Bad Hair Day (Levi x reader oneshot)

You awoke bright and early that morning, even a little ahead of schedule. After taking your time putting on your uniform, you pulled your hair back into its usual messy ponytail and gave your reflection a nod of approval. When it was down, your hair reached to just below your shoulder blades, which was longer than most of the girls in the military chose to wear theirs. You needed to keep it out of your face, though, and your preferred way of doing that was your trademark messy ponytail. Little did you know the issue your hairstyle would cause later that day.

After breakfast, everyone reported to the courtyard for training. You had been told some officers from the Survey Corps were coming to observe today. You had wanted to join the Survey Corps since you were little, so you were obviously excited. All you wanted was to make a good impression.

The Squad Leader Shadis soon arrived, flanked by two other men who you assumed to be the officers. One was blonde and tall, the other black-haired and surprisingly short, but they both had a serious and proper aura about them. Your squad leader instructed everyone to pair up for hand to hand combat. None of your fellow trainees seemed to care about the officers' presence and simply began goofing off, as usual. You paired up with Jean, who seemed to be taking this at least somewhat seriously. Both of you dropped into fighting stances. He was the first to lunge at you, but you easily dodged. Silly Jean. So predictable. You blocked his left hook and sent an uppercut his way, making him stagger backward. He ducked out of the way of your right hook and you responded to that by kneeing him in the face. It was enough to make him fall to the ground, but he wasn't done fighting yet. He grabbed your ankle and pulled, bringing you down to the ground with him where he pounced on you. You subsequently punched him in the stomach, making him double over and let go of you for long enough that you could free yourself. You were behind him in a split second, twisting his arm up between his shoulder blades. He whined and admitted defeat. After getting up and helping him up, you smirked and asked, "Didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

"Very funny," he replied, dusting himself off. You were attempting to smooth your hair when you caught sight of the short officer standing a few feet away, watching you and Jean. He approached when he realized you had noticed him.

"Exceptional job, cadet," he said to you.

"Thank you, sir," you replied, removing your hands from your hair in order to salute.

He seemed to stare at your disheveled locks before ordering, "Turn around." Warily, you did so. You felt him removing your hair tie and were about to question what he was doing, but didn't want to be disrespectful. You let him continue. He pulled your hair into a tight, much neater ponytail, then skillfully twisted it into a bun. Jean watched from a short distance away, amused. Suddenly, the officer's hands were on your shoulders, turning you back around to face him. "Much better," he remarked, slightly grinning. You didn't have a chance to thank him before he strode away. The blonde officer approached you then, smirking.

"Don't mind him," he said to you, "He's . . . well . . . he just likes everything to be neat."

"I understand," you replied, grinning. The officer nodded.

Before walking away, he added, "The bun suits you, though."

Every day after that, you wore your hair in a bun.

A year later, you and your comrades were finally ready to graduate from the training corps. Most of them joined the Garrison. You had the option of joining the MPs, but you chose the Survey Corps instead. It was the easiest decision of your life. You seemed to be the only one left unfazed by the speech Commander Erwin gave. The crowd of new Survey Corps members was quite small. As you were looking around to see who had stayed, you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned around immediately to find Corporal Levi there, smirking. "Took my advice, huh?" he asked.

You were bewildered for a split second before you realized your hair was in a bun, as it had been every day since he fixed it for you. Upon remembering, you blushed a bit. "Yes, sir," you replied shyly.

"I'm glad you joined the Corps," he continued, "We could use more people like you."

"People who take your advice?" you asked.

"That too, but no," he said, "Skilled soldiers." At that, he left to talk to some of the other recruits while you quietly melted into a puddle of embarrassment and happiness.