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Tradition They Say	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: +. to F > Attack on Titan /Shingeki No Kyojin Views: 2611 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan nor profit from it. Hajime Isayama owns it.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Author's note: Many apologies for the delay! This chapter was giving me a bit more trouble than I anticipated *winces*
Warnings: smidgen of violence; nothing really in particular
I hope you'll like it!
Chapter 3
"Oi, Eren, wake up."
The boy let out an inelegant snort and scrambled up, arms already moving into the standard greeting before he had even opened his eyes. When they opened, he stared blearily at the older man, blinking rapidly a couple of times. "Sorry, sir, did I snore?"
"If you did, I would have kicked you out immediately, Zuschauer or no Zuschauer," Levi retorted, rolling his shoulders.
"Oh." Eren paused, lowering his arms. His eyes darted across the room, alertness brightening them. When his gaze fell on the window, he drew his eyebrows together. "It's still dark outside."
"Astute observation," Levi said dryly. "Considering it's six fifteen and late autumn, don't expect the sun to be up already."
Instantly Eren whipped his head around and stared at him incredulously. "Six fifteen?" he squeaked. "Why are we awake so early?" He sounded appalled as if Levi had done him a great misdeed.
"So that we can take a decent shower without other people hogging the bathrooms," Levi explained and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would appreciate having hot water instead of having to deal with the lukewarm version around eight."
Eren pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, I suppose that would be better," he muttered, not entirely convinced. His hair resembled a bird's nest; an appearance not helped when he ran his hands through it. Green grey eyes looked down at the sleeping bag. "Ehm, where should I put the sleeping bag, sir?"
Rubbing his hands over his face, Levi thought about a suitable hiding place. It had to be somewhere nobody else would think of looking at nor a place where someone could stumble across it accidentally. That only left very few places. "Stuff it in the closet," he decided after a moment. "There should still be some space left at the bottom of it. You can take it out later when you're airing out the rest."
"All right, sir." Eren bent down and made quick work of rolling the sleeping bag into a cylinder shape.
As Eren stuffed the bag at the bottom of the closet, Levi rose up from the bed and stretched his arms. "Seeing as you're there anyway, grab me my clothes."
"Yes, sir!" There was a rustle of fabric as the younger man set about collecting fresh clothes.
Levi was just checking the watch he kept on the rickety nightstand when Eren asked in a weird tone, "Ehm, your underwear too, sir?"
The older man paused for a moment, struck by the sheer stupidity of the question. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he said annoyed, "Yes, Eren, my underwear too. I don't care whether you go commando or not, but I don't prefer getting my dick caught between the zipper. Unlike you I don't heal instantly."
"I can't touch your underwear!" Eren squawked indignantly.
Slowly Levi turned around, taking notice of how red the boy's cheeks had turned. "Unless you suddenly lost all your motor skills, you can give me my underwear. Just pick it up, Eren," he retorted impatiently. If they kept arguing for much longer, Hange might actually beat them to the showers and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
"I can't do that!"
"Why the hell not?!"
"Because it's your underwear!"
"Oh for fuck's sake! I'm not asking you to touch a pair of knickers! Just give me my clothes, underwear included, you moron. We have the exact same body parts, so I don't know why the hell you're making such a big deal out of nothing."
"Because you're the captain! I can't touch your underwear, that wouldn't be right!" Eren spluttered, his face so red he resembled a tomato. He was clenching the bundle of clothes tightly, wrinkling them, and he absolutely refused to look at the underwear drawer.
What the fuck was wrong with this kid? He'd only asked for some fresh clothes!
"Eren, so help me, if you don't give me my clothes, including my underwear, right this instant, you'll spend the entire morning with Hange extracting my boot from your arse," Levi said lowly.
A complicated, loud noise of frustration escaped the brunette but he swiftly bent down and snatched a fresh pair of underwear from the drawer, throwing them on the bundle of clothes as if it was on fire. He thrusted out his arms, offering the clothes to Levi, and that idiot actually had his eyes closed.
Levi started to wonder just how sheltered Ackerman had kept her friend.
