A/N: Hi there! Back for an update! Involved a lot of the 104th squad in this chapter! YAY!
Chapter Revamped: 19 March 2020
Humanity's Strongest Woman by xDollfie
Chapter 14 — Bitter Objections
After making sure that a certain good friend of his was nowhere to be seen, Eren nervously called out to his childhood friend in a secret whisper. "Armin."
The short blonde male stiffened at the sound of his voice before going back to his usual cleaning chores. "Forget it Eren, there's no way I'm going to share my present with you."
"But I haven't even said anything yet!" Eren cried in dismay, flabbergasted that Armin already knew what he was going to say.
"Jean, Connie, and Sasha already tried that one with me," Armin replied simply, shaking his head. He would have really liked to help out his friends, but that would have made his present seem much more insincere. It was a gift that he had specially crafted for Mikasa — he didn't want to share it. "You guys really shouldn't wait till the very last minute to find a present for Mikasa, you know."
"You didn't get a present too, horse face?" Eren addressed to the light ash blonde male by the other side of the mess hall, surprised. He always thought Jean had a thing for Mikasa.
"Shut up, Titan freak," Jean grumbled, secretly pleased that Eren hasn't prepared a present for Mikasa's birthday as well. He couldn't afford to lose Eren when it comes to Mikasa, and he was glad that he wasn't the only one screwed up. "I was so busy with the expedition that I forgot."
"Damn it." Eren cursed, feeling an impending headache. He couldn't miss this important event, there was no way he could face Mikasa on her birthday empty-handed! Mikasa had never forgotten about his birthday, no matter how busy she was.
Swallowing up his pride, he quickly thought of an idea. "Jean, want to go out and get a quick present?"
"The things that you do when you're desperate, Eren." Armin grinned in amusement, pleased to see the two arch-enemies getting along for once.
A glimpse of surprise flashed across his expression, but it didn't last for long. "It doesn't matter anyway, we're screwed regardless," Jean muttered bitterly, his brows crumpling into a frown. "We can't go out of the legion without permission remember? The Survey Corps is on lockdown now from the government after the whole Female Titan incident."
"We could ask for permission…" Eren suggested weakly, playing with his fingers and Jean instantly snap a glare at him.
Jean immediately saw through Eren, he was just too easy to read. "So this was the reason why you invited me out, that's because you're too chicken to ask Captain Levi for permission and you want me to do it," he called out his intentions. "No way. He's in charge of you, I don't need to ask him for permission. He isn't my Squad Leader."
"I'll help you choose your present! I know Mikasa better than you do." Eren pointed out with an air of confidence, hoping that Jean would go along with his plan. He wanted Jean to help him, but he wasn't going to beg, his pride just wouldn't allow him to. "You know how Captain Levi is, he takes it out on me when he gets mad!"
Jean stopped cleaning midway, his face contorted as he considered Eren's proposition. After a while, he sighed and nodded his head in defeat. "Fine, but we're doing it today. God forbid. I'd hate any more stupid stable cleaning duties. Horse shit is disgusting."
"But seriously…" Eren looked upset when he regarded Jean's assigned area. "How many times did I tell you to not leave the crumbs behind?!"
Exasperated with Eren's constant nagging whenever they were assigned to cleaning duties together, he threw his rag on the table in frustration. "Damn it, you suicidal bastard!" he hollered. "I already cleaned this area twice!"
"I can still see the tea stains and little crumbs on that side! Plus, you didn't clean underneath the tables again didn't you?!" Eren pointed out snappily. "Do you want to get in trouble with Captain Levi?!"
After months of being under Levi's squad and after being punished countless times for not doing a proper job, Eren too had developed a keen eye for picking up dirt.
"Ugh!" Jean hissed, picking up his rag and getting on with cleaning again, remembering the times that he had to wash the linens until his hands literally wrinkled up like a prune. "Mikasa was right, he really is an irksome shortie. I joined the Survey Corps to fight for humanity's freedom, not to be a cleaner."
It wasn't for long before the elite Captain strolled into the room to inspect on the cadet's cleaning. With his usual scowl and narrowed down gray eyes, Eren could only gulp when he saw his expression. Wiping a finger on the cabinets, Levi rubbed his fingers together, feeling the fine dust in between.
"You failed once again," he declared, sounding a little irritated at the recruits' pathetic attempt at cleaning.
Armin and Eren sighed dejectedly. "What? But I made sure everything is spotless!" Jean cried in protest, holding tightly onto his broom. He didn't want to be stuck here all day cleaning!
"I gave you all one job and you screwed it up," Levi shot an acid glare at the cadets. With a disgusted grimace, he issued out his orders. "There's so much disgusting dust in here, it better be spotless by the time I come back to check on the three of you again."
With a loud defeated sigh, Armin went back to his work awhile Eren and Jean eyed each other, passing secret messages with subtle gestures. Jean finally gave in and called out to Levi before he could leave. "Uh, sir!"
"What is it?" Levi replied sternly, turning to look at them.
Jean felt his throat tightened and the words collapsing at the base of his tongue. He pushed Eren to the front. "Eren has something that he wants to tell you!"
"W — Wait, what?! What are you doing?! You stupid horse face!" Eren yelped when he was pushed forward, glaring at Jean who had just betrayed the tiny mutual trust that they had with each other.
Levi tapped on his foot impatiently, a curious eyebrow raised when he saw how skittish the two boys were. "Well? Get on with it, I don't have all day."
Eren found it hard to face him. "U—Uh... Uh…"
"No."
Eren looked appalled at Levi's swift objection, distressed that he didn't even bother to hear him out. "But you didn't even hear what I was going to say!"
"As usual, you're shit when it comes to hiding your emotions," Levi grumbled grouchily. A single glance was enough for Levi to discern that Eren was about to ask a stupid question and that question wasn't going to be worth his time. "You're going to request something that I'd most likely say no to, so don't even bother."
Seeing that his attempts to get Eren to convince Levi had failed, Jean sucked in his breath and stepped up reluctantly.
"We'd like to go to town to get a present for Mikasa's birthday," he explained, hoping that Levi would understand.
"No. Get back to cleaning," Levi rejected rigidly again, swiftly moving out of the room before they started whining.
Eren sighed in utter defeat, knowing that Levi's decision is unyielding. "What are we going to do?" he pondered out loud, depressed that he wouldn't be able to get a present for Mikasa.
"Where are your brains?" Jean snorted sarcastically, a mischievous thought popping up in his head. "He's not the only one in charge of you is he?"
"What do you mean?" Eren inquired, noticing how Jean looked surprisingly unaffected. Picking up the playful smirk on his face, he scooted closer towards his arch enemy in curiosity. "Just what are you planning, Jean?"
Jean crossed his arms against his chest in a confident pose, a sly smirk etched widely on his lips. "Well, you know what they say. If you can't convince the man, go for his woman."
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
"No."
As predicted, Ida Starke was just another unmoving boulder when it came to compromise, but it was well known in the legion that the fiery-haired female had the slight tendency to be slightly softer at times compared to her partner, and that was enough for Eren and Jean to pin her as the easier target.
With that small consolation, Eren persisted. "Please!"
"I said no. Stop whining, Eren." Ida told them sternly once more. Ignoring the two pairs of wide pleading eyes, she went back to popping another candy in her mouth. "Go and ask Levi instead."
"We already tried!" Jean howled, desperation clinging onto his tone. "We're only going to take an hour! It won't be very long!"
Ida snapped her incredulous eyes towards the pair and released a soft sigh. "Eren is under strict surveillance, do you think that he would be allowed to go into a town he had just rampaged in?" she reminded them firmly, hoping that it would dissipate their strong attempts to convince her, but upon seeing their hopeful eyes, she frowned. "And don't you have cleaning duties to do?"
"We will do it when we come back!" Eren said and Jean nodded in agreement. "There's no way that Captain would allow us to slack off, so don't worry about that!"
She eyed the cadets dubiously, suspicion anchoring her tone. "Are you trying to tell me that you want me to convince Levi because I'm the only one that could?"
"N — No!" Eren yelped. Ever since the whole fiasco with Ida and Levi realizing how everyone thought they were dating, it had become a sensitive topic around the legion and Eren knew that he had to tread lightly in order to not agitate her. "We're just saying that he would listen to you more than us! B — Because he respects you and you've more authority than us!"
Rolling her eyes dramatically at his blatant lie, Ida stuffed another sweet in her mouth. "No."
