His Promise [Riren/Ereri Fanfic]

Chapter 16: Things Will Never Be the Same

*Trigger Warning* School shooting

Sunday 10:15am

Eren leaned back in his chair in the Union food court, subconsciously running his hand over his letters. After the informal initiation in the woods, all the brothers had returned to 59 Marley and partied until dawn. Most of them then went home to collapse and sleep through most of Saturday.

Eren had seen Levi briefly at the house party but they had no time to steal away since Levi had ROTC lab that weekend and had to leave campus right after the ceremony. Levi had assured him that he would be back for that evening's Formal Initiation ceremony during the weekly meeting.

Without anything better to do, he, Connie, and Armin had headed to the food court to annoy Mikasa and Sasha and show off their letters. Eren was absentmindedly watching Mikasa study when a commotion in front of the register caught his attention.

"-I said let go of me. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Eren recognized the voice as...Isabelle's?

"You stuck up bitch! You'll be sorry"

The guy who spoke was tall and blond, wearing a Paradis Titans sweatshirt. Eren watched in disbelief as the guy reached into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a handgun.

In one motion he lunged for the nearest possible person and caught them in a headlock. He fired the gun once at the ceiling and then pressed it against Sasha's head.

"Anybody moves and I blow her brains out!"

Eren saw the look in Connie's eyes a moment too late. He lunged for his friend to stop him, but Connie only had eyes for Sasha. The shooter leveled his weapon in their direction and fired.

•°☆°•

Sunday 10:45am

Levi and Fallon walked across the quad toward the student union. Neither of them had bothered to change out of their ROTC uniforms. Through sheer luck they had been released early this morning and were able to return to campus. Fallon Church was heading to visit his girlfriend at work. Levi decided to tag along on the off chance he would run into Eren or some of the other brothers who liked to hang out there.

As they walked closer they saw people running in the opposite direction. A strong sense of foreboding hit Levi and he broke into a jog, catching the next kids he saw running past them.

"What's going on?"

"...shooter in the Union Food Court..."

Levi and Fallon exchanged a glance and took off at a dead run.

As they got closer, snippets of panicked conversation reached them,

"...in a Titan sweatshirt attacking students."

"30 hostages"

"Barricaded the doors."

Levi's mind whirled and he almost stumbled. Images rushed at him so quickly he thought he was hallucinating. Monsters. Titans. Titans attacking. Sitting ducks, innocent people picked off one by one. Blood so much blood. Eren right in the thick of it. Eren was always right in the thick of it.

Levi quieted his internal screaming and focused on his purpose. His only purpose. Eren! He would not lose Eren. He would protect him. This time...

The area outside the Union was in a state of pandemonium. Unarmed campus police tried in vain to clear the area. Levi and Fallon could see the hostage situation clearly through the bulletproof glass wall of the FoodCourt. Levi grabbed Fallon's arm and they jogged in a circle to the service entrance that the kitchen used to take deliveries. Levi tested the door and sure enough, the shooter had forgotten to barricade it. He pulled Fallon low.