Chapter Text
On a very random day, so random Kenny thought nothing of it, his phone started buzzing non stop. He reached out for it, confused. His notification window was empty most of the time, except for when Hange spammed something. What was going on?
His eyes widened as he opened his messages app. Who were these people?
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Kenny and Uri walked down the aisles of the supermarket, Kenny pushing the shopping cart in front of him while Uri walked by his side. They were currently at the beverages aisle, standing in front of the side where all kinds of alcoholic drinks were sorted. The man grabbed for his favorite beer, of course, but also added a few bottles of wine to the cart.
“Of course your first thing to load in the cart is alcohol.” Uri smiled, yet watched without objection as his companion chose the beverages with carefulness he usually didn’t show.
Kenny glanced from the corner of his eyes before pushing the cart to turn in another aisle. “Hey, we already have most of the stuff at home! And Erwin and Hange are taking care of the cake! The dinner is basically ready, so we just need the drinks.”
“Not everyone is a big fan of alcohol, Kenny. And I’m an example you know very well of.” Uri teased further.
Kenny scoffed. “I didn’t forget you don’t drink, princess. But fine. Water and soda too.” He loaded the said drinks into the cart. “Happy?”
“Mhm.” Uri smiled gently. He knew Kenny’s attitude to well to take his huffing and puffing seriously.
…
After a short amount of time, the two were sitting in the car—Uri’s car, but Kenny was behind the steering wheel—in the parking lot, enjoying the few seconds of silence that came after loading the car and entering it.
Uri looked down at his hands in his lap, straightening a fold in his always neat clothes. “Kenny?”
“Hah?” The other man replied, staring through the front window ahead of them.
”I have been thinking of… finally settling down and retiring.”
“Retiring? You’re leaving the head position of the corporation?” Kenny raised his left eyebrow, to which the other replied with a nod.
“Yes. The idea of settling down sounds really convincing after years in this family business. I am glad to be wealthy enough to live a comfortable life at the age of 55.”
“I see.” Kenny looked out of the side window, processing what this meant. Because this decision didn’t only affect Uri’s career, but Kenny’s too. “Can we.. Can I still see you every day?”
“Of course you can,” Uri spoke lightly, his arm resting on the KA WAS between their seats.
Kenny rested his arm there as well, their elbows pressing to each other. His pinky finger twitched despite him, tocuhing Uri’s hand lightly, but it was more than enough to them. “Good. I’ve been by your side for the past 15 years, I ain’t gonna stop now.”
Uri nodded, and then spoke again. His voice was low, careful. “Great. Also, Kenny, I wanted to say that…”
“I know. Me too. For years now.” Kenny replied firmly, cringing at the sappiness of his words. But the thing is, he really did mean every single thing he said.
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It took Kenny, Uri, Erwin, Hange and Mikasa their entire noon, but they were done decorating the place by the afternoon. Much to Mikasa’s horror—Erwin and Hange already knew it of because of their frequent visits—the Christmas decorations were still up, despite it being 4 months since Christmas had happened. The Christmas tree and lights took them extra time to take these off before adding fitting decorations for Levi’s party.
Big colorful helium balloons, one of them in the shape of a teacup (Hange had found it in some one-dollar-shop), floated in the corners of the living room. Hange bought a ton of confetti cannon, to explode in Levi’s face later, and a ton of wall decorations. There was a big banner that spelled ‘Congratulations’ in big bold letters
A cake sat in the fridge, a not overly sweet red velvet, exactly Levi’s taste, and the candles and lighter were on the kitchen counter.
“We did an amazing job!” Hange exclaimed proudly at the finished scene of the living room. Kenny cracked his back in complaint, but he was pleased as well. They all sat around the coffee table, taking a break after their hard work.
All of their phones buzzed at the same moment, indicating something was sent in the group chat. Mikasa was the closest to her phone and checked. Her face lit up. “Eren and Armin are outside. I’m gonna open the door for them.”
The young woman got up to open the door for her friends, and Erwin opened his chat with Levi. “I’m gonna tell him that me and Hange had finished early and decided to head straight here, and that he should come as soon as he closes the cafe.”
Short after Eren and Armin’s arrival, the others followed. Another trio appeared at the doorstep not even 15 minutes later, and Hange and their cousin fell into each other’s arms.
“I hope y’all hid the food ‘nd the cake before we came here, or else Sasha will eat everything before our guy arrives.” Was the greeting of a tall guy with a mullet into the round, and Kenny loved it.
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The groups had mixed, getting to know each other more clearly. Kenny only knew that Armin was Erwin’s half-brother when they mentioned it that evening after he asked about their similar appearance.
But the wailing didn’t last for long. Connie, who had been sitting at the window peeking from behind the curtain, quickly scrambled up. “He’s here! Get in positions!”
