Author's Note: Originally I was just gonna leave this on tumblr (I post drabbles on my writing tumbr onlytolive that I don't post here), but this one was pretty popular, so I figured hey why not.
Chemistry
a Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan (© Isayama Hajime) fanfiction
"a kiss with a fist is better than none"
On top of graduating at the top of her class, Mikasa is regarded as one of humanity's greatest soldiers — ever. She's a natural at the 3D Maneuver gear, her cuts are deep and fatal, she can easily adapt to any situation, and her peers admire her. She has a tendency to disobey orders, especially when Eren Yeager is involved, but most of her superior officers have nothing but praise to offer her. The only frequent criticism she receives is small: that her hand-to-hand combat could use a little more practice.
Naturally, she's sent off to the one who can help her the most.
"She's been spending a lot of time with Corporal Levi," Armin observes, watching from the sidelines with some others from the 104th. "Training, I mean. I think it's paying off; she's gotten a lot better with the hand-to-hand fighting."
"She wasn't bad in the first place," Eren says. "Why does she need extra practice?"
Reiner thwaps Eren on the back with a loud, hardy laugh; the brunet winces from the impact. "Just 'cause she can kick your ass doesn't mean she can't use the improvement! I mean, it doesn't take much to beat you, but…"
Eren deadpans. "You aren't in any position to be saying that to me." Both of them recall how easily Eren threw him over his shoulder, but Reiner keeps on grinning anyway. "Anyway, I don't get why she has to train with the corporal."
"Because he's the best, idiot," Jean cuts in. His gaze follows the sparring session with intensity, though his eyes linger a little longer on Mikasa's swift jabs and lithe form. "Her attacks are quicker and she dodges before they even throw a punch. Training with Corporal Levi is paying off. The rest of us don't stand a chance against her."
"You're drooling," Connie teases, snickering loudly when Jean actually wipes at his bottom lip with his sleeve.
Despite what everyone else is saying and despite the truth behind them (because now it only takes her two seconds to pin him down), Eren still isn't convinced. Maybe it's not the fact that Mikasa and Coporal Levi are sparring and training together that's bothering him, he thinks as he continues to watch. Maybe it's something else.
"Too slow, Ackerman," Levi grunts as he catches her fist in his palm. Before she can wrench it away, he twists, forcing her arm and the rest of her body to turn with it. Mikasa, calm but with sweat gathering at her temples, goes with the momentum and spins so that she's facing him again — and throws a swift uppercut at his face. "Tch!" He barely dodges, her knuckles grazing his chin, and he releases her in order to jump back. "Still too slow."
Mikasa observes, with some amusement, as he self-consciously rubs the bottom of his chin. "Yes, Sir." She leans her head back to look up at the sky — clear, blue, cloudless — and realizes how hot it is. Wordlessly, she shrugs off her jacket and rolls up her sleeves.
"It'd be cooler if you weren't wearing that scarf," he remarks, loosening his own cravat. (Her eyes travel to the exposed skin, but quickly dart to the side when she realizes she's staring.) He also takes off his jacket before resuming a defensive stance. "C'mon. Quit wasting time."
"Can you imagine the two of them leading a mission together?" Armin asks, eyes wide as the sparring session kicks up a notch. They're moving much quicker now, with sharper strikes and harder kicks. Even the blocked hits will cause some bruising. "Humanity's two strongest fighters at the head of the formation… It'd really be something, huh?"
"Something scary," Connie says, visibly cringing at the idea. "More for the Titans than for us, I guess."
"They'd work well together. Their styles are pretty similar."
"And they've got some chemistry going on," Reiner comments.
Eren's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. "Chemistry? What? What are you talking about?"
Everyone, even Armin, gives him a dubious look. "Are you kidding, Eren?" Jean asks, sounding more exasperated than usual. "Honestly, these days I'm more jealous of Corporal Levi than I am of you." When Eren continues to blink at him in confusion (and perhaps a little bit of anger), Jean resists the urge to grab him by the collar and shake some sense into him. "You're actually really dense, aren't you?"
At that moment, Mikasa catches one of Levi's roundhouse kicks, steps behind his standing leg, and sweeps him to the ground in one fluid motion. Immediately she's on top of him, straddling his hips, but before she can go for the throat, he grabs her wrists and tugs downwards so that her hands are pinned to the ground on either side of his shoulders. The ends of her hair tickle his cheekbones, his breath caresses her face, and she can feel his steady heartbeat every time his chest rises.
"Too slow," he says again, his voice low and quiet.
Mikasa wonders, as his eyes linger on her lips, if he can feel her heart hammering against her ribs.
When Levi releases her wrists, she sits up quickly and scrambles off his lap. She turns her back to him, as though to give him some privacy, and he picks himself up to dust the dirt off his usually pristine pants. "Laundry's gonna be a bitch tonight," she hears him mutter, and she almost laughs. "Give me a second." Mikasa nods and turns back around — only to find the corporal discarding both his cravat and shirt. She watches, with something akin to admiration, as the material peels away from his skin. Scarred, tan skin stretches tight across the lean muscles in his back, emphasized by the way he pulls and rolls his shoulders back. He turns to face her and raises an eyebrow when he catches her stare.
"S-sorry," she says immediately, dropping her eyes to the ground.
Levi's smirk goes unnoticed. "Alright, Ackerman. Another round. You might wanna get rid of the shirt, though. It's getting filthy."
She looks down at the white button-up, which is covered in dirt and sweat. She is wearing tight bindings underneath, but has to wonder if that's pushing it a bit.
"Hurry up. What'd I say about wasting time?"
Mikasa looks up at Levi, tells herself that she's seen the naked male body several times (though it was just Eren, whose body isn't nearly as trained as the corporal's, and they had been children), and that she's a soldier before she's a woman. With confidence, she strips off her shirt and gingerly puts her scarf off to the side; she does her best to fight down the blush when Levi unabashedly admires her body.
Taking in a deep breath, she puts up her fists and bends her knees. "Another round, then."
"Chemistry," Reiner states wisely, patting a mildly scarred Eren on the shoulder. "You'll experience it some day, I'm sure. We've all gotta grow up eventually."
Eren huffs, waving away the laughing males (and ignoring the lamenting Jean). Still watching Mikasa and Corporal Levi, he mutters, "Chemistry."