Chapter Text
Stories of Levi Ackerman had never failed to impress you. When you enlisted, meeting him was certainly one of the things that you looked forward to most. You wanted to see for yourself if all the stories were true.
Of course, cadets rarely if ever got to see such high ranking officers, let alone speak with them. But Captain Levi was just one of many people you hoped to learn from, so it could wait (assuming you survived training).
You were lucky enough to begin your training learning from the former Commander of the Survey Corps, Keith Shadis. He was incredibly tough on all of you, but you knew that entering into the Scout Regiment would be much tougher, and you were grateful that he was doing his best to prepare you for that. It was obvious that not all of the cadets felt that way, though, especially those gunning for the relative comfort of the Military Police.
The first time that you ever saw Levi, he had come, along with a few other officers, to conduct a special training program for some of the most advanced cadets. You were not invited to participate. It seemed like a cruel joke to you that people like Annie and Jean, who had no intention of actually risking their lives on the front lines, got to train with Captain Levi and you didn’t. Sure, they were exceptional, but didn’t the fact that you needed it more also mean that you should get to go?
At least you got to see Captain Levi in person, even if it wasn’t up close. He had such an air of power about him, even more so than the other officers he’d come with. Humanity’s Strongest, indeed. When they left again, you were disappointed that you didn’t even have the chance to ask any questions while he, Hange, and Mike were at the training camp.
You forced yourself to work even harder, in the hopes that they would come back eventually, and you would be able to train with them that time.
After sucking up your pride, you approached some of the top ten who were sharing a table at lunch one day. They all seemed nice enough, but you mostly kept to yourself as most of the cadets seemed to already know each other or at least formed tight groups very quickly. “Would any of you mind helping me out with training sometime?” you asked awkwardly.
”Sure,” Eren Jaeger was the first to reply. “I’m more than happy to help out anyone who wants to kill Titans.”
Wherever Eren went, Mikasa Ackerman was sure to follow. “I’ll help too.” You had wondered to yourself whether she was related to Levi, especially with how talented they both were, but you were too nervous to ask.
Figuring that two of the best cadets in the one hundred and fourth training corps would be enough to help you, everyone else went back to eating. “Thank you,” you said to Eren and Mikasa. “I really appreciate it. Both of you are so impressive. I’d love to be able to go to the advanced training session next time, too, so I can learn even more.”
They seemed happy with that response, especially Eren. The three of you arranged to meet the next afternoon to work on your skills with the ODM gear. They suggested that you ask Armin Arlet to work with you on strategy as well, which was a great idea. You thanked them again before you all headed off to the regularly scheduled training exercises for the day.
Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were a big help. Slowly but surely over the next few months, your rank climbed higher. You’d been hovering just above the middle of the group before, and you still weren’t top ten material, but you only needed to crack the top twenty five to be allowed into the next advanced training session.
When it was announced that Levi, Hange, and Mike would be coming back in another month’s time, you were at number twenty seven. After begging your classmates for more help, Jean Kirsten, Marco Bott, and Sasha Blouse agreed to help as well so that you could pick up another two ranks quickly enough.
With the diverse skills that everyone helped you improve, you managed to claw your way to number twenty five just in time. The training session was less than a week away, and you couldn’t be more excited. You’d finally get to pick the brains of some of the most amazing fighters the military had ever seen. Captain Levi included. You spent the next several days buzzing with excitement, and barely got a wink of sleep the night before.
You were going to meet Levi Ackerman.