Let's just say when Akemi gets angry she goes into some kind of animal like Gogo from Kill Bill. Baba is a nickname for grandmother in Japanese and Jiji is a nickname for grandfather. And just imagine young Miche without the goatee. This is such a long chapter!
Humanity's Bravest Soldier
Chapter 2: Old friend, same feelings
Akemi had returned back to the surface and her grandparents were relieved to find her safe. She had told them about everything that had happened to her in the underground. She decided to live with her grandparents in a village surrounded by Wall Rose. Her grandparents were lovely people who loved her and cherished her dearly. Fuyu Tsukino was a 47 man with dark brown chin length hair with white strands, a moustache and beard, fair skin and grey eyes. His wife, Natsuki Tsukino was 46 with auburn brown hair, pale skin, dimples, freckled nose and cheeks and blue eyes. They knew that who had done injustice to their family but decided there was not much they could do anymore. However, Fuyu decided to continue training his granddaughter teaching everything he knew.
When she got to the age of 11, Akemi decided to join the Military. She had made many new friends like Erwin Smith, Keith Shadis, Hanji Zoe and Miche Zacharius. 5 years later, she graduated at the top of her class which made her teammates and her grandparents proud. She had joined the Survey Corps and was popular with many troops.
At the age of 17, Akemi had blossomed into a stunning young woman who retained her cheerful and talkative personality but was more mature. Of course, being one of the best soldiers, she became smug and cocky. She kept her hair short in a bob up to her jawline and was styled in a messy way, which annoyed her grandmother. She would now wear a rosy red lipstick, again which annoyed her grandmother. Her body became curvy and had muscles, not to mention a 6-pack. She was a short young woman at 4ft 10in, but when someone other than her friends would tease her for being short, she'd glare at them until they apologise. Even though she was loveable and cheerful, no one dared mess with her, because when she got angry she'd turn into a totally different person, one no one wanted to see.
After an expedition, she decided to go to the Underground for the visit she promised Levi. She felt bad not going down there sooner but was so busy with other things. After hearing about the boy who saved her, her grandmother liked him but her grandfather didn't approve.
Akemi sat in her room and got changed into white long sleeved shirt with her top two buttons undone, dark brown tight trousers, black knee high boots and her green Survey Corps cloak. She went into the kitchen and saw her grandmother preparing something.
"Baba." She called in her cheery silvery voice and her grandmother turned to her.
"Akemi, please brush that hair of yours." She frowned.
"Baba, I don't need to my hair is just fine." Akemi pouted. "It's only gonna get messed up anyway, after riding on my horse."
"Sweetheart, you're going to meet a young man. You need to look presentable." The brown haired teenager blushed at this and averted her eyes.
"He's just a friend I haven't seen in 10 years. It's not like that." Natsuki smirked at this whilst placing her hand on her hip.
"Why are you blushing?" She asked.
"It's nothing!" She exclaimed as her grandmother started laughing.
"I've prepared a bag of food for Levi. There's some apple pie, bread, cheese and black tea in there too." She gave her the small box and her granddaughter placed it into her side bag. "And don't you think about eating any of the food, young lady." Akemi giggled at this whilst scratching the back of her head.
"Only if you give me a piece of pie." She stated as she sat at the table.
They heard a knock at the door and Natsuki opened it to see Miche. He walked into the house and smiled at Akemi who was stuffing her mouth with pie.
"Morning, shorty." He teased and sat with her.
"Good morning, Wall Maria." She spoke with her mouth full and earned a flick on the forehead which her friend laughed at. "Ow! What was that for?"
"Don't speak with your mouth full." She glared at her granddaughter and then turned to Miche with a smile. "Miche dear, would you like some apple pie?"
"My answer is always yes, Mrs Tsukino." He smiled and she served him two slices of freshly baked pie.
"That's not fair, how come he gets 2 slices?" Akemi whined.
"Because I'm twice as big as you." Miche smirked and she glared at him.
"You're fat, is what you are." She muttered.
"That's not what my muscles say." He stated.
They finished their pie and got up, they were ready to leave. That was until her grandfather entered the room and smiled at his granddaughter.
"Jiji." She smiled and ran to him.
"Please be careful, my grandchild." Fuyu frowned.
"Jiji, I'm gonna be okay. I can kick ass." She whispered with a wink and he chuckled at this.
"That's my grandchild." He said whilst rustling her hair and then turned to Miche. "Miche, thank you for escorting her."
"No problem, sir." The blonde haired man said.
"I still don't understand why he has to come with me." Akemi crossed her arms. "I'm stronger than he is."
"We don't know how dangerous it could be there. Besides that boy…" She glared at her grandfather. "What if he's changed?"
