𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋.ʜᴀɴᴊɪ ᴢᴏᴇ̈

『38』Barganning

XXXXXXXX, XXXX XX, XXX, 16 hours left

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"(Y/N), wait up, please!" Hanji shouted as she jogged behind you, catching up after a moment as she reached your good side and grabbed onto your good arm.

"What?" you snapped harshly, now turned around and still fuelled on your previous argument with the corporal -and it was as soon as it fell past your lips that you regretted it, not even able to bring yourself to look at her at first in case she had been hurt, "I'm sorry Hanji... I- I didn't mean that, I'm just... upset, right now I suppose. Overwhelmed, really -but none of it's your fault."

She let out a weak chuckle, one that wasn't making fun of you in any way, but more conveyed an understanding to how you felt, sympathetic to some perhaps, "It's ok..." Hanji sighed, "ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᴵ'ᵛᵉ ᵍᵒᵗᵗᵉⁿ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵇᵉᶠᵒʳᵉ ᵒᵛᵉʳ ˡᵉˢˢᵉʳ ˢⁱᵗᵘᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ." she admitted more quietly, a brief second or two passing where you just stared at each other -until Hanji quickly looked away and gestured her hand outwards, in the direction you had been going before. Then with a weary smile she never saw, the both of you continued your way to her room -a stillness dancing itself throughout the hallway, the only thing that stopped its graceful movements being the sound of you and Hanji's boots hitting upon the wooden floor as you made yourselves closer and closer to your destination -her room.

Since you had woken up earlier, it had gotten considerably darker outside -not enough to the point where the moon was hanging among the stars, but where the warmness of a July atmosphere had started to chill into a summer night, something you could feel through the halls and opened windows of the Survey Corps HQ ever so slightly.

It made you nostalgic in a sense, and you found yourself thinking back to simpler times before everything went downhill -the memories would have made you emotional had you not been so used to such sorrows already.

Taking a turn in one direction and then the other, you tried your best not to focus on the dull throbbing you felt in your bad hand, 'I guess I moved it around a bit too much there earlier, huh? Maybe I need to be more careful with it, at least until it heals, anyways. I don't know how I'm so calm about it, I guess it hasn't really hit me yet that part of my hand is gone...' The bandages wrapped around your hand were tighter than you would have liked -'Perhaps that's why my hand is hurting the way it is right now.'- but it provided a lack of movement to the appendage, which in the end you supposed was worth it if it meant that you would be able to get out of the bandages sooner.

It didn't take long for Hanji's door to come into sight, and with the expenditure of less than a minute, the two of you found yourselves outside the door with the engraving Hanji Zoë, Section Commander on a plaque attached to said soldier's door. The woman reached her hand forwards and opened it for you, allowing you to enter first and only taking a step or two past the door frame, soon after stopping as she stared dejectedly at the ground, her sentence dying off halfway through into a mere mumble that you couldn't decipher, "I'm going to head over to Erwin's office, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖʳᵒᵇᵃᵇˡʸ ᴸᵉᵛⁱ'ˢ ᵒᶠᶠⁱᶜᵉ ⁿᵒʷ ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳʷᵃʳᵈˢ ᵃˢ ʷᵉˡˡ..."

Deciding to nod your head along and let her do as she pleased without questions -seeing how downcast and sombre she looked- you gave her a small curve of your lips, "Have fun, won't you Hanji?"

As the words came out and fell upon her ears, the faintest of grins formed on her lips -however, the typically sweet sentiment was soured when you realised that the action held a sadness about it, causing you to inwardly worry about your girlfriend as she made her way back out the door, creaky floorboards squeaking in protest as she turned back at you and softly spoke, "You too (Y/N), feel free to sleep in my bed, ok? If you're tired yet, you know that you're welcome to do as you please in my office and such."