Debt

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height


I flew across the housetops on the 3DM lines, the hot wind whipping my hair around my face as I searched frantically for Levi.

Where was he? What the hell had he been thinking going in without backup?

I swung off of one of the rooftops, toward one of the smaller 7 meter titans that ambled along below me between the houses. With a yell, I swung my sword across the back of its neck as I passed, sending it crashing to the ground as crimson blood sprayed upward across my face.

I kicked off the wall of the opposite house and righted myself on the lines as I shot forward again, headed toward another titan, a 10 meter this time, looming above the next rooftop.

It opened its large jaws as I approached it, reaching out a dirty, bloodied hand toward me as if to try and swipe me out of the air. I spun on the lines, my blades whirling out in front of me, and sliced easily through its outstretched fingers, the severed digits flying through the air in all directions as blood splashed onto the rooftop below.

Adjusting my trajectory, I whipped upwards using the 3DM and, using the titan's large shoulder as a leverage point, planted my boot in the groove of its clavicle and vaulted over its back, swiping my sword across the nape of its neck as I tumbled through the air.

The titan plummeted to the ground, destroying what was left of the bloody, wrecked house beneath it.

I glanced over my shoulder at its steaming body and muttered under my breath, "And stay down, you bloody bastard."

I paused on the next rooftop, wiping the blood from my vision, and searched the horizon again for Levi.

I swore under my breath. Where the hell was he? If he had really gone looking for me, wouldn't he be in this area still? Unless......

An enraged yell drew my attention to my left. I glanced over the rooftops, just in time to see Levi vault over the head of one of the titans, his sword dripping blood, held to the sky, as the titan toppled to the ground beneath him.

I felt relief instantly bloom in my chest at the sight of him, instantly followed by anger at his reckless behavior. And he had said I did stupid things in battle. I'd never let him forget this.

I shot forward on the 3DM lines, headed toward Levi, who had lightly landed on a rooftop next to the fallen titan he had just taken down. I had almost reached him, when a titan loomed up behind him.

"Ackerman. Get down!" I yelled out, coming at them way too fast to slow down. I'd have to use the extra momentum to take out the titan behind him.

He glanced up at me, seeming to understand what I was trying to do, and rolled out of the way at the last minute. I shot over his head, hooking my line into the shoulder of the grinning titan, but it threw off my planned path, as it threw out an arm to try and knock me out of the air.

I swerved on the 3DM, narrowly missing its grasping fingers, and with a grunt of effort, brought one of my blades down on its forearm as I whipped past. I heard the bone crack under the sword and the titan's arm fell limply back down to its side as it turned its head to follow my flight path.

I swung in a wide arc around it and came back again, blade raised. It had turned slightly to track my movements. I'd have to hit the angle on the back of its neck just right to take it down.

I adjusted the pathway of the 3DM slightly as I approached the large titan, and with one, hard diagonal swing, brought the sword down on its neck.

I landed back on the rooftop beside Levi as the titan, its mouth still agape, crashed to the ground behind me.

I shot him a glare as another titan approached us, its strides long and uneven as it walked among the toppled houses. "What the hell....."

The titan smashed a hand down on the rooftop, trying to grab us. I leaped out of the way, rolling back to my feet as Levi did the same on the other side of the titans large, dirty arm. I shot him another dagger filled glare as the titan lifted its arm slowly back up to try and strike again. "What the." The arm crashed down again, this time causing me to leap back to the other side of the roof beside Levi. "Hell." I whipped out a 3DM line and sank it into the chest of the now aggravated titan. It lifted its arm again, fingers grasping toward us, and I flew up slightly on the line, slicing my blade through the fingers of its hand in one quick motion. "Were you." I swung outward on the line as the injured titan dropped its mauled hand back to its side, blood pouring from the places where its fingers had been. It snatched outward through the air with its other, uninjured hand, but I easily evaded the grab, coming back around to swipe my blade neatly across the nape of its neck. As it toppled to the ground, I landed back on the roof beside Levi, blood dripping from my blade, and glared at him once again. "Thinking?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, his black eyes unreadable and then said in monotone, "What the hell were you thinking, (L/N)?"

I glanced behind me, seeing another titan approaching us, and then said in an irritated voice, wiping my bloody blade on my pants, "There was a little girl in danger. I had everything under control."

He shot past me on the 3DM line, smoothly manuvering around the incoming titan as he sunk one of his blades into its neck, sending it tumbling to the ground, smoke billowing from the large gash in its nape.

