So I heard you used to be a thug

Chapter One: He is human

A/N: I'm back with another Mikasa x Levi fic! Hello hello! I really enjoyed writing my other Mikasa x Levi fic, I really did. And this time, this story idea actually just came to me. Like, I didn't have to really think about it, unlike the other one. So, yeah, that's good!

Also, this is going to be my first chaptered story! (YAY) I usually don't like writing chaptered stories bcos I don't think I'll be able to maintain one, but whatever, gonna give it a shot! And this isn't going to be one of those beautifully long chaptered stories either, probably a nice short 3-5 chapter story! And yeah.. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope, I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.
_

Chapter One: He is human

The painful whispers of silence hung thickly in the air, as the audience stood idly waiting. They waited for the trial to begin, for the jury to cast his judgement, for the accused to walk through that door, enter the courtroom and meet his dreaded fate.

For Eren.

Mikasa couldn't help but fiddle with her fingers as she found it awfully difficult to remain still. Her mind just raced with continuous thoughts of Eren.

He doesn't deserve to be here, in the courtroom, not again.

He did absolutely nothing wrong, but aid mankind to victory against the titans. Even if, his methods involved him actually becoming a titan.

He had good intentions. He always did, he always will.

He shouldn't be here. No… Not again.

The door of the courtroom creaked open widely, followed by Eren who walked down the aisle, masking his face by looking down at the floor. His arms were chained in metal cuffs, hanging out weakly in front of him. His posture suggested that he hadn't slept in days and when he finally looked up… Dread. That was the look in his eyes. Dread.

It saddened Mikasa to see her only family that way. To see him have to be treated that way; like a titan, like a monster.

Eren walked down uneasily; if the courtroom hadn't been kept clean as it was, he would have easily tripped on even a pebble. All Mikasa wanted was to grab him by the shoulders and tell him it was going to be okay… But that would be lying. Eren wasn't going to be okay; he hasn't been for a long time now. He didn't deserve this.

Eren knelt down at the stand, as a metal pole pierced through his cuffs and restrained him to the ground.

"Eren Jaeger." Announced the voice of the Supreme Commander, who acted as jury as this was an exceptional case.

He would give out Eren's judgement. He would set him on his path. He would decide his fate, and change everything.

"Yes, sir." His voice sounded scared; there was a knot in his throat that made it quite difficult to hear him clearly, though it also sounded as if he were trying his absolute hardest just to converse even a sound out. Mikasa's eyes watched him carefully, fearing for his life.

"I must say so myself, but it is quite unfortunate that the Recon Corps has failed to take proper custody of you."

Eren's eyes widened at the statement. He wanted to say something, he wanted to object. But he knew that anything he said now would be taken accounted for; he could even cause the Recon Corps much more trouble than necessary… And they didn't need that.

"I will now have the Military Police restate their proposition and outline major factors."

A man stood up straighter, appearing much bolder. He raised a sheet of paper up in front of him, reading off it.

"I am the chief of the Military Police. Our proposition is as follows: We will examine his body and gain as much intelligence from him as possible. Afterwards, we will dispose of his body. He shall act as a martyr for mankind."

"And your major factors?"

"Major factors include: He will be imprisoned in the basement, as to keep him out of harm's way and to provide safety to the townspeople,"

Imprisoned…?

Mikasa immediately got alerted to this, as her mouth formed a shape as to object. But quickly silenced herself as she continued listening to him.

"We will hold our experiments on the training grounds, as the large space serves as an ideal location,"

Experiments…?

Mikasa got disgusted by this, her eyes carefully staring straight at the man and her mouth painted into a scowl.

"He will be denied food, as recent studies show that titans do not need it to survive. In this way, we minus one mouth to feed and the chances of a food shortage decrease,"

Denied…Food?

That's… That's… Insane!

She just had it. She had enough. Their entire proposition was ludicrous! If no-one here could see that and have the guts to actually oppose to it, then so be it.

She will.

