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Okay, once again, this is going to be a long one so buckle in everyone! This might just be one of my favorites so far but I know that's going to change as I release more chapters lol Hope you guys enjoy this one!
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A couple hours later, night had fallen once again in the city and while it was moments before you and Levi were set to meet up, back in the Scouts Foundation, Onyankopon took the opportunity of Levi's absence while he was out doing his own affairs to just relax since he didn't have any duties to fulfill. He was completely leaned back in Levi's chair, one leg over the other, not to mention the platter of fruits he had in front of him, with a glass of water to accompany it.

He swayed back and forth in the chair with a smile on his face as he took bites out of the wedges of apples he cut beforehand. He had one leg crossed over the other as he stared up at the ceiling and he allowed his mind to wander. Sometimes it was crazy to him how he even ended back in this situation, working for Levi and all. Fate does work in mysterious ways and Oyankopon's story said it all.

As he chewed on his apple slice, Onyankopon chuckled to himself when he realized that he not only fell for Levi's tricks once, but twice. In his first and second life. Onyankopon realized that he had somehow been reborn once more into a life that he had already lived through 200 years before in a very strange way. He recalled that before he became Levi's butler, he used to have a restaurant, but that business wasn't doing that great and he wasn't doing great financially either.

But just a couple years ago, he remembered closing up his restaurant for the day and laying down on a makeshift bed that he constructed out of chairs in his restaurant. He laid down on it, sighing dejectedly and with defeat, realizing that this was taking him nowhere and he didn't know how he could restore his restaurant back to its former glory when he first started it, but Onyankopon had been losing hope every day that he had less and less costumers.

After that, just as he appeared in before him in his first life, Levi had suddenly appeared through his restaurant doors like a beacon of hope for Onyankopon. Hearing footsteps approaching, Onyankopon's eyebrows furrowed even as he kept his eyes closed, swearing in his head that he had locked the doors.

But when he dared to open his eyes, feeling a shadow loom over him, Onyankopon saw a figure of a man with raven hair and gunmetal eyes looking down at him with a smirk tugging at his lips. And not just that, because Levo had shown up in the usual black ensemble that he usually wore to make deals. The black trench coat, the black button-up shirt and slacks, and black dress shoes.

Even back then, Levi's charm seemed incredibly familiar to him, especially when his smirk grew and he gave one of the chair legs a gentle kick. "Is this how you receive your costumers?" Levi had said, making Onyankopon sit up in his chairs, rubbing his eyes lightly to see if his eyes were betraying him in any way. It also didn't help that the light from the sun pouring in through the windows out of sheer coincidence and casting a glow over Levi was making him look even more ethereal and unreal to Onyankopon in that very moment.

But no, the man in front of him was very real. Blinking himself of his stupor, Onyankopon nodded and began to take a couple steps around the chair setup he made, but he didn't get very far, because he was forced to halt in his steps when a hand clamped onto his shoulder. He flinched for a second at the contact but then looked back to see that Levi was looking at him.

"Can I help you with something else? I was going to get the menu's," Onyanokopon said as he used his thumb to gesture to the kitchen, but his face morphed into one of puzzlement when he saw that Levi shook his head lightly and moved his hand from Onyankopon's hand, to pat his back gently. "

Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about that I think you'd be interested in," Levi had said, in a tone that somehow seemed to get Onyankopon's intrigue right away for some reason. He didn't know back then but Levi has always had such a way with words, and its only after he got accustomed to his line of work that he began to understand why that was. It was all part of his identity and what he does. I

Levi had led Onyankopon to sit down on the set of chairs again, and everything after that had felt like a fever dream to Onyankopon, because once they sat back down, and Levi pulled out a folder out of thin air, handing it to Onyankopon, the man gaped and his mouth dropped open, even as Levi extended the folder out to him for Onyankopon to take. It took him a couple seconds to get his bearings back after what he'd just witnessed, but as shocked as he was, he took the folder.

As if pulling out the folder out of thin air wasn't enough for him, Onyankopon eye's widened further when he began flipping through it and saw what Levi was offering him. It was a proposal for a franchise of his food chain to grow it and get it to more locations so that it can thrive once again. How could he refuse? But it was too suspicious. Too sudden. He couldn't understand what he did to deserve it.

This man had just promised to make his dream come true, and he suddenly felt his mind start begging at him to remember something eerily similar to this situation, but Onyankopon was just so excited that he just pushed that thought to the back of his head and continued flipping through the folder, and his mind felt like it was short circuiting with every page he flipped. What he was reading was everything he could ever want, but how could the man next to him make it happen?

But Onyankopon hadn't noticed at the time, being so caught up in the possibilities of having a second chance at his dream, is how Levi had a contract next to him that Onyankopon had to sign and seal before any of what was on that folder could come true. This exactly what Onyankopon had to do in past life to get his wish come true as well but this wasn't the point where he had realized that yet or that the memory somehow managed to surface back to him.

Once Levi had showed him the contract, that's when he had become skeptical about this and the walls of hoping started to come down. Onyakopon didn't believe that it was just that easy that all he needed to do was to put his fingerprint on the contract and that would be it. They had barely discussed the deal and all of a sudden it could be signed permanently? He needed to know more. It sounded like a scam.

Levi promised hundreds of locations in his franchise of restaurants and other details that had Onyankopon torn between accepting and declining. He had been just as torn the first time Levi had asked him in his past life, it was only after he granted it that he couldn't believe his eyes and an entire new world of possibilities opened up. He was just as hard to convince and suspicious about the deal as he ever was

But soon, the part that was skeptical started to decrease, and the part of him that wanted to grow his business and be successful. A part his brain somehow made him skate over the part of the deal where he would go to hell after 10 years, because once again, Onyankopon didn't believe it and thought it was some sort of scare tactic. he didn't want to live the way he was anymore, and somehow that won him over.

When he agreed, Levi's look on his face said that he was extremely satisfied with that answer, and nodded, saying; "Wonderful," He'd smirked and while Onyankopon tried to take the pen from Levi's hands to sign, without warning, Levi, whose faced dropped into blank look on his face, grabbed Onyankopon's pointer finger and pricked it with the pen. Just like he had done to him so many years before to his past self.

Onyankopon yelped and yanked his finger down to him, looking down at his bleeding finger dejectedly. He didn't know it was a blood contract of all things. But the thing is, that prick on his finger, made his mind stop for just a minute. He looked down at it more closely and suddenly his memory rushed with remembrance and memories that he had never experienced or seen before in his life. His breath got caught up in his throat when he remembered it all. His breathing gradually got heavier and heavier, to the point that Levi turned from looking down at the blood-pricked pen, to look to the side and see Onyankopon in a state of disarray. Was he that upset about the blood?

Onyankopon saw it all His past life 200 years before as someone who worked with the Scouts, his life after The Rumbling, wanting to desperately help the refugees get back up on their feet but he'd been losing hope with every passing day, including the death of everyone he got close to that him and the Scouts lost. It was all coming back to him. A life that wasn't his but it truly felt like it was and he'd been there.

Then, he remembered how Levi had granted his wish then as well, and that the prick of blood that Levi had done to him then hurt just as much then as it did now, he recalls so clearly the memory of having an overwhelming abundance of resources come his way, not only to himself, but to the refugees and his surviving friends and heroes of The Rumbling as well. It was all rushing back like a tidal wave and he felt like he was losing himself in his own mind, he was too overwhelmed with foreign memories.

And it had. Those resources like fish, crops, land that quickly started to regrow that became sufficient enough to become a stepping stone for the reconstruction of humanity. Armin had asked him then how all of what was happening had been possible? But Onyankopon didn't know how to answer, so he didn't and left it up to the blond's imagination. Everything had been perfect, and those 10 years leading up to Onyankopon's death because of his wish was more than enough for society to have enough morale, motivation, and courage to start rebuilding their lives. His wish did help a whole lot of people recover from such a devastating time.

But what really got Onyankopon now, was that he was able to be tricked into yet another one of these deals, not once, but two times. History had repeated itself all over again once Onyankopon was reborn into the person he is today, and he couldn't believe that he almost signed yet another one of these contracts and believed Levi yet again. Levi's eyebrow raised when he saw the way that Onyankopon's face contorted into one of anger, fury and deceit for almost jumping into another deal yet again. He was glad these memories came back just in time, because if they hadn't, there would have been no turning back and he would be screwed for a second time.

Things has gotten a bit...ugly after that. Noticing the way that Levi was about to sign the paper with his blood, Onyankopon exhaled and yanked the paper away from levi and hid it behind him, to which Levi couldn't believe that this man had the guts to just rip the paper out of his hands. "I remember everything," Onyankopon muttered as he seethed, making Levi narrow his eyes and tilt his head a bit to the side trying to figure out what he meant. He's met countless people over 200 years, so he had no idea what Onyankopon was talking about, about 'remembering it all'.

But it was Onyankopon's next words that made Levi finally understand; "You ruined my life! Do you know what I went through because of you?" He yelled out, preparing to express his anger the best way he could. He wasn't going to be naive anymore and decided to not get fooled a second time. Levi wasn't given much of a chance to answer after that, but it was safe to say that after that incident, any trouble were left in the past, Onyankopon never signed the contract, and shortly after, Levi hired him. They have had a rocky relationship at the beginning, but they're friends now and know each other well enough after knowing each other through past and present lives.

Onyankopon came back to the present after that as the memory concluded and he let out a content sigh. He kept his head leaned back in the chair as he swayed side to side on the chair, looking up at the ceiling blankly. There was silence in the office, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was actually pretty peaceful and serene. For the years that Onyankopon has worked for Levi, he's realized that most humans like himself fall for the charms and the deals that Levi brings to the table, which is why up until now since he's lost his tattoo and his powers, he never had any trouble in completing contracts.

