Witness of the Dark

by TheStupidSheep

x

I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin.

Every late night she woke up to meet with him among the woods, Mikasa saw more leaves on the ground, yellows, oranges and red ones, all of them mixing and creating a magic, almost delicious picture to the eye. She'd seen him as always, waiting for her. One day sitting in a thick branch, the next, resting at the feet of a tree with closed eyes, his face portraying an apparent armistice with the disastrous world he'd seen transforming during his long, supernatural life.

Her days were longer and short, magical and strangely normal. She danced with her typical grace and delicacy, and she punched the air merciless as he said, following his steps, imitating his lethal motions as she voluntarily ignored the sharp line of his regal jaw, the sensual frowning of his eyebrows or his straight, almost perfect nose. She drank of his wise words, took them as little valuable jewelries and hid them inside her heart. He wasn't a bad teacher, after all, and she also enjoyed him in his casual mood: an enchanting mixture between human and vampire, a man that was stronger than a mortal but looked like a simple person. Mikasa found in him the male, mature company that her friends couldn't afford. Levi had talked about the most curious things to her, explaining her with his confusing manners how his world worked.

"As you already know, some of us have special abilities. It isn't for free: they usually take a great amount of energy from our bodies. It can make us stronger, but also hungrier. Always remember that in case you run into one of us."

She remembered the first time he talked about this, his blue eyes going darker and darker during her training as he transformed into ashes again and again around Mikasa, teasing her and playing with her. He was behind, then he wasn't. He was eight meters afar, then he was next to her. Mikasa had ended with her buttocks hurting and her hands swollen, all because of the jump scares that made her strip over thanks to his random appearances. It wasn't too long until she finally adapted to his odd power, and Mikasa found herself letting out a wry smile when she finally detected Levi's position when he used his ability. He was right, he constantly ended with his eyes being a deep, ghastly black and moving like his body weighed tons after those trainings.

The days passed and her muscles pained with the effort she put on them. She started to eat more, hunger attacking her stomach, the never ending struggle of learning to fight at night and learning new dance genres at day burning her energies faster than fire. She'd felt way too tired sometimes, unable to get out of her bed, but the fear for her family's sake was bigger than her fatigue, and the stranger, smooth lust in her belly for him betrayed her, prompting her to meet him. "You must close your emotions when you're next to a vampire", he'd said with a livid tone in one of their several encounters, "Humans are easy to drag to a vampire. You? You're even easier." How right he was, she couldn't fight her lust for him, nearly restraining herself when she was alone. Still, Mikasa showed coldness when she was training with him and she obligated her body to stay calm, her pulse to go normal, and her desire to quit the insistence. On the other hand, Mikasa knew she wasn't the only one struggling, and Levi's hungry eyes were the proof. She'd felt it more than once, his obscure aura creeping towards her, desiring the whole of hers. But then again, he didn't touch her once more in that way, and when their skin collapsed together, it was only in the most necessary moments, just as when he went with a new lesson to her.

Mikasa had seen him taking out of his left boot a dagger, which was wrapped in leather. His bored eyes had fell on her face as he released the knife carefully, his fingers taking off the leather without touching the sharp parts.

"It's made of silver. It may not kill us, but it's fucking painful when it touches us. Silver cannot make us flee or scream like in those shitty movies. Silver just… it's just very painful when it's well used, which means..." He whirled the dagger between his snowy, pale fingers, and Mikasa stupidly got worried about them, thinking he was going to cut himself with the knife, that he was going to burn with it. "You'll likely get to kill one. But if not…" His eyes flashed with warning. "You'll stop the vampire, but not for much time. So, you must get to use it correctly to have a greater possibility to finish him."

She'd never forget the way his hands guided her body to make the perfect motion, how his strong arms felt against her waist every time she went too ahead with her self-exigency. The mode he moved his limbs against hers wasn't gross or sensual. She felt the esteem in every motion, not wanting to surpass the quiet intimacy both had created beneath the eyes of the moon and stars. When she went to sleep, her lips stretched in an artless smile and her eyes closed with the security that only his dark presence would afford to her dreams, in which horror transformed in beautiful images that swam in her mind and made her woke up every morning with flushed cheeks and a sweaty body.

