The feeling of jealousy ran down Jean's spine, tormenting him as he sat alone against the tree trunk. Clenching his teeth in order to suppress his emotions, he picked up a fiery red leaf laying next to him and crushed it in his palm, dropping it to the forest floor. The brown-haired boy tried to get his thoughts in order. What exactly was he feeling right now? Towards Eren, he could feel a bit of resentment. Although the squad leader had never known about his love towards their younger friend, it still felt as if Eren had purposely snatched the boy away right after his own confession. Even towards Sojin, he felt a sense of betrayal. After all the times he had helped the younger boy and a confession, it seemed quite cruel of him to run straight into Eren's arms. Jean shook his head a bit, trying to convince himself that it wasn't Sojin's fault. A person couldn't help who they loved, right? He let out a quiet sigh, then finally pushed himself to his knees and crawled a bit closer to where Christa was sleeping, laying himself down in preparation for sleep. The forest was dead quiet with even the leaves laying motionless. Normally, such a quiet environment would make for a peaceful rest, but with his current mindset it put Jean even more on edge. Nevertheless, within a half hour the boy had finally managed to leave his troubles behind and enter sleep.
Armin paced back and forth across the tree branch, gazing out into the night. So far the night watch had been extremely smooth. Not only had the captive boy not woken up, but it seemed as if everything in the forest was asleep at this point. The tactician wished he could go to sleep himself, beginning to regret volunteering for the first shift. A good three hours had already passed, so he would go ask Eren to relieve him in a few minutes. Stopping his pacing for a moment, he stared at the captive in confusion. Flashing back to the previous battle, it seemed like the metal titan's target had mostly been Sojin. Even when Eren had been standing right in front of it, it had lunged for the medic in a last ditch effort. But why? Sojin wasn't even a titan-shifter or a high-ranking noble. Armin shook his head, throwing the thoughts away. There was no point in trying to figure this out without the boy being awake. Glancing up to where Eren was sleeping, he waited a few moments before deciding to go wake the boy. He wouldn't be able to come up with any useful plans if he got no sleep. Armin glanced at the sleeping captive, a bit hesitant to leave him alone. How was it possible that he was still unconscious? Regardless, if the boy woke up, he literally had no place to run. With a shrug, Armin loosed his 3D Maneuver Gear, ascending to the branch where Eren and Sojin slept. Landing softly, he took a step back in surprise upon seeing the medic in Eren's arms. The titan-shifter had already alerted him to the situation with Sojin, but he hadn't sounded like he had intended for anything more than friendship. In fact, he had specifically said that he was leaning much more towards Mikasa. Armin narrowed his eyes a bit, then circled around the boys, kneeling next to Eren and gently shaking the boy's arm.
"Eh…? Armin?" Eren asked sleepily, slowly opening his eyes and turning his head to look at the blonde.
"It's your turn to watch our captive," Armin whispered, pointing towards the lower branch. "I can't stay up any longer."
Eren nodded, carefully removing his arm from beneath Sojin's head and pulling himself to a sitting position.
"Ah, right. Sorry for not relieving you earlier," Eren said, rubbing his hair back into place. Armin shook his head and smiled, but then looked towards Sojin, pointing at the sleeping boy.
"What are you doing?!" he questioned sharply. "You said you were leaning towards Mikasa!"
Eren shook his head. "I don't really know…I thought I liked Mikasa more, but after spending more time with him, I also really like Sojin."
"I guess that makes sense…" Armin whispered after a slight pause. "Just be careful or you'll end up hurting both of them."
Eren nodded his understanding, then ruffled Armin's hair. "Since when are you so up to snuff on romantic advice?" he asked with a snicker, before jumping from the branch and landing next to the captive. Armin glared at the joke, but then lay down, making sure there was a good amount of space between him and the medic and then falling asleep immediately.
The titan-shifter glared down at the captive boy, not falling for the possibility that the younger boy was still unconscious. He kneeled down to eye level with the black-haired boy, examining the captive closely. Eren continued to stare intensely for a few moments, seemingly looking for something. There! The squad leader smirked as he noticed the captive's eyelid quiver a bit.
"Oi, how long does it take someone to come around?" Eren asked, loud enough for the boy to hear him, adding a slight smirk. He paused for a moment, waiting to see if the taunt would work, but the boy remained silent. "Look, I already know you're awake. I just want to talk to you, so drop the act."
Surprisingly, the black-haired boy did as he was told, finally opening his eyes and glaring furiously at Eren.
"Let me go!" he exclaimed, pulling at the bonds that held his arms together behind his back. Eren felt a bit of pity for the boy, but remembered how he had tried to kill Sojin earlier, reigniting his anger. The brown-haired boy shook his head and rose to his feet, placing his hands behind his own back.
"If you wanna be set free, then you'll have to cooperate," he stated, any friendliness in his voice disappearing. "Let's start this interview. First of all, what's your name? Just give me a full introduction so I don't have to drag it out of you."
The boy finally stopped squirming, realizing it was hopeless, then turned his attention to his captor. He hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure of whether to give Eren an honest answer or fib, but then carried on.
"I'm Kizae. I'm 19," he responded, sarcasm filling his voice. Eren's eyes narrowed at the response, but he was actually impressed that the kid had given him even that much information.
"Well, I wish I could say it's nice to meet you, Kizae. Anyway, you know what I really want you to tell me," Eren said, taking a step closer to the boy. Kizae glanced to the left, breaking eye contact and remaining silent. Eren let out a sigh at the boy's stubbornness.
"Don't make me do this the hard way. Why were you attacking us? Specifically Sojin. He's not even a titan-shifter so what business do you have with him?" Eren asked, his voice raising slightly. The captive ignored the statement, gritting his teeth and continuing to look to the side. Eren rolled his eyes, unsheathing his sword and bringing it to the boy's neck.
