New Recruit (Levi x Reader) (Incomplete - Updates Incoming)

Chapter 1: Keep Your Head Down

It's a humid day, much hotter than you are used to. You come from the mountains, where the temperature might be uncomfortable for most, but normal for you. This - now this was torture. Sweat pours down your face, down your sides.

Only a few more.

This is the only thought that keeps you going, keeps you running laps around camp. The solid patter of boots and heavy breathing surrounds you, but this is welcoming. It makes you feel apart of the crowd, and makes it much easier to blend in among the other rookies.

"Everyone STOP!" echos loudly from the front of the group. The crowd freezes in their tracks. Someone has fallen behind, and they are now being sent away. You can feel the shame emanating from another failed comrade.

Atleast it isn't me.

If everything goes well, you won't ever be the target. That shame will never be yours. You will be a scout - and you will help humanity survive.

---

It's a new day, and the weather is a bit more forgiving. A perfect day for ODM training. You've been preparing for this. It isn't the final exam, but you are excited to continue practicing. You stop by the equipment shed for your belt, and wait for a machine assignment. You are working with some rookies you don't typically spend much time with. Even if you did, you don't tend to talk much, especially in these circumstances. To you, people are much scarier, and definitely much more capable, than even the titans everyone fears. You hope a life free of titans, free of the grip of terror that affects everyone, will aid humanity and allow people to be better.

Breath deeply. Stay calm. Let everything melt away.

You let these thoughts repeat as you strap in. You feel the breeze grow stronger as the ground disappears from the soles of your boots, as you are lifted slightly. You remain perfectly still and upright.

Breathe deeply. Stay calm. Let everything melt away.

You close your eyes. You filter out the grunts and breathing of all the others that are training. After a while, you notice that there are actually no sounds coming from around you.

Weird.

You don't let this break your concentration as you continue to float. You continue to keep your eyes closed, your breathing steady. Oddly, you feel a warm presence near your face, almost like someone else is breathing right in front of you...

---

You crack open your eyes, finally breaking your concentration.

This is not real.

Standing before you is none other than Levi, a squad leader of the Scouts, the man everyone loves and fears. The entire camp is no longer training, and you realize now why all sounds faded. Everyone is speechless, and everyone is watching Levi. He is close enough that you know he was, and still is, breathing on your face.

I can't move now. I can't show him that this is affecting me. That I'm losing focus. I can't become a target, unless I already am...

You open your eyes fully, and stare back at him. You do not move an inch. He can surely feel your breath as well. You can't tell what he's thinking, and he doesn't show it. His face remains blank, uncaring. You remain unfazed, or atleast you hope this is what you're projecting.

Time feels as though it has stopped completely. You can't back down now, you must keep going. Yet being so close to him, to anyone, makes you anxious, and your mind starts to wander. Your curiosity takes over, and you try not to make eye contact, instead looking at his dark hair, being ruffled slowly by the breeze. The sharpness of his jaw. A few scratches here and there. You finally make eye contact, but what you see confuses you; his eyes are devoid of all emotion, seemingly glaring through your soul.

Crap. Get back in the zone. Breathe deeply. Stay calm. Let everything me-

"Tch." He spits at the ground, finally appearing as though he will say something, anything. Your heart is racing, and your breathing starts to defy your will, quickening as you try to keep steady. Everyone is still waiting to see what will happen. A bead of sweat trickles down the side of your face.

Welp. He definitely noticed that.

Before you can react, he reaches swiftly with his right hand and unclasps a buckle on your belt. You gasp as you tumble backwards, hitting the ground hard. He takes a single step away to avoid getting hit by your flailing legs.

"You have more work to do." He is still emotionless. Someone in the crowd snickers. Everyone begins shuffling back to their spots and they resume training. Your face flushes; you are disappointed that you didn't react fast enough to change this outcome. He turns and walks away as if nothing happened. He does not ask your name. You are back to being just another face, which is just what you had wished for, but the shame still creeps in.