You fling open your door with five minutes to go, and you run out without looking first. Colliding with another person, you both squeal as you fall to the ground and clutch your heads. You didn't even have the chance to glare at the person you collided with before she spoke to you with a scalding scorn.

"Gosh, Pride, do you think you can last one day without giving yourself head injuries?"

"Shut up," you smile, and reach up to grab Isabel's waiting hand. You two run together towards the manor house without stopping, passing several slow people in the process. Skidding to a halt in the assembly hall with only two minutes to go, you give each other a high five and make your way into the wide and tall space.

To say that the room was big was an understatement - it was so vast that you could fit at least three swimming pools in here. It was tall as well, with full length windows that illuminated the well-painted walls. A stage was at the end opposite the heavy double doors that you and Isabel had just rushed through, and a single microphone was on it. All of the students were already there (apart from the last few stragglers who were just shuffling through the doors) and all of them had separated into their own friendship groups.

You and Isabel quickly found Jean and Marco, and the four of you amused yourself by attempting to play four-way rock, paper and scissors. You weren't exactly sure, but you think Marco won... But with Isabel and Jean (and you, but it's not like you'd admit it) constantly cheating, judging the winner became difficult. It wasn't long until you all allowed your attention to wander.

"What do you reckon this is about?" Jean said, gesturing to the stage.

Marco shrugged. "You know as much as I do.'

"I hate to say it," you shrugged, "but I know nothing either."

"It's the same here!" Isabel chorused, looking around with interest at all of the other students. Red, yellow and blue ties were everywhere, so you knew that all of the three years were present. "Although - I can't remember if we've ever had an assembly like this..." Isabel mused, pouting and rocking back on her heels.

"I can," Marco said, "because it was at the start of the year. We were all totally unprepared for that assembly too."

Oh, yes. Since Survey Corps's school year had started on a Saturday, it had given you the weekend to settle into your Dorm and to make friends. It also allowed any last minute students to arrive and join the school. You had been sitting at your window, watching the sun sink behind the tall walls and had already known the persona that you had to present to the rest of the school - terrifying, gifted and deadly. Then the bell had rung and the headmaster had told you all to go to the hall.

It was in this space that you were first told the rules of the game that took place every Friday; it was here that you were first told that your future was literally either kill or be killed. It was a harsh assembly, and many of the pupils that were present decided that being in Survey Corps weren't for them.

Of course, they couldn't do much about it. You were all orphans, victims to the titans with nowhere to run to and no home to hide in. There wasn't much that any of the pupils could do... Except make their choice between three organisations.

The most obvious and dangerous choice was to stay at Survey Corps and either become an assassin or a soldier at the end. Students could either choose to protect the walls of the school and the city, which was somewhere far off into the country where most of the remaining humans lived, or they could become personal guards to someone very important. Like the King of the land, or the royal family.

You all had to stay at Survey Corps to complete three years of training to go either way, but then you had to make your choice about where to go.

You had chosen your future that day. You knew where you were going to go and what sacrifices were required - and you weren't willing to go back on yourself.

"I remember that assembly too," you told Marco with a low tone, facing the front as Pixis walked onto the stage and approached the microphone.

"That's a shame," he whispered roughly back, "because it was terrifying."

"Hello, lovely students of Survey Corps," Pixis called out, and you immediately groaned from the slurring of his words - he was drunk. "Thank you all for turning up on time. This year, there will be a school trip to the city, in which all three years will attend for three weeks. I wanted to warn you to keep up with your studies, because only those who are on target may be allowed to attend. I suggest you all train hard."

Murmuring started creeping up throughout the space, and you met the wide eyes of Jean. He mouthed, 'did you hear that?'

'Of course I did, idiot!' You rolled your eyes as you mouthed it back. 'A school trip! That's going to be frightening.'

Jean rolled his own eyes with twice the amount of dramatics as he replied. 'Nothing is really frightening to you, is it?'

"Also, to aid your revision and studying, I have devised a partnership scheme. You will each receive a partner to study with and to attend the trip with; they may be used to tutor each other or to introduce a friendship that may be useful in the future. If you wish to see who your partner for the next year will be, the board outside the hall will inform you of their name. Dismissed!"

And with that, the headmaster wobbled his way off the stage and left you all to yourselves. Isabel only had a few seconds to collect herself before you grabbed hers and Marco's wrists as you dragged them both speedily outside before she remembered Jean's existence and grabbed him too. You four flew out and beat everyone else to the board, which had been covered as you had walked into the hall. Due to you coming in late, you were closest to the doors, which gave you a few seconds ahead of everyone else to scan the board - which took up the entirety of the wall - for your name, for your partner's name...

