Today was the day, you were going to mess with the Captain. It felt petty but the way he made you feel so out of place and unwelcome needed to be changed. At this point, you'd rather he frequently berate you the way he did everyone else. You stuck out like a sore thumb to the rest of your squad because of his treatment, and you found it downright humiliating.
People were constantly bringing it up and asking you about it, and you never had any answers, you wanted to know as much as they did.
For all of this humiliation and unwanted attention, You wanted payback.
You knew today you would be training in hand to hand combat, and you had a plan.
You and the rest of the Levi squad already gathered in the training grounds ready for their training session. Seeing as there was an uneven amount of squad members, someone was always left to partner with the Captain.
Before he had always partnered you with Armin, who to be honest, was a big softie. As much as you liked Armin, you didn't feel like training with him got you anywhere or taught you anything. It was far too easy to beat him, and you didn't want to anymore.
Today was no different, he told Armin to pair up with you again. It was time, you were ready to set your plan in motion.
"Armin, please don't think badly of me, but for today I would like to switch partners"
"Oh? That's absolutely fine, but who would you like to be paired with instead?" he asked, confused.
"Bear with me" You answered.
"Captain, if I may?" you raised your voice.
He turned and glared in your direction, but not directly at you.
"Sir, With all due respect, You always pair me up with Armin. I don't usually mind, but today I fancy a change. Can I be paired with you today?"
a suspicious look coloured his face as his eyes narrowed.
"That's bold of you. What makes you want to get hurt so bad?"
"Well sometimes I just like a bit of a challenge Captain."
"Tch..Out of the question, pick somebody else."
"What's wrong Captain? Crushing on Jean? Is that why you want to be paired with him so badly?" you jeered.
The rest of the squad were staring at you in disbelief, Jean was holding his breath looking between you and Levi, and Levi, for the first time, was finally looking directly into your eyes.
His cold stare was invasive and intimidating, You felt exposed, as if he could see all of your deepest desires and secrets by merely looking at you. In this moment, you almost preferred being invisible to him. He still didn't say a word, so you brushed off the fear and continued.
"Or are you afraid to be beaten by a girl?"
He rolled his eyes "Fine. Horseface! go pair up with Armin."
Jean looked offended by this, but he knew better than to backtalk Levi Ackerman.
You walked over to the captain, he was no longer looking at you but you could sense he was not happy, not that he ever was, but he seemed on edge somehow.
Without another word he got into fighting position, you followed suit. He swiped his leg to kick yours from under you, but you were too quick. You managed to trip him and swiftly pin him to the ground. Straddling his waist and holding him down by his shoulders, you looked down at him and his face was flushed.
"Humanities strongest soldier, pinned straight away. Something bothering you Captain?" you remarked.
Without a word, he grunted, shoved you off of him, Stood up and grabbed the back of your shirt to pull you up to stand . You got the feeling he was going easy on you. You had seen him fight, he was incredibly quick and strong. He wasn't one to go down so easily.
This time he managed to floor you instantly, and without a word you got up to try again.
This went on for a while, he repeatedly got the better of you. He was watching the ground the entire time, not once looking at you, but he kept beating you.
You couldn't help but notice the electrifying feeling his hands left every time they touched you.
He was still looking at the ground, and you knew in order to win, you had to play dirty.
"Captain?" you asked.
As he looked up, you immediately pounced and had him pinned again. While straddling him, you looked directly into his eyes and decided to confront him.
"What is your problem with me Levi?"
His face was flushed red. He was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, as if to speak, but couldn't seem to form any coherent words. You furrowed your brows and gave him a questioning look. He looked back up at you, red faced and seemingly flustered.
"Have I embarrassed you? You're all red"
He quickly looked away and shoved you off again. He stood up in a flash and began to walk away.
"Alright brats. training is dismissed early today. Time to clean."
You noticed everyone else had already stopped training to gawp at you and Levi. Shocked faces resided on every single face you could see, and you overheard some conversation.
"Did she seriously just floor the Captain?"
"Levi gave up? Why?"
"How is she still alive after that?"
As you went to leave, Armin grabbed you by your arm and pulled you off to the side.
"Y/N what happened?"
"I have no idea. I managed to floor him, twice!"
"Yes we all saw that Y/N, but how?"
"Honestly it took almost no effort, I don't know what his problem is. He can't speak to me, Can't look at me and apparently now can't even fight me properly"
"Yeah, it's all very strange. Normally Jean leaves these sessions black and blue, and no offense but he's much stronger than you are. I don't see a single mark on you. Are you ok though?"
"I'm fine, but I will get to the bottom of this Armin, I wont stop until I do"
At this, you turned on your heel and walked with purpose inside the building. Nobody else had made it in yet, But Levi was waiting for everyone so he could instruct where to clean. You stood there staring directly at him, while he acted as if you weren't even there.
