Chapter 10

   Yay! Today was our break day well, a break after we clean on orders from Levi. My rest is more important than clean facilities right now! They’re clean enough anyway. After polishing the window one last time after three previous times because they were still filthy (according to Levi-clean-freak), I stretched my sore arms and searched for the others. I had no idea what crazy, ridiculous thing we were going to do today but as long as it’s fun, I’m all for it. Not letting Levi know is the problem…

   “What are we going to do today?” I asked after gathering everyone.

   “Prank Wars!” Connie suggested while looking around to see if anyone agreed. No one showed any sign of enthusiasm for that idea.

   “Let’s eat! We have a break so we should be able to eat whatever we want,” Sasha pointed out with drool seeping out of her mouth.

   “Well, we can eat anytime we want. Let’s do something we can’t do during normal days,” I reminded.

   After that everyone had a serious face on and went into thinking mode. Idea after idea, there wasn’t anything we could all agree on. It was either split between yes and no and then there were fights and arguments involved. Sometimes it was just someone proposing an idea but no one liked it. Even my ideas failed… because I never said any. A while later, everyone was frustrated since we were just wasting our precious break time. It was a one-time chance to have freedom and we weren’t taking advantage of that. But for the first time, luck decided to treat us well.

   “How about Capture the Flag?” someone asked. Everyone looked at the person dumbfound only to see Lukas.

   “What’s Capture the Flag?” I inquired.

   “It’s a game with two teams and each team has a flag and a base. The other team has to take the opponent’s flag and bring it back to their base to win. The same goes for the opponent’s team. There are different variations of it with different rules to make it fun for everyone,” Armin, the smarty pants, answered. I’m guessing he read up on it somewhere.

   Lukas smirked while saying, “We could use the woods for training with the fake titans to play the game. Everyone could wear their cape a bit loose and when another person from the opposing team pulls it off, you are out. The people who are out must go to a jail zone by the opposing team’s base. A fellow teammate must rescue you before being caught and can only save one person at a time. There will be two color-coordinated flags which are bundles of clothes. One flag will be placed in the team’s base while another may be hidden. To win, you must bring both bundles into your own base before the other team does the same. Signal flares are allowed but blades aren’t. You may use physical combat but no killing or severely injuring others. Use strategies, hide the bundles well, and use what you’ve learned in training. You may only stay in the woods during the game. I’ll join the odd team because there isn’t an even number of people. If there is an emergency, use the black flare. There will be two teams: blue and red. Go pick your teams but remember your teammates because everyone is going to wear his or her uniform. Oh and don’t worry, I won’t tell Levi or anyone else. Remember to not use up all your gas because there aren’t any refills. Does everyone agree?”

   Everyone nodded and the team choosing began. Blue team was made up of Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Connie, Sasha, and me while Red team was Reiner, Bertolt, Jean, Christa and Ymir. Let’s start the game!

~*~

   We arrived and prepared the woods for the game. Bases, jails, and flags (bundles of clothes) were marked with red or blue fabric. Now with everyone at their base, we were ready to start.

   “What’s the strategy, Armin?” Eren asked.

   “Sasha, you have good instincts so you stay at the base guarding the flags. Connie, you can hide in the trees near the base to help Sasha. Eren and Mikasa will go with me to get the other team’s flag and save each other in jail. Ria, you will carry the hidden flag with you. That way, our flag will always be moving around so it will be hard for the other team to pinpoint our hidden flag’s location. Move around fast and sneakily so they don’t see you. Do whatever you have to do. Signal flares can be our downfall or advantage. Red will be when someone’s about to take our flag or get us in jail; anything bad. Green will be if one of us has a flag but I don’t think we should use it that much. An opponent could see the flare and follow it which risks us getting captured and found. Signal flares will be emergencies. Now, I guess remember that it’s break so we should have fun but win at the same time,” Armin commanded.

   “Let’s do this!” everyone cheered and got into their positions.

   I went off my way carrying the chubby bundle around. This job doesn’t seem that fun, I don’t think I’ll get any action. But Armin’s thinking is clever and I should probably follow his orders. Sighing, I sped up while dodging all the trees. What to do… I snapped out of my thoughts after hearing some shouting up ahead. Should I go? I should go; it could be my teammate in danger. I’m coming. My pace quickened with me almost head-butting a tree but I continued. I reached an opening.

   There, I saw Eren screaming his agonizing battle cry as he flew towards Lukas. Lukas skillfully dodged it while having a mocking expression. His eyes flicked to where Armin and Mikasa were with Armin gripping onto Mikasa’s arm, telling her not to go. Eren kept on flipping and moving around, trying to land a punch, kick, or tackle. However, Lukas just kept on moving slightly to the side, dodging his attacks by an inch which irritated Eren even more. I could almost see Eren’s raging aura while he kept on shouting. Now it seemed like he forgot that he was supposed to pull Lukas’s cape off since he kept on trying to fight him. But Lukas wasn’t any better since he wasn’t making a move.

