A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the lovely comments received for the past chapters.

I've actually finished Inquisition Day: Part 1 a while back, but find that it's too short for my liking. Hence I took the time to edit it before uploading it here. Didn't want a half-past-six chapter uploaded and spoil the mood for the story.

Covid-19 has been raging everywhere. Hope everyone is taking care wherever you are in the world. Stay safe everyone.

A toast to those who loves Levi Ackerman.

Enjoy. :)

Artemis615

Kapitel 15 - Inquisition Day: Part 1

Freya is someone who can never remember a dream. No, not all dreams though. Sometimes, she remembers them, but that will be something years later. Like the recollection dream where she first met Captain Levi 10 years back. Lovely dream, she had thought to herself, to remember that Captain Levi and she go way back before when he was just a mere newly recruited cadet.

She smiled in her dream. This will be a memory that she will sear into her brain and memory forever.

The sound of birds chirping outside the window slowly brings her back to the waking world. The lovely morning breeze brings a cool feeling on her cheeks, tempting her back to slumber.

But she'll have to wake up soon. It's morning, and birds are chirping. It is time to wake up.

"Morning already?" Freya mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes out of sleep and sat up. The morning breeze gave her a good feeling today, and she smiled.

Today will be the day for the Yeager boy to become theirs.

Suddenly, her blanket got whipped out of the bed and a pair of hands slides itself underneath her legs and pulled her to the side of the bed. The movement was so sudden she squeaked and grabbed the pillow behind her to smack at the person manhandling her.

Introduction be damn, she'd smack the person to hell before anything happens to her again without the Captain's presence.

"Well, well," Levi's deep, baritone voice answered her from the other side of the pillow she had just smacked at the person who almost had her cradled to their body. "Good morning to you too, Teacup."

Oh fuck.

It's Captain Levi!

Freya bit her lips and whimpered pathetically.

"H-He-Heishichou," Freya stuttered, quickly placing down the pillow and came face to face with Levi, who's hair is now in disarray. Her lips trembled as her eyes widened in trepidation at the cool expression of Captain Levi that betrays nothing of what could possibly seethes behind that composed façade.

Because usually, he would have barked something out at her.

Patting his shoulder to hopefully pacify him internally, Freya blurted out a stream of apologies, "I'm so sorry, Heichou! I thought- I mean- No, I'm so sorry. Let me fix this for you really quick."

Freya quickly brushed her fingers through his messed up dark locks. He made no protest of her as her fingers combed down his scalp gently. Oh my, she thought, surprising the heck out of her small heart when she realizes she still have the balls to let her mind give a quick comment on her Captain's hair quietly. They're so soft! So soft!

Levi was staring down at her, but not in an angry way. At least, that's what Freya noticed. It was as if he is just letting her do whatever she wants with him without a comment or expression. Nothing. There is literally nothing on his face.

He just…look at her.

Not to say she didn't like the attention, but she could feel heat rising up her neck. She knew how red she could look with her fair skin and bit her lips at the memory of her looking like a tomato in front of a mirror after she was embarrassed by the girls back in the Washers Department. Embarrassed that she had outright mistaken him for the intruder yesterday this this early in the morning, Freya smiled at her captain nervously and brush up his remaining dark locks to their usual neat look before saying, "All done Levi-Heichou. Good as new!"

Levi, on the other hand, waste no time to smack down what she had initially thought about him.

"You thought I'm the intruder, didn't you?"

The redness from her feeling embarrassed about herself mistaking him as the intruder flamed up in record time from to the tips of her ears as a response to his question. To Levi, that is good enough to be the answer to his question.

"I'm sorry, Heichou," she mumbled, ashamed of the revelation smacked to her mercilessly, dropping her head down to stare at her hand's ministration, wringing her fingers in guilt. "Yes, I did. I'm just surprised because… because…I'm really sorry, Heichou."

Levi sighed quietly. Seems like she really is brave only when she is asleep.

…

Scratch that. It's not only when she's asleep. She's brave right about every single time, and she just touched his hair.

Fuckin' brave teacup, he thought to himself quietly. Didn't anyone in the kitchen tell her what I was like before she's Secretary?

He sighed. Not that anyone ever bothers with the repercussion that will befall her should she really tick him off. They never were nice to her to begin with.

Both his arms are underneath her blanketed legs and one arm circled around her waist still. Squeezing her legs lightly, he pulled her firmly to the side of the bed and towards his chest before carrying her up as usual to the bathroom. And Freya will hook one arm around the back of his neck for leverage.

This was their morning routine for days now.

But today, Freya had another idea.

"Oh, Levi-Heichou, I would like to try walking on my own today. I think I've healed up enough to do that," Freya said to him, blinking owlishly at him with a smile.

Levi frowned.

Walking on her own? And lose the chance to get close to her?

