invidia 『Hange Zoë』

1: "are you two done flirting yet?"

Being a Team Leader in the Survey Corps is most certainly not an easy job, but it's one you take in your stride. You've been here for five years, had your own troop of soldiers to command for two of those, and seen your fair share of titans and death alike. In fact, it's a surprise to you that you're still alive. When you first joined, as a fifteen year old recent recruit, you'd almost wet your pants on your first expedition (in your defense, you had been grabbed off your horse by a twelve metre titan that you'd been ordered to follow at a distance), but you'd been saved by Captain Levi, and ever since then, you've been determined to never let anything like that happen again.

It hasn't, and you're quite proud of that fact. Your team has survived the last two years as a whole without any serious casualties, something not many other teams (not including Levi's squad) can boast, and as such, you're almost famous. People on the street remember your name; when you first started commanding your team, they used to be surprised that someone of your young age was trusted with an entire team to yourself, but now no one is surprised when you all return with barely a scratch on you.

But it's also exhausting. Although you and your team are very close, you're also close to almost every single comrade in your section, and they're not always as lucky as your team in the surviving department. Every day is filled with grieving and mourning, and if it's hard for you, you often wonder what it's like for the other veteran soldiers here, the ones that have been with the Corps for much longer than you have.

They don't talk about it though. You're quite close with Section Commander Hange, and also good friends with Captain Levi (though he'd dispute that fact), but neither of them talk about the people they've lost. You suppose that's one way to cope with it, to bottle it up or push it down and never think about it.

Regardless, you still love your job. It gives you the freedom you've always craved ever since you were little, and allows you to feel like a part of something important.

Currently, you're practicing hand to hand combat with your team and Levi's, since you both had a free slot at the same time and decided to fill it with something productive. You watch the way Petra takes out your second in command, Alice, her wooden knife to her ribs, a satisfied look on the redhead's face as the other yields.

You feel a swift kick to your abdomen that sends you down to your knees, coughing a little as the pain fills your body, and you remember why you shouldn't get distracted.

"Seriously (Y/N)? I thought you were better than that," Levi chastises you, the point of his knife pressed against your throat before he holds a hand out to you and pulls you up when you take it. "Never take your eyes off the enemy, or you're as good as dead."

"I know that," you huff, taking the knife from him and judging its weight idly. "I was just looking out for my comrade."

"That'll also get you killed. You've gotta trust that they know what they're doing." He points out before you rush him, and he blocks your advance. Still, you push on, sending fists at him. You know you can't defeat him, no one is better at fighting than Levi, but he is shorter than you, so you can use that to your advantage.

You manage to grab his left arm, so you twist it before pushing into his chest hard and give his head a whack with your own, forcing him to the floor as you straddle his hips, triumphantly holding the knife to his throat before he yields. He let you win that one, but you take the victory anyway, grinning at him underneath you. "Ha! Take that, Captain!"