Levi Has A Pet
Summary: Levi has a pet, an unusual one, but it's a pet and he likes it with all of his dark little heart. It's small, undemanding and, most of all, clean. But it's a blast from the past and when word gets out, everyone wants it. Levi has to make sure his unique pet remains his and free. Eren, already done with this BS 2000 years ago, gets dragged into it. He's not complaining, despite his complaining.
Things were blissfully peaceful leading up to the day of the science fair. The time Mikasa and Jean had to spare between last minute wedding preparations were spent reacquainting themselves with each other and they even included Levi, despite his life story being all but laid out before them all already when he'd been explaining how he ended up being a fugitive.
Mikasa, since she was born into a wealthy yakuza family and didn't need to really worry about money for the rest of her life even if everyone else from her family got arrested one day, was studying fashion designing with intentions of becoming a designer herself one day. She had started late because her parents - well, more like her mother and aunt, actually, as her father was willing to let her do whatever makes her happy - had wanted her to inherit the family business, since she was the first born child, but Mikasa had had enough action to last her several last time two thousand years ago so she was more than willing to leave it all to her younger brother, who was a year older than Levi and very ambitious. They had relented when they realized she intended to live a normal, peaceful, civilian life when she and Jean started dating and it reached three whole years. They supported her now in her goals, though they still, apparently, secretly expected her to change her mind one day. That, of course, pissed her brother off since he was already putting a lot of effort into their business while Mikasa just chilled and was still the heiress. It was complicated and made Levi all the more reluctant to even think of going to Mikasa's wedding, let alone actually attending it.
Annie was competing in MMA tournaments all around the world for a year now and was currently the holder of several titles. She still had no chill nor mercy in the ring and she challenged Eren for a round, for old time's sake. She knew not to challenge Levi, as it would hardly be fair. Sasha, upon hearing about his feat with the sofa on the flight over, had insisted he do something incredible with his Ackerman strength because she wanted to see it in person, too. And Levi had had no reason to deny her since they had already been in the underground garage, in Mikasa's private session, under her karaoke joint, so he'd casually lifted one of the cars they had arrived in. Marco had gawked at him, because he had thought the couch was his limit, and Bertolt had almost fainted on the spot as he realized what Levi had been doing in the cabin while he'd been flying the plane in the cockpit. Sasha had been in awe. So Annie knew it wouldn't be a fair match, as Annie was no longer a Shifter, therefore if Levi accidentally went too rough on her, he could seriously hurt her. Eren,though, had given a 'maybe' as an answer to her challenge, the brunet clearly not wanting to accidentally draw attention to them after the thing with the yakuza traitors. Other than MMA, Annie lived with her dad and helped him with his donut shop. He didn't remember, but it was her same father from two thousand years ago, so that trend was at least consistent with everyone.
Mikasa and Annie actually knew each other from high school, as they had attended the same advanced gym class, and they had decided to strike up a friendship in this life as well. Annie had tried to help Mikasa convince her mother and aunt to let her do what she wants with her life and Mikasa had placed her protection on Annie's father's shop so no other yakuza or gang would try to collect 'protection' money from them or trash their shop.
Sasha and Connie were actually running a restaurant, the exact restaurant Jean and Mikasa would be holding the wedding reception at. The business is originally Connie's father's, who was apparently a Korean immigrant that had started his life anew in Japan and eventually married Connie's mother, a Russian immigrant, restarting their family life from two thousand years ago. Connie may have a Japanese citizenship, but he was anything but. Their restaurant served a lot of mixed dishes and some 'original' ones, which were actually dishes the people of Paradis and Marley had enjoyed two thousand years ago. Sasha and Connie met in this life in culinary school, which was not surprising. They both wanted to be chefs, but Sasha was from the mountains and she wanted to introduce the world to their traditional dishes and Connie was all too willing to get her a job at his family's restaurant. As they gained experience and made a lot of profit for the establishment, Connie's father made them co-managers and retired, though he tended to bar-tend for them on busy nights as an extra hand.
