LIfe's Too Short

Chapter 18

Author's Note: Hello again! Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, I had a lot going on and I didn't have time to write. But! That's why I present you with this chapter today! Also, some of you were wondering about Levi's reaction to Petra's "death". Well, you'll just have to wait and see for later, maybe next chapter or the one after that, depending on what I think works. Oh, and I also wanted to say that if you haven't been caught up on the manga, to go and read it since this story is following the current manga plotline and you'll see more of the manga plot in later chapters. R&R!

"Katherine Hahns," Keith Shadis said. "Your turn."

Katherine stepped up to the maneuver gear practice device and hooked her belts in. As she was lifted into the air, it felt easy, like second nature, but of course she didn't want everyone to know that. It was almost impossible for her to pretend to be even a bit off-balance, she had taught herself the basics over and over. But even so, she managed to pull through and make it look convincing.

"You pass," he told her, jotting down something on his clipboard. "Next."

After practice, she met up with Lisa, who had sweat beaded on her forehead and her long hair braided tightly to make it slightly shorter.

"How can you do it so easily?" Lisa panted. "I mean, you got the hang of it so much faster than the rest of us!"

Katherine shook her head.

"No, I actually was having a bit of trouble myself," she fibbed. Using the maneuver gear to her was like breathing and walking. "I guess it just takes some sort of natural talent or something."

She heard a smirk behind her and spun around.

There was a tall, lanky boy with hair the color of rust, thin bones and a pair of dark sadistic eyes.

"Skill?" he laughed. "Using that thing takes barely any effort!"

A part of her wanted to agree with him, but Petra simply frowned.

"For you, maybe," she replied.

He shrugged.

"Right? I wouldn't be surprised if I ranked first," he boasted.

He looked down at Lisa, who probably looked like a doll to him in height and smiled crookedly.

"Well, I'm not surprised that little Lizzie here's having trouble using the 3DMG," he said. "You always were a klutz, after all."

Lisa frowned and bit her lip.

"Don't call me that, Christopher," she snarled.

The boy grinned in reply.

"Don't be like that, little Lizzie," he said. "You know, I-"

Lisa opened the door, whacking his face in the process, storming out.

Katherine caught up to Lisa and walked by her side.

"Sorry if I sound rude," she said quietly. "But what was that all about?"

Lisa sighed.

"When we were younger, Christopher always bullied me and called me Little Lizzie. We lived in the same village, right? So everyday when I went out to play with my friends he'd always mess up all of our games or throw mud at us. He liked to pick on everyone, but for whatever reason he seemed to like picking on me especially. As we got older, I started to stand up to him. For a while, he left me alone, and everything seemed great, but after a few weeks he began making fun of me again. I got mad, and I, well," she began to laugh a bit. "I beat him up, and after that he never talked to me again. What I didn't know was that he was enlisting the same year as me. I ran into him the second day of training, and he started calling me by my old nickname."