Mikasa P.O.V.
I started pacing around my room going through the memories of that night.
Don't you fucking dare to stop
"I can't believe I said that, does he remember? Maybe? Should I..."
My thoughts raced with a million questions at the same time as I started breathing faster.
"What if he remembers? What does he think of me now? Why... How do I..."
Memories of that night running through my head over and over again.
"When did it get so hot in here? Am I... Sweating? I need water..."
I opened my door and walked to the Castle's kitchen, lost in thought I found a glass and filled it with water. When I turned to walk back to my room I suddenly found myself face to face with Eren, making me jump and yelp dropping drops of water to the floor.
"Are you... Ok?- he asked looking at me confused
I answered a little too quickly and with a, louder for my own taste, voice, "Yes, why? Of course!"
"You just... ever since we were kids I could never sneak up on you to scare you, you always knew... And now, I wasn't even trying to and you just jumped?! Are you sick or something? You seem very disoriented..."
why would I be disoriented? Just because I joined this crap to kill an asshole that I am supposed to hate, got drunk, fucked him, forgot that I fucked him, remembered that I fucked him, still not knowing if he remembers that we fucked... A total normal clusterfuck...
"I'm fine, very fine"- I responded, realizing that I had the fakest smile I could ever do on my face
Suddenly, I heard steps of someone else approaching the kitchen, and... no no no no no Levi appears
He stood there for a moment, stared at me, and said, "Mika-, Ackerman, Yeager, go to your rooms its past curfew!"
Eren stiffened his posture and replied, "Yes! Sir!"
I just followed behind him using him as some sort of magic shield to avoid the Captain.
Levi P.O.V.
I saw them leave and waited for Yeager to be out of sight, and then I walked, a little too fast, to the door of her room and knocked.
She slightly opened the door trying to see who was outside.
"Let me in Mikasa we have to talk!"- I murmured
She murmured through the slightly open door. "You said no men in lady's room, follow your own rules!"
"Just because I make the rules don't mean that I have to follow them!", I sighed, "I remember, we need to talk..."
She opened the door with a shocked look on her face and let me in, closing the door behind.
She started pacing around her room with a glass of water in her hand.
"Look...", she said, "I remember alright, I literally just remembered..."
"I just remembered too, otherwise I would've come sooner to talk..."- I said by running my fingers over my head, and continued, "look... I just... I just need to clear things up, I don't want you to think that I took advantage of you or that I would use that somehow against you or something... I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me I would never do anything to you or use my position of power to-"
"I know", she cut me short, "You could be an arrogant ass but I have to admit that, outside of all of this military crap, you are a gentleman."
I looked at her amused and she noticed it and said, "What I mean is that you... You gave me the option you know!"
With a confused look, I said, "Is called asking for consent, and that shouldn't be a compliment, it should be expected from anyone."
She looked at me puzzled, "Did you... Don't tell me that...", I paused in frustration and as the realization kicked in, anger started to creep in my body, "Don't tell me that you didn't... I know this is not your first time, why are you so surprised at something that should be expected?"
"I just...", She said while she started pacing around the room, placing her glass to the corner of her nightstand, she continued, "I just didn't think about it alright! It felt nice to realize that I had a choice..."
"What! Of course, you had-"
She cut me short, "I know, you made me realize that... for the first time I felt that... I was in control and had a choice... It just, it felt nice... Safe. So, don't worry, I know you would never...", She sighed, "Look even though I can't stand your ass sometimes, I trust you... That's it."
"For the first time?", I asked gritting my teeth trying to hold my anger
"Look, yes, you are not my first, I've only done this once before and it felt more like it was something expected from me, that's it, is not like I was forced or anything."
"Not physically forced but forced indeed!"- I replied clenching my fists when suddenly, an eerie feeling similar to static shock but subtler came from her direction making me jump to an attack position to mi right side at the same time as she did.
I saw the glass of water about to hit the floor followed by the crash sound when it hit. We stared, still on an attack position, to... An innocent glass of water that fell to the floor.
We both sighed, then a question escaped my mouth before I could stop it, "Was it Yeager?", I asked while picking up the glass from the floor.
"It... It was a very emotionally charged moment..."
"We go out on expeditions, watch people die, we live in an emotionally charged environment all the time...", I sighed, "I just don't want you to ever feel that way with me...", I said frustrated
She then gave me an evil smirk that confused the hell out of me, and said, "does that mean", she started, and at those words, I already knew I fucked up, "that is going to happen again?"
so she feels like teasing now
"It depends, did it work?", I said getting close to her
She looked at me confused and, wrapping my hands around her waist pulling her closer and whispering to her ear, I said, "Did you forget that he existed?"
She smirked at me, closing the distance between us until I could feel her warm breath she said, "Who?"
I started to get close to kiss her when...
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Does anyone here gives a damn about the curfew rules!", I whispered annoyed
Then another Knock, "Mikasa, are you alright? I heard a crash sound, I'm coming in." - Erens voice outside of the door
fuck
Mikasa opened her eyes in shock and signaled me to the closet and I ran in.
Mikasa P.O.V.
I ran to the door but he was already opening it, I looked where Levi was and he had already made it in.
That was fast, has he done this before?
"So you are alive, that's a relief."- Eren said smiling
"What are you talking about?"
"You were so disoriented, I heard a crash, so I thought you could've fallen or something."- he said
I gave him a suspicious look and said, "you heard a crash? all the way down to the basement?"
