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Levi first falls in love with Eren when he turns the corner at school one summer's morning to see a tall boy with brunet hair, thick black rimmed glasses, nails painted a pastel blue, tears streaming down his face and blood on his fist.
There's a boy lying on the floor, clutching pathetically at his nose which is now crooked, blood coming from both nostrils, some mixed with saliva, dangling from the corner of his mouth. Eren stands above the boy, cradling his fist and adjusting his glasses. One of the lenses are cracked, and Eren takes them off to inspect them before slipping them back onto the bridge of his nose.
Levi's shocked, and has a good reason to be too. The boy, Eren, is practically famous around school; everyone and their Mother's have heard about the boy with pastel nails and cute hair clips who runs a Math club in his spare time and hangs out with girls. Levi is sure that Eren would hang out with more boys given the chance, but most of them laugh at Eren from behind his back, so Eren gives them the finger and then turns his back on them, going over to the girls of the school who love him. But never has Levi seen Eren stick up for himself in a way other than verbal defence. In fact, Levi has never seen Eren at all before that moment.
And, in fact, Levi has never felt his heart flutter in his chest in such a way and never has Levi felt such heat rise to his cheeks, felt the surge of nervous adrenaline.
Never has Levi fallen in love.
"Are you okay?" Levi chokes out - it's pathetic, really. Eren jumps, wipes his eyes and turns around with wide eyes, giving Levi a nervous smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He says and Levi nods, dropping his sports bag by one of the shoe lockers, walking over to stand besides Eren. Internally, Levi winces, because he knows that he smells terrible; he needs a shower and desperately.
"This guy doesn't look so good though." Levi bends down and puts a hand on the quivering teens shoulder. He's still cradling his nose, looking up at Eren through slitted eyes. "Hey, asshole," Levi calls out to him and the poor guy shivers. "Want to go to the infirmary? Take it or leave it." The guy nods and Levi lifts him up, slinging his arm around his shoulder.
Eren walks beside Levi the whole way to the infirmary, watching as Levi hands the 'asshole' - as, apparently, he has been dubbed - to the nurse who tends to him. When the nurse questions as to how he received such injuries, both Eren and Levi pretend not to know, and so go home. They walk the way to the school entrance in silence, Levi stealing glances at Eren the whole way. When they arrive there, they exchange their indoor shoes for outdoor ones and leave the school building, standing outdoors. The sky is a dark grey, clouds swimming in the rain about to come down. The deep roll of thunder is enough to send shivers through Levi.
"Don't you have an umbrella?" Eren asks as they stand there. Levi looks to Eren to see him with a light pink umbrella thrown over his shoulder. Levi looks closer to see a green stripe around the rim of the umbrella and black spots inside he pink; it's a watermelon, Levi realises. When Levi shakes his head, Eren lets out a light giggle, slinging his light green backpack off of of his back and unbuttoning it, sticking his hand in and taking out another light pink umbrella. Eren undoes it and opens it: it has little white bunnies running around the rim of the umbrella. It's adorable.
Eren hands it to Levi and he takes it, their fingers brushing up against each other's for a brief second, and those brief seconds are enough to send Levi's heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, fluttering like a butterfly, singing like a humming bird.
"Thank you," Levi says, holding it over his head as the first of the raindrops fall, pattering lightly against the concrete of the paved floor and the plastic of the umbrellas.
"No problem," Eren says, slinging his backpack back onto his back. They both continue to stand there, before Eren breaks the silence. "Eren," he says, holding his hand out for Levi to shake.
"Levi." He says, shaking Eren's hand. He's surprised as to how he doesn't shy away from it, away from whatever germs may have festered upon the boy's palm. All in all, he finds that he just doesn't care.
"See you tomorrow, Levi!" Eren walks away, leaving Levi to stand there dumbly, waving slowly at Eren as he walks away. There's a smile on Levi's face, and Levi frowns, unsure as to where it came from or as to why it's there.
But, Levi decides, it's not all that bad.
The next morning when Levi turns the corner onto the school road, he spots Eren standing by the school gate. His bangs are pinned back by small pink clips, and he's wearing the same light green backpack as he was yesterday. He leans against the brick wall by the gate, tapping away at his phone as groups and crowds of people walk past him, disappearing into the gate of the school. Levi can see the glare of the light of his phone reflected in his glasses .
Levi doesn't understand as to how he'd spotted him amongst the sea of people. Doesn't understand why he singled Eren out. Never before had Levi noticed the bright boy, noticed him amongst the pupils of the school but, ever since yesterday, it seems as though he had. Levi wonders what class he is in, wonders if he is in the same class as Eren but had never noticed. It is a possibility, he thinks. Levi finds himself crossing his fingers.
After wading through the seas of people, Levi enters the school building and exchanges his outdoor shoes for indoor ones. He sees Eren do the same a few rows down and opens his bag, taking out the pink umbrella. Slinging it over his shoulder, Levi makes a move to go towards Eren but by the time he does, the pastel boy is gone. Levi makes a mental note to find out what class Eren is in. And so Levi goes to his classroom and sits down at his desk. He takes out his phone and begins scrolling through Instagram, uncaring of the lessons starting around him.
When lunch time rolls around, Levi has successfully made it through his classes without falling asleep at his desk or doing something insanely stupid like not paying attention. Instead of meeting Hanji and Erwin in the gardens for lunch as he normally does, Levi eats his lunch in the classroom extremely quickly and then shoots off with the pastel pink umbrella in his hand to find Eren and return it to him as he wouldn't be able to after school; he has volleyball practice, and with the tournament coming up soon, he always stays behind with a small group of people to do some extra training. It means that he's late home - arriving after sundown - but he doesn't care much.
Levi wanders through the school halls, swinging his - Eren's - umbrella around and around, whistling a tune as he does so. The halls are generally quite bare, a few people milling around and another few people sitting upon window sills and eating their lunch. Levi pokes his head into some of the classrooms, looking for Eren. He goes through all the second year classrooms and then the third year classrooms - though he knows Eren won't be there. Eventually, he comes around to the first year classrooms and it's in the third room that he spots Eren.
He's sitting in a small group by the blackboard. Said group consists of three girls - a blonde, a freckled girl, and a girl with melon bread in her mouth - and three guys - Eren, a blonde kid, and a freckled boy that Levi recognises as one of the setters in the volleyball sub team. They're eating and laughing, all of their bento lunch boxes out on a desk. They're all picking and taking from all of the lunch boxes, and someone's passing around some pear drops. Umbrella in hand, Levi opens the door and walks in and up to the group, ignoring the stares and whispers from behind his hand.