No fuckin way… yet.

Freya had gone to sleep with a simple loose braid over one side of her shoulder. Today she woke up with mussed up hair, courtesy to her turning around in her sleep often enough the braid came loose, and a massive knot piled up around her head.

For a moment, he thought her bed hair looked very fetching on her.

"Something wrong with your eye there?" Levi chided, ignoring her request to walk on her own and instead walked out of the bedroom with her in his arms, pulling her small body to his more firmly this time.

Freya genuinely thought there is sand in her eyes and quickly rubbed them off, but halfway through she realizes what he was talking about.

"My eyes are alright, Heichou. Just that, the erm…I would like to try-"

"You are part of my weight training regime now; didn't you know that?" Levi said nonchalantly, stopping to look at her closely. He finds that whenever he leans into her face to say something, she'd either agree to it immediately, or fell silent.

Or do that cute stutter.

Wait, Levi's thought halted. Damn it to hell. Cute? How the fuck his mind image of her progressed this far over a single kiss while she's not even awake?

He was then instantly reminded of yesterday night. Of how he had leaned down to kiss her, of how sweet she taste, of how soft her lips felt beneath his.

His eyes did a quick glance down at her lips. She didn't see him do that, but she bit her lips in response to his question.

Levi felt his breath hitched in his chest.

"Oh," Freya replied, nodding her head in acknowledgement. But then wait, what?

Weight training regime?!

"H-hey! That's mean!" Freya protested, kicking up her legs in the air freely as she struggled in his arms. Levi had to pull her body closer to his to avoid her colliding with the doorframe. She didn't realize this subtle movement. "Heichou, are you saying I'm heavy?"

Levi looked at her in his arms and lifted one of his eyebrows up. He pretended to look up the ceiling in a thinking manner and hummed in a deep voice, then bounced her up in the air once. She squeaked when he did that and grabbed onto his shoulder tightly.

"You're not heavy," Levi replied, leaning close enough to her face to almost brush her nose with his. He realizes recently, he really loved to tease her like this. He get to see her flush up to that lovely colour whilst her eyes did a nervous glance down his lips.

Yes, Freya, Levi thought to himself quietly with a smirk. I saw that.

"You're just the right weight. A bit more would be nicer. Your weight determines how fast you can go with the Three-Dimensional Manoeuvre Gears. No weight, no momentum. Don't be afraid to eat more, Teacup. You're almost there."

Freya bit her lips, frustrated her Captain turned out to be someone who seizes every opportunity to tease her. She didn't know the Captain Levi had this side to him. The rumours do him no justice at all. As far as those rumours' spreads about the Captain's whatnots, they're all lies.

"I'm not afraid to eat, Heichou. I'm already eating twice the ratio I had when I was a Washer."

That stopped Levi in his tracks.

Levi turned his head to look at her in his arms and repeated slowly, "Twice?"

As he remembered, soldiers keep their physics and energy up with proteins and carbs, and that means plenty of eggs, potatoes and legumes. Meat wise, its only reserved for rare occasions as it is expensive to breed livestock in the gradually crowded Walls. The Washers receives the same sort of meal as the soldiers does. All Levi did was add an extra egg on top of the extra that he had requested Emma give her. The rest of the food portion are the same as any other soldiers in the squad.

And she said, that was a double ratio?

"I only add two more eggs to your meals, Freya," he started carefully, wanting to dig more information on her days in the Washers Department. "The rest are the same as any other soldiers. Same as mine and everyone else in the Scout Regiment."

Freya inclined her head to the side and stared up at her Captain, "Why ever would you think I'm so thin, Heichou? I never had enough. The majority of the food portion goes to the soldiers, and since we're only washing clothes, we don't need to eat that much. At least, that's what the girls told me."

Levi narrowed his eyes. This confirmed it. Not only was she bullied into washing more loads than the other Washers, she also had her portion cut off from what the rest had. It's unusual that she didn't notice how her portion was different than the rest of the others, but then he remembered she mentioned she only get to have her dinner late into the night, when everyone else had long finished their portion of their wash load and dumped the rest to her.

"Didn't you tell Eyebrows about this?" Levi asked, holding her closer to his body. This little Teacup of his probably didn't realize she was bullied all these whiles in the Washers Department. "Didn't you know they're mistreating you? Bullying in the Scout Regiment is not tolerable. At all. They will receive the right punishment or banishment should you have reported it."

Levi sighed, lightly knocking her forehead with his. This is maddening. She probably never even knew her food portion was cut off.

Freya only shrugged her shoulders, rubbing her forehead in the process. "Didn't want to show favouritism in the Washers Department. The girls will be more dreadful to me then, more so the popular ones. I received less portion already because the popular ones wanted to put on more weight so as to grow out their boobs, that's what I heard. But the left-over portion is enough to keep me from feeling hungry."