You found it.

Y/N L/N - Levi Ackerman

You didn't know why you were surprised to see his name next to yours. Of course you two would make the most formidable team... Of course he'd be with you.

Isabel followed you out of the manor building with Marco and Jean on her heels. "I can't believe I'm with her," Isabel seethed, to which Jean and Marco wisely didn't ask. You walked towards the lake and sat down at the bench that you had before, where everyone had joined you. Jean took the seat next to you this time, showing that things were changing, morphing out of your control. Isabel sat at your feet and leaned against your legs with Marco doing the same to Jean.

"So I'm partnered with Annie," Marco told you, slight fear stiffening his voice. "Any tips on how to survive?"

"None at all," Isabel said, shaking her head. You began wailing a funeral dirge, in which Jean joined you with a mighty gusto. "I'm afraid you're going to die."

Jean smirked. "I don't know the guy that I'm with... But I think that he's a third year, so it looks like I'll be getting a great tutor. Do you reckon he'll know all the answers to the tests that we do?"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Isabel told him sourly, in a tone that alerted you to her seriousness.

"Who?" You asked her, but her gaze fell into a glare.

"A third year, like Jean," she told you shortly, "and I don't like her. I've bumped into her in the corridors - literally walked into her - and she's never quite forgiven me. And I think we all know who you got, Pride," she winked.

You blushed - you couldn't help it. "Don't start. We'll have to work together - without killing each other!"

"We all know how hard that's going to be, Y/N!" Hanji laughed from the trees, before she ran and skidded to a halt by your bench. Erwin followed in her wake, strolling along with his hands in his pockets. "Levi just swore and sulked away, so we came to hang out with you guys."

Jean sidled a little closer to you as Eren neared and sat near the water's edge. Mikasa whispered to you before joining him. "We got each other – Eren and I."

You nodded as they stared out across the lake, with Armin hanging back a little bit. You had no idea why the tutor idea had surfaced, but there was no doubt that there was some kind of ulterior motive for it. Only a fool would partner you with Levi; a sad and desperate fool who wanted the world to end.

But you knew that Dot Pixis, whilst a drunk, was not that fool… Which meant that someone else had placed you together? "Yo, Erwin," you called, making a few people jump. "Did you know about this tutor thing?"

Erwin's eyes twinkled seriously as he walked slowly closer to you, leaving Hanji laughing at the fishes swimming at the very shallow edges of the lake. "Yes. In fact, I was the one who set everyone up." Erwin murmured to you, making sure that no one else heard. His eyes flicked to Isabel, who was engrossed in trying to beat Jean in a thumb war, and slid back to meet your E/C eyes. He leaned in, trying to whisper something more, before another voice joined the rabble.

"Get away from her," Levi snarled as he punched Erwin lightly on the arm. Erwin stood up immediately, looking as innocent as a puppy. But you knew that the puppy was much more like a wold that had teeth and claws of iron, hidden from Levi. If Erwin was a wolf, with claws and teeth but the intelligence to keep them hidden to his advantage, then Levi was a panther. He liked to stalk silently near his prey, keeping far and away from his prey. But Levi had claws just the same as Erwin, and you wondered which one would win in a fight. The wolf or the panther?

"So," Levi seethed, "what gave you the rutting idea of partnering her with me?"

Erwin shrugged. Had he been anyone else, you would have mentally started to plan their funeral. "I had my reasons."

"I want to shove your reasons up your –"

"Aniki, you told me not to say bad things, so don't you start." Isabel interrupted, leaning back to she peered up to the youth that she called her brother. He snarled at her but backed down, stalking back the oak tree that was behind the bench and kicked it.

You winced at the sharp sound that the impact made before Erwin sat on your other side and looked out across the lake. "You'd better get prepared," he told you, keeping his voice low against the chatter of your other friends. He read the silent question in your eyes and smiled. "The trip is just next week. Pixis wanted everyone to panic over the next week about getting the grades to see which ones could handle the pressure."

"So why are you telling me to get ready?" You asked, joining him in looking out across the lake. "You know my grades are perfect, so you know that I won't be one of the ones worrying."

"Oh, I wasn't inferring that about your grades." Erwin grinned before standing up and dragging Hanji away from where she was talking crazily with Armin. "But your other friends may not be so fortunate."