Eren slumped his shoulders in bitter defeat, shaking his head at Jean who looked on for consolation. But before Eren could turn around dejectedly, Jean thought of a brilliant plan.
"There's a candy store where we are going," he said with a mysterious twinkle.
Ida paused midway in her chewing, slowly moving her gaze to the cadet. "What did you say?"
Jean fought back to keep the smirk off his face, mentally patting himself on the back for thinking of such a genius idea. "You can come with us to town, I mean, you're responsible for Eren safety are you not? You can keep him in check!"
Pursing her lips, Ida thought hard with an amused smirk on her face. "You're smart, I give you that," she said, rising up from her seat. Dusting her hands from any remnants of her snack, she motioned them to move. "Fine, you win. Let's go. But, not a word to this to Levi. He'll kill me if he finds out."
"Seriously?!" Eren chirped in excitement beside a very, very pleased looking Jean.
"Of course I'm serious, would I be joking?" Ida shot them a threatening look. "But if you start fighting among yourself, I'll make sure that you're stuck with cleaning duties for a month, understood?"
"Yes!"
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Compared to the strict air that surrounded the Survey Corp's headquarters, the atmosphere of Wall Sina was a much-welcomed change. As civilians scurry about their day, Ida found it hard to believe that just a few days ago, a brutal fight between Titans had ensued here. Though there were remnants of the onslaught, Wall Sina seemed to be recovering at a steady pace.
"Eren, your hood," she reminded him flatly when she saw that the hood was slipping from his head as he walked. "I told you to keep it up."
"O — Oh!" he stuttered, adjusting his hood. "But… Ida-san, don't you think it's weird for someone to be wearing a cloak and walking around accompanied by two Survey Corps scouts?"
Ida rolled her eyes before she explained again, "I told you, I don't care what the civilians think. However, the last thing I want is for someone from the Military Police to spot you. Do you want to get nabbed by them?"
"No..."
"Then make sure your hood is up."
"So Eren, what are you getting Mikasa?" Jean piped up beside Eren, nudging him. He was reminding Eren of the main purpose of their trip to town today. "Don't tell me you don't know."
"Of course I know!" Eren rebuffed. He stopped and glanced at his surroundings. He spotted the shop from the corner of his eye and pointed towards it. "There!"
"A clothing shop?" Jean echoed in disbelief. He cleared his throat when he imagined Mikasa in a nice casual yellow dress, she would certainly look beautiful.
As the trio approached the clothing shop, Ida listlessly found herself scanning the surroundings again. Though the city seemed well on it's way to recovery, the empty shops and closed stalls starkly reminded her that those owners were probably not there anymore.
They were probably victims of the vicious fight between Titans; their deaths serving no purpose, no contribution, and no meaning.
"Eren, how long do you need?" Ida questioned when they entered the store, deciding that she wouldn't want to stay in Wall Sina any longer than needed. "Would fifteen minutes be enough? What are you getting anyway?"
"I was thinking to get her a scarf…" Eren informed her. When she raised her eyebrow, puzzled, he elaborated further. "You know that red scarf that she always wears? I gave it to her when we were little… It's old and frayed now, so I'd like to get her a new one."
Ida felt her lips twitch upwards at how thoughtful he was, before urging him to continue on with his search. Jean was trailing Eren closely behind, scanning the selection of clothing and materials. With a loud sigh, she started walking around the shop as well. It wasn't as if she needed anything, but she had to find something to distract her awhile the boys shopped.
Subconsciously, she found herself gearing towards the section which displayed a wide array of cravats and her mind immediately flashed back to Levi. She picked up an obnoxious pink cravat and started chuckling to herself when she imagined how a scowling Levi would look it in. Gods, what would she give for him to wear something like this? She was sure that Hanji shared her sentiment.
Perhaps she should get it as a present.
"I don't think Captain would like that," Eren's voice suddenly dragged her out of her mischievous thoughts. She gasped and turned around, immediately dropping the pink cravat back to the shelves.
"I — I don't know what you're talking about," Ida cleared her throat loudly and pulled herself upright.
Jean subtly rolled his eyes at her obvious lie, nudging his head toward the cravat at the far end. "I think that one would do."
Eren picked it up, unfolding it as he observed at the pattern. He nodded to him approvingly, "This would definitely do, I think it'd suit him much better."
Ida avoided the cravat that Eren ushering towards her like it was an abomination she didn't even want to touch. "What makes you think I'm even getting it for him? He'd probably need a stool more than an extra cravat since he's so short." Getting annoyed with the object that Eren was still trying to get her to take, she snatched it from his hand. "In fact, why don't you buy it for him since you think it'd suit him?"
"We only bought enough money for Mikasa's present." Jean shrugged and waved for Eren to follow him in their search for a present. "We were just giving our suggestions since you looked like you wanted to get Captain Levi a present, you don't have to buy it."
She clutched on the cravat in shock, red-faced. But when Eren gave her an assuring look, the grip on her hand loosened and she found herself looking at the cravat the boys had picked out for Levi. It was a beautiful ivory cravat and it certainly looked well made and expensive.
The teenagers were right, it definitely suited someone like Levi.
With a loud resigned sigh, she took the cravat and brought it to the counter where the boys were. She plopped the item down hastily and impatiently waited for the cashier, ignoring the funny looks the boys were throwing her. At least the boys knew better than to ask.
When everything was done, the trio left the store with their presents. Eren and Jean were in high spirits, but Ida looked more disturbed than anything.
Shit, why did she even buy it for Levi? It wasn't like she had a lot of spare money to begin with. She was broke most of the time.
Ida shoved that thought off her mind. Forget it, it's just a gift, she was thinking too much into it. After all that Levi had done for her, it wouldn't be weird to get him a gift… right?
"I'd need to run a few errands before we go back," she announced.
"Where to?" Eren inquired, holding onto the packaged bundle in his arms like it was the precious thing he had.
"First we'd need to get some tea leaves." Ida was already walking away. "Hurry up, we don't have much time left."
"Eh? Did Captain ask you to get that?" Jean asked, puzzled. "I thought he didn't know we left the headquarters."
She felt her breath hitched when she realized that she was actually thinking of Levi and had wanted to get him some new tea leaves. Retracting on her mistake, she quickly tried to quell any thoughts he had, "H — He told me to get it a few days back, I had forgotten!"
Eren watched her storm away, shaking his head in knowing. He spotted the candy store that Jean had told the redhead about. "Ida-san!" he called and pointed to the store when she turned around. "There's a candy store there!"
Ida's eyes expanded as if she had hit jackpot and immediately changed direction. "Let's go there first."
"H — Hey…" Jean whispered to Eren nervously when he saw his superior practically floating her way to the candy store. "Are you sure this is okay? You know what the looney is like around candy."
Eren shrugged idly. "It'd be alright, there were times when Captain and her went shopping before. He survived. Plus we need to be back within an hour, she wouldn't take long. She doesn't want Captain to find out she sneaked us out anyway."
Unfortunately for them, their trip outside the headquarter didn't take just an hour.
Eren and Jean were delighted that they got their presents for Mikasa, but their trip to town has sucked every bit of energy they had. Exhausted beyond means, they couldn't be more ecstatic that their shopping spree was finally over. Arriving back at the headquarters, they plopped their heavy baggage back on the tables, panting and wondering how on earth Levi puts up with this whenever he went to town with Ida.
Ida had stayed in the candy shop for nearly two hours, sampling every candy inside before hoarding a bunch back. To top it off, she made the cadets carry them to their horses and then to the headquarters when they arrived.
"My back aches," Eren complained, holding onto his back. He did a little stretch, relaxing his tensed muscles.
"Holy crap man..." Jean groaned, twisting his back and massaging his sore arms. "Who the hell buys these many sweets?! She spent a fortune in there!"
"Eren!" Mikasa's panicked voice boomed through the mess hall when she finally spotted him. She charged towards him, her frenzied thoughts dissipating quickly. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?"
The moment they saw the jet-black haired teenager, both boys immediately felt that all the tortuous shopping was worth it.
Eren smiled when Mikasa enveloped him in a tight hug. He wrapped his hands around her body, before replying. "Out shopping with Jean."
She gasped, pushing him away by his shoulders and quickly gave him a once over. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever? Perhaps you're not feeling well? Did you eat something bad? Stomach ache, maybe?"
Mikasa could've never imagined that Eren would willingly spend time with Jean.
He rolled his eyes, was it that unbelievable that he could along with horse face for a day? "Of course I'm fine!" Eren beamed brightly. "We didn't argue."