Sashsa was the one who actually reunited the group. Well, Mikasa was, too, but it was because Mikasa had walked into the Springer's restaurant when she recognized Sasha, roasted potato in each hand and in her mouth, on the street as she was getting to work and had followed her. Connie and Mikasa reunited and Annie and Mikasa started coming as regulars once the black haired woman informed the blonde of the friends she'd found, even if Sasha didn't remember. Then, a couple of months later, Jean had been led to the restaurant by a client he'd just sold three racing horses to. Connie had been back in the kitchen, Mikasa had been in a both facing away from Jean, waiting for Annie who was in the bathroom, but Sasha had decided she wanted to help the waiting staff that day and she had seen the tall, handsome, clearly well off man and had thought it wouldn't be a bad half-joke if her new friend found love with someone like that. So she'd grabbed Jean and dragged him to Mikasa's booth, pretending not to know English as she 'explained' how he was led to a wrong seat, all the while Jean was too conflicted to protest as he recognized his long lost friend. And then Mikasa and Jean had seen each other and the magic happened.
Later on, Jean would introduce Marco, Reiner and Bertolt to the others who remembered and they were as inseparable as people who lived on two completely different sides of the globe could ever be.
Now Jean was contemplating opening a big branch of his and Marco's company in Japan so he and Mikasa can live together while, at the same time, Mikasa was thinking about just moving to Spain with him. Levi was amused by how they both were ready to traverse across the world for each other but was also exasperated by their lack of agreement on who should follow whom.
Still, despite them all being quite a bit older than him in this life and despite him having seen almost all of them grow up and make good lives for themselves, he felt a deep relief and an even deeper, stronger pride in them for the life they lived now, free of almost all unnecessary burdens, doing things they liked and enjoying this new world they all were reborn into. They seemed happy and Levi couldn't have asked for more for the brats that had once been under his care. No more Titans, no more death, no more betrayals and civil wars ... Or at least that's what he'll fight for, to keep things this way.
Every day he spent with his former squad, from the moment he reunited with Eren and Armin, Levi had felt his determination to keep the Hallucigenia out of everyone's hands grow and that only intensified once he found almost all of his former comrades. He even wants to fight for Erwin, Nile and Zeke, who were chasing him and making his life hell. For his mother and uncle. For Historia and Uri and Freida and their family. Finding them all only made the risks of the Hallucigenia's secrets and powers all the more real and only made him all the more determined to never let some scientist or anyone else lay their hands on it. The Titan Wars and Eldian civil wars and everything else in between ... That was in the past, where it must stay, no matter what it takes. By now, Levi was used to sacrificing things for the greater good, for his comrades.
He would never let these brats of his have to go through what they did in their past life ever again if he had the power to stop it.
Which is why he's hoping Hange really does remember and that they might have a solution for him that doesn't involve him remaining a fugitive until the day he dies or killing the Hallucigenia. It felt wrong to do it in a way he'd rather not contemplate or try to explain. It was not evil, that was for certain; it had just tried living its life and had been dragged into humanity's bullshit by human greed. It was the last of its race and Levi would let it live for as long as it naturally would if he can help it. He has no right to decide on the extinction of a whole other race, especially one so old.
He really hoped Hange would have an answer for him.
The day of the fair arrived seemingly in the blink of an eye. Mikasa's and Jean's wedding was taking place the day after tomorrow and Mikasa was still insistent that Levi was as much invited as Eren and Armin, though Levi was still not willing to risk his presence possibly ruining the wedding if someone suddenly decided to make an attempt on him or the Hallucigenia. Reiner and Bertolt had left in the early hours of the morning for Spain to get Jean's and Marco's parents, but Mikasa and Jean dropped the trio off near the fair so they don't get lost in Tokyo and offered to pick them up in a few hours when they're done. Eren was the one who led them in as the invitation was on his name and they got in without much difficulty, being given guest IDs for the duration of the three day event. Levi had a feeling they wouldn't be coming back after today, even if things do go smoothly. Mikasa wanted to drag them all to get formal clothes tomorrow so they're all set for the wedding, whether they attend or not.
