A/N: As promised, I am finally posting up all the Levi x Mikasa ficlets and prompt responses that I received on Tumblr. Now, I will be posting the one-shots here. Anything that has more parts and (promised) sequels will be updated on their own. Got that so far? Good. :) Let's get this show on the road!
sidenote: there will be some slight changes added to each one-shot - such as spelling and grammar fixes, but I may add on a paragraph or two based on how I feel about the storytelling and improvement thoughts and what-not... ANYWAY.
All Along
Summary:
It's not that she's jealous. She just wants to focus on her training and having a bunch of girls throw themselves on Levi is just getting more and more irritating. She isn't jealous, why does everyone keep saying that?
It was a fine morning. The skies were a deep blue, clouds scarce and fluffy white, the air was cool and clean. Commander Erwin took in a deep inhale as he gazed out the open window of his study, all that would complete this would be a fine cup of coffee. He smiled to himself before turning and grabbing his cup from his desk. He took in a deep breathe as he breathed it in - his secretary did not waste time adding a hint of sugar and goat's milk; a rare commodity. It was not often he had opportunity to enjoy a good cup of coffee and even less for a perfectly brewed one.
A knock on his door disrupted him for a moment and he took a quick glance at his steaming mug, nearly lifted to his lips. He sighed before setting the cup down.
"Come in," he said as he turned to his chair and settled himself in right as the door swung open.
"Commander Erwin," entered the soldier and Erwin's eyebrows rose as he watched Mikasa Ackerman offer him a quick but well done salute.
"Miss Ackerman," He welcomed, if a bit confused. "What can I do for you today?"
"Sir," Ackerman nodded before looking away, if somewhat sheepish. This only raised the Commander's curiosity as he waited for her to speak. "It's about Captain Levi—"
"If this is about the Captain forcing your brother to clean the horse stalls without proper equipment, that matter has been —"
"He did what?" Mikasa's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Eren never said anything about that."
Erwin paled slightly, "Ah…well…" he cleared his throat."Like I said that matter has been dealt with. Captain Levi was ensuring Eren Jaeger's safety, the troops had been rather on edge since your brother transformed into a Titan -"
"What?" Mikasa gasped, her face draining of blood. Erwin lifted his hands, reassuringly.
"From the report given by Major Hanji Zoe, it only appeared he was reaching to grab a spoon from the ground and having previously attempted to trigger his titan form for record keeping, it seemed that it all fell upon him. Since then the team had expressed to me serious desires to remove Eren or even have him taken to Military Police. The Captain did well in giving the boy more to do, it put his fellow men more at ease."
"Oh…" Mikasa replied, breathing a short sigh of relief.
"But that is not why you are here, I take it?" Erwin asked, chuckling sheepishly.
"No… but I appreciate you informing me, sir. Eren is very dear to me." Mikasa sighed, her gaze fell and a myriad of emotions mixed and churned behind those dark eyes.
"I am aware of that." Erwin said, gently urging her on as she remained silent for a moment too long. Mikasa, as if realizing her true reason for appearing at his office, looked into his eyes if a bit uncertain. Before the Commander could deduct her hesitance, she squared her shoulders and met his gaze with newfound determination.
"Actually, sir, I have a small request."
"What would that be?" he asked, taking a moment to lift his cup to his lips to enjoy a small sip of his perfectly brewed coffee.
"I have noticed the Captain has some popularity with the soldiers," Mikasa began, trailing off and giving in to an uncomfortably fidget. The Commander paused from lifting the cup to his mouth, nodding as he mulled her words over. She wasn't exactly wrong…
"That doesn't surprise me," the blond man relented, "the Captain is one of our most powerful soldiers."
"Right… particularly more with the…female soldiers, sir." She added, lifting a hand to her scarf and tugged at it uncertainly.
"I'm not sure where you are going with this, Miss Ackerman," he said, shaking his head curiously before finally lifting his cup to his lips and taking a slow sip.
"…Would it be too strange to request we have the Captain announce he's gay, sir?"
In a fit of shock, Erwin reeled forward and spat his drink over his desk. The delicious coffee spewed through the air as he fixed wide eyes at the raven haired girl, eyebrows disappearing to his hairline. Gawking, the Commander had only a moment to wipe his coffee dripping mouth with his sleeve before attempting to speak, "…Excuse me, Miss Ackerman, but wha—"
"It doesn't have to be serious, sir," Mikasa replied, tone perfectly serious. "It's just until I finally get my training hours completed."
"Just until you…What?"