"You're lucky we just cut your titan flesh last time. This body won't recover the same way, you know," he stated. Eren had no intention of actually harming the boy, but hopefully his threat was convincing enough. Kizae hesitated a moment, eyeing the blade in fear before a smirk spread across his face. To the squad leader's surprise, the boy jerked his arm upward and across the edge of the blade, cutting into his own flesh.
"Shit!" Eren exclaimed, a thunderous boom striking the branch as Kizae managed to use the wound to shift into his titan form. The enormous sound shook everyone from their sleep, all four members quickly rising to their feet to find the source. Eren, meanwhile, had been blown off the branch by the force of the transformation, managing to latch on to the tree far below. Checking his gear, he let out a curse as he saw that one of the hookshots had been damaged by the explosive force, making him immobile.
Peering over the edge of the tree branch, Sojin began to panic as he could not catch sight of Eren. However, he hardly had time to worry about that as the titan locked eyes with him, immediately launching itself upwards towards the branch where he and Armin stood.
"It's after Sojin!" Armin exclaimed, pushing the medic out of the way of the titan's lunge.
"How did it shift back into titan form?!" asked Christa, swinging over to Sojin's side of the tree, Jean right behind her. Armin shook his head, unsure as well, but tried to think of a plan. The titan had landed close by and was already preparing itself for another launch.
"I don't know if Eren can shift into titan form again this soon, so we'll have to fight it!" Armin exclaimed. "Christa, it's after Sojin so defend him and try to get as far away as possible. Jean and I will try to buy you time and subdue it. I'm not sure where Eren we—"
Before the blonde boy could complete his orders, the titan relaunched itself, propelling itself towards the branch, then slicing the limb clear off the tree. Christa and Sojin both let out a yelp as the squad began free-falling, but managed to stabilize themselves with their maneuver gear.
"Go!" Armin yelled at the girl and medic, launching himself at the titan with his swords out. Jean followed suit, narrowly missing a swipe from the giant creature as it leapt towards Sojin yet again. The medic dodged out of the way, but was hesitant to leave the battle. Why was he always so useless when it came to these situations? Could he really run again and not help his teammates at all?
"Sojin, c'mon!" Christa exclaimed, beckoning for the boy to follow her lead. Sojin shook his head at the girl, before dodging to another tree.
"It'll be much easier to take it down if there's four of us!" he called to the others, pulling his swords from their sheaths. He turned to Christa who was closest to him, not wanting the titan to hear his plan. "It's definitely focusing on me! If I can lead it to you guys, you can take it by surprise and win this! Go tell Jean and Armin! It's not a choice…I'm not leaving this time!"
The boy climbed further up the tree before Christa could object, the giant creature landing not far below and ascending just beneath him. Looking down, he could see Christa relaying the plan to the other boys. A moment later, the blonde girl signaled towards Sojin to head in the direction she pointed before all three of them dispersed. The medic pushed himself off the tree, withdrawing his hookshots and free-falling past the titan. The creature hesitated for a moment in confusion before pursuing, the metal spikes atop its head glinting in the moonlight. Sojin pulled himself in the direction that Christa had pointed to earlier, swinging from tree to tree as quickly as he could. He could feel the impact of the titan colliding with the trees behind him, making him grit his teeth anxiously. The pursuit continued for what felt like a few more minutes with no sign of the other three. The titan was finally closing in on him and even Sojin wasn't sure what the plan was at this point. Had he gone in the wrong direction? No, he had definitely seen Christa point this way. The boy took a deep breath pushing forwards as fast as he could and staying his course. He had to trust that the others had planned this and weren't about to let him get eaten. At the titan's next launch, it got so close that the boy could feel its breath envelope him as it attempted to chomp down. The next attack would definitely reach the boy and the titan knew it as well. With a blood-curdling screech, it launched itself at full speed towards the soldier, it's mouth wide open and eyes set on its prey. Sojin closed his eyes in anticipation for a painful end, but opened them as something bowled into him, carrying him to the side and out of the titan's path. Looking at his savior, he was a bit surprised to see Armin, having thought the others had abandoned him.
The titan also seemed to have forgotten about the boy's allies as its mouth remained open even after the boy was out of its trajectory. Suddenly, both Jean and Christa appeared from the trees, Christa blasting towards the titan's left side and Jean to its right. Sojin's jaw dropped as he saw the duo slice through the titan's knuckles on each hand with pinpoint accuracy before it could even react, the metallic claws dropping harmlessly to the forest floor. Unaware of what had just happened, the titan landed on a tree, stabbing its now bloody stubs into the bark. Unable to maintain a hold, it fell to the forest floor, letting out another deafening cry before landing with a thud and falling silent. Not wasting any time, all four squad members descended to the forest floor, prepared to battle the titan once more. To their surprise, the giant lay twitching on its back, one of its own claws piercing directly through its stomach.
"It…it landed on one of its own claws?!" Christa exclaimed, wincing a bit at the gruesome site. Jean and Sojin seemed just as shocked, but Armin wasted little time, immediately heading down to the titan's side. The creature thrashed about as the blonde boy got nearer, but the impalement kept it from rising. The metallic spikes upon its head prevented it from resting its neck upon the ground, giving Armin a straight shot at its nape. Waiting for an opportune moment, Armin shot forwards beneath the titan's neck and sliced through the flesh, the creature instantly falling still. Sojin, Jean, and Christa all descended to the forest floor, helping Armin dissect Kizae from the titan's nape.
"Damnit, Eren…" Jean muttered, staring at the unconscious boy. He turned to the other three, avoiding eye contact with Sojin. "Let's make sure he doesn't escape again. It's time we get some answers."