Humanity's Strongest Soldier

Behind closed doors

That afternoon, Levi made his way to 3DMG practice. Partly, he did it because Erwin had asked him to. But he was also doing it because he wanted to see how Sakura was going to do. Earlier, during lunch at the mess hall, he had stared at her and taken in all her features: her small nose, plump lips, and huge hazel eyes. She was beautiful, and there was no denying it.
"Focus Levi", he thought to himself. "You don't want to be late again."
He arrived at the practice site just in time. All the cadets were already lining up to get their turn. After countless cadets had attempted to slay the fake wooden titans, it was finally Sakura's turn.
As she got ready to launch herself into the forest, everyone grew quiet in anticipation.
With amazing speed, she shot into the forest. She was moving so quickly she was only a blur among the trees. With break-neck speed, she swung her swords and attacked the weak point of the first titan... and the second... and the third...
In a few seconds, she had slain all the fake titans and had made it to the other side of the forest unscathed. As she landed on the ground, she was congratulated by Erwin himself, and managed to earn great respect from everyone around her. If it had been another girl, she would have blushed or even giggled, but Sakura only stared back in confidence, and quietly thanked everyone for their kindness.

After that, Levi found himself thinking more and more of Sakura. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also amazingly talented and had a strong personality. Deep down, Levi really wanted to get to know her and spend time with her. She seemed like such an interesting person.
"That's it!", thought Levi. "I'm going to apologize to her for being rude this morning and slapping her hand away like that... I hope she'll forgive me..."
Levi walked up to the mess hall to have dinner, hoping to find Sakura there. However, she didn't show up to dinner. He decided to go to her dormitory to see what was going on, but she wasn't there either. Where could she be?
Levi started to get worried, and so he went to Erwin's office to ask him if he knew where Sakura was. As Levi got closer to the door, he could hear voices. One of them was definitely Erwin. The other voice was a girl... It sounded like... Sakura!

"I can't, and I won't Erwin.", said Sakura. "I don't want to lead anyone. I am independent and strong enough to guarantee my own safety, but I can't guarantee other people's."
"Sakura please", begged Erwin. "I have never met anyone who would turn down the position of Lance Corporal!"
"I said enough!", hissed Sakura.
Erwin was surprised at her sudden outburst, but he didn't show it.
"Why then? Why are you turning this down?", asked Erwin.
"Because if it wasn't for your damn Survey Corps, I wouldn't have fallen in love.", said Sakura bitterly. "I feel so... weak. I've never felt this weak in my life. And what's worse is that he doesn't return my feelings..."
"Sakura", said Erwin. "May I ask who it is that you've fallen in love with?"
"What difference would it make?", replied Sakura. "He'll never love me back..."
"Sakura... I can tell you from experience that hard work takes pain away. So accepting this position could help you get your mind off things. And anyway, nobody knows what the future holds. So making assumptions at this point will get you nowhere.", said Erwin.
"I-I hate to say it, but I guess you're right.", said Sakura. "Alright then. I accept the position of Lance Corporal."
"Thank you, Sakura", said Erwin. You won't regret this. I'm gonna go call Levi to tell him that he's not the only Lance Corporal now."

At these words, Levi got away from the door and sprinted down the corridor so that Erwin wouldn't know he had been eavesdropping.
"She's in love, huh?", he thought. "Tch, and to think I actually had a chance with that brat..."

A few minutes later, Erwin appeared in Levi's office to tell him the good news; Sakura was assigned the position of Lance Corporal, alongside Levi.
"Treat her well, Levi. As I said, you both need to get along for the sake of the greater good.", said Erwin.

That night, Levi lay in his bed thinking, "Who could it be that Sakura has fallen in love with?"
Slowly going over the endless possibilities, Levi felt his heart slowly shatter...
"If only I had been nicer to her, maybe she would have fallen in love with me..."
Making up his mind, Levi decided to go to her dormitory once again, and apologize.
"Hopefully", he thought, "she'll forgive me."