Hiiii me again. here's another one shot from my Sense of Belonging universe. it's muuch shorter than the last one. short sweet and to the point. Not as much angst. it's actually on the comedic side in a way. well for such a short fic I'm doing a little to much talking. Thank you so much for reading!
"Are you crazy? You must be crazy?" The young shifter tries to walk away.
"Come on, Eren. Do it for her." Krista argues.
"Forget her, what about me?" Eren exclaims. "If she gets hurt, Levi already has like 25 different ways to kill me. And 5 of them can be accidents!" Eren whispers the last part.
"I choose life, thanks."
"He's the one asking, Eren!" Krista is trying to fight a losing battle.
"Why me though? Why not Mikasa? Wouldn't she be a better fit? And less likely to die?"
"Heh," Jean chuckles. "They want the kid to be able to defend herself, not become a killer."
"You know what-" Eren starts toward Jean but is stopped by Krista.
"No one asked you, smart ass!" He yells.
"Oh sure he can make jokes." Eren scoffs. "Guys my life is on the line. Does nobody realize this?" Eren is starting to get frustrated.
"I want her to learn too, don't get me wrong. But hell if I'm going to train her and risk her getting hurt in any way." He throws his hands up. "The answer is a permanent binding no. I'm young, I still have a life to live!"
"But big brother!" Ina has just entered the room with Mikasa and Sasha.
"Don't 'but big brother' me, Levi is nice to you but my teeth still ache from the first time I met him."
"But I want you to teach me." Ina pouts and bats those pretty little eyelashes.
"Why, Ina?" Eren kneels in front of her. "We've been through this, I'm not the best fighter. I'm not even second best, what I am is lucky. Mikasa was the top of our class. Whatever you learn from her will be way more helpful than anything I could teach you."
"Eren," Mikasa starts. "I'm the one who recommended you to both Ina and the captain."
"You traitor."
"Listen, moron. It's not just about who's better or who has more skill. If it were, Levi could easily teach Ina himself. I told Ina you'd be a good teacher because you have a sense of determination no one else here can match. You never give up no matter how difficult a challenge is and that's the kind of fighting attitude that would best help Ina while she learns."
"Dammit." Eren mumbles. Arguing further would just make him look like an idiot.
"You don't want to wait like… 10 or 15 years?" He tries to reason with Ina but knows deep down he's lost this battle.
Ina shakes her head. "Please, big brother. Help me learn how to fight?" She looks at him with those big brown eyes.
Eren groans. "Promise you'll speak at my funeral. Tell them I was a good person." He places his hands on the girl's shoulders.
"You'll do it?" Ina's eyes light up. "Thank you, Eren!" She hugs him.
I'm going to die….
"Whatever you do to her, I'll do to you." Levi says to Eren when he takes Ina to her first lesson.
"Have fun."
Levi tries to keep an open mind. He knows that any kind of training can't be effective if you never fail or get hurt. He agreed to this so the least he can do is give Eren the benefit of the doubt. He tries damn hard to be okay with this, but knows if he sat and watched like Ina asked him to, he'd rip Eren's throat out. So Levi heads back to his office, much to the Titan shifters relief.
Ina is all smiles before and even after every lesson. For the sake of her big brothers peace of mind, she hides the worst of the bruises, none of which are really that painful. She's been through so much worse. Eren would never try to hurt her the way the monsters did, so Ina isn't afraid.
Plus she can tell that he's still too worried about what papa said. He's holding back and it bothers her. Ina knows what a full force blow to the body feels like. Eren is pulling his punches and it's irritating the hell out of her.
After much convincing and puppy dog eyes, Eren gives in. If people had gone easy on him during his training, he wouldn't be where he is today. If Levi had gone easy on him in the courtroom, he'd be on a cold metal table while some creep cut into his body to see how much of a 'monster' he really was. There's times when sympathy doesn't help. Pussyfooting around isn't going to help Ina when she needs to defend herself.
Besides, Ina is a fast learner and even though they're not related by blood, she appears to have a crazy amount of strength just like Levi. It took Eren by surprise at first. Armin had mentioned offhand once or twice that he thought Ina might carry some serious muscle under all that cuteness, but no one thought anything of it. Eren is also sporting some nasty bruises. And dammit they actually hurt. But he has no problem admitting that his student is one tough little girl.
Things seem to be going pretty well. Until one day, that is, when Ina is dropped off at Levi's office with a huge purple bruise on her cheek.
"Wait! Wait, Papa!" Ina jumps in front of Eren in an attempt to shield him. "Papa it was my fault! I didn't block in time! I hit him back!"
"What did I tell you, Jaeger?"
Levi is ignoring his daughter and seems intent on breaking the hand that dared mar her face. The last person to leave a bruise on Ina is probably still recovering from what Levi did to him.
He was very clear. Don't hurt his kid. Jaeger had one job.
"Do you remember?" His voice remains quiet and calm. But his eyes are ablaze with fury.
"How fucking dare you."
Eren has run out of space behind him and backs right into the wall.
"Papa! Come on, listen to me!" Ina tries to pull Levi away from his target practice.
"Dammit, Papa, look at me!"
"You watch your goddamn mouth!" Eren momentarily forgets that he's marked for death. None of the younger scouts realize how much they sound like they're own mothers when it comes to scolding Ina.
