Part 1: Solitary
Mikasa learned a lot of things in her first year outside the underground. Wall Maria had apparently been destroyed some years after her kidnapping and subsequent rehoming into Kenny's household. Ironically, her kidnappers had spared her life at the hands of Titans. She and Levi were apparently a lot more famous than she had imagined. A few people recognized her from appearance alone on their rare jaunts into town for supplies. The fact that surprised her the most was that Kenny was, apparently, a squad commander in the military police.
She wasn't sure what lunatic had given him the position, and she didn't really want to know.
She learned things about herself too. She very much liked the sunshine and loved how it helped her plants thrive. She loved how it felt on her skin, and she never closed her window even if it was raining. She learned that people on cooking duty were happy to share the kitchen with her after she shared her recipes. She learned that anger wasn't a great way to deal with grief, but beating up Levi weakly did wonders for her psyche.
She also learned about solitary confinement.
Two weeks in the hole for desertion was worth it but, in her opinion, undeserved. Her carelessness hadn't affected the expedition, and she'd gotten to see her home, even take back a few things. A visit to her departed parents' house was the least she deserved after putting up with the Survey Corps for so long. Levi, the bastard, had been praised for running after her and bringing her back. When they returned to base, Mikasa had been arrested. Levi had the gall to smirk at her as she was dragged away. She scoffed; she knew he was just as curious about the state of her house as she was. She was going to wring him by the neck when she got out.
Mikasa wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she guessed her confinement would end soon. Left alone with nothing but her thoughts, Mikasa contemplated all the events in her life that led her to this moment. Many choices in her life had not been her own. Raised on a farm, she grew vegetables to survive. Raised in the underground, she lied, stole, and murdered. Eventually, she clawed her way out of hell with nothing but the clothes on her back, a rusty knife, and the aid of a boy turned friend. The military snatched her up, and now she was a soldier.
Someone else's soldier.
She didn't fight for herself or for a cause she believed in. She was still fighting to survive, simply under a different master this time. Commander Erwin Smith was nothing like Kenny, and the drilling exercises they were made to do as part of "training" were laughable compared to the regiment she and Levi had been subjected to under Kenny's tutelage.
Kenny—
He was going to get a good laugh at her circumstances. Mikasa normally would have visited the man at least once in the last month, but she'd been locked up. She doubted Levi would inform his uncle of her absence. It was a chore to get Levi to go to his uncle's house on the best of days, and an all-out brawl on the worst. She'd drag him out for a trip next time they had a day off. Mikasa liked her room well enough at headquarters, but nothing beat the soft beds at Kenny's house. I'd even kill for a straw mattress. She was so focused she didn't hear someone approaching until they rattled a set of heavy keys against the bars of her cell.
"You still alive in there?" Levi questioned, boredom evident in his tone.
He looked the exact same as the last time she'd seen him: hair combed down the middle, undercut freshly shaven, and uniform not a fold out of place. He looked unbothered, and that bothered her. "Nice of you to grace me with your presence, traitor." Levi had visited her all of one time, the first day she'd been locked up, to laugh at her. She hadn't seen him since.
"You look like shit." Levi inserted the key into the lock as slowly as he could and turned it with just as much precision. She hoped he enjoyed this momentary power over her. She was going to remind him just how strong she was very soon.
"And you look just as high-strung as ever." Mikasa unconsciously ran a hand through her hair and felt her bangs sticking up at odd angles. The rest of her hair was a tangled bird's nest that fell around her shoulders. She really needed a haircut.
Levi finally finished unlocking the door and stepped aside, mockingly sticking an arm out to guide her path as if she were royalty.
"Thanks for coming to see me so often, really. You shouldn't have made the trip down today," she muttered sarcastically as she stepped out of her cell for the first time in days.
"Stop complaining, it was only two weeks." Levi locked the door and motioned for her to follow him down the hallway. He didn't need to; Mikasa was just as eager to get out of the underground dungeon as he was.
"I wouldn't have served any time if you hadn't turned me in," Mikasa muttered.
Levi turned to glare at her over his shoulder. "You're lucky I'm the one who came to get you; otherwise, you would have served a lot more time for something other than desertion."
Mikasa paused. "What are you talking about?"
He huffed. "You know, taking things from an expedition site and not reporting it to a higher officer is illegal."
"I know, I read the handbook." Mikasa was getting annoyed; he was talking down to her again.
"I'm surprised, you know how to read?"
"Ha, ha." Mikasa was not smiling, but the comment did get her lip to twitch. It was the back and forth, the biting and scratching, and constant bickering she'd missed the most. "Good to see my absence hasn't dulled your wit. You're still as sharp as ever."
"Stop being such a difficult brat," Levi groaned.
Mikasa stopped on the stairs. "Why should I? It's not like I owe you anything."
"Who do you think it was who didn't report you but also hid all the shit you stole?"
"It's not stealing if I take things from my own house."
"Not to the government, it's not."
Mikasa crossed her arms and groaned. "What do you want? You're dragging this conversation out."
"I don't know, maybe a thank you for saving your ass, again?" He rolled his eyes and continued walking up the stairs.
