COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 8: Paramours

WHEN YOU RETURNED TO TROST DISTRICT at around midnight, things did not look any brighter for the Survey Corps.

A good number of people hurried towards the gates to greet the returning troops. When they saw you and Mikasa laying brokenly in the carriage along with your friends' perspiring, hunched shoulders, murmurs broke out all over as they took in the scene of thinned-out soldiers.

When people caught sight of Commander Erwin, unconscious and drenched in sweat with a stump that no longer held his right arm, they gasped in shock. More whispers followed, and there were even notes of snarky laughter about how it "serves him right."

You balled your fists. How dare they...

At the headquarters, you and Mikasa were immediately swarmed by doctors. Without even giving you a chance to speak to anybody else, your stretcher was eventually carried to the infirmary and you were assigned a bed. You were advised not to sleep in your bedroom for now so that the doctors would be able to treat you round the clock.

A painkiller was fed to you, and the doctors showed you how to treat your ribs. The dirt on your body was wiped off, you were prescribed all kinds of breathing exercises in order to prevent pneumonia, and you were soon falling fast asleep.

When you woke up late in the afternoon the next day, the person who had volunteered to watch over you was Captain Levi. It had been the first time you saw him since leaving Erhmich District, and the sight of him surprised you when your eyes fluttered open.

"Sir?" you mumbled.

"Y/N," he began. "You look like shit."

"Thanks."

"Why did they kidnap you?" he asked.

"I don't even know," you replied, blinking a few times as your eyes adjusted to the light. "Those rat bastards. Reiner and Bertholt. They were my friends."

"Yeah," he said. "What a bunch of assholes."

"The Scouts are going to get persecuted for this operation," you murmured. "The cost—" memories of what happened yesterday flashed in your mind, "—it was a nightmare."

"Yeah," said Levi. "I know."

Suddenly, you felt scared. If the people were furious with the Survey Corps, what was going to happen to the regiment? The price of getting Eren back, as well as you, had been too big for humanity to bear. The residents of Wall Rose were getting restless having been forced into the underground, and a large number of the Garrisons and the Military Police had been wiped out. Plus, veterans were among the casualties.

"What's going to happen to us now?" you asked.

Levi leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs.

"We're going to hide you and the Reiss girl in a remote location soon," he stated simply. "In the mountains, Hange and their squad are going to see if Eren can execute the same hardening abilities that girl Annie Leonhart displayed. Our squad will be residing in the hiding spot in the meantime."

You stopped breathing for a second. "Our squad?"

"You, me, Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Braus, and Historia Reiss."

"Them?" you asked. You weren't surprised about Mikasa joining Squad Levi, but the others came as a shock. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, sir, but—why them? They're relatively new and quite young."

"Because you trust them," said Levi. "And I've decided to trust your judgement as to who ought to be around Eren and who must not."

"My judgement isn't very good, sir," you admitted. "Annie Leonhart was a close friend as well as Reiner Braun. Bertholt Hoover was my classmate."