As soon as Levi had taken the clothes from him, Eren's eyes shot open and he shuffled towards the door, pointing at it. "I'm just – going to get some clothes then and take a shower too," he mumbled awkwardly; his cheeks and neck still dyed a deep red.
"You do that. It's probably for the best you move some clothes in here for as long as Zuschauer stays," Levi said, deciding to ignore the weird exchange that had just occurred. "Getting down to your room every morning just to get some clothes is a waste of time and you'll only be disturbing your roommate."
"Armin wouldn't mind," Eren replied, shrugging. "I think he'd be more concerned about how early I'm up."
Grey eyes peered at him. "If you act this fucking weird every time you wake up early, I can see why he'd be concerned," he grunted.
Flushing again – really, was that kid trying to impersonate a fucking tomato? – Eren started stammering some sort of explanation, but Levi waved him off.
"Just go before the hot water's gone. If I have to deal with Hange's whining because you made us both late, I'm sicking her on you," he threatened. And he would. He had no qualms about doing that if it meant instilling in Eren the lesson to be on time before crazy weirdos would take over the place.
A look of horror passed Eren's face – probably remembering the time he had made the grave mistake of asking Hange about titans – and he hurried out of the room.
Shaking his head, Levi left the room as well, making his way to the bathroom at the end of the corridor.
A freaking pair of underwear. Holy fuck.
"Are you sure I can't tell Armin and Mikasa about the real reason I'm your Companion, sir?" Eren asked anxiously as he followed the older man downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Yes, Eren, I'm sure for the reasons I told you yesterday. Keeping quiet about it for a little while won't kill you." Levi rolled his eyes. Despite not knowing the two very well, he knew they would keep their mouths shut if Eren asked them to – he just couldn't trust them to be smart enough to talk about it in a place where nobody would interrupt them.
With Zuschauer seemingly intent on stalking him and Eren, he wouldn't put it past that pesky woman to start following Eren around once she noticed he wasn't at Levi's side. Case in point: last night when she practically bullied the boy into sleeping in his bedroom.
"I know, sir, but I still think it'd make it easier for everyone involved," Eren continued stubbornly. "Mikasa still doesn't like you and she'll most likely flip once she hears about the contract and - "
"I really don't understand what her issue is, but you seem to like me just fine," Levi replied disinterestedly, ignoring the spluttering and weird choking noises behind him. The brat should probably spent less time with Hange if he was taking over her weird noises. "I really don't care how angry your sister is going to be; she'll just have to suck it up. If she's smart, she'll realise it's better you're my Companion and safe than someone else's and being tortured within an inch of your life."
"I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that to her, sir," Eren said cautiously after a pause. They passed a bleary eyed Kirstein on their way, who halted his yawning to gape at them confused.
"Shut your mouth, Jean, before you swallow a fly. Of course as a guy related to horses, you're probably used to attracting flies," Eren said irritated.
That had Kirstein instantly shutting his mouth and he glared at the other boy. "Shut the fuck up, Jaeger," he snapped. "What the hell are you doing up so early anyway? Did Armin kick you out of your bed already?"
"None of your damn business, horse face. Pay attention to yourself first; your fly is open."
Throughout the entire exchange, Levi and Eren had made their way through the corridor, aiming for the staircase. With how loud their voices were, it wouldn't surprise Levi if everyone was awake now.
He was proven right when a girl's voice – maybe that Ymir girl? – yelled, "God, shut the fuck up already! Some of us are still trying to sleep here!"
"Maybe if you hadn't stayed awake so late with Krista, you wouldn't be tired now!" Kirstein must have looked down to check his trousers, because he cursed, "Fuck you, Jaeger, my fly's not down!"
"You wish you could have stayed up late with her!"
Eren cackled as they descended the staircase, leaving the shouting behind.
"For someone whining about having to wake up early, you're rather loud already," Levi muttered darkly.
"Well, I'm awake now," Eren pointed out. "I'm not going to stay sleepy the whole time."
"What a pity," Levi mumbled underneath his breath.
When they entered the dining hall, only Erwin was present already, drinking a cup of tea and eating some toast. In the kitchen area people were talking; most likely the small team Hange had gathered around her to study titans. That team consisted out of two women and two guys and they were the ones on kitchen duty this morning apparently.