Freya noticed Levi's eyes gradually darkens the more she talks about the Washers. Though she really didn't want to think kindly of the Washers, she couldn't let her past be something for Levi to worry now.

He had plenty to worry enough on his plate now.

Biting her lips again, Freya gulped and patted her Captain's shoulder to sort of bring him back to her. Her heart jumped a little in delight when he blinked and turned to look at her intently.

For a moment there, she had Levi's undivided attention.

"I'm sorry I brought this up, Levi Heichou. I shouldn't burden you with my past. It wasn't a big problem to start with anyway-"

"You can leave that to me to worry about, Freya," Levi snapped his eyes back to hers and replied with a firm note. "Don't fret with what issues of yours will burden me. You are my Secretary now. Anyone thinking of giving you problem, you don't have to hold back on letting me know so I can fuck them up."

For a good portion of her life, only Erwin stands up for her. But when she starts working in the Washers Department, she couldn't always go for Erwin to back her up. She knew he had plenty to worry about the Titans and Expeditions.

But to have Levi back her up, and this time in his own words, her heart gave a painful twitch.

It made her feel a little happy, and a little sad as well. If only she had met him earlier instead of 10 years later. She wouldn't have had to find out everything about how mistreated she was in the Washers Department so late.

At the same time, it made her look at Levi in disbelief. She could hardly believe her sudden change of fate. In the span of few days, she has gone from washing clothes and thought about the handsome stranger El, to becoming the esteemed Captain Levi's Secretary, a position high enough that she doesn't have to salute any of the Squad Leaders.

It's almost too good to be true that for a moment, she thought that this was just a dream of hers.

And that if this were a dream, then she prayed hard she will never wake up from it.

Never.

"Freya, do you get what I am saying?" Levi called her firmly when she didn't respond. Freya jumped a little before tearing herself away from her thoughts and nodded quickly.

Well, time to wake up.

"Yes, yes, Heichou, yes. I'll report to you next time trouble happens," Freya replied quickly, not wanting her Captain to get angry.

Not that he ever gets angry with her. He was mostly just frustrated with her, and a little…anxious? Was that it?

Now that Freya stopped to think, he really, truly, has never gotten angry with her before.

Settling her down in the bathroom, Levi held out one arm for her to hold onto in case she wobbled. She straight up thanked him and limped towards the sink to splash water to her face.

All without his help.

Levi stared. This wasn't the usual.

The usual was that he would set her back down on the floor, and she would hold onto his arms for leverage before slowly ambling towards the sink. Only when she has her grip on the sink did Levi let go.

A strange heavy feeling settled into him. What is this feeling? It's so strange it feels…it feels like…

Was this disappointment?

That she no longer needs his help?

Awkwardly retreating his hand back, Levi ran the same hand he had held out for her into his hair instead to relieve that non existing itch on his scalp.

Part of him was proud of her for healing up so well, but a small part of him had gotten used to her dependence on him, including needing to carry her everywhere and put her to bed and applying the ointment to her small back.

Those happened in the span of few days. And he had somehow felt that it was a little…nice.. to have someone waiting for him.

He quite liked that feeling.

Levi sighed. What has he become now?

Leaving her to her morning routine time, the stoic Captain sets up the pot of tea on the table and waited for Emma to send in a kettle of hot water for his tea. It will be quite a while more to wait as it is still quite early. Freya happened to wake up earlier than usual. Probably that damn bird chirping out his window woke her up.

"Come to think of it, Heichou," Freya piped up when she slowly ambulates out of the bathroom, using the walls as support. "I think its mosquito season again. We will need to put out some lemongrass or something to chase the mosquitoes away. I got bitten pretty badly last night. Look at this," with that, she tugged down her shirt a little and revealed her collarbone nonchalantly.

After all, the Captain has seen everything. What's a little collarbone gonna do to him?

Levi looked up indifferently and did a quick double take in shock.

There, stark against her pale skin, was a deep reddish bite mark. It wasn't from a mosquito bite.

It was the love bite he sucked on her skin last night.

Levi had to close his eyes and bite the insides of his cheek. He really did it in this time. How is he supposed to explain to her that he really didn't take advantage of her yesterday? That she knocked herself against something during sleep? Sleepwalking maybe?

Or…just the truth? That he thought she was awake, and they have kissed?

No, no, Levi thought quietly to himself. That will scare her off to future advances. It will then be harder to approach her that way again…probably.

Levi almost balked at his thoughts. What is he thinking? Worrying about some little Teacup kisses?

And on a side note of that, a mosquito bite?

"Wait," he said, frowning in the process as he looked up at her. Did she really think that big dark mark is a mosquito bite? Wasn't it obvious that it's a lov-

Levi's thought paused right at that part.

Did she…he thought quietly. Has she…no.

No, no. She has never. It's obvious, isn't it?

