Chapter Text
She can feel it, the heat licking at her cape, the fire engulfing every inch of the clothing, at the skin of her shoulders and back of her torso. The flames spread rapidly across her body and the wheezing wind certainly didn't help with her current predicament. She screamed, it's so hot that it's almost unbearable but she has a job to do. With iron determination, she slashed her blades at the nape of another Colossal Titan before the grip on her gear loosened, her fingers too burnt to keep holding on to her blades.
She fell.
The last thing she heard was her body slamming painfully on the concrete, the sound of her bones breaking and the rumbling of the ground underneath her body.
Hange's eyes snapped open with a gasp, taking in the blurred white ceiling and the sound of her phone's alarm blaring in the silence of the room. She lay still for a moment, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She can feel her heart beating wildly inside her chest, her fingers clawing at the sheets of her bed. With a start, she realized that she was drenched in sweat, her blanket damp to the touch. She sat up, threw her blanket to the floor and took off her drenched shirt, somewhat relieved to see that the fabric was still whole and not charred. Unsatisfied, she reached for her back, sighing when she felt no burns, no pain, no welts on her skin as she tried to comprehend her wild dream. She reached for her glasses and turned off her alarm. Once she regained control of her breathing, she fell back on her bed and ran her hand down her face.
What the hell was that?
"Good morning, Levi!" she greeted her friend and co-worker as she sat down on her cubicle in front of him, putting down the cup of coffee that she bought from across their building.
"First day of the week and you're already late, shitty glasses," he replied as a greeting, his eyes still glued on the computer screen in front of him and his fingers continued to dance across the keyboard.
She shrugged, "Yeah, sorry about that. Had a really strange dream," she said as she turned her desktop on, "Hey, Levi, wanna hear about it?" she asked with an excited grin as she waited for her unit to boot.
"You're gonna tell me, anyway, so sure," he replied in a monotone, his hand dragging the mouse across the wooden desk.
She chuckled, "Yeah, you're right. Well, it went like this: I was flying – or was I gliding? I'm not so sure, dream's kinda hazy – and I was holding some sort of spears, but they were really heavy! Like, crush-your-shoulder heavy! And then I was flying right? And I was facing these enormous beings, like really huge beings!"
She logged in her credentials, unaware of the way that the man in front of her had stopped what he was doing, his eyes wide and unseeing at the screen of his monitor and his hand hovering above his mouse, unmoving.
She continued as she clicked on the online attendance system, "They're so big, I can't even begin to describe to you how big they are. Our building's 20 floors, right? These creatures were almost as tall as this building and there's so many of them! I'm facing, like, a hundred of them! And they… they look terrifying. They're only skeletons and bones and muscles and no skin on their bodies, but I'm charging in, like I need to fight them. I got close enough to them to feel the heat of their bodies then I threw one of my spears at the nape of one. But, listen! Here's the exciting thing: they're not just spears, they're exploding spears! They exploded when they stuck on the muscle of the creature!"
She paused for a while, thinking about the apparent mechanism of the weapon – that her dream self –used.
"Continue," Levi said quietly, trying to feign disinterest.
Hange snapped out of her daze and grinned, triumphant. She can see right through his words, "Oh, so I have your attention now, clean freak? Anyway, the explosive spear worked and the monster fell down, so I used the other spear on another creature. I was out of spears so I had to use these… swords? I'm not sure what to call them but they did look like swords. I don't know how but I somehow knew that I should attack their napes, so that's what I did. But I got to close too them and it burned the cloak that I was wearing."
She paused again and she can almost feel the flames dancing across her back, the agonizing and indescribable pain as her skin burnt. With robotic fingers, she opened the programs that she needed for work.
"In my dream, I can really feel the fire. Like I was really burning and I couldn't do anything about it," she said in a quiet tone, which, as Levi already knew, is unlike her, "I can't go down and assess myself because I have to stop these creatures. I have to… delay their progress, I guess? And I have to take down as many as I can. So that's what I did: I took down another one of them before I fell. And that's it. That's my crazy dream," she finished and stared blankly at the excel document that she just opened. She did have a few strange dreams aside from this but this one really takes the cake. It was graphic, vivid and borderline realistic that she can still see snippets of it behind her lids every time she closes her eyes.
"Hey, four-eyes," a low voice said in front of her. She snapped her eyes up and saw Levi looking down at her with those piercing blue-gray eyes. He must be standing up since his shadow loomed over her unit and his hand was resting on the wooden partition that separates their desks.