But now that Onyankopon thought about it, with the whole deal about him now having his powers on him anymore and the risk of spontaneous combustion was suddenly on the table, a doubt suddenly came to mind. "How is he going to convince her to help him without his powers?" Onyankopon muttered as he wondered out loud to himself as he turned his head to the side. Though, as these thoughts circled his head and his mind was occupied somewhere else, he had failed to notice the presence that had suddenly entered the room and was walking up behind him.

But he froze when he suddenly felt the figure lean over him, and then in the corner of his eye, he turned his gaze slightly to his side and saw that it was Petra who was standing next to him. But, her demeanor seemed to be entirely different. Onyankopon didn't dare to move and he cursed at himself inwardly knowing she'd heard what he said. He promised Levi nobody else would know. She had one hand on the table as she leaned against it and she narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. She kept her other hand at her hip and inched closer to lean forward towards Onyankopon.

She was silent and her features were studying him carefully, wanting him to repeat what he just said. She hoped she heard him wrong. There was no way that what she heard Onyankopon say just now was right. "Did you just say Levi lost his powers?" Petra asked as her tone became low and suspicious, making Onyankopon swallow hard as he straightened up in his chair quickly, avoiding eye contact with Petra.

"Did- Did I say that? No, you heard me wrong. You just came in the room, right? You must have misheard me talking about something entirely different," Onyankopon rambled as he laughed nervously and pinched his shirt, beginning to air it out with distress building up inside him. He had let Petra find out when Levi already didn't want anybody to know. Onyankopon had just managed to drag it out of him, and even then, Levi was trying to keep it a secret from everyone around him for as long as possible.

Onyankopon knew Petra wasn't giving up because she leaned away from the desk and crossed her arms in front of her, looking at him incredulously. She wasn't believing him one bit. She knew what she heard, but knew she'd have to drag it out of Onyankopon so that it could confirm her thoughts. "Oh, yeah? About what? You were just talking to yourself?" She said, continuing to pry further, and saw the way Onyankopon only got more nervous by the way his leg began to bounce and still refused to look a her.

When Onyankopon finally dared to look up, Petra almost scoffed at how horribly he was trying to hide how nervous he was. She understood why he wasn't letting her see his eyes because they just gave him away. He saw the way he gave her a defeated smile and let his shoulders sink. "Would you believe me if I said that It's about a show I'm watching?" Onyankopon said as every ounce of hope he had of keeping this a secret just wafted up into the air. Petra simply shook her head as she sent him a toothless smile that told him that he just wasn't getting out of this until he told her everything.

"What happened to Levi, Onyankopon? I'm not leaving until you tell me," Petra said with demand and security. She couldn't just unhear what she heard Onyankopon said, and if what he said was true, then she couldn't help but worry about Levi. But in response, Onyankopon threw his head back in the chair and let out a groan.

"Oh, come on Petra. Don't make me say it again. He'll kill me if I tell you his powers transferred to that woman-" Onyankopon began to ramble, not realizing what he just said. But when he did, his eyes widened and his hand slapped over his mouth. He didn't know what compelled him to say that, but it was as if he was in autopilot and Petra's intimidation tactics worked all of a sudden. He dropped his hand from his mouth and he slowly turned his head to face Petra as his mouth hung open.

Petra's mouth was agape too. Her eyes were wide. Though, after her a few seconds, her eyes steeled and her entire demeanor changed. She should have known you had something to do with this. When Onyankopon said 'that woman', who else could he possibly be referring to? It had to be you, and that's when Petra realized that Onyankopon knew far more than he was letting on and was hiding a lot more than what he had accidentally blurted out. She was going to find out.

Tired of dancing around the question, Petra sighed, grabbed the back of the chair, spun Onyankopon to face her completely, grabbing his collar and bringing him closer to her. Her face screamed determination and intensity, because Onyankopon had blurted out too much now for him to leave her hanging. He couldn't leave her hanging like that, could he? But at this point, Onyankopon knew Levi would never be able to trust him ever again. How could he let it slip like that to Petra of all people?

Petra put her other hand on her hip and brought Onyankopon closer to her. "Okay, this is how it's going to work. You're going to tell me everything you know. Don't leave a single thing out," Petra stated clearly, as Onyankopon looked up at her from his spot on the chair, nodding with defeat as he sighed. He knew for a fact Petra wouldn't be fond of the fact that this all circled back to you, that you were the source of this whole problem. She should've known that wasn't just a blind date.

Petra now knew that the woman Levi went on a blind date with had something to do with this, and now she'll want to know desperately what happened and what was going to happen now. She wasn't thrilled to know that this woman that was the root to Levi losing his powers was the same one Levi refused to talk about.

But Petra would listen to every detail that Onyankopon told her. She needed to know what was happening, refusing to be kept out of the loop. Knowing Levi for as long as she has, and being aware that his powers have never flickerred, Petra was sure this was bigger than any of them were aware of, no matter how much Onyankopon and Levi were trying to brush it off and pretend like everything was under control.

-

Just as you had told Levi you'd do, right after you had finished your little 'meeting' with Karina, you texted that number that he called you on, letting him know it was you, and then you told him about the meeting spot you had thought of.

His response to your text was as simple and blunt as you thought it would be, but he agreed nonetheless and that was good enough for you. It had been a couple hours since you parted ways with Karina, so it was nighttime now and you were heading to the meeting spot at the exact time that you and Levi had agreed on during that text conversation.

In your mind, you thought that since you were going to meet up with him sooner than expected, you realized this would be a good opportunity to give him some compensation for the whole issue at the restaurant.

You knew he had declined it before when Hange offered, but you hoped he accepted it if you did it in person. You just felt so guilty about it still and felt like you wouldn't be able to be at ease until you somehow made up for it. It's been in the back of your thoughts since then.

The meeting spot both of you had agreed upon was a small plaza area in the Paradis Mall surrounded by department stores. There was a fairly large floor fountain, spewing out water in different rhythms and with lights accompanying the movements of the water in the middle of the plaza area.

This fountain is where the both of you agreed to meet up. You had made it to the mall and were now walking around the fountain, looking around the area to see if you could spot Levi anywhere in case he was already there. But as your eyes trailed around everywhere and he was nowhere in sight, you realized you were the first one to arrive. All you had to do was wait.

Once you made your way around the fountain until you stood still just on one side of it, you took a quick scan again around the area but he was still nowhere in sight. A guy like him certainly wasn't hard to spot, so you supposed you'd wait right where you are and call him if its necessary, and that thought made you realize something.

Your eyes widened at the realization, so you pulled out your phone from your pocket and you noticed that not only was it past the time you and him agreed to meet up, but you also saw that a text from him came in. You quickly tapped your screen to see the text and your head tilted in confusion when you read what it said.

Levi: I'm here

You immediately looked up from your phone and started looking around. He was already here? You couldn't see him anywhere. "Where is he?" You muttered out loud to yourself as you began to misunderstand if maybe he got the location of the mall wrong, but then you backtracked and realized you proposed a very specific location so it would be strange if he got it wrong.

You were beyond confused at this point? Is he trying to trick you? He wouldn't still be that bitter about what happened at the hospital would he? No, that can't be. You know he's more calculating than that.

You sighed and looked back down at your phone, deciding to give him a call. You tapped the call button and put the phone up to your ear, continuing to look around as you heard your phone start to dial. You just wanted to settle this issue you had with him once and for all. It cannot be this hard.

You waited for a couple seconds for him to pick up, but nothing. He still wasn't answering. You huffed and raised your hand to run it back through your hip, letting your hand drop to your side again.

But as you continued to hear the tone ring over and over on your phone while you continued to look around, you looked to your side once and then had to do a double take when you saw a familiar figure in the distance, across the fountain.

It was a little hard to tell who it was because the water was spewing out and it blocked your view a bit, but if you didn't know any better and you trusted your eyes as much as you did, then it had to be Levi. You slowly pulled your phone away from your ear and your eyes widened when you saw him walking towards you, with brisk and confident steps.

You knew your eyes weren't betraying you because you could see him making his way around the fountain to you in between the shots of water that were shooting up from the fountain.

You could recognize that undercut and black hair anywhere, and not to mention that he seemed like he was already looking directly at you with those sharp and steel eyes of his. It was impossible to ignore the way he was looking at you.

The moment your eyes met with him from a distance, it felt just like when he caught you back at the restaurant. Why does this always happen to you? What's this trance you're in whenever he looks at you like that? Is your mind making it up? It had to be.

And it didn't help at all that with no explanation at all, you could hear your heartbeat in your ears, it got louder and louder as he got closer. What was happening to you? The only time this happened was back when he caught you in the restaurant, and it didn't happen at the hospital at such a close proximity to him, so you assumed it was just a one time thing but how is it that just by looking at him walking towards you was suddenly making your body tense and freeze on the spot?

Why was your body responding this way? It doesn't make any sense. Your eyes are wide and your breath is caught up in your throat, not helping the way you felt your heart hammering against your chest and you didn't know why. What was happening to you?

Your mind seemed to have slowed down time. His walking towards you was still brisk and careless but the closer he got, it looked to you as if everything was in slow motion. You were frozen on the spot and noticed the way that with just being a few steps away from you, a soft smirk suddenly came onto his lips, continuing to look directly at you.

You bit the inside of your cheek and attempted to force yourself to look away but you couldn't. Every part of your body forced you to look at Levi and you didn't know why. What changed during the day from when you saw him that very morning that you were in a trance you couldn't get out of? You had to pull yourself together, and quickly.

