Chapter Text
“Awww come on, it's just one class.” Hange begged. Levi and them were sitting in the small cafe close to their apartment building.
“Why don’t you take something else?” Levi said as he sipped his iced tea.
“Yoga is supposed to relax you. Besides, I've never taken one before. Haven’t you ever been curious about it?” Hange wasn’t going to let this go until they found someone to go with them. Everyone else was busy at the time, but when your best friend’s a househusband, the schedule becomes more flexible.
“Never seemed that interesting to me.” Levi wasn’t so easily persuaded. The act of stretching on the floor didn’t appeal to him.
“But you already go to that gym. Come on just once? I’ll buy you an iced tea afterwards.” Hange put their hands together to ask him, hoping the dramatic effect would help move him.
Levi sighed. “Just this once and you’ll never ask me again?”
“Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!” Hange smiled as they replied.
“Fine. But I want the large sized tea afterwards.” It was hot in the summers and this new cafe Hange found had great iced tea. It wasn’t too sweet but it wasn’t bitter either.
“Deal!” Finally Hange had a yoga buddy. A bonus was it being the person in their lives that needed to relax the most. Two birds, one stone.
“Do you need to borrow my yoga mat? I can spray it with some Lysol.” Hange offered.
“No, my wife really likes yoga, I'll just clean hers.” She did it every Saturday. So it shouldn’t be a problem.
“The pink one?” Hange asked. They had seen Levi’s wife come and go from her weekend yoga class. She always really liked it.
“It’s only one class, why would I get my own?” He wasn’t worried about it being pink, he just wanted it to be clean and not full of a stranger's sweat.
The next day Hange stopped by Levi’s apartment to pick him up. “All ready?” They asked as Levi opened the door. Hange was ready in an orange sweatsuit. They had a gym bag and a mat ready for the class.
Levi was ready in his black athletic shorts and dark grey shirt. It contrasted to his wife’s bright pink yoga mat. “I’ll be back later.” Levi said to Ein watching him leave.
“Hi Ein!” Hange waved at the cat as he closed the door. Levi locked it and started walking towards the stairs of the apartment.
The pair walked towards the gym. When they got there the front desk attendant noticed their yoga mats. “If you’re here for the 4:30 class the instructor just called and she’s gonna be running about 30 minutes late.”
Hange turned to Levi “Are you okay with waiting?” They asked.
“We’re already here, why not?” Levi replied.
“If you guys are bored I’m sure Mikasa wouldn’t mind you guys crashing her class.” The attendant suggested.
“Who’s that?” Hange asked.
“She’s a kickboxing instructor.” Levi told them.
“Oooooh! That sounds fun!” Hange sounded excited.
Levi and Hange put their things in the locker room and headed to the class. When they got there the instructor had the punching gloves on giving orders to the tall student. He had short grey hair with green eyes. “Lean in to it more Connie.” Mikasa told him. Once he was done he hunched over trying to catch his breath.
Mikasa noticed the two people in the entryway of the room. “Hi Levi. Who’s this?”
“My neighbor Hange. The instructor for our next class is running late, the front desk person said we might be able to crash yours.”
There were only two other people there. Connie and some really tall guy with long hair who looked like he was trying to grow a beard.
“Wait, do you guys know each other?” Hange whispered.
“We’re cousins.” Levi replied.
Hange was shocked to say the least. Mikasa didn’t share much of a resemblance, she was a lot taller. She had her shoulder length pulled back and was wearing a sports bra and gym shorts.
“You have good timing. I need someone to hold these gloves. Hange, you can stand over there with Jean and Connie.”
Hange did exactly what Mikasa said. They did not want to piss her off.
Mikasa handed Levi the punching gloves while she put on her regular kickboxing gloves. Mikasa gave a brief overview of how to properly throw a punch for Hange then moved on to basic combos for her other two students.
Once she was done she turned to Levi. He already had the gloves on his hands. Levi put the gloves up and Mikasa demonstrated what she had just explained. Everyone in the room was shocked to see the short man not even budge when Mikasa punched his gloves.
Once she was done she split the small class up. “Hange why don’t you try some basic punches while Levi holds the gloves.”
Hange put on a pair of kickboxing gloves. “You’re sure you’re okay holding the gloves?” She asked Levi.
“Just do it Hange.” He said putting them up.
Hange threw their first punch. Not bad. “Put more of your weight behind it Hange.”
“You can do that?” They asked.
“Yes. That’s how you hit harder. Now try it again.”
Hange listened to their friend. Putting their full weight behind the punch.
“Now you have to make sure to follow through. If you don’t commit to it you’ll lose momentum.” Levi advised.
“Alright let’s do it!” Hange was having a lot of fun with this. They had never taken anything like this before.
Hange tried it again. “Good now try with your other arm.” They weren’t half bad at this.
Mikasa walked over. “You’re doing pretty good for your first class. Did you want to try partnering up with Jean?”
Hange smiled. “Okay!”
“Jean give Connie a quick break and hold the gloves for Hange here.” Mikasa called out.
Jean and Connie walked over. Connie gave the punching gloves to Jean and grabbed a quick drink of water. Jean put on the punching gloves and readied himself. Hange put up their hands and got into a good stance.
Hange threw their first punch. Then a second with the opposite arm. “Good now do it again, Hange.” Mikasa called out. Hange followed suit. “Okay now try that combo.” They followed the combo the best they could and even threw in one last punch before dropping their arms in exhaustion.
“This is so much fun, but it’s so tiring.” Hange grabbed a rag and wiped off their forehead.
“That’s fine. Class is almost over.” Mikasa said to them.
