Archive of Our Own

"Nana, you're drunk as fuck." Hange told her friend who was drowning in a glass of whiskey.

"Say what you want Hans…*blech*… but if I were yah, I w-would just go up to the midget a-and kiss the heck outta him. Wha yah gotta lose?"

She rolled her eyes at the drunk woman. "Everything Nanaba, everything. First of all, if he doesn't like me back he'll kick my ass. Second, it could damage our friendship and I would rather live with the loss of what could be than live with the actual loss."

"You idiot. What i-if he dies in the expodition-" 

"Expedition." 

"Expodition! Next week. Don't correct me Hans, I know what um saying." 

"Sure." 

Looking at the hammered blonde, Hange was glad she only opted for a pint of beer. 

"Take the risk. Besides, how m-many people get to say they kissed humanity's strongest?" 

"I'm starting to believe you actually mean it." She received a glare from the blonde. 

"I do! In fact, I-I think yah should also fuck him! Feel the p-power oof humanity strongest short ass." Nanaba's slurring, along with her choice of words were enough to let Hange know this was the limit. 

Hange nodded, "And with that note, I'm cutting you off. Let's go before you start saying even more weird shit." 

"Nooooooo!" Nanaba whined as Hange started pulling her off the seat and trying to get her to stand up.  

"I don't wanna go!" 

'When did I become the responsible one?' She thought to herself as she prepared for the struggle of her life. 

It took over half an hour to get back to the barracks. It would have been less if Nanaba hadn't tussled with Hange for 8 minutes before she gave up and left the bar. As well as the 6 minutes that Nanaba took to throw up on the side of the street. 

Hange was holding onto the drunk woman as she brought her to her quarters. 

They were so close to the room when they bumped into none other than Levi. 

"Hey it's short ass!" Nanaba exclaimed drunkenly. 

"You reek of alcohol and shit." He gave the blonde a look of disgust before looking at Hange. 

"She drank a lot and she also threw up. I didn't though." 

He glanced at the blonde again who looked like she had been rolling over in the dirt, then glanced back at Hange to see she was also quite disheveled but nowhere near as Nanaba. 

"I can see that." He said. 

"Well… I gotta go and put her to sleep. She's a lot heavier than she looks." Then Hange tried to move Nanaba forward who only proceeded to whine as she was dragged. 

"But I'm not tired! Stop her, short ass!" 

Hange looked at Levi who only glared more at the blonde. "Drag her by the hairs." 

And honestly, Hange was planning to do so. So she went on to drag her further away from Levi while she continued to whine. Hange was slightly afraid that Nanaba would blurt out something stupid, like their earlier conversation. 

Once she arrived at Nanaba's room, she got in, dropped her on top of her bed, then walked out, ignoring her roommate and squadmate, Lynne, and her many questions concerning a now passed out Nanaba. 

She was tired. Extremely actually. But she didn't want to go to sleep yet. So instead she decided to head towards the kitchen and try to sneak some of Levi's secret stash of tea to relax herself. 

However she stopped in her tracks when she recalled bumping into Levi. Hange started thinking back as to why he would be in the hallways anyways. 'Maybe he was going to get himself some tea.' She let out a sigh at this thought, "Bummer." 

Instead of going to the kitchen, she decided to turn around and head straight for her own room. If Levi was in the kitchen, he would know she had been secretly stealing his precious but expensive tea. 

Hange was turning the corner to enter the hallway leading to her room. As she got closer to her door, she noticed a figure standing against the wall across her door. 

*Thump-thump*  

Her heart skipped a beat as soon as she recognized the person there. 'No don't start!' Her mind screamed as her heartbeats drummed inside her chest.

"L-Levi, what are you doing here?" She managed to ask.

His eyes darted towards her direction and her heartbeats got faster. Hange was now very aware she was alone with him. Usually she can act or pretend to be casual when there's a third party or more with them, which is why she was able to be alright when Nanaba was there. But lately she would start to get nervous around him and she's afraid Levi will start catching on. 

It all started about 3 months ago, she was having her usual talk with Levi when Miche decided to butt in, calling him saying that Erwin needed Levi at the moment to discuss something. 

When Levi left, Miche stayed to talk with her. She was rambling on about something to do about her experiments. He decided to interrupt her with a question: "Why do you ALWAYS call Levi first to tell him these things?" 

She was left puzzled at first and casually answered, "Because regardless of his attitude, he listens and is very brutally honest." 

That seemed like a good response to her but then Miche said something else, "I'll take that answer for now, but honestly speaking, it looks to me like you call him first for another reason." 

Hange raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" 

"It looked to me like you're in love with him since you seek him day and night to spend time with him." 

"You're looking wayyyy too deep into something that is merely two close friends just talking." Then she was able to divert the conversation elsewhere but Miche's words had stuck in her mind after that. 

Days and nights after that she let those words haunt her. That is when she started looking back on every interaction she's had with Levi and the reasons for her seeking him. 

At first it seemed innocent enough. But then she realized she had a pattern, whenever she wanted to feel better, she went to seek Levi. Just his presence alone brought her peace. Just talking to him made her feel better. His stupid poop jokes made her feel enlightened no matter how ridiculous that sounded. Then she realized how handsome he was, even with that frown on his face all the time. She made him laugh a few times and his laugh would give her butterflies. 

She continued to deny it though, she would make up excuses for each one of these reasons. 

Then the last thing happened and she couldn't deny it any longer. It was on their last expedition about 2 months ago. 