Why was he smirking at you like that? Your hand with your phone was still raised and just as Levi took one final step to be right in front of you, while you continued to keep your eyes fixated on him without saying a word on his arrival, you felt unresponsive when his smirk turned softer and so did his eyes, even if it was just a fraction.

What seemed to have finally brought you back down to Earth, was Levi suddenly reaching over to you and tapping the red button on your screen to hang up the call you had been making to him, but that you had been too shocked before to do it yourself.

As soon as he did that, you blinked a couple times, looked at your phone to see that the screen was back to the calling app keypad. After that, you became aware of your surroundings once again and you cleared your throat, straightening up in place and hardening your gaze as you looked at him, becoming as serious as you needed to be before the moment he arrived.

He had his hands in his pocket and his expression hadn't changed at all. You would've expected him to still be hostile with you after what happened at the hospital just that same morning, but he looked completely calm.

"Nice of you to finally show up. And what happened to not feeling your best? You look fine to me. You're practically glowing," You scoffed, as you put your phone back in your purse and crossed your arms together.

But your words only made his smirk widen, worrying you as he took two more steps towards you, shortening your proximity. You had an urge to step back when he came closer, but you remained in place, for some reason. Your eyes widened a fraction, feeling him closer than before.

"You really think I'm glowing?" He questioned as he brought his face closer to yours and he looked at you with a devious smile on his face.

Your breath hitched as it got caught up in your throat and this time, you were ready to look away and quickly change the subject. You were not going to get sucked in again. It wasn't going to work. What was the matter with him? He's acting as if he doesn't absolutely hate your guts.

You looked down and reached down to your purse, opening it, and beginning to dig through it. You began to reach down into it, finding what you had gone to your apartment for before coming here.

It was the compensation that you hoped would be enough to settle the issue of the restaurant at last. "I think we're getting off track," You said as you pulled out an envelope, getting ready to hand it over to him.

"I know you told my assistant when they called that you weren't interested in having the restaurant issue repaid to you, but I still feel like I owe you for it and It was still weighing heavy on my mind, so here," You said, extending your hand out with the envelope in it out to him. Levi looked down at your hand as his face turned into one of confusion.

When he didn't say anything and didn't move a muscle to take it, you felt the need to continue. "Look, you paid for the meal and the damages, so I feel like this is the right thing to do. And I'm not taking it back, this is yours now," You said, extending your hand out further to him, urging him to take the envelope.

"I told you I don't need this. It doesn't really matter to me that you're trying to take some load off your back just so you'll feel better about yourself," He said, and you narrowed your eyes on him. There it was. That's the kind of quips you expected from him and you wouldn't take any of it. But you ignored it, wanting to just have him take the money and then you can leave. You didn't need to take any of this.

"That's not what this is about. I hate feeling like I'm indebted to anyone, that's all. That experience wasn't enjoyable for either of us, so I hoped this would be enough," You said, deciding that he wouldn't take it from your hands so you just pushed the envelope on his chest. You watched as he sighed with exasperation and took the envelope, finally. But when he did, you ignored the way your fingers brushed against his when you pulled your hand away and he took the envelope from your hands.

You crossed your arms again and watched as he began to open the envelope, not looking down at it and directing his words at you. "Well, I've already moved past it. That's why I don't need it, unlike you-" He started, but then he looked down and his words were cut off when he saw that there was a very generous amount of money inside the envelope.

Even if Levi doesn't have a problem with money itself, he knows he has it, doesn't really like to flaunt it around, and just makes good use of it when he needs to. He knew that he probably had as much as you did, and in this case, it would be rude to refuse it now that you gave it to him. Right? He has never received this much from someone else, so it was certainly shocking for him.

You watched his reaction to the money and you smirked triumphantly. "Is it still a no?" Your smirk widened, knowing that judging by his face, he would probably take it now and this whole issue was going to be resolved. But there was still one thing that you needed him to answer for you before he took the money. You knew that he still called you here for a reason, so just until that was dealt with too, you'd hold onto the money and until the two birds are killed with one stone. You just wanted to give him the money when you've made sure that he's come through with what he wanted from you.

Without warning, you took the money back from his hands and put it back in your purse, ignoring how shocked he was at how you just snatched it from his hands. But he put his hands in his pockets and looked at you, knowing you were expecting something before you gave him that envelope. "I know you called me here for a reason, and not just because you weren't 'feeling your best'. Though, I know that wasn't really the reason why you wanted to meet up. So, tell me, what is it that you want from me? I'll give this back to you once you tell me why you really called me here," You said, looking at him seriously, and wanting to know his real intentions behind this. You knew there was something he really wanted from you. He even warned you back at the hospital that he would be back to settle things.

When he didn't say anything and you continued to look at him expectantly, you realized that this was probably about either that tattoo or that unfulfilled deal that you promised him in exchange for his help during the incident.

"Look, if this is about that deal, then-" You started, but your words were cut off when he took yet another step towards you, but this time, you were able to react in time and you took step backwards as well, away from him, and keeping the proximity at a minimum. Why was he so intent on getting closer and closer to you? He did it before you gave him the envelope too.

"I don't care about that deal anymore. That's all over now," He said to you, in a tone that was just as serious as yours. You tilted your head to the side in confusion hearing that. If he didn't care about the deal, then what did he call you here for then?

He was so close to you, yet again, making your body tense and you felt small and helpless all of a sudden by how intensely he was looking at you. What did he want then? You were confused enough already and his silence was making your head begin to reel.

"There's no need for any deals between us anymore," He said, but that still didn't help at all. You were just as confused, if not more, as when he said that just seconds ago. What exactly was he getting at?

"I'm sorry, I'm not really following," You said, keeping your arms crossed as your eyes slightly squinted in confusion. There was some sort of switch that you noticed went off when you saw the way his demeanor changed when you were talking about the envelope and then back to talking to what he wanted.

"I'm saying that I haven't been the same ever since that incident. You didn't believe me back at the hospital but what I'm feeling has been affecting my entire livelihood. It feels like I can't do anything like I used to, I feel lethargic and like an entirely different person," He listened, but all you could feel in that moment was being extremely thrown off.

You knew that you were having trouble processing the whole incident too but you've been trying to move on. Was he really having that hard of a time?

You nodded slowly at these words, trying to see what it was that he was trying to go with or what he wanted you to do about it. You have been pretty shaken up too from the incident but you were moving past it on your own. You didn't know what he needed you for.

"I see...but what does that have to do with me? Is this about that tattoo again? Are you really that lost without it?" You said, realizing that this is the exact kind of reaction he had at the hospital, saying how badly he needed his tattoo or he'd be lost without it. You had looked at him like he was crazy back then, but it seems like he hasn't tried to move past it at all like you had been doing the entire day.

"You don't understand. This has never happened to me before," Levi said, and you looked at him blankly for a couple seconds before you shook your head and let out a breath. You were crazy for thinking that what he was talking about was a one time thing at the hospital and he'd have a clearer mind now, but clearly, you were wrong. You have no clue what he was talking about or what he wanted.

He was so cryptic and it was impossible to decipher him. You'd help him if he needed it, since the two of you were there at the scene of the incident, but he was making it so hard. It was already hard enough for you to try and move past it as well.

You purse your lips and look him dead in the eye. "You know what? I stand by what I said at the restaurant. You really should go see a therapist, I don't think I'm the one you should be looking for to help you," You said as you pulled your phone out of your pocket to check the time and start calling for Hange to pick you up.

Levi's eyes widened and he noticed what you were doing on your phone and decided he needed a new strategy to get you to understand. It's clear that by telling you about the tattoo right away at the hospital only made you think he was crazy enough already and this wasn't helping his case. He was driving you further and further away.

"I still don't get it. Why did you come to me for this-" You started as you tapped on your contact list. You'd left your car in your apartment complex and came here in a cab, so you needed Hange to come pick you up. But as soon as you said that, you were cut off by Levi and you looked at him in surprise.

"No," He said, and how low his voice had gotten all of a sudden made your concern spike. God, this man was just driving your head all over the place, you don't get it. What does he want? He was impossible to decipher. You could tell that he was just going back and forth in his own mind.

"I'm sorry? No?" You said, watching the way that his desperation was clearly starting to show more and more. Desperation for what? You'll never know. It's like you could see his thought process on his facial expressions and it was concerning. Even more than when the two of you were at the hospital. Though what he said next made you wonder if you were in some sort of simulation and none of this was real.

"You're the only one who can solve my problem," He said, taking steps to get even closer to you as his eyes softened and his eyes looked directly into yours. Your mouth parted slightly as you thought of something you could say to him but as much as you tried to move your mouth, you couldn't get anything to come out.

Though, that wasn't all. After that, you suddenly felt fingers wrap around your left wrist, sending chills up and down your body and your breaths suddenly got shorter. You looked down and saw that Levi had wrapped his hand around your wrist gently. What was he doing?

He flipped a switch like 3 times in the span of your conversation and your mind was working actively on whether to decide to let your guard down, if he was being genuine or if he was just trying to play you to get something he wants but he clearly doesn't want to say. You didn't know how you felt about this but your body was reacting to his touch in a way that was making goosebumps erupt all over and you didn't know why.

He was driving you crazy and you didn't know what you were supposed to feel. One second he says something charming and the next he's a total asshole. He's clearly trying to see which one works the best for him to get what he wants. Could he tell you froze in front of him when he arrived and was using it against you now? Putting his hand on your wrist knowing that there's the smallest chance that just holding your wrist, as simple as that is, would gain some sort of sympathy from your end?

"You're the only one who can solve my problem because you're the reason for everything I'm feeling," He said, and that's when you feel like you've lost all notion of reality. His eyes were searching your face in a way that could only be described as silent pleading, which ignited a sense of pity for him deep in your heart, you didn't trust it all that much.

