That's MILITARY BRAT to You - Ch. Eighteen;

A/N: Yikes happy new year and happy valentine's day and happy president's day lmaoooo so I had the flu :) so between my other autoimmune illnesses that pretty much knocked me out FOREVER. And living in a home with 2 other people, we all pretty much STAYED sick for awhile, no matter how much we cleaned lol. But I'm back! And inspired, thanks to the most recent AoT chapters ; w; (anyone who wants to discuss plz PM me or contact me via IG naivetenshi I have words)

Levi could kindly screw himself.

With putting on the straps being my first task, I thought it would probably be the easiest thing ever. The other cadets put them on almost effortlessly. Yes, they undoubtedly had to be trained on them as well in regards to how they relate to the manuever gear. However, he could have given me a bit of warning in regards to how easily it was to get tangled - and how near impossible it was to become untangled.

With a huff, the straps finally in place, and the sun up, I gave him a glare but said nothing. He took my glare as confirmation that I was, in fact, done with my first assignment. He inspected me - and I had to keep my gaze upward now so as to not get distracted by the thought of him just staring at me all over - and gave a curt nod of approval.

"It takes most people a couple of days to do that. You only took a couple of hours. Consider yourself a little more capable than a thirteen year old."

I ground my teeth together to keep from telling him to eat dirt, knowing that I shouldn't try to burn this very thin, very delicate bridge. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him to train me, and I wanted to utilize his training as much as I could.

He was humanity's strongest, after all. Who else to learn about this confusing machinary than him?

He led the way to the stable, tapping on his horse before gesturing to another nearby. I was familiar with horse riding, as that was a part of our training since, in some areas, cars were becoming obsolete due to the titan attacks basically obliterating all roadways and making traveling by car impossible. I pressed a hand to the brown fur of the beautiful female, taking my time until I reached her head. Then slowly I, ran my hands over her long snout, engaging trust, prior to finally stepping back. She could reject me, turn away, get her hind legs ready. However, she answered my gestures with a whiny and shake of her head, a smile creeping across my face briefly in response before happily going to her side, petting her again in gratitude before hopping onto her back, feet promptly strapped in the stirrups, hands tight on the reigns.

"Let's go." I jumped at the sound of his voice, now stern as he tugged on his reigns to veer his horse to the left and toward the forest. I followed suit, my horse knowing that she was meant to follow and not lead, keeping a steady pace alongside her riding partner.

We rode for some time, not saying a word, and my face grew a little numb due to the speed our horses were going - but it was also mildly refreshing. I got a whiff of the beautiful morning: grass wet with dew; crisp, untouched morning air; the sound of animals waking up for the day, chirping and scurrying in the trees above. I almost forgot that I was being trained to assist in killing giant murdering humans, if only for a little while.

We reached our destination, an open field, and tied our horses to a nearby tree, an area in which they could also graze.

"You need to learn to handle combat in all that before I even consider giving you the gear." I almost quipped at the word "consider", but he continued on before I could. "I remember how you faired against Petra."

The name made a sharp, stabbing pain pierce straight into my heart, though I tried my best to stand as tall and straight as possible. "Yes... And you."

"Your form needs work. I've been thinking about it, and since I've fought you, I think I've found the form that works best for you. And working on it in the straps will help strengthen you to deal with the 3DMG."

I nodded at his words. Yes, they made sense, but I was also impatient. However, if he felt like this task was what I needed to do to achieve my end-goal of helping them on missions, then I would abide by his training regime as best as I could.

"You take too long trying to read your opponent." He raised a hand when he saw I was, in fact, about to interject. "There's nothing wrong with doing that - but timing is also everything. If you take too long, your enemy will assume you're the type to hesitate. And you are, in fact, the type to hesitate."

My eyebrows knit together, a bit confused. I thought I was putting my all into combat between myself and Petra and then myself and Levi. "How was I holding back."

"You having a relationship with your opponent made you hesitate. But understand: even those close to you are people you may end up fighting."

I inhaled sharply at that, shocked. "Wait - what - "

"I've come to find out that people who are supposed to be your comrades aren't always your comrades. Do you remember the trial with Eren?"

I nodded slowly; I still cringed at the thought of being referred to as the "Angel of Death".

"Most of those people have fought alongside us. Some of them were in the Scouting Legion before moving back into the walls. And they had the audacity to stand against people whose lives they fought for and with." He sighed, running his long fingers through his jet black hair, icy gaze averted to the side as if he was searching for something else. An answer, maybe? "That's just reality." He returned to his stoic self as he fixed his eyes on me. "So anytime we are on this field, I am your enemy."

"I can't - " The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, and Levi hovered over me, brandishing a knife from behind him. I gasped at the sight of the bright, silver blade and instantly jerked my knee into stomach as hard as I could. Though it certainly couldn't leave much damage, it was enough to push him upwards, and I took the space and opportunity to slip from under him and to the side.

I pushed myself up as quickly as possible, but he was already on his feet, lunging at me again. He had his free hand outreached for me, the other one still holding the knife. I couldn't let the knife distract me from what he was trying to do first: grab me. So I jumped back and reached for his wrist with one hand, keeping the other free so I could try for the knife.

But of course, it couldn't be that easy, right?

He spun on me - so quickly, he almost became invisible to me - and kept the knife an arm's length away as he did so. He was trying to slash at me, I knew, and I ducked and lifted a foot to kick him. He read me easily and pushed me leg aside, my back completely on the ground again. He pushed his whole body against mine, one hand quickly grabbing and holding tight to my wrists, shoving them above my head, the knife now at my neck. I tried to wriggle from underneath him, but it was useless.

"You're still hesitating."

"Fuck you, no I'm not!" I proceeded my struggle, to no avail, and relented to just glare at him, brown eyes squinted in annoyance. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't want to hurt me, do you?"

The sound of his voice made me look at him, really look at him. "N - no. No, Levi, I don't. I can't."

The knife in his hand loosened, his grip on my wrists not as tight, and I took this as a prime time to finish this stupid exercise. Quickly as possible, I slipped my hands from his grasp and used one hand to grab and then toss the knife before pushing against his shoulders as hard as possible, flipping us both over. I straddled his hips and used my legs and feet to pin his thighs, my hands pressed hard on his (very muscle-y, admittedly) forearms.

"Is this what you wanted?" I asked softly, my eyes never leaving his.

There was something different about them, they appeared softer, and I felt myself leaning closer, as if I wanted to dive into them. Levi stiffened and he shoved me aside - too easily, might I add, insultingly so - and stood up, not even speaking or glancing my way as he went to retrieve his weapon.

As I sat there, a pang of hurt came over me. Kind of like when someone rejected you, though that couldn't be the case here, correct? We were just comrades, training, and my emotions messed everything up, with my getting angry. Finally, finding my voice, still unable to stand up, I muttered, "I'm sorry." I truly meant it, too. I felt regret for having messed up our practice, knowing full well how much convincing I had to do in order for him to do it at all.

Suddenly, his pale hand had reached out in front of me, and I looked up at him, truly realizing my own hesitation before I finally took it, allowing him to help me up. However, he quickly released his hold, as if I was made of fire and it burned him. "Let's head back. By the time we get there, it'll be close to lunch. Then we gotta clean that damn cabin. It's getting filthy."

There he was, the old Levi. Planning, complaining about how dirty things were, hard as hell.

A mystery I wanted to unravel so bad.

On our horses, we said nothing, just rode quietly, allowing the sound of the horses' hooves on the dusty ground to lull us from the previous events as they galloped all the way home.