REWRITE THE STARS

BY: Camille

Chapter 1

"Have We Met Before?"

Christa

Christa Lens was now a new member of Scout Regiment, along with Ymir and the others. After the night they chose to stay at the platform while others left to join other regiments, it still terrified her to think that the field she chose would bring her to death one day. It was not a thing that she would try to deny, but all she knew was that she wanted it with all her heart. They had just arrived at the castle where the scouts would continue to plan the next operation.

The operation to reclaim Shiganshina.

As of now, they were about to be introduced to their newfound squad. They all stood in formation to meet their superiors, waiting together for a formal introduction.

She stood at the front. They were all silent as they waited for this quick meeting to start.

She noticed a group of people wearing their brown jacket with wings of freedom on their shoulders arrive, and they came to stand in front of them. The Survey Corps.

She recognized Commander Erwin and his team, followed by a brunette, ponytailed woman who was wearing glasses. They were followed by a smaller male figure, with raven hair. His eyes were cold but fierce, and his body was well proportioned.

Well, that was very detailed for her to observe.

Different to the rest of them, he had the scariest aura; she felt cold run along her spine as she stared at his unreadable expression. He even had dark circles surrounding his eyes. Hange was the Squad Leader, in charge of the four squads. She also administered the two captured titans, although this was dismissed after the two monsters were assassinated by unidentified individuals. Christa even participated when all the cadets let their ODM gear be inspected because the Military Police suspected that the ones responsible for this were of the 104th Training Corps.

Mike was the leader of Squad Mike and known as the Second Strongest Soldier. She wondered who the first strongest soldier might be. What was he like? Or was this person a woman?

While listening to them, Christa thought how strong these people were, knowing that they were all bound to slay the actual monsters that caused the extinction of humanity outside the walls. It was very well known that this special movement had lost many soldiers and only the strongest and bravest ones could still continue to play a part. That was the obvious reason why the other 104th cadets at the platform left. They were afraid to devote their lives.

This was clearly a suicide mission for her, to be killed by a starving, weird looking titan was highly possible in this kind of mission. She just prayed that this time, she would not end up as titan food. Who knew; maybe she would be dead in their first operation outside the walls. Well, she was ready to die after all. It was just another excuse for her to be killed.

She was lost in her thoughts, the others all listening to Mike's introduction, when Christa felt something was off from where she was standing. It was like there was a strange magnetic energy coming from somewhere, and her body felt it. Like someone was asking her to look for them. Her hair stood on end and there was a chill under her skin. Deep in her mind, there was a thought that it was urgent. She stood back a bit.

Her eyes wandered around to locate where the strange ambience came from. Everybody here was looking so attentively on Mike; it seemed she was the only one bothered with this feeling. Someone was staring at her and she was sure about that. She could feel the gravity of those staring eyes inside her nerves.

Where are you?

Her voice inside was looking for answers.

Then something came to her senses and she looked at the guy in front of them all. It was as if she were magnetized by the direction where her eyes were taking her to and there, she met the intimidating, dark-grey eyes staring back at her. The short guy lining up with the Commander of the Survey Corps was giving her an unsettling gaze.

She tensed at his death stare. Though his face looked expressionless, it sent terror through her. She drew her eyes away from him, and even though she felt very uncomfortable, she hated to admit that there was a satisfying feeling when she caught his gaze again. His expression suddenly relaxed at her attention.

Who are you?

Maybe she was just assuming that he was looking at her. There's no chance this guy would be attracted to her …

Well, for sure, he was a grown man and it was impossible.

Maybe he was staring in another direction, and it turned out she was in his way. Still, it was so unsettling for her; she could physically feel his stare. Who the hell was this guy? She felt how heavy her body was right then.

She glanced around for a moment, feeling distracted. When she looked back at the man in front of them, and unfortunately, he was still gazing at her, she still wasn't certain if he was really looking her way. She felt like there were butterflies in her stomach. For one last time, to end her distress, she looked at him with a frown, and then she noticed that he raised both of his eyebrows and they fell down again. Those grey, youthful eyes were telling her something. Despite the uneasiness, she was driven by her own curiousness, and she raised an eyebrow at him. For a second, she saw him raising one eyebrow too.