Your empathy took over your brain and it was suddenly thinking for you, but you realized he could easily be faking it. All the while, you were searching his eyes to see if there was any genuine intent behind them. You didn't know how you could possibly be the cause to his misfortune, but a part of you decided you wanted to help him. Your compassion knowing he may be going through the same thing you are.

He was clearly shaken up from the accident, or maybe that was a cover and he was going through something else and using that as a cover to ask for help. Either way, you knew all too well the feeling of wanting help and to get out of a dark place, but never knowing how, so, as you looked into his eyes, you somehow knew that you were going to regret this but in the end, you nodded in agreement and decided to help. But, you still decided to keep your guard up, because you knew there was something much bigger afoot he was deliberately hiding. You were going to tread lightly on this.

-

And after that, before you knew it, you had refrained from calling a cab and were currently in the passenger seat of his car as he drove across the city. Somehow, sitting in his car in silence while he drove gave you a chance to analyze this whole thing.

You had known from the beginning when you agreed to meet up with Levi that it wouldn't just be meeting up with him to see if he's okay, giving him the money and that would be it. You knew this would be a long term thing that would span through the evening, so you didn't mind going with him and helping whatever issue he needed your help with. Though, to anyone else, what you were doing sounded like the beginning of a kidnapping story. But you weren't going to talk about that now.

From the moment the two of you got in the car and were on your way, there was just silence. Neither of you said anything. You didn't know if he wanted to say anything because you knew for a fact he was completely fine with not saying anything at all, but for you, it was just incredibly awkward.

You still didn't know him that well yet, because you didn't think you'd need to, but now that you've agreed to help him and you've already been through enough with him, you figured it wouldn't hurt to make some conversation and try to get to know him a little. Or at the very least, what he was planning at least. You wanted to be in the loop of what was going on in his head.

You had been looking out the window and out to the road, leaning your head against your hand since your elbow was against the car door. You sneaked a couple glances at Levi a couple times before you lightly cleared your throat and dropped your hands to your thighs as you began to fiddle with them.

"Hey, I think I should tell you why I'm actually doing this," You said as you turned your head to look at him, but all you got in response was watching how his eyes remained on the road but his eyebrows pinched.

"Do you know?" He said as he drove with one hand and he used the other one to lean his head against his hand, just like you had been doing seconds before. But he still didn't spare you a glance from the road. You ignored his tone and rolled your eyes, but answered him anyway. "Yes. I've been having a hard time myself recovering from the incident, so I figured I'd help you move past it too. That's all," You said as you turned your head away from him and looked ahead as well as the drive continued.

You continued to look forward as the silence ensued after that, but you hadn't noticed the way that Levi spared you a glance while you weren't looking, or rather at your wrist with his tattoo, and then you heard him speak up again, but you had to do a double take at him after what you heard him say. "Give me your wrist," He said, and your head whipped to look at him, blinking at him a few times in confusion. Your wrist? Why?

You looked down at your right wrist and noticed it's the one with the tattoo on it. You've been trying to hide it all day as best as you could, but its either Levi has a keen eye and can see it even when you're trying to hide it, he still can't stop thinking about it since the hospital, or maybe both.

You sighed and rolled down your sleeve a little to display the tattoo in all its glory. Levi turned his head to look at it once before he turned his attention back to the road, not missing how his shoulders sank in what you could only describe as relief. "You're sure of being insistent about this tattoo, aren't you?" You said, watching as he kept sneaking glances at your exposed wrist.

"Well, I haven't exactly hid it, have I? If this is being insistent to you, then sure," He said, and you supposed he was right. From earlier that morning, it was all he could talk about and you would be surprised if your conversations between the two of you didn't somehow circle back to that. You exhaled through your nose and extended your right hand to him as you sank back against the seat and you kept your eyes forward, looking out into the road.

Noticing your movements, Levi turned his head once to see you had your hand out for him to take, so he decided to not waste another second longer. He could at least check off that you'd agreed to one part of his plan. The issue would be if you would be as willing to cooperate for the rest. He quickly switched hands on the wheel so his left hand was maneuvering it and used his right hand to quickly grab your wrist.

You were taken aback at how eager he was by the tight hold he had on it right away, but you decided to brush it off. You didn't know what holding your wrist would do or how it would help him at all, but hey, you weren't going to judge. To each their own, right? As bizarre as it was for you. You were struggling to piece everything together.

But as soon as he had a good hold on your wrist, he turned his head to look out into the road once more and you failed to notice the way his features hardened, which was quickly followed by him stepping on the accelerator flat and start swerving around the cars in the highway he was driving in, all with a straight face, might you add.

The moment he did, from the suddenness of his actions, your eyes widened and your heart dropped down to your stomach. Your back was forced to be pressed back against your seat as your eyes darted back and forth in utter fear between the road and Levi. "What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?" You said, instinctively trying to bring your arms closer to you, but when you tried to tug your right arm back, the firm grip of Levi's hand on your wrist made you remember that you couldn't move it at all.

Your heartbeat spiked and your breathing became panicked and slightly more labored. You were horrified at seeing that Levi was swerving at nearly full speed around cars on the highway with a blank look on his face, completely unbothered, as if he does this every day. When he didn't answer your previous question and kept his eyes on the road, your voice got more stern and asked him again. "What are you doing? Where are we going?" You said with urgency as you watched Levi drive like a lunatic.

But your face twisted with concern for what he was planning when you watched him keep his eyes on the road, yet you knew he heard you because a smirk tugged at his lips. "We're going for a drive," He said, still not looking at you but his answer just horrified you more. You were going to die in this car, weren't you? And to add to the situation, you felt a strange sensation on your wrist that Levi was holding, and your eyes widened in horror when you saw the tattoo suddenly take on a crimson red color, spreading across it.

And then suddenly a memory flashed through your mind. From the night before. When your hand made contact with Levi's, you could've sworn you imagined it but the tattoo had turned red in that moment too. Now you knew that this was real, and you hadn't imagined it at all.

This was all happening and you could barely process it. Is this why Levi was after the tattoo on your wrist so badly? Is this why it's so important to him? Who was he? Or rather, what was he? You didn't understand anything. You could barely think straight, and Levi's driving wasn't making it any better.

You knew he had something in mind, not just from the way he was driving because he clearly had somewhere to be, but there was just a look on his face that said that there was a goal in mind that he just wasn't sharing with you and it was freaking you out.

You turned your head back to look between the glowing tattoo on your wrist and then back up to the road. Levi's eyes were calculating, because just as he continued to swerve through cars like a maniac, the two of you were about to pass through a stoplight and he didn't show signs of stopping.

Your face drained of color when you realized this. "Levi, wait!" You yelled out to him, begging for him to slow down the car, but Levi could see the stoplight being red very clearly. But that changed in the blink of an eye.

Just as the two of you were about to reach the stoplight at the intersection, you braced yourself with your free arm and covered yourself up, while still leaving one eye uncovered and open.

You didn't know how, or when it happened, or if it was when you blinked, but all the red stop lights suddenly turned green and the ones that were green on the other street in front of you turn red, making the cars about to cross halt abruptly, making them almost crash into each other while Levi just sped across them, still unbothered.

Noticing nothing happened, you slowly brought down your arm and your breathing still remained heavy and short, but looking forward again, you saw that the street in front of you was empty while Levi continued to accelerate.

You could faintly hear behind you how the cars who almost crashed into one another were beeping loudly at each other, but the sound began to fade the further you and Levi got. Once it felt like the two of you were in the clear, your head snapped to look at Levi with terror written all over your face.

"What was that? Are you crazy? You could've made us crash!" You snapped at him and tried to tug your wrist back, but your heartbeat was at least beginning to slow down realizing that Levi was slowing down the car too.

But you assumed that it was only because he was driving the car into an area where he couldn't pull stunts like that. He kept his eyes on the road, and his hold tight on your wrist as well. You didn't even know if you wanted to address the stoplight issue because you didn't want to go down that dark rabbit hole. Who knows if it was him or some force of the universe that did that.

"I'm in a hurry," He said simply and you looked at him indignantly, with disbelief all over your face. You understand being in a hurry all too well sometimes, but to have done what he just did was just irresponsible and he could've at least warned you. "Oh well, that makes up for it," You snarked back at him and slumped back into your seat, leaning your head back against the headrest as you closed your eyes and let your heart calm down.

Though, just as you thought that you would have a moment of peace, you felt the car turn a corner and you opened your eyes to see, and feel that Levi was accelerating yet again through this much narrower street. You were about to ask Levi why he was accelerating again, but then your words got caught up in your throat when in the distance, you could see a group of men in the corner that Levi was heading straight towards.

You began to wonder what he was planning to do if he was going at this speed directly at them, because even if Levi showed no signs of stopping, crashing the car into them would be far too reckless and you knew Levi was smarter than that.

And just as you were about to reach the group of men, seeing the panic on their faces the closer and closer the car got, everything happens far too fast for your liking that you could barely process it. Before you knew it, in one movement, Levi suddenly drifted the car to the side, and pressed a button on his side to slide down the window on your side.

Everything after that felt like it was in slow motion to you. You held your free arm close to your body as you looked out the rolled down window in utter fear, not knowing what Levi was planning. They looked like tough men, but they looked absolutely horrified when they saw Levi in the driver's seat, pointing at him in recognition. Not knowing what this was about, you turned your head back to look at Levi and saw that his eyes were focused on nothing else but those men and his eyes were narrowed and filled with an expression that you could only describe as a mix of anger and satisfaction all at once.

You watched Levi take his hand away from the wheel, raise his hand, form his fingers in a gun gesture, and then watched as his vengeful expression suddenly let a smirk of satisfaction come through. He gripped your wrist, and once again, you looked down and see how the tattoo took on a crimson red color once more.