"No, I went to my room, but I couldn't sleep so I went to the kitchen again down the hall. Are you okay? You look tense."
"I'm fine, don't worry, go to your room you don't want Le- the Captain to find you here, I don't want to hear another awkward speech."
"I just... Can we talk?"
"About what?"
Eren started pacing, "I... I need to fix this... Listen, just... Come here.", He pulled me close to him and hugged me.
"I'm sorry Mikasa, I'm sorry for all the times I've treated you like shit, or ignored you. I miss you, I miss us."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me show you, let me stay."
What!
"Stay? Like here? tonight? In my room? In my bed? Like together?!", I said in a panic tone
"Yes, don't worry I don't plan on doing anything stupid like last time, in fact, I don't plan to do anything at all, I just want to lay there with you. I want to show you that I can be there for you without expecting anything in return."
"Where is this coming from all of the sudden?", I asked, genuinely confused
He sighed and placed his forehead against mine, "Since I saw you die, I realized, that I see you more than just family..."
"I can't..."
"Let me show you that I can be better, for you."
"I can't, things have changed, I am not the same helpless girl from that night, and I don't want to be.", I said and I couldn't believe the words that came out of my mouth.
"But, you told me..."
"Yes, months ago, since then we've been in countless life or death situations, I was literally eaten by a Titan, it put things on perspective."
"So you don't feel that way anymore? Even though I know you've felt that way for years!?"
"You come here, out of nowhere, saying sorry, then that you feel something more, then asking to stay, at the same time, and you expect me to let you? I haven't even said if I forgive you or not in the first place!"
He sighed, "look I am not going to stop, I will make myself better every day just to show you that I can be worthy of you. I love you.", he gave me a kiss on the forehead and left. Leaving me confused with a mix of emotions that I didn't even know what to do with them.
Then I saw Levi leaning against the wall looking at me.
"You know that there is a 'Clean your filthy Closet' section in the 'Clean or die' manual right?!", he said
"You have this fucking ability to go from 'I am about to kiss you' to 'I am about to kill you' in an instant.", I said frustrated
He walked to me with his arms crossed over his chest and said, "I think... you have a lot to think about...", He sighed, and said "Have a good night, Mikasa.", he walked to the door and left.
And there I was, full of mixed emotions, glad that he came to clear things up showing that he cared, or is that something to be expected? And the confession that I've been waiting my whole life from Eren...
One gave me ice all my life while the other melted everything with fire on one night...
-----------Next Morning-----------
Author P.O.V.
They were having breakfast at the mess hall, Mikasa was seated with Eren at her right and an empty seating area at her left. The rest of the gang was either in front of her or next to Eren.
"Are you planning on eating something? You've been staring at your food for a while now.", Eren said
"If you don't want your breakfast I can have it.", Sasha said with a smile
"I was just lost in thought, I guess I haven't wake up entirely yet.", Mikasa responded
Eren leaned to her ear and whispered, "Is it because of what I told you last night?"
"No... I mean yes... I guess...", she answered
"I meant it.", he said
Mikasa stared at him as he placed his arm around her shoulders when Erwin, Hanji, and Levi entered the mess hall.
She started to feel anger, but oddly enough she knew that it wasn't her anger, it was anger directed to her, specifically to the arm around her shoulders, when she followed the direction where it came from, she saw Levi staring at her. When he changed his gaze to talk to Hanji the feeling disappeared instantly leaving her puzzled.
Hanji grabbed her breakfast fast and sat on the table right behind Mikasa while Erwin and Levi took their time talking while grabbing theirs.
"Here! Levi sit here!", Hanji said as she pointed to the spot next to her that was aligned with Mikasa.
He gave her a suspicious look and sat next to her, aligned back to back with Mikasa, Hanji at his right, and Erwin on the seat in front of them facing them where he could also see Mikasa's back.
"I am canceling today's budget meeting, this morning I received an amended version of it and I have to go through the changes first.", Erwin said
Hanji pushed to the side, her food tray, and placed a notebook and a pen on the table while listening to Erwin.
"Does this mean that we have to read another block of papers about government crap because they couldn't send us the correct version in the first place?", Levi said already annoyed
She starts to flick her pen while saying, "Did they give you a log with the document changes?", to Erwin
Flick. Flick. She keeps flicking her pen.
"No, it looks like an entirely new document, at least when I gave it a quick look this morning, it seemed that way, we will probably have to read the whole thing again.", Erwin answered
Flick. Flick.
"I hate this part of the job.", Levi said while his peripheral view catches the flicking pen.
Flick. Flick.
They start eating in silence.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Levi starts getting annoyed by the flicking pen to his right in Hanjis' hand.
Flick. Flick. Flick. Flick.
"Do you have plans today? We have the rest of the morning free, we can go wherever you like.", Eren asked Mikasa
"I don't have any plans so far, we could tell Armin too I'm sure he doesn't have plans either.", Mikasa responded
"I just wanted to spend some time with you alone.", Eren said
"Oh! I guess, we could do something...", she replied
Suddenly, she started feeling the little hairs of her neck starting to pull up. She takes Erens' arm away from her shoulders and starts rubbing the back of her neck.
"Are you okay?", Eren asked
"Yes, just some weird feeling at the back of my neck.", she replied
Then, she started feeling the same anger she felt when Levi arrived but it wasn't directed to her. It wasn't her anger, she was receiving it from a source behind her and it was directed at something to her left. The anger was mixed with annoyance and it wasn't as strong as before but sharper, painfully sharper to her left. She just wanted it to stop.
