Hey guys! This is the second of three stories I am planning on writing during the summer. The first one, of course, was Eyes of the Beholder. The third one will take a little while to release because of the storyline. The title, however, will be Let's Play: Eren and Levi. Any guesses on what that's going to be about? :P And don't worry, the final chapter of Only Lonely is coming out hopefully this week!

As for priority, that's up to you. Whichever story you guys like the most will be top priority. :D

For those who are new to my stories, hello! Let's be friends! :D

Enjoy the first chapter, and I'll see ya at the bottom!

Title: Sugar and Spice

Rating: M for underage drinking, implied drug use, language, and of course, Riren sexy times.

TRIGGER WARNING: There will be themes about religion… specifically Christianity. This is in no way any ploy to bash on Christianity. It's just for plot purposes. I will not be responding to complaints or explaining myself from here on out. You have been warned. There will also be rape. I do not condone rape. It all has a purpose in this story, so do not question why. All comments made about it will be removed and ignored.

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan. Credit goes to Hajime Isayama.

Summary: AU. Levi moves to the small Christian town Shiganshina to start a new life working part time as a teacher and at a family owned bakery. The town has strict laws, banning "sinful" acts. All Levi wanted was a peaceful life. But what happens when he gets suspicious of the government's true intentions and falls in love with someone he's not supposed to? Riren. Warnings inside.

Chapter 1 Genesis

Levi exhaled deeply as he stepped off of his black Suzuki motorcycle. He watched his breath disappear into the cold air. The short man hoisted his backpack with all of his belongings up over his shoulders.

Finally… I'm here.

He stared at the small brick house in front of him. Levi walked up the door and knocked. A tall blond man answered the door.

"Levi!" He smiled.

"Erwin Smith." Levi replied unenthusiastically. "Now that we know who we are, can you let me in? I'm freezing my balls off."

"Nice to see you again, too." Erwin stepped aside. "You haven't changed from when we were growing up in Mitras. I'm glad you made it here safe."

Erwin glanced at Levi's backpack. "Is that all you have?"

"Sorry that spending the rest of my little money on the cheapest mode of transportation to Shiganshina has left me with barely any clothing and food." Levi snapped. "Living in a shelter left me with little options. And for some reason, this town doesn't allow bus or taxi service."

Erwin nodded. "I'm sorry about that. It's weird, I know. As for clothes, we'll take care of that soon. And Levi… are you one hundred percent sure that you're clean? You know Shiganshina's government has a strict ban on-"

"Yes, yes, I know. How else would I have gotten past those stupid cops stationed at the city line?" Levi rubbed his temples. "Seriously, are they really necessary? I bet they have so much fun breathalyzing every goddamn person that leaves and enters the city."

"It's our protocol." Erwin shrugged, taking Levi's coat and hanging it up. "This town is strictly Protestant. Before I moved here, this city has had many strict laws and bans put in place. No loud music, dancing, drugs, or alcohol. The minors have mandatory religious classes at the high school, and they have an early curfew. In fact, the citizens are not allowed to leave the city unless approved by the board. I have no idea what precipitated all of that."

"Hn. Interesting. Then it's a good thing I'm not a citizen." Levi murmured, not really caring. All he wanted was a temporary place to live so he could get back on his feet. The laws weren't a priority for him.

"…come on, let me show you where you'll be sleeping." Erwin told Levi.

Erwin led Levi to the small spare room. He managed to fit a daybed, two dressers, a hamper, and a desk inside.

"I'm sorry it's not much… but when I saw your condition in Mitras, I just knew I had to get you out of there." Erwin said solemnly.

Levi sighed. "I'm going to treat Mitras like a bad hangover. So at least try not to bring it up." Levi inspected the room and scrunched his nose at the dust. "Besides, the bigger issue here is the standard of cleanliness in this place. I hope you have plenty of Windex and Scrubbing Bubbles here."

Erwin chuckled. "You forget we were best friends at one point. Of course I stocked up on cleaning supplies. You would have killed me if I hadn't."

"Damn right." Levi sat his backpack next to the desk, deciding to sort his stuff out tomorrow. "Erwin… thanks for letting me stay here. As soon as I get enough money, I will find a home of my own."

Erwin smiled softly. "What are friends for? So, the bathroom is right across the hall. I left out a washcloth, a towel, and soap for you. And you don't have to worry about cleaning. I already did that. See you in the morning."

With that, Erwin left Levi alone and went to his own room for the night. Levi opened his backpack and pulled out an old T-shirt and a pair of boxers before going in the bathroom. After shedding his clothes and folding them neatly, Levi turned on the hot water and stepped inside. His muscles immediately relaxed.

