Friend or Foe... (AoT Reader Insert)

Chapter 19: "Who are you?"

Snow. I've always hated it.

There was nothing particularly grand about frozen drops of water piled on the ground, nor was there anything to prove that 'every snowflake is unique' or whatever; not that it mattered when you could barely notice a difference. It was just crystalized pieces of water scattered about in an inconvenient way! The only thing unique about it was that it could make you cold and wet at the same time.

At least if you were drenched in rain you wouldn't be freezing half to death underneath randomly strewn about frost bites; and with my warmer than regular body heat, I tended to be cold and wet a lot.

In hindsight it was probably just winter that I hated in general.

I don't think there's been a single moment in my life where I willingly frolicked through snow like some brainless fool. It was only through the eyes of a boy that I'd never met that I found myself doing just that.

The brown haired boy... he lived a much harder life than I ever did. Well, a harder life than I did when I was his age.

In the days I lived as a goddess, I never had to step a single foot outside. Everything I needed was always brought to me. A glorious life if I do say so myself. The boy on the other hand... It seemed that he was always working hard to improve himself just to have it all taken away after a span of 13 years.

I mean, dedicating your life to becoming a tool for Marley? Hah! What a foolish goal. I would pity him if I didn't thank him for my second chance at life. Sacrificing your life for the sake of others was something I wouldn't do in a million years!

Well... it was something I wouldn't do again in a million years.

"Marcel!" someone called, "what are you doing over there?"

My gaze shifted up towards a familiar face. I'd seen enough of the brown haired boy's memories to know that the girl who stood in front of him was the love of his life.

A grin pulled at my lips, but it wasn't me who was smiling.

"You don't happen to have a snowball behind your back, do you?" I... he asks playfully. The (unfortunately) familiar burning cold sensation nipping at my hands told me that there was a little surprise for the girl waiting behind my back.

The girl tilted her head coyly, "you say that with a guilty look in your eyes, Marcel. I don't suppose that you're the one who actually has a snowball behind his back, are you?"

I laughed, pulling the snowball out from behind my back, "was it that obvious?"

"No," the girl grinned as she revealed a snowball of her own, "I was just making an educated guess! But since we're both armed and standing barely two meters away from each other, let's have a truce for now."

The girl's gaze flickered towards a blonde boy not too far away. I didn't personally know this boy, but I knew that he was someone dear to the brown haired boy.

The (h/c) haired girl pushed a finger to her lips the way children (and adults) often told each other to be quiet. I never really understood why the action of putting one's finger against their lips meant silence, but I guess it was just something that children learned from a young age and continued to do in adulthood.

Not that the children in front of me would make it that far in life.

A few steps towards the blonde boy and I could begin making out the words he spoke.

"-how do you not look up when you're walking?" The boy was fuming.

In front of the blonde boy was another boy who was sitting in the snow. His eyes never looked up from the ground as tears threatened to fall.