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Levi was angry.
That in itself was normal, Mike knew that by default Levi was an angry individual. The shorter man was always frowning, or glaring, even when Levi claimed to be feeling perfectly fine. Right now he was truly angry, to the point he hadn’t even touched his food. Levi probably deemed food a distraction from his pending wrath, as if he needed to be properly furious as they made the long trip from Scout Headquarters to this dingy little bar, never mind the miles and the need to stop for breaks.
Mike allowed Levi to lead the way, sometimes he wasn’t sure if Levi was fully human, he rarely heard the man excuse himself for sleep or washroom breaks. He’d seen Levi eat though, so Levi wasn’t some strange creature masquerading as a human. Given the whole revelation about a cadet being a titan shifter though, it was no longer such a light joke.
Eren Yeager. He was part of, if not the, reason they were even in this bar.
The place was old, half destroyed by titans once and repaired rather hastily, but business was booming. A place with alcohol and cheap food that no one wanted to look too closely at, a place made rowdy by the people who still remembered what it was like when the titans came through the wall. This was where Erwin had sent his most two trusted scouts. This was where they should have seen how badly they may have messed up.
Mike spotted their contact sitting alone at a table by the corner, the man sat with his back to the wall and was already drinking something. He was a tall man, intimidating, once he had been one of the Scouts but had eventually left that life. Too tired of death, too overwhelmed with guilt, he now spent what remained of his years training the next generation of soldiers, hoping to prepare them for the world or at least send them away from combat. His name was Keith Shadis, the man who had helped trained Eren Yeager.
Levi strode forward, green cloak billowing impressively behind him. The people peeled away from him quickly, if not recognizing his face they already knew to fear the angry expression on the military-clad soldier. Keith did not look impressed as Levi sat down across from him, both man scowling heavily at each other. Both would have probably just glared some more and do their best to look cooler than the other, but Mike was joining their table.
“Instructor Shadis,” Mike got the man’s attention quickly.
“Squad Leader Zacharius,” Keith’s voice was rough and harsh, “with Humanity’s Strongest Soldier himself. I expected that your commander wouldn’t be able to make it, but even this is a bit high for mere trainee instructor like me.”
“A mere instructor?” Mike repeated, “let’s…”
“Cut to the chase,” Levi interrupted, irritated. “You were once a Scout captain, people died under your command, you decided to get to the soldiers early in their training instead of later when they were so unprepared. You swore an oath once to Commander Smith, and while no longer under his command you owe him cooperation simply because you are both military men. He has now contacted you, and you owed him a few favors anyways.”
A normal man would have grown defensive at Levi’s attitude and words, luckily for Mike’s time their contact was not. “I’m here, aren’t I? That the commander is asking for such a meeting instead of being content with written correspondence should say something.” Mike’s brow furrowed, was that a hint that Keith knew more about the commander’s plan than expected? He didn’t ask, and Keith continued. “What do the scouts, or Commander Smith, want?”
Levi didn’t even blink, “The 104th cadets, I want Eren Yeager’s cahoots gift-wrapped nice and pretty for me.”
Keith blanched, the intimidating mask briefly slipping, “No. End of discussion no, I refuse to get further involved in the lives of the trainees after they leave, particularly not with that class of crazy.”
“Why not?” Mike asked, preventing an even angrier looking Levi from starting a fight.
“I mean you get some psychos in the military, and the occasional criminals. You get the bullies and the sadists and the glory seekers. They form their own cliques and groups, brief alliances and favors. What you don’t get are kids who get so attached to each other that they would be stalking one member on Monday and drugging another to keep them safe on a Tuesday before killing a guy for looking at them funny on a Wednesday. The kids who survived the Trost attack were a whole new brand of codependent crazy, why did you think none of the instructors testified in Yeager’s trial?”
“Conflict of interest?”
The instructor snorted, derision thick in the sound. “More like self preservation, I didn’t say this, but there was suspicion that there was murder happening right under our noses. No one particularly important, and it’s not like trainees don’t die in training anyways, but there have been some very suspicious deaths – both in training and at the local streets. Yeager was a bloodthirsty kid from the beginning, and vengeful. That he’s titan in nature is not such a staggering surprise.”
“You can’t say you’ve seen this coming.”
“No one could have thought that such a possibility existed, but now that it’s proven why should it be surprising that it’s Yeager of all people?” Keith’s mind flashed quickly, remembering the angry boy with bloodlust shining in his eyes. “From what I heard, he’s already used his titan form to help him kill more titans. He’s a vengeful little shit, and he’ll have the rest of the 104th backing him up now even more than ever, after what you pulled.”
“I?”
“The Scouting Legion, while you were following your precious Commander Smith’s orders in that last attempt to subdue them. Seriously, is that how you captured you?” Keith suddenly directed the question to Levi, indifferent to the rage in the shorter man’s eyes. “Ambushed you in full daylight and tried to tranquilize you?”
“You yourself said that the 104th were a different class,” Mike injected smoothly. “It was an escalated situation with two armed groups. That the commander chose to tranquilize instead of kill means he intends to spare their lives, considering that one of them was a titan shifter, he was taking a gamble.”
The instructor continued looking unimpressed, “Yeager managed to escape anyways, but I would applaud your successes as you did take out most of the top fighters. Braun and Leonhart are worth several soldiers, and you cut off the head of the snake when your commander captured Kirstein, but unfortunately you underestimated the group who escaped. Ackerman and Yeager aside, there was one major threat Commander Smith failed to factor in.”
“And who would that be?” Levi asked roughly.
“He may not have ranked in the top ten, but Armin Arlet is one of the cleverest students I have ever known.” Keith’s lips pulled back into a grimace, “When Yeager wakes and goes berserk, it will be Arlet who will calm him down and put together a plan to break out his friends.”
“What makes you think the brats won’t just run?” Levi countered, and finally Keith roared in laughter. It was a bitter sound.
“Trust me, you took what didn’t belong to you, that’s how the 104th will see it. They will come for their friends, they may even want revenge and blood. Crazy codependents, remember?”