For the One I Love || Hanji x Female Reader

Chapter Fourteen: Heartache

I gradually started to feel better with the medicine that Hanji gave me, and I was up and running in no time. I was still highly curious about what Levi and Hanji were talking about the day before, and if they weren't lying, today would be the day that I'll know what it was about.

I mean, Sasha wouldn't stop talking about it, and we were currently sitting in my bed inside our room while she practically interrogated me about every little thing that happened.

"I swear Squad leader Hanji was like your own personal guard or something!" Sasha almost yelled out if I hadn't covered her mouth with my hand, muffling her other words.

"Wait, what was that?" I asked as I removed my hand, chuckling softly in the process.

Sasha gave me a knowing look as she repeated, "I said, that they already saw everything."

My face quickly heated up at this, and I shook my head as I protested, "They only did it because...you know! I was sick and all that! Though I wish you or Mikasa would've done it instead. It's so embarrassing that it had to be them."

Sasha was grinning from ear to ear, while I could only blush as I vividly remembered our interaction.

"I'm telling you, it's only because I'm sick! And I doubt they'd let Captain Levi do it for me," I told Sasha as I ran a hand through my hair.

"Well...Captain Levi is another matter altogether, [Y/N]."

I tilted my head slightly in confusion at this, and she continued, "I mean, everyone's been talking about how Captain Levi also goes out of his way for you. So the other cadets are wondering if there's some sort of love triangle."

I almost fell from the bed in surprise, and I vigorously shook my head as I said, "No way in hell that's happening! What's obvious is that he's actually such an overprotective mother hen."

Sasha burst out laughing at this as she said in between fits of laughter, "I can absolutely imagine him as a literal hen!"

I couldn't hold back my laughter as well - Sasha just has that kind of contagious energy about her.

We were interrupted when someone knocked on our door and said, "Commander Erwin called for a meeting. It'll start in five minutes so please head over to the common room."

"Got it!" Sasha energetically answered as we both prepared ourselves to meet with the others.

_

For some reason, the air was tense when we entered the common room, especially with Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and Hanji were talking among themselves in one corner of the room.

Sasha and I headed over to where Mikasa, Armin, and the others were, and we all wondered what the meeting was all about.

"Maybe we're having another expedition? They might have managed to get some information from the King's gathering that's useful," Armin said in a hushed tone, and we nodded in understanding.

As usual, he had a point.

"But we've barely been training!" Connie said in a loud tone, and Sasha hit the back of his head to shut him up. As usual, he didn't, and it only resulted in their bickering.

"I swear, you two must have been married in your previous lives," Jean said as he closed his eyes in frustration.

The two aforementioned 'married couple' immediately stopped and turned to give the aforementioned horse a death glare as they asked, "Care to repeat what you said, resident horse?"

We were sure that a fight was about to ensue when Captain Levi cleared his throat, and everyone immediately behaved and sat up straight.

"We were tasked to finish off the titans that managed to infiltrate Wall Rose and look if there were any survivors," Commander Erwin said, and Captain Levi rolled his eyes and interjected, "You're the one who wants to look for survivors. We were only tasked to risk our lives and wipe out the titans that somehow got in."

Commander Erwin smiled sadly and countered, "The Survey Corps actually cares about the civilians, Levi."

I unconsciously glanced at Hanji, who was uncharacteristically quiet than usual, and found that they were looking out the window instead of participating in the conversation.

"With that said, we'll still be using the buddy system for the training as well. We have two weeks to do so before the expedition," Commander Erwin said before glancing at Hanji, motioning for them to say anything.

Hanji forced a smile on their face as they said, "Hello, everyone! Well, as Erwin said, we'll be training with our buddies for two weeks before the expedition....and...um..," they glanced directly at me as they trailed off, before clearing their throat.

"Get on with it already, four-eyes," Levi said in an irritated manner, and Hanji fidgeted with their fingers - their nervousness highly evident.

From behind me, Mikasa whispered, "[Y/N], this might have something to do with you. Squad Leader Hanji's been glancing at you for some time now."

My hands shook slightly for some reason, and I had a gut feeling that Mikasa was right.

"We'll see...though I hope we're wrong," I told her softly as I faced upfront once more.

"Due to circumstances, I'll be removing myself from the buddy system," Hanji said after some moments of silence, and I felt my whole body go numb in surprise.

As if that wasn't enough, I could feel everyone's eyes on me as they probably waited for any reaction. I had to admit though, it felt so devastating to know that I was probably the reason why she said that.

My heart was beating wildly in my chest, and I wanted nothing more than to leave the room and go somewhere to scream out my frustrations. But I couldn't possibly do that. I have to stay calm - to not show anything on my face.

But why was Hanji distancing themselves this much?

"I'll be partnering with Moblit since we'll be focusing on several experiments," Hanji added softly, though even Moblit looked surprised as if it wasn't the original plan, but he didn't argue.

My eyes remained glued to the floor, not willing to look at anyone right at the moment, otherwise, the hurt would be evident on my face.

'So this is what Captain Levi meant by 'you'll know tomorrow'. Had I known...I would've been able to somehow prepare myself,' I thought as my hands formed into fists to hide the fact that I was shaking so hard.

"Are there any objections? Or is there anything else?" Commander Erwin asked after clearing his throat, the tension palpable in the air.

Seeing no one raise their hand, he nodded and said, "That would be all, you may go and begin with your training."

If Hanji wanted to completely remove me from their life, they should've just said so.

[Author's Note]

So....thoughts? Also, I'm really sorry for updating so late! I'll make it up to you guys!