Chapter 8: Exposed

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Previously: Levi and Petra go into town. He buys her a necklace. The trainees go camping. Petra gets Levi tea. Levi overhears his roommates talk about Petra's body and her suitors.

"Good technique, Petra."

"Thanks, Nifa."

"Will you be staying tomorrow?" Levi asked once Petra was done, Nifa going off to get some water. "Or do you plan on visiting your father?"

She joined him on the ground from where he had been spectating the fight. "I'm staying."

"What about Oluo?"

"He's going," she said and he cheered internally.

As they talked he learned the people Petra usually hung out with were also all leaving and Levi began to look forward to tomorrow. A lot of the trainees were planning on heading home to see their loved ones, but, since they were only getting one day off, there would still be plenty of people around the training camp. Nonetheless, Levi was excited he and Petra could finally have some alone time. It was always fun going into town with her so maybe they could spend the entire day there. Or maybe they could hang around the camp all day and laze about.

Oluo sauntered over to them. "Slacking off, are we?"

"I'm stretching, duh," Petra said, reaching out to touch her toes in emphasis.

Levi shrugged. "No one really wants to spar with me. Unless you've decided you haven't suffered enough defeat at my hands. Wait, you didn't come to challenge me, did you? You haven't even—no wait, you have managed to land some weak hits on me here and there. I guess that's something."

Oluo's eyes flickered over to Petra, probably debating what would sting his pride more: listening to Levi badmouth him in front of his crush or losing to his rival right in front of her.

"Don't listen to him, Oluo. He's just trying to goad you into a fight. CQC doesn't factor into scores for ranking, but it does improve your standing in the instructors' eyes so you should spar with Jan or Bella. Don't fight Levi."

Levi bit back a grin. Petra thought she was helping her childhood friend by giving him good advice. But having the woman he liked say something that implied she thought he wasn't good enough, that Levi was the better man, it would rile up Oluo more than anything that could come out of Levi's mouth.

Predictably Oluo's wounded pride made him throw down the gauntlet.

That was fine with Levi.

"I have no problem putting you in your place," Levi told him once they moved a short distance away from Petra. "I like her too so I have no issues pounding your face into the ground in front of her." It was his first time confessing to someone, and verbally admitting, that he liked Petra. But Oluo already had to know about his feelings. Levi thought about the conversation he had heard the other night. There's no way she'll pick him over me. But it still made him want to show Oluo up in front of the woman they bought adored.

Oluo didn't bat an eyelash at the confession. "We'll see about that," he said. There was a confident but not arrogant gleam in his eyes. Soon it became apparent Oluo had been working to improve himself. He was faster and using moves they hadn't been taught yet.

Where did he learn this? Levi was suddenly caught off guard. He jerked back more in surprise than pain when Oluo's punch connected.

"What's the matter, Mr. Hotshot? Weren't you going to knock me into the ground?"

"Nice one, Oluo!" Petra cheered from the sidelines.

Eyes narrowed, Levi felt a surge of annoyance at being punched, a rush of embarrassment that Petra saw it, and anticipation at getting even. "You got one punch in and you think it's over?"

Done holding back, he took to the offensive. Levi swatted Oluo's attacks until he had pushed the other boy where he wanted him to be. Oluo made the next part easy when he threw a wide punch. Ducking it, Levi caught the arm and swung Oluo until he was facing Petra and shouldered Oluo's back to send him to the ground, holding him there. Then he caught Oluo's free arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing both of his arms in an x shape and digging his knee into Oluo's lower back, pinning him.

"Give up?" Levi asked smugly. He tightened his grip and pushed his knee in the slightest bit. Oluo grunted in pain but kept his mouth shut.

"Just give up, Oluo, he's already won," Petra said, concern clear in her voice.

The victory was his so Levi released Oluo. No point in humiliating him further. Even Levi wasn't that much of an asshole, forcing Oluo to submit in front of his crush. Levi offered Petra a hand. "C'mon, I'll show you how it's done." He held her hand just a heartbeat longer than necessary before letting go.

