Edit: To the guest reviewer who asked if they may translate this story into Chinese, I'm very flattered! Yes, you may translate and share it as long as you give me proper credit. Also, I'm studying Chinese in school, and I'd love it if you'd provide me with a link to the translation via PM or another review once you post it :)

In his life, Levi had been woken up by many different ways. He'd woken up to gun shots and shouting and he'd woken up to sunlight glowing on his face. Before recruitment, he'd woken up with women in his bed and he'd woken up hungover. Since joining the Recon Corps, he'd woken up on missions to the screams of his comrades and he's woken up to the sight of Titans.

On this day, however, Levi was woken up by a fluffy black and white kitten screeching in his ear and digging its claws painfully into his chest.

"What the hell?" he hissed as he sat up in bed. The kitten meowed loudly again and fell down near his legs. With a mixture of confusion and irritation, Levi watched as it curled up and began snoozing gently, using the leg of humanity's strongest soldier as a pillow.

Petra was bustling around the kitchen preparing coffee for her team when a particularly disgruntled corporal entered, still dressed in his pajamas. Her eyes widened at the sight of the kitten dangling in his hand by the scruff of its neck.

"What the hell was this abomination doing in my room?"

"Good morning, corporal. Sleep well?" Auruo asked from his position at the table next to Erd and Gunther.

"Answer my fucking question."

"Corporal, I'm sorry," Petra approached her superior and traded him a fresh cup of coffee for the kitten. "He's mine."

"I don't remember giving you permission to bring a cat into our quarters."

"Well, remember how it rained all last week?" she explained in an abnormally high voice. "I found him curled up inside a knocked over garbage car. He was shaking and absolutely chilled to the bone, so I took him in."

Levi wrinkled his nose. He didn't know what disturbed him more: the fact that his subordinate kept a secret under his nose for a week or the fact that the kitten in her arms had been found rolling in garbage.

"The rain ended yesterday," he replied curtly.

"I know, but I couldn't bear to let him go," she held the kitten up to her face and it licked her cheek affectionately.

"C'mon, corporal. He's our little mascot." Erd told him.

"You knew about this too?"

"Of course, we all did." Erd, Auruo, and Gunther all nodded.

"We named him after you, y'know," Auruo informed him.

"What's it's name?"

"Ravioli."

"Corporal Levi, please!" Petra pleaded as he began to carry the kitten towards the back door. She rushed forward and blocked his path.

The corporal stopped in front of her and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How do you expect to feed it? Where is it supposed to shit?"

"I've been leaving my window open so he can come in and out," she explained. "He goes out and catches birds and rabbits; he's actually quite clever. He goes to the bathroom outside, too. In fact, he probably got into your room by climbing through the window."

"Weren't you complaining about the mice problem last week anyway?" Auruo pointed out.

"I didn't mean that I wanted you to get a filthy street cat!"

Petra boldly reached out and put a hand on her commanding officer's arm.

"Please, corporal?" She pleaded once again.

He looked into her warm honey colored eyes and sighed heavily.

"Fine, but you lot have to take care of the fucking thing."

He doubted that Petra heard his last words, however, as she leaped forward and enveloped him in a hug. He was momentarily overwhelmed with her warmth and the faint scent of vanilla and cinnamon lingering on her skin. He dropped Ravioli, who landed with a thump and hissed lightly at the corporal.

Petra stepped back and giggled. "Thank you, corporal," she smiled at him. "I owe you a big favor."

"Don't mention it." His heart was still beating erratically from the sudden embrace and his cheeks felt warm from her glowing smile.

Later that night, Petra gathered Ravioli in her arms and knocked softly at the corporal's door.

"Enter," she heard a muffled voice call out. She opened the door and slid into her superior's bedroom to find him sitting at his desk doing maintenance on his 3DMG.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to apologize for keeping this secret from you."

Levi stopped his work and turned around.

"I'm listening."

