I don't know ANYTHING about soccer. You might be able to tell, seeing as I skip over the actual soccer/action parts in this chapter-which maybe makes my writing more disjointed than usual.

But it's cool that you made it to this chapter :]

Congratulations! (last time I spelled this wrong. Pretty embarrassing. But not like I'm going back to fix it or anything.)

ooo

"So I hear you're all buddy-buddy with the ice queen now Levi."

Hanji. Of course she would be the one to block him just as he was about to escape from the classroom. And school had just ended too.

"Who told you that." Levi retorted with his usual disinterest, but she'd succeeded in catching his attention.

He'd forgotten the capabilities of high school girls. He hadn't thought much about how suddenly being seen talking with Mikasa might cause a stir, but he guessed it made sense, her being the ice queen and him being well, himself , and all. Also, it was creepy realizing that people had been observing their encounters.

"Oh, there have been multiple reports. Multiple."

"Whatever. Hurry up and spit it out what you're going to say so I can leave."

He wasn't that curious. He mostly just wanted to get Hanji off his back.

There was a common misconception that Hanji was one of the few people Levi let in. This was false. He couldn't remember ever "letting" her do anything. She just didn't fucking listen when he told her to get the fuck out.

"Well, pretty much everyone in your first period's been gossiping on about how you two suddenly can't stop talking to each other."

Levi made a face.

"We had one conversation in English class. It lasted five minutes."

"Oooh, keeping track are we? Wish it had been longer?"

He didn't respond, just glared. Hanji didn't seem to notice, going on with the same enthusiasm.

"Anyway, that's not it! It has also been said that you were spotted secretly flirting by the vending machines! You didn't do anything naughty did you Levi?" she raised a suggestive eyebrow.

Instinctually, he continued to glare; but he was a man, and she'd basically put it in his mind, so Levi couldn't really not picture pinning Mikasa up against the coke machine and…

"Levi?"

"What." He snapped at her. "Stop wasting my time. I have things to do."

Hanji flashed a discomforting smile, "Ohh what things captain? Mikasa Ackerman's among them, I presume?"

He ignored her, steering the conversation where Hanji's perverted mind couldn't reach.

"Practice. We can't fuck up at the game this weekend."

Hanji noted the change in Levi's tone.

"You're playing the Titans right? Our rival team."

He looked at her seriously.

"Yeah. And we're going to annihilate them."

The first half of their game verse the Titans had gone well. Levi had been a little skeptical of coach Erwin's strategies, but they'd actually worked pretty well. Not that he was surprised; Erwin was a soccer genius—that's why Levi listened to him. At the halfway mark they were up two to zero, on the road to victory.

But nothing could have prepared them for the second half.

Honestly though, even the best team couldn't win against a bought ref, and that clearly was what they were facing. The Titans were fouling left and right, tripping payers, grabbing jerseys. It was ridiculous. Erwin finally called a timeout when one of the Titan's basically sprained Marco's ankle, taking out one of their core players.

And Levi was pissed.

The rest of his team hurried to huddle around Erwin. It took them a moment to realize the direction Levi was heading-not towards them- and by then it was really too late.

All they could do was watch helplessly as Levi proceeded to curse out the ref.

Green card.

Yellow card.

Red card.

Result: best player, disqualified from the game.

Some things just couldn't be helped...

Coach Erwin sighed as Levi turned around to regroup with the rest of them.

"At least I got to scare the crap out of that piece of shit ref." Levi offered in defense to his teammates.

Some of them nodded, thinking that it might actually be a pretty fair consolation for losing their best player, considering how truly frightening Levi could be when he put his mind to it.

Armin spoke up, "But Levi, there're still ten minutes left. Who are we going to put in in your place?"

The captain gave the question some thought.

There was no way they could win now, even if the ref suddenly started playing fair. So really, it didn't matter who subbed in. He might as well put in one of the rookies; at least they'd get some experience.

Somehow, Levi wound up staring over at Eren. The kid was seething on the bench, looking ready to kill something. Soccer was a sport that required extreme control. Normally, the captain probably wouldn't put someone so emotionally charged in the game, but…

'And let him play more'

No. He wasn't actively going to give her what she wanted. But she wasn't even there, so it wasn't like it would matter. It would just be Levi, acting on one of his whims, nothing more.

"It's too bad Mikasa won't get to see you play. Get the fuck out there Jeager."

Erwin had to hold Levi back.

Eren had been about to score when one of the Titans had kicked him full force in the knee cap, sending him sprawling to the ground at an odd angle. The snap had been audible. There had been no reason for the Titans to go that far—their victory had already been assured. It had been plain cruelty, and it hadn't even been called as a foul.

"Erwin, let me go." Levi ordered. "I need to break all of their legs."

The older man tried to calm him. "Levi, it's okay. I'll handle this. As soon as I can I'll make a formal complaint to the league about the Titan's conduct. Doing anything rash right now will only make our case against them weaker."

Levi glared darkly for a moment before relaxing in Erwin's grip.

"Fine. I might track some of them down later though." He motioned toward Eren's direction before the statement could be commented on, "But what about the kid."