"Be sure to call me if anything goes wrong."
"Okay, okay, sheesh!"
"I'm serious."
"Hello, serious, I'm Eren."
"EREN!" Mikasa snapped while Jean snickered beside her. Levi rolled his eyes at Eren's antics and Armin just smiled sheepishly.
"Okay, fine, whatever. We can handle ourselves, give it a rest. Besides, if shit does hit the fan, we have everything and everyone we need to get through it right here," Eren said with a grin, slinging an arm around Levi's shoulders as if they had done it a thousand times. Well, Levi guessed personal space becomes a moot point after one sleeps with another person in the same bed on several occasions and wakes up every morning a tangled mess of sheets and limbs. Levi swears he doesn't remember Eren being this messy a sleeper, always moving around and somehow always ending up all but spooning Levi throughout the night. But, then again, almost for as long as Levi had known Eren, the Shifter had had to sleep in chains because people were idiots and thought some steel chains would be able to hold down a person capable of shifting into a fifteen meter Titan.
Really, Eren could have escaped captivity at any time, even back when he had almost zero control over his powers. The fact that he'd only bothered to threaten anyone - Hange, in this case - with the use of his Shifter abilities to escape only after he had the WarHammer Titan and was truly desperate to save Paradis from the rest of the world just spoke how utterly polite the little shit had been for years.
And the MPs used to believe they could contain, kill or dissect him. Idiots.
Mikasa sighed in exasperation, looking tiredly at Levi with an unspoken request that Levi understood all too well and responded to with a mere nod of his head. Yes, he would most certainly look after her past-life-childhood-friends even without prompting, but he also knew she was a worry wart and had been expecting an exchange like this much sooner into this crazy endeavor.
"I guess we'll see you later," Jean called, putting a reassuring arm around his fiancee's shoulder, which made the woman roll her eyes but lean into him nonetheless, smiling in a way Levi would never get used to when comparing this nearly carefree woman and the Ackerman she-warrior who had fought by his side so many times two thousand years ago. Happiness and relaxation looked good on Mikasa.
He was glad his brats had a good life this time around, even if Eren had to scare the shit out of his own father - ... again - so he and his mother could have that, too.
As the couple drove off, Levi, Eren and Armin finally entered the big building where the fair was being held. Well, it's definitely more of a convention, which sounds more professional, too, but since there were also kids wandering around and touching everything they might be allowed to touch or oohing and aahing at everything, he guessed it was also a fair. There were definitely sections and stands which showed how 'fun' science can be. Levi tried to steer his companions away from such stands, but Eren still ended up with the inhaler mask attached to a tank of helium for shits and giggles, his extremely high voice making Levi wonder with a disturbing amount of curiosity whether his Titan's roars could become this squeaky and high pitched, too.
They momentarily lost Armin in the archaeology and paleontology section for kids because Armin couldn't resist the replicas of dinosaur and other animal fossils available for children to dig up, especially the section with aquatic animals. It was mostly fish and sea snails or whatever, but there were also two of the smallest known aquatic dinosaurs on display, too, and Eren had to physically wrench Armin away from it. Then they had to avoid the marine paleontology (for adults) section altogether because Armin wanted to show them the Hallucigenia fossil - or the replica of it - and Levi would really rather not find out how his pet - the living, breathing, overpowered specimen - would react upon seeing the only remains of its long extinct species. They really didn't need to know if the Hallucigenia could escape anytime it wanted like Eren could have two thousand years ago and was just being polite or it amused it to be around humans who know what it is. They didn't need it deciding it was time to go back to its last host and finish what they had started with the Rumbling.
Levi had to drag both Eren and Armin away from the big glass pool set up for the two dolphins scientists were trying to teach to talk. They all collectively decided not to venture into the explosives section.