"What is it, shorty?" she retorted with a grin. His stare turned into a glare at her height-related jab.
"You know very well that I can throw you out that window, shitty glasses."
She waved her hand dismissively, "Whatever. What were you going to say?"
"Your shitty lifestyle is probably affecting your brain already," he said in a monotone.
Hange blinked, "Huh?"
He sighed in exasperation, "Do you need to get your ears checked?" he asked rhetorically, "Eat lunch and dinner and try to get a full night of sleep. You're probably staying up so late that your brain is starting to get as shitty as your eye sight."
She stared at Levi for a moment before a teasing grin formed on her lips, "Aww, Levi. Are you worried about me?"
"Tch, I knew you're not gonna listen," he replied and sat back down, his head disappearing behind the partition once again. This time, Hange stood up and looked over the barrier. The short man glared at her, who was still grinning.
"Don't worry, Levi!" she teased, "I'll try not to overwork and do my homework quickly tonight!"
He huffed, which is his own version of a snort, "Whatever you say, four-eyes."
Turns out that she wouldn't be able to eat lunch at all.
Due to the retirement of their Senior Manager of the Finance and Accounting department, their manager, Erwin Smith, was chosen as the suitable person to take over the position. With the announcement of his new position, Erwin was also tasked of announcing the new manager of their department and he chose Hange.
"Erwin," she said once they're in the privacy of his office which will, apparently, soon be hers, "I don't understand. Why did you choose me? You know I'm messy and disorganized and a tiny bit crazy, so why choose me as a manager?"
Erwin smiled as he pulled out papers and folders that Hange needed to go through. He had to keep her in his office for the remainder of the day to let her see how to handle the new workload and responsibility of being a manager.
"Because you're the best one out there who is suited for this job," he said as he laid out the papers on his desk.
"But I'm still studying!"
"You survived working for more than two years while taking your masters' degree. I'm sure you'll manage working as a manager and studying for you doctorate program," he tried to reassure her.
"B-but what about Mike? Or Levi? Aren't they more suitable for-!"
"You're smart, Hange," he interjected with an exasperated smile before she can go on a tirade, "You can easily learn something new and you're adaptable to your environment. You've been here in this company for almost six years so you're pretty well known among the employees, you're known by our associates and some of our business partners and have an idea on how to manage the team. You remain calm under pressure and find a solution to a problem when no one else can. Your mindset is on how to improve the company without undercompensating our staff.
"Sure, Mike and Levi are both very professional and made great accomplishments for the company. But, let's face it, Hange, Mike is a little too quiet when faced with our clients and Levi's language is a little too… colorful, for lack of better words. Aside from the concerns regarding our clients, I always thought that a requirement of a manager is the unyielding desire for understanding their employees. So, I decided that the next manager of Finance and Accounting department, Hange Zoë, is you."
He finished his statement with a smile but Hange was no longer paying attention as her eyes glued itself on the wall behind Erwin. There's something about his words that made her mind race. It seems like she remembers those words. Well, not exactly but it's almost the same concept, almost the same words and, eerily, the same voice.
… the next commander of the Survey Corps, Hange Zoë, is you.
She frowned and brought a hand up to her left temple. The words are still ringing in her ear, imprinting itself in her mind and began to replay in her head. Why… why in the world would she be a commander? What the hell is the Survey Corps? And why did she hear it clearly in Erwin's voice?
She closed her eyes for a moment to try and ward off the headache that she's already beginning to feel. Instead of respite, however, the stinging behind her left eyebrow worsened. When she closed her eyes, she saw Erwin struggling to put on a green coat with some sort of blue and white emblem on the back. There was another person beside her but the image was beginning to turn hazy as someone shook her shoulder.
"…nge. Hange, are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and turned to look at the hand shaking her. Her eyes met the concerned, blue orbs of Erwin, who's now standing beside her.
"Erwin? Wha-?"
"I should ask you that," he replied cautiously, his hand slipping from her shoulder, "What happened to you? Are you sick? Do you need to take the rest of the day off?"
She shook her head, both to decline his generous offer and in an attempt to clear her mind of the images and the voices and the words that had stuck itself in her head. She has work to do and she had to focus now more than ever.
"No, Erwin. I-I'm alright. Don't worry about it," she replied almost breathlessly and smiled, which she hoped is reassuring. She doesn't need him to fuzz over her now.
He furrowed his bushy brows, "You sure you're alright?"