He was leaning against the wall next to the cleaning supply cupboard, and you knew he knew you were there. It looked like he was trying his absolute hardest not to look at you. His arms folded tightly across his chest and his leg bouncing ever so slightly. His eyes darted around the section of the room directly in front of him, but nowhere near you.
Once everyone else had joined, you all grabbed mops and cloths and dressed in your cleaning gear. Levi gave you all instructions and suited up to join with the cleaning.
"Alright get to work brats. We don't have all day."
You and Mikasa cleaned Levi's office in silence. This was your first time in this room, and it confirmed your suspicions that this was the same room you passed a while back. The office was almost spotless to begin with so you didn't exactly have much to clean, instead you browsed his bookshelves and examined the room curiously. You peeked into one of the doorways to find a spotless bedroom, fresh white sheets on a large double bed. You wondered if he ever shared this bed with someone else, given it's size in comparison to his small frame. You felt a pang of jealousy at this thought.
After a few more rooms, it was time to clean the mess hall. The entire squad teamed up for this one. You were cleaning one of the tables, looking over at the Captain every so often and shaking your head to yourself. Why didn't he even answer your question earlier today? You were getting even more fed up than you thought possible. You had to find some kind of way to provoke him into speaking up.
Then your eyes settled on a tall glass vase in the middle of the nearest table, filled with water and what you assumed were once flowers, now just dry stalks with brown leaves.
You cleared your throat, and as everyone looked over, you waited for Levi to do the same, he didn't. You cleared your throat again, louder this time.
"Y/N?" Armin said apprehensively.
Levi looked up to find you stood up straight, staring directly into his eyes. You reached out your arm and swiped the vase onto the floor. It shattered loudly, but you continued staring directly at the Captain. He mirrored your stance, staring right back at you. You slowly made your way to another table with a vase, not taking your eyes off him for a single moment, and did the same with the next vase, giving him a cold glare. The entire squad shared glances and whispers.
You continued knocking these vases off the tables until Levi finally spoke up.
"And what was the point of that?"
"I didn't think you would even notice, Sir" you spat the last word.
"Why are you so desperate for attention?"
"Why didn't you answer my question?"
His eyes narrowed "Tch." he turned and started to leave the room, calling back over his shoulder "Clean it up."
The exact moment the door closed, everyone spoke up.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT Y/N?" Sasha said with a face of utter shock
"That was badass!" you heard Connie laugh.
"Y/N, he didn't even punish you. If that were any of us, he would have us running laps for a month straight!" Armin gaped at you wide eyed.
You didn't reply to anyone, you just stood there perplexed, deep in thought. What does it take to bother this man?
When the cleaning was finished, Levi came back to check on everything. He checked every single crack and crevice, under all the tables and between every floorboard.
He was quick to criticize everyone as usual, and again he ignored you entirely.
"How was my cleaning Captain?" you teased. He froze, went to look towards you but stopped himself, and continued towards the kitchen to make some tea.
Everyone began preparing for dinner but you knew you weren't finished trying to get under Levi's skin. You were going to try one more time.
He was sat on a table completely alone. You confidently strutted over and took a seat directly opposite him. You sat there with your chin rested on your fist, looking at him.
He was slouched sideways on his chair, teacup in one hand and a book in the other, You weren't sure if he even knew you were there.
"What'cha reading?"
No reaction.
You watched him, the peculiar way he held his teacup, the way his steely eyes flitted across the pages of this book, his silky black hair hanging in his face, and the tips of his ears coloured scarlet. Usually he looked cool and careless sat this way, but now he just looked uncomfortable. His leg was slightly bouncing, making his book wobble in his hand, His deep breaths seemed somewhat shaky, and his eyes darted around the book as if he wasn't actually reading the words, just examining the page itself.
It became clear to you that he was aware of your presence, but he was choosing not to acknowledge it.
Without even thinking, you leaned over and grabbed his wrist, preventing him from bringing his beverage to his mouth for another sip. "Captain?"
Levi's entire body froze up as his eyes darted to your hands tight grip on his wrist, and then a loud crash echoed around the hall. His body was rigid as he stared at his teacup, which was now broken into pieces on the floor, the rest of his black tea forming a puddle around the shards of porcelain .
He let out a deep sigh as he calmly placed his book on the table and stood up, you let go of his wrist and he walked off to grab the broom in the corner of the room. You sat there quietly observing his every move. He seemed.. Nervous?
He swept up the pieces of his teacup, cleaned up the puddle and disposed of the mess. He then disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, and returned with a new cup of tea. He made his way back to the table without any acknowledgement towards you. He picked up his book and walked at a steady pace to leave the room.
You stared at the door in utter disbelief. He hadn't said one word, he didn't seem mad at you and he didn't even make you clean up the mess.
What the hell is with this guy?