Mikasa would rather clean the mess hall for a week than ever acknowledge Levi doing anything for her, but even she wasn't cold enough not to recognize the favour he'd done for her. "Thank you." It came out half-assed and lacking much sincerity, but she'd tried.
As they ascended the stairs, they didn't speak another word to each other. When they finally entered the main hallway of HQ, Mikasa realised just how tired and hungry she'd been. She squinted and put a hand up to block the sunlight streaming through the large castle windows. As she admired the sky, she felt a sharp sting to her upper back. It forced her forward a few steps, but she did not lose her balance. Levi wiped his hand as he retreated, calling out a "Good to have you back, Mikasa," as he turned a corner.
She grinned, wide and manic, at the thought of strangling him. It was good to be back.
Part 2: Bet
Mikasa had barely been out of her cell for 2 hours when Hange found her. The words tumbled from Hange's mouth as fast as they normally did, but Mikasa had to get a grasp on the last thing that was said.
"You want us to do what?" Mikasa asked, needing to hear the request repeated.
"We want you and Levi to spar in front of everyone!" It was said with such passion, like it was the greatest idea Hange had ever suggested.
"Why?"
"Erwin said it would be good for morale, and I've never gotten the opportunity to study you up close!" Mikasa doubted this was Erwin's idea. Their commander was a bit of a sadist on the battlefield, but he was generally pretty reasonable when they weren't out fighting for their lives.
Mikasa was still raw from the deaths of Farlan and Isabel and the mission that had wiped out a quarter of their ranks. It had barely been 4 months; the batch of new recruits from whatever training regiment wouldn't be coming in for a while yet, 103 if she recalled, so the corps they had now was smaller and less spirited. Still, she wasn't sure how fighting Levi would help with any of that.
"The older members already have a betting pool going," Hanji stated.
Mikasa wasn't sure if that was meant to entice her, but she was curious. "Who's winning?"
The other soldier gave her a shit-eating grin. "Levi."
"Son of a-" When Mikasa turned 16, Kenny had taken her to a gambling den. He'd managed to wipe the floor with everyone at their table using a combination of honest skill in one game and blatant cheating in others. She could only tell because she'd lived with him for so long.
If there was one thing she'd learned from that experience, it was that odds didn't matter when you could sway them in your favour. "I'm in."
No one in the Survey Corps lived very long. Those at the top were naturally the ones who'd managed to stick around the longest. She was fine with the way some of them glared at her; it was preferable to them trying to start conversation. The ones who really got under her skin were the ones who thought they were better than her because she was from the underground. No one said it to her face anymore, not after the first three people she beat up, her first year in the corps had been marred by whispered remarks, forced isolation, and denial of common areas. It didn't matter that she was originally from Shiganshina; she'd been touched by the same curse that haunted Levi, Isabel, and Farlan.
Time had mitigated the scorn, as had the beatings, and the people who survived with her on their expeditions outside the walls treated her with a little more respect. Unfortunately, that left a decent number of corp members who still messed with her. Ones who hadn't seen her on a mission, ones younger than her who thought she still had something to prove, and older ones who were just prejudiced.
She'd show them, she'd show them all.
When Mikasa returned to her and Levi's room that evening, she was surprised to see most of her plants were still alive. Two weeks without water should've killed them, yet upon touching the soil, it was suitably damp, not overwatered or dry at all.
"Did you do this?"
"Yeah." Levi was lounging casually on his bed, reading a book he'd likely gotten from the library.
Mikasa noticed her plant journal on the edge of the desk, opened to the page with care instructions. "I'm surprised you touched them."
"I borrowed the watering can from the gardening shed. I don't know how you can stand to use drinking cups to water your plants, then continue to drink from that same glass. It's disgusting."
"I was expecting them to be dead." She muttered in awe.
Levi flipped a page of his book. "It's not that difficult to keep something so small alive."
Mikasa moved from the desk to sit across from him. "No, that's not what I meant." She didn't need to be egged on to show her appreciation. "Thank you." It was earnest.
"You'd be a pain to deal with if they died. And I didn't want you bringing fresh dirt in here."
Mikasa could see his point; she could also blatantly tell he was covering up his soft side. She normally would have made fun of him for it, but any fight she had left in her was gone now. Levi was a pain in the ass on the best of days, but even he had his moments.
-
A week later, she found herself in the training room.
Levi sat on a low bench, adjusting the wrappings on his fists. "Why did you agree to this crap?" Any softness in his voice had long disappeared after he'd found out about their sparring match.
Mikasa was doing the same as she paced around. "I hate the way they talk about us. This'll prove them wrong."
Levi didn't let meaningless insults or jeering get to him, but it always got under her skin. Mikasa preferred direct confrontation to sitting idly by and waiting for her problems to solve themselves, but she couldn't very well go beating anyone up anymore. This was the next best solution. Still, she did feel a little guilty.
He'd gotten her arrested, but he'd also taken care of her plants. He was annoying as all hell and the worst person to share a room with, but he had her back when it mattered. She sighed. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I'll make it up to you after, I swear."
