A/N: Hello, everyone! Here's a new fanfic written by Ubermarine and me! I was thinking about doing this for a while and I ran the idea by him, and boy, did he give some great plot details! So I totes thank him!

And believe or not, this is will be an EreMika fanfic. Just...believe...

I'll shut up now. :D

Mikasa's P.O.V.

It was cold.

That was all my body could really feel as I sat there, numb. My back pressed firmly against the cold stone wall, my wrists tightly bound, raised above my head. The rope had rubbed my skin raw where they had kept my hands together so tightly, though I hadn't made a single attempt to struggle. I couldn't feel anything; I couldn't even remember how or when I'd gotten here. The last thing I could recall seeing before now were my parents.

But it was a memory I wanted to erase from my mind all together.

My mother, falling to the floor, clutching her shoulder as she tried to keep the warm, red fluid inside her body as it spurted from her neck, yelling something at me.

And my father. My father, sitting in a unnatural position, the same red fluid pooling to the floor in front of him, his chin touching his chest as he sat in a lifeless manner.

And the strange men who were standing outside this cage I was chained inside. The same men who had transported me here, though I couldn't remember, the men who had knocked on the door of our house, the men who had killed my parents in front of my eyes...

And in a way, they murdered me, too.

I wanted to cry so badly. More than that I just wanted to sob until I drowned in my own tears. But at the same time, I didn't want to cry because I couldn't reach up to wipe the tears off my face, where the air would dry them and make them sticky. Also, I didn't want these men to get satisfaction off my misery. There was nothing I could do, so what was the point in even crying over it?

"How much do you want for the girl?"

A shudder from my body followed as I heard a man ask that. I could tell that whoever had said this was referring to me, even before looking up and meeting his dark eyes with my own.

Levi's P.O.V.

I'd been on a regular 'job' alongside my two companions, Isabel and Farlan.

Our usual routine was to move in together until we reached the heart of the underground capital, where we made our deals. Of course, we always had to wear damn cloaks to conceal the 3D maneuver gears we had stolen a long time ago, in order to help us out of a sticky situation.

Which was always a high probability.

I saw all kinds of shit go on down here. Blackmailing, drug trading, bribery, pimps, prostitues, human traffiking...you name it, I'd probably seen it a million times over. All these years of seeing how cruel and monsterous humans could be, we were possibly worse than the titans as a whole. It never phased me though, never made me once take a second glance...

So I had no idea why I'd stopped on account of spotting a small little girl in the cage, shackled up like a prisoner.

"How much do you want for the girl?" The words were out of my mouth before I'd even thought through what I was doing as I turned toward the apparent seller, a chunky man with whiskers and wearing a tight fitting cap on his head. I recognized the man as Peter, someone who owed me a sum of money. And not just a small amount, either.

"Seven gran." he stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That's a lot for a child." I replied.

"Well, what'd you expect!" Peter shouted. "She's Oriental! Probably the last one. We had to kill her parents to snatch her!"

I watched as his eyes drifted to one of his partners. "And if it wasn't for you, we would have the mother! She was a pure-blood! Worth probably triple than this kid!"

"The bitch fought back! You saw it yourself!"

"She came after you with a pair of scissors. I hardly doubt that you were in any real danger, you castrated turkey."

"Let's get back to the matter at hand here." I calmly commanded them. "I'll give you two gran."

"No deal. I already have a man offering seven."

I knew what would get him to lower the offer. Slowly, I took my hood off, revealing my face.

"Ah, Levi!" Peter stammered. "Ah...hello. Well, I didn't think you'd be...interested in a girl this age...I mean, you always seemed to prefer the older-"

"Let's make a deal, Pete." I interrupted, slowly withdrawing a blade from my 3DMG and lifting it to his throat.

"O-of course. Anything, Levi."

"You give me that kid, and I promise not to slit your throat from ear to ear. In fact, I won't do that AND I'll forget about your debt..."

