Rosa's hurried footsteps echoed on the hallway as she made her way towards the training hall, her heart pounding in her chest.

"H-holy shit!" Jean almost jumped out of his skin when Rosa swung the hall doors open with such a force that the whole room echoed. "Be a little more careful, will you?" He furrowed his brow, struggling to get a better hold of the boxes that had come dangerously close to slipping from his grasp a moment earlier. "You almost hit me with-"

"Where's Captain?" Ignoring Jean's words, Rosa frantically scanned the room with her gaze.

Jean had no chance to reply; Before he could, Rosa had already bolted away. She had to find Levi, and fast. She sprinted through the hall, her gaze flitting from side to side as she searched for the familiar raven haired man. The hall was buzzing with activity; Many cadets were present, some practicing with their gear, others working out, while some were gathered around the tables, seemingly discussing strategies.

Finally, she spotted him: Captain Levi was standing across the room, deepened into conversation with Miche and Oluo. Rosa rushed over to the three men, skidding to a halt before them. "Captain!" She panted, her chest heaving from all the running.

"Oh, Walch." Levi raised his brow in mild surprise, scanning Rosa's slightly blasted appearance with his gaze— Her hair was in disarray and droplets of sweat ran down her face, her cheeks flushed from the physical exertion. "Why you-"

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow Captain for a moment?" Rosa interrupted him— She flashed Miche and Oluo an apologetic smile, grabbing onto Levi's arm and tugging him away before either of the men had a chance to say anything.

"What do you think you're doing?" Levi quirked his brow, somewhat irritated by a sudden— and rude— interruption. Nevertheless, he allowed her to drag him away from the hall and out to the empty hallway.

Glancing around to make sure no-one else was in sight, Rosa unleashed her fury; "What have you done?!" She almost screeched, grabbing onto Levi's collar in anger.

"...Oh." Levi raised his brow, as if he had just recalled the certain event Rosa was most probably referring to.

"Oh? OH?! That's all you have to say for yourself?!" Rosa fumed, her fingers clenching tighter around the fabric of his shirt. It hadn't taken long for the rumors to reach her; Captain Levi, for whatever reason, had made a visit to a certain jewelry shop in Stohess district, chit-chatting with her ex-fiancé. "Do you have any idea how this is going to make me look like?! If the idea had even crossed my mind, that you might actually go there and talk to him, I would have never— EVER— told you anything!" She snapped. "Why the hell would you even do such a thing?!"

"I was annoyed." Levi replied, his expression and tone calm and composed as always. His coolness was only adding fuel to the fire, and Rosa was furious.

"What?" Rosa's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing Levi's justification for his actions. They barely knew each other, but Rosa's story had apparently tugged his heart strings enough for him to take the matters into his own hands. "I… I understand that you were probably just trying to help, but you could've just gone there to… I don't know, to intimidate him a bit…" She sighed, shaking her head. Taking a few shaky breaths, Rosa tried her best to compose herself, but the fury was still very much evident in her voice as she continued. "But… why the hell you told them we're ENGAGED?!"

Yep. According to the rumor going around the base, Rosa Walch was happily newly engaged… with no-one else but Captain Levi himself. Only reasoning Rosa could've come up with was that this was Levi's attempt to get back at Cristoph for treating her the way he did. But, why he'd get so personally invested in this for her, she had no idea.

Levi couldn't help but smirk, finding it somewhat amusing how agitated she was.

"You think this is funny?!" Rosa was positively livid.

Levi remained silent. His expression was stoic as usual, his arms crossed over his chest as he observed the woman in front of him. He did feel somewhat bad for having spread a lie like this, but, at the same time, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed seeing her so flustered.

"I still can't believe you went and did such a thing…" Rosa let out a heavy sigh, her grip on his shirt finally loosening.

"Why the long face?" Levi finally spoke up. "Isn't this the perfect way to get back at that bastard?

"Alright, fine—" Rosa rolled her eye, the worst of her fury slowly cooling off. "Your plan was ingenious, I give you that. For his family to hear that I got engaged to a man of your status almost right away after they called off the wedding? Priceless." She had to admit, his idea was pretty damn clever— Crazy, but clever. "BUT… it's like 5 minutes of laughter for a lifetime of shame. For me, that is…" She sighed, burying her face into her hands. "I will become a complete laughing stock when people hear that my engagement is called off again."

"Called off?"

"Yeah? Don't tell me that you…" Rosa gave Levi a stare of disbelief— How come he looked so confused by her words? "Oh. Your plan clever or not, it appears that you forgot one teeny-weeny thing. Think about it for a moment, will you? When people get engaged, usually the engagement is followed by..?"

The frown on Rosa's face only deepened when Levi just gave her a blank stare in return— Could he really be this dense?

"A wedding, you fool!" She groaned, now more frustrated than angry. "EVERYBODY knows! And it appears that I was the last one to hear, so thanks for that as well!" Her getting engaged wasn't exactly the hot topic… but Captain Levi's surprise engagement was. She just happened to be the blushing bride, which put her also in the center of this shit-storm. "And when people realize that the wedding isn't happening, they figure out it was all bullshit!"

