Housekeeping

Disclaimer: SnK and its characters are not mine.

A/N: Thanks everyone who's been following and reviewing this story so far! The positive response has definitely exceeded my expectations. On another note, I think this chapter requires stronger curse words, but I didn't want to force myself to bump the rating, especially since I don't intend on having any lemon content. I'm sure you can use your imaginations as to where I would have inserted some F-bombs.

Chapter 4

Eren stirred awake on the hard dungeon bed like any other morning. Only, unlike every other morning, it was very dark in his stone accommodations. "Oy, what time is it?" he called.

His bored guard seemed startled that his charge was awake already. "Uhm, er…please state your name."

"Cut the crap, I'm not going to turn into a titan. I just asked what the time was." Obviously it was early enough for him to feel a little crabby.

Muttering something under his breath, the guard took out a pocket watch. "Just a little past 3 AM," was his curt response.

What the hell was he doing awake at this hour? Eren took a moment to think back to the other day. He remembered Mikasa had left for bed shortly after dinner time. That's right, to make her feel better, he said he was going to turn in too instead of hanging out with everyone else like they usually would.

He gave a yawn and stretched out a bit. It didn't seem like his body really wanted to go back to sleep anyway, so might as well make the most of his day. "Hey, can you let me out? I think I'm up for good."

His guard seemed more than eager to fulfill the request. Since no other prisoners were in the dungeon, there would be no reason for the young man to stay. Eren assumed that meant he planned on going off-duty early to get some sleep or whatever.

It felt weird walking out of the cell when it was dark instead of walking in. Nevertheless, Eren headed back up to his room to get changed.

During the chilly trek back, he couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something. He sometimes had to wonder if that stuff his father had injected him with interfered with his normal memory too.

The dark-haired boy didn't figure it out until he walked into his room and found a strange sealed envelope on his desk. Turning it over in his hand, he recognized Hanji's handwriting and mark.

"…Shit." It was all flooding back to him now.

Eren had just stepped out of his room on his way to dinner with Mikasa and the others. The first thing his emerald eyes rested on was a pair of glasses and a brown ponytail.

"Gah!" He jumped back in surprise. "Oh, Hanji, it's just you. What's up?"

"Eren! I have an important mission for you!" Her creepy gaze seemed to bore into his very soul.

"Uh…sure, what is it?"

She immediately pressed an envelope into his hand. "I need you to take this to Captain Levi right away. Don't leave until he reads it and report back to me what he says."

He groaned audibly. "Can it wait until after dinner at least? I'm running late enough as is." Eren took the envelope and tossed it on his desk.

"Sure, sure, but make sure he sees it tonight."

The young titan-shifter scratched his head. "If it's that important, why don't you take it to him yourself?"

"I would, but I'm in the middle of running an overnight experiment. I don't know if I can trust Moblit to be by himself for longer than the few minutes it took me to get here."

Eren sighed. "Okay, I'll take it to him later."

"Perfect!" Hanji gave him a broad grin. "Don't forget to make sure he reads it. I'll see you at dawn when my work is complete!" She flashed him a dramatic pose before rushing back to her office.

Eren slapped a hand over his forehead. He hadn't returned to his room afterward, but instead had headed straight for the dungeons to turn in. Looking at his clock, he wondered if the Captain would even be up at this time.

He pressed the envelope to his chest and decided it was at least worth a shot. Closing up his room, the anxious teenager quickly made his way toward the Captain's quarters.

Eren took a deep breath and paused before his commanding officer's door. He had heard the muffled sound of footsteps on his way here, but he couldn't tell if it was from this room or an adjacent one. With a shaky hand, he rapped quietly on the slab of wood in front of him.

"Ackerman, I thought I told you ten minutes later, not earlier."

Confused, Eren meekly called, "It-It's just me, Sir."

There was a click of a lock, and the door soon opened before him. "Jaeger, what the hell are you doing here?" The older man's hair was messy and he still wore his pajama pants. His dull expression belied the annoyance Eren imagined that he felt.

"I uh…just remembered…" He quickly held up the envelope. "This is from Hanji," he blurted.

Captain Levi snatched the document from him. "Send Shitty Glasses my regards and beat it."

He was about to close the door when Eren cried, "Wait, wait! She wanted me to make sure you read it." The teenage boy inadvertently stepped forward and planted his foot past the threshold such that the door wouldn't be able to close. "Um, and she wanted me to tell her what you thought about it."

Levi's eyes narrowed. "Do I look like I have the goddamn time to do this right now?"