"He saved my life." She stated and he sighed.
"I don't want to lose you again." He replied and she hugged him.
"You'll never lose me." She whispered and he smiled whilst hugging back. After a while, she pulled away and said goodbye to her parents.
Miche and Akemi left the house and went straight to the marketplace where the young woman bought some more bread and cheese for the homeless children in the Underground. They went to the gate and got onto their horses. Before leaving, she smirked at him and he knew what this meant; a race to Wall Sina. When they got there, the 6ft 4in man had won and kept showing off.
He noticed his best friend's change in attitude as they dismounted their horses at Stohess. She looked very quiet which was so unlike her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He was looking down at her with a worried look and she sighed.
"I don't like being here." She mumbled. "This is the town I told you guys about, the one where I kept getting picked on for my looks."
"Akemi, they won't be saying anything now. You're part of the Survey Corps and you've become an attractive woman." Miche reassured her and they started walking through town. "If anything the girls would be jealous of you and the boys would drool."
"No, they should all be scared of me." She smiled.
"Don't do anything reckless before we get arrested by the Military Police." He stated.
"The Military Police can kiss my ass." Akemi said loudly and some members of the Police turned to her. "Like how they kiss the Government's ass." She mumbled the last past and he grabbed her arm whilst walking faster.
"You're gonna get us arrested, shut your huge mouth." He growled and she rolled her eyes whilst huffing.
They both bumped into someone tall and when they saw who it was, they groaned with an annoyed and irritated face. Of all the people, it had to be Nile Dok. He rubbed his head and when he saw the 2 members of the Survey Corps he smirked.
"Why if it isn't the Suicide Corps." He crossed his arms.
"Why if it isn't Nile Dick face." She pouted.
"Oh I didn't see you down there Akemi." Nile smirked and she grinded her teeth together. Miche just kept hold of Akemi. The brown-haired teen growled and glared daggers at her enemy.
"We got a permit to go to the Capital." Miche said as he showed the man the permit.
"Going to shit hole Underground huh?" Nile asked whilst reading the permit and then gave it back to Miche. "Go on." Akemi and Miche walked past him but then the girl said something which made Nile tremble.
"I swear one more short joke from him and I'll chop limbs off and feed him to a Titan." She said loudly.
"He's such an asshole." The blonde haired man stated.
"I'm just wishing for a day I get to beat his ass up. He's got one of those faces that's begging for a punch." Akemi added.
They arrived at the capital and went down the stairs and had entered the Underground. Akemi smiled as she looked around; nothing has changed in the Underground. She reminisced the memories she had shared with Levi and Kuchel and sighed at this.
"Akemi…?" She was snapped out of daze and turned Miche. "You ready?" The girl nodded at this.
They walked down the stairs and walked through the streets. People kept staring at the pair and were whispering about them being from the Survey Corps. They arrived to the area of the Underground where there were so many homeless children.
"I used to be one of them." She mumbled. "Miche, take the food out."
The little children ran over to the pair and giggled excitedly as they gave out loaves of bread and slices of cheese. The homeless children kept giving Akemi's hugs and climbing onto Miche. These children seemed so happy and had forgotten about the situation they were in.
In the distance on one of the roofs of a building stood Levi and Farlan who were watching carefully.
"Why are those soldiers down here anyway?" Farlan asked.
"Probably want to trick those children into joining the Survey Corps." Levi answered emotionlessly.
"Come on, we should stop them." The dark blonde haired teen stated and led the way.
The children had ran away and Miche turned to Akemi with a small smile on his face and breathing heavily.
"Go outside and take a breather. It can get a little stuffy down here." She stated and tiptoed trying to reach for his head. He just crossed his arms with a smirk.
"Do you want me to bend down?" He asked teasingly. "Or squat down?"
Akemi punched the young man in the stomach and he shrieked with pain; that was a hard punch. He held his stomach and then she kicked him between the legs. He fell onto his knees and she patted his head with such an innocent smile.
"There!" She giggled. "Keep mocking my size, Miche and I'll kick you so hard you won't be able to have children."
"Y-yes ma'am." He whimpered, stood up and ran off.
"Better run, idiot." She mumbled and then from the corner of her eye, she noticed a little girl who watched the whole incident with her round sparkling eyes. "Oh, you weren't supposed to see that sweetie." She laughed whilst holding her hands up.
"Where do babies come from?" The girl asked and the young woman's eyes widened and she gulped.
"Um…" She started laughing nervously and the girl kept staring at her innocently. "Uhhhhhhhh…Ah, look what I have!" She took out another loaf of bread and she giggled whilst taking it. The young woman smiled and patted her head.