Hange tossed each person one cannon as they all spread in the space of the place, turning the lights off so the floor drowned in complete darkness except for the last bit of evening sun seeping through the curtains.
Everyone went silent as they heard steps of a person walking the pavement to the front door. Kenny 30 years ago would have called all of this ridiculous, embarrassing and sappy nonsense, but these thoughts were gone for the moment. Being a part of something was a new thing, and besides, he couldn’t fight against the energy in the room.
Keys turned in the door after a few minutes of no answer to the bell ringing. Levi stepped inside, immediately taking off his shoes at the doorstep. He stared confused into the dark space.
“Huh? Erwin said they were already here.. Kenny?” Levi called, his hand traveling to the light switch right next to the door. Everyone waited for the moment the lights turned on, before turning the sticks in their hands in sync, all the confetti exploding. “Congratulations!!” Most of the voices cheered at the same time.
Kenny absolutely loved the expression on his nephew’s face, who stood frozen at the doorstep, looking with shock at the docent people standing in his uncle’s living room. His lips were parted as if horror was in front of him.
“What. The. Fuck.”
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Levi’s reaction had amused everybody, but it was also wholesome. In his thirty years of living, Levi hadn’t known enough people to have so many people prepare a surprise party for him. His birthdays and Christmas and anything else they’d celebrate had always been low-key, with his uncle and two friends, maybe even Uri who had grown close to the family, but never more.
But that year, the year where he stopped working as a secretary at the Titan University to open his very own mix of cafe and tea shop near campus, had been very eventful. The opening of the cafe had been successful, for Levi already being a familiar figure to the students at the university, and the location being right next to campus, were big advantages.
It had been only two weeks since the opening, and so the little group had worked together to celebrate and congratulate Levi for the opening.
They all sat scattered around the place, some sitting at the kitchen island, some on the couch or the armchairs. Each person had a plate with a slice of the cake near them, along with a glass of their preferred drink. Everyone in the room was chatting with each other in little groups.
Kenny obviously sat next to Uri on the couch, sipping on beer and talking to him when he noticed a tall guy with a mullet and a shorter one with a buzz cut, staring at the framed pictures on the sill above the TV.
The mullet guy, probably Jean if Kenny wasn’t wrong, turned to him with a curious expression, pointing at what he had been staring at just a few seconds ago.
“Sorry, Mr. Ackermann, but—“ he started nervously.
”Ah, please, just Kenny is fine.” Kenny interrupted before nodding to let him continue.
“Alright. So, uhm, Kenny. I wanted to ask if that’s you in this picture?”
Kenny looked at it. It was Hange’s 14th birthday, and the man had taken the three friends to the amusement park, upon her request. Uri had come along, and he was also the one who took the picture of them with the gate of the park in their back. Kenny looked definitely younger in that picture, it had been over 15 years ago, after all.
“Yeah, that’s me.” He sipped his bear, watching Jean turn to his friend in amazement.
“Okay, thank you.” Jean stammered, shaking his head at the grey-haired who was smiling so smugly.
“He thinks you look really amazing! And that you got a great style, and that this is how wants to look like in a few years.” He explained with a teasing grin.
“Connie, shut the hell up!” Jean yelled in embarrassment, before apologetically nodding at Kenny, who just shook his head with a chuckle to hide his flattered reaction.
“Is that so? Well, I’m glad to hear that.” He replied confidently, ignoring the warmth spreading in his face. He sat down his drink, patting the free space on the couch on his other side, inviting the two friends to come sit with him and Uri.
He complimented Jean’s mullet, watching in amusement as he blushed, stuttering an expression of gratitude and flattery. Then the conversation shifted to college and how the students perceived the scary secretary and the two professors he was friends with but completely the opposite of. It was fun to hear how younger people talked about his nephew, for Kenny was always gonna see him as a kid.
More and more people seemed to join the conversation at the mention of Levi, until they all were a little circle exchanging stories about him. The topic himself was just a few meters away making himself tea in the kitchen, seemingly clueless to what was shared about him.
When he joined the circle and sat down, multiple erupted in quiet giggles.
“I knew you were all talking about me. I’m not deaf, idiots.” He deadpanned, staring specifically at Sasha who was the last one talking about how he didn’t give her a discount on his pastries despite her being his best friend’s cousin.
Mikasa finally spoke up, reaching into her purse and taking out a little envelope. “Here, a little gift.”
She smiled at her cousin, who politely took it. Inside was a fancy gift card Kenny recognized instantly as the store Levi bought most of his clothes from. His cheeks were a faint pink, and he kept muttering about how this wasn’t needed and too much money.
Kenny smiled. “This reminds me of when Mikasa was younger.” These words caught everyone’s attention, especially her friends who leaned forward.