His eyes widened, pupils constricting in suspicion, then dilating when she didn't follow her statement with a witty quip. Levi rose from the bench. "Let's just get this over with."
She nodded, and before she could make her way outside, Levi grabbed her wrist. "I'm holding you to that promise."
-
Mikasa didn't like being reduced to a show pony, but there would always be things she'd have to do to show her strength. Actions spoke louder than words, after all. To anyone who hadn't seen one of their blowout fights before, it was a spectacle.
Their sparring was different from an all-out brawl. Levi didn't pull punches, and Mikasa didn't hold back any strength when she kicked, but there was more calculation, more focus on technique, follow-through, and execution. She readied her defensive position, arms raised to block her face and abdomen, hands curled into fists ready for the first opportunity to strike.
When Hange gave the go, chaos broke out in the yard. Levi immediately went for a punch to her cheek, probably wanting to end this spectacle as quickly as possible. Mikasa had always been light on her feet and was able to step back just in time. She bounced back on her heels and sprang forward with a rapid volley of punches aimed at his solar plexus. Levi instinctively went to block, and Mikasa used that moment to kick the back of his left leg, just behind his knee. His reflexes kicked in, and he moved back.
Mikasa didn't have time to compose herself. Levi, copying her motion, sprang to life after he landed. His body turned on an angle as he lunged at her, building up momentum as his fist connected with the underside of her jaw. It stunned her and forced Mikasa back, but she wasn't out yet. Years of fighting him had prepared her for his tricks, and Levi's always got in way too close to his opponents; he would crowd them and overwhelm them with his strength, and they'd have no space to counter or even think of a defence. Mikasa knew if she had any shot of winning, she needed to keep her distance for as long as possible. They traded blows until it ended in a stalemate. Mikasa could feel blood on the inside of her mouth and spat it out.
The environment was controlled, and neither could make the first move. The two circled each other for what felt like hours, waiting for an opening. When Levi tried to hit her face again, she saw her chance. Mikasa blocked with her forearm, deflecting the punch, and using all her might, she headbutted Levi in the nose. He didn't take nearly as long to recover, and he tried to grab her. She ducked out of his reach and spun. Pivoting on one leg, she lifted the other into the air, using the heel of her foot like a blade to cut. She pressed her hands together to centre her gravity and threw all her weight into the movement. The tension in her body snapped, and her leg sprang forward. The roundhouse kick landed squarely below Levi's heart, right between his ribs, and he fell back with a cough.
He could've gotten up again, but from the look of exhaustion on his face and the blood running down his nose, she knew they were finished.
The crowd raged. She heard shouts of awe and disbelief as she helped Levi up. She didn't want to stay in this makeshift arena any longer than she had to. Hange announced her victory, and Mikasa was free to go. She and Levi slunk back to their room, sore and tired.
Later that night, after they'd tended to their wounds, Mikasa lay under the covers of her bunk. Levi lay on top, covered only in sleeping clothes and the limited bandages she'd coaxed him into.
"Good fight." Mikasa let out a yawn. She was tired but in a good enough mood that she actually wanted to talk a bit more.
Levi flipped onto his side to face her. "You're only saying that because you won."
Mikasa smiled a little. "Perhaps."
Levi rubbed his chest, annoyed. "Can't believe you used one of my own moves on me."
The kick she'd finished with was a copy of a move he liked to use, but she'd used her full leg instead of a knee like he preferred. "I modified it, and it's not copying if we had the same teacher."
"You're a pain in the ass. I can't believe I let you win."
Mikasa had no answer so she flopped around her bed until she found a comfortable position. Levi grumbled in reaction to all the noise she was making, but Mikasa didn't care, that was until his words sank in. "What?"
"Go to bed, brat."
She shot up, turning her ire onto him. "What do you mean youlet mewin?"
"You wanted to prove yourself, I wanted to screw over all the shitheads who were betting on us. It's not that hard to grasp, Mikasa." Levi seemed to only use her name when he was in a serious mood or calling her an idiot. He was calling her stupid again.
So he hadn't been exhausted, he'd been annoyed. Funny, she thought she could read him better. She wanted to fight him over it, wanted to lunge at him again and really show him what she could do if she were fighting for her life and not sparring. She had to stop herself. They'd both been screwed over by the corps today, and though she liked to forget it, she and Levi were friends.
Defeated, she flopped back down on her bed and stared at the wooden slats of the bunk above her. "How much money do you think they lost?"
She didn't need to look; she heard the smirk in Levi's voice as he said, "Oh, aton."
Can't believe the DDOS stuff last week, then we lost power after a severe thunderstorm XD Sorry for the late update!
Part 3: Relation
"Captain Levi Ackerman," Erwin announced the title in his usual monotone.
Are you kidding me? Him? Of all people?
A week after their spar in the courtyard, Mikasa was summoned to Erwin's office. She was surprised to see Levi there as well. After a short debrief, reminding them of all the people lost on the expedition months ago, Levi had been assigned a shiny new title.
