"What?" Levi was destroyed. He had been already 5 nights out and hadn´t seen a single trace of the dragon. He had not even found a mark that signaled where he had fallen, and his red was nowhere to be found. Today he had rolled down a mountain and hit close to 800 rocks in the way down, and it was only 3 in the afternoon. Pixis had reprimanded him every single day about how was it possible that he hadn´t found anything in 5 days, but dismissed him.

But now, standing in his office with scratches and burns in his arms and legs, he was fuming at what he had told him. "You heard me well, Levi. I think I´m putting off the quest. But in change you will be training the 16 year olds to saly dragons like you"

"Sir, I really don´t think that´s a really good idea" Levi complained. "You know how fucking impatient I am sometimes, especially with stupid kids"

"Language" Pixis warned him, but sighed contently. "You won´t do the training. Erwin will. But you will have to be there every day to show the kids how it´s done"

"There´s no fucking way-"

"I´ll pay you double"

"Deal" Levi couldn´t back down a raise. Training couldn´t be so bad.

When he had turn to go Pixis called for him once more. "And Levi"

"Yes sir?"

Levi could´ve wiped the smirk right off Pixis face but he held himself. "Don´t worry. This time you won´t have to actually kill the dragons unless Erwin says so. Understand?"

"Yes, sir"

The next day he found himself standing next to Erwin in the small arena, waiting for the trainees to arrive. "This is the worst idea Pixis´ got yet"

"Oh, you´ll be alright" Erwin said. "I´ll do all the work with this baby" He raised his mechanic half arm. He had gotten it bitten out by a dragon some years ago, and now he showed it off.

"What a show off" Levi deadpanned. "Those eyebrows are rarer than your arms. Where the fuck did you get one´s so big?"

"It´s called inspiring" Erwin laughed.

"Why am I even doing this with you of all people?" Levi wondered aloud. "You could be considered my best friend, but you´re still annoying"

"Oh, how sweet. Remember before my arm?" Erwin asked looking down at him with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah" Levi sighed as the kids started entering the arena with gasps and snickers. "You were the only one I couldn't beat"

"Exactly" There were 12 of them, and they stood in a line as Erwin smirked at them. "You kid´s are now the 104th squad to be in training for slaying dragons. I want each of you to call out your name, age and goal"

"What a fucker" Levi muttered not caring to look at them at all.

"Here" Erwin said clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Is the best dragon slayer Berk has since five years ago when he beat the other guy, and no one remembers his name. If you little brats can´t get it done, Levi will have to finish it off"

"I bet he stands on his tiptoes to kill them" One of them called, causing the others to snicker.

Levi instantly was in front of the guy. He raised his axe so the blade was at his neck, and the kid swallowed thickly. "Name, age and goal" Levi said plainly.

"Jean Kirshtein" the prick said. "17. I want to be recognized"

"What a lame purpose. You see this axe, horse face?" that earned a few snickers from the kids

Jean looked angry. "Too big for you"

Erwin spoke out. "That´s the best axe in Berk. The most dangerous I have designed and forged before I got this" he raised his metal sword for an arm. "Finest weapon I´ve ever seen. Even beats Pixis´. If you don´t have that, you can´t be the best"

Jean stood straighter, "Yes sir"

"Levi" Erwin called. "Try to be nice"

Levi looked at the boy sharply in the eye before lowering his axe and going back beside Erwin. "Don´t tell me what to do Smith"

"Let´s start with the names" Erwin said a little too proudly. "You! In the far corner. Name, age and goal"

A blonde, tall guy stood straighter. "Reiner Braun. 18. I want to be able to defend my village"

"Not good enough. Next one in line"

The tallest guy in the group spoke up a little nervously. "B-Bertholdt Fubar. 18. I want to become stronger"

"Still not strong enough. Next!"

Levi didn´t mind looking at the kids. But he heard the names. Krista Lenz. 15. Ymir. 17. Sasha Braus. 17 and hungry. Connie Springer. 17 and a half. Horse face. Marco Bodt. 18. Annie Leonhardt. 17. Levi had respect for the girl; she was a short and menacing looking as he was. Armin Arlert. 16. Mikasa Ackerman. 17. None of them were approved in the strength of the goal and some even didn´t have one; Erwin was looking for an honest one. But-

"Last on line" Erwin called out once again.

"Eren Jaeger" Levi resisted the urge to turn his head to see him, just turned his eyes in the direction and let out a huff.

"Age and purpose?"

"16. I want to gain my father´s respect and approval"

Erwin frowned and neared Eren, Levi walking behind him. He stopped in front of him. The kid´s eyes widened slightly when he saw Levi, but then he stood straighter and looked up at Erwin. "Eren, what was your purpose"

"I want to gain my father´s respect and approval" Levi knew Eren hated the whole idea of slaying dragons, but his words sounded very honest.

"Here" Erwin called out. "Is the first honest goal I hear in the day" Eren´s eyes widen with surprise as well as everybody else's.

