.˜"*°• L I T T L E M O N S T E R •°*"˜.

Missy woke the next day to Historia shaking her awake gently, her blonde hair braided neatly down each side of her head and her kind, blue eyes sparkling. Above her in the top bunk she could still hear Sasha snoring loudly.

"Morning Missy," Historia smiled. "It's time to get up now, we have to go and service the canons on the east wall".

She just grunted in response, pulling the blanket up to shield her face from the sun seeping in through the open window.

"Let Historia do your hair," Mikasa muttered from her own bunk, her eyes not once leaving the book she had open in her hands. "You look like a bird's nest".

Missy frowned, lifting one of her hands to rake it through her long brown hair.

"Come on, I'll put it in a braided bun," Historia smiled warmly, skipping over to where she kept her hair stuff.

"I want it down," Missy replied, forcing her body out from under the warmth of her blanket as she swung her feet over the bed to rest on the floor.

Historia and Ymir shared a look, before Historia gently answered with, "I think you might get in trouble with Captain Levi again if you do that, you know how strict he is with the rules".

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Half an hour later, Artemis, Sasha, Historia, Mikasa and Ymir were sat at a table in the mess hall, shoving their breakfast down as fast as they could without choking. Sasha had been a nightmare to get out of bed as usual, ending with Ymir pulling her down from her bunk by her ankle. Missy looked sideways at her brunette friend and the red, swollen bump she adorned on her forehead. Luckily, it hadn't seemed to affect her ability to stuff her face with food. To Missy's delight, she had won the argument on how she would wear her hair, as it rested in soft, chocolate ringlets against her back. As they made their way out of the hall, Missy couldn't help but feel a pair of eyes on her. She scanned the room quickly, her eyebrows furrowing once she failed to identify the culprit. However, as she continued walking she couldn't shake the familiar feeling.

"Did you see Levi in the mess hall by any chance?" She whispered to Sasha, who was still chomping on a piece of toast.

Sasha nodded. "Yeah, he was sat with Hange and Miche, why?".

Missy pursed her lips, gathering her long hair over one of her shoulders and clasping it tightly as if to protect it. "I could feel his irritation in the air".

It had amused Commander Erwin that Artemis Rhydduch was able to disobey a command given to her by a superior, but soon realized that she was much more clever than they gave her credit for. Whenever she was told to tie her hair up, she would, meaning she had fulfilled the order given to her. This meant that as long as she waited until Levi was out of sight again, she was able to take her hair tie back out freely. Erwin believed this was some kind of way to rebel against her own blood curse, and therefore told Levi not to take it personally. Of course, Levi would just roll his eyes and mutter under his breath about Erwin being too soft.

After picking up their ODM gear and making sure it was safely secured, Missy watched as her friend's said goodbye, zipping off across the houses in different directions to reach their designated positions on the east of wall Maria. She aimed the wires which sat at her hips before pushing down on the triggers in her hand, gasping at how crisp the wind felt against her cheeks as she flew through the air. Her hair whipped behind her as she jumped from house to house, running across rooftops and sliding down sloped tiles. She scaled the east wall which surrounded the District of Delegade, running up it vertically and with a final leap, landed expertly on her feet at the top.

"Took your time," Eren mumbled, turning to face her with his hands on his hips.

"I'd like to see you try to get Sasha out of bed on a Friday morning," Missy scoffed, walking to the far side of the wall, and peering over.

A few Titans were pawing at the stone walls below, their faces directed upwards towards where Missy stood. A few days ago, there was a breach in the outcrop town of Delegade on the east side of wall Maria. The Garrison soldiers had failed to close the outer gate quick enough, and it was knocked out by group of Titans. They managed to evacuate the town, but many civilians were killed. In order for the survivors to return to their homes, the gate needed to be repaired and the remaining Titans would need to be eradicated from the area.

"I still can't believe it," Connie sighed as he stood next to her and peered down at the few Titans below them. "So many people dead just because the Garrison couldn't do their job properly".

"I heard they've been arrested," She replied quietly. "I wonder if they'll be hanged".

"You know King Fritz," Connie snickered, folding his arms across his chest. "He's too good-hearted for that. He'll assess the situation first before he makes a move".

"Are you going to help with the canons anytime soon?" Eren spoke from behind them.

"All you ever do is whine like a baby," Missy scolded, turning to scowl at him.

"I can't do it on my own!" He defended, sitting down on the floor.

She rolled her eyes but made her way towards him, running her fingertips along the cold surface of the canon as she picked up the checklist from the floor.

