SnK: ONLY HUMAN SNIPPET 3 (Levi x Amnesiac!Reader)

Her breaths had been hitching in her throat, slipping and exhilarating between one lung and the other; she panted her way through one nostril and the next, never taking a single second of break as they huffed and puffed in that circle.

Bystanders were shoved aside almost as soon as her sweat ridden, bespectacled face and sunset kissed hair came into their view; a bellow of unintelligible words came through her lips, leaving them mystified and befuddled. Yet she prodded on in this half-full hallway of these dinner loungers, steps heavy with a deadly cocktail mix of utter daze and ecstacy.

"E-Erwin... S-Squad Leader S-Smith," she had finally managed to word out; the people pointed forward, where two tall blonde haired men stood talking by one of the windows. She took in a deep gasp, which startled everyone present (included the said men), and spoke at the top of her lungs with one single breath, "SHE'S AWAKE!"

Of course, that cry was a startling news; some of the officers around seemed to have idea of what she meant and they brushed it off by walking away, sending shots of uninterested glances at Hange just to make sure. The two men, however, gasped just as well and even as loud. Both their blue oculars widened to its best and they glanced at each other, as if trying to silently confirm that they were surprised by this news.

"W-when?" spoke one of them; his usual neat haired combed to the right side of his face - the infamous Squad Leader Smith. His shock washed away by worry, though it remained a firm effect on his pale face.
"JUST NOW!" Hange's pushed up her glasses and quickly corrected, "ACTUALLY, IT WAS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND WE CHATTED SO LONG IT WAS ALREADY EVENING!"

Mike, the taller and much brawner man of long fringes and moustaches, stifled a laugh as he patted her labored shoulder, "Slow down, Hange! And keep your voice down! You know Commander Shadis dislikes it when you shout like that in the hallway!"

"R-right, sorry about that! I got excited - I ran all the way here to share you guys the news!"

"H-how did it happen?" Erwin asked curiously, his eyebrow in a tight knot. "I mean, was there a sign? Did she just wake up?"

"Y-yeah, apparently so!" but Hange's spirit suddenly dialed down as she realised something,

"Actually, she woke up crying in pain..."

"And?"

"Well, I comforted her! She couldn't open her eyes yet over two hours of the time, but when that stupid nurse stormed in, she shot her eyes open. It's fine, really; at least she could open up her eyes and all!"

"W-wait," Mike waved fervently at her to slow down, "You mean, she was still paralysed when she woke up? How come she couldn't open her eyes?"

"There may be a residue of her paralysis, yes, but I didn't think it'd be localised in that sense or organ alone. It usually involves a whole system. However, considering she had shut her eyes this whole time, maybe it was just difficult to open?"

"What else did you find out?" Erwin jumped in.

"Well, she - "

Squad Leader Smith suddenly place a digit over his lips; just as he did so, they were interrupted by a loud ring of the bell, signalling the time of dinner had began. He led his two colleagues ahead to the mess hall as everyone around them began to move in the same direction like a school of fishes. Hange kept silent all the way - though at intervals, she gagged herself from talking, stifling herself, and would giggle on her own as if she thought of something funny; normally, people would see it as odd, but that was just who Hange was. 

When they were finally in the hall, the members of the Recon Corps had already been split into groups of fellow squad or group members, friends and acquaintances. Hange followed Erwin as he led her to his spot, which was very close to the queue, and usually was blessed with their Commander's appearance - but the old man was no where to be seen. It was probably why no one minded Hange to sit with Squad Leader Smith or even noticed that she had been accompaning them. 

After settling into their seats comfortably, Erwin headed off for his food as did Mike after him; but Hange just sat there, eagerly waiting for them as she would rather continue to tell her story of the day's events than eat. 

"Hange," Mike growled in annoyance as he set his tray on the table; his large, overworked fingers massaging his temple as he sighed, "How many times have I told you to get some sleep?"

She let out a nervous cackle, "B-but, you'll be happy to know that I-I tried..."

"And you obviously have to eat!"

"I will! Not now, but later!"

"Hange," said Erwin this time - his voice stern as his piercing blue eyes, "Would you rather I remove you from visiting the young lady?"

"It's Tania," she paused to gauge their reaction to her answer before repeating herself, "Her name is Tania from Titania. I call her Tita as a nickname!"

