Levi glanced at Eren, and Eren at Levi, both quickly looking away. It was probably time for a few explanations, but where to start?

"I think..." Eren started, "I think we need to talk."

"Yeah," agreed Levi. He nodded a few times and walked over to the couch. Eren sat on the floor.

"So, do you want me to begin, or...?" Eren asked awkwardly.

"No, I'll go first." said Levi, shaking his head slightly, and taking a deep breath.

"Well, as you found out earlier, I was in a gang. I was caught up in some shit, Eren. My life wasn't good. I was failing school, my mom couldn't afford to feed us, and my dad was off god knows where. I had to do some bad things.

"I resorted to stealing and accepting money from the other gang members. Erwin was one of them. That's how we met. Hanji, she was Erwin's friend. She was studying to become a doctor. I just did some really bad things. Things I don't want to talk about. Erwin has done his fair share of things, too.

"I never went to jail. I was never caught. My 'partners', if that's what you would call them, got caught all the time. They were stupid. I wasn't stupid, Eren, I just made some bad decisions. I guess you could call that being stupid if you want, though. The only one in that gang I actually got along with was Erwin, but everyone else tolerated me because of my skill. I'm not trying to brag.

"One day... one day they took it too far. They beat a man half to death, and I told them to stop. They didn't, of course, until the man was within an inch of his life. I didn't even know why they were doing that, the beating. I didn't care. One of them shoved a knife in my hand and told me to kill him. I didn't want to, Eren, I swear. They threatened to kill me. I know what you must be thinking. 'He killed that poor man!', right?

"No. I turned around and killed them. I was sick of it. Sick of putting up with their shit. By the time I came to, I was surrounded with dead bodies of my 'comrades' and covered in their blood. And you know what? I didn't regret it. Honestly, I still don't regret it. You must think I'm a monster. Erwin found me soon after, still frozen in that position, standing there in a defensive stance with a bloodied knife in my hand.

"He told me we should run away before the police found out. I wiped out all traces of my presence there, my footprints, anything. I took the knife with me. In the end, it wasn't even reported on the news. Honestly, I think they were glad o get rid of them. I don't know if they cared who did it. Who knows, maybe they did. I expected them to report it, to have some mass scandal about which gang killed them, but there weren't any rival gangs in the area. That doesn't mean it would stop them. I still don't know why. I've always had a suspicion it was Erwin, somehow."

Levi finished speaking, refusing to make eye contact with Eren. He knew Eren thought he was a monster now. He didn't even regret what he did. He felt no remorse. Who could like someone like that? Levi found himself wanting to cry.

To Levi's surprise, Eren didn't throw accusations at him. He didn't comfort him, either. He just began his truth, Levi was relieved.

"My dad, he was a doctor. Officially, he was a doctor. He dabbled in science in the basement. Not the kind of science you would want to know about. My mom was a stay at home mom because she was ill. She used to own a flower shop, actually. We had to sell it.

"One day, he was called to someone's house because they couldn't afford to go to the hospital. They were family friends, so he promised to go to their house for cheap. When we got there, their dead bodies were lying there on the floor. And their daughter was missing. Dad said something about human trafficking, I think. I don't remember all that much of what he said. I was eight. I didn't pay attention.

"He told me to wait while he called the police. But it didn't want to just stand there while someone's life was at stake. So I took a knife and I walked into the woods, hoping to find them. It was sheer luck that I did. I didn't just go into the first house I saw, you know. I looked into the window. I saw her on the floor and I saw the three men she was with.

"I knocked on the door. One of them opened it and told me to get lost. In return, I stabbed him. Not the best greeting, I suppose. I stabbed him a few more times, and he died. I walked into the house and i killed the other guy too. And when I walked over to untie the girl, the third guy attacked me and tried to strangle me to death. The girl killed him.

"Afterwards, Dad found us and told me not to do anything like that again. I gave the girl my scarf because she looked cold and asked her what her name was. 'Mikasa,' she said."

Levi thought Eren's story was over, and started to say something about how they were both fucked up, but Eren continued.

"My mom died a few years later. Dad went insane and started spending all of his time in the basement. He kept saying something about eternal life, whenever I would actually see him. Mikasa and Armin were my only company. Dad stopped buying things for us, so Armin and Mikasa brought me food from their houses.

"And then, one day, I finally saw my Dad again. The day I was leaving my house for my new apartment, actually. Mikasa and Armin were there to came up the stairs, nearly all skin and bones, and he said-"

Eren stopped abruptly, looking downward. Upon closer examination, he was shaking.

"Hey, Eren..." Levi reached out a hand, but pulled it back, knowing he couldn't touch him. No matter what, he wouldn't ever be able to touch Eren, huh? That thought brought him sadness.

Suddenly, the lights started flickering. Levi stared at Eren, wide-eyed, as his house began to shake. The lights flickered on and off, and it was like there was wind blowing all around Eren. His hair was whipping around his face. Levi braced himself.

"Eren!" he shouted, but Eren did not respond. He had ot stop this little shit, and quickly. And then his door burst open.

"Sorry, Levi, looks like I left my-" Erwin's voice trailed off and his jaw dropped. The flickering and shaking stopped and Eren looked at Erwin, startled.

"What is this?" asked Erwin in a shaking voice. "What- Is this a prank?"

Erwin laughed uneasily. Levi looked at Eren, who looked like he was going to disappear any second. As if they weren't in enough shit as it was.

"No, Erwin, what did you forget?" asked Levi, keeping an eye on Eren. He would say what he wanted to say later.

"I forgot my-" Erwin started, but turned to Eren just as he disappeared. His eyes went wide and Levi felt a pang of panic in his chest.

"Erwin-" Levi said in a soothing voice, but Erwin stumbled back and bolted out of the house, leaving Levi standing there, shocked and mildly concerned. Who knew what Erwin would do now.

And as for Eren...

Levi looked back at the room. He would have never expected something like that from Eren. The Eren he knew was nice, and calming, and cheerful, as well as cute and-

No, no, no. That wouldn't do. He couldn't be falling for a ghost. No, he was just tired and needed some sleep. He would be fine after that.

Once upon a time, little Erwin played with a Ouija board.