"Eren Jaeger?" A familiar voice asked and all three of them turned around to find none other than Moblit Berner standing behind them. He looked the same, looking as haggard as he had in their last life, which meant he was dealing with Hange this time around, too. But there was no recognition in his eyes as he scanned all three of them from head to toe. Levi could understand if he didn't recognize Eren or Armin, as they had quite the 'glow up' since Moblit last saw them two thousand years ago, but Levi didn't really age the way other people did. The biggest change to his appearance after he stopped growing was the scars he'd gained when Zeke blew them both up right before the Rumbling. If Moblit remembered, he would have recognized Levi in a second. But he didn't, so clearly he didn't remember, either. "You're Eren Jaeger, right? Hange Zoe's guest?"
"Yes, that's me," Eren replied with a nod, trying to smile and not cry at the same time at meeting yet another comrade they had lost too soon. "And these are my, uhm, guest invites? Armin and Leo." He said the name Levi had tried to hide behind when being introduced to Marco and Levi was grateful to Eren for his forethought to keep his actual name out of anyone's ears. They didn't really know if the world knows Levi by name or just as the guy who has the Hallucigenia. Levi would rather not find out.
Moblit nodded. "My name is Moblit Berner and I'm Hange's assistant, so to say. It appears that the people on duty at the entrance didn't direct you towards her section, so I was sent to find you. If you would please follow me, I'll lead you to her right away."
"Oh, sure. Thank you."
Moblit just nodded and turned around to do just that, clearly expecting them to just follow, which they did. They all stared at the long-ago dead man, they just couldn't help themselves. It was the same with Sasha for all three of them and with Marco and even Bertolt for Levi's two former subordinates turned temporary roommates turned 'adventure' buddies. Hell, it was the same with everyone who remembered in the group, sometimes just needing to reach out and touch the person they had once lost to convince themselves they were, in fact, still there, still alive, still real. Levi had that urge right now, to just reach out and touch any part of Moblit he could reach, just to convince himself his eyes weren't deceiving him. But Moblit would probably be freaked out by that, a complete stranger clinging to him seconds after meeting them.
... Then again, this was Moblit. He worked with Hange. He's probably seen and used to a lot weirder stuff than this.
"Hange-san was expecting your guest to be an Armin Arlert-" Levi, Eren and Armin immediately exchanged glances, something like excitement and relief washing over them at those words because that meant Hange remembered! "-but she was also expecting someone named Mikasa Ackerman. Not that I'm trying to say you are unwelcome," Moblit turned his head to look at Levi as he said that. "It's just very rare for Hange-san's calculation to prove incorrect."
What could they possibly say to that? Sorry Levi's not Mikasa? Levi rather doubts Hange will be disappointed to see him instead of the other Ackerman she was expecting to find with Eren. Don't get him wrong, Hange and Mikasa had gotten along great, but Mikasa was still no Levi. It would be like trying to replace Eren in Mikasa's life with Reiner or some shit; Mikasa learned to forgive Reiner and even became friends with him again, but Reiner would never be Eren just like Mikasa would never be Levi. They were all individuals who had people who loved them and had different places in their hearts for them and that was perfectly fine. It's one of the - quite frankly very few - true beauties of humanity as a whole. Rare few other species could create those kinds of bonds.
Levi couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, the intelligent Hallucigenia had seen this and had desired something even remotely similar for itself. If that was the reason it had created the Paths, the Coordinate. If that was why it had attached itself to Ymir Fritz in the first place. If that was why it had united all Eldians in a way no other people ever will be united. Even in death, even beyond death.
He also wondered if that was why Eldians were reincarnating left and right. With even just the people they know of who had reincarnated, there were at least twenty people.