Jean hissed irritably over Eren getting fawned over by Mikasa. "He was being a douche bag all the way, going on with his usual whining and complaining."
"I did not, you stupid horse face!"
"You did, you suicidal bastard!"
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
"No."
Ida was flabbergasted, at this point, she understood why Eren and Jean came looking for her when Levi objected their request — he was as unmoving as the damned Walls. Stubborn and acid-tongued, Levi was a formidable opponent, but unlike the two cadets, Ida wasn't one to give up easily, especially not when it came to matters like this.
"Oh come on!"
Hanji and Erwin watched the scene in amusement, their hands laced around their hot beverages as they both mentally took note of how Levi acted like a stubborn kid around Ida.
"Five gold coins say that he would give in eventually," she proposed to her commander with a sly smile.
"Ten gold coins say that he does it under five minutes," Erwin mused in entertainment, accepting Hanji's bet with a smirk.
The Squad Leader allowed an incredulous laugh to bubble out of her lips. "Just as calculating as ever Erwin, but you're on!"
The two superiors shook hands, sealing their bets before moving back their attention to the two bickering pair by the other end of the room.
"No, we're not keeping that cursed abomination." Levi angled away when Ida shoved a brown furry object to his face. He glared at the object in great disdain and hissed at the woman shoving it at his face. "They're disgusting, full of crap and dirty. I'm not cleaning it's shit up."
"I never asked you to clean up after him! We can get Eren or someone else to do it!" Ida proposed loudly, still firmly determined to get things her way. "I mean just look at it, how can you even say no that adorable little face?!" she yelled her point, still pushing the brown fluffy object in his face in a desperate attempt to get him to soften up.
Levi crinkled his nose in disgust, moving away from the puppy that Ida shoved in his direction. It was weeks old at best, it's eyes barely open. The little puppy scrunched up its pink nose whenever Levi scowled at it. It was almost as if the little pup hated the man already.
As 'cute' as that chocolate brown puppy was, Levi was hell-bent on opposing. "No, it's covered in dirt and probably cow shit. There's no way in hell that I'll allow that thing around me. Plus, we have yet to address the issue of you leaving with the recruits unauthorized."
"How can you be so heartless, you stupid midget bastard!" Ida yelled at him, her brows furrowing. "It will die if we leave it to fend for itself on the streets!"
She had found the young pup when she went out with Eren and Jean earlier today and she just couldn't leave it on the streets to fend for himself! Stubbornly, Ida shouted another proposal again. "We can put him in the horse stables!"
"Who the hell even allowed you to bring it here anyway? This is the military, not a fucking animal shelter." Levi deadpanned, still keeping on his cold glare.
"I consented to it," Erwin admitted calmly from the sidelines. Honestly, he would've rejected the request it was anyone else, but upon seeing Ida's pleading round eyes, what could he say? It was the first time his daughter ever asked him for something, he didn't have the heart to reject her.
Levi facepalmed, rubbing his face irritably. "Of course you fucking did." Glaring at Erwin, he continued in a sarcastic voice, "I don't see how a military commander could be so taken in by a damned dog."
Erwin just looked at him amusedly with a knowing look. Meanwhile, Ida continued shoving the little pup at her scowling Captain's face, "Levi, just look at him! He's adorable!"
"Hell no," Levi growled, cursing Erwin for even consenting in the first place and passing the baton to him. "I fail to see how something as filthy as that could be considered adorable in your shitty eyes. It has no other use than to create a fucking mess and poop all around, it's not even worthy enough to be Titan feed. I'll chase it out the first chance I get."
"When he grows up, he can chase away those Military police pigs you hate so much!" At this point, Ida was getting desperate to convince him. Biting on her lip when Levi's glare hardened, she took the sniffling pup back into her arms and pouted. "…Please?"
"I said, fucking no," Levi growled with steel underlying his voice. "Shut up."
Ida flinched at the harsh tone and looked despondent as if she had given up. Fuck. Seeing this, Levi tried to soften his voice a bit, but still willed to make his words firm. An audible sigh escaped him. "Do you really want to keep that filthy crap?"
Ida nodded her head furiously and Levi saw a childish twinkle in the depths of her green eyes. "Yes! I'll get the stable boys to take care of it! You won't even know it's there!" she promised in great enthusiasm. "I won't let it run around the headquarters! It would be confined at the stables! I promise!"
Running his fingers through his hair, Levi groaned irritably. Oh hell to it, Ida wouldn't relent anyway and the last thing he wanted was for her to hound him all day till he agreed. "Whatever. Just make sure that damn filthy thing does not get in my way."
With that, Levi stormed out of the room awhile Ida yelped in joy, hugging the puppy to her chest.
"Pay up," Erwin casually extended his hand out, a victorious smirk on his face.
"Damn it." Hanji dug into her tanned jacket, extracting out a few coins to pass to her commander. She smiled indulgently. "You're getting better at this."
Erwin chuckled softly, gratefully accepting the coins. "That's because I know Levi all too well."
Hanji laughed before she moved her attention back to the redhead. "Hey, Ida! What's that pup name?"
Ida turned around an uncharacteristic childish smile on her usually stern face. She looked so much more approachable when she didn't have her usual dull expression. Holding onto the puppy in her arms, she glanced at it for a moment, before replying with a smirk. "It's called... Heichou!"
Erwin and Hanji never laughed so loud.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Levi likes Ida.
The words refused to leave her head, spewing out the same three words over and over again as she held her head in her hands, willing the words to stop repeating themselves. The room was spinning around. She tentatively pulled her hands away from her head and reached for her pillows.
Ida knew it was a bad idea to listen to anything that comes out of Hanji's mouth. The only thing that could be credible when it came to the bespectacled squad leader was her findings on Titan experimentation and her leadership skills. Ida also knew it was a bad idea to eavesdrop, and it was an even more bad idea to believe in gossip — but she couldn't help but ponder over its credibility.
Hanji sounded so happy as she explained the reason behind Levi's bizarre uncharacteristic behavior to her squadmate Mobilt. Ida was walking past their rooms, picking up some mundane everyday topics like Titans or Expedition from the two chattering pair inside, but she was halted mid-stride when her sharp ears picked up something that awoke a typhoon of mixed emotions in her heart.
"I really can't believe Levi consented to letting a dog stay in the headquarters! Imagine that Mobilt! The clean freak! Letting a filthy runt into the headquarters! He was going to berate Ida for letting Eren out of the headquarters unauthorized but he even forgot what he came to find her for when she started shoving the puppy in his face! Haha!"
"Squad Leader, I know I shouldn't say this… But you really shouldn't bother with Ida and Captain Levi," Moblit told his squad leader out of goodwill. He didn't know what could happen if he wasn't there in time to stop Levi from strangling the living daylights out of her whenever she teased him.
Hanji's joyous ringing laughter could be heard miles away. "Pfft, please! This is the first time I have seen Levi like this. Oh god, you should've seen how stressed he looked after his pathetic courting attempts! It's ridiculous! I wouldn't give up this entertainment for the world, Moblit!"
Moblit did not sound pleased at her answer. "You're being too reckless, you should know better than to bother with Captain Levi's personal life. Plus, I don't think he actually appreciates your advice."
Ida could almost picture Hanji pouting when she answered. "True, but that doesn't stop me! This is that cold midget we are talking about, and Levi likes Ida, any idiot could see that apart from those two!"
It was times like this Ida wished she had gone through with her malicious thoughts whenever Hanji went on a fanatical rant about Titans — she should've just socked her in her mouth back then so that she couldn't talk anymore.
It was impossible.
Hanji was merely being an idiot once again. It was all just stupid gossip that bored scouts spread around the legion to waste time. Levi did not like her, he hated her, detested her, she was a troublesome brat to him and was no more than a nuisance!
But even with those firm convincing thoughts, Ida couldn't help but feel a small, tiny, part of her heart bloom at the thought of Levi actually liking her.
Making a note to herself to kill shitty glasses at the nearest convenience for giving her a mind throbbing headache, Ida moved around in her bed before letting out an imperceptible sigh.
This was all so ridiculous.
It was true that Levi was more tolerant with her, and occasionally, much gentler with her in comparison with how he treats others — but that was because of their mutual respect for each other! Just the thought of the detestable Levi actually liking something other than killing Titans or cleaning was inexplicable to her.
Please, that cold heartless man didn't even like an innocent puppy!