She waved her hand dismissively, "Yeah, Erwin, I'm fine. So, what do I need to know about this job?"
He studied her for a moment longer before he began her briefing.
They both didn't notice the time passing while Erwin was helping her study the responsibilities of her new position that, when Hange's stomach growled, it was already 6:30 in the evening and she's running late for her night class at the university.
"Shit!" she cursed as she gathered her belongings from her desk. Levi was already gone from his cubicle and Erwin still had a lot to do in his office, so she excused herself from the blond and hurriedly took the elevator to the ground floor.
She ran to the bus stop, only to miss it by a few seconds. She huffed and tried her hardest not to kick the shed. She thought of taking a taxi but she didn't bring any extra cash with her. She sighed in frustration and ran a hand down her face. Hange already had two tardy slips from her professor; a third one will count as an absence already and she cannot afford to have that kind of record.
Just then, a black Civic stopped in front of her. She started to grin as she recognized the car and walked closer to the passenger door. The window rolled down and showed Levi's scowling face.
"Picking up someone, short-stuff?" she asked with a teasing grin.
He rolled his eyes, "Just get the fuck inside, shitty glasses."
She giggled and opened the door. As she was putting on the seatbelt, a small paper bag was tossed in her lap. She looked at it quizzically.
"You didn't eat yet, four eyes," he said as a way of explanation and started the car, going in the direction of the university.
"Aww, thanks shorty! I never knew you were concerned for me!" she teased and opened the paper bag. Inside was three different sandwiches that he bought from a convenience store. She reached for one and eagerly tore it open.
"I'm gonna drop you off here," he threatened.
She chuckled and bit off a large chunk of the sandwich, "I know you love me, short stack."
He groaned, "Four eyes, I swear to god, I'm going to fucking kick you out. Literally."
She gasped and put a hand on her chest in a dramatic manner, "Is that a way to talk to your longest childhood best friend?!"
He smirked, "I still have Mike, you know."
"You would replace your best friend?!"
"If said best friend wouldn't shut the hell up."
"You're the worst."
"Really? I thought I'm the 'best friend'?"
She couldn't help it and she finally giggled, putting the last bit of the sandwich in her mouth and opening another. She can eat the last one as a dinner later.
Being friends with Levi is one of the easiest things in the world for Hange. Sure, he can be crass and a little too blunt for others but she likes the honesty in his words, the fact that she's the only person who can understand his language (which she dubbed as 'Levi slang') and they share the same love for poop humor. Their banter is, undoubtedly, the only highlight of Hange's day today.
"Oi, Hange, drink some water or you'll choke," he ordered, his eyes focused on the road.
She bit her sandwich then rummaged through her bag, searching for her purple tumbler only to find it missing. She blinked in confusion and groaned when she recalled that she placed it on Erwin's desk earlier and she probably forgot it there.
"Do you have any?" she said, making puppy dog eyes even though his eyes were focused on the road.
"Tch, you left it at the office, didn't you?"
She pouted, "I forgot it on Erwin's desk, okay?"
He swerved to the right, "Tumbler's on the compartment."
She eagerly opened his glove compartment and immediately saw his green tumbler.
"This is water, right? Not tea?" she asked apprehensively. She didn't like tea with her sandwich.
"It's not. Go ahead before you choke. I don't know how to do that Heimlich or whatever shit it is that you're always blabbering about," he responds.
She opened the bottle and drank several gulps of the very needed water. Hange had never been one of germs-and-cooties kind of person and Levi, despite being a clean freak, had long ago learned that he couldn't stop his friend from drinking from his own tumbler and using his utensils (much to his chagrin).
The brunette let out a satisfied sigh as she screwed the cap back on the bottle, putting it back on the compartment and resumed eating her sandwich.
"Hey, I never got to tell you," he spoke, making her look at him with the sandwich still between her teeth, "Erwin told Mike and I that we're going to be team leaders once you started as the manager. Also, congratulations on your promotion."
She squealed, her mind caught up on the fact her two friends are being promoted as well, "Levi! Congratulations for the two of you!"
"Lower your voice, four eyes! I think my fucking eardrums just exploded!" he complained.
She laughed, "I'm just so happy for you! Congratulations, Levi!"
He snorted, "You are promoted too, Hange."
"Hey! What about, this weekend, we go out with our friends for a celebration?" she exclaimed, her brown eyes shining in excitement.
He shrugged, "Tell them. I'm sure they want that."