Both Levi and Mikasa raised their arm as quick as a bolt of lightning, Mikasa her left arm, Levi his right, extending it away with fury resulting in, Levi grabbing the pen Hanji was flicking, and Mikasa, grabbing... nothing, just the air.
"Can you stop flicking that stupid pen! Is getting on my nerves!", Levi said in a loud tone to Hanji.
"Mikasa are you alright?!", Eren asked her
She realized that she had spaced out, all other sounds were muffled until now and she was still staring at her left, puzzled. She looked at Eren at her right confused.
Erwin nodded to Hanji and she yelped in excitement, and just when Mikasa was going to reply to Eren, Erwin stood up and said in a very loud voice, "Captain Levi, and Mikasa Ackerman! I want to see you in my office now!", and he stood up to walk away and Hanji followed.
They both knew they were seated back to back, so they both rolled on their seat bench in the opposite direction at the same time, forearms over their thighs, close to their knees, posture bent slightly forward, knees almost touching.
"What did you do?!", Levi asked Mikasa with a suspicious look.
"I could've asked you the same question.", she replied
They both changed their posture resting their backs against the table, sliding their knees slightly forward, knees touching now. They crossed their arms over the chest and raised a brow without breaking eye contact, in what it looked like a death stare contest.
"What is going on here?", Eren asked annoyed
They both looked at Eren and said in unison, "Nothing!"
Erwin arrived at the entrance of the mess hall and looked backward to find Mikasa and Levi still seated staring at each other, he yelled then, "I said NOW!", breaking their staring spell.
They stood up and started walking to Erwin's office behind him. Levi leaned to her ear and whispered, "Did anyone saw you leaving my room yesterday?"
She whispered back, "I don't think so."
"You don't think so?! You had one job! Sneak out! That's it, one job!"
"It's easy for you because you were already in your room! I had to run, hide, and even jump into a fucking bush to hide! Next time we use my room!"
His stance suddenly changed from annoyed to interested, and he said, "Next time?" while raising a brow.
"Are you guys just going to stand there?", Erwin said opening the door to his office that they didn't even realize they had arrived.
They entered the office and sat down, Hanji was already on a chair next to Erwins' desk looking at their direction.
"Can you tell me why the hell you started screaming out of nowhere in the mess hall right now?!", Levi asked Erwin
"Oh! The tone was only to scare you.", Erwin replied with an evil smile.
Levi looked at him confused and he explained, "You see, you will be paying for the rest of your life for not telling me you were alive when you arrived on your last expedition."
"Is that what this is about?", Levi asked
"No, I just needed to get it out of my system.", Erwin said
Erwin then nodded to Hanji and she started talking, "The Ackerman bond!"
Levi and Mikasa groaned frustrated, "Not this again...", Mikasa said
"Hear me out, before you protest. You two had already awoken the individual surge power of the Ackerman clan when you were kids. Now, Levi, do you care to remind us how you saved Mikasa on the last expedition?", she said
"I already gave my report to Erwin.", He said dryly
"I know, but walk us through it, especially the part on how you saved her.", Hanji responded
Levi sighed, "I jumped into the Titans mouth, found her, and cut our way out from the inside, leaving the beast from the nape killing it at the moment."
"What!? The thing didn't puke us out!?", Mikasa exclaimed surprised
Levi looked at her in disbelief.
Then she said, "But that is impossible, it would've regenerated almost as fast as you cut!"
"Exactly! There is a second power surge, this surge needs more than one Ackerman and it transfers the individual surge to the other subject activating its own individual surge making it twice as powerful, this is also activated on life or death situations.", Hanji said excitedly
"Where are you going with this?", Levi asked annoyed
"You told Erwin you thought you were going to die, and suddenly started cutting at an inhuman speed.", Hanji said
"Yes, it could've been the individual power surge.", Levi said
"So you are telling me, you didn't felt the power surge coming from Mikasa's body?", She asked him suspiciously
Levi was lost in thought remembering the events and responded, "Yes, it felt that it came from her body but she was unconscious."
"It doesn't matter, she was alive, and she is still an Ackerman conscious or not.", Hanji said
Mikasa was looking at them confused, "So, what does this mean?"
"There is a theory, that subjects that had experienced this power transfer can activate a bond between each other, but there is not much information on how to actually activate it.", Hanji explained
"So, we don't know how to activate it meaning we are back to where we started, making me ask myself, why the hell are we having this meeting in the first place?!", Levi said annoyed
"Because you two already activated it!", Hanji almost shouted
"What!?", They both exclaimed confused.
Erwin started talking, "Right now, at the mess hall, we tested it. You two are connected.", watching their confused faces he continued, "when Hanji was flicking her pen, Levi moved his hand to stop her at the same time that Mikasa moved hers to the same direction at the same speed, but of course, she didn't grab anything since her left side was empty."
"So, you are basing all of this on a random hand movement at the mess hall?", Levi asked incredulously
"Why don't you tell us what happened Mikasa?", Erwin asked looking at her.
Her face was already blushing red when she said, "You are right, the bond or whatever it is, is there or at least something similar, I guess."
"What?!", Levi looked at her confused
"When I moved my hand I was feeling an anger and annoyance that I knew, wasn't mine, I was receiving it from a source behind me and it was directed sharply to my left like something was there that was driving me crazy, but, as you said, there was nothing there.", She explained.