"You can't deny him food!" The sentence escaped Mikasa's lips. Her face was painted with a pair of exasperated eyes and a tight scowl. She just couldn't bare this any longer.

The entire audience in the courtroom turned heads, and directed them towards her. Expressions of shock, plastered on each of their faces. Whispers were exchanged throughout the room, most of them by the sound of, "She's crazy," "She's siding with the titan," "She must be one of them,"

There was no doubt about it; the entire room was filled with idiots.

"Excuse me?" the Military Police chief asked, a smirk crawling its way onto the corners of his lips.

"You heard me." She said simply, almost threateningly. To her, there was no-one else in the room at that moment. Only her, and the idiot across her.

"Mikasa…" Eren whispered quietly, in hopes of getting her to just stay out of it. He didn't want to involve her any more she already was.

No… Mikasa thought.

I'm gonna say it all.

"You're only going to get him killed." She stated, her voice strong and bold; behind it, the determination, the certainty… It was all there. She was determined to leave this room with Eren beside her, on their way back to their rightful place in the Recon Corps.

She was not going to let this idiot have him. No. She wouldn't let him.

"Killed?" A laugh escaped from his lips. He wasn't taking her seriously, and this enraged Mikasa so much more.

"Is life nothing more but a toy to you? Do you think this is a game? You can't just play with Eren's life that way. I won't let you." Mikasa could feel her fists tightening together, and Armin, who was standing beside her, could notice the veins that began crawling over the skin on her arms.

"Listen, little girl. Jaeger is a titan. Therefore, his life is that of a titan's. And if you think that I, destroying the life of a monstrous titan, is defined as 'playing with his life', then yes. I am playing with his life."

Mikasa held back the urge to punch the metal bars that stood in front of her. Her fists still tightened, she confidently stated, "He is a human."

This only caused more whispers to be exchanged throughout the room, but Mikasa ignored it all. Eren was a human. She knew that.

They didn't.

The chief couldn't help but laugh; a thick, hoarse laugh, with his saliva spitting out of his mouth in small, filthy droplets. Tears were on the verge of seeping out of his eyes, before he raised a finger and slowly wiped it off.

He was laughing at her stupidity. He thought that she was undeniably wrong.

Well, he was the one who was wrong.

"He is human." She repeated strongly, staring at the man deep in the eyes.

"He's a titan." The man said, still laughing. "I don't know if you've noticed, little girl, living in your own little world as it seems, but Jaeger has transformed into a titan in front of hundreds of human eyes. It's simple proof."

"Yet, he transforms back into a human, in front of those same eyes. It's simple proof."

The chief couldn't help but twitch his eyes at the response, that of which repeated his same sentence, in a quite mocking matter also.

"Eren has been a human, much longer than he has been a titan. And here he is now, as a human." She said.

"Sure, but put him in a life or death situation, and the titan that resides within him escapes in a matter of seconds. Is that not the truth?"

Mikasa looked down, at her fists still clenched together.

It was the truth. Eren could transform into a titan any second now, and take the life of hundreds of people.

"Jaeger tried to kill you, that one time, did he not?" He asked, folding his arms over his chest in satisfaction.

Mikasa continued to look down, she didn't want to meet the eyes of that man. Or meet the eyes of everyone else who looked down at her curiously, and disapprovingly.

Eren was a human… Wasn't he?

It only angered Mikasa even more, to doubt Eren. Of course, he was human! She grew up most of her life with him! With a human! Didn't she?

"Eren…" She began to say, before a hand reached out and grabbed her left arm. Surprised, Mikasa turned to look beside her. It was Captain Levi. His expression consisted that of merely staring straight at her. The kind of look that read, 'Don't. You can't win this one.'

The frustration within Mikasa grew and she stared down at the ground. She could win this one… She could prove this man wrong… Couldn't she?

"Just as I thought…" the chief murmured under his breath, low enough for the Supreme Commander to not be able to hear him.

But definitely loud and clear enough for Mikasa to hear.

