This story is unbetaed.
Based on the song 'glow' by Hatsune Miku. I recommend you to listen to the song as you read.
To be frank, I've never listened to Miku's version. I found utaite Glutamine's version a few days ago, crying as I watched the video. And so this story was born, written only within three hours.
Enjoy!
glow
Rain had just lifted, revealing crimson, glowing twilight.
"Eren!"
Levi tried, almost futilely, to rouse the boy lying on hard ground. One hand shaking Eren's shoulder, and the other hovering near Eren's midsection, where blood drenched the boy's uniform red, as red as the twilight sky.
It was their very last battle, and Levi wouldn't let Eren to die.
"Eren! Eren, wake up!"
Levi sounded desperate even to his own ears. Eren wasn't moving, let alone waking up, and that pair of vibrant turquoise orbs were still closed. Blood was still steadily leaking to the cold ground, where the felled rainwater diluted crimson to pale red.
"Eren, please…"
Levi's voice cracked with the quieter plea, and he could feel wetness gathering on his eyes. He just blinked rapidly to prevent tears from falling. He wasn't supposed to cry, not the slightest. He was Humanity's Strongest, dammit—
A hand, not cold but not warm, touched Levi's cheek.
"Corporal, why are you crying?"
Scowling half-heartedly to those vibrant turquoise orbs, Levi said, "I'm not. It's just the rainwater."
"Is that so?" Eren smiled very softly. "Then it's fine."
"Let's get you warmed and cleaned up." Levi pulled Eren up, carrying the boy on his back as he stood up. "You're filthy."
Eren chuckled quietly, circling his arms around Levi's neck. The touch was also slightly cold and Levi wanted to warm it.
"I'm not sure if you're really worried or it's your OCD speaking out, Corporal," Eren whispered softly to Levi's ear.
That brought a smile to Levi's face. "Brat."
"Look, Corporal." Eren sounded faintly amused, holding out a small glass container on his pointer finger and thumb. "I caught the sun."
"Huh?" Levi stopped walking, peering to the container in-between Eren's lean fingers.
The orange and yellow sun glowed through the tiny container, as if caught inside the clear glass.
Letting out a huff of laugh, Levi nodded. "Yeah, sure you did."
"Here, you can have it." Eren dropped the tiny cylinder to Levi's open palm.
"Whatever for?" Levi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"There're twilight's shards inside." Eren's voice was completely serious. "So take care of it."
Levi just barely held a snort when his eyes caught on something sparkling inside the container, a tiny glow that wasn't a reflected ray of sun. Thinking that Eren might have rubbed him more than expected, Levi nonetheless pocketed the container.
It had been a few years since then.
They were just spending their daily lives―still in the former headquarter of the Scouting Legion. Most people had left for the outside world already, but some of them still remained; and they were one of them who stayed. Levi had chosen to keep living in the old castle, and surprisingly, Eren had also remained with him.
The sky had gotten dark. It had been raining since noon and showed no sign of stopping. It should have been around the end of the rainy season, but the rain still kept on pouring day after day.
Levi shifted on his sleep; he turned around and faced Eren. He was sleeping so soundly, his chest went up and down due to his own breathing. Eren wore such a peaceful face when he was sleeping that Levi would just stay awake and stare at Eren's face for hours.
Levi suddenly noticed that Eren had grown up to a fine adult. Features sharpened, though some traces of previous boyishness were holding up, giving the brunette's face more nuances. The muscle mass from old days as soldier didn't lessen, but Eren stayed on the lean side. And to Levi's chagrin, Eren also gained on height, now stood at good six feet tall, exceeding Levi by ten inches.
Levi brushed off Eren's fringe to the side. He sometimes wished for Eren not to grow up so much. The changes made him feel old for obvious reasons.
"Say, Eren… why did you choose to stay with me? You could go with Arlert and the others to explore more of the world, so why stay?"
Levi never expected a respond. He was just talking to himself, mumbling to himself. But then Eren chuckled softly. It surprised Levi, he thought Eren was asleep. Eren opened his eyes and just smiled at Levi.
Levi furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you laughing at?"
"Well, I couldn't just leave you here alone, Levi-san." Eren brushed his finger along Levi's face.
Eren's fingers weren't exactly warm, but it felt nice on Levi. It was Eren's touch after all.