You looked up again, and then heard Levi click his tongue as he gestured firing off his finger gun with a look of so much gratification splayed all over his face. You looked back out the window to see the results of what he just did and you gasped when you saw the man in the center of the group of men grunt and yell out in pain as he began to stumble back on his feet until he collapsed.

You watched in horror as the man clutched his chest when he fell to the ground. You looked back at Levi, watching him as a taunting smile came onto his slips and wave off pettily the other men who were crowding around their leader, but were looking back and forth between their fallen friend and Levi.

Before any of them could do anything, Levi put his hand back on the wheel, stepped flat on the accelerator, pressed the button to roll your window back off and drove off into the main street. All the while you remained frozen on your seat, with your heart rate back up, wondering what just happened.

But what you didn't know is that this is one of the many goals that Levi needed you for, and he just checked off one of them. That was one of the wrestlers, and as soon as Levi finally managed to kill him and his friends slowly started to see the light leave his eyes, the scroll that the wrestler had tossed to the side just before Levi killed him, suddenly disappeared in a cloud of ashes. One was out of the way now at least.

Levi had assured the wrestler he'd come back, and he did, doing exactly what he said he'd do. Not only that, but back at his office, the clock with the wrestler's name on it also disappeared in a cloud of ashes, which left an empty spot for a future deal to fill up.

Levi's job was done for now, but he had to think of how he was going to deal with all other deals he had to complete or that he had to make in the future from here on out. You still didn't fully trust him and that would be a problem for him. But he would find a way for you to agree. He had to.

You hadn't been in on this when he told you he needed your help before, and you didn't know this is what Levi really needed you for, especially after seeing how he killed a man right before your eyes. He needed to get you on his side.

Once you and Levi were back out into the main road, Levi was driving at a normal speed through the streets. Now that he took care of that man, he was at ease knowing he had taken care of at least one of his many problems.

On the other hand, you were still silently processing what just happened as you looked forward and you had your hand on your chest to get your breathing under control. You looked to the side and saw that Levi was driving with his left hand and he had his right arm propped up in between the seats, driving calmly and with a serene look on his face as he looked out to the road.

It took you a couple seconds but you finally got the words you wanted to say to come out of your mouth. "Um, excuse me?" You said, and Levi simply replied with a simple hum that made you want to scoff but you held it back. Was he really going to brush off what he did just now expecting you not to ask?

"What was that back there? Are you really not going to say anything?" You said, turning your head back to look at the streets you were passing and then turned to look back at Levi, who still looked completely unaffected.

"It's nothing. I guess you could say they were my...friends. That back there was just me making sure they came through on a deal" Levi explained, and you looked at him with an incredulous expression. You didn't believe that for a second. He just killed that man back there and he was too breezy for your liking. Those weren't his friends and you needed him to be clearer or you were going to assume the worst about what's behind all of this.

This time, you really couldn't hold back your scoff. "Seriously? What's with you and these 'deals'? Do you ask everyone you meet? Just how many of these 'friends' are we meeting tonight?" You said, knowing that what Levi did just now wasn't the first time he's done that and if he did it once, he probably needed you there to go through with a lot more of those.

But you didn't want to be a part of that. What exactly was your role here? You would understand it a lot more if he could just be a bit more clearer with you. He might as well just tell you because you've already seen too much to think this isn't normal.

"You know I don't do relationships. You should know I don't do friends either," He said, and you deadpanned at him. So he was being sarcastic. That's when you knew for sure that those weren't his friends. You knew as soon as he said that those men were 'friends', and you knew right away that was a lie but he just confirmed it for you. You should just expect sarcasm as a default from him from now on. He's proven that much already.

You tipped your head back against your seat, leaned back against your chair, preparing yourself for whatever it is that he might need you for next. You looked out the window, watching the cars go by, hearing the engine run, and realizing you were just part of a murder. Nice. You just can't catch a break, can't you? Your family is after you, there's a lunatic out to kill you, and now this man has some sort of need for you that he just can't seem to tell you about or what its for, but as much as you try to push it down, you're reaching your breaking point now and you don't know how long you can push it back.

Just as the car ride reached comfortable silence, at least for you, you suddenly heard Levi speak. "But anyway, enough of that, I think we should just cut to the chase now, shouldn't we?" He said, making your eyes snap open and slowly turn your head to look at him with skepticism. You were really starting to regret agreeing to help him tonight.

You thought that what he just did was what he needed you for and it was somehow going to help him move past the incident, which up until now, you have failed to see. But now, he's saying there was one thing left to do that was what he really needed you for in the end? Couldn't he have been more clear about that? Your head is still spinning from before.

Your eyes darted nervously between him and the space around the car. "Which is...?" You asked unsurely, thinking that what the two of you just did was what he originally needed, but now he's being all cryptic again, and he just won't tell you anything. You inferred that whatever it is that he needs now, he can't tell you about it, because he knows you'll refuse which makes you worry all the more. You kept debating if you should just tell him to drop you off at home, and just cut off all contact with him or continue to help him with whatever it is that he clearly and desperately needs.

You don't know why but you felt some sort of duty to help Levi, or maybe it was curiosity to see what he was really about and who he really was after everything he's shown you within the past two days. And it's also tied to the reason you agreed to help him in the first place. Having been through the same thing, you just feel compelled to help his seemingly challenging circumstances, that he still refuses to expand on.

But even despite all the bickering before, for you it was enough to know that after being through the same thing, he needed help and you know that there is some vulnerability underneath that closed book that Levi has shown you that he is. You just feel inclined to stay, to help, even if he continues to remain a mystery to you. That alone overpowers any other sense of doubt within you for some reason. He still refuses to say anything, but his eagerness and desperation tells you that there's something much bigger here. You're trying to understand as much as you can on your own, as hard as it's been.

But all of those thoughts were suddenly silenced when you suddenly found yourself in the last place that Levi wanted to take you and you didn't dare say a word after that. How the hell did you get here? You were frozen in your seat as you let your eyes awkwardly look around the space that Levi had parked the car. You purse your lips and avoided eye contact with Levi, but when you did manage to glance at him, he looked completely calm. He didn't even look bothered by what was going on around him. What was he waiting for? You two had been sitting in the car for several minutes now without saying a word.

It just so happened that Levi parked the car in an empty space in a row of cars, in between two others on each side, and these weren't empty cars either. You tried not to let your facial expressions betray you but you knew exactly what was going on inside those cars, just judging by the foggy windows, the handprints, the way the cars were bouncing up and down and side to side, and it was just too obvious. You really, and truly hoped, that this had nothing to do with what Levi meant by 'cutting to the chase'. He must mean something else, right? And he had nowhere else to park...right?

You tried not to look around with horror or let your expressions betray how uncomfortable you were, but you were going to try your best to deflect, hoping that it would get you and Levi out of this space and go somewhere else to deal with the real reason he brought you here. You chuckled nervously and looked off to the side, looking out your window. "Seriously? Real classy, Levi. Didn't know you were that kind of guy" You scoffed with disbelief, masking the truth behind your words, which was 'let's get out of here, please'. You pleaded to yourself and hoped he got the memo.

It seemed to work well enough, because Levi turned his head to look at you and his face said it all. He looked offended, to say the least, that you would assume he brought you here for that. Although, he understood why you would assume that. "Please, I have no intention of sleeping with you," He scoffed, turning his body to the side, opening his door, quickly stepping out of the car and beginning to make his way around. When he shut the door, you flinched slightly at the force and were left in silence for a couple seconds before you breathed out and muttered out a response to yourself. "Ditto," You said, watching as he made his way around the car until he was on the other side of your door. You could tell that flirting wasn't his strong suit, was it?

You watched as he raised his hand up to the window, and used his knuckles to knock on it. He knew you could see him and hear him, so you couldn't just ignore him and stay inside. He rolled his eyes at the way you were turning your body away and avoiding eye contact with him, so he just crossed his arms and stood there. You could feel his eyes on you and it was making you want to shrink in on yourself, so decided to give in.

You reached over and pressed the button on your door to roll down the window. When it did, some of the night air suddenly came into the car, brushing against you. It took you a second or two but you straightened up and looked up at him, given that he was standing over you and looking into the car. "Come out of the car," He said simply, putting one hand on top of the roof of the car and leaning on it, waiting for you to step out.

"To do what?" You asked hesitantly. If he didn't bring you here to do...that, then now would be a good time for him to tell you what this was al about wasn't it? You were tired of being kept in the dark like this and he was constantly giving you reasons not to trust him. He was making it so hard for you to want to help him. Levi fought back the need to groan and pressed his free hand against the roof of his nose.

"For fuck's sake...come on, it's not a crime to walk along the river, is it?" He said, and quickly turned on his heel to walk away from the car. A stroll by the river? That's it? That cannot be it. All of that trouble just to take a walk by the river? He's definitely hiding something more and he's just deliberately not telling you. Though, coming back to reality from your thoughts and seeing what you surrounded with made you immediately start to scramble to get out of the car. You opened the door, stepped out, brushed off your clothes, and shut the door behind you. You left your purse and your stuff behind in the car, knowing that you probably won't need it if you're just going to talk with him.

Your eyes quickly searched around for Levi and saw that he was standing by the banks of the river, with his hands behind his back and looking out into the landscape of the city across the river. As you walked closer to get to him, you did have to admit that it was a beautiful sight. You eventually reached Levi and stood next to him, looking out into the horizon just as he was. The trickling of the water against the shore of the river was incredibly comforting, accompanied by the sounds of the city from afar.

