Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)

Chapter 5 - Responsibility

When Hange and Lara arrived at the refectory, it was almost empty. That soothed the girl's heart, for she was certainly not in the mood to be the center of attention right now.

Hange guided her to a table. Lara sat down, shyly. From among the people there, she only knew Levi and Erwin, but there were two more soldiers she hadn't met yet.

"Lara," said Hange, pointing to the soldiers, "this is Moblit Berner, the Executive Officer of my Squad, and Mike Zacharias, humanity's second strongest soldier, and also, your future rival."

Mike looked at Hange, confused. She just waved her hands, chuckling, replying she would explain later. As usual, Mike leaned close to Lara and sniffed her, which made the girl give him an awkward look and try to dodge Mike's nose.

"Hey, sir!" exclaimed Lara. "I'm not a dog to be sniffed!"

Everyone at the table did their best not to laugh at the situation. Even Levi lowered his head to disguise it. Hange deliberately laughed out loud.

"Lara," said Hange, wiping a tear from her eye, "don't mind him. Mike has this habit of sniffing everyone he first meets. It's his way of saying 'nice to meet you!'"

In the end, even Lara laughed. Apparently, the presence of a child had, after all, lightened the spirits of some soldiers a little.

"Lara, you look great in the Survey Corps uniform," praised Erwin. "I can't believe that you found some clothes that fit her. Congratulations, Hange."

"See, how cute?" asked Hange, happily. "I just made a Mini Soldier! Stand up here for them to see you, Lara."

Now that the girl was on foot and properly dressed, everyone could see her better. She was very short for her age, measuring at most 1.25m tall. Her dark brown hair fell to her shoulders and she had big intense blue eyes.

She was wearing white pants and a shirt, and the light brown Survey Corps jacket, with the Wings of Freedom symbol on the back. Hange had taken her to the changing room and looked for the smallest possible sizes. She was grateful for having people equal in size or smaller than Levi, but asked Lara never to tell anyone she had made fun of him.

Hange had to fold up Lara's pants and jacket sleeves. It was clear the clothes were too big for the girl, but it was enough for the moment. At first, they both thought Lara would need to keep the same old and filthy shoes she was wearing, but by some miracle, they found a single pair of the smallest boots in the room that fit her perfectly. Hange then recalled that some very small women were once part of the Survey Corps, hence the reason for them finding such small boots. It all ended with Hange and Lara practically playing as if they were at a fashion show, with the girl waving her new Survey Corps green cloak behind her.

When Lara noticed the soldiers in front of her were nodding slightly in approval, she looked at Erwin with determination and closed her right hand, hitting on the left side of her chest.

"SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO!" She exclaimed, making everyone jump in fright.

Lara turned to Hange, with a "Did I make it right?" look.

"Well done, Lara!" she replied, laughing. "Just like we rehearsed. I thought you might like the salute, Erwin."

"Excellent, indeed!" The Commander applauded, followed by Moblit. "A true Survey Corps soldier!"

"Wow... Thank you very much, sir!" Lara replied. Her genuine smile and her high-pitched child's voice instinctively caused everyone at the table to give at least a little smile in response, or in Levi's case, a nod of approval.

Hange got Lara some bread and a bowl full of vegetable soup they were having for lunch, and the girl ate with a ravenous appetite.

"Hey..." said Mike, gently beside her, "Slow down there, buddy..."