Petra turned to the defeated boy. "That was impressive, Oluo. How did you improve so quickly?"

"Did you ask one of our instructors for extra lessons?" Levi guessed, recalling him hounding the silver-haired man around camp. He was tempted to say Not that it did you any good but Oluo was embarrassed enough already. He didn't need to be completely humiliated.

His rival proved to be a rather stubborn foe as he bounced back pretty quickly from the defeat—whereas Levi would have sulked the entire day and felt too ashamed to look Petra in the eye—and even asked Levi to teach him the move. He certainly doesn't know how to give up. Annoyingly it made Levi like and respect Oluo more than he would have cared to admit.

During dinner, the commander announced they were closing the building with the men's showers and toilets for maintenance. "Half the women's showers and toilets will now be used by the male soldiers," she informed the trainees in the mess hall. "It shouldn't be crowded since most of you are planning to leave soon and many have left already for your day off tomorrow. And it goes without saying that any man or woman found somewhere meant for the opposite sex will be dealing with me."

Petra left dinner early to see Oluo and Nifa off and Levi returned to his room to grab his night clothes.

The women's shower room he stepped into mirrored the men's: a long shelf for clothes ran along the stone wall on the left and on the right were ten doorless wooden stalls. Each stall had a large round shower-head. Evening sunlight came from the five, barred windows above the stalls.

This particular shower room was empty and he was pleased to finally be able to clean himself without being in full view of other men. Even if it no longer bothered him, it was nice to have a private shower.

So much for that, Levi thought when he heard the door open. But he was already done. Twisting the knob, he shut off the water and turned to reach for his towel.

Levi froze when he made eye-contact with the newcomer, stunned for a millisecond.

Petra let out a shriek and Levi swore, one hand covering his crotch while the other one reached for the towel, trying to quickly secure it around his waist.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" Levi demanded, mortified. Had she seen him naked? She had. She had to have. No way she hadn't.

The redhead blushed brightly, confirming it, and clutched her nightgown to her chest. "Me? What're you doing in the women's showers?!"

"The men's are closed for—"

"I know that. This shower room is still for women only. The showers and toilets on the left side of the building are the ones for men."

One hand holding his towel—he did not want to risk dropping it at any cost—Levi went to grab his clothes from the shelf, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. "I saw the sign on the door," he argued. "The paper definitely said 'Men' on it."

"Well," Petra began hesitantly, "they might have changed which rooms were for who. Actually, when I entered the building I saw one of the instructors put up the last sign and leave. They probably wanted the toilet and shower rooms on the left side reserved for the male soldiers since it's the side the men's barracks are to this building. But he should have knocked on every door and checked to make sure it was empty first before changing the signs in case of...this type of mixup happening."

Levi held his clothes protectively before him. "Can you...?"

Petra turned around to give him privacy.

Why's it matter now? She's already seen the family jewels. Levi told his internal voice to shut up.

"I'll go make sure no one else comes in," Petra said and fled.

Levi dried and dressed in record time. Petra barged back in just as he finished yanking down his shirt and reached for his neatly folded uniform and towel.

"There's a group of women coming," she cried out in alarm. "You have to hide!"

"Where?!" Levi whipped his head around frantically. There wasn't much room there and everything was in full view.

Petra hurried him to the last stall. "Get in the corner."

Levi hunched his shoulders to squeeze himself into the corner as much as possible, clutching his things to his chest. "What if they see my legs?"

"They won't. You should be hidden unless they come near the front of this stall."

The door opened and female voices filled the room.

I'm dead! I'm so fucking dead! Levi panicked, recognizing a voice that belonged to one of their instructors. Maybe, just maybe, they could have possibly explained his presence as the honest mixup that it was, or even told the girls he and Petra were just making out or something and asked them to keep quiet. But with one of their instructors here, if he was caught in a room full of undressing women...

