Housekeeping
Disclaimer: SnK and its characters are not mine.
Author's (long introductory) Note: Feel free to skip past this and jump right into the story. For those of you still reading, hi, I'm Gaia and I'm a fanfiction-a-holic. Actually, not really but that sounded fitting right there. This is my first time venturing outside my primary fandom, so needless to say this is my first Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan fanfic. For those of you that have me on author alerts expecting another Digimon fic, my apologies in advance, but this story idea got stuck in my head and I figured maybe once I got writer's block on this, I might be more motivated to go back to my other incomplete story. For those that are here from the SnK fandom, also my apologies in advance on not being a complete expert in the series, so I may remember some places/names/events/personalities incorrectly from how they're portrayed in cannon. I've literally only had 1 run-through on the subbed anime from Crunchyroll, and my knowledge on the manga storyline comes from reading SnK wiki articles (and reading fanfics, woohoo!) And for those very few that know how I work, I'm trying a little experiment here in that I'm not going to write a few chapters ahead before publishing on FFN. I have a general idea on where I'm going with this, yes, but I haven't decided on how I'm going to end it yet. In short, let's see if I can get myself out of any corners I write myself into! Last few snippets you may want to know before I get started: I update very, very, very slowly since real life dictates my free time. You have been warned. Also, for the first time ever, I'm using cuss words in a story of mine, since I wouldn't be able to do Levi's (or anyone else's) character justice without them. Because of that, my grammar/censor muse isn't too happy about this and is on strike for this project. On that positive note, let's get started!
Chapter 1
Shrieks of terror and pain resounded across the field. The desperate shouts of her still living comrades were nothing but background noise compared to them. They were soon replaced by the sounds of crunched bones and gushes of blood.
Hulking figures of numerous titans with their demented faces closed in on them. One in particular, the one with the ghastly grin—her nightmare for the last five years—loomed over her, ready to strike. But she was helpless to stop it. The only thing she could do in what surely was their final moments was express her feelings to the boy beside her, the one she promised to protect with her life.
Emotions overwhelming her, she brought her face near his as she confessed her gratitude. Those emerald eyes were wide and mirrored her own tear-streaked face. Closer and closer she inched, her chin tilting upwards…
"CLANG!" went the first bell of the morning. Mikasa Ackerman sat up in her bed with a start. As the other four bells tolled the arrival of a new day, the raven-haired girl raised a hand to her forehead, immediately plopping back down on her bed.
She had almost recovered from the injuries she'd sustained that fateful day a week ago, but the memory still haunted her in her dreams.
He'd turned away from her, his hand having just regenerated. A fierce determination had replaced that fragile-looking face.
What had she been thinking? Eren was like a brother to her. She couldn't have possibly wanted to…?
Mikasa felt a blush creep up on her cheeks. So why had she felt a pang of disappointment just then?
No, he was her brother, the one she swore to protect, nothing more—even though it wasn't her that ended up saving them. She frowned at that last thought. Some woman worth a hundred soldiers she had been.
She groaned as she dragged herself out of bed. A warm shower was just what she needed to alleviate the soreness that'd lingered ever since that day. Of course, it didn't help she'd gone right back to training as soon as she was capable of walking without collapsing in pain.
As she made her way to the communal bathroom, she couldn't help but stare out her window.
'Eren, good morning.'
Eren Jaeger's eyes fluttered open. His cell was a little brighter than usual so he could only assume it was daytime. How late in the day it was was another question. He could barely hear the sounds of the bells from down here.
It didn't take long for the guard at his door to notice him stirring. The clean-shaven man walked stiffly up to the entrance to his cell and opened his mouth, ready to ask his daily questions.
Before he could say a word, however, the fifteen-year-old boy stated in a dull voice, "No, I'm not going to turn into a titan, so you can go ahead and let me out." Eren knew the routine by now. He stood up and stretched himself out a bit as the guard fumbled around with his keys and opened the door. It was a protocol designed by Hanji to make sure he was in the right state of mind before being let out each morning. He guessed that she was afraid his titan mind might take over while he slept or something.
Other than having to sleep in the dungeon for the next month, he was treated like any other soldier in the Survey Corps. As he made his way over to the barracks to get himself cleaned up before morning training, his mind wandered to last week's events, still fresh in his mind.