Her profanity finally grabs Levi's attention.
"I'm sorry, Papa. I just want you to listen for one second." Ina looks up at him. "This happened during practice. I was stupid, I forgot to block him."
"Does the word restraint not occur in your vocabulary?" Levi takes another step toward his prey. "She is a child. What the fuck is the matter with you?"
"Hey! That's not fair! He's teaching me how to fight. I'm going to get some bruises because of that!" Ina argues.
The titan shifter speaks up, his mouth clearly moving faster than his fucking brain. "With all due respect, she may be a child, but she has been fending for herself all her life. She's not as delicate as you think, Sir."
Eren has a feeling he's right, but Levi doesn't want to hear about technicalities and so forth. All he sees right now is that someone put hands on his daughter.
"You know what, Jaeger. I think you want to die by my hands. I really do."
"Wait, Papa! It's not his fault." Ina moves to stand back in front of her big brother.
"Did he hit you, or did he hit you?" Levi asks.
"I hit her." Eren speaks up again, against his better judgment. How he wishes he could shut his mouth sometimes.
"I was holding back in the beginning and she hated it. She told me herself, she knows what it feels like to be hit. So when I'm practicing with her, she can tell when I'm not giving it my all. It's kinda scary, actually." Eren comments.
Levi's death glare is still fixed on him.
Eren takes a deep breath and continues. Praying to unknown forces that something he says will eventually appeal to Levi in some way.
"Ina wasn't learning anything and that was was a waste of both our time. She convinced me to start fighting like I meant it, and you wouldn't believe how much she's improved in such a short time. You were the one that taught us never to pull our punches. Captain, she damn near broke my ribs in this same fight. Believe me, she can take it."
Levi's glare still doesn't let up, but he backs away from Eren, much to the young soldier's relief.
"If anyone will make me pay for that bruise on her face, it'll be her." Eren remarks.
"It's my fight, Papa. I'll finish it."
Levi kneels in front of his precious daughter. That bruise just makes his chest hurt.
Ina knows how Papa feels when she gets hurt. She doesn't want him to be sad about this. It's not like the other times. She's not in any danger and she wants him to realize that.
"It's not painful, not even a little bit. Papa, you know I can take it. I'm not weak."
It's when Ina says this that Levi can finally see the point where he went wrong. Ina thinks he believes she can't handle herself. That she's weak and fragile. Levi knows that his opinion matters a great deal to her. If he gives off the impression that he thinks she's weak, it'll crush the little bit of self-esteem that she does have. He'll be damned if he let's that happened.
Levi places a gentle hand on her cheek just beneath the awful bruise and kisses it tenderly, like he does every time she gets hurt.
"You're not weak. I know that." He whispers. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."
Of course she can take it. This is his daughter after all. She's endured so much worse. Levi understands that, but he doesn't have to like it. He still can't sleep for long without visions of her pained expression and bruised body haunting him. Her cries of agony still wake him in the middle of the night. Levi hates seeing her in any kind of pain.
Eren attempts to leave the father and daughter but is caught trying to escape.
"Not so fast." Levi turns to look at Eren, who's green eyes are wide with fear of the unknown.
"Papa? Come on, I thought you were okay with this!" Ina whines.
"I am, Ina." He kisses the bruise one more time. "I just want him to take you to get some ice from the infirmary. Let Hange take a look, okay?" He stands again.
"You heard me, brat, take her to the infirmary."
"Understood, sir."
Eren salutes. He won't be able to breathe properly until he's safely out of this office. It looks like he avoided dying by Levi's hands today, but dammit all if the captain doesn't still look furious.
"Um… Come on, Ina. Let's get you that ice."
Before Eren can reach out to take Ina's hand, the Captain's fist has collided with his left cheek. Eren hits the back wall and slumps to the ground. The way his eyes roll around shows Levi that the boy is fighting for consciousness. It takes every part of his being to stop himself from hitting Eren a second time.
"Ah! Big brother! Papa? Why'd you do that?" Ina runs to Eren.
Levi shakes out his hand. "I couldn't go back on my word. Besides, It was that or kill him. He should be grateful you talked me out of that."
"Oh, Eren. He passed out. Papa!" Ina hits Levi's leg.
"It only seems fair. After all you're the one sporting all the visible bruises. Now he has one to match."
Ina rolls her eyes. "You're insane." She tries to wake Eren but is unsuccessful.
"Now we both need to go to the infirmary. You're going to have to carry him." Ina points out to her father, who really appears to not even care a little bit.
He grabs Eren by the arm and pulls the shifter up until his unconscious body is on Levi's back.
"These damn teenagers are such babies." Levi scoffs.
"You broke his jaw!" Ina defends. "That shit hurts!"
"Hey! You heard that brat, watch your mouth."
This isn't the first time she's let the curse words fly. Levi knows it's all his fault for never censoring himself while around the impressionable child.
"Sorry!" Ina covers her mouth, but he can detect a smile behind her hand.
"And Ina?" Levi says as they make their way down the hall to the infirmary.
"That's what it means not to hold back. He's still cheating you."
"That bastard…" The little girl mumbles.
"Ina!"
Fini.