Akemi waved at the little girl and decided to walk around a little in search of Levi. Thoughts popped up in her head of what he'd look like; tall, bright eyes, his hair still long. Her cheeks went pink at this and gulped as a small smile graced her lips. She shook her head at this; why was she thinking these thoughts? The last time she saw him was 10 years ago and they were just kids. Maybe he had forgotten her after all this time? Maybe he got out of the Underground and is on the surface? Maybe he has a girlfriend and her presence wasn't needed anymore.
She got to a dead end of an alley and stopped walking. The young woman looked down and sighed with a frown on her face. She turned around and saw 2 men in the distance and didn't want any trouble so she just walked through the alley. Farlan looked at her and thought her eyes looked different from other people and smirked.
"Why does your eyes look funny?" He smirked and she stopped walking. The girl slowly turned her head towards him and glared at him murderously. He gulped and took a step back gripping onto the handle of his knife behind him.
"Why does your face look so ugly?" She asked. "You're gripping onto that knife, as if it's going to be enough to defend yourself from me." Levi's eyebrows furrowed together and gasped as his eyes widened.
"Akemi?" He asked and she turned to him. The young woman stared at him and her glared slowly disappeared. "Forgotten me already huh?" He asked in a disappointed tone.
The young woman slowly walked up to him and got a little close to him. She looked up at him and slowly placed her hand on his cheek. He gulped at this as his cheeks burned up. Farlan was completely shocked no one could touch him.
"How could I forget you, Levi?" She grinned and he saw those dimples; the ones he missed seeing for so long. Instantly she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and held her in his arms. "I missed you. I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner."
"Akemi…" He sighed and Farlan's jaw hit the ground. She pulled away from him and kept smiling.
"You've grown up and look so different." She said.
"I almost didn't recognise you." He said and then looked at Farlan. "That's Farlan Church, a friend of mine. Farlan, she's the girl I told you about; Akemi." She turned to him and smiled innocently whilst holding her hand out.
"Nice to meet you, I'd appreciate it if you let go of the knife." He huffed and placed his knife back in his pocket and shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you too." He replied and pulled his hand away. "What are you doing down here, anyway?"
"I promised Levi I'd come back someday." She answered and turned to Levi. "I'm sorry I took long. My grandpa wouldn't let me go until I joined the Survey Corps." They started walking out of the alley and walked through the busy streets.
"Did he force you to join?" Levi asked with a stoic expression.
"The Survey Corps were the ones who saved me from the Titans." She answered with a gentle smile.
"Why not join the Military Police and enjoy the easy life?" Farlan scoffed and she looked at him.
"I'm Asian and if the government find out that my family and I are still alive they'd kill us. The Military Police are just dogs. Besides, what the Survey Corps aim for is to help humanity." She spoke with pride and turned to Levi with a smile.
"Hey, I'll pay you big money for a night." A man called out and they all stopped walking. She turned to see a 6ft 5in man with muscles, black hair, tanned skin and blue eyes and behind him were 4 others. He was waving around a large pouch of coins.
"I'm part of the Survey Corps, I'm not associated with that kind of business, Sir." She stated.
"You're a woman." He stated arrogantly and the young woman placed her hand on Levi's shoulder sensing his anger.
"And you're ugly." She replied whilst walking up to him. "I advise you to stop pestering me."
"Or else what?" He smirked. "What's a smaller little girl gonna do?"
Akemi started cracking her knuckles and glared at him. The other men laughed and the bigger man grabbed her wrist. She smirked at this and quickly kicked him in between the legs. She pulled her wrist away from him, pulled his shoulders down and kicked him on the nose. He fell on the ground and his men ran towards her but she was too quick. She used her Tai Chi, Karate, Kung Fu, Judo and Taekwondo moves whilst beating up the men. Levi and Farlan were both incredibly impressed by her strength and skills from a girl her size. The first man she beat up, got up and ran towards her. However, she was fast enough to rush towards him, strike his pressure points and throw him to the floor. He laid on the floor on his back and she walked up to him. The young woman straddled him and smiled with giggle.
"Getting turned on huh?" She asked. "Me straddling you like this?" She instantly kneed him in between the legs and punched him hard on the nose and face so he started bleeding. "Men like you make me sick, try touching me again and I will kill you."
Akemi stood up, took out a handkerchief and started tutting.
"You made me get my hands dirty." She sighed whilst wiping her hands and placed it into her pocket. "What? You think I don't remember you, you were the one who tried to traffic me to the surface. I'm gonna say this once and only once. If you try to traffic any innocent girl from here, I will the last person you see before entering hell." She announced and walked up to her 2 friends. "Shall we go?"