"Yeah! We'll bring Mike, Nanaba, Moblit and Erwin – Hey, Levi! I was meaning to tell you this earlier but its kind of slipped from my mind because I was kept in Erwin's office and then you were gone from the building when I came out and then -!"
"Get over it, shitty glasses. What do you want to say?"
She swallowed the last bit of her food and began talking, "Yeah, well, something… weird happened to me while I was in Erwin's office."
He glanced at her, obviously intrigued, "Oh?"
She took it as an invitation to continue, "Uh-huh. Well, I was trying to argue with Erwin about my promotion because… you know… I never thought I'd be enough to fill his position. I even tried to get him to choose between you and Mike! But then he said something really inspirational –"
"That sounds like Erwin, alright," he quipped.
" – and convincing me that I was suitable for the job and the whole shenanigans but a part of what he said really stuck in my head. He said 'the next manager of Finance and Accounting department, Hange Zoë, is you' and… well, I don't really know what happened to me. I was hearing words inside my head that sounded almost similar with what Erwin said. And the thing is, I can hear those words being said with Erwin's voice."
She looked down at her lap, remembering the way her head throbbed at the experience, "The words were 'the next commander of the Survey Corps, Hange Zoë, is you.'"
"You're delusional," he commented, his eyes looking darker than usual.
Hange looked out the window, "Maybe. But the strange part is, when I closed my eyes, I saw Erwin but it's… something's different. Were in a different room with only candles to keep it lit. He's wearing a green coat with a blue and white logo on the back – I don't really know how to describe it but kinda looked like wings to me – and he's looking at me expectantly. There's another person beside me but – "
"Oi."
" – I can't really make the person out anymore because everything's getting blurry and confusing and – "
"Shitty glasses."
" – my head's starting to pound and I was actually thankful when Erwin started to shake me and – "
"Hange!" he said sharply.
She stopped her tirade and looked at the man beside her. His face was set in a scowl and his blue gray eyes were glaring harshly at the road. His shoulders were obviously tensed and his grip on the wheel was hard enough that his knuckles had turned white.
She looked at him in concern, brows furrowed in confusion, "What's the matter, Levi?"
He let out a breath, "We're almost at the uni," he said in a softer tone.
She looked forward, "Oh!" she gasped and began to gather her things. She put her trash in her bag, knowing that the man beside her will throw a fit if she ever left a speck of dirt in his car.
Levi parked in front of the gate and she immediately unbuckled the seatbelt. She only had five minutes left to run to her classroom.
"Thanks for the ride, Levi! And the sandwich! And the water!" she said once she was free and opened the door.
"Four eyes, wait."
She turned her face back to him, one foot already out of the door and her hand holding the door handle. His face was a blank mask, unreadable, but she can see the underlying concern swimming in his eyes.
"Eat proper food later and don't stay up late. It's probably the stress getting to you," he said in a monotone but Hange can recognize the genuine concern and worry in his words.
She grinned, "No promises, Levi, but I'll try!" with that, she dashed out of his car and slammed the door, missing the way he closed his eyes tightly in exasperation.
She was watched as Bertholdt went higher, higher than anticipated and she felt the ball of fear rise up from her chest as the reason occurred to her.
"He's going up! Don't tell me…" she muttered.
"But I thought Reiner was right over there!" Moblit yelled behind her.
Her eyes widened, "Quick, get out of here!" she ordered the soldiers around her, hoping that they didn't hear the quiver in her voice, but it was already too late.
Everywhere around them glowed as Bertholdt transformed and Hange thought 'This is it. I'm going to die in an explosion.'
"Hange-san!" Moblit yelled and pushed her down when the explosion happened. She turned, seeing the absolute worry and fear on her loyal assistant's face as she started to fall. All round them, rocks and debris started to fly as the force of the explosion began to blow up the houses in Shiganshina. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream, to say something to Moblit, but her voice failed her and the words got stuck in her throat. She watched, helpless, as Moblit was caught in the blast. Then a stone hit the left lens of her goggles and she can feel the shattered glasses that entered her eye.
She fell and she was then enveloped in darkness.
When she woke up, she found that she can't even open her left eye anymore but she could worry about that later. She had an objective and that is to find Moblit and the other soldiers. She shot the hooks of her gear near the lip of the well that she had fallen into and, in a second, her eye took in the destruction that was caused by Bertholdt's transformation. And with that, she knew that her loyal assistant had died saving her life.
