Great Descendant || Attack on Titan x Reader

25 || Two Sides of a Coin

The lantern in the middle of the room became the only thing that illuminates the building. Surely it wouldn't be enough to light up the whole warehouse, but it was sufficient for the squad as long as they circled around it.

Just your luck, the place was humid. Despite how Sasha opened the skylight, the breeze didn't flow as it should have.

This mistake on the installation caused the stale air to go nowhere, something that made your stomach churn since you could still sniff out the rusty smell of blood combined with slick, unpleasant sweats.

"What's wrong?" No one opened up their mouth once they were done eating, so you were grateful when Captain Levi decided to speak up. "Did this filthy room kill your appetite?" It wasn't a pleasant starter as per se, but it was enough to distract you from nausea that clouded your mind ever since this noon.

You glanced towards Armin, the one to whom the shorter male talked. Your friend looked like he was deep in thought, looking as calm as possible despite how you knew from Mikasa that he had been crying before. You wouldn't blame him for feeling like this, realising he had his hand stained with human blood needed some time to process.

He was no longer pure, and he knew about it too. Armin was a genius. After all, he pulled the trigger because who knew what would happen if he didn't?

The woman could have pursued you and Jean, or maybe she would point her gun at him instead. He was certain he did the right thing, but of course, the fact that he murdered someone still troubled him.

"No, but I wonder about something." Armin turned away from the snack that he had been staring at before facing Jean. "When I fired that gun, I felt like I had moved too late." Almost, almost too late, but it was fine. You wanted to reassure him ‌it was alright. In the end, Jean was still here, and the woman didn't ‌shoot you and your friends anymore. "Sorry for that, but, why was I the one who shot first?"

Oh, you were thinking about it too before. Jean had so many chances to shoot her, and yet he faltered. Then again, he wasn't ready to kill. You were pretty sure the bullet would have hit him if you were not fast enough to grab him out of the way. It was fine, though; you didn't have any regret for swooping in, not minding the way you cried out in pain for a few minutes as you tried to pull the bullet out of your arm.

Doing it all by yourself was a mistake from the start, but you had your reasons. If by the end of the night no one realised you were shot, maybe you were going to regenerate yourself. Swallowing an enormous lump, you put yourself back to the present moment and gazed at your friends.

Jean pursed his lips, eyebrows furrowed and his breath went shaky as if he was brought back to the perilous moment.

"That's because..."

"Because the other person hesitated." Captain Levi continued the words, reading his mind since it seemed that he was once in the same position.

"It's true." Gritting his teeth, you felt bad for both Armin and Jean as they looked so guilty. "Armin, I am sorry. I knew what I should have done, but..."

"Is that how it is?" Your eyes shifted towards the blonde. Now you were the one who pursed your lips. "I bet the woman I killed was a good, kindhearted person. She must have been much more human than me since I pulled that trigger so easily. I-I am—"

You didn't like this at all. The way he blamed himself for something that needed to be done. Parting your lips, you were just going to say something before the captain beat you to it.

"Your hands are permanently stained with human blood now. You'll never be able to go back to the way you were." The words were much colder than what you had in mind, but maybe your friends needed the harsh truth to be poured in front of them. "Embrace the new you. If you'd kept your hands clean, either Jean or (Y/n) would be the ones who died. Someone like her wouldn't stop when she missed. No."