Mikasa sighed, kicking at a lone rock as she walked to the horse stalls, the reigns of her assigned horse was gripped in her hands as the animal next to her walked along. She wasn't sure why the commander ordered her to leave so suddenly, he didn't even give her chance to explain in full. It's not like she needed Corporal Levi to kiss Jean or anything, just so those irritating, stuck up bitc—
"Hey, Mikasa," Armin's voice greeted cheerfully as the boy jogged to her, sweaty and beaming. "How'd it go with Commander Erwin?" Mikasa frowned before shrugging, face darkening with disappointment.
Armin's smile fell as he walked alongside her, "So he didn't help?"
Grunting with frustration Mikasa kicked the same lone rock with more force. The pebble flew for a few yards before bouncing away, Armin winced. "At this rate I'm going to be forced to train under Keiji or something..."
"But he's an excellent soldier," the blond boy said, trying to cheer her up and completely oblivious to the futility of his efforts. "I'm sure you'll learn great under him."
"You don't understand, Armin." Mikasa sighed, rolling her eyes. The boy may be a genius but he had no ability at detecting sarcasm. Shaking her head, Mikasa walked faster, her horse yanked against her hold before clopping next to her, none too happy about the abrupt change of pace. Armin quickly jogged ahead to open the stall while she lead her horse inside. "In order for me to be truly strong and protect Eren I need to learn from the very best. Captain Levi is just that, but those damn fangirls," Mikasa spat the word out with extreme distaste, "Of his won't leave him well enough alone to give me some time with him."
"Sounds to me like you're jealous," Armin teased, only to wither under Mikasa's deadly deadpanned glare. "I-I mean, yeah. He's the best."
"If he was just a regular soldier I wouldn't pay him any mind, especially after what he's done to Eren," her face darkened, making Armin flinch under her vicious stare before she sighed once more and lead her horse to its stall. With a series of low grumblings, Mikasa began removing her saddle from the beast's back. "I need real training." She ground out as she tugged the saddle off.
Her horse flicked its tail, unsettled—no doubt sensing his rider's displeasure. Aptly observant, Armin began to prepare a bag of oats for the large animal, not wanting to leave the frustrated girl in the stalls for much longer, "…And the Commander didn't help set up your training with the Corporal?"
"He didn't listen to me passed my first request," Mikasa scoffed, throwing the saddle over the wood of the stall before grabbing a brush and began the usual rub down over her horse's hide. The animal turned its head and gave her a grateful nibble on her pants. She smiled at it for a moment and proceeded her duties after giving the horse a warm scratch behind its ear. Armin breathed a little easier as the horse's flicking tail finally eased. Setting the bag of oats near Mikasa, the blond took a step back, watching as she stepped around the large animal.
"What did you request?" Armin asked, leaning against the stall and swatted a horsefly.
"It's nothing just—"
"Oh, Captain Levi!" the delighted cry of one of the female soldiers tore through their conversation and Mikasa's head shot up - something Armin did not fail to notice. As expected, said officer was bringing in his horse to be quickly surrounded by a group of girls. Throwing an uneasy glance, Armin gulped when he saw how Mikasa's hand clenched around the wooden brush.
"Sir, I can do that for you!" One of them exclaimed.
"Does your horse need a rub down?"
"I can remove the saddle for you!" another swooned.
"Do you need me to grab some oats and water for your horse?" the first one continued. Among the squeals and sighs of the women around him, Levi glanced up and met Mikasa's gaze. The girl scowled before tearing her eyes away and finishing in brushing her horse's mane quickly before tossing the (practically splintered) brush in its bucket.
"Come on, Armin, let's go." She barked, before storming off. The young man yelped as the horse nearly bit at his rump through his trousers before giving chase, both unable to see how Levi had lifted a hand to reach for Mikasa and then sighing as he handed the reigns to the nearest giggling girl.
"I still don't see why you don't just go up to him and ask him to train you directly," Eren was saying later that evening as they were getting their food and heading to the mess hall. The walk to their table was uninterrupted as the trio walked passed other hungry soldiers.
"And risk being mauled by his fangirls?" Armin said for her, eyes wide and shuddering. "They would destroy her."
Mikasa threw Armin an irritated glare before the boy quickly amended his words, "I mean, Mikasa could totally take them on no problem, it's just you know… cooties."
"Oh for god's sake," Eren rolled his eyes. "Mikasa, if you want I can speak to Levi."
"Since when are you two on a first name basis?" Armin asked as they sat down. Eren gave the blond a flat stare before looking back at his adoptive sister.
"Really though, it won't be that hard."