“The first time she came over, she was only one year old. And while Levi was carrying her, she tugged a bit too hard on his ear piercings which were just a few days old, and it ended up bleeding.”
Levi snorted at the old memory, while Mikasa looked embarrassed. But their uncle continued.
“This was the first time she showed interest in Levi’s style. As the years went on, every time she’d come over, she’d look in his closet for something to wear as well. Obviously, nothing would fit, she reached his waist, barely so. And then little Mikasa would end up crying because he looks cool and she doesn’t.”
Mikasa, completely red now, glared at him while her friends giggled at the story.
“So your style is inspired by Levi? Was he your idol?” Sasha smiled at her friends, who looked like she wanted to be swallowed by the ground.
“No! Maybe! Yes! Shut up, okay?” She snapped, but Levi just looked amused. He and Mikasa shared a very similar taste in many things, and being somebody she looked up to had comforted the teenage him a lot.
”Always on your phone, ain’t ya, Jeanboy? Let me guess, texting your boyfrienddddd?” Eren teased Jean, bringing all the attention on him.
The latter blushed profusely, quickly stuffing his phone into his pocket again. “S-Shut the hell up! He was just telling me he is sorry again for not being able to come, and that he will personally congratulate Levi on Monday!”
“Ah, young love. How cute.” Kenny sighed, finding a new victim for his teasing.
Hange’s head snapped towards him as they grinned. “Reminds me of you and Uri.”
“What??” Kenny choked on his second glass of beer. He coughed while Uri started chuckling next to him. “Oi, stop talking nonsense.”
”Nonsense?” Erwin chimed in like always, ganging up on him with Hange. “You’d blush every time we mentioned him.”
Before Uri could ask about how true these words were, Hange delivered the next blow. “You also went to the pride parade so many years ago! Awww, our queer uncle!”
Kenny banged his glass on the coffee table, taking Hange in headlock and ruffling through their hair aggressively. “Now stop spreading lies! I went there because of your queer ass!! You dragged me with you!”
Jean smiled, now that the attention was away from him and on Kenny. “It’s okay, Kenny. Everyone is a little gay with their homeboy.”
“Not Me.” Eren called, to which both Mikasa and Armin gave him silent looks. He looked flabbergasted. “I’m literally dating you!”
“Is that so?” Connie asked, leaning close to Jean and blinking sweetly. Jean grimaced and pushed his face away. “Ew no, go to hell.”
Meanwhile, Kenny had recovered from Hange’s words, and Sasha asked the next question. “Hange dragged you to a pride parade with them?”
“Yes.” Kenny leaned back, relaxing once again. “I remember the first June, the year after they all graduated high school, and Hange had dragged me and Levi and Erwin to a parade. He even—“ he chuckled at the memory.
“He even made us pronoun pins with their own ones. ’Being cisgender doesn’t mean you don’t deserve wearing pronoun pins’ or something like that..”
“And I still believe that!” Hange called in with a smile.
“Of course you do.” Kenny cackled. “You had a lots of pins though.” He counted them on his hand. “One said she/her, then she/they, of course they/them, and he/him and he/they. I can’t deny that they helped a lot, though. Especially at the beginning.” He smiled warmly at Hange.
“See!” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “And I enjoyed doing them! That’s why I did ones for you too.”
“I hope you still have them?” Armin asked, raising his eyebrows at his older brother.
“Of course we do.” Erwin nodded. “Mine was dark green, Levi’s was black—obviously—and Kenny’s was purple.” His gaze drifted to Uri.
“Oh my God, is that because of Uri’s eye colors?” Connie gasped, and Sasha gasped with him. “Hange, you genius!”
“I know right?” Hange nodded proudly.
Kenny’s jaw dropped as the realization dawned on him. All these years since that brat gave him the handmade pin and he never questioned the choice of colors.
“Hange, you—“ Kenny got up, but Hange had been faster, jumping off seat and running off, using the couch with people as a barrier between them and the man.
“Can I have one too? In ocean grey?” Uri asked, too calm for the current situation.
“Me too! In pastel yellow please!” Sasha exclaimed, giggling to herself at the thought of Niccolo.
“And me three.” Mikasa raised her hand shyly. “In green please?”
Hange gave them all a thumbs up, keeping an eye on the danger. “Of course! I’ll make one for every person here!”
This scenario, of Kenny getting up because Hange had said too much, happened many times that evening. Like when they mentioned how he cried at their graduation, or other embarrassing things.
But Kenny couldn’t lie, he had lots of fun that evening. It was a celebration of Levi’s big milestone, and a few nice hours with the people he cared about. And he even got the chance to meet a new people and enjoy their company. Especially Jean, he saw himself in that young man.
Kenny Ackerman would never know if reincarnation or parallel universes existed, but even if they did, and even if he knew nothing of them, he was still hundred percent sure this was the best life of them all.