BLUTRACHE (blood vengeance.)
Mikasa meets Kaney Ackerman for the first time and also learns about Levi's full name. (connected to this graphic)
"Who are you? How do you know me?" She ignored Levi's sighs and pullings, and focused on their opponent now. He didn't look like he would attack her - yet - but just grinned at her, his teeth surprisingly white compared to his dark beard and scarred and dirty skin, and it was a repulsive smile; it made her take a step back and her hair stand up. "Oh, I know all about you, Mikasa Ackerman. We are family after all. Ackermans. You. Me. Levi, too. And yes, your poor parents, may they rest in peace. I heard they didn't go peacifully, though."
"You need to get the fuck away from here." It was the first thing the Captain said to her and it irritated her immensely, since she just saved him from being struck by another bullet by that other guy. She glared down to Levi, who was out of breath and dirtied on the ground; a rare sight.
It had taken her some time to find him. Before he had taken off in the morning, he had told them - his squad - that he would be back at a certain point in time. It had been one hour later already. A few weeks ago, she probably would have wished for him to be hurt. But now their relationship was different. The others were still upset about how he had treated Historia, that he had grabbed her and yelled at her, that is. In the heat of the moment, Mikasa had been just as shocked and upset as the others. But after some time she understood his actions. He must be on edge and just stressed and tired, too. She often saw him still awake when she woke up at night to go to the restroom and his eyes were lined with dark circles, spelling out his stressed demeanor. Yes, these times weren't easy for him. And she also understood what was at stake and what they had to do now. She wasn't angry at him snapping like that and oddly, she seemed to be the only one. What a surprising turn of events. So when she went to Connie to ask him about their Captain, he seemed to be worried too, but also too reluctant to actually do something. Jean and Armin were somewhere else and she also couldn't find Sasha. So she just left a word at Connie's and took of to find their Captain. And she had found him. Among other things. When she got closer to the center of town, she was greeted with people running into the opposite direction. A woman was crying and she almost collided with Mikasa, throwing of her cloak of her head on the way. She knew that she was on the right way. The first thing she stumbled upon was a female corpse whose face was blown of and the young woman haltered in her step in shock. It was just, blown of. A gun. Human. The second thing she noticed were two shadows on the rooftops and one of them she knew very well. The other one, however, was foreign but all she registered where the guns in his hands and how they were pointed at Levi. Without thinking, Mikasa climped up and got close to hem and she watched how that guy was faster than their very Captain and under different circumstances she would have hesitated to watch that spectacle but there was no time for that. Instead she got hold of Levi just when a bullet was about to blow his head of, too. She almost dragged him aside and shielded him from the other guy who seemed to have stopped for now. At least she surprised him with her sudden appearance. Needless to say, she didn't expect for Levi to be angry.
"Captain, I..." "Do you need your girlfriend to help you nowadays?" It was a rough and deep voice, the voice of the shooter she just escapted from. Even though Levi's hand grabbed her forcefully by her arm, she shook him off and turned around to the stranger with the hat. His eyes focused onto her face and she swore she saw a second of recognition passing his expression. "It's you... What a small world," he said in a cold tone. So he really did know her. Mikasa's eyes narrowed at his words and she heard Levi standing up behind her, gripping her arm again and pulling her aside. "Get the fuck away from here. This is an order, brat." Mikasa couldn't understand what was happening. Levi seemed almost desperate to have her gone and she snapped her head to him, eying him sceptically. What the hell was wrong with him? "So you didn't tell her? How selfish." It was the strange man again and her head moved between her captain and the newest enemy again and again. They knew each other, that much was clear and Mikasa suddenly was eager to find out what was going on. Usually, the exotic wasn't a curious kind. It wasn't like she didn't care enough, because she really cared plenty, but that she just never had the same urge to unravel things like Armin or Eren did. But this guy seemed to know her and something about him itched her the wrong way. He was dangerous, so much was clear. So dangerous that Levi didn't want her near him and Mikasa also had witnessed how someone was faster that Lance Corporal Levi - humanity's strongest. No, that guy was bad news.
"Who are you? How do you know me?" She ignored Levi's sighs and pullings, and focused on their opponent now. He didn't look like he would attack her - yet - but just grinned at her, his teeth surprisingly white compared to his dark beard and scarred and dirty skin, and it was a repulsive smile; it made her take a step back and her hair stand up. "Oh, I know all about you, Mikasa Ackerman. We are family after all. Ackermans. You. Me. Levi, too. And yes, your poor parents, may they rest in peace. I heard they didn't go peacifully, though."
