A/N: Thank you to my dearest readers for your kind reviews and support so far!
Chapter revamped: 13 March 2020
Humanity's Strongest Woman by xDollfie
Chapter 08 — A Step In The Wrong Direction
"Idaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Hanji yelled out at the top of her lungs when she burst into the dining room with a wild sly smile on her face.
Her wide eyes searched the room frantically, and then her smile stretched even wider when she spotted the redhead sitting by the corner enjoying some leisure time reading. She skipped towards her gleefully. "Ida!"
"What do you want, Hanji?" Ida frowned, unamused by her sudden appearance and her obnoxious screeching. "Why are you even here?"
Where was Moblit when she needed him? Hanji was usually less boisterous when he was around. Ida exhaled audibly and closed her book. She was never going to get any sort of peace with Hanji around.
"I was wondering where your boyfriend was—"
Having somewhat anticipated Ida's response, Hanji was able to quickly dodge the kick that Ida suddenly launched in her direction. Hanji yelped out in fear, but that annoying, overly joyful expression soon returned to her face.
She threw her one last heated glare before gracefully tucking her book underneath her armpit and made her way out of the room. "He's cooped up in his office as usual."
The sight of Hanji reminded Ida of her recent problems and she grimaced. Thanks to the Titan Scientist's big mouth that simply couldn't stay shut, Ida was now unfortunately in the center of hot gossip in her squad.
Everyone thought that she and that damn wretched Captain were dating.
While it was beyond her how anyone could even believe they had a thing for each other, Ida still felt unsettled. It had taken just one glare from Levi and a scowl from her to quickly dissipate the rumors among their squad, but it still annoyed her that Hanji still had that stupid thought in her mind.
A sudden image of a fanatical Hanji drooling came into her mind and Ida hastily swatted it away from her memory. The last thing she wanted was to think about Hanji on her peaceful day off.
"Ida-san," Eren approached her carefully when she emerged into the main hall. He was covered in patches of brown dirt. He had tried to clean himself before stepping into the castle, but the dirt merely smeared around his skin and clothes as he tried to wipe it off. "I've finished cleaning the courtyard."
"Oh," Ida observed his dirtied state with pursed lips.
Truthfully, she kind of pitied the poor recruit.
Eren reminded her of the day when she had first enlisted as newbie as well — being made to clean endlessly by Levi's commands.
Though the boy had been a far better sport than her, never once complaining and doing his job the best he could. Ida wondered how he felt about joining their squad, surely he must've felt just as scrutinized and out of place as she did when she first joined.
However, she wasn't one to pry and from what she observed, unlike her who actively avoided everyone when she first joined, the teenager was far more amiable and companionable, making an active effort to get to know and learn from his fellow veterans.
A week had passed ever since they started living in the hideout. From her interactions with him, Ida concluded that he was a nice boy. Kind at heart, but with a passionate desire to eradicate all Titans and obtain mankind's freedom.
Even a young boy like Eren had the capability to dream and Ida couldn't help but feel a tad sour about it. What was her excuse not to?
Although it was still bizarre to her that a young boy liked Eren harbored such intense power from the Titans, and was in fact, mankind's last hope, she couldn't deny his presence somehow made her feel less cynical.
Maybe she really was starting to dream again.
"Ida-san?" Eren's voice snapped her out of her contemplation and she stared at him. He grinned lopsidedly. "I'm done with the courtyard, would you like to check it?"
Her brows crumpled together at the sight of his warm smile. But Eren was far too young to be called mankind's last hope. Still, there was much expected of him. Ida couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling better about himself since the night she visited him.
She cleared her throat and took the cleaning tools from him before issuing her orders in an even voice. "Go clean up and take off your shoes. Levi would have a fit when he sees those dirt marks inside the castle."
"Shit!" Eren gasped at the marks he left. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and stared at her, no doubt expecting her to maim or scold him.
Instead of a scolding though, he was instead greeted with her soft gaze, Ida didn't seem angry at all. Was he imagining it? Or were the sides of her lips slightly curled up?
Frazzled, Eren started to panic. "Sorry! I'll clean it up—"
"I'll handle it, don't worry about it."
Eren balked, startled by her uncharacteristic leniency. "Wha—"
"You can take the rest of the day off," Ida cut in briskly again, starting to mop the stains he left behind. "...Maybe you can even train afterward."
"Eh?!" Eren was dumbfounded at her offer. "What about Captain Levi? He told me to clean the attic—"
"Why don't you leave him to me, Eren?" Ida interrupted sharply, already knowing what he was going to say.
Taken aback, Eren couldn't keep up with her sudden change in demeanor and he unconsciously took a frightened step back.
"I'll get that midget to give you some lessons in gear maneuvering if you want," Ida continued, earning another confused frown from him while he tried to figure out what she was playing at. She sighed loudly. "From what I can tell from your previous lesson, you're going to need all the help you can get to improve your shitty maneuvering skills if you are going to survive."
"Huh?"
She frowned. "I can give you lessons too, but I know you admire Levi."
"But…" Eren was still gaping at her. "Why?"
Ida crossed her arms, trying to come up with an explanation that didn't sound feeble. "It's my job to keep you alive, is it not?"
At those words, Eren felt his heart-lifting and his teal eyes started lighting up in anticipation. As far as he knew, Levi never gave private lessons in gear maneuvering — his form of training only came in the form of self-learning.
He stared at her with as much hope as he could muster into his gaze. "You would really do that for me?!"
She hurled him a death glare. "What? You don't want that, you ungrateful brat? You rather slack off?"
"N — No! Not at all!" Eren hastily clarified, shaking his head. "It's just that, I'm very grateful!"
Eren tried his best to curb his enthusiasm, but he was extremely ecstatic. He was going to have private lessons with humanity's strongest soldier!
Ida had to forcibly suppress a grin that threatened to erupt on her face and she managed to do so when she covered it up with an irate scoff.
"Uhm, thank you Ida-san!" Eren stammered, trying to dispel the awkward air that suddenly settled between them. He settled for bowing lowly to express his gratitude. "I'm grateful!"
"No problem." Ida stiffly nodded in response and went back to cleaning up the floor.
Unbeknownst to her, Eren continued studying her, positively intrigued by the woman named humanity's second strongest after Levi.
He wondered what had gotten into her for Ida to suddenly be so kind and nice to him. Ida, like her Captain, was not one to easily show any gesture of kindness that easily, he had learned.
But now that he had thought about it, it was not that surprising. Ever since he had joined the Survey Corps, it had been nothing but surprises after surprises. It didn't take long for the Titan shifter to realize that this place was basically a lair of weirdos.
From the maniac squad leader Hanji Zoe and her a fanatical insane obsession with Titans to Mike Zacharius who had a bizarre habit of sniffing people he first met, to even his squadmate Oluo who always happens to bite his tongue while on horseback. And not to mention Captain Levi, whose brows were always contorted in a condescending manner but secretly possesses an unhealthy habit with cleaning.
To put it simply, everyone had a weird habit here. The Survey Corps seemed like a gathering point of the oddballs who seek changes.
And so he couldn't help but wonder… Did Ida Starke have some weird habits too?
From what he had seen, Ida seemed perfectly normal — apart from her habit of indulging in sweets — but he suddenly remembered all those times that Ida had purposely disobeyed Levi, earning her punishment after punishment for insubordination.
Regardless of how tedious and back-breaking the punishment was (which he was sure would break the spirits of any soldier), Ida never backed down. Not even when she had to run one-hundred laps around the courtyard recently as punishment for insubordination.
It was almost as though she enjoyed the torment Levi inflicted on her.
"What are you staring at Eren? Do you have a question?" Ida snapped, finally noticing that the new recruit had been staring at her for a while. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing!" came Eren's immediate response, snapping out of his thoughts.
Unfortunately, Ida seemed completely unconvinced and her insistent glare demanded him to fess up what he was thinking. "Uhm… actually, I do have a question…" Eren trailed off cautiously, fidgeting in a show of nervousness.
Ida was getting annoyed by his demeanor and she crossed her arms. "What is it then? Spit it out."
