Outside the Walls (Attack on Titan fanfiction)

Chapter 10- Solitary Expedition

"Good morning cadet!" Hanji peeked inside Eren's room.

"AAAH! Squad Leader!" He squealed as he jumped into his closet. "I-I'm not dressed yet!" Hanji entered and closed the door behind her. She faced the corner.

"You can finish up, I'm not looking. Promise!" She sang. Eren quickly pulled on his pants and shirt and started with his straps. Hanji turned around, seeing Eren's red face.

"What is it?" Eren asked. Hanji handed him a red leather bound book. When he paged through it he saw that it was blank.

"That is what you'll be using while following Ayano. You'll be following her on horse." Hanji seated herself on a chair. "Never get too close to her- we don't want her to know what we're doing.

"The rules are: never interfere with her actions unless her life is in danger. We don't want our prime subject to die, now do we?" Hanji adjusted her glasses. "Write down all of her actions. Those that seem insignificant only have to be described briefly. But those that seem out of the ordinary, like when she interacts with the titans, those need to be catalogued in detail."

"What if she finds me?"

"Improvise!" Hanji giggled. "You like to act in the heat of the moment, so I'm sure it won't be too much of a problem for you." Eren blushed at this.

"S-Squad Leader..." Eren stuttered. Hanji laughed again.

"Oh, you can be so cute if you really want to!" She pinched his cheek, then stood up and readjusted her glasses again. "Let's go have breakfast, Cadet." Eren nodded, his cheeks still slightly hot.

They entered the mess hall, which was in an uproar. Shouts of "How do we know she won't kill us like Annie?!" And "Let the military have her! She can be cut up into a thousand pieces for all I care!" All these were directed at Levi's table.

"What the hell is going on?" Eren asked Hanji, who ignored him and just filled her tray. They approached the table and saw what caused the commotion in the first place. Ayano and Levi were seated next to each other and were ignoring the shouts. Ayano wore a collar that looked like it belonged on a cat. A leather strap connected to the collar was wrapped around the Captain's wrist.

Ayano looked up and her eyes shone slightly, but her overall expression didn't change. "Good morning, Squad Leader." She raised her hands to salute, but Hanji waved it away. Eren and Ayano exchanged a brief wave.

"Is that Shorty's idea?" Hanji inquired, pointing to the collar. The crowd died down and calmed down by then. Ayano nodded.

"I don't want Princess Brat here to cause more carnage than she already has." Levi said, sipping his coffee gratefully. He seemed incredibly tired. Ayano pouted slightly.

Eren saw this and couldn't help but smile at the short girl. She looks kinda cute if she actually shows some facial expressions... He looked at her again and caught Ayano's eyes with his own. They stared at each other for a short while, not knowing what to do. Ayano averted her eyes first, her cheeks the slightest shade darker. Eren gulped down his food to avoid cooing at her.

He saw Mikasa send death daggers at Ayano. Eren just shook his head. She needs to stop that. Eren thought. If she keeps doing that, I might never get a girlfriend. A very amusing yet creepy thought rose up in his mind. What if that's her intention? He shook his head, making the thought dissappear.

Levi tugged the leash just as Ayano wanted to take a bite from her breakfast. "Isn't there something you want to say?" He growled. Ayano sighed with annoyance and looked at each scout seated at their table.