Ackerman's Sister || Levi x Sister Reader x Erwin

Chapter 9 || Tasting Freedom

Is it too late to fake illness? Would it look suspicious to suddenly twist your ankle? You're good at making things look like an accident and lies can usually flow like honey from your mouth, so if you were dealing with Flagon or literally anyone else right now, a flawed landing could be believable...but that's the issue. You're not dealing with Flagon or some quarter-minded twit, you're dealing with Erwin Smith; a guy who seems to have a knack for starving your success while feeding for your irritation.

Despite your deepest prayers, you hadn't come across any of your teammates- not your friends nor brother-, thus you were left with no saviors as Erwin personally escorted you to the training grounds. All the while he wore the most punchable expression regardless of your actions. Say something and he'd smirk with some vague reply, clearly aware of your current suffering, you're sure. Remain quiet and his face would rest in stone, his inner thoughts locked and inaccessible to yourself. Either way, you're left clueless to his intentions which brings a flame to your fury.

You don't like being in the dark nor one step behind anyone. Life in the Underground didn't leave room for that. One small misstep there could cost your life or worse, the lives of your brother and friends, so you've made an art of deciphering characters. It's what allowed you to survive with as few bruises and short-ended sticks as possible. It's what allowed you to keep your family safe, although it hasn't always been straightforward.

You've made a dangerous bet trusting Lovof's offer, but at the end of the day, the task that he's proposed is an opportunity worth the risks. If you can just get everyone citizenship above ground, you won't have to worry anymore. You'll all be free, so you'll be damaged if you let someone like Erwin Smith get the one up on you now. Not after everything you worked so hard for.

There's a few possibilities for how this training may go. You've considered each outcome thoroughly, deciding the most probable is that Erwin's planning to simply tear apart your earlier lie regarding your presence in a restricted area.

Just like everyone else here, he must see you as nothing more than a vexatious thief unworthy of trust. It wouldn't go against that image for you to be up to no good, so he could try hitting you with various questions hoping to force a confession. Well, fat luck with that. You may have been caught off guard earlier, but you refuse to slip again. Keep a straight face, don't stutter, and show confidence in your own words:

"'can't expect nobody to believe a lie when you don't believe it yourself."

"Ready to begin?"

You give more of a grumble than a real answer.

Maybe Erwin was going to explain the training further, maybe he wasn't. Either way, you don't give him the chance to decide. Instead, you shoot your grapples into the nearest tree, pulling yourself off the ground and continuing through the forest at the quickest speed you can manage, after all, the sooner you rip all these titan dummies apart, the sooner you can go complain to everyone else.

Spotting the first titan, you cut into the cushioned nape just as you had been trained without slowing your course until safely landed on a branch. You only take enough time to study the air, not seeing Erwin around, although you can hear the distant echo of maneuvering gear. This might just be easier than you anticipated if he can't even keep up with you.

With ease, you make five more 'kills' within less than ten minutes, each hit at a different angle yet flawless nevertheless as you take no shame in showing off just a tad.

Weaving through the trees, you feel a warmer breeze that doesn't turn your cheeks to ice, one that tangles your hair into knots that'll be a pain to brush out later, yet inside your veins, you're invincible. This is the same feeling you had using manuvering gear in the Underground. You're no longer trapped between walls nor bound to the earth: you're free.