Mask-An Attack on Titan Fan Fiction

Chapter Thirty-Four

All of the magic had been sucked from the night as the troops headed back to the fortress. Each lantern, which had so easily charmed me before, now caused no emotion to stir within me. My fingers and toes were numb with cold, and my whole elbow was twinging. All that pain, however, was nothing compared to the agony stabbing my insides.

Jean and Armin caught up with me shortly after we entered the courtyard for a debrief.

"You alright, Ilsa?" Jean asked.

A noise gurgled in the back of my throat. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Armin pressed, "You've got grass and dirt stains on you arms and knees. Did you fall?"

"Yes," I replied shortly, "But I'm fine."

Armin threw me a concerned look, but didn't reply. He simply smiled gently and gave me a pat on the arm.

"Well," Jean groaned, "This night definitely was a waste."

Around us, there were mutters of agreement. Jean looked around at me.

"Are you alright? You have a weird look on your face."

A huff of irritation left my lips. "I've said that I'm fine! Why won't anyone take my word for it?"

Jean's brow pursed. "Alright, alright," he replied, "You're fine. I won't pester you further, then, Your Highness."

I rolled my eyes, but felt a brief smile twitch across my lips. "Shut up, Kirstein."

I heard a chuckle behind me. Connie was traipsing along at a slightly slower pace, but apparently he had still heard our exchange.

"You're on last name terms, now, Jean!" Connie whooped, "You'd better watch out! This one beat Mikasa that one time!" He jerked his thumb clumsily in my direction.

"That was just dumb luck, Connie," I grumbled, "And stop butting in places you don't belong."

I looked up briefly from the ground to see Connie still striding alongside us, but with his good-natured smile replaced with a confused frown.

I sighed. "Sorry," I said hastily, "I'm really tired. I didn't mean to be snappy."

Connie's confused facade melted as a smiled brightened his face again. "Same here. This night really was a waste, though, wasn't it?"

"It was a bit of a waste, yeah," I agreed, "I can't see why they would want the whole squadron out at night when they only needed twenty or so people for the experiment."

"Well, see you tomorrow, Ilsa," Jean cut in, heading towards his dorm.

The squads were breaking off in the direction of their respective dormitories, so I bade my friends goodnight. I spotted Mikasa's dark head among the other girls heading back to bed and rushed to catch up to her. She quirked an eyebrow as she caught sight of me.

"How was your night?" I asked her, "Everyone else keeps saying it was a waste."

"Fine. I wasn't able to observe Eren, which is a disappointment," she sighed, "But I was able to work out a kink I've been experiencing with some maneuvering techniques."

"You? Experiencing kinks?" I asked in disbelief, "Come on, you were the best in class!"

Mikasa blew an angry round of air from her nose. "That doesn't mean I should give up trying to improve."

"Of course," I said, backing down, "I just was surprised that you were having trouble."

We reached our room and I kicked off my boots and fell into bed, gear and all. Within moments, my weary consciousness had carried me into the realm of deep sleep and burning dreams.