Erwins POV
After the Military Police called us to fish out the criminals in the underground, we recruited them for their skill with the ODM gear. Theyre quiet and great reinforcements, but misbehaved. Farlan stole Miche's alcohol, drank it all in front of him and caused absolute mayhem. Isabel stole Hanji's medicine and smashed it to the ground, sending Hanji into a temper tantrum.
And Levi. God, Where do I start. He's a brat. He doesn't follow what I say, doesn't trust my judgement and he's always trying to kill me or steal something of mine. He's also extremely violent with the other cadets and doesn't go easy on them. The other day he sent a kid to the infirmary for simply asking Isabel if she wanted to hang out with him.
Hanji begs me to get rid of them, but I just cant help but feel intrigued by them all. I mean, Levi adapted his own way of killing titans his first day of training.
Speaking of training. The other day while the cadets were doing hand-to-hand combat, I pulled Levi aside. I'll have him fight me instead of someone his own size. He didn't hesitate to attack me at all. He punched me 3 times and kicked me twice, I hadnt expected it. I finally caught his arm and twisted him around, pushing him to the ground.
He looks at me and wriggles his foot to my chest, kicking me into the air. He hopped to his feet and charged at me. I searched for a weak spot. I grabbed his fist but he swiveled his leg to my head. I fell back. He really enjoys kicking.
He moved to kick me again but I grabbed his leg and pulled him down next to me. He collapsed and panted heavily. To my surprise, he began to laugh.
"What? What's so funny?" I ask, a tint of shock in my voice.
"I've just...never had the honor to fight an actual challenge." He said, laying on his back and looking at me.
Now it was my turn to laugh. Seeing him be vulnerable and smiling made my insides feel all mushy. I stood up and held my hand out. He grabbed it and I yanked him to his feet.
His mood changed quickly. It went back to his cold expression while he was dusting himself off. He walked away without saying a thing and I felt, awkward.
-Later-
I walk through the barracks, checking on all the cadets. I stop at Levi's room.
"Levi. Please follow me to my office."
"In your dreams." He responded without a thought.
"Levi." I said in a warning tone.
He rolled his eyes and ignored me. I could feel fury building up but I did not yell. I simply walked into Levi's room. He looked up at me, shocked and yelled to get out of his room. I placed both my hands under his arms and flung him over my shoulder. He gasped and began to beat my back and kick my chest. I continued walking to my office, ignoring his whines and complaints.
He delivers one particularly hard blow to my chest and I smack his ass on impulse. I didn't mean to, it just kinda happened. He made a quiet noise and stopped struggling. I finally set him down on his feet as we reached my office, shutting and locking the door behind us. He crossed his arms as I sat down in my chair.
"What could you possibly need that would lead to you humiliating me like that??" He yelled.
"Watch your tone." I replied.
He began to approach me while sticking his finger in my face.
"You're such an asshole. You think just cause you're commander and you run this place you get to boss me around?"
I blinked in confusion. "Uh. Yeah. That's kinda how this works." I humoured him.
He stepped towards me and gasped as he began to fall. He had tripped over my tangle of belts and was falling straight towards me. I didn't react in time and before I knew it, he'd crashed into me and sent my chair flying backwards. We fell on the ground, him on top of me frozen in shock.
"Woah, this is a bit unprofessional to do in a work setting don't you think?" I teased after a moment of silence.
He stood up and stumbled a little bit onto my desk. I finally stood and looked at him. He seemed utterly embarrassed and uncomfortable and I felt kind of bad. I decided to tell him the reason I asked for him to get it over with.
"Levi. I don't boss you around because I want to take your authority. I boss you around because I want to give you authority." I said.
"Give me authority?" He asked.
"Levi, I want you to be my Captain." I continued.
"Your....Captain? I'm...I'm not fit for that, Commander. I'm just a criminal."
"Levi...do you trust my judgement?"
He looked at me with wide eyes and blinked slowly. His eyes traveled around the room and he gulped slightly, his gaze landing on me. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
"Erwin...I" He stuttered.
"I trust your judgement."