Her eyes opened to the brightness of her room, her breaths coming in and out of her lungs in rapid succession, panting from her nightmare. She blinked and was surprised when she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She sat up and wiped hand over her face, her fingers coming away wet. She then touched her left eyelid, relieved to feel no blood nor pain on her eye. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands.
What the fuck was that?!
Her eyes snapped open again and she reached for her eye glasses and her phone from the bedside table. She searched for his name from her contacts and dialed the number, bringing the phone to her ear. She's not a superstitious person but she has to know, she has to…
"Hello?" a groggy voice said from the other line.
She heaved a great sigh of relief and resisted the urge to cry out loud. He's okay. Moblit is fine.
"Hey… Hange? You okay?" his voice sounded worried and she had to swallow several times to relieve the tightening of her throat.
"Y-yeah, Moblit. I'm fine," she mumbled.
There's rustling from the other side, "Are you sure, Hange?" he asked, sounding more alert now, "Why are calling at… four in the morning?"
She chuckled and fell back on her bed, "Yeah, I'm sorry for waking you up Mob! But… I do need to ask you for something."
"Hmm? What is it?"
She smiled and tried to forget the Moblit from her dream, the way he looked so worried and concerned and not at all afraid for his own safety.
"Can you please, please be my assistant for my impending managerial takeover?"
She didn't even need to ask him twice.
Hange sifted through the folders and papers that Erwin had given her, trying to find that particular document that contains the complete list of their affiliates. It's not for her but Erwin accidently included this document among her 'reviewers'. She started to curse and some papers even fell off her desk.
"If only you keep the things at your desk organized, shitty glasses," the man working across from hers droned for the nth time.
"Shut up, midget!" she snapped and he snorted. She reached down to pick up the fallen papers when a hand beat her to it. She sat up, a pale hand giving her the papers and she looked up at the ocean blue eyes of a teen.
Her eyes widened, "Armin… Arlert?" she said breathlessly.
The blond teen blinked in confusion, "You… already know me?"
She opened her mouth but no words came out, "I…"
How did she know him? She honestly… can't say… how…
"I'm a new intern here, um… what should I call you?" the teen asked.
"Just call me Hange," she mumbled, eyes still wide.
"Okay… Hange. I just started as an intern here today with my friends. How did you know my name?" Armin inquired; his brows furrowed quizzically.
Eren and Mikasa?
She looked down at her lap, her mouth opening and closing helplessly. How did she know his name? Who the hell is Eren and Mikasa? What the fuck is happening to her?
"Anyway, Mr. Smith is looking for the list. May I ask if you have it already?" he requested politely.
She looked up at him and finally answered, "Please tell him that I'll give it to him once I find it," she mumbled.
Armin nodded and turned back towards Erwin's office. Hange stared at his retreating back, still in a daze.
"Hey, four eyes," Levi spoke, bringing her back to reality. She turned her head and saw him peaking over the partition of their desk, "What the hell was that?"
She looked down at the papers scattered on her desk and, for once, had no answer for him.
What the hell was that, indeed.
"Congratulations, guys!" Nanaba greeted as they all clinked their glasses together.
Hange cheered and took two big gulps of her beer, putting the bottle down on the table with a thud.
"Thank you, Nanaba!" she exclaimed, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Levi merely grunted and Mike gave Nanaba's head a pat. From the other table, Moblit and Gelgar was locked in a drinking competition while Nifa, Keiji, Abel and Rashad all took videos of the silly game that the two were playing. Petra, Auruo, Eld and Gunther was cheering for either Moblit or Gelgar and placing bets on who would win.
Erwin put his bottle down, "It's been a while since we all did this."
That's true. They've been so busy with work recently that the last time that they had a good time like this was three months ago. Erwin's father had let them rent his bar for the night at a discounted rate and Erwin, Levi, Hange and Mike all agreed to pool their money to bring their friends in the bar as a celebration for their respective promotions.
"That's because you're such a workaholic, Eyebrows," Nanaba teased, making Hange laugh.
"Hey! Don't bring my eyebrows into this!"
"Whatever you say, Senior Manager," Nanaba replied with a smirk.
Erwin's smile decreased in size, "That will take some time to get used to."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Hange groaned and took a drink. She still can't get over the fact that, in two weeks' time, most people in the F&A department will start calling her Manager.
Erwin nodded empathically, "You'll get used to it, Hange. The employees would like to respect you and they will surely want to start by calling you that."
She pouted, "Can't they just call me by my name?"
