Chapter 9: Different

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Previously: Eren overhears Levi and Petra talking about the trial. Levi apologizes to Eren. Squad Levi fights Eren's Titan and loses, but Levi takes him out.


"This is the formation for the 57th Expedition?" Eren studied the chart Gunther had laid out on the ground. Around him, the rest of his squad knelt to take a closer look.

"We, Squad Levi, will be standing by in the center of the last ranks."

"Why so far back? Shouldn't we be in the vanguard?"

"In the middle and towards the back is the safest place in the formation. We're even more heavily guarded than the supply wagons. We don't have a real objective this time," Gunther said to him. "This expedition is so brief because it's a practice run for your journey to Shiganshina."

"But I don't want to be where it's safe," Eren argued, not seeing the point in it. "I want to go where the action is. Why put other soldiers in more danger when you have me to—"

"Because the simple fact is that they, and even we of Squad Levi, compared to you, we're all disposable," Eld interrupted.

"Not to me," Eren said fiercely. Aside from Armin and Mikasa, they were the only friends he'd made. Over the course of three weeks, he'd become comfortable with them. The idea of losing the few people he trusted in this world left him unsettled and scared.

Petra smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Eren. That means a lot. But Eld is right. We can be replaced—"

"Speak for yourself," Oluo scoffed snobbishly. "I—"

"But you are one-of-a-kind," Petra continued, ignoring Oluo. "You can help lead humanity to victory. Your survival ranks above our own."

Victory for humanity, huh? Eren thought back to the memory of the island. It had confirmed his suspicions there was more land thus likely more people still out there.

"Did you understand what the commander's question meant?" Gunther said out of the blue.

"I think I do," he replied and they focused on him in interest. Eren actually did understand after that island memory had resurfaced. It's other humans, they're the true enemy.

"Really? You got it?" Eld shook his head. "Because I didn't."

"Me neither," Petra said, bummed out.

"It would be an overstatement to say I understood it all," Oluo said, standing by his horse, not looking at them as he imitated Levi, who was in the same position nearby. "That said—"

"I understood what he was asking." Eren talked over him. "But I don't think my answer was what he was expecting. I think the enemy is the lizard people. I bet they've infiltrated our ranks by pretending to be normal humans to take us down from the inside, making it easy for their alien overlords to enslave us and steal our resources."

It was a testament to how much they'd grown used to the nonsense that came out of his mouth that no one batted an eyelash.

They did, however, look disappointed because he was sure it wasn't the answer they were looking for. Eren debated sharing the real answer but he couldn't tell them how he had reached that conclusion. Not when he himself didn't fully understand what was going on. Maybe after the expedition. He'd tell Armin. Armin always knew what the smart thing to do was.


"Eren, what did you do?"

Eren stopped whistling and looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Captain Levi is pissed. What did you do?" Petra placed her hands on her hips.

"Me? Nothing. I'm just washing dishes and doing my chores like I'm supposed to."

"Uh-huh. Well, Captain Levi wants to see you."

"Okie-doke." Eren shrugged, drying his hands and following after her. He tried not to snicker when they reached the hallway. Levi stood before his office door, face red in anger. Oluo was there as well, looking smug. "Petra said you wanted to see me, sir?"

"What the hell is this?" Levi pointed at his office door.

Face neutral, Eren answered. "Looks like a doodle, sir."

"You think?" Oluo sneered.

"Why the hell is there a naked woman on my door?" Levi demanded angrily.

Eren raised an eyebrow. "What naked woman? All I see are two dancing stick figures. See." He touched the round dot, the nipple, making Levi's eyebrow twitch. "This is the head, this tilted U-shape here is the arms, this straight line is the body, and the upside-down U-shape is the legs. Same with the other figure, except it's mirrored." It was an optical illusion he had once seen.

The three glanced at the drawing and from the looks on their faces, they realized he was right.

"Huh," Petra said, tilting her head. "It does look like two dancing figures."

"I never knew Humanity's Strongest Soldier was such a pervert. I'm telling everyone."

"Don't get smart with me. You drew this on purpose!"

"Why are you blaming me?" Eren pointed to Oluo. "Pervy stick figures are his M.O., not mine!"

"You framed me!"

"And it's just a coincidence you're here?"

"Yes! That's how I saw you do it!"

