𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝙾𝚅

Y/n pounced on the man and punched him. The man screamed and pushed her off to create some space between them.

Y/n dodged one of his attempted punches and continued to dodge them until the man could no longer feel his body.

"Just finish him off, Y/n." Mikasa ordered. Jean and Armin watched as Y/n remained silent and continued to do what she was doing.

It's been a while since they've seen her this annoyed. It reminded them of back then when she was known as the 'Ice Queen' in the Training Corps.

"He deserves way worse." Y/n simply replied, enjoying the fact that the pervert is giving it his all while she simply moves to the side like it's nothing.

He panted for air, throwing a weak punch at her. Y/n effortlessly dodged and stared blankly at the man.

"That's just half of what I've got!" the man weakly yelled out, throwing another punch.

"Are you sure that's only half of everything you've got? Either way, they're both weak." Y/n dodged once again.

The pervert stopped for a bit to catch his breath. Y/n smirked and used this as an opportunity to attack.

She pretended to throw a punch at him and due to human instinct, he attempted to throw a punch at her as well.

Little did he know that this was all part of her plan. Actually, she picked up on this when fighting with Annie during their hand-to-hand combat.

She dived beneath his arm, throwing the pervert to the ground and holding him in a lock.

She then twisted his arm and wrapped it around his own neck and watched as he slowly started to slip out of his consciousness.

"Y/n, that's enough! You're going to kill him!" Jean yelled. Y/n ignored his warning and only gripped his arm even tighter.

Just as the pervert was about to pass out, Y/n stopped and let go of his arm, before standing up while dusting off her clothes.

The man gasped for air and just stayed in that position as he tried to control his breathing.

And just when he thought he was all safe and sound, his body was kicked and thrown to one of the boxes.

Finally, the man lost his consciousness and passed out. Y/n then turned to Mikasa and walked towards her with an unconscious body behind her.

Mikasa sighed and shook her head disapprovingly at Y/n's actions. Either way, even if Y/n were to murder someone, Mikasa wouldn't mind hiding the body.

Mikasa offered to carry the body and hide it behind the hill of boxes. The two then hid and waited for the boss of the kidnappers.

As the lead kidnapper and his henchmen enter the warehouse, where Jean and Armin were being held, they noticed the guard was missing.

The kidnappers are quickly restrained and Mikasa informed them that after tying them up they are to meet with Levi.

"Armin, are you okay? Well, obviously not, but I'm sorry." Y/n apologized, rushing towards Armin.

"I'm fine, Y/n. It was scary, but I'm glad you stepped in before he was going to do anything serious." Armin sighed.

They all then head outside after making sure that the kidnappers can no longer move and that they were knocked out cold, especially the pervert.

"I hear gunshots! Over there! I heard a lot of shots!" Sasha informed, pointing in a certain direction.

"You think something happened?" Jean turned to Mikasa for an answer while Y/n just conversed with Armin.

"Most likely." Mikasa replied, finally saying something to Jean instead of ignoring him like always.

"What the captain wanted me to tell you all is starting now, there will be times we have no choice but to fight humans." Mikasa announced.

Hearing the gunshots from Levi's fight, Squad Levi headed towards the source of the fighting.

As Squad Levi joined up with Levi himself, Levi ordered them to rescue Eren and Historia and kill any enemies who would stand in their way.

Y/n nodded, surprising Armin. She's going to eliminate those who stand in her way. She'll make sure of that.

In the ensuing fight, Armin and Jean briefly take control of the wagon, with a small portion of Y/n's help, of course.

She took out the man who was guarding Eren and Mikasa since it was obvious he'd get in the way.

The man does not go down without a fight and plans to attack Y/n with the strength he still has left in him.

"Don't move!" Jean whimpered, pointing his sword at the female driver, who was just driving the wagon.

The woman noticed the look of fear in his eyes and knew he wasn't going to kill her, nor did he have the courage to.

She used this as an opportunity to get rid of Jean's weapon and get back up on her feet. Jean staggered backward when the gun is pointed at him.

"Jean!" Y/n yelled as she instinctively flew her way over to him and pushed Jean out of the wagon.