Levi saw his happy, comfortable life as an MP disappear. No way! They couldn't deny him entry into the Military Police over one incident, could they? But no, for something like this, of course they would. This wasn't like if he were sneaking around after curfew, or got in a fight, or was found with a bottle of booze. A sympathetic instructor might have let one of those slide. But this? I'm screwed, he thought, stomach sinking. They'll think I'm some degenerate or pervert or something. He'd be barred from the MP Brigade if he was caught here.

A voice started coming near his stall. "I'm taking this one," Petra said quickly and politely, blocking the line of sight as he slid low, just in case, not wanting to be seen over her head.

Water started to fall in the second to last stall and Levi's heart jumped. Then Petra's words really registered in his head. She had claimed his stall to ensure no one saw him. But if Petra didn't use it, someone would get curious and see if she could have her turn. Which could only mean one thing. Suddenly, his panic evaporated.

"Turn around," Petra said pointedly, voice low.

Levi stood up and faced the wall. Now his heart pounded for a very different reason. Levi imagined Petra taking off her clothes and placing them on the shelf. He heard the sound of her bare feet touch the cool stone floor. There was a creak and water began to pour. Some of the spray hit his back and he tried to shrink himself into the corner as much as he could, but he resigned himself to getting partially wet regardless.

He pictured Petra all wet and sexy behind him. Imagined the water running down her naked, beautiful skin. It would be all glistening and slippery.

Levi shifted his head to the right just a little. Maybe he could get a tiny, really quick peek. His rational brain told him No and Don't do it and Stop thinking with your penis. But how was he not supposed to take a look? When her perfect, naked body was right behind him. So tempting. He turned his head a little bit more. He just wanted to be able to get a flash of—

Warm, wet fingers gripped his head and twisted it back in its original position. "Eyes straight ahead, Ackerman," she said sternly.

Whoops. Busted, he thought sheepishly. "What about just a small look?" Levi asked half hopefully.

Petra jabbed two fingers painfully into his side in response.

It felt like both a dream and torture, being so close to his wet, naked, beautiful crush. His dick twitched in response. Oh no. Don't. Don't think about that.

Too late. Now he couldn't stop thinking about it. Petra was washing away the day's filth and would be all clean and fresh and smell so good. Her lovely skin would glow and look super soft and touchable. Levi fantasized about squeezing those full curves, eliciting sweet moans from his little red temptress. His blood began to flow down in one direction. No, no, no. He could not get a boner right now. That would only make the situation worse.

Shamelessly, Levi wondered if Petra was even a little aroused by him being within arms reach of her vulnerable and nude body. He licked his lips, imagining grabbing her by the waist and pressing her against the wall, licking up her body. How she'd squirm at his touch, trying to keep her pleasured moans at bay lest she alert the other women. Stop making yourself hornier, you jackass.

It was then he heard a voice that successfully killed his growing erection.

The commander! Levi thought, frightened, wishing he could melt into the wall. If she finds me in here she'll rip my balls off! He held his breath, too scared to move.

"She's gone," Petra said in relief after Commander Lange took whomever she came for.

He realized Petra would have been in deep shit herself if she were caught with him.

Thankfully, it soon became a lot less noisy, indicating the women were leaving. No new ones were coming in. He was lucky there were only a few dozen trainees staying behind and the rest had left for home already. Otherwise he would have been caught or stuck there for who knows how long—Petra, too, as she would have had to keep him from being discovered by continuing to use the stall.

Footsteps came closer to their stall and a voice asked, "Petra, are you still in there?"

Levi froze in terror. He heard Petra move away. If he was really quick, he could get an eyeful of Petra's body right now. You stop that this instant, he scolded himself.

"I'm just really filthy," Petra said to the other girl.

So am I. Levi hit his head against the stone wall in an effort to knock the pervy thoughts out of his mind.

Lightning sparked all over his body when he felt Petra come up very close to him. "There's only two of them left," she whispered. Her warm breath causing goosebumps all over his neck. "I'll get dressed and check the hallway.

Levi barely heard her, too busy imagining how close her lips and chest were to his back. "Can I turn around now?" Levi asked and finally left the stall when she confirmed she was dressed.

"All clear out here, too," Petra reported from the door.

Together, they fled the building.