If anyone had asked him if he'd successfully avenged his mother, technically he could say "yes." The Colossal and Armored titans were gone, and that creepy smiling titan had been decimated before his eyes. Yet, he did not feel that he was done. Not until every last one of them was exterminated, not until they were free to roam outside the walls and see the wonders in Armin's book.
As he neared the familiar stone building, he couldn't help but look up. Second floor, fifth window from the right was his adopted sister's.
'Morning, Mikasa.'
That moment with her, when it felt like the end for them, still seemed so surreal. He'd been on the brink of despair then, but it was her words that had saved him. Sure she'd been emotional with him before with her overprotective mindset, but to see such a heartfelt outburst from his rock of a sister… He could still feel the flutter in his chest as she drew close, that burning desire to protect her welling up inside of him…
"Good morning, Eren!" The greeting from the blond boy before him snapped him out of his reverie.
"Ah, hi, Armin!" He noticed that his childhood friend was fully dressed and ready to go for morning exercises. "Guess I slept in again, huh?"
Armin Arlert simply smiled. "Can't be helped. They don't want to risk waking you suddenly in case it triggers you to become a titan." Hanji's protocol at work again.
"I'll be out as soon as I can," Eren hurriedly assured. "Every minute I'm away from training is a minute longer before I'm as good as the Captain." With one last wave, he ran to the showers to get cleaned up.
Captain Levi sighed as he set another stack of documents in a neat pile to the side of his desk. It was rather pathetic that paperwork was the best thing he could do while he was injured. He involuntarily rubbed at his left leg. Sure he did a full workout every morning and afternoon that didn't involve putting a strain on his ankle, but he still wasn't 100%.
A sudden tickle in his nose made him sneeze. He shot a hand out to weigh down the paper in front of him that was threatening to fly away with that act.
Worst of all must have been the fact that he wasn't capable of cleaning as much as he wanted to. He had to cut his daily filth-purging regimen in half since it involved his legs way too much.
As he resumed scribbling on the parchment before him, a light knocking came from his office door. He briefly looked at his clock. 3 PM. He wasn't expecting visitors at this time.
"Beat it!" he shouted and turned back to his work.
The knocking repeated, more insistently this time.
"Captain," came a female voice muffled by the closed door. "Squad Leader Hanji sent me."
"Then you can take your scrawny butt back over to her, Ackerman, I'm busy," barked Levi.
Instead, the door swung open and in stepped the dark-haired soldier. Seemingly ignoring his last order, she saluted and stated, "She asked me to retrieve the report on the last titan battle to prepare for her experiment tomorrow."
Levi brought a hand up to his forehead and rubbed it in irritation. His face somehow still remained stoic. "That crackpot told me she didn't need it until tomorrow. Can't you just tell her everything she needs to know? I wasn't even there for God's sake!" Not he didn't want to be there, but it had been impossible for him to go with his injury, and the mere thought of it ticked him off even more. Maybe if he had been, Erwin wouldn't be in his current shape…
"She said she needs official documentation to base her protocol on. It's to ensure Eren's safety during the experiment."
So that's what she got her on, that little prick. Hanji must have miscalculated how long it would take to get all the paperwork together in time for Erwin to approve running it. Her piss-poor planning did not constitute an emergency on his part, but she could sure trick Ackerman into thinking it was. Levi couldn't believe how easily manipulated his top new recruit was when it came to "Eren's safety."
"Bugger off, Ackerman. Don't tell me that you're too stupid to see Shitty Glasses is just using you."
"Sir," she spat, a hint of venom her tone, "I am not leaving this office until I get that report. Eren's life may depend on it."
Levi had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at her naivety. "Whatever. Come back in an hour; this could take awhile," he grumbled as he reached for a blank sheet of paper. He didn't know what compelled him to acquiesce, but maybe it was just to get her out of his damn office and leave him alone.
"I said I'm not leaving until I get it." With that, Mikasa sat down at a chair across from Levi's desk.
He had half a mind to beat her ass right then and there for her insubordination, but a sharp pang from his ankle as he attempted to stand up reminded him of why that would be a bad idea. Instead, he reached over and yanked open an adjacent drawer, from which he pulled a bundle of papers.
