Day by Day
Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime/manga Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin. The characters, plot/story line, everything- belongs to the respected owners and the creators of this product.

The pairing is Mikasa and Levi once again. I really enjoy these two and hope they are cannon within the plot of AoT/SnK. Anyway, here is another little one shot before I start my longer story for them. The time line is somewhere after the Survey corps first excursion out, the one where you meet the female titan.

I struggle so much with describing the fluency of any type of actions preformed on maneuver gear. It's so hard to do it justice when we've all seen it in action. It's like a dance and everything has to be clean. Ugh. I fail at writing about it. I apologize in advance and make sure to comment! I like feedback guys.

Warmest Regards,

Jay

It always hurt Mikasa to look at Eren recently, but it hurt the most when he wasn't awake. He always had a pained look on his face when he rested, forcibly or not. When was the last time he smiled? She wasn't sure for only the times he looked to be losing an internal war seemed to stick out in her mind.

They were painful memories and only managed to tear apart the ravenette's heart even more. It felt like she was suffocating. Why? Why did it hurt so much to simply walk alongside the cart Eren rested in and watch him recover? Was it because she couldn't save him? Was it because he had saved her?

The sickening feeling in her stomach proved the latter to be true- having Corporal Levi save her left a bad taste in her mouth.

'If he hadn't been there…' Her mind wandered as dull, black eyes fell on her brother's body once more. 'Would either of us be here?'

The scene was pitiful at best. That stupid girl trudged alongside the cart containing the corpselike figure of Eren Jäger. Her head was either down and watching her feet scoff up the dirt as they dragged her, obviously drained and weary, body along or on the male as her eyes frantically scanned him for any signs of his awakening. It was here, Levi figured, that everyone saw how fragile their companions were- especially Ackerman.

Hushed whispers, concerned glances, soft sighs, all of those noises that came from the new recruits seemed pointed towards the pair up ahead. Then again, they were staring at a soldier worth one-hundred men nearly broken and humanity's only hope of sealing Wall Maria being carried home.

They had a reason to seem so apprehensive, so worried, so disappointed. Still, the corporal had always had a soft spot for those who challenged him, and Mikasa had unintentionally wedged herself into part of his mind and it wouldn't let her leave because God damnit she was interesting and most importantly, tough. Defiant and tough; that's exactly the clashing Levi seemed drawn too.

Though at that point in time, his feelings were merely for curiosity's sake.

With a small flick of his wrists, the reins in his hands signaled the horse to pick up its pace until it fell next to the one occupying humanity's strongest soldier's mind. A few moments passed before Mikasa's eyes glanced over and up at the person next to her. The glare on her features seemed to only be superficial. The hatred she tried to express didn't reach her eyes and most certainly didn't reach her heart. Everything was forced, or so it seemed.

"…" Wordlessly, Rivaille continued to follow along beside her. There was his own war being waged inside himself. Speak and allow his thoughts to possibly spill or continue to mockingly trot alongside her, what he wanted, he wasn't sure.

"What?" Mikasa finally broke the silence but the tone her voice held showed how on edge she was. Her body was rigid, tense, and it was like she was trying to hide her weariness from her superior. What? Did she have something to prove? Maybe it was because she was the reason the man who was worth a whole brigade had a fracture in his leg.

Instead of answering by vocalizing his thoughts, he simply outstretched his hand, leaning down some as if to brace for her weight when he went to pull her up. Of course, she had to take his hand for any of this to matter, and it didn't look like she was going to.

There was hesitation from both parties, glances and annoyed sighs too, but when Mikasa finally caved and reached for his hand there was a black flare set off. Both of their heads whipped around to see what the reason for it would be- the whole group was doing so well and so far away from any titans that it seemed implausible for there to be a titan so close. However, it seemed that impossibility wasn't so impossible after all.

It was no secret that fighting on flat land left the soldier at a disadvantage, and the one who was probably best at it, could barely move his left leg. His hand gripped the pant leg on his thigh as a displeased 'tch' left his mouth. When he looked back up, Mikasa was running towards it. Levi's eyes were trained on her for but a moment.