It had been a brutal one to say the least but many of her friends made it back alive to their base. Except Levi. He was taking longer than usual to arrive back. His squad hadn't returned either and it was starting to make her anxious. 

She got into a nasty argument with Erwin about letting her go look for him and his squad. They were going back and forth, raising a storm until he would let her go out. But then Miche spotted them from a distance. 

Her heart at the news wanted to explode. When they arrived at base, only one of them was injured and it wasn't Levi. She was relieved in her heart he was fine and she should have left it there… but she didn't. Against her better judgment, she ran up to Levi and hugged him as he was talking to Erwin and Miche. 

The men were looking at her, other scout members were looking at her, but she didn't give a crap, she was just glad he was safe. 

He was stunned she knew because he felt stiff during the hug. He didn't hug her back or console her to let her know he was fine or even tap her shoulder or back. When she let go of him, he gave her a puzzled look. But all she said was, "I thought you were dead." And he gave her a look, a look to this day she can't decipher because he never gave her that look before or again. 

Nevertheless, that scare was the day she realized she did have feelings for Levi and very strong ones. And with each day, it grew stronger. 

At first, it was hard to hide them, so she opted to avoid him and that was easy to do since she was busy with her experiments. 

Then he started seeking her out and it became hard to avoid him. Eventually she had to just find a way to be around him without stammering or being not herself. 

She couldn't even look him straight in the eyes anymore because she would melt at his stare and also for fear he could read her emotions. They had developed a close friendship where he could read her emotions through her eyes and she could translate his rough way of speaking. 

Yet, she had to go ahead and ruin their friendship by developing feelings she shouldn't have in the first place…

"Four-eyes." He snapped his fingers in front of her and she was brought back from her memories. "Four-eyes, did you even hear what I said?" 

"Huh?" She hadn't realized he said something. 

He sighed, "You weren't listening." 

"Uh, sorry. I was just remembering something I had to do." 

"Tch, I was answering your question. I need to talk to you, that's why I'm here." 

"Oh." She said as she remembered her beating heart and the flutters in her stomach. "Go on, I'm listening." 

"Hn. Erwin was telling me how for the next expedition, our squads would be stationed together. He asked that we start training together so that we're in sync. He's taking precautions because of what happened on the last expedition." 

She nodded, "Oh okay. But why didn't Erwin just tell me this? Why send you?" 

The corner of his eye twitched as she said that. "He was planning on telling you earlier but he couldn't find you as you were stuck in a tavern with Nanaba drinking your asses off. So instead he told me to pass it on to you when I see you." 

"Okay, I'll let my squad know in the morning. Anything else?" Hange looked straight at his direction but not at him exactly. 

"No." 

"Alrighty then, Levi. Good night." And she started walking back from where she came from. 

"Where are you going?" He asked her. 

Again, glancing at his direction, "Oh just remembered I had to do something, see yah!" 

Hange had no clue what Levi's expression was but her heart was hammering in her chest and her stomach was flipping and flopping during their entire conversation. She just needed to be away from him as soon as possible. 

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.

.

It was the next day, noon, and things had gotten hectic. After breakfast, her squad had joined Levi's squad for training. It started off alright but Levi seemed like he was in a bad mood since he was being tougher than usual on his squad and then proceeded to be the same way with her own squad. 

When she tried to intervene, he would glare at her and would brush her off. Eventually after the third time of trying to reason with him, she had enough. She ended up arguing back with him and he would snap back at her. They were practically yelling over each other that even their squad members stopped to check on them but didn't want to approach them for fear of Levi. 

Eventually, she had enough and just stormed out. Now she sat in the changing station in the training quarters as she tried to calm down. 

Not even 5 minutes after she had left them, did Levi burst inside the room. 

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" 

She glared at him, "Me? I'm not the asshole who started glaring and insulting me for every single idea I tried to give!" 

"You realize why I have to train them hard, right? Or is your brain too dead to be able to comprehend that?" 

Of course she knew, she wasn't stupid. "You don't have to tell me that! I know why you're doing it! But you also don't have to brush me off and then insult me when I try to suggest something! What's up your ass today?" 

"Me? It's not my ass that has something stuck in it." 

Feeling confused, she asked him to elaborate.

He folded his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Tch. You've been giving me attitude lately, you suddenly have somewhere else to be whenever I approach you, you leave as soon as we're left alone and you plain out ignore me as if I was garbage." 

"Oh." Hange stayed quiet as the realization hit her. She wasn't doing as good of a job as she thought she was with concealing her feelings. It sounded as if she had made Levi think she was either mad at him or simply just didn't want to be around him. 

"Oh? That's it? Look Hange, did I do something? Because you also don't look me in the eye either. You refuse to look at me. So either I did something or you're hiding something from me." There was irritation in his tone but she could tell he was trying to be calm. 

However, his words ignited something inside of her again and she wanted to curse out loud for these feelings that basically almost ruined the best friendship she has ever had. 

"It's nothing you did. I just haven't been feeling myself lately. I guess I have been taking it out on you without realizing it. Sorry." It wasn't the complete truth nor was it a lie. She thought she was doing a good job at acting normal, now Hange knows that she just sounded like an asshole the entire time while trying to mask her feelings. 

Levi let out a sigh, "Look, I may not give good input but I listen. So if you have something bothering you, just barge into my room and rant about it." 

'It's also his way with words.' Her mind said as yet another reason why he makes her heart flutter. 

