"Why are you all covering your necks?"
The voice was flat. Lifeless.
On the carriage bench stood a thin figure, his shadow stretching over them, dead fish eyes staring down as if they could see straight through flesh and bone.
Levi had only been patrolling.
He had no idea how much childhood trauma he was inflicting on four undercover warriors.
"It's nothing, I just… my neck feels itchy." Zeke blurted, forcing a smile and scratching.
"Oh yeah! Itchy!" Bertolt echoed, hand glued to his nape.
Reiner and Annie nodded quickly. Their fingers remained clamped tight over their necks.
Scratch once, cover forever.
Never, ever expose the nape before this humanoid guillotine.
"…Tch." Levi's frown deepened. "What the hell are you doing? Trying to empathize with the Titans?"
Even if you don't say it, that's basically true!
"Ridiculous," Isabel said, laughing as she leaned in.
"How could anyone empathize with Titans? Those monsters only bring fear and disaster to mankind. There's no one in this world who doesn't hate them, right?"
"Uh…" The Titan trio went silent, guilt thick in their throats.
"Then why keep clutching your necks?" Levi pressed.
"Itchy!" they chorused again.
"You haven't scratched enough?"
"No!!"
Levi's glare sharpened. That motion looked nothing like scratching, more like clutching their very lives.
"Don't be so nervous!" Isabel chirped, patting their shoulders. "Our captain only cuts the necks of Titans, not humans!"
"…" You could've kept that to yourself.
"Yeah," Franzadded cheerfully from behind. "Why chop off a human's neck? Anywhere you stab, they die!"
"Fran!" Isabel snapped, horrified.
The undercover trio reluctantly lowered their hands, trembling. Bertolt muttered, "That's true…"
Annie nudged Zeke. "Captain—Brother—you too."
"…I, uh… my neck's stiff." Zeke pinched at it, putting on his most serious face. "Sniping posture. Bad for the neck, you know."
"…" Everyone stared.
Can you even get a stiff neck from aiming a rifle? First time we've heard that one.
But Zeke couldn't stop himself. Every time he tried to lower his hand, he remembered.
The dwarf hacking him apart.
Again and again.
Fancy moves, spinning slashes, seven cuts when one was enough—
The monkey diced into monkey sashimi.
"It's really annoying," Levi muttered, "having an empathy Titan around."
Zeke froze.
Did he… Did he see through me?!
Of course, Levi had no evidence. The people inside the Walls were too brainwashed to even imagine Titans were once human. Safe—
For now.
That was the only reason Zeke hadn't strangled Reiner and the others for even thinking about transforming here. With Levi lurking, their deaths would've been instant.
At that moment, a horse trotted up.
"Are these the civilians who killed a Titan with one shot?"
The Survey Corps soldiers instantly saluted, fists to hearts. "Captain Erwin!"
The name struck Zeke like thunder. His head whipped around.
"Erwin?!"
On the horse sat a blond man, blue-eyed, calm-faced. Still young. Still whole.
"…Yes?" Erwin blinked. "Do you know me?"
Zeke's eyes burned. He leapt forward, seized the man's hand in both of his, bowing deeply.
"No. I've only heard of you. Erwin—you must live! For my sake, you must live! Please"
Memories crashed down.
He had never met Erwin face to face before. But he had felt his presence. Every time Levi's blade carved him apart, that cursed name echoed:
"For Erwin!" Chop.
"For Erwin!" Chop chop.
"For Erwin!!" Hack, slice, dismember.
Seven cuts, eight cuts, until he was nothing but stumps. Monkey soup in Survey steel.
How could he forget that name?
Erwin—who died at Shiganshina in a hopeless charge.
Erwin—whose final words to Levi were: Go. Kill the Beast Titan.
That single command had sentenced Zeke to years of hell.
And now, reborn, standing before him alive—so vibrant, so real—Zeke felt tears prick his eyes.
If Erwin lived, maybe things would change.
If Erwin lived, maybe Levi wouldn't need to chop him into mincemeat every other weekend.
If Erwin lived—
Maybe Zeke could survive too.
The humble Beast Titan clasped Erwin's hand tighter, like a lifeline.
"…Please," he whispered. "Just live…"
The soldiers around them blinked at the bizarre scene.
Levi squinted. "…What's wrong with you?"
Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie quietly covered their necks again.