Chapter Text
"Hey, Levi." Hange started as she glanced at the ravenette walking beside her.
"No." The ravenette replied, without giving the bespectacled girl beside him any opportunity to start whatever idea popped into the nest she called her head. He knows that whatever it is, it's something that he doesn't like but will be dragged unto nevertheless.
"Come on, Levi!" She whined. "I haven't even started yet." She continued and gave her bestfriend a playful pout.
Levi paid her pout no mind as he cut into Hange's way, making a turn to reach their classroom door. He pried it open and walked inside it, keeping the door open until the bespectacled girl walked in as well. They walked side by side, until they reached their seat at the back of the room.
Levi wanted his seat to be at that side of the room, giving him a peace of mind that no one was ever going to do anything silly behind him. But it was all in vain, since his bestfriend, no matter how hard he denied that she was, decided to disrupt his peaceful place by taking the seat behind him. Though, as time gradually progressed, he got used to Hange's silly schemes when she's bored in class, quickly realizing that Hange was a better seatmate than someone that's not Hange. There was no harm from the beginning anyway, since even before they were seatmates, they were the best of friends since middle school.
Hange plopped into her seat with a dramatic thump as Levi carefully scrutinized his seat before sitting on it, worried that someone might have spilled god-knows-what in it. Placing one arm on her table, she rested her head in it all while staring at Levi.
"What?" Levi finally gave in, as Hange's staring contest with his face became prolonged.
"It's the thing I wanted to say before-" Hange stopped as Levi raised an eyebrow as quickly as she blinked. "Let me speak my mind, will you?" Hange continued as she gave Levi a frown.
"As I was saying, have you noticed the increasing number of love confessions this season?" Hange stated, quite the curiosity seeping through her tone.
"What of it?" Levi replied, being one that never does romance.
"I mean, half of our year are already couples! Heck, even the first years already got some of the romance." She said, accompanying her speaking with random hand gestures here and there.
"I bet you wanna find out any scientific shit laying behind those events don't you?"
"Exactly!" Hange replied, her voice loud enough to catch others' attention in the room. Knowing their classmate's tendency to have random bursts of voice, they turned back to their own business in less than a few seconds.
"And in what way will you find out?" Levi said, sensing a possible hindrance to his once peaceful life.
"That's where you come in Levi!" Hange excitedly said, removing her arm from her table into her hips as she leaned closer to Levi.
There it is, the hindrance to the peace he desperately longed for as Hange's most pestered friend. He never got peace for a long time to begin with. He was always Hange's partner-in-crime in those social experiments of hers. What made him very reluctant right now was becuase of their most recent social experiment which may or may not have been the reason for Professor Shadis' now bald head. He tried to repress that memory far deep into his unconscious. It was something that will scar him for the rest of his life.
"Rember the last time, Hange." Levi retorted, grimacing at the memory.
"What happened with Shadis, stays with Shadis." Hange replied, sharing the grimace Levi was having. "Besides, it's different this time. No harm will be done, might I add." She continued.
"What's in it for me?" Levi said monotonously.
"You get to find out why it is the love season?" Hange answered, unsure of the value of her answer. Levi gave her a look of confusion. "Aha! I know what you'll get from it." Hange declared.
Looking away from Levi, she took hold of her bag, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and began scribbling something in it that Levi's scope of sight cannot see.
As Hange finished writing, she handed the paper to Levi while proudly saying, "You get a free lunch with me at the newly opened restaurant across the school!"
"And why do you think that will make me give in?" Levi answered, staring at the piece of paper mocking doubt.
"Well, firstly, you'll be graced with my presence, and additionally, it's free." She replied, urging Levi to take piece of paper.
Levi took the piece of paper with much reluctance. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he very much preferred Hange's presence more than the free food.
Before they got into the details of the new experiment they'll be conducting, the bell rang and Professor Shadis entered their room. He glanced at the room while the students scurried back to their seats. He momentarily stared at Levi and Hange with such intense, making Levi and Hange make eye contact with each other while supressing whatever emotions they're feeling. After that, the professor started with his morning class, which in Hange's term, the class of boredom.
Levi waited for Hange to start her class of boredom schemes, and as if on cue, she tossed a scrap of paper at Levi's table. Levi flipped it and read what was in it.
In the piece of scratch was written in a very Hange like manner, let's start with erwin and marie.
Levi grabbed his pencil tucked neatly at the pocket of his bag. He then wrote back a reply saying, how?. He glanced at the professor, and as he saw that he was facing the board, he tossed the paper to Hange's table.
After a minute, the paper was tossed back into his table.
we'll observe them during lunch and talk to them individually, Hange replied.
i assume all talking will be by you?, wrote Levi.
you take erwin, i'm on marie, Hange wrote last.