Besides his natural expression —an apparently irritated one— Mikasa was too adapted to his different moods already. Annoyed when he drank animal blood but genuinely content inside; severe when he drank human blood —which he hadn't done since long time ago—; bad tempered when he didn't drink anything at all. As the days transformed in weeks, and the weeks in months, and the autumn in winter, Mikasa learnt how to treat him based on his thirst. Sarcastic when he drank animal blood, silently when he was thirsty. She wondered how she would act in front of him when he drank human blood again, but she also hoped he didn't do it at all, not because she considered it bad, but because she discovered she didn't like the idea of him drinking somebody else's blood. She thought of this when she saw Historia practicing with Eren Le Corsaire. The way she moved around Eren wasn't the problem. It was her long, delicate and swan-like exposed neck. Mikasa found herself clenching her fists until her nails buried in her skin as she watched the perfect curve of her pale nape and the sensual knob of her pulsing jugular, the sweet blood that ran under that fine hide.

She escaped of the place and hid, like she always did, inside the bathroom. This time she wasn't thinking of Eren kissing a random girl. She thought of Levi and his long, inhuman fangs... into other woman's neck, a neck as perfect and inciter as Historia's.

The idea almost made her scream.

And although she was used to his expressions, his words and his gentle touch, Mikasa was also starting to miss his beastly side, the one that couldn't hide his attraction for her.

She didn't tell him this, preferring to stay quiet as always, but he noticed, and he made her be aware of that in the most unexpected way.

One snowy night, Mikasa still went to see him, ignoring the ground that looked like a white, cold ocean. Fighting with all her strength in a hand-to-hand combat against him, Mikasa was so jealous, so worried, so altered by the images of him drinking another's blood, of him touching someone else the way he did with her, that she didn't see the quick change of color in his eyes.

Levi stopped, putting space between them with shocked eyes. He denied, looking at her with unbelievable eyes, and signaled her with his index. His voice was a growl, a dark tone that sounded guttural.

"You have to control your body now."

Mikasa walked backwards, feeling suddenly guilty. "I'm sorry…"

Levi exhaled, his fingers holding the septum of his nose.

"Do you even know what your emotions are doing?"

She denied slowly, blushing.

"They're revealing your fucking position to powerful vampires within twenty mile radius. It's like you're screaming 'Come here, I've got blood to share.'"

"I am not doing anything."

"Of course you are."

She crossed her arms. "Enlighten me."

He imitated her pose. "You are angry because I'm not threating you the way you want."

Mikasa swallowed.

"How do you know that is what I want?"

"I'm telling you, that's what your fucking blood is screaming, brat."

Mikasa felt so red, so ashamed, that she wasn't capable of staying any longer.

"I'll go."

She thought he was going to stay behind, preferring to let her go. Instead, as she walked through the darkness towards the back of her house, fast ashes appeared in front of her until Levi's body was just inches afar from her face. Her heart stopped for a second at his sudden appearance, and her pose changed to a defensive one, all the knowledge given by Levi pouring through her skin.

Levi's expression was resilient when he materialized. He noticed her pose, bit chose not to say anything.

"Let's talk." He supported his back on a tree trunk. Smoky breath went out of his mouth when he spoke again. "I'm listening."

Mikasa clenched her fists at her sides.

"What do you want to listen?"

"Tell me why your hormones have been so crazy these days." He stared at her for a long moment, boredom showing at its best. "I'm waiting."

Mikasa hid her face in her red scarf.

"It's stupid."

"As stupid as it is for you, it had obligated me to drink more blood than necessary these days."

"Has it been human?"

He grimaced, confused by the turn of her words.

"What?"

She knew that he hadn't drunk human blood, but she still felt the bitter taste of jealousy in her chest, the insecurity that his mysterious attitude always brought to her heart. She noticed, uncomfortable, that her feelings for him were bigger now. Three months ago, before she started to see him as someone important in her life, before his voice was a common sound in her ears or before she memorized his peculiar face or his venous, coarse hands, she wouldn't have cared. Now was different, and the things he told her at that Sina City's restaurant seemed to fade with every quiet deviation he did when Mikasa tried to ask about his life during his long trainings, always putting a wall between them that brought Mikasa down.

"The blood you've been drinking. Has it been… human?"

Levi didn't blink, nor move.

"You know I've only drank animal blood since months ago." He narrowed his eyes, weighing her words for three seconds. Then he gaped, completely surprised. "So that's it?" He quickly asked. "You're jealous?"

Mikasa felt exposed. Her eyebrows went together and her lips turned down, showing he was just right.

Levi took a step closer to her. "Why?" mumbled.

She didn't answer.

Unexpectedly, he went so close her chest and his were touching. His smooth voice trembled in her ears. "Are you jealous because I haven't touched you? Is it that?"

Mikasa felt so red and her body so numb, like she was in a nightmare in which she couldn't control her body that the only thing she could do was sighing a yes.

"Do you want to know what would happen if I…?" His eyes seemed to darken. "If I try to touch you like you want?"