As long as breakfast was edible, it didn't matter to Levi who was on kitchen duty; Hange was completely removed from the list, though. Only a titan would probably be able to eat the crap she thought resembled actual food.
"Good morning, Levi, Eren," Erwin greeted them with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
Levi narrowed his eyes as Eren greeted the blond man in return. He didn't trust the way those blue eyes glistened and wondered warily whether the man knew Eren had been forced to sleep in the same room as Levi.
Given how he seemed to know everything about everyone even if they didn't want him to, that wouldn't surprise him.
He and Eren collected their own cups with tea and some toast with beans; Hange's team greeting them cheerfully before returning to the task they each had got assigned. The closer they got to the table where Erwin sat, the more Eren seemed to stall for some reason and Levi turned around with a sigh.
"What's wrong now?"
"Are you sure I shouldn't go sit at my regular table, sir?" Eren asked uncertainly; his fingers clutching his tray firmly.
"Erwin doesn't bite and I'm not in the mood to deal with Zuschauer already this early in the morning, so yes, I'm sure you're going to join me, Eren," Levi replied, trying to remain as patiently as possible, but fuck if the brat wasn't making that difficult. Hadn't he been clear yesterday that they needed to at least come across as a genuine Companion and Enquirer?
Sitting next to each other at a table was the least uncomfortable thing they'd probably have to end up doing.
"All right, sir," Eren muttered, sounding warily as if he was about to approach a sleeping titan instead of just Erwin.
They sat down with Eren at the left corner and Levi next to him. It took quite a while before the kid started to relax, but the longer Levi talked with Erwin – or more precisely let the other man talk and give the occasional grunt in acknowledgment – the more at ease he seemed to become, as if he finally started to realise that nothing bad was going to happen during breakfast.
There was a tense moment when Zuschauer entered the hall next, but she merely sat down at one of the smaller tables with her breakfast and offered them a nod before she started eating. She didn't appear to have her notebook with her now, but Levi would be a fool to assume that meant she wasn't paying attention to them.
As the minutes ticked by, more and more people started trickling into the hall, eager to eat before their training would start. Springer and Blouse were challenging each other to stuff as many baked beans as possible in their mouths while Kirstein and Ymir were still arguing with Lenz listening to them amused, looking petite and delicate between them. Braun was telling a sleepy Hoover something with Hange trailing right behind them, reading something in one of her notebooks. Mike was right next to her, steering her by her shoulder so that she wouldn't walk into something or someone.
Ackerman and Arlert were one of the last ones to walk into the room; Ackerman carrying a look of doom and Arlert waving his hands around nervously as if he was trying to calm her down while at the same time not daring to touch her.
Splendid. If Ackerman was already in such a foul mood now, she'd probably explode once Levi informed everyone of Eren's new status.
The clatter of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs being dragged back filled the room for a while as everyone settled down to eat their breakfast. Hange and Mike joined Erwin, Levi and Eren at the table once they had got their own share. Mike's nose twitched and he stared bemused at Levi before switching his gaze to Eren. Seemingly having decided that he didn't need an answer straight away, he started eating his breakfast, conversing with Erwin about a tactic he'd had in mind for a while now.
Hange, however, wasn't willing to let things be like Mike was and stared at them with wide eyes, curiosity brimming.
"What's my favourite titan shifter doing at this table, hm?" she asked, a large grin already unfolding across her face as she supported her chin on her hands.
"You only know two titan shifters," Eren remarked after a short pause, looking a bit unnerved by the intensity of her staring.
Levi couldn't really blame him. Even after knowing that crazy woman for years, he still got unsettled at times by some of the looks on her face.
"Two is enough to make one a favourite," she retorted, waving her hand haphazardly in the air, nearly smacking it in Mike's face. "You didn't answer my question, Eren." Her brown eyes, enlarged by her glasses, swivelled towards Levi and her grin grew sharper. "Or Levi for that matter. Fess up, what's going on here? Or are you just showing Eren's your favourite? Pretty sure everyone knows that already, short stack."