   “After all those attacks, you couldn’t land one. Is it my turn yet?” Lukas asked in a sassy tone.

   Eren didn’t say anything and continued to attack. He seemed to be getting tired as he breathed heavily and slowed down. Seeing the hesitation, Lukas swiftly kicked Eren in the leg hard but not hard enough to injure him severely.

   “The purpose of the capes is that you can pull mine off and I would be out. But if you want to make this a fight instead, I’d gladly accept,” Lukas stated as he flew upwards with his gear and glided down, hitting Eren’s arm.

   Looking to the side, I saw Mikasa breaking free from Armin’s grip as she swooped down to punch Lukas. Lukas averted his eyes and dodged the attack. While Mikasa was still moving down right next to Lukas, he pulled her cape off. Eren saw the distraction so he lunged towards him to pull Lukas’s cape off. However, Lukas with his speedy reflexes turned around and snatched his cape off. Armin watched with disbelief that Eren and Mikasa were out but he still moved along.

   “That’s not fair, Lukas. You’re a Squad Leader, an elite member. We’re still fresh from training,” I complained, forgetting that I had the flag.

   “Then you should have picked me to be on your team,” Lukas replied, advancing towards me.

   “It’s not like I had a choice.”

   “Well you should have had a choice or else this wouldn’t have happened!” he shouted as he stole the bundle.

   “Wait up! That’s so mean, Lukas! No fair!” I yelled, darting after him on my 3D maneuver gear.

   It was hard to catch up because he was a pro at this, having more experience than me. The wind pushed back on me, seeming to be on Lukas’s side. I will beat you, Lukas! Now with the wind propelling me forward, I hooked and grappled with such focus that I could see all the details in the woods in that one instant. It was either that Lukas slowed down or I had some outburst because I was right next to him.

   “Hello! Didn’t think you would see me here, huh? I guess you could say I’ve been training so that I’d be on the same level as you now! Maybe I’ll be a Squad Leader one day. I’ll be taking back my flag back now – ” I chatted away as he yanked my cape off.

   “Why don’t you stop talking and do some action instead? Have fun in jail while I’ll be celebrating my team’s victory,” he advised.

   “Why don’t you stop talking like you already won and actually do some action by winning?” I sassed back, pouting as I dejectedly flew towards jail.

~*~

   So here I am now, sitting down on the jail branch with my buddies, Eren and Mikasa.

   “How’s it going guys? I didn’t do my job very well,” I sheepishly said as I laughed awkwardly.

   “I’m going to get Lukas back for what he did today,” Eren seethed.

   “He went too far,” Mikasa stated, looking worriedly at Eren.

   “Yeah, we will all make him feel sorry for what he did!” I cheered.

   “Well, anyway if one person comes, which one of us should be saved?” I asked.

   “Eren,” Mikasa answered quickly with no hesitation. I shouldn’t have asked, it was already too obvious.

   “Just have the person saving us choose,” Eren decided, not wanting any drama. This is going to be a long day for me while I wait.

   The sound of 3D maneuver gear was heard and all of our hopes went up. Someone’s here to save us! Soon, we saw Armin in the distance waving to us. He sped up until the leaves rustled and Christa jumped out. Please, Armin don’t get caught by Christa. I watched in horror as Christa grabbed Armin’s cape. No, why? Suddenly, another figure, Connie, came into view as he pulled Christa’s cape off. He grinned widely as she gave a small yelp, surprised that she was out. Connie and Armin dashed to us and pondered on who to save.

   “I’ll stay behind,” I selflessly declared.

   “Are you sure?” Armin wondered.

   “Yeah, I couldn’t do my job right. You guys, go on and win for me!” I yelled. They nodded and moved on, looking back at me. I waved and then sat down, sighing. What was with that bold move? Now I’m really not going to have any action.

~*~

I had no idea what I was going to write at first but I came up with this. I’m going to separate this into two chapters because I’m a lazy butt. Who will win: Red team or Blue team? You will never know… BUT! I might post the next chapter a bit earlier because this one’s short. Anyway… THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE READS, VOTES, AND COMMENTS! 850 reads is too good to be true. I don’t know how to thank you so I guess it’ll be by posting the next chapter earlier! I’m sorry again that this one was a bit delayed. Hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter! Vote and comment please if you enjoyed it, it would be much appreciated. See you next week! Bye!