But there was no doubt it was there, that warm fuzzy feeling that seemed to blossom whenever she thought of Levi taking a special fondness to her, be it romantic interest or not, Ida couldn't deny that she liked the fact that Levi didn't hate her. Though there was no credibility in that theory, a small part of her secretly wished it was true.
"What the hell am I thinking?" Ida muttered out to the dark ceiling above her. "Honestly..."
She felt like she was a teenage girl all over again, helpless in trying to sort out her emotions.
What was she even doing? She was wasting time thinking about mundane stupid things like this. Humanity was in the middle of a war with Titans. They were both leading soldiers of the Survey Corps and not only did their legion experience the highest death rates, but it was no doubt that they both were important and valuable soldiers — they had no time to think of distracting things like this.
Love always bought attachments, and Ida knew that well.
This kind of attachment was hurting the people around her from the day she was born. Ida knew that their mother loved Erwin with all her heart, and even if she wore a tough exterior when she was still alive, it was obvious how completely agonizing it was for her to keep away from Erwin who had abandoned her to chase after his dreams.
She remembered the times when Petra would cry silently in the night, missing her father that she had left all alone when she joined the military. She saw how most of the scouts were plagued with bitterness when they thought of their families back home each time they embarked on an expedition. Just recently, Ida witnessed Petra's father grieving upon learning of his only beloved daughter's untimely death.
In all truth, it was no doubt a hassle to have any devotions and attachments when you're a scout in the Survey Corps. One could never know when anyone else would die. The people that she ate dinner with, the people that she trained with, the people that she spent the past year with — any one of them could be dead in a second.
This had brought Ida to believe that it was only because Levi and her didn't have any serious attachment to anyone that they were exempted from experiencing such agony before their squad passed on.
Yes, they did feel sad and guilty whenever a comrade passed on, but it was still bearable at the very least. The pain would be much more severe if the person was a loved one. Ida would know, experiencing it herself just so recently with the loss of her squad. They were more than just a comrade to her, they were friends, perhaps it was even to say that they were family.
A small little voice in her berated her when she thought over it.
She frowned when the small voice in her head asked herself if she had been scared of losing someone before. Yes, she was terrified when she went on the 57th expedition knowing that a Titan Shifter was waiting out there just waiting to kill her comrades, and she couldn't deny the shaking feeling in her heart when she saw Levi had injured his leg in an attempt to save Mikasa.
Was she afraid of losing Levi? Of course, but Ida didn't know just how much yet.
She had never seen Levi physically in danger before, apart from the small incident that caused him his recent leg injury. So honestly, she just didn't know how much he meant to her yet.
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to remember the time when she saw Levi getting injured by the Female Titan, possibly in danger of being losing his life.
Rage. Yes, she remembered feeling rage — the purest form of anger that one could possibly feel. She wanted to kill the bitch of a Titan for hurting him. She wanted to sink her blades into her nape and end her life for even daring to hurt him. She wanted to rip into whoever that was inside that nape for even thinking of killing him.
Sadness, it was a little pinch in her heart, subtle but still there. She wanted to cry out loud when she saw his injury, she hated seeing him in pain. In fact, Ida would've gladly taken the blow for him. Being hurt was much better than seeing Levi in pain.
Concern, there was no doubt about it, she was concerned for his well-being, but this emotion was debatable. It was normal for any subordinate to feel concerned about her Captain after all.
But fear...? Ida couldn't deny that she felt it, fear in its purest form. It was so acidic in her stomach that it clenched down unbearably in protest. She didn't want to lose him. She didn't even want to think of a world without him.
Groaning in distress, Ida turned once more on her bed, suddenly feeling just how big the bed was. Unconsciously, she started to extend her hand out, feeling the empty cool space beside her.
Levi.
He used to sleep beside her on separate mattresses save that one occasion back at the hideout. Levi was a light sleeper. From what she heard from Oluo, they even suspected that he had insomnia. But then again, whenever he slept around her, for some reason he slept like the dead. He looked so peaceful sleeping, so relaxed and so... innocent even.
He looked nothing like the intimidating Captain of the Survey Corps.
She felt herself smile at the fond memory. As annoying as it is, Ida secretly liked the fact that he was beside her. He brought a sense of security, warmness, and acceptance.
How irrational, Ida.
Her smile soon faded when a disturbing thought plagued her mind. She sat up, messing her hair with her hands in frustration. Kicking off her covers, she got off the bed, too flustered. Ida caught sight of the cravat she purchased for Levi today and she groaned even further. Storming towards it, she took the box quickly and chucked it in one of the cabinets, closing it shut. She didn't even want to see it right now. But even that wasn't enough to dissipate her frustration.
Deciding that she couldn't stay in her room any longer, she swung opened her doors and quickly stormed out of her room. Ida was going crazy with all her thoughts.
Ida Starke was stupid, she didn't know how, but there was no doubt about it now. She felt attached to that midget bastard of a Captain, in fact, the attachment etched dangerously over to the line call love. She shook her head vigorously as if to mentally deny that fact.
There was no way she was in love with him.
She can't be in love with him.
And even if she was in love with him, Ida was hell-bent on bitterly objecting it.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
"Guys, look what I found!"
Sasha looked around sneakily, before extracting a bottle that she was hiding in her jacket out for her friends to see. She grinned wickedly as she held the bottle of alcohol — one of the rare commodities still around — in the air like it was a prized trophy.
"Anyone wants some alcohol?!" she hollered out excitedly, a wide grin smeared over her face as she looked at her fellow recruits, none which returned her smile.
"Potato girl!" Jean gasped in disbelief when he saw the bottle. "You stole from the military's pantry again?!"
Connie looked stricken that she dared steal such a commodity. "That's reserved for the military highers up!"
"It's Mikasa's birthday is it not? Don't be so gloomily guys!" Sasha chided them, but none of her friends seemed amused. She pouted when she saw their expressions. "Come on! It's alcohol, we need to loosen up now and then!"
Mikasa was stone-faced as usual, not even bothering to acknowledge Sasha's efforts to celebrate her birthday. She was pleased enough with all the gifts she had received and that everyone stayed past midnight to celebrate with her. A strict curfew was imposed on the Survey Corps' recruits, so they were all taking a risk by staying up so late.
Armin fidgeted nervously, looking at the closed door. Being one of the more matured cadets among his classmates, he knew better than to go against the rules. "Put that back Sasha!" he hissed a warning. "You'll be running laps tomorrow if you get caught. Plus, we're pretty much underage!"
"But… I already opened it..." Sasha pouted, averting her guilty gaze down while her boring comrades face-palmed at her stupidity.
Shit! They couldn't possibly put the bottle back now!
"I don't want any trouble." Eren was the first to voice out. He didn't want to get caught. He winced painfully when the image Levi's death glare flashed in his head — the rest of his friends didn't understand just how scary that man was seeing as they weren't in his squad and under his direct command.
Waving his hand, Eren said, "You guys can go ahead without me."
Jean snorted and rolled his eyes, muttering softly underneath his breath. "Wimp."
"Oh come on guys, don't you guys wanna try some for once! We'll all be separated tomorrow, remember?" Sasha tried again to convince her friends. "Apparently, they are rounding up the newest recruits from the 104th trainee squad and we have to go to Wall Rose!"
Thankfully, it didn't take long for somebody to give in, they were still teenagers after all — teenagers placed in depressing circumstances and from all the stories they knew, alcohol did help to relieve stress.
"Give me some!" Connie sprang up from his seat in excitement and Sasha patted him on the back encouragingly. Pouring himself a cup, the boy immediately drank down the contents in one shot, his face suddenly flushing red as the alcohol instantly buzzed through his body.
At this point, Jean just couldn't contain his curiosity. "How is it?" he inquired when he saw Connie's sudden frozen expression.
"It's… good..." Connie slurred, his eyes getting all hazy as his heartbeat pumped up to his ears at the sudden intoxication. "Really good!"
"Eren, don't you dare touch that," Mikasa warned grimly, noticing how Eren was getting all beady eyes at Connie's explanation.
Jean frowned at the scene. Upset that Eren was always getting the attention from Mikasa, he held out his empty cup towards Sasha as well. "Give me some as well!" he demanded, looking at Eren with utmost disdain. "I bet I am a much better drinker than that suicidal bastard," he added, scoffing haughtily.
"Is that a challenge horse face?" Eren moved out of Mikasa grip when he was provoked, his eyes twinkling in a challenge. Grabbing his cup, he extended it out to Sasha as well. "Bring it on!"
