He still wasn't used to sharing his home with Isabel and Farlan. It was different than what he usually did, allowing people into his life. But they had been right. He had acquired too many enemies, so many that he had to move from the part of the Underground he originated from. Isabel and Farlan acted as his moral compass, however weak it was, to prevent them from getting too many enemies.
Quite frankly, he was still surprised they had agreed to be a part of his plan to steal a couple of 3DMG they saw the stupid Military Police officers wearing. Having something like that would increase the amount of food and coveted things they could steal. Because that's what he had become, a thief. To go from killer to thief was a nice upgrade, but stopping himself from falling back to old habits was harder than usual. Why steal a couple of things when you could kill someone and steal everything?
But that would only lead back to his old dilemma of having to move after acquiring quite the fanbase.
He finished sweeping the room, admiring the less dusty floorboards. They had a humble home, a simple one room apartment with two bunk beds and a mattress on the floor. As an added bonus they had a square wooden table with four seats and a shelf to store some leftover food that didn't easily spoil.
Cleaning was always his responsibility, something he considered sharing with those two but they could never do the job right. Sure, he could teach them how to clean properly, but that could end up being a waste of time if they are not good at using the 3DMG. That small reason had gotten them together, and that small reason could tear them apart.
The door opened, and his muscles immediately tightened, expecting a fight. When he saw his redhead teammate he visibly relaxed, though not completely. Just because Isabel wasn't an enemy didn't mean enemies couldn't easily come in too. But maybe he was being paranoid.
"Morning, Levi!" Isabel greeted, her morning cheer not affected by his dark mood. She closed the door behind her and took a seat, careful to avoid the pile of dirt Levi had on the floor.
He placed the broom against the wall and took a seat on the table . "Why back so early? I thought it would take you longer to find out more about those schedules."
Isabel flinched slightly and coughed. "Well, yeah, about that… The Underground is more excited today than usual, so nobody wants to talk to me."
Levi raised an eyebrow. The Underground was used to seeing shit, and the process to becoming desensitized was a short one in their world. "What's going on?"
"Someone found a wounded stranger in an alleyway. Word is she can't speak our language, and can't do anything other than lean against the wall."
There usually weren't many strangers in the Underground. People were either born to a life of misery here or banished for committing heinous crimes, never to reintegrate with society ever again. After all, nobody here had papers saying they belonged to one of the three human territories. They might as well not exist.
He grunted in annoyance. "How do we get rid of this problem?"
"By problem do you mean her?"
"Of course."
Isabel frowned. "We can't just kill her, Levi."
"She's a hindrance to our plans. I'm sure she doesn't mean to get so much attention, but she does, and we must take care of that."
Her green eyes held so much disappointment that had she been something closer than a business partner he would be ashamed. "Talk will die down in a day or two. Can't we wait for a single day? She's already weak enough that anyone can take advantage of her and she can't do anything about it."
Levi was a piece of shit, he would be the first to admit that, but he wasn't that big of a piece of shit to take advantage of someone like that. Sure, he had considered killing her, which now that he thought about it would cause an uproar so he wouldn't be able to save time anyway, but he would never do something like that.
Murderers had standards.
He huffed in annoyance; now he was a damned hypocrite.
"So what do you suggest we do?"
Isabel's face perked up in surprise. "You've never asked for my opinion before."
"Any idea I give will probably be shitty since I'm not a girl, so I'm deferring to you."
She cocked her head in confusion. "That's… actually nice."
He wasn't nice, but he'd let her think that for a second. "So do you have any ideas or not?"
"Uh, yeah, um, why don't we check her out, see what she's like? Maybe we can nurse her back to health since no one else will do it?"
Levi raised his eyebrows. "Nurse her back to health? Why would we waste our resources on her?"
"Our group has a bad rep right now. Sure, everyone in the Underground is a thief in one way or another, but if people keep thinking we give nothing back they'll come after us."
"They'll chase us away even if we don't kill anyone?"
Isabel nodded grimly. "You can't just steal from the community and never give back. Then the community will never allow us to steal from them again."
"And you think that being good caretakers will increase the public opinion of our little operation?"
"I do think so. I'm sure Farlan would agree with me too."
The Underground, in that case, was an even bigger hypocrite than he was. Everyone stole from everyone, but if you stole too much people would stop letting you live with them and would drive you out. Sure, they could go to an area of the Underground where nobody gave a shit, the area he had come from originally, but it was too dangerous for him and his two partners. Levi's face was plastered in many walls and neither Isabel nor Farlan could survive a day there without being killed.
So he had to play with the rules of this part of the Underground, the only part of the Underground the Military Police will patrol. Even they don't dare go any further for their own safety.
"Where is she?"
"In an alley by the lower apartments, close to the dumpster."
"Fine, let's go see how bad she is. But we can't afford to look weak either, Isabel. If she's a lost cause then we leave her there."
Isabel didn't have a chance to respond, being cut off by Levi's abrupt exit. She awkwardly caught up to him, walking behind him to avoid looking at him in the eye. He was a famed killer, survivor of the most dangerous areas of the Underground. Farlan told her he had changed, that something had changed him, and that's why he was allowed to reside in this part of the Underground without much retaliation from the inhabitants.
