Hometown

Chapter 18 - Illusions and Delusions

~About an Hour Later~

As the yellow glow quickly illuminated the other side of Trost, I stood on the wall. The plan was being executed to retake the city. Eren would turn into a Titan and carry the boulder, which would act as a plug for the whole in the wall. We just had to wait and see if things would go to plan.

Calmly, I walked over to a crate and sat myself down. I wondered what may be taking place over there. Would Eren be able to pick up the boulder? I couldn't see Eren and his team from where we stood. The only thing we could do was sit and wait for a smoke signal to let us know how the operation was going. While deep in thought, I was interrupted when Connie and Sasha made their way over.

"Hey [Y/N]!" Connie started. "While we wait for orders, wanna play a quick game?" A game? Now?

"Sure," I said as they stood over me.

"Ok, so it's quite simple." Sasha began. "There are two options that you can choose from. You can answer a question, or perform an act of our choice." She gave a knowing smile to Connie.

"We like to call it, 'Answer and Act!'" He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "So whaddya say? Will you answer or act?" The pair seemed suspicious, but the game sounded amusing.

"Wow, that name needs some work..." I mumbled. "Alright. Well, I guess I'll answer first." I sighed and crossed my legs. If we were going to be stuck here luring Titans anyway, why not let Connie and Sasha have their fun? 

"Alright! I'll ask first!" Sasha's eyes widened happily as she whispered sneakily to Connie, who nodded in approval. She then turned back to me with a cheeky grin. "Who is a better kisser, Jean or Reiner?" My face felt hot. 

"How do you guys know about that?!" I exclaimed loudly, utterly embarrassed.

"Simple," Connie said. "Jean told me he kissed you, and I told Sasha." I felt uncomfortable knowing Jean had told someone else. Although the kiss was nice, I didn't necessarily want everyone to know. Besides, it was bad enough that Reiner found out about it after I exploded at him and Jean.

"Oh and Ymir, Christa, and I followed you and Reiner. Unsurprisingly, we caught you two in the act, and I went and told Connie!" They high-fived each other, and now I knew why they had singled me out to play a silly game.

"What?! Well, I– I'm not going to say who's a better kisser!" I said stubbornly.

"Oh c'mon [Y/N], that's not how the game works." Connie said slyly. "You gotta answer." He spoke in a sing-song voice. I threw my head in my hand, dreading having to respond. Though I didn't want to admit it, the choice to me was obvious.

"I–" My attention was drawn away from the topic as the red plume of smoke rose in the air on the other side of Trost. Both Sasha and Connie noticed as well, and I hastily got up.

"My god– did the mission go south?!" Connie exclaimed.

"Where's Eren? What do you think happened over there?" Sasha asked urgently.

"He–" I thought for a moment. There was no way Titans got in the way, we had lured almost all of them to the corner. Is Eren... is he in control? Or is this just something I don't understand, like Reiner and Bertholdt? I was startled by the urgent voice of a superior officer who called out a few of our names individually.

"Springer, Leonhart, [L/N], Kirstein, and you two over there, come with me!" He shouted. I have to be paired with Jean? Right now? At least for now I could keep my distance from Reiner whom I could see a bit further down along the wall. After lashing out at those two, I wanted to keep my distance for a while. Another officer ran to our superior's side. "You go down and get more trainees. I need Braun, Bodt, Braus and a few others to get down there on the front lines. Go!" He commanded, and the officer ran.