the hilt | eren jaeger

t w e n t y t w o - A.A.

He was in a rush.

There was nearly ten minutes before the scouts would arrive. The blonde boy was frantic. He was at peace with what would come, yes, but he had much needed to do before anyone arrived.

Killing his friends was on the itinery for today, after all.

He scaled down the wall, to the built-in compartment that had been orchestrated, and knocked through the fake hole. Once inside, he quickly refashioned the door to its proper bearings, sealing himself inside the hole.

Unbeknownst to him, a girl sat on a chair, a few feet to his right. Her eyes were carefully dressing themselves across him, laying him out with scrutiny. She was not surprised to see him, but she certainly did not looked overjoyed either.

The faintest cracks of light coming through the edges of the door were illuminating the knife she twirled absentmindedly in her fingers. Her pointer finger ran itself along the blade, up and down, a miracle she was not cut in the process.

Her eyes were dead inside as they glanced down at the hilt of the blade, the only visible bit being the green undertone of the wood.

The blonde had still yet to notice her. His forehead was pressed against the door as he closed his eyes, and prayed for the day to be over already.

Maybe prayer would save him. He did not find any god to surf his conscious as he pleaded for mercy. He only wanted it to be over.

It was only once he opened his lids after a few moments of silence did he spot the girl, a devious yet numb look on her face.

The blonde was slightly panicked. His voice was dry and coarse, "How did you get here?!?"

She didn't respond or move closer to him. She just continued to trace the blade with her pointer finger.

"You need to go, now. You're not gonna be safe here."

He actually was concerned for the girl, and was genuinely worried about her. She could not discern those types of things anymore.

She thought him to be joking.

She sardonically laughed at him, her voice low in the dusty silence, "It's too late for that, isn't it, Reiner?"

She sighed exasperatedly, "I'll just die anyways," She paused to furrow her brows and stare deeper into his soul, "I can't outlive a bunch of freaks."

Maybe her words were just meant to be hurtful, and didn't represent what she believed, but it certainly didn't feel like it to him. Did she really believe him to be a monster? Did she believe them all to be monsters?

The blonde didn't know what to say. He was still shocked. He wanted everything to be different. He wanted to fight alongside her. He wanted to be her friend. He wanted to be her companion.

"If I left, per say, you wouldn't find me again. Anywhere I go would be unadmissable to you."

She sat back in the chair and stared up to the ceiling, "I'm not important. I'm not special. Stop treating me like I have so much more worth than everyone else in this world."

Reiner was still silent.

She was special with reasons attributed by time and space. It didn't matter that she wasn't actually a special person, she was her, and that was enough.