Levi x Reader | Cold

Chapter Twenty-Four - Sharp

[ Estelle/Reader's Point of View ]

[ A few days later ]

Erwin guides us down the stairwell into a concrete-floored room. He makes his appearance first, and I descend down behind him, a little surprised when I see Levi and Eren speaking to each other calmly.

I'm almost about to smile being so pleased with their collected attitudes, but hold it in due to the glum reason we're here.

Everyone takes a seat, but I stand with my foot pressed against the wall, surveying their reactions.

Almost everyone in the room is aware of our ideals, but due to Levi's injury and Eren's fatigue, along with a few outsiders, they hadn't come across our list to tell until we reached the conclusion we just made minutes ago.

"Her name is Annie," Erwin states, as he begins to tell Armin to explain and elaborate a few key details now that we're all together.

"Annie is the Female Titan form? But why?" Eren asks as Armin finishes. "Why would you say that, Armin?"

Eren's face looks completely distraught, and I look down, recognizing it as my own distress when I found out she was the Female-Type.

"She recognized your face from the beginning," Armin turns slightly to face Eren. "Not to mention, she reacted when I referred you 'sought to die so soon', which nobody outside the 104th would understand."

I scan over Eren, trying to read his expression. In one word, he looks anguished, but his eyes can tell you that a million thoughts are racing through his mind with every word Armin says.

"And mostly, because I'm sure she killed Sawney and Bean, the two experimental subjects," Armin says. My mind becomes a little cloudy as he says this, and I wait to hear him explain this theory.

"But why?" Eren questions. I begin to wonder if these are the only words he'll be able to see this entire conversation. As I continue studying Eren's expression carefully, I notice a pair of steel grey eyes studying mine. I look up slightly to see Levi, and we make eye contact for just a second, and I begin thinking about confessing like Hanji suggested, but get cut off when Armin begins talking again.

"One would need quite the skill to kill those two," he continues, eyes focused. "The culprit would've used their own 3D Maneuver Gear, since they'd be accustomed to it."

Armin explains to Eren for multiple minutes and I get lost in my thoughts, listening to the same things I've heard before. I already know Annie has to be the culprit, but even after all of that, I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's something none of us worry about. It isn't that I'm not angry, or that I don't despise her for what she did

"So that's why we had a gear check?" Eren disrupts me from my thoughts. "But Annie wasn't caught..."

"Because she brought Marco's to the check," I look up slightly, mouth agape at Armin's words. Marco's death has always bothered me the most, because nobody knows how he died. He was very kind to me and always complimented my practices. "That's how she passed," he explains.

Jean's expression is completely dead when he hears this. I bite on the inside of my cheek, only being able to imagine the pain he's facing internally.

"What? What does Marco have to do with this?" Eren asks, as I continue looking at the floor expressionlessly.

"I don't know," Armin replies.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"No, I'm pretty certain."

"I got that, kid," Levi presses his paper to the desk and glances up at them. "Do you have any other evidence?"

"I don't," he admits, "but-"