Neither of you said anything, and you began to sway back and forth on your feet awkwardly as you realized that if you wanted answers, this was the time to get them. You cleared your throat lightly before you finally spoke up. "So, will you finally tell me what this is about? What exactly is it that you need that wasn't what you did back there? I'm just so lost and you've barely told me anything, I have a right to worry, and the timing in all of this is just off to me," You started, giving him the opportunity now to tell you what it is that he's truly after. If he did, you'd feel so much more at ease about all of this.

But just as you should have expected, Levi wasn't going to answer any of that. In his head, he was going to do exactly what he told Onyankopon he'd do. Captivating humans. Levi slowly turned to face you, and noticing this, you began to turn your body around as well, so now the two of you were facing each other. But what took you aback was seeing the entirely different look he had on his face. It was...soft, gentle, and kind in a way.

It was a complete switch from his demeanor the entire evening and you tilted your head slightly to the side witnessing this. It somehow felt so unnatural because you'd never seen it before on him, but somehow it was just as fitting as you would expect. Your body couldn't help but flinch when you suddenly felt him take your hand into his, and you didn't know why your body reacted the way it did or if it was because of the way he was looking so deeply into your eyes, but him simply grabbing your hand from your side and holding it tightly made goosebumps suddenly erupt all over your body.

It was really unfair. Here you were, trying to get answers from him and it was like he was trying to distract you, but even with all of these small gestures, you still weren't forgetting what you wanted to know. As nice as it is to see a change in demeanor in him, you weren't going to forget whatsoever. Though, all of those goosebumps from his touch against you suddenly vanished and you blinked yourself back to reality when he spoke up again.

"I have to ask you something," He said, and you nodded instantly. Was he finally going to tell you what it is that he brought you here for? You prepared yourself to listen intently, but all of those hopes came crashing down just as fast as they came up. "Can you hold your breath?" He asked, and you swear you almost asked him to say it again because you couldn't have heard that right. But even if that soft look on his face was still present, his tone was dead serious and you knew he wanted a real answer from you.

"I'm sorry, what? I hope you're joking. What do you need to know that for?" You asked, all of those butterflies from before quickly extinguishing as you began to wrap your head around what he meant by that. And you couldn't decipher what he meant either by his demeanor or facial expressions because he was doing a great job at disguising that too.

"No reason. What about swimming? Do you know how to swim?" He asked and your mouth dropped opened, trying to get any words out, but nothing was coming out. Why was he asking you these questions? You thought he was finally going to give you answers and he's just asking you if you can hold your breath or if you knew how to swim. He was just wasting your time at this point. You were seconds away from walking out.

"Okay, here goes nothing," You heard him mutter to himself, but it was definitely loud enough for you to hear. Anything that he did after that became a blur to you and everything else in the world muffled with no fault of your own. Your eyes were blown wide and you felt your breath get caught in your throat when you suddenly felt his right hand start to trail up your left arm, feeling his fingers go from your hand, your forearm, your upper arm, your shoulder, up until he let his hand nestle itself in your jaw.

Your breathing quickened without your permission, feeling your breaths come out short when your body finally decided to respond. But you didn't want to react this way. What was he doing? What was he trying to do? Why was he confusing you like this? One minute he was being a total asshole, the next he was asking you these weird questions, and now, like he did before at the fountain, he changes his entire demeanor to get some kind of reaction out of you but you didn't want to give in.

A part of you realized with gestures like that where he leans in and his skin touches yours, you realized you really lacked physical contact and its like he knew how much you really needed when not even you knew. How is it that when he looked at you like that, he made you forget that everything around you existed and it was just the two of you? Your eyes trailed all over his face. To his porcelain skin, his hypnotizing, gunmetal eyes, his raven hair that lightly fell over his eyes, and every feature you could possibly have at your reach.

What's this hold he had on you? You wanted to be stronger and let go, but when he looked at you like that, with a softness to his grey eyes that you've rarely seen on him that made him look so youthful, it was hard to look away. You didn't know if it was you imagining it, but was he leaning in? It felt like he was, but once again, you wouldn't let your mind betray you this way? There was a part of your brain screaming at you to not fall for it, because Levi has given you plenty of reasons not to fall for what he says. But when he looked at you like that...you listened to that much less rational part of your brain that made you forget that all you wanted was to get the truth from him.

And the part of your brain screaming at you to walk away was the one you should have listened to, because from one moment to another, that sweet expression turned into a smirk and in the blink of an eye, Levi used the hold he had on your neck and your jaw to push you along with him into the water. You didn't even have time to think about it or stop him because before you knew it, the two of you fell into the river.

It instantly felt like a repeat of the night before, which is exactly what Levi was hoping for, and it was already making you react against the water. You were still not over what happened and the struggle of trying to survive the first time, remembering the burning of your lungs and the fight to save Levi too as all resurfacing and coming back to you.

At first, the disorientation hit and the splash of water and the bubbles surrounding you the moment you hit the water with Levi made the dizziness start to take over. It took a couple seconds for either of you to get your bearings back and Levi was able to gain back his surroundings a lot quicker than you did. Seeing that you were still a little out of it and trying to bring yourself back to reality, he took the opportunity of your disorientation and distraction to take your wrist with his tattoo on it and put it up against yours.

His plan was to hopefully put them back into contact again, recreating what happened the night before, and the problem would be solved. He saw no other logic out of desperation and couldn't think of anything else so this is what he resorted to. He continued to press both of your wrists together, hoping for any sort of sign that they were transferring. But he was taking too long and you were able to gain consciousness.

When you were able to get back your bearings, you felt a grip on your wrist and your eyes landed on the scene before you. Your eyes trailed between Levi and your hand that he was holding. Your face twisted in confusion as you began to try and tug it back to you, but it was no use because Levi wasn't giving up. He kept trying to bring them closer together, but when nothing happened, he got more and more frustrated.

He prayed in his mind over and over that his tattoo came back to him. if it couldn't come back to him this way, then he didn't know what else to do. He knew that after this, you wouldn't let him near you with a 10 foot pole. He hoped that he could still get his tattoo back after this, you'd be mad, sure, but you wouldn't have to see each other again after.

You continued to use all of your force to try and tug your wrist back to you, having no idea why he pulled you into the water, feeling anger and annoyance build up inside you, and just overall wanting to get the hell out of the water. After the night before, being back this soon in open water scared you and you didn't like one bit of it. And it became worse when you kept tugging and he just wouldn't let go, feeling that same burning feeling come back to your lungs and you began to panic that the incident was repeating itself.

You began to think of a last resort of what to do, given that no matter how hard you pulled, Levi wasn't letting go. You groaned underwater, eliciting bubbles to come out of your mouth out of frustration and you decided on one last thing that could get him to let go. You tugged your wrist one last time at the same time that you gave Levi a good and hard kick on his chest with your heel, which effectively, made him let go.

You didn't waste another second to start swimming back up to the surface, and it's a good thing you didn't have a dress on this time. You didn't even bother to try to save Levi this time and decided to do the one thing you didn't do the night before that could've prevented this whole thing. Saving yourself. You were done trying to help him and he could save himself if he wanted, but you weren't going to do this with him anymore.

When you finally made it up to the surface, your head popped out of the water and you took a loud gasp of air to get some back into your lungs. You quickly started to swim back to the shore and you weakly crawled out of the water, climbing up the steep shore of concrete, trying to make it back up to where you were before. You were gasping loudly and it was almost painful how you had to go through that twice in less than two days.

You got up to the top once again, still on your hands and knees, clutching your chest desperately as you continued to try to get air back into your body. You began to cough hard and laboredly, realizing that you have practically escaped the same situation twice with your life just barely hanging in the balance. And it was all because of Levi. You got into this situation in the first place because you tried it would be a good idea to try to save him the first time, and now he did the same thing to you again.

Your entire body hurt in a way you couldn't describe and you knew you didn't want to go through that ever again. You were on your knees now as you tried to get your body back to normal, including your breathing, your heartbeat, your thoughts in order, and everything in between. You were also so caught up in your own well-being and also trying to think properly again that you didn't even hear Levi crawling out of the water too and coming up behind you as well just like you did. At that moment, your body restored itself on its own.

You noticed his presence when you heard his grunts of effort and struggle to come back up to where you were, making you quickly focus on one thing and one thing only. You didn't even need to look back to know it was him, but without looking back at him, your breathing somehow slowed on its own and your eyes narrowed dangerously and your eyes were suddenly filled with so much anger as you looked forward. Your hands curled against the ground, forming into fists of hatred and loathing you could barely stand it.

You only turned your head to the side when you felt him crawl up beside you, but he didn't spend much time there, because unlike you, he was still able to stand back up immediately. It only made your blood boil watching as he didn't even bother to check on you and went right away to check on his wrist. You watched as he held it up and he held his wrist with his left hand, looking at it with eyes wide as his breathing got heavy with panic. His tattoo didn't go back. It was just as absent as before.

You glared venom and daggers his way, even if he was too caught up in himself to notice. Watching how dismissive he is, even after pulling a stunt like that, that alone gave you strength to stand up and start charging towards him. You reached him and shoved him hard. He stumbled back a bit from your push, but at least he took his attention away from his wrist and he was looking at you now. "What the fuck was that for?! You almost killed me!" You yelled at him, with anger boiling in your veins as you panted heavily.

The way that he just looked at you blankly made tears start to spring in the corner of your eyes as heat gathered behind them. A lump formed in your throat and it was getting harder to breathe and to hold everything in. You couldn't take it anymore. This is your last straw to everything that was happening and you were tired of pretending it didn't bother you, and him acting like he didn't care only made your emotions spike dangerously. You were too overwhelmed, too tired, your senses were numbed and the way your heart was hammering against your chest wasn't helping. You were tired of this, tired of it all.