“Besides, I think our yoga class starts in a few minutes.” Levi followed up with. Mikasa and her two students gave him a confused look. Levi was taking a yoga class?
Hange took off the kickboxing gloves and put them away. They thanked Mikasa for the lessons.
“It’s no trouble, but how’d you get Levi to take a yoga class?” She asked.
“Bribery.” Hange was honest.
Mikasa almost let out a small giggle at Hange’s directness. “Well I hope he gets something out of it. Everyone knows he’s so high strung. Maybe it can relax him a bit.” Mikasa whispered.
“That’s what I’m hoping for too.” Hange whispered back.
Levi was just finishing drinking some water when he called out to Hange for them to hurry it up.
“Coming.” Hange said.
Levi bid goodbye to his cousin and walked out with Hange to grab their yoga mats.
“How come you never said you had a cousin? She’s so cool!” Hange asked as soon as they were out of the room.
“You never asked.” Levi replied.
Hange knew they shouldn’t be surprised. Levi was never one to talk in detail about his personal life. They didn’t know his wife’s name until she introduced herself, three months after the couple had moved in.
Levi grabbed the pink yoga mat. Hange sighed in disappointment. ‘Why do I bother to understand his personal life sometimes?” They asked under their breath. With their yoga mats secured, the odd pair went to their yoga class.
There weren’t very many people there when they first arrived. Levi didn’t mind, the more space between him and sweaty strangers the better. Levi and Hange unfurled their mats next to each other in the middle of the room. They were behind three women who made up the first row and the instructor at the very front of the room.
“Thank you everyone for waiting for me. I was having a bit of car trouble but we’ll start class in a few minutes. Now is a great time for meditation and getting your mind ready. “ the instructor said.
“Have you ever meditated before?” Levi asked Hange.
“No, I always found it really boring.” They replied. Not a surprising response from Hange.
“If you need help just try focusing on breathing. Keeping your thoughts clear and airy.” The instructor said over hearing the two’s confusion over it.
Hange shrugged at him. The two tried it out to kill some time before everything started. They crossed their legs in front of them and closed their eyes. Levi left his hands flat on his knees. He wasn’t sure if he was really meditating or if he was just enjoying the quiet.
Once the class started the instructor gave a short introduction into her class. Basically saying this is here to relax you, don’t stretch yourself too hard. Levi appreciated her care to detail but that could have been on a flyer posted on the wall.
“The first pose we’ll do is the child’s pose.” That’s a weird name for a pose Hange and Levi thought to themselves.
“Tuck your feet under you, keeping your knees together and lean forward at the hips. Bringing your hands together above your head. Remember to feel that stretch in your shoulders and back. It’s a great way to relieve any pressure you might have there.”
Levi and Hange did as the instructor told them. As Levi reached above his head he actually felt the stretch in his shoulders the woman at the front was talking about. It felt nice. Sometimes when he cleans too much it leaves them feeling sore, so it was a welcome feeling. Hange spent so much of their time hunched over their computer any sort of stretching helped them.
“Alright class, next we’re going to go into downward facing dog. Putting your hands and feet on the floor, lift your abdomen into the air. Bending at the hips.” The instructor said.
Levi didn’t love the name of this pose but did it anyway. His back felt looser afterwards. Hange on the other hand loved it. They felt some of the pressure in their back find relief. It was already worth coming here.
“Make sure you’re continuing to focus on your breathing. In through your nose and out through your mouth. This helps deepen the stretches as well if you need to.”
Levi was starting to understand the appeal of yoga. His body was starting to feel more relaxed. He kept breathing in and out the way he was instructed. His body felt strangely better, like his body was no longer carrying a large weight at all times.
“Alright class now we’re going to venture into the cobra pose.” The instructor described the position. She was careful to describe the ways different poses were supposed to stretch out your muscles. With each stretch Hange and Levi were starting to enjoy themselves more and more.
Levi could feel his chronically tense muscles relax. It felt great. Hange had a similar feeling. The aches and pains their desk job had inflicted on them was starting to melt away.
“Now that we’re at the end of our class we’re going to decompress with the corpse pose.” The entire class laid on their backs.
Levi and Hange felt a sense of peace laying there. A shared ‘Ahhhhh…’ moment hung between them. The class came to an end and Hange was true to their word. The pair walked to the cafe by their apartment. Hange ordered two large iced teas.
“I had so much fun! Not just kick boxing either. I feel like my body really loosened up. What’d you think?” Hange asked.
Levi took a sip of tea. “… I think we should do it again.” Levi said quietly.
Hange’s eyes got wide with excitement. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“Hange, don't be so loud.” Levi said as they walked out of the cafe.
“Are you gonna keep the pink yoga mat?” Hange asked Levi. They hoped he would say yes. His usual stern demeanor was a stark contrast to the mat.
“No, I don’t think my wife would appreciate that. Plus I’d have to clean it twice as much.” Levi replied.
The pair walked back to their apartments and said their goodbyes.
It was a few days later. Levi was doing the laundry when he heard a knock on his door.
“Hi Hange.” He said.
Hange was standing there with their hands behind their back.
“Hey you didn’t happen to buy a yoga mat yet right?”
“No, I'm going to the store tomorrow. Why?”
“Perfect! I had to pick up a new laptop charger and I was there so I picked you up this!” Hange revealed the yoga mat they had hidden behind their backs.
“Is this your old one?” Levi asked. It looked exactly like it.
“No silly! We’ll match now!” Hange excitedly said.
“Won’t we just get them confused since they're the same?” Levi asked.
“I can write my name on mine. No worries. This week’s class is going to be awesome!” They declared. Levi didn’t argue. At least it’ll saved him some time at the store tomorrow.