The sun is not up yet when Mikasa leaves her room. She walks through the shadowy corridor leading to the large inner courtyard, the shy rays of light barely coming through the windows. The silence surrounding her is endearing and the young girl takes a moment to appreciate the sound of her quiet footsteps slightly echoing through the dark hallway. Every morning before dusk, it has become a habit of hers to sneak into the training hall to work on her own for an hour or two before the rest of the Survey corps wakes up to start a new day. In a life where they are continuously surrounded with each other, she cherishes these few hours where she can appreciate the silence and peace of being alone.
As she pushes the heavy wooden doors, an icy breeze rushes through the opening, the swirl of wind ruffling her dark black hair and sending a shiver across her body. It is one of those cold mornings where you can feel winter slowly but surely looming in. Mikasa takes a deep breath of the callous, burning air and hurries across the frozen grass to the tall doors of the Dojo. When she finally reaches them she quickly dives into the vast room to escape the cold winds and swiftly slips through the entry, silently closing the door behind her. But before she has the time to turn around, a voice makes itself known.
"Ackerman?"
As she hears her name resonate through the not so empty hall, she freezes, startled. Turning around to face the inside of the Dojo, she recognizes the small figure of Levi, only wearing a pair of white shorts and a tank top, covered in sweat and surrounded by weights and dumbbells. One of his legs is tightly bandaged, his wounded knee tightly held in place by a black binding.
"Heichou", Mikasa breathes, her body relaxing a little and yet automatically shifting into a salute.
The man's eyes narrow at her sight, letting one of the weights he was holding in his hand drop to the ground. A moment passes without the two of them exchanging a word, simply staring at each other; him, annoyed to see another person intrude his rehabilitation session, her, stunned at her lack of luck.
Ever since what had happened in the forest with the Female Titan, the two of them had barely seen each other, each warped up in their own work. Levi had been stranded for weeks waiting for his leg to heal, and when his re-education had started it had been even harder for him to stomach the weakness of his limb. He had started to work in the Dojo by himself in the middle of the night, before the sun would rise.
A sting of irritation rises inside of him, displeased that the person who is the reason for his injury would also be the one to find him out.
"You're not supposed to be here," Levi finally says, breaking the silence and gesturing towards her to drop her stance.
The young girl's face remains impassive and she lets her right arm drop to her side. Her dark eyes linger for a few seconds on the knee of the man in front of her. A small wave of guilt suddenly takes hold of her heart, but she manages to push it back. She watches Levi step away from the weights and walk towards one of the benches against one of the walls, grabbing a small towel and putting it around his damp neck. His limp is unperceivable, so light you can barely notice it, but still present.
Levi indolently looks back at her, his two hands tightly locked around each side of his towel.
"Ackerman," he snaps, "What did I just say to you?"
The young girl's hands curl into two fists. She knows there is no beating around the bush with Lance Corporal Levi Rivai.
"Heichou," she retorts, taking a few steps towards her commanding officer, "I come here by myself every morning to train to get stronger," she pauses, locking her eyes into his, defiantly, "And better".
Levi's eyes linger on her for a moment, "I see," he finally says softly, turning his sight away from her, rubbing his towel against his face.
Mikasa watches him silently slip on his shoes and throw his towel over his shoulder. Completely ignoring her, he starts to walk towards the exit, his small steps creaking on the wooden floor. She observes his every move, waiting for a reaction that doesn't come as he walks past her. When she hears that he is about to leave the building, the young girl speaks up.
"I'm sorry"
There is no regret in her voice, nor shame. Her apology makes the corporal stop on his feet. They both stand there, their backs facing each other.
"Is that so" Levi muses, still standing before the Dojo's doors.
"What happened in the forest, it was my fault" Mikasa continues, "With-"
But the young girl doesn't have the time to finish her sentence.
"-Bullshit"
Levi's word resonates through Mikasa like the harsh truth that it is, sending a mix of disbelief and indignation down her back. The corporal turns around, now fully irritated.
"Bullshit" he repeats, hissing, "You're not sorry Ackerman, you're not sorry at all. The only thing you are sorry for is not killing that shitty little blond titan-shifter yourself"
As his words make their way to the dark-haired girl, Levi watches every muscle in her body tense up, her fists starting to lightly shake. He raises his eyes to meet an icy, angry glare. But before she can act up on the bitterness surely rising inside of her, Levi steps to the weapon tray on his left where long wooden bō are aligned and quickly opts for the option where he doesn't have to file a report on her. He grabs two of them and swiftly turns back to face Mikasa, throwing one in her direction. By the time she has caught it, he has already launched himself in her direction. The two weapons hit against each other in a loud bang.
"A woman worth a hundred soldiers?" he snarls at her, pressing his wooden stick against hers forcefully, "Don't let it get to your head".
With a powerful push from his stick he thrusts her away. She stumbles back a few steps and raises her piercing eyes to the corporal, sudden resentment and fury rising at the back of her throat like a scorching fire.
"A hundred soldiers wouldn't have acted that way. That stunt you pulled out there was reckless," he continues, making his stick swirl behind him, "Your sheer talent won't save you in the long run. You think you're better than the rest of them? You're not"
Levi's words have finally struck the chord he was trying to pull, and the young girl's eyes are ablaze, her breathing heavy and her teeth tightly clenched together. She feels across her skin that crawling sensation of ire, the affirmation of her fighting heart still beating against her chest, hostility taking control of every fibre of her being.
He doesn't have time to start another sentence that the girl hurls towards him, her stick raised high for a full-blown hit. He counters her blow, knocking her back a little as he swiftly repositions himself to an offensive stance, swinging his weapon horizontally, aiming for her head. She avoids the shot by taking a quick step to the side, counter attacking him with a strong hit to his side. Her hits are strong and powerful, amazingly controlled and precise, perhaps a little too much, but Levi is faster than her, even with his weak knee. With a sudden plunge, he hits Mikasa under her chin, drawing some blood. He pauses to let her recuperate as she lowers her head back to meet his undisturbed gaze, her eyes burning with rage.
"Go to hell" she hisses, wiping the blood off her face with the back of her hand, "I couldn't care less of the opinion of a freak like you"
"Are you angry now?" Levi continues, please with the insult that has just been thrown at him, "Good-", he raises his piece of wood in her direction, "Use it. But don't let it overwhelm you. Learn to control it. Only when you do will you have a shot at becoming the best and strongest out there"
Mikasa jumps to him, her blows getting fiercer and fiercer.
"I am strong," she growls, pushing him away from her with intensity, only to attack him even harder.
"You're arrogant, Ackerman," Levi replies matter-of-factly. With incredible speed, he manages to dodge every one of her hits, each time forcing her to take a step back until she is pinned against one of the walls, Levi's weapon thrust against her chest, preventing her to move or breath properly. His face is close to hers; Mikasa can feel his breath against hers. They both scowl into each other's eyes.
"I need the men and women at my side to be seamless," asserts Levi, his weapon still digging into Mikasa's chest, "You are not. And if you continue down the path you are on, you will get killed. Is that what you want?"
"…No" the girl barely manages to exhale.
Levi lets go of his hold on her. He takes a last long look at the panting girl before him and steps back, dropping his weapon to the ground. Casually, he walks over back to the middle of the Dojo to grab his fallen towel and makes his way back to the exit. As he reaches the doors, he opens one of them, letting in a gush of cold wind and a bright ray of light illuminating his whole self.
"We all have scars, Ackerman," Levi declares. He turns his head back to the girl; "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place", he adds, glancing one last time at her before disappearing through the door.