Levi only breathed a sigh of relief once he was at his locker in the men's barracks. "Thanks. If you hadn't found me first, I don't even want to think about it." He stowed away his uniform, changing out of his wet shirt and into a dry one.

"Yeah, that would have been real bad. Well, I have to go now. It'll be curfew soon. Goodnight."

Levi almost stopped her to ask what she thought of his body but Petra was already gone.

That night, Levi finally gave in to temptation. After ensuring his two remaining roommates were sleeping and snoring, he slipped his hand into his pants. Guilty pleasure warmed his blood as he stroked himself, thinking back to the heat of the water and the small space of the shower stall. Except in his fantasy, he was watching as Petra sensuously touched herself as she washed. His breathing and heart quickened at how she'd sigh and moan, saying his name breathlessly.

The orgasm hit him fast and it nearly made his moan. After the pleasure dissipated, shame replaced it. Disgust soon followed. Damn it. He hated the gross sticky feeling between his legs. He would not be able to sleep like this. Stifling a groan, Levi left his comfy bunk to go clean himself and change, resolving to buy, like his roommates did, an "emergency" pair of spare socks to keep but not use. Not in the traditional sense anyway.

The following day, as the trainees dined, Levi was about to reach for the last loaf of bread when Petra took it first. "Can I have that?" Levi asked.

"We can share," Petra offered in her usual kind way.

"I think I should at least get a larger half since you saw me naked and I deserve compensation."

And so began his constant and unending demands of restitution for her seeing him in his birthday suit.

Two days later, Levi brought it up again when they were playing cards atop her bunk and Petra had a better hand. The winner would get to have the last piece of pie Nifa gave them. Levi really wanted that slice of pie. "You know, if you let me have this, I'll consider it a small debt paid since you got an eyeful of me the other day."

Another time they were in class and Levi had spaced out at the end, thinking about buying his dog a new chew toy and missing the last leg of the lecture. He pestered Petra for her notes claiming she owed him for seeing him ass-naked.

"Levi!" Petra said in exasperation. "It was one second. Stop annoying me about it."

But it was far too fun to stop. Petra and Oluo would sometimes bicker over old feuds or reminisce about fun memories from their childhood, making him feel left out.

Levi liked that he and Petra now had a secret thing between just the two of them that no one else knew. How could he let it go so easily?

Today they were once more being tested on the Titan obstacle course. Scores would be based on the speed and accuracy with which they "slew" the Titan dummies. Levi went first.

"Man, Levi sets and breaks all the records."

"No one comes even close to his level."

"Even Oluo who's the second best is so far behind."

"Is he a monster in human form or something?"

All the whispers and praises flew into Levi's ears and though he did feel smug listening to them, there was only one voice that mattered to him. To his irritation, Oluo had somehow managed to bite his tongue and Petra was fussing over him. It honestly amazed him how Oluo hadn't managed to lose his tongue completely yet. Levi had lost count of the number of times Oluo injured himself like this.

"Again?" Levi taunted when he reached his friends. "What kind of an idiot are you?"

"Levi, you're done already?" Petra talked over whatever incoherent nonsense Oluo was trying to say. "Did you beat your previous record again?"

"Yeah," he replied like it was no big deal. She touched his arm and he felt unmoored as she pulled him away.

"Can you help me out with this one tricky maneuver?" Petra requested, sounding embarrassed. "I thought I'd get it by now but I keep messing it up. I got it right when they first taught it to us, but I keep screwing up. So I was wondering if you can watch me and help me out."

"Of course," Levi accepted happily. "We can practice today after dinner if you want." Summer meant longer days so they'd have plenty of sunlight.

"Thanks!"

"Even though you did take a peek at my naked body and—"

Petra groaned. "Will you let that go already?"

A week had passed since the shower incident and he still brought it up. Only he never worked up the courage to ask her what she thought of his naked body. More specifically, his dick. He was too scared of her answer. Every time he came close to asking her he chickened out at the last second. It would murder his self-esteem if she laughed or got awkward or said it was too small or weird.

