The sun was barely cresting the walls when you and Levi stood side by side on the training field. The morning air was crisp, carrying the sharp scent of dirt and sweat from the recruits already running laps. Their shouts and laughter grated against the disciplined silence Levi preferred.

You glanced at him, his arms folded neatly behind his back, eyes cold and calculating as ever. He didn’t have to say a word — one glare from Captain Levi Ackerman was enough to make most of them straighten up.

Most of them.

But lately, it seemed not everyone was getting the message.

You’d been the one running drills all morning, while Levi observed from the sidelines. It wasn’t uncommon — he wanted the cadets to learn to respect both of you equally. But for some of them, especially the more hardheaded ones, that lesson wasn’t sinking in.

“Reiner, keep your stance lower,” you ordered, circling him and the group of sparring cadets. “You’re leaving your whole chest open for—”

Eren lunged before you could finish, slamming into Reiner’s guard with all the subtlety of a charging bull. Both of them went down in a tangle of limbs.

“—attack,” you finished dryly, hands on your hips.

Reiner groaned, sitting up, but Eren just laughed. “We’re training, not dancing, ma’am. You don’t have to worry so much about stances when it’s a real fight.”

The word ma’am dripped with false politeness.

You could feel a few of the cadets stifling smirks behind him.

Levi’s gaze flicked toward you from across the field, unreadable. You could tell he was waiting — to see what you’d do.

You took a slow breath, keeping your tone even. “You think you know more than me, Yeager?”

Eren shrugged, wiping sweat from his brow. “Just saying — out there, we don’t have time for—”

“Form keeps you alive,” you cut in sharply. “And if you ever speak over a superior again, you’ll be cleaning the barracks floor until your reflection apologizes back to you. Do I make myself clear?”

Eren hesitated, jaw tightening. “Yes, ma’am.”

But it wasn’t respect — it was defiance. You could feel it radiating from him, from Reiner, from half the group.

You’d worked too damn hard to be dismissed like this.

For years, you’d fought beside Levi, commanded squads, survived hell itself. You weren’t some name whispered in admiration — you earned your stripes. Every scar on your body, every mission you came back from when others didn’t, was proof of that.

And yet, here you were — being treated like an inconvenience.

When another cadet chuckled under their breath after you turned your back, something in you snapped.

You stopped mid-step, the air around you going still. When you spoke again, your voice carried like thunder — low, sharp, impossible to ignore.

“I am the highest-ranking officer anywhere I fucking go,” you barked, every syllable slicing through the silence. “And this base better start fucking acting like it!”

The field went dead quiet. Even the birds seemed to stop.

Eren’s eyes went wide. Reiner straightened immediately. Every cadet in sight froze where they stood, backs snapping straight as if struck by lightning.

You stalked forward, boots crunching against the dirt. “You think you’re soldiers because you can swing a blade and shout about freedom? You’re nothing until you learn discipline. Until you learn respect. If you can’t follow orders from me, you don’t deserve to stand under this uniform, let alone beside Captain Ackerman.”

Levi was watching you now with that faint, unreadable smirk — the one that wasn’t quite amusement, but something close to pride.

You turned to him briefly, chest still heaving, before barking to the cadets again, “Back to positions! Move like you mean it!”

“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted in unison, voices echoing across the field.

Levi stepped up beside you, voice low enough only you could hear. “’Bout time you scared some sense into them.”

You shot him a sideways glare. “You could’ve stepped in.”