Hand in Hand

31. Children

"So what do you guys think is up with the Captain and (y/n)?" Connie asked. He glanced down at the arrest warrant and newspaper in his hands, frowned, and then looked to his comrades.

"Hell if I know," Jean replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Just don't bring it up when we get around them."

"Like I'd risk my life that easily." Connie passed the warrant to Armin so he could take a look. "But, you have to admit, freaking out on Mikasa was out of character."

Jean and Connie both looked ahead toward Mikasa. Walking beside her was Sasha, both of them draped head to toe in their drab grey cloaks. They stood out against the bright greens, deep browns, and sun-illuminated leaves of the forest but at least their identities were shadowed.

What puzzled the boys was how Mikasa didn't seem to be bothered by Levi's outburst. She hadn't spoken on the incident since, neither had Armin. Then again, nothing ever seemed to faze her.

"Would you guys focus?" Armin asked sharply. He lifted the warrant to their faces and said, "The government has Captain Levi and Commander Erwin's faces plastered on every building in Stohess. This is hardly the time to meddle in the Captain's personal affairs."

"I'm not meddling..." Connie began as he snatched back the paper. "... if he put it out there to begin with."

Armin sighed in defeat. Logic never seemed to get through to Connie. "Mikasa has seemed to put behind her, let's do the same. Now, let's catch up. I don't like lagging in the forest."

"Yeah, yeah."

Levi's group was a few miles from the Reiss estate near Wall Sina. Leaving in the dark gave them an advantage but now that the sun was up, every enemy would be on the lookout with a knife in hand. Their cloaks could only hide so much.

Once his squad hit the fifty-mile mark, Levi decided that a well deserved break would be in their best interest. It would be twenty-five more miles past the Stohess District to the estate. He knew he needed his scouts in their best form because anything could be out lurking.

The 104th had so conveniently offered their assistance to go into the city undetected to gather information. In reality, it was just a ploy to get an hour of freedom away from their Captain. What they found in the city during that hour wasn't shocking, only depressing.

As they walked back to the small campsite in the forest between Wall Sina and Wall Maria, the only distraction they had was what Armin called, "meddling in the Captain's affairs." It was an interesting diversion. Connie didn't mind feeling like a meddling teenager for a few minutes. It was what he should've been all along instead of selling his youth to the Scouts.

"So Mikasa, what do you think about Captain Levi and (y/n)?" Connie asked when they caught up. From beside him, Armin shook his head disapprovingly.

"I think that it's none of our business, Connie," Mikasa muttered passively.

Jean jogged ahead of the group and walked backward to face his friends. "Don't you think he's been acting weird these past few months?" He eyed Sasha for help.

"It's not a big deal. We all know Captain Levi's pretty unpredictable," Sasha explained. "And as Mikasa said, it's none of our business anyway."

Jean's frustration was written all over his face, his overdramatic frown making Sasha snicker. Behind the girls, Connie silently pointed to Mikasa and not so stealthily mouthed "ask again". Jean shrugged, and desperately eyed Sasha again.