Eren turned to Petra. "Are you buying this?" She shrugged and held up her hands in a leave me out of this manner.

"Eren, you're cleaning the stables after you get rid of this." Levi pointed at the drawing. Petra shifted beside Eren, looking a little embarrassed while Eren tried not to laugh. Levi withdrew his hand when he realized he was pointing at the nipple. "You're also going to run laps around the castle until you fall. And no pudding for you, either."

"Dick," Eren grumbled, then quickly added before Levi could punch his teeth out, "tator."

Levi narrowed his eyes, glaring at him. "And you, you're on babysitting duty and you'll be joining him on his laps," he barked at Oluo. Babysitting duty was what they had taken to calling their shifts of keeping an eye on him.

"What? Why—"

"Because you just admitted you let him draw this obscene nonsense, you dipshit! Just so you could snitch on him!"


I miss my phone. Eren thought, sighing. There was a song that was stuck in his head and it was killing him not to hear it. After finishing mucking the stables, he wandered out to annoy Oluo. Eren froze, eyes going straight to Mikasa as she walked by with Armin. They're here! Ignoring Oluo grumbling after him to stay within eyesight, he ran to them. "Guys!"

Mikasa gasped at the sight of him. "Eren!"

Was it his imagination or had she become more beautiful since the last time he saw her? "It feels like it's been so long," he said, feeling good to see their familiar faces again.

"It would have felt longer but we at least got to send each other letters," Armin said.

"Eren." Mikasa grabbed his hands and he felt his face warm.

Be cool, Yeager, be cool! Eren told himself. Thank fuck his hands weren't clammy.

"Did they do anything bad to you? Like expecting every bit of your body."

The words No, but you most certainly can almost slipped out. "Like I said in the letters, no one dissected me."

"Did they psychologically torture you?"

"No. Unless you count Captain Levi making me clean my room every day." Not even his mother did that.

Mikasa's expression turned deadly and before he could say he was joking, she growled, "That midget bastard crossed the line. Someday, I'll make him pay for it."

He knew he probably shouldn't, but Eren grinned and said, "If you want to hit him where it hurts most, I know his weakness and—"

"Eren!" Armin gasped, looking scandalized. "Don't encourage her!"

Even in this reality, he's still the worrywart type who's scared of what the teachers will think if he misses even one homework assignment. Eren thought, amused.

"Hey, Eren!"

"It's been so long."

"What's up, buddy?"

The rest of the new recruits wandered over. With Eren II's memories filling in the blanks and his own memories helping him put names to familiar faces, he knew who they were. "If you're all here that means you've joined the Survey Corps. I'm not the only suicidal bastard now, am I?" Eren mentally patted himself for inserting an inside joke into the conversation.

"Guess not," Connie replied, hands behind his head.

"Does that mean Jean, Marco, and Annie joined the Military Police?" Eren was bummed out Jean wasn't with them. He, Armin, Jean, and Connie made up the gang back home. The other two people he'd mentioned he wasn't too familiar with. Although from Eren II's memories it seemed he was good friends with both.

Jean walked up to him.

"No way! You're here, too?" Eren tried not to smile too much. Jean was apparently his love rival here. Eren II had been oblivious to Jean's feelings but he wasn't. Sorry, man, but you don't have a chance.

"Marco's dead."

"What?" Eren didn't need to fake his shock, feeling Eren II's emotions trickling in. It was the first time in a while he'd felt the other boy's presence as he had been resting up to take over during the expedition, where he might be needed. "Did you say Marco's dead?"

"Not everyone goes out in a blaze of glory. I don't even know how it happened." Jean's head bowed. "He died alone, without anyone seeing or knowing."

"Marco..." Eren was stunned. His friends looking equally down around him. Some of them, or maybe all of them, they might not make it back from the expedition. They weren't like him. None of them had regeneration abilities. He had his Titan powers as well as Eren II to do the big tasks and also a squad of elite soldiers protecting his ass. They're vulnerable. Human. It was a startling and scary thought, realizing how fragile they were.

"Hey, newbies!" Ness yelled, the man next to him holding folded cloaks with the Wings of Freedom insignia. "Get over here! Your uniforms are here!"

I miss the days when death meant you ran out of lives and had to start the level over. Eren lamented.


"You can fully control your Titan?" Jean asked as they stood indoors, with stacks of crates around them.

