Levi x Reader || One Shots And Short Stories

Facts of a Rival

There are certain times in life when a person has to bow out gracefully and accept the loss. There are certain things in life that a person has to give up on for the sake of a better cause. And there are even certain circumstances when a person should just back off and let another party win because that kind of competition isn't worth the reward.

You were not that person.

And you definitely would never bow out gracefully. Especially not to your fellow recruit member Levi "whatever the hell his last name was" since no one knew, not even if your life depended on it.

Three long, agonizing years in the 99th Trainees Squad you have spent in a bitter rivalry with Levi and you were not about to quit at the assessment. No, that was your time to shine and beat him to take the place of top student.

From day one you have always had it out for him. He was a natural at literally everything. From his studies to his precision in blade strikes to ability to maneuver with the omni-directional gear, and that irritated you to a degree you could not describe. What topped it off was the fact that Levi did not even care that he was perfect at everything nor did he even try to compete with you. Well, in the beginning he was fairly apathetic about his abilities but once be realized you harbored a deep rooted hatred for him in regards to that, he took up the habit of mocking you for always being second rate. That wasn't the case though; it was well known the both of you were equally exceptional. It was common knowledge that it would be difficult to decide who would be top student.

Compared to Levi, you had been trained by your parents, albeit illegally with the blades and 3DMG, from the ripe age of six to be a soldier. Your father was a lance corporal within the military police brigade and your mother also a corporal within the garrison regiment. It had always been expected that their first born would be a soldier and that had been drilled in your brain for as long as you could remember. Early on, your parents built up your endurance, your dexterity, and overall speed so you would outperform every other trainee. Your father even taught you all about the titans so that could even breeze through your studies. The expectation was that you would place in the top ten and join the military brigade under your father's direction.

Little did anyone know, you wanted to join the Scout Regiment and had been set on that early on, merely for the fact that your parents had said you had no place there. Having grown up in a stifling and strict environment within Stohess District, you desperately wanted a sense of freedom, even if meant risking your life. You could care less about furthering humanity's cause against the titans; you just wanted to venture outside the walls and feel like you had some sort of choice with your future. Erwin Smith had already approached you and Levi on joining the scouts two months ago, unbeknownst to anyone else. It was rare anyone sought out trainees personally for their branch but Erwin said he needed the both of you and your skills.

At the moment, you and Levi were squared off in your hand to hand combat assessment, one of the few pairs taking it seriously.

You had your hands raised in front of you, ready for any attack Levi would make on you. Technically, the both of you were supposed to be switching off with the wooden knife, each of you attacking the other in turns but somehow you both ended up in a heated match. You both were drawing attention, due to both of your loud cries and groans.

"You scared to hit me, Rivaille?" you mocked, hoping to incite some anger in him.

Levi snorted, the briefest smirk hitting his lips. "Nice try, princess," he said in a similar tone. "But you can't provoke me."

You glared harder at him when he made a motion with his hand for you to strike. "Fine, have it your way then."

With a burst of speed, you rushed him. Levi took this opportunity to step to the side and swing his leg around for a roundhouse kick but you easily evaded it. However, you didn't expect his other leg to come up and nearly nail you in the head; you barely had enough time to block the second strike with your arm. As Levi recovered from the momentum, you swung your arm hard into his side and he let out the smallest groan. You would have celebrated getting the first strike on him if it weren't for the fact that he struck you in the back merely ten seconds after you.