Disclaimer : I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan nor its characters.
A/N: PLEASE READ END NOTES. CONCERNS FUTURE CHAPTER(S) AND POSSIBLE FUTURE WARNINGS.
A/N 2: This is a filler chapter.
Synopsis: Once upon a time, deep in the underground shit and hell-hole, before the bloodlust-ing Ackermans ever found themselves entangled and caught in the mess of Royal Affairs, Levi Ackerman was once taller than his younger sister, Mikasa Ackerman.
A glimpse into the childhood of the Ackermans, where there were moments not always covered with blood.
"What are you doing, brat?" was the first thing a ten year old Levi spat when he saw his sister younger than him by five years standing on a few books that were stacked up on a stool, tip-toeing as her small little hands reached out, trying its hardest to grab the knob of the cupboards on top. But alas, to no avail, she was still too short.
Startled by Levi's unexpected early return, she nearly fell but somehow managed to regain her balance swiftly; perhaps the Ackerman reflex was just natural. She turned to face her stoic faced brother who looked unimpressed by whatever antics she was trying to pull. "Um… getting something, what else?" She tried to reason, a nervous chuckle leaving her lips. But Levi's unimpressed expression only worsened as a glare was added into the equation.
"Get down now, carefully." He instructed with an authoritative tone clear in his voice. Were all five-year olds just naturally like this? He wondered. He wouldn't know, because given how he lived his life before he met his sister, before he moved in with Kenny, he couldn't remember being happy as he watched his mother grow weak and weaker. Kenny had taken him away before he could see her body finally give up; it was his mother's wish. She had escaped death's grasp a couple of times, but when things regarding her health became more uncertain, she wished for Kenny to take her son away because she didn't want him to watch her die if it was truly her time to depart from the cruel world.
But now he had a sister, as lively as ever because she was yet to see and understand the curse that the Ackerman clan was bestowed with and while Kenny hadn't really been around to raise her, Levi was there, nurturing her like any caring older brother would.
She was yet to undergo the strenuous and military-like regime Kenny had placed Levi on when he deemed him old enough to start training. She was yet to experience the epitome of what made an Ackerman; the Bloodlust breakout.
However, she was still young, and Kenny was gracious enough not to mess her psychological state of mind just yet. As for Levi, he avoided topics and questions that she had when it came to his trips and trainings.
Mikasa was the only thing his mother had left him with—aside from the torn and old clothing she gave him. He recalled the day Kenny brought Mikasa home. It had almost been a full year since he last saw his mother.
She was dirty and wailing in the blanket that wrapped around her small, delicate body. While he was graced by a new living being under the Ackerman household, Kenny then informed him of his mother's passing. "She died…" He said and paused contemplatively, looking away, sounding bitter. "…and left yer' with a sister." He said after a momentary pause, bitterness intensifying in his tone for reasons Levi couldn't understand. And that was the last time in a long while since Kenny ever brought Kuchel up.
While he didn't particularly mind his sister's cheerfulness and activeness, he couldn't help but ponder if she would remain the same as she was once her innocence was tainted. Once she truly understood how terrible and awful living in the underground was. She had been sheltered by Levi for so long, her innocence safeguarded. It was only in due time would she see the ugliness; that is the shit-hole they lived in. He couldn't protect her forever.
But right now, he…
"You're going to fall if you don't get down, now." Levi added, shaking his head.
Mikasa frowned. "I am not—" Perhaps her Ackerman balance and reflex hadn't fully developed yet, as just as those words left her lips, the poor-quality stool began to wobble. And to her unluckiness, she lost balance and was about to crash onto the hard, woody ground—until, Levi caught her.
And while Levi was concerned for her, and felt a surge of worry run in his veins as he watched her fall, his glare didn't take too long to return when he looked down to see his sister nervously chuckling, avoiding any form of eye contact.