She has never had a love bite before.

Levi narrowed his eyes when a thought about her still being a virgin crossed his mind. To test out that theory, he repeated the word she had dubbed the mark he gave her yesterday carefully. "Mosquito bite?"

Freya looked at him and nodded her head. "Yeah. Isn't this a mosquito bite? I do scratch often, but weirdly this one doesn't itch much. What else could it be? It's not painful at all, so it couldn't be a bruise. The girls got it often enough back at the dorm. I'm lucky I just got one."

Levi wanted to smack a hand against his forehead.

Virgin. Definitely pure. She didn't know what a love bite looks like! Those lying bitches at the Washers Department's dorm. They must have lied to her and told her it was a mosquito bite!

Levi bites the insides of his cheek and sucked in a breath through his teeth. His amorous bite to her was deemed as a mosquito bite now? Brushing off the thought quickly and regaining his composure, Levi fired off a topic he had been wanting to drop to her to see how she would react.

"Did you know we've kissed yesterday?" he said, veering Freya completely off the topic of mosquito bites.

He wanted to see if he could trigger a memory of sort from her. She couldn't have not felt him touching her yesterday. Plus, he did kiss her quite hard.

Freya stopped fussing over her bite mark from a 'mosquito' and snapped her head up to look at Levi. He was staring at her, as if waiting for a reaction from her or sort.

Wait, Freya blinked and stopped her mind from rushing into a conclusion. He did teased her once about her being able to sleep talk. Was this it again?

It should be, she thought quietly. Should be just another teasing game for him.

But as Freya prepares to reply her Captain with a snarky reply, her intentions died down to ambers when she noticed a slight tint of red on the tip of her Captain's ears.

This…doesn't feel like a joke this time.

She did dream of kissing the Captain before, but that was back when she is still a Washer, and she happened to only know him as El before that. It was one of the main reasons why she often daydreams about being a little intimate with the Captain and checking him out. All because of a random dream of him kissing her hard at the fields with the white sheets as a romantic backdrop jumpstarted her eyes on him.

But yes, that was back then. Months back at that.

Or…did she forget her dream this time again? Frankly, she couldn't remember her dreams as of late. Usually, she will remember some snippets that could help her recall on what her dream was the night before. But as of late, it's nearly impossible to remember any dream snippets. At least, that was what she believed she remembers.

Although really, she only remembered the dream where El kisses her passionately in the fields with white sheets as a backdrop. It was super romantic for her, a virgin who no one wants to get close thanks to the Washer girls spreading gossips about her. That was the loveliest dream she ever remembered.

Probably another dream then, Freya thought almost happily.

"That's not possible haha!" Freya waved a hand in the air casually with a laugh. "You wouldn't see me like that, let alone allow me close enough to kiss you."

"Why not possible?" Levi replied her softly in his deep baritone voice, minding his tone to not scare her. "It's plenty possible, Freya."

"But that's…emm…we kissed yesterday…?" Freya asked doubtfully with a sceptical smile, trying to check out if the Captain is smirking and using this topic to tease her. She even wriggled her eyebrows to gauge his reaction.

But the Captain looked serious about it.

That brought Freya to think deeply. Kissed? Did they…no. She would have remembered. Like the dream with El. She would not have forgotten touches on her body, let alone a kiss.

But the Captain did say she had sleep talked and grabbed him onto the bed as well. She didn't remember any of those.

So…could it really had happened?

Freya didn't know what to reply. So, she replied hesitantly in a small shy voice, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nervous at their close proximity with the thought of them having kissed in reality the night before flashes through her mind, "…Really?"

Levi was silent. He didn't answer her. His facial expression remained unchanging, but it somehow speeds up her heartbeat when he looks at her like that. He didn't answer her, yes, but didn't deny it as well. That alone made Freya even more nervous she started to bit her lips.

Did they…really…kissed?

It was a long moment. He merely approaches her slowly, backing her up to the wooden wall behind her and looked down at her small face, eyes roving over her face, seemingly searching for something. What does he want? Freya thought to herself timidly. An expression? A reaction? A blush from her or something? Something he wanted from her that she didn't know? Honestly, Freya couldn't comprehend. It wasn't often she sees her Captain behaving as such, as if for once, Captain Levi is not sure of what to do with her.

Levi lifted one hand and places it beside her head, resting his palm on the cool wooden wall behind her. Leaning in, Levi looked into Freya's curious wide eyes. Eyes the colour of the lightest shade of green and blue, with wide dark pupils not looking at anywhere else but him.

That moment, he wanted to just…lean in…and kiss her.

Like yesterday.

But this wasn't the time for that.

Levi leaned into her face, bumping his forehead against hers once lightly and turned before saying, "Come now. Let us settle the paperwork for the Inquisition today before Emma brings up the breakfast."