"So he couldn't transform?" I asked Levi as I walked up to him. They had just returned from their experiment to get Eren to turn into a Titan in a well. We had to bandage up his hands because he had bitten himself all over and still didn't transform.
"No. We don't know why." He said to me. I looked over to Eren and saw him talking to the rest of the squad at the table. I sighed.
"And I thought we would've learned something new today."
"I thought so too, but clearly he isn't as reliable as we thought." Levi said. A loud boom sound came from the table. I looked over and saw smoke covering the table. I felt someone stretch their arm out in front of me and pushed me back slightly. I looked over and saw Levi looking at the direction of the smoke. Once we realized what had happened Levi dropped his arm from in front of me and we both ran to Eren. He was trying to pull his arm free of the Titan arm that had grown from him.
"Calm down." Levi said to the squad. "I said to calm down, all of you." The squad all had their blades out, ready to attack Eren.
"Eren, what's the meaning of this?" Eldo yelled.
"What?" Eren was confused as to why everyone was holding their blades and pointed the ends towards him.
"Why now, without permission?" Eldo asked.
"Eldo, wait." Levi said.
"Answer him, Eren? What are you thinking?" Oluo asked Eren.
"No, that can wait, prove that you are not our enemy, humanity's enemy! Prove it now! That is your responsibility!" Gunther added.
"I dare you to make a single move with that arm! I'll cut off your head! I can do it, I'm serious! Do you want to try me?" Oluo said.
"Oluo, Captain Levi told you to calm down!" I yelled.
"Captain get away from him! You're too close!" Petra yelled.
"No, you're the ones who should get back. Get back." Levi said.
"Why?" Petra questioned.
"My intuition." Levi answered.
"What's wrong, Eren?"
"No sudden movements!"
"He isn't dangerous." I said.
"You get away from him too, Ryder!"
"But he isn't dangerous!"
"Prove it to me, Eren!"
"I said I don't understand." Eren's said with his shaky voice.
"Answer us! You think we can't kill you?"
"Leave him alone!" I yelled.
"I'm serious, Eren!"
"Do it now!"
"Are you even listening?"
"Okay, let's do this!"
"Are you humanity's-"
"Please shut up for a second!" Eren yelled at the top of his lungs. Everyone stopped yelling at him for a second to process the fact that he had just raised his voice at us.
"Eren!" I turned my head and saw Hanji running towards us with her trademark crazy look in her eyes. "Can I touch your arm?" She asked him as she reached our group.
"Hanji, I don't think this is the time to be-" She cut off my sentence.
"It's okay, right? Right? Just let me touch it!"
"Hanji…"Eren couldn't say anything to stop her. She reached out and touched the flesh of Eren's Titan arm. She retreated and began to bounce up and down.
"It's, so…hot! Without the skin it's really damn hot! Unbelievably hot!" She screamed. I then finally got a chance to look at Eren's arm properly. She was right, there was no top layer of skin, but it was only the muscle that was shown.
"Squad leader, you're too reckless!" One of her teammates came up to her. She got up and turned to look at Eren.
"Hey Eren, don't you feel how hot it is? How does it feel where the right hand connects? I really want to see!" I looked at Eren and saw him look down at his hand before he began to pull it free.
"Stupid thing." He said under his breath.
"Eren, don't do anything rash." Oluo warned him.
"Eren, be careful." By the end of my sentence Eren came stumbling backwards, on top of me. I landed on my back on the grass while he lied on top of me.
"Wait, Eren, I wanted to look at it some more!" Hanji was complaining off to the side.
"Ryder! I'm sorry!" Eren said to me as he began to stumble off of me, but Levi grabbed his collar and tossed him to the side. I sat up and looked at him.
"It's alright, are you hurt?" I asked him.
"Not…not so good." He said with heavy breathing as he leaned forward on his hands and knees. I placed my hand on his back and began to rub it softly, like my mother would do to me.
"Let's get you back to HQ, so we can get a proper look at you, okay?" I leaned down towards him.
"Oh-okay."
"Can you walk?" I asked him. He tried to move, but it took him a few seconds to stand. I stood beside him, but he wobbled slightly, so I grabbed onto his arm and wrapped it around my shoulders as my arm went around his waist.
"Th-thank you."
"Come on, let's get you back." I said and the two of us began to walk slowly.
"How is he?" I looked up and saw Levi leaning up against the wall across the hall from the door. I closed the door lightly and avoided Levi's eye contact.
"He'll be fine. He just needs some rest." I said. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before I decided it was time to leave. As I began to walk down the hall Levi stopped me,
"Ryder…" I waited for him to finish his sentence, but he didn't say anything. He's never said anything.