Just as Y/n was about to jump off the wagon as well, while she was pushing Jean away, her foot accidentally tripped on something, which made her fall back into the wagon.

As Y/n stood up with her blades drawn to attack the woman in front of her, she flinched as she realized that the gun was now pointed at her.

"I'm so dumb." Y/n mumbled, wondering why she would even save Jean. He wasn't even that close to her, and yet, she saved him.

There was no turning back now. She had to find a way to deal with this situation, whether she liked it or not.

"Don't move! I won't hesitate to shoot!" the woman yelled. Y/n noticed the look of uncertainty and fear in her eyes.

The eyes of a person can tell a lot about themselves, more than they realize. Y/n took advantage of that.

Before Y/n was about to stand up and attack the woman herself using hand-to-hand combat and her blades, a loud 'bang' was made.

The woman, who was pointing her gun at Y/n, collapsed onto the wagon's surface, creating a loud thud.

Behind the woman was Armin, with his gun pointed at where the woman was previously standing.

Smoke emitted from the gun in Armin's hand, proving to all of them that he was the one who shot the woman.

However, when more members of Kenny's squad show up from behind, Levi and Mikasa are forced to rescue Armin and Y/n, and they abandoned the chase.

Sasha dealt with Jean, who was trying to stand up after being pushed off of the wagon by Y/n. He was in shock.

He didn't understand why she would save him. Y/n had never had a proper conversation with him.

The only time Y/n spoke to him was when he hesitated to save his comrades, earning a slap to the face by Y/n. There was also a time Y/n beat the crap out of him.

So why did Y/n save him instead of leaving him for the dead? That's because she didn't want to lose any more comrades is all.

They decided to abandon the chase since the people had already escaped with Eren and Historia.

Following them now would just be a hassle, so instead, they will form a plan once Levi finds a good location to rest.

Outside the abandoned building, where Squad Levi is holding Dimo Reeves and his men, Armin is trying to come to terms with the fact that he killed another person.

Y/n is rubbing Armin's back as he threw up in the river. Mikasa was silent as she just stood behind the two.

Armin asked Mikasa if she had gone through this when she killed a human for the first time.

"S-Sorry." Armin apologized after realizing the question he had asked. Of course, it was a touchy subject, he didn't want her to remember bad memories.

"It's fine." Mikasa replied. She decided to leave the two alone for them to talk about this together.

"I feel so horrible." Armin admitted, sitting down at the edge of the building. Y/n sat down next to him.

"Hey, you two lovebirds, head inside." Levi called out to the two of them before they could even have a conversation with one another.

"It's not like that, Captain." Y/n retorted, standing up and offering a hand for Armin to grab.

"Sure." Levi stared at her with doubt. Armin accepted the offer and grabbed onto her hand as she pulled him up.

The two of them head inside to discuss about what just happened and to plan their next move against their newly founded enemies.

"What's wrong? Did this filthy room kill your appetite?" Levi questioned, noticing Armin's traumatized expression.

"No...Y/n, there's something I'm still trying to understand." Armin called out to her. Y/n replied with a hum.

"When I fired that gun to save you, I felt like I had moved too late. Sorry. But still...why was I the one who shot first?" Armin stared wide-eyed at the ground.

"Because the woman hesitated." Y/n answered, eyeing Armin with the corner of her eye. Levi nodded, agreeing with Y/n.

"I bet the woman I killed was a good, kindhearted person. She must have been much more human than me since I pulled the trigger so easily. I'm-" Armin was interrupted.

"Armin, your hands are permanently stained with blood now. You'll never be able to go back to the way you were." Levi reminded.

"Why would you say that?" Mikasa inquired, annoyed by the way Levi was comforting Armin.

"Embrace the new you. After all, if you'd kept your hands clean, Y/n would be the one who died. You wouldn't want that, now would you?" Levi questioned.

"I'll tell you why you pulled the trigger. Your ally was about to be killed. Armin, it's only because you bloodied your hands that nobody on our team ended up dead. Thank you." Levi thanked Armin.

Afterward, Levi and Mikasa talk to Dimo Reeves, and Levi managed to convince him to lend them a hand, in exchange for their help in ensuring the survival of the people of Trost District.