Mikasa shook her head, "No thanks, I have to do it personally. Get him to sign my request form and everything…"
"Good luck with that," Connie piped in, appearing seemingly out of nowhere before sitting on the other side of the table, throwing his entire slice of bread in his soup before mashing it in with his spoon. Mikasa's nose wrinkled at the mess he was making before taking a sip of her own meal. "That guy has a barricade of women so powerful, who needs the maneuver gear when you can just toss a bunch of those rabid woman at a titan?" He continued.
"That's what this world needs," Jean added, sitting down next to Connie. "Less Titans, more fangirls."
"Of course you'd say that, Jean," Eren said wryly. Jean shot him a glare before taking a chomp of his own slice of bread.
"Forget that," Sasha slid in next to Jean, grinning as she pointed a spoon at the other side of the hall, "Why don't you just go ask him while they aren't here yet? He's right over there talking to Major Hanji."
Mikasa turned her head and sure enough the two were walking in, Hanji was animatedly waving her arms about, clearly ecstatic about something while Levi just tried his usual best to ignore her.
"Quick, get to him before the fangirls do!" Connie urged, and Mikasa had no choice but to stand up and walk over there. As she crossed the room, it came with reluctant realization when she noticed how her heart was pounding in her chest, making her cheeks flush. The sensation was enough to make her stomach dip uncomfortably the closer she got. Finally when she was within distance, she cleared her throat and raised a hand to tap the shorter man on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, Captain—" she began when another curvier figure pushed passed her and straight between the two of them.
"Ah! Captain Levi, I have some questions for you!"
"Captain, I need help learning this skill," another one appeared, pushing past Mikasa, bumping her out of the way.
"Captain Levi, could you please direct me to—" yet another popped in. Mikasa's eyes narrowing in annoyance.
"Ah, Captain, what's the best detergent to use for my cloak?" another one piped in, completely surrounding the man.
"I'm going to eat now, so go away, brats." Levi ordered, only to have the girls giggle to themselves. Trying to look through, Mikasa was able to catch the Captain's indifferent expression for a moment before growling under her breath, disgusted with the women around her.
"Excuse me, I need to speak to the Captain." Mikasa finally spoke to the nearest woman. She turned a critical look over Mikasa, giving her a quick once over before letting out a belligerent snort. Somewhere a tick was beginning to grow within the Oriental's patience, beating and matching the pace of her pulse.
"Get in line, sweetheart, we all have questions for him." She shrugged, giving Mikasa a hard stare.
"Yes, but—"
"Levi, let's go get our food, I hear they managed to kill a whole cow for the beef in today's soup!" Hanji exclaimed before dragging him away, the girls in tow. Mikasa watched as the Captain was dragged off before feeling a rage bubble in her chest.
"That is it," She ground out. Turning on her heel and marching right out of the mess hall, Mikasa's destination became so clear in her mind she might as well have been there yesterday.
"Eh? Mikasa?" Someone exclaimed but Mikasa gave no heed as she continued on her way, running up stairs and making swift turns before finally arriving to her target. The door in front of her had been locked but this wasn't the first time she's played in this playground.
Fishing in her pockets for one of Sasha's hairpins - honestly the girl has no sense of order - she immediately began to pick at the lock, glancing both ways before nodding to herself when she found she was alone.
A soft click told her the door was unlocked and Mikasa pushed through the door of the dark room.
"Oh, Captain," Someone inside hummed seductively before Mikasa switched on the lamp to reveal a half naked woman on the bed. She sat up, blinking with confusion. Mikasa nearly felt something inside her snap.
"What the—?" the woman exclaimed, rising to sit on the bed and unperturbed by the fact that her breasts were out in the open and plain to see. Mikasa had just about enough.
"Get out." She growled, not holding back from letting the shadow of thinly veiled rage burn through over her face.
"Wait, who are you, you're not the Captain—"
"I said get the fuck out before I rip your fucking neck open." Rarely did the young woman ever spit such heated profanity. As if picking up on the rare happenstance, the woman quickly stood up, grabbed the rest of her clothes and ran out, shutting the door behind her.
Mikasa inhaled and exhaled deeply before counting down from twenty. After allowing herself some to calm down, she made her way to the bed, sat down (but quickly straightening and whipping the sheets against the post to remove the scent of that little issue) and waited.
As the minutes passed, Mikasa slowly began to feel her original anger and fury disappear to make way for nervousness and worry. What if when he came in he told her to leave? What if he thought she was another fangirl? God forbid.
Mikasa sighed and placed her head in her hands, feeling suddenly exhausted. What was she doing here? She's only going to get herself humiliated and worse, Levi may decide he doesn't want to work with her at all.