Eren hesitated for a moment, twirling his fingers around his jacket before asking the burning question with wide innocent eyes. He could not hold it back any longer. "Uhm… You're a weirdo too, aren't you?! Like a sadist or a masochist or something?!"
A vein in Ida's forehead popped. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!"
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"I've told you time and time again!" Levi screamed in acrimony. In an infinitesimal moment, he closed the gap between them and he gripped onto her collar, pulling her closer to his face as snarled. "Do not break the fucking formation!"
It was one of those aggravating moments again. In so many ways, Ida infuriated him. They were on their 53rd expedition beyond the walls, and damned brat had once again broken her position in the long-distance formation. It was the fourth expedition that Ida had attended and Levi had expected her to be aware of her duties now.
But as usual, Ida was back to her disobedient ways.
"If I didn't leave the formation on my own, Marlene's squad would've been wiped out," Ida answered calmly and without rancor. "Many of our scouts would've died."
"Tch." He released his grip on her at her statement, pushing her away violently. She stumbled back, but she quickly regained her footing and stared at him head-on. With his anger escalating every second, Levi wasn't sure that he could hold himself back any longer.
"This is your fourth expedition, Starke," he hissed. "What are you fucking trying to achieve, charging in recklessly like that without awaiting orders?!"
Levi couldn't understand her erratic behavior. The Special Operation Squad was always placed near the front of the long-distance formation to spearhead the legion and fend off any Titan. Their strength was needed; especially to protect the supply carts. They were the heart of the formation in all, and any break in the formation without prior orders from Erwin could be detrimental.
So why? Why didn't Ida fucking understand? He had explained it to her time and time again. But all it took was a black signal flare of emergency, and Ida had hurried off to help on her own, not stopping even when commanded.
"I'm trying to save lives," she stated rigidly, the resolve in her green eyes clear.
"Yeah? Don't fucking wait up for a pat on the back if that's what you're waiting for, Starke." Levi snapped, his knuckles whitening under his intense fist grip. "You might be skilled, but to charge recklessly into—"
"It doesn't matter, sir," she interjected firmly, her green eyes morphing in hard disdain. "Many scouts lived because of my reckless actions, I saved them."
His blinding temper went straight to head. "You could've died—"
"The legion still has you," Ida interrupted again. "The strongest. The center formation has no need for me."
Levi was just about to lunge for her again in a blinding fury, but Hanji had already interceded between them physically. "Whoa!" she said, her cheeriness clashing starkly with the tense atmosphere. "There's no need to fight when we're out beyond the Walls!"
"For once I agree with you, Hanji." Ida voiced bitterly, glaring at him.
"If you fucking do this again, Starke — I'll remove your shitty self from the next expedition," Levi growled threateningly, eyes darkening. From her expression, Levi knew that Ida understood this was no idle threat. "Did I make myself clear?"
"Tch." Ida scoffed sourly as she started to walk away. "I don't care, do as you see fit."
He was about to chase after her — to reprimand her and to put her in her place again — but before he could, Hanji had already held him back. "Levi, let her go."
"Don't fucking touch me, you damned four-eye," Levi grumbled, edging away from her hold.
"You should relax," Hanji told him placatingly. "She's a reckless one, I agree, but her intentions are good. I'm sure she will understand the severity behind her actions soon enough—"
"She won't," Levi retorted bitterly. "And for that, I'm training that fucking brat."
"Mhm…" Hanji mused, staring at him speculatively.
It was unexplainable on his part, but he just didn't like how she was looking at him. "It's only training, what's the hell wrong with it?"
When Hanji didn't reply and quirked a puzzling brow, he continued, "No matter how much I try to reel her in, if she's in such a hurry to fucking die, then it's a meaningless shitty death. What that damned brat needs to be more attached to her own life, and for that, I'm training her."
"I'm not saying it's wrong, but your ways are too easy to misunderstand," Hanji explained, holding his gaze. "Levi, she's strong, Ida is undeniably an asset and she can handle herself. I don't know why you're protecting her so much, or why you're so angry about it."
Because she's Erwin Smith's fucking daughter, Levi wanted to retort, but he thought it wiser not to say. It was confidential information that Hanji didn't need to know. Instead, he settled for another truthful explanation. "It's exactly because she's an asset that she needs to be useful and not go off dying like a useless brat."
Hanji stared at him contemplatively before her eyes expanded in recognition. "Oh!" she gasped before she leered towards him. "Can it be… that you're attached to her?"
Levi was affronted at that accusation. "That's absurd."
She only snickered and slapped him in the back, clearly not interested in his explanation. Hanji did not look convinced, but she at least had the grace to nod. "If you say so!"
"Tch." Levi scoffed irately. "Shut up."
"Do you know why she keeps doing this?" Hanji suddenly inquired.
Levi glared at her. "If I know, I wouldn't be wasting my time here talking to you, shitty glasses."
Hanji pursed her lips. "You know… I overheard it when Ida was talking to Gunther. One of Marlene's squad members had a sick mother he had to take care of."
Levi's frown was immediate. Hanji's tone became more somber when she saw the recognition in his eyes and she shrugged. "Maybe... she just wants him to go home alive?" she offered softly. "I don't know, maybe I'm just reading too much into it…"
Levi drew in a large breath in hopes of relieving the tightness in his chest. Why was he thinking about that memory in a time like this? Unconsciously, he stared at the new report that Erwin had just sent to him and the answer was suddenly as clear as day.
Fuck, he cursed inwardly, dreading the consequences behind the new orders.
He was busy drafting a report about Eren Yeager when there was a knock to his door.
"You sure have some nerves making me wait that long, you bloody specs," Levi greeted with sarcasm the moment Hanji entered his office. "Were you constipated or something?"
"Thanks for asking, Levi! But I pooped just fine today!" Hanji smiled jovially, placing the report on his desk. "After a thorough search, the Military Police couldn't find anyone who used their gears without authorization."
She paused dramatically, before breaking out in tears at the thought of her precious specimens. "Oh, my poor Sonny and Bean! They were too young!"
"Hold onto your pants you shitty four eyes, I won't have you going berserk in my office," Levi glared at her, tapping his fingernails impatiently on the table as he contemplated her report. "…This would pose a problem, what are Erwin's orders?"
She pouted at Levi's lack of reaction. "We'll proceed with the secret mission for the next expedition as planned," Hanji informed him, quickly averting back to her normal demeanor. "You already received the new report, right? Erwin told me he sent it to the hideout yesterday."
Levi grimaced bitterly and stared at the report on his desk, hating it with every fiber of his being. "Yeah, I've got it."
A disturbing thought entered her mind and Hanji's brows crumpled together. "Have you informed Ida about it yet? Erwin has deemed her as a trusted member. It's weird, isn't it? Only those who have been with the Survey Corps before the fall of Wall Maria were considered trustable… Why is she an expectation, I wonder?"
Levi eyed at her suspiciously and waved off her comments. He knew what the reason was. Ida was Erwin's biological daughter, there was no way she could be involved with Titans or that she was from beyond the Walls, but Hanji didn't need to know that.
"It's up to him to decide, he always thinks of a few more steps ahead of us," he concluded dismissively.
Hanji nodded to herself and accepted his explanation, finding truth in the fact that there was no way to predict just what was going on in Erwin's head.
"Well, I'm a little worried about the upcoming large scale expedition to the outer lands," she sighed. "I heard the new freshly graduated recruits will join in as well."
"We just have to do what we are told," Levi answered brusquely. "And also, tell Erwin to explain to Ida about the plan himself, it's burdensome for me to do it."
He found himself staring at the report again, his lips twisting in disdain. He knew that Ida would have a hard time accepting the job, in fact, she would probably be against it. The plan to capture the other Titan Shifters hiding in the Walls would only mean a lot of subordinates' sacrifices — something that Ida clearly wasn't fond of.
Unlike Erwin or Levi, Ida couldn't throw aside her humanity and sacrifice her comrades for the sake of destroying Titans.
Levi knew that Ida wasn't capable of doing that.
