Levi did not like to be questioned. In fact, he hated. Spat at the very thought of it. But this girl. This fucking girl, had the nerve, the sheer audacity to argue with him whenever the situation called for it. The fire in his blood boiled every time she stepped forward to shield her brother from his acidic remarks. She had guts. She knew she was too valuable to be put down. The girl worth 100 soldiers played her cards well. She'd do everything and anything to protect Eren. He scowled at the thought and took another swig of his beer. The dining hall was almost empty save for the few stragglers. The stragglers being those stupid brats.

"I think I'm drunk." Sasha slurred to Mikasa. Mikasa unwound her scarf from her neck and folded it gingerly, placing it on the table. It was hot and she could already feel the sweat trickling down her neck. They had all been celebrating another victory. She of all people had let go and had at least 3 bottles of beer. She was feeling tipsy but she hid it well. She knew she was drunk. But she looked like she was exhibiting more control than Jean and Connie. She glanced at them and held back a laugh. Eren and Connie were busy doodling on a sleeping Jeans face. She sighed loudly and took another gulp of beer. Finishing her bottle, she tossed it aside and grabbed another one from the crate on the table. As she popped it open Jean was roused from his sleep by Armin who collided with his chair sending them toppling to the ground. Reiner and Bertolt roared with laughter, droplets of beer raining everywhere.

The red head glared angrily at Armin. "What the fuck."

"Sorry Jean, I can't think straight."

"More like can't walk straight." Jean countered as he stood up. The black marker marks on his face melting as his sweat floated over it. He blushed as he realized he had just toppled head first into the ground with Mikasa watching. Fuck. He'd made a fool of himself in front of her yet again.

Levi who noted the whole exchange smirked. Stupid boy. He was aware of Kirschsteins feelings towards the onyx haired girl. In truth, he was entertained by the red heads constant failures in trying to impress her. Young love. Nothing made him sicker. He looked at Mikasa. Her face was as stoic as ever, but this was one of the few times she ever let herself go. She was quite the talker when intoxicated. He watched as she ran her hand through her dark hair, whilst simultaneously trying to get away from Sasha's horrible breath.

"No Sasha how many times do you want me to say it. Your breath stinks." She told her friend, a glimpse of a smile playing on her lips. Those perfect, rosy lips. Wait…what?

"You're drooling." Hanji pointed out, smacking his back hard, making him choke hard on his beer. He coughed and shot her one of his infamous venomous looks.

"Shut the fuck up."

Hanji pouted. "Relax Levi, many of the men in the corps have their eyes set on her. Both young and old."

He sneered. "I would never look at that stupid brat in that way."

Levi could sense the uncertainty in his voice. He had grown to care for the girl. Her abilities on the battlefield were exemplary. She was almost as good as him. Almost. Plus she had spirit. She would do anything for her brother. A sadistic smile formed over his lips. He had to admit, he enjoyed making the girl angry. He took her insults and swears evenly. Not once did she ever step down from the challenge of putting him in his place. During their private training sessions, they fought one another with passion, hatred and grudging respect. Levi could not recall the last time he had ever received a bruise till the day he had begun training with her. She was good. Better than good. With her on humanity's side, there was hope of obliterating the titan scum at last. Her only drawback was her brother. Levi knew he was holding her back. She was too preoccupied with making sure that Eren was safe. She'd risk everything for him. And that annoyed the crap out of him. He gritted his teeth.

"Mikasa. Just one kiss." Reiner pleaded.

"No." She retorted.

Levi noticed that the brats had now shifted to the table where he and Hanji were seated. Great.

"Why are you here." He demanded icily. Mikasa glared at him. The rest of the group backed away slowly. There was probably going to be an argument. No one was stupid enough to interrupt humanity's strongest during an argument.

"Armin threw up." She stated, pointing to the gooey mess on the table away from them. Levi raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

Mikasa was on the basis of getting angry. "So." She said with clenched teeth. "We moved here because it stinks like hell over there."

Hanji stepped in just in time. Armin, Jean, Eren, Connie, Reiner, Bertolt, and Sasha all breathed sighs of relief. Thank God Hanji was with them.

"Calm down you two. Have a beer. Sit down guys."

The brats all sat down, Mikasa and Levi still having their glare-off. She hated him. He hated her. It was evident.

"How about we play a game?" Sasha brought up cheerily.

"Yeah."

"No." Levi and Mikasa answered in unison.

"Majority wins. Sorry." Hanji said with a twisted gleam in her eyes. She pushed her glasses up the slope of her nose and smiled. "How about never have I ever? If you have, hold up your hand, if you haven't you don't."

"I'll go first." Connie declared. "Never Have I ever had a crush on Mikasa."

Mikasa felt her cheeks, neck and ears turn red. Curse her for showing that Connie's statement bothered her!

"What the fuck?! What sort of a question is that?" she asked, her cheeks still tinged red.

"Come on, that's what's on every one's mind." Connie chortled.

