PROTOTYPE『ᴇᴘɪᴘʜᴀɴʏ 』 - 𝒜𝓉𝓉𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝓃 𝒯𝒾𝓉𝒶𝓃 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝐼𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓉 -

Chapter 3 - Aniki

(Y/n) lifted her chest up and one of her legs shot up. She quickly pulled the covers up, causing a cold gust of air to make it feel like she just sat in a tub full of ice. She felt as if something is blocking the air from getting inside her, causing her to cough and slightly suffocate.

She had just woken up from a nightmare. But it wasn't a mere nightmare with titans or some sort of weird creature. No. She had a nightmare of what happened to her three years ago. The nightmare that occasionally haunts her every night. Every time she closes her eyes to get some rest.

The nightmare, as much as it's horrifying to her, it's also grossed her out.

After trying to control her breath and stop the coughing, (Y/n) finally climbed out from her bed and left her room to go get some fresh air. It was lucky for her to be given a personal room instead of being with the other soldiers at the dorm, although the room is small.

But to her, that would be much better than having to deal with too many awkward moments with other soldiers, who are older than her, and she doesn't exactly want to be with too many people to be around her yet.

Unfortunately, just when she walked out of her room, she saw Levi who happened to saw her too.

"Oi, what are you thinking."

For some reason, Levi is glaring at (Y/n) as if she would steal something from someone. Levi is rising his guards up and so is (Y/n). She knows that Levi is being suspicious of her even though she hasn't done anything wrong.

Levi, being the person he is, could feel (Y/n)'s stiffness. He thought that maybe the brat in front of him is the type when a baby cries, she will cry even louder and when someone is glaring at her, she will glare back and when someone attacks her, she will attack back.

So, he softened the glare but still keep his guard up.

"...I can't sleep," (Y/n) shortly replied.

"Be more clear, brat."

No matter how he tried to soften himself, Levi is still not a very impatient person when it comes to this sort of thing.

"...."

But (Y/n) didn't reply. She doesn't want to reveal the true reason as to why she couldn't sleep. Can't go to sleep because of a nightmare is a childish reason.

"Oh, I see. Follow me."

Levi invited (Y/n) to follow him.  (Y/n) initially hesitated but today she decided to follow the man who is now walking somewhere else with his firm steps.

"Here." Levi gave (Y/n) a cup of black tea. They are now in his room and Levi is unusually being kind to the brat. He actually made her a cup of tea.

"...?"

(Y/n) didn't drink it right away she watched how Levi picked his cup up and then she mimicked his way of holding it and took a sip. She secretly kept watching the man as if making sure that she's doing it correctly. Levi on the other hand realized that he's being mimicked but he paid no further attention to it and let (Y/n) do what she wants.

They stayed in silence until finally(Y/n) asked him something.

"Why do you join the Scout Regiment?"

"They captured me too a few years ago. However, I was older than you are now."

Levi's answer caught the little girl's attention. Now (Y/n) is looking at Levi with a questioning look. She wanted to ask questions but she doesn't know where to start.

"Were you alone too?"

"..."

"You had friends?"

Levi did not answer. He just averted his gaze then took another sip of his tea. (Y/n) was curious about it, but noticing the awful expression on Levi's face, she let go of the topic.

"Why me? I don't think I have any outstanding qualities. Why bother taking me here... Unless... You all knew something about me which I don't."

(Y/n) changed the topic and Levi shrugged before saying, "Who knows? I don't."

Then he continued, "You have time to polish your skills. Who you want to become, it's all your choice. Whether you want to stay here or not, it's also your choice. I don't know which option you should choose. I could never advise you on that. But, choose for yourself, whichever decision you will regret the least."

"But, this is not a situation I'm familiar with." (Y/n) clenched her fist and gritted her teeth together.

"A lot of the times, you're going into a situation you know nothing about. No one will be able to tell if their decision is right or wrong until they arrive at some sort of outcome from their choice."

(Y/n) is clearly had no idea what to say next. Not because she doesn't understand what Levi meant but rather because she does understand it well.

"Aniki." Suddenly the word came from the girl's mouth. Levi was slightly taken aback but he quickly regained his composure back.

"What?" Levi asked.

"I'll call you Aniki for now. I mean, I'm not officially a Scout Regiment member yet. So, you are not my captain. I will call you Captain Levi once I'm a fully pledged Scout Regiment soldier. How's that?" (Y/n) stared deeply at Levi's eyes.

Levi, once again, didn't immediately respond to her. He was thinking about something first. Does this mean (Y/n) is choosing to stay here?

"Do what you want, brat."

He gave her his approval anyway.

"Don't forget tomorrow you'll be having cleaning duty."

"Roger that, Aniki!"