Though he acknowledged that Ida had dedicated her life to humanity and despised the idea of letting her subordinates die in vain, her resolution was not unshakable, however, as she was hesitant to cross the line that Erwin and the rest of the veterans could.
Ida simply wasn't one that was willing to throw away her humanity for change. Awhile Levi understood that you can't gain something without giving something in return, Ida, on the other hand, was ambitious and naive with lofty goals, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the harsh reality. She simply would not sacrifice her comrades, even for the good for mankind.
Truth to be told, Levi didn't realize this about Ida off the bat when he first met her. It came as a startling surprise to him actually.
When he first saw her, his own self-analysis of her told him that she was cynical and unwavering — a person that had experienced hardships and was in no way a saint. It was on the 54th expedition beyond the Walls did Levi started to see something different in her, and since then, he found himself evaluating her every time she went on an expedition.
The remorseful green eyes that refused to leave her comrades bodies no matter how dangerous it was to go back, the grit of her teeth whenever she saw another soldier succumb to the Titans, the intemperate outburst whenever Erwin suggested a plan that was far too risky but beneficial to mankind.
And only then was he certain of his new conclusion.
All evidence pointed to the fact that Ida was far different than him. She valued the lives of her comrades more than anything else, certainly even much more than him and Erwin could afford to.
Indeed, Ida had done exactly what she had told him when a year ago when he questioned her reasons for staying in the Survey Corps. 'To protect people', she had declared.
Levi exhaled softly while worry caused his brows to clash together. Momentarily, he wondered why he was feeling disappointed and frustrated at that thought.
Before he could ponder for the answer, a knock on the door halted their private meeting. The door swung open, admitting the very person from his thoughts.
Ida popped her head inside curiously, before strolling into the room and immediately directed her gaze to Levi, ignoring the waving brunette. "It's your turn to babysit the Titan spunk today," she said, crossing her arms.
Since both of them were responsible for Eren, they had finally come to a compromise (after a huge argument) that they would babysit him on alternate days, and for today, it was Levi's turn.
Levi trained Ida with an intense look, not in the mood to entertain her. "I know, you damned shitty brat. I've already issued him jobs to do. What else do you want me to do?"
"All you do is give him cleaning jobs, what is your problem? I don't want any conflict, so go and give him lessons in gear maneuvering today." It wasn't a request, Ida was demanding. "You're not looking after him."
In response to the accusation, he felt his complexion darken even further. "Why should I entertain the likes of him?" Levi replied flatly. "We need to put things in order around here and that means cleaning until there is not a single speck of dust present."
Ida gaped at him. "Every day?!"
"You said you didn't want any conflict." Levi countered swiftly.
She stared at him in complete disbelief. Ida could never understand Levi's insane habit of wanting everything spotless.
Levi threw her a withering look when she remained silent. "Are you done spouting your nonsense? Close your mouth, it's disgusting. You're dismissed, so get out, I have things I need to do."
Shaking her head to regain back her composure, Ida hastily retorted. "I don't care, go and give him lessons today. It's our responsibility to make sure his Titan ass does not get killed in the upcoming expedition. His skills are mediocre at best if you haven't realized."
"I don't have the damn time, do it yourself." Levi set his teacup down and took another piece of paperwork from his stack. He had better things to do, more worrying things to discuss with Hanji. "You're dismissed, Ida."
However, Ida was as stubborn and unyielding as ever.
She slammed her hand into his table, gaining a glare from the Captain at her behavior. "Surely you can take an hour off to train that little brat you wanted to take responsibility for!"
Levi glowered at the unfaltering redhead. He would have rather taken extra paperwork any day than to give lessons. In addition, he had to continue on the discussion with Hanji — far away from Ida's ears might he add.
Weighed by the constant worries, Levi was unable to contain his rising annoyance any longer. He stood up hastily and slammed his hands on the table. "I said you're fucking dismissed, Starke!"
He took in the sight of the discouraged and stunned Ida and let out an imperceptible sigh. Fuck, he hadn't meant to be so belligerent. Levi allowed his eyes to fall on her for a few seconds before softening his grim expression. He managed to suppress his anger — but only slightly. He sank back to his seat and spoke in a slightly softer tone.
"Maybe tomorrow or something," he compromised begrudgingly, wanting nothing more than to get her off his back.
But Ida wasn't going to settle for that. "Today." she insisted, remembering her promise with Eren.
Hanji Zoe looked on the pair with great entertainment, trying to stifle a laugh and a secret smile — they looked like parents arguing over their kid's wellbeing. She clapped a hand over her mouth, giggling softly in amusement. She ignored the redhead's heated accusing glare directed in her direction when she heard her laughs.
By then, Ida had successfully drawn all of Levi's little patience and he felt his frustration rise. "I already told you I'm fucking busy, can't you drill that into your shitty thick skull?!"
Ida raised an eyebrow at Levi's sudden outburst and she finally noticed the pile of paperwork on his desk. Now that she thought about it, Levi did look stressed and worn out today. In addition, Hanji made a special trip down to the hideout from the headquarters. Worry gripped her. Did something happen?
Something in her eyes softened in what Levi could only describe as understanding — a level of empathy that made him feel uncomfortable.
Exhaling a long breath, Ida shot one last guilt-ridden glance at Levi before looking away with her fist clenched. Perhaps she was being a little too unreasonable, Levi did look like he was truly busy.
"Fine..."
There was something in the way she said it, an undertone, that dampened his irritation.
Hanji waited for a few moments for the Ida to exit the room before she showed her wide, slightly maniacal smile that seemed a little too wide for her face shape.
"She looks upset…" she commented suggestively.
"Livid, if you ask me," he replied sedately with a scoff. Levi had a deep frown embedded in his forehead as he packed away the stray papers on his desk neatly.
He tried to concentrate on getting his work done, but Hanji's expecting stare was bothering him. He glared accusingly at her direction, reading her mind. "Are you insinuating that I follow her shitty demands, Hanji?"
She held her hands in the air as if to surrender. "Nope! I'm just implying that Ida looked genuinely concerned for Eren!"
The corners of Levi's lip threatened to turn into a scowl. He knew that Hanji was lying.
"Fucking troublesome brat…" he grumbled. "One brat was enough, now I have to deal with two."
Opening Hanji's report, Levi studied it tediously, determined to busy himself with real work and be productive.
There was no way he was going to give in to Ida's demands.
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There was no way he was going to waste his precious time training a little Titan twerp — Levi really told himself religiously he wouldn't do it, he really did.
So why the hell did he summon Eren to the training grounds right after Hanji left his office?
"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, Eren. Before I knock all of your Titan teeth out," Levi commanded brusquely, looking increasingly inconvenienced while he led the beaming recruit into the training fields. He couldn't believe that he had offered to train the little Titan brat, it was a complete waste of his time.
Fuck this, Levi cursed silently. Why couldn't she train him instead?
He was beginning to regret his impulsive decision.
Meanwhile, Eren followed him with a large grin that he couldn't force away no matter how hard he tried.
Levi trailed his hard eyes to the beaming recruit following him. "You can't seriously expect to train with that stupid look on your face."
Unfortunately, Eren couldn't help but smile as unbridled excitement surged through his veins. He quickened his pace, trailing his Captain. "I will not let you down, sir!"
Levi looked far from impressed by the boy's enthusiasm. "Shut up and gear on, and hurry up, I'm busy today."
"Yes, sir!"
"Did you ask Ida for private lessons from me?" Levi demanded snarkily, crossing his arms across his chest.
"No, sir…" Eren replied cautiously. "Uhm... She suggested it."
Levi scoffed in disbelief, exercising the muscles in his jaw. "Fucking shitty brat…" he cursed lowly. "Always giving me extra work."
His hideous scowl darkened when he saw that Eren was looking at him comically. "What? You got something to say?"
Fear rode on every nerve on his body and he immediately straightened his posture. "No, sir!"
From how incensed Levi looked at this new information, Eren had half expected him to cancel the training, but his Captain only let out another irate scoff escape his lip before he started walking deeper into the training field.