Eren was too scared to even remove his foot from the entryway. "Please…Sir?" was all that he could squeak out.

With an exasperated sigh, the older man walked back into his room and motioned for the boy to follow. Once Eren had stepped in and closed the door behind him, Levi turned to the nearest lamp and asked in his usual monotone, "Are you sure you and Ackerman aren't related? Because both of you are sure as hell gullible and stubborn."

"Uh, yes, Sir?"

The ebony-haired man tore through the envelope and quickly skimmed over the pages. "I already heard about half this shit," he grumbled. Tossing the bundle of papers on his writing desk, he made his way over to the wardrobe. "Tell Shitty Glasses this was a waste of time, and if she wants to dump your ass down that well for more experiments, she's more than welcome, so long as you're back before class." Grabbing a stack of clothes, he made his way to the bathroom.

Eren still stood by the door, wondering what he should do.

"Now if that's all you needed, get the hell out of here! Make sure to turn that button on the knob on your way out to lock it. I'm running behind as is." With that, he made his way into the bathroom and slammed the door after him.

The teenage boy could hear the shower turning on and figured that was his cue to get out of there.

Mikasa's head was cloudier this morning that it was the previous day. She had a hard time sleeping last night, and when she did wake up, it was earlier than she had yesterday. There was no point waiting the extra ten minutes the Captain had allotted her. So, she tiredly dragged her feet down the corridors.

Memories from the other day swam in her head. She couldn't believe that sneaky son of a bitch hijacked their lessons. It was almost as if he anticipated that's what she needed the least that day. But she supposed he'd already planned on doing that long before their little encounter that morning, since he'd asked her about their classes.

Mikasa shook her head to clear it. No point in dwelling on those events, especially when they involved someone that had clearly been bent on pushing her buttons.

Once she reached her destination, she was so sure the Captain wasn't expecting her that she raised her hand to knock on the door. Just before she could make contact, the door swung open, much to her surprise, to reveal her adoptive brother.

"Eren?" she gasped, confused. "What are you doing here?"

The boy jumped back, clearly not expecting to see her there either. "Huh, Mikasa? Oh, right." He seemed to take a moment to gather his wits. "I was just delivering a message for Hanji. I sorta forgot to do it yesterday." He gave her a sheepish grin.

"But at this time of morning?" she pressed.

"Yeah, Hanji said she was going to see me at dawn to make sure I did it, and you know how scary she gets." He gave a short laugh. "I'd be afraid to participate in her next experiment."

The information slowly sank into her mind. That sounded like something the Squad Leader and her forgetful brother would do. "I'd better hurry and get started cleaning," she stated simply. "I'll see you after morning exercises."

Eren moved aside to let her in before exiting himself. "Yeah, I'll actually be on time to those for once," he joked. Her brother paused for a minute, as if thinking of something else he wanted to say.

She had a feeling she knew what it was. "I'll be fine, Eren, don't worry. I'm feeling better today." That was a complete lie, but she didn't want to waste anymore time on him worrying about her. She had only made it through her afternoon cleaning session the other day because the Captain had barely spent any time in the office. The quicker she could get his room done while it seemed like he was in the bathroom, the better off she would be.

Eren gave her a relieved smile. "All right, see you then!"

Mikasa cursed to herself. She had been so addle-brained that she had started dusting without opening and cleaning the window first. With a sigh, she unlocked the panes and pushed them outward, which produced a loud creak. It was then that she realized she hadn't seen anymore newspapers in his closet to scrub them with. She really didn't want to go out and find more. A clean-freak like the Captain had to have extra somewhere.

The half-Asian girl began rummaging though his drawers and chest, trying to find something that didn't look important to use as a substitute. Little did she realize that the shower had long stopped running and there was utter silence coming from the bathroom next door.

By the time Captain Levi had turned off the hot water to his shower, his annoyance had almost subsided. Almost. All he had been able to think about was how those damn brats could get so easily taken in by that crackpot of a scientist to do her dirty work.

He had just finished patting his hair dry and wrapping the towel around his waist when he heard his window creaking open. His breath caught in his throat, and he stood still to listen.

There was the sound of his desk drawers opening and closing, same with the chest by his bed. With Jaeger having locked his door, he could only assume there was an intruder in his room. He couldn't remember if Ackerman had secured his window the other day, so someone could very well have just entered through that.

He yanked the rod from his towel rack out and grasped it close to him. Silently he made his way to the door of his bathroom and waited for the footsteps to get closer. Ackerman was going to severely regret her carelessness when he next saw her.