Armin seemed a little relaxed than before, but you can tell in his eyes...he still felt guilty about what he had done.

"If you're so guilty about it, I don't mind staining my hands in blood. Next time, I'll shoot. I'll kill them so that you won't have to stain your hands with blood anymore." Y/n smiled at him.

"I've never bloodied my hands yet, so this will be a first. You won't have to go through this alone anymore." she reassured.

Although her smile was sweet and her eyes displayed kindness, her words were quite threatening...in a good way?

Under the pretense of being on the side of the Military Police, Dimo Reeves leads two Interior Squad members to the location of Levi's hideout.

It turned out to be a trap set by Levi's squad, and the two Military Police soldiers are knocked out and imprisoned by the Scouts.

𝚈/𝚗'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

According to the conversation Eren wrote down, Deputy Commander Hanji speculated that Ymir used to be a Titan until she ate a comrade of the Female Titan, Colossal Titan, and Armored Titan.

Should an ordinary Titan consume an Intelligent Titan with the ability to transform, it will gain the Intelligent Titan's abilities and regain consciousness as a human.

In other words, a Titan that eats a human with the power of the Titans will turn back into a human and inherit that power? Interesting...

If Eren has the same power as the other people who can shift into Titans, that must mean he ate someone to gain that power.

If the government has its own Titan, Eren will be eaten and his Titan power will be transferred to someone else.

"For now, we should pay this Rod Reiss a visit. Get ready to leave at once." Captain Levi ordered.

"Yes, sir!" we all replied. Every one of us stood up from our seats and made our way out of the room.

"Y/n, did you really mean that? The thing you said earlier." Armin started a conversation as he walked together.

"Mean what?" I questioned. He at least has to specify what he meant by that or else I won't be able to answer properly.

"You said you were willing to stain your hands with blood. Did you...mean that?" he repeated his question.

"Of course. To be honest, among you four, I'm the only one who hasn't stained my hands yet." I answered.

"Plus, it's only natural; we'll have to do this sooner or later, whether we like it or not." I added.

You can't avoid hurting someone to protect another. Sooner or later, you'll have to stain your hands in red.

That's the kind of messed-up world we live in. It really is gross to say that so casually, right?

"Armin, we can't afford to space out right now. We have to hurry." I reminded, tying his cloak and pulling up his hood.

"R-Right. Thanks, Y/n." he stuttered, averting his gaze from me as his cheeks had turned into a pretty shade of red.

"You're blushing. How cute." I teased.

"I'm not blushing." he huffed, puffing out his cheeks. I lightly chuckled before exiting the room, Armin following behind.

"That's what they all say." I whispered, continuing my teasing. He seemed to have heard it since he turned to me.

"I told you, I wasn't blushing. It just suddenly got warm around here, so the heat was affecting me." he reasoned.

"Sure." I dragged my word to express my doubt. He sighed, giving up, and just following me out of the room to head to the others.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

In Stohess District, the Military Police hand out fliers for the arrest of the Survey Corps for murdering a man.

"Told you, didn't I? They were behind that Titan battle here that destroyed practically everything." a citizen said.

"And now they're planning to have that monster Eren wipe us out." another citizen shrieked.

"Rich swines." I scoffed. Yeah, it's only natural to be terrified of that incident, but believing the Military Police, who's done nothing but get their bellies full inside the Walls, is just pathetic.

Jean took one of the fliers before Jean, Mikasa, Armin, and I leave the city for our camp in the woods.

They always call those who join the Survey Corps crazy and insane for wanting to go outside and see the Titans.

And yet, they're the ones crazy if they think that staying in the Walls is gonna create a future for everyone.

"Captain, we bought the supplies you asked for." Jean announced after we had finally made it back to our camp.

"The Military Police were handing these out." Armin handed one of the fliers to Captain Levi.

"If this is accurate, the Survey Corps is being disbanded. I heard they'll be hunting for us tonight." Armin informed.

"They're also going to guard the major roads, so we won't be able to get through without a pass. How troublesome." I sighed, approaching Captain Levi.

"What do we do now about this situation, Captain Levi?" I bent down and stared at the flier he was holding.

