❝I've been good with animals all my life. Humans are the ones I have trouble with.❞ ㅡ Isabel Magnolia

CHAPTER TWO:

CRACKING WALLS

Grey eyes, sharp and focused, scrutinized the city from above, searching for a certain woman with red-velvet hair. While glancing around the streets, Levi felt something akin to eagerness; for some unknown reason, it was becoming a familiar sensation nowadays. No, that wouldn't be accurate at all. Truth be told, the man knew the reason behind such odd fact, and it irked him to no end.

Why, of all people, did the annoying sister of Isabel to be the one who made to make him feel. Do not misunderstand him, as he wasn't romantically infatuated with her — that'd be just unthinkable, he huffed mentally. However, she had managed to make a breakthrough in cracking his walls — he was eager, for crying out loud; Levi could see them crumbling at his feet over the course of time if he allowed her to get any closer.

One would say — after coming to such conclusion — he would just stay away so he wouldn't have to face that problem. Yet again, it seemed part of him enjoyed the churning sensation in his stomach, and Levi found himself unable to avoid her; hence his irritation towards his own judgement — or lack of it.

"Tch, that annoying idiot."

She was slowly driving him mental.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he cursed aloud as his gaze kept looking for the elusive woman. His hand reached for his hair to run his slender fingers through his dark locks, and his eyes closed in exasperation. It was always like that; whenever he tried to find her, it would be to no avail. Oddly enough, it was her who had an unnerving tendency to localize him, as though she had some kind of radar.

Trusting his instincts, Levi sat down on the edge of the roof and lay down on its cold surface. As time went by, he suddenly couldn't help but rethink his decision of letting the woman join the three of them in their mission.

That same morning, a rich man with chubby face and an arrogant attitude had showed up demanding to talk to his group. At first, Levi had been forthright and harsh, for he would never abase himself so much as to make a deal with their ilk. For all he cared, they could die in a hole filled with titans. However, much to his dismay, the man was not taking 'no' for an answer, and considering he didn't seem to have a problem repeating over and over again that he was rich enough as to allow himself to give away a lot of money and not end up missing it, Levi hadn't been able to say a word in the matter.

"On one condition," he had argued nonetheless, not pleased in the least but determined to make the most out of such inconvenient situation. "Someone else will join us."

The only teenager present had spoken up then, curious and partly aware of her friend's intentions. Both Farlan and Isabel knew the short man had been frequently meeting with the older of the Magnolia sisters whenever they found themselves with time to spare, and suspicion had risen in their minds.

"Are you talking about Gal?"

Before Levi had been allowed to give an answer, laughter had erupted from the rich man, and then he had stared him down as if he were a joke.

"Galene? Already tried talking her into this," he had revealed. "One of my men is in the hospital because of that ungrateful bitch, but she got away before I could do something about it."

More like, before I could call my men to do the work for me, Levi had thought, repulsed and raged by the man's words.

"She wouldn't listen."

But Levi had merely hardened his stare.

"She will listen to me."

What had made him think it'd be that easy? Nothing — Levi just wanted the man to shut his filthy mouth. And he had, thus why Levi had felt satisfied for the time being. However, now that he thought about it, he didn't have a clue as to how he was going to convince her.

"Still sleeping? You're such a lazy ass, Levi," a voice he recognized way too well snapped him back to reality.

His eyelids fluttered open to reveal a pair of grey orbs, which were greeted by the bemused face of Galene. The woman had both hands placed on her hips as she stared at him from above, an arched eyebrow directed at him as though she were expecting him to do something. Grunting under his breath, Levi sat up and waited for her to join him on the edge of the roof, which she did after a moment of hesitation.

"Why did you turn down his offer?" Levi asked straightforward, referring to the rich man with whose men she had gotten into a fight.

"Since when do you give a rat's ass about what I do?" she answered his question with one of her own; the words rolled off her tongue with parsimony while she pulled out a cigarette.

