Female Titan: Annie Leonhart

                                    

                                          
"Commander Erwin, I'm back with them." I step in the commander's office, followed by the three other rookies he had me gather, Jean, Mikasa, and Armin. We assemble around the commander's desk as he stands up.
                          
"Okay, it looks like everybody's here now. Great job before, Joshua."
                          
"Thank you, sir."
                          
"So I'll get straight to the point. Armin, Jean, you three were first to encounter the Female Titan, per Joshua's retelling. When he spoke of your attack against her, he said that there were two things that stood out. One, the Titan knew how Eren looked like, and two, based on a few words, she was hesitant. You two agree with that information?"
                          
"Yes," Armin says. "That's exactly what happened."
                          
"I don't know why those words paused her attack if I'm honest," Jean states as he rubs his head. "But what Armin says, I said those words about Eren some time ago. A lot of times actually."
                          
I take over the conversation. "Sasha told me Jean called Eren a 'suicidal maniac' before the graduation ceremony (As I say that, I can feel Mikasa, who stands beside me, darken the room with malicious intent). Armin said those exact words to Jean as he fought the Female Titan. I can say Jean has done so many times over the years. As I told you, Commander, that could have been any girl… But three more pieces of evidence came up after. One during the battle, two afterward."
                          
Erwin, with interest, sits down. "Floor is yours."
                          
"Actually, we have Armin to thank here." I turn to my friend, giving him a thumbs up. "After all, he figured the identity of the Female Titan first, did you now?"
                          
Armin looks to his feet, not liking the well-deserved attention he's getting. "Well...yes, but I still had doubts.
                          
"So did I, so I spoke to Sasha again, asking her who was around when Jean made that comment besides Armin and her. Armin and Jean can probably name the same people as well, at least who he was speaking to. That was just for reassurances, however, but it narrowed the suspects to those in the vicinity of Jean, which made them a cadet, one of us, at the time. The other piece is the ODM gear that turned out to be worn by the one who killed Sawney and Beane. Hange and I went over the report and I found an interesting detail: All of the cadet's ODMs matched their owner except for one. That one... It belongs to Marco Bodt, who died in Trost."
                          
Jean's eyes grow wide. "Marco? His ODM was recovered?"
                          
I nod. "Apparently so. It makes sense too, that the killer wouldn't use her ODM. However, this is Marco, a friend of ours. Not saying this is true, but I believe the killer stole Marco's ODM when he was alive, else it would be after he was regurgitated. Since I suspect the former, that means Marco must have known the girl to get close to him. That's only a few girls in our class, not all of them our friends, but still few."
                          
"Wait." Armin looks to me, frowning. "You mean… I knew I recognized it. Marco's had all kinds of scraps and bumps, and I would help him with maintenance on it. I saw it..with her. I suspected it was her..."
                          
Erwin nods. "You say more evidence showed up during the battle?"
                          
I nod, then look to Mikasa. "Mikasa, remember our melee combat drills? Get in your fighting position." Mikasa shuffles her feet but doesn't raise her arms. I nod, then I get in position too. Right leg straight, left knee bent a bit, both arms raised at my eye line. Mikasa, Armin, and Jean all gasp as I hold the pose for a moment longer, a perfect mirror of the one who taught me it.