"Eren," Levi says and the whole group turn around and stare at him. Eren's nail polish is the same colour as it was the day before, however the hair clips he uses to slide his bangs back are different - they're butterfly clips instead, adorably cute.
"Ah, Levi!" Eren beams, looking over the array of food before grabbing the bag of pear drops. "Want one?"
"No, thanks," Levi shakes his head and then awkwardly stretches out his arm to present the umbrella to Eren. "Here."
"Thanks!" Eren takes the umbrella and slips it into his light green bag. Levi nods and turns around to leave but stops in his tracks when he feels a tug on his sweater vest. "Want to eat lunch with us?" Eren asks and ignores the protesting whispers from the rest of the group. Levi swears that he hears 'but he looks so scary' coming from the small blonde girl. He chooses to ignore it and nods, drawing up a chair from one of the empty desks. Despite already eating lunch, he grabs one of the chopsticks and munches on some pepper slices.
"Aren't you on the volleyball team?" The freckled boy asks and Levi nods.
"I set on the first team. You set on second sub, right?" First team is the main team made up of first, second and third years. Second is the other team that's mainly just for fun, but the subs always come along on match nights to substitute in for the people who aren't there or can't make it. The boy nods.
"Yeah, I'm actually your substitute."
"Oh. I'm Levi."
"Yeah, I know," the freckled boy giggles, "I'm Marco."
"Oh shit!" Eren gasps, "I didn't introduce you. Everyone this is Levi. Levi, this is Krista, Ymir, Sasha, Armin and Marco!" Krista is the one who thought that Levi was scary, and Ymir and Sasha seem to think the same thing; they sit besides the blonde girl, watching with rather unsettling intensity as to what Levi does and what he says. Armin stays close to Eren, holding the bag of pear drops and occasionally eating some.
Everyone continues to talk and eat as Levi grows silent, watching the exchange between all of the first years. Ymir, Krista and Sasha slowly warm up to him and it makes Levi feel grateful. After he finishes lunch - his second lunch of the day - he gets up, says goodbye, and leaves the classroom. After his last lesson of the day, form room, and then volleyball practice, Levi returns home and goes to sleep.
The next morning, when Levi walks into school, he finds an envelope on his desk. He dumps his bag over the side of his chair and picks it up, disregarding the curious eyes itching to take a peek, to find out exactly as to what it is. With his fingernail, Levi tears open the letter and pulls out the contents.
Mister Levi Ackerman,
You have a meeting at [ 13:55 ] with Headmaster Shadis in the office and have therefore been excused from [ Physical Education ].
Please do not be tardy.
Scrunching up the letter, Levi walks over to the bin and tosses it inside. He knows why he has a meeting; his Maths teacher has followed him up time and time again for homework and to talk about his lowering grades. And, time and time again, Levi has explained that volleyball practice is far more important, to which he receives a disapproving tut. He'd actually been quite surprised that there weren't any phone calls or letters home, but Levi guessed that doing so would send across a bad image of the school to the parents, who believed that the school was an amazing environment for their children to achieve their very best! Levi doesn't understand why his school is so sought after. It's a shit hole.
Ignoring the stares and whispers behind hands aimed at him, Levi sits down in his chair, planting his face upon the cold and hard wood.
He's fucked.
History and Science whizz by, as does the short break between Science and English. The meeting with the headmaster is five minutes before the end of lunch and start of physical education. It's quite ironic that he has been excused from that class: Levi wonders of it's on purpose. It most probably is.
"Hey, sugarplum." He feels someone sit on the edge of his desk. Levi looks up to see Hanji there, smiling down at him. Too tired and far too annoyed to reply, Levi manages a grunt. "Aw, what's wrong?" Hanji asks.
"Shadis called me up for my Maths," Levi explains, watching as Hanji nods in realisation.
"Well," Hanji begins, "I did offer to tutor you, but you don't listen to anyone. And I know that the volleyball tournament is important to you but you shouldn't jeopardise your education for it."
"I know Hanji. Trust me, I know." Levi is exasperated. All he wants is a nice warm hug from someone, preferably Eren, and cup of tea so hot that it burns your throat as it slides down and leaves your tongue and cheeks tingling.
"Okay, whatever you say, kiddo. By the way, don't forget the mixer on Saturday! Bring s friend." Hanji winks and slides off the desk and goes over to the corner to talk to some more friends, Levi doesn't see who, doesn't care. Levi doesn't like mixers, doesn't think that they're natural; he'd rather meet someone in a supermarket than at an organised event. As for a friend, Levi wouldn't bring anyone to a mixer, wouldn't torture them like that.
After a few minutes, he's about to get up to go to the toilet, but the shrill shriek of the bell plants him right back down in his seat.
And it's after his english lesson that Lunch starts. Levi spends it as he normally does, eating in the gardens behind the school with Hanji and Erwin as company, hardly speaking as the two ramble on about God knows what. With every minute that ticks past, Levi finds himself looking up at the large clock on the school building wall, waiting with horrible impatience for the hands to strike five to two. The time crawls along slowly. Painstakingly slowly, and Levi starts to itch at a bug bite on his thigh to pass the time, mind wandering from what Shadis will talk to him about, to the colour of Eren's eyes. Thinking back on it, Eren's light green bag suits him. It matches his eyes.
When they clock strikes six minutes to, Levi is packing up his lunch box and running from the gardens to inside the building, up a flight of stairs and all the way to the office. Levi doesn't understand why left it so late, doesn't understand why he was so hesitant to go. Perhaps it was the fear that had settled inside him like a heavy rock in his stomach? The fear that he'd be made to quit the volleyball team. He knew it was irrational, but even so, such a fear was still there, worming it's way into and around him like a virus, like a disease.
He must smell bad, must smell sweaty, but finds that he doesn't care. Levi knocks on the door and slides it open, poking his head inside. Headmaster Shadis sits on his chair behind a desk in front of the furthest wall in the room. Looking up, Shadis sees Levi and motions for him to come in. Entering and closing the door behind him, Levi looks around the room. It's the first time Levi has been here, and he was hoping that it was the last.
The office is nothing like Levi had imagined it to be. It looks... Homely. Liveable. The walls are painted a bright white, just like every other wall in the school, and the floors are a navy blue carpet, just like every other floor in the school. There was warm light streaming in through the large windows which are open, a soft breeze coming through and rustling Levi's bangs. Along the bright white walls are book shelves and cabinets: bookshelves house just what the name suggests, books, as well as some photo albums and frames with photos on them; the cabinets storing trophies and medals, gold silver and bronze alike. The desk is a dark wood and the chair in front of it a deep red.