"Tch, you're daft if you think I do," he retorted.

Nevertheless, the corner of her lips curled up into a slight smirk.

"I should have figured that scum would go to you. But honestly, I don't care," she commented with a casual shrug. "Did you accept?"

Levi scoffed; the thought amused him. "We didn't have a choice in the matter."

"We always have a choice," Galene muttered as her eyes stared off into the distance.

When silence responded her, she mentally shook her head and lighted the cigarette.

"Oi, stop smoking, brat," Levi demanded in a harsh voice, eyeing the item with repulsion as he did.

As usual, much to his disgust, the woman merely shrugged him off and kept on taking drags on her cigarette. It was a vicious circle: he'd demand for her to quit smoking, and she'd ignore him while waving her hand around; as if she were trying to get rid of an annoying fly.

"I've been thinking —"

The cigarette was taken away from her mouth as she was about to take another drag in, which startled her and stopped her mid-sentence. Slowly, Galene turned her head to the man, who was tossing the small item to the street below them. It was probably then when the woman realized how important he was becoming to her, and how much she treasured his friendship.

They had known each other for a couple of months, but their interactions had only become more frequent as days had gone by. What had started off as mere interest and entertainment was slowly developing into one of the deepest, most cherished relationships they had had.

"You will stop smoking," he ordered as his eyes glared into hers.

Galene stared aghast into his burning gaze as her previous realization shook her from head to toes. However, in spite of her judgement, she pushed away the warning alarms going on in her head and made the decision that was going to change her life. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, and her face contorted into an expression of pure amusement.

"And you will get me out of here," she concluded, which earned her a barely-noticeable look of bewilderment from the man next to her.

That was easier than expected, Levi thought.

Seeing they both were satisfied with how things had been solved out, they allowed a comfortable silence to fall upon them. After some minutes of calm, Levi lay down and resumed his position on the ground, his arms under his head as support.

"Levi."

The man grunted in response. Seriously, he couldn't have a moment of peace if Galene was around; he could've sworn she annoyed him on purpose.

"What?" he snarled while opening his eyes to send her an exasperated look, which — if she ever noticed — she did a great job ignoring.

"Lend me an arm."

"No."

Galene glared at him. "Too much for asking."

"You didn't ask, brat."

And was he right; she had a subtle way when it came to requesting things — mind the irony on subtle. It was curious how much she resembled to her younger sister and how much she contrasted to her at the same time.

"What the hell are you doing?" Levi demanded to know when he felt the — by now — familiar pressure on his stomach.

Galene merely glanced at him from the corner of her eye, a serene expression plastered on her pale face. Her head lay comfortably on his stomach, and some locks of her red hair tickled his chest as they caressed the bare skin that showed between the open buttons of his loose shirt. Much to his dismay, Levi had learned through months of meetings it was pointless to try to get her off of him, and if he succeeded on the task, she would just punch him square in the stomach and resume her position as if nothing had disturbed her.

"I can see right through you, Levi," she muttered then, ignoring his question in the process. "You do care."

Levi just clicked his tongue in vexation and closed his eyes again. Amused by his stubbornness, her hand reached for his, and her gaze fixed on the fresh mark drawn on his palm.

"It was a peculiar way to stub out a cigarette," she mused, which earned her a glare from the man.

"I couldn't stand the smoke," Levi defended. "It's filthy and repulsing, and you're annoying."

Galene arched an eyebrow while dropping his hand.

"Glad to know you like me that much," she replied with a fake smile. "Next time, stub it out on your face; maybe, that way your sour mood will finally go away. Seriously, it should be considered as chronic condit-."

A surprised yelp escaped her throat as she was pushed off of his stomach, and consequently, of the roof.

I really don't know why I bother, they both thought.

"I swear to God, if you push me again I will punch you so hard your face will sink into your damn skull."

In the end, he did know why he bothered:

Galene Magnolia was such an interesting woman... and so easy to rile up.