"Can you calm down?" He said gently to you, seeing how vulnerable you've become but your words only made you scoff and chuckle bitterly. Was he serious right now? You didn't know why you were standing in front of him anymore, you wanted to walk out on him, and let everything out, but now before you gave him a piece of your mind. "Calm down? Seriously? You have some nerve, you know that?" You said lowly as your shoulders rose and fell with every breath you took. It took everything in you to not punch him straight in the face. He deserved that much for putting you through this all over again.

You needed to feel something, you couldn't feel anything but rage coursing through you right now. You were just going to let everything out. You couldn't possibly hold it back for another second or you would feel yourself decaying from the inside. "How the fuck can I calm down?! You have no idea what you're talking about! I've had so many near deaths in less than two days and you want me to calm down? I almost drowned twice and it's all because of you! Do you know that? I should've just saved myself yesterday and left you there!" You screamed in his face as your eyes got redder with tears and your voice became more and more choked up that you could barely finish a sentence, and Levi just listened.

"It doesn't end there either! There's some psycho out there who's trying to kill me! I don't even know who he is or why he wants me dead but I know he's out there! I can't possibly live in peace now or go anywhere by myself anymore. My family hates me and wants me gone! I have too much to think about already and you're just making it worse!" You yelled, suddenly feeling like you couldn't talk anymore because it just became too hard.

You buried your face in your hands as you began to sob right in front of him, but you couldn't care less. You didn't want to see him ever again and you just want all of these problems to go away. You didn't know what you did to deserve it. You dropped your hands from your face and when you did, Levi blinked back and his breath hitched when he saw that there were tears streaming down your face as you continued to sob loudly, not being able to contain it anymore. This was too much, you wanted to disappear forever.

"Tell me! Why are you doing this to me?! I tried to save you yesterday and this is where it got me! What did I do so wrong to make you do this to me?" You sobbed and raked your hands back through your hair. You leaned down and put your hands on your knees as your crying turned into gasps that were slowly beginning to ache in your body. You clutched your chest again and tried to control yourself. There's so much more you wanted to say but you didn't want to waste your breath on him anymore. He wasn't worth it.

After a couple of seconds of trying to calm down, your cries had mostly subsided so you straightened up and looked out into the river for a couple seconds before you turned to look back at him again. He was still frozen and hadn't said a single word. He was only looking at what you could only describe as pity. You scoffed and wiped away your tears, looking at him, awaiting a response after all of that. Anything at all. But he was silent.

"Why? Why did you do that? I've been trying to get you to tell me all night but you've refused. Just tell me, we don't have to see each other ever again after this but just tell me. I deserve that much," You said through your small pants, and you watched as his facial expression betrayed how much he was struggling to tell you. Was it really that hard that he had to put you through that? He was unbelievable. He was still being evasive.

"I just...I needed to check something," He said, and you brought a hand to the top of your head at his response in disbelief. You let out a laugh of incredulousness, seeing how much he was still avoiding telling you anything. But he at least responded, that was something, wasn't it? "Then why didn't you just tell me that? Did you think I was that unreasonable? I'm sorry if I gave you that impression but I wish you would've told me," You said weakly as you looked at him with teary eyes, hating that you even had to apologize to him.

But his response to that really tested your willpower to not slap him across the face. "If I told you, you would've said no," He said, and you looked at him in disbelief for a couple seconds with so much hatred that you could see even the tiniest bit of regret on his face. You shook your head and looked at him dead in the eye. "Fucking asshole," you muttered, but making sure he heard it. You didn't even want to stick around for a second longer. You knew nothing that you said would stick with him anyway, so what's the point?

You seethed and turned to walk away, leaving him behind on the spot. You walked back to the car to grab your things, not looking back for a second. You reached the car, opened the door, reached into the seat to grab your purse, and then shut the door. You started walking away, not knowing where you were going, but anywhere away from him was better. You stopped walking when you realized something. You groaned inwardly and turned back around, walking back towards him, but not looking up to face him as you opened your purse and began to dig into it to find what you were looking for.

Sensing that you were approaching, Levi looked up and his eyebrows knit in confusion when you stopped right in front of him and pulled out the envelope from your purse. When you reached Levi, you forcefully shoved the envelope onto his chest, but he didn't catch it so it just fell to the ground and some of the money spilled out for him to see. He looked down at it and then back at you, watching how you were angrily seething at him. You were going to keep your word at the very least, you weren't going to be like him.

"I don't owe you a single thing," You said to him, and with that, you turned on your heel and finally began to walk away, not sparing a single glance at him. You don't know why you were even trying to be nice by trying to help him out but this is what you got, and you realized that just because you went through the same thing, he does not deserve your efforts. You tried, you really did. But this is a reminder of why you are the way you are. You didn't want him to see him step foot in your vicinity ever again.

Levi watched you walk away in silence, not knowing how to process what just happened. He didn't know what to think. He certainly heard your words and he's realizing now that his desperation might have taken his actions too far. You stayed in place as he hung his head low and his hair fell over his face and he looked around his surroundings to see what is it that he could do next, but not just what to do in that moment, but in regards to his powers. Now he's just driven you farther and farther away and his options had become even slimmer than before. He let himself get carried away and how he ruined this for himself.

But as he watched you walk further and farther away, until you disappeared in the distance, he needed to get his feet moving and get back to his office. He needed to find a way to make this right, but he feels like he's already fucked this up beyond repair. How will you ever let you near him? He knows you want nothing to do with him, but should he just sit back and wait until he perishes? He was thinking about so many things at once, but one thing that surpassed everything else in his mind was your voice replaying over and over in his head.

You sounded so hurt, so broken, and tired, and with good reason. He could recognize that much and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a pang in his chest when he heard your sobs ripping through the air in such a devastating way. It replayed over and over in his mind as if you were continuing to punish him even after you left for what he did to you. He couldn't get his feet to move to go back to his car because he was just so entranced with everything that just happened, coming to the realization of what would happen to him now.

And it didn't help the emotions that were surfacing inside him, that felt so incredibly foreign to him, continued to grow when he looked down and saw the envelope with money splaying out of it. It felt like it was mocking him in a way, and he didn't like it at all. He didn't need yhe money before and he didn't need it now, but still felt the money was more than tainted now. He was getting so overwhelmed with so many thing at once; his failure at what he'd planned to get his tattoo back, knowing what awaited him because he failed, your voice continuing to ring over and over in his head and how pained you were, and just knowing that it would be even harder to come back from this.

With a frustrated yell out into the air, Levi couldn't help but raised his leg and then kick away the envelope with money across the concrete. He put his hands on his hips and walked over to stand on the egde of the banks of the river as he looked out into the water, but then brought his head back to look at the sky as he closed his eyes trying to gather himself again. What now? Where does he go from here? Is there nothing else he could do? He wondered that even if he's known you for such a short amount of time, and even if he only seeked you out for his own benefit, is there any way he could prove to you that he could go about this in a different way. He knows that while he should still try to find a solution for his powers, he did go too far, and he needed to think of something to repair what he did, and soon.

When Levi finally got his feet to move, he turned on his heel and began walking back to the car. He reached it, moving as if he was on autopilot or as if he was in some sort of trance, opened the door, slipped in, and closed the door next to him. He put both of his hands on the wheel and leaned his head forward against it. He let out a huff as he closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts. If trying to recreate what happened the night before wasn't it, how is he supposed to get his powers back now? Was this really it for him? Is there nothing else he could do? He got too carried away and fucked this up, didn't he?

But as he continued to keep his head down, the sound of the passenger seat car door opening so suddenly made his head shoot up, and his eyes widened when he saw that Onyankopon had come into the car and settled himself in the passenger seat. As his assistant closed the door next to him without a word, Levi stared at him for a few seconds before he found the right words to say. Onyankopon just came out of nowhere. "What are doing here?" Levi asked in a tone that was a bit too eerie and calm for Onyankopon's liking. He had never heard Levi speak in that tone to him before and it was freaking him out.

But, either way, Onyankopon moved past that and went back to what his boss just asked him. He tilted his head in confusion because he thought Levi had already asked him for this. "Well, I stayed nearby in case of an emergency like you told me to. Don't you remember?" Onyankopon said, making Levi groan and put his head back on the wheel as he started to remember that before he met up with you, he asked Onyankopon to do.

His mind was just all over the place right now and couldn't think straight. "Oh, yeah...sorry about that," Levi said, making Onyankopon nod slowly as he studied his boss' body language. You weren't here, Levi was acting strange, and the air around him seemed different. Something must not have gone right with you then. It's probably frustrating Levi knowing this might have been his last shot at getting his powers back. It's also probably not a good time to mention to his boss that Petra also knew about Levi's situation. Onyankopon decided to keep that to himself for now. Levi was clearly in a very tough place right now.

Onyankopon gave Levi a once-over with skepticism. "It's fine...but look what I found!" He started but then the cheeriness in his voice came back when he raised his hand and he had the handful of that same money that Levi kicked away just minutes ago. Levi raised his head again from the wheel and when he saw that his assistant was holding the cash you gave him, he sent Onyankopon a deadpan look. Seeing the look on his boss' face, Onyankopon gasped and pointed a finger at him. "Uh-uh. Don't look at it like that. Finders keepers," He said, making Levi roll his eyes and groan quietly as he leaned back in his seat, tilting his head back as he closed his eyes and raised a hand to pressed to his forehead. He couldn't care less about that money now. He had bigger things to think about right now.

"Also, I thought you were going to charm her into helping you, not lunge the two of you into the river," Onyankopon said, remembering what he saw when he was watching over the scene as he remained nearby. He lowered the cash onto his lap and turned his body in his seat to face Levi, who still had his head tilted back with his eyes closed. Though when he heard his assistant's words, he opened his eyes and sent a deadly glare Onyankopon's way. "I don't need you reminding me," Levi muttered, making Onyankopon raise his hands up in defense, and then turning his body in his seat to grab the seatbelt and buckle himself in.

