Lluvia

1943. The war had been raging on for one year, twenty two year old Levi Ackerman has come face to face with the draft. He must now fight for his country. With no family left to see him off, he runs into a young man, Eren Jeager, an intern journalist.

With only the image of a bleak future in his mind, he entrusts the young man with his family's key, telling him to keep in touch with him if he lives. He leaves Eren with his information and sets off for war.

Along the way Eren comes face to face with activists, veterans, egotists, and learns more about the horrid war this hopeless solider is involved in.

Chapter 1

War; it's a horrid event that takes place. Men die every minute. Many pray for their safety, but in this world, let's be real, your prayers will all be for naught.

The eighteenth birthday is something all young men dread. The draft begins after that age. Families see off their family member, and when they see them next, they expect to see them in body bags, if they're lucky some part of them remained.

The war wages on, as does all the tears and pain.

Twenty year old Levi Ackerman experiences the damn draft soon. He was never one to voice his thoughts on the war. What with all those activists, you'd best keep your mouth shut, yeah?

Upon receiving that letter he was now in the draft and report to the first ship leaving for Europe, Levi knew there was a great chance he would never make it back.

He's heard all this neighbors mourning over the loss of their loved ones, but what good can that do ya? They're dead, shot, stabbed, exploded into a thousand pieces, and yet, people think you'll end up coming back with nothing wrong.

Yeah, you can come back with some battle scars, but did you ever think of mental trauma? Ah, gotcha there.

Levi didn't have what other soldiers get to see before they head off, a family. Someone to give a damn. Hmph, but now's not the time to sympathize, alright? He's gotta pack whatever shit he plans to take.

Now, Levi is not a religious young man. Never has been, never will be. While his mother was still alive, she tried to make him at least a little religious, it failed horribly.

Seeing as he only had several days before being shipped off, he wanted to visit his mother's grave, even if it was one more time. In advance, he bought the plaque next to his mother. As he said earlier, he doesn't see himself coming back alive.

"Hey, mom. Been a while, huh? Sorry bout that. Got caught up with some shit I needed done, you hear?" The raven sat beside his mother's grave, his legs crossed over one another, his intertwined hands resting on his bent up left knee.

"I know ya hated it when I didn't visit the old man often when he was on leave, so, I wanna take the time and say sorry for bein a lazy ass and not comin."

Levi rubbed the back of his head, "You remember that girl, Nifa? Girl asked me if I could marry her. I told her no right away. I know she just wants that money while I go and get killed. Not a good trade, yeah?"

"Ah, yeah, you're probably wonderin what I mean by gettin killed, huh? Damn draft finally got my ass too. Here I thought they'd let me off the hook cause uncle and the old man are in the military. Just goes to show ya that the poor bastards are over there gettin their shit kicked in."

The raven let out a humorless laugh, "Hope the old man doesn't give me the order to off myself. I'd tell him to fuck off, uncle too."

Conversing with his mother like this brought back days when he was a kid. How'd he talk about the dumbest shit in the world, and Flore would always pay attention with a smile on her face.

His real mother left when his dad started abusing her, she left not too long after it started. Levi hasn't seen her since.

"Hey, you think my real mom would miss me? Ya think she and the old man would? I barely see the old man with him always gone since I was a brat. Uncle was always gettin high or drunk, then you went and died on me. I have no one. The old man and uncle might be dead right now for all I know. The military really must like wiping out the Ackerman family, huh? The fuck can I do though?"

Levi glanced over at his mother's grave, "You must really hate me for only talking about depressing shit, let me talk about something else, yeah?"

"If I live through this, I'm gonna head back to school. You know I had to drop out of college cause you got sick. I wanna become someone important." He would first have to work on improving his speech. I doubt anyone would want to hire you if you talked nothing but slang and shit.

"You told me I needed to work on my way of talking. Maybe bein in the military might help. Who knows? I hope it does, I can't talk for shit. Manners be damned."

The young man stayed for several more hours, talking to his mother's grave stone.

"Well, mom, I gotta go. Maybe I can come back and I can talk to you again about the buddies I made in the military. Who knows, I might even have some good memories I wanna share with ya. Take care, mom. Love you." Levi kissed the top of the grave stone before he left.

"I didn't think I'd see the day where you head off to the military, boy." Old man Pixis was his former landlord. Levi had sold his one room apartment, but apparently the old man is only keeping it on reserve until he gets back.

"I didn't think I'd be going. Thought those morons woulda missed me somehow."

The old man scoffed, "Those bastards won't miss anyone over the age of eighteen. It's like picking out bullets, once you use em, they're tossed aside."

Levi stared at the former military commander, "You think I'll be killed too?"

"Only if you got your head up your ass while you're there." The older man looked him over for a couple seconds before grinning, "And you're got it well out your tight ass."

