Levi x Reader: Survival

Chapter 9

Levi was right in front of you.

Your breath itched in your throat as soon as you saw him approaching you, a look of pure horror spread across your face. Shit, what does he want now?

He read your thoughts and answered half-heartedly: "(L/n) don't shit in your pants now. I just acme here to supervise your poor job." How he hated behaving like this with you. But it was for the best, right?

"Sir, I was about to explain to the cadets what they were going to do today." you said, struggling to look at him in the eye while keeping a straight face, then continued: "Today, you will be training your shooting skills. If you get stuck outside the walls for more than a day, you will need to keep your energy levels in optimal conditions if you want to stay alive. You'll need to hunt your food, and the fastest and safest way to do it is by shooting down the prey of choice. Today's task will be to shoot the targets over there with the weapons you'll find on this table here. Mind you: those targets are way easier to shoot than an actual prey, a full bullseye now doesn't mean you'll catch something out there. I expect you to give your best. Now, start!" you explained to the cadets, all eyes fixed on you.
Levi on the other hand seemed thoughtful.

~ Levi's POV ~

I failed to find a way to prevent (F/n) from becoming a respected Squad Leader, but destroying her reputation now might set her off and make her withdraw from her current position. God she'll hate me forever after this. Let's just hope this will work out.

"(L/n), why don't you show those brats how to shoot? I'm sure it won't be a problem at all, am I right?" I asked, a mischievous glint in my eyes.
"No, not at all Sir." she answered, a bit taken aback by my badly-concealed sarcasm.

Her eyes avoided mine. Out of fear maybe?
She averted her gaze from my face and slowly went to the wooden table. She already seemed crestfallen the second I came here... why do I have to be such a piece of shit?

~ back to normal POV ~

You took the guns in your hands and deftly loaded them. You glanced briefly to Levi and after seeing his impassible face, you focused on the targets in front of you.
You lifted your gun and pointed it to the centre of the head of one of the silhouettes. You took a breath and stilled, then you pulled the trigger.
Everyone, included Levi, was incredulously watching you while you emptied the gun, every single bullet entering the same hole in the middle of the head. You truly were a sniper.
When you run out of bullets you lowed your arms and put the weapon on the table, then faced the cadets with a small smile adorning your features.

"And that's how you shoot properly a target cadets. Remember, your actual prey will be far more difficult to catch though." They stood there with their mouths agape before someone had the brilliant idea to start applauding. How cute.

Still snickering you turned your attention to Levi who, to your surprise, was beyond livid seething with anger. His scowl had only worsened and you could feel an aura of danger radiating from him. Why is he so upset now?
You couldn't think of a plausible excuse but Levi didn't really give you the time to, since no more than 2 seconds later he strode towards you and, to your shock, yanked your shirt's collar down and pulled your face mere inches from his. What the fuck is he doing now?!
His breath was slightly laboured, as if he was trying with all his might not to explode.
You could see pure rage reflecting into those grey orbs of his, but what caught your attention was something else, although you couldn't really tell what. Is that... hurt? No, that's impossible. What could that be?
You stood in this awkward position for about a minute, his gaze never leaving yours, before you bravely decided to speak up:

"Uhm... Corporal, Sir... could you please let me go?" you mentally high-fived for your avoidance of stuttering.
A guttural sound came out of his throat and for a moment you thought this "man" in front of you was just an animal, not even the Corporal. He removed his hand from your shirt with force, almost ripping your beloved clothing item. Just what the devil is he playing at?

Your mind was screaming to drop the act and run for your dear life whilst your heart ached to know what was bothering him. You (stupidly) decided to follow the latter.

"Sir is everything alright?" you asked tentatively, still keeping hidden your concern in front of the other cadets, who were still watching the strange scene occurring before their eyes.
A whisper you barely caught was your answer.
"Excuse me Sir?" you replied mildly affected by his words, since you were fairly accustomed with his rude antics.
"I said, you idiot, what the fuck is wrong with you. Do you really think that your piss-poor attempt to shoot those targets will save your stupid ass out there? Do you really think that you, a brat with no clue about life, could save her squad from those monsters? I thought you were stupid before, but you somehow managed to surprise me." he said in his usual monotone voice, loud enough for the whole audience to hear.

By the time he finished his hateful speech, in your mind you were screaming bloody-murder, but you decided to maintain a strong, impassive façade to show him and the cadets that those words didn't affect you in the slightest, whilst in reality you felt a sharp stab in you chest.

"Corporal, I don't think this discussion should have place here. Maybe it should be done at a more suitable time and place, don't you think? We shouldn't give he cadets a bad example." you stated plainly. You knew why he was doing this but you still hoped for him to stop now. And once again, you were terribly wrong.

"Oh I think this is the perfect moment (L/n). The brats must know who 's hands they're placing their lives in. They must know how incompetent you are, or they'll commit the mistake to trust you." he spat, venom lacing his words.

You couldn't believe what you just heard, but still found the perfect way to retort.
"Right Sir... no one here would want to commit the same mistake as you, wouldn't they? In fact, I hardly doubt someone would place his life in my hands and be saved from more than one titan attack, that would be beyond stupid, don't you agree?" you inquired, clearly referring to the multiple times you saved his ass.

Levi didn't know how much he could stand putting on this show, but your last sentence clearly gave him an ultimatum. He had just one last card to play, but he knew that by saying that, you would have hated him for the rest of your life. "It's for the best", he said to himself.

"Indeed (L/n), entrust you with my life was the worst mistake I've ever done. I should have let you go when running outside the walls, you would have spared me seeing your stupid face any longer."

The cadets gasped loudly, shocked to hear something like that coming from the Corporal. Sure he was rude but he respected the life of very single soldier, from the weakest to the strongest...
But to you... to you it was different. That's it. That was the final straw.

You stood there, in front of him, completely still. The only thing standing out from your impassible face were your eyes, wide open in a mixture of shock and pain. How could he...
You struggled to refrain from crying, but a single tear managed to spill out from your left eye.
You started shaking, but ran away into the woods before sobs wrecked your body. You ran until your legs finally gave out and you fell into the ground. You crouched in a fetal position under a tree and went on crying for God knows how long.

In the meantime, someone else was standing still as a statue, in the middle of the training grounds, disgusted by his own words. His mind engraved your beautiful face torn apart by tears and pain, the pain he caused, and regretted everything:

What have I done?