Levi looked at her puzzled then he redirected his gaze to Hanji and said, "Hanji, don't tell me she can read my mind."
"That is one of the theories, I need to run some tests to see which one is correct.", she explained
"Don't go poking on us! We don't regenerate if you start cutting limbs like a crazy maniac!", Levi shouted
"The experiments would be non-invasive, maybe some blood samples, but that's it.", Hanji said
"How did you know that we had a bond or whatever this is?", Mikasa asked curiously
Hanji and Erwin looked at each other and smiled devilishly, and Erwin talked, "Well, there is a theory that, when personalities are similar, the bond can be activated just by having sexual intercourse."
"What?!", They both shouted
Erwin pushing the subject said, "So, you tell me?", looking at Levi
Mikasa was almost hiding her entire face behind her scarf while Levi stared at Erwin suspiciously and said, "You saw us. I know you, you wouldn't even ask such a thing if you didn't already know it was true."
Mikasa opened her eyes in shock and shouted, "Levi!"
Levi looked at her and told her, "Trust me, he already knew."
Hanji was jumping up and down excited, while Erwin said, "You are right, and shame on you Captain for doing such things in public places, you should be glad that the ones who saw you were us, otherwise, it would be public knowledge for all Survey Corps.", he sighed, "We will start the experiments of the bond right away, if anyone asks, say it got activated when Levi saved Mikasa, sounds reasonable enough to be believable, and next time, do that sort of thing privately.", He stared at them, Mikasa the same color as her scarf, Levi looking at him suspiciously, and he finished, "Meet with Hanji at her laboratory in an hour. You are dismissed."
Mikasa almost ran to leave the office as fast as she could while Levi just asked, "So are we having the budget meeting, or is that something you came up with, at breakfast, just annoy me more?"
"Sadly, what I said is true, the meeting for today is canceled until I go through the changes of the document.", Erwin said
Levi just nodded and left as if nothing happened.
As soon as he left the office Hanji and Erwin snorted laughing and Erwin said, "That went better than expected."
-----------
Mikasa P.O.V.
I ran as fast as I could from Erwin's office to my dorm. Still trying to process what just happened, how could he stay so calm?! Has he been caught before doing this sort of thing?. I started pacing around my room, would Erwin and Hanji tell someone? No, he gave us a lie we can say instead, it means he plans to keep it quiet. What the hell is this bond thing anyway? I started rubbing my arms, and I sat by the corner of the bed thinking about what types of tests Hanji could be planning when...
Knock. Knock.
"Mikasa...", Eren was knocking at my door.
I tried to compose myself and I opened the door.
"Are you alright?", Eren asked
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?", I answered
"Well, the way the Commander called you, and the Captain seemed urgent. What was that about?", Eren asked
He will know eventually so I might as well tell him now, at least, half the truth...
"Hanji just wanted to talk about the Ackerman lineage and asked us questions looking for similarities between us.", I half explained
"Is she still hung up on that!?", He sighed, "anyways, about what we were talking about, where do you want to go?"
"Oh, about that, Hanji wants to run some tests for her crazy theories at her lab soon, I have to meet her there."
He looked at me suspiciously and said, "I will walk you to it then."
"You don't need-", I said when he cut me short.
"It wasn't a question.", he said in a serious tone and walked to the door and opened it for us to leave.
Shit, Hanji will probably start talking so I might as well tell him.
While walking to Hanjis' laboratory I told him, "Oh, so she also thinks we have some sort of weird magic bond. Apparently, it was activated when he saved me from inside that Titan."
He stopped and stared at me seriously and asked, "What type of bond?"
"That's one of the things she wants to test, is a weird feeling, I can't explain it."
Annoyed he said, "Alright, I will ask Hanji then."
------
Levi P.O.V.
I arrived at Hanjis' laboratory first. Hanji was running around like a crazy maniac with stacks of papers that some of them were flying away around the, already messy, office of hers.
"You know there is a 'Clean your laboratory you crazy scientist' in the 'Clean or die' manual made specifically for you, right?", I said annoyed.
"It's an ecosystem, I don't want to disturb it.", she responded
"So, what crazy plan do you have in that head of yours to test this hypothetical bond?", I asked
"I have many, we should start with simple ones just to discard theories until we get the correct one, or until I make my own theory.", She said excitedly while Yeager and Mikasa arrived.
Of course, she had to bring him
"It sounds like we are going to be here for the rest of our lives, we also have to kill Titans you know.", I said to Hanji
"That is correct! You and Mikasa will be spending most of your free time and experimental time together.", Hanji said
It seemed like Yeager heard her because he was clenching his fists... this is interesting.
"So Hanji, what is all this bond experiments nonsense that I've been hearing about?", asked Yeager
"That is what we are going to figure out. Mikasa, come here.", Hanji said pointing at the floor to a spot in front of me.
Yeager just looked at us leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Hanji looked at me and asked, "So, how many times have you felt something coming from Mikasa to you?"
Lost in thought it came to my mind the glass of water that fell in her room. But if I say that with Yeager listening it will be a problem, I responded, "Apart from that time inside the Titan, I haven't felt anything."
She then looked at Mikasa and said, "And you?"
"I think, twice? I am not sure.", She said
What the hell is she talking about?
