My Ice Heart is Yours [Levi Ackerman]

Chapter 4 - Betrayal

A knock sounded at the door. "Enter," you said, reading over another paper.

You jotted down a few more quick notes before looking up, having sensed that something was different from usual.

"Hey cold girl!" Isabel's voice piped up cheerfully as she poked her head into the room.

"C-cold..." you trailed off as Isabel stumbled through the doorway, carrying a tray with heavily overfilled plates of food.

"Eh, woah!" Isabel exclaimed as she lost her balance. There was a loud thud as Isabel crashed to the floor, along with spilled breakfast and shattered plates.

You sat at the desk motionlessly for a few moments before standing and making your way over to her.

"Ow..." Isabel complained, looking at the mess around her, "I'm sorry, cold girl."

"It's alright," you said, handing her a broom.

The two of you set to cleaning the mess. As soon as the floor was spotless, Isabel let out a breath of relief and plopped back down to the floor. You made your way over to her, kneeling down and taking her hand, which was bleeding profusely from a shard of the broken plate.

You sighed, "let's get you cleaned up."

You wrapped a bandage carefully around Isabel's hand as she sat on the edge of your desk, swinging her legs cheerfully while chattering nonstop about the events that had led to the current situation.

"—and so I volunteered to bring your meals up to your office since Charlotte is injured, but I guess I got a little overexcited when choosing your meal. Although Leon did mention something about you having a small appetite..." Isabel trailed off as you straightened.

"Your hand should be fine," you said, "and you don't have to bring my meals up here anymore. You can give Charlotte a message, too. It's probably inconvenient for you to have to come all the way to my office with a tray, so I'll just start going down to the mess hall myself."

"Alright!" Isabel leapt off the desk, examining her hand, "hey cold girl, you know, you're actually pretty nice! Thanks again and sorry for making a mess!"

"Nice?" you repeated.

"Yep! I'm gonna go find Levi-bro now! I'll see you!"

She left the room quickly, leaving you motionless in your room as you struggled to process her comment. It had been a long time since anyone had addressed you as 'nice.' So long that you had almost forgotten that such a word existed.

You sighed and rubbed your eyes tiredly. You hadn't gotten one night of proper sleep since the incidents years ago, but you were much more tired than usual today. Whenever you closed your eyes, it was the same routine of consecutive nightmares, as if you were endless reliving the same horrid moments.

You looked out the window. How long had it been since you looked forward to nighttime, since you had sat at the windowsill of the orphanage with your adoptive siblings, marveling at the beauty of the moon? How long had it been since you had gone to sleep with a smile on your face?

You let out a bitter, quiet chuckle. Too long for you to remember.

Deciding you had wallowed in your self-pity long enough, you made your way down to the training grounds, covering your eyes with your hand to block the overbearing sunlight.

"Good morning, cold girl!" Isabel waved at you as you approached.

"Good morning, Squad Leader," Farlan greeted you.

"Tch," Levi turned his head to the side, his arms crossed, "is it a norm for squad leaders to make being late a habit?"

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," you said tiredly, much too exhausted to make the usual retort.