She raised her gaze, his voice alarming her.

"I would lose control, I'd drink from your blood, and I'd not stop until there's not a drop of it." He took a step back. His expression was severe. "Even if I were strong enough to stop, you'd still get poisoned, and the possibility of surviving is very, very small."

Her voice was a murmur. "And what if I survive?"

He diverted his eyes to the ground. "Your body will die slowly. Vampire venom doesn't have a cure. The only option is becoming one."

Mikasa denied, her eyes wide. Her heartbeats went slower, resembling the chills that run through her body.

You don't want this… Do you?

"Don't even think about it, Mikasa." He scolded her. When he said her name in that way, she felt as spoiled as a child. "It won't happen." Snow started to fall when he walked away from her. "Now go back home."

...

La Corsaire was a success. Eren and Historia looked so well together that they were invited to different parties and special events, sponsors appearing like drops of rain. Mikasa waited for the jealous feeling to come and hit her, but the only thing she felt was her competitiveness grow a little. Seeing Eren closer to other girls didn't affect her like it did before, and she didn't even care anymore. Instead, she was happy when the director announced a special performance for an important charity party that was held every December at the most luxurious hotel of the city.

That same night, as she fought with Levi again, Mikasa told him about the good news. He seemed genuinely happy for her too. Mikasa was using the silver dagger he gave her, and Levi was using nothing. Slowly, but without hesitating, Mikasa tried to win. The only thing she needed to do was cutting him, it didn't matter how superficial the wound were.

It didn't matter because he was just so fast to even attempt to cut him. Mikasa always ended sweaty and with her body shaking, exhausted after all the effort she had to do to at least to punch him. Sometimes he hit her, but never hard enough to make her bleed. Still, she was used to seeing bruises in her legs or arms, and it was getting harder to hide them from her friends and family. He knew she had to preserve her skin perfect, not a single scar in it, so he tried to only thrust her or avoid her hits when they fought.

Mikasa had clear he wasn't putting all his strength to fight her. She had seen him reacting to her motions like he was avoiding a mosquito annoying his sight, but he never did a comment about it, never dragged her down because of her slowness or fragility.

Sometimes, during those combats, he asked things about her. Her favorite food —I like fish—, her favorite moment of the day —right now it's the morning. The sun looks pretty at my window—, her favorite animal —I like huskies—.

That night, however, Mikasa was the one that questioned him first, her breath making a white cloud around her thanks to the cold night. He seemed off, distracted, worried about something beyond her understanding. Mikasa felt bad as the question started to form in her mind, readying it for the perfect moment to say it. She was also tired of his silence, tired of the wall he insisted in holding between them.

She threw her left fist as fast as she could to his chest and the knife in her right to his abdomen, evading the schuss hand that he sent to her right thigh to make her fall. He moved his torso, escaping easily from her fist, and he grabbed her right hand with his, long cold fingers holding her knuckles just half an inch from the silver knife she had. He spinned her, his hard chest touching her warm back and then, just like that, she'd lost again. Her jugular was technically exposed to him, even with all the clothes she was using to not freeze outside, and her own arm was around her neck. If he wanted to, he could have used her limb to choke her.

She inhaled deeply three times, sweat running down her back, between her breasts and in her foreheads.

He pushed her away from him.

"Again."

They were like that for around an hour when she finally, without stopping fighting, spoke to him.

"Were you a human or did you born like a vampire?"

He was going to raise his arms to put them in a fight position when her words reached him, making him glare at her with a curious expression.

"Why are you asking that?"

"Why not?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he prompted her to attack. She thought he was going to stay quiet, but then his voice was heard again.

"I was born human."

Mikasa kept moving, her eyes trying to follow his fast movements.

"Were you from a big family?"

He smirked. "I only had my mother." He stopped a sidekick and Mikasa stepped back, breathing fast.

"How was she?"

"I can't remember her face." He said as she attacked him once more. "She was a whore, a famous one." His voice was steady, like he was just taking a walk. "But she fell in love with a vampire, and that vampire wasn't alone. His lover killed her."

"Did that vampire... Transform you?"

"No. She didn't know I existed. My uncle raised me until I was old enough to live by my own."

Her next question went a little insecure.

"And then?"

Levi sighed, putting space between them. He was uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure it was because of her questions.

"And then Zackly found me."

"Who is Zackly?"

Again, he took long to answer. Mikasa shook her head and approached him, motioning the dagger towards him as fast as she could. Levi let her move and she slowly gained confidence again, her sharp strikes transforming in a deathly dance.

This was her favorite part of fighting against him. When she reached her maximum, her body flowing and flashing with his, Mikasa felt, somehow, that she belonged to his side.

