As Snow Begins To Fall
Authors note:
Hey, up for some Levi x Eren, are we? c;
Trust me, if you're a fan of planned and detailed romance fanfictions, with a complex and exciting plot, you'll enjoy my fic. (Do I sound too confident?) Even if my previous statement made you question if I'm really worth your time, try it out. I've tried my very best to create a fanfiction worthy of Riren's beauty.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin, or any of the characters in the anime. Believe me, if I owned SnK Levi x Eren would be canon, and you know it.
Chapter 1 - "If only things were different."
Not many things managed to catch Levi Rivaille's attention. Life in general had long ago lost it's meaning to him, everything he once cared about turning into something he no longer felt anything towards. Every day passed by as in an empty film record, flying before his eyes without giving him any chance to stop it from happening. Levi didn't really even know where the time had gone, it was as if he had been sleepwalking this entire time, and his grey eyes would've been shot open the moment he realized that his life was... meaningless.
Literally, Levi struggled to maintain any kind of interest in anything. The dark haired boy had long ago lost that specific, lively glint from his eyes, and replaced it with a bored glare behind which he hid at routine always when surrounded by people. Other humans simply bothered him, who was a man of a few words, but there still existed a story behind his behavior. Levi's mother had died years ago, and his alcoholic father wasn't much interested in his son's life. Levi was the only child, inexperienced in social interaction and as an result incapable of maintaining healthy relationships: due to that, Levi had isolated himself from others. To him, being alone was far easier to bear than to hang around others as an outcast.
Even though the grey eyed male had tortured his own mind, attempting to force it to come up with at least one reason to stay alive, he hadn't ever managed to think of a single reason to keep on living. He wasn't alive, he only breathed. Some nights as he wandered around outside, trying to force himself to think about other things than his miserable life. During those soothing moments of complete silence, he had realized the needed something in his life. He wanted someone who'd step into his life and make his grey skies blue - someone who could show him how it was like to smile once again.
Night began to wrap the town in dark, shadows casting upon the silenced houses and empty streets. The isolated, solitary graveled road snaking through an old park, the very same path Levi walked on, was clear of all other human beings. It must've been one of the reasons he had chosen this path for his short walk, since right now he lusted for a place to feel calm in. The tormenting silence that had settled upon his home after his father had passed out after too many shots had been too much for Levi's tolerance, and so he had escaped the depressing atmosphere of his house.
The seventeen year old male was drowning in his thoughts. He soon found himself leaning on the railing of a wooden bridge arcing over the cold icy water flowing in the river below. On his face was plastered a look which reflected absolutely no emotions at all. Levi allowed his gaze to freely sweep across his surroundings, his eyes unfocused and drowsy, once again falling into his fantasies. He felt his chest ache once again, the bottled-up unspoken wish of finding someone worth his time continuing on torturing his heart. With a nearly inaudible sigh the young man slipped his eyes shut and concentrated on finding even some sort of a speck of sense in his thoughts.
"If only things were different." Levi murmured in an indistinct fuzzy voice as his eyelids pressed closed, blocking his sight of the park.
"If only things were different..." He whispered again, his voice sinking shallow, so quiet that his last words came out as very unclear mumbling: only his lips moved a little as they formed those painful words. In some odd way saying it out loud felt comforting, and set his mind on ease, as if he had just admitted something he had denied for a long time. Even the fact that the thought had crossed his mind several times was enough to prove that Levi did have a softer side to him. But despite that, his heart was mostly hard to the core and rough at it's surface, no matter what his thoughts sometimes whispered.
When people met him they often times raised their eyebrows in a questioning manner, and wondered could this silent and cold hearted young high schooler ever fall in love. Or who could ever fall in love with him, who was about as interested in other humans as a cat in diving into a pool of freezing cold water? It was like chewing on pearls. Levi Rivaille was definitely not the right person to fall for.
When Levi returned home after darkness had fully taken over the sky, for his great displeasure his father had already woken up from the couch. At the moment he was tiredly holding his head, groaning in annoyance in a hoarse voice. When the unkempt man heard the front door slam closed, he snapped out of his thoughts and irritatedly turned his head towards the direction.
"Stay out of my sight tonight, brat. I've got a terrible headache." He warned Levi, who walked sedately to shut down the television that was blaring at an unnecessarily high volume. He figured his father must've opened it when he woke up, much to his own disadvantage since it only worsened his hang over. When the noisy electronic device had been silenced, the presence of the tense atmosphere in the air was emphasized even further, making Levi secretly inside very uncomfortable.
The silence was broken by the protesting squealing of the couch as Levi's father reached out to grab yet another beer on the low table nearby. Even though the teenager knew he shouldn't allow his father to worsen his condition even more, he struggled to care. He didn't show interest in how his father would end up, or what would happen to himself: everything felt so dull and disinteresting. Without saying anything Levi frowned at his father who was too busy opening his can to notice, and then left the room with that.
