A/N: Alright y'all. It's been a hot minute since I've tried my hand at fan fiction writing anywhere except in my head. I'm not sure if people still read much on here, but I'm rewatching AOT in preparation for the second half of the final season to release shortly and I once again find myself drowning in all the RivaMika feels and potential.

Plus, I'm writing my own book right now and I'm in desperate need of a creative outlet besides that to help get through some writer's block. I'd love if any readers would take the time to review, but I intend on finishing this story even if you don't. Fan fic blue balls are the absolute worst, after all ;)

The idea of this story is to follow the birth of Levi and Mikasa's relationship in concurrence to events in the anime. That means it'll skip a bit in between the major events assuming that readers will understand the events referred to. If it's too clear, please let me know!

Rated for language (Levi, duh), violence (it's AOT, you know what you're in for), and sexual content in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own AOT/SNK or any of the characters used in this fic.

Orenda: (n.) a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or to effect change in their own lives; a connecting current of energy and spirit that runs through all beings, animate and inanimate

CHAPTER 1: HUMANITY'S STRONGEST, MY ASS

Mikasa Ackerman was by far the most infuriating soldier Captain Levi had under his command. She was impulsive, rash, stubborn, and didn't follow orders worth a shit.

And for that reason, Levi couldn't get her out of his damn mind.

She demonstrated her piss-poor capacity to be a soldier no more perfectly than when they had ventured out to retrieve Eren from the Female Titan's clutches. No, from Annie Leonhart's. The whole notion of people being titans was still so foreign to Levi, who had been ripping titans to shreds thoughtlessly for the better part of a decade.

Be a distraction. Those were his orders. Do not engage. "I'll handle the cutting." But that didn't stop her from jumping in the second she thought she saw an opening at the nape.

"DON'T DO IT!" he had bellowed, but it was too late.

The Female Titan was raising her hand to swat Mikasa from the air like a fly when Levi's body acted on its own. He threw him in between, shoving Mikasa out of the way, and still somehow managing to dodge her fist by kicking off it. Crack. Pain seared from Levi's foot, almost crumpling his entire leg. Were it not for deploying his maneuver gear to whisk him away to the far trees, she could have had him. All because he'd been stupid in response to Mikasa being stupid.

Tch. Fucking stupid, he thought. All of it.

"What'd I tell you about trying to take her down?" he had yelled at her after. "Don't screw this up by making it personal, do you understand?"

Who the fuck was he to scold her about making it personal? After all, if Levi hadn't taken anything personally, he wouldn't put the entire mission in jeopardy to save one stupid cadet.

Why did I risk my own life to save her? He wanted to say it was because she was his subordinate and he was her captain and that was simply his duty, but Levi knew damn well better than to believe that. Furland and Isabel's disembodied torso and head violently flash through his mind. Maybe that was why.

Whatever lie helps the truth go down, he thought bitterly.

And now she was out there again. Protecting Eren again and thus just as likely to do something incredibly stupid. Only this time, he wasn't there to save her. The helplessness he felt gnawed at his insides.

Which, in of itself, further gnawed at him. There was a chance lots of far more integral people could die today. Erwin. Eren. Historia. Hell, no one could make it back alive and here he was dwelling on the life of one damn soldier who had been a pain in his ass since day one.

"You wanted to see me, Commander Erwin?"

"Yes, Captain Levi. I wanted to ask your opinion on Cadet Ackerman." No niceties. Straight to the point. It was one of the things Levi most valued about Erwin.

"What about her?"

"I know she's only been with us a short time but what do you think of the girl?"

What did Levi think of Mikasa Ackerman? He wanted to say thought she was just another bright-eyed brat in need of a good dose of reality beyond walls. But even then, he knew that wasn't true. There was nothing bright in those eyes. From the second he saw her, Levi knew the girl carried something with her to the Scouts—and it was either going to be their salvation or their ruin.

"She's certainly strong and a hell of a lot more competent than the rest of her classmates. Hell, most of the regiment. But she's also impulsive, obstinate, and rash, not to mention utterly fucking crazy when that brat Eren's involved."

Erwin laughed. "Fair enough. I want you to train her personally. I think she has the potential to be as good as you, but she needs some fine-tuning, to be sure."