"Elaborate", Hanji said
"The flicking pen was one, but, when he arrived at the mess hall, I felt a weird feeling... Anger? I guess, directed at me. When I looked where it was coming from it's when I saw him.", She explained
I was thinking about what the hell I was doing when I arrived at the mess hall this morning when I remembered, Erens' arm over her shoulders... "Tsc"
I realized I spaced out when Mikasa said, "You are doing it again."
"Doing what!?", I asked annoyed
"Irradiating hate or anger, I don't know!", she said frustrated, then she looked at Hanji, "Am I going to be feeling all of his rage modes?! I don't want to turn into a grumpy old lady!"
I gave her a death stare.
Hanji said, "hm, so far I noticed that it seems like one factor might be proximity, every time you've felt something he has been, at least, in visual range. What you have sensed so far is anger... interesting. Do you have a memory of something that could cause a strong emotion directed to him?"
Mikasa thought for a second and said, "I guess when he beat Eren at court."
Will you ever get over that?! You beat the shit out of him just the other day! He has that type of face that you just want to punch, is not my fault!
"So let's try something, I need you two, to get closer", Hanji said, "I want you to be forehead against forehead."
I noticed she stiffened and Yeager said, "Is that really necessary?!"
"I am the scientist here, don't interrupt my experiment.", Hanji said to him
I noticed Mikasa second-guessing whether she should get close or not, while Yeager was throwing daggers at me with his eyes.
This will be fun.
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer while she let out a gasp in surprise, "Here brat my forehead is here", I said as I placed my forehead against hers, and I never released my hold on her waist.
"Good, now both of you close your eyes and concentrate on the other, Mikasa, think of that day at the court, how you felt, focus on that and Levi in front of you.", Hanji said
We stayed still there like a minute and I said, "Did you went to sleep brat? Because I am not feeling anything!"
She sighed in frustration and said, "Hanji, I am really trying, I don't think this thing works both ways."
"Hm, let's try again, think of any memory with him that might cause a strong reaction.", Hanji said
We placed our foreheads together again, and for a moment I didn't felt a thing, I was started to get frustrated when suddenly, I started to feel something similar to a low electrical current coming from her forehead into mine. This is interesting, then a warmth that moved through my forehead, then, to my neck, running down my chest, going lower to my...
"Mikasa, what the-!", I yelled as I dropped myself to the floor to sit as fast as I could to hide the unexpected erection that, whatever the hell she transmitted to me, gave me.
You little perverted brat
She looked at me with eyes wide open in shock. While I gave her a death stare from the floor.
"What happened? Are you okay?", Hanji asked
And I just stared at Mikasa suspiciously, she was avoiding my gaze.
"Can you stand up?", Hanji asked
I looked at her clenching my jaw and I said, "No, Hanji... I can't.", giving her a warning look
Hanji stepped back, looked at me, then at Mikasa, and said, "oh!"
Then she addressed Yeager and said, "Eren, the next experiments I am going to perform are highly classified so I need you to leave."
"Are you serious?!", he protested
"Yes, orders from Commander Erwin, if you have a problem with it go and fight him."
Eren left the laboratory and Hanji locked the door. Then she walked back to us and said to me, "I might have just what you need.", and left to her back closet.
I looked at Mikasa and she was still avoiding my gaze, I looked at her amused and said, "You perv"
"Says the one with a boner sitting on the floor", she replied
"What the hell you were thinking about?", I asked
"I don't know what you are talking about.", she answered still avoiding eye contact
"Oh really?! Then why are you all red and avoiding looking at me?!", I teased just when Hanji arrived back.
She arrived with a spray bottle that looked like it had water with ice inside and she started spraying the shit out of me like a crazy maniac while screaming, "Get out of his body you demon of horniness!"
"What the fuck are you doing!? I am not a fucking cat!", I screamed at her
Then she stopped, and back to a calm manner like she wasn't acting like a maniac just a second ago, she asked, "Well, did it worked?", While raising a brow
That's when I realized, "Yes, it worked..."
-----
Author P.O.V.
Eren went straight to the training room to try to get rid of some of the anger he had boiling inside. He started hitting the sandbag mercilessly.
"Oi! Eren! You have to pay it if you brake it.", Connie said
Eren just gave him a death stare and kept punching the sandbag.
Connie walked to him and stared at him, crossing his arms over his chest he said, "Are you planning on killing someone? I know Jean can be an ass but he is still a comrade."
Eren sighed and sat at a bench by the wall, and Connie sat beside him, "So, do you want to talk?"
"Is Mikasa, and that stupid Ackerman bond.", Eren said
"Ackerman bond? Wasn't that a myth?", Connie asked confused
"It didn't look like a myth to me when I saw her trying it with Levi. Hanji is experimenting trying to figure out how it works.", Eren said
"So, let me guess, you saw them interacting and felt threatened of being replaced? Right?", Connie said
"Like she could ever replace me."
"So why does it affects you so much then?"
"There's something about him... that I don't trust."
"Really? When he has saved your life multiple times, the court included. Are you sure you are being objective on this?"
Eren lost in thought said, "No, but I will."
-----------
Author P.O.V.
"Let's try something different, I will still have the spray bottle in case you get frisky", she said pointing at Levi
"She was the one that transmitted filthy things to me! I will add a section of 'Clean your filthy brain' to the manual.", He said staring at Mikasa
She avoided his gaze and said, "I don't know what you are talking about."
With a sarcastic tone, he said, "Oh really!? That was so intense that if I was a woman you would've got me pregnant."
Mikasa stared at him in disbelief.