"I don't have something as ridiculous as a favourite, you idiot."
"Uhuh and I'm a direct descendant of the king," she said unimpressed.
"There's nothing wrong with having favourites, Levi," Erwin smiled; his blue eyes gleaming over the rim of his cup.
Eren's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.
"Don't encourage her, Erwin," Levi snapped and became aware of eyes piercing a hole in the side of his head.
When he turned his head, he saw every pair of eyes trained on him; most just looked confused as they finally noticed Eren was not sitting with them. Arlert was frowning, his blue eyes switching back and forth between Levi and Eren, clearly trying to figure out what was going on. Ackerman was full on glaring at Levi; the knuckles of her hand stark white, clenched tightly around her fork.
"You're sure you don't want me to talk to Mikasa first, sir?" Eren muttered underneath his breath, pushing the last couple of beans back and forth on his plate, watching his sister nervously.
"What's going on, Captain?" Ymir asked curiously. She was sitting closest to the higher ups and supported her head on her chin. She appeared at ease, relaxed to the point of looking lazy, but her eyes were sharp and glinting. "Yeager getting preferential treatment?" she continued smirking.
Blouse started to whine. "What? Not fair! Does this mean Eren gets better food? Hey Eren, you don't mind sharing with me, right?"
"Just shut up, Sasha," Eren groaned, rubbing his forehead. He seemed to be doing his best to avoid Ackerman's piercing eyes.
"Why are you sitting there, though, Eren?" Braun squinted.
"Yes, Eren, why are you sitting there?" Ackerman asked; her voice deceitfully calm but her eyes burning.
"Just get it over with, Levi," Erwin murmured; mirth no longer shining in his eyes. "There's no point in keeping silent about it any longer. Especially with her here."
Zuschauer was watching the scene unfold with rapid attention; her hands neatly folded on her lap.
"Spill the secret, shorty!" Hange grinned, rubbing her hands together.
Gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to drag her to the highest tower and push her down from it, Levi turned back to the rest of the hall and said tersely, "Eren is sitting here because as of yesterday Eren has become my Companion."
Silence first, then several things happened at once. Ymir started laughing, nearly howling, as she slammed her fist on the table time and time again with Lenz trying to calm her down, throwing anxious looks at Eren. Munched bits of toast fell out of Springer's mouth as his mouth dropped open in shock – god, that was fucking disgusting to witness – and Blouse started choking. Kirstein seemed to have gone in shock, his jaw slack as he stared at Eren with blank eyes. Braun and Hoover just gaped at them and Mike blinked.
Hange started shrieking like a fucking banshee, jumping up and down in her seat and screeching unintelligible words. Arlert's eyes widened, comprehension dawning in them while Ackerman –
Ackerman lunged forwards; the desire to kill setting those dark eyes alight.
"It could have gone worse," Erwin commented, interlacing his fingers.
Levi glared at him, still nursing an ice pack against his bruised left eye. His cut lip throbbed faintly; the bitter taste of blood coating his tongue still. Ackerman hadn't been able to do more damage than that, but it had been enough to give him a splitting headache on top of the swollen eye and cut lip.
Only the utter shock and disbelief at actually being attacked by her had allowed Ackerman to get two hits in before he had managed to kick her off him and throw her down to the ground. Arlert and Braun had rushed forwards to hold her back when she had tried to attack him again and she had utterly ignored Eren yelling at her – "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Mikasa?! Are you fucking insane?!" – the rage plainly visible in her eyes making her blind for everything else but attacking Levi.
Levi had thought Eren had been exaggerating Ackerman's reaction – clearly he hadn't.
"I never thought I'd see the day someone could actually land a punch on you," Hange said, her tone full with amazement. She was sitting on a wooden chest, legs crossed, and her glasses on top of her head. She'd been the one to help Levi with the ice pack and had given him a wet handkerchief to clean off the blood.
"She's fucking insane," Levi muttered darkly, pressing the ice pack closer against his eye. The coldness helped, numbing the area around his eye, but it'd take a while before the swelling would go completely down.
"Well, Eren did say before she's rather protective of him," Hange quipped with a grin.
