A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on september 3rd, 2021 @ 12:56pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝚄𝚁,
𝓢𝙿𝙴𝙲𝙸𝙰𝙻 𝙾𝙿𝚂 𝚂𝚀𝚄𝙰𝙳, 𝙽𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙱𝙴𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙾𝙵𝙵𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙸𝚅𝙴, 𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃 𝚃𝚆𝙾.

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The Survey Corps gained custody of Eren. They now prepare for the expedition beyond the walls.

《 𝖥𝖮𝖱𝖬𝖤𝖱 𝖲𝖴𝖱𝖵𝖤𝖸 𝖢𝖮𝖱𝖯𝖲 𝖧𝖤𝖠𝖣𝖰𝖴𝖠𝖱𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖲 》

EVENTUALLY, ERWIN TOLD SIMON TO head back to his place until later, after Levi settled with his new squad member at HQ. However, Simon and his squad decided to take a stroll through the forest before heading back. It was something they always did. It was like therapy to them. They eventually came up to HQ. Simon halted his horse and stared at the HQ.

"Shall we go in, Section Commander?" Oliver asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. Let's go and see how Eren is settling in." Simon replied as Oliver sighed and proceeded to HQ with Simon right behind him.

"Ah! You're here, Simon!" Simon heard Petra call from above. He looked up and waved at her with a smile.

"Hey! How's cleaning?" Simon asked as he watched her cringe. "...That bad, huh? Need some help?"

"Please!"

"Gotcha." Simon hopped off his horse and escorted it to it's stable. Not long after, Simon walked in, cleaned his boots before entering, and walked towards the cleaning supplies closet. Only to skip past it and walk towards the stairs.

"Where is he?" Simon mumbled. He searched every room until he saw Eren dusting away and swooped silently over to the wall.

"Yo, Eren." Simon greeted as he watched him turn around with a shock look.

"S-Section Commander Simon... You startled me." Eren said.

"My apologises. How's it going with cleaning?" Simon asked, walking over to Eren.

"C-Captain Levi is rather strict with cleaning." Eren responded.

"Eh, that's just how he is. You'll get used to it eventually." Simon shrugged.

"I... Is it true he came from the Underground?" Eren asked as he bit his lip. Simon blinked.

"Who told you that?" Simon questioned.

"P-Petra mentioned it." Eren answered.

"Hmm... Makes sense. She does respect and admire Levi." Simon smiled. "Yeah, it's true."

"You know, I also came from the Underground as well." Simon continued.

"You, sir?"

"Captain Levi and Section Commander Simon are childhood friends. Not to mention they're married." Oliver walked in. "Oh, I'm Oliver Parkinson. I'm apart of Simon's squad. We work close with Squad Levi, so you'll be seeing me a lot."

Eren thinks back to the time he was in custody. "Now that I think about it, it makes sense why Captain Levi didn't say anything when Section Commander Simon talked to him the way he did back then." He thought.

Simon and Oliver were sitting with the rest of Squad Levi and Eren as it was nightfall.

"We'll be on standby for a few more days. I heard we're already planning a large-scale expedition beyond the walls in a month. Not to mention, we'll be bringing this year's graduates along, too." Eld was saying.

"Is that true, Eld? That's pretty sudden." Gunther commented. "That Titan attack must've taken a toll on the new troops."

"That's true. I don't think anyone would be interested in joining us after they witnessed something like that." Oliver sighed.

"It probably terrified the brats." Oluo said.

"Is that true, Captain?" Petra asked Levi.

"Making plans isn't my job. But knowing Erwin, he has more on his mind than we could imagine." Levi answered.

"It's true that the situation has changed. I'd thought that all of our sacrifice thus far to lay a route to retake Maria had been negated by a single blow." Eld stated. "But now we have an entirely different hope."

It went silent as everyone's eyes gazed over at Eren.

"I still can't believe it. But what do they mean when they say you turn into a Titan, Eren?" Eld asked.

"The trigger is self-inflicted injury. The holder injures themselves in some way making them bleed. Therefore, causing a transformation lightning to appear and thus turning them into a Titan." Simon spoke up as Oliver kicked his shin from under the table, almost making him spat out his tea.

All heads turned to him. "How'd you know that, Section Commander?" Petra questioned.

"...Lucky guess." Simon replied.

"Section Commander is right. I take my hand like this..." Eren said, raising his hand. But then stopped.

"You know we won't get anything out of Eren that isn't already covered in the reports. But I'm sure a certain someone has other ideas." Levi informed, raising his tea cup in a peculiar way. "Maybe fiddle around with you, and even kill you, Eren."

"He still holds his tea cups like that. Some things will never change." Simon thought. "I tried to hold it like he does and I broke the damn cup. I still remember how Farlan laughed at me."

"Someone?" Eren questioned.

As if on cue, the door was suddenly banged on as if someone had crashed into it. Petra opened the door, showing Hange.

"Hello, Levi Squad... Oh, and Simon and Oliver." Hange greeted. "How are you enjoying the castle?"

"You're early." Levi commented in his usual bored tone.

"I couldn't wait any longer!" Hange claimed.

"Section Commander Hange?" Eren muttered.

"Hey there, Eren..." Hange began. "I'm in charge of investigating the two Titans we've captured in town, and I'd like you to help with tomorrow's experiments. I came to get permission."

"Experiments? What would I be doing?" Eren asked.

"Something totally awesome!" Hange responded as they blushed with excitement.

"W-Well... I can't give permission for myself. I don't have that authority..." Eren stated.

"Levi, what's Eren doing tomorrow?" Hange asked.

"Cleaning the courtyard." Levi replied.