Mikasa was furious because if anyone should be getting a promotion, it shouldn't be the short man who couldn't talk to his own family with respect. How did Erwin think Levi would be capable of leading his own squad? In her thoughts, she almost missed the commander's next words.
"Lieutenant Mikasa Ackerman." Second in command, she could deal with .As they walked down the hall with promotions in hand, Mikasa made sure to let Levi know exactly how annoyed she was. "Erwin got us again." That sparring last week hadn't just been for morale or to settle a wanted to see which one of us was better, Mikasa thought, and even though she'd beaten him, Levi's skill still far surpassed hers. "He was testing us, and thought you were stronger."
"I wouldn't use those words, but yes." Levi was being unusually respectful of her emotions today.
Mikasa had not joined the Scouts willingly, but she had still made a home here. Her place in the Corps required sacrifice, and she did not take her duty lightly. To be passed over like this, when she was just as determined as the next soldier, did not sit well with her. "I won, but he made you captain." She hoped she wasn't letting the bitter tone seep into her voice.
"You did, but I showed more restraint." He was right, and maybe that was what Erwin was looking for in a leader, someone who fought with skill and not with raw emotion.
"We learned all our dirty tricks from the same man. You're not better than me." Mikasa was bitter.
"Maybe, maybe not. I still have more experience."
"The only reason you were promoted was because half the Corps died." It was a boorish statement, something that would have made her mother gasp and cover her mouth with her hand, something that would have gotten her a disapproving stare from her father.
Kenny probably would've laughed. The truth was, in their line of work, tiptoeing around reality only made life stiff and unbearable. Seeing so much death, and being raised by Kenny, had worn down her filter until it was nonexistent around those she knew.
"They still acknowledged how skilled I am; I wouldn't have been given this position otherwise."
He wasn't taking her bait, her subtle pokes at his skill. They wouldn't be fighting over this, she knew that now, so she tried one last jab. "Please, my Titan kills at least double yours."
"Tch, maybe when I'm not there."
The next morning at breakfast, she found Levi at their usual table. Sometimes Hange would join them, but for now, it was just the two of them in an isolated corner of the dining hall. She supposed they'd have to eat with the other officers soon.
Mikasa slowly ate the grainy oatmeal she'd chosen for her meal when Levi brought up their discussion from last night. "By your logic, you're more skilled than I am."
"Clearly."
"So why weren't you made Captain? After all, half the Corps did die." He'd thrown her words right back at her.
Mikasa took a long sip of her drink. Defeated. And ignored his upgrade in title meant new rooms. Levi had his own bathroom now, a bathroom with access to water she was going to take full advantage of.
It wasn't like she didn't have her own bathroom now. The abandoned wing she and her underground cohorts had been forced to share had a communal bathroom, but she liked to purposely bring her indoor plants to his room and water them in his sink to piss him worst period of her life started four months after their promotions. Now that he had a position of actual power and could order people around, Levi became a lot more insufferable. If people had been scared of him before, now he was avoided like the plague. The naysayers and anyone who'd opposed his joining of the military all but disappeared overnight. With a title to match his accomplishments, he was treated less like a human and more like a symbol.
To a lesser extent, Mikasa was given the same treatment. No one bothered her anymore, and her underground upbringing seemed to be all but forgotten as starry-eyed recruits or trainees asked her how she'd become so strong. It was a change Mikasa didn't know how to feel about. She could match aggression with aggression, but any positive attention made her clam up and shy away. This only seemed to add to her reputation as a closed-off, fearsome soldier who had a hidden gentler side.
It couldn't be further from the truth, but the better people thought of her, the fewer fights she got into, the less time in solitary. Mikasa hated being away from windows after so long spent underground, and she was willing to put up with a few naive questions to keep her freedom.
Amid the changes, her reputation across the walls grew and grew, and over four months, everyone, from the nobles in Mitras to the peasants in Wall Rose, knew her name now. Levi's name had become even more famous, and with it, camethequestions.
"Is she your sister or your cousin?" The number of times she'd been asked that in her time serving with the Corps was mind-boggling. She thought she remembered people on the surface having more tact.
"Are you two siblings or…?"
It was a question they heard often, and the responses varied. If Mikasa liked who she was talking to, she would tell them they were cousins, that they were raised together, or that they were friends.
Levi's responses varied from 'distant relative' to 'childhood annoyance' to 'pain in my ass'.
"Are you related to Captain Levi?"
She had to grind her teeth to keep from punching the kid. Every time someone used that idiotic title to address Levi, she felt her anger grow.
"Yes." She wasn't about to get into the semantics of their complicated family tree, and she did not want to get sent to solitary again for punching a recruit. As the days wore on, the urge to change her surname to her mother's maiden name grew.
-
The Titans came through Wall Rose; she had enough knowledge to deal with them. Then one of the cadets turned into a Titan. After his rampage, he fainted, and everyone was left to deal with the fallout. Everyone, including her. Erwin took her down to the cellars where he was being kept, explained his arrest, his trial, and his possible future. The cadet, Eren, was adamant about his innocence, and Mikasa was honestly impressed with how well he was handling everything, nodding along in agreement with everything he and Erwin were discussing until the conversation shifted from alliances to her-
"You're Mikasa Ackerman." He said her name like she'd hung the stars herself, and Mikasa immediately froze. She always got this way whenever someone said her name like that, because she knew what was coming next. "You're related to Levi Ackerman."