An ice cold shock travelled through Mikasa's entire body. She felt how everything, ever nerve in her entire body, froze and her eyes because cold stones, dark and hard. She tried to move her mouth several times to form a question, but she found herself unable to move or to even feel anything. There was nothing. This statement was so unexpected, it had thrown her off completely and it was like her brain shut off for now, leaving her numb and helpless. She couldn't understand. He knew her name. He knew her parents. Ackerman. He was an Ackerman. Levi... was... Mikasa moved, finally. But it was back to the man she thought she new. "Ackerman...?" Her voice was barely audible but she was very sure he knew what she said. Her gaze was fixed on him and his expression was one she had never seen him wear. Shame. "Don't listen to this guy, Mikasa. I will explain everything to you later. But you need to go now." As if she would move away one bit now. "Yes, yes, Levi Ackerman. I am Kaney Ackerman by the way." Mikasa looked Kaney right into his unpleasant face and her face showed no trace of emotion - probably because she was still in shock. "It's funny that Levi never mentioned that he lived with the guy who was responsible for your parents' death. Must have slipped his mind." It send another cold wave through her body and on the inside Mikasa was slowly turning into a mess, while on the outside, she simply didn't move at all. Everything this man says... it couldn't be true, could it? And her parents... Her parents. "You..." it was the first thing Mikasa said in a steady voice for a while, "you are responsible for their death?" Her voice was hoarse and low, her eyes clouded and she could feel the rage burning over the coldness in her body. Her parents' death was his fault. He caused her loss. He took them away from her. This man took everything from her. This singly truth was the center of all her thoughts now. In this moment, she didn't care what he said about Levi or her or the name Ackerman. All that mattered were her parents. Without thinking, she darted forward, blade in her hand, and she had every intention of using it. But before she could even raise her arm to do it, he was already gone from her sight. Instead she spotted his shadow and she quickly steadied herself and turned around, facing him once again. But this time a gun was pointed at her head and it was pushing into her cheek, almost piercing into her skin. It didn't make her freeze, though. Instead she punched his arm away and tried to grab his throat, trying to choke this man she hated more than anything on this little, titan-plaqued world. But he was gone again and this time two guns were touching the back of her head. "Not bad but too slow. Did Levi train you? Hm.... no," he was mumbling to himself obviously - not that Mikasa would have answered him anyways. "You fight differently, but you copy him in some aspects. Or should I say, copy me since I taught Levi everything he knows." "Can you cut the crap, you old shitbag?" It was Levi and Mikasa knew that he was also standing behind her and she guessed that he had grabbed Kaney's hand. "You will not hurt her." Levi's words were final and it made her turn her head - despite the guns pointing at her. He was staring up to Kaney, who was much taller than him, but their expressions matched somehow and it made Mikasa sick because this made it just so much more real. Made it the truth. Levi was... connected to this guy. Were they related? Somehow? Why did he never say something? It made her feel so many things at the same time, anger, desperation, sadness... All those mixed together with the rage she still felt inside of her because this guy killed her parents. "Why did you kill them?" She probably had interrupted a conversation between Levi and Kaney, which she hadn't followed as she had been absorbed in her own thoughts, but she hardly cared. She also didn't care about the guns pointing at her. She had faced death so many times and she was too eager to find out what was going on, that her mind probably wasn't registering the actual danger coming from them. For her they were nothing but a nuisance against her skin, like rain or insects or the wind. "Well, Mikasa, did you never wonder why you lived so far off any civilisation? Why your father rather took you into the forest to hunt, instead to the city to go shopping?" The guns were removed from her head, but Kaney grabbed her raven hair instead and pulled her back, so she looked at him upside down, her back arched and her legs shaking and threatening to give in. Levi stepped forward, but a gun was pointed at him instead and unlike Mikasa, he believed in Kaney's threats. "Well, you father stole that little bitch of your mother. You look just like her. A little exotic whore. The Ackerman were once a proud family but your father," he pulled at her hair again but if he expected any kind of reaction from Mikasa, he could wait for an eternity. "he was always a pathetic one. He stole one of the slaves, ran away with that bitch who was already carrying you. I don't like it when people steal from me. I wanted to sell your mother for a good price and it took me longer than expected to find her." Images of a door opening and an axe coming down filled Mikasa's mind. She remembered well, how those men barged into her home and took everything from her in just a second. Like a blink of an eye or the flutter of a bird's wing and they had been taken from her. "They weren't supposed to kill her. I wanted to sell the both of you. But it seems like that plan didn't work out. First she gets killed and then you little thing kill my man. Maybe you are a true Ackerman. A killer."
He let go of her and Mikasa fell forward to the ground due to the sudden lack of pull on his side. Her hands collided with the ground first and she stayed there for a few seconds, processing everything. A killer? "As ever, you are still full of shit." It was Levi and while listening to Kaney, Mikasa had almost forgotten that he was there. Kaney called him an Ackerman, too, didn't he? Did he also... Did he help? "Captain, did you know?" She waited for his response and his hesitation made her lose her hope more and more. She had been ready to accept him as someone she could look up to. Someone she could learn of. She had trusted him with Eren. Did this mean he was just a traitor to them? "I did know. But by the time this thing with your family happened, I was long gone from this piece of shit and I had joined the military." Mikasa breathed out. He knew but he didn't do it. It had to be enough for now. Because there were only two option left: either the two of them would kill Kaney or he would kill them if they didn't get away. "You need to tell me everything," she said and she slowly got back on her feet and inseatd of looking at Kaney, she looked right at Levi and she saw him nodding and also understanding her intentions. "Aren't you a cute pair... But enough chit chat, I am afraid." Mikasa and Levi looked over to their oponent and they both knew what to do.