"We should go back out there and finish training." She nodded in agreement and followed him out as the butterflies settled in her stomach again. 

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.

.

It's 3 days later after that incident and they have obviously been around each other a lot. She had to train herself to mask the feelings better without sounding like she's pissed off at him. 

And so far, she was doing a decent job… except that now, she was starting to get anxious that the expedition was only a corner away. And it was all coming back to her. 

"Levi came back fine from that expedition," she told herself, "And I'll be with him, so he'll be fine…" 

She was walking through the hallways in the late afternoon. 'Yeah and there's a higher chance I'll die before he does…' That didn't relax her like she thought it would. 'But what if his ODM gear malfunctions… even if he's humanity's strongest, he doesn't have a chance out there without a functional ODM gear.'

It was all too much for her. She didn't know what she would do if Levi died on her. There were so many things she wanted to tell him…like her feelings…

"Ughhhh!" She was getting frustrated at herself for these thoughts. Besides, telling him her feelings wasn't EVER going to happen. She would die with these feelings before telling him. 

"What are you doing here?" 

She jumped at the voice. It was the man himself in the flesh, standing against the wall. She looked around and realized she made it into the kitchen. It wasn't dinner time yet, so he was here alone. Probably trying to take his afternoon tea. 

"Uhh, huh. What are you doing here?" She asked, sounding very unsure. 

He signaled with his head towards the right and she could see the kettle pot heating up. "Oh." 

Again, it was just the two of them alone. They had only seen each other a few hours prior during training, so again, she didn't understand why her heart couldn't handle his presence, even with these feelings. 

"...but if I were yah, I w-would just go up to the midget a-and kiss the heck outta him. Wha yah gotta lose?"

'EVERYTHING!' She tried to shake that memory off her head. It kept haunting her everyday during their training. 'Dang it, Nanaba.' 

"What did Nanaba do now?" He asked her, bringing her out of her thoughts. 

'Oh I said that out loud…' Hange almost cringed at her mistake. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing but an annoying thing she said." 

"Hn." 

"...Wha yah gotta lose?"

What did she have to lose? The expedition is in less than 4 days…but no, she couldn't do that to Levi. 

Without another word, she left the kitchen, leaving a puzzled Levi. 

Except she stood outside the kitchen, pacing back and forth. 'Should I or should I not?' 

Back and forth, back and forth did she keep going on the decision and her pacing. 

With a weird swing of confidence, she walked back inside the kitchen. But then froze as soon as she was inside. Levi gave her a weird look, which she didn't blame him for at all, she would give herself a weird look if she saw this. 

"What's wrong now?" He questioned her. 

'I should just leave.' She thought but then shook her head. 'No, I'm already here. I might as well tell him my feelings. Maybe then I'll stop feeling stupid.' 

She inhaled and exhaled before darting her gaze towards him. A swing of confidence hit her again and Hange walked up to him…except she didn't stop where she was supposed to. 

Both her hands were now on the wall behind him and he glared at her. "What the hell are you doing?" 

'Indeed, what was I doing?' Her stomach was flopping all over and her heart was ready to burst. She could feel her cheeks heating up. 

"...Wha yah gotta lose?"

But somehow her body had a mind of its own. She lifted her left hand and brought his chin closer to her. His eyes widened and he seemed like he was about to say something but she didn't let him. 

Her lips crashed against his. Her eyes fluttered closed and she deepened the kiss. Levi didn't push her nor tried to pull away. She felt him stiffen but to her surprise, he seemed to succumb to it. 

She licked his bottom lip and he let her in. Their tongues mingled together and a burning sensation riled inside her. 

Hange wanted to keep going but instead she pulled away. Opening her eyes, she looked at Levi who's eyes were hooded, sending an electric sensation in her nether region. 

He was looking at her, as if he was trying to comprehend what had just happened, but the kiss that lasted no longer than 12 seconds affected her so much that she didn't even let him try. 

She pulled her hands away, one of them slightly caressing his left cheek. Hange turned around, "See yah!" She said as she waved back at him and quickly left the kitchen. 

Once outside the kitchen, she ran, ran as fast as she could until she ended up in the safest place she could think of…her laboratory. 

-

Four days earlier…

He had been looking and waiting for Hange all day. Levi was starting to feel frustrated. First she missed the meeting with Erwin and now she's nowhere to be seen after the meeting. 

Usually he wouldn't feel this frustrated as he knew she would pop up eventually, however lately she had been avoiding him or ignoring him. And when she would talk to him, she would have an attitude as if she was angry at him or something. And the fact she wouldn't just tell him, actually bothered him a lot. 

And now, of all times, she decided to disappear. He needed some tea to calm his nerves. 

While heading up the halls of the barracks, he heard voices. Looking up to see who it was, he felt a sudden urge of annoyance. 

Levi approached them but the brunette didn't notice him, instead, the plastered looking blonde did. 

"Hey it's short ass!" He almost gagged at the smell coming from Nanaba. 'So they were out getting drunk, huh.' 

"You reek of alcohol and shit."

"She drank a lot and she also threw up. I didn't though." He examined them both from head to toe and concluded that the drunk one was indeed Nanaba, although that wasn't about to save Hange from the bitching of a lifetime from him. 

"I can see that." 

"Well… I gotta go and put her to sleep. She's a lot heavier than she looks." Hange seemed to struggle with the whiny blonde and honestly, he thought she deserved it after leaving everyone wondering where the fuck she was. 

