Chapter 9

We flew through the streets. Everything seemed to be through a curtain. I felt Berthold and Marco's worried looks on me. But I gazed at Mikasa: She seemed to have kept her calm at Eren's death, but I could see that she had lost it. She was using too much gas. Then she flung up, her head thrown back, her shins angled at her thighs and her arms stretched out slightly to the side. A ray of sunlight hit her and I could see that she had closed her eyes, her expression more peaceful than I had ever seen on her. She looked as if she was about to enter heaven… Then it struck me: She was ready to die; she had given up!
"Mikasa!" I screamed, but she had started to lose altitude and fell into the street below, landing on a wagon without elegance, her gaze upwards. Slowly stretching her sword towards the sky, she seemed to relax.
"We need to help her!" I heard Armin shout at the others, but Jean pointed at the 15 metre Titan approaching her. I turned to see it as we flew over the roof, our 3DMG pulling us forward.
Suddenly something inside me clicked and I made a decision. I changed my angle and as the hooks went loose, I pulled them towards me and shot them the moment I turned around. I flew past the others towards the roof on the opposite side of the street and saw the surprise in the faces of the others, as I passed them.
But Berthold and Marco had predicted my moves. The moment I had pulled my hooks in, they had looked at each other and nodded slightly. Marco copied my move, but went straight down the roof, not following me. Berthold had passed the others and followed Marco.
I had planned to go to the other roof and then back in a zick-zack line. With this I could easily see any movements of the Titan and distract it from Mikasa, as it didn't seem to be an Aberrant. And my squad knew that. We had trained so much together, we almost read each other's thoughts. We knew how the others reacted and moved, and we trusted each other completely, making us one of the groups with the most harmony and sync. I had anticipated that one would follow me, whilst the other would try to cut off my path. So I was caught by surprise when I saw both of them on the other roof. I shot my 3DMG and jumped to get to the other roof, still following my plan. I HAD TO SAVE MIKASA! I couldn't lose any more of my family! But Marco stopped my hooks with his blades and sent them off track. I had to avoid hurting my comrades and pulled the trigger, making them fly back to me.
'I'm falling again' I thought, and I felt panic rise inside me. 'No, not again! I don't have time to use my gear! But this can't be the end!' And then Berthold crashed into me. He had jumped two seconds before I had, and even though I had seen it in the corner of my eye, I didn't pay too much attention to it. And now he blocked me and stopped my fall. I felt his arms wrap around my waist and my neck as he pressed me against him. He lowered his head and as the hooks returned to their original position in the gear I felt his muscles tense, as we turned around in the air, like a pirouette.
And then the impact came. We crashed into the roof I had just jumped off and I felt the tiles break underneath him. The air was pressed out of my lungs and a hiss from Berthold showed me he experienced the same. The force of our flight caused us to roll over the roof in our embrace, until we stopped and I felt my body being pinned down.
"Are you crazy? It would've killed you!"
His voice was breathless and he panted between the words. I opened my eyes (When had I closed them?) and saw Berthold's face right in front of me.
"Can't…. breath… heavy", I gasped. He had his full weight on me and it was crushing. My eyes widened. So that's why he turned around before we hit the roof! If his weight had landed on me plus the impact, all of my bones would be broken by now.
But he was weighing me down, literally. "Air…", I muttered. And he slightly lifted his body. That was what I had waited for. My arms were still free and the moment he moved, I hit the tips of my fingers into his right armpit and the point at his left waist, where I knew he was ticklish. His body moved on its own accord and he fell to his right. I jumped up and moved a step back. My body protested, but I couldn't care about that right now. I had gotten out of his range and so could avoid accidently hitting him with my gear. But I had underestimated my team mate's abilities. After all he was third in our year. When I stepped backwards, he jumped up and followed me in one fluent move. I tried to avoid him and step out of the way, but he was too fast. His long arms reached out and grabbed my wrists. In reflex I stepped further back and felt the stones of a chimney brush against my back. He slammed my hands against the wall over my head and the force of the impact caused me to open my grasp and drop my blades.
I looked up and saw Mikasa on the street. Even though Berthold was standing in front of me, I could see past his arm. It had only been a few moments since we landed on the roof, but now Mikasa was leaning against the wall. My eyes widened and fear hit me like a wave when I saw the Titan's hand flying towards her. He missed Mikasa, but the exploding wall sent her flying.
"Mikasa!" I screamed her name but she didn't react. The others stared at her with shock on their faces. I struggled and tried to wiggle my hands out of Berthold's grasp, but I could hardly move them and he was too strong.
"You can't help her. She has given up. Don't tell me you did too!" He had started speaking in his normal voice, but now his tone became more angry and louder. "What good would it be if you go down there and die too? And even if you kill the Titan, you don't have enough gas left to get you back on the roof AND to headquarters! What would you do? Walk there? It's full of Titans! You would be dead within moments!" I looked at him and tears filled my eyes.
"You told me you want to join the Survey Corps; that you want to do something to protect everyone! You said you didn't just live to kill Titans and die doing it. So Live!" He had screamed his last two utterances. The others on the roof stared at him, their eyes widened. Berthold never talked much, even when being with friends, and this was unusual for him.
I realised he was right and stopped struggling. He noticed it and slowly released my hands. I realised he had leaned closer too as he was speaking. When he noticed it he took a step back and looked away, a light blush on his cheeks. Then he froze. I followed his gaze and gasped. Another 15 metre Titan had appeared. But he looked different: Toned abs, strong muscles on his arms and legs and slim. His face was shadowed by his messy brown hair, but his eyes were green and sharp. The line of his teeth was visible like the Colossal's, but he had skin. The second Titan stepped forward as well as the Titan attacking Mikasa. I noticed she had her sword back in her hands and was in fighting stance. Had she gotten her will back? Then second Titan suddenly strove forward and attacked the other Titan with a punch. A punch how we learned it. He was obviously trying to knock the other Titan out. But his strength made the other Titan's head rip of its body. As the corps fell over, the rouge Titan started stepping on its neck, on the nape, killing it. We all stood awe-struck. Then it threw its head back and screamed. But the way it screamed was so human like, and somewhat familiar…