Almost Want To Love You {Attack on Titan Fanfiction}

Chapter Two

    "Hey, Levi! Who'd have thought you and I would be scouting in the same position?" Hanji rode beside the black-haired captain, his scowl growing larger as she did.

    He made a scoffing noise and muttered a few things under his breath, which was about as much of a reply as she was going to get. Ignoring his negativity, she smiled as she lifted her hands from the horse's reins. "I can't wait to battle some more titans! This feeling of adrenaline is indescribable!"

    "Will you cut it out with your 'fun' outlook on everything? It's annoying."

    "Aw, you're just jealous because you're as boring as a brick wall."

    His gaze ever trained in front of him, he gave no reply. Hanji almost sighed. Almost, she wasn't quite that disheartened yet. In all sincerity, she would give her left big toe to see Levi show a little joy. But the chances of that happening were right up there with all the titans disappearing overnight.

    They were stationed in a position near the left flank. In the front were Erwin and Mike, with a few other superior officers on the right and back flanks. So far, only a couple titans had been spotted. For as far as they'd come, trouble had stayed to an uneasy minimum.

    Hanji tried at various intervals to entertain Mr. Shorty-Pants but the only thing accomplished was annoying him more. Not that this result was that bad in her opinion, it just wasn't what she'd wanted out of him.

    Just when Hanji thought that the captain's silence would slaughter her optimism, a scout rode up beside Levi and informed, "Captain, we've got a ten-meter and a thirteen-meter behind us. Would you like us to handle it?"

    Before Levi could answer, Hanji turned her horse. She finally had an excuse to get her head out of the hole that Levi's seriousness had dug for her. "Whoo! I thought for a moment there I wouldn't get to do anything today. I'll go."

    Levi began, "Wait, Commander Han—" but she was gone before he could finish. He sighed. To the scout, he notified, "I'll be back momentarily. Inform me if anything happens."

    "Yes, Captain."

    As Hanji approached the titans, she grinned. "Ooh! You two are going to be enjoyable." She waved, shouting to draw their attention, "Hey, big guys!"

    Levi rode beside her. His irritable mood fell like a cloud over the two of them, once again throwing Hanji's mind back under his depressing foot. "Let's get this over with quickly," he ordered. Then, meeting her gaze with a look of steel, he clarified, "So no torturing."

    "You're no fun." Still, Hanji consented to Levi's order.

    The brunette stood on her horse as she neared the ten-meter, shooting her 3DMG into a pine tree near it. She drew her blades. "I'll try to chop you up real nice and fine, alright?" Grappling to the back of the giant, she sliced along the nape of its neck. Hanji held on as it went down. It landed with a thud.

    Moments later the thirteen-meter Levi had taken on collapsed beside hers. The captain made no effort to look at Hanji when he said, "Next time, let the other troops handle it. If it's only a couple and they're normal, we don't have to intervene."

    Briefly, he swiped a rag along the edges of his blades. Once he'd sheathed his weapons, he moved toward his horse. With a glare even sharper than his had been at Hanji, he scanned the size of the beast compared to him. He attempted to pull himself on its back. Hanji couldn't help but snicker as he struggled to finally make it up. Furthering his embarrassment, the brunette climbed on her steed easily.

    He must have recognized her tease, for his scowl deepened. "Let's go," he commanded. "We're far behind now."

    The two soldiers rode to catch up with the rest of their flank, which was only distantly visible. The entirety of the time, the black-haired shorty never spoke. Hanji bit her lip. Certainly, his annoyance couldn't have been from her teasing alone. He wasn't that petty. But he must not have wanted her to ride off on her own. Had she really messed up that badly?

    She focused her attention on the trees spread about her surroundings to distract herself. Levi's reaction to the situation filled her with an odd mix of bitterness and disappointment. They'd killed both the titans without getting hurt. Why did he have to make a big deal out of it? Did he have any idea how boring it was to ride in the front doing nothing?

    She rolled her eyes. Then again, he was the most boring thing in the Scouting Legion. But why was she getting so worked up about this?

    "Commander, behind you!"

    The brunette didn't have time to react before a titan's hand slammed into her horse, knocking her and her mount to the side. Hanji fell on her chest, her dead steed landing on top of her legs. The pointed corner of her 3DMG was slammed into her calf from the weight of her horse. Her left knee pierced into a rock, the edge digging into her skin and causing her to wince.

    "Get up!" Levi yelled, jumping from his horse and using his 3DMG to get himself to a high pine branch. "It's an abnormal, and it doesn't look like he's alone!"

    He was right. A couple fifteen-meter titans were not far behind the one that had hit her. Following the captain's orders, Hanji gripped the ground in front of her. She held in a deep breath. In a valiant effort, she tried to pull herself out from underneath the horse.

    Hanji screamed in pain—the 3DMG in her leg and rock in her knee deepening their holds. The weight of her unmoving horse was impossible to get out from under given the circumstances. Hoping Levi could hear her, she shouted, "I can't get up!"

    The black-haired man glanced her way. Her condition was bad—too bad to handle on her own. He had to get her out of there. Using his 3DMG to propel himself into the abnormal, he ordered, "Set off a signal!"

   "I can't! The trigger broke off so it's useless!"

    Levi scowled, aggressively slicing a ring around the titan's arm. It would be impossible for him to send a signal while trying to kill an abnormal. Not only that, but he also had to watch Hanji. If the other titans got too close, he and his comrade would be done for.

    He sighed, muttering, "You really are frustrating, you know that, Four Eyes?" Firing his 3DMG into the abnormal's far shoulder, he swung around the back of it. His blades sliced into the titan's neck.

    As soon as the abnormal had fallen, Levi was on the ground, running to Hanji's side. He dropped to his knees near her. His eyes scanned the damage. "Are you hurt?" he questioned.

    Though biting her lip from the pain, Hanji forced a smile. "Yup."

    "Then this will probably hurt a lot more."

    "But—" She was cut off as Levi wrapped his arm under hers, firing his 3DMG at a tree near his horse. Instantly, the two were sent flying toward Levi's target. He attempted to block out her screams as they went. They were alive, so that was all that mattered.

    When they landed, beads of sweat were dripping down Hanji's face. Her lip, as well, was bleeding from where she'd bitten into it. "There were—agh—other ways..." she managed.

    Levi hastily helped her onto his horse. As he did so, he reasoned, "There were titans near you. I didn't want to waste time." He pulled himself up—an ironic reminder that only a moment ago she'd been laughing at that—and spurred his mount.

   The two fifteen-meters, now running after them, weren't far behind. From where she sat in front of Levi, the brunette asked, "Can't you fire a signal now?"

    "I could, but considering how far behind we are, it'd be a miracle for our troops to even notice. We'd be dead before we could make it back."

    "So what do we do?"

    At this, he was silent. Realization hit her. With the odds as they were, the two of them most likely wouldn't get back behind the walls again. Not at the rate they were going. Not with the distance they'd have to cover.

    Her vision blurred. The pounding sound of her heartbeat became the only noise she could hear. Above all else, she couldn't let herself fall asleep. She'd be a goner if she did. But the farther they rode, the less control she had of her body. She drifted off—the pain of her legs and thump of the titans behind them seeming like a distant dream.