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A knock sounded at the door, interrupting Levi’s much-needed solitude. As he tossed aside the book he’d been reading and prepared to call out an irritable response, warning bells rang in his head, belatedly reminding him that his mother had mentioned visiting today. Quelling his annoyance, Levi stood, opening the door to reveal that his visitor was not, in fact, his mother.
The sight of Mikasa Ackerman with a stack of paperwork in her hand sent his temper right back to blazing. “Are you unaware that it’s the weekend, or did you addle yourself during practice?” Levi snapped.
Adding fuel to the fire, Mikasa rolled her eyes and simply squeezed past him, entering his combined quarters and office without batting an eye. He fumed, clenching his jaw as he turned to her and challenged, “Who the fuck said you could come in?”
Mikasa ignored the dig and tossed the papers down on the center of his desk—a desk that he’d worked through the night to clear of paperwork. “Take it up with Hange,” she said, tugging at the end of the ratty scarf Levi would pay good money to burn.
“I’ll take up the paperwork with Hange, but I’ll ask you again. Who the fuck said you could come in?” Levi all but growled, his head throbbing at the idea of another volley of bullshit red tape to sort through.
“Levi!”
He whirled around at the sound of his mother’s outraged voice, cringing as he replayed the last words out of his mouth and the scene she’d walked into.
Kuchel Ackerman stood in the doorway, glowering at him. His mother might be small-framed, but the expression written on her face warned Levi he was in acute danger if he stepped wrong here. He raised a hand to his forehead rubbing at the throb that had now become a steady drumbeat. Better to get the inevitable over with now.
Clearing his throat, Levi turned to Mikasa. “I’m sorry.”
Mikasa raised a single brow, looking more amused at the situation than she had any right to. His lieutenant might be his best soldier and dangerously close to a friend, but she was also a giant pain in his ass—and now she had more leverage. It took everything in Levi to keep the groan of annoyance from leaving his lips.
Still standing in the doorway, Kuchel cleared her throat. “Are you going to introduce us, Levi?”
The dangerously sweet tone of his mother’s voice warned Levi he was far from being done paying for his transgression. He knew better than to argue or try to win this fight; she hadn’t survived those horrific years Underground by being weak-spirited.
Rallying every ounce of patience he possessed, Levi turned and gestured for his mom to enter. Looking at an entirely too-satisfied Mikasa, he said, “Mikasa, this is my mom, Kuchel.”
As his mother reached for Mikasa’s hand, he explained, “Ma, this is Mikasa Ackerman. My Lieutenant and right hand in managing the squad.”
Mikasa looked momentarily startled by her introduction but hid it quickly, politely shaking Kuchel’s hand with a smile. “It’s good to meet you.”
Taking Mikasa’s hand between hers, Kuchel grinned, “Ackerman. You must be from that remote branch of the family Kenny tracked down all those years ago. Hard to believe that we had family that broke away even before the Walls went up.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Levi watched the play of barely perceptible emotions on Mikasa’s face. Between the two of them, the topic was long dead; there wasn’t much to discuss, with hundreds of years separating the branches of the family tree.
Thankfully, Mikasa didn’t show any aversion to humoring his mother’s comments, replying, “It seems that my father’s side of the family broke away from the clan a long time ago. Growing up, he never mentioned any others, and he and my mother were killed when I was little. It was surprising to join the Survey Corps and learn about it all.”
Levi watched the look of sorrow that spread across Kechel’s face and winced internally; he knew that look, and it was about to make his afternoon much longer.
Her arms shot out, and she pulled an alarmed Mikasa into a tight hug. After the first flicker of amusement at her reaction passed, guilt turned his stomach when Mikasa gratefully settled into the hug. He scolded himself for his pettiness.
“Join us?” Kuchel offered to Mikasa, both women turning to look at Levi.
Holding back a sigh, he said, “I’ll put on some tea.”
As he filled the kettle and hung it over the fire to boil, Mikasa and his mother settled on the couch. He caught snippets of their conversation. Thankfully, it seemed relatively innocuous and mainly featured his mother peppering Mikasa with questions about her background.
Levi shifted uncomfortably as he watched them talk. Mikasa seemed genuinely happy, with a soft smile on her lips. It was odd; Levi couldn’t recall soft being a word he’d ever apply to Mikasa. She’d even loosened that damned scarf, moving it further from her mouth.
Shaking his head at the surreal scene, Levi prepared tea for them—Mikasa’s and his mother’s with honey, his without. As he passed the cup to Mikasa, he caught the glimmer of humor in her eyes. Of course, she wouldn’t make this easy on him.
