The next morning, I sat at the officers' table in the mess hall, focused on the pile of paperwork laid out before me. I had made sure to bring the forms I needed to finish for the day with me. I figured if I looked busy, no one would try to make conversation with me. Talking to everyone, especially Levi, was the last thing I wanted this morning.
I took a sip of my coffee, my eyes never leaving the form in front of me, when I felt I tap on my shoulder. I paused my writing and gritted my teeth, turning around slowly to see who needed my attention.
It was Johnson. He stood hesitantly in front of me, his hand still outstretched, as he said, "Sorry to bother you, Corporal...."
I sighed tiredly. "What is it, Johnson?"
He ran a hand through his sandy hair, his blue eyes flicking to the ground at his feet for a brief moment before he met my gaze again. "I have someone with me who wanted to talk to you." He reached down with a hand, and for the first time, I noticed that Mory hid behind his legs, watching me cautiously from the safety of her big brother. He pushed her out from behind him and shoved her toward me gently. "Go on, Mory."
The little girl took a few small steps toward me and then stopped, her eyes unsure as she looked up at me.
I stood up from the table and crouched down in front of her so that we were at eye level with each other. I gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Hello, Mory. It's nice to see you again."
She watched me with wide, crystal blue eyes, her small pink lips pursed thoughtfully, as if deciding whether she dared talk to me or not. She was beautiful, almost like a living porcelain doll. She couldn't have been more than four or five. She had the same sandy colored hair as Johnson that fell down her back in long, gentle waves, and her blue eyes seemed even clearer against her delicate, fair skin.
I held out a hand to her. "Mory, I'm (F/N). We didn't have the chance to get introduced when I first met you."
She hesitated for another brief moment and then placed her small, slender hand into mine, shaking my fingers quickly before she pulled back again. Her lips twitched, as if she wanted to smile, but didn't quite trust me enough yet to do so.
I motioned to Johnson, who stood behind her, watching us, and lowered my voice to a conspiratorial whisper, as if we were sharing a secret with one another that no one else could hear. "Your brother's kind of funny looking, isn't he?"
She giggled and glanced back at Johnson, and then looked back to me. She gave me a bright smile. "He's funny, but he takes care of me."
"Well, that's all that really matters." I returned her smile and glanced over at Johnson, raising an eyebrow at him before I flicked my gaze back to Mory. "He seems like he's a good older brother."
She nodded vigorously. "He is. He lets me sleep in his bed here and plays with me when he has time and he gives me snacks."
Johnson put a hand on her shoulder, leaning down to tease her, "Mory! The snacks were our secret."
She giggled again. "Sorry, brother-san."
He glanced over at me and then said, "Now come on, I'm sure Corporal (L/N) has a lot to do. Tell her what you came to say."
Mory scuffed her foot along the floor for a brief moment and then met my gaze, saying quietly, "Thank you for saving me from the titans." She ducked back behind Johnson as soon as the words were out of her mouth, suddenly shy again.
I stood, straightening my jacket as I did so, and glanced down at her, where she peered up at me through Johnson's legs. I gave her another small smile before saying, "You're welcome, Mory. Although," I raised an eyebrow at Johnson as I held his gaze. "You should really be thanking your brother. He did all of the work."
His eyes widened in surprise, but before he had the chance to say anything to correct me, Mory threw her arms around his legs, burying her face in his uniform as she cried out, "Thank you for saving me, brother-san!"
"Good." I flicked my fingers at Johnson. "Now go and take Mory to Hange. She's agreed to watch her during training today." I crouched down next to Mory again and said, "You're going to love Hange-san. She's so much fun and she'll show you all sorts of cool things."
Mory nodded at me, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement, and she waved at me enthusiastically as Johnson took her by the hand and pulled her out of the mess hall.
I stood from my crouched position and turned, starting to gather up the mess of paperwork I had been working on before Johnson interrupted me. As I finished stacking up the sheets of paper, Erwin's voice cut through my concentration.
"(L/N)."