He slapped the bound pile onto his desk and began rummaging through the sheets. They were individual accounts on the incident, but he was required to summarize them into a tidy little report before they could officially act on any of the information. In all honesty, he already knew the contents of these papers so well, he would be able to draft a sufficient report without them, but it wasn't in his nature to half-ass a job like that. He pulled out a few papers in particular from the stack that he wanted to reference for accuracy.
Taking up his pen once again, he noticed the girl across from him was no longer boring into the top of his head with her fierce gaze. Instead, she was looking intently at his windowsill.
"Something wrong, Ackerman?" he asked gruffly.
"It's filthy," she stated plainly.
"What?" It was more of an expression of surprise than an actual question, although his bored-looking visage belied that.
"It wouldn't be to anyone else, but by your standards, the window is filthy. In fact," she said, looking around at her surroundings, "this whole room would not pass your normal clean-freak test."
Levi tried not to twitch. "I'm keenly aware of that, Ackerman, thank you very much." He actually let sarcasm drip into his voice at that last part. "But things would be different had a certain someone not defied my orders and got me injured. So I suggest you either shut it or make yourself useful for once."
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her flinch at his words. She then looked down at her hands guiltily before getting up and walking over to a narrow door across his office.
"I assume you keep your cleaning supplies here," she mumbled.
This made his head perk up. He hadn't expected her to take him seriously at the off-handed suggestion. Levi knew she still bore a grudge against him for his treatment of Eren, so anything that wasn't utter defiance toward him came as a bit of a shock.
Turning back to his work, he simply replied in his monotone voice, "Yeah, knock yourself out. But I expect everything to be put back right where you found it, you hear?" The Captain sensed rather than saw her nod.
They both worked at their own jobs in silence for the next hour. Levi scribbled up his report, occasionally looking over his select papers for specifics, while Mikasa not only cleaned the window and sill, but also dusted his shelves and scrubbed the floor.
By the time Levi was finished, the rays of the afternoon sun had made their presence known through his window. He couldn't tell whether it was because of them or because of his recruit's handiwork that his room sparkled when he looked up from the completed manuscript.
It took all his willpower not to gasp at the results. 'So…clean…' He stood up slowly and inspected the room for himself. Not even his most senior soldiers had this level of cleanliness on their first go around. But he was determined not to give her the satisfaction of a good report. Instead he looked for something, anything, to criticize her for.
He finally found what he was searching for as he scrutinized the bookshelf. "Who taught you how to clean, Ackerman? Pigs?" He brushed a finger around the edge of one his encyclopedias. "But I guess that's all those filthy backwater towns are good for."
She clenched a fist at her side.
However, he continued, "You're supposed to take the books off first, and then dust, not try to dust around them, brat." Thinking of something else, he looked up at the ceiling. "And you didn't even attempt to clean the chandelier before the floor? Such a stupid waste."
Mikasa took a deep breath to try to calm herself. "I can come back and redo those after I relay your report, Sir."
Levi turned away to hide his amusement at her barely contained anger. He then limped over to his desk to place the report in an envelope with his seal. "See that you do."
His face remained emotionless as he held out the completed packet to the raven-haired girl. She snatched it from him without another word and made haste for the exit.
"Oh, and Ackerman."
Mikasa paused halfway out the door.
"It just dawned on me that you were never disciplined for your insubordination during the battle with the Female Titan."
The girl in question shifted uncomfortably, not daring to look back at him.
He walked up slowly behind her, his voice low. "For your punishment, you will come clean my office and my quarters every single day until I'm fully recovered."
Mikasa's onyx eyes widened. She whirled about on her heel and found herself face-to-face with her commanding officer. "But, Sir, my other duties…"
Levi simply gave an uncaring wave of his hand. "I'm sure you can make time for this. After all, my entire schedule had to change around the resultant injury."
Mikasa couldn't help a scowl from forming on her face.
"Or I could have you clean out all the stables and bathrooms by yourself for the next year. Your choice. That would mean less time you could spend with your bratty friends, wouldn't it?" With that, he hobbled back over to his desk and took a seat.
All the girl could do was clench and unclench the hand not holding her valuable report. After a minute of standing there, she finally conceded, "Fine, have it your way." Turning back toward the doorway, she couldn't help muttering loud enough for him to hear, "Midget bastard." She didn't give Levi enough time to retort before slamming the door behind her.
The Captain allowed himself the pleasure of smirking at where she had stood. This was going to be interesting indeed.