Without being asked, Levi takes a seat in the chair. It is deeply uncomfortable.
"Levi," Shadis begins, "I would have asked you to take a seat but I see you've done so already." Oh well. "Anyway, your studies." Shit. "Overall, they're generally pretty good," that was a surprise, "aside from your Math. Your teachers notes say..." the Headmaster flips through some papers, "that you're sloppy, don't ask for help, turn in unfinished work... The list just goes on and on. It's very uncharacteristic of you, Levi."
Levi shrugs. "I just don't get it." He says.
"If you did the work, you'd get it."
"Don't have time."
"And what," Shadis leans onto the table as he speaks, "is more important than your studies?"
"Volleyball."
"Volleyball?"
"Volleyball."
"Well, I see what the problem is here." Rubbing at the creases on his forehead, Shadis shuts the file he had originally had open. "After school, you'll attend the Maths club run by students for students."
"After school I have volleyball practice."
"Not anymore. And besides, aren't there morning training sessions?" There are morning training sessions, but Levi doesn't want to wake up earlier than he has to. "I'll be talking to the president of the club and making sure you attend. Dismissed."
Levi nods and leaves the office, sitting down on the chairs outside. He doesn't have the energy to go to P.E and would much rather skip out on form room at the end of the day and so camps out on the school roof, watching as birds create their nests and cars drive along the roads. He could, in theory, go to morning sessions but did Levi really want to sacrifice his sleep for activity? No, not really. But if he didn't turn up for practice then Marco would substitute for him as one of the setters. Levi didn't want that.
Eventually, the bell signalling the end of the day rings and so Levi upped and off of the roof, walking home.
Kicking at the pebbles along the side of the road, Levi continues to walk along. There's a light breeze that ruffles his white dress shirt, making his dark blue tie flap in the wind. Levi grumbles and stops in the middle of the pavement, taking his navy blue sweater vest out from his bag - from when he took it off before - and slipping it over his head, tucking his tie inside so that it doesn't whip around and smack him in the face.
Levi hates Kyoto at this time of year. He hates the unpredictable wind that would, at one minute, run around him as smooth and tranquil as a stream, whereas other times it would whip him around and drown him in the strong currents of its tide. One of the only times that Levi likes wind is when he's flying his kite with his younger sister, Mikasa. But they haven't done that since they were children, and as much as he loathes to admit it, Levi misses doing such things with his sister.
Eventually, Levi arrives home at his little two-story home tucked away near the gorgeous Kyoto outskirts. The green leaves on the tree in the front garden have turned a golden brown, as if burned, as if dying, some of them becoming a fiery red that reminds Levi of roses. And when they break off the tree to dance in the air they look like embers, fluttering up from a branch flames.
Levi catches one as it falls and makes a wish, whispering unheard words into the body of the leaf before letting it go with the wind; he had once heard that if you catch a leaf after it falls from a tree, it would grant you a single wish.
Closing the front garden gate, Levi walks up to his front door, unlocks it, and opens it. He takes off his shoes and puts on his slippers. He doesn't bother announcing that he's home; the only person there is Mikasa, and she's probably tucked away in the corner of her room doing God knows what.
As he makes his way toward the kitchen, Levi feels something soft brush up against his calf.
"Hello," Levi says, bending down to scratch at the little white cat. "How are you today?" Mio is Levi's kitten. He adopted her from the family next door when their cat gave birth to about five little kittens. As for the name, Levi chose it because it sounds like 'meow' when said in a certain way. Mio purrs, rubbing her head all over Levi's hands, licking his fingers a few times.
"Levi?"
Looking up from the cat, Levi is met with the sight of Eren. He's standing above him with his hair disheveled, some of it pulled back with a pastel yellow hairband, a bow on the elastic of it. At the sight of Eren, Levis heart lurches in his chest. It feels like he's falling, falling and falling and he can't stop it. It's terrifying and exciting and - he has to remind himself to breathe, has to remind himself that he just met Eren - how many days ago? Two, three, four? And yet he's smitten - no, he hates that word - but even so, he's completely and utterly smitten, reduced to nothing but a shy, nervous Levi who can't do so much as say hello. And it's scary; he's never felt such raw, pure emotion like this, and it's scary because he doesn't know what to do with it, doesn't know how to act, what to say - he should just say 'hello'.
"What are you doing here?" Levi asks. It's not the hello he hoped for.
"You live here?" Eren asks despite it being quite obvious, and Levi nods. "Oh, so you're the brother I hear so much about."
"Brother?" Levi frowns.
"Yeah, I'm Mikasa's friend." Oh. Levi shouldn't feel so disappointed, should have realised that; Eren wouldn't just be in his house for no reason whatsoever.
"Okay," Levi says, winces because it's so stupid, because he could say more, say something that normal people would say. Eren gives Levi a grin before turning around and walking into the kitchen. Levi decides that he isn't hungry anymore, but as his stomach lets out a loud rumble, he feels betrayed and trails behind Eren into the kitchen.
Levi loves the kitchen. It's a nicely sized room; not too large, not too small, that opens up into a little observatory with a television and sofa arrangement. The floor is wooden paneled, like the rest of the house, and the counters are a nice bright white. Upon the window shelves there are potted plants: succulents and cacti alike, red and spikes, some of them green and knobbly; there are also picture frames of Levi, Mikasa and their parents, not a speck of dust or dirt or grime on the glass of the frames; there's also a little breakfast bar with sinks on it, newspapers are scattered on one side and there's a laptop one another end.
However, as Levi looks into the observatory, he sees Eren and Mikasa. They're sitting on the floor in front of the television - it's on to one of the radio channels, softly playing music - cross legged. Mikasa has her set of nail polish out. Her fingers are separated by what Levi guesses are cotton balls and Eren sits in front of her, nail polish brush in his hand. It's a light purple - pastel lavender - Levi realises, and he's painting Mikasa's nails.
He stands there in the doorway of the observatory, watching as Eren paints Mikasa's nails with close precision; not getting paint on her cuticles nor on the side of her finger. The music blaring in the background is some English song that Levi doesn't know the lyrics to - he doesn't even know English - but even so it sounds familiar - he'd like to learn English, but then again, his English studies at school aren't progressing too well.
"Levi?" Mikasa looks to Levi, her passive face betraying the shock in her voice.
"Want to join us?" Eren asks, finishing up Mikasa's nails. Levi wonders if he should, if he should sit besides Mikasa or Eren or by himself, wonders if Eren is inviting him out of courtesy or sympathy. Levi's making excuses - pathetic ones at that. What scares him most is not Eren - as he has originally thought - but Mikasa; fearful of rejection, wonders if she hates him - he's over thinking it, perhaps? Scrambles to sit down so he's between the two, Eren on one side, Mikasa on the other.