Tension slid off his shoulders at the sight of his retreating back, relieved that Levi was still willing to train him. Because truth to God, Eren still couldn't believe that Levi was training him. Humanity's strongest soldier was taking time off his busy schedule to give him a private lesson and it felt like a dream. Smiling joyfully, Eren's mind flashed back to his first conversation with Petra, thinking of just how right she was.
Ida Starke was Levi Ackerman's weakness after all.
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How the hell did he get dragged into this?
All Levi Ackerman wanted was a peaceful normal day cooped up in his office, far away from the noisy bickering of Oluo and Petra, free from Hanji's never-ending rant about Titan experimentation and relaxing over the fact that it was Ida's turn to take care of the Titan brat today.
…so why was he miles away from his private tranquil office, his paperwork and his hot cup of tea?
He truly could not understand himself anymore.
"Is that really the fastest you can go?" Levi taunted while he swept through the tall dense forest with perfect gear maneuvering skills. The wind pressed vehemently onto his face and his gray eye gleamed with determination, yet overflowing with confidence. "Hurry up, you shitty brat. You're wasting my damn time."
Ida just shortly behind him. She felt the adrenaline taking over her system while she accelerated even more into an unimaginable speed. The lush green forest glimmered like an aurora whirling in trance around her.
"Hmph, you've always been a pain whenever you use your gears because it seems like even your brain turns into a piece of muscle as well," she mocked childishly. "How fitting."
"And you haven't changed one bit since those days when you were basically struggling up to keep up with my speed," Levi snarked back sarcastically earning a heated glare from his partner.
Stupid midget, Ida cursed silently in her head, painfully bitter. Why is he still so perfect?
"That didn't happen!" she screeched back hotly, but she couldn't deny that it was true.
Her skills and speed had greatly improved over the last year due to her intense training, but Ida wasn't that bad back then.
Though she doubted that she could even win Levi when it came to the expertise of gear usage, Ida was formidable in her own right. "Let's hurry up! We've to make it back for dinner!"
Levi let out a sigh of frustration. Why did he even agree with this in the first place? He could never understand why he allowed Ida to convince him into doing unproductive and stupid things like this. They were wasting resources — resources that could go into furthering mankind's cause.
"I can never understand what is going on in that useless brain of yours." He slowed down and retracted back his wire, gracefully landing back to the ground. "Out of all the damn things to do on a perfect day like this, why the fuck did you pick hunting?"
Even from the ground, Levi's sarcasm could still be heard as clear as day.
"Because... I just felt like eating meat and it's expensive! Plus I'm broke!" Ida landed behind him shortly after, scanning the area.
"You're always broke," Levi commented dryly with a scowl.
Ida shrugged, not moving to defend herself. She was notoriously bad at saving away extra cash and would spend it all on sweets and desserts. While Ida didn't consider herself to be irresponsible and was sure she could save up if she wanted to, the past year, she had allowed herself to indulge. It certainly took a huge chunk out of her meager paycheck as only the rich could afford such a luxury like sugar. Judging for her natural affinity to sugar, Ida figured that maybe she was born with a noble's palette after all.
She pursed her lips. "Are we traveling on foot now?"
A look of doubt crossed Levi's face before he scoffed. "Tch. Can't you even hunt by yourself?" he ignored her question, trekking through the woods.
He winced in disgust every time his perfectly polished boots landed on wet dirt. "Fancy asking me to come out to this filthy place…"
"Well, excuse me if I don't know the way around woods here!" Ida defended, wrinkling her nose. Adjusting her gun strap over her shoulders, she added, "Plus, the rest of the squad are busy today, you were my last choice. I'd be far more relieved not to see that scowling face of yours anyway."
Ida blinked when she passed a distinctive oddly shaped tree. "Oi Levi, we aren't lost, are we?"
"Stop asking stupid things. We're not lost," came his sharp reply, leaving no room for doubt.
However, Ida didn't buy his affirmation for a second. She was sure she had seen that tree before. "But I swear, we have passed that—"
"No, we haven't." Levi snapped coolly, growling as he whirled around to face her before she could even retort. "Shut up for a minute, will you? You're such a shitty rotten brat."
Ida had to stifle a laugh. He was definitely lying. She had put her faith in her Captain for leading the way throughout the unfamiliar woods but that didn't mean she wasn't paying attention, but Ida played along anyway not wanting to pop his ego. Levi could be such an immature adult sometimes, refusing to admit that he is in the wrong regardless.
"If you say so," Ida whistled enigmatically, earning a frown from him. "But I doubt we can find any meat if we continue like this. Maybe we should've invited Mike over, I'm sure that damned nose of his could sniff out—"
"Shh!" Levi suddenly cut through her words and halted, extending his hand out in front of Ida to stop her.
Instantly on alert, they strained their ears, hearing the soft rustling coming from the dense woods. Carefully trying not to make any sounds to scare away their prey, Ida grabbed her gun, aiming it towards where the rustling was coming from with precision.
They froze, holding onto their breaths as the rustling got louder. If Ida strained her ears to listen, she could even hear the soft snorts and grunts of the animal. It was a boar, no doubt about that, and from the sounds of its movement, it was humongous.
"THERE!"
BANG!
Ida fired the shot when she saw hints of brown fur belonging to a massive boar peeking out from the green bushes. A mighty grunt was heard and suddenly the immense animal charged through the bushes, galloping away in agony and fear.
"Shit!" Ida exclaimed in dismay. "It only hit its leg!"
"Idiot! Do you even know how to use a damned gun?!" Levi with his fast reflexes had already shot his grapple towards the tall trees, reeling himself at astonishing speed towards the sprinting animal.
Ida hissed in annoyance, instantly propelling herself midair with her gear to chase after him. "Piss off! We don't kill damned Titans with guns do we?!"
"Fucking hell, just leave this to me," Levi grumbled, obviously annoyed at Ida's lack of precision when it came to using guns. "Tch. What a pathetic excuse of a soldier."
"Is that a challenge, midget?!" Ida shrieked back, hearing everything he said.
She had a vice-like grip on her handgrips and she quickly installed her blades into them. If she couldn't shoot it down, Ida will simply settle for slicing it down. Her jaw was hard with determination when she spotted Levi's smirk.
His raw cockiness only deepened her resolve to kill the beast. "You're on!"
Twisting her body, she maneuvered through the forest skillfully behind Levi. Her emerald eyes were dead set on getting her dinner. Ida was determined to outrun Levi to the sprinting animal.
She knew it would be a challenge — Levi had always been faster than her — but if she pulled this off she would have something to triumphantly shove into his smug little face, and that thought alone was enough to motivate her.
"Your skills are deteriorating, Levi! Has age finally caught up with you?" Ida taunted when she finally caught up to her Captain and she stuck her tongue out childishly. "Old man!"
Levi scoffed at her childish display, taking out his blades when he spotted the animal slowing down upfront. "As if I would lose to a stinking brat like you."
Ida felt the corners of her lip etched upwards into a smirk when she saw a bold look in his narrowed cool gray eyes. She recognized that look — Levi was determined to win. Momentarily she found herself drawn to him, realizing how much she loved how Levi looked whenever he was on the battlefield.
Fierce, stunning, and so irrecoverably perfect. The conviction Levi held for killing those Titans was unrivaled.
She was suddenly struck with the image from Levi in battle, whirling skillfully through the air, his blades nothing more than a lethal blue blur that delivered an agonizing death to any Titan unfortunate enough to cross his path. Ida felt her cheeks burn all the way up till her ears at that thought.
Oh god, why was she thinking of something like that at a time like this?
Flustered, Ida chewed nervously on her bottom lip while her gaze was still focused on him. Indeed, she had always secretly admired Levi's skills because she always desired to become someone strong and perfect like him, but now when she looked at him, something felt... different.
It was like icy water was washing through her body and Ida couldn't pinpoint what feeling it was: Admiration? Jealousy? Awe? Or maybe...
"IDA! WATCH OUT!"
WHAM!
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
While it might not look like it, Ida had a long, rather embarrassing history of mishaps. Her mother had often called her an 'accident-prone' child. But nothing, and absolutely nothing, could ever topple this moment, Ida was sure. She was certain that this mishap just took the grand medal of being the most embarrassing moment of her life.