"I can. I was thinking about naming it Prometheus, but I think the Rogue Titan sounds pretty badass, too."

Connie raised an eyebrow. "You thought up a name? That's unexpected."

"What do you mean?"

"You were always going on about killing all the Titans," Sasha said, sitting on one of the crates. "It's a little surprising you're not more conflicted about being one and—"

Thankfully, Jean snorted, interrupting her. "You know what's really fucked up?"

Not for the first time, Eren's mouth ran ahead of his brain. "That it doesn't matter if you choose to save Trish or the doctors," Eren said, "Trish still dies."

They stared at him, lost.

In his defense, anytime he or Jean brought up something that was "messed up," it was a long-running joke between them for the other one to bring up that shocking moment from one of their favorite video games. After doing it automatically for years, Eren couldn't not mention it.

"Nothing." Eren cleared his throat. "Never mind. Go on."

Jean scrutinized him. "Humanity's existence, and our lives, it all depends on you, Eren. We'll probably die just like Marco, without you even noticing."

Eren frowned. "What, you think I don't already know the burden I carry on my shoulders?"

Technically, it was Eren II's responsibility and he only had to let Squad Levi protect him so Eren II could do whatever he was needed to when the time came. It had kept him from being completely overwhelmed by the responsibility, but he had still found himself worrying a lot about failing somehow and getting everyone killed.

"I'm the only one who can fight the Armored Asshole. If I make one wrong mistake, my fuck up can cause countless people to lose their lives. That's all on me." Eren looked his friend square in the eyes, his expression solemn.

Jean returned the stare. "You're different, Eren."

Fortunately, Armin spoke up before Eren's dumbass mouth could get ahead of his brain again. "It's only natural. When you go through something like that, something that flips your whole world upside-down, it would be unusual not to experience a change."

"Armin's right," Sasha pitched in. "Half of us here didn't plan on joining the Corps initially but here we are. All because of one event."

Connie nodded. "It only took a day."

Eren was glad for his best friend's defense—and for Sasha and Connie also helping unintentionally. Armin thought his so-called amnesia was the cause of his changed personality. And Eren figured Mikasa was too blinded by his sudden accepting attitude regarding her hovering to care. Main he figured as long as he was safe and healthy, Mikasa was happy.

It probably wouldn't have been as believable if I'd been the one to say it. They wouldn't have been as quick to overlook it if it had been anyone but Armin who had said it. Armin, who was well-known to be the most logical and intelligent in their group as well as Eren's oldest friend. If he doesn't think my new personality is a problem, they're not likely to either.


Eren knocked on the door and waited. "Eren," Petra answered, "what brings you to my room?"

"I was wondering if you could come with me to the mess hall in the main building. I gotta have one of you with me at all times but I wanna see my friends, so." After their conversation, his friends had gone to get settled in while he left to meet Oluo. The man had not been happy at being ditched so Eren could have a private conversation with his friends.

"I thought Captain Levi had you running with Oluo."

"Yeah, about that. See, I kinda challenged Oluo to see who was faster and let him run ahead. Then I 'fell' and took a nap and came here."

"I don't think that's what Captain Levi meant when he said to run until you fall."

"Semantics." He waved his hand. "So, can you come with me?"

"Sure. But if you want, you can bring them here instead. I don't think our superiors want you interacting with too many people. I'll go ask Captain Levi."

"Really? Thanks!"

"Don't get your hopes up," Petra said, closing the door behind her. "I'm pretty sure he'll say no. Especially since you're supposed to be running and sweating your ass off right now." She returned a few minutes later saying she couldn't find Levi but Hange, who was looking for their captain as well, had said it was okay. "Go wait at our mess hall and I'll go get them."

Eren waved, standing up when they appeared.

"I brought you a plate." Mikasa handed it to him.

"Thanks. Do you wanna join us, Petra?"

Petra declined politely. "I have to finish my letter to my dad. Maybe another time. Enjoy."

"So," Eren said once Armin and Mikasa sat on either side of him and the others sat across from them. "Wakanda other things have you guys been up to?" With the superhero-obsessed crew together again after so long, the pun came out reflexively. However, understandably, no one picked up on it. What a travesty. Back home, he and his friends, being the gigantic nerds they were, often made silly puns together. It was one of the many geeky things they liked to do as a group. They had even started a comic book/movie club at school.