Levi lit a cigarette, taking a long drag and exhaling towards the floor so as to not cloud the vision of his friends, "I can still call you 'shitty glasses'."
She grinned, "Aww! Thanks, midget!"
He blew a smoke ring towards her direction as a retaliation.
Mike frowned, his nose wrinkling in disgust, "Manners, Ackerman."
"You think I have any?"
"I'm hoping."
"Then keep dreaming, giant."
Hange laughed heartily at their banter. With her recent nightmares, new position and upcoming thesis defense, her life had gotten so hectic and stressful that she sometimes forgets to eat a meal for an entire day; she also had to pull a few all-nighters in preparation for her defense and it's nice to just have fun and lighten up with her friends. She stole the cigarette from Levi's hand and took a long drag, exhaling the smoke downwards.
The corner of Levi's mouth curled down, "Goodness, four eyes, don't you know the meaning of 'personal'?"
She giggled and drank from her bottle again. She can't really handle her alcohol well and she gets drunk easily but she doesn't mind it much; she's surrounded by the people that she trusts the most. She took a drag again and purposefully blew a little amount of smoke on his face, to which he snarled.
"Sorry, Levi," she said, entirely insincere.
"Tch," he reached for his pocket and pulled out another cancer stick. His eyes examined the table when he didn't find his lighter from his pocket.
"Have you seen my lighter?" he asked Erwin, who was engrossed in a political discussion with Pyxis, the Senior Manager of Marketing department. Erwin shrugged.
Levi faced Hange, only to see her already looking at him, the cigarette between her lips. She grinned maniacally, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and Levi sighed, knowing he had no choice since his lighter was nowhere to be found. Putting the stick to his mouth, he leaned towards the brunette until his cigarette bumped the lit end of hers. He inhaled deeply, exhaling through his nose and repeated the process. The bespectacled woman did the same and she tried not to get distracted that his face is so close to hers, that his eyes were like the color of the sky when it was about to rain. She fought down her blush and focused her eyes on their cigarettes.
Levi immediately leaned back once his stick was lit, taking a deep drag, while Hange gulped down the contents of her beer. She reached for another bottle from the ice bucket.
"Oi, Hange, careful. Who's gonna bring you back to your apartment?" he asked.
She gave him a grin as she opened the bottle, "You, of course."
He raised an eyebrow, "Ah? And who said that I'll do that?" he demanded.
She laughed, the alcohol having its effect on her, "Levi, Levi, Levi," she said in a sing-song voice, "You already know the drill! You drink, you don't get drunk because of whatever is in your body. I drink, I get shit-faced because I'm lightweight. Face it, clean freak, you're now my designated driver."
The raven-haired glared at her, "I'm going to leave your drunk ass here in this bar, mark my words."
She laughed again and took a last drag from her cigarette before stubbing it in the ashtray. She finds everything funny now: from Levi fanning the smoke away from him, Pyxis attempt of flirting with the waitress, Auruo's tongue biting, Gelgar's wails at losing, Petra winning the bet, Mike's attempt at flirting with Nanaba. It's definitely the alcohol.
"Don't be mean, Levi! I know you love me!"
Due to her drunken state, she missed the way that the man stiffened slightly at her words.
"Shut your mouth, shitty glasses," he said tensely, "I'm wondering if your brain turned to shit and made you spit nonsense."
She pouted and drank.
"Oi, slow down," he berates. She merely stuck her tongue out and took another drink.
She didn't expect Levi to scoot his chair closer to hers, taking a hold of her ponytail and turning her face towards his. In a second, she found herself staring straight at the blue gray eyes of the short man. His mouth was in a straight line, obviously displeased at being ignored.
"I said slow down, four eyes," he said, his breath smelling like mint and beer and cigarettes and his eyes flashing with annoyance. She blinked, a feeling of déjà vu settling in her chest.
She blinked again and an image flashed behind her lids. Levi holding the back of her head, wearing a khaki jacket over a green cloak, looking at her with the same displeased expression, his hand on her ponytailed hair as he leaned over his horse to reach her –
Wait, horse?
Hange blinked again and saw Levi still looking at her with those eyes, except his eyes now had a tinge of concern.
"The hell is wrong with you, four eyes?" he asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
She pulled away from him and chuckled nervously, leaning back on her chair and taking a swig.
"That was nothing! Sorry about that Levi," she responded as she held the bottle on her lap. Still, Levi looked at her as if she's an abnormal.
She doesn't know what's happening but it feels like she's slowly losing her mind.