He was mirroring her. It was like they were talking about something through their eyes. There was just something about his appearance; it felt like she didn't want to look away.

They were staring at each other, and no one seemed to notice. Then she blinked her eyes and, without failure, he did it too. He was just standing there not even moving, arms crossed while his eyes were on her.

He lowered his face slightly and he gave her his cooler, piercing stare. A fear was just about to settle in her stomach when he moved his lips. They formed a word.

--Fo--cus--

Focus.

That's what he'd been saying?

What?

She met his dark gaze seriously, hoping that he would stop throwing piercing glances at her. She thought how his face looked small because of his undercut and the cravat on his chest.

Then he nodded his head, like he was confirming her confusion.

Hey Brat!

She jumped. He really was looking at her. Her shoulders shook, her nerves were trembling, and she looked away.

Her mind was in chaos now.

Is this person one of the leaders here at the scouts?

What a creepy guy! Seriously!

She glanced around. Realizing she'd been distracted by his presence, she wished they'd just introduce who he was, because now she was dying to know to solve this mystery. Would she be under the supervision of this cranky guy? Why was he standing in front of them and looking like he was choosing who among them he would kill next? His gaze was enough to make you shit your pants. Christa couldn't stand it anymore.

When finally …

"Now, I introduce you to the Special Operation Squad's Captain within the Survey Corps, also known as the famous Humanity's Strongest Soldier, CAPTAIN LEVI ACKERMAN."

She raised her head to see the short guy move forward and cross his arms. His face was expressionless and he was looking elsewhere, like he didn't care for the attention. His face was more bored this time.

Christa almost dropped where she stood upon discovering who they guy was. Her heart was pounding as she is struggled to regain her composure. It was like her energy was being sucked outside her body.

What's happening?

There was no way she was going to look at those grey eyes again. Now that she knew who he was, she would never again challenge him with staring games. He was Captain Levi, the one who beat up Eren at the Court room. She could still remember Mikasa's angry face when she told her that little twit had beat up Eren in court.

So, that little twit was … Captain Levi. She realised that this was why she'd been terrified by his gaze: it was because she'd been staring eye to eye with Humanity's Strongest Soldier.

"Christa, what are you doing?" Ymir's voice came out of nowhere. Christa flinched when she realized that she was standing beside her.

"W-what?" she replied.

Ymir gave her an examining look, her brows meeting at the center. "You're blushing," she said flatly.

For a moment, Christa grew panicked. "Wh-at!? No, I'm not!" She'd been literally unaware of it. Her hands covered her cheeks. Her face was warm, and this just made her even more worried. Why were her hands so cold on her own face?

Why the hell did she blush? For the walls sake! She was sure that the person standing in front of her would notice it too - That she was blushing.

"Hey! You two! Quit the crap!" One of the soldiers yelled in front of them. He was standing behind Commander Erwin. He had this grey, curly hair, and a face that made him look in his thirties, or even older than the others. He even wore cravat.

He was looking at both of them.

Great.

Now everybody stopped the introduction and gazed at the two of them. Ymir just looked at the ground and Christa was drowned by shame … She heard the whispers at the back of her head. She managed to set her face like a tiger and steady her posture, and she had no choice but to stare straight across her way.

It meant that she would stare straight in Captain Levi's direction. There was no way she was going to willingly look right at him, but she needed to show that she was paying attention to the program. When she looked up, he met her gaze. Her heart skipped.

Move away from him.

She thought that she'd just try to look to the side of the Captain's face and avoid his piercing gaze. She pulled her gaze from his eyes and to his cheeks and then to his undercut hair, until finally, she managed to stare straight through him.

How could she avoid those fervent grey eyes?

"Tch." She heard him make a small noise.

From the corner of her eye, she could see that he was looking at her again. Again, her heart recoiled. When would this intense feeling subside? Her forehead was sweating.

"Come on Levi, Say something to the new cadets." Hange spoke to Levi.

