Chapter 32

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Makoto couldn't remember much. But she remembered passing out from the lack of oxygen. The Female Titan's grip was tight and there were no gaps for air to get in.

She also remembers waking up and staring down at the forest floor while everything is passing her quickly. Her eyes slowly adjust to the dim light of the forest and she looks up to see that one of her arms was wrapped around Mikasa's shoulders as she uses her ODM gear to get through the trees. In front of them is Levi carrying an unconscious Eren.

Makoto tries to speak but she lets out a cough instead, catching Mikasa's attention. "You're awake," she says, trying to keep her monotone voice but Makoto catches the hint of relief in there. Makoto nods and looks around the forest, seeing where the Female Titan could be. "Don't worry, the titan won't be coming after us." Mikasa reassures.

But that did the opposite of reassurance. She couldn't help but wonder if Annie was safe or if these two did something to her. But Makoto keeps quiet and nods. 

"Thank you," Her voice croaks, cough a bit more from a dry throat. Mikasa keeps her eyes focused on what's in front of them until they finally reach the edge of the forest.

There were several carriages there, all of them carried the dead bodies of their past comrades. "Where are the other carriages?" Levi asks as he approaches Erwin. 

"The other carriages are making their ways back to town already. They'll meet us at the gates." He addresses and gets into one of the carriages. Levi does the same, putting Eren into another carriage.

"Come on," Mikasa says as she gets into the same carriages as Eren while Makoto follows. Makoto looks around, not spotting Petra anywhere. 

'I hope she's with the others.'

On the ride back, Mikasa keeps Eren's head on her lap while Makoto looks out into the distance, unable to bring herself to look at the dead bodies in front of her. She couldn't help but wonder who are the people wrapped in tarp, laying dead in front of her. 

Her attention turns to a loud thump next to her. She watches as Levi's carriage throw bodies of dead soldiers out. She stays quiet and watches as the bodies roll away into the distance. Soon enough, the two people in her own carriage do the same, allowing the carriages to speed up.

Once they reach the gates, Makoto watches as the gates open for they are greeted by the townspeople. Erwin and Levi hops off the carriages and continued the rest of the way back on foot. Erwin faces angry townspeople questioning the purpose of the expedition and his leadership.

Makoto also gets off, deciding to work out her legs a bit. She hasn't seen anyone else that she realizes since they were all surrounded by civilians. She keeps wondering to herself if all of this was worth it, what was the purpose of pretending to be on humanity's side when they're already losing. They're only prolonging their faith.

Now with the new knowledge of Annie being a Titan shifter, they both can over take the district easily and take down Eren. The both of them alone were capable of handling the other Titan shifter, imagine the terror the Female Titan and her could bring together on the people.  

Makoto stops in her tracks when she hears the voices of children. 

"Look, it's her! She's the one who fought the big titan and other small ones too!" One of them say. Makoto looks over to where the voices are coming from and see a hybrid boy with a human girl. She hasn't never seen someone like her in a long time. It was weird to see the two children be friendly with one another. It could be because she can never see herself being friends with a human when she was little. 

Though hybrids people aren't common, it doesn't mean that they don't exist. They live in the slum areas of town and preferred to stay away from society due to the threats they receive from humans. 

"Who? Her? Isn't she just a Scout Regiment?" The little girl asks her friend.

"No way! That's the Wolf Titan! The big white wolf with green eyes? I wanna be like her one day!" The boy says excitedly to his friend. 

'Wolf Titan huh? So that's what they call me? Better than being called an oversized mutt.'

"Look, she's looking this way!" The boy says and waves his arms frantically to get her attention. 

Makoto can't help but crack a small smile at the boy's behavior and wave back. The boy's eyes sparkle and he grabs his friend's by the shoulders, shaking her excitedly.

Makoto keeps walking, still having the smile on her face. It feels weird to her that someone looks up to her as some role model or a hero. But kids are just kids right?

Ever since the expedition, everyone has been tense and there was always a heavy feeling hanging in the air. Makoto even notices Eren's sudden change of personality and how Levi is quieter than usual.

Makoto pushes forward, however, refusing to let what happened change how she acts or feels. Why should she feel sorrow or remorse for people she didn't know? It wasn't like anyone important to her died.

Makoto finds it annoying how one failed expedition has caused everyone to fall into a pit of despair. Like she understands mourning the dead but to drag it out for this long? The situation they live in is a 'every man/woman for him/herself'. People will die every day and especially when they're going out to risk their lives facing titans. 

Makoto finishes up her training, glancing over to Eren who's slacking behind. His green eyes look darker than usual and are filled with guilt. Makoto rolls her eyes and grabs her towel, draping it around her neck. 

"See ya," she says as she leaves the green-eyed boy to finish up his training by himself.

In the distance, Makoto spots a petite figure walking towards her. As the two walk closer to one another, Makoto starts to see the facial details of this person.

"Petra, what are you doing here?" Makoto asks, knowing that Petra has been put on a break by Levi due to the trauma of watching her squad mates get killed.

Petra lets out a shaky sigh before moving closer and wrapping her arms tightly around the taller girl. Makoto's body stiffens in reaction as she looks down at the brunette confused.

"Thank you.. You saved my life back in the forest." She says quietly.

"Oh um. That was nothing." Makoto replies, feeling awkward about the position she's put in. 

"It wasn't just nothing! You put yourself at risk to save me. You could have gotten hurt by the Female Titan." Petra opposed, "After what happened to you being left behind, you still went out to save me."

"Well, if I had to at least save one person from that squad or Eren's sulking right now would have been worse," Makoto scoffs, trying to throw out any excuse. She honestly didn't know why she acted out to save Petra.

The smaller girl was right. She could have gotten killed just by saving her. She knew that the Female Titan wouldn't attack her on purpose but she was already mid-kick when she was aiming for Petra.

Luckily, Petra doesn't push it. She knows that getting a straight answer from the taller girl wasn't going to happen. "Well.. You still saved me.. So thank you Makoto." Petra says in a soft tone as she takes the other girl's hand in hers.

Makoto looks down at their hands then looks back up at the older girl.

"Like I said, it's nothing. Just try not to get yourself killed next time okay?" Makoto says as she pulls her hands away from her. She pats Petra's head carefully so she doesn't mess up her hair before walking past her to go back to her cabin.

As Makoto walks away, Petra turns her head to watch her leave, smiling softly to herself.

-

The next couple of days got a bit better. Everyone seemed to stop acting all mopey or at least around Makoto. But something else was going on. Makoto starts to notice a lot of whispering going around amongst the Scout Regiment members.

What seems most suspicious was the whispering between Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and Kyouko. Makoto didn't like this one bit. This wasn't because her sister is with them but what exactly are they up to?

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