"But I'm not tired! Stop her, short ass!" On second thought, Hange should just leave her to sleep on the cold dirty floor of the halls. 

"Drag her by the hairs." He commented as they walked away. 

He waited until they were no longer in sight and decided to ditch his tea plans. His legs started taking him exactly where Hange couldn't ignore him. Once arriving in front of her room's door, he went and leaned against the wall across her door as he waited for her. 

Approximately 7 minutes passed before she arrived. 

"L-Levi, what are you doing here?"

His eyes darted towards her direction, noting her stammer. It looked like she was ready to book it out of there but he was ready for that. 

"Where the fuck were you all day? Your squad and I have been searching for your ass everywhere. Now you arrive and by the way, you reek of the same shit as Nanaba. We had an important meeting the leaders were called to today with Erwin and you missed it because you would rather wander the town and get shit faced with Nanaba." 

Hange didn't say anything so he kept going, "Are you avoiding me or something? If I'm the reason you're behaving like you're braindead, then tell me because I'm not about to play games here." 

Noticing that she was too quiet, he looked at her closely and almost lost his temper. 

"Four-eyes." He snapped his fingers in front of her and she blinked rapidly, bringing her back from wherever she was. "Four-eyes, did you even hear what I said?" 

"Huh?" 

He let out a sigh, "You weren't listening." 

'Everything I just said was in vain.' 

"Uh, sorry. I was just remembering something I had to do." Her eyes darted away from him and for some reason, it hurt. 

"Tch, I was answering your question. I need to talk to you, that's why I'm here." Levi decided to not repeat himself, he wasn't in the mood anymore. 

"Oh… go on, I'm listening." 

He proceeded to tell her a summary of what Erwin decided is required of them and their squads for the next expedition

She nodded, "Oh okay. But why didn't Erwin just tell me this? Why send you?" 

The corner of his eye twitched at her words. What does she have against him? "He was planning on telling you earlier but he couldn't find you as you were stuck in a tavern with Nanaba drinking your asses off. So instead he told me to pass it on to you when I see you." 

"Okay, I'll let my squad know in the morning. Anything else?" Her eyes were darting his direction but it seemed like she was looking through him rather than at him. 

"No." He was ready to end this conversation. 

"Alrighty then, Levi. Good night." She turned around and started walking away from her own room. 

"Where are you going?" He asked her in confusion.

She looked back, "Oh just remembered I had to do something, see yah!" 

Hange walked off fast before he could say another word. 

There was a twist forming in his stomach, a squeeze in his chest, and a pounding in his head. He was bothered. He was bothered, immensely.

It was confirmed at that moment that she indeed had a problem with him and it wasn't something he could just brush off. He dreaded training tomorrow. 

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.

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"Gunther! Pick up speed! Try that on the field and you're titan food!" 

"Petra! Lift up your arms more, you're usually better with your grip!" 

"Oluo! Don't pull that cocky shit, stay in sync with the squad!" 

"Eld, remember you're the one to lead, pull that crap and you're all dead!" 

He was probably being slightly harsher than usual, but after the last expedition, he needed to make sure none of his men died on him. 

Glancing at Hange's squad, he noticed they had a particular formation, much different from his squad. While his squad was usually at the offense, Hange's squad was more on the defense, making his squad and her squad clash in formation. 

"Hey, Keiji! That may work for your old formation but here, you're gonna need to lead your squad if you guys are planning on keeping defense!" 

"Nifa! You're too slow! Come on, you can't pull that crap here!" 

"Levi! She's not used to the speed, give her some time, she's adjusting." Hange called to his attention but ignored her. 

"What's wrong with you, Abel, are your glasses fogged up, why are you moving like you got shit running down your pants!" 

"Hey Levi, take it easy! Maybe they should first try it with the original formation they're used to and then go from there." He waved her off, possibly feeling slightly bitter at her, but he also needed to train them all accordingly or they could all die. 

"Moblit! You're not chasing your brain dead squad leader, you're going after the other brain dead sacks of shits!"

"Ugh, what the fuck is wrong with you? That's no way to talk to my squad!" She raised her voice at him. 

He raised an eyebrow, feeling very much irritated, "Do you want them to be titan shit?" 

"Titans don't defecate!" Rolling his eyes at her as if he didn't know already. 

"But they do vomit their bodies, so pick your side." 

"You could be a little more understanding, they're not used to this fast-paced formation!" 

"But they are used to capturing titans, so they know what they're dealing with, they have you as a leader so they could use the harsher training." 

Seeing her eye twitch almost made him laugh, "What is that supposed to mean?" 

"As if you didn't know how reckless you are. Everyone who chases after you is basically food for the Titans." 

"You don't HAVE to come after me for your information and besides, my whole squad is here, so I must be doing something right!" 

"Yeah, for now, sooner or later they'll be feeding your beloved titans and it'll be your fucking fault!" 

What he said wasn't received well because she stormed back inside the training building. He let out a sigh, before noticing both squads had stopped training and were now looking at him from a distance. 

"Get your asses back to training! The expedition is not even two weeks from now and you can't afford to waste time, now move!" 

"Yes, captain!" And they all scrambled back into positions.

Making sure they were all alright with their formations, he decided to head inside into the changing station. 

He burst through the doors and saw Hange sitting on one of the benches.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" 

She gave him a glare, "Me? I'm not the asshole who started glaring and insulting me for every single idea I tried to give!" 

"You realize why I have to train them hard, right? Or is your brain too dead to be able to comprehend that?" 