It was then that you remembered that Jean had failed several of his exams, and that Isabel was the worst one at maths in the entire school.

You cursed as you dragged your entire party back to the manor house, to the library. You didn't care about their tutors... At that moment, it was just you and them, and the knowledge that you needed to hammer into their heads to get them to accompany you on the trip.

You didn't think of Levi.

You tried not to think of Levi.

And then you cursed, because no matter what you did, you couldn't keep him out of your mind.

Damn him.

"Can we just go now?"

"Come on, now you're being cruel."

"Another equation!?"

You snapped your book shut, gaining terrified looks from the people around you. Since you had dragged Jean, Marco and Isabel to the library to study on the Sunday, you had been there every single evening in preparation to getting their grades up. You blinked - it was very late evening, with darkness creeping up with stealthy fingers only to be banished by the lanterns that were flickering with light. It was also Friday, but there wouldn't be the game on tonight due to the school trip that was due to take place on Monday. So you had told everyone to bring pillows and blankets to the library, where you would be doing an all-nighter with the idiots that were your friends.

Isabel was seated at the desk that ran throughout the library with a book open in front of her. Numerous pieces of paper were scattered around her head as she screwed each piece up as soon as she made a mistake. You had to constantly supply her with pencils, because as she was doing maths - her worst subject - she was prone to snapping them every time that she couldn't understand something. And that happened more times than you cared to admit.

Jean and Marco were huddled beneath many pillows and blankets, which were illuminated by the lantern that you had placed by them. You had assigned each of them to test each other on English, and even you had to admit that they were getting good.

Numerous other first years had joined your camp in the library. Although your lack of mercy was well known, they knew that they needed your tutelage. Apparently, the entire tutor thing didn't come into effect until the school trip. So when Krista brought you all hot chocolate, it came as no surprise. She was studying for her catering grade, so regular meals were no problem because of her skills in the kitchen. However, her natural talent in science also lead you to push her near the aisle of healing and herbs, where she had been absorbed all of that day. You made sure she got regular breaks, but her thirst for knowledge about plants and healing proved difficult to fight against.

Reiner and Bertoldt were studying their Japanese and their science alone in a corner, and Eren and Connie came and went as they practiced their fighting skills outside with Shadis watching over them. Mikasa followed Eren around like a shadow, but Armin stayed by your side to help with teaching the rest of your friends everything else.

Ymir sucked at maths but was the best at English, you discovered, and Sasha had a surprising natural talent for history. Of course, that could have been because you had created analogies using food, saying nonsense such as, "and then the pineapple declared war on the potato chips." She remembered everything, however, so something must have been working.

The librarian kept away, which was a wise choice because your daggers never left their sheaths at your hips. You whipped them out every now and again to provide everyone with a little motivation, allowing a murderous glint to come into your eyes every time you spotted Jean dozing or Sasha eating.

When the grandfather clock chimed midnight, you allowed yourself to stand up from your stupor. Stretching your cramped muscles, you walked around the library, which was eerily quiet.

You reached Reiner and Bertoldt, where they were using the books as pillows. You pulled a blanket around each of them and carefully maneuvered their heads so that you could slip a real pillow underneath their thick heads. Putting the lantern that was closest to them out, you allowed them to fall into a more comfortable sleep. Eren and Connie had long since passed out in a window seat, and so you just drew the long curtains to a close so that the moonlight would not disturb them and left them to their slumber.

One by one, you covered each of your friends with blankets and pillows and put their books away so that the librarian didn't feel too inclined to kill them all. After the library was filled with snores, you carefully opened one window after perching yourself in one of the most private window seats and gazed out to the grounds.

Moonlight touched everything and coated it with a silver sheen, making everything glimmer with a kind of magic. A cool breeze was making the newly grown leaves dance to the tune of the night, and the grass whispered all kinds of secrets to you. No birds sang - it was too late for that.

So you fell asleep to the song of the night and the stars.

Next thing you knew, your dagger was in your hand and you were slicing at everything.

Panic made your mind clear even though you had been asleep just a moment ago. You could feel everything: the wind as you sliced through it with your daggers, or your crinkled skirt from where it hung at the top of your thigh.

"STOP THAT!"

The command was roared from just a few meters away, and you realized that someone had grabbed your shoulder in order to wake you up... Foolish, foolish move. You managed to slow your attacks to a halt before you could even see who you were attacking.

