A/N:
There will be lots of pairs in this piece. The main pair will be Levi/Eren, since it suits my ideas best, but there will be hints of Levi/Others, and Eren/Others. For secondary pairs, plan on Ymir/Christa and many others. Everything else, I'll decide as I go. I've sunk my teeth into an idea, and I'm gonna see how far I can take it

For those of you who aren't familiar with Loveless, virgins have cat ears and a tail. Lose your virginity and poof! Everybody knows. Everything else will be explained.

Ch 1 Clueless

Eren ducked into his room, slamming the door behind him. The frenzied footsteps grew ever closer until they stopped. He closed his eyes and covered his ears, wrapping his tail around him.

"You're not my son!" Carla screamed. "Bring me back Eren! I know you've done something with him!"

Carla pounded on the door violently until she just sunk down to her knees and began to bawl. Eren took a deep breath. He wished with all his might that he could open that door and comfort her, but the hand shaped bruises that covered his arms warned him otherwise.

Eren uncovered his ears now that the yelling was gone. But, his mother still hadn't moved.

"First, Grisha left me without saying a word. Then, Mikasa just vanished. Do I really have to lose my son, too?" she continued to sob.

Mikasa…

His sister was a remarkable human being, talented in her studies, in athletics, in anything she touched. She was always so calm and cool-headed in dealing with the world. Any time Eren screwed up, Mikasa always knew what to do to fix it again.

I will protect you with my life, she said. Eren always told her not to be so morbid, but she'd soberly shake her head. You mean the world to me.

But, like his mother had said, his father had left home suddenly without reason, and now Mikasa had left as well. It was very strange; all of her books, all of her clothing, everything that she owned was left behind as if she had just gotten up to take a stroll around the block. They'd called the police and filed a report, but there were never any leads to her disappearance.

His father on the other hand, he was used to having come in and out of his life. He was a physician and biochemist who worked in pharmaceuticals. When he was in the heat of a project, sometimes he wouldn't come home for weeks. But now, it had been 3 years.

Eren didn't understand what had triggered the switch in his mother. Soon after Mikasa left, it was as if she couldn't recognize him anymore. She'd yell at him about what he wore, what he ate, what he said, how it was not what the "real" Eren would do. There would be some days of lucidity, but for the most part, she shut herself away mourning her losses. He hadn't changed, had he?

No, he had changed when Mikasa left. He had become more sullen and withdrawn. All he could do was throw himself into his studies to try and forget it. But even then, he could never forget.

What was so important that Mikasa left him all alone?

He heard his mother stand up and walk back down the hall to her room. Eren let out a sigh of relief. He changed into his pajamas and crawled into his bed. Tomorrow he started school at a brand new high school, his third new school in three years. Somehow he had to try.

xXx

"We all have a true name, Eren." Mikasa's jet black hair is shiny in the sun.

"Then what's yours?" Eren stares into her warm grey eyes.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone else." She lays back against the hammock they were both swinging on and twitches her tail.

"I won't!" Eren insists. "I'll carry it with me until I die."

"And you make fun of me for being serious." Mikasa laughs. She grabs Eren's hand. "My name is Dauntless. Dauntless, incapable of being intimidated or discouraged."

Eren smiles as he holds her name in his mouth. "It suits you."

Mikasa's dark ears flatten. "Names are heavy things."

"I wonder what mine is," Eren muses. Mikasa tugs on one of his ears. Eren yelps. "Ow! What are you doing!"

"You don't know what your name is?" Mikasa's glare is flat. Eren shakes his head. She sighs. "One day, you just know."

"My true name…" Eren trails off as he falls asleep in the warm summer sun.

xXx

Brrrrring!

The bell signaling the end of the school day had never felt more welcoming.

Eren had no idea how he got through his first day at Shiganshina High. For one, this high school was way bigger than his last and was laid out in a confusing pattern, so he spent quite a bit of it lost. The classes themselves seemed normal; the teachers were normal; but every minute of every class period seemed to creep by as slowly as they could. His locker was in the most inconvenient place in the whole school: the last row in the far corner of the basement. (He wondered what schools had basements these days anyhow.) Regardless, right now he was glad that it was over.

He stood in the schoolyard, watching the sea of students. He recognized a few of them from classes. A girl named Mina Carolina, a boy called Millius Zermusky, and one more, Thomas Wagner. Eren blushed. Thomas had no ears or tail. He was the same age as Eren, but he was already an adult. In fact, looking at all of the students, quite a few of them were earless. Boys without ears, girls without ears…

It must be amazing, he thought, to become an adult.

He couldn't imagine that now. It required intimacy and there really wasn't anyone in Eren's life like that now. When Mikasa was still around, they were both extremely close to their friend Armin, but soon after Mikasa was gone, he stopped seeing Armin come to school, too. Maybe he'd find it easier to make friends here, maybe not. The question was whether he had it in him to try.

Eren didn't really want to go back home, but there really wasn't anywhere else for him. He stood at the gate for a while longer, procrastinating as the students left.

"Eren Jaeger!" a voice called out.

Eren looked around, but didn't see anyone.

"Eren Jaeger!"

Again, he spun around, but there was nothing.

"If you are Eren Jaeger, you are a lot more dense than I thought you'd be."

The voice was now loud and clear and coming from his back. He turned around to see a man who was shorter than him, dressed in a green cape, with dark hair and heavy-lidded eyes. No ears. No tail. He was an adult!

"My apologies! I didn't see you." Eren stammered.

"Oh, that's an old one. I'll tell you now that I'm not one for jokes, brat," the man grumbled.

Eren's skin went white. "That's not what I meant at all! I honestly didn't see you, it has nothing to do with..."

