Blood Is

Her back is rigid, her fists are clenched, her teeth are set on edge and she wants nothing more than to throw down her gear and pound her way through every inch and crevice of the sprawling brick castle that stands before her, because he is so close she can practically smell him -

"Mikasa. Did you hear what he said?"

Eyes the same gunmetal blue of a pale winter sky flicker from the heavy wooden doors of the crumbling stone fortress they stood before, over to the frail boy, straw halo of hair shining round his head, and the taller young man who stood at this side, face gruff and impatient. It was rare Mikasa wasn't aware of her surroundings, but today, this afternoon, she is stiff, twitching, frantic, because he has been away from her side for too long now, and no matter how hard she clutches the soft redness that muffles her throat, she can't shake the sea of unease teeming in her gut.

"No."

A simple retort, low and to the point as she always is, and her eyes shoot back to the fortress as she attempts to decipher the most plausible point of entrance from which to seek him out. She briefly hears a snort of contempt from behind her, only because it is so loud and intrusive, but she ignores it, as she always does, her attention consumed. She feels the presence of another shuffling closer to her, and she instantly is aware of Armin, trying his best not to stare at her too long - she believes he treats her like he would a feral cat sometimes; with all the right intentions to help, but wary all the same - his eyes moving to follow her line of sight, a long sigh settling into his chest as he undoubtedly realises what it is she is doing.

She has always liked Armin for this fact - he is quick to understand her intentions, her reactions, even though she has always been reserved and unrelenting in letting others beyond her stony exterior.

"Jean said, the captain's coming soon. We have to go line up, he wants to formally greet us," Armin says, softly, his words reaching out and coaxing her from her fierce glare and she turns to look at him properly, momentarily shocked that he is almost as tall as she is, drawn in by the gentle, yet determined look on his features. Armin was so fragile, she often thought, small and defenceless - an incredible mind, locked inside a body that could never properly defend it - it was times like this when a true measure of his will shone through in those determined eyes that she chastised herself for always falling into the role of protector when they were younger, and not letting him stand up for himself.

"Oh," is all she can muster, before Armin's face stretches into a smile and he shakes his head. He glances back at the castle, before taking a deep breath and eying Mikasa seriously.

"He's alright, Mikasa."

She raises her eyebrows slowly, the only sign of her surprise that manages to leak out onto her features. Armin hasn't so much as mentioned him in conversation in the past week... why, she isn't entirely sure. He perhaps thinks she will dissolve into a heap of helplessness, because she cannot reach him, or fly into a fit of rage... for a reason not dissimilar. He doesn't wait for her to reply to him, rather just makes a motion with his head to follow him as he starts to walk towards the rest of the group, who have already formed a neat line a little further back from the gates.

She swallows, and tries to relieve some of the tension from her body as she follows Armin to the line, hoping the captain will get this over with quickly.

Then she can find him.

Eren.

"Alright 104th scouts, stand to attention!"

A man she hadn't noticed before with hair the same startling blonde as Armin's barks at them, a young woman with large doe eyes and strawberry coloured hair standing at his side watching them with a slight air of amusement in her eyes, counting along the short row of brand new scouts.

Cannon fodder, someone had called them.

She has just stood up sharply to attention in the line when the doors of the fortress are thrust open, and Captain Levi stands, all four feet of him, watching them with the same air of contempt and brutality with which he had looked upon Eren in that courtroom not over a week ago.

Mikasa feels her blood come to the boil.

"Scouts," he says, sharply, his voice low and powerful, as he steps forward, from the boundaries of the fortress, hand on heart in the salute of the military. They salute back, their tiny row, and Mikasa watches Levi with sharp distaste as he begins his way along the row, demanding the name, town of origin and ranking in their class of each cadet.

Rather than listen to the pointless facts about her friends that she already knows, Mikasa instead watches Levi's every movement with fierce determination. Every inch he moves his eyebrows, every twist in his lips as he smirks at the feeble replies of... Krista was that? She cannot hear the chirp of the birds or the hum of the gentle breeze at it makes her short, dark hair dance around her cheeks as she focuses all of her might on Levi, slowly making his way towards her.

She wants to punch him in the face, slam him to the ground, stamp on his head...

Before she knows it, he stands before her, barely an inch taller than her, eyes staring back at her nearly the exact colour of her own. They narrow as they take her in. He is no doubt expecting her to reply to his questions in a way similar to Krista and Sasha... the careful grace her features held often led her to be underestimated by higher ups as they had gone through their training to eventually stand where she stood today. She didn't much care for her own looks - she knew she had a nose, a mouth, two eyes that all worked perfectly, and that was all she required to get on in life - it was the abrupt fascination other people had for her face that irked her.