When the piece of paper was tossed back to his table, he silently agreed by glancing at Hange and meeting her eye. After their approval, Hange grabbed another paper and started scribbling like a academic-crazed student.
Now, Levi was left to his own thoughts during the class of boredom. Unbeknownstly, his mind went on to how it will be if Hange experienced the love season personally, with him perhaps. That way, she wouldn't need to do an experiment, as she'll know the reason behind the sudden surge of romance in the high school department. He continued to scribble on the paper, letting his hand write out his thoughts.
then be in a relationship with me four-eyes
i wouldn't mind it
He came into his rightness of mind once again, and quickly crumpled the paper. He shoved it into the pocket of his bag along with his pencil, keeping in mind to throw it away later.
With nothing to entertain his mind, he decided to listen to whatever boringness Shadis was discussing. Apparently, he decided to discuss his personal opinion on how Hitler was not supposed to kill himself, but let others do it for him. He had discussed it during their last meeting, but nobody dared to say it to him as it will only give them a glare enough to pin yourself to the deepest layer of the Earth.
Their classes went by one after another, and before they knew it it was already the time for their lunch inverstigation. Their targets, namely Erwin and Marie from their own class, went ahead and situated themselves on the school rooftop along with other couples. Hange discreetly sneaked close to their lunch place while Levi merely stood beside her.
Hange continued to stare at them like a creep for 5 minutes that turned into 10 minutes and before it reached 15 minutes, Levi excused himself to go get them lunch. Hange nodded her head with not much attention as her eyes were glued at the targets.
Levi made his way to the school canteen. He bought two yakisoba bread, remembering Hange's whines the other week how badly she wanted those but could not afford them as she ran out of her daily allowance. Then, he bought one black tea in a can, and a bottle of water. He figured that Hange would need water as he noticed that she forgot to bring her own bottle once again. The cafeteria lady put all of his bought items into a paper bag and then he went on his way.
He traced his steps back to the place where Hange was still lurking like a creep. He handed Hange the bread and bottle, while the latter took them unconsciously. When she noticed that it was the bread she was longing for the other week, she rejoiced, accidentally shouting Levi's name.
"I wanted this so badly last week, I'm beyond glad you bought me this!" Hange said, with a volume loud enough for Erwin and his girlfriend to hear. Upon realizing her mistake, she covered her mouth and let out a dramatic gasp.
The new couple waved at the caught duo, wondering what they were doing in the corner between the rooftop fence and maintenance room. Assuming they were doing something inappropriate in a school, but very appropiate for a couple, Erwin let out a mental sigh of relief. He was quite happy that they were finally sorting out all that chemistry between them. Heck they'll even put up quite a fight against the table of elements if it came into it.
Hange, quite embarrassed to be caught during her not-so-quite discreet invedtigation, waved back to the couple awkwardly. Not wanting to be questioned why they were in the corner between the fence and maintenance room, she shoved her lunch back to Levi's paper bag. Then, she placed both of her hands to each of Levi's shoulder and pushed him while running to the stairs.
They reached the floor where their classroom was and Hange finally let Levi go. She took a whole minute to gather herself and took deep breaths.
"Well, that was a flop." Hange started.
"I'll say." Levi replied as he gave Hange a meaningful look.
"But! I was able to gather valuable data."
Hange took out a mini notebook from her tracksuit pocket, meaning to write down her findings in it. As she took out her pencil, and pressed down on it, no lead came out.
"Shoot, I ran out of lead. Do you have a spare Levi?" Hange realized.
"It's in my bag pocket along with my pencil." Levi answered.
"Roger that Levi! You go get us a table, I'll just grab some lead." Hange said playfully.
Levi headed to the cafeteria down stairs as Hange went the separate way. As he was scanning the room for an available table, he saw a trash bin. A trash bin, where trash was supposed to be thrown at. Then it clicked, he had a trash that was supposed to be thrown away. The trash being a scratch paper. A scratch paper with a random thought he had written. A crumpled paper that was tucked into the pocket where his pencil was placed into as well, along with his spare pencil leads. A pocket which was now being rummaged at by a certain four-eyes.
He quickly placed his paper bag at random empty table and sprinted upstairs. Knowing Hange, he was sure that she was going to open that paper given her curiosity and lack of acknowledgement for his personal space given their long-lasting fieendship. He also knew that Hange was great at reading his sentences, and when she read that last two sentences he wrote on the paper, she would know something that even he doesn't know. He likes her.
He reached their classroom and he pried the door open with much force than he has assumed to exert. There in the back corner of the room where his seat was placed, stood a bespectacled girl. Her cheeks were flushed pink as she had her head facing down at a piece of paper with crumples.
As the loud sound of the door registered into her brain, her head snapped upwards to the ravenette at the door.
A pair of brown shocked eyes met a pair of gray nervous ones.