Farlan was holding both hands up, with Levi in front of him with his arms raised over his head. You took one breath before you crumpled back down into your seat with a groan. "Why would you try to wake me up?" You asked Farlan, because Levi was still covering his face.

"Because you weren't moving, and I panicked."

"You're a fool," you told him, settling back down into the pillows of the seat. But now that you had moved, you couldn't find the comfortable position you had been in when you had fallen asleep. Watching you wriggle, Farlan began smiling. "What's with you, Levi?" Levi had turned away from both of you, his back making a statement just as much as his face would have.

"You cut me."

He turned, and your eyes widened as you realized that he had a slice of red across one cheek. His eyes held nothing but wonder, however. "You had just woken up - how did you move that fast?"

You didn't move, frozen. Would the raven-haired male be angry? "I tend to move on instinct a lot - I was only awake once I was mid-way through the first slice of my dagger."

Farlan hurried to his friend's side, looking at the cut with concern. "Levi - you jumped in front of me to take that, didn't you? I'm so sorry, I should have just let her sleep, but I was worried about her and –"

"Shut up, Farlan." Levi sighed, wiping the blood away from the narrow cut. You took it in and relaxed; it was nothing to worry about. It wouldn't even scar. "What are a bunch of brats doing here anyway?"

"We're organizing the extermination of all of the dandelions around this place," you told him, frowning and brushing your skirt so that some of the wrinkles were worked out.

"Dandelions?" Farlan inquired, a smile hovering around his lips. You weren't sure why you were joking about as freely as you were, but because of that smile that Farlan was wearing, you would keep up the light tone. "Have the nasty yellow flowers done something to you?"

"Oh yes," you replied. "Rumour has it that those traitorous yellow flowers are poisonous to dogs and humans now. And," you added, giving a pointed glance at Levi, "we can't have such threatening plants around our favourite poodle, can we?"

Levi growled and reached out to grab your shoulders - probably to shake you - but you danced out of reach, skipping down the aisle to reach the place where most of your friends were still sleeping. Glancing at the clock, which told you immediately that it was three o'clock, you yelled.

"GET UP NOW YOU LAZY DANDELION HUNTERS!"

"Yes!" Sasha yelled, bolting awake, her hair an absolute mess. "We are the dandelion hunters!"

"YASS!" Jean groaned, sleep obviously fogging his mind, "whatever she said!"

"Agreed," chorused Reiner and Bertoldt, raising their hands from where they were still under blankets on their desks. You giggled at the drowsiness of your friends and raised your eyebrows at Farlan and Levi, who had just joined you in looking at all of your friends.

"Told you so," you said smugly, smiling at the boys.

"Shut it, brat," Levi said, pushing you slightly as Farlan went to try and rouse Isabel, who was still stubbornly trying to cling to sleep.

"Why are you here this early?" You asked him, watching Krista jump up and offer to make everyone pancakes.

"Y/N... You don't know what time it is, do you?"

"What?" You asked, looking back at the clock. It still showed that it was three o'clock, so what was Levi on about? But then you realized that you were squinting to see through the darkness that was everywhere - it wasn't three in the afternoon, like you'd originally thought. It was three in the morning. "Levi! What were you doing in here at three in the morning!?"

"I'm your partner," he said simply, "and so that means we're a team. Where you are, I am."

"That sucks," you told him. "So if I choose to go out on a date, will you be there too?"

Levi lost the amused look in his grey eyes. "Who would go on a date with you?"

Ouch. The insult was lost on you, however, as you turned and grinned at him. "I have several choices. See, Marco has always been lovely towards me, but recently Erwin seems to have taken an interest in me... And there's always Farlan, of course –"

Before you could continue, Levi cut you off with a growl. "Like Farlan would go on a date with you," he said, disbelief catching on his tone.

You raised an eyebrow. "You think he wouldn't?" Before he could reply, you yelled across the library to where Farlan was. "HEY! FARLAN!"

He turned in surprise and pleasure and raised a hand to wave at you. Levi tensed next to you, growling, "don't do it, brat, stop it right now –"

"Farlan? Levi doesn't believe that I can get a date. Care to help me prove him wrong?" You asked, blaming your bluntness on the fact that you were just surviving on three hours of sleep. Everyone looked at you with shock, and you slyly winked at them all and slightly inclined your head towards Levi. Farlan was watching you very closely, and he caught on to the inclination and knew that you were trying to annoy Levi.