His friends filled him in on being interviewed and other things he already knew from the letters Armin and Mikasa had sent, but he had asked more so out of politeness.

"What about you? What's it like being part of the most elite squad and serving under Humanity's Strongest Soldier?" Connie asked, leaning forward.

"It must be so cool!" Sasha gushed. "I bet you're loving it!"

"I'm surprised you haven't boasted about it yet," Jean said.

"Well," Eren said, "first off, Captain Levi hates that dumbass title so please, address him using that as much as you can." That earned a few raised eyebrows while Mikasa took it seriously and nodded readily. "Second, dude's a Hulking clean-freak. You know the first thing we did when we got here wasn't train. Oh, no, we had to clean the castle from top to bottom.

"Really?" Connie said skeptically.

"Thoreal," he said. This one raised a few questioning looks. Eren couldn't help it. The puns kept coming out. The knowledge that they didn't realize what he was doing was oddly amusing in its own way. "Captain Levi's a real stick-in-mud and he's got a really shitty sense of humor—just wait, you'll at least get this pun once you get to know him a little. But Petra's great! And Eld's cool, too."

"She seemed nice. From the way she talked about you, it sounded like she really likes you," Armin told him.

"Of course. I'm a badass and I'm fucking hilarious. What's not to like?"

"I knew it," Jean grumbled. "I knew your ego was going to inflate to a massive level after you joined the Levi Squad. If only Reiner was here to see this. I made a bet with him."

"Where is he? And Bertolt, too. Or were only a few of you allowed to come see me?" Secretly, Eren was glad they weren't around because he knew next to nothing about them.

"Nah, they weren't there," Sasha answered after swallowing her mashed potatoes. "I'm not sure where they went, actually."

"We were told our positions in the formation for the expedition," Mikasa informed him. "I was hoping we would be close to each other."

"Where did they put you?" Eren asked.

"Row 3/3 Communication. But you'll be in the vanguard."

"What?" Connie said. "No, that's not right."

"My group was told Eren's at Row 4 Communication," Sasha said, puzzled.

"Not possible." Jean shook his head. "That's where Armin and I are and we were told he's on the opposite side from us."

"What are you guys talking about? My position is—omnpef."

"Don't say anything." The serious look on his best friend's face silenced Eren and he nodded. Armin removed his hand. "I think the reason they waited until so close to the expedition and gave everyone conflicting accounts of your position in the formation was so no one could make a well thought out plan to kill you."

That effectively darkened the mood. Well, that's Hawkward. Eren thought. Internally, he winced. He was making puns to himself. Now it was getting lame.

"What?" Mikasa gasped before her expression turned cold, looking ready to get stab-happy on this unknown enemy.

Eren found it pretty hot.

"Armin's right," Jean said suddenly. "Of course they'd wait. It must be the same culprits who killed those two Titans," he said to Mikasa. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who want Eren dead because he's part Titan or something. Maybe they hate Titans or just someone who is not fully human."

"But Eren's human," Mikasa insisted at once.

"No, I'm a Titan-Shifter." They shot him weird looks and he realized these people would all prefer to be boring, regular humans than have awesome abilities. And they were probably surprised he was so accepting of partially being the thing he often stated to hate the most in the world. "I mean, it's what I am. What's the use in denying it, right?"

"I guess," Mikasa accepted slowly, staring at him. It made him want to start fidgeting nervously.

"But yeah." Eren was eager to change the subject and Armin's observation had sparked some anger. "I'm sure some xenophobic asshole out there probably wants me dead. Close-minded piece of shit." Once again, they stared. "What?"

"You've picked up some colorful vocabulary in the past month," Jean observed, scrutinizing him.

Eren was quick to place blame. "It's all Captain Levi's fault. He uses vulgar language all the time and I've picked it up."

"What's a xeno...phobe?" Sasha asked hesitantly. "Is that how you say it?"

"Xenophobe, yeah. A dumb motherfu—jerk who's afraid of anything or anyone that's different."

Armin gave him a strange look. "That's correct. Anyway," he continued, "it's a protective measure, giving out false information about your location. Keep that info to yourself. Don't mention it to anyone."

"If it's so important," Connie said, "I'm surprised they didn't tell you not to speak of it to anyone."