I should leave. Mikasa thought, sighing inwardly. Yet she didn't move, and while she found millions of reasons to leave, Mikasa did not move an inch. That is, when forty minutes later she heard a rustling outside the door. Instantly, she began to internally panic and stood up, trying to find another door, a window, anything to escape from when she heard very distinctly, "Captain, word around the grapevine is that you're looking for a partner. Is this true?"
"I have no idea what shit you're hearing, but I work alone." She heard him reply, his voice on edge.
"Well if you ever reconsider, I have some references you can look to. I've excelled in—"
"Fascinating," He drawled, "Not interested. Go away."
"Let me know if you change your mind!" the woman replied coquettishly before her footsteps click-clack'ed away. Mikasa heard him sigh and start opening the door and she froze, but not before feeling the earlier rage return with a bloody vengeance.
When the door opened she inhaled and waited as his eyes saw her through the dimly lit room, his lips parting in surprise.
"Ackerman, wha—"
"No, shut up." She snapped, his eyebrows rose high to hide behind his bangs as he shut the door behind him. Miraculously, he remained silent and no doubt dumbfounded by her vicious tone. "I'm going to say what's on my mind before leaving, and in that time you're going to say absolutely nothing."
"Ackerman, are you out of your goddamn—"
"Absolutely nothing, Captain." Mikasa ground out, glaring fiercely into his eyes. His mouth snapped close in sudden shock, staring at her with something akin to surprise and awe.
"Now, I have a request form I would like you to fill out. It's for personal training hours and as every cadet must complete at least 500 hours of it before moving up rank, I have decided to choose you to train with as you are the very best. After we fought the Female Titan, I found I am severely lacking in skill and you are the only one suited to push me passed my limits to fight in this war." She paused for a short moment before taking in a quick breathe, feeling her heart rate get a bit higher under his intense stare.
Fighting down a blush she continued, "On that request I would also like exclusive rights to your time. That means no more air-headed female soldiers begging for every ounce of your attention, because I swear to the Almighty God if I have to hear another one of them squeal your name I will go on a rampage that will rid the world of not just titans, and don't think I won't, Captain."
She finished before letting out a sudden burst of air, her cheeks finally burning after the torrent of words ended. Levi stood before her, dumbstruck.
"Plus," Mikasa added, unable she could stop herself, "I did speak to Commander Erwin a while ago and he did mention you and I are best suited as a team together…so I'm just leaving that in there."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Levi began opening his mouth before closing it.
"…So you sneak into my room?" Levi asked slowly.
"It was the only way, I've attempted to approach you several times but I was…rudely interrupted." She coughed, suddenly unable to stop the blush in her cheeks from burning brighter. "For the record, you really need to think about changing your lock. Or your room... unless you prefer walking in to half-naked women lounging on your bed."
"Half-naked...?"
"Shirt off, nothing under. Yeah."
Levi let out a breath that sounded like a groan of irritation, grumbling to himself about 'irritating women' and 'not again' and so on under his breath. Mikasa took that as a sign that this had not been the first time.
"I… will think about it." Levi replied, before walking to his desk and grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling something on it.
"Good," Mikasa said finally before nodding and beginning to walk toward the door.
"Hold on, Ackerman." He called out and she stopped before turning to face him. He was quite abruptly standing in front of her when he grabbed her hand. Mikasa's skin flushed a deep scarlet as he did so. Placing the piece of paper in her palm, he closed her fingers around it, staring intently into her eyes while his fingers curled around hers. His touch was cool and surprisingly smooth.
Before Mikasa could remember to breathe, he had lifted another hand and very gently wiped the corner of her lip with a napkin. "You had some dried soup on your lip," He muttered. Mikasa's mind went blank as he eyed her mouth for a moment before letting go.
"Come by tomorrow at dawn, we'll discuss your… request over breakfast." He announced as he turned back to his desk and sat down. Mikasa stared it him for a while before he turned and blinked a flat stare at her.
"Good night, Ackerman."
Mikasa nearly jumped before nodding, giving him a quick salute - the paper crinkling in the hand she pressed on her chest - before stumbling out.
When she made it back to her room she smiled when she realized her friends had brought up her meal, Mikasa's stomach growled at the sight and she remembered not finishing her meal.
Looking at the paper in her hand she finally opened it and read over the contents a deep scowl pushed through her face while her cheeks burned bright. She crumbled the paper viciously before tossing it in her trash bin. Everything made perfect sense now.
Jealousy suits you, Mikasa.
I look forward to our training.
Wednesday morning 0800 hours. Don't be late.
See you at breakfast.
"…That arrogant bastard planned all of this."
Fin