Tomorrow, I have a job interview at Shiganshina High School. Then I have one at the Maria Bakery. Those were the only places that had job openings. I'm not sure how I will fare with a bunch of brats, but I'm just glad the school hires based on skill, not background. The bakery sounds like a nice, relaxing place, too.

Levi closed his eyes as his former life in the big city washed down the drain along with the soap and water running down his body.

The next morning, Levi woke up to the strong smell of coffee. He looked towards the window. The sun had not risen yet, so he guessed it was about six am. His interview at the school is at eight.

Levi made his bed then walked over to his backpack. He took out the few clothes he had and folded them into the drawers. Levi did not have dressy clothes to wear to the interview, so he decided on a polo shirt and black pants.

He took his comb, brush, toothbrush, and toothpaste to the bathroom. He winced at the dark circles under his eyes, but decided to ignore them. After doing his hair and brushing his teeth, he walked out to the kitchen. As he figured, Erwin was up making coffee. He was already dressed in his police uniform.

"Good morning." Erwin greeted him.

"Hi." Levi yawned. "Have fun babysitting everyone on town today."

Erwin rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I just hope the government realizes that putting all of these restrictions on people will only backfire in time. Well, I'm off. I left instructions on how to get to the high school on the fridge. See you this evening."

Erwin picked up his keys and left the house.

Levi helped himself to a cup of coffee as he took the instructions off the fridge and read them.

"Hm, that doesn't seem too far from here." Levi muttered.

Levi had an hour before he had to arrive at SHS, so he took it upon himself to wash Erwin's dishes from yesterday that were lodged in the sink. After those were done, Levi grabbed his only coat and the keys to his Suzuki and left before he could succumb to cleaning the entire house.

It was 7:45, and Levi had plenty of time. He revved up his bike and sped off. Levi was able to take a good look at the town. It was definitely rural. The roads were okay, but rundown. The houses were small, and a few were two stories. Levi noticed that no one had new looking cars. Most were compact cars. He didn't see a lot of franchises like McDonald's or Wal-Mart. Everything was generic.

Levi slowed down slightly when he was nearing a bakery. The small bakery was attached to a house, so he assumed that the family lived there. The sign on the building was lit up and said Maria Bakery.

"So that's where I'll be going later." Levi made a mental note of its location.

Outside the bakery, there were two teenagers talking and laughing. The sun had almost risen completely, so Levi was able to make out their appearance. One was a boy of average height with dark brown hair and vibrant green eyes. The other boy next to him was about Levi's height with blond hair and ocean blue eyes. They were wearing identical white collared shirts, black ties, red vests, and khaki pants, so Levi figured they were school uniforms.

The two boys stopped their conversation when they saw Levi ride by them, his engines roaring.

"Eren! That's a motorcycle!" Levi heard the shorter boy say excitedly. "This is the first time I've seen one in person!"

Levi was out of earshot when Eren scoffed jealously.

"Whatever, Armin. He thinks he's a hotshot. I swear, the adults here are fucking hypocrites. They say motorcycles are noisy and unwanted, but there one goes. Come on, let's go before we're late."

~.~.~.~.

"So, you're Levi Ackerman?" The principal of Shiganshina High School, Dot Pixis, asked.

"That's what it says on my résumé." Levi replied, coming out a bit more snarky than he would have liked.

In Levi's defense, he was a bit irritated before coming in to his interview. He passed by more high school brats walking to school, and they either ogled at his bike or shouted at him enviously.

Those stupid brats. They act like motorcycles are rare artifacts.

Pixis smiled. "Wow, a sense of humor. We need some of that in this school." The old man looked back down at the résumé. "You graduated from high school in the top fifteen percent. Your highest level of education was three years in college. You had a double major in Hebrew and Japanese. Obviously you're pretty smart. What inspired you to major in those two languages, and why did you drop out?"

"Well, I was born in a Jewish family, hence my name Levi, and growing up, I learned and spoke Hebrew. Hebrew wasn't offered as a language in middle school or high school. I originally wasn't going to take another language, but I was inspired to take Japanese." Levi explained, not liking having to remember parts of his past.

"But I met this little Japanese girl and her mother at the soup kitchen I volunteered at. The girl looked about four. he and her mother didn't speak much English at all. The only words she knew was "please" and "thank you". I only knew "Boku ha Levi Ackerman", so I said that. She smiled a little and started speaking in Japanese, but I had no idea what she was saying. I heard her say "Mikasa", which I'm guessing was her name. So, I was inspired to take Japanese in high school. I saw her one other time when I was a senior in high school. Her mother wasn't with her. "

Pixis smiled. "Mikasa, hm? There is a Mikasa that was adopted by the Jaeger family a few years ago. She claimed her last name was "Ackerman", though her records said otherwise."