Mikasa sighed in defeat. She'd have to use paper towels for now and get some more newspapers for tomorrow. Hopefully she could clean it such that the streaks wouldn't show as badly, but she was sure regardless of what she did, she'd never hear the end of it from the Captain.

She headed for the shelf she'd left the roll of paper towels on, which was on the other side of the bathroom door. Just as she was about to grab them, however, she heard the door she'd just passed being flung open and felt someone rushing at her from behind with a weapon poised.

Even though she was still groggy, her instincts kicked in immediately. Mikasa whirled around, grabbed the attacker by the wrists, and used his own force to flip him over onto his back. She then shoved his weapon, a metal rod apparently, down across his throat.

It was only when she met a pair of stormy eyes that she realized her assailant was none other than her commanding officer.

"Ca-Captain Levi?!" she yelped and jumped back off him. Then remembering his injury, she scanned him to make sure he was all right…and instantly regretted it.

He was clothed only in a towel, and nothing else. She could tell because when she looked down at his leg, which lay flat while the other was bent at the knee, she spotted something peeping out from under the piece of cloth just below his waistline…

Her face became a bright beet red, and she quickly turned her body around, both hands flying to her clenched eyes. "I'm so sorry!"

"ACKERMAN, WHAT THE HELL?!" he boomed, scrambling up to his feet and dropping the rod with a clatter. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?! Just what were you doing sneaking around my room?" He gave her a shake to indicate he wanted a response pronto.

"I wasn't sneaking, I was cleaning! You know, like I have been the past two days?" she spat, her gaze averted to the side since she couldn't bring herself to look down or directly at him.

"So you broke in through my window instead of waiting in front of my locked door like a sane person?" he growled.

At that accusation, her head snapped back to shoot him a fierce glare. She couldn't tell if her face was still red from embarrassment or outrage, but at this point she didn't care. "What the hell are you talking about breaking in? Eren let me in on his way out."

This revelation seemed to partly diffuse his anger, since his iron grip on her shoulders started to ease up.

Her own fury began to dissipate along with his. "Now can you please put on some clothes, Captain?" She tried to keep as steady a voice and straight a face as she could muster.

Levi's eyes widened and she could see the faintest tinge of pink appearing on his cheeks as he finally realized his situation. He immediately pushed her aside and rushed back into the bathroom. At any other time, that look on his face would have been priceless, but all Mikasa could think about was planting herself in the nearest chair.

My God, would this nightmare ever end for her? She didn't even have the heart to do anything but remain seated, hunched over with her face in the palms of her hands. It wasn't long before the source of Mikasa's misery and mortification emerged, buttoning up his white shirt quickly and tucking it into his trousers.

"Would you care to explain to me why you were ransacking my room like a bumbling thief?"

"You ran out of newspapers," she answered plainly, sitting up in the chair. When he raised an eyebrow, she explained, "For cleaning your windows. I was looking for more."

He raised a hand briefly to rub the bridge of his nose.

"Is your leg all right?" She was genuinely concerned, but she also wanted to change the subject.

"Yes," he grumbled, "luckily I hit the floor back first."

An awkward silence fell between them, but the Captain didn't budge from his position staring at her. He'd made his face unreadable again, so she couldn't tell if he was still angry with her.

Regardless, Mikasa knew she couldn't work like this. "I think I'll go search for some newspapers and come back in the afternoon to finish the room."

Levi merely nodded. She knew where she could find him later anyway.

Without even a salute in farewell, Mikasa hurriedly departed from his ever-watching presence, making sure to lock the door behind her.

She walked away from his room at a rapid pace. The teenage girl couldn't take it anymore, and that incident only made it worse. What was going to haunt her next, the image of his near-naked body? If she didn't get ahold of herself fast, it was only going to lead to more embarrassment.

Soon enough, Mikasa's quick strides turned into a jog and then a full out sprint. Short, jet black hair flying out behind her, she dashed through the halls, not caring who was or wasn't up yet to hear her. She had no idea where she was headed, but she knew she just had to get away from him.

Maybe she should take Eren's advice after all and find help. It was the best idea she could come up with right now to put an end to this turmoil. Perhaps if she talked with someone who could walk her through her feelings, then she could finally have some peace of mind.

