After getting some sleep, Levi rose at nine A.M. to start his morning ritual. As usual, he set to work at cleaning everything. He bleached the bathroom, scrubbed the counters, and vacuumed all the floors until Hangi finally stumbled out of her room looking royally pissed.
Her hair was standing in all directions and her green t-shirt was hanging off her shoulder. She rustled her hair, yawning, and said, "I'm glad you're back to normal but do you have to do that so early in the morning?"
Levi shut off the vacuum to glare at her pointedly. "Of course I do. The place is filthy," he said, gesturing to the span of the room. He pulled the vacuum into the living room while Hangi meandered the kitchen and he glanced at the couch. Ugh. Hair. But the hairs were short and what really made Levi pause was their color. "Gray," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes. He glanced up at the kitchen to where Hangi had just left the room back to the few scattered hairs. "Hangi?" he called, positioning the vacuum's nozzle over the mess.
"Yeah?" she answered. Bowls clinked in the kitchen as Hangi prepared her breakfast.
"Is your hair turning gray?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"No reason," he replied, turning on the vacuum. He sucked up all of the hairs and thought no more about it.
Levi was sitting in his usual chair, holding his binoculars to his eyes, as he scoured the park and the streets for anything interesting. But it didn't feel right. There was something that Levi was forgetting, he was sure of it. And, considering his sudden memory loss, he wasn't surprised. But what was it?
Hangi appeared beside him with his pills, tapping him on the shoulder. Slowly, Levi removed his binoculars to look at her. This time he took the pills without complaining, tipping them back, before gulping down water from the glass Hangi handed him.
"See anything interesting out there?" Hangi asked. Levi was hit with sudden déjà vu and frowned.
"No, nothing," he said quietly, handing the cup back to her. "Just tired." It was the honest truth. He was tired and bored and he felt like he had a part of him ripped out. Something was missing. "Now leave me alone."
Hangi left wordless and Levi scanned the park with the binoculars once again. In his search, he settled on watching a man and his dog. But after a moment he was bored again. Everything felt so gray and dull.
A few days later Levi had let himself slip into almost a depression. He felt like shit and nothing was interesting anymore. It was just… blah. Meanwhile, his health had been okay. Just a few coughs here and there but nothing serious.
Finally, he forced himself to get his coat and boots on. Perhaps he just needed a change of pace to refresh his mood.
He clomped his way down the stairs and into the coffee shop, waving off Erwin, telling him he would back soon. Then he walked across the street into the park just as the lights switched on overhead. And even those didn't interest him.
"Hey!" Someone yelled.
Levi looked up and over his shoulder and jolted when he saw the girl running towards him. What was her name again? Eren? In her arm was a small gray cat and in the other was his red scarf. "You dropped this!" she called, stopping in front of him, panting. "Oh! Levi, it's you!"
She handed him the scarf and Levi took it delicately, looking at her pretty green eyes. He tilted his head as he wrapped the scarf back around his neck. "Do you live around here?"
"Uh, kinda," she said with a smile.
Levi waited, thinking she would go on but she didn't. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I may or may not live around here," she replied with a smiled. "And I'm not telling where."
Levi smiled minutely. Eren was… What was the right word? Unique? Different. And Levi liked it. Reaching forward, Levi brushed his fingers across the soft fur of Eren's cat. Then he froze. Gray hair. Something flashed in his mind, a picture of cat on his couch, hissing.
"Would you like to come to my place for some coffee or something?" Levi asked suddenly.
Eren looked startled but she nodded. "Sure. I suppose that would be fine."
"Follow me," Levi said, leading the way out of the park. As they walked, Levi stole several glances at the girl. She was beautiful in her own way but something had to be done about her hair. It was tangled and somewhat greasy.
"What are you thinking about?" Eren asked about, glancing up at him with those big green eyes.
Levi swallowed hard. "Do you ever feel like you know someone but you can't remember from where?"
"Yeah, you."