"Fuck off, old man."

Pixis laughed, taking a long drink from his flask, "Well, you better head off, Levi. They get on your ass if you're late."

Levi flipped him off before he tugged his bag on his shoulder, "See ya, old man."

"Be seeing you, Levi."

Seeing the massive wave of people by the port, the families and friends, it made him feel even lonelier. There was no one to see him off , no one to tell him they would miss him, no one to pray for his safety, it kind of does feel…lonely, don't you think?

Levi went and turned in his form to one of the main captains who came all the way from Europe to see the new recruits.

Nile was his name, looked like a fucking asshole too. "Levi Ackerman, huh?" The man took a look at the young raven in front of him.

"Yeah, what the fuck of it?" Something about this guy didn't sit well with him.

The man narrowed his eyes, "I am your captain, you will show me some respect."

"Tch, we'll see about that. So, do I get on that ship or wait?"

"You wait. Just like everyone else. Say goodbye to the people you know in the meantime."

Loved ones. Yeah right.

Levi turned and simply decided to roam around until the ship called for all the recruits.

"Shit, shit, shit." The brunet ran around the port, a camera bag hanging from his shoulder.

You might be wondering what this young man was doing running around the port. His name is Eren Jeager. He works for one of the major journalism companies. Because of him being a journalist, he wasn't required to be in the draft.

Eren's assignment was for him to interview some new recruits, and what their thoughts on the war was. So far, he's been called a nuisance, a disturbance, and a wuss.

Now, Eren being Eren, he couldn't help but argue with those accusations. And of course, was almost asked to leave the pier.

Coming to a stop to take a breather, the brunet spotted a new recruit simply wandering around. That was certainly odd. He would have thought that the man would be with family. Maybe they left or something? Well, I don't know about you, but he isn't gonna know until he asks.

Eren walked up to the raven, tapping his shoulder, slightly flinching under his intense gaze. "Excuse me, I'm with Recon printing. I'm a journalist, my name is Eren Jeager." He held out a hand for the man to take.

Levi reluctantly took the hand, "Levi Ackerman."

"Well, Levi Ackerman, you are a new recruit, yes?"

"Yeah."

"As I said, I'm with Recon printing, and my assignment was to talk with new recruits, and see what their opinions are on the war right now."

The raven looked at him in the eyes, "Are you sure you wanna know my thoughts on this?"

Eren nodded, "Yes. Since you are going to be shipped off, I would like to know. You never know if someone you talk to right now will come back."

"Well, kid. S'your choice."

The brunet took out his recorder and held it to his own mouth, "I'm here with new recruit Levi Ackerman. He's being shipped off today to fight in the war. Mr. Ackerman, I would like to know, what are your thoughts on this war?" He help the recorder to the raven's mouth.

Levi sighed, "You know, I've dealt with fucking activists, tellin me this war is good for nothin. Men are out there dyin, and here we are, eating like fucking pigs. We're here in warm beds, havin a wet dream, then maybe jerkin off when ya wake up," He grinned as Eren turned red, "Then ya got those guys out there. Maybe layin down on that filthy ass grass, lookin up at that sky right before they die, and you wanna ask me shit like that?"

Pulling the recorder back to his own mouth, Eren spoke, "Despite such a crude answer, why do you think that? Was there someone you knew who went to war and had to come back?" He put the recorder back to Levi's mouth.

"I don't have to know anyone to know this war is bad. Ya got those guys out there fightin, and the families here prayin, and what good will that do ya? Most come back in body bags anyway, hell, if they're lucky enough for that."

"Did the activists you said you met impact your answer?"

"Not one damn bit. I knew this was already bad, why do ya need people screamin it out to know it's bad? It's like someone screamin out hell is bad when it's already shit you should know."

"Have you met any veterans?"

"I have. My old landlord was a commander."

"What his thoughts on war?"

"He just said that the men were like bullets. Once ya use em, you toss em aside when they aren't good anymore."

"Have you heard any of his stories from when he was in the military?"

"I have."

"And what do you think of them?"

"I think its hell over there. Men are dyin, people are prayin for nothing, you cry when people come back dead or some part of their body missin." Levi stopped for a moment, "Ya send more men out there, and same shit's gonna happen. I'm gonna see people I talked to one day dead, in pieces, or whole on the ground. It don't matter if you send people out there, most aren't gonna come back."

Eren let the words sink in for several moments. The once previous loud noises around them seemed to be muted out whenever this hopeless solider in front of him spoke. "Do you think you'll come back alive?"

The raven sighed softly, rubbing the back of his head, "To be honest, nah. I feel like I'll die tryin to save someone really. I know for damn sure there are some scared as shit who are still bein forced to go."