Levi turned his head to look forward again, grabbed his seatbelt, buckled himself in and then turned on the car. He switched gears, and quickly began pulling out of the parking lot, while Onyankopon knew not to say a single other word about this. His boss was definitely in a fragile state, where he needed to get to a place where he could think clearly before he could talk to anyone again. Anything right now could make him snap out frustration and Levi didn't want that, and neither did Onyankopon, so the two of them settled for the silence during the entire car ride. There was nothing Onyankopon could say to make Levi feel better.

-

Your anger had slowly began to dissipate when you got back to the main street and now, you felt numb. You didn't feel anything and you barely had the strength to do anything else either. You just wanted to head home, go to sleep and forget any of this ever happened. Though, deep in the back of your mind, you knew you had problems on your plate that you couldn't escape even if you went to sleep, and you'd have to face them eventually. But right now, you didn't want to. You didn't want to think about anything. You knew that no matter you tried to pretend that you could continue living life like you used to, you just couldn't anymore.

You tried to go back to work like you usually did, you tried to pretend you could go anywhere by yourself even when Hange offered, and you tried to ignore that everything could go right back to how it used to be. But you should have known that after that incident, nothing was going to be the same anymore and that thought left an unsettling feeling in your chest that scared the hell out of you. You weren't ready, you know you weren't. You weren't nearly as strong enough as you would want to fight off any of the threats that you knew were coming your way. How could you protect yourself? Will you even make it out of this alive? You've almost died twice in less than 48 hours and just barely made it out, out of sheer luck at that.

You felt like your body was moving on its own, without your mind to help, because somehow when you made it to the main street, you were able to call a cab and you were now sitting in the backseat of one, staring out the window blankly. You wish you had something to think about to pass time until you got back home, but your mind is just empty and at times it feels like your ears are ringing. You could feel a headache coming in at any moment now. That would really be the icing on the cake to this whole day, wouldn't it? You leaned your head against the window and closed your eyes, though still remaining awake and alert, hoping to get back home soon.

Unfortunately, it seems like nothing is pointing to go your way today because you flinched and eyes shot open when you suddenly felt the car halt. You groggily straightened up in your seat and heard the cab driver speak. "I'm sorry, miss. There's a couple streets closed for maintenance. I can only take you part of the way there, so I have to drop you off here," He said, and you know you should have felt worse about that, but somehow, you nodded numbly and simply unbuckled your seatbelt, grabbed your purse, and stepped out of the car, muttering a quick ''thank you' to the driver.

As you closed the door behind you, and took a couple steps to stand on the curb, you watched as the cab drove off and looked around the area he dropped you off on. You recognize it, it was a pretty busy street at night, but right now there weren't a whole lot of cars and thankfully you knew your way home from here. You noticed that the cab driver dropped you off at a curb that had a crosswalk, so you just looked up and waited for the stop light to turn red so you could walk across the street. You felt many people walk to stand next to you, seeing as they were waiting to cross as well, but you continued to look ahead. Your eyes were numb, blank, there was no spark in them. The only energy you had left was what you were using to walk and nothing else.

After a couple seconds of looking ahead, you blinked yourself out of your stupor when you noticed the people next to you started walking. You got your feet to move as well, and even if your steps were a little slower, you were walking across with everyone else. Though, as you walked across the street, surrounded by people and the only light to guide your path were the streetlights and the monitors on the buildings with advertisements, sure enough, you looked up and your feet halted on their own in the middle of the crosswalk when you saw what was being shown on one of the monitors. Your heart felt like it dropped to your stomach and your mouth fell open.

'Financial Chief Manager of Eldia Group Conglomerate, Keith Shadis, found hanging in a public bathroom' The headline read out, and you couldn't even bring yourself to realize that you had to keep moving or the stop light would turn green soon again, but you were just so shocked by what you were reading that you couldn't even think about getting your body to move. Does Grisha know about this? How did it happen? Who did it? The monitor was showing the scene of the crime, with the rope hanging from the ceiling, his body being carried away, his company pass, everything.

Why does it seem like everything is going to shit and taking turns for the worst in just a matter of two days? Nothing that you knew before to be normal was every going to be the same again and these news prove it. There was somebody going after Grisha's company, and soon, it clicked for you as well that it was all attacks to get to him, making your head start to spin in a painful way. Though, what you didn't know, is that this murder against Keith wasn't just to get to Grisha, but to get to you too. You just didn't quite know it yet, but it wouldn't be long before you realized it.

And if you thought that today just couldn't get any worse, then you had another thing coming. Quite literally. The stop light was still red, thankfully, but that didn't stop certain people from getting to their goal. What you didn't know, is that right behind you, there was someone on a motorcycle just coming around the corner and heading straight towards you, taking advantage of the fact that your back was to them and that you weren't moving and simply too stunned from watching the news. Whether you stopping to watch the news of a murder, right as yet another person with malicious intent heading towards you had any correlation was something you had yet to figure out.

Still not realizing the imminent threat just revving their bike around the corner and heading straight towards you, it was only when you heard the loud sound of a motorcycle getting closer, that everything seemed like it had slowed down once more. Your eyebrows pinched together and you turned your head to the side to see that someone riding a bike was riding past you, but not before throwing some sort of transparent liquid towards you. Your breath hitched and your eyes widened, hating your body for not getting your feet to move when they needed to, but instead, you simply instinctively closed your eyes and braced yourself for impact.

But the liquid never reached you. Instead, you suddenly felt a figure stand in front of you just in the nick of time and wrap their arms around you securely, with one arm around your waist and another in the back of your head, followed by a pained grunt. Your face and your head were forced to press against their body.

But either way, while still keeping your eyes closed and remaining pressed against this mysterious stranger that you had yet to lift your head and see who it was, you heard the sound of faint sizzling and a burning smell, it quickly clicked in your head that this person took the hit for you and the liquid landed on their back instead.

After that, not much could be heard except for the sound of the person revving and driving away in their motorcycle, while you remained frozen on the spot and still being held by this person that just saved your life. You don't know what that liquid was, but whatever it was, you knew it could've either sent you to an emergency trip to the hospital or you would've died on the spot. Well, you're 3 for 3 at least.

You needed to know who this person was, so when you knew the coast was clear, you tentatively decided to slowly open your eyes and slightly detach yourself from the hold this person had on you. Sensing you wanted to pull away, they slightly loosened their hold on you and when you finally looked up, you felt your blood run cold at who was in front of you. Even more up close than you've ever been with him before, you could recognize those gunmetal eyes and that raven hair in an undercut anywhere. "Levi," You breathed out, feeling like this was some sort of trick your mind was playing on you, but he was really standing in front of you, having taken a deadly hit for you.

Levi was looking at you with an expression you couldn't quite recognize, but your mouth dropped open and your eyes went wide when you realized that he had taken the hit for you. Your eyes locked onto his, begging for an explanation as to why he would do that? What he was doing here? How did he know where you were? You just had so many questions, but as much as your mouth moved to try to get words out, no sound came out and you were just so stunned, shocked and confused that you could barely think straight. Before your mind was completely blank and couldn't muster up a single coherent thought, but now, thoughts are all you had and you didn't know what to say.

You watched his eyes trailed all over your face as if to memorize it all, seeing if you were okay and if any of the liquid got you, but somehow Levi felt comfort that he got it all and he stepped in right on time so that all of it got him instead. You wanted to yell at him because you hadn't forgotten what happened just earlier that night, but you couldn't bring yourself to. He saved your life and you just wanted to thank him now for what he just did. He still had his hands on your body and he hadn't pulled them away yet. He was probably in just as much as shock as you to even think about moving them away.

You didn't even want to think that you just had another murder attempt done to you, but just wanted to know what made Levi want to be here and do this for you after what he did. What compelled him to take such a measure to make sure you lived? He was looking at you with such a sure and determined expression that you couldn't bring yourself to look away either. It was also hard not to feel grateful for what he did when you saw smoke coming from behind his back. He made it even harder for you to get words to come out when his hand that was on your head, suddenly travelled down to grab your wrist once more, a place where it felt like his hands had been there countless times throughout the night. Without saying a single word, he raised your hand and held up your wrist, leaving his tattoo to be on full display for you to see.

And when you turned your head, you could see that once again, the tattoo on your wrist had turned red once more, glowing in a dim crimson light. You had seen that many times throughout the night, but it still feels surreal to see, knowing you still had no explanation for it either. It was still so foreign to you and you couldn't comprehend it, but at least, Levi was now going to give you a chance to see why it was so important.

His eyes went from looking at his tattoo, to moving his head back to look directly into your eyes, and you could have sworn your eyes were deceiving you when his eyes softened just the slightest bit. And not like before, where you knew it was a trick, but it felt different now. You didn't know how to feel, being torn between still being angry and not forgive him that easily, to showing him how thankful you were for what he just did. But he was looking at you in a way that was making it impossible to look away.

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Hi everyone! I swear I thought I could get this chapter out by Sunday like I said, but I'm sorry for taking so long and publishing it a day after :,( These last few weeks of finals are killing me lmao but I'm trying to stay consistent! I finish this semester in a week and then i'll be free to write all of Christmas break!

But other than that, this might just be one of my favorite chapters to write so far. I say that every chapter, but I just can't help it! shsjs :,) There is so much more coming that I'm excited to write and I can't wait to write it all out for you guys. Their relationship is developing slowly but surely, so hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are as excited as I am for what's coming!

So, anyway, I'll see you guys next Sunday (once again, I hope I do lmao) with the next chapter! Love you all so much! Thank you for everything and see you in the next one!
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