"You know Eren?" Mikasa asks Levi and he nods in affirmation.
"We met at school." He says.
"He didn't have an umbrella. I lent him the bunny one."
"Typical Levi." Mikasa shakes her head smile on her face. Levi pouts. Eren grabs Levi's hands, looking them over.
"What are you going to do?" Mikasa snorts, "paint his nails?"
"...If Levi wants me to?" Eren looks to Levi, and for the first time that day, Levi doesn't hesitate: nods quickly and eagerly, not looking to Mikasa. He doesn't have to; he knows the shock written on her face all too well. He looks to Eren instead, blinded by the gorgeous smile on his face. "Choose a colour then!" Eren reaches over to his side, lifting up a large wooden box and placing it in the middle of their triangle. "I have pinks, yellows, purples, blacks if that's your colour...?"
Levi runs his fingers over the different polishes, some round and stout, others tall and slim. He notices the bold and shiny colours, some matte in looks, others glittery and shimmery. There's another section to the side filled with pastels; colours he's seen on Eren's nails before. He picks some of them up: pastel blue, yellow, red. There's a pastel pink too, a colour that matches the umbrella that Eren had given to Levi a few days back. He picks it up and hands it to Eren.
"Good choice!" Eren chirps, placing the lid back on the wooden box, "so, Mika, remember what I told you, yeah?" She nods and takes Levi's right hand whereas Eren takes Levi's right. They both separate Levi's fingers with the cotton balls that Levi had seen on Mikasa's, but, instead of diving right in to paint his nails, both of them pick up a nail file and start on his nails.
"Shit, you have nice nails." Mikasa fawns, sliding the file over the ends of his nails.
"Thank you," Levi nods, "so do you."
"That's because of Eren." She says, and it makes Levi's heart clench.
"This is the first time I've seen him over."
"This is the first time you've been home before sundown." Mikasa says, her lips painted into a thin line. Levi looks down at his nails in shame.
"I'm sorry." He whispers.
"I know, Levi, I know." Mikasa sighs, continuing to file at his nails. Sheepishly, Levi sends a look over to Eren and is surprised to see a small smile on his face, still continuing to dumbly file at his stupid, stupid nails. If Eren has heard anything - which Levi is sure he has - he is doing a jolly good job at acting like he hasn't. If anything, it makes Levi feel more embarrassed.
"Right," Eren places the file down and picks up the polish, getting another brush from besides him and handing it to Mikasa. Eren unscrews the lid and the pungent smell of polish fills the air, making Levi wrinkle his nose and scrunch his eyes. Eren dips the brush into the polish and starts on Levi's left hand, Mikasa starting on the right.
The song changes eventually, and Eren starts swaying to the music, mouthing the lyrics under his breath. It's still English and Levi starts to wonder if Eren knows English well or just knows the song. Judging from how enthusiastically he sways to it Levi guesses that it's the latter. After a few minutes, his nails are done. Eren pops the brush back on polish and Mikasa goes to wash the polish brush.
"Thank you," Levi says, "they look good."
"They do," Eren nods, packing up his stuff but leaving Levi's nails separated by the cotton balls so that they can dry.
Once Mikasa returns, she jumps upon the sofa, a bowl of candy in her hand and changes the channel. "So," she asks, flipping through movie channels, "who ants to watch a movie?"
They end up watching a Ghibli movie. It's generic, true, but Eren insists - tells them that you 'can't not just watch them!', as Levi recalls, 'they're classics!' They end up watching something called 'The Cat Returns', something about a girl who saves a cat that turns out to be a prince of some weird cat world; Levi can hardly remember, was lost half way through the movie. His mind went blank the moment Eren curled up on the couch besides him, constantly reaching over him to dig his hand into the bowl of candy. Levi manages to sit through the whole movie, through Mikasa's sly comments and Eren's unabashed giggles.
It's after the movie that Eren leaves, giving both Mikasa and Eren a hug. Levi melts into it; it feels like melted chocolate, sends buzzes of energy running through him that feel like fizzy soda. It makes him shiver. After Eren leaves, Mikasa goes up to get room and Levi goes back to the kitchen to start making dinner. As Levi's half way through cooking the rice, Mikasa comes back down with a bag slung over her shoulder.
"Where are you going?" Levi puts the lid on the rice pot, following Mikasa out to the front door, his ladle still in his hand.
"Muay Thai practice." Mikasa says, "we have a tournament coming up soon, I left the leaflet about it on the microwave."
"Don't you normally go on weekends?" Levi frowns.
"Things change." She shrugs, giving Levi a smile as she leaves the house. The sun is just setting, it's warm rays reaching into the cool house. Levi shuts the door. On them and returns to his rice simmering on the stove. It's the first time he'd spoken to Mikasa like that in ages and it makes him feel good, great even. He picks the leaflet up from the microwave and makes a note on his phone about the tournament.
The next day at school Levi completely avoids the volleyball team: he arrives to registration mere seconds before the roll call and is up and out of the classroom within seconds, he eats lunch with Eren and his friends again instead of in the Gardens (the small blond kid, armin, gives Levi a pear drop) and at the end of school, Levi hides in a spare music room until clubs start.
If Levi had been given a choice, he wouldn't have gone to the maths tuition club. But, as Levi hasn't been given a choice, he is going. It's in one of the spare classrooms that no one uses for anything and so is nicely decorated, Levi thinks, as he enters it. There are posters plastered all around the room, some of great mathematicians and physicists, others of K-Pop and J-Pop bands, some of which Levi recognise from Mikasa's room.
Levi takes a seat. After a while, he starts to wonder if, perhaps, he's in the wrong room or if, perhaps, the club is just so obscure that even the president of the club forgets that it's on sometimes. But, as he's about to get up and leave, the door bursts open and the person who burst in is crouched over, heaving in an attempt to catch their breath.
"...Eren?" At the sound of their name, the person who burst in looks up and Levi confirms his suspicions - it's Eren. He smiles and rearranges his uniform, tucking his loose tie back into his sweater vest. His hair is disheveled but it still manages to make him look cute.
"Levi? Oh gosh, what a nice surprise. Armin'll be happy you're here."
"Armin?"
"Yeah, he's just coming up - doesn't want to run." As Eren says that, Armin comes plodding along, his bag of pear drops in his hand. Silently, he slides past Eren and sits opposite Levi, looking questioningly at Eren, asking if he's going to sit down. Eren does, and from his bag takes out his pencil case and a small plastic A4 file. Levi reaches into his bag and takes out his pencil case.
