A/N: Please note that this is of course Fan Fiction, therefore the events described would be slightly deviated from the orginal telling.
And nope, I in fact do not own Shingeki no Kyojin or anything else I write about.
Modern AU on this, they are both say...15 or 16, enjoy!
In Times
Levi leaned all the way back on a park bench and rested his eyes. Even though he could fight the disgust in his mind at the thought of how dirty the bench was, he chose not to. He was simply too worn out and tired to care, which is saying quite a bit. The small park was mostly empty on this late summer Sunday. His lidded eyes furrowed together as the late afternoon sun randomly peaked through the heavy foliage trees above.
Since the recent death of his mother and having to live with his alcoholic uncle Kenny, Levi hadn't been sleeping well. Though at the moment his bouts insomnia were minor amongst other pressing things. His grades which were once simple to maintain were slipping. Colleges he applied to were still not responding. His limited friendships were becoming more rocky and his cold stand-offish nature was becoming even worse.
Especially after a particularly fierce clash with his uncle that left him with a nasty blackened left eye. Once Kenny had the right (or wrong) amount of whiskey, he was liable to become violent over any little thing. Levi could always handle himself, but the liquor made his uncle much more intense and unreasonable. To avoid this, he tried his best to come back only when he was sure that he had already passed out. So he spent his days out in the city, trying to find some sort of center, some sort of peace.
No matter how much time he continued to make for himself, it wasn't enough.
He leaned even further back on the cold dirty metal bench, trying to shut his mind down and get some sleep. He was nearly there, nearly to the void of stillness and silence, when he first started to hear it.
"Ooooo...interesting..interesting..."
Levi tried hard to ignore it and tried to get back the state of bliss he was so close to. But the sounds continued...and continued.
"Aaahhh..hmmm, wait...hmmmm..."
Levi grew more agitated with each passing second. The sounds seemed to be getting closer.
"OooOOO, Hey! Wait...COME BACK!"
At last Levi snapped, with his brows together in extreme frustration he opened his eyes and let out a sharp, "What the fu-"
But was cut short by a figure tripping hard over his outstretched legs and awkwardly falling in front of him onto the grass.
"Aughhh..what the fuck!" Levi repeated louder as he straighted up and reached a hand down to soothe the mild pain in his calves.
He then focused in on that annoying sound that prevented his rest and on top of that, ran directly into his legs. A girl, perhaps no older than he was still laying on the grass. Her right arm tucked under her as she continued to stare ahead.
"Shooooot!" she drawled out, before she finally turned to notice what caused her to fall.
"Ooh Hi!" the girl said brightly still with a grin.
"What the fuck," Levi greeted back for the third time.
"Oh sorry, I didn't see you there," the girl apologized as she moved and sat up.
Levi didn't accept her apology at first, he was too perplexed by her weird behavior. He couldn't decide if he should keep cursing at her, to just simply continue cursing at her. His eyes traveled over her lean body, she was so...dirty. Her hands and fingernails had dirt on them, a few smudges on her cheeks and on her shitty glass as well. But worst of all was her white, or once white pants. Levi outwardly cringed at the amount of grass stains on the knees and butt. The state of those pants shocked him comatose for a few long moments.
"Are you ok?" the girl asks, her voice pulling Levi back from the brink.
"What are you doing?" Levi asked vaguely, quietly, as he forced his eyes away from her pants.
"Science!" the girl boomed with enthusiasm.
She then lifted her arm, revealing a magnifying glass she had been holding. She steadied it in front of the lense on her glasses to prove her point.
"Science..." deadpanned Levi.
"MMMmmmm," the girl nodded vigorously.
"Science made you run into me?"
"Well...kinda," the girl answered with a sheepish smile. "That is what I was really chasing after," she continued, pointing up at a low branch.
Around it fluttered a large monarch butterfly. Levi looked at it for a few seconds before turning his attention back to her.
"You're going to set it on fire with that, no wonder why it flew away from you."
"Nooo I'm careful. With this I can study all kinds-"
Levi cut her short with rapid movement of his head and hands that meant dismissal or 'hell no.' He had a strong feeling that he had to cut her off quickly before she really started talking. Abruptly he stood and began walking away.
"H-Hey! Where are you going?" the girl asked, jumping up onto her feet.
"Away," Levi answered without turning back.
"Hey come on! I said I was sorry," she pleaded as she raced to catch up with him.
She caught up without any help from Levi, who kept his brisk pace.
"My name is H-Woah! I didn't realize you are so short!" she said awe-struck in her bubbly voice. She began to stick out her hand to measure the difference between the two.
Levi gave one of his imfamous death glares, she retracted her hand.
"Do you eat enough turnips? Or spinach? How's your diet? Do yo-"
"Goddamnit..."
"Ok...well...uh..my name's Hanji," the girl said sincerely with her hand outstretched.
Levi did his best to ignore her, he kept his eyes forward, still keeping his legs moving fast. He was not even sure exactly where he was going, his legs were leading him back to his uncle Kenny's house. Though that is one of the last places he wanted to be right now. Her hand...that hand...was so filthy that he refused to grasp it under any circumstances. But oddly enough, even to him, he indulged her.
"Levi..." he mused, still keeping his eyes straight ahead.
He was truly suprised with himself. Hanji lit up and he decided to cut her off before she got on a roll again.
"Look, don't you have more science shit to do?"
"Well yea, I do, but I'd rather to do this."
"Piss me off?" Levi said with a sharpness in his voice.
"Nooo, my mom says that when people need help...then you should help."
"I don't need any damn help," Levi replied, sharper still.
"I can see that you haven't been sleeping all that good. And...what about your eye," Hanji said with a slight trepidation in her voice.
Levi came to an abrupt stop and for the first time since he walked out of the park, looked her full on.
"Don't fucking worry about that."
Hanji flinched as she came to a stop a few feet in front of him.
"I'd just like to help, you know, if you need someone to talk to."
"I don't," cut Levi as he began to move again. "Just mind you own shit."
"I don't really have a lot of friends," Hanji said out of the blue, causing Levi to stop after the short distance he'd gained. "So I know what it's like sometimes. But hey, if you want to come back to the park tommorow, I'll be there."
Levi stared at her, surprised that she had actually said something that carried meaning to him.
"Yea, whatever," he huffed and took off walking again.
"I'll be there," Hanji called out, making no attempt to follow. "Doing science!" she finished, her enthusiasm already returned.
Levi said nothing else as he walked away into the dusk, But somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew. Knew in a weird way that he would stop by the park tommorow.