There it was.
For a string of time, long and uncomfortable, she was forced to listen to Levi's accomplishments and what made him so great, like she hadn't been there for half of those victories herself. If Mikasa thought his adoration was for Levi alone, she was sorely mistaken.
"Is it true you're as strong as he is? Were you really there when-" Eren didn't seem to notice Mikasa's growing irritation.
"Yes." She snapped. "Do you have any other questions?"
Eren looked thoroughly chastised and shook his head bemusedly. She sighed and left when Erwin gave her the all-clear. Eren would be Levi's problem soon enough. Mikasa felt a little bad about what was going to happen at the trial, but not enough to do anything about it. As she sat next to Hange in the courtroom, the crowd watched with a mixture of shock and disgust as Eren's 'defense' began. Levi was brutal and didn't pull a single hit as he demonstrate Eren would not transform as the masses feared.
When Levi kicked Eren so hard one that a bloody tooth flew right out of his mouth, Mikasa might've smiled a bit.
Sorry this took so long, summer classes and family stuff kicked my ass lol, thanks for sticking around!
Part 4: Gathering
The government was corrupt. That was no secret. The crown was the reason any extended family she might have had was dead. Kenny had told her that much.
That same corrupt government was the one that employed her pseudo-guardian, and when that same guardian summoned her to his home on 'urgent business,' she was able to get out of chores. She felt a little bad, but not bad enough to turn down the invitation. The self-serving nature was something she blamed entirely on Kenny's influence. Mikasa had been unable to drag Levi out with her this time. If it wasn't for her, Mikasa swore both Kenny and Levi would be hermits. She wasn't that social, but she made an effort without threatening or killing anyone anymore, unlike the other members of her family.
At 1 pm, she should have been doing drills. Instead, she was taking tea with Kenny in his far too nice house with a far too nice tea set. Tea might be a far stretch; they had cups, a pot with water, and the correct number of leaves. However, strewn across the table were the parts of a disassembled revolver Kenny was cleaning methodically.
"Heard you got a promotion, good for you," he commented as he cleaned one of his guns.
"Not that big. I'm assisting Levi with his squad, they seem like they'll be… non-combative." She couldn't be bothered to remember the names of any of the boys, but Petra was nice, if a little jumpy.
Kenny laughed. "Already got them under your thumb, have you? I'll make a mob boss out of you yet."
"I like where I am, but thank you."
"You had such a promising career as a petty thief; it's a shame how things turned out." He took a sip from his cup. "Say, you ever think about joining the military police?"
"I don't think Erwin would accept a transfer." Truthfully, Mikasa wasn't sure she ever wanted to work under Kenny.
The juxtaposition of the fine china teacup filled with what could either be tea or 70 proof whiskey shouldn't have been as strange as it was. It was the same contrast with which she imagined his leadership. Hat askew, gun cocked and ready with a large smile on his face as he stood over a courtyard filled with unfortunate military policemen assigned to his squad.
She would take Levi's command willingly.
Mikasa didn't know a lot about guns, but as she watched Kenny apply water to a metallic part she was pretty sure was supposed to be oiled, her decision to stay in the Survey Corps was solidified.
-
Weeks passed, and they received a new group of recruits. Among the batch of new people joining their ranks, there were quite a few standouts. A brown-haired girl she'd had to threaten with bodily harm for going near her vegetable garden, a boy who looked like a horse and would not stop looking at her, and a balding child whose head shone like the sun. The most notable among them were two survivors from Shiganshina.
Eren had a weird hero-worship/complex surrounding her and Levi—mostly Levi. Like everything else in her life, she'd been lumped into this hero category purely through her association with one of the most notorious people in the Survey Corps. Their shared last name didn't help. Eren was also a little too eager to please Levi, but she enjoyed his company when he wasn't being fanatical. Remembering his beat down in the court helped temper any of her frustrations.
His friend, the blond cadet, was easier to deal with. He was stiff when she approached him, but it didn't take him long to open up to her, and she was fascinated by his collection of illegal books. She found a strange kinship with Armin; he wasn't a hardened criminal but had more guts than a lot of kids his age, something she could relate to. He also reminded her a lot of Hange.
The brown-haired girl, Sasha, she'd learned, grew up in the woods in a family of hunters and had a few gardening tricks Mikasa had never heard of, namely, how to compost and enrich the nutrients in the soil for healthier plants. She and Mikasa struck a tentative deal that Sasha could have limited access to some of the yield, so long as Sasha helped with the garden. Levi was happy to be dragged out less.
-
"That guy with the long face has been making eyes at you," Levi told her one day at breakfast.
"Who are you talking about?" Mikasa asked in return. 'Long face' did not narrow down the candidate pool of people who liked to stare at her, and she didn't understand what "making eyes" meant.