Levi's eyes widened. "Really…? She's here?"

Pixis nodded. "Yes. She's sickly, so she stays at home and is homeschooled by Carla Jaeger, the owner of the Maria Bakery. Her son Eren Jaeger attends this school, though. He's a troublesome young man, but he means well. Mikasa cares about Eren a lot."

Levi was a bit unsettled by how much Pixis knew about people. Then again, Shiganshina is a really small town, with a population of 4,000 people.

Eren Jaeger… I think I saw that guy this morning. He was leaving the bakery. His little friend called him "Eren".

"So, tell me, why should I give a job to a college dropout?" Pixis asked seriously, snapping Levi out of his thoughts. "How committed are you?"

Levi clenched his fists. "I… was going through a rough time. Two people I cared deeply about died, and I was very, very, committed to them. We were family, working hard in school so we could escape our shitty lives in Mitras. But then…" Levi trailed off. "…our dreams were broken."

Pixis stacked his papers and closed his eyes. "Levi… we recently had a position open up in the foreign language department. The board approved of Japanese being taught if a qualified person was available. Unfortunately, the board did not want other languages like Hebrew to be taught in fear of religious defection. It was a miracle the board let Japanese through."

Pixis looked up at Levi. "Since this is a new language, there will only be a morning class. If enough people sign up next semester for Japanese, would you be able to take the job?"

Levi's eyes widened at the offer. "Why… yes. I would."

"You will be getting a call from me in two weeks if things work out." Pixis stood up to shake Levi's hand. "I look forward to it. Be sure to write up a plan for a possible curriculum so I can pass it on to the foreign language department."

"Thank you, sir." Levi told him, returning the handshake.

Levi left the school, feeling a bit better about things than before. However, the town's weird policies are creeping him out a little.

Religious defection… what the hell? Learning eastern languages does not mean someone will stop following whatever religion they follow. I'm not religious, but I'm still Jewish. What, will the government kick me out for my religious background? Tch.

Levi bumped into someone on accident.

"Watch where you're walking, midget." The person snapped.

Levi's eye twitched at the mop of brown hair that brushed past him. The voice sounded like the Eren from this morning.

These damn brats. Who does he think he is? No wonder this town is so unyielding. Levi shook his head. Whatever. I'm not going to worry about it.

Levi walked back out of the school and hopped back on his motorcycle.

I don't have to be at the bakery until three, so I think I'm just gonna go back to Erwin's house and clean my problems away.

However, Levi wasn't let off that easy. He wasn't a mile away until a police car stopped him.

"What the actual fuck?" Levi pulled over, confused by what he could have possibly done wrong.

The officer that stopped him was pretty tall with short black hair and a goatee and mustache. His eyes were dark and unamused. His tag read "Nile Dok".

"License and registration."

Levi dug in his pocket and took out his wallet holding the wanted identification. "Is there a problem?" He asked as politely as he could.

Nile ignored him as he verified the information.

Levi was baffled, but kept his face calm. "So what is the problem exactly?" He asked again.

"Motorcycles are not allowed unless they have an 80 decibel noise limit and the correct emissions standards." Nile replied sternly. "You woke up a lot of people this morning with the noise. Everyone here makes it easier on everyone and just doesn't buy a motorcycle. This is disturbing the peace."

Nile then spotted something on the side of the bike. "And get that removed immediately."

Levi looked at where Nile was pointing at. It was a pitch fork bumper sticker.

"Satanic propaganda is also not allowed."

"Satanic propaganda?" Levi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "It's just a damn sticker. I did not buy it. It was already on the bike when I bought it used."

"Watch your language." Nile snapped. "I'm just following the law, and you should do the same. This is your first and only warning, Levi Ackerman. Get the bike fixed to where it's not so loud, and get rid of that sticker, or I will write you up."

With that, Nile walked back to his police car and drove off.

"…what the fuck?" Levi muttered, revving his engine up again. "I need a copy of all these "laws", because this is ridiculous."

Levi drove back to Erwin's house, irritated and confused.

There you have it! So what's going on with Shiganshina? Why are they so try hard with laws? It will be revealed bit by bit.

In the next chapter, you will see Levi's first real interaction with Eren, and his reunion with Mikasa. Since the relationship with Mikasa and Levi's last name is unknown anyway, I thought I would play around with it in this story. :) And yes, yes, I know Mikasa's last name has always been Ackerman. I'm just changing it around here.

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PRK