Ace: Part of me wants to let Marco live. But with I plan to do with this story, that may not work out because he may not play a major part in the story, so as of right now, his fate is undecided. I'll reveal his fate later.

Also, it may look like that I have misspelled some names, but that is because I used a different variation for their names.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.

Chapter 9: I Hate Levi

Mikasa

I was supposed to join Levi's squad. According to Eren, many cadets would do anything to be a part of his squad (even if it was murdering each other in cold blood, something that I found interesting). After hearing the Levi had kicked Eren in the face and beat him a little, I wasn't as sure that I wanted this short man to be my "guardian" or whatever.

In order to "contain" Eren and myself, the Survey Corp and Zacklay (whoever he was), had granted Levi and his squad permission to use an old castle for the base of operations and as a prison Eren and myself. We would be the only people in the castle. That would have been fine if Levi and Ourou weren't there.

On the way to the castle, I traveled alongside Eren on horseback. Despite my no-contact policy, I was tempted to hug Eren, but as that would ruin my reputation as a fugitive, I refrained from doing so. Eren must have sensed this, as he kept looking at me. Then again, his only options were to stare into my soul and formulate questions for me, or get his soul sucked in by Levi's death stare. But if it were me, I would be staring down Levi.

Oluo walked up to us. "Don't get to cocky, kids."

That sentence made me want to punch him.

Eren looked confused. Oluo continued.

"Don't get any ideas about Heichou."

I gritted my teeth. "Like what?"

"You think-"

His horse stepped on a pebble and he bit his tongue. Oluo began to bleed, and I was trying my best to not laugh, although by the look on Eren's face, I had failed miserably.

I could hear Levi sigh. Petra glared at Oluo. "Really?"

"I wanted to make an impression," he replied.

"What kind?" She asked.

"That I can intimidate them."

I scoffed. "Yeah, right."

"See?" Petra sighed. "When you go to heartless people like Mikasa like that, it's best to not even try."

"Uh..." Eren began. "Mikasa almost fell off her horse from laughter when Oluo bit his tongue."

"Oh," Petra replied. "Sorry."

I didn't look at Petra, which may have worried her, but I'm not entirely sure.

Levi looked ready to strangle everybody. "Shut up, brats," his voice was directed at Eren and me, and I clenched my reins tighter, calmly telling myself that punching Levi in the face would result in me being injured and thus wasn't worth it.

We rode in silence. Or rather, everyone but Oluo was silent, making me wonder if everybody would be okay with me killing him. Everybody but Levi, I mean. Obviously he wouldn't be pleased with that, so it probably wouldn't be a wise idea.

Upon seeing the castle ahead, we urged the horses to pick up their pace. After a few minutes, we were in the courtyard of the castle. Levi was the first to dismount. The rest of his squad followed. I was the last to get off. Eren walked up to me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I haven't even asked you a question," Eren responded.

"I know. But I knew that you were going to ask me several."

Eren nodded. "You know about these guys, right?"

"Eh, I know some of their stats and whatnot. But I can never remember wh-"

"Levi has killed the most Titans of the group. Oluo ranks next a-"

I sighed, effectively cutting Eren off. "Now I remember. And I can't go and kill him..."

"Please tell me that you're joking, Mikasa."

"Maybe," I shrugged. "Just because I am under Levi's command and that I told him part of my story doesn't mean that he knows everything." Or that I'll change, I told myself.

Eren shifted a little. I adjusted my scarf as Petra walked up to us. "Ready for some cleaning, Heichou-style?"

"Yes," Eren replied.

"No," was my response. But of course my vote didn't mattered. Levi had already begun.

Cleaning was boring enough as it is. Levi made it seem like torture. Apparently, his cleaning expectations were so high that they made royal castles look dirty. And I've been to several castles on different occasions for different reasons, so that's really saying something.

Two of Levi's squad members cleaned the windows. Petra swept the halls, I had no clue were Oluo went, and Eren and I were forced to clean an entire floor together. I'll admit that it was somewhat fun to clean with Eren, but I also wanted to strangle Levi.

"We're done," I told Levi as Eren and I entered the room he was in.

Levi looked at us. "Are you sure?"

Eren nodded. Levi walked past us and went upstairs.

"Is he seriously checking our work?!" I snapped.

"Yeah," Eren replied.

Petra entered the room. I zoned out while she was talking to Eren, but my ears perked up when she said, "thug."

"Levi was a thug?" I asked.

Petra nodded.

I growled. "Great. Now I don't know if I should respect him or want to str-"

Eren covered my mouth. "Mikasa hasn't gotten enough sleep yet."

Petra tilted her head, but shrugged and continued to sweep.

I was really, really tempted to bite Eren, but even I knew that I could get hurt or get in trouble doing that. Plus, Eren was nice to me, and I really don't want Eren to hate me. So I grabbed my arms to prevent myself from hurting Eren.

Levi entered the room. "You brats did a shitty job. Redo the whole floor."

I hissed. Eren nodded and together we walked back up the stairs.

At the end of the day, I was so exhausted that I walked into my cell without fighting and laid my head down. My brain shut down, and I yawned.

"Night Eren," I sighed tiredly.

No response. But I was too tired to care. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Ace: Mikasa wants to be on Eren's good side, yet she hates Levi and wants to continue attacking the MP, so her mind keeps switching back and forth between these moods. Eventually, she'll have a constant mood that is more or less normal.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!