"You don't have to tell me that! I know why you're doing it! But you also don't have to brush me off and then insult me when I try to suggest something! What's up your ass today?" 

He almost scoffed at her, "Me? It's not my ass that has something stuck in it." 

She seemed to look confused and it only spiked his irritation as he leaned against the wall.  

"Tch. You've been giving me attitude lately, you suddenly have somewhere else to be whenever I approach you, you leave as soon as we're left alone and you plain out ignore me as if I was garbage." 

"Oh." 

That sole response wasn't what he wanted to hear. He needed the truth because it was eating at him. So he tried to push his irritation aside. 

"Oh? That's it? Look Hange, did I do something? Because you also don't look me in the eye either. You refuse to look at me. So either I did something or you're hiding something from me." 

As if on cue, she looked away, almost seeming nervous. He had to hold himself back from going up to her and demanding her to look him in the eyes. It has been going on for too long and he just wanted an answer. 

"It's nothing you did. I just haven't been feeling myself lately. I guess I have been taking it out on you without realizing it. Sorry." He noticed the guilt written on her face and he couldn't help but feel that squeeze in his chest at her expression. No matter how he wished he could, for some reason, some force prevented him from staying mad at her. 

Levi let out a sigh, "Look, I may not give good input but I listen. So if you have something bothering you, just barge into my room and rant about it." 

Hange didn't really say anything but he hoped she would do as he suggested. Even though he wanted to deny it, he missed her random ramblings during the day and night. 

"We should go back out there and finish training." 

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.

.

It's been a long day of training. Four days with his squad and Hange's squad was enough to even wear him out. Although, he couldn't deny the progress that has occurred. Weirdly enough, his squad and Hange's squad worked really well. 

It made sense in a way, each squad was a reflection of its leader and something he couldn't deny was that he and Hange actually worked really well as a duo, when the time calls for it. 

Leaving those thoughts behind, he filled a tea kettle with water and tea leaves. Now he waited for it to boil. He's glad he came to the kitchen before the cooks arrived to make dinner. 

If he timed it right, he still had at least an hour before they arrived. 

He leaned against the wall as he took in the peace and quiet of the room. Letting himself relax for the first time today. 

It didn't last long though because he heard footsteps and muttering coming this way. 

It was Hange. She seemed to be deep in thought because she didn't notice his presence. 

"Ughhhh!" 

'So much for peace and quiet.' He thought to himself. 

"What are you doing here?" He startled her and she literally jumped, which confirmed the whole thing of not noticing him. 

"Uhh, huh. What are you doing here?" She sounded very unsure for some reason. He decided to ignore that detail as well as the fact that she just dodged his question. 

He signaled with his head towards the kettle pot heating up. "Oh." 

She stayed quiet afterwards. She looked fidgety, which was very unlike her in his eyes. He continued to observe her, trying to figure out what had her in a mess. He did only just see her a few hours prior and she seemed alright.

Watching her was very interesting as one moment she was looking at her hands and then the next she was shaking her head. 

"Dang it, Nanaba." 

"What did Nanaba do now?" He asked her and her eyes widened. The expression on her face seemed like she got caught, which made him think back on the possibility she was hiding something, which he knew she was, he just hasn't pressed on about it. 

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing but an annoying thing she said." 

"Hn." Levi didn't believe her and was about to ask her more on it but then she left, leaving him feeling puzzled. 

'What was that?' He thought. He made a mental note asking her later about it. 

But now his mind started wandering as he recalled her behavior towards him during the prior weeks. 

Before she started ignoring him, she became very fidgety whenever he was around. She would start stuttering or muttering and then would leave as soon as possible. Kind of like what happened a little bit ago. 

Sometime after, she started having an attitude around him. The stuttering stopped but now she ignored him as much as possible. She would only respond to him if they were with other people or if it was required, but as soon as others left, she was gone too. 

They would have night talks, but those stopped too. It's been a month since it started, maybe more, he couldn't tell anymore. All he knew is that something was wrong with her and even though she denied it before, he knew it had something to do with him. 

He glanced at the kettle pot and knew it would be done soon. Levi decided to let those thoughts be until after he had his tea. 

That however wasn't going to happen. Hange waltzed back in, looked at him and froze.

Curious and suspicious was he, indeed. It looked like she wanted to tell him something but she just froze and stood there not moving. 

"What's wrong now?" She didn't respond but seemed to be having an internal turmoil and when she shook her head again, it confirmed it. 

'What is she doing?' His curiosity was getting to him now as he waited for her next move. 

She inhaled and exhaled before darting her gaze towards him. He raised an eyebrow as she started walking up to him. But she didn't stop where he thought she would and instead put both her hands on the wall behind him. 

He shot her a glare as he clearly was confused at her motivations, not to mention his heart was now pounding at her close proximity. 

"What the hell are you doing?" 

Hange paused for a moment and just looked him in the eyes, the first actual look he received from her since her behavior started he may add. He noticed her cheeks gaining a red hue and it only confused him more. 

The next thing she did had him almost stunned as she brought his chin closer to her face. His eyes widened and he was about to ask her what the fuck she was doing but all he had time to do was to open his mouth slightly before her lips crashed onto his. 

Shocked was an understatement. His body completely froze on him. He didn't know how to react. His body was going into turmoil at the feeling of her lips moving on his. 

He noticed her eyes were closed as she deepened the kiss. A heat passed through his body and before he realized it, his lips started moving on their own accord as he responded to her own lips. 

