Chagara - Chaos in the Darkness (Levi x OC Fanfic / AttackOnTitan)

19. Tracks

Ayumi threw the rest of the horse droppings from the bucket into the fire. It was like when she used to be a kitchen help, only with a slightly different group of friends. She sat around the campfire with the boys behind the stable in the evenings. Only this time it was with Paul, Ron and Steve and not with Erwin, Mike and Nile. And just like then, Peter had taken a seat next to her on the tree trunk. Lost in thoughts, he ran his index finger over the carved initials of the old friends. When he reached Nile Dok's initials and Ayumi simultaneously threw the horse droppings into the flames, he started laughing.

"What?," asked Ron, putting a straw in his mouth and looking across the campfire at his former commander.

Before Peter could answer, Ayumi's scowl met him. Her expression reminded him that someone of his rank and responsibilities was not allowed to tell funny stories about other commanders.

"Oh nothing," Peter said, wiping away the tears of laughter. "There was only once a recruit during my training time here who also wanted to eat worms. But he got the buckets mixed up and ate horse shit instead of worms."

As he heard the story Ron began to laugh, which infected Peter again. Paul smirked. Steve, on the other hand, was just disgusted.

"Haaaah," Peter began after a while. "Every now and then it's really necessary." The former commander eyed the girl. She had continued to be quieter than usual since her return five days ago, but so far she had not reached out to talk to him.

"Mmm." Ron took the straw out of his mouth again and tore it apart. "It has become harder to drum up publicity for the Scout Regiment. And..." Ron shook his head. "I don't get it. But what do the girls here see in Levi?"

"Well, he has a mysterious aura," Paul commented, kicking a stone into the fire.

"What does Levi have to do with possible new members for our team?" Peter didn't understand.

"I guess the little girls have a thing for him." No one had missed Ron's emphasis on the word little. But Ayumi seemed not to notice the complete attention of her friends. Without stopping, she drew circles and crosses in the ground in front of her feet with a stick.

"Anyway, some of his admirers wanted to join the Scout Regiment," Ron continued. "But there's a rumour going around at the moment that Levi seems to have a little girlfriend. And so the Scout Regiment has lost its attractiveness." Again everyone looked from Ron to the girl in surprise.

"Ayumi?" Peter didn't know what else to say. The situation was new to him. Ayumi was like a little sister to him, at the same time one of his best soldiers. Trustworthy, loyal, secretive. And if he was honest: his most important support. What was he supposed to do if she suddenly decided to have a family and children? He had no idea. He had always thought they would be together until their last breath.

"What?," the girl replied just as briefly, continuing to look at her drawing.

"Is there something to it?"

"I was talking to him. Outside the stable. Seems some recruits found it interesting."

"Yeah, but -"

But Steve came to rescue Ayumi and interrupted Peter. "Well, Levi has a very developed obsession of cleaning, which is known by every soldier. And that day, Ayumi stank like a pigsty that hadn't been cleaned in months. And looked like one too. No wonder rumours started when the cleanliness fairy has a chat with the dirty skunk."

"You didn't say that out loud now," he heard Ron say quietly beside him. Steve could spare himself a "why" as an enquiry, because Ayumi's evil twinkling eyes had already pierced him. Her gaze did not change even as all the gentlemen around her cried out as huge wings settled next to Ayumi.