Monster without a Name (Levi x Reader)

Chapter 8: The Final Nudge

After a mostly sleepless night, you, Levi, and Kogami reconvened at the crack of dawn.

"I think we still have one more chance to catch Makishima," you stated. "If he wants to dismantle the military, there's one prime target that he hasn't gone after yet."

"Premier Zachary," Kogami muttered, his eyes narrowed in understanding.

You nodded. "I think it would be best for us to concentrate our efforts there, instead of investigating the third victim. We should use whatever time we've got to set a trap."

"Makishima will see this coming," Levi grumbled. "Whatever trap we set will have to be a good one."

"Right," you agreed. "So, here's what I was thinking..."

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Everything was set. The MP's were in their positions. Now, the only thing left was to discreetly patrol the area, searching for any sign of Makishima.

Kogami peeled off in a different direction, but Levi remained by your side. After your run-in with Makishima yesterday, he wasn't willing to let you out of his sight. He still couldn't get over what might have happened if Makishima had chosen to attack you, and it was doubtful that he ever would.

A small, terrible part of you was glad that Levi was here. He had killed people before. If he faced Makishima, he would have no problem pulling the trigger – unlike you. However, the other part of you felt disgusting for even thinking that way. You didn't want to throw more blood on Levi's conscience.

If only you were strong enough to pull the trigger yourself, this whole thing would already be over.

As soon as the thought entered your mind, you flashed back to last night, to what Levi had murmured while you were still sobbing in his arms.

"Your restraint doesn't make you weak, brat. In this world, killing is easy. But people like you – people who are good, and who recognize the value of life on a fundamental level – those are rare. And that innocence is hard to protect. But you should protect it, with everything you have. Because without people like you, we're all lost. So you just keep yourself out of trouble, and I'll handle everything else."

You weren't quite sure if you believed him. You just knew that you didn't want anyone else to die.

While Kogami patrolled the grounds, you and Levi patrolled the inside of the Capitol building, where the premier's office was located. You had, of course, warned the premier that something was coming, but you had also asked him to continue his normal routine. You didn't want to do anything that might tip off Makishima.

The two of you started at the top and worked your way down. By the time you reached the ground floor, you hadn't found anything of interest, and all seemed quiet. Of course, you knew going in that Makishima might not show up right away. In fact, he could very well choose to wait weeks, or even months. Still, you couldn't shake the sensation that you were missing something.

The last place you checked was a forgotten storage room – so far out of the way that you had almost missed it. It wasn't even on the map of the building that you had obtained from the military's records. However, it wasn't very interesting, and you wrinkled your nose as you poked your way around dusty old boxes.

"Hey, did you know the Capitol building had a basement?" Levi grumbled, peering through a door that was half-hidden behind a shelf.

"No," you replied, your brow furrowing as you went to see what he was looking at.

Well, it certainly appeared to be a basement. The staircase descended down into a dark room, but from your current vantage point, you couldn't tell how big it was.