"I think his name was Krista or Kirstein," Levi said as he balanced his fork on one finger.
"What about it?" Mikasa questioned absentmindedly, continuing to eat her food.
"I give it two weeks before he does something about it."
"If he wants to fight, he can come up to face and challenge me like a soldier should."
Levi actually laughed. "God, you're so dense. I'm talking about a crush, he has a crush on you."
That was unpleasant news; she felt herself frown. "I don't have time for romance."
"And what, pray tell, is keeping you so busy?" He seemed genuinely curious.
Mikasa glared. "Someone has to make sure you don't burn this place down."
Levi glowered right back. "I'm the only reason this place hasn't collapsed under the care of those incompetent idiots they call recruits."
Mikasa mirrored his expression, narrowing her eyes as far as they would go. "Don't you think you're giving yourself too much credit?"
"Never."
-
Kristen or Kirstein with the long face did indeed have a crush on Mikasa, and Levi had absolutely no pity to give her when she stormed into his bedroom red-faced and stuttering after overhearing the makings of a love confession.
She could still be such a child sometimes. Mikasa paced around his room muttering to herself about retribution and atonement. He only snorted.
"What should I do?" She asked, dejected.
"Turn him down, hit him, I don't know. Has he said anything to you yet?"
She shook her head. "He seems to think someone else has all my attention, I don't know who he could be talking about. The only guy I spend time with is you."
Levi's face darkened. "I'll take care of it."
Mikasa perked up. "Really!?"
He nodded. Levi might not know the complete ins and outs, but he didn't like where this situation could end up, and the last thing they needed were more rumors.
He and Kristen or Kirstein had a veryproductiveconversation behind the stables the next night, and he got no more complaints from Mikasa on the issue.
-
Levi had his head in his hands. The thin strain on his sanity was the only thing keeping him from pulling out his own hair or throwing the coffee table at the man across from him. He'd managed to dodge Kenny's invitations for tea for almost three months, and Mikasa's attempts at cajoling him into a visit for just as long. So, the bastard had shown up at his workplace again.
"Lots of parents kick their kids out as soon as they're married and never talk to them again. You're lucky I want to be involved."
Levi wanted to shout back"You're not my dad!"but kept his mouth shut in fear of egging Kenny on.
"I could've left you, ya know. I thought about it a lot. But you were interesting, and I wanted to stick around and see Mikasa grow to the same age I did with you." Kenny casually admitting to almost abandoning him didn't put Levi out.
It was the realization that, yes, without Kenny around, deadbeat that he was, Levi's life would've been a lot more difficult. More painful and certainly quicker. He doubted any child could survive on their own in that hell.
"I'm grateful," Levi muttered sarcastically, focusing his gaze out the window to look at Mikasa talking with Armin. If she had died on the expedition like Isabel and Furlan, he didn't think he'd be able to sleep as easily as he did now, or open up to the new squad they'd been given as fast. Levi wasn't sure what that said about him, and he wasn't inclined to dig any deeper.
Levi would never admit it aloud, but he did actually like the two people he had blood ties to. The only two that were still alive, who hadn't managed to die out by some unfortunate miracle, but the two that saw him through this life nonetheless. What a fine little family of cockroaches they were.
"Good, about time you start showin' that gratitude by visiting me, or at least write a letter to let me know you're still alive, Mikasa only shares so much," Kenny chided.
The thought that Mikasa didn't bring him up made Levi feel a strange warmth inside. She barely did anything he told her to do, but she always seemed to know what had to be done when it went unsaid.
For the first time in his life, Levi acknowledged out loud what he'd been thinking for years. "You made a good choice, first and only one since, taking her in."
Man sorry this took so long, I will finish this.
Part 5: Party
"This is fucking bullshit," Levi cursed, arms crossed and scowling.
"He wants how much?" Mikasa asked, looking for some sort of clarification.
Hange's arms went up in defence. "Hey hey, don't shoot the messenger, I'm just following orders."
Breakfast had been ceremoniously interrupted by Hange Zoe announcing the date of the yearly military ball, and approaching Levi and Mikasa with the dreadful news that they would have to attend, and worse- "So you're saying we have to… raise money for the government?" Mikasa asked.
"Sort of," they explained, "it's more like raising money for the corps because the government doesn't pay us enough! All the branches attend!"
"Don't sound so happy about it four eyes," Levi admonished.
"It's a yearly thing! You can't blame me for being excited. I have two new buddies to take with me now!" Hange exclaimed giddily. "I never have anyone to talk to, Erwin is always so busy and no one likes to talk titan science, at least with you there I can-"
"Hange, is this mandatory?" Mikasa cut in.
The other soldier paused, thinking heavily. "Well, heavily encouraged, but-"
"And if we don't go, What happens then?" The look on Levi's face told her he was already planning an evening away from the survey corps the exact night of the party.
"Interesting, most cadets would jump at the chance to go to a party." Hange appeared to be considering the ramifications. "For disobeying a direct order? Solitary."
"This sounds like less of a suggestion and more like a command. Are you sure we have to go?" Mikasa desperately hoped the answer would be no.