The elite Captain bore mercilessly down on the writhing female, looking extremely unamused at her current pathetic state.
"Fucking hell…" Levi cursed lowly, observing her injuries. He looked as though he was about to blow up. "What are you? A damn amateur?! How the hell did you even manage to hit a tree?!"
On the ground, Ida sniffed with unshed tears welding in her eyes. She was clutching onto her sprained ankle in agony.
"F — Fuck off! I wasn't even looking at the road ahead!" Ida cried in her defense. A groan of pain escaped her when she lifted up an arm. She didn't even notice that her arm had received a deep gash as well.
This was going to need stitches, she observed bitterly. Damn it...
She pressed onto her ankle and shut her eyes in an effort to maintain her composure. "Shit! Why does it hurt so much?!"
"Of course it does, you pathetic idiot. You literally facepalmed into a goddamn tree and fell from a good five meters to the damn ground." Levi squatted beside her with that same blasé attitude he always had. His gray eyes started to assess her physical condition. "What were you even thinking about that you would ram into that huge ass tree? Are you blind?"
At his reminder, Ida flushed beet-red, hastily averting her head away to hide her obvious blush.
"N — Nothing!" she stammered frantically.
What the hell was she supposed to say? That she was distracted because she was thinking about him? Hell no! Ida would gladly give up an arm and leg to a Titan before that would ever happen.
Levi sighed exasperatingly, burying his forehead into his palms. He was clearly unamused by their current state of the situation. "Well, this is shitty. Not only did we lose the boar, but also you got yourself unnecessarily injured. Second strongest my ass, you're as incompetent as ever."
"S — Shut up, it was an accident!" Ida was long past the realm of embarrassment. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to dig a hole in the ground and hide. Her congested brain frantically searched for an excuse to blame for her accident. "There's something wrong with my gear!"
It was only when it left her mouth did Ida realize how ridiculous that excuse was.
"Oh?" Levi cockily raised a brow at her pathetic attempt to salvage what was left of pride. "Let's get it checked when we get back then."
"Tch." Ida looked away in defeat, biting hard onto her lower lip.
This was the absolute worst. She had just bloody face-palmed into a damned tree! Her, a seasoned veteran and the second strongest soldier in the Survey Corps after Levi, rammed into a fucking tree…
...and it happened when Levi — the annoyingly perfect man — was beside her.
At that depressing thought, Ida wanted to crawl into a burrow and die of embarrassment.
Fuck my life! she screamed internally, her soul in hysterics. Gods! I want to die! Just let me die already!
Levi's impassive expression contorted when he noticed that blood was trickling out from her nose. He removed his white handkerchief from his front pocket and made a disgruntled sound at the back of his throat.
"Look at how pathetically filthy you look. Your damned nose is busted. Just how hard did you ram yourself into that shitty tree?"
Ten shades of scarlet red bloomed across her cheek and Ida tried angling herself away from his touch. She didn't want to be catered to, especially not by the likes of him!
"S — Stop," she breathed, knowing what he intended to do with the handkerchief. "I can do it myself."
Ida reached for the handkerchief, but he eased it away from her. In an attempt to stop her, Levi grabbed onto her chin firmly and began to wipe off the remaining blood from her face with a surprisingly gentle touch. "Stop with your damn unnecessarily fidgeting, you useless accident-prone brat."
The touch caused tingling sensations to run over her body. For a nanosecond, all the pain within her body vanished. Ida felt her blush sear into her cheeks and she tried to look elsewhere, his heated touch almost became unbearable to endure. She chewed nervously on her bottom lip when she couldn't help but look straight at him.
"Tch. What the hell am I going to do with you?" Levi lifted her chin a little higher, effectively leaving her with butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. "Why do you always give me unnecessary trouble? Is it that fun to fuck around?"
Ida flinched when Levi accidentally exerted a little too much force with his dab mid-rant. As a response to her unpleasant reaction, he leaned in closer. Shit. Levi's face was so close to her now that she could see everything clearly; every frown, every hair, every imperfection. Her eyes became dazed, her body rigid and her heart started hammering at a rapid pace.
As Ida stared at him, she came to realize that she loved his eyes. Even though it was always narrowed into a hard determined stare, his orbs were a beautiful cool gray and if she looked into the depths of it, she could see hints of concern.
Wait a second…
Concern?
Levi was concerned about her?
Now that Ida thought about it since when did Levi let anyone use his personal belongings? Especially his own personal handkerchief? If her memory served her correctly, Eld had once said that Levi never allowed anyone to use it.
She silently pondered over it for a while, before settling on the plausible explanation that he only lent her his handkerchief because it was an emergency — there was absolutely no way that Levi was concerned about her. It was laughable to even think otherwise.
His firm gaze narrowed onto her distracted eyes. "Stop staring at me like that, you look like a dying pig." Levi threw the bloodied handkerchief onto her face when he was done and she caught it with her hands after it slid off her face. "You owe me a damn handkerchief. How's your leg?"
Every iota of vulnerability that was once present within his eyes vanished, but Ida could still feel his lingering touch on her chin. Ignoring it, she stuffed the handkerchief back into her pocket before taking off her combat boots to assess her ankle. She winched in agony when the throbbing pain shot up her lower back.
"Fuck!" Ida cursed through gritted teeth, clamping her eyes shut as she tried to withstand the unbearable pain.
She could feel her eyes tear up, but Ida held back the threatening tears. She was not about to cry, especially not in front of someone she hated like Levi. She was determined to salvage whatever pride she had left.
His expression curled into a cringe of disgust at her action. "That looks bad," Levi peered at her injury, frowning when he saw how serious it looked. "Can you get your ass up and walk?"
Ida stiffened at the briskness of his voice and then snapped her incredulous eyes back to her Captain.
"Are you blind or are you just plain stupid? Just look at it!" Her cheeks felt unbearably hot. Levi was the very last person she wanted to see right now, given her current condition.
Gods, this was so not her day.
"That would be a problem, we're quite far from the hideout," Levi noted in a harsh voice, looking like he was conjuring up a solution. He frowned when an irritable inconvenienced expression flashed across his face before he scoffed.
"Tch. It can't be helped then, get up my back," he said begrudgingly and faced his back towards her.
"W — What?" Ida blinked, dumbfounded. She wasn't sure if she heard right.
"Do I have to repeat my orders twice?" Levi growled harshly. "I said, get up my back. There's no other damn way. You can't use your gears, can you? Plus, I think it's better if you lay off it for the moment, your skills are clearly pure shit if you can manage to ram yourself to that huge tree."
Ida blinked again, unable to comprehend what he was saying. Was Levi ordering her to get up his back? As in a piggyback?!
"N — No!" she denied the proposition instantly, completely frazzled. "I don't want to!"
"You rather I carry you back using my gears then?" Levi countered with an annoyed growl. "I don't mind that. It'll be beneficial for me if you pass out from the pain, that way I won't have to hear your obnoxious screeching."
"Shut up!" Ida cried back instinctively, flustered. But Levi was right, judging from the current state of her leg, she was sure that it would be excruciating for her if he were to carry her back using his gears. She would probably pass out from all the vigorous movements.
"Tch. Just hurry up." Levi ordered tonelessly, his patience thinning.
"I'm not getting up your back! It's embarrassing!" Ida whined like a child on the ground, earning an unamused glare from him. She wasn't going to yield, Ida was certain that Levi would hold this against her for the rest of her life if she did.
And there was no way she was going to let that happen.
Levi exhaled tirelessly, irritated that he had to cater to an adult. "Fine. I'm leaving you here to rot then. Would that be better?"
"You wouldn't dare!" Ida gasped in shock at that thought.
"What other choice do we have? Your leg is fucked. You're the pathetic one who can't even maneuver properly." Levi taunted, his tone infused with ridicule. "It's either I leave you here to die or I have to carry you back. Choose."
At that threat, Ida flailed her arms in the air in defeat, trying to reach for Levi's neck to hop on.
"Fine, fine! Come closer, I can't move!"