"Is it me, or Mikasa's humor is rubbing off on you?", Hanji said staring at Levi
"I don't know what you are talking about.", he replied
Hanji stared at him suspiciously for a moment then she continued, "Ok, enough chit chat, let's try one of the theories.", She said while holding a blindfold.
"The brain can't ignore moving objects, even if it's in your peripheral view, that's what happened when I flicked the pen this morning. Since Mikasa was able to detect it, I want to try that again, but, this time I want you to try and grab it, reading Levis neural signals.", Hanji said and placed the blindfold on Mikasa.
"Neural Signals?", Mikasa asked confused
"Just concentrate on Levi.", Hanji said
She then stepped back at arm's length, grabbed a pen, and started moving it. Then she said, "Levi I want you to concentrate on the moving pen, specifically in the location of it while I move it."
They stood in front of each other, close, but not touching. Levi stared at Mikasa while concentrating on the moving pen in his peripheral view and Mikasa with the blindfold on.
The second he concentrated on it, Mikasa, with her body still, shot her arm, fast like a lightning bolt, and grabbed it. Making Hanji yelp at the sudden movement.
Mikasa took the blindfold off, stared at Levi, and said, "Do you have to transmit everything with anger?!"
"It's not my fault that having an annoying moving pen on my peripheral view makes me want to stab something!", He said
"Alright, let's switch! Levi put on the blindfold.", Hanji said
Levi put the blindfold on and they repeated the same exercise. As soon as she concentrated on the movement he shot his arm but failed to grab it.
"Try again", Hanji said
They try again and he is closer to grab it, but still fails.
"Do you need glasses Brat?", He said sarcastically
"You are the one who doesn't know how to read me!"
"Let's try again!", Hanji said
This time he shot his arm and grabbed it. He then, took his blindfold off and looked at the pen confused, and said, "Hanji, I think I saw it."
"Describe it", Hanji said curiously
He stared at Mikasa and said, "You are concentrating on the big peaks right?"
She responded, "I thought it was the most obvious way to start with."
"What do you mean with peaks?", Hanji asked curiously
"What I receive from her feels similar to strings of small electrical current waves, some of them have waves higher than others in the same string, if you follow only those peaks you can catch the moving object fast, but I was concentrated on the peaks and the next higher ones and I think, I saw for a moment a grainy black and white image of the moving pen. It's a mess of strings that some parts somehow make sense.", he then stared at Mikasa and said, "you need to organize your brain brat!"
"I receive the same mess from your head but with added anger, hate, and a lot of stabbing!" , She yelled back.
"Hm, interesting", Hanji said while she started throwing papers to the floor looking for a specific one, "I read something similar to your description in one of the theories!"
She keeps throwing papers on the floor like a hurricane until she stops at one of the paper sheets and said, "Aha! Let's start with the most prominent ones, visuals of moving objects, at first it might feel like a shot of electricity from the other subject, but with practice, your brain will realign the received signals to the visual section of it and, in theory, you will be able to see something similar to a grainy black and white map of what the other person is seeing. The resolution of how you see, it's supposed to get better with practice."
Levi and Mikasa look at each other confused while Hanji is jumping around from excitement and then she said, "It's based on proximity and the ability to read the other which increases with practice. By read, I mean, reading each other neural signals, let's call the brain waves for simplicity. The most prominent ones are visual brain waves, but with practice is possible to read the smaller ones. There are no theories about what senses or how deep this can go."
She talked so fast that Levi and Mikasa just stared at her confused, and Levi said, "As long as everything you said doesn't translate to something similar to me ending up as the male version of this Brat we are good to go.", he said pointing at Mikasa.
"I'm pretty sure that if that happens, you would be less angry, and that's definitely an improvement. Also, what makes you think you would still be a male?", Mikasa answered.
Levi stared at her confused and he leaned to Hanjis' ear and asked, "I am not going to grow boobs, right?!"
Suddenly, someone knocked at her laboratory door, and Hanji exclaimed, "Good! Lunch is here!"
"What?!", Mikasa and Levi shouted
"Yes, we will receive dinner too, we will not leave this laboratory today for the rest of the day!", Hanji shouted excited
"I'm leaving, I have to train my squad", Levi said while walking towards the door.
"No you won't, Erwin will take over today, he said it was an order.", Hanji said making Levi froze on his way to the door.
"So are we going to be your lab rats for the rest of the day!? Don't you have some experiments or limbs to cut from the Titan Shifter?", Levi said annoyed
"I canceled all, today, for the rest of the day, you two, are mine.", She said with an evil smile making Levi and Mikasa look at each other worriedly.
-----
"I heard Erwin will cover for Levi for some weeks.", Sasha said grinning
"What makes you think that he will be better than Levi?", Connie asks
"At least, less angry and that is an upgrade.", Sasha said
"Wasn't he Levi's Captain back on the day?", Jean asked
"Maybe, but he seems nicer.", Sasha said
"Oi! Armin! Eren! We are here!", Said Connie to Armin and Eren that just arrived at the mess hall for lunch.
"Where is Mikasa, I haven't seen her all morning.", Sasha asked
"I doubt we see her today, Erwin told me she was going to be all day with Hanji and Levi at her laboratory.", Armin said
"Wasn't it just for the morning?", Eren asked
"No, Erwin gave Hanji free reign over them, he told me to tell you that all experiments with you today are canceled.", Armin said
"Free reign? To Hanji? Is he crazy?!", Eren asked in disbelief
"That's what I thought too, we will have to check on Mikasa to see if she is still alive at the end of the day.", Armin said jokingly
"I'll check on her, I have to also make sure Hanji didn't cut any limbs.", Eren said.