"What if you do come back? Do you think you'll come back in tact? Or with some kind of disability? If so, which one?"

"If, huh? Well, I'm not one to believe in ifs, but for this interview, sure, I'm game to share. Well, if I do come back, I wanna go back to school. Get my talkin and manners right, you know? As for me comin back intact, I don't think so. I feel like I'd have lost an arm or somethin."

Eren nodded, "You seem to think on both counts; good and bad. Your family must be wanting the good to happen."

Levi's eyes widened a bit before going back to their normal narrowed gaze, "Family, huh? That's a nice thought. Haven't got one."

"Then how are you going to update people on your condition?"

The man shrugged, "Dunno. Pick a random person and see if they care enough to read shit I send."

"Which random person?"

Levi's grey eyes settled on the young man in front of him. He looked about a year younger than him, seemed like someone who'd give a shit about you. This kid didn't look annoying as shit, hell, why the fuck not?

"You."

Eren blinked, "Me what?"

"My random person to pick to send all my random shit to, you."

The brunet turned off the recorder and kept the confused look on his face, "Why me?"

Levi shrugged, "Dunno. You looked like someone who could keep me entertained with letters ya send back."

"B-But, shouldn't you pick some friends?"

"Haven't got any."

"My god, you're antisocial."

Levi simply grinned back at him in response.

"..Fine. You can send anything back to me."

The raven pulled out a note and handed it to the brunet, "That's the place ya send any letters to."

Eren nodded as he took the note, "Here, I'll give you mine." The brunet wrote down his address on a small piece of paper he had.

Levi took it and placed it on his shirt pocket, his necklace, an oddly shaped key jingling from the motion, a thought then crossed his mind. "Here, I'll give ya my necklace." He began to unclasp it from the back.

The brunet shook his head frantically, "No, no, you don't need to do that! Take that with you!" The said necklace looked like something Levi would need to keep his sanity or remind him of something that made him smile through those dark times he's going to encounter.

"Nah, I know some bastard's gonna try and take it. Think it might be worth somethin." He took off his necklace, handing it to Eren.

Holding the necklace in his hands, Eren felt like this was something he shouldn't have. But if Levi wanted him to have it, how could he refuse this request? Who knew if he would ever physically see the raven again? "Is it worth something? The necklace I mean."

"What? Already makin plans to sell it off?"

The young man shook his head, "No, no, more so curious."

"Well, it could be and couldn't be."

"That doesn't really help."

"S'not supposed to."

Eren sighed, then snapped his gaze back to the ship as they announced they would be departing within ten minutes. "Well, looks like you're needed now, huh?"

Levi glanced over at the ship, seeing all the new recruits either sobbing or looking depressed as hell. "Yeah. Time to see the lot of em die."

"You're a negative thinker, you know that?"

"Not negative. Realistic."

The brunet clasped the necklace around his neck, the key lightly hitting his chest due to the wind.

Levi gave him what could be called a half assed smile, "Looks good on ya, Eren." Something told him he made the right choice in choosing this amateur journalist.

Eren smiled back at him, "Thanks." He glanced back over at the ship as they announced they would be leaving within five minutes. "You better get going."

The young man saw more people boarding, and thought to himself silently for a moment. This peace, the slow movement of his days, just when would he get something like this again? He's not religious by any means, but he better be praying for his ass. "Yeah. Been nice meetin you, Eren." He held out a hand for the brunet.

Taking the offered hand into his own, the two shook hands. Eren have him a reassuring smile, "You'll make it back for sure. You look like the stubborn type."

"That I am, kid."

Eren chuckled softly, taking his hand back, "Best of luck, Levi."

"See ya, Eren." Levi walked passed the brunet and went to board the ship.

The walkway for the ship was being lifted, people waving goodbye to their loved ones, wishing them luck, praying for their safety, and others already knowing their death would be coming soon.

Levi leaned over the railway, looking at the crowd of people, his bored expression never faltered.

From the front, he could see Eren waving at him, yelling good luck to him.

Letting out a puff of amusement through his nose, Levi gave him a lazy two fingered salute.

They say the waters take a man and help him achieve his dreams, the wind carries your voice so it can be heard, and others can listen to your strong message.

The waters can also be your final resting place.

As the wind ruffled Levi's hair, he knew the dangers he was about to come face to face with. Who knew he would be one of those people out there dodging a bullet? He hoped one day he could get back home. For now, he could only get by with those letters that young journalist was no doubt to send.

War takes away all hope, Levi knew this already. He no longer had to fuel that portion, Eren could give him enough of that. Damn brat better be a good person he could talk with.

For Eren, an oblivious young man, he still had no idea how cruel this world really was. Now connected to this hopeless solider, the brunet would learn the hard way.

End of chapter 1.