Tantamount

Safeguard

Image Artist Credit: Twitter @zuyuancesar

Songs: Trouble-Valerie Broussard//Lions Inside - Valley of Wolves

"GOOD MORNING (Y/N)!!!! THE SUN IS SHINING BRIGHT AND TODAY WILL BE INTERESTING INDEDDD" 

I groaned as the familiar voice filled every space in my room. I hated mornings and while I hated loud noises I did have to admit Hange made mornings slightly better. She gave me a huge grin and I stood from my bed. Hair was a mess and I looked at her with an unamused face. 

"Someone is extra excited today" I said as i stretched, yawned and tried to wake my body up. 

"YES! Today you train with the captain!!!"

"Black haired guy with anger issues who nearly killed me at the underground? Yeah I don't think so. I choose to live." 

Hange giggled "Come on (y/n), Levi can be scary but you could learn a thing or two with him plus you need it" I raised an eyebrow at her when I noticed she had a sad smile on her face.

"I just mean apart from it being mandatory and Levi having to evaluate your skills before the expedition you really need to learn how to use our swords. I was told you used some sort of blades....and you really need to come back safe and see your family"

"Right" I looked at the floor feeling a sharp pain in my chest. I missed them already. "Okay I'll get ready an be down in a bit okay?" She nodded and smiled. 

I got ready as quickly as I could and rushed downstairs. Hange waved at me and I smile. "(y/n) already have your food and tea here" 

"Thank you Hange. Hey where's the Captain?"

"Oh he is waiting for you outside"

I almost choked on my food "He is WAITING?? HANGE HE ALREADY HATES ME AND NOW IM MAKING HIM WAIT?!!" 

Not even giving her a chance to respond I took a gulp of my tea not wanting to waste it all, took couple of bites of my food and ran outside. Once I made it to Levi I was breathless and probably looking pale. 

"Hey ....I'm here." I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down

he gave me a look of annoyance "tch don't be late next time"

"Of course Cap" I gave him a small kind smile but he kept his unamused face. This was going to be a lonnggg day. He started walking and I followed. 

"Today we'll focus on ODM gear and teaching you how to hold the swords. Usually I would first test your hand to hand combat but since the expedition is in a few day let's focus on you not dying out there."

aww Cap has a heart!... deep deep down... maybe

We got our ODM Gear on and walked to the edge of a forest the corps use to train cadets. 

"Draw your swords"

I slowly took them out. The weight was slightly differently distributed, I was too used to my small swords which made these feel unnatural. I held them awkwardly. 

Levi let out another tch sound and stepped closer to me grabbing my hands and positioning them in the correct form. His hands where calloused and had old cuts, his movements were precise and soft in a way. His proximity made me notice how black his hair was, his eyes were dull and grey and I was entranced in the cold exterior and wondered if there was something more than this stoic harsh facade. 

"Oi tch stop staring and engage in ODM gear. There's titan dummies all over the woods. Practice and remember I will be watching your every move."

I snapped out of the slight embarrassment of being caught staring and focused on the test at hand.  I fired my hooks and moved around testing the weight of the swords on my hands. My eyes shot up to a cardboard dummy that appeared to me left. I swayed around it and used both the swords to cut the nape. I landed on a branch to inspect my work. It wasn't the worst but I  but I could do better. I jumped from my branch and continue on my search for titan dummies. Nape after Nape I slashed each time making my cuts deeper. I changed my blades when they became dull and repeated the process. After a while sweat dripped down my forehead and the muscles in my arms burned. My attacks started to become messy and my breathing became more labored. I continued slashing pushing myself to the limit focusing on doing clean cuts. 

"WOOHOOO!! (Y/N) YOU'RE DOING SO GOODD!!!" 

"Shut up Hange" 

I heard Hange and Levi's small banter but choose to ignore it and continue. While I did my best to conserve gas I knew I was running out of it so I changed tactics. I used the trees, gravity and the floor to my advantage using less gas but using more energy. My lungs were burning and I felt like I was about to pass out. I was almost out of gas and while Levi hadn't uttered a word towards me telling me to stop I thought I would look stupid if I just used all of the gear's gas here, leaving me stranded. So I went back to the edge of the forest. I landed and my legs gave out landing on my knees. My breathing was hard and I felt as if I was going to pass out at any moment. 

"OMG (y/n) I know everyone said you were amazing with the ODM gear but WOOOWW you're almost as good as the Captain himself!!! and the way you used the terrain!! that was so smart!!" 

I laughed and used one of the swords to support myself as I stood up. "I'm sure the Captain has a few pointers on what I did wrong" I raised my eyesbrows and gave him a genuine smile. I was tired but I felt kinda proud. 

"You need more resistance. Take your gear off and do 100 laps. Don't come for dinner till you're done." 

I was about to protest when I figured I should be on the best shape I can be for the expedition. He probably realized that. He was an asshole but I couldn't deny he was smart.

"You got it Cap" I walked with some difficulty but tried to hide it. As I left the pair I heard Hange protesting. 

"Oh come on shortieee!! she did great!! you're gonna kill her before the expedition arrives!!"

"Shut up glasses" 

I laughed at their interaction. They were totally opposite personalities but I thought they balanced each other out nicely. It reminded me of me and Mike and our incessant banters. At the end of the day no matter how much we fought we had each other's back. Being at the corps was exhausting when I felt like I had to watch my own back at all times. I relied so much on Mike, I could allow myself to feel safe and calm when he was around 'As safe and calm as you can be at the underground at least'. In here I'm the new one, the underground thug. While I've met some nice people in here I didn't feel like I could trust anyone just yet but then again I haven't been here for long.

I did my 100 laps and by the end of the day I ended up so exhausted I skipped dinner and went straight to bed. The past few days Hange kept teaching me all they knew about titans, talking about formations and introduced me to her squad. Levi kept making me practice with the dummies and he kept increasing the number of laps each day. The day of the expedition came closer and I found some solace on the fact that I was also told I would get to see my family once the expedition was done and that they were doing fine. I missed all of them and while I was looking forward to seeing them I knew I had to survive first. 

The following days passed by in a blur, time seems to go faster when you really don't want it to.