Armin could only sigh at his best friend's behavior, shaking his head. "We're going to get in trouble, if we're lucky, Hanji-san or Mike-san might cover for us... but if we get caught by either Ida-san or Captain Levi, it'd be the end for us."
He shuddered when he thought about what would happen, Armin didn't even want to think about what sadistic punishment they would come up with.
Eren and Jean were too engrossed with their challenge that they completely ignored Armin's words, taking shots of alcohol over and over again in an effort to impress a dull-faced Mikasa. They tilted their head back, letting the alcohol burn through their throat. The bitter and copious taste rattled the cell lining in their throats, the burn felt almost addicting.
"Eren, you are drinking too much!" Mikasa cried out in concern, but Eren was too pumped up on the adrenaline to really care.
Instead, he shoved a filled cup towards her face. Eren's face was as red as a lobster by now. "Mikasa! It's your birthday! Drink!" he suggested happily, urging her to take a sip. "Don't be so uptight!"
Mikasa Ackerman was usually a very composed person, but when it came to Eren, she found herself flustered most of the time. "W — What?"
Eren didn't wait for a response, but he shoved the cup into her mouth and made her drink. Jean, of course, was not happy with Eren's forceful action and hit him on the back of his head angrily, "Eren! You're hurting Mikasa!"
"Shut up, horse face! She needs to relax!" Eren retorted back in a slight slur, hatefully glaring at his friend. "Go make yourself useful and get Armin to loosen up!"
"I don't need to loosen up!" Armin retorted back, frazzled when Jean eyed on him with malicious intent.
Sasha could only giggle out loud, happy that all her friends were getting involved. Noticing that the bottle was getting lighter, she chirped happily and headed to the pantry, with devious plans in her head to steal another and a potato if she could. "I'm going to get more!"
By the time Sasha got back with another two bottles and a couple of potatoes in her pockets, Armin was choking on the bitter acidic taste of liquor and Mikasa looked pretty buzzed out and appalled. It took the boisterous recruits a while to notice that Sasha was standing by the door, completely frozen and not saying a word.
"Potato girl! What are you doing just standing there!" Connie hollered out cheerfully, waving for the paralyzed girl to enter. "Come in! How many bottles did you steal?"
"U — Uh guys…" Sasha began nervously, trying to keep her trembling grip firmly on the bottles in order not to drop it. "I — I… ran into someone in the pantry…"
"Wha — What?! Who!" Jean immediately stood up, tugging on his hair in horror. Oh crap! Judging from Sasha's horrified expression, it could only be one of the two infamous soldiers.
As if on cue to grant Jean's nightmare, a red-haired woman raised a brow when she popped out from behind the much taller Sansa. Shaking her head, Ida murmured in a disapproving low voice, "Well, well... just what are you brats up to now?"
The group sat there, stunned, too afraid to move or do anything when Ida's sharp green eyes inspected the room. Her eyes immediately picked up the obvious empty bottle of liquor in the center of the table and a bunch of red-faced recruits.
"Minors drunk on military's alcohol past curfew..." she whistled putting two and two together. With a snort, she pushed Sasha into the room. "How great."
Connie thought he just peed himself, Eren wanted to bury his head in the ground and Sasha was close to tears at this point. Mikasa was the only one brave enough to reply to her stern-faced superior.
"We were drinking," she stated honestly.
Eren immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shh! Mikasa, what do you think you are saying?!"
Shaking her head disapprovingly at the situation, Ida strolled into the room languidly. The recruit's nervous eyes followed her as she walked. "Well, at least one of you noisy brats is honest."
Ida took the bottles from Sasha and slammed it on the table. Everyone trembled at the sound of it and looked up anxiously at their superior, waiting for their punishment.
But to their surprise, Ida merely sat down on the table, opened a bottle and began drinking from it. The woman arched her eyebrow, releasing the bottle from her lips with a loud pop when she noted the stares of disbelief she was getting.
"Close your mouths and stop staring at me. If anyone finds out about this, I'll be an outcast you hear?" Ida grumbled irritably, bringing the bottle back to her lips again. "Tch. Honestly, drinking at your age..." she muttered disapprovingly, but she made no attempt to stop them. "Children these days..."
Everyone jaws' dropped to the ground, not believing that Ida would join them in their childish fun. They gawked at her, mystified. Never in their wildest dreams would they imagine that that one of the strictest soldiers in Survey Corps would ever join a bunch of teenagers in their sneaky fun!
They were expecting her to start shouting at them, perhaps even beat them to a pulp or cut them to pieces, but the red-haired woman did nothing but gestured the bottle to them, prompting them to take it.
Fortunately for them, Ida could honestly use the alcohol to distract her tonight, so she didn't let the cadets' mischief bother her. Plus, being among the noisy teenagers was a good distraction from her troubling thoughts.
"Why are you here?" Mikasa was the only one brave enough to talk to Ida at the moment.
Ida's green eyes narrowed like a cat when she heard Mikasa's question. "What? Am I too old to be joining you kids in some fun now?" she replied sardonically.
A stunned silence skipped through after that and Ida made an impatient noise. "I came down for a drink as well," she admitted to the awkward group of teenagers. "So don't bother with me and just carry on with what you were doing before I came. I'll look past it just this once."
Sasha's smile bloomed upon hearing her words. Taking Ida's nod as the green light to continue on. She took the new bottle and raised it in the air. "Let's all forget about our worries today, shall we?!" she declared in great enthusiasm. "It's Mikasa's birthday!"
Jean exhaled in relief, giving in. "Well, if we are not going to get in trouble for it…" he eyed at Ida nervously from the corner of his eye.
"Just drink, you stinking brat." Ida snapped when she saw that he was looking at her. "I won't say anything. Just don't make a mess, lower your voices and clean up after yourselves."
Armin started to giggle at the sudden turn of events. His face was turning beet red by now. It was as if all the alcohol had shot up to his brain at once. "How strong is this?" he reluctantly looked another swig of the booze. "It seems pretty strong to me."
"I don't know!" Connie said a little too loudly.
The effects of the alcohol were finally beginning to kick in. All the recruits felt was pure bliss, no worries, just freedom and ability to do whatever they wanted. Hell, this one a once in a lifetime opportunity! Not only did they successfully snag a few bottles from the military pantry, but they got caught and didn't get in trouble for it!
Even Mikasa who was always carried the stoic and emotionless facade cracked up a small smile at the joyous mood. Eren was beside her, overly ecstatic that he had escaped punishment.
"Let's play a game!" Eren hollered, slamming his fist on the table. The table shook under his palms, causing Ida to hissed in annoyance at the loud noise generated — she didn't want any of the other soldiers to wake up! She would surely be an outcast if they found out she permitted their sneaky fun!
Nervously, he looked at his agitated superior and softly offered. "…Uhm, do you want to play as well?"
Ida smirked at his offer. "Sure."
Little did he know, it would be one of the worst choices Eren had made in his lifetime.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
He was in his room drinking. Though Levi Ackerman wasn't one to indulge in alcohol, today was one of those rare nights where he just couldn't sleep no matter what he did.
He was busy thinking.
It was so unlike him to think of senseless things like this. Levi closed his eyes and an image materialized itself in his mind in the form of a piss-poor redhead who brought with her an endless list of headaches and troubles. Just what on earth was he thinking?
Everyone in the legion knew that he was, well... To put it in nicer terms; strict.
And it was exactly because of this trait of him that Levi was bewildered of his own actions. Ida had breached serious protocol by allowing Eren Yeager out of the headquarters and he, one of the strictest Captain in the Survey Corps, had let it slide. To add on, not only did he drop the matter altogether, he even allowed a filthy runt into the headquarters at her earnest request. To be frank, if it was anyone else, Levi had to wonder how many times their head would've rolled by now.
He supposed it was because she amused him some way or another. Seeing someone as impertinent and arrogant as herself struggle and gripe under his orders was entertaining. Levi would not deny that he enjoyed putting her in her place and he enjoyed her misery. But nowadays, he couldn't really put a finger on the motives of his actions. It was strange, but somehow Ida seemed to be the only exception to everything he had stood for.
She was arrogant, she had a knack for openly defying orders, and she was infuriatingly stubborn — these three traits of hers were enough for Levi to deemed her as a genuine brat, but in some strange way, he also realized that he didn't really mind it as he thought he would have.
At first, he had suspected that he was only willing to tolerate her indignant behavior merely because she was Erwin's daughter, but now... It didn't seem to be the case and Levi could not help but ponder on it, annoyed that he couldn't get the answer.