At this point, Ida wanted to find a Titan and hide inside of it so that she could shrink into a corner and feel smaller. A part of her didn't believe that she actually agreed, but the other part knew that it was better than being left alone. To put it simply, she didn't have a choice.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Levi scooted closer and squatted in front of her. He felt Ida's arms snake around his neck and he effortlessly hooked his hands around her thighs to lift her up.
"Ow! Be gentle, you idiot!" Ida complained loudly, glad that Levi couldn't see the obvious blush on her face. She locked her hands around his neck securely before he got up from the ground.
"Tch, this useless trip is a waste of time and energy. We didn't even catch anything." Levi grumbled in a deadpan, walking towards the trail that they had left when they trekked into the forest. "How you managed to pass training is something I want to know."
"I told you it was an accident, shut up about it," Ida retorted defensively, upset about her embarrassing situation. She willed her blush to fade, but it was futile. She could still feel the heat on her cheeks.
In the back of her mind, a little voice questioned why Levi was being so nice to her today. He had complied with her request yesterday about training Eren and even agreed without much persuasion to go hunting with her today. With an irritable sigh, Ida quickly shoved her thoughts aside — those thoughts were something she would have to ponder on later.
"Fucking hell. You're so damn heavy, just how much do you weigh?" Levi complained in a dull monotone much to the dismay of the redhead on his back. "Added with your equipment weight, I can see why you run out of fucking gas so fast every time."
She was floored at his insensitive remark. "W — What?! I'm not fat! I'm… toned and…" she trailed off, trying to find the right words. "And… deliciously plump!"
Ida was so incredulous that she couldn't even come up with a proper retort without stuttering and sounding stupid. She knew that she was not in any way fat, if anything, she was toned and fit, but she couldn't deny that she felt a little hurt by his crass comment.
"Hah! Deliciously plump?" Levi snorted like it was the stupidest thing he had heard so far. "Your legs are thick enough to kick a Titan to death."
The fiery-haired soldier froze in disbelief on his back, gaping at her Captain's offensive remark.
"S — Shut up! You run out of gas just as quickly as I do!" Ida snapped back, extremely offended by his insulting theory.
She wanted to pull on his hair for saying such an insulting thing and scarring her ego as a woman for life, but Ida knew that Levi would mercilessly drop her to the ground as revenge, and the last thing she wanted was to be dropped into a mud pile.
As the bickering died down, the two abruptly fell into a stifling silence, the only sound coming from the dead leaves crunching under Levi's boots and their soft breaths. Ida never felt more uncomfortable in her life, she was so close to her crude and intimidating Captain that she was practically hugging him.
Occasionally, Ida could feel his jet-black hair brush her cheek ever so slightly.
Much to her amazement, his hair was extremely smooth for a man, something that she had never expected. Perhaps he uses conditioner all the time… she concluded in her head before snickering silently at that thought. Was that the reason why Levi was so adamant about taking two showers per day?
Ida tightened her grip around his neck when he hopped from a rock. Shit. She was becoming increasingly aware of their close physical contact. Strangely, she found that she didn't hate being so close to him like she had expected to.
What the hell is wrong with me...?
A new layer of blush waltzed on her cheeks. She was so close that she could hear his breathing. Ida could smell the cologne that he had always used, a familiar musky scent that she had always got a whiff of when he passed by.
Subconsciously, she began hugging his firm body tighter.
"Are you trying to choke me to death?"
Ida could feel his throat grumble when he said that and she secretly smiled, realizing just how much she liked being so close to him, to be able to feel his every slight movement. In some strange way, Levi gave her a sense of security, a sense of warmness.
"No…" she murmured softly, resting her chin on his shoulder to take in his scent. "I just don't want to fall."
It was a feeble excuse. Because no matter how much Ida hated the warm sensation in her chest that appeared when she was so close to him, the truth was, she did want to be closer to him. It was beyond her why she felt this way, but she paid it no mind.
Levi felt Ida pressing against his back as she leaned forward, and he tried not to think much of it.
"Man, this place is filthy," he commented coolly when they passed through a patch of wet soil. Desperately, Levi was trying to distract himself from his awkward thoughts. Even though he prided himself on his commendable self-control, it wasn't to say that he didn't feel anything upon realizing she was pressed against his back.
"Hmm..." Ida pursed her lips, thinking of how Levi would no doubt hurry to clean his shoes the first thing when they got back. "Hey, I got a question. Why are you so averse to dirt? You clean so much that sometimes I think the cleaning products have gotten to your head and that's the main reason why you're such a jerk all the time."
Levi felt her hot breath tickle his ear and he stiffened slightly. Luckily, he was able to maintain his cool composure and reply in his usually even voice, "What a dumb question from a stupid idiot. Why do you like sweets then?"
"I just like it," Ida answered simply.
"You got your stupid answer then."
The forest felt tranquil and peaceful, the birds were chirping merrily and the cool afternoon breeze felt relaxing. She sighed blissfully, already getting lost in that cologne that she had grown to adore so much.
A dreaded thought struck her and her serenity was chased away.
Shit, why was she enjoying this so much? Levi wouldn't think anything odd right? What if he got the wrong idea? She definitely couldn't have him thinking that!
Frazzled, Ida tried to distract herself from the comfortable silence that became stifling in an instant. "If you had a choice would you rather be covered in dirt or Titan's blood?"
"Tch, is that even a question?" Levi scoffed, passing through a flower meadow. "I would rather be covered in cologne."
Ida frowned at his ridiculous answer. "That's not even counted in the question," she pointed out like he was stupid and incapable of even comprehending her words.
"None then."
She rolled her eyes dramatically, "You can't do that!"
"Of course I can."
"Dumb ass," she sneered.
"You're the dumb one," Levi countered snappily. "Who the hell crashes into a tree after years of using the 3DMG?"
His reminder of her unfortunate incident caused her to gasp in embarrassment.
"Shut up!" she shrieked instinctively, trying to block out that life-scarring moment from her memories.
Ida was certain that Levi was going to use this to taunt her for the rest of her life and that thought left her despondent. She tightened her grip around his neck and started moving it in a threatening way. "This is between us you hear? No one has to know about it!"
Levi rolled his eyes and scoffed — even at a time like this, all Ida thought about was her pride.
"Tch. I can say whatever the hell I want and stop moving. You're fat enough as it is, I don't need the extra weight," he ordered harshly and Ida made a face, wrinkling her nose and cursing him under her breath.
"I'll tell everyone how much of a pervert you are then," she threatened in a low voice, dragging out the only thing she had against him.
But she should've known that Levi was not one cave in.
"Go on then. I already told you it's because you slobber and move around in your sleep. You're a filthy pig that sleeps like a damned hog and drools on people at night before rudely slapping them in the morning," Levi recounted in deadpanned, his voice growing increasingly irritated as he thought about how he was unpleasantly woken up with a hard slap and a ridiculous accusation.
She did feel guilty about overreacting the way that she did. Granted, her guilt was minimized by the simple fact that Levi was a mean jerk. He had explained to her the reason he was half nude in the morning. But Levi had made her run one hundred laps around the courtyard every day for a whole week for daring to lay her hands on him, and Ida wasn't going to forget about it anytime soon.
"I do not slobber and move around!"
Levi grimaced. The indifference in his monotonous voice remained. "Are you insinuating that I made you hug me like your damn pillow then? Your head is big enough, I had a hard time breathing because of your log head on my chest."
She glared, bewildered. Her womanly pride made it hard for her to believe the verity of his words. "I did not hug you!"
"Yeah you did, you damned brat."
"Why would I even hug you?" she demanded. "I hate you."
She heard him scoff. His patience with her was wearing thin. "Tch. Believe what you want. I don't care."
Blood rushed to her enflamed cheeks. Ida furrowed her brows when she was unable to come up with a retort. The sharp-tongued Levi always had a way with words. He was so infuriating. And yet, Ida was surprised he was even willing to carry her back to the hideout.
Because she was sure that if the roles were reversed, she would've spitefully left him there in the forest to rot for a couple of hours before getting Eld to fetch him.