"So," Eren starts, "I've got copies of tests that have all the different things you've learned through the year, which I'll have you do at the end of each lesson, yeah?" Levi nods and feels his stomach drop when Eren takes out some more books and sheets. "So," Eren looks at the spread of work laid out on the table, "where should we start?"
"At the beginning?" Levi asks and Eren grabs - what Levi hopes is the easiest thing - one of the packets and lays it out for Levi.
Eren starts going through the exercises, explaining to Levi as he goes along, getting him to do some as he explains everything. Levi doesn't know how he thought that this could work, doesn't know how he forgot that Eren was in the Maths club let alone the president. It just doesn't work out for Levi, it's an extra distraction; instead of memorising the quadratic formula, he's listening to the different tones of Eren's voice, with how much passion he talks about Pythagorus.
When Eren asks him to do some example questions, Levi freezes, his brain trying to comprehend why there are letters in the fraction and what goes where and why there is a 'sin' and a 'cos'. What baffles Levi more than anything, is as to why 0.475 has a tan.
Levi groans, pen dropping from his hands and hands coming up to rub at his temple in frustration.
"I can't learn from you," Levi says when Eren asks what's wrong, "you're far too distracting."
"Oh," Eren giggles, and it reminds Levi of melted marshmallows and hot chocolate. "Why doesn't Armin teach you then?" Levi looks over to the head of the table where Armin is sat, writing away and doing math in silence. "He is mute though, so go easy on him, yeah?"
"Why is he mute?" Levi asks, his voice hushed.
"Traumatic experiences," Eren whispers, "I don't know what - he can't say." Levi nods and packs up his pencil case, moving to sit besides Armin. Eren carries over the Maths material and gives it to Armin, explaining the situation. Armin gives Eren a nod and Levi a sheepish smile, looking over the material before picking up a pen and getting started.
An hour later, clubs come to a finish. Levi's made significant progress in his Maths. Even so, he's not even a quarter way through the material, but Eren says that he can get there in about two weeks; it's good enough for Levi. Armin teaches Levi well. He's silent, but he doesn't need word to convey ideas. Some of the best ideas come from silent mouths, and some of the silent mouths have the most silver of tongues, so Levi learns. As the session is over, Levi packs up his bag - with the practice papers from Eren, of course - and leaves alongside Eren And Armin.
They walk home together for most of the way before Armin had to part ways with them. As he parts, Armin gives Levi and Eren a pear drop each.
"Odd kid," Levi says as he and Eren continue to walk. "Why does he like me so much?"
"Well, I like you so Armin likes you. Unless you give him a good reason to, he won't dislike you. Armin doesn't work like that."
"Oh. Well, I should be going now." Levi stops at one of the crossways.
"What? But you live this way."
"I'm kinda... Avoiding people who walk that way."
"Me?" Eren wonders.
"My volleyball team."
"Ah," Eren realises, "Shadis made you stop volleyball for Maths, right?"
"Just after school. There are morning sessions."
"Really? Can I come along?" Eren wonders, grabbing Levi by the shoulders.
Levi nods, not shaking Eren off. "Why don't you bring Armin too?"
Eren shakes his head, looking down at his shoes. "Nah, he doesn't like loud noises."
"Oh. I should be getting home. See you." Levi waves when Eren lets go of his shoulders.
"Yeah. See you, Levi."
Bright and early the next morning, Levi's practicing setting with another one of the setters on the volleyball team - Mike, as his name is - when he sees Eren walk into the gym. It's the morning, and so Levi is tired, unaware of his surroundings. But it's quite hard to miss Eren; his pastel coat and his light green bag. He's the only one that doesn't seem to fit into the gym, and so it's quite hard to miss him. Levi lets the volleyball drop to the ground, ignoring inquisitive protests from Mike, as he walks over to greet Eren who is looking around the gym for Levi, seemingly breathing in a sigh of relief when he spots Levi walking over to him.
"Ah, Levi!" Eren smiles, "nice to see you."
"You too. We're going to be starting in a minute, want to watch?"
"Sure!" Eren looks around the gym. "Where do I sit?"
"On the side lines, where the water thingy is." Levi points to the bench by the side where one of the water fountains are.
Eren grins and walks around the side of the court to the sidelines where he takes a seat, unzipping his coat and taking off his bag. He sits back and watches as Levi takes his position on the court. As it's morning practice, everything is much more relaxed and so Levi isn't wearing his usual uniform. Instead, he's just wearing his normal P.E uniform which consists of sweats and a white polo; all in all very unattractive, but Levi doesn't exactly mind. The game starts and so does the match, a team versus a team. It's over very quickly, Levi's team reaching the required twenty five points within a good twenty minutes.
Once the game finishes up, Levi walks over to Eren, but as he approaches him, Levi sees someone talking to him.
"Hey, what's going on?" Levi asks as he approaches the two. As he gets closer, Levi sees frustration on Eren's face, his eyebrows furrowed, lips down turned.
"Nothing," the guy that's talking to Eren says, "just teaching the girl a lesson."
"Eren's not a girl." Levi frowns, taking note of the teens crooked nose. "I'd like you to apologise, please, or get the fuck out of our gym."
"What are you?" The crooked nose guy asks, "his boyfriend? What do you do together," he snorts, "paint each other's nails?"
"Yes, we do." Levi holds his hand up, showing the guy his painted pastel pink nails.
"Ah, I see." The guy nods in understanding. "So you both really are fag-"
Before he can finish his sentence, Levi is lunging at him with a punch, his fist connecting with the crooked man's nose with a sickening crack. He falls to the ground, cradling his nose as blood gushes from it for the second time. Levi shakes his hand, ignoring the soft sting on his palm. Levi's about to ask if Eren's okay, about to haul the idiot back off to the infirmary, when he's being tugged around by strong arms.
"Levi." Erwin, the captain of the volleyball team, grabs at his shoulders, turning him around. "I can't keep excusing your bad behaviour. I don't know what just went on but it was an overreaction. Do you want to play at the tournament?" Levi nods. "Well, if you don't, we have plenty of people to replace you. Think over your actions." Erwin tells him.
Levi shrugs. "Let's go, Eren."
As they leave, Eren jogs up to catch up to Levi. "I'm sorry." Eren says.
"You shouldn't be." Levi reassures. "You didn't do anything."
---
Levi hates mixers. He hates how unnatural they are, how forced they seem. He hates how the guys never seem to have an interest in other guys, he hates how the girls ignore him, cower away from him for reasons that Levi fails to understand.