"What is this bond thing anyway?", Jean asked
"That's what they are trying to figure out, I was planning on asking her tonight.", Eren said dryly
---- Hours later ----
"I can't see it!", Mikasa shouted frustrated.
"You are speed reading my waves like a crazy maniac!", Levi shouted
"Let's change again, Levi try and see the image of the moving pen again.", Hanji said
Levi puts the blindfold on and they start the exercise again. After, a couple of minutes he said, "My head hurts and I can't see it."
"See! You probably hallucinated something before, and it wasn't a pen!", Mikasa shouted
"You are probably manipulating your waves so you can look better!", Levi shouted giving her a suspicious look, "You are giving me a headache."
"Headache is only natural when you are using your brain in a way you are not used to, for longs periods of times.", Hanji explained, "Since you were the one that saw the image, let's keep trying until you see it again. Concentrate on seeing it, do not grab it, if you see it, try to keep the image constant for as long as you can."
After the sixth try...
"Maybe your age is affecting your reading!", Mikasa said teasingly
"Says the one that never saw the image in the first place!", Levi replied
"Stop fighting each other and concentrate on the exercise! No more talking!", Hanji said.
"Wait-", Levi said when Hanji cut him off
"No more talking!", Hanji shouted
"Then how the fuck am I supposed to tell you that I'm seeing the fucking moving pen right now!?", Levi shouted
Hanji gasped excitedly and said, "Talk! Talk!"
"I stopped seeing it when I talked... wait... I see it.", Levi said
Hanji still moving the pen said, "Can you see the pen moving?"
"Yes, flickers sometimes but I am seeing it now.", Levi said
Hanji stopped moving the pen and Levi said, "It's gone, I can't see it."
She moved the pen again and Levi said, "there, I can see it again."
She stopped again and Levi said, "No image"
Moved again, "I see it again."
"Interesting...", Hanji said, "Let's do this three more times and try to explain to Mikasa what you are reading.
------
"It's already late, do you know when Hanji usually ends with her experiments for the day?", Armin asked Eren
"It's Hanji, she has unlimited energy, and Erwin basically told her to do whatever she wanted.", Eren said frustrated
"Also, Levi and Mikasa are the top two strongest Humans right now so they can hold Hanji's craziness for a long time.", Connie said
"Imagine that they end up as a couple, it would be humanity's strongest couple! With super strong babies!", Sasha said excitedly.
"Mikasa and Levi? A couple? Impossible.", Eren said
"I don't think is impossible, especially now that they have the weird bond thing.", Jean said
Eren clenched his fists and said, "Like I'll let it happen."
-------
"My head is killing me! All of my body hurts!", Mikasa said protesting
"She's right, this thing takes more energy than what I thought.", Levi said
"Don't start complaining! We have a lot to cover! Mikasa put the blindfold on again!", Hanji said
"I can't keep the image constant! And my head hurts!", Mikasa said
"You know that Erwin gave me permission to do as I pleased today with you two right?!", Hanji shouted and Mikasa, afraid, put the blindfold on as fast as she could.
"Let's try this again!", Hanji said while moving the pen.
"I see it.", Mikasa said.
"Keep it constant.", Hanji said.
"I... I think it's constant...", Mikasa said.
"It flickers a little, right?", Levi said.
"Yes.", Mikasa responded
"Great! Let me go get my notes!", Hanji exclaimed jumping.
Hanji went back to her desk.
"Do you think we are done?", Mikasa asked Levi.
"It's pretty late, I think we should finish soon.", Levi answered while dropping tired on a chair.
Mikasa sat next to him and said, "My body feels like a whole day of extreme workout, everything hurts."
"I never thought this could be so tiring...", Levi said rubbing his temples
"Aha! Here! I have a list of all the experiments we will do!", Hanji said jumping with a piece of paper.
"Give me that!", Levi said snatching the piece of paper from her hand, "Let's see what you have here", he starts to read the list out loud, "moving objects, limit to proximity, reading signals, sending signals, alcohol effect, Blocking signals, Hangegrama effect, PMS, tin foil hats, bread, cheese, lettuce, tampons... What the-?!", Levi look at it confused and Hanji jumped in.
"Oh crap! I mixed my shopping list! Here are the rest", she said as she handles him a block of papers.
"All of this?!", Mikasa exclaimed
"We can't cover all of this today. That is a fact.", Levi said
"We start today, depending on how it goes, is the schedule for the next weeks", Hanji clarified
Levi leaned to Mikasa and whispered to her, "We are screwed"
She whispered back, "She is planning on drugging us! Look at the names of some of those tests!"
"We will have to plan something to drug her and sneak the hell out!"
"Just, hit her on the head with something!"
Levi gave her a death stare and said, "We are not killing Hanji!", He then continued with a sarcastic tone, "And I'm the one with anger issues."
"Let's start with the experiments?!", Hanji shouted happily
"Start?!", Levi asked raising a brow
"Then what the hell have we've been doing all day! Wasn't that experiments also?!", Mikasa said
"No, that was trying to figure out what the Ackerman bond was about.", Hanji said with a creepy wide grin on her face and continued, "So let's start!"
---- 1 hour later----
Mikasa and Levi are lying on the floor like two lifeless bodies, while Hanji is poking at them with a stick.