Still, this was the famed Levi, the Ripper's Shadow, for he had grown up with Kenny the Ripper's influence. Farlan had confided in her that he had killed people in ways that would keep her up at night. When she had demanded how Farlan could guarantee their safety, he just told her to trust him.
But how could she trust someone she was scared of being around?
Besides, he was so cold. The wounded girl must be so scared, being in such a dangerous place, Isabel herself knew how scary the Underground could be for a defenseless person, and Levi had just thought about killing her out of convenience. He thought two days' time was worth more than her life! Had he really changed?
If he left her to die, would he leave Isabel to die too?
Levi led her down a series of shortcuts to minimize the amount of people who saw them. He was paranoid that if people recognized them, their attempts to steal would suffer. Everyone was a thief in the Underground, so everyone expected it, but that didn't mean they had to let it happen. Anyone tried to prevent theft, and recognizing people was the first step.
They reached the alley, but a woman was obstructing the entrance. She looked at the alley with pity, and she almost stepped inside, but she noticed their presence. As soon as her eyes landed on Levi, she jumped slightly and Isabel could feel the need to scurry off, but she stomped her foot slightly.
"Now you don't bother that girl. She has nothing to give."
Levi's eyes widened. Well, that was a new one. A stranger looking out for another stranger, in the Underground? Now there must be something special about her to elicit such a response. Maybe she was close to death. That usually got the strongest reactions out of people.
"We won't give her trouble, ma'am," Isabel replied, her voice confident.
The woman looked at her disapprovingly, but nodded and left them. To think that he had such an effect that the older woman even distrusted Isabel for hanging around Levi. Farlan and Isabel had taken quite the risk in partnering up with him.
He entered the alley and saw a figure seating against the wall. She wore a tattered brown cloak with the hood up, preventing anyone from seeing her. Her legs were extended, revealing bruised skin, and strange open-toed shoes. He heard her shallow breaths and relaxed slightly.
Levi looked back at Isabel and she nodded her encouragement. He absentmindedly brushed his hand against the back pocket in his pants where his favorite switchblade was. He was sure the girl would offer him no trouble, but just in case it didn't hurt to be careful.
"Do you know where you are?" Levi asked, trying to make his voice as non-threatening as possible.
She continued breathing and offered no response.
Levi looked at Isabel and she nodded. She stayed in the entrance of the alley and Levi risked closing the distance until he was arm's length away.
"Do you know what happened to land yourself here?" he asked again.
She whispered in a foreign language that Levi didn't even know existed.
That girl was doomed. Wounded, and couldn't communicate? The people who visited her either didn't know or had tried to hide her secret, prolonging her life, but for what purpose? Who knew how long she could last like this? How can anyone help her if she can't even say what's wrong with her? He could shorten her agony, but then word would spread around that he had killed the Underground's kicked puppy and that wouldn't fly with anyone.
"What are we gonna do?" Isabel had moved next to him, leaving their easiest escape route unprotected, but seeing as the wounded girl wasn't a threat at all he didn't care. "She can't speak."
"She can speak, we just don't understand her, and she doesn't understand us. We can't do anything for her. Maybe we can bring her some bread and purified water so at least she doesn't die of starvation or dehydration, but we can't help her, Isabel. It would be too much."
Isabel bit her lip, her eyes troubled, but nodded. Levi knew that she had been a street rat until Farlan had found her and taken her in. She was probably expecting the same type of luck for the wounded girl, but even she probably knew the girl would not receive the same fate from anyone.
There was luck, and then there were miracles, and miracles didn't happen in the Underground.
"Let's go get the food." He hesitated before putting a hand on her shoulder, and though she initially flinched, she offered him a small smile when she realized he was comforting her.
They turned away from the girl and started walking when he felt a slight breeze behind him. He immediately drew his switchblade and turned around to stab where he guessed the neck was, only to see a cloaked figure duck, step back, and do a neat backflip to put some distance between them.
The motion caused the hood of the girl to fall, revealing long pink hair and annoyed green eyes. She growled something in that language of hers and disappeared before their very eyes, leaving only wind behind.
She had just tried to rob them, but he was more fascinated with her power and her strategy than angry at her daring. Her wounded state was a ruse for people to either give her things or steal from them. Either way, she always received something from every visit.
"Levi, I'm so sorry! I didn't know that––"
"No, don't apologize. We just found the person who will make us rich."
This is Rosette, one of the most self-indulgent fics I've ever written. Initially I was only going to leave it on Tumblr only, but I disliked the formatting so here we go.
The reason why it's under the SnK tag only is because this is a not-crossover. As in there's a Naruto character, but there's no Naruto plotline like in The Vessel. Sakura's background here is also different than Sakura's background over in the Naruto world. In fact, this Sakura is the Sakura from the manga/anime, not from my AU. Basically this story is SnK + Sakura.
The plot of Rosette is almost nonexistent compared to The Vessel. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Instead is just a slice of life kind of story. It's happy. It's wish-fulfillment. A fix-it.
Also, I know Isabel adores Levi from the get-go and she joined after Levi and Farlan had 3DMG, but for the sake of this story, I'll keep it like this.