"You thought wrong! You don't know anything!" she yelled desperately. She couldn't keep up with her usual cool self at this point; she couldn't make any more bold arguments. She just yelled whatever came into her mind; she did the only thing she could. She defended her family.

"You're just gonna get Eren killed! He'll never be able to survive without food! Are you stupid?!"

"Stupid?!" yelled the chief.

Mikasa was just about to make a smart retort, but she got silenced by a male voice.

"Ackerman!"

It was the Captain.

Mikasa looked at him with light tears about to escape from her eyes. He held her arm tighter, as to reassure her. But it didn't help.

Mikasa just wanted Eren to live on.

"Enough!" the Supreme Commander yelled, silencing everyone in the room. All attention was to him.

"Enough." He repeated. "I have made my decision final. Eren Jaeger…"

Eren, who was staring over at Mikasa with sad eyes, turned his head towards the Supreme Commander.

"I hereby declare…"

Mikasa was on the edge, despite the obvious decision that was about to be made final, she secretly hoped that Eren was to be taken back by the Recon Corps.

Please… She hoped. Please let Eren stay with us. Stay with me.

"The Military Police to take custody of you. They will be responsible for you, from this day onwards."

"No!" Mikasa yelled, struggling to free herself from the hands of the Captain, and make her way towards Eren, but that proved impossible. His grip was too powerful.

"Mikasa!" yelled Eren, which caused her to cease her screaming and stare at him with worried eyes and tears that had already escaped and made its way onto her uniform in streams.

"I'll be fine, Mikasa. Don't worry." Eren smiled softly, in desperate hope to calm her down and assure her that he was going to be fine. Though, deep down, he was scared. He didn't want to join the Military Police. He didn't want to be treated as a titan and used as an experiment. He didn't want his last moments in his life to be spent with people he couldn't care less about. He just wanted to spend it with Mikasa, with his friends, with his rightful squad, filled with people he deeply cared for.

But at that point, he knew that wouldn't be possible. Not anymore.

But he couldn't let Mikasa know that. It would crush her.

Eren just smiled softly at her, and all she could do was watch, as her only family gets dragged out of the courtroom, to live a life he didn't deserve.

No…

As Eren got dragged out of the courtroom, guns aimed at his back, Mikasa was far from upset now. She was angry. She was angry at the Military Police chief. She was angry at the Supreme Commander. She was angry at Captain Levi. But of all the people she was angry at, the angriest she was at… Was herself.

It was her fault… She couldn't protect Eren. She couldn't make sure that he had completed that mission successfully and proved to everyone that he was a good guy. That he was merely helping mankind. And now… He was gonna die. It was clear.

As everyone exited the room in a loud chatter, most conversations involving Mikasa, Captain Levi finally released the grip on her arm.

"We have to go," he said nonchalantly, gesturing her to start heading for the door.

"I…" Mikasa began; she wasn't even sure what to say exactly. Words of anger, sorrow, doubt? She didn't even know.

"Look, Ackerman…" Levi began.

Mikasa wasn't in the mood for anything. She didn't want to deal with Levi. She just wanted time to herself.

And in thinking so, she got up, and without another word, walked out of the courtroom door. She ignored everyone who tried to talk to her. Everyone. She didn't need their pity, she just wanted out.

She felt tired, upset, lost, every single feeling she never wanted to feel.

And for the next few days, it was all she felt.

It haunted her.

_

Well, that's the end of chapter one! (YAYAY) Originally, I had planned for this story to be focused solely on the whole 'thug' concept, but well, plans are overrated anyway. And this plan went really downhill, but I think it's okay! I felt that this whole chapter needed to be written out, just to get a better understanding of purpose and whatnot. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter posted by tonight, or at most, tomorrow! But anyway, hope you enjoyed! Also, if you haven't read my other Mikasa x Levi fic, do check it out! It is titled "Within his arms, she didn't feel alone" And, please REVIEW please please please. Reviews are appreciated! Thankyou & thankyou!

~Onedreamerhere