The cries of the men closest to it could be heard throughout the whole remaining Survey Corps were what distracted him. It was gaining on them, and it was doing so at an unbelievably fast pace.

'Damn this useless leg.'

If it wasn't unresponsive right now he could kill it in- "Mikasa!"

Armin's shouting really struck everyone around him. All eyes turned on the girl who was trying and fighting desperately to protect her fallen brothers and her superiors. The hooks from her maneuver gear attached to one of the closest titans and she immediately dug her heels into the ground, allowing her thin frame to be pulled around effortlessly. With her speed increasing, she quickly used the momentum to switch targets and propel herself high into the air. One more move and she was spinning down, slicing open the weak point just like she had seen the corporal do once before. The cut was clean and her blades weren't damaged like usual, but she had no time to relish in the feeling of accomplishment as another giant moved behind her.

As gravity brought her body towards the ground, she used the air canisters to start her in the direction of her second swing. It was a wide one, going all the way around and out of reach of the hands trying to crush her. With another twirl, another thrust forward, and another extra push with the pressurized air in the containers, Mikasa was once more spinning down at a deadly speed. Her body moved and contorted enough so even with the error that came with attempting a new style of fighting, she was able to perfectly exterminate the threat.

Moving to land on her feet, Mikasa mucked up. She hadn't realized how much gas she used up during those two simple kills and was now plummeting to the ground without any way to catch herself. It was probably because her body felt like such dead weight that she assumed the amount needed to fight had changed. Maybe that's why she messed up and allowed herself this pain again.

It was just like before. She seemed to be perfect for leading people, for commanding them, but she never really used that head of hers. How foolish. How ironic. How stupid.

"Mikasa!" Armin screamed again, snapping her out of her trance. God, how long had she been falling? Would it kill her to land on her back from this height? Why wouldn't her arms move, why wouldn't her legs move?

She had the will to live but her body wouldn't listen. It was the complete opposite of last time.

"… Ha."

Silly. Stupid. Ridiculous.

Her eyes fell shut as her arms moved enough to cover her head and her body spun around enough to give her a chance of landing on her feet. She wouldn't die, couldn't die. Eren needed her. Armin needed her. Humanity needed her.

If she was the reason the best soldier was hurt, she had to make up for it. She had to.

Gritting her teeth, she prepared for the impact, but it never came. Or, well, she never hit the ground. What she did hit was another body that shielded her from the brunt of the fall.

Those drowsy, dead, black eyes of hers only caught a glimpse of the black hair and black eyes of the man who caught her before they were slipping shut in pure exhaustion.

She was tired, her body wouldn't move, her eyes wouldn't open, and despite the desperate calls to stay awake, Mikasa allowed herself to drift into the comforting darkness.

Whoever had saved her, whoever had caught her and called her name so loud it rang and echoed in her mind even in her sleep, was warm.

They gave her a safe and secure feeling- one she hadn't felt in years.

With a smile on her face, Mikasa Ackerman slipped into unconsciousness as her friends, Armin and Jean, called to her to stay awake.

Back in the cart, her brother was waking up and was barely putting it together that the shouts and screams where saying things like, "Mikasa wake up!" or "Mikasa don't close your eyes!" and those words even went something like, "Ackerman, you better wake up. That's an order."

When everything hit him, he forced himself to sit up and scan for his sister who wasn't beside him like he had hoped she would be when he awoke. No, instead, she was being heaved up onto Levi's horse before Levi himself settles himself on the saddle and moved her into his arms.

Her body was limp, pale, and sickly looking.

Eren's heart pounded in his chest and the scream of her name shook everyone around him.

"Shut up, brat." The corporal snapped as he quickly rushed to the cart carrying Eren. "She's just asleep. She's burnt out from saving your ass again."

And with that, Levi and Mikasa's unconscious body were trotting up to the front near the commander leaving a still shaking Eren to sit and suffocate in his own thoughts.

How fitting. He always made his sister feel the same feeling, it only seemed fitting he felt it too.