Levi hated free days. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy free time at all, he just didn't like it in excess. And a full day of having nothing to do certainly was aggravating. Not to mention it wasn't only one day this time…

It had started when the stupid brats got the idea to go on a picnic on the national holiday, which was, of course, a free day. Levi didn't know the details, but apparently at some point they started playing hide-and-seek which resulted in one of them, Armin, going missing. As the recruits were unable to find him, they had to go get help of the older scouts… It was, of course, at this moment that it started to rain. They all got thoroughly soaked… the result of which was Levi getting a really bad cold. He insisted he could work all the same, but Erwin made him stay in bed. It was the worst kind of free time imaginable and it had lasted three days already… Fortunately, one of the cadets, Christa, had brought him some books from the brats guilty of his misfortune, otherwise he'd have to read Hanji's 'Anatomy of the Titans' for the third time.

In the evening, he went to brush his teeth and when he came back, he saw in his room one of the cadets, the girl who was always with Christa…

'What are you doing here?' he asked.

'I came here to clean,' she answered without hesitation, but Levi could clearly see she was lying through her teeth.

'At this hour? Besides, who told you to?'

'Nobody,' she said. 'I just thought you needed this room cleaned.'

'Oh, really?' Levi asked. 'Well, good news, you don't need to clean in here, as the brats who are currently on cleaning duty for punishment for that dumb picnic come here every day and I don't let them leave until everything's spotless. I'm not in the mood to investigate why you really came in here now, so if I were you, I'd leave as soon as possible.'

Unexpectedly, Ymir nodded acknowledgingly.

'I'll take your advice,' she said and disappeared before Levi had the time to say anything else. He blew out the candle, wondering what it had been about.

He awoke at night, feeling somebody's presence in the room.

'Who's there?' he asked, raising himself on his elbow, his heart racing in preparation for a fight, when the answer came:

'I'm a fairy…'

'What?!'

'I'm a… dust fairy…' the unnaturally high-pitched voice elaborated, 'And I came because… I visit people who clean a lot…'

Levi gritted his teeth.

'I know it's you, Springer,' he said. 'You have five seconds to explain yourself.'

'Uh, so it was no use…' Connie said in his normal voice. 'I'm sorry, I was just… I lost a bet?' he added what sounded more like a question than a statement.

Levi knew he was lying, just like Ymir earlier… But right now he was feeling really bad and didn't have the strength to deal with this idiot.

'Just. Go. Out.' he said.

Connie didn't wait for him to repeat himself and fled.

Levi stood up. He never locked his door, but now he didn't have any choice, as he felt if he didn't do this, a procession of recruits would go through his room before morning came. And he just wanted to have a peaceful night… He turned the key in the lock. Now he should be safe, but some persistent feeling told him it was by no means the end…

Not a half an hour had passed before the window creaked. But Levi was ready for that. He struck a match, illuminating two silhouettes on his windowsill, revealing them to be Armin and Eren. The first of the boys was already halfway in the room, but seeing Levi, he gasped and lost hold of the window…

Levi was already there, grabbing him by his lapel… But Armin's movement had knocked Eren back… Levi and Armin could only watch as he plunged into the darkness.

There was a flash of light and they saw Eren in his titan form land awkwardly on his feet. The whole castle shook by the impact. The titan reached for Armin, who was still hanging, held by Levi, let him stand on his hand, and lifted him so he could jump inside. Armin seemed to hesitate if he preferred jumping into the room with the pissed off Levi or plunging ten meters onto the ground, but finally decided to do the first.

Eren's turning into a titan and the commotion that followed seemed to have woken everybody up, but Erwin had sent them back to beds. Levi had requested him to bring to his room only the people from the 104th training corps, as he just knew what had happened was somehow connected to all of them.

'Start explaining from the beginning,' he said calmly, but in such a tone that would make even a titan cower with fright.

Christa started talking.

'I asked Armin to ask in the boys' dorm if they had any books they could lend me to give you…'

'And I asked Berthold if I could take his book…' Armin continued.

'And I said yes without looking…' Berthold added.

'But after some time it turned out it was actually Reiner's,' Armin added.

'Because their stuff lies just next to each other's so it was easy to mix up…' Eren interjected.

'And I was asleep that time so I didn't notice…' Reiner muttered.

'So? That's it? You gave me the wrong book?' Levi asked, surprised.

'Well, yes, but… Um…' Eren was looking for the best word, 'It's an… embarrassing book. We wanted to take it back before you read it…'

'Couldn't you just have come here like a normal person and said "We gave you the wrong book, we need it back?' Levi asked.

The recruits' faces clearly told him such a thought hadn't occurred to them.

'Which book was that, anyway?' Levi looked at the pile.

'Um… this one…' Reiner pointed to book with the title "The Enchanted Garden". Connie, who stood close enough to read it, started snickering.

'This? I already started reading it,' Levi said. All the recruits gasped.

'I'm really sorry,' said Reiner, his face red.

'I don't understand what the big deal is, all it talked about was some flowers…'

At this point, the recruits' faces changed again. Armin's eyes went wide with shock. Sasha almost choked with laughter, just like Connie, while Reiner looked as if he didn't know what was going on…

'Um, sir, this book is supposed to be about something else,' Eren finally managed to say.

'About what?'

All the recruits dropped their gazes to the floor.

Erwin came closer to examine the book.

'I think I know what they mean, Levi. I just can't help but wonder how you didn't notice that… It's adult stuff…'

Realization dawned on Levi's face.

'You mean… a dirty book?'

'Exactly.'

'I don't believe it, why wouldn't they just write it straight to the point?'

'Well, the readers might prefer something more sophisticated…'

'A sophisticated dirty book?'

'You could call it that.'

The recruits were almost rolling on the floor laughing at this point.

Levi felt his cheeks flush.

'Braun!' he barked. 'Come here and have a look if any more of your "gardening books" aren't here, I don't want any more of you coming here at night… Take that book and just go, all of you! Ah, wait, Springer, Eren, Armin. And you, Ymir.'

'Let's start with the obvious. Ymir, you said you came here to clean. I expect you to do it, then. Not now, but tomorrow, at some godly hour, you come instead of the brats on cleaning duty.'

'Understood,' Ymir said.

'You can go. As for you, Springer… You come and help her. Go now. And the two of you… Our rules don't have a punishment specified for "Breaking into an officer's room and almost dying in the process", so I'll have to think of something… You already have a week's cleaning duty for that picnic, right?'

They nodded, gloomily.

'I guess two additional weeks should do.'

'It'll be three weeks total!' Eren gasped.

'Yes, Yaeger, I can add, too. Do you want it to be four?'

'No, sir,' Eren muttered.

'Good. Now go back to your dorm. Just remember… And tell that to the other idiots… Usually, the simplest solutions are the best.'

'Yes, sir!'

The boys left. Levi thought it would be nice if they learned from their mistakes once in a while. But he knew it was impossible, not with those idiots… He just wondered what the next day would bring.