Levi also hates coffee shops. He thinks that they're overrated, some of them anyway. They're almost always either full to the brim or have such few people that he doesn't feel safe in them, or the coffee is either really good or really bad (there's honestly no in between). Some of them don't even do decaf. And there's always a favourite coffee shop; when you're out with a group of friends and half of them want Starbucks while the other want a family brand and all you want to do is go home and sit by the fire or play volleyball, but you can't! Because you're stuck with a group of people fighting over coffee. Levi hates it.
What Levi hates most of all in the world, however, are mixers in coffee shops. And alas, there he is, sitting in a coffee shop besides Hanji as a mixer takes place. Erwin and Petra are set to come, and when they do, Levi will get up and sit on the edge of the table; he wouldn't want to be sandwiches in between Hanji and Erwin. That would be like asking for a death sentence and Levi, while his life is monotonous and repetitive, doesn't want to die anytime soon.
As for what Levi said about monotony, there was Eren. Time and time before, Levi had walked the halls of the school after volleyball and found nothing and nobody in them. He'd walked through those halls and then home however, that one day, Levi had found Eren in those halls.
Eren with his brunet hair, thick black rimmed glasses, nails painted a pastel blue, tears streaming down his face and blood on his fist. He is like the sweetest, most refreshing of tastes, Eren is, the most unusual of colours, the brightest of Suns, the warmest of fires. Levi didn't think his life had a light before Eren. Didn't think he'd spend that time with Mikasa doing something as stupid yet as nice as painting nails, didn't think he'd make repairs with what damaged relationships he had, didn't think he'd pull himself together. It isn't about Eren, really. Nothing is, but somehow he fits in to it. He is the glue sticking him and Mikasa together, the missing factor in his equation that helped him get better at Maths, a smile, a laugh, a sun, leaf, water, Eren reminds Levi of the ocean. He's ever changing, full of undiscovered things. He's new, he's beautiful wherever he is, can be angry, can be calm.
Yet he isn't there in the shop besides him at the mixer. There's only Hanji, and two guys and two girls on the other side of the booth. None of them talk to him, but rather with each other and Hanji. The girl in front of Levi looks sheepishly from Levi to the table and back to Levi when she doesn't think he's looking. He is.
Eventually, sitting around becomes tiresome and so Levi ups and goes to the counter to order s drink. He's not going to get the coffee; he wouldn't do that to himself, instead he wants a hot chocolate. You can't exactly go wrong with that.
As Levi's standing in line, he notices the person in front of him. They have short brunet hair pulled back with pink clips, are wearing a light green suspender skirt and a pastel violet jumper. As for shoes, there are light pink ballet pumps with small bows on them that flatter the long, tan legs that the person has. Levi looks up at the menu hanging above head. He's a creep. A creepy creep.
The line moves forward, and it irritates Levi to no end as to how he's the last person in queue and yet there are so many other people in front of him. It's frustrating and painfully so.
Eventually, he gets to the front of the queue and yet is still behind the brunet. As they order their flat white coffee, Levi recognises the voice.
"Eren?" At the sound of his name, Eren turns around with wide doe eyes that grow impossibly wider as they register Levi's presence.
"Hey, Levi!" Eren smiles, moving away from the counter once he pays for his drink. Levi does the same, ordering his hot chocolate and standing to the side to wait for it to be delivered.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Like last time, it's not the hello that he had hoped for.
"Ordering coffee. You?"
"Well, Hanji dragged me out to a mixer. I hate those things." Levi wrinkles his nose, stealing a glance at the booth where all of his friends are sat. They don't notice that he's gone.
"Who's Hanji? And I hate mixers too! Is it just me, or are none of the guys like, you know, interested in other guys?" Eren smiles, and Levi struggles to find his next words, struggles to say something, anything.
"Hanji's just a friend. And yeah, I know what you mean. I mean, girls are a-okay, but I like guys too so..." He trails off, waiting for Eren to say something.
"Same, honestly." Eren's and Levi's drinks are brought up and Eren undoes the lid, throwing in a bit of sugar and stirring it, before placing it back on. "Look, I've got to go, but here is my number," Eren pulls out a pen and scribbles his number on the side of Levi's cup in messy writing, "so if you ever need to escape something like this again, give me a call."
Once Eren leaves, Levi joins the group back at the table, quietly sipping at his hot chocolate. He brings his phone out and sends Eren a text, smiling quietly to himself in the hustle and bustle of the store when he receives a reply.
---
It's the day of the volleyball tournament. Levi arrives at school extra early for more practice and washes up at school. He can hardly sit through his lessons, squirming like a worm in his chair, like he ants in his pants. He watches the clock through eager eyes, waiting for each turn of the second hand, counting down the time in his mind. He is constantly jabbed in the side by Hanji, who tries and fails and tries and fails to get him to pay attention. The only class he does pay attention in, however, is Maths; there's a quiz, one Levi didn't know that they were having.
He shakes in his seat, gripping onto the plastic of the chair as he sits in wait for the paper to be placed upon his desk. As the teacher places it on his desk, Levi side eyes her. He is going to prove her wrong, is going to show her how un-sloppy he can be, how efficiently he can do calculations. He owes it to Armin, the clever little nerd, and his method of giving Levi a pear drop when he gets a correct answer. He's turning into a dog, Levi realises. Anyway, Levi aces the test - or so he thinks, hopes - and is the first one up after checking it over twice, leaving it on the teachers desk with a satisfied smirk before sitting back down and waiting until the end of the lesson.
He eats lunch as he normally does in the gardens with Hanji and Erwin, before messing around in world history and then leaving to wait outside at the car park with the rest of the volleyball team. Levi's decked out in his volleyball uniform, standing on the curb besides the rest of the team as they wait for their coach to arrive. When it eventually does, they all pile in and set off. Levi sits besides Erwin, both of them talking about tactics and the other teams that they're to play against.
"I see you took your nail polish off," Erwin points out once their chatter dies down.
"Yeah, didn't want any distractions during the games." Levi inspects his nails, quite saddened that he had to take off the polish.
"I thought it looked cute," Erwin says, "did Mikasa do it?"
"Yep," Levi nods, "she and Eren did it."
"Eren? The pastel kid you were with the other day?"
"Mhm." Levi hums, leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes.
"Well," Levi can practically hear Erwin smile, "I'm glad."
"Glad?" Levi frowns.
"That you've found someone at you like that's good for you."
"Shut up, you big banana man." Levi playfully hits Erwin's shoulders and then leans back into his seat again, dozing off until they reach the volleyball venue.