"There's being protective and there's being downright obsessive," Levi snapped, still pissed at the stupid girl. What the hell was wrong with her? He understood being angry, especially given how close she was with Eren, but to actually go as far as to attack him? He had honestly expected her to be more rational than that.
"Loyalty is hard to come by these days," Erwin mused. "You want to give her a punishment?"
Attacking someone of Levi's status would normally land the other person in jail. In a world filled with titans hellbent on eating them, there was no room for fights among humankind and anyone attacking a superior wasn't considered suitable enough to remain in the Corps.
Heaving a sigh, Levi lowered the ice pack and carefully prodded the skin around his eye. It still hurt like a bitch even with the coldness numbing it for the most part. "No, there's no point," he groused, glowering. "The Survey Corps already doesn't have that many members; we can't afford to lose another one, especially not given her skills."
"What if she attacks you again?" Mike asked, speaking up for the first time since they had retreated to Erwin's office.
"She won't," Levi said and that he knew for certain. "Eren's talking to her now. She might hate me, but she won't risk losing Eren over this."
"I hope you're right, Levi." Erwin raised an eyebrow. "The last thing we need is fighting amongst the ranks."
"She got me once; she's not going to get another chance," Levi said annoyed.
Hange clapped her hands, looking way too excited. "I never thought you'd get a Companion, Levi, so it's going to be interesting to see this unfold. Just make sure to not break him too much, hm?" Cackling wildly, she left the room.
"Perhaps it's best if you go back to Eren before Zuschauer starts becoming concerned," Erwin suggested, ignoring as always Hange's bout of insanity.
Dropping the ice pack on the desk, Levi stood up and scowled. "Yeah, I suppose that's for the best."
The last thing they needed now was for Zuschauer to become suspicious. God, he couldn't wait until that stupid bint was finally gone.
The rest of the day he was hyper aware of Zuschauer's gaze on him and Eren. She tried to keep herself in the background and would probably immerse herself into the actual décor if she could, but Levi's skin positively crawled with the weight of her stare. She never said anything or came close to him or Eren, but it was clear that she was studying them, watching the way they behaved around each other.
Perhaps her presence wouldn't be that horrible – oh fuck, who was he kidding? It was beyond fucking annoying, no matter how he looked at it – if the rest of the Corps didn't act so bloody awkward.
Mike had apparently decided to ignore the entire situation and that suited Levi just fine. Honestly he hadn't expected anything else from the quiet man. Hange was busy in her own lab, so at least during the day she wouldn't pester him.
The brats had training today and while they practiced the manoeuvres Levi ordered them to do, it was clear they were distracted. Whenever they were on the ground, they'd whisper to each other, throwing glances at Levi and Eren which they probably thought were secretive but were very obvious to the captain.
Eren was clearly uncomfortable with the whispers and the looks thrown at him, but he remained silent – something Levi was impressed with, given the boy's fiery temper. Still, the way the others eagerly gossiped, trying to figure out just what exactly Eren would have to do as Levi's Companion, only reaffirmed the captain's opinion that they couldn't be trusted with the truth. If they already had trouble keeping their mouths shut when they believed Eren was a real Companion, they definitely would let something slip if they were told the actual truth.
They wouldn't do it on purpose, no, but their mouths were too big and they had no sense of discretion.
Yes, best to keep quiet about this whole thing until Zuschauer was finally gone. Even if that meant putting up with their whispering, the furtive glances, the concerned looks Arlert kept throwing at Eren throughout practice, and the snarl constantly playing around Ackerman's mouth.
All those things, while infinitely irritating, were better than Zuschauer finding out the truth and taking Eren away from here.
"But Eren, you don't know what the hell you're doing!"
Levi halted right behind the corner and slowly breathed out. He'd been on his way downstairs, figuring he'd escape the tense atmosphere in the castle and take care of his horse for a while, but he hadn't expected to walk into what was clearly a private conversation between Eren and Ackerman, judging by the way she kept her voice low.
"Mikasa, don't start this again," Eren retorted, sounding both irritated and weary. "I know what I'm doing, will you lay off, please?"