"Yes!"
The two Ackermans seated at the breakfast table groaned in unison.
"Levi, I need you to break my legs," Mikasa told him seriously as they walked back to their quarters later that day.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He hissed.
"I won't have to go if I can't walk." Mikasa reasoned. "So do it, you can push me off the roof. Or out a window." At his lack of response Mikasa tried again. "Do I need to do something else? What do you want?"
"I'm not going to break your fucking legs, grow up and deal with it like an adult, it's just a party." He talked to her like she was a child, when he was getting just as pissy about the subject.
Mikasa wanted to protest but he'd already stormed off.
Selfish prick.
-
"I'm so jealous! Think of the food," Sasha drooled as she helped Mikasa in the garden.
Mikasa fisted her hand into the dirt and pulled out a beetroot by the flesh, tossing the vegetable into a basket at Sasha's feet. "I'd give you my place if I could."
"You'll have a good time!" Sasha assured her. "You can get something out of this. Do whatever you have to do to make it fun, and bring me back something good to eat."
That was an interesting perspective, moulding the party to suit her needs as opposed to trying to fit herself into a container she did not belong in. The thought of the party caused her to crush the next vegetable she picked up in her grip. Juice spilled between her fingers and dripped into the earth, not unlike a crushed heart dripping blood to the ground.
The sight brought a smile to her face. She could work with this.
-
She stood on a balcony with her arms outstretched, looking out over Mitras as the military ball continued loudly behind her. Her arms felt strangely bare in the strapless dress she was wearing.
With the new rank, Mikasa was now subject to the more political side of the survey corps.
She'd watched on in abject horror as Erwin schmoozed his way through a crowd of nobles looking for sponsors. It was pitiful, watching a man who could laugh in the face of death and commanded her very life in his hands bend over backwards to a room of people who wouldn't care if he died, all so they could ensure the corps would have enough money for rations come winter. Mikasa hated it, hated the people even more, and for the first time in a long time she found herself regretting ever joining the survey corps if this is where it would lead her.
She'd stormed out of the ballroom after a particularly vulgar comment about her appearance and thankfully no one had come to fetch her yet.
The plan of threatening her way out of the party hadn't worked, but the scene she'd made storming out would hopefully deter any future conversations.
"Fancy seeing you here," Levi commented as he stepped onto the balcony, coming to stand next to her and resting her crossing his arms on the railing. He gave her a once over. "That dress looks like the one you used to wear when you were 9."
He was full of wisdom tonight, it would seem. She rolled her eyes. The gown had once probably been red but had faded to a dusty pink, had a few holes in hard to notice places and the fabric was painfully itchy. The skirt flared all the way to the floor which made it hard to walk in but it was the best thing she could afford on her salary. Mikasa tugged at her loose hair to cover her exposed shoulders and neck. She'd gotten too used to the high collared shirts she wore in service.
"I wish I could take some of the fabric from the bottom and use it on the top. It's both freeing and stifling at the same time." The skirt made her susceptible to tripping and the top left all her vital organs and jugular exposed.
"Will you relax? No ones going to attack you at a New Years party, and if they do I'll rip their throat out."
The comment made her smile, Levi rarely did anything to help her unless it benefited him in some way, so the show of concern was appreciated. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd seen the way some of the party goers had looked at her, with a mixture of disgust and longing. Like she was a rare commodity that had been tainted by the underground. Mikasa hated the thought, so she shifted her focus to a more natural topic of conversation.
"I'm surprised you found a suit in your size," Mikasa jabbed.
Hange had mentioned something about growth hormones, and when Mikasa hadn't understood, Hange had compared her to a plant, likening her growth to a flower that hadn't gotten enough sunshine. It would explain how Levi was so short, and how her own growth had probably been stunted. She was still a few centimetres taller than Levi however, had been ever since she was 15, and she would hold it over him for the rest of their lives.
Mikasa grinned and stood to her full height. "You don't look so bad. A few more inches and I could almost mistake you for an adult."
"Oi, shut up, I'm surprised you found anything at all."
"Women's clothing is expensive."
"Living is expensive." He fired back.
Speaking of expenses. "Have you managed to get any donations yet?" She asked.
The gruff, annoyed noise that sounded from the back of Levi's throat was answer enough.
She took one last inhale of fresh, cold night air, and let her soldier's mask fall back into place. "Let's get this over with."
Mikasa marched back into the ballroom with renewed resolve. As she entered she passed a server and grabbed a glass of something bubbly. With practiced ease she tilted her head back and drank half the glass in one sip.
"Mikasa don't drink that, you're too-"
"I'm 22, Levi, that's old enough to drink." She prepared to take another long sip.
He huffed. "I'm not going to be the only one going home sober." Before Mikasa could drink again Levi grabbed the glass from her and finished the rest off.
She raised a brow in question. "You couldn't have gotten your own?"
"Yours was closer." Levi downed the drink just as fast and left the glass on a side table. He looked tired. "Let's go threaten one of these pigs into giving us some money then go back outside."
"Okay." Mikasa thought that was the best thing she'd heard all night.