The venue is packed. Absolutely jam packed, like a donut too full of filling. It's a stupid comparison, but the only thing that found its way into Levi's mind as he watched hundreds of people filter in and out of the large, flashy building where they would be playing. He can recognise some of the teams: there's one of the Tokyo high schools in their bright baby blue uniform off to the side, filling up their water bottles; and another team from Osaka huddled up around their bus. The venue was only an hour out from Kyoto, and so it wasn't too hard for the Kyoto High team to get there, but Levi can't imagine as to how long their journey must have been, but it must have been long. After all, it is one of the most anticipated volleyball tournaments besides the Inter-high. It's the tournament that shows other teams as to what grit you have, as to how powerful and dominant a team can be. It can determine your appearance, the reputation of a team. Levi wouldn't miss it for the world.
Levi makes it four steps off of the coach when his phone vibrates in the pocket of his jacket. He sighs, wondering as to who it was that was texting him when it rings again. This time, instead of a text, it's a call. Levi stands off to the side and takes his phone out of his pocket, sliding a finger across the screen to answer the call, not bothering to look to see who it is.
"Hello?"
"Levi," it's Eren. He breathes Levi's name out with a sigh of relief. In the background, Levi can hear hustle and bustle, people talking, some yelling. "I'm so glad you picked up. Where are you?"
"At the volleyball venue. Why?" Levi frowns.
"Mikasa's Muay Thai."
"Shit-"
"Yeah."
"When's she up?" Levi asks.
"An hour."
"Fuck, I'm an hour out of Kyoto." Levi looks around to see the volleyball team waiting around at the entrance for him. Erwin frowns at him from across the car park and Levi shakes his head.
"Take the train, you'll get there quicker than on a bus. It's only in the Kyoto Central Gym, you know the one right?"
"Yep." Levi looks across the car park again to wave Erwin off. He shrugs, holding his hand up in question, and all Levi does is shake his head again. Erwin raises his eyebrows as if to make sure, and when Levi gives Erwin another firm shake of his head, the blond disappears into the venue. Levi knows that Marco will play in his place, and can only hope that he will do well, can only pray. But behind the praying, Levi knows that the team will do well, knows that they'll come out standing tall and proud without him, and he's proud of that. Proud of the team that he and Erwin built from scratch.
"See you soon, Eren." Levi leaves out the 'hopefully' lingering on his tongue.
"Bye, Levi."
Pocketing his phone, Levi races out of the venue and into the centre of the town. He looks around before eventually finding a train station. It's the worst possible time for travel, Levi finds. It's rush hour, and the trains are jam packed. There's one going straight to Kyoto, and Levi rushes down the stairs to the platform, running to the closing doors of the train. He manages to slide inside before they can fully close and wedge himself between the man in front of him and the door. The hem of his jacket just manages to get caught in the doors but it doesn't matter.
The train goes quickly, everyone getting on and off efficiently. Eventually, the train clears up a bit and Levi is able to snag a seat, and so he does, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor as he awaits the arrival to Kyoto. When he eventually does arrive, there are about five minutes left until Mikasa's tournament starts. Levi makes a quick decision, coming to the conclusion that it would be quicker to run to the gym rather than catch transport.
He runs through red men at the zebra crossings, runs into people as he speeds down the sidewalk. He's a walking - running - hazard, but Levi doesn't care; he wants to get to the venue quickly, wants to get there in time. There's five, four, three minutes left until everything starts and yet Levi's a good four minutes run away. He's sweating, must smell bad - like a dog or a wet sock - but doesn't care. He'd take smelling like shit over missing Mikasa's tournament.
As he keeps running, Levi can see the gym up ahead. He sprints, throwing open the doors and running to the arena. There are four, four different fights going on at once between eight different people and four different types of martial art: Muay Thai, Karate, Judo and Tang Soo Do. There are other fights with other arts going on elsewhere, but Levi knows that Mikasa is here; can see her in the ring getting prepared to fight.
Levi's eyes scan the crowd for Eren, and when he eventually finds him, Levi runs down the stairs towards him and pushes past people to stand next to him.
"I made it." Levi says between ragged breaths. Eren jumps and turns around, a bright smile on his face.
"You made it."
"Thanks, Eren." Levi gives Eren a quick hug. He doesn't know why he does it. Gratitude, perhaps? None the less it makes his heart race, and he had to fight to keep the blush threatening to find its way onto his face down.
"Don't worry I won't say anything," Eren reassures. "Look, look! It's starting!" Eren jumps up and down excitedly, clutching Levi's hand in his own before glancing down and letting go, giving Levi a sheepish smile.
Levi shrugs, brushing it off when in actuality he feels himself melt in his shoes. But all feelings are put aside the moment Levi sets eyes on Mikasa. She stands tall and proud, her hair tied back into a small pony tail, some loose strands falling over her forehead. She's wearing red gloves that cover her hands, a red sports bra and red shorts with a white hem. The name of the gym where she trains is stamped onto the shorts, but even so, it makes her look fierce. She reminds Levi of a panther, of a wild animal; he can see pure, natural animalism in her, pure ferocity that burns inside her like a fire growing strong, a flame never flickering. He's never seen Mikasa with such a dominant stance, never seen her with such willpower on her face, passion in her eyes.
It makes Levi almost quiver in his shoes.
She's strong, too: her muscles ripple, strong and powerful under her smooth, unmarred skin. Levi can see the chords of strong muscle flex and contract as she walks towards her opponent, putting her mouth guard into her mouth. It's almost quite odd, because she looks so feminine; her jaw clenches, and yet is so smooth and supple, her eyelashes cover her passionate eyes and yet they're so long and beautiful. She's a contrast, something new and refreshing. It's a side to Mikasa that Levi has never seen before, but he loves it.
And the fight begins. Mikasa rises on the front of her feet, bouncing as he edges around her opponent - a girl around Mikasa's age, slightly taller than her, looks about as strong as she is - watching through lidded eyes, watching every move she makes, every bat of her eyes, every tense of muscles. Neither of them throw a punch or go in for a kick as Mikasa edges closer, the opponent not backing down. As Mikasa pulls back, the opponent goes straight in for a kick, her leg coming up and her foot inches away from Mikasa's head. Her hands black the kick, deflecting the blow and going in for a punch at the shoulders which the opponent deflects again. Once they start, they don't seem to stop.
Kick after kick is given, punch after punch, elbow after elbow, knee after knee. There's blood coming from the corner of Mikasa's mouth and from the nose of the opponent but neither seem to care as they relentlessly go at each other. Eventually, the referee calls for them to stop and they separate, moving to their allotted corners and grabbing a sip of water before coming back into the middle and starting again.
