Bonds of Steel and Blood (Levi • OC)

CHAPTER 9 - Dirty Fight

     The crowd was restless. Levi rarely sparred with anyone. Though judging by the way he and Reinae were looking at each other, they weren't planning on simply sparring.

     "Levi—"

     "Let him," Miche stopped Erwin mid-sentence. "I want to know if she can put up a fight."

     "Oh, she can," Aiden said, crossing his enormous arms over his chest.

     Reinae popped her knuckles, taking a stance against Levi. She listened to the whispers surrounding them and scoffed.

     "Humanity's strongest soldier, huh?" she mocked, repeating what she heard from some cadets. "It has to be a joke."

     Levi's eyes narrowed at Reinae's taunting. He took a step closer, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

     "Think you can handle me, brat? Get ready to be disappointed."

     Before Reinae could blink, he sent a fist towards her face. She quickly dodged, surprise taking over her for a split second. She frowned and ducked again as she saw him swinging towards her again, simultaneously sending a fist towards his nose. He caught her wrist inches from her target.

     "Protecting that pretty face, are we?" Reinae teased, then hissed when Levi twisted her arm behind her back.

     She headbutted him, making him loosen the grip on her wrist, but he swayed her legs with his, and she fell to the ground. She rolled out of the way of his foot, aiming for the side of her body, and tangled her legs with his, making him lose balance. She jumped to her feet before he could regain it, sending a fist into his chin.

     The audience became silent; only Jasper and Aiden laughed aloud, enjoying the show. Reinae saw Levi's eyes darken, knowing he was getting frustrated. She grinned at him, and he shot towards her. She dodged or parried his relentless blows until he kicked her hips with his knee, making her stumble. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, face roughly pressed against the dirty floor. She felt a tug on her hair and Levi's breath next to her ear.

     "It's pathetic how you think you can match up to us."

     At that moment, the world became still. Reinae's eyes became brighter, almost glowing in a shade of bright green.

     "It's pathetic how you think you're any different from me," she said and sent a fistful of dirt directly into his face.

     The audience gasped. Even Erwin, Hange, and Miche's faces dropped. Levi groaned as Reinae's elbow found its mark on his face, and he staggered backward. As she got to her feet, eyes still glowing unnaturally, Levi slowly brought his hand up to his face, wiped away some dirt, and looked at his dirty finger. His eyes filled with disgust and rage.

     "Oh, you little—"

     He attacked with incomprehensible speed. But for her, the world moved in slow motion. She watched Levi's fist fly towards her face, and a moment before contact, she gathered her strength into her right arm and punched the middle of his chest, sending him flying across the ring. Levi's back hit the wooden fence, and he hissed in pain. Before he could register what was going on, she had a blade to his throat.

     They panted, looking at each other, Levi's eyes wide and confused, blood dripping from his nose. Reinae's eyes slowly regained their normal color, and she took Levi's napkin he always had tucked into his shirt and handed it to him.

     "You lost," she said, tucked her blade back into the hidden sheath in her pants, and walked from the ring.

     No one dared to speak. The commander and two other squad leaders only watched her with their mouths agape as she picked up her jacket.

     "I assume ODM gear management is next?" she asked Erwin dispassionately. He only nodded, and the trio walked from the ring towards the ODM training grounds, leaving the shocked audience behind.