The very moment Levi stepped into his room and closed the door, a relieving wave of peace swept over him. He was once again alone. Without wasting time he changed into a loose T-shirt and a pair of boxers, almost collapsing on his warm and cozy bed, eager to fall unconscious for a while. Tomorrow would be another typical boring school day, and Levi didn't want to stay up too late when he was supposed to stay awake the following day at his high school. With numerous blurry thoughts clouding his mind, Levi snapped the lights closed and pulled the covers over him, then dropping his head to the pillow and closing his eyes. It only took a few fleeting minutes for him to drift into a peaceful slumber. Little did he know, but it was the first night he dreamt of Eren Jaeger.
There was only one single candle lighting up the dark, shadowy room, and even so only so much that walking across the dark brown wooden flooring was possible without the fear of tripping over obstacles. Levi leaned back on his chair and glanced for a quick moment out of the window, without managing to see much through the glass blurred by rain drops, which the wind endlessly kept on showering down on the land. From the glass a reflection of a pale man stared back at him, with pungent, piercing grey eyes. His hair was straight and black with a undercut, and the typical bored expression on his face was present as well.
Rivaille lingered a while listening to the sound of rain beating the roof, and studied the look of his own facial features, illuminated in an eerie way by the wavering candle light. He had an odd feeling, like something important had happened and he couldn't remember even the main concept of it. The feeling was as if he had experienced a short period of amnesia, and during the time his memory hadn't been working something important had occurred, only to be swiped out stainlessly out of his mind.
Levi shook the strange thoughts off his head and focused on the relevant things: like today. Even though the clock continuously ticked even later into the night, there was no bit of sleepiness in the grey eyes of the man. Frustrated and bored, Rivaille stood up from his chair, snatched a nearby flashlight into his hand and gently blowed away the flame of the candle. When the gently flaming light died away, the room felt even more untouched and quiet than before, which made the loneliness in Levi speed up to a rapid growth. The short male clicked his flashlight on and navigated his way out of his bedroom, lighting up his path.
The hallway was empty of all visibility until Levi's bedroom door cracked open and the beam of light flowing from the torch collided with the grey walls. The lance corporal targeted the light towards the end of the wide hallway, revealing that there was no other soul wandering on the very same path. The quietness felt relaxing. Levi lazily walked without any destination along the halls, deciding that the reason for his midnight trip outside his room was to check nobody was out of their beds. Of course nobody would find out about this, since he was the only one awake. It would be more fitting to say that it was better if everyone was safely in their beds far from the reach of Levi, who'd surely be resentful if he encountered another person wandering around at night time.
When he was just about to pay a quick check downstairs, he froze on the spot as his ears picked up the sound of light, quiet footsteps that brought someone closer and closer to him by every second. For his surprise it was shown that another person was wide awake walking on the hallways just like Levi, someone who was only two corridors away. When the approaching person would turn to the next hallway towards Levi, the person could see the light flowing out of Rivaille's flashlight illuminating the walls, and by that would know for sure that they weren't the only one awake. A soft click was heard, and Levi's torch was shut down leaving him standing like a statue on the on the empty hall. He waited patiently and listened to the footsteps coming closer.
'Whoever it is, they surely haven't got the right to walk around at night.' Levi thought to himself displeased, as he lurked in the dark waiting. The corporal could see how from behind the corner the flashlight of the wanderer casted a pool of light on the wall before him, giving the dark haired man a beforehand warning. Then it happened: the person stepped from behind the corner shoving the light straight at the short male, exposing the sight of the angered man, making the wanderer wince in front of the rage of Levi.
"H-heichou!" A familiar voice yelped, and he backed off a few steps gazing anxiously at the annoyed-looking Levi. The older man squinted his eyes when the rays of light focused on him, and raised his hand to shadow his orbs from the blinding brightness. He recognized the voice: it belonged to Eren Jaeger, a fifteen year old member of the Survey Corps, a boy possessing the same abilities as Annie: the abilities of a titan shifter.
"Move the light to the side." Levi commanded threateningly.
"Right away, sir!" Eren replied in rush and turned the beam of light away from blinding Levi any more. The shorter of the two casted a venomous look on Eren that made him want to disappear on the spot, but despite the uncomfortable feeling he stood still, examining his heichou with his emerald eyes. Levi looked at Eren and his frightened expression, pondering behind his emotionless mask if he should soften his attitude towards the younger male. He did look quite reserved and wary with his tensed muscles and worried glances, but despite it Rivaille decided to keep on treating him the way he always had. Now he only had to find out what the young Jaeger had been doing here on his own, at midnight.
But then, at the dustiest, furthest corner of Levi's mind, the odd feeling started to throb, as if a massive headache would've approached him. Once again, surreal dreamy thoughts poured into his mind, gleaming, 'You've forgotten something... Refresh your mind... Something important has happened...'
Levi didn't know where the feeling came from, but in some peculiar way his mind kept on shoving the thought to him that he hadn't ever met Eren before. Of course he had... He had known the boy even before the titan shifter joined the Survey Corps. But the feeling wouldn't ease, and slowly as he lifted his gaze to the teal-green depths of Eren's eyes, the existence of the boy felt far more misty than ever before.
Authors note:
How was it? Please leave a review and let me know! As you've probably guessed, there's some excitement building up on the following chapters... It'll get better in the next chapters, so don't quit now even if my first chapter was really crappy...