𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

XXXV - Discipline Through Pain

"Let's go to the Mess Hall, I have quite a bit to tell you actually."

***
~Two days later, Stohess Courthouse~

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I stood nervously beside Mikasa and Armin waiting for Eren's arrival. The air was still, not a single word uttered to break the eerie silence that had been upon the room for the past ten minutes. My arms were folded over my chest, my fingers gripping the loose fabric on my upper arm tightly to somehow soothe my distress.

"Y/N." Armin whispers, shuffling himself closer to me. "Calm down, we'll get him out of this." He reassures. I drew in a shaky breath, continually biting the skin on the inside of my cheek before giving out a frantic nod. A hand held itself on my left shoulder, Mikasa, who was previously standing idly to my left, giving my shoulder a light squeeze of reassurance.

My anxiety was through the roof, and though they were good at hiding it, Mikasa and Armin were too. I could sense it. Armin's breathing becomes shallow when he's nervous, sometimes audible when he's breathing through his nose. Mikasa has a tendency to scratch at her sleeves behind her back whilst nibbling on the inside of her lip. Her hand had a slight shake as it sat on my shoulder before she retreated it back to behind her back.

I stood there, staring at a singular stone that sat in the middle of the courtroom near the small pole situated in the center.

"Y/N." Armin whispered once again. I look over at him, furrowing my eyebrows in concern as my hands clenched and unclenched on the fabric on my bicep. "That guy wants you." He voices quietly. I look up at the person he nodded his head at. Everyone down the row was looking forward so I couldn't decipher who he was talking about.

"Which one?" I ask equally as quiet. Armin averted his gaze to look down the row again to, I assume, find features to describe them.

"The one that helped us in Trost, the one with black hair. The short one." He describes turning back to me. My eyes widened as he boldly described Levi.

"Shh! Don't say that!" I whisper shout at him. "That's Levi." I advise. Soon it was his time to widen his eyes.

"Your best friend, Levi?!" He whisper shouted back. I nod vigorously.

"The Levi, you know, Captain Levi? Humanity's Strongest?!" I drill into his head.

"Yes, okay! He wants you to go by him." He whispers back. I let a slow breath out through my nose before stepping back and walking carefully between the front and second row of people. Fortunately, not many people occupied the front. My steps were so loud, I could feel everyone's gazes on me. I kept my head down, brushing passed Erwin and eventually brushing passed Levi's shoulder to stand beside him.

"What?" I whisper to him, my stare switching between the Military Police who occupied the bleachers on the opposite side of the room.

"Calm down." He whispers back, his gaze set forward with a bored expression plastered across his face.

"I am calm." I shoot back offended.

"You're not. Breathe." He deadpans. I take in a deep breath, releasing it slowly through my nose.

"See? Calm." I assure.

"Y/N." He says coldly. I set my lips in a line, furrowing my eyebrows in frustration.

"Levi, I can't help it." I murmur to him with evident concern in my voice. "That's my little brother with his life on the verge of death."

"Trust Erwin." He replied simply. I purse my lips and grip my jacket again. His blank response made me even more concerned, it made him sound like they didn't have a plan at all.