But he finished it, averting her hand so fast that the dagger flew until it got stacked in a tree trunk.

Mikasa took three steps back, her lungs feeling on fire.

She had lost again.

When she looked at Levi again, he was expressionless.

"Zackly transformed me." His eyes darkened. It reminded her of that late night he tried to scare her. Levi turned and stood motionless, not even breathing. "You see, he was my father."

Mikasa gasped.

"Your father was a... Vampire? But you told me you were human when you—"

"I was human, but I had the venom in my blood. His venom." When he turned to see her again, his face resembled one of a monster.

His fangs were there, showing between his lips. His eyes were completely black and his skin was paler, almost purple-like. Within his apparently calm body, Mikasa could perfectly imagine a hell developing. Her face was stiff, she couldn't create any thought, any word.

"There are only two ways to become a vampire." Dark amusement slipped through his face. "I drink your blood, you drink mine. You drink my blood, I drink yours. Your blood must be mixed with mine and mine with yours, and then the change will happen." Mikasa felt naked at his glaring, but she stayed calm, sensing the revolution that was going on inside him. "He only needed to drink my blood to activate the change."

Mikasa thought he was going to attack her. Instead, he blinked, his demonic eyes shining with something closer to consciousness, and he scowled to himself, shaking lightly his head.

Levi walked away, giving her his back. He took her rucksack, shook off the snow of it and grabbed the silver knife, saving it inside his military boot.

"It's enough." He said. His voice was a hoarse whisper. "Let's go back."

Mikasa felt guilty during their trip back to her house. Levi was quiet, quieter than normally, and she imagined it was because of his past.

Her mouth went dry. Thinking back, she never experienced anything bad before. She didn't have any loved one dead, she never had an accident when she was a child. Her parents gave her the best childhood, the best protection they could afford. During high school, the closest to suffering Mikasa faced was Eren's subtle rejection. He was right about her, she was way too innocent, too pure for this world, and know she was getting in danger voluntarily, exposing her life for the sake of a feeling that a 'gift' caused on her.

In that moment, she wished she could give him a little part of that perfection that surrounded her life.

They were just some meters from the beginning of her backyard when Mikasa said bye with her hand, her cheeks still blotched thanks to her shame.

"Mikasa."

She stopped walking.

"Ye—"

Mikasa couldn't finish because her body was violently pulled against a tree trunk just as fast as Levi's lips were collapsing with hers. Mikasa gasped, her breathe being inhaled by his opened mouth, and then it exploded inside her: the pleasure.

Suddenly she had the urge to tangle her fingers in his hair and her legs in his hips and her tongue with his, her body shaking in less than five seconds. It was like a hot wave that almost drown her, and she knew he felt it too when he thrust against her and moaned, a dark sound that quivered her inner walls and made her arched her back, shivers running down her spine. His hands went from the tree trunk to her shoulders and down her sides and ribs until he was clenching her waist in an almost painful mode, desperation melting his steady self.

Mikasa was getting crazy with his hardness, the soft skin of his lips, the sensation of his heavy body against her. The pressure he made on her, the tension of his muscles and the slow undulation of his hips between her thighs, were all what she wanted, all what she dreamt of and more.

He thrusted harder, his hardness fitting perfectly in her center, only thick fabric between their bodies, and Mikasa sobbed, her body falling into a tingling fire.

He made a quiet, shivering beastly sound, and Mikasa had to exhale when he grabbed her chin and lowered her face.

"Open your eyes."

Mikasa opened her mouth instead, looking for air to calm her unsteady body.

Levi bit her lower lip, his tongue licking it before letting it go. His hands went down again, caressing her hips circularly, and Mikasa lolled her head for a second, dizzy.

"Open your eyes." She did as he said. "Look at me."

Mikasa's blurred eyes found his, ignoring the left hand that went up to cover her chest. Under it rested her heart, its heartbeats being felt between her legs.

He kissed her again, this time slowly, taking his time to know her lips, but he didn't close his eyes, and she found it more pleasuring, more intimate. His hand toured over her thick jacket until it rested in her left cheek, his thumb drawing tender dots that kissed her skin and her soul. Their breaths caressed each other's faces, the sound of their hectic exhalations coming together.

Without averting his eyes from Mikasa's, Levi started to fade away. Mikasa felt the heat sitting down in her body, a mixture of anxiety and eagerness that wanted to grab him and never let him go.

You don't have any idea of how much you've got into me...

He shut his eyes and rested his forehead on hers, breathing slowly as her heartbeats went steady. His hand still in her cheek, his fingers did little motions. Mikasa noticed his struggle to stay calm.

