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Location: Wall Maria
Time: Night, Early Winter
The Survey Corps had left Karanes District in an uncharacteristically frantic manner. The imminent threat of snowfall had accelerated their schedule; if they didn't move quickly, the deepening cold would render ODM gear near-useless and navigation nearly impossible.
Late evening cloaked the district as they departed, the streets quiet. No cheers of support or encouragement from the townspeople greeted them—unsurprising, given the district still bore visible scars from the war.
Kiyotaka Ayanokouji walked near the front of the column, his steps falling into rhythm beside Levi Ackerman's. The man beside him bled in irritation, his sharp eyes flicking occasionally toward Kiyotaka as if weighing the merits of acknowledging his presence versus ignoring him entirely.
He probably wanted another chance at decapitating him.
The young man wondered if that would kill him.
The crunch of boots on frozen earth and the soft whinny of horses filled the silence. Kiyotaka, ever unfazed, decided to make an attempt at conversation.
"So, how's Petra? Still recovering?" he asked, as though they weren't trudging through biting cold on a mission that would decide humanity's fate.
Levi's eye twitched, but he kept his gaze ahead, clearly trying to pretend Kiyotaka wasn't there. Kiyotaka, however, noted the subtle tightening of Levi's jaw—a crack in the façade.
Petra was the last remaining member of Levi's original squad. Kiyotaka had gathered this information from... well the things he did in previous months. He couldn't help but wonder how Levi felt about it. Losses like those often broke people.
Not Levi, though.
Levi was different.
Hardened.
But not invulnerable...
Kiyotaka exhaled softly, watching his breath turn into a visible puff in the cold air.
He let the silence linger, observing the scene. The blue glow of lanterns bobbed with the rhythm of the moving column, the light casting long shadows against the surrounding forest.
'Winter,' he mused, 'is a fitting backdrop for the Survey Corps' situation—bleak.'
He thought about the irony of it all. The reason they were moving in the dead of winter wasn't a strategic necessity—it was because the Survey Corps had been delayed, crippled by events he had set in motion.
The timing was convenient for him, though he doubted anyone else saw it that way.
Breaking the silence again, Kiyotaka glanced at Levi. "Do you have any hard feelings about all that's happened?"
Levi's reaction was instantaneous. He stopped walking and turned to Kiyotaka, his sharp features illuminated by the lantern light. "Shut your mouth. You're good at staying quiet. Stick to that."
Kiyotaka raised an eyebrow but offered no retort, only murmuring under his breath, "Rude."
He returned his gaze to the road ahead. Levi was entitled to his anger. Kiyotaka knew this. Manipulation often left bitter wounds. It wasn't his place to seek forgiveness—or to care if he received it.
That meant he just had to live with his thoughts forever, right?
And that was fine, right?
The column pressed on, the cold air biting at their exposed skin. The sound of crunching snow and the occasional snort of a horse were the only companions to their thoughts. Time passed in a monotonous rhythm until, at last, the forest began to thin, revealing a clearing ahead.
YOU ARE READING
Classroom of The Elite x AOT: Wax Wings
Fanfic[Crossposted onto A03 under the same name] Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, the Masterpiece of the White Room has gone missing, disappearing into thin air one night before the end of spring break. His whereabouts are unknown, his condition even less so. In his...
