Please take caution while reading this if you are triggered by mentions of suicide. This chapter will have more mentions of it compared to the future chapters that I plan on posting, but I just wanted to give you all some precautions. Thank you!

It was hard to hear the sound of the wind talking to the sea when he was so high up, resting upon the railing of the bridge's metal, kissed by the cold air.

The boy was supposed to be on his way to his audition to apply for the best conservatory known in the East: The Karanese Academy. Three-fourths of the way there, he was. Yet, he was also ten minutes behind now, for it was already fifty minutes past four in the morning. But that was no matter to the young man, who continued on staring longingly at the deep turquoise whose shimmering invitations to dive in were lightly covered by the fog.

His musing was stopped abruptly when a black car pulled up next to his own white one, its engine quietly vibrating.

The window rolled down to reveal a black-haired male whose face contained no emotion, but his steel-grey eyes were questioning. "Oi," the man said to the boy sitting on metal, "What do you think you're doing there?"

Emerald orbs with flecks of the blue sapphire redirected its gaze towards the expanse of the sea. He took a deep intake of the crisp smell of the water below him, only separated by the thick air. He wasn't sure whether it was the air that was tempting him to come in, or his own mind. "I'm trying to look for my mom," he replied.

The man, who seemed no younger than the latter, but also older by little, raised his eyebrows at the direct response. "Oh?"

"Yes. She said that she would come back a few days ago, but she didn't. So maybe I'd find her here, since we always hung out around the sea here." He turned back to the other male. "Have you seen a woman who happens to look like me? People keep telling me that she's gone, but-"

He shook his head, the grey of his eyes not unsteady as he maintained his watchfully fixed look. "I'm afraid that I haven't. Say, kid, how long do you plan on sitting there?"

"I've only been sitting here for a few minutes. But I guess I should take a closer look, right? If she's not in the water," he thought, starting to get up and hold onto the rail, "maybe I'll meet her on the other side-"

"No!" The man yelled. Suddenly, realizing that he was yelling at someone who didn't seem to recognize him, he gradually inhaled the same crisp air that the other had, and repeated, "no. If you hadn't been looking for her at this moment, where would you be right now?"

The boy's eyebrows knotted in thought as he put his foot back on the surface. "I... I would be on my way to the music school right now."

"Have you also decided to pursue your musical career?"

"...Yes," he responded hesitantly. He crawled under the rail to approach the stranger, but maintained a safe distance. "Were you about to go to K.A.?"

"As a matter of fact, I was. You auditioning this year?" The man asked curiously. The Karanese Academy only invited the best out of all of the musicians to audition. So if this kid was invited to the best music school in the world, what was he doing trying to fall off a bridge? "Or are you already a part of the school?"

"I have an audition scheduled in... what time is it?"

The stranger glanced over at the LED-lit clock near his wheel. "Uh, it's like 5:20."

"Oh. My audition starts at six."

"Kid," he said, an incredulous tone apparent in his voice, "It's now 5:20. And your audition is at 6. Why the fuck isn't your ass seated there in your car?" He threw a thumb back to point at the pearl-colored car behind him.

"Because I have no one to play for anymore," he stated simply, "It isn't worth it."

"Dude, just get in your car, play for them, and just live for a week for your results. If you get in, good for you. Live longer - just fucking breathe, eat, take a shit, and play music until you graduate. But if you don't make it in, just... just talk to me or something." He hastily took a paper from his backpack on the passenger's seat, ripped the corner off, and scribbled something onto it.

The boy, yet again, had a contemplative expression etched onto his face. "Fine," he said, approaching the driver and taking the white sheet.

"Good," the stranger affirmed as he pulled on the gear lever, almost to the boy's annoyance, "I'll be driving there, too, so I'll be watching you from my side mirrors, kid."

"Thanks for talking to me," he responded, getting into his car, only to see a nod from the other.

When the younger male had reached his destination, he stopped to pull out the small, once-uncreased paper from the pocket of his jeans. His violin case was heavy in one arm, but the nervousness from his heart felt heavier as he approached one of the music halls.

0-XXX-XXXX

If I see you sitting on that bridge again, I will personally kick you over it.

Don't waste your talent, Eren.

-Levi

Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would really appreciate some feedback(what you liked or didn't like, what you'd want to see in the future, etc.) since I haven't really touched this topic in any of my other works, so please feel free to send me a review! Thank you so much!