Levi almost stopped walking, his heart thudding, but he glanced at her nonchalantly. "Me?"
A blush rose over Eren's cheeks and she jostled the cat in her arms as she exclaimed, "I don't mean anything weird about it or anything!" The cat meowed angrily.
Levi smiled. "It's okay. I was going to say the same about you." He took his hand and ruffled Eren's hair. Then, as he began to pull his hand away, his fingers brushed the soft skin of her neck and she gasped. Startled, she jumped away from him and stared in complete shock.
"Revaille!" she cried, slapping her hand over the spot where he had touched her. "Oh my God!"
"What, are you a germaphobe?" Levi asked in exasperation, holding his hands out in shock.
"No, but you touched me!"
Levi tilted his head. "Whoa, calm down. I didn't mean anything by it."
"But you're still alive! You haven't fallen over or anything!"
Now Levi was definitely confused. "Yes, I appear to be still alive."
Her face heated further. "Oh, it's just… nothing!"
Levi eyed her and said, "Okay... then..."
Eren laughed nervously, throwing a hand behind her head. "Sorry, I freaked out. Let's just forget about it."
"Whatever, brat," Levi said, starting to walk again. Eren followed close behind until they made it to the street. Levi turned to walk up to the stoplight when Eren bolted out into the traffic. "Eren!" he called out.
"What?" she called back, stopping in the middle of the road.
Levi's heart thudded hard against his chest, overwhelming him, as he saw a car heading straight for her. "Fuck!" he hollered. Suddenly his fear ripped through him and a bright green light flashed and Levi was pushed backward, landing against the pavement, but he glanced up in time to Eren flying backwards, hitting the curb and lying still. The cat flew from her hands with a high pitched yowl that was lost in the blaring honk of the passing car.
"Shit!" Levi spat, pulling himself to his feet. He didn't even care. He ran out into the road, dodging the blaring cars just to make it to Eren's side. "Eren!" he called, dropping to his knees by her side. There was a bit of blood trickling from a cut on her forehead and she was lying still. The cat was sitting by her side dutifully, meowing softly.
With a shaky hand, Levi reached out to touch her cheek. It was warm and soft.
A crowd was starting to gather but Levi glared at them, silently forcing them back. But suddenly Eren gasped, blinking quickly. "Levi?" she called, disoriented.
How did she knew his real name? He hadn't told her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice shaking.
She groaned, pressing a hand into her bloody cut and sat up slowly. Her cat hopped into her lap and she smiled down at him. "I'm fine," she whispered to the cat, running her bloody hand through his fur.
"Do you need an ambulance?" someone asked from the crowd.
Eren tilted her head and gave them a bright smile. "No, I'm okay." She rose to her feet and waved at everyone. "I'm okay!"
The crowd dispersed while Levi picked up her cat for her, holding it a bit awkwardly. "Come on," Levi said, forcing her to follow him into the coffee shop. Inside, Levi was relieved that Erwin wasn't anywhere in sight.
They headed up the stairs and soon they were entering Levi's apartment. Levi let the cat out onto the floor, sighing. "You know, you're an idiot."
Eren looked at him guiltily but didn't reply. It infuriated Levi even more.
"You're always doing this!" Levi roared. "You can't run out into the street like that!"
"Always?" she asked with a frown.
Levi frowned to himself. Wait… Then he heard a scraping sound and he turned to find the gray cat scratching away at the couch. A spot where there were already scratch marks. Why hadn't he noticed that before?
An image flashed in his mind of a girl sitting on his couch and he turned back to Eren in shock. "Were you here before?"
"No," she said slowly. "I don't think so." Her eyes skimmed her surroundings.
Levi's looked up at her cut and his eyes widened. "Your cut, it's gone."
She pressed her hand to her forehead. "Oh my God," she said.
"What are you?" Levi asked, looking into her eyes.
"I could ask you the same thing!" she cried. "You saved me with a flash a green light and-" She froze. "Wait… you're… Are you Levi?"
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