Credits/Disclaimers: The story is developed by me, everything else belongs to their respective creators. Written for RivaMikaWeek5 (Jul 3rd-10th, 2015).
What...what..what had ..what was he...? Why?
She could not breathe and she could not think straight. All he had done was look into her eyes; he had not moved towards her, not touched her, not confessed his undying love for her – then what the hell was that?! She had flown quite a bit of a distance down some random hallway; it was time to stop, even out her breathing and analyse why exactly she was reverting to her five-year-old self. A self that she had left behind ages ago, literally and a time she could not handle emotionally anymore.
She realised that this was the first time that she had given herself an opportunity to take in the emotions that had been crashing into her barely secure heart. Ever since opening her eyes that morning, Mikasa had done nothing but panic and fiercely attempt to put together the night before, but now that runaway feelings had started to catch up, she was beginning to form one concrete conclusion out of it all – she was far too taken by her Corporal. The ice cold Mikasa Ackerman, did not behave this way.
She would have to go back.
He rinsed out the cup, left it on the counter to dry and walked back to his room. This time free of her. Nothing was out of order. Apart from a few slight creases on the bedsheet, it was difficult to tell that someone other than Levi had been there. The thought almost made him glad. She was a little like him.
And he was behaving nothing like himself. What happened to reprimanding her? Assigning stable chores to her? Keeping his harsh front intact? She had been the inebriated one, not him. Then what the fuck was he doing?
The knock on his door cut his self-deprecation short and he commanded a curt "come in" to whichever unfortunate soul had decided to see his face first thing in the morning. Turning to face the door, he found himself looking at the only person he had seen all morning. She was back in his room again. This time; fully conscious.
"My apologies for the mistake again, Corporal."
"Good. Now get out."
Yes. That is the reaction he should have had all along. He was glad that his personality had decided to return after a random leave of absence. So, he latched onto it with all his might.
It took her a moment. She was surprised, but used to the tone. He was back to himself and that, that was...good. At least this way, she could skip the running-away-with-a-blushing-face part and ask him why he hadn't woken her up. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to dig into this when he was clearly ready to let it go.
"May I ask one question before I leave?"
"No, you may not." He all but snapped. They both knew what she was going to ask, but she seemed a little too keen for someone who had been blushing at the merest words that morning. He regarded her a little cautiously. Why was she so desperate to find out all his inner musings.
Silence. That stretched into a firm nod and salute before Mikasa retreated and left Levi to his own devices. Soon enough the day arrived in full-swing; of hungover cadets, and groans and moans from every corner of the castle. Tomorrow, they would all be back to training and this whole event would soon be forgotten. Levi held onto that one hope - to bury all his thoughts back where they belonged. Maybe a little deeper this time.
But when did planning ever work out?
The knocks on his door were soft but firm. Only two. With his permission to enter, Mikasa walked into the room and stood straight in front of him – impeccable salute and markedly emotionless.
"Yes." That was all Levi replied to the unmistakable question that was her presence. It wasn't a question of a reply; it was a statement, for when did Mikasa Ackerman shy away from anything anymore? The week following her mistaken occupancy of his room had been the hardest on Mikasa, for she had had to hide from the Corporal's eyes till she figured herself out. Levi hadn't minded. It was good for his mental stability. But something had changed over the past couple of days, and Levi was convinced that his mental stability needed props to be held stable. This girl was going to drive him insane!
"Corporal, I would like to know if last week -when I accidentally slipped into your bedroom instead of mine, and used your bed as my own – you said something to me while I was asleep?", Mikasa fired with a straight face and practiced ease.
Oh ho. She was getting better at this; using words to provoke him. And she was not in the mood to let it go, it seemed. He was her commanding officer and as petty as the trick was, he was going to have to use it on her.
He set the paper, he was poring into, down and sat back on his chair with arms crossed.
"Do not presume to question your commanding officer so brazenly, Cadet Ackerman. Your audacity is turning into a cause for concern. I believe-"
"-that I need to be disciplined?" She threw in archly. If he was going to punish her, he would have to do better than just threaten.
Levi pursed his lips and held her in an assessing gaze. He broke out of that reverie with a simple, "Stable duty. Alone. Starting now. You are dismissed."
Mikasa stood there with a slight glare till he raised an eyebrow in question. A forced salute and she was gone. He almost sighed and considered taking a nap so that his head and heart would stop hammering his sanity. The determination to not divulge anything to her was taking it's toll. But he would win this, regardless of why she all of a sudden felt the need to know what had or had not happened that night.
An hour later, Lance Corporal Levi was restless and scared. He had not seen Mikasa ever since ordering her off to the stables and now he was missing her. Ah, hell. If that was not something to be scared of, then the Corporal didn't know what was. Titans, maybe?
With thoughts that hardly made any coherent sense, he stalked off to the stables to find the nemesis of his solitary existence only to find her taking her sweet time dragging out bales of hay from one corner to the other. In her defence, that was work, those things needed to be sorted, but she was capable of doing more than that in the time that had passed.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
She stopped, dropped the bale and turned around to salute. "Following up on your command, Corporal."
"I see that, but you are a more efficient worker. At this pace, you will be here till nightfall." He clarified.
"Would you like to aid then?" Her eyes crinkled slightly and her face glowed at his stunned silence and an obvious emotional turmoil, that he was sure to be trying to rein in.
"Cadet Ackerman-" he started menacingly, only to have Mikasa walk up to him in three long strides and halt a little too close for comfort.
She cut in again. "Corporal, when I asked you two days ago about what had happened that night and again this morning, all I wanted to know was why you didn't wake me up and if perhaps, you had tried and said something. So here is a question, Sir, why have you not answered with a "Why would I say anything" and instead have been trying to get me to stop talking about this?"
Her expression did not betray much, but they both knew that she had a point. And a damn good one at that. How could he have fallen into that trap so easily? He was too busy worrying about his emotions that he did not see hers conquering him. And now they were at the point where Mikasa knew that she had almost won and Mikasa on a streak of victory was not a good sign – she tended to absolutely destroy her opponent.
He would not mind that, but he could not allow that. She shifted again, while he still wondered if saying something would be appropriate, but he was spared. Like a soft breeze that ruffles tree leaves ever so gently and vehemently at the same time, she slid past him with a whisper of "What would you want to say to me?"
A/N: I need more sequel-ing... sigh!