To not hurt her.

He grabbed her thighs kindly and put her legs on the floor, but he didn't get away from her.

His voice was plane when he spoke.

"There's something I have to tell you."

Mikasa noticed that his eyes weren't blue like when she met him hours before. Again, she made him hungry.

Nevertheless, she didn't like the look in his eyes.

"What happened?"

"I have some issues to take care of."

"What... What kind of issues?"

"Dangerous ones."

She swallowed.

"Are they related to that vampire I saw you killing?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Is it… is it going to take long?"

"Days, weeks… Maybe months."

Gasping, Mikasa raised one of her hands, unsure, and touched the cold skin of his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the sensation, and then he stepped back, leaving the warm of her body.

Her heart started to pain. Real pain that made her snarl. Levi didn't say anything about it, but by the look of his face, it was clear he knew about it.

"They'll try to find a way to harm me." His fists clenched. "I won't let that happen." After saying this, Levi reached the dagger in his boot and, exhaling, he directed it to her. Widening her eyes, she took the dagger slowly, hiding her face in her scarf. "You know how to use it. Keep it with you —always. It'll be enough for now."

Mikasa didn't like this. She didn't like the idea of not coming in the late night to meet him, didn't like the idea of not listening to his point of view of old history tales. She hated how worry she felt for him, like some kind of anxious girlfriend that was watching her lover going to the war, just that this felt worse than that. She didn't even know what was her for him, but if this was the way those girls felt —an empty space at her chest, a black hole which pain felt worse than any swollen muscle, worse than any wound—, then she wasn't sure she could resist it.

"How do I know you'll be coming back?"

He grimaced. "Believe me, you'll know."

Stepping back, Levi's shape started to dissipate. He stopped. "There's something else, too. The vampire you saw me killing… I waited three hundred fucking years to do it. I tried everything just to not… not touch her that way." He frowned, shutting his eyes like if the memory of him kissing her, touching her, was enough to disturb him. Why was she so important to kill for him? Wondered Mikasa. "But she was too strong and intelligent. At the end, that was the only way to deceive her."

Mikasa understood. He felt the necessity to explain her his actions, to make her believe he didn't want to do the same with her. She nodded. "It's OK. I… I understand." Tears coming up her throat were swallowed quickly, and she cleared it when this wasn't enough. "Thank you for… for telling me."

Levi was genuinely confused.

"Why are you thankful?"

"Because you trusted me enough to do so." She hid her little smile in her scarf.

This time was his turn to wide his eyes. He masked his face fast, so Mikasa almost didn't see it. After watching his reaction, the pain in her chest wasn't as big as when he told her about his departure.

He closed his eyes, letting his limbs transform in nothing, the black teleportation occurring. Mikasa couldn't resist the tears that ran down her cheeks, disillusionment pouring from her extremities so hard that she fell on her knees.

"I'll be back, brat." He said, his body disappearing. "Don't go out alone." Please.

And just like that, he was gone.

…

"You look bigger than the last time I saw you."

"Yes, I've been…" Mikasa cleared her throat. "Doing some exercise."

"You are always working out."

"But this time I've been working out harder."

Armin didn't say anything, and both kept walking, following a distracted Eren that talked on his cellphone with Historia about their presentation two days ago. Soon they were buying the tickets for the movie and walking towards the movie theater, the smell of popcorn wetting Mikasa's mouth. She was hungry almost all the time.

It was Friday, five days later since Levi stopped coming to see her. It was weird for Mikasa, waking up every night at the same late hour only to find that there was no reason to go to the woods. Rolling through her bed the rest of the time, Mikasa had thought of every moment she spent with him, repeating to herself that, if he didn't come back, it was going to be better for her safety.

Of course, this was like a joke in the morning, when the sun sparkled like a slap on her face. She trusted him, more than she'd trusted any male in her whole life —the only exception her dad— and she wanted to believe in the bond they had created.

So instead of going back to the same sad thoughts again, she obligated herself to focus on the things she used to do before knowing him, taking a little time for her own pleasure. Armin was a great plus for her decision. He came from the university to spend Christmas with his family, his blonde hair longer and his eyes looking happier than the last time she saw him. As soon as they greeted each other, Armin had noticed the big change she had been coming through, starting with the fact that she looked more intimidating, not to say like a beast that escaped from a cage. She still looked delicate enough to get main roles, but Mikasa doubted Hange's silence, which she knew was going to be broken soon if she kept working out more than necessary… She liked it too much to stop already.