He wasn't sure how long he sat on his chair, his legs crossed and his hands wrapped around a cup filled with liquor. He wasn't sure how long the rain had been pouring, but before he knew it, the sound of the rain was suddenly thunderous in his silence. And perhaps it was due to the angry pattering of the rain against his window, but the sharp-eared Levi was not even aware of a loud insistent knocking on his door.
The visitor by door interrupted his deep contemplation with a sharp shrill voice. "Levi! Oh god, you have got to help me! Are you awake?! Wake the hell up!"
He frowned deeply when another string of loud banging flowed into the once silent room. He made an annoyed sound underneath his breath, standing up from his chair and stormed towards the door.
Releasing the lock on his door, Levi swung the door open, greeting a frazzled Hanji with a murderous scowl. "What the hell do you want now?! Are you just plain stupid or are you not even aware it's the middle of the fucking night!"
Hanji stood speechless by the door when the odor of alcohol flowed from his breath. "Oh shit! Don't tell me you have been drinking as well?" she gasped in horror. She had enough of drunks for one night. "Not you too!"
"Tch. I'm not buzzed so what the hell do you want?" he snapped irritably, wanting nothing more than to go to bed. He crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame. "Why the hell are you back anyway?"
According to reports, the eccentric squad leader had been stuck to the crazy Wallist for the past days in hopes to extract something out from him about the Wall Titans and Levi hadn't expected her to come back to the headquarters so soon.
However, Hanji didn't even offer an explanation, but she immediately launched into an anxious filled request.
"You have got to help them!" she pleaded. Panic was anchoring her tone and her shifty eyes bounced back and forth from the hallway and back to a scowling Levi.
Grunting, he raked a hand through his hair messily and stood up straighter. "Help who now? I don't have time for your nonsense, shitty glasses. Go back to sleep and leave me the hell alone. Do you think it's fun to disturb someone in the middle of the night?"
"No, no! You don't get it!" Hanji tried once more, tugging on her hair from the stress. "Those cadets and even my precious Eren could be scarred for life if you don't help them! Seriously, there's no way I can get them away from her! I tried everything! I even tried to lure her with sweets! Nothing works! You're my last resort!"
Levi opted to smack her in the face for annoying him so late at night, but something caught onto his attention before he could.
"Her?" he echoed, raising a brow.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
There were always two types of drunken people in life — the first type of drunk was the less annoying type that would simply knock out and become immobile the moment they reached the max of their alcohol tolerance, and then there was the extremely crazy drunk who simply just won't shut up no matter how much one tried.
Unfortunately for the cadets, Ida Starke was the latter type of drunk.
"Suck it up, you brats!" Ida hollered once again in a burst of boisterous laughter, holding onto her aching stomach. "God, you guys are such punys!"
All around the table, the recruits had their heads on the table. They felt horrible and sick to the stomach. But somehow, Ida just wouldn't seem to shut up and pass out from all the insane amount of alcohol she had consumed. Nevertheless, it was clear to them that she was hammered to the very core.
The recruits had thought it was a good idea to challenge Ida to a drinking game, figuring that it was easy to get their superior drunk and it would all be in good fun. But it was a lack of judgment on their part when they realized halfway into the game that Ida had an insane tolerance for alcohol and that she was ten times as crazier and just as reckless when intoxicated.
"Armin!" The drunken woman roughly grabbed onto the cadet beside her, slapping hard on his back as he choked from the loud impact.
Frowning when she didn't get a reply, Ida began shaking the helpless blonde vigorously by the collar. "Don't be a wimp and drink some more! It's your turn!"
Armin darted a hopeless sidelong glance to his best friend Eren, silently pleading him for help, but Eren had his own problems. How was he supposed to help him when Hanji couldn't even handle Ida?! His head spun fiercely like a merry go round cranked on full speed. Eren breathed in the air and felt pain. He clutched his stomach tightly. He wrenched, feeling the throat muscles contracting to accommodate the residue that the alcohol had managed to drive up.
Just like any alcohol-induced night. After a round few shots, he had started to feel a new surge of energy and began to feel euphoric, intoxicated and drugged from the alcohol. But after everything comes to a screeching halt, all Eren was left with is a truckload of dizzy spells and endless of bothersome thoughts to worry about.
In the end, the underaged recruits had come to understand that all there's left after a joyful alcohol-induced road is just the plain inauspicious mess that they had to clean up regardless.
Everything comes down to being a pile of shit in the end.
And the gang's hectic night was beginning to skyrocket to the point of being called shitty diarrhea.
"I… can't drink anymore…" Armin burped, groaning in pain. He swore to himself that he was never going to touch alcohol ever again in his life, this was probably the reason why his grandfather told him never to touch it when he was younger. It made him high and happy at first, but when the effects died down, he felt like a living pile of wobbly crap.
Ida scorned at his futile attempt to stand up. "Fine," she released her hold on him. "You're doing your forfeit then! Go and kiss Eren!"
"What?!" Eren managed to sit up straight despite the room spinning around him.
He cursed Connie for coming up with such a stupid game. But to his chagrin, he then remembered that it was he who had suggested they play a game and he had easily agreed to Connie's idea because he wanted to see his strict superior do a ridiculous and embarrassing forfeit when she rejected a shot. Maybe this was his first dose of karma. Can't say he liked it so much.
Sadly for Eren, his plan backfired when he realized Ida was a much better drinker than the rest of the inexperienced recruits.
She pushed Armin roughly towards Eren and the blonde stumbled. "Come on, do it! Don't be such a fucking pansy, it's either you drink or you got to kiss Eren!" she scolded, her face flushing red from anger and liquor.
Armin looked at her with horrified eyes. "I—I—"
"Don't tell me you have never kissed someone before!" she teased.
"Haha…. Titan shit, you really got the worst forfeits…" Jean managed to mutter out despite being extremely hammered. Eren shot a glare at him. He was so sure that even if Jean had his legs chained to the ground, he would probably cut off his legs and crawl if it meant witnessing his demise.
"Squad leader Hanji…" Sasha whimpered, banging her head on the table. "Come back soon… and save us…"
Hanji had arrived back the headquarters after days with the crazy Wallist and upon witnessing the depressing situation that the recruit faced, she tried to get Ida to leave the cadets alone by luring her away with sweets. Sadly for them, Hanji was only shoved away and threatened when a drunk Ida told her to leave them alone — the game had to go on until a victor was crowned. Since then, the squad leader had scurried away after reassuring the cadets she would be back with help.
"Kiss, that is an order!" Ida wagged a finger in front of Armin's face.
Gagging, Armin turned to look at Eren with pleading eyes, he just couldn't drink anymore, he had no choice but to comply!
"No! No! Armin! Don't—!" Eren's screams were drowned out by the sloppy wet kiss. The gang belted out laughing. No one could remove the scarring image of a very scared Eren and a very drunk Armin out of their heads.
"Who's next?!" Ida suddenly screamed mid laughter, almost scaring the life out of Jean, who she had been leaning on for support. She moved her half-lidded eyes to the next target. "Mikasa! Drink or a forfeit!"
Mikasa cleared her throat, trying to look away from Armin and Eren and remove her silly thoughts from her drunken mind. Surprisingly, she picked up her cup and drank. Ida beamed happily, taking a quick gulp of her drink as well.
"Not bad, you're a strong drinker..." she murmured, before clapping her hands in glee. "Fine, let's move on to Jean!"
"Eh?! I don't want to play anymore!" Jean cried. With no food in his system and his overworked muscles, his body was beginning to shut down. He swallowed his nausea when Ida glared at him threateningly, sending a silent warning to not be a wet blanket and spoil the fun.
"We're going to continue playing until I end this damn game!" she stated fiercely, earning a visible shudder from Jean.
Ida was determined to not let the recruits go, she was having too much fun torturing them.
"…I can't drink…" Jean admitted softly.
"Forfeit it is then!" Ida chirped happily. The rest of the gang winched, suddenly realizing that Ida had a sadistic streak hidden deep inside her. It was like she took joy in seeing them suffer. Ida had even made Connie wear a skirt!
She pointed to Jean drunkenly before moving to Eren. "You two… make out and Jean has to give Eren a lap dance!"
"Oh god! I have been waiting for this moment forever!" Connie's lobster-red face shot up from the table, suddenly energetic at the sound of Jean and Eren kissing and horse face dancing. Even Mikasa was grinning at this point, the alcohol taking full control of her.
Ida leveled her hard gaze on Connie. "You're noisy, stupid onion head."