Feeling her tongue on his lips, made the heat burn inside him. He parted his mouth more and then their tongues mingled together. 

Levi didn't understand this sensation but it felt addicting and he wanted more, so much more. But as soon as it began, it also ended. 

Before he knew it, he was left there trying to figure out what just happened. He looked at her for answers but all she did was pull away, her hand caressing his cheek slightly and then waving at him, "See yah!" 

She left him standing there, dumbfounded. The kettle pot started making noise to let him know it was done and he still hadn't moved. 

His heart was hammering in his chest and his stomach was flipping so much that he almost thought he was sick. 

His hand reached up to his lips as he gently felt them with his fingertips. 

Softly running over them as he still felt the lingering sensation of her lips on his. His expression softened at remembering the kiss and at the person who initiated it. 

"Hange…" 

-

Hours passed and her heart hadn't calmed down. Levi didn't come look for her, which she was both glad and anxious about. 

Did he not like the kiss? Did he hate her for it now? Was he going to kick her ass? All these questions remained unanswered but for some reason she wished he would come here and kick her ass. 

Maybe then she can fix these screwed up feelings of hers. 

"Ughhhh! What am I gonna do?" She said to no one. Hange was scared to come out of her Lab. 

She thought coming to her lab would be the best hiding spot for herself, not to mention it was the place where she could rely on distraction, however her mind and her heart wouldn't exactly cooperate. 

"Don't worry, if he doesn't come now, he won't come at all." Talking to herself, she looked at her wooden clock on the wall, almost 3 hours had passed since. And dinner time was almost over and she was hiding in here. Not like she could eat with all these dang butterflies in her stomach that make her want to throw up. 

'Maybe I could get someone to tell Moblit to bring me food here.' That would be the best idea. 'But what if Levi overhears and decides to follow him?' 

"Eeeee!" Her hands flew to her hair and frantically messed it up as the anxiety came back. She couldn't win, though she didn't want to see him now because of embarrassment, she also wanted to see him to know what he thought of the kiss. But then there was the whole issue of him rejecting her and it frustrated her more. 

Hange yanked the hair tie that held her ponytail up and now her hair ran down, slightly below her shoulders. She ran her hands through them, not sure exactly why and made her already messed up hair even more messy. 

She threw her head down on the table and groaned because of her complicated emotions. 

"Tch, I didn't know you could look even crazier than you already are." 

Her head shot up faster than she could process what was going on and she actually fell off her chair. 

"Ow!" She rubbed her back and she stood back up. "Why don't you ever knock?" 

He raised an eyebrow at her question, "Like you ever do." 

'Good point.' 

Hange avoided eye contact for fear of crumbling in her feelings towards this man. Right at this moment, she was quite vulnerable, practically at his mercy and Levi didn't even know it. 

"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. 

"You're shitting me, right?" His expression, rather the same as usual but with a slight difference. Too bad she was busy avoiding eye contact to notice. 

Opting to shrugging her shoulders, she ended up missing the irritated expression that made its way to his face. 

"Don't play stupid with me, Four-eyes. What the hell was that earlier?" Her heart sped up at his question even though she knew that's why he was here. 

Unknown to her, his heart was speeding just as fast, maybe even faster than hers, for all this was new to Levi. 

"...I-I don't…i-it was a spur of the moment." Cringing at her answer, she honestly didn't know what she should say. Telling the truth should have been what she said if the courage from earlier was present except it was no longer within her at the moment. 

"Bullshit." 

'Ah, of course he wouldn't buy it.' It was easier to think than to actually talk, which was a contrast to herself. 

She let out a sigh, hoping it would help with the nervousness. "It's not complete bullshit… I… I actually didn't mean to do that. I just…I don't know why I did it! Actually I do know why I did it but it wasn't meant to happen at that moment! Nanaba got in my head and I let myself get too psyched on many things that I did what I did when I meant to say something to you instead! Then there's the whole expedition that has me completely warped and I just…I just I don't know anymore…" 

The rambling was accidental and she's not even sure if she made sense or not. 

"So you're saying that what made you do this is due to the stress of the upcoming expedition?" The expression he held was that of disappointment which yet again, Hange missed due to her maintaining her eye contact elsewhere. 

Hange wanted to say yes but she knew it went beyond just the stress. She had to tell him or she could end up regretting it. But then again, they were soldiers, indulging in feelings wasn't a very smart thing to do knowing that they could die at any given moment. Not to mention, a clear head is needed at all times. Having a lover only clouds judgment. Not that Levi could reciprocate her love for him. And there another reason popped up, their friendship, it could be ruined with her confession. It was all a distraction she didn't need. But is it wise for her to go on knowing that these feelings are a distraction? 

'I could learn to live with it.' She thought to herself but how long would that take? A few more weeks? Past this expedition? Months? Years? It was uncertain. 

Looking to the side, onto the table, she responded, "Yes." She could have left it there but her stupid mouth didn't seem to get the memo. 

"No! I mean yes! I don't know anymore!" 'Stupid!' Her mind yelled at her.

He didn't say anything and it worried her but she didn't dare look for fear she would lose all her composure, not that her composure was good to begin with. 

His footsteps started making their way towards her and she started internally panicking. She thought she could quickly make an escape if she tried, however knowing the odds, Levi would only catch her, making things more difficult, so she just waited until his footsteps stopped. 