He touched down on the roof beside me again, his face speckled with blood, and said flatly, "I don't care if you had it under control. It was irresponsible. And reckless."

I opened my mouth to retort back at him, that he had been the most reckless of us all, when his eyes flicked to something behind me, and I heard it. The footsteps of a titan.

I turned, just in time to see a large hand coming down on top of me.

I didn't have time to move. I couldn't 3DM out of this. This was it. I was going to die. Like this. To one of these damn bastards.

Suddenly, someone crashed into me right before the hand came down on me, and the titan's large hand missed me and crashed through the roof of the house. We tumbled down with the collapsing roof, and I landed hard on my back, the wind knocked out of me. I expected to be looking up at the sky through the large hole in the collapsed roof, but instead, when I opened my eyes, I was staring right into Levi's dark gaze.

His black hair fell messily over his forehead and into his eyes as he straddled me on hands and knees. There was a deep, new gash down his temple which was dripping crimson blood down the side of his face. One of the red droplets rolled off of his cheekbone and fell, landing softly on the skin that covered my own cheek.

The corner of his mouth turned up, just barely, as if he wanted to smile, but had forgotten how after all these years, and then he said, "Tch. What did I tell you? Reckless. I always have to be around to save your idiotic ass, (L/N)."

FLASHBACK

"I always have to be around to save your idiotic ass, (F/N)."

I tried to wriggle out of the hold he had on me, his thin, but surprisingly strong arms wrapped around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides. I glared over my shoulder at him. "How the hell are you so damn strong when I'm taller than you are?"

"Oi, that's not very nice, dummy. You know I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet." He said in a slightly offended voice, still keeping his hold tight as I struggled to free myself once again.

"Oh, that's sweet. You have to have your little boyfriend fight your battles for you, (L/N)?" The tall, red headed girl called to me from across the commons, her arms crossed across her chest as she threw us a large smirk.

I lunged toward her, but Levi held me back. "Say that again to my face, you food stealing cretin!" My feet scrabbled for a hold on the rocky ground beneath my feet as I strained against his hold. "Levi! Let me go!"

"She's at least a foot taller than you, (F/N). You'll never win. Believe it or not, I'm doing you a favor." He pulled me backward, dragging me with him away from the girl, who still stood smirking at us. "Now come on, we can find something else to eat. Just leave it be.

"Height difference has never stopped you, Ackerman!" I yelled out as he continued to drag me backwards, away from the girl and her smirking face. She flicked her fingers at me in a little wave of victory and held up the chunk of bread she had taken from me, before taking a large bite out of it with her yellow teeth. "I'll kill you, you little witch!" I screamed at her, Levi finally dragging me around the corner of one of the run down houses and out of her sight.

He shoved me back against the wall of the house, his hands on my shoulders, and looked at me seriously, his dark, dirty hair falling into his black eyes. "Are you done, (F/N)?" I spit on the ground at his feet, but didn't say anything, so he continued. "Don't worry about your bread. We'll find something else to eat."

I swore under my breath. "But damn it, Levi. I saved for weeks to afford that! And now she has it. All my hard work....hell."

He released me and flashed me a small grin. "Tch. Who do you think you're talking to here? We'll get her back. Later. Under the cover of night. You know how I like to work, (F/N)." He pushed the hair off of his forehead and raised an eyebrow at me. "So let it go for now. And don't worry, (F/N), because Levi Ackerman's always got your back."

FLASHBACK END

"Hey! You two okay?"

Levi pushed off of me and stood, straightening his dirty, once white cravat as he did so. I came to my feet and glanced up to the opening in the roof above us. Johnson stood peering down at us, his blade, dripping fresh titan blood, held in front of him. He glanced outward for a moment and then looked back down at us. "The rest of the squad is taking care of the remaining titans. But you two alone put quite a dent in their numbers. Are you sure you're all right, Corporal?"

I flicked my fingers at him. "I'm fine, Johnson. Let's gather up the others and get the hell out of here."

"Yes, Corporal." He nodded and disappeared from the roof with a whir of 3DM wires.

I glanced over at Levi, who was checking over all of his gear for damage, and, hesitating for a moment, finally said, "Thanks for the save, Ackerman."

He met my gaze, his own back to the same, flat expression he always held, and said in an emotionless voice, "Don't thank me. Just do a better job of trying not to get yourself killed next time."

He walked past me without another word and left me alone in the crushed remains of the house. I swore under my breath and followed him out, realizing that the times he had saved my life were starting to add up, and that I'd owe him soon enough.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net