"Eh?! Why am I always the victim!" Eren protested loudly, but his rage was cut short when Ida kicked him in the shin. "OW!"
"That's because you're a dick for spreading those rumors about that midget bastard and I!" Ida scowled menacingly. Her frightening look soon reverted back to a glorious drunken smile and she clapped her hands together excitedly. "Okay…! So Jean go on ahead! He's all yours! You can touch him all over if you want!"
"No way in hell! I'm going to get some Titan disease if I touch him!" Jean moved out of Eren's way, praying to every God he knew that Hanji would get back quickly with help and save them. It was the only way he could escape from the devil named Ida.
Ida grabbed him by the ear and pulled him back. "Are you defying the orders of your superiors now, you little twerp?!" she growled. "You're the ones who wanted to play this game!"
Suddenly, being drunk made Jean claustrophobic. His stomach tightened with every step he took and being pulled by Ida certainly didn't help. Barfing in his mouth, he ran to the toilet to puke out its contents, leaving Ida roaring in laughter after him.
"Pfft! PANSY!" she shouted insultingly to his retreating back, suddenly missing a step and falling to the bench. "Whoa!"
As Jean slammed open the door to the exit, he maneuvered his way past the two figures at the door and went straight for the toilet. Eren gasped when he saw a very pissed off looking Levi and a fidgety Hanji by the door.
"C — Captain!" He cried out in joy. Levi looked like a ray of hope to him now, an angel descended from heaven even. He never thought he would be so happy to see him.
"Save… us…" Sasha muttered weakly, lifting her head up, showing a display of her exhaustion and half-closed eyes. Finally giving into the effects of alcohol, her face slammed back to the table with a loud bang.
"Pot...ato…" she slurred, her eyes turning swirly.
Immediately catching the sight of several bottles of booze and the state of the new recruits, Levi eyed on Hanji angrily, his expression demanding an explanation. "What the hell happened?"
"Ida got drunk and refused to leave Eren— I mean, the cadets alone," Hanji lifted her glasses to her head, scratching her head perplexedly as she watched the disastrous scene with wide eyes. The entire mess hall was a complete chaotic mess, bottles and food were everywhere and even Armin was sleeping on the floor, his face completely smashed to the ground. "I tried everything, she wouldn't listen."
"Fucking hell." Levi cursed, walking into the room. A part of him was pissed that the recently clean mess hall was filthy and another part was equally pissed that he had to take care of shitty brats in the middle of the night. "This is a nuisance."
Upon hearing the familiar deadpan voice, Ida forcefully pried her eyes wide open. All of a sudden, she sat straight up, groaning and moaning due to her throbbing headache. She turned to see who had started the noise. Her blurry vision focused and when she saw Levi scoffing, she jumped as if he had intentionally scared her.
As if it was her natural reflex, she bolted out of the chair. "It's the grumpy midget!" she gasped loudly.
Her first instinct was to run, but she lost her footing and fell straight onto Levi's open arms and he caught her.
"Let me go!" Ida squeaked, struggling to get away from his rigid hold. Even though her mind was intoxicated to some point, her drunken mind knew one thing very well — not to get caught by the spawn of Satan.
"Stop fucking moving, you little shit!" Levi struggled to keep his hold on her, getting his face smacked by her long scarlet locks a couple of times. He could feel his irritation growing by the second. "Stop moving!"
Ida knew that it was futile to try to escape from his clutch, so she drunkenly decided to turn to the perplexed squad leader by the side for help. "Hanji! I don't know him! You can't let him take me— MHMM!"
Levi clamped a hand over her mouth before she could say any further, glaring at the red-faced recruits and back to Hanji.
"Get the damned brats to their rooms and make sure Eren sleeps in the dungeon tonight in case he transforms in his sleep," he ran through his words quickly, ignoring the struggling redhead in his arms. "I'll handle this troublesome brat."
"Have a nice night, Levi!" Hanji shouted playfully, waving. Meanwhile, a grumpy and extremely aggravated Levi struggled to drag a screaming and kicking Ida out of the room. "Don't take advantage of her and if you do, don't be too rough!"
"We're saved!" Levi could hear Eren squeal out in relief when he left the room.
"MHM! MHMM!" Ida tried to tackle her way out of Levi's hold, but her attempts were futile because soon enough she was forcefully dragged out room and into the quiet hallways.
She squeaked once when Levi released his hand over her mouth and she gasped for air, sucking in the sweet cool night air.
"What is your hell problem?!" Levi took no time at all to launch into a rigid reprimand session. Now that they were away from prying eyes, he could finally let his anger explode. "Creating a big shitty ruckus in the middle of the night, and worse, with the new recruits? Where is your damn dignity? Are you retarded or something?!"
Ida, who was still inundated by copious amounts of alcohol frowned at him. She pointed a finger towards him and jabbed him in the middle of his nose with her fingertip.
"I... am not retarded... You narrow minded jerk!" she defended poorly.
The world swirled around her in all kinds of clashing colors and swirly images. She staggered around, trying to remain upright in a fight against the earth's magnetic pull.
Levi scoffed at her pathetic attempt to stabilize herself. "Look at you. Even pathetic is an understatement."
Ida grinned wildly, barely moving her lips as she answered. "Candy…."
Levi frowned at her reply, confused. For some reason, he had forgotten that drunken people were neither great conversationalist nor were they sober. He ran his hand through his tousled hair in great irritation and mumbled a few incoherent words.
Lifting Ida's heavy right arm over his shoulder, he pulled her up and proceeded on a hard journey back to his room. In all honesty, he was surprised that she could even speak right now after consuming all that alcohol. Their balance challenged every step of the way as she staggered and swayed from side to side.
The small petite Ida seemed to have gained a few extra pounds from all that alcohol she drank and even Levi was having a hard time supporting her. After a torturous journey, he finally managed to get her into his room. He would've dumped her in her own room, but the fear of a drunken Ida rampaging around the headquarters in the middle of the night unsupervised stopped him.
Hopefully, no one had seen Ida in such a state. He made a mental note to scare the recruits into keeping their mouth shut. Ida's reputation as a veteran soldier would take a plunge if words got out that she allowed underage recruits to drink alcohol, and worst still, she even joined in on the fun.
Damn brat... Always giving me extra work and leaving it to me to clean up her damn mess.
"Fucking hell," Levi cursed breathlessly, catching his grip on her just in time before she befriended the black asphalt.
Ida drunkenly waved her hand in the air awhile mumbling something incoherent as a response and had somehow managed to smack Levi in the face.
Levi bit his lip to hold back a curse and struggled to hold onto her while silently praying that she wouldn't vomit on him. "I'm going to fucking kill you when you wake up," he promised vehemently, dumping her roughly on the bed.
Ida felt offended when she somehow managed to register that Levi was addressing her. It wasn't something to get mad at, Levi always threatened her, but being drunk, it made all the difference in the world.
She glared at the figure before her. "…I would... like you see you try!"
Levi made a disgusted face at the state of her hygiene and the heavy stench of liquor. "Drinking this much even when you're injured. You're a genuine troublesome brat you know that?" He gritted his teeth in anger and his face contorted again. "Moron."
"I don't give a flyingggggggg fuccccccccccck!" Ida waved her hands in the air and cried out in joy, dragging her words to get her point across. Of course, this made Levi fume in anger at her mockery.
He smacked the back of her head, wishing that she would just shut up and sleep. Levi was desperately trying to contain his boiling rage. He knew better than to blow his anger at someone this drunk, they wouldn't even care if you point a knife at them. He would save his rage for tomorrow instead when Ida has sobered up. Cleaning the stables, running laps, or even confiscating all her candy — yes, he would issue a suitable punishment for her tomorrow.
But instead of falling asleep, Ida stared at him for the longest time. Her head was spinning at a million miles per hour. Then, she clumsily got off the bed and stumbled forward so that she was at the same eye level as him. "Oi…"
"What?" Levi grumbled distractedly, in the middle of silent mental debate if he should just knock her out cold so that she would shut up.
Ida bit her lower lip and debated whether or not to tell him what her heart was telling her to do. Levi stood there frowning, waiting for her response. In Ida's drunken mind, she decided it wouldn't hurt. She had grown to care for him and she deserved to know at least that much — she wanted to know her feelings for him, she wanted to know if it was possible between them.
She was hell-bent on bitterly objecting her feelings if she found out she had them anyway.
So it wouldn't hurt... right? All she wanted to know if she felt something for him.
Capturing his gaze, she said. "I... want you to do something for me..."
