Chapter Text
I started to think trouble came my way, when I first paid closer attention to my father. He used to come home late at night fully drunk. And, even knowing he was a good dad, I could never get over the fact that he spent all the money we had on beer. He apologised a lot when he'd wake up sober the following day, cried me a river and I would forgive him every time, knowing he would do it again later that night. In the end, he still was a good father. Desperate to keep us alive until he couldn't take it anymore. But I still saw him as the best father I could have had.
I sat on the edge of a rooftop, admiring the slightly high view I could have from the underground. I felt so lonely without him and knowing he chose to leave me still hurt every day. My father was the only comfort I've ever had. Even while drunk, he would never get violent. Instead, he would spend hours telling me stories and being hilarious until one of us fell asleep. I wondered how someone as optimistic as him could get to the point that he did. I sighed, clenching my jaw in agony. I needed to be tougher to survive that place alone, but I still had a long way to become mentally strong.
I heard a stray dog start to bark on the street below me. I watched it in silence, thinking about what would happen if I came closer to pet it. I would probably get bitten and would die from contracting anger. I smirked at how stupidly that thought was realistic. Then, I got curious as to why it was barking and took a look around, when I found someone walking by. I didn't believe my eyes when I noticed who the person was. I felt myself smile and decided I should go and talk to him.
"Hey, you!" I called. The street was empty, so he was sure someone was calling him. I watched him look around, not finding anyone. "Right up here!" I called again and our eyes met. A glimpse of surprise plastered on his face as I waved at him smiley. Noticing it was me, he decided to leave. I blinked, surprised he would actually leave.
I jumped out from the roof to the wall that worked as an improvised stair for me, reached the ground (happy I could still see him) and ran in his direction. My legs were in good shape that day, so it was easy to catch up to him. He wasn't walking too fast.
"We introduced the other day. You're Levi Ackerman, right?" I asked, with my hands behind my back as I walked beside him. He glared at me once and focused again on his path, not showing any interest in talking to me. "I'm Y/N, but people call me other things around here... You know, street names and all... Forget that! I knew you weren't the type of much talk. What's your age?" I asked him, but only received silence. "I didn't expect you to answer. You're the mysterious type, completely... I'm sixteen, what about you?"
"Leave me alone." He said, clicking his tongue.
He started to walk faster, but I caught him no trouble. "I could, but I don't want to. I'm interested in you." I didn't know if he knew what I meant by that, and I didn't want him misunderstand me, but I wasn't going to think much about it.
He frowned his brows, looking coldly in my direction. "Back off."
"How rude... I was thinking you could lend me some money." I joked. But soon, I realised he did not find it funny. "Don't worry, it's just a joke. Even if I wanted to rob, which I don't want at all, you would've kicked my ass on the spot."
"What do you even want from me?" He said, getting visibly angered.
"Two things." I started by getting his attention, raising two fingers in front of him. "I want you to fight me, and then, I want you to be my partner in crime." I smirked bigger as we stopped to look at each other.
Since the first time we met, my new goal was to be as strong as him. I wouldn't fear anyone and I would do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I didn't have anyone else to look up to, so why not him? It's not like that was a crime of some sort and, even if it was, I didn't give a damn about following the law. If befriending him could make me get stronger, that was exactly what I was going to do. So, finally, I could leave that place forever... I would do it no matter how hard it was to achieve it.
"You, what..?" He asked, in disbelief.
"I want to stand by the side of someone cool like you. After all, you saved me." I explained. "If someone saved your life, would you not want to be friends with them?"
"No." He said, cutting off my determination in a blink of an eye.
I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Of course, you'd say that."
"You realise that if I fight you, you might die, right?"
"I'm lucky enough to make it out alive. Besides, you have no business in getting that far, right?"
"Prepare yourself..."
"Oh, please."
I threw another punch in his direction to what he dodged and kicked my leg, making me lose the balance that I immediately recovered and used to back away from him. We'd been fighting for already fifteen minutes, and somehow I did punch him a few times. Our breathes were heavy and I knew that unlike him, that seemed to have a better resistance, I would not last longer at that pace. My clothes were dirty from falling to the ground too many times, but I was still smiling and that seemed to disturb him. I watched every movement he did and saved to replay it later with a photographic memory in my thoughts, so I could learn from it. I was enjoying every moment of the fight, different from him that seemed to be getting annoyed.
"Are you gonna stop?" He asked as he brushed off his shirt.
"Are you on the ground...?"
"Whatever, then." He said before both of us started to fight again.
Five minutes after this, I collapsed to the ground of tiredness. The sweat ran down my face and neck while my hair was thrown all over the place. I had clearly lost. I watched as Levi came and sat down next to me, instead of going away, and I watched him curiously. We exchanged a glare and he seemed somewhat less tense compared to when I started to talk to him.
"You're not just going to disappear this time?" I asked, surprised to see him sitting next to me.
"Do you want me too?" He sighed as to what I denied with my head. I watched as he extended his hand to help me get up and I took it hesitantly, but with a smile. "You're a lot more annoying than I thought you would be."
"What do you say? Will we be friends, now?"
"I'm not your friend, so don't call me that." He clicked his tongue, turning his gaze away.
"Don't tell me you've never had a friend." I teased, but regretted what I said when our eyes met, and I knew I screw up. "That makes two of us, then. I'm always alone for some reason. Maybe, that's a thing we have in common, right?" I smiled as he kept looking at me. "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?"
"You better not know."
"Is this how it's gonna be? I ask and you answer? That might get funny..." I said, putting my thoughts to voice. I was happy and I couldn't stop admiring every other thing he did. I finally had my first friend.
"Let's get out of here. This place stinks."
I got up, following him. "Hey, you still didn't tell me your age."
He turned to me for a second. "I'm older than you."
"You're totally not telling me, yeah?"
"Just know I'm older." He said, not staring at me.
That day, we ended up taking our separated ways home but I made him promise, even reluctantly, that we would meet again soon. I had my own business to take care of that day, and had to leave him because of that, but I was sure happy to befriend my saviour. Levi was more fun than I expected, acting all serious but was actually a good guy. I had so many questions about him and I wondered if he would answer some of them soon. I was so into him that I caught myself smiling at simple things about our last encounter before going to sleep. Was it possible to be friends with someone even in a place like that? I wish it could be possible.