"I'll be fine, Levi. Just give me a little while, okay? But next time you break a plate, try not to let Petra see it afterwards…or cut yourself while picking up the pieces." I said before I walked away from him.
"Why can't we talk about this like adults?" I heard him ask from behind. I stopped in my tracks. "You never let me say anything to you." I turned on my heel and stared at him from down the hall.
"Because you've never said anything." He looked at me with his bored expression. "But, honestly, I've stopped waiting, Levi. You don't even look at me the way you used to." He just stared at me. He didn't even try to make a move towards me or say anything to stop me. "You've changed and I thought I could handle it, but I don't know anymore. I'm fine with you keeping up this front for everyone else, but it's me, Levi."
"Ryder…"
"I'm sorry, Levi." I turned around and took a few steps before saying, "Just give me some time and we'll be back to normal as always. We don't need anyone questioning this…whatever you would call this."
"Isn't it a friendship?" He asked me.
"Friendships aren't one-sided." I continued to walk down the hall and towards the stairs.
"I have called you all here for a important topic." Captain Erwin said as he sat behind his wooden desk. Levi, Hanji, Mike, and I were gathered in his office.
"Is it about Sawney and Bean?" Hanji asked. Sawney and Bean had been murdered the previous night and it took a big toll on Hanji, but it also took a big toll on our research.
"It does actually." Erwin said. I leaned forward in my seat on the couch. I placed my elbows on my knees and rested my chin in my palms.
"Do you know who killed them?" Hanji asked.
"Let the man speak, Hanji." I snapped.
"You all know about the possibility of there being a spy among us, right?" Erwin asked. We all nodded our heads in unison. "I have come to the conclusion that the spy was the one who killed Sawney and Bean."
"Do we have any idea on who it is?" Hanji asked.
"No, but we can conclude that this person does not want us to learn about the Titans. This person does not want to help humanity." Erwin said.
"But who would want to do that?" Hanji asked.
"Someone who's siding with the Titans." I commented. I could feel Hanji staring at me from the side.
"Ryder is right. The only possible explanation is that whoever it is must also be a Titan Shifter." Erwin said.
"But why help the Titans?" Hanji asked.
"We don't know, but there is a way we can find out." Erwin said.
"Capture the person who killed Sawney and Bean." It was the first time I had heard Levi talk since we all entered the room.
"Correct, but that'll be difficult, considering that we don't know who that person is." I said.
"But who do you think this Titan Shifter will be going after next if they don't want us to learn about the Titans?" Erwin asked us. It took me a second to realize who had the target on their back. There was only one person who held the most valuable information that we could imagine right now.
"Eren."
"Yes, so we must be prepared for a possibility for our upcoming expedition." He said.
"We're going to capture the murderer?" Hanji asked.
"That is the goal, yes." Erwin said.
"How do we know that the Titan Shifter will show up though?" Levi asked.
"We don't know; we have to make a bet on this." Erwin said. I sighed.
"This group and their bets. You would think we have a gambling problem." I said under my breath.
"I have already devised a plan, with the help of Mike." Erwin said. He got up from his seat and placed a map on the coffee table. It was the map of our route while on the expedition. "You all already know where you're going to be stationed, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, so we know that most of the terrain is flat surfaced and bad for our 3D Maneuverer Gear, but the Forest of Giant Trees is the perfect place for our gear."
"And our perfect place to attack." I added in.
"Correct, so let's say that the person follows us in their Titan form, we can lead that person into the forest and I will already have our gear set-up first, so when it passes we can release the wires and pin it down."
"What about everyone else?" Hanji asked.
"We'll have the other groups stay on the outside of the forest and keep any other Titans from coming in. We need to focus on this one Titan." Erwin said. He looked up from the map to share glances with Levi and myself. "For Squad Levi, you will have Eren, he's our bait. You will be going into the forest, in order to lure the Titan into our trap, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Levi and I both said.
"Once captured, I want you, Levi, to come and assist me in opening up the Titan and pulling out whoever is in there."
"Yes, sir."
"And Ryder, you will escort the rest of the squad further away. Once your group is out of sight you must get them to upscale a few trees, so they are not left on the ground, defenseless. Afterwards, Levi will come and meet with you after he shoots his green round."
"Got it."
"But I have also come to the conclusion that Squad Levi is not stupid, so they will figure it out on their own. You must make sure that you do not agree or disagree with their statements. You can only listen. We do not need anyone else knowing of our theory."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, now we will be leaving for our expedition in exactly one week, so I suggest that all of you prepare yourselves for this one."
"Yes, sir."
Thank you to all of you who leave me reviews! I really do appreciate it! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! :D