Despite their bickering, Eren was one of Missy's closest friends. He recognized Missy as a sister, and she sometimes wondered if this was how having siblings was supposed to feel. Eren had proven to her time and time again that he would lay down his own life to protect hers. She trusted him wholeheartedly, which was a rare thing for Missy to feel. She had seven siblings, yet they might as well all be strangers.

She felt a whoosh of air against her neck and someone land on the stone surface behind her before feeling a strong hand wrap around the ends of her hair and yank her backwards. She let out a yelp as her back collided with someone's chest, turning her head slightly to see Captain Levi scowling down at her.

"Has anyone told you that you do a great job at pissing me off?" He muttered, her chocolate brown hair still wrapped tightly around his pale fist.

Connie let out a low whistle as him and Eren grabbed the fallen checklist that had escaped Missy's grasp, turning their attention to the canons.

"Yes, you. Every day," She replied, slumping against his chest in defeat.

"Put this hair up, now," He spat, releasing her hair, and pushing her forward lightly. "I'm sick of telling you the same thing every day. You're practically an official soldier now, so why can't you get it through your thick skull that long hair is not allowed".

"I know it's not," She replied, rubbing the base of her neck where it began to ache from the hairs being yanked. "I dropped my hair tie in the mess hall this morning".

Levi's eyes narrowed even further, sensing her lie as he shifted his gaze to the boys behind her, "Eren, do you have a spare tie for this brat?".

"Yes Captain," Eren nodded before reaching up to take one of the hair ties out of his man bun.

"How come he's 'Eren' but i'm 'brat'?" She frowned, catching the hair tie in her hands.

"How come you didn't ask me for a hair tie?" Connie pouted, patting his shaven head with his hand, making Eren snicker.

"Because I'm pissed off with you right now," Levi responded to her. "If it's not you, it's your damn brother, I'm hoping you both stay far away from the Scouting Regiment".

"I haven't made a choice yet," She lied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If you join the MPs we'll probably only see you a few times a year," Eren pointed out.

"Sounds like a dream come true," Levi muttered, walking past her to join the two boys.

She rolled her blue eyes, pulling the strands of her hair up into a high ponytail before joining the group. Levi looked up and sighed. "Yeah, I don't think so brat, a Titan can still pull you by a ponytail".

"Maybe she needs another demonstration, Cap," Eren teased as Connie's face twisted with laughter that he desperately tried to keep in.

"Very funny," She hissed, pulling her hair into a bun and turning to the Captain. "Better?".

"It would be better if you chopped it all off, " Levi muttered. "I can't wait to be rid of most of you little shits after today".

"Not me, though," Eren said with a grin. "You're stuck with me for the rest of your life".

"Forgive me for not jumping for joy," Levi muttered, eyes scanning the checklist in front of him.

"And me," Connie whispered, causing Missy and Eren to both share a look of shock.

"You're joining the Scouts?" Eren asked, bewildered by his friend's words.

"Yeah, you convinced me," Connie shrugged. "Plus I don't think I could handle being stuck in the same Regiment as Apollo".

"Valid," Missy and Eren both replied in agreement.

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That evening as the sun set behind them, Missy stood with a handful of her comrades, her fist over her heart in the usual salute. Commander Erwin stood before them, welcoming them to the Scouting Regiment.

Missy let out a breath, taking this moment to look around discreetly. To her delight, most of her closest friends had chosen to join the Scouts. Even Jean was stood among the crowd, which had caught her by surprise. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she turned back to the makeshift stage in front of her. Erwin stood in the centre, speaking his usual words of wisdom to his new recruits as Levi, Hange, and a few other Veteran soldiers stood positioned behind him. She couldn't ignore the roll of Levi's eyes once he had realized she was stood within the small crowd. Hange stood with a wide grin on her face as she nudged Levi in the side harshly, whispering something which only made his cold expression worse.

Missy's oldest siblings were Hera and Achilles, both Captains of the Scouting Regiment. Both were also among the Veterans stood behind Erwin, their dark brown hair and blue eyes mirroring her own. Achilles caught her eye, nodding at her formally. She nodded back, but his attention turned to something behind her, his eyebrows rising in what looked to be surprise. She wished more than anything she could turn around and see what had caused him to react like that, but she had to keep facing forward, listening to their Commander.

Once Erwin had finished his speech, he dismissed them with the information that they would be taking leave over the weekend to visit their families before beginning their new journey as Scouts on Monday. She sighed, relaxing her arm down at her side again before turning to her friends. They were all facing the back of the outside space, mixed expressions etched on their faces. Missy followed their line of sight, her breath catching in her throat once she realized what had caused Achilles reaction. Stood right at the back of the crowd, his arms crossed over his chest and his face set in stone, was Apollo.