It was a fleeting moment when Levi's expression changed, but Rosa noticed this. It was subtle, but it was there: His eyes widened slightly, his brows twitched. Was it fear? Panic? He clearly hadn't thought his plan through..!

"We… have to get married?" He muttered in a pensive tone, his gaze distant as the reality of the circumstances he himself had created finally sunk in.

"No, of course not..!" Rosa shook her head. "We just… I don't know… need to figure out a way to squirm out of this situation without harming neither's reputation." She muttered, her voice a tad softer.

Levi was still staring blankly ahead, his eyes glazed over. Rosa was unsure what was going on inside his mind; Did the possibility of being stuck with a woman like her scare him that much? Was his mind racing to find out a way out of this, just like hers?

Finally, he snapped out of his trance. "You… you could just end things up with me. So to say." He suggested a bit cautiously. "Then your reputation won't be harmed."

"Oh? So people would think that I'm pathetic and insane?!" No-one would in a million years believe that she would have willingly dumped one of the most desired bachelors of the city, especially after her first engagement had been called off.

Then, there was silence. Rosa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation; She could have never imagined herself getting engaged twice, and certainly not to two men, whom she didn't even know.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… confused and a bit overwhelmed. This whole thing was just a bit much for me. It's a lot to process." Rosa finally spoke up, her voice low. "And… ugh… shit. This is really not good..." What was she supposed to do now?

"I'm… sorry." Levi muttered and averted his gaze, his expression and tone apologetic. "It's not like I went there intending to cause this much trouble."

"You should be sorry!" Rosa snapped at him. "You really shouldn't have done this. It's not your job to clean up the messes I get myself into." With a deep sigh, she slumped against the wall. "Just… next time, could you maybe use that big brain of yours and think a bit before doing anything? And, please, don't ever mention anything about him again." Rosa muttered, her irritation slowly fading. "And, I guess, thanks, for the whole… thing. Even though it was a dumb move, it was a sweet one, and I appreciate the gesture." It was a crazy situation she found herself in, but Rosa couldn't deny that Levi's attempt to help her had made her feel a little better.

Levi didn't reply, but his expression remained thoughtful, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"But... What are we going to do now? I can't just start pretending that- Uhhh..." Her voice trailed off, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson when she realized what she was about to say.

Levi raised his brow, tilting his head a bit as he eyed her curiously. "Go on."

"That... well, you know, umm... That we're..." Rosa cleared her throat, her heart hammering against her ribs. "That we're... together."

Levi couldn't help but smirk a little. "Yes, that might be a bit of an issue."

"But I mean... Maybe we could just... umm..." Rosa muttered, her gaze fixed on the floor. "Pretend... for a little bit." She finally looked up, her gaze meeting his. "Maybe people will just… forget about the whole thing, and..." Rosa's face was burning with embarrassment. She was suddenly very aware of her fingers clutching onto the hem of her shirt, and she hastily released her grip. Rosa had never been a good liar, and the prospect of having to pretend to be engaged with someone she barely knew terrified her… but at this moment, it appeared to be the best option. "But… if you're not comfortable with it, I'll take the blame and say it was all my fault. People are already aware of my reputation, anyway." She explained, her gaze fixated on the floor.

"Are you seriously considering taking all the responsibility upon yourself?" Levi questioned, quirking his brow. "Why would you do that? If I remember correctly, you were furious when you came here, and now you're acting all selfless. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well, you maybe did something really stupid… but you did it for my sake. And now we're both in the hot water because of it— I don't want you to get in any more trouble because of me." Rosa managed to muster up a slight smile. She couldn't possibly leave him alone to deal with the consequences of his actions, not when the situation was partially her fault, too.

Levi fell silent, and the two of them just stood there, their gazes locked, neither daring to speak a word. Finally, Levi let out a deep sigh, his expression resigned. "Fine. I'll play along with your little game." He agreed. "For now."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"No." Levi said bluntly. "But it seems I have no choice. Unless, of course, you would like to get engaged for real."

"I-I..." Rosa's face flushed at the suggestion. She wasn't quite sure whether Levi was joking or not, especially when his calm expression revealed nothing. "I-I don't know..."

"You're so red." Levi pointed out with an amused smirk.

"Well, it's not every day that someone proposes to me, you know!"

"It is now, isn't it?"

"Shut up." Rosa muttered, and the two of them just stood there awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.

"Anyway, let's get back to the hall." Levi said finally. "We're already attracting attention."

"R-right."

And, just like that, Rosa and Levi walked side by side back to the training hall. Their shoulders brushed against each other every now and then, and their knuckles occasionally bumped together. Neither dared to glance at the other, but they couldn't deny that there was an undeniable chemistry between them.

Perhaps Levi had made a mistake, but maybe, just maybe, the outcome of his impulsive act would be better than either one of them had expected.