"Come on! You are the top two Humanity Strongest! You can't be this tired already!", Hanji said frustrated
Mikasa and Levi said in unison, "Fuck you Hanji."
Defeated Hanji said, "Oh well, I guess this is it for today then.", she walked to the door and noticed that they didn't move a muscle at all, they were still lying on the floor, "I guess you can stay there for the night, I don't mind.", then, she left.
"I can't move, everything hurts, and I think, now I have a pen phobia.", Mikasa said
"Hanji can do that to you sometimes.", Levi replied
After a couple of minutes of laying on the floor, Levi said, "We can't stay here, this lab is so filthy that I wouldn't be surprised if rats were hanging around.", as he stood up.
Mikasa grunted in protest and said, "I don't want to move! Leave me alone!"
"Leave you? In this filthy laboratory of a crazy scientist? Where there probably are flesh-eating three-eyed rats with mutated Titan genes, waiting to eat you?", Levi said
Levi then reached out to Mikasa and picked her up like a bag of potatoes.
"What are you doing!? Let me down!", Mikasa shouted.
"I'm saving your ass again Brat!", Levi said while walking with her to the laboratory door, without letting her down.
She grunted while trying to release herself and, when finally defeated, she said, "Fuck you."
"You already did! That's precisely why we are in this mess, to begin with!", he said
"You have half the fault on that!", she shouted
He smirked and said, "You are right."
-------
Arriving at the castle, Levi still holding Mikasa like a bag of potatoes, and she just hanging like a dead body, the gang spotted them.
"Mikasa! What happened to her?!", Armin asked
She replied with a lazy voice, "Hanji, happened."
Levi started walking Mikasa to her room and Armin and Eren followed him.
"Are you guys planning on doing this every day?", Eren asked while raising a brow.
"Hanji has to discuss the schedule with Erwin, but, judging by the unending list of experiments she wants to put us through, it wouldn't surprise me that we end up with the same schedule of today for weeks.", Levi answered.
"So, technically we will not see her again in the following weeks?", Armin asked worriedly.
"Apart from watching us arrive back to the castle, looking like we fought Titans all day, I doubt you will see us much.", Levi said opening the door to her room.
He entered her room, and Armin and Eren followed. He placed her on the bed and she was already snoring. Levi stared at her in disbelief.
Eren P.O.V.
He put her on her bed and stared at her, like he didn't look at her enough during a whole fucking day, especially ridiculously up close.
"So, did you figure it out? The bond thing?", I asked
"Hanji thinks is some sort of brain signals transfer.", He answered as he started to take her boots out of her feet. He took one and I rushed to take the other, then I covered her with her blanket. You have touched her enough for today.
"What type of experiments she did for her to be so tired?", Armin asked.
"The problem wasn't so much the experiments, it's the bond itself, it takes a lot of energy to do the transfers.", Levi said.
"Hmm, is possible that it gets easier with time, you will probably learn how to transfer in an energy-efficient manner.", Armin said.
"How does it feel?", I asked.
"When it happens, I just feel... her.", He answered.
Feel... HER?!
Levi continued, "Is difficult to explain honestly."
We started walking out of her room when Mikasa whispered, "Levi...?". We stopped and stared back at her and she was snoring again.
Levi?
Levi then said, "Good night, Mikasa.", And closed the door of her room.
Mikasa?
Walking back to our rooms I asked Armin, "Since when they refer to each other by the first name?!"
"It has to be a bond thing, it wouldn't surprise me if it brought them closer. From now on it's only a matter of time for the bond to get stronger and deeper. I'm really curious on how deep it can go.", Armin said.
As deep as I let it go. I need to take her away from him.
------
Author P.O.V.
Knock. Knock.
"Eren? What are you doing knocking on my door at this hour?!", Sasha asked.
"I need a favor. I know you have been on library duty this week. Do you have the key to the vault?", Eren asked.
"Yes, I've been organizing the vault historical documents.", She said.
"I need you to get me in.", Eren said.
"Why?", She asked.
"I was thinking, fighting with Jean lately have been boring, so I plan on getting some blackmail to make things more interesting around. Also, I thought you wanted payback for him stealing your bread at dinner.", he said.
Sasha jumped excited and said, "Follow me!"
---------
Eren P.O.V.
"Guard the door while I'm in.", I said.
"Check out if you find something on Connie too! I'll make him do my chores if you find something spicy about him!", Sasha said.
I nodded and entered the vault. I passed the historical documents and went straight to the personal files section.
Let's see who you really are...
I stopped at the L section, searching through the folders...
what the fuck is this...
Levi's personal file wasn't a folder, it looked more like a thick book. I opened it, trying to look for key information that could help me remember. It was obvious that I wouldn't be able to read it all, and I can't take it out with me either without anyone noticing that it's missing.
Going through the pages... What are these? Crimes?! Most of the pages were details about crimes committed by him. There was a summary section of the crimes...
Underground crimes:
Levi Ackerman was in charge of the drug distribution branch of the underground.
Levi Ackerman was a paid hitman, only 20 deaths have been confirmed, it is estimated that this number only represents around 30% of what would be the real total of deaths by his hand.
Levi Ackerman worked under the serial killer Kenny The Ripper.
"How the fuck is he not in jail?!"
"Wait..."
"Kenny The Ripper...?"
"Kenny... It can't be... That day he was..."
Eren closed the file and said:
"It's him. I remember."