Armin didn't take off his eyes from her, scrutinizing her features like if it were palpable she was hiding something very important from him. The first thing he said to her once the movie had started and Eren fell asleep next to them, took her off guard.

"You don't look at him the way you used to."

Mikasa choked her popcorn and coughed silently. "What do you mean?"

"Eren." He whispered back. "Are you finally getting over him?"

Her eyebrows arched with insecurity. "I… guess so?"

He nodded slowly. "Mmmm…" Eating more popcorn, he focused on the movie, deliberately ignoring the anxious girl next to him.

When the movie finished, the three of them went to the cafeteria. As they waited for the pizza, Eren went to the bathroom and left Armin and Mikasa alone. She wanted to flee, scared that he was going to cannon her with lots of questions that she didn't want to answer.

"Don't worry." Said Armin, drinking water and then smiling. "I'll not ask if you don't want to talk. It's just too clear that there's something going on with you."

Mikasa flushed. She felt bad for hiding things to Armin —the only person that made her feel that way— but she wanted to protect Levi's real nature, and there was this thing about their relationship, she sensed it like a little secret they kept and she didn't want to share.

"Thank you."

The pizza arrived and Eren went back from the bathroom. He soon noticed the awkward silence.

"Why are you both so quiet?" He asked seconds later.

Biting his slice of pizza, Armin smiled to his friend. "Mikasa was jealous because I have a girlfriend."

Eren's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "You're shitting on me."

Armin smiled more. "Of course not! She's perfect. Actually, she's coming next week to spend Christmas with me. We've been together since early October."

Eren laughed and hit Armin's left shoulder, excited. "Yes! That's amazing, man!"

Mikasa frowned. "That's really fast if we talk about how long you've been dating her." Eren was smiling, nodding, and then he frowned funnily at Mikasa, disagreeing for a second before biting his pizza. "What's her name, by the way? Where did you meet her?"

Armin sighed, blinking like he was watching some angel in front of him as he remember his girlfriend. Mikasa wondered if her face looked the same when she used to think of Eren… or when she thought of Levi.

"Her name's Annie." He swallowed. "She's German. You see… She saved me from being killed!"

Eren spit his food. "WHAT?"

"What are you talking about, Armin?" Said Mikasa, grabbing his arm with concern.

The blonde blushed a little, smiling clumsily. "I was trying some experiment at the backyard of my apartment and she was sitting on the swing of the kids' park. My experiment went wrong but I didn't notice in time…" He laughed, scratching the back of his blonde head. "She… she did, though. She jumped from her place and pushed me out of the way. She was really fast!"

Mikasa's heart almost stopped, thinking in his friend's life.

"Please, Armin, stop doing crazy shit!" Said Eren, hiding his face on his hand. Mikasa glared at him.

"You know, you aren't the best to say that sort of things."

"You neither."

It was the look —mixed with the way he said it—, which made Mikasa narrow her eyes. Did he saw me with Levi…? She cleared her throat. "Whatever." She looked at Armin again. "Do you have pictures with her?"

"Actually, no." He looked thoughtfully. "She doesn't like to take pictures, I don't know why. But you'll see, she's pretty."

That was what Mikasa less cared about, but if Armin was happy with the girl, she didn't mind.

"And what happened after that? Did you invite her to some place or what?" Asked Eren.

"She helped me clean the disaster my experiment did. Then, she invited me to have some drink at her flat. She lived three floors beneath mine! We spoke a lot that day and when it was my time to go to the university… She told me she was assisting to the same as me!" He smiled widely. "She's studying biochemistry, though. It fits her. Sometimes she acts very weird…" He put the same face he had when he saw Mikasa's body change… Like he knew there was something being hidden, something serious. He shook his head, going back to the same happy aspect."But I guess she'll tell me when we experience more things together."

"Maybe she is very fond of unicorns or, I don't know, spiders, and she doesn't know how to tell you." Said Eren without looking at him.

"She has a little obsession with blood." When he said this, Mikasa's attention was gotten very fast, her hands stopping the slice of pizza she was directing towards her mouth.

"OK, I think she's weird." Mumbled Eren, a finger on his chin, like he was thinking. "Hey, do you remember when Mikasa was obsessed with Dracula?"

Mikasa bit her pizza so she couldn't answer. Her friends kept talking about Dracula for a long time, not knowing that she had her personal, demonic creature that visited every night at the deep of the woods. When they got bored of the topic, they jumped to their recent activities, talking until it was time to close the shopping center.

Armin and Eren stood up and waited for Mikasa as she put on her scarf and jacket. Nostalgia blushed her chest and arms when she remembered the same image but from years ago, when they were just a bunch of kids that believed themselves grownups. Now, when they were very aware of their flaws —even when sometimes they did nothing at all to fix those— she marveled at how handsome they were, both tall men that easily could be confused with a pair of guardsmen or soldiers in holiday.