They began walking in silence and when Levi looked at his friend, he motioned him to go and Farlan left. The young man lead her to a house where she sat at the table. He sat next to her and kept staring deeply at her. This made her feel nervous and shy and she averted her eyes praying her cheeks weren't bright red.
"Akemi." She looked up at him. "You've changed."
"In a bad way?" She asked and he shook his head.
"You've become a strong woman. I'm proud of you." She smiled.
"They've been calling me Humanity's Bravest Soldier." She giggled and gasped. "I almost forgot."
Akemi took out the box her grandmother given her and slid it towards Levi. He opened the box and his eyebrows rose when he saw the food in the box. The smell of food and tea made his mouth water.
"My grandmother prepared this for you." She stated.
"Give her my thanks." He smiled and started eating the food. He prepared the black tea and served her some too.
"Levi, you don't understand how happy I am to see you again." She stated.
"I'm happy to see you're alright." He stated with a blank face but she frowned at this.
"You don't look happy." Akemi stated.
"It's just my face." He replied and she crossed her arms whilst pouting angrily. "Don't make that face."
"Well if you're not gonna smile I won't smile either." She protested.
"Tch, you've gotten stubborn." He smirked whilst sipping his tea and stared at her. She still had that adorable pout on her face and blushed at this whilst gulping his hot teeth. "You didn't grow your hair out, huh?" She turned to him.
"Long hair isn't very practical when you're using ODM gear." Akemi stated in a matter of fact tone. "Plus long hair is a lot to deal with."
"It's nice." He said. "Wearing lipstick huh? Trying to impress me?" She rolled her eyes at this.
"I always wear lipstick, what do you think you're so special?" She asked smugly.
"Of course I am." Levi answered bluntly and she rolled her eyes at this. "Well to you I am."
"I didn't know you were so full of yourself." She chuckled.
"Akemi." The said girl looked up at him. "I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left the Underground. I didn't know you became that strong."
"I've never stopped training." She stated.
"You're strong enough now to protect yourself now. You don't need me to protect you anymore." It hurt her to hear that from him. She looked down and felt her eyes sting from hearing this and she didn't know why she was taking everything to heart so much.
"You stopped caring about me, huh?" She asked and he looked at her surprised. The young woman stood up and turned around. "I understand, Levi."
He grabbed her wrist and stopped her from taking another step. Levi gently squeezed her hair and his eyebrows furrowed together when he heard shaky breaths.
"What's gotten into you?!" He asked in a loud tone.
"You've really forgotten, haven't you?" She asked. "The day Aunty Kuchel died…" His eyes widened. "When you got beaten up to protect me. You said you told her you'd protect me because you care about me."
He was such an idiot, he forgot about all those things he told her. His grip on her hand tightened and she turned to him. There he saw tears rolling down her cheeks as she smiled at him. Those tears…it killed him inside. She looked down and he huffed. He held her chin and made her look up at him.
"Please smile." He begged but she didn't. "Stop crying." He wiped her tears. "You look so ugly when you cry." She pouted at this. "Come on don't pout."
"You're so mean." She whispered.
"Yet so beautiful." He whispered and her eyes widened. He pressed his head on hers. "I haven't stopped caring about you Akemi."
"Levi…" She whispered and he pulled away just a little. She could feel his hot breath against her lips, they were just inches away from each other.
"Akemi…" Levi whispered huskily and she gulped; he was so attractive.
Even though he looked nothing like what she had imagined; he looked so much more handsome. She couldn't deny that as she grew up without Levi at her side, she thought about him more. There were many handsome men on the surface and on her team like Erwin and Miche. But she just kept thinking about Levi. Her expectation of him as a teenager made her heart skip a beat. When it was dinner time and she'd think about him, she'd blush and her grandfather would tease her that she was thinking about Miche. Her grandmother had always known that she had liked Levi and was happy for her but her grandfather didn't really approve of him. Which was odd because Akemi's mother was from the Underground and Fuyu loved her like she was his own daughter.
"Levi…I…" He didn't let her finish.
"I know, Akemi."
Levi pressed his lips against hers in a soft and gentle kiss. It took her just a moment to process what was going on and then she kissed him back. His lips were soft and he tasted like pie and tea. Slowly he held her face to deepen the kiss which made it more passionate for them both. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her fingers with his raven silky locks. He caressed her cheeks with his thumbs.
After a few moments, they pulled away and panted for air. She touched her lips and her cheeks were completely red. He saw this and when she looked up at him he was smiling. It was a small smile that graced his lips but that was enough to make her happy.
"I care about you, do you know why?" He asked and she shook her head. He leaned closer to her ear. "Because I love you, Akemi. Your absence has made me fall in love with you."
"I love you too Levi." Akemi murmured and Levi pulled her into a tight hug. One she wished would never end.
