Angel With A Shotgun [Levi Ackerman x OC] / Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Code XXII: Sunken Hope

"Eren, you're—" Levi started, jumping to his feet, but Eren cut him off.

"No, please—I apologize for imposing," he insisted, but his voice was shaking. His eyes watered and he bolted.

"Eren!" Levi shouted, rushing to the door before he threw Xora one last glance. She looked at him with an expressionless face, then he, too, ran.

Xora didn't know how to feel; was her first attempt at comforting another person good enough? And why in the world did Eren have tears in his eyes, even when he was smiling? Was he hurt? If he was, why was he hurt?

Why did Levi choose to leave her there?

Rising to stand, Xora stumbled from the aching in her joints, deciding that if she were to work it off and exercise, she'd heal.

Just as she always did.

Moments later, she was already striding through the halls, headed for the exercise room. She only stopped when she passed an ajar door with the hushed whispering of no other than the two men from within. It would've been the consciously right thing to do to keep walking, but one remark stole her attention.

"There is absolutely nothing going between Xora and I," Levi whispered forcedly. "She is my subordinate, and I am her superior. We are co-workers, and I have no feelings for her whatsoever."

Xora had stopped moving without thought. Her muscles froze and she couldn't move; sparks flew in her brain, but she wasn't able to feel anything at all.

"Then how do you explain why the two of you were so close just now?" came Eren's voice. It was trembling, and through it Xora could hear he was obviously weeping.

Why was he crying?

"We were just rehearsing for our roles as Rivaille and Seraphina. Her past performances were unfit and practice was necessary."

Why couldn't Xora move? She willed her body to move its feet once again—but instead, it seized up and she felt something warm trickle down her face. Finally, her body listened to her; her hand went to touch her cheek and she felt something wet. Withdrawing her hand, she saw there was a warm liquid drenching her finger tips.

What?

What was this?

The sparks in her head were now absolute chaos. Why was there such a strange hollowness in her chest that she could not place? Why did it affect her so? She stumbled from her spot and dashed as quickly as she could away from that door. There was no destination set in her mind, but when she came to, she found herself standing right outside of the fitness room.

Rushing inside, Xora speeded over to the full-body mirror on the left side of the room, grasping both sides of the frame. She was astonished to find that she... was crying.

What?

What???

Tears slipped down her face and dripped to the floor, the whites of her eyes tinted pink. She scraped at the wetness with the back of her hands and the collar of her shirt, but the tears would not yield. What was this? Why was this happening?!

Eventually, she collapsed to her knees and stared at her reflection, her eyes stuck on her empty gaze. She stayed this way for a long, long time, and somewhere along the way she'd fallen asleep, for when she awoke, it was barely dawn.

Finally her cheeks were dry, but her lids felt swollen and heavy. She groggily rose to her feet and swayed over to the bathroom within the exercise room, this one less luxurious than the one in her bedroom, but useful nonetheless. Stripping of her clothes, she turned on the shower and let it run ice-cold. Her bandages fell to the floor, her knees covered in nasty scrapes that had freshly scabbed over. Though the frigid water stung her skin, it also placed a hand over the fogged film of her mind and wiped away the blur, leaving her head crystal clear.