Still, she knew that wasn't enough, that they were weak, just like her, just like every human.

Mikasa reached Eren's hand when he helped her to stand up.

"Time to go, Dracula's fan."

…

It was a dark, snowy night. No stars shone for any human, and the cold was freezing their red noses and aching cheeks. They were laughing, though, the feeling of home invading their lonely hearts every time they looked each other's eyes. Armin and Eren were using their cellphone to light the sidewalk, which was a little slippery in some parts. Each time one of them slipped, they laughed like drunk dorks, mocking each other and their balance.

Just when they were about to turn in a corner, Eren stopped walking, making Armin crash with his back. Mikasa looked at the same direction he was staring to, noticing what had made him stop.

Three men were walking at their direction, their faces showing a threatening expression.

Mikasa knew they had to come back at the moment that one of them smiled cruelly, showing her what she needed to grab her friends by their shoulders and turn them around, walking away as fast as they could. Eren tried to hide his cellphone in his pocket, but Mikasa stopped him, telling him to keep illuminating the pavement. "Too late for that."

Armin was pale, his eyes wide and looking everywhere. He gasped and startled, he signaled with his trembling finger a few meters beyond. "L-look!"

Three more men were walking towards them. The tallest one was wearing the hood of his winter jacket, perhaps to not show his face. He took out a knife from the front pocket of the jacket, and the rest did the same, showing their weapons.

No no no. This is not happening.

This wasn't Mikasa's plan. She was supposed to have a magic night with her friends, going through the streets without feeling unsafe. She never thought of it —of humans being the first threat to her loved ones.

Eren grabbed their wrists and pushed them to an alley that was behind them, swearing silently. They started running, their breathing leaving little clouds as they moved… to a dead end. Armin let out a little scream, watching around in vain. The only way to go out of that place was where they entered, and when Mikasa turned back to check if they were coming, the six men were just a couple of meters behind them, slowing their pace when it was obvious they didn't have a way to escape. Mikasa swallowed, putting Armin behind her like she was some kind of shield. Her heart was beating fast and her body sweated even when it was really cold outside. She gasped when Eren passed them both, standing with his front directed toward the men that now surrounded them.

Mikasa felt her knees shaking.

"Eren… What the fuck are you doing?" She whispered angrily, squeezing Armin's hand so hard he grumbled.

Eren's voice sounded determined. "Protecting you."

"Ah, I know who you are!" Said one of the men, which had bleached hair. He was the only one that didn't have a knife, and Mikasa had a cold idea of why. "You're those pussies of that Ballet School!" The men laughed at his words. He averted his eyes from Eren to observe Mikasa's body lavishly, licking his own lips with a mocking sound. "It seems like we're gonna have some fun tonight."

"You motherfucker!" Screamed Eren.

Mikasa shouted his name, jumping to him, but it was too late. Armin grabbed her by the arm when Eren was already running with his clenched fist towards the bleached haired man. He was fast though, taking off guard his companions when he punched the man's stomach. She screamed again, moving like a snake inside Armin's grasp, and this time Eren wasn't fast enough to avoid one of the man's fist, and another, and another. Mikasa felt her screams turning hoarse her voice when Eren fell and started to spit blood on the floor, the men kicking him without mercy. When her voice was gone thanks to all her screams, Mikasa's eyes darkened when Eren lost consciousness. The men laughed, moving their knives like they were pretending to be professionals with it. The bleached man was recovered from the punch Eren gave him, but he still looked at him with hatred, and he was directing his hand to his pants to take out something.

All of a sudden, a memory of Levi teaching her came to her mind, and Mikasa felt the urge to cry… Because she knew what she had to do in that moment.

"Armin…" She whispered. Her blonde friend was crying behind her, his arms still holding her strongly. His blue eyes were incredibly opened, like if he was still searching for a way to escape. She cried silently too. "Armin, do you trust me?"

Armin swallowed and nodded, and both of them looked at the gun with muffler the man was releasing and putting on Eren's head, the rest of the man checking Eren's cellphone and wallet. No one was paying attention to Mikasa and Armin, and she saw the perfect route to act.

"Release me."

Armin's cries got worse, but he did so, shivering like he was already regretting his decision. He always hated his cowardice, and right now, cowardice was the thing that made him scream her name with his eyes closed as his arms fell to his sides, trembling.

He heard a silenced shot.

"Mikasa!"

