HANJI: I woke up in an unfamiliar place with a familiar smell. I reached out and grabbed my glasses, sticking them to my face. I blinked, looking around the room: Levi's living room in his apartment.

"Morning, Shit Glasses," Levi murmured from behind the couch.

"Good morning, Corporal Cranky," I replied.

"Do you know what today is?" He asked.

"Uh...no? Besides Friday..." I admitted.

"It's your birthday, dummy," Levi ruffled my hair.

It was? My eyes glanced to the calendar on the wall. "Huh, so it is..."

"How do you not remember your own birthday?" Levi asked, going to the kitchen to make breakfast.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I guess I didn't have very memorable birthdays."

"Didn't you have birthday parties as a kid?"

"I did, but-" I was interrupted when the kids appeared at the doorway. "Happy birthday, Hanji!" They announced.

I smiled at them, removing the covers from me and stretching. "Thanks kids, and good morning. How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Levi had it written on his calendar downstairs," Armin said.

"You went through my stuff?" Levi demanded.

"N-no sir, it was laying on your desk and I just happened to see it," Armin stammered.

I ruffled his blond mop of hair. "Well, it's a good thing you looked; I didn't even remember my own birthday."

"How do you not remember your own birthday?" Eren asked.

"Eren, don't be rude," Mikasa snapped.

"It's okay; Levi asked the same thing," I laughed. "I guess with age, you just don't remember these things anymore."

"How old are you?" Eren continued.

"Eren," Mikasa scolded again.

"Uh...thirty-two?" I shrugged.

"We should bake you a birthday cake," Armin offered.

"No, it's okay. We don't have a ton of time to celebrate, despite the fact we arrested one of the Titans last night." I decided. "I hypothesize that the Titans have a base somewhere..."

"What do you mean? Of course we should celebrate! I mean, it's the first Titan you've arrested in-how many years have you been doing your job?" Eren protested.

"Oi brat, are you saying we aren't doing our job?" Levi snapped this time.

"N-no sir! I just-" Eren began.

"We really should celebrate, seeing as this is a victory. And Hanji, if you want to go out tonight with Levi we can stay here." Armin suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed, "but-"

"Work can wait," Levi decided, placing his hand on my head. "Tonight, I'm taking you out on a date."

A date? First a kiss, then asking me to move in, now a date? Things were moving really quickly, and I didn't know if I could keep up.

"I would love to," I managed. "When are we going to move all of my stuff here, though?"

"We can spend the day doing that, and then we can go out for dinner," Levi replied.

"We can help," Mikasa agreed.

"Alright, this might sound like the most fun I've had on my birthday ever," I laughed.

It was around six o' clock when we had finished moving all the boxes from my apartment into Levi's. I had expected it to take longer, but luckily it hadn't. My room was going to be the small extra room next to his. He had currently been using it as an extra office to store documents, but he was going to have to move all of those back downstairs.

"We can unpack the boxes tomorrow. Now, we get ready for that date." Levi smiled. My heart fluttered.

Mikasa sat in my room with me, digging through all the boxes. "What are you going to wear?"

"I don't know. Have you been on a date before, Mikasa?" I asked.

"No, but I heard a lot of boys at my school like me. I don't like any of them, though. Especially Jean Kirstein, he's an idiot. Everyone thinks he and his friend Marco are dating, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were." She replied. "Did anyone like you back in high school?"

"Nah, I was kind of a nerd. And since people didn't know whether to call me 'he' or 'she' rather than just letting it pass, I didn't have a lot of friends in high school." I admitted. "And then when I met Levi and became his detective partner, he was the first one who didn't seem to care whether I was a boy or a girl. He never questioned which gender I leaned more toward when I wore skirts or pants, or when I cut my hair short three years ago. That was an awful haircut."

"Hanji, this is the first time I've actually felt like a normal teenage girl rather than someone who had seen her parents murdered right before her eyes." Mikasa said quietly. "Thank you."

"Oh...you're welcome." I smiled. "Now, should I wear a dress for the first date, or pants?"

Mikasa eyed something in one of the boxes, and pulled it out: it was a slinky silver calf-length dress with capped sleeves. "How about this?"

"Well, I certainly haven't worn this in a while, not since Mike and Nanaba's wedding." I laughed. "Sure, I'll wear it."

I opened the door to my room and walked down the hall. The kitten heels I wore weren't terribly difficult to walk in.

Levi was sitting on the couch talking to the boys. Armin and Eren saw me first and their mouths hung open. Levi turned his head and saw me, and his eyes twinkled.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," he mumbled. Then he cleared his throat and re-answered, "Yes."

"You two have fun on your date," Armin chimed.

"But not too much fun," Eren winked.

"Eren, don't be stupid," Mikasa said, but I could tell she was smiling behind her scarf.

"Alright, we will," I agreed, waving to them as we left. "So Levi, where are you taking me?"

"The restaurant where I first interviewed you to be my detective partner," he said, "Sina's."

We arrived at Sina's and sat down. The waitress, a girl named Sasha, took our orders and went back to the kitchen.

"So, last night when you were examining the mask, you mentioned the Titans would've had a headquarters or a base somewhere?" Levi asked, sipping his drink.

"Yeah, I think they have someplace where they're manufacturing the masks," I agreed.

The food arrived and I started eating immediately. The good news about being on this date with Levi was that he'd seen me eat before, and I wasn't shy about it.

"You're a mess, Shit Glasses," he smirked.

"You love it, don't you?" I winked. He immediately blushed, his eyes widening and flicking to the side.

"Hanji, was asking you to move in with me and then taking you out on this date too sudden?" Levi mumbled.

"Huh? Well...I'm not so sure how normal relationships work, but I couldn't have asked it to be any other way." I said.

"I've never been in a relationship," Levi admitted.

"Me neither," I chuckled, "I was a nerd in high school."

"I was shorter than all the girls."

That sent me cracking up. Levi chuckled, too.

After dinner, Levi took me for a walk in the park. The early September air was still warm with summer's lingering touch. Levi's fingers were laced between mine.

"I haven't worn this dress since Mike and Nanaba's wedding four years ago. Do you remember that?" I asked.

"Yeah, I remember. I remember I got so drunk you had to drag me back to the apartment," Levi laughed.

"You're a lightweight," I teased.

"Mhmm," he agreed, "speaking of which, remember the bachelor party when you almost beat Erwin and Mike in a drinking competition?"

"Yeah I remember that," I laughed, "you were already passed out with a lampshade on your head."

There was a brief silence before I asked, "What made you choose me to be your detective partner?"

"I knew you had what it took. Officer Ral-before she was an officer-was pretty close too, but I had already seen something in you. I knew you were cut out for the job, and I wanted to have you by my side even then." Levi replied.

"I see," I mumbled. I squeezed his hand. "Thank you for choosing me."

"O-of course," Levi stammered.

We started to come closer to the office, and right as it came into view, we saw Mikasa and Armin running up to us. Their faces held panicked expressions.

"Kids, what's wrong?" I demanded.

"It's...Eren..." Armin panted.

"What happened to him?" Levi asked, noticing he wasn't behind them.

"He...joined the Titans..." Mikasa finished.