Erwin went back to where he was before, Levi still following him. "Today you´ll have your first test. And by test I mean encounter. Levi"

"What?"

"Please open the gates of the Broncol"

"Fine" Levi walked around the group and could see 9 panicked faces, two excited ones and one worried. Eren looked uncomfortable in the place, like he didn´t really want to be there; Levi wondered as he got to the gates.

"Any encouraging words, Levi?" Erwin said as Levi put his hand on the lock.

He unlocked the gate and threw the door open. "Try not to fucking die"

Erwin shouted for everyone to get a shield as the dragon flew around. Connie and Sasha were fighting for a shield; Armin was panicking as he muttered words to himself; Bertholdt was near Reiner, who had a big grin on his face; Ymir was standing in front of Krista as she punched her shoulders in protest; Jean was smiling like an idiot as he ran from the dragon; Annie was ready to strike if something was to come near her; Marco was running behind the dragon, screaming at Jean for being so reckless; and Mikasa was in front of Eren, ready to protect him at all costs.

Levi frowned at the scene. They were all a bunch of babies in action, except maybe for Mikasa and Annie. The dragon blew Jean off his feet and headed for Mikasa and, as she ran to distract him, the dragon flew straight towards Eren, who widened his eyes and backed up against the wall. Levi saw the dragon as it opened its jaws and closed them and saw Eren frowning before Erwin was pulling the dragon back towards its cage.

Eren was still against the floor, dumbstruck as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. When Erwin had put the dragon in the cage, he stood in front of Eren and glared at him before he turned and addressed everyone. "First rule learned today: the shield is more important than the weapon. And second, Levi?"

"A dragon" he says, standing next to Erwin but glaring at Eren viciously. "Will always strike to kill"

"Thank you Levi" Erwin sighed. "You were like children in action, and I hope I can train you to be warriors. Tomorrow. Same time. Dismissed"

As all of them scrambled away. Levi looked back at when the dragon had almost killed Eren. The Broncol had opened its mouth and then closed it again, and Eren, instead of screaming or something, had frowned. He thought it was just stupid as Erwin left him alone in the arena, as he stayed behind to pick up the shields and the fallen weapons.

When he headed out, he saw Eren on the middle of the bridge. He had his arms on the rail and was staring with a peaceful expression at the sunset, tinting the skies orange. Levi walked up to him and for a second he was a teenager again. Why is this kid so hot? His eyes are so beautiful and bright and he´s so young and strong and I´m an idiot why am I even thinking about this?

"Oi" He said emotionlessly.

Eren jumped probably two feet in the air and gasped when he saw him. "Jesus Christ. You can´t just sneak up to people like that"

"You can´t just stay frozen with a dragon in your face" he fired back, a little angrily. The stupid kid could´ve died for him imbecility and he was just staring like such a girl into the sunset.

"It wasn´t going to hurt me" he said looking down. "It closed its mouth. You saw it. It wasn´t about to strike"

"A dragon always takes the kill" Levi sighed. "It was probably just doubting if he should waste his energy on you"

"Hey!" Levi chuckled. "Well, it should´ve just killed Jean"

"That horse face" Levi remarked, rolling his eyes. "What a fucking idiot"

There was a silence and Eren shifted on his feet. "Can I ask you something?"

"You already did. But go ahead"

"Krista said people were afraid of you because you broke a guy´s arm when he laughed at you" Eren said a little embarrassed. "Is it true"

"It was an accident" Levi shrugged. "But yeah"

"How do you accidentally break someone´s arm?"

"Like a fat dragon" Eren laughed. What a beautiful laugh he has. OKAY STOP IT. What kind of idiot are you? "He went or the kill, and I dodged. He hit the air so hard he fell. And like we were at the top of a small hill, he fell down the hill and broke his arm. Simple as that"

"That´s far from simple" Eren chuckled. Levi started to leave but Eren spoke again. "Can I ask one more question?"

Levi chuckled. "Hurry up"

He seemed to be struggling with himself. A bright scarlet was tinting his cheeks again in that adorable way. There you go again. "Krista also s-said...you went the other way?" it was like a question statement.

Levi turned and looked him straight in the eye. "That Krista friend of yours is pretty dam fucking smart, ain´t she?"

Eren swallowed nervously. "I-I´m sorry! I was just curious and I-"

"Kid, It´s not a bad word you know?" he shrugged simply, looking back at the sunset. "Yeah, I´m gay. It´s not something I hide. I´d be stupid if I kept it a secret. The little fuckers in this place know it, probably don´t like it but fuck them. They keep their distance. It´s not their fucking life anyways"

There was a silence, a little uncomfortable, but Eren´s blush was fading. Then he finally spoke again when he was about to leave. "Can I ask one last question?" The blush had bloomed into his face again. Cute my ass, this guy´s a flustered fucking angel. No point to deny it anymore.

"Kid, I´m tired" but he listened anyways.

"Are you still hunting for that dragon?" he asked a little nervously and Levi´s eyebrows shot up.

"Do you know anything about it?" he questioned him curiously.