Mikasa watched in horror as Connie, a flustered Jean, Armin, Reiner, Bertolt and even Sasha all raised their hands. Levi had to control his laughter at the young, now seventeen year olds face. He had to admit, she was attractive, and she had the strong willed personality to fit her beauty. She was what people deemed a 'catch'

"Well, since we're all being truthful." Hanji spoke. She raised her hand as well. Every one gasped.

"WHAT?!" Mikasa bellowed. "You too?"

Levi was sure no one had ever seen her say more words at a go than her squad mates. They alone knew that she could be social when she wanted, and when she trusted the people around her.

Hanji shrugged. Eren was dying of laughter. Mikasa glared at him and refused to meet Levis gaze. He took another swig of beer and the game continued.

"I'm next. Now that that's out of my system." Sasha looked sheepishly at Mikasa.

"Never have I ever thought that Heichou was a prick." Sasha whispered. Levi choked on his beer and looked around the table. As expected Mikasa's hand was the first one in the air. Everyone stared open mouthed at her forwardness. She had a victorious smile on her face. Hanji was doubling over in laughter, her hand wobbling in the air.

Levi crossed his arms and scowled. "No surprise there. Braus." He said looking up. Sasha cowered in fear. Why the fuck did she ask that?

"Y-y-yes Sir?" She slurred drunkenly.

"Stables tomorrow." He finished.

"Yes sir!"

Mikasa could not have been happier. Not that he didn't know she hated him. She made it pretty clear that he was the most annoying thing on the face of the world to her. She glanced at her beer and noticed it was empty. She moved it away and reached for another one in the crate.

"Never have I ever been inside a girl's room." Armin said bashfully.

To their surprise, Connie and Eren were the only ones who raised their hands.

Shamed, Eren turned to the giggling Jean, Reiner and Bertolt: "Pervs." He whispered to them. That seemed to make them laugh even harder. Levi shook his head. Was this what teenagers thought about these days? Was sex the only thing on their minds? He smoothed his cravat and waited patiently for the next question. He had not raised his hand once yet. And to his surprise, he found himself enjoying the game.

"Alright. Me next. Never have I ever spied on Erwin when he's figuring out a new battle strategy on his own." Eren drawled.

Everyone apart from Armin raised their hands. They all looked surprised. Surely the young strategist wanted to know how Erwin worked through complex battle plans.

"I'm not that desperate." Was Armin's reply when he noticed them staring. Shaking their heads, the game pushed forward.

"Yay! Me next! This is so much fun. Never have I ever wondered whether Hanji is insane." Hanji said happily. Her ever manic smile gracing her face. To no one's surprise, every hand in the room was promptly raised.

"Hey." Hanji pouted. "I'm not insane. I'm lively."

"Sure Hanji. Next." Reiner chortled.

"Never have I ever lost my virginity." Bertolt said, rather to loudly. Silenced cloaked the group. This is was humiliating. Fuck…

"Come on guys, it's just us." Bertolt encouraged, his hand raised.

Slowly Mikasa raised her hand first.

"WHAT?!" the whole table erupted, including Levi. Her? Mikasa? He could not believe it. This had to be a joke. The thought of another man's hands on her was infuriating. He could feel his irritation building up. Why did he feel like this?

Mikasa blushed a deep crimson as they all plagued her with questions.

Eren: When?

Armin: No way.

Reiner: you go girl

Bertolt: Damn

Connie and Jean: speechless

Hanji: I knew it

Sasha: before me?!

Levi: WHO?

For some reason, his voice was the only one she could hear. She had lost it. To a guy at one of the military's parties. She had gotten drunk and so had the other guy and well…they just did it. They promised never to speak of it again. Mikasa didn't even know if he was alive or not. She hadn't seen him since.

"None of your business." She replied acidly. "Now all of you shut up." She whispered. Everyone shut up. Levi narrowed his eyes. He would find out, even if it was the last thing he did…wait…why did he care so much?

Hanji raised her hand, followed by Reiner. Levi raised his hand too. Reiner laughed.

"No surprise there." He winked at Hanji.

"What's that supposed to mean brat?" he demanded.

Reiner gulped. Shit. Mikasa rolled her eyes. "Because humanity's strongest soldier is very popular with the opposite sex. Whose turn is it next?" she rushed through her words and avoided his gaze.

"She's right you know" Hanji laughed. "Alright move on."

"Never have I ever wanted to have a g-g-girlfriend." Jean spluttered. He was still recovering from the whole Miaksa-is-not-a-virgin-thing. Levi sneered. Fucking idiot he thought.

"What a wimpy question Jean. Couldn't have thought of a better one?"

"Shut up Eren!" Jean yelled, his cheeks blossoming.

All of the men raised their hands.

"Never have I ever watched Mikasa train." Reiner said, smiling.

Mikasa spat her beer and sent him a death glare.

"What the hell?!" she screamed as everyone raised their hands apart from Levi.