Settling into the armchair with his cup, Levi tried to catch up with the thread of conversation only to realize in horror that Kuchel was talking about his childhood. Mikasa smiled and said, “Your mom was telling me you got into a lot of trouble when you were younger. Something about getting caught stealing by the Garrison guards when you first moved to Mitras?”
Levi nearly choked on his tea, shooting his mom a scowl—alarm bells be damned. She couldn’t just start talking about him being a thief with his subordinates. Not that Mikasa ever seemed to consider herself a subordinate anyway.
“All kids get into trouble,” Kuchel said, attempting to soothe Levi’s ruffled feathers.
As he relaxed, she added, “You did seem to have a special knack for getting into particularly bad trouble, though. And so many fights with the other kids in the neighborhood.”
Levi leaned his head into his hand, blocking out Mikasa’s subtle smirk. “Let’s talk about something else. What have you been doing lately?”
The topic seemed safe enough, and Levi at least had the solace of knowing he likely bought himself a short reprieve while Kuchel gushed about her latest projects in the garden.
The tension bled from him as he listened to his mother describe the arbor she added to the garden with the money he sent last month. Kuchel used to refuse to take it when he first enlisted but had given up on it as a lost cause by now. He smiled at the joy on his mother’s face as she described the flowering vines that would soon encircle the structure.
At first, when he caught Mikasa looking at him oddly, he considered wiping the smile from his face but quickly dismissed the idea and settled back into the conversation. Plus, Mikasa did her own share of smiling and displayed a knowledge of gardening that took Levi by surprise but delighted Kuchel.
As the first round of tea finished and Kuchel satisfied her curiosity about Mikasa’s plant acumen, she excused herself and headed through the adjoining door that led to the restroom.
Levi offered to refill the tea, knowing his mom would scold him soundly for anything less than good manners after how the afternoon began. As he moved the kettle back on the fire, Mikasa sidled up beside him.
“Your mother seems nice. Does she visit you often?”
Looking for a trap in the question and finding none, Levi sighed. “She visited more when I wasn’t drowning in paperwork or being sent back and forth on errands.”
Mikasa hummed a non-committal response to his explanation and leaned against the wall, watching as he prepared the tea. “You can help out at any time, you know, brat?”
Shaking her head, Mikasa stayed planted against the wall. “You’re better at making tea anyway.”
Levi couldn’t help the small swell of pride at her words. He knew damn well that he could make a good cup of tea, so he frowned at the instinctive response to her words.
“You two look so much alike,” Mikasa said, tilting her head to examine him.
Handing her the refilled tea, Levi stayed silent. In truth, the fact he looked so much like his mother had earned him more than his share of teasing and led to many of the scuffles of his youth—that and defending his mother when the others in the neighborhood thought to talk shit about her previous occupation.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Mikasa added. “I was just surprised.”
Levi arched a skeptical eyebrow her way at the backtracking.
Then, the corner of Mikasa’s curled up. “You seem to have had an interesting life before the Survey Corps. I think your mother mentioned you ending up in custody no less than three times in the space of a few minutes.”
Levi glared at her, a sour pout materializing on his face against his will. “I’m not talking about it, and if you know what’s good for you, you won’t mention it again either.”
Never one to be intimidated, Mikasa pushed off the wall and stepped closer, teacup still in hand. “What are you going to do about it, shorty ?” she taunted.
Irritated beyond measure at the insult and embarrassed at her newfound knowledge of his life, Levi rose to his feet. “Watch yourself, brat,” he hissed.
Her chin tilted up at the implied threat. Levi swore at himself; he should have known it would only goad her. Mikasa’s eyes glittered, giving him a rare peek at the more mischievous side of her nature. “I’m not scared of you.”
“Shut up already, brat,” Levi replied, exasperated and louder than he intended.
A creak followed by rapid footsteps was the only warning he got before he realized that his mom had returned at precisely the wrong time. “Levi, you apologize for calling her a brat right now!”
Kuchel’s brows furrowed, and a displeased frown turned her lips downward. “Ma—, I—,” he tried to defend before realizing how ridiculous he sounded and clamped his mouth shut instead.
She shook her head at Levi. “I said, apologize now. That was an incredibly rude thing to say to such a lovely girl, and your lieutenant, no less.”
Levi flushed, suddenly feeling like he was twelve again and being scolded for getting into his latest scrape with the neighborhood kids. Swallowing down his pride, Levi opened his mouth to speak.
Mikasa cleared her throat. “It’s okay, really. I was teasing him, and he calls everyone that. I’m not upset.”
