant Trees so it would be quite easy for them to switch to their gears again. She couldn't move freely because of the muscle pain that she kept on enduring. Auruo and Erdo started on the first titan that was approaching. They cut the legs and arms so it wouldn't be able to move and grab them. Auruo maneuvered from its falling body and cut the nape of the titan. However, Gunther called out Petra when he noticed her spacing out in the air.
"Stay focus, Petra!" he yelled and shot his cable on the other titan's back.
She hesitated to shoot her cable and stopped on a tree nearby. At this rate, she has to limit every action. As she stood on the bark up high, Levi shouted.
"Petra! Assist!"
She looked at him with repressed fear at the back of her mind, and flew in mid-air to strike the titan's arms. She easily cut them off in seconds which made it easier for Gunther to turn it down.
"Hurry! We have to reach the smoke signal! We have three minutes left!" Levi told his squad.
"In 3D Maneuver Gear?" Auruo asked him.
"Yes." the corporal replied. "The horses will follow us."
Petra's face was mortified but she continued to go with the flow. She quietly swayed on the branches of the trees while looking straight ahead.
'The commander's location is about a kilometer away. I can still make it.' she nailed her eyes on the corporal's back, 'Have faith, Petra! Don't humiliate yourself.' she told herself deterministically.
They successfully reached the area where Erwin's squad and the carriages stopped over and there's Mike on top of a roof of a destroyed house. The area was a devastated small village with foul odor blending in the air because of the decaying human body parts scattered around. Hands, legs, head and other small body parts were on the dirty ground left by titans, maybe about four months ago.
"Thank goodness, weー" Petra's statement was interrupted. Her comrades (excluding Levi) shouted her name in synchrony.
"Petra!"
She rolled on the dirty ground like a ball and her landing wasn't the clean one. Her gas ran out and it was totally empty. At least, she was able to reach their destination safely.
"I-It hurts." she said under her breath while cupping her head as she helped herself to sit in posture.
"I see." Levi said from behind, walking towards her.
She immediately turned her head to look at him.
"All this time, you keep on thinking of running out of gas."
Petra bit her lower lip. "I lied." she confessed, "I lied to the squad. I'm sorry. I was too busy preparing the squad's essentials, I forgot to fill my gas when Hanji-san called us."
"Drop it. Fill your gas now." he ordered and offered his hand. She looked at him with surprised eyes. She thought he was going to punish her or tell her harsh words but he didn't mind it. How could he figure out that she couldn't stand by her own for offering his hand?
"Get up." he said gently.
She reached out her hand to grab his. Levi pulled her so she could be able to stand. As long as she was able to stand on her feet, he pulled her a bit closer to him and whispered.
"Next time, don't lie to me."
A slight curve was drawn at the corner of her lips as she tried to hide her shame. "I've already had two next times on you, Sir. You even saved me from the titan's grip. Thank you."
He poked her forehead. "You're clumsy. You should focus on the expedition."
"Yes, Sir!" she replied while nodding her head up and down.
"Very well." Levi said.
When they were about to walk together, Mike blocked their way.
"I smell..." he began while sniffing at his best, "...something here..."
Petra's sweat dropped from her temple down to the side of her cheeks while the corporal wore his poker face. Mike sniffed her.
"Oi." Levi said with twitched eyebrows while giving Mike a deadly glare as if saying, "Try to come closer to Petra or I'll tear your nose away from your mustache."
The sniffing man stood in front of her and said, "You landed on the decaying human body parts, gingerbread. Change your clothes over there."
"E-eh? Y-yes, Sir." she replied and saluted in respect of Mike. When she looked at her hands, it was so gross and dirty. She took a quick glance on her corporal and then went to where the other soldiers were guarding the carriages of essentials/personal things of each squads.
'Levi Heichou held my hand though it's so gross and dirty!' she said at the back of her mind.
"What the hell are you up to?" Levi asked the sniffing man.
Mike looked at the short guy before him. "I can smell funny things that ordinary humans can't." he answered, "I thought you dislike it when your hands get dirty." he added and walked away.
The corporal looked at his dirty hands, thanks to Petra. He got his handkerchief and wiped it off.
"Levi." Erwin called out from behind him.
He turned around to see the blond commander. "What is it?" he asked.
"I see what you did there." Erwin said which made the corporal's eyes a bit wide and a slight surprise was drawn on his face.
'Damn it, fuzzy eyebrows.' he said at the back of his mind.
A/N: Thank you for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated. Tell me if the characters are OOC.