"Of course, Y/N! I'll pick you up for a date in a bit, is that alright?"

Levi choked.

You beamed at Farlan as he winked at you, reaching down to pick Isabel off the floor. "That would be fantastic! Thank you!" Turning to Levi with your arms crossed and a giant smirk plastered all over your face, you raised an eyebrow at him. "What was that you just said?"

"I hate you."

"It was something ridiculous, I know that. What was it? Oh - that Farlan wouldn't go on a date with me?"

"Shut up."

"Because I don't know if that was any giveaway, Levi, but I'd say that statement was wrong - wouldn't you?"

"I've never hated anyone as much as I hate you right now," Levi growled before slinging his arms around your body and pulling you into his chest. You try to squeal, but his smooth and cold hand quickly finds your mouth and choked any sound. You were too stunned to cry out. "Shhh. I'm going to steal you away to teach you a lesson."

So he led you quietly by the hand towards the doors of the library. You followed; stunned by the fact that Levi had practically hugged you. You breathed a little deeper, trying to remember his scent... But then you realized what you were doing and snapped out of it, following the black haired boy through the doors. The friends that you were leaving behind were already making groaning noises, so you decided that it would be okay to leave them to their own devices for a few hours. After you closed the door, leaving your teammates to fall back asleep, you faintly heard Jean yell. "WHO THE HELL WOKE ME UP AT THREE?"

But Levi still held your hand as you walked up the staircase to the first floor, then the second, and then the third. You looked around with interest, having never been up more than the first floor, before Levi continued up the stairs to the final floor, where no one knew had gone.

Apparently, from the way that Levi confidently led you down a few corridors, Levi was the exception to the rule. He stopped by a dusty door at the end of the very last corridor, heaving it open with as little sound as he could manage. The darkness that waited on the other side was suffocating.

You didn't want to go into the darkness. As though he sensed your distress, Levi squeezed your fingers lightly and reassuringly before gently tugging you with him. Following him the way that a wary animal would follow its new master, you stepped exactly where he stepped as you both started to climb an unseen staircase.

After a few seconds of climbing the stairs and listening to Levi's breaths, which were deep and regular, he reached another door and tugged that open too.

So you followed him into the unknown with your hand in his, your heart beating and your breaths shallow.

But you didn't care about that.

You just followed him.

Levi led you to a world of stars and flowers.

The roof of the school was something that you had never paid much mind to. But now that you were there, perched high in the world, you realized that you were missing out on something so precious.

The floor was smooth stone slabs that had moss growing through the cracks and pretty flowers bursting from every small gap, creating a secret garden feeling. There were also wooden pillars that had ivy curving delicately around them, and they created a long roof that arched in a circle over your head, where the ivy hung down in thick curtains. Flowers of every colour were growing everywhere, and as you entered the sheltered area, you discovered that there were logs on their sides, the wood worked so that they were smooth and resembled seats. However, moss created a thick pillow for a seat, so as you sat down to take all of the beauty in, you felt more than comfortable. You heard water trickling along some small stream that all the plants had access to. It was hidden from sight by multiple emerald ferns, but every now and again the starlight's reflection would wink at you.

Levi pulled the ivy curtain to one side and joined you in the small alcove. He reached under your feet and pulled out a hidden drawer, from which he removed a thick black blanket and wrapped it around your body. "Levi," you whispered, shock from all of the natural beauty dominating your thoughts. "Did you do this?"

Levi shook his head. "One of the older students built everything and left me to care for it. I was the only one who knows about it."

"It's so beautiful."

He laughed and took your hand again. "You're not even looking in the right direction, Y/N." He again led you out of the sheltered area and out into the open air and sat down on the part of the floor that was so overgrown that it didn't look there had ever been stones there at all. He laid back and you mimicked him, leaning onto your back and hugging your blanket closer.

You looked up into the stars, with the endless black of the night hugging their light. Fireflies danced in the darkness, leaving light trails in between the stars, and you had to remind yourself to breath. "You like?" Levi asked, and you shot a glance at him.

He wasn't looking at you, just at the stars. The starlight suited him, you decided, seeing how the silvery light shone on his raven hair and made his skin look glossed and smooth. You could see every detail of Levi - how his eyebrow arched, how his jawline was so smooth and how it lead to a pointed chin. You could see how his eyes weren't just a grey, dull and watchful, but actually the cool darkness before the starlight hit it.

You could see the stars in them now.

"Yes. I like very much," you whispered.