The two men widened their eyes at that; Hange saw this as she suddenly removed herself from her seat and decided to let the information sink into their already awestruck minds. She got her share of a loaf of bread and warm soup with tea in a tray as she headed back towards them; it seemed that Squad Leader Smith had already started eating his soup, even if his eyes were distant in deep thought. Hange chuckled slightly, slumping down into her seat, and played around with her spoon as it swirled from one end of the bowl to the other.

"So..." she cooed happily as she looked back up to them, "Aren't you guys going to ask me any more questions?"

Mike gulped down his soup too slowly to rebut his commanding officer to begin the questioning; "What does she know?" Erwin queried as eagerly as she was, "Does she remember anything?"

"It's funny that you immediately assume she doesn't remember anything at all," replied Hange
with creased eyebrows, her mouth then taking in a spoonful of soup. 

"Well, in one of the reports that you and Moblit wrote, you said something about the side-effect of a coma... and adding to the fact that she had suffered from a presumed head injury, I thought it was natural. Plus, it has been three months."

"Correct!" exclaimed Hange, "That's quite right! I seem to have completely forgotten!"

"And that is the side effect of lacking sleep!" Mike shot a firm and scolding glare at her, which earned another round of her nervous laugh. 

"Come on, Mike! Cut a hard working researcher like me some slack, would you?" she rebutted with a pout.

"You haven't answered his questions," was Mike's plain deadpanned comment.
Hange inhaled deeply as her eyes paid attention to the steamy vapours of her chicken mushroom soup - the two men took note of this as a strange sign of admiration from a woman; "Well," she chirped somewhat half heartedly - her eyes slowly removing itself from reality and into a daydream, "She was in quite an exceptional condition considering her medication complications... She was able to feel pain almost immediately, but as I've said before, she couldn't open her eyes at first... Her tears were drenching her cheeks - if I hadn't been there, a deluge would've overflowed! Anyways, she did open her eyes a moment later - when that stupid, ignorant nurse opened the door with a bang - and god, if only you were there!
Her eyes strangely mismatched her hair or skin color! I didn't expect it - her dark hair really brings out the earthy color of her eyes, piercing through you, you know! I was shocked when she opened them - guess there was a purpose of them being shut a while back..."

"H-Hange," Mike covered his mouth, trying to hold back a rude laugh, "A-are you in l-love?"

A crude, crimson blush appeared on Hange's cheeks; "Geez!" she exclaimed as she looked away, "What is with you and Moblit about me being in love with a woman? I was just admiring her in a sisterly way! I adore her!"

"Did she tell you anything as of yet?" Erwin's voice remained stern.

"Y-yeah, about that... She doesn't remember anything with regards to her past yet - just her name and birth date. She also revealed to me that she knows nothing of this world - I say world because she is oblivious even to the fact that titans roaming around as a natural thing or that the surviving human population lives within Walls and is capable of killing them."

"Really?" A slight change in Erwin's face was obvious as he widened his oculars a bit before asking, "How is she accepting that?"

"Okay, I guess... Her memory of being attacked by the titans were clear and precise - she recalled a dozen of them attacking her. She also calls them nudists, by the way!"

Mike chuckled at that, "She sounds like a funny, lively person!"

"She is! Anyway, she is slowly opening up to her wounds just nice... I mean, she still has some nerve damage in her arms - they were twitching badly when she woke up and I had to put a menthol ointment to make her feel slightly better. She's eating well, although... emotionally, I think the nurse's presence has done it's worst damage yet..."

Erwin seemed very concerned; he left his food stale for a while now. "Why? What happened?"

"I-I... I didn't tell Tita that she had suffered rather badly since three months ago when we found her - I didn't even tell her about her being in a coma. I just want it to come naturally to her... I know we're not in a position to be patient, but considering that everyone seemed to fear her in a way, it's very hard to tell her those things. But that stupid nurse! 
Tita must've seen fear in that woman's eyes - she asked the nurse about it and the damn fool called the poor girl a monster! A monster! Anyways, she was somewhat distraught at that! But I had managed to comfort her... I hope."

"It's a good thing you were there to tell me this, Hange," Erwin cupped his chin as he mused on it, "I will have to do something about that... From now on, we mustn't let anyone approach her without any of us being present. It's best that we don't let the information rush into her head, or else we may confuse and lose the precious information regarding the titans for good!"

"I-I agree," Hange nodded as she looked down on her food; looking back at it, she realised that those floating pieces of mushrooms looked a bit like Moblit's head. Then another piece of mushroom popped up together with another vegetable - together it made the whole bowl looked a bit like Tania's round face. She blushed suddenly.

