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He was watching over training today, Corporal Levi himself. There was an antsy atmosphere that passed through the vast grounds the morning of, all cadets eagerly awaiting their shot to impress to ever stoic Corporal, you included. You'd admired him, from reading about his background in the Underground to how he had rose up in the face of tragedy. He was what you aspired to be.

In person, he was nothing like you had imagined. For one, he was considerably shorter. When spoken of, Corporal Levi was often said to be among the most intimidating people possibly alive. While you couldn't deny that, you'd always associated him to be quite tall, surpassing six foot. Instead, the Corporal wasn't that much taller than you were, giving him the best view of your eyes.

You were lined up in a rows for him as he walked down slowly, eyeing each and every one of you. Rumor had it that he was looking for new recruit's for his own special operations squad. The Levi Squad.

Of course, you were surrounded by cadets who dreamed big - who dreamed of joining the Military police. But the truth was simple - only the top ten cadets were allowed in, and there were more than thirty that you knew of that wanted to. It made the tension rise thick, human hatred seemingly surpassing the natural hatred they had for titans. Why, you wondered, would you fight your own team members when there were much bigger issues?

You were paired up and told to go about how you normally would - which was impossible. Everyone knew he was watching, his arms crossed across his chest as he leaned against a post. Commander Erwin stood at his side, looking on as unamused as Levi seemed to be. It seemed hard to impress either one of them.

In your time thinking of Levi, it gave Sasha the perfect chance to land a keen to the side of your jaw. Your eyes widened in surprise, temporarily frozen before coming back to yourself. You felt his eyes on your side, watching as you rolled back onto your side, narrowly missing Sasha's kick. You found hand to hand combat useless.

It wasn't each other you would be fighting, it was the Titan's.

"Come on, Y/N!" Sasha whined, "Levi's watching!"

She knew how much you admired him - any Cadet who looked at you long enough would be able to tell. You didn't want him to watch you get your ass beat, not after you'd worked on building your reputation so long. You couldn't afford to lose to Sasha, but you wanted to win fairly.

You stood to your feet, taking position. Sasha's face changed from confidence to slight fear. You'd paired with her before, and the two of you usually danced around for a couple minutes, threw a couple of punches to make it look like you were trying, but otherwise goofed off. Today was different - everyone was trying harder, and it was obvious. The Slackers were presenting average skills, and even the best were pulling off amazingly.

You were stuck somewhere between average and higher. You weren't the worst, but you weren't making top ten anytime soon. You knew it wasn't realistic, so you didn't try to aspire for it. It was clear who the front runners were from the get go, and even though if you did try a little harder you could beat Christa, you didn't want too. All it meant was a chance to join the Military Police, but you knew what you wanted.

Sasha circled you, trying to steady her shaking hands as you launched forward. She fell backwards, surprised at your sudden lunge. You watched as a cloud of dirt came up from beneath her as she struggled to stand forward. You were so focused on Sasha that you hadn't noticed Levi making his way towards you. Cadets parted in greeting, stopping in awe to stare as he walked.

Despite his height, how some of the bigger cadets easily towered over him, the looks they gave him were nothing but pure respect. He didn't ask for respect, he demanded it without speaking. He'd been through hell and back and fought more expeditions that you could count. He was humanity's strongest, a title he rightfully earned. It was hard to hate him, as much as some cadets swore they did.

They could say whatever they wanted about Levi, but they couldn't deny the truth. They respected him, much more than they would most likely care to admit.

"On your feet, Cadet."

His sharp voice pulled you from your trance, and you felt a shiver run down your spine despite the heat of the sun beating down on you. Sasha scrambled up onto her feet, giving a half-hearted salute as you followed in pursuit. Your back was as straight as you could get it, the salute was perfect in ever way, exactly as you had been taught. Levi observed your form, and was able to see right through your seemingly calm expression.

"It's not a fair fight," Levi said, "I can tell you're holding back."

You weren't sure which one of you he had directed it to, so you both exchanged looks of confusion.

"Not you, brat," he sneered, staring at Sasha.

His attention was now entirely on you, as was the rest of the cadets and the Commander's. Everyone had stopped to watch, awaiting Levi's next move and your response.

"Sir?" You questioned softly, never relaxing your posture.
"I know you can do better, brat. Show me."

Your heart was pounding out of your chest, so loudly you felt it in your ears. A hot blush spread across your face as you turned to face Sasha once more. Only, Levi stepped between the two of you first.

"Not with her."

His intentions were clear, making you realize exactly what was about to go down. Sasha moved away slowly and you dropped your salute finally. Levi's relaxed posture terrified you, and the fact that you were about to get your ass beat by your Superior wasn't doing much for your confidence. Getting distracted and punched by Sasha was one humiliation, but you were straight up entering a whole new one at that point.

"Let's go, Cadet."

You circled each other for a minute, before Levi went straight for you. You pulled off a few basic blocks, narrowly avoiding conclusions each time. You were too nervous, both from cadets watching to standing in front of Levi himself. He said he knew you could do better, and you hardly felt like you were doing anything. You hadn't attempted once to attack Levi, only blocked the three attacks he had thrown towards you.

"Come on, brat," he growled, "at least try to hit me."

His voice was so smug but his face remained emotionless but glowing with confidence. You swallowed the lump in your throat and reached out, attempting to deliver a harsh kick to his shin. Levi was faster though, blocking with ease and pressing his hand against your shoulder. He'd found you when you were distracted, and before you knew it, your entire body was pressed to the ground, his knee pressing to the small of your back.

"I've seen you do better, cadet," he said softly, for only you to hear.

You stood up once more, ignoring the dirt on your pants more determined this time. He was faster, throwing punches from angle and blocking every move you had. It was like he was already in your mind, knowing how exactly you were going to move before you ever did. Sweat was beading at your forehead as you let out harsh ragged breaths. You were tired of fighting - you just wanted to eat and sleep at that point.

After a swift punch to the side of your jaw, you made your move. Instead of simply punching him or kicking him, your shoulder smashed against his, throwing the both of you to ground. Levi was quick, moving out from under you as you landed to kneel over you. His hair skimmed your forehead, his eyes showing surprise as the two of you panted. You couldn't think of the cadets watching you, only that you were insanely close.

You'd always admired him from afar, never close enough to recognize him up close. He was rugged, sure, but it only served as reminder for how long he had been with the corps - how long he had been fighting Titan's. Levi sat forward, moving off of you was a soft chide of his tongue. He stood up, dusting his pants off and staring down at you.

"That was a decent move, Cadet," he said once you stood up.
"Thank you, Corporal," you replied, feeling your cheeks burn brighter.
"Tch."

He stalked away, past the Commander leaving you breathless in the center of the cadets.

"Holy shit," Connie breathed, "Did that seriously just happen?!"