Silence cascaded over them and Ida couldn't help but ponder on their strange relationship. She would never admit it, but Ida knew that she could be a despicable brat at times. In truth, she had expected that Levi would one day get so fed up with her, he would transfer her to another squad.
But he never did.
Frankly, it was odd. Levi never had any kind words for her and oftentimes she had thought that he hated her too. But Ida expected his hatred. After all, she had purposefully done everything in her power to make his life a living hell for him. But now that she had given it some further thought, she also couldn't deny that he was always very lenient with her. Even kind.
But why?
Why was he being like this? Did he really not realize how much she despised him over the past year? Didn't he realize that she hated him more than anything right now too? She hated him for the simple fact that he was perfect and for the simple fact that he was making it so much harder for her to hate him — especially when he exerted so much kindness to her, albeit in a 'Levi-like' manner.
She sighed exasperatedly, closing her eyes. This was so frustrating…
"Levi..."
"What?"
"...Why are you so nice to me today...?" she asked softly, earning a slight head turn from Levi. If Ida didn't have her closed she would've seen that his eyes were slightly wide before he quickly reverted back to a frown. "You know... if this was you getting injured, I would've left you behind after laughing at you..."
"Tch." Levi scoffed, unamused. "I wouldn't expect any less from a shitty brat like you. But I would've never gotten myself in that pathetic situation."
He had expected Ida to snap back a retort but she only chuckled softly. "Yeah…" she agreed quietly. "Of course you wouldn't, you're... perfect..."
His frown was immediate. Perfect? What the hell did she mean by that? Levi assumed that she meant that his gear work was flawless.
As if drawn to the heat of his body, Ida sighed as she snuggled softly onto her shoulder unknowingly.
"You haven't answered me," she pointed out in a languid tone. Her eyes were still closed.
"Answer what?"
"...Why are you so nice to me today?"
"What other reason is there?" Levi replied snappily in an irritated tone. "If someone is under your care you have a duty to them, nothing more or less than that."
A cold crisp wind blew by and Ida relished in how comfortable his body heat was. Whatever, she didn't care if Levi hated her. She was tired and she didn't want to think anymore.
"Hmmm… really?" she murmured a little too dubiously for Levi's liking.
Levi raised his voice in defense, turning his head to look at her. "What else could it be, you shitty—"
He halted midway when he saw that Ida was already peacefully sleeping. An annoyed grumble erupted from his throat before he quickened the pace to the hideout.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
"OW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME YOU JABBED ME!"
Ida was wrong, terribly wrong. Levi did not go straight away to clean his muddy boots as she had predicted. But instead, he thought that it would be a perfect time to address her wounds much to her blatant dismay of horror.
The intimidating man in front of her made no acknowledgment at the fact she was practically howling in pain.
"Then stop moving around like you have really bad diarrhea, the stitches are getting crooked," Levi commanded sternly, a needle in hand as he attempted to stitch up the deep gash on Ida's pale arm.
"Excuse me?!" Ida gasped in disbelief that Levi was blaming her for the pathetic state of the badly sewn stitches.
She wouldn't be moving around if he could just aim his stupid needle properly! Levi was repeatedly jabbing her open flesh with the stupid needle, and if it was intentional or not, she didn't know.
"You're the one that can't even address a damn wound!"
Apparent in his disinterest, Levi ignored her scowl.
"Shut the hell up before I sew your fucking mouth shut," he growled threateningly, clenching his jaw tightly. "You're just like a bratty kid."
Unable to withstand him unskillfully jabbing her raw flesh any longer, Ida snatched the needle from him. Levi may have been the best and strongest soldier out there, but his first aid skills were first class shit.
She seethed. If Ida didn't know any better, she would think her screams of pain were his fuel for a good and productive day. "Forget it, I'll get Petra to do it."
Because their hideout for keeping an eye on Eren was far away from civilization — in precaution that he might go berserk — there weren't any professional medics available to tend to Ida's wounds.
Despite that, Levi Ackerman was never Ida's first choice when it comes to first aid, but for some odd reason, he had so happened to decide that it was the perfect day to test out his unrefined medical techniques.
Maybe he is trying to torture me on purpose? Ida thought unhappily, glaring at him with steely eyes.
"It's already done for now," Levi stated indifferently, snatching the needle back from her grasp and tying a knot to secure the crooked and badly done stitches. "I'll get someone to re-do the stitches later."
"It's your fault that I'm in this state now," she hissed, rolling her eyes.
Levi crossed his arms across his chest, looking very displeased. "How is it my fucking fault that you can't even look ahead?"
She flushed bright red when she realized she had a slip of tongue. Crap, she couldn't let him know she was mesmerized by a mental image of him that she just so happen to miserably crash onto a tree, could she? He would taunt her for life!
"N — Nothing!" Ida averted her nervous glance away.
He raised a brow at her nervousness, but thankfully, he decided to ignore it. He advanced towards the table where an ice pack laid. Picking it up, Levi tossed it towards Ida who caught with ease.
"Place it on your leg. You're of no use when you're weak, even if it's for simple cleaning. So just get some rest," Levi drawled before turning his back and exiting the room.
She glared at the closed door even after she was done. Stupid jerk!
Finally alone in the room, Ida broke her glare and sighed wistfully at the sudden peace. Before she could relax though, her stomach grumbled angrily in a show of hunger.
She had skipped lunch in hopes that she would be able to catch something during her hunt for the whole squad to share — it was the real reason why she went hunting in the first place. Today marked the anniversary of the day she enlisted in the Corps and Ida had wanted to show her appreciation to the squad and treat them to a rare meat dinner, but sadly that plan seems miles away now.
This is what I get for spending all my entire paycheck on sweets, Ida thought ruefully.
With an uncomfortable pain in her stomach and a pounding headache from the torturous process that she had to endure of Levi repeatedly jabbing her wound, Ida didn't know if she should settle her hunger first or sleep off the headache.
Sighing despondently at her failure, she placed the ice pack on her swollen ankle and sprawled herself on her comfortable mattress, deciding that she would just sleep the hunger and pain off.
Quickly, she found herself drifting into a deep slumber from the throbbing pain and exhaustion.
When Ida woke up, it was already late into the night.
Sitting up into the darkness, she stretched, her emerald eyes adjusting to the dim lighting that came from a single candle on the table. Messy red flyaway strands fell over her face as she lazily limped her way to the table. Huh? She moved the strands away from her eyes to see an item on the table better.
What was that?
She took off her uniform jacket, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable and reached out for the silver food cover. Her eyes went wide into the size of saucers when she saw a large piece of roasted meat.
"Food?" she gasped, bewildered. She wondered how her squad had managed to get their hands on such an expensive cut.
She turned around in the darkness, wanting to call out to Levi to question him about it before she realized he was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Where is he?"
Ida had grown so accustomed to having his presence in her room since the accident with Eren that it felt weird not having him shout at her first thing after she woke up for creating a mess or oversleeping.
Sighing, she sat down, picked up the neatly placed utensils beside the plate and began indulging in the succulent meat, quietly wondering where her midget Captain went.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Downstairs at the dining hall, the Special Operation Squad — exclusive of Levi and Ida — were huddled together in their usual late-night chat and tea after a hearty dinner consisting of meat.
"Pay up," Oluo Bozado held his hand in front of his subordinate, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "You lost the bet."
"Shit." Gunther cursed, digging into his pockets and extracting a few coins to pay up for his loss.
The ginger frowned disapprovingly upon seeing the unabashed exchange and placed her teacup down to berate her teammates. "Captain won't be pleased if he sees you guys betting on stupid things like this." Petra voiced with a disapproving shake to her head. "You should stop it before he finds out."
"Are you trying to boss me around now Petra? Don't forget who has the most solo kill count among us!" Oluo shouted in defense, tucking his coins safely into his pockets. "Plus, Captain doesn't have to know!"
Oluo hooked his large arm around the neck of the newest recruit of the Special Operation Squad and rubbed his knuckles into his head painfully, hissing a warning. "You better keep your fucking mouth shut about this before I kill your little Titan ass, get it you little brat?"
Eren yelped and nodded, rubbing his head when Oluo released his hold on him. Petra narrowed her eyes, glaring at the older man. "If you adopted that speech in an attempt to mimic Captain Levi, then please just stop! You're nothing alike at all!"