"Okay, then! It's settled." Hange then grabbed Eren's hand. "Eren... see you tomorrow!"

"R-Right... But what do you mean by experiments with Titans?" Eren questioned.

"Hmm?"

"U-Um, what kind of experiments..."

"Hey, stop... Don't ask!" Oluo warned.

"Oh, no..." Simon and Oliver both mumbled, knowing what was about to come.

"I knew it. I thought you looked like you wanted to hear..." Hange stated.

Levi took that as a sign as he stood up, grabbing Simon by the arm as the rest of his squad members followed.

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The other members and Oliver had decided to get some rest for the night, leaving Simon and Levi the only ones still awake.

"I saw that you still hold your tea cup in that peculiar way. Still haven't gotten over that you broke one?"

"I wouldn't be talking, Simon. You broke a cup as well."

"I still haven't forgotten about it. I never heard the end of it from Farlan."

"Levi, you still traumatized by you breaking a tea cup once?" Simon pointed out, looking at the way his childhood friend was holding his tea cup in a peculiar way in which Levi just glared at him.

"Speaking of which, I always wondered how you did it." Simon continued picking up an extra cup.

"Nii-san, it's gonna—" Sean began as the cup crashed onto the ground.

"—Break." Sean finished. He let out a long sigh as Farlan began laughing in which Simon just gave him a dirty look.

"W-What did you expect, Simon?" Farlan chuckled.

"Farlan, you bastard! Stop laughing and help me clean this up!"

Both of them stayed silent for a moment until Simon hugged him. "Simon? You okay?" Levi questioned.

"Mhm... I just... haven't really been in your arms in a while. It's really comforting." Simon admitted.

Simon hugged him tighter as he melted in Levi's embrace.

"God, I'm in love with this man..." The gray haired male thought.

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The following day, Simon got up from his bed and prepared to head downstairs, getting into his uniform and walked downstairs. He could hear Hange talking to someone, and gave a silent prayer to whoever they were talking to and saw that it was Eren.

He immediately felt bad for him.

Simon respected that Eren managed to pull an all-nighter for Hange. He headed into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

"I see someone's up early." Simon heard a voice say.

"Bold of you to think I slept." He replied.

"Pulling an all nighter isn't good for your health."

"Says the insomniac himself."

Simon watched as Levi poured himself a cup of tea as well. Once he did, he sat down next to him.

"You did a good job with this brew." Levi commented.

Simon scoffed. "I grew up with you. I know you like the back of my hand." He said.

"I suppose you're right." Levi commented. "What do you think about all this?"

"With the Titans?" Simon blinked.

"What else would I be talking about?"

Simon thought for a moment. He never really given it much of a thought. "As much as I want us to find out more about those bastards, I have a bad feeling." He replied. "They need to be careful when it comes to Abnormals. We don't know what they can really do or how they think, and you know how Hange can be."

"As crazy as they are, they are cautious. You know how smart they can really be." Levi reminded him.

"Yeah. You make a valid point." Simon agreed. "Well, if they're careful then they shouldn't have any—"

"S-Section Commander Simon, Captain Levi." Simon's attention was turned to a familiar voice. He turned his head to see Oliver run in with a look of concern.

"What's up?" Simon looked at the brunette, who looked pale. "Did something happen?"

"Th-The two Abnormals S-Section Commander Hange captured. They were slaughtered." Oliver informed.

"The two Abnormals were slaughtered?!" Simon gasped and looked at him with shock. Oliver nodded.

"Both of them have been killed." He said.

Levi and Simon both put their cups aside and rushed over to the site where the two Abnormal Titans were dead and were now decomposing, leaving their skeletons left for Hange and everyone else to see. Hange's screams of agony could be heard.

"Was this a soldier's doing?" Simon mumbled as Eld and Gunther walked over to him.

"Yeah, we don't know who yet." Eld responded. "They were both killed at the same time before dawn. By the time the watchman noticed, they'd used their Maneuver Gear to get away."

"So this was a deliberate plan, involving two or more people..." Gunther muttered.

"Either it was a duo, or it was just one person who had the ability to take down two Titans at once. Even if it was a trainee, why would they kill two Titans? They had no way of escaping." Simon thought until something crossed his mind.

"Unless there was something they didn't want Hange to find out about."

Simon's eyes wandered over to Hange who was screaming the Titans names that they had chosen. Simon's heart ached seeing them broken down like that. For someone to destroy something they worked hard on was a horrible sight for him to see.

He slipped past Eld and Gunther and over to Hange, hoping to calm them down. Simon wrapped his arms around them for a hug, their tears falling onto his shirt.

"I worked so hard... This can't be happening." Hange sniffed out.

"It's okay, Hange. We'll find whoever did this and make sure they get punished for it." Simon reassured them as they nodded.

"Okay..." Hange mumbled. "Thank you..."

"Happy to help." Simon smiled.

"Simon, let's go." He heard Levi call out to him. He turned around to find Erwin and Levi waiting.

"It's up to the Military Police now."

Simon gave Hange one last hug before walking over to Levi and Erwin.

"Hange worked too hard and for this to happen is just... cruel." Simon glanced at Hange who was now being comforted by Moblit.

"Agreed." Erwin nodded. "What do you think, Simon?" He asked one of his best tacticians. Simon looked back at the scene.

"Someone was definitely set on killing those Titans. For whatever reason, they don't want us to find out more about them." Simon answered as Erwin looked at him.

"Couldn't agree with you more." Erwin said. "Come, we have to talk about this, leave this to the Military."

Simon gave one last look at the scene before following Levi and Erwin.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2132 words.