Levi's idea of canvassing involved the two of them standing threateningly in a corner of the ballroom as they waited for someone to approach them. The attention Mikasa had received early was all but gone with the matching glares she and Levi cut across the room.
"Levi, Mikasa!" A jovial voice announced as it made its way towards them.
Mikasa tried to pierce out who had called to them in the crowd but gawked internally at the person she saw run across the dance floor. Inwardly her jaw was on the floor, but outwardly her composure remained calm. "Kenny? What are you doing here?"
"Of course I'm here!" The man was dressed in his usual combination of slacks, a white button-down shirt, and a dark brown vest, with the addition of a suit jacket that did a poor job of hiding two underarm gun holsters that held his revolvers. "It's a military ball after all."
Mikasa looked around the 8 or so members of the survey corps who came, Erwin, Hange, herself, Levi and some other higher-ups she couldn't name. "Military police and Garrison more like, we're the only survey corps members here."
"By force." Levi whispered loud enough that they all heard.
Kenny roared with laughter. "Whatever the reason, it's good to see you two crawl outta that stuffy old castle and live a little."
"We're nothing more than show ponies to these people." Levi bit out. "If you want to see us enjoy ourselves, you wanna fix the mess Erwin is making us clean up? Or you can go jump off the balcony. That would make me very happy."
Mikasa saw Kenny's interest peek at the world mess, and was quick to calm him down. "It's nothing fun like that, not a murder mess, we're just broke. Levi and I have been looking for benefactors all night without much luck."
Kenny nodded sagely. "What's the sales pitch?"
"Do you feel like making a generous donation to aid in the exploration and reclamation of lost land stolen from us by the titans…" Levi muttered the rehearsed script they'd gone over in the carriage over, Mikasa tuned it out as he dropped on. "…something something for the benefit of humanity."
"Sure, how much do you need?"
"You're serious?" The look on Levi's face was a mix of awe and shock, and Mikasa would have laughed at him had her face not assumedly looked the exact same. Levi dumbly pulled out the piece of paper where they'd needed to collect signatures.
"I've got a lot a' money saved up, I'll 'ave you know." Kenny chided as he produced an ink pen from somewhere.
"Sure you do." Levi was wholly unconvinced and so was she.
"What do you think I spend my salary on?"
"Weapons and alcohol." Mikasa and Levi answered at the same time.
"Contract killing, regular killing, and a military policeman's salary all add up to somethin', you know." Kenny shook the pen in disapproval.
"Alright then, if you're so rich, how about $200,000." Levi goaded.
Kenny snatched the bank form from Levi and signed his name. "Done."
"That was… a lot easier than I thought it would be." Mikasa remarked, unable to tear her eyes away from the huge number on the form. A night's worth of schmoozing had been solved by the appearance of their unlikely ally, Kenny Ackerman of the Military Police.
Mikasa wondered somewhere deep down, where what little morals she still possessed flared to life sometimes, if what Kenny had just done constituted nepotism. Her more sensible self smacked the urge to make sure it would continue to stay dormant. They had the money, that was all that mattered dreadful party would continue on for a few more hours before Mikasa was allowed to leave. She spent her time circulating the ballroom in hopes that it would l like like she was keeping busy. She'd lost Levi an hour back in the crowd, when an enthusiastic noble had asked him to demonstrate his sword skills and she'd promptly left him. Sasha was right, she had found a way to enjoy herself at the party, watching drunk people fall over themselves was very entertaining.
Levi found her a few hours later, waiting for him at their designated carriage. "Thanks for ditching me."
Mikasa ignored him and examined her nails.
"Traitor."
They sat themselves in the carriage and waited for the long ride back to the castle. In the midst of the silence Levi pressed a small wooden box into her hand and she eyed it sceptically. "What is this?"
Levi crossed his arms and huffed. "Stop looking at it like I handed you a severed finger and open the freaking box."
She pried the wooden lid off the container. Inside was a pair of thin, razor-sharp scissors. Mikasa couldn't make sense of the situation, between Levi's harsh demeanor and the box in her hand.
Scissors, a pair of scissors inside a box given to her in a carriage on the night of a crappy military ball.
"Is this supposed to be a joke? Did Kenny put you up to this?"
"It's from both of us, actually." Levi uncrossed and recrossed his arms, then looked out the carriage window. "You can use them to cut your plants or some crap, or stab someone I don't know. The blades are detachable so they're easier to clean."
She'd be able to use them to harvest plants, not just do upkeep, maybe even start to cultivate herbs that required a more delicate hand. She stared at the scissors with new appreciation, they were one hundred times nicer than her gardening shears. "I don't understand why you got me these?"
"Sometimes I wonder if you've actual got a brain up there, or if you head is just full of freaking grass." He muttered. "Happy birthday Mikasa."
They didn't exchange gifts, they never had. Her birthdate had all but been forgotten ever since she'd joined the corps. She didn't understand why they should start now, but the gesture was still appreciated. Instead of a thank you what tumbled out her mouth was a sarcastic- "shut the fuck up, Levi."
It didn't stop a small smile from spreading across her face