Come evening, Levi felt a surge of annoyance when Oluo followed Petra into the forest. What's he doing here? Why did the little parasite have to follow her everywhere she went? The two of them already spent so much time together. Only when he and Petra had the classroom lectures could Levi get some alone time with her without Oluo butting in. The rest of the day she spent with a group of friends and Oluo was always around her. Maybe he's scared, Levi thought.

Already he and Petra were good friends despite having only known each other for a year. He liked to think he was getting as close to her as Oluo was. Bet that's why he's taken to hanging around her all the time. To prevent Petra from growing more attached to his rival. Or so Levi hoped.

Petra observed the wooden silhouettes with a thick bag on their napes. "You set up the Titan dummies already?"

"Thought it was better not to waste any daylight setting it up when you got here. Now we can get right to it." Levi turned to the unwanted third wheel. "But first, why're you here?"

"Petra mentioned she needed help and since I already mastered that maneuver, I generously offered her my services. She really needs it."

"Oh, shut up." Petra rolled her eyes at Oluo. "No one invited you. Just ignore him, Levi."

"Can you show me how do you it?" Levi requested, referring to the maneuver. He pretended to ignore Oluo's commentary as Oluo picked at Petra's mistakes. But Levi had to admit he was right in finding her flaws.

With a little guidance and some demonstrations, Petra was able to correct herself and execute the maneuver perfectly.

"See? I knew you had it in you. You need to stop getting in your own way." Sometimes Levi had noticed Petra would start second-guessing herself, worry she was wrong and end up failing. "Have more self-confidence. You doubt yourself too much."

"You're probably right," she laughed. "But I just get so anxious. Then I make a mistake and get super critical about myself."

"Can't say I can relate," Oluo said, trying to be cool again.

"Oluo, can you do me a favor?" Petra asked. "I have to get my letter to my father to the administrative building today before it closes so it'll be mailed to him on time. But I really want to shower first. Think you can drop it off for me?"

"Sure thing. His birthday's coming up, right?"

Petra nodded. "Thanks. It's in my bunk." When Oluo left, she turned to him. "Levi, can you go up and check he's gone? I just realized I have to show you something."

Puzzled, he agreed. Firing the hooks of his 3D gear, he landed on a sturdy branch of a nearby tree and saw Oluo leave the forest, wondering what she wanted to show him. "He's gone," Levi said when he returned to the ground. "Petra, where'd you go?"

"Just a minute!" Her voice came from behind a tree.

What was she doing? Levi saw her come out with her brown jacket rolled up, holding it to her chest.

"Here, hold this for a sec." She pushed the bundle into his arms.

"What're you—"

Petra opened her blouse.

She wasn't wearing her sports bra.

The words died in his throat. Levi barely had a chance to take in her breasts in all their glory before she folded her blouse and started buttoning it up. "There. Now we're even." She retrieved her rolled-up jacket from his frozen arms, her sports bra peeking out of it. "And thanks for helping me with the maneuver."

Levi stood there, slack-jawed, even after she left.

Still in a daze, he lay in bed, replaying that moment over and over. In his head, it was in slow-mo. Levi swallowed. Those perfect mounds with the pink peaks filled his mind. He wished he could have had more than a second to drink in the sight before she had covered herself. It was not fair. She got to see his dick for much longer. He deserved more time to properly appreciate her lovely assets.

For fuck's sake, Levi groaned internally. He had only a day ago stopped feeling the urge to touch himself from the shower incident. It was back full force.

How Petra acted so natural the following morning after flashing him like that Levi had no idea.

She was certainly more daring than him. If the roles had been reversed, he never would have had the courage or self-confidence to do what she did. And if he had by some chance, he wouldn't have been able to face her without getting embarrassed or self-conscious. Yet she spent the entire day acting like nothing happened. He wasn't as subtle, though, and she caught him staring at her a few times. But she never said anything and he'd hastily look away.

Petra came to stand beside him, rolling up her sleeves, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"You don't have kitchen duty with me," he said, soapy sponge and plate in his hands.

