Death and sorrow

Ayano yawned and felt much better then before after a good nights sleep. Today she could probably start to walk around the place by herself without having anyone worry about her. The scouts had been gone for two days, and she felt worried and restless, making it hard to stay in bed. All she wanted was for them to come back. She ate breakfast from the tray that someone had placed on her night stand before she decided to read for a little bit.

The nurse Hange had put to work guarding Ayano came in to check on her.
"Is it okay for me to leave this place today? I am tired of just sitting around doing nothing. And I do feel much better now. Please?" Ayano made sure to put on her most cheery voice as the older woman took of the gauze bandage of Ayanos head.
"I can tell that the wound has healed up pretty nicely. I guess I can allow you to leave. But please, be careful for a while. I rather not see you here again any time soon" The nurse smiled at her. Ayano smiled back.
"I will try not to" She chuckled, feeling happy that she finally would be able to leave the bed.

After dinner Ayano was just about to head back out to the barracks when she spotted someone familiar. She rushed up to the person and hugged her.
"Hange! You guys are back!" She though it was strange that she hadn't seen them during dinner if they had gotten back safe and sound. Hange gave her a surprised look because of the sudden hug, before nodding slowly.
"Yes we are. Came back about half an hour ago. I see you are back up and running as well. I'm glad" Ayano noticed that the smile was a forced one. And her voice was not as cheery as usual.
"Is, is everything okay?" Hange sighed and leaned against the wall.
"Not really. Things didn't go as planned. The enemy was too strong"
"Enemy?" Ayano gave her a confused look.
"After all that happened, we suspected that someone was after Eren, someone like himself. A titan shifter. So, we lied some about this mission, hoping that we could lure that person out. And we did. She had a titan form that looked female, that's why I call her a she. Anyway, we though we could capture her, and reveal who it is. Sadly, we didn't manage to do so. She escaped from our traps in a… very sick way. Even I got a bit disgusted. She then… wiped out the whole Levi squad, and manage to take Eren"
Hange must have noticed Ayano go sickly pale, because she quickly continued.
"Levi was with us when we tried to capture her, so he is fine. And he also manage to save Eren with the help of Mikasa, thank heavens. But we had some great losses"
Ayano looked at the woman horrified. She hadn't met the people of the Levi squad many times at all. But they had a reputation to be among the strongest soldiers the humanity had. And now, they where gone. She could only imagine what Levi must feel.
"W...where is Levi?" She asked carefully.
"In his room. But I wouldn't suggest you to go see him right no..." She didn't end the sentence before Ayano already was on her way to the captains office. He might not love her, but she still knew him well enough. Maybe better then he knew himself. She could see in his eyes that he was someone who wore the pain on the inside, and didn't care to open up to anyone, even if he should. Opening up to someone would make him feel better. She knew that no one should bottle up their feelings inside. That was not good. Sooner or later it would end with an explosion.

She knocked, but no one was answering. She took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. The room was quite dark. But she could see that the captain was turned with his back against her, looking out from the window.
"L...Levi?" She stuttered, moving a bit closer.
"Get out" His voice was cold, and demanded her obedience. And he didn't move a muscle, still locking his gaze on the outside. The tone of his voice made her want to obey him. But she wouldn't give up that easily.
"I heard what happened. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. After all, they where your close friends and..."
"Didn't I tell you to get out? I am just fine, so leave. There is no need for you to be here" Now his voice sounded annoyed, and he turned his dark gaze at her. There was something off about it, bur she didn't know what. Ayano decided not to listen to his demand once again. His eyes told her that it was not a good idea to leave him alone. Even if he would never admit it, he needed her right now, to cope with what had happened.
"Don't think I don't know what you are doing. You are planning to stay here and drown in your feelings all alone until you can bottle them up completely, so that you can pretend that you are all fine once you get back out there. I am sure that's what you've always done! But you should't hold everything inside. One day it will explode. You might not love me back, but at least let me be there as a friend that cares!"
He quickly closed the distance between them, lifting her up by the collar. Not too hard, but hard enough to make her get the message.
"Don't fucking pretend that you know shit about me! And why would I care? They where soldiers, they knew what they got themselves into"
She just looked at him with stern eyes, not letting him scare her away. That was what he wanted, and she would not give him that pleasure. He might say those cold words, but she could see in his eyes that he did care. He cared a whole lot, and it was eating him up.
"You say that, but is it really what you think? I have a hard time believing you when your eyes tells me something else"
"J...just shut up will you" He turned his face away from her, but she could tell that small tears or rage and sorrow was quietly making their way from his eyes, even if he had backed away from her a little bit, to hide that fact. He had probably never cried in front of anyone for god knows how many years. And she could tell that he didn't want her to see him doing it now either.
She bite her lips in frustration before reaching for the papers on his writing desk, waving them towards his face.
"So what? You just going back to these idiotic paperworks and pretend that nothing happened? That everything is fine even though you are actually not? Instead of opening up to me and be honest with yourself?"

Levi slapped the papers out of her hand, spreading them everywhere in the room. She gasped in surprise when the paper cut her finger, resulting in a quite deep cut.
"Damn it" She cursed to herself when the dull pain from the cut kicked in. It was of course not that bad. She had gotten paper cuts a few times before, so no big deal. It was just so annoying.
When she looked up at Levi she opened her mouth slightly in surprise. His body was really stiff, and his eyes didn't leave the cut on her finger.
"Levi what's wro..." She stopped herself when she noticed his eyes. They had taken a blood red colour.
"L...Levi?" She slowly started to back away.

With an inhuman force Levi pushed her against the wall, making her stuck between the wall and him, without being able to run away. He was too strong. No matter how much she tried to struggle for him to lose his grip on her, it was to no use. She could feel how the panic took over her. So Eren had been right after all when he told them about the rumours? Levi really was a vampire? Some parts of her still didn't want to believe it. But this was surely not a dream of hers. It felt too real. And now, he would surely kill her. She didn't dare scream for help. It was not like her voice would obey her anyway. She was too scared. And even if someone would hear her, it would be too late. Vampires where fast creatures. He would be quick in killing her.

She closed her eyes in fear. All she could do was to wait for that moment of sharp pain when his fangs would pierce her neck.
"P...please Levi, let me go. I don't want to die like this. I beg you, let me go" She plead with a weak voice and her eyes still closed, knowing that he wouldn't listen. It was silly of her to even try.

After what felt like an eternity, but must have only been seconds, the grip on her shoulders lightened. Her body was still shaking, but she dared to slightly open her eyes, being too curious and surprised to why his grip on her had lightened.

(Next chapter out :3 I am sorry I took so long. But have been short on time and inspiration :D Do leave a comment and heart if you'd like :3 I Always love to hear your thoughts. See you all in the next chapter)