The Captain ignored her by looking away. Then she elbowed Commander Erwin and rolled her eyes at Levi. As if they'd been in this situation a hundred times before.

Erwin looked at Levi. "It's an order " he simply said.

In just one blink of an eye, Levi scowled at them like a child being forced to say hello to others. He turned his gaze to the audience.

"Listen you brats, it's a brave thing for you to join the Scouts, you know that there's an upcoming operation we're still planning. So I expect you to simply follow orders, don't make me come and kick your ass when you do stupid things. I already have to deal with one of your classmates here - Eren Yeager - so don't add yourself to the lineup." He said it simply, with no trace of humour. But his voice sent butterflies to her stomach again. She could also sense the fear from her comrades when they heard him preach; they were all terrorized by his presence.

The Captain glared at his colleagues. "Satisfied?"

"That will do." Erwin nodded his head.

Were they used to being scowled at like this by the Captain?

After hearing that, Levi walked towards the side of the group. He reached the corner of the grand stand then stood at the back of a female cadet with hazelnut colored hair. Now Christa couldn't see the expression on his face because he was hiding himself behind this group of people.

She found she felt relieved that he was away from her. He intimidated her so much.

*

Levi

Levi and his comrades arrived back from the grand stand. Erwin asked him to assign the remaining tasks to the new rookies since they still had time to add some more plans for the upcoming operation.

Without wasting time, he ordered his squad to divide the rookies and let them clean the entire castle all over again, since he still was not satisfied with the cleaning performance of his team before the new members arrived.

At 10am, Levi found himself doing his rounds to check the place. He wanted to confirm that the new recruits were doing their job as he strolled around the castle. Dust was everywhere, a sign that everybody was on the move now with cleaning. He tucked his face mask as he walked along the corridor; the place really did need to get a good clean, since they would be spending their time there preparing for the operation. The Titan shifter Eren would regret it if he tried to transform in the castle.

He reached the kitchen. The table was a mess; so many plates with leftover food. Actually … it was a mountain of plates from their lunch break. He expected that there would be several people here, but there was no-one except a blonde female cadet, washing the dishes.

"Are you the only one assigned here kid?"

The girl was so startled when he spoke that she almost let go of the plate that she was holding. He heard the impact of glass on glass, and then plates and spoons were falling into the sink's bottom. The sound grated on him.

"Watch the plates, we don't have enough of them," he said with a warning tone.

"Sorry C-Captain. They're all still at the stables; they're bathing the horses." She turned her face to him.

Oh. It was the blue eyed kid from the introduction program. Well, honestly, he was starting to hate her eyes – they distracted him. Her eyes were blue just like Erwin's. But her orbs were something else. He enjoyed those eyes when they first met his; they looked so disturbed when he threw his famous death stare at her. He really found it so entertaining when she moved her eyeballs everywhere to avoid his gaze.

He didn't know why.

He leaned at the side of the door entrance.

"What's your name?" He crossed his arms.

"Christa Lens, Captain." she said in a mild, sweet tone.

"Well, Christa, tell your colleagues to sleep in the stables tonight. The ones who are supposed to be here with you," he said, then stepped into the kitchen. He rolled his sleeves then brought some plates to the second sink beside her.

He saw her stealing a glimpse at him while washing her own plates. Her thick eye lashes were twitching towards his direction. She stopped and put the plate down and turned to him. They were only a foot apart.

"Captain, I'll go look for them and bring them here." She wiped her hands on the fabric of her uniform.

"Forget them kid. Let's finish this area then we'll look for them. I'll make them regret choosing horse shit over my instructions." He started to pick up a plate and wash it.

She just stared at him like a child, her eyes round and her mouth half open.

"Kid, you're not going to clean the dishes just by looking at my face," he said while making round strokes with a sponge on the plate. He was aware of her gaze and again, it disturbed him.

She looked at him like his presence got her lost in her thoughts. Like a child looking into a monster, unaware ... Maybe she also thought that his face seemed to look so familiar. Was he sure about accompanying this little brat? He was starting to regret his choice. He could just go and join Erwin at their meeting. It would be more productive to do so.