"Caitlin wasn't feeling well so I offered to take her place. You wash, I'll dry." She nodded to the pile of dishes he'd already scrubbed.

Levi started rinsing the plate, trying to work up the courage. "I didn't expect you to do that." He didn't have to clarify what he was referring to.

Petra smiled, obviously pleased with herself. "I know. Since it seemed to bother you so much that I saw your private parts, I thought I should make it even and show you mine."

"I only got to see your tits," Levi corrected. "You got a full-frontal from me. I would hardly call that even."

"It was a very nice view."

He almost dropped the cup he was washing. Was she flirting with him? Or was she just teasing him? Does she like my dick? Levi thought excitedly. "Could've at least given me more time to take them in."

"You got the same amount of time I did."

"You got half a second longer. Besides, you saw more of my body so I should get more time. That's only fair."

"Mmm. Maybe. Do you want to see them now?"

Levi dropped the bowl this time.

"Just kidding."

"Since when did you turn into such a tease?"

"There you are," Oluo interrupted, coming to stand beside Petra.

Cock blocker back at it again. Levi wondered how he knew where Petra was. Probably went around looking for her like a lost puppy. Would it kill Oluo to give them some alone time? Possibly. Probably. He could only imagine how painful it was, having your crush hang out with another guy who you knew was also interested in her.

"There you all are," Nifa said, joining them. "I'm hurt no one invited me."

Petra assured her they weren't hanging out without her, then promptly ditched him and Oluo to hang out with Nifa instead.

"I can't believe I got roped into this," Oluo grumbled, taking over Petra's job of drying the dishes. "But I just can't say no to her."

"I'm sure she doesn't have the same problem with you."

"You're a shiny, pretty new thing that's caught her eye. That's all. Don't let it go to your head and think it's more than it is. What we have is deeper than that."

Levi considered ways to casually bring up the fact he and Petra had seen each other naked. Well, maybe "naked" was a bit of an exaggeration on his end. He'd only seen her breasts—her glorious, perfect breasts—so naked was kind of a stretch. Technically though, he had seen her bare arms and legs and abs in her workout clothes, so if all of that was combined together he had seen most of her body. By rounding up, one could say it was not an entirely false statement. You are such an idiot, he thought when he was done with the mental gymnastics.

"...think that but it won't work," Oluo declared, done with his speech.

"Huh?"

"Stop doing that! I know you hear what I say," Oluo accused, flustered. "But you always pretend you don't so you can act all cool!"

"Sorry." Levi shrugged. "I really didn't hear a word you said. My mind was elsewhere."

"Then hear me now: Petra does not like you. You won't have her. I'm going to win her over and marry her one day. We have a history of friendship together and we will share our future too as husband and wife—she already nags me like one. Our families also already approve of each other. Do you really think you can come between us?"

"No," Levi responded calmly. "I don't think I can come between you two. Because for that to happen Petra first has to be part of the equation. Which she's not. It's clear that between the two of you, you're the only one who has developed romantic feelings."

"We'll see about that."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's a promise."

They finished the rest of the dishes in silence.

Levi deliberately moved slowly to let Oluo get ahead as they returned to the men's barracks. He couldn't deny the stinging truth of Oluo's words. He and Petra did have a strong basis with their friendship. Her father liked him, too. He might even have started picturing Oluo as his potential son-in-law already. Is there anything of substance between us? Was he just deluding himself? Seeing something more between his and Petra's interactions? All Levi had to show for was their borderline flirtations. At the end of the day, what she and Oluo had was stronger.

Don't get into your own head, he told himself. Until Petra said so herself, there was no way of knowing if she felt anything romantic for either one of them.

But if she started liking them both, it would suck but he would stop chasing after her. No matter how much Levi liked Petra, he was not going to play that game, getting caught in some moronic love triangle. He had far too much self-respect to try and win the affections of a woman who couldn't choose between two men. There was no way he was putting himself through such grief and bullshit.

Unless she gave any indication she liked Oluo in a romantic way, though, Levi would hold on to his feelings and pursue her. He wasn't about to let her go without putting up a fight.

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