"How can you just accept this?" Ackerman's voice quivered and a twinge of sympathy ran through Levi.
She might act batshit insane sometimes when it concerned Eren, but she clearly cared about him.
"I don't have much choice, you know that," Eren replied patiently. "Honestly, it's not that bad, I promise."
"He keeps touching you, keeps pulling you close! He's the captain, he shouldn't touch you like that!" Ackerman snapped back, her voice getting a bit shrill near the end.
"The rank in the army doesn't matter when it comes to Companions, Mikasa." That was Arlert, sounding like he had rehearsed that answer several times already. "The higher ups are the ones who can choose a Companion, so the relationship can't be considered as inappropriate."
"I know that!" she growled. "That doesn't make it any better! That midget doesn't have any right to touch you, especially not after what he did to you!"
"I already explained to you several times before that he had to do it, Mikasa," Eren snapped, loosing his cool. "The Commander asked him to; it's not like he enjoyed doing it. Besides if he hadn't done that, I wouldn't be here now and you know that! He fucking saved my life that day, Mikasa, so can you please stop fucking harping about it?!"
Silence rang loudly as the echoes of his words died out in the corridor.
Levi couldn't help but grimace when he heard a gross sniffling sound. Fuck, was Ackerman actually crying now?
"I'm just worried about you, Eren," she said miserably, her voice small and no longer carrying any trace of fury. "I know what Companions have to do and I don't want you to be forced to do anything like that!"
"I know you're worried, Mika, but I promise I'll be fine," Eren said, his voice growing more gentle; affection audible when he addressed her with a nickname. "Trust me, there are worse things than being the Captain's Companion."
She sniffled again before audibly taking a deep breath. When she spoke next, her voice was steady, not a trace of tears left in it. "Fine, but if he touches you in the wrong way even for the tiniest bit, I'm going to rip off his balls, captain or no captain."
"That's – that's good to know," Eren replied faintly. "But you won't have to, trust me."
"I trust you – it's him I don't trust," she snarled and then their footsteps faded away, going deeper into the corridor.
Rolling his eyes, Levi continued his own trek to the stables. Eren might be the hot headed one, the brash one with the occasional anger management problem, but Ackerman was definitely the one with the most issues.
He pitied whoever would end up with her.
"Well, today wasn't that bad."
Levi grunted, pulling on his pyjama shirt. "Speak for yourself, you didn't get punched by your deranged sister," he spat; his proverbial hackles still raised after being stared at by Zuschauer for the entire dinner. He had ended up pulling Eren so close to him the boy had nearly ended up on his lap just to appease that bitch. Of course that course of action had ended with him being subjected to Ackerman's fierce glare again. At least this time she hadn't tried to punch him or rip his arms off.
It had only been the first day, though, and while they had got away with just the minimal touching, he wondered how much Ackerman would freak if he had to take things a bit further if Zuschauer decided to be even more annoying than she was already.
"To be fair, I did warn you, sir, that she wouldn't be happy," Eren pointed out and there was a trace of amusement laced throughout his voice.
Levi turned his head to glower at him. The brat was already dressed in his pyjamas, waiting near the sleeping bag – aired out this afternoon together with the others – he had just rolled out on the floor. "You're being awfully cheeky for someone who squeaked like a chipmunk when I pulled you closer during dinner."
"I did not squeak like a chipmunk! I was just surprised, that's all!" Eren spluttered; his face turning red with embarrassment.
"Sure, if that makes you sleep at night," Levi allowed sardonically and walked to his bed. "Let's sleep; Erwin wants to go scouting tomorrow morning."
"All right."
Fabric rustled and the mattress squeaked a bit as they both settled down for the night.
"Good night, Captain," Eren murmured, already sounding close to falling asleep.
"Good night, Eren. Oh and please inform your sister that she got the punch for free, but I'll crush her arms if she tries to rip off my balls," Levi said monotonously, ignoring the choking and spluttering noises his comment elicited.
They had survived the first day – hopefully they wouldn't have to suffer Zuschauer's presence for too much longer now.
AN2: Were the reactions somewhat in the line of your expectations? I hope so!
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me!
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Tradition They Say