"But Levi, I'll be able to pay it back if I sell her-"

I pressed the blade closer. "Do we have a deal?"

He swallowed deeply before answering. "Okay, deal. Take her." He handed me the keys, and I unlocked the cage.

The little girl didn't seem to pay any attention to me as I walked toward her and undid the chain shackles. Still bound with rope, I didn't feel this was the place to untie her ropes so I merely grabbed one of her arms and pulled her to her feet. She almost seemed like a rag doll, the way her body was so limp and lifeless.

Without a word, I practically dragged her out of the cell she'd been in, handed Peter his keys back, and walked away quickly.

"Alright, brat." I addressed her as soon as we'd left those vermins' sight. Taking my small knife out of my belt loop, I noticed the kid tense and widen her eyes in fright at the sight of it. Before she could make any move, I'd walked behind her and quickly cut the bindings on her arms, tossing the ropes to the side.

Her black eyes looked up at me, shock in them. She gently rubbed at her raw wrists, looking down at them.

"Thank you, sir." she murmured. I merely shrugged my shoulders.

"What's your name, kid?" I asked. It took her a couple of minutes to answer.

"Mikasa." I almost didn't hear her, but she repeated it louder. "Mikasa Ackerman."

Mikasa's P.O.V.

I stared up at the strange man who had bought me, and then cut my hands free. Did he trust I wasn't going to run away? Was he sure that I wouldn't even dare attempt to flee? What was he planning to do with me?

He looked down at me, his entire expression unreadable.

"My name is Levi." he finally said, even his voice betraying not a single ounce of emotion.

I was silent as I nodded my head at his introduction, studying him. He was taller than me, but it was easy to see that he wasn't very tall, at least compared to the few men I'd seen in my life. His black cloak covered most of his body, but I could tell he was carrying something under it. His black hair was styled in an undercut, and his expression seemed devoid of any emotion.

"How old are you, Mikasa?"

I cautiously answered. "Nine."

"Your parents?"

My head lowered, despair choking and suffocating me once again. "They're dead."

I didn't even recognize my own voice. It was so dull, so lifeless...

Then again, it seemed to fit me very well.

"Do you have any other family?"

"No. I'm...alone." The utter truth of my own words pulled me deeper into the dark abyss of misery.

"Levi!" I heard a feminine voice call out, and followed his eyes as he focused in on its owner. It was a young woman, wearing the same cloak as Levi, her short brown hair put up in two ponytails. Following her was a tall man, his hair short and blonde, also wearing a cloak. It made me a bit curious. What were they hiding under there? But I didn't ask.

"Listen to me, kid." Levi spoke. "I may have bought you from that man, but you are your own person. You are free."

I let his words marinate for a few moments. His two...acquaintences I guess...came to halt beside him, and I could feel their eyes drift to me. Levi said nothing to them, but they soon left us alone, telling Levi where to meet them.

"If I am truly free, sir-" I began.

"Just call me Levi." he interrupted.

"Levi." I continued. "If I am really free...where...should I go...?"

The man who was giving me freedom did not show one flicker of emotion as he responded to my question.

"Mikasa, you will have to choose whatever you will regret this least. That's all I can tell you."

I lifted my head to meet his eyes, now seeing a hint of some emotion. It was pity. This man had taken pity on me, and he'd risked his neck to help me. I could feel relief swarming me. This man wasn't going to hurt me.

The path I will regret the least?

His words echoed in my mind, as I thought of all the possible places I could go. But I didn't dwell too long on my options.

Because my decision was already made.

"I want to go with you, Levi."

A/N: I have no idea if I did a good job on this beginning or not. But I hope I did! It's basically the same plot as the manga except in this, Levi saves Mikasa. And YES. I know it sounds like a LeviMika, but I'm planning it to be EreMika so...yeah. Don't get me wrong. LeviMika is kawaii. It's just that EreMika is my ship.

If you read 'The Birth of Levi' manga, you'll notice his two...friends?...at the beginning with him. I just named them off the top of my head. Just so you know. ^-^