A/N: Okay, so this is when Eren starts to show more of his canon side. It's about a week after the last chapter, by the way. Please enjoy!
"What do you mean he hasn't been in to work?" I shouted into the receiver. "No, I don't know where he is! That's why I'm talking to you." The secretary at the high school that Levi worked at was stupider than I thought was humanly possible, and I wouldn't even consider myself to be all that smart either.
Once I couldn't take her pointless questions any longer, I simply hung up on her and slammed my good fist against the wall in frustration.
"Careful, now. You wouldn't want to injure that one too, would you?" Mikasa joked casually, resting a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll find out where he went."
"Bullshit! He's not home, I couldn't find any family, his friends don't know where he is, his work doesn't know anything either! What the hell else am I supposed to do? He just skipped town!" I snarled, slipping away from my sister's grip. She opened her mouth to speak, but my physical therapist interrupted before she could.
"Sorry to barge in, but it's time for your exercise!" she chirped. I grunted angrily and went with her, leaving Mikasa alone in my room with a defeated look on her face. I felt bad for snapping at her, but there was no time for apologies. I had to get better so I could keep looking and not be just another pathetic patient calling from the hospital phone. Some would call me possessive, but I just knew that he wouldn't just not visit me for sixteen days. He had weekends off and didn't work after four on weekdays. I was certain he would have at least called my friends to check in every so often. Something had to be wrong. Maybe he'd gotten kidnapped!
"Mr. Yeager, are you okay?" she asked, concern laced in her voice.
"What? Oh, yeah. Don't worry about me, Marie. I was just thinking is all."
"Okay. Could you try to pick up this mug and move it to the red X on the table?"
I shrugged, not really sure if I could do it, but I had to try. So I carefully moved my right arm to grasp the mug. It was already shaking, which made an awfully annoying tapping sound on the table. Ignoring my annoyance, I lifted the mug up off the table tentatively and guided it ever so slowly towards the X. After about two minutes of concentration, I managed to put it down again, though the whole thing was less than graceful.
"Wow. Just yesterday you couldn't even pick it up for more than a couple seconds. What happened?" Marie inquired, seeming genuinely happy for me. I couldn't share in her joy.
"My boyfriend is missing and I have to get better so I can find out where he is."
"These things take time," she warned.
"I don't care what it takes. If I have to spend hours moving mugs and picking up jumbo paper clips to show you that I can, that's what I'll do."
"Well I admire your determination, but you should really focus on yourself and your recovery."
"What's the point of 'me' if there's no 'us'?"
"A package for you, Eren!" Armin said in his singsong voice. I knew he was just trying to cheer me up, so I didn't call him on it and just took the package.
It was a medium-sized box that was sort of heavy. I wondered what it could be. There was no return address either, which seemed odd. My blond friend offered his keys so I could cut the tape sealing the parcel. Inside, I found a bloody brick in a plastic bag, an old flip phone, and a picture of me unconscious on the day of my attack. It was so unnerving to see myself that way. Seeing the look on my face, Armin gestured for me to show him the picture. He seemed surprised at first, and then I recognized a distinct expression of fear, which he tried and failed to conceal.
I decided to instead look at the brick. It seemed perfectly ordinary, except for the dried blood crusted on its surface. Once I realized that it was the very same brick that had been used to clobber me, I dropped it and retracted in fear. What sick bastards thought it would be funny to send those things to me? Just then, the phone beeped. I picked it up gingerly and read the text I had received from a blocked number.
He's already betrayed you.
What? Who'd already betrayed me? And how? The phone vibrated with another message.
Don't worry. He's already being punished.
The message also came with a photo attachment. I opened it and waited for it to load. The picture was of a dirty, bruised, and bloody Levi in a darkened room chained to a chair. His head was down and he looked thinner and weaker than ever. For someone like him to be so defeated… It had to be some part of his past. He didn't tell me to try to protect me, but in the end it didn't matter. I almost found it in myself to laugh at the irony of it all. If I had at least known something I could have helped much more readily. Even so, I knew what I'd have to do.
A/N: Let me know what you thought of this and what should happen next in the reviews. Have a great day!