Mikasa ran through a list of people in her head. Eren was a definite no. Armin likely too. In fact, she didn't think any males would understand. Krista and Sasha would be much too nosy. That left only one person she could turn to. And thankfully, she already knew that woman would be up at this hour. Skidding sharply around a corner to the right, she headed toward an office next to the research lab.

It didn't take long for Hanji Zoe to answer her timid knock on the door.

"Eh? Mikasa?" she asked in surprise. "If you're looking for Eren, you just missed him."

The girl shook her head. "Actually I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about a…personal matter."

"Oh, well then, come in, come in!" she ushered the cadet to a table, which they sat down at together. Mikasa could tell by the bags under her eyes that the older woman had been up all night, but she somehow was maintaining her usual energy. "Moblit!" she called into the room attached to her office.

For a second, Mikasa's pulse picked up at the prospect of someone else being present during this.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Her second-in-command soon appeared.

"Get yourself lost for about a half hour," Hanji calmly ordered.

"Ma'am?" The confusion was evident in his countenance and voice.

The Squad Leader flicked her hand away from herself. "You heard me, shoo!"

With another acknowledgement and salute, he left via the front door of the office.

Turning back to her guest, she kindly asked, "Can I get you anything? Tea or some other drink?"

Mikasa politely shook her head. "No, thank you though. I just needed to ask you about something."

"Oh, go right ahead." She stopped to pour herself a cup of green tea from the tea set in front of her.

Mikasa hesitated, not quite sure how to phrase her question. "It's about… Um…" Luckily, Hanji was a patient person and gave her plenty of time to continue. "Please don't tell anyone I asked you about this, but...how do you know if you love someone or it's just a physical attraction?"

"Oh ho ho, so you're finally making a move on Eren!" Hanji beamed.

"Well, not exactly…" She blushed and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "It's just…uh… I don't know how to explain it." Mikasa shook her head. This was a bad idea. She should think of a way to get herself out of there.

"I can't imagine it could be about someone else." Hanji gave a laugh. It was short-lived, however, at the sight of the grimace on the girl's face. "No…really?" Her mouth and rimmed eyes gaping, she leaned in closer to the cadet.

"I should go," Mikasa said stiffly, standing up.

Scrambling to shove her back down in the seat, the Squad Leader practically knocked over her chair and the table. "No, no, no, I didn't mean it as a bad thing. It was just—what's the word?—unexpected."

Mikasa did her best to return her face back to its usual stoicism.

"So, who is it? Who could catch the eye of the woman worth a hundred soldiers~?" Hanji continued with a flourish of the hand.

"I'd rather not say." Mikasa's voice was curt enough that the older woman caught her drift not to push it.

"Oh, fine, but at least tell me all about him." She settled back down in her own seat, taking a big swig of her green tea. "…It is a him, right?"

Mikasa merely nodded. Seeing that she'd already gone too far to back out now, she took a few minutes to gather her thoughts. "You know how we train around…guys…all day?" The girl in the hot seat wanted to be as ambiguous as she could about it. "Sometimes with them wearing little clothing?"

Hanji bobbed her head up and down, still maintaining her attentive gaze.

"I was never interested in any of them, or him, for that matter when I saw them like that…until recently." She leaned back and sighed, a hand moving to her forehead. "I only saw him once in that state, and now I can't stop thinking about him. I keep seeing his face, and body, everywhere." As her onyx eyes met Hanji's brown, she decided it was best not to even touch on what happened this morning. "Am I crazy or is this just a case of hormones?"

"Hmm, it's too early to tell, it being a single encounter and all," Hanji mused. Her thin hand rubbed her chin in thought. "But this is different from how you feel about Eren?"

"Yes." She gave another blush at the mention of her adoptive brother's name. Mikasa really needed to learn to stop doing that when she thought about him.

Hanji reached over to top off her cup of tea. "Well then, why don't you ask this new guy out?"

"No," she firmly replied.

"Why not?"

"He's an asshole."

The auburn-haired woman gave a hearty chuckle. "I'll let you in on a secret: a lot of men are until you get to know them." She raised the refreshed teacup to her lips. "Take Captain Levi, for example."

Mikasa nearly choked on her own saliva. Of all the examples she could have come up with… Now she was glad she had declined the tea, for at this point, she would have spit it out in Hanji's face. Luckily, the other woman had her eyes closed as she savored the warm liquid, otherwise she would have seen the perturbed look Mikasa's face had contorted into.

"Quite frankly, to everyone, he's the king of all asses. I'm sure you've experienced that firsthand," Hanji explained. "But I've known Levi for years, and deep down, he really cares about his men. He might not have shown it, but he was devastated at the loss of his last squad."