But Mikasa wasn't listening. When he started to hear the sobs and moans of pain coming from the place in which the thieves where, Armin opened his eyes, shock —pure shock—, covering his whole body.

Mikasa was beating the shit out of the thieves.

She was kicking, punching, breaking and knocking, her limbs moving so fast he almost couldn't distinguish them. She motioned between them like a lost hunter that found her real passion. Her face was stained with drops of blood, blood that wasn't hers. She broke one of the man's nose, then hit the stomach of another and dodged a third's kick, bending and stretching her leg in a deadly strike to make him strip over. The last motion was so fast that his forehead crashed with the ground, passing out quickly.

"Mi-Mikasa?"

The knives didn't had any weight on her. She took off each one of the weapons, throwing them far away enough to not be found in time. In a matter of seconds, there was only two men standing, the tallest thief and the one with bleached hair. The first had a swelling eye, his hood fallen on his back, while the second was trying to hold two broken fingers as his bloody eyes looked desperately for his gun on the filthy, snowy floor.

She knew the first one was dangerous. The way he grabbed his knife indicated it. She'd deliberately left him —and his useless head— at last, but now she couldn't delay it any longer.

Mikasa raised her right foot and took out the dagger Levi gave her, spinning it easily on her fingers. She positioned her feet just as he taught her, putting the dagger in front of her and her left hand in a tight fist. The man did the same as her, preparing to fight her and kill her at any cost.

Mikasa didn't take off her eyes from him when she spoke to her blonde friend.

"Armin…" She clasped the dagger's handle, her sore throat burning with pain. "Make sure Eren's alright." Then her voice became darker, her eyebrows frowning in a lethal glare. "My specialty is slicing off meat. If necessary, I can display that talent at any time. So if any of you here want to experience it firsthand... please, step right up."

The man bite her bait. He growled, maybe offended by those arrogant words coming out from a girl's mouth, and attacked her.

Mikasa's eyes widened, falling in an ample concentration when she received —and deviated— his strike. The sound of knife against knife filled the silence of the place, their weapons sparkling with every crash they did. Mikasa fought quietly, her brain reminding Levi's words perfectly as she made her way into the man's defense. She cut his left forearm, then his right thigh, his right ear… She was slicing him bit by bit.

He looked terrified at the end, accepting she was stronger. Mikasa stepped back, preparing to stick her dagger in a strategic place to only make him lose consciousness.

Then someone thrust her to the floor —and another silenced shot was heard along with Armin's scream.

Mikasa opened her eyes and sat quickly. She didn't understand what was going on, she didn't know where the shot came from. The only thing she knew was that the man with the knife was coming for her face. Mikasa saw the edge of the knife, saw her own face in its shiny surface. Behind her, Armin's hand was also coming to try and protect her, but Mikasa had already calculated the distance. His hand was not going to protect her face in time.

She snarled, waving her hand as fast as she could to diverge his attack. The sharp side of the knife teared apart the palm of her hand and even when it slowed down, it was still directing towards her. Mikasa screamed out loud when the knife cut her cheek, a cut that was deep enough to leave a scar.

She saw red. With her left leg, she knock the man down and hit his wrist to take his knife.

She stick the knife in his chest.

The man looked at her, shocked, and Mikasa got away from him slowly, her back meeting Armin's hands. The thief stopped moving, his eyes turning opaque, and Mikasa understood why.

He was dead.

Armin screamed again, and Mikasa shook her head, standing up and watching around as she remembered there was still one man alive.

"He ran away!" Screamed Armin behind her, his sobs too strong to be ignored. In the distance, the sound of the sirens was heard.

Mikasa looked at Eren, which was still unconscious on the floor.

"Is he OK?" She mumbled, swaying dizzy. Black points were haunting her sight.

Armin only nodded, still crying and screaming nonsense. "Mikasa!"

She startled, worried that one of the men on the floor was waking up. "What is it?!"

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!"

At the beginning, she thought he was referring to her slashed hand, but a second later she felt pain coming from other place of her body. Mikasa's eyes opened with horror when she looked at her legs.

Her right thigh was red. She looked at the wound, noticing it was dangerously close to the great saphenous vein. At her feet, a red puddle was appearing, every second bigger and bigger.

But Mikasa couldn't see how big it turned.

The next second, she only saw darkness.

Ah, finally! Thank you so, so, so much for your comments! I always scream (yes, I'm that stupid) every time I see some feedback! I really hope you're enjoying this story as much as I'm enjoying to write it.

I hope you liked this chapter! I listened to Licht and Schatten by Yukata Yamada (from Tokyo Ghoul soundtrack) while writing this, if you are interested to know.

That's it, see you next update!

La que tals.