"No!" Eren said a little too loud and scared. "No! I don´t know anything! Not a clue! Nothing! I was just" he swallowed nervously "I was just wondering, curious. That"

"Are you sure?" Levi was more suspicious of the kid by the second.

"Yeah…sure" Eren looked anywhere but at him. "I better catch up with Armin" He said hurriedly, turning away and running, literally; leaving Levi to stare after him doubtfully. First that burn, then the dragon not attacking him, and now this? He definitely knows something. The kid´s intelligent and cute and I SAID FUCKING STOP IT. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"This kid´s going to end me" he said as he hopelessly followed slowly after him.

Levi had arrived at the dinner court, where all lights were dimmed and Erwin, him, plus the 104th squad were the only one´s there. He was silently sipping at his tea while Erwin remarked their training. "Sasha was a little sloppy. You should concentrate on the dragon"

"Yeah, but it was his fault!" she complained with a mouth full of bread. "I saw that shield first!"

"Did Mikasa do something wrong?" Erwin asked laughing

"She was a little reckless. You could´ve gotten hurt" Armin said a little sheepishly.

"No, no. You were great" Jean said cheerfully. "That was so Mikasa" the scarfed girl only let out a huff. Levi, so far, had respect for the short Annie and for Mikasa. And maybe a little for Marco, the kid was chasing Jean everywhere.

"He´s right" Erwin remarked, raising his claw in the air. "You have to be tough on yourself"

Just then Eren came in with we hair, probably for the rain that had began falling a couple of minutes ago. He walked directly to the table next to theirs, and Levi eyed him warily. "Where did Eren go wrong?" Erwin said again, and there were snickers all over.

Ymir chuckled. "Uh, he showed up?" Krista elbowed her on the side.

"He didn´t get eaten!" Reiner joked and they all continued laughing and Bertholdt chuckled shakily.

"He´s never where he should be" Levi remarked, having the kid´s and Eren´s attention for a second. Nods were all over the table as Eren sat down on the other next to their and silently ate his food.

"Thank you Levi" Erwin said taking out a book, the attention of the squad immediately to him again. But Levi kept looking sideways at Eren, and for a second their eyes met. Eren nodded once at him, as if to thank him, and Levi raised one eyebrow and looked at hi faintly as if to say, you okay? But he just blushed and turn away. He still felt sorry for the kid, though.

Glancing back at Erwin "…Live and breathe this stuff" he was saying dropping the book on the table. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of" he said looking at them all and then eying the ceiling, humming. "Hmm. NO attack tonight. Read up" He gestured at Levi, but he waved him off. He was finishing his food first, at least.

"Wait" Connie said frowning. "We read?"

Sasha grunted. "While we´re still alive?"

"Why read words, when you can just kill the stuff the words tell stuff about?" Ymir nodded in approval as they all did.

"Oh, I´ve read it like, seven times!" Armin said excitedly. "There´s this water dragon that spits boiling water at your face!"

"Me too!" Marco also said. "And there´s this other one that-"

"Yeah, that´s great" Reiner cut him. "And there was a chance we might read that…"

"But now…" Sasha groaned again.

Annie sat up from the table. "You guys read. I´ll go kill stuff" she said turning away and walking lonely to the door.

There were a lot of "Yeah me too"´s as everyone stood up and left, leaving only Levi and Eren, who was standing up to get the book. "So I guess we´ll, share?" he said awkwardly."Read it, kid" Levi said standing and stretching a bit. He was still almost 10 centimeters smaller than Eren, but he felt more mature than him in every way. "Good luck" he sighed walking away.

"Oh! All mine then?" he heard the kid saying. "Oh, that´s great. I´ll see you at-" and then he closed the door, stepping into the rain.

"Hanji owes me her earning of the next two week" he heard the amused voice of Erwin say beside him as he started walking away.

"What?" Levi raised a brow, he didn´t mind the rain at all. "What do you idiots betted on?"

"You" Erwin said simply. "That Eren kid" he started, and Levi´s heart made an involuntary jump. "I saw you eying him at practice"

"What did you bet on? I´d take him on a date and shit?" Levi chuckled. "Bitch please. I´m gay, not stupid"

Erwin laughed again. "Oh, Levi" he clutched at his stomach. "You´re killing me one day. And no. We didn´t bet on that. We bet that you would tell him, on the first place. Hanji said you weren´t, but instead Hanji said you´d be confessing right away, but I know you know better than that"

"Remind me to kill her when I see her" Levi muttered. Was he too obvious? No fucking way. He couldn´t. They just knew because they were his best friends (if you could call them something) Right?

RIGHT?!

"No, Levi" Erwin said chuckling. He was sure he was blushing and quickly turned away. "You´re not that obvious. I wouldn´t have known if we were talking about another person. I just have known you since too long, don´t worry. No one will know unless you tell" Levi mentally sighed in relief.

"Thanks" he almost whispered.

There was a silence. "So?" Erwin said again.

"So what?"

"Are you telling him?"

Levi laughed now. "You must know me less than I thought so"