"That looks nothing like you, Captain Levi." I stifled my laughter with my hand after seeing the drawing they drew of our captain.

"Shut up, you brat." he flicked my forehead. I huffed as I rubbed my forehead to soothe the pain.

"They're using wagons. They won't reach the Reiss estate for at least a day. We can use that time to come up with a plan." he said.

"Captain, I hear footsteps. They're coming this way." Sasha informed. I closed my eyes and listened to my surroundings, she was right.

Captain Levi immediately gave us quick orders and we all split apart to follow the plan he made in less than a minute.

The plan was to be grouped in pairs. Surprisingly, Captain Levi instructed me to stay with Armin in case things go wrong.

Mikasa and Captain Levi will handle the two Military Police soldiers while the rest are on standby.

"We need two buckets, right?" I questioned, turning to Armin. I made sure my voice could be heard from at least 10 meters away.

"Yeah..." Armin shakily said. He handed me the wooden bucket filled with water. His hands were trembling in anticipation.

I gave him a small, reassuring smile as I gently placed my hands on his before grabbing the water bucket.

"Don't move!" we both heard, which caused the two of us to flinch. That was quick. I'm glad they heard my voice, though.

There seemed to be another person standing next to him, based on the footsteps from earlier.

"Turn around slowly." the young man ordered. Armin and I slowly stood up, just like he had instructed.

"You're in the Survey Corps, right?" he questioned as Armin and I turned around to face the two soldiers, one male and one female.

"That's right, don't make a sound." he pointed his gun at us before taking a step forward to probably restrain us from doing anything.

"Just silently do what I tell-" he was interrupted when Mikasa and Captain Levi came out of their hiding spots and pointed their blades at their neck.

"That's right. Give your guns to the people in front of you." Levi commanded, pressing the blade to his skin.

"And don't make a sound, right?" Armin mocked, grabbing the gun from the man, who was ordering us just a moment ago.

"If you do, we'll have to find a place to bury your bodies." I threatened, grabbing the shotgun from the young lady's hand.

Those people who attacked us from earlier...something about their ODM gear is a little bit different from ours.

Firearms are useless against Titans, but they're perfect for killing people. It kinda looks like a rip-off version of ODM gear.

Their weapons were practically made for executing us and the fact that their existence just shows up now is rather...convenient.

The two Military Police soldiers are stripped of their gear. I stood behind the two soldiers with their own guns pointed at their heads.

Armin and Mikasa were in charge of tying them up with rope while I made sure they wouldn't use any dirty tricks to escape.

"Let's see. Stohess District Military Police. Private Marlo Freudenberg and Private Hitch Dreyse, same assignment." Captain Levi read the papers that were given to him by Jean.

"What should we do with you two?" Captain Levi walked up to me and allowed me to take a glance at the paper he was holding.

Before Captain Levi can announce how the two of them will be disposed of, Hitch interrupted him.

She angrily lashed out over the hundred lives lost in the Titan battle in Stohess District.

She blamed a Titan pulverizing her roommate, Annie Leonhart, or rather, the Female Titan, who she never got to know.

"What are you talking about? Your roommate was the Female Titan who murdered hundreds of lives. No, more than a hundred, actually." I retorted.

The two Military Police soldiers, who were the Female Titan's comrades during the time Annie was faking to be a soldier, were in shock with the sudden news.

Captain Levi is bothered by how little anyone outside of the government knows and said that he will release the two Military Police soldiers once we get out of here.

Marlo asked Levi to let him help because he would do whatever it takes to correct injustice.

Captain Levi declined, being uncertain whether he is truly ready to make an enemy of the government, and told Sasha to tie them up.

"Let's go." Captain Levi ordered, glancing at us before walking ahead. Mikasa, Armin, and I followed after him.

Jean stopped Captain Levi and asked if he could handle the two Military Police soldiers instead and Captain Levi allowed him.

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Night has fallen and Captain Levi interrogated the Interior Military Police soldier regarding the location of Eren and Historia.

The man is uncooperative, even in the face of Captain Levi's beating. He even shoved his foot in his mouth.

He told us that if they do not turn themselves in, every Scout, who has been captured, will get the noose, starting with Erwin Smith.

"Captain Levi, may