Kuchel turned her attention to Mikasa, scrutinizing her carefully. Levi shot Mikasa a grateful look before his mother turned back to him. “You still shouldn’t talk to people that way, Levi. You didn’t like the names people called us when we first moved back to the surface,” she scolded, her tone gentler this time.
Levi nodded, flustered. He picked up Kuchel’s teacup, handing her the freshly refilled tea. For a moment, it appeared she might push further but apparently decided against it.
Linking her arm with Mikasa, Kuchel led her back to the small sofa, and Levi sighed in relief. Very little managed to intimidate him nowadays, but his mother being angry at him was one of the few things he couldn’t stand against.
Rejoining them, Levi listened as his mother drew stories out from Mikasa about growing up in Shiganshina. He listened quietly, a vague sense of guilt growing at never asking those questions himself during the years of knowing Mikasa and having her lead the squad beside him.
As the daylight waned, Mikasa rose, explaining she had plans to meet with the others for dinner. Levi watched, his lips quirking into a half-smile as Kuchel fussed over Mikasa, eliciting a promise that she would write and stay in touch.
Not wanting to risk his mother’s wrath over his manners again, Levi stood and saw Mikasa off with an assurance he would let Hange know that she had delivered the papers to him.
As he closed the door, Levi turned back around only to be startled by his mother standing directly behind him; he’d forgotten she could move just as quietly as himself when she wanted to.
Kuchel scanned him with narrowed eyes, the scrutiny making Levi squirm. “What?” he finally asked, exasperated.
Her lips curled into a wry half-smile that was the mirror image of his own. “She’s a lovely girl, especially when she comes out of her shell. Pretty, too.”
“No,” Levi said, hoping to head off the conversation before the evening entered a whole new circle of hell for him.
“No?” Kuchel asked, a confused expression on her face. “You don’t think she’s pretty?”
“Of course, she’s pretty. I—.” Levi froze, realizing the trap his mother had set. It had been too long since he had spent time with her. He’d forgotten how well she could dissemble, and he took the bait.
Groaning, he sank down to the chair. “Do we have to do this? She’s my subordinate, regardless of whatever thoughts are running through your head.”
She sat on the sofa, a sad smile on her face. “That may be, but ranks can change. You’re not getting any younger, and the war isn’t getting less dangerous. Just think about it. You could do far worse.”
Levi sipped his tea, mulling over her words as he reflected on the different side of Mikasa he’d seen today. Soft. That had been his earlier thought. Levi’s thoughts tangled and twisted as he unpacked it all.
Waiting in silence as she drank her tea, Kuchel watched him. Levi felt the weight of her gaze, and when he looked up, her eyes twinkled. “Plus, I’m pretty sure she’s interested in you.”
She laughed at Levi’s bug-eyed stare. “Mikasa is a tough one to read, but she worries about you. I can see it in her eyes when she watches you. Not to mention, she stuck up for you despite your rude behavior,” she added, leveling Levi with a look that told him she wasn’t going to let his earlier attitude go.
The idea of Mikasa having an interest in him was laughable. “You’re reading too much into things. We’re just close because of our roles.”
Finishing her tea, Kuchel set her cup on the table and stood. “I’ll have to head back now to make it home before it’s too dark.”
Levi closed his eyes and allowed his mother to embrace him. He’d never forget the sacrifices she made to keep them alive long enough to escape the Underground and live a normal life. “Be safe,” she whispered, words that had long since become a tradition every time they parted.
“You too, Ma,” he said, not bothering to hide the roughness in his voice.
Then, she released her grip on him and stepped back. “Next time, let’s do dinner as well.”
Levi nodded. “That sounds good.”
Kuchel opened the door before turning back to him. “And make sure you invite Mikasa, or I will. Be nicer to her, too,” she admonished.
Knowing this was another battle he wouldn’t win, Levi said, “Okay, I’ll invite her.”
“And be nicer to her?” Kuchel prompted, a teasing expression lighting her face.
Visions of Mikasa’s glee if she ever knew about this exchange danced in Levi’s head. “And be nicer to her.”
Kuchel’s expression grew serious. “I love you, Levi. Just think about what I said, okay?”
“I’ll think about it. I love you too, Ma.”
Levi watched her leave, more empty than he’d like to admit in the sudden absence of any company.
He eyed the paperwork on his desk with dread. Then, remembering some of the earlier revelations, he grabbed his jacket to head down to the mess hall and eat. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to sit down and ask some questions of his own. Mikasa might even wear that soft smile again if he did.