Petra gulped nervously and instinctually clutched Ravioli tighter to her chest.

"I know that it was wrong for me to act without your permission. We need to be able to trust each other, and I was being selfish. I know you don't like filth and I took in a stray cat despite that knowledge. I'm sorry."

Levi pointed at the bundle of fur in her arms.

"Why'd you bring that with you?"

"I thought you two should get to know each other better. You should try petting him; he's very soft."

Levi sighed and pulled himself up from the chair. He walked over and began to scratch the kitten on the head with a single finger. The warm sound of Ravioli's purrs began to fill the room.

Until he bit the corporal.

"Fuck," Levi cursed, withdrawing his finger from the little deviant. Ravioli slipped out of Petra's arms and retreated under the bed.

"Corporal-"

"That little shit drew blood," he muttered as he examined the bite.

"Here, let me," Petra retrieved a pink handkerchief from her jacket and carefully wrapped the corporal's finger. He slim fingers were swift and dexterous. He felt his skin tingle at the points where their fingers touched.

Levi sat down on the foot of the bed. He could almost laugh at the hilarity of it. First he'd caved in and tolerated the presence of that cat and now he'd allowed his finger to be bandaged in a pink handkerchief. If he didn't know better, he'd think that he was getting soft.

But he felt no where near laughing when he looked up and saw the worried expression on Petra's face. She had her arms wrapped around herself tightly and was biting her lip. He didn't like it.

"Petra, sit down." He patted the spot to the left of him. She hesitated, then obliged, sitting a little further from him than he wanted. She folded her hands neatly in her lap and kept her gaze directed at the floor.

"I'm not angry," he told her softly.

The release of worry from her features was almost tangible.

"You're not?"

He shook his head. "No, but I would like to cash in my favor."

"I-I'm sorry, sir?" She saw a flash of an unidentifiable emotion run through his eyes. But whatever it was, it sent chills up her spine.

He reached out and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Fuck it, subordinate or not, he wanted her. He knew it was foolish and against the rules. But he only followed the rules up to the point he found a good reason not to, and he couldn't think of a better reason than the fact that she was warm and soft and loving and he wanted her, goddammit.

"This morning," he murmured as he brushed a callused thumb over the soft skin covering her cheek. "Didn't you say you owed me a favor?"

She leaned into his hand, but replied "I'm not sure about this, corporal." The pitch of her voice fluttered higher than normal.

He brought himself closer to her and began to lay loving butterfly kisses over her precious skin. He started at the corner of her lips, then traveled across her cheek, along her jaw, and down her neck while one hand played with her silky hair.

"Are you sure now?" he murmured against her collarbone. She didn't reply. He felt a shiver run through her body.

He looked back up and saw she'd shut her eyes. Cautiously, he leaned forward and slowly laid a gentle kiss across her soft, pink lips. He pulled back for a moment, then kissed her again, this time feeling her relent and part her lips.

He smiled to himself and repeated his question. "Are you sure now?"

"Y-yes, corporal," she blushed a deep pink.

He kissed her again, this time with passion and no need for caution. She reached up and curled her arms around his neck while he clung to her waist. As he began to deepen the kiss, he slid his hand to the back of her head to gently lay her back on his bed.

He laid a trail of kisses down her neck while his skilled fingers unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a black sports bra-just another reminder that she was a soldier first, woman second. He briefly wondered how many times he'd viewed her only as a soldier and not as a woman, and when those views had begun to change.

That's when Ravioli attacked.

The kitten jumped from the desk to Levi's shoulders, causing him to curse violently as the little devil sunk his claws through his shirt and into his skin. He rolled off the bed and ended up in a heap on the floor as Ravioli ran away through the window into the night before his prey had time to counterattack.

"I'm going to kill that cat," Levi vowed as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Not if he doesn't kill you first," Petra replied with a mischievous quirk of the lips before Levi came back to bed to pick up where they'd left off.