"Captain …?" she asked finally.

He just made a low sound. "Hmm."

"By any chance . . . have we met each other before?" Her innocent voice reached his ears.

Then, he also thought about it. From her appearance, it was clear that she was still only around fifteen or probably even fourteen. So if they had seen each other before, she would probably have still been a child.

"No," he said flatly.

"Oh, I thought – "

"I'm not fond of any shitty kids, so cut it out." He cut her off immediately.

Clearly understanding that he wasn't in the mood to talk casually, she didn't talk anymore and continued to wash the plates.

There was a long silence in the air; the only sound was the water pouring from the faucet.

For the first time, he thought that he'd hurt the kid's feelings; maybe she had just been trying to make the ambience less boring …

He stopped with his chore, then looked at her. "Do you know how to make tea?" He asked.

"Captain?" She looked at him with an attentive eye.

"You heard me." He growled at her.

"Y-yes, I love making tea. Would you like me to make some for you C-Captain?" She asked hesitantly.

"Hmm …" he answered.

Hell, out of the blue, he just wanted to say something. He felt bad after insulting her. At the corner of his eye, he could see the blonde kid smile at him, then wash her hands. She went for the kettle.

He heard her open the kitchen cabinets. Maybe she was looking for ingredients to make tea. Well, he couldn't help her find any, since he hadn't seen any since they moved in with Eren. He just listened to the kitchen utensils clang in the room as the petite girl searched in the cabinets.

After a couple of minutes, he finally heard her whispering something.

"At last!" she said.

She continued to prepare the fire and started to put water in the kettle ... then after a few minutes he heard the kettle making a screeching sound. The air was filled with the scent of tea.

Not bad for a kid.

"Your tea is ready Captain," she said.

At the same time, all the plates in the kitchen were cleaned. This was the exact time that he wanted to relax. He was fond of drinking tea after cleaning his surroundings; it always completed his mood for the day. A day without tea, was a day full of shit. Without it, he'd go mad easily.

Carefully, he placed the last plate in the cabinets and went to sit on a chair. As she carried the tea pot towards his cup, he examined how she handled pouring the tea. He always hated it when one of his subordinates would spill tea at the side of his cup.

To his amazement, she did it neatly. Like a pro, you could say. Only a few people would give a clean performance when pouring tea in front of him … Even Erwin would spill some amount of liquid when he tried to pour tea during their meetings. It always made Levi annoyed for the rest of the day, and anybody might be on the receiving end of his anger.

But today, as the kid poured his tea, it seemed so neat; not a single drop at the side of the cup. The aroma of the tea immediately reached his nose, and then he felt his mind clear for a moment. He closed his eyes and smelled the scent.

Perfect.

All his thoughts about kicking those brats asses in the stables suddenly faded away from his thoughts. Like a sun that chased the storm away. That's why he loved tea. It calmed his senses.

Just what he wanted. She was the first cadet to master his expectation. One point.

He sipped the tea … And it was just as he wanted it to taste.

"What's your name again kid?" he asked.

She was standing at the side of the table, holding the pot. Her face was very gentle as she smiled. Her blue eyes twinkled.

"Christa Lens, Captain." she said.

He just looked at her blankly.

"Well, at least you have good taste," he said and drank the whole cup of tea.

"Thank you Captain." she said shyly.

He stood up and went to the door.

He didn't get a good look at her face after giving her the compliment. She just stared at the floor.

"See you around, soldier." He walked towards the kitchen doorway.

As he headed outside the kitchen, he thought how the kid had a gentle touch with everything. A well groomed girl, if he was talking about cleanliness.

And of course, he was impressed by how she prepared his tea. He wondered where the kid came from. How on earth did she end up joining the Survey Corps?

Have they met before?

That's why he felt so disturbed, because he wasn't used to being exposed to such a kind person like this kid.From the first time he set his eyes on that girl, he could see that she was too kind.

"Hope she'll live a long time," he said while walking to the corridors.