The rest of the afternoon moved without my knowledge and before I knew it, the dinner bell had rung. Voices filled up the air as the Corps all headed towards the Mess hall. I considered just skipping dinner until my stomach growled loudly in protest. Sending it the stink eye, another sigh left me and I forced myself out of my isolation.

By the time I reached the Mess hall, almost everyone was half way through their meal. Judging by the stares sent my way when I pushed the wooden doors open, I knew I wouldn't be distracted by anyone. So I grabbed a small bowl of soup, a loaf of bread and a cup of orange juice and sat on the edge of a table. Minding my own business, I kept my head down and began to eat. Soon after, the conversations returned to their original volume. Not surprisingly, I ate my dinner alone.

After all, who would want to sit with someone who had just transferred back from the Military Police? Obviously there were reasons, the question was: why?

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted my old Special Ops Squad enjoying their own food, loudly chatting like everyone else in the Mess Hall. Everyone but me that was. Biting my lip, I gave up eating, my appetite gone and downed my juice instead. Afterwards, I cleared my table off and headed out, fully aware of the several pairs of eyes following me.

I immediately went to the Titan training grounds and reeled myself onto one of the trees located in the centre of the area. By that time, the moonlight was seeping through the leaves, giving the practice forest an eerie atmosphere. I gritted my teeth as the loneliness finally settled in my mind.

How many more times did I have to go through this? How long would it take before I would be finally accepted back into the Corps as before?

A harsh chuckle escaped out of me as I rethought that question. I would never be able to slip back into the Survey Corps as if nothing had happened. My relationships with everyone would be tainted with this event.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

I whirled around and smashed a fist into the tree bark, splinters flying out from impact. The other half of my brain retaliated. Despite knowing this, I still chose to accept the undercover mission. I willingly sacrificed my relations for the safety of my closest and dearest friends. The fact that they were out of harm's way (figuratively speaking) should have been enough to ease these feelings of loneliness.

But they didn't.

My slight depression evolved into an anger, an anger directed at myself.

"You knew this would happen, Hazura!" With that, I dived off the branch and began slicing titan replicas as I flew between the trees, berating myself as I went.

"Their safety will always come before your own!" I sliced at the Titan flesh between each breath I spat out.

"You saved them, Hazura. What more do you need?!" I cut into one last wooden doll and dropped the blunt blade. Taking refuge on another hidden branch, I collapsed against the trunk stabbing my blade into wood.

"Still…it doesn't change the fact that they still hate you." I whispered, trailing off as a few stray tears escaped.

"Hate is too much of a strong word. I'd say despise."

Instinctively, I yanked new blades out and spun around, ready for a blitz attack. However, it never came and never would. Levi stood before me, completely at ease. His eyes followed my tears, pulling me back into a relaxed state. I instantly sheathed my weapons and quickly wiped my display of weakness away with the sleeve of my uniform.

"Levi." I mentally cursed when my voice broke and I tried again. "Sorry. Levi. What are you doing here?"

"I'll answer yours after you answer mine." He replied swiftly. "What are you doing here?"

I blinked the remaining moisture away and formulated a response. "Releasing stress." And cocked my head towards him, waiting for his own answer.

"Realising that you were just following orders."

We fell into a bout of silence as he let me comprehend what he just said.

"You never wanted to enter the Military Police, Rina."

I shook my head. "No, I did choose to enter the Mi-"

"No, you chose to save us and by doing that, you had to enter the MP." Levi angrily waved a hand in the air and quickly closed the distance between. "What pisses me off is why."

His eyes were even more intense up close and I had to look away to answer coherently.

"I guess you deserve to know. It is all over now." I murmured, more to myself than Levi.

"Damn straight I deserve to know." He growled.

"The Toria gang was the group that attacked the Special Ops a couple of weeks ago. They had ties to the Underground and to the Military Police. They were dangerous. That wasn't it, though." I held up a hand as I noticed Levi's mouth open and he remained quiet.

"Due to your ties with the Underground and with the relations between the MP and the Survey Corps rocky at the best of times, Erwin approached me with the opportunity to close the Toria gang and the few corrupted MP officers. With that opportunity came the knowledge that I would be protecting you from harm."

"Me?" he breathed.

I nodded mutely. "The minute that the Toria gang found that the Survey Corps, more specifically you, were on their case, who knows what they could have done in retaliation. So, I entered the MP undercover as an investigator to bring the Toria gang down. I also managed to ensure that the MP officers at fault were fully penalised and that the Special Ops were to stay out of the picture."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked and I sighed.

"I couldn't. If word somehow got out, then the MP could have put the whole thing as some kind of conspiracy of the Corps trying to overtake the Police. The less that knew, the better chances of actual justice."

"Does anyone else know of this?" he took another step towards me casually. I shook my head.

"Erwin, MP Investigator Fuji, Commander Jefferson and surprisingly Hanji."

"So it really was a secret."

"Yeah and now because of it, I've lost everyone's friendship with me." I involuntarily gritted my teeth together. "Apart from those four, I don't have anyone anymore."

Then goosebumps erupted over my skin.

I instantly stiffened from the unpredicted movement from Levi. He had stepped forward and swiftly wrapped his arms around me. My mouth opened but no words came out, making me look like a gaping fish. Levi buried his face into my shoulder and kept his face deliberately from my sight.

"U-uh-um, Levi?" I stammered, shivering from both the cold night and from his sudden closeness.

"Shut up."

We fell into a silence after that and my mind raced with options of what to do. Hug him back? Tease him? Hit him? Stay silent? I had opted for the option of 'freaking out' before Levi broke the ice.

"Get a grip. We're in the Survey Corps. We don't have the time to be questioning ourselves or each other."

I immediately encircled Levi into my own arms and held tightly onto him.

"You're growing soft but thank you." I mumbled. I held on until I composed myself again, slowly pulling away from the warmth.

"Everyone will understand once it becomes clear as to why you moved." He assured.

I rolled my eyes.

"Levi, don't be dense. It's not like I can go around proclaiming that I switched to the MP as a double agent. I only told you because you were involved."

Levi clicked his tongue in annoyance but nevertheless nodded.

"Now what?"

I shrugged and sat down, rubbing my temples. "Beats me."

"Coming back to the Ops?"

I paused and glanced up at Levi. What I was greeted with was his face turned away but his hand had been extended to me. My heart swelled. That was the closest thing I was going to get in Levi admitting that he needed (or missed) me. I couldn't help teasing him though.

"Can you at least face me when asking me that?"

"Take or leave it, Hazura." He dead-panned back. I chuckled and grabbed his hand firmly. With that, he yanked me up to stand beside him.

"If you'll have me."