"Now that you mention it, I think Gunther might have said something like that, but I wasn't really paying attention. But I get what you're saying about keeping it secret." Then Eren promptly turned to Mikasa and, cupping his hand, whispered his location to her. "And that's where I'll be."

She looked at him in shock before smiling warmly. "Thanks."

Eren beamed at her. "Sorry," he told his friends, who were watching him with open mouths. "But I can't tell you guys. I trust Mikasa and Armin the most. And teacher's pet over here," he said, jerking his thumb over to his best friend, "would probably plug his ears if I tried to tell him. And I'm sure he's smart enough to figure it out himself."

They were still looking weirdly at him and it made him glad when Levi chose that moment to show up. That effectively took the attention off him and he let out a relieved breath. "Oh, right." Eren followed their lead and stood up, saluting the man half a second after the others.

Levi's eyes drifted to Mikasa glaring angrily at him before waving them down. "Whatever," he said, moving on. His friends seemed confused but sat down when Eren did. "Wait," Levi said, stopping. "Weren't you supposed to be running? I just saw Oluo doing laps."

"Well, sir, I followed your instructions and ran until I fell. The fact that Oluo's still going just goes to show what a big difference there is between someone who graduated in the top ten and a veteran member of the elite Squad Levi. It was a humbling and eye-opening experience."

"Sure it was." Levi didn't look like he believed a word. He glanced at the others before saying. "After you finish, you'll go over the new maneuver with Gunther and—"

"Him again?" Eren pouted. "Why can't I be with Petra?" If he had known Levi would stop pairing him with her all the time, he might not have accepted the apology.

"Because, you little shit, you two have too much fun together. And you love pissing off Oluo to amuse yourself so I can't put you two together, either."

"I can't help it, he makes it too easy."

"Exactly." Levi crossed his arms. "But Gunther is too collected and level-headed for your stupid shenanigans. And there is no way I'm going to put you with Eld again after you two saps wasted an entire afternoon writing shitty love poetry about—"

"Okay, okay, fine! I'll train with Gunther!" Eren couldn't believe the bastard had almost outed him in front of his friends. Must be revenge for me being such a pain those couple of weeks. Maybe Eren would tone it down with the doodles, too.

"Good," Levi said, walking away.

"Wow." Jean was amazed. "I'm surprised he let you talk so casually to him."

"What can I say, I'm that special. I wouldn't recommend you do it, though. You might lose a tooth or two."

Sasha smiled playfully. "What was that bit about love poetry, hmm?"

"I was just helping my squad's second-in-command rhyme some words. Eld was writing a poem for his fiancée." Eren left out the part where he had started writing a few poems of his own about Mikasa. One was a "Roses are red" poem and the other a haiku. Embarrassment flooded him, remembering how Petra had found the paper and laughed after reading his poems, apologizing numerously afterward for obliterating his confidence, thinking he had only written them as a joke.

"You seem really happy here," Mikasa said quietly. "With your squad."

"I am happy. They're really great! It's even better now that you're here." Eren grinned, and she relaxed, smiling easily in return. "Now if only I could get them to change their name to the Avengers. Then it'd be Marvelous," he told her, slipping in one last pun.


"Thanks for bringing them over." Eren walked toward the basement, escorted by Petra. He'd had a lot of fun talking with them. They were different than the friends he'd had back home but at their core, they were the same group of funny, quirky, good-hearted, and loyal people he knew.

"You should thank Hange. She's the one who gave permission."

"Maybe I'll let her ride my Titan's shoulder some time. Bet she'd love that."

"That she would. How was it seeing Mikasa after so long?" Petra teased, elbowing him.

"It was nice." It was beyond nice. A couple of times Eren had to stop himself from sticking his nose into her hair and sniffing it like a creep.

"How did that haiku you wrote for her go again? Tell me."

"No way!"

"C'mon, I want to hear it!"

Eren groaned. "Please stop."

Petra kept insisting but he steadfastly refused. "Fine," she gave in. And he thought he was safe until she said, "You don't have to tell me, I remember how it went: Mikasa is cute, and a total badass, too, my future wife."

Face red, feeling the tips of his ears burn at her giggling, Eren yelled, "You tell NO ONE of this!"


References

Trish still dies — Twist in video game InFamous, where MC's love interest dies regardless of which karmic path you take

Wakanda, Thoreal, Hulking, Hawkward, Marvelous — Marvel puns


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