He placed her down, and then crossed his arms. Sometimes he wondered if he was her brother or her father. He didn't say anything, but given the fact that Mikasa had been living with him for five years now, she was already familiar with his grumpy look of his. He was expecting an explanation.
Mikasa hid her hands behind her back, her eyes averting away to the ground. "…I didn't think you'd come home this early from your trip with Kenny… and whenever you do you always looked tired so…" She began to confess and sighed, "I wanted to make you a cup of tea like how you had always done so for me."
Levi's eyes widened in surprised, he hadn't expected that answer. He'd have assumed she had let her curiosity and mischief run wild, resulting in her ransacking their current house—their hideout for whatever sparked her curiosity. His eyes then relaxed and soften, as he let out a resigned sounding sigh. He couldn't exactly get mad at her for that. He squatted down to her height, his hand reaching out and tilted her chin upwards so she could face him. She looked a little nervous, because sometimes his reprimands can be a little harsh when she was really in deep trouble, but it was for her own good. Because while Levi called her a brat, he didn't want her to actually turn out as one when she grew up. "You didn't have to do that." He murmured softly, deciding to forego his sternness for now seeing that she hadn't exactly broke anything anyway.
"What if you broke something? You know Kenny would be pissed, more than I would be." What if you had found something that Kenny didn't want you to see?—was what Levi wanted to say instead, because for reasons unknown to Levi, his crazed Uncle was a private person, keeping secrets and avoiding questions that Levi had asked him before about the Ackermans and other late relatives. And he already had a brief taste of what it was like if one dared let curiosity run too wild. Otherwise, Kenny didn't really give too much shits (unless he was in a sour mood), if Mikasa had broken something unimportant. At most he might chide her, if he wasn't too exhausted from his… excursions.
"Yeah…" Mikasa nodded. "I just wish I was taller." She murmured, as Levi stood back up. "Like you."
Levi raised a brow. "Like me?" Sure, he was taller than her but his height was nothing compared to Kenny's, who stood around six foot tall.
"Yes!" Mikasa nodded, as she found herself on the tip of her toes again when she noticed Levi's anger dissolve, and it didn't seem like he was going to scold her anytime soon. "Even when I tip-toe, I can't even reach your height." She pouted out her cheeks slightly, before her eyes wandered about, before settling at a rusty mirror that leaned against a wall. She walked towards it with a sigh. "Do you think I stopped growing already?" She asked innocently, her eyes scanning her reflection as Levi approached her from behind, a scoff leaving his lips.
"You're only five." He reminded the child. "And I'm only ten. We're still going to grow taller." Levi said.
"Ehhh…" The five-year old childishly huffed, as if impatient already. "Do you think… I'll be taller than you?" She asked, turning her head to face him a little as she shot a smug grin. The thought of her, the younger sibling, growing taller than the older one excited her.
Levi scoffed in a mocking way, before ruffling and messing her hair. "Hey! Quit I—"
"Fat chance. That isn't happening, brat." Levi replied. There was no way she was going to be taller than him, ever, right? He was older than her after all. By five years. Would genetics really betray him?
"You never know…" Mikasa grumbled as she struggled to fix her now messy hair. "I could grow taller than you in a week…"
"Ho? Really?" Levi said, amused with her imagination before an idea struck him. "Let's see how fast you grow then." He said as he stepped away from the mirror, walking towards the small, open kitchen as he took one of the shorter kitchen knives before making his way back, albeit he approached the empty wooden wall beside the mirror.
Mikasa eyed him, unsure of what he planned to do with the kitchen knife as she walked over to him when he had signalled her over. She wasn't terrified though, even if she noticed how he held the kitchen knife with such familiarity, before he carved a small line into the wall after he measured his height against it. And she would've asked why he held the knife so familiarly, if she wasn't distracted by his idea that he displayed to her.
Automatically as if she knew what he was doing despite the lack of verbal communication, she stood up straight, right up against the wall before Levi cautiously carved another line onto the wall, just a centimetre above her head before marking and labelling it with a "M" beside it, and then an "L" beside his.
