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standing there in the crowd, pretending that he was one of them. pretending that he was there since he was born. pretending that he wasn't one of the soldiers who will participate in a war against that island a few days later.
there he was, standing infront of a crowd, wearing a tux and a hat covering half of his face, dropping the coins in the hand of another stranger.
and the coins he dropped, was for a newspaper about the war that just ended between that island and fort slava.
the island wind. of course.
does he even need to be surpised about that?
after dropping the coins in the hand of that stranger who wouldn't stop talking about the victory, he grabbed the newspaper and walked away. he interacted with one person, and he pretended that he wasn't even there in the first place.
holding the newspaper in his hand, he opened a few pages and read it.
and yes, he can read the letters from another island.
reading each one of the words that were written on the pieces of papers he was holding, his face just kept on being emotionless. what kind of reaction he could give anyway?
sighs.
what would happen to this island in a few days.
most importantly, what would happen to him and his comrades in a few days.
not to mention, the one who stayed by his side since from the start. the one who cheered him up everything he needed one, the one who would give him a huge eventhough he didnt feel like it. the one who would always ask him to keep on surviving for her.
even the thought about it could make him smile.
slowly, silently, he walked towards a building ... a building where him and his comrades stay.
or another correct word, hide.
it has been a while since he stayed there, planning all sort of things for certain achievements. sometimes they didn't even have sleeps at night, or short naps after lunch because of this. but still, what can they do unless working hard to save each other?
he slowly opened the door and entered the building, which made him surpise when the atmosphere was completely silent.
at this time, one of his comrade, sasha would scream her lungs out for breakfast and the whole building will automatically turn into chaos.
but she wasn't screaming today.
he wonder where she went-
"WHERE'S THE BREAKFAST?!"
ah, his timing wasn't that punctual today.
jean slowly chuckled as he looked up and stare at his best friend, sasha braus who wouldn't stop screaming, as his another best friend, connie springer ran from his room straight to the kitchen.
"WHERE?? IS?? THE?? BREAKFAST?!"
"I DIDN'T WAKE UP TO SUFFER FROM NOT HAVING BREAKFAST, YOU KNOW?! ITS IMPORTANT TO KEEP YOUR BODY-"
"oi brats! shut up you lot"
jean chuckled again.
there, levi ackerman, walking calmly towards the kitchen, ignoring sasha and connie who screamed out their lungs for breakfast. he made his tea and sat on the chair, again asking his squad members to calm down.
"what's stopping you guys from cooking by yourselves if you want to eat? who do you think will cook for you anyway?"
sasha groaned as she took a seat infront of levi, while connie walked like he didn't have any meal for months, slowly sat beside sasha.
"its not that we can't cook by ourselves, heichou. but the problem is ... remember when-"
"i know. you almost burned the whole kitchen because you can't differentiate water and oil." levi rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his tea as sasha and connie tried to speak more.
"and we got forbidden from cooking since that. probably armin or (y/n) would cook for us every morning, but i guess they aren't up yet"
that name that connie mentioned.
he released a small breath from his lips. slowly, he put the newspaper on the table not far from levi and his squad members as he walked towards his room.
his shared room with the person he would sacrifice everything for.
meanwhile, levi finished his tea as he put the cup harshly on the table, staring at his squad as if he was giving them his final death stare.
"still, you learnt from your mistakes, right?"
"yes, heichou"
"you can differentiate oil and water now, right?"
"yes, heichou"
"you know which side of a knife you need to use while chopping potatoes, right?"
"yes, heichou"
"then you should have started cooking by yourself soon as you realized all of that! its not that everyone can cook for you everday, you know. running errands in this shitty island-"
"... but, heichou ..." sasha said silently, but still loud enough for levi to hear her.
"what, brats? cant you see that im still speaking?"
"but... it was you who forbidden us from cooking until now"
"...."
"...."
"....."
"it was me?" levi asked them, knitting his eyebrows in confusion.
"yeah"
"forget it."
immediately and emotionlessly, he stood up and walked towards his room, ignoring sasha and connie who were staring at him.
"w...wait... dOES THAT MEAN WE CAN COOK NOW"
—
jean slowly opened the door to his room.
he silently entered the room, and slowly closed it back.
"im back" he breathed out.
but unfortunately, the person who he would expect to greet him with a smile, was sleeping on a chair, leaning her body against the table as she covered her face with her arms.
that sight really comfort him, knowing that she's getting some sleep. but also, it was hurting for him to see her sleeping on a chair and not on a bed.
and also knowing that she slept there probably because she overworked for the plans and paperworks that she need to send to hange and levi in a short time.
somehow he wishes that they didn't have to give her so many things to think. but it was her job.
their job.
but to think about it, when he first woke up, she wasn't on a chair.
she was sleeping beside him, her body faced her as she snored softly which made him had his first smile for the day.
she was sleeping comfortably on the bed, with blankets wrapped around her and also the soft pillow under her head, but why did she chose to sleep on a chair, leaning against the desk?
taking off his hat, jean walked towards the girl and slowly tapped her arm,
and knowing that she's the type to react at every touch she received, she woke up at his first try.