Eren was laid out on one of the benches with a cool rag on his forehead and ice packs pressed against his most likely broken leg. The other rookie, Armin, was kneeling by his side.

"He should be okay," Erwin answered. "We'll probably need to get him to a hospital—and this has probably been his last game this season—but I think he'll be able to deal with the pain till then."

Levi nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll take him there. I drive fast." He started to pull loosely out of Erwin's hold. "Let me go. I won't kill anyone."

The coach reluctantly complied, not quite trusting the boy.

Sticking to his words, Levi made his way over to Eren, who appeared to be dealing with the pain pretty well. No crying. Armin also seemed to be good at caretaking. Of course, the kid still definitely needed to see a real doctor.

Levi was about to tell the two that he'd take them to the hospital when a figure, moving way too fast, rudely barged in front of him.

It made sense when he saw the red scarf.

"Armin. Eren. Where is he."

Armin must have called and told.

Levi sighed, standing beside the nearly manic girl. And he'd thought Eren had seemed intense before. Mikasa looked downright murderous.

"M-mikasa?" Eren spoke weakly, lifting his head from the bench.

When she saw him there, it seemed as if something broke inside her. The ice shattered. In a shallow breath Mikasa's face turned pale, her stance soft, her eyes hallow.

Levi watched her take small steps forward until she fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around Eren. And Eren actually reciprocated her embrace. The scene didn't look like one of a mother and a child. Or of a sister and brother. It looked like one of a girl and the boy she loved.

Levi broke the moment.

"You're not permitted to be here Ackerman."

Mikasa whipped her head around, just taking notice of Levi's presence. It was impressive how quickly her expression switched back to homicidal.

"Says who." She questioned.

Levi met her glare head on.

"You were banned from attending soccer games after threatening the captain of the team. Eren was supposed to have informed you of that."

She might have actually snarled at him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Eren give him an apologetic look.

"So that's why," she whispered fiercely. "You're the reason Eren told me not to come. This is all your fault. If I'd been there, this wouldn't have happened."

Levi looked down at her unrelentingly.

"No, you couldn't have done anything; you'd just be getting in the way like you are right now. I'm taking Eren to the hospital. You should leave before I decide to penalize you for coming here." His voice was cold and dismissive even to his own ears.

Mikasa grimaced.

"Eren's hurt."

"It's a broken leg, not a gunshot wound. He's fine."

Levi observed her gaze narrow. Mikasa was ready to pounce on him, and Levi almost wanted to see her try; however, Eren caught her wrist before she had the chance.

"Mikasa, really, I'm okay. I'll get it bandaged up and stuff and then I'll come right home. It'll be fine. Just go home."

She didn't turn to look at him, eyes fixed on Levi.

"Eren, I'm not leaving you."

"Mikasa, we don't have a car." The kid tried again. "We're lucky Levi offered to drive me. This is the best option, trust me."

Levi watched her grit her teeth at him before finally dropping her gaze.

She took a deep breath and exhaled."I—okay. I'll let him drive you. But you need to call me every fifteen minutes."

Eren didn't hide his relief. "Thanks Mikasa. I'll get home as fast as I can!"

Levi scowled when she smiled.

"I'll make all your favorite foods for dinner."

"Yeah, that would be"-

"Shut up Eren. We need to get you to the hospital, come on." Levi stepped forward to lean over the boy. He was ready to leave, and it wasn't like he was going to stand there while they talked about fucking dinner plans. He was glad when the uncharacteristic shine that had entered Mikasa's eyes disappeared, and she began to glare at him once more.

He ignored her though.

"Armin," he ordered the boy who, so far, had just been standing there passively, "support Eren on his other side. We need to get him to my car."

Levi and Armin walked over to Eren where he lay; planning to lift the injured boy's arms over their shoulders, but then Mikasa spoke up again.

"Levi, wait," he stiffened when she said his name, "if you can take Armin, then you can take me too. I am the one responsible for Eren's health."

He spun around.

"And you," he addressed her, "fucking leave already. I have everything handled; you're in the way."

"Levi," she repeated.

"I'm not taking you," he emphasized. "You keeping me here is only prolonging little Eren's suffering."

And at his last words, the same shine as earlier re-entered Mikasa's eyes. She was reaching back towards Eren.

"Eren, are you suffering that badly? Please, let me"-

"No." Levi cut her off. "Shut up Mikasa." he wouldn't let her continue. "Someone, Jean, get over here and walk the ice queen home."

Somehow he and Armin had been able to get Eren in his car and finally leave the soccer field.

Levi checked on Eren in the back seat through the rear view mirror.

He looked a little too happy.

"Why are you smiling brat. Aren't you supposed to be in pain? If you're faking a broken leg then don't think I won't give you a real one."

The kid laughed stupidly.

"ha ha…no, I'm pretty sure this is real. I was just thinking about how no one's ever been able to face Mikasa like that. It was weird to see...It was kind of like she finally met her match."

Levi's face was composed.

"Shut up Eren."

ooo

Thanks for reading

I get that nothing romantic has happened so far...but it's really hard to make Levi show those kinds of feelings. I need to work my way up to it...give me time!

But I tried to hint at some (maybe unhealthy?) affection this chapter.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, to any of you who have made it this far!