She realises she has been returning Levi's sharp gaze for a moment too long, and blinks once, quickly in an attempt to recollect herself. Now was not the time to be displaying any weakness to this man, who had so easily beaten Eren to a bloody pulp and thought he could get away with it.

"Sir." She salutes again. "Shiganshina, Wall Maria. First seat of the 104th squad."

Levi raises a brow at that.

"A first seat joined the survey corps? Now that is interesting."

If Levi is interested, she thinks, he certainly doesn't look it. In fact he looks even more bored than he possibly did speaking to all the other cadets, if not slightly intrigued due to his raised eyebrow. He smirks at her, cold like steel and rocks back on his heels.

"No need to ask why - you were with Eren in the courthouse weren't you?"

Mikasa uses every inch of her will to suppress the cry of outrage from her lips, her eyes snapping open only slightly wider in shock as Levi dares speak his name like he has the right. But she cannot allow him to see anymore of how weak Eren makes her - always allowing a reaction to be drawn when someone insulted him was not the way to protect either of them. She curtly nods and nothing more as Levi snorts in laughter and jerks his head at her.

"And do you have a name, First Seat?"

"Mikasa. Ackerman."

She hears a sharp intake of breath from the two members of the Levi Squad, the blonde and the redhead, still standing a little ways away as their Captain intimidated the new recruits. Her eyes flicker back from them to Levi, who also is watching her with slight disbelief in his eyes. His lip curls into a sneer and that is when, for the first time in over a week, a fact other than one pertaining to Eren's whereabouts, or general well-being, pops into her usually alert mind.

Levi's last name is Ackerman.

"Ackerman? From Shiganshina?" he all but whispers the words, his eyebrow raised once more, inches from her face.

She doesn't flinch.

"Yes, sir. My parents weren't originally from Shiganshina. They moved. They never said why," she replies, voice just as low and controlled as his. He watches her an instant longer, eyes slightly more alert than his initial dull gaze, however Mikasa is beginning to suspect that, like her own usually unremarkable gaze on the world, he too is excellent at masking his own thoughts and emotions. This makes her shiver slightly, the uncomfortable similarities between the two of them seeming to bridge the gap between them that began with their surnames.

Levi steps back, as if he too is digesting the immediate similarities they seem to share and frowns.

"Where are they now? Your parents?"

"Dead."

"Titans?"

"Human traffickers."

Both unflinching.

She is suddenly aware of the group of people now staring incredulously at them, beginning with Armin right at her side. She swallows and watches Levi lick his lips in thought as he steps back from the rest of them, throwing her one last look over his shoulder.

"Good to have you on board, Mikasa. It'll be beneficial to have another first seat around... haven't had one since... I joined up."

With that he gestures to the two gaping members of his squad, who hurry along inside the gates behind, the woman already whispering to him garbled words, as the man cranes his neck to glance back at Mikasa.

She watches Levi grow further away and for a moment, Eren leaves her thoughts entirely, as the group of her friends gather around her and start firing questions about her family tree.

He, Levi Ackerman, could be her family.

True, blood related, family.

And then, as if that instant never happened, Eren comes soaring back into the forefront of her mind, beaten, bruised, bloodied all by the same man in question, and her resolve hardens to seek him out in this dark fortress. To continue to protect him from any harm that someone may hope to cause him, and ultimately tell him how she really feels when he brushes her hair from her eyes without thinking and then turns red from the tips of his ears to the base of his neck, because in the end blood means nothing when it comes to true, honest safety.

Blood is warm, and binding, but it is nothing when compared to the touch of a long red scarf, wrapped carefully around your neck, soft and strong, and the only thing left in the world that can hold you together.

First attempt at writing SNK and when I was reading the manga, this was a little niggling thought that wouldn't leave me alone. Surely Mikasa and Levi would have had an 'a-ha!' moment upon meeting each other and realising their uncanny similarities as well as that little old last name? I thought someone might have at least been a little bit intrigued by it? I don't know, this headcannon thing just wouldn't leave me be. I'm a die-hard Eremika shipper, so I wonder why my first piece of SNK fiction was about them? Mikasa and Levi do win the award for most interesting characters in my book, however. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Reviews are greatly appreciated. I might even add to this if its enjoyed...