Levi was surprised at her request. He had expected a straightforward blunt answer from her, not such a shady request. "Whatever," he promised half-heartedly, wanting nothing more than for her to shut up and sleep so that he could have a peace of mind for the rest of the night.
Suddenly she stumbled forward, holding onto Levi's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"Kiss me," she requested quietly as she tightened her closed eyes, as though to do so, she was ignoring the shame attached to her request that no decent woman would have dared.
"What?" she heard him say.
Ida frowned impatiently, opening her eyes a little. "I fucking said… Kiss me."
Of course, Levi took her words with a pinch of salt. It was common knowledge that intoxicated people say senseless things at times. "Fine, if you want to do it. Go ahead then," he challenged.
He did think the request was peculiar, but yet he felt a strange unexplainable magnetism that pulled him to her and he fought hard to maintain his composure.
Levi honestly hadn't expected Ida to carry out his dare.
As if it wasn't possible, her drunken face flushed even redder. She leaned over to him, placing both hands on his shoulders, and her eyes closed as their lips met. It was a fast quick peck, nothing special, nothing emotional, no passion at all. Ida could feel herself resisting and she pulled away quickly.
Perhaps she didn't really have any feelings for him after all. Perhaps she was worrying too much.
Yes… this was good, she didn't feel anything romantic for him.
This was good news indeed...
Surprisingly, when she pulled away, Levi looked extremely unsatisfied. His brows furrowed together, telling a story of how his mind was busy pondering about something. They stared at each other in silence, as if to sink right back into reality. Her vision was blurry and no matter how hard she tried, she felt as if she was dreaming— she didn't how this feeling came about, for all she knew, it could be the side effects of the alcohol or because the small little kiss she shared with her Captain.
"Tch. Even when you have my permission…" Levi's voice was low with mystery. "You settled only for that."
"What?"
Ida felt her breath hitched when Levi lifted her chin with his finger until her eyes met his.
Levi kissed her.
But it wasn't a sweet kiss; it was a punishing kiss, plundering her senses, insulting her. Levi didn't know what overcame him as he violently possessed her. Perhaps it was the little alcohol he had consumed, he didn't know, but at this point, it didn't really matter. He buried his hands in her hair and pulled, so he could access her as he wished. He could taste every bit of her, the bitter acidic copious taste of the liquor meshed together with her sweet saliva.
She tasted intoxicating.
This time, there was no resistance from Ida as her lips parted, inviting and welcoming. She took selfishly from him, wanting to cling to the moment, so one day when she was to look back, she could relish upon this small vestige of their time together. She devoured the feel of his hot lips and relished in the scent of him, as though there was no tomorrow. As a matter of fact, there might as well be no tomorrow for her, in a cruel world such as this, there was no telling when anyone would meet their end.
Passionate, heart-pounding, emotions fluttering.
She had never expected to feel this way.
Ida allowed a small moan to escape her lips, flustered from the emotions exploding in her chest. His lips are larger than she thought and much softer than they looked. She felt his tongue teasing her and his teeth run through her lower lip. Levi certainly hadn't expected her to respond in fervor, to spill the height of her passion into the kiss. Her hands were bunched into tight fists, clinging onto his shirt. She responded to his kiss, but she was gentle and pliant. His intention to become the punisher backfired as he drowned in her sweetness.
She couldn't remember if it was him or her who pulled back and stopped the kiss. But in a matter of seconds, his chest was aligned with hers, as he gently tried not to hurt her injured arm. Pulling onto a handful of his hair, she tried to apply as much pressure between them as possible, as if she couldn't get enough of him.
When Levi's hands gradually drifted from her shoulder onto her hips, Ida pulled back her body reluctantly. No one spoke as their forehead rested upon each other, trying to catch their breaths.
Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, Levi spoke in a voice so smooth that Ida felt the fine hairs stand up at the back of her neck. "That's what you call a kiss. Don't forget it."
There was nothing that could ruin a perfect moment like this…
…well, Levi knew that when a person is a pissed drunkard, anything is bound of happened.
Although he had anticipated it somehow, he found himself expecting expected Ida to launch into an explanation, but she never did. Instead, the spark in her eyes slowly died out as her right hand came up. Levi was quite aware that her hand was coming very near his face and he blinked when her cool fingertips brushed on the sides of his jaw.
"What are you doing—"
Ida's finger reached out for his mouth, shutting him off as she placed a finger on his lips. "Shhh... I need to..."
Then, it happened.
She lunged forward abruptly, emptying out the last of the crazy alcohol-fueled night on her clean freak Captain.
"FUCK!"
Holy fuck.
Levi almost felt faint when she puked all over him.
Right then and there — Ida could no longer hold her balance. Somewhere in between hearing Levi curse a string of colorful words and her headache hurting even more vividly, everything around her went darker.
"Shit!"
She felt arms snaked around her before she hit her head on the pavement.
And just like that, Ida Starke effectively slipped into a drunk coma.
He was going to kill her for this.
Levi gritted his teeth while he struggled to keep this hold onto an unconscious Ida, his eyes traveled across her lifeless state and he groaned. As if it wasn't hard enough to keep his support to on her in this awkward position, he also had to ensure that none of her vomit on his shirt would touch her.
He grunted irritably, taking a huge breath to stabilize himself from dropping her to ground out of spiteful anger. It was bad enough when someone barfs on you, but it was even worse when they pass out immediately after that. To top it off, she had to pass out right after that kiss that they shared.
He wanted nothing more than to storm off in anger, perhaps even strangle her or leave her to lie in her own pile of vomit, but he didn't, though Levi knew that he was going to hold this grudge on Ida for the rest of his life.
Begrudgingly, he held onto an unconscious Ida as he wiped her face with a handkerchief for any remnants of vomit. Placing her on his bed and tucking her in, he stormed off to the bathroom after cleaning up the area. He cursed a string of colorful words, wiping off as much of the puke as he can off his shirt. Levi tried not to barf at the rancid stench, breathing in and out in strategic patterns in an effort to calm himself down. There was no use taking his anger out on an unconscious person, he reminded himself.
Especially when the unconscious brat was none other than Ida Starke.
He could feel his crazy compulsive-obsessive self coming out, his mind inundated with malicious thoughts. The handkerchief wiped the puke off, but the smears were still there.
"Fucking hell." Levi threw the handkerchief into a trash bin after deciding that he got as much of it off as he could. It wasn't every day someone of his caliber could say that they got puked on.
After a much-needed shower and a change of clothes, Levi walked back into his room in a foul mood. He could only scorn bitterly when he saw a sleeping Ida on his bed, but yet he was stood frozen in his stance for a few silent moments, just gazing onto her as he tried to decipher what kind of a person she was — a walking accident-prone troublemaker no doubt, but there was something about that kiss that bothered him. It stuck to him like needles that needed special tweezers to get out.
Shit, what had he done?
That kiss was inappropriate on all levels, Ida was his direct subordinate and not to mention Erwin's daughter that he had placed under his care. Levi truly did not know what had gotten into him to kiss her, it was so unlike him to slip up. But then again, he had found himself stupidly slipping up ever since Ida had joined the legion.
Exhaling deeply, his hand moved on his own and landed gingerly on top of her head. Right then, she moved. For the first time since Ida had passed out dead drunk, she snuggled up comfortably to his hand as she embraced her pillow and sighed. Levi couldn't take his eyes off her as she sighed right in front of his face.
Without thinking, he reached out and touched a strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes. He swept it back, clearing her face. His fingers trailed from that strand of hair to the rest of her silk hair. He took back his hands as his eyes trailed to her lips.
His heart quickened and a wave puzzlement washed over him when he withdrew his hand. Quickly, he straightened himself out and grumbled.
He took note to murder Hanji for putting such perverted thoughts in his battle filled mind. Pulling out the covers, he slipped in beside her. He felt her arms snake around him as she snuggled, but for once, Levi didn't edge away in repulsion but simply stayed silent.
A good night's rest would clear all of his worries.
But he couldn't sleep, because a startling revelation occurred to him. He was attached to his woman no doubt.
He shut his eyes forcibly, cursing to himself for allowing himself to do something so irrational.
Fuck... He really was indeed attached to Ida Starke...
But anything further than that? Levi Ackerman was hell-bent on bitterly objecting it to the best of his abilities.
Thanks for reading! I hope you all don't kill me for spoiling the romantic mood between them, but I couldn't help it, imagining Levi covered in vomit is just too hilarious in my mind. JUST IMAGINE HIS FACE, hahaha!