Mike seemed to noticed (and had already finished his appetiser and slowly got up to get his dinner); "Thinking of someone, Hange?"

"I said, I think of her as a sister!"

After a round of hearty laughter, they got another tray of food in their hands - the day's menu for senior, higher ranking officers was beef stew. But the whole time, Mike had been the one who had asked questions while his superior officer remained silent in deep thought. So he took the chance to repeatedly ask Hange what it was like to have seen her wake up like that, and of course, he was equally raged about the nurse himself. He was deliberately engaged in the conversation as well as eating his dinner at the same time - a grievous habit of his known to his friends and acquaintances. Hange terribly enjoyed their conversation too; she went as far to talk about what Tita remembered about herself, or how shocked the girl was when explained about the world, the titans and the Walls. 

At this juncture, Erwin Smith suddenly shifted. He barely touched his appetiser and his dinner stew was left full in its plate; so he brought those leftovers back to the canteen keeper and returned to his table and friends with a sour expression. He was not one to abandon his necessary physiological needs, even when he was faced with insurmountable pressure and paperwork.

"How could you suppose that she is not from this world?" he said suddenly, eyes boring into Hange's. "What constitutes that - I mean, how do you explain that? What if she has been living out
there without given any information about the current civilization and all?"

Hange shrugged a shoulder; "Simple!" she cried loudly in confidence, "Hypothetically speaking, if there exists a society that actually lives seperate from us and outside the Walls, they cannot hide the whole truth from Tita - if she were one of them. I mean, how could you hide something as titanic anyway? It'd be far too obvious! Those giants, the large Walls which could be seen from afar - Tita could've learnt the truth in a different way! It's impossible to think that she simply doesn't know at all!"

"But as impossible a feat that is, so is the fact that she isn't from this world."

"You may be right! But then again, at this rate, I suppose anything's possible!"

"But that still doesn't explain it. Hange, have you ever considered that she may have forgotten about her past or any information whatsoever of this world? Perhaps her memory had been wiped clean..."

"That doesn't explain how she remembers her name and birthdate, or that she had been attacked by giant beings - retrogade amnesia for coma patients usually affects the memory around the time of the injury, which contradicts what happened to Tita."

"True," hummed Erwin as he cupped his chin once more, "Or perhaps, previously, someone had deliberately induced memory loss to Tania and that may affect her past memories except for her name and birthdate. Afterwards, they left her behind and she is attacked by the titans - all the while, her memory banks are sliped clean and began to create new memories over old ones. In that case, she may not remember who she really was at all."

"T-that sounds... c-criminal."

"Well, it could still happen," commented Mike; the severity of the situation that his superior assumed suddenly haunted his face.

"More importantly, why would they induce the memory loss and make her remember only her name and birthdate?" questioned Hange with a subtle unease.

"Because..." Erwin's cold gaze lifted up to face his two colleagues, "They are trying to confuse us. If we'd find her there, then we would quickly assume that there are some people outside of the Walls or that perhaps, humans could become titans in a way. Inducing these suspicions may incite a rebellion or worst, a takeover."

Hange nervously gulp down a lump; sweats began to build up in her face. "But considering how much injuries she's suffered," she argued, "There's no way they could actually tell that she'd survived! What if she hadn't survived? Their effort would be lost just like that!"

"That's what I thought," mused Erwin as his gaze deepened in depth and view.

Hange sighed in content that he lost the argument - though the uneasineess never settled from her expression as she shoved her low glasses back up her nose bridge. 

"I thought so," she suddenly said, "Perhaps it would be more wise for us to wait a few days - for all we know, she could remember more than what we had assumed and only then, would debunk our theories. For now, we still have to hope that nothing malicious or deliberate mal-intention occured while she was in the Forest of Giant Trees. I believe in your judgement, Erwin, so you will have to personally judge her soon... However, like I said, give her a few days - that's all I'm asking from you."

As Hange removed herself to return her emptied tray, the serious look on Erwin never faltered; it remained plastered there like a grim reminder of his theories and intentions. It wasn't long when Hange came back to his table - only to find that he had disappeared to his quarters for an early shut eye, much to the surprise of even his squad member Mike. When Hange asked why, he supplied an answer that wasn't satisfactory to her taste.

She plopped back into her seat beside him, letting out a dreary, long sigh; "I hope he listens to me... I hope he won't try and force his way to see her anytime soon."