Once he was done, Mikasa stepped away and was a little discouraged by their current large height difference, but she wasn't going to give up. Like Levi said, she was still growing.
"My line and height will surpass yours." She challenged as her gaze focused on her brother who only shrugged. "We'll see." He responded before he returned to the kitchen. He did think she'd grow taller eventually, but not taller than him. Again, there was absolutely no way… right?
"Now come on, brat." He sighed as he placed the knife down, after rinsing it of course. And while he had his backed turned and facing her, and had a tone that sounded nothing more than plain and monotonous, she could have sworn he was smiling, just a bit. She had caught a small glimpse of it before he turned his back completely. She could only wonder why her grumpy brother smiled. "You want to make tea, right?"
Years had passed since then, and when Kenny finally exposed Mikasa to how ruthless the world is, how sinful the underground was, she became less cheerful for the innocence Levi once protected had finally shattered. And as for their height-taking, it eventually came to an abrupt halt when their lives as murderers became more hectic, more tragic.
Now today, Kenny was waiting outside, taking a smoke as he waited for the two of them to finish preparing themselves. Mikasa had just turned sixteen not too long ago, and with her bloodlust that had awakened terrifyingly early, Kenny wanted to check if his recent training sessions with her, and Levi's attempts with training her control as well, had worked. Or to see if he needed to intensify her training sessions.
Just as Levi was about to wear his mask, his eyes caught sight of the not so empty wall, vandalised with several lines that he had carved before.
Ah, this hideout was… His thoughts trailed off, as his eyes soften at the memory.
With them changing hideouts every now and then recently, he had almost forgotten that this was the hideout where that memory existed.
"What are you doing?" Mikasa asked, approaching him from behind. "Isn't Kenny waiting out—oh… this is…" Even if it had been more than a decade, she still remembered. Even after all the bloody events that bloodied her innocence for good, that had wrecked her mind for a period of time, memories like those still found a space in both heart and mind. "In the end, I did grow taller than you." She chuckled lightly. "Shortass." Genetics really did betray him, huh?
"Tch. Brat." Was the only thing Levi could respond with before he put on his mask. He hated the nickname she gave him, 'shortass'. But to be fair, he called her a brat.
All in all, he did miss those times, those little peaceful times they managed to have before everything went downhill. Like when his bloodlust first broke out and how he…
He didn't want to remember that now. While his first bloodlust awakening wasn't as severe as Mikasa as Kenny had been there to stop him, it didn't make the experience any less petrifying or traumatising.
"Come on, brat. Took you long enough to get ready." He said, wearing his mask as he switched the topic, "Let's go."
Author's note:
I apologise for this Filler (extra) chapter. Before I get into why, I want to mention something else IMPORTANT.
*While writing the next chapter regarding Levi's past, I think my descriptions became a little too…gory. I'm not sure, BUT I just want to put it out there; I don't want to end up unintentionally triggering anyone. But for the most part, I think the violence is canon-compliant? (Keep in mind we did see Isabel's and Farlan's gruesome death… mike's as well.). Either that or I will lessen the descriptions/details slightly? We'll see. Just read the Author's note in the beginning / above before proceeding with future chapters.*
Now onto why I released a filler instead of the actual next chapter; looking back at the previous chapters I've written, I realise there might be some accidental plot holes and wrong-toned interactions I've written and overlooked. I plan to change them before I publish the actual next chapter. Of course, I will inform / write a quick summary in Author's notes if you don't want to reread what I have changed.
The next chapter is 90% done (I just have to decide if I should lessen the detail for the murder part.), and just for context and for the people who wanted a more Levi-focused chapter since I've been focusing on Mikasa for quite some time, the upcoming two chapters will be more about him, his past and first bloodlust breakout.
Once again, I am sorry for this Filler chapter. I will update with the next actual chapter as soon as I can. Please Leave a Review if you want; criticism that is constructive would be appreciated. Thank you for reading and your patience!