When they did stop, he was about 2 feet away. This close to him and she was trying hard not to breathe heavily. Her fingers were gripping the side of her pants, awaiting for him to say something. 

"Hange, you've been avoiding eye contact since I arrived." 

Of course he noticed, it was incredibly obvious. It was also extremely frustrating for him to be having a one sided conversation because that's how it felt like with her looking at the table, the wall, her stuff, anything but him and responding towards those items instead of him. 

"No, I haven't." Hange stupidly said and she pinched herself for it. 

"Fine, then look at me." 

She bit her lip, trying to not show just how nervous she was. Straightening herself, she made the attempt to look at him. 

"There, I'm looking at you." 

He didn't say anything and she was relieved, for like a second. Then she heard him let out a deep chuckle which both surprised her and made the heat travel to her face which she hoped wasn't noticeable. 

"You know when I said look at me, I meant at my face, into my eyes, not my chest." 

She let out a scoff, "Well you weren't specific." She was stupidly trying to find reasons to avoid his eyes without letting him know that. 

"Hmm." Nothing about that hum of his made her feel at ease. 

"So there's something you wanted to tell me before you attacked my lips? And when answering, I'd rather know your eyes are looking at mine or else this conversation will be prolonged and you look visibly constipated so I know you would want to finish as soon as possible." 

Levi wasn't going to lie, he felt a little cocky in that moment even though he didn't show it. Something about Hange's composure made him very curious. Still, his heart hadn't steadied. 

Pulling herself together, she decided to stop acting like a complete wuss and look into his eyes. So with all the courage she could muster up, she looked up into his eyes. Oh what a big mistake that was. 

As soon as her wine colored eyes met his blue-gray ones, all that little courage was gone.

At that moment, she was an open book and Levi was reading her completely. She was melting at the sight of the gorgeous man who was staring at her very intently, studying her. 

"I-I f-forgot what I-I was g-going t-to s-say back then." Oh how she became a stuttering mess. She couldn't even breathe normally. Right now, her brain was mostly trying to focus on her standing up because her legs felt like pudding. If she stopped focusing, she could physically fall and that would be even more embarrassing.

"If you can't even remember what you wanted to tell me then how can I believe you about the kiss?" 

All these questions were very reasonable but all she wished was that he could let it go and just accept her words for what it was. She was getting tired of having to stand up. 

Trying to come up with an answer, the memory came back vividly, remembering the whole moment. She knew her face was probably almost tomato red by this moment and she could feel small sweat beads starting to form on her forehead. 

Hange had to think of a better answer to satisfy him and herself but his eyes were making it hard to concentrate. All it did was remind her of the kiss. Her eyes unconsciously even went down to his lips. 

And then it hit her. 

"He kissed me back…" She muttered to herself. 

"Speak up, Four-eyes." 

A wave of confidence came to her and she forced her eyes to look up at his. "You kissed me back! You kissed me back, Levi! Yeah I may have started this but you didn't push me away, youuuuuu kissed me back!" 

As if he got caught, his eyes widened. This was supposed to be an interrogation for her, not him. He tried to look away but Hange wasn't having any of it. 

She was scared of getting rejected that she failed to realize that he had in fact kissed her back. Whatever that meant, he had to answer for it. 

"Oh no no, you are not looking away! You made me look at you, now you will look at me and tell me why you kissed me back!" 

Feeling frustrated now, he looked back at her, "Why should I be the one to answer first when you haven't even given me a proper answer as to why you attacked my lips!" 

"You certainly didn't mind me attacking your lips or even when I attacked your tongue as you reciprocated my actions!" This conversation was heightening their emotions and the heat within them. 

"I didn't have fucking time to think what the fuck was going on and I just accepted it!" He didn't know what it was but this constant back and forth was getting him heated in a way that he couldn't explain. He didn't know whether he wanted to kick her or to kiss her. 

"Oh! How convenient for you! So you're saying if it were to happen again, you would just take it like a champ?!" 

"Of course fucking not! If it were anyone else, they would have taken a kick in the ass and a punishment!" 

"So what you're saying is that if I kissed you again, you would love it?" 

"Don't put words in my mouth, Hange." He stepped forward. 

"But you're not denying." She couldn't help but feel weirdly cocky and confident. Still the nervousness was there, she just didn't acknowledge it. 

"And you haven't even told me why you kissed me." He took another step forward. 

Completely missing that he was getting closer, she asked, "Does it matter?

"Yeah it fucking matters! You don't just start acting all weird and then go up to someone and kiss them out of the blue!" The idea of Hange doing that with someone else actually left him feeling uncomfortable and a little pissed off. 

Feeling a little offended with what he had just said, Hange didn't think through the next words that came out of her mouth. "Well I don't do that! I kissed you because I unconsciously wanted to and because I like you so much that it hurts!" 

His eyes widened at her confession and it took her a few seconds to completely register what she had just said. 

Levi felt his heart speed up even more and a weird sensation in his stomach. He didn't know how to process this. 

It wasn't easy for Hange either as once her words made its way back to her, she was ready to run out of her Lab. All of sudden all those emotions when he had first arrived at her lab, had returned and she could pass out at any moment if she stayed any longer. 

So Hange tried the only logical thing at the moment.  And that was to try and run out of there. 

But as soon as she booked it towards the doors, which she noticed were closed, he caught her wrist and pinned her against the doors. 

Using one hand to hold both of hers, he used the free one to put the lock on the doors so she couldn't try to escape again. 