"Stop bullying Eren, Oluo," Eld stepped in, ruffling the crown of the young teenage boy head affectionately.
Over the past weeks, the squad had warmed up to the young Titan Shifter and it was safe to say that Eren was now officially one of them.
"Oi! Eld, don't think I forgot about you, pay up!" Oluo smiled wickedly, pleased at the thought of getting extra cash.
"Not you too Eld…" Petra sighed in disappointment while she watched her blonde teammate begrudgingly pay his loss. Shaking her head in disapproval, she took a careful sip of her tea. "What is up with all of you…"
"Uhm…" Eren started in a small voice. He was still new in the squad and he hadn't really caught up with all their usual topics yet. "May I ask what are you guys betting on?"
"Captain and Starke of course, you little Titan shit," Oluo growled, flicking Eren's forehead. The teenager rubbed his forehead with a pout. But Oluo merely rested his arm on table casually, an arrogant smirk etched on his lips. "Everyone in the Survey Corps is doing it! If you're lucky, you can get a few extra coins in your pocket!"
"Huh?" Eren still didn't get it, what did they mean they were betting on Levi and Ida?
Eld sighed deeply, before he offered a thorough explanation to the confused boy, "I'm sure you have noticed their relationship right, Eren?" He waited for a nod from the teen before he continued, "Well, we are betting on if they get into a squabble or not whenever they are out together."
"What?" Eren gasped, scooting close in interest. "Do they really disagree a lot?"
"Well, not really." Petra gave him a kind but nervous smile, placing down her cup with both hands. "They just… do not compromise."
Gunther nodded in agreement. "Extremely stubborn pair, they only work well in battles and whenever someone manages to tick them off."
"Their quarrels are arduous, insanely immature, and extremely lengthy," Eld added after him.
"When Ida first joined the Survey Corps a year ago, they would fucking claw at each other every damned day! It was a pain to watch because they would be in a foul mood the whole day and we would get their leftover agitation," Oluo stated, receiving a hard slap on the arm from Petra by the side.
"Don't tell him that! What if he loses respect for them!" she chided.
"Well, it's true." Eld pointed out. He did a subtle shrug of his shoulders when Petra glared at him.
Eren bobbed his head understandingly. From what he had witnessed, the elite pair really did bicker a lot over the smallest of things, so Oluo didn't really stretch his words. "But what did you bet on this time?"
"Well, as you know they went hunting together today," Gunther elaborated. "Ida came back with a sprain and a large gash on her arm."
"But how did you know that they fought?" Eren was having a hard time keeping up. From her screams that filtered down the hallway, he knew that Ida was injured, but he didn't understand how it linked.
"You're fucking slow, brat," Oluo snorted from the side, before dramatically hitting the air in a demonstration. "Captain Levi probably got so pissed at her and his patience ran out after one whole year of tolerating their petty arguments that he fought her and slashed her arm!"
"What?!" Eren gasped, his eyes turning wide at the appalling news. "C — Captain really did that?"
Eren swallowed dryly, making a mental note to never piss off Levi.
"That's ridiculous!" Petra cried, dismissing all of their assumptions. "Captain's self-control is truly commendable, plus he isn't one to hurt a comrade!"
"Well, there wasn't anyone who dared to oppose him before Ida came," Eld pointed out in a low tone, before scoffing in disdain and crossing his arms. "I would've supported Captain Levi if he did that anyway, honestly I never liked how disrespectful she was. She deserved it. Who does she think she is anyway?"
Out of the entire squad, Eld disliked the red-haired female the most, but out of respect for Levi (and a tiny bit of fear from the hot-tempered redhead), he tried to be cordial with her.
"You're just pissed that she took over your position as second-in-command," Petra snapped defensively, furious that he would even say such a thing. "She's a nice person!"
Eld rolled his eyes. "You're too nice, Petra."
"But one thing for sure, something definitely happened between them!" Oluo stubbornly pointed out, not wanting to lose his recently gained coins. "Captain Levi slept in his office today! So I won, I bet that they wouldn't get along on their hunting trip!"
"Perhaps it was because she was injured and he didn't want to disturb her!" Petra howled back, clenching her jaw. "Plus, didn't Captain carry her back here and went out to the market place by himself? If he was in such a foul mood, he wouldn't even have treated us to meat!"
"I saw him carrying her back!" Eren confirmed and lifted his hand a bit too excitedly like he was glad that he had something to add on to the conversation. "I overheard Captain grumbling about how Ida-san drooled on his shoulder just now!"
"So, they didn't have a fight?" Gunther pondered out loud before grabbing a scowling Oluo by his sleeve. "Give it back! You lost the bet! Today was one of the miraculous times they got along!"
"How is that possible?!" Oluo retorted back, angling his pocket out of Gunther's reach. "They always disagree whenever they go out on assignments on their own! If it wasn't for us, I was so sure that one of them would be dead by now!"
As the two men argued childishly over their personal theories, the rest of the squad had already started their own conversation.
"Hey, is it true that today is the anniversary of the day Ida-san joined the Survey Corps?" Eren inquired after a round of laughter.
"What?" Petra blinked. She looked at Eld for affirmation but the blonde man looked equally as confused as her. "How did you know? We had no clue about it."
"Well…" Eren pursed his lips, placing both hands on his hot teacup for warmth. "I asked Captain why there was meat on the menu today and he said it was because Ida-san wanted to treat everyone in appreciation for helping her over the past year…"
Petra gasped in shock, she had truly forgotten. How thoughtless of her! "I didn't know about that!"
The members were so delved into a conversation that they didn't even notice that the wooden door to the dining room was slightly ajar. Little did they know, a particular injured redhead was by the door, eavesdropping on their conversation.
Normally, Ida would've just ignored them. She had just come down for a glass of water and to search for a particular short Captain. But upon hearing their childish bets and Eld's insults, she had wanted to walk in and confront them, but she neglected that thought when she heard their conversation about Levi.
"Hah, so that bastard only agreed to go hunting with me because he knew the reason behind it this whole time?" Ida murmured in disbelief, shaking her head.
She considered that assumption for a while and a small entertained smirk bloomed on her lips.
Did Levi really remember that today was marked her first year as an official Survey Corps soldier?
It was surprising to say at the very least, Levi didn't look to be a sentimental type of person. But what surprised Ida even more was that Levi even forked out the coin from his own paycheck to treat everyone to meat.
Just what was he playing at?
She couldn't help but wonder if it was because he knew what she had planned all along and didn't want her to be disappointed, but she shrugged away that thought — it just wasn't possible.
However, she did feel her chest constricted as she pondered over Levi's bizarre behavior.
"Guess you aren't such a cold heartless midget after all…" Ida mused to herself, turning her feet and leaving the rest of the squad members to talk amongst themselves.
They can gossip about her all they want, Ida didn't really care right now.
It was a step in the wrong direction. Ida had intended to hate him for the remainder of her borrowed time in this cruel world. Her spiteful immature hatred of Levi Ackerman should've stopped her from ever feeling happy about the situation. But she was happy, and though Ida knew that it was so wrong, she suddenly realized that it was simply impossible for her to hate him so much anymore.
The few times she allowed herself to be truly honest, she knew innately that her intense hatred for him was unfounded and though Ida might act like she was a heartless person, she wasn't. And so even if Ida had no intention of stepping down this road, she found it harder and harder to hate him as time passed.
Especially when he was so kind to her.
And now, officially one year into hating him, and even though Ida knew it was a step in the wrong direction, she threaded forward anyway down her new path.
She didn't know it then, but it truly was going to be a long and arduous path. And the fact of the matter was, all throughout long path she had forged for herself, Ida would find herself enraptured in an attachment so blinding, that it would surely tear her soul to threads.
The next morning, Levi Ackerman woke up with a loud groan over the muscles sores he had obtained while sleeping on his office couch.
But what surprised him that morning was that a blue blanket was draped over him and his personal handkerchief was back to its usual shade of ivory, folded into a neat square and gingerly replaced on his desk.