"hmmmm?" she groaned, slowly looked up to see the person who woke her up.
and it was a beautiful sight to woke up for.
"hey" jean smiled, leveling his eyes with hers. he stared into her eyes that was also staring at him sleeping-ly, but still lovingly.
"hey" she replied with a sleepy tone, before she stretched herself and tried to sit up straight.
"you could hurt your back, you know? if you're tired you can just abandon everything and find a bed, i told you that didn't it?" jean said softly, patting her back to make the pain go away.
"can't do that. i woke up and you weren't beside me"
jean was about to say something,
when she wrapped her arms around jean's waist as she leaned her head against jean's stomach. she was still sitting, and jean was really damn tall so could we argue about that?
jean was flustered at first, but then he just patted her head lovingly, smiling so wide he could rip his ear off.
"im sorry, i was out to get the newspaper"
"did they... won?"
a moment of silence taking dominance in the room. just the sound of the wind pushing and the sound of their soft breaths, holding onto each other softly and lovingly.
"yeah .. they won"
(y/n) smiled softly, pulling away from jean as she focused back on her paperwork. "kinda figured that out"
"but you're still working on it" jean complaint on how hard she worked as he took off his tux and changed into a pair of more comfortable clothes.
"i just need to come out with a plan to attack. and what should i do during the attack. what should you do during the attack. what should everyone do during the attack."
"you can just go and fight-"
"what should i do to make sure that everyone will come back in one piece. to make sure everyone survived."
jean stunned there, looking at her as she slowly turned her head to look at him as well.
"especially you."
her words, really confused him.
he didn't know if he should give her a reassuring smile, or if he could just run to her, hug her and tell her that he was scared as well.
that he was terrified as well.
but he can't. he can't show his weak side to her. he need to be strong, much of for his comrades, he also did it for her and only her.
slowly, he walked towards her and ruffled her hair, before he leaned down and kissed her lips softly.
"we'll be fine."
(y/n) was about to cry when he cupped her cheek and kissed her again.
she can feel his feeling when he kissed her.
she knew it.
she knew that he was scares to death as well. the way his lips brushed against hers shakingly, she just kissed him back, shakingly as well.
both of them were terrified, but prefer to not say it.
because they knew,
actions speak louder than words.
and it can be showed by the way the kissed each other.
could they still do the same after everything ended? by the difference, the kiss became more cheerful, full with hope and sparkles?
because the kiss they felt right now, was filled with darkness, terror, horror, and how afraid they were to lose each other.
they wouldn't let it happen.
they didn't want to make this kind of kiss as their last.
slowly, jean pulled away, resting his forehead against her as he gave her a hurting but comforting smile.
"i promise, we'll be fine"
she was already crying when he said that.
"promise?" her voice cracked, but it didn't stop her from saying it out loud.
interwining his hand with her, he gave her a quick peck at her lips and smiled again.
"promise."
what a comfort word to hear.
comfort, yet painful.
before she could say anything, the door was being knocked by another person.
"i guess breakfast ready" jean chuckled, standing up, still holding her hand. "i bet it wasn't sasha and connie who cooked this time"
"wait, didn't levi forbidden-"
"he... forgot that he was the one who forbidden them from cooking"
(y/n) chuckled as jean smiled amusingly.
"what can we expect from a man who is pushing 40"
not knowing who was the one knocking their door, they walk hand by hand to the dining table,
just to witness a total chaos infront of them.
"NO, DON'T POUR EVERYTHING!!"
that's it.
sasha and connie couldn't differentiate salt and sugar.
hange really tried their best to stop those two, but the louders she tried to stop the louder the chaos became. and armin, who was probably the one who knocked their door, slowly fixed his bed hair and grabbed some ingredients.
armin woke up late.
when he was the one who always cook breakfast.
"oi, mikasa, couldn't you try and help your helpless friends here?!" levi yelled at mikasa who just ignore the chaos and sat down, staring at the table without blinking an eye.
"we need to get ereh back."
"here we go again" levi palmed himself.
and then he relized something.
"hey, jean"
jean flinched slightly when levi called his name.
"yeah?"
"where have you been? what took you so long to buy a damn newspaper?" levi asked with a stern voice, which resulted jean to gulp his saliva down his throat.
"uhm ... i bought it, sir. i just ... i put it there"
he pointed at the table where he put the newspaper earlier.
but,
it was gone now.
"where?" levi raised an eyebrow, and jean immediately panicked.
"SASHA, WHY ARE YOU PUTTING A WHOLE NEWSPAPER IN A BOILING WATER?!"
"... we can't eat it?"
(y/n) chuckled again.
she looked up at her comrades who were scolding sasha who clumsily ripped of the newspaper and throw it away after hange said that its not edible,
and then she looked at jean,
who was already smiling at her.
"i told you, right?" he leaned down to kiss her head.
"we'll be fine"
yeah.
she hope so.
correction, hoped.