In the end, Mikasa wins. It's something that was expected, and something that happened. Of course, everyone cheered, and when Mikasa turned around with a large smile on her face to face Eren, it faltered upon seeing Levi, shock evident on her face. By as quickly as it disappeared, the smile was back again, bigger and brighter.
She didn't even seem to notice when a medal was put around her neck and a trophy in her hands.
After that, they wait around for one more match for Mikasa's friend, Annie, who also wins her match. And once that's over, they all leave the gym, Eren and Levi walking home together; Levi had offered to walk Eren to his door as it was getting late and so Eren had agreed.
"Why's Mika not coming?" Eren asks.
"She's going to Annie's for a little celebration." Levi tells him and Eren nods, swinging his legs as he sits up on the bench.
The train doesn't take long, pulling up into the station within minutes. Levi and Eren board, taking a seat. Normally, they wouldn't have been able to snag a seat, however it was late, almost sundown. It wouldn't have surprised Levi had the train been empty. There were but a few people on the train: an elderly couple with their adorable dog, a mother and her child who was in a buggy, and Eren and Levi.
Eren is basking in the last of the warmth of the sun, his eyes closed, leaning back into the seat of the train. Levi watches him, wants him to open his eyes, wants him to talk to Levi; Levi doesn't know what to say to start conversation, doesn't know if there's something he can say, doesn't want to sit in silence. Wants to talk to Eren about the day, wants to fawn over something stupid like suspender skirts or nail polish or damned melon bread, just something. It's pathetic, Levi thinks, how utterly smitten he is. It's pathetic how he fawns over Eren's gorgeous eyes, how he drowns in him, how he basks in Eren like he's basking in the last of the warmth of the sun.
And if Levi didn't notice it then, he notices it now; now boyish Eren looks. Notices his eyelashes, long and dark and thick, framing his round almond eyes. Notices his glasses that look too big on his face, notices the sharp jawline and the sloped nose. He notices the smooth skin, not a prickle of hair on it, notices the soft blush of his cheeks and the petal pink of his lips.
Levi realises his staring, realises how odd it may seem to the few people on the train and so takes to looking out of the window. As he does, he feels the buzz of his phone in the pocket of his coat. He takes it out and reads the text.
Eren: hi
Levi looks up from his phone to see Eren smiling down at his screen.
Levi: hello
Levi doesn't know where to go from there. Panics, for a moment, before Eren starts typing something up again.
Eren: this is silly
Levi: it is
Eren: i kinda like it though
Levi's fingers falter on the keyboard before he shakily types out his next words, knowing that if he were speaking, the words would have died on his tongue, caught in his throat
Levi: i kinda like it, too
The train jerks to a halt as Eren starts typing, his fingers sliding across the keyboard before sending a text. When Levi looks down, all he sees is gibberish. It's dorky, and Levi loves it. They get off the train station and find themselves not too far away from Eren's house. Eren's house is further up the Kyoto outskirts than Levi: it's bigger, on a larger slope, is more secluded. Eren's father is a doctor in the city, so Levi recalls from a conversation that he and Levi had, had before.
As they walk down from the station, Levi finds himself enchanted by the slopes of the streets, the old pavements and brickwork roads from years and years ago remaining. Moss crawls inside it, weaving a path of green and yellow and brown that reminds Levi of a story his Mother once told him about a yellow bricked road. The houses are large; they have walls around them, gardens fit for a king. And what Levi said about hating Kyoto at this time of year? He takes it back. He loves the way the wind rustles the leaves in the trees, loves the way the leaves float down and into little streams, turning them red with the autumn leaves. They look like rivers of fire, they look warm, and Levi's almost tempted to dip into them.
Eren and Levi end up walking away from the outskirts and to one of the mansion houses in the country. Even so, it's not too far from Levi's home, he can see it when he turns around and looks over the crowd of homes clustered in the outskirts. But as Levi approaches Eren's house, he's enchanted by the bridge that climbs over streams that run the length around the home, is enchanted by the sway of the willow tree that stands tall at the front of the house, it's long tendrils and branches whipping around in the light breeze. Loves the way the warm sun casts a red, orange, yellow light upon the white house, making it match the stream of fire that burns it's way around the side of the house. There's also a garden of flowers that twists it's way around the side of the house, some green, grey and brown vines climbing the height of the house and twisting around the slant of the roof.
Eren's house reminds Levi of Eren; it's beautiful.
And Levi knows.
He knows that if he doesn't say anything to Eren in the moment, knows that if he keeps his mouth shut he'll forever hold his peace. But it's different this time - he wants to tell Eren. He wants to hold his hand as they walk up the pebble path to the front door of his house, wants to kiss his sweet petal pink lips good bye. He wants to tell Eren how he feels about him, wants to hug him and feel the butterflies caught in his chest fly, fly, fly. And he can't comprehend how he feels, it feels like...
It feels like a warm shiver, feels like sun rays in the dark of night, feels like a river of fire running through his veins.
And as Eren opens the gate to his house, Levi catches Eren by the sleeve of his jacket. Tugs on it pathetically, weakly. Levi feels weak, powerless. He shakes like a leaf, fearful of the fire in his veins, of rejection, of Eren's bright eyes that blind him like pastel sun rays in the dark of night.
"Levi?"
"I, uh," Levi trips over his words, his mind struggling to find the right words amongst the sea in his brain. He knows he'll never find the exact words to portray what he feels about Eren. Knows that he's the first crush he has had, knows it'll be over like burning fire that'll eventually die down, knows the abundance of butterflies in chest will eventually fly, fly, fly away only to fall back down again, but if he can't let them go, if he can't watch them spread their wings and fly, fly, fly away, he'll never know.
"I just wanted to say," Levi continues, "that you're... - wait shit no - you have a nice face."
He didn't mean to say that.
"Thanks, Levi," Eren giggles, "you do, too."
"No, what I meant was..." Levi clenches his fist besides himself, "ah, shit, you know what? Fuck it." Levi reaches over and grabs the collar of Eren's coat, pulling him down and kissing him. It's quick, sweet and utterly messy. But it sends Levi's heart jumping in his chest, those butterflies flying, flying, flying.
Eren pulls back, and all of a sudden Levi's heart skips a beat in his chest. He's scared that he scared Eren. Scared that he didn't like it, didn't want it, didn't - and all of a sudden Eren's kissing back again, his lips soft and plush, tasting like vanilla, feeling like the softest of petals. And as they pull away, Levi laces his fingers with Eren's and they hold hands, walking down the pebble path way of Eren's house, hand in hand, under the light of pastel suns.