This move both terrified and aroused her. 'Dang, I'm weirder than I thought.' 

He looked straight into her eyes, again with an intense look in his beautiful blue-gray eyes that made her want to succumb to anything and everything he asked of her. 

Their eyes did the talking. And it only intensified the heat between them. 

Hange didn't know what would occur of this, however then he gave her a little smirk that almost made her lose all her composure. 

Then in a low and husky tone, he said, "I guess it's my turn to not know why." 

And his lips crushed on hers. It was a repetition of earlier, except now it was reversed and it was hotter. 

Hange almost immediately reciprocated, sinking into the kiss ever so much. 

The kiss deepened, mouths opened, tongues mingling. Electricity coarsed their bodies. The burning heat hit certain areas that caused intense arousal. 

His free hand was used to grab her waist and bring her body closer to his. Now both bodies were emanating extreme heat that only made things more intense. 

Hange wanted to grab his hair, his neck, his chest, something of his but he wouldn't let her as his strong hands had her pinned to the door and it was both frustrating and hot. 

The physical aspects of the kiss were permeating throughout them. But they both knew this wasn't an in-the-moment thing even though it felt that way. This was an expression of hidden feelings that not just Hange was withholding but also Levi. 

Although the difference here is that one was aware of their feelings to its totality while the other one was slowly starting to realize there were feelings to begin with. 

And even though Levi was just starting to realize that he had more feelings for Hange than he thought, he also realized that tasting her was too addicting. He didn't realize how much he wanted her. Maybe he has for a longer time but always denied or confused it for a more platonic feeling. After all, only Hange could have done a stunt like this earlier and gotten away with it. And that in itself said a lot. 

For all the crap she said and did, his fondness for her never dissipated, it only increased with time. She was honest, she was crazy, she was kind, she was trouble, she was sunshine, she was a storm, she was incredible, she was insane, she was a gem to humanity, she was abnormal. He was abnormal. 

They were just a pair of abnormals indulging in their abnormal feelings. Oh how right and wrong it felt. For different reasons. 

Who would have thought that humanity's strongest and humanity's smartest were indulging in the hottest make-out session anyone could ever ponder up. The two of them certainly couldn't have. 

Levi let go of her hands to grab the back of her head to deepen the kiss even more. In that moment, Hange also took the opportunity to wrap her arms around his neck and press him more into her as well. There was literally no more space between them anymore. 

He ended up grabbing her legs and wrapping them around his waist. Oh how things could have gotten better when Hange let out a moan as the friction between them was made known as she pressed herself on him, which indeed drove him insane. 

Oh how things were working better than she had imagined. She was living the dream she wanted a few months back. She didn't want it to end. Hange was scared it could end at any moment and it would be nothing but a dream. This moment alone meant more to her than any dream she could have conjured up. 

'Oh how Nanaba was right.' She thought to herself, not that she could think of much in that moment when she had Levi stuck to her like skin. 

They both were lost in each other. So lost in each other that they didn't hear the first few knocks on the door. 

"Section commander?" Came from behind the door and then another set of knocks. 

Once the familiar voice of Moblit sounded through the doors, she pushed Levi slightly away, both trying not to breathe too hard in case Moblit could hear them. 

"Is she in there?" A female voice was heard from the opposite side of the door. 

"She has to be because the doors are locked." Then Moblit knocked on the door again. 

Levi put his finger up to his lips as a signal to be still. She mouthed to him, "I have to say something." 

"We brought food for you, Section commander!" Nifa shouted, probably assuming she couldn't hear them. 

"Hmm, it doesn't seem like she can hear us. Should we get the Captain to kick the door down? Maybe she fell asleep again but I know she hasn't eaten anything since yesterday." 

Levi sent her a glare and she gave him a cheeky smile. 

"Let's go look for him then since she's not answering." Then they heard the steps and voices getting further away from the door. 

They both let out a sigh. Hange unwrapped her legs from his waist. And they both straightened themselves out as they both looked even more disheveled than usual. Or at least Levi, who is always neat and looks well put together. 

The two of them stayed quiet for a moment before either one of them spoke. "You know," Hange started, "This wasn't the smartest idea but what's done is done." 

Levi let out a scoff, "No time for regrets now. Not with our lives. Do you regret it?" 

She shook her head, "Do you?" 

"No." 

"Then we ride head on, no matter what." She didn't regret an ounce of what just happened and she didn't regret what happened earlier anymore. She should have because of their roles but she didn't. 

"Fine. But once we come back from the expedition, we're finishing what we started here." His eyes were looking at her with a softness which he usually reserved for her. 

A smile made its way to her lips, "It's a deal. But survive and don't give me another heart attack." 

He seemed to think for a second before remembering their last expedition, "Tch, you better survive as well, Four-eyes or I'll be pissed off." 

She happily nodded, for she was determined even more than ever. All of sudden, all the fear she had for the upcoming expedition had dissipated. All she has to do now is trust Levi. That was enough. 

"I gotta go before your nosy ass assistants come by to see us locked together. Wouldn't want to cause a stir before we ourselves could indulge in it." 

Hange couldn't help but laugh at his words. Her heart was filled with warmth and strangely it made her fall for him more. 

"Also, Hange, because of your boldness to pull that on me considering you didn't know if I would kick your ass or not, I figured something out. And nothing's gonna stop me from making sure we both survive that dreadful expedition." 

Hange's heart was beating very fast and her cheeks were heating up at his words. Because in translation, it meant: I like you too.