"You mean she needs a good ass beating," Levi muttered.

"Well, whatever you feel is appropriate." Levi took that as a statement of dismissal and turned to leave. "Oh, but do me a favor, Levi. Don't make her quit. The Scouts desperately need natural talent like hers."

"If you don't like my methods, find someone else." Levi waved his hand nonchalantly over his shoulder.

"Get your head out of your ass, Ackerman. You're better than this."

"I know I am!" she yelled.

"Then prove it!"

Enraged, Mikasa wound up and threw another punch, only to have Levi dodge this one just as easily as all the others. Her fist sailed through the air over his right shoulder, and in countering, he grabbed her arm, twisted it upward until she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, and slammed her into the ground. Keeping her arm wrenched painfully above her, the Captain squat down over her until he was speaking into her ear.

"You're not focusing."

"I AM focusing!" she seethed through her teeth.

"Liar," he hissed in her ear. "So tell me, what has you so distracted." Levi was suddenly very aware of his power over her, crouching over her like a wild animal cornering his prey right before the kill. The image disturbed him, even then, and he quickly released her arm, backing a few steps away.

"You ready to actually land a punch?"

Mikasa rose, steadied herself, and studied Levi keenly. He stood utterly still, his face and body unreadable. Levi wasn't trying to trick her or fake her out. He didn't need to in order to be better than her. Mikasa suddenly attacked his left, feigning a punch right at his face while bringing her right leg in a roundhouse kick aimed right at his blindspot. She swung hard, so sure she had him this time. If it were anyone else, they would have been knocked halfway to Wall Sina.

Effortlessly, Levi caught her leg and flipped her onto the ground yet again. The wind tore from her lungs at the impact and she lay there gasping for air.

"Get up, Ackerman!" Mikasa didn't move, still regaining her breath. "I said, GET UP! That or stay down!" he yelled, slamming his foot into her ribs. Mikasa cried out sharply, a splatter of blood coughing from her mouth. "Pain is a part of our job. Get used to it and fight through it! Are you just going to roll over and stay down beyond the wall when a titan is hovering over you?

"You're not a titan," Mikasa quipped. Even beaten to shit, she had a mouth on her.

"You're right. I'm worse." He dug his toe into the spot he had just kicked, slowly pressing it further as another shrill scream split the air of the otherwise peaceful training grounds.

"Captain!" Zoë Hange stood outside the sparring ground, hands on her hips in a defiant way that no one except Hange would get away with on Levi… and not for his lack of trying. "I think that's enough."

Without a second thought to Mikasa's injuries, Levi turned and stomped off with an irritated "tch".

The memory left a knot in the pit of his stomach. He'd been following Erwin's orders, sure, but in hindsight, Levi saw he'd taken it too far. It was hardly any surprise she hated him. He could save her life countless times and none of that would make up for the damage he'd already done.

A demon, they called him, both in horror and admiration, often at the same time. No fucking wonder.

But what truly reached into his stomach and made a fist of his entrails was why he felt guilt over her at all. He had beaten countless men into worthwhile soldiers over his time in the Survey Corps, and never once felt a shred of guilt over it. Their scowls and daggered looks didn't phase him, but the look Mikasa gave him the next time they passed in the hallways withered him to the very core.

Mikasa had wormed her way into the deepest reaches of his mind, his horrific sanctuary where he dwelt on all the blood he'd had on his hands over the years, whether by them or not. And amid the piles of bodies of titans and fallen comrades, there was her face, a single bright spot amid the darkness and tragedy that had made Levi who he was.

The walls he had built around himself so carefully. Then she came and ripped them down in one fell swoop, as easily as the Armored Titan had done to Wall Maria. It pissed him off more than anything. Who did this brat think she was to fuck up the carefully curated emotional void that worked for him?

Humanity's strongest, my ass, he thought. When it came to Mikasa Ackerman, Levi was weaker than the cowards in the Military Police.

A/N: There you have it! It begins! This chapter is relatively short, as will the next one be, but they'll progressively get longer as their relationship grows.

I would love reviews, whether you love it or hate it, but especially if you love it... we all need a good ego stroke from time to time ;)