Mikasa's mind flashed back to the morning that had started it all: how the Captain had examined her with such concern, and the way his hand had gently brushed her forehead…

"He hates unnecessary casualties too. He'd rather not bear witness to them or be a cause of them. That's why he didn't participate in the final battle against Annie with his injury until he was absolutely needed."

The dark-haired girl let the information process in her mind. She hadn't really thought about the incident like that.

"So, maybe your guy will be the same way. Worst case, he is a jerk and you dump him, plain and simple. But you'll never know until you try."

Mikasa nodded. "Thank you, Hanji. I think I understand now."

"Good! I can't wait to meet him!"

Mikasa couldn't help but give a half-hearted smile to the other's huge grin. "Just don't…expect anything any time soon."

"Believe me, I have all the time in the world. Oh, speaking of which, I guess I should get some sleep now. These overnight experiments really throw off my sense of time."

The young soldier stood up slowly and made for the exit. Something still nagged at the back of her mind, though. It wasn't until she reached the door that she could put the question into words. "By the way, Hanji, what do I do if he outranks me?"

The female scientist pursed her lips and brought a hand up to her chin again. "If that's the case, I would suggest letting Commander Erwin know as soon as possible. There are protocols to follow for such relationships in the Survey Corps code, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem so long as you aren't in the same squadron."

Mikasa turned in time so that the woman wouldn't see her face fall. "I see… Thank you again, Hanji. You've been most helpful."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Least I can do after all the work I put you and Eren through." She waved her hand dismissively toward the teenage girl. "Just don't forget to introduce me~!"

Click went the door behind her before the Squad Leader could finish her sentence. Mikasa let out a deep breath and slowly walked back to her room. She could hear the bells tolling the start of a new day.

Ask him out, huh? Levi sure as hell didn't seem like the dating type. They already spent two hours—well, three now with class—out of the day together. Did that count? What would they even do together if, on the off chance, they were a couple?

As she passed by the communal bathroom, she heard someone shout, "Hey, whaddya think you're doing?"

"Grabbing this shower while the water's still hot. Got a problem with that, Shumaker?"

"Yeah, I do. I was here first."

At this, Mikasa stopped. Curiosity got the better of her.

This time, a third voice chimed in. "Better give up, Shumaker. Or don't you remember the ass-whooping we gave you yesterday?"

Their target responded, "I didn't put up with bullying before I joined the Corps, and I'm not about to start now."

"Suit yourself," hissed the first one. Instantly, she heard the sound of a fist striking flesh. Mikasa's eyes narrowed. Turning on her heel, she walked straight into the shower room.

She could see a group of three young men, all in towels. One with dark brown hair towered over a fair-haired one who was on the floor, holding his cheek. Another one with sandy blond hair and blue eyes leaned against the side of a nearby wall.

"I wouldn't call it bullying so much as learning your place," spat the instigator. He landed a kick with his barefoot into his victim's abdomen.

That settled it for Mikasa. In the blink of an eye, she landed a solid punch to the dark-haired man's stomach and followed it with an uppercut, which sent him flying back a few feet before he landed hard on the slippery tile floor.

"What the hell?!" his friend on the wall exclaimed. "You'll pay for that." She could sense the punch aimed straight for the back of her head, and she easily ducked it. A simple elbow backwards rendered him breathless. She quickly whirled around and followed with a throw over her shoulder, using the man's still outstretched arm.

After making sure her assailants posed no further threat, Mikasa stood up straight and dusted herself off. She then offered an arm to the man in shock on the floor. "Better take that shower before the water gets cold," she calmly suggested, not even winded.

He nodded and wordlessly took her proffered arm. Once she helped him up, she made her way out of the bathroom. Mikasa stopped for a moment outside to make sure there would be no further trouble. Hearing none, she quickly made her way back to her room. The little skirmish had given her an idea.

Sighing, Captain Levi crumpled up yet another document he had ruined and tossed it into the wastebasket off to his left. He hadn't had this much trouble with his concentration in quite a long time. But he couldn't help replay the events of that morning in his head.

He couldn't believe his own foolishness in not figuring out it was Ackerman in his room, much less in thinking he actually needed to arm himself. Levi was humanity's strongest. He would have been able to deal with any intruder, armed or otherwise, with his bare hands. Maybe it was just an old habit of his.

Then for her to subdue him so easily—it was an embarrassment, even more so than being seen practically naked. He tried to think back to what had hindered his usually sharp reflexes.