I glanced up to see him standing on the other side of the table, empty coffee mug held in his hand. He glanced down at the stack of paperwork in my hand and said sternly, "Well, I'm glad someone around here keeps up on their paperwork. Ackerman could learn a thing or two from you in that department."
I bit my lip to stop myself from smirking at the backhanded remark about Levi and steeled my voice. "Yes, sir." I said seriously. I knew he hadn't come to talk to me just about my paperwork, so I set down the stack of papers and asked, "Was there something you needed me for, sir?"
He flicked his gaze to the tables filled with noisy cadets behind me and then said, "Walk with me, (L/N)."
I picked up the paperwork again and followed him out of the mess hall, wondering what he wanted to speak with me about.
We walked for a few minutes in silence, the paperwork clutched to my chest, Erwin's hands held loosely behind his back, before he finally spoke, breaking the silence. "I've given it a lot of thought, Corporal, and I want you to join with Ackerman in the special forces. You'd be in charge of the cadets together." He glanced over at me and must have noticed the dismayed look on my face because he said in a stern voice, "This is the best way, (L/N). You and Ackerman are two of my best Corporals. I need you to work together for the good of humanity. Put aside your selfish differences and get along, pooling your strengths, so that we can take down these titan bastards for good."
"But sir...." I began, starting to protest the arrangement. He shot me a look of warning, silently cautioning me to be careful in what I said next. I let out a frustrated sigh, biting back my words of criticism. Instead, I decided to ask, "What about my cadets?"
He stopped walking, as we had reached the officers' quarters, and turned to face me, his hands still held behind his back, his thick brows furrowed over his eyes. "There are already six members in the special forces. I leave it up to your judgement, but you can take as many as four of your best cadets to join the squad with you." He raised one of his dark eyebrows at me. "Choose wisely, Corporal (L/N)."
He strode past me, back toward the direction of headquarters.
After he was gone from sight, I angrily kicked a rock at my feet with all might, bouncing it off the wall of the officers' quarters with a loud crack. I swore under my breath. Why Levi? Why did I have to be paired with the one person here who couldn't stand me?
"Tch. I assume you heard the news."
I glanced up and saw Levi leaning against the wall of the building, partily hidden in the shadow created by the overhang overhead, his arms crossed loosely over his chest as he regarded me with dark, expressionless eyes.
"Why does he think it's a good idea to keep pairing us together?" I growled in frustration, picking up another rock and hurling it as far into the nearby trees as I possibly could.
Levi remained motionlessly against the wall, watching me hurl a few more rocks angrily into the woods, before he said in a flat tone, "Oi, (L/N)." I paused, another rock in my hand, and looked over at him, his dark eyes meeting mine before he said, "Why don't you do something more productive with your anger than throwing around rocks like a damn child?"
"I could throw the rocks at you if that would make it more productive." I snapped back. I flicked the rock between my fingers for a moment, seriously considering chucking it straight at his arrogant, stupid head, but I thought better of the idea and dropped it to the ground at my feet, settling for shooting him a dark glare instead.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you done with your tantrum now, (L/N)?" When I remained silent, not answering him, he continued, pushing himself up off the wall as he did so. "Come with me. I have something to show you." He walked past me, knocking me upside the back of the head with his palm as he passed. "And leave the rocks."
"Ow!" I yelped out at the sharp whack, whirling around to glare at him as he continued walking, his hands now in his pockets. "What the hell, Ackerman? Why are you such an ass?"
"We grew up the same, (L/N). You should know why." He called back over his shoulder in his usual flat tone.
I watched him continue walking away from me for a moment, surprised he had acknowledged our common upbringing when usually it seemed like he tried to do everything in his power to ignore it.
I shook my head. I didn't get him. And part of me wanted to stay behind, just to show him he couldn't order me around, but the bigger, more curious part of me wanted to see what he had to show me.
I jogged after him, but not before slipping one last rock into the pocket of my uniform in a small, secret act of defiance against Levi Ackerman.