"You're all sick." She shot, drinking her beer. The liquid seeped past her lips again as she noticed Levi raise his hand as well. She thumped the bottle on the table and sent them all venomous looks. "Fuck you." She stated. More to Levi than to anyone else. She blushed as she noticed his lips twitch upwards.

"Next!" she yelled. The table remained silent.

"Everyone's had a go apart from you and Levi Heichou." Armin pointed out.

Mikasa glared at her captain. "I suppose I'll go first." She muttered.

"Never have I ever assumed Heichou was gay." She finished, her lips tilting.

They all gasped. Levi was dumbstruck. This was worse than Braus's escapade. Fucking brat. This was insubordination of the highest kind! And what was strange about it, was that he didn't mind at all. He looked expectantly at the group, who had turned to gaze at him, their mouths hanging open, Hanjis included.

"Well. I'm waiting." He said calmly, his eyebrows raised. They all slowly, fearfully raised their hands. Levi could feel his control collapsing. This girl would be the death of him. He gritted his teeth and looked her in the eye, he addressed everyone as he spoke. "I am not gay." He stated, bluntly.

Mikasa could feel her victory sweep over her. She had successfully humiliated the man who made her blood boil.

"It's your turn Heichou." She told him, acid peeling of her tone on the last word.

Yes it was his turn. His turn to lash right back at her. She was ready. She never stepped down from a challenge and this would not be the first time.

He smirked. She was a fighter. Alright then little brat, let's see how long you can last.

"Never have I ever thought that Mikasa smothers the living hell out of her brother." He annunciated each word clearly, and with confidence. He looked right at her as he delivered his speech. He could see the change of demeanor on her face. Her lips twitched and her eyes flashed with anger. Beautiful. He smiled.

"Come on brats. We don't have all night."

Eren choked. He gulped. Fuck. Mikasa with all the control she could muster waited patiently for the declarations. Every hand was raised. That fucking asshole. Her lips were pursed. She gripped her beer bottle tightly. Well played. Very well played. She looked at him. She wanted to make sure that he saw that she was not as affected as he might have thought she would be. She would protect her brother at all costs. It had already been cleared with almost every soldier in the military. Do not mess with Mikasa Ackerman when it comes to her brother. But she did not SMOTHER him…or did she?

"Well…would you look at the time!" Reiner broke the uneasy silence. He stood up followed by Eren and Bertolt. "Big day tomorrow. Sparring. Gotta go rest."

Armin and Connie excused themselves along with Jean, who had noticed the marker on his face and flushed an even deeper crimson than Mikasa's beloved scarf.

"Eren! You son of a bitch!" he yelled as he took off towards him.

Hanji and Sasha jumped up and ran after Jean to make sure that he didn't kill Eren, like he had threatened to do numerous times before this.

Soon, the hall was empty, save for Levi and Mikasa. Stoic as always they regarded each other with indifference. Mikasa took a final gulp of beer and set her bottle down. She picked up her scarf from the table she had moved it to and fingered it. How she would have enjoyed wrapping it around Levi's neck and strangling the life out of him. He must have read her thoughts because she heard his faint chuckle.

"Thinking up ways to kill me again eh?" he asked. He trailed his eyes down her figure. His eyes lingering on her plush lips. She didn't back away from his scrutiny.

"Killing you would make me immensely happy. Sadly Eren wouldn't take it well if I did. Besides as his smotherer I wouldn't want to see him be unhappy." She stood up.

"Well well well. You would refrain from killing the person you hate the most just to keep that little brat happy? If I hated me as much as you do, I'd want to kill me too" he countered standing up as well. The two faced each other. Glaring.

"Heichou?" she asked.

"What Mikasa?" he breathed. She was close now. Very close.

"I hate you." She said.

"I am aware." He smirked. She smiled. So this was how it is?

She pulled her fist back and launched it at him. He caught it and intercepted the kick that followed. She tore away and they circled one another. Prey and predator. They just didn't know who was who.

"How about an extra practice session?" he sneered. "You're losing touch."

"Fine by me." She said.

The hall echoed with flying fists and kicks. Hanji passed the hall after she made Jean promise not to do anything rash. She watched as the two figures danced with one another. Humanity's strongest dueled. They appeared to be enjoying themselves. Hanji couldn't remember the last time she saw Levi genuinely happy. And now, looking at him she knew he didn't have to bear the burden of being strong alone. She saw Mikasa throw a fist that was caught immediately. She watched as the oriental groaned in frustration. Hanji went on her way, heading back to her room. What she didn't see was the two bodies colliding, lips tearing at each other as the cat and mouse game ended.

Mikasa looked up at Levi from where he had her pinned on the ground. Eyes burning into one another. She smirked as she saw the bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. She knew she was the first person to make him break a sweat. Ever. She brought a hand to his face and traced his jaw line with her thumb.

"Well played." She whispered before he assaulted her lips one more time.

Well played indeed.