"Jeez, you just keep digging yourself a deeper hole. I never imagined that Mikasa's brother would be such a fuckwit."

Eren felt as if his stomach had taken a nosedive. Mikasa? He knew Mikasa!?

"Well, she's adopted," Eren offered.

"You've got different last names and you're not Asian. I'd have never guessed," the man snarked.

Eren just stood there, put out. Who the hell was this prickly man and why was he here?

The man exhaled harshly. "I'm gonna cut to the chase, Eren. I am here because you're in grave danger. The organization has become aware of some plots to steal you and assimilate you with the enemy."

"The organization? The enemy?" Eren questioned. This was getting weird. "Who are they?"

"Everything will be explained in due course. Right now, I'll only telling you what you need to know."

The man pulled his fist to his chest in a tight salute. "I am Levi of the name Infinity. I have been tasked with being your fighter until my job is done."

Eren jumped. He remembered Mikasa. "Infinity!? You told me your true name just like that!" Then, he sheepishly pressed his hands together. "I don't know what my name is, sir. Is that a problem?"

Levi's eyes looked like Mikasa's had those years ago. "You don't even know your own name? Good grief."

"Uh, also…" Eren said, wincing. "What's a fighter?"

Eren noted that now Levi looked a little ill.

"So you're telling me that for as long as Mikasa's been with us, you know nothing about what she did? You never questioned her reflexes, her way with words, where she went at night, anything like that?"

"Uh…no?" Eren had never felt more stupid in his entire life.

"Just listen to me right now," Levi growled. "If someone intercepts us and tries to attack you, I exist to protect you. That's all you need to know."

Eren nodded. Who on earth would be trying to attack him? Most of what Levi said didn't make any sense, but he felt strangely comfortable in his presence, and weirdly enough, Eren believed him.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here." Levi motioned for Eren to move. "Stay close to me."

Levi walked out to the back of the school yard and climbed the fence. Eren clambered after him, keeping up, but just barely. They zigzagged through back yards, some open, some fenced-in and private. Eren wondered how Levi could keep his sense of direction and why they were taking this route, but he didn't dare ask another thing. After about an hour and a half of winding around, they reached a forest of giant trees. The biggest he'd ever seen.

It was interesting to Eren how some people just had the ability to make everybody around them feel their mood. Right now, Eren could tell Levi was tense. Very tense.

"What's wrong?" Eren asked.

Levi looked up at him. Maybe Eren wasn't as dense as he thought.

"We're staying away from the roads so that nobody can ambush us by car. This forest provides the best cover for us and my organization lies near the other side if we walk straight through. Hell, if we're on the other side of the forest, I can call for immediate backup from the other fighting pairs."

Eren nodded. "So, I guess we go through the forest quickly, then."

"You don't understand, brat," said Levi. "I had a horse tied up for us to ride. Somebody's been through here."

Eren now noticed the hoofprints on the ground. They followed the treeline towards the now setting sun.

"So, do we go after the horse, or do we go through the forest?" Eren asked.

"Through the forest." Levi said flatly. "We'll have Mike and Nanaba track the horse tomorrow."

It was dark in the forest, and it grew darker still as the daylight waned. The spaces between the tree trunks were wide, so he could see how Levi could have easily traveled by horse. Eren loved the strong smell of pine that filled the air, how the needles blanketed underfoot. It was soft enough that he was sure he could take a nap on it, if the circumstances had been different.

Eren, still curious about his situation, attempted to break the ice again.

"Are those two, Mike and Nanaba both fighters like you?" Eren asked.

Levi smacked his hand to his forehead. For a little while, he had managed to forget how much Eren didn't know because his sister was living a double life.

"No, only one of them is, Mike. The man can catch scents better than a bloodhound." Levi shook his head. "Nanaba is a sacrifice, like you."

"Like me?" Eren crossed his hands across his chest. "I've heard a lot of stuff today, and if I'm to be sacrificed, I'd like to know why," he said sarcastically.

Levi tried hard to suppress his rare urge to laugh. "No, idiot. Fighters deal damage but generally don't take damage themselves. A sacrifice accepts the damage from the enemy fighter so that his or her fighter can continue to act."

"So if we get in a fight, I'm the one who gets hurt?" Eren whined. All of the sudden this wasn't sounding so good.

"That's why it's my job to protect you, dumbass. I already told you that."

"Yes, sir."

Eren was still confused about a lot of things, but now at least he understood a little more of what was going on. There were so many more questions that he wanted to ask Levi, but he knew better than to piss him off any further.

How did fighters fight? What kind of damage was he risking? How are pairs matched? Was Mikasa a fighter or a sacrifice? Where the hell was Mikasa anyway? Who was coming after him? Why of all people did they send Levi?

A piercing screech echoed through the air, jolting Eren out of his thoughts. The hair on his tail stood on end and his ears pointed back.

"Shit," said Levi. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What is that sound?" Eren covered both sets of ears, but it did little to help.

"Tch! You can actually hear that?" Levi said, startled. "Nevermind. Another fighter's calling out to us."

"You mean, we're gonna battle!?" Eren's body coursed with adrenaline.

"Well, maybe." Levi stared hard into Eren. "If I'm gonna fight for you, brat, we've gotta make a connection."

"Connection?"

Before Eren could go anywhere, Levi slammed him back into the trunk of the tree behind him. He curiously ran his fingers over Eren's brown furry ears and rubbed them between his thumbs and forefingers to feel their velvety texture. Eren blushed at how good it felt—no one had ever done it to him, not in quite that way. He let out a little whimper.

"Damn virgin," Levi mumbled as he framed Eren's face with his hands.

There, on the eve of battle, Levi pulled Eren down into a deep, slow kiss.