"What about you, then? Why are you still here?" Eren asked back.
"...I just couldn't bring myself to leave this place."
Eren smiled, soft and warm. "See? That's exactly why."
Levi pulled Eren to an embrace, whispering his gratitude to the brown tresses. Eren didn't answer, but he could sense the widening smile as the brunette snuggled closer to him.
Eren wasn't the best cook, but Levi enjoyed eating the food. Sometimes he quietly asked for seconds and Eren gladly took his plate and gave him more. And aside from the food, he also enjoyed watching Eren cook. Eren had always worn that same girly violet apron (a mock birthday present from Jean, right before the blonde's untimely death) while cooking, and maybe that was the reason he would sit there and stared at Eren preparing something for them to eat. Sometimes he would hug Eren from behind and gave the brunette some kisses or bites on the neck and Eren would flinch at his action. Then they would have to delay their meal time for that.
But now, Eren was just standing there, almost unresponsive save for the half-hearted complaint thrown only once.
And so Levi called on, "Eren? What is it?"
Eren didn't even smile while saying, "It's nothing, really."
Levi scowled; a real annoyance within the past eight months. "I don't buy it, so spill."
Hearing his tone, Eren smiled sadly and pushed away from Levi's embrace. "I was thinking that we'd really come this far… that we all carry many, many scars…" Eren stared outside to the glowing yellow orb that was the sun. "…but somehow, it's still hurting."
Levi fell silent.
Levi opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times to adjust the amount of light entering his retinas. He rose from the armchair and yawned, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was almost five in the afternoon, and his nap had gone too long than planned.
"Eren?"
Levi frowned when he got no answer. Usually, Eren would've answered at the first call, and then appeared in less than a minute. But now, the boy (man) was nowhere to be found. He felt that the old castle was also eerily silent, even more lifeless than usual, as he traversed room by room, searching for a glimpse of lean figure and familiar mop of brown. He stopped when he reached the balcony, sparing the setting sun a surprised glance.
Skies above were already dyed crimson by twilight, orange sun sending the same red everywhere around him. Levi felt he would start to hate that color of sunset, as it reminded him of that twilight from years ago, when he found Eren's rapidly… cooling body…
A twinkling noise alerted Levi that the container, the glass cylinder he'd always been keeping, had fallen off his pocket.
But the yellow sparkle inside faded very slightly.
—So much blood, stark crimson against greyish shirt, red as the twilight skies above—
Levi fell to his knees with a sharp draw of breath. His hand flew to the container and raised his fist up high, intent on breaking the glass, grinding the pieces to mere dust, letting those dusts to scatter and vanish to the crimson twilight.
A hand, strong and young, caught on Levi's fist and another arm enveloped Levi's shaking body to a tight embrace. Not exactly warm, but not cold either.
Levi curled deeper into himself, unwilling to open up to the gentle, tight embrace full of forgiveness given by the young man behind him. He barely aware of the same hand prying out the container from his closed fist, and suddenly the person stepped away, leaving him to stay sitting alone on the cold stone floor.
Startled, Levi looked up and saw Eren pulling the cork off, releasing out a tiny yellow sparkle inside the glass container to the air. His eyes widened as Eren suddenly also had the same yellow glow that slowly fading out, taking away Eren's matured appearance year by year.
"Eren, you… you're not really here, are you?"
"No, Levi-san." Eren's voice echoed around them, as if coming out straight from the wind. "I died that day."
"Why stay with me, then?"
Eren shook his head with a fond smile. "Do I have to answer, really?"
By now, Eren's glow had faded to reveal that young face of fifteen, familiar features of old days. Levi pushed himself to his feet and pulled Eren's fading figure down to an embrace, trying to convey all his feelings into it.
"Eren… Eren, I love you… and thank you for staying this long with me."
Eren's smile, soft and warm and full of forgiveness, faded out completely to the crimson of twilight sky, leaving behind a whisper of words.
"I love you too, Levi."
Falling to his knees, Levi let the tears to flow freely then, fisting the tiny container—now uncorked and most decidedly empty, from the stone floor and holding it close to his heart.
And when he finally, finally, raised his head up to gaze at the skies, crimson twilight had faded down to horizon, swallowed by the blue of evening and faint twinkles of faraway starlight.
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