It had to be her eyes. For a brief second, he'd seen a flicker of something in them: pure survival instinct, the kind he only saw in combat. He remembered how his heart had stopped at the sight and how he'd frozen long enough for her to grab his wrists. The next thing he knew, she was on top of him, the glimmer he'd seen being extinguished.

It was different from the defiant fire he was used to seeing in those orbs. He hated that look of audacity that appeared during their altercations. Sure it was fun to goad her into it sometimes, but more often than not, it was a reminder of her insubordination, the same that caused his current handicap.

Levi set his pen down. He was getting nowhere with his work thinking such thoughts.

But what was it about the first look that made him feel so different? He had to admit, she was beautiful in that state, and the mere memory of it sent a thrill up his spine. Levi would much rather see those eyes again. He remembered forlornly hoping they would appear once more as she sat mute across from him in his room. Instead, she had taken off.

Not that he could blame her. The whole situation had been awkward for the both of them. He wondered if he should make himself scarce today while she worked. It seemed to help her the other day.

A knock at his door roused him from his musings. "Come in," he called automatically. It took him a second to realize that he wasn't expecting anyone this morning.

In walked the subject of his present thoughts, carrying a stack of newspapers.

"Ackerman, what are you doing here?" Again, another involuntary response. He really needed to get ahold of himself. "Don't you have chores to finish up?"

She merely gave him a stoic look—at least she was making eye contact again. He was surprised she even had the nerve to be back so soon after her previous hasty exit. "I finished early. I'm just here to drop these off so that I remember to take them to your room later."

"Set them over there then." He carelessly waved a hand in the general direction of door. She interpreted that as a spot on the floor near the entrance and did as she was told. However, instead of leaving now that her task was finished, she simply stood there, watching him. "Did you need something else, Ackerman?" He started scribbling on a new sheet of paper to make himself look busy.

Levi could see her hesitate for a moment from the corner of his eye. "If I may make a personal request, Sir…" she trailed off.

This caught his attention, and he looked up at her more fully. She was trying to regain her composure after her nervousness cut her appeal short. "I'm listening." His voice was not eager nor discouraging, just firm enough to give her a little prod.

One last gulp was all she seemed to need. "When your ankle gets better, can I…undergo combat training with you?"

He felt his heart leap in his chest at the proposition. Something inside him wanted to consent right then, but he managed to restrain the feeling. Instead, he kept his cool gaze and raised a thin eyebrow at her.

"I know you're the best, and I want to learn from you…so that I can protect Eren better," she explained.

The last part felt like a jagged knife to the gut. "Oh, for Eren," he bitterly spat before he could stop himself. So much for his previous self-control. "For a second there, I forgot who was talking to me. I could have sworn you were someone looking to better yourself for your own personal development. My mistake."

That defiant spark appeared once more. He could see it now that she wasn't avoiding his eyes like the plague. "I do want to get better. I want to be the best," she insisted.

"Then you're going to have to learn to think about yourself," he put bluntly. "I don't want you dropping everything if wittle Eren gets a boo-boo." The mocking tone he used at the end appeared to get her blood boiling. "This desire to protect him is what keeps you going, is it not? What if he gets eaten by a titan tomorrow? Boom, motivation gone. That would have been a shitty waste of my time."

He feigned turning his attention back to paperwork, and soon enough, a slender hand slammed itself on his desk. "I would still continue the training, if only to rid the world of the titans that stole my only family."

Levi could feel a headache coming on. She still missed the point, but she was getting closer at least. He gave her the coldest stare he could muster. "Let me put this in simpler terms. If I spend my time on you, I expect a return on my investment. I need a titan-killing machine who follows orders. Someone who won't be swayed by her incestuous emotions."

He held up a hand to silence her as her face turned blood red.

"Self-motivation would have been ideal, but if you can focus on improving for the sake of the Survey Corps, I will train you. I can promise you right now it will not be easy, and you will have to follow instructions you may not agree with…"

"I'll take it." That fire had not once been extinguished, but there was something in it this time that he didn't mind seeing: her determination.

"Good. We start in three weeks. I'd suggest not slacking off until then. Your throw this morning was rather weak."

Clearly wanting to hide the loathing she was feeling, Mikasa spun around and headed for the door without saying another word. Levi gave a satisfied smirk when her departure was accompanied by a slam. Personal training with Ackerman, huh? The prospect of seeing that combat ferocity in her eyes on a daily basis made him feel something akin to excitement.