But there was also the question of Mikasa's mother. It's possible - or more likely probable - that one of her parents had at least some Eldian blood, otherwise Levi doubted she'd have reincarnated. The Aumabito from outside of Paradis can say what they want, the so-called Oriental clan within the Walls had spent at least a hundred years with Eldians within those three, towering Walls. It's very unlikely they would have resorted to incest throughout all one hundred or so years, otherwise Mikasa's mother or even Mikasa herself would have had some serious health problems. Incest in the long run is never a good thing and the people from two thousand years ago were no fools. They'd had practically modern warfare, they'd had vaccines, electricity, trains, zeppelins, even planes and cars. They'd had ways to check for Eldian DNA and even though Paradis had been isolated for a hundred years, Eldians had once been a part of those amazing scientific and technological discoveries and feats, too. If the world from two thousand years ago had developed at all like the world had in the last two centuries or so, then they would have at least known the consequences of mixing the DNA of two too close relatives.
Perhaps the question in regards to all of this reincarnation business should be just how much Eldian blood and DNA must one have to be reincarnated. Because the rest of the world from back then can deny it all they want but at least some of their ancestors had banged an Eldian before. It's just how life works.
And with Eren's claims of killing off 80% of humanity in the Rumbling ... Well, there had to be a lot of Eldians today. Yet there aren't all that many.
After all, the Hallucigenia rarely ever reacted before Levi ran into confirmed, so to say, Eldians. Levi had to believe that wasn't random, that there was a method to the madness that had become of his life. Otherwise, he might just snap or have a breakdown.
"May I ask why you call her Hange-san?" Armin said after a long stretch of silence. "I mean no offense, of course! It's just that you don't, uhm, look Japanese?"
Moblit arched an eyebrow. "That's because I'm not. But I did move to Japan when I was a teenager because of my father's work and I fell in love with this country. So when I grew up, even after my parents decided to go back to Germany, I came back to Japan to study engineering and robotics. That's where I met Hange-san. And though she often berates me for being overly formal and polite, I can't help it. I hold a great deal of respect and admiration for her. It's not everyday someone is born a genius and skips half of high school to go straight to college, after all."
Levi perked up at that.
"Wait, how old is Hange-san?" Eren asked, arching a curious eyebrow. "She just sent me an email one day with no explanation or anything, just an invitation to the biggest science convention in the world. I honestly at first thought it was a joke or one of those spam messages that steal your personal information or fuck up your computer, but nope! The visas were very real and so were the convention tickets."
"Hange-san asked that I disclose as little information about herself or her project as possible, because she wants it to be a 'surprise'," the man said with air quotes and a sigh. "To be honest, not even I know which project of hers she wants to show you. She brought along quite a few and some of them might be causing some problems since the military seemed quite interested in them. It's one of the reasons why she didn't come get you herself; she has to fend off various generals from various armies who had come to scout bright minds for their military projects." Levi stiffened up at hearing the words 'generals' and 'military projects'. He tightened his grip on the strap of his backpack and let his senses extend and sharpen so he was suddenly too aware of everything going on around him with a precision that even the best monitoring systems or nature's natural predators would be jealous of.
He was ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. Eren and Armin will be fine, as they were just ordinary civilians in everyone else's eyes. And Levi had a place to stay, even if for just a short while. ZoeH had been delighted to hear he was in Japan and had insisted that he must visit her, regardless of his reason for being on the other side of the world so suddenly. ZoeH would get him whatever papers and documents he might ever need, to either stay or to leave Japan however and whenever he may wish.
He just hopes Eren, that determined, stubborn idiot, wouldn't try to go after him. Eren had his whole life ahead of him, a peaceful, normal life. Levi wasn't going to drag him into this mess if he could help it. And he can. Levi had always been good at running away. Eren would just have to accept that he had been one of those people Levi had left behind for their own safety.
He was broken out of his thoughts when his heightened awareness caught a sound he was all too familiar with. The whirring of extending cables. The thunk of an anchor sinking into a sturdy surface. The zip of retreating cables. The air resistance pushing against a moving body. Levi stopped, having completely zoned out what Moblit might have been saying as he led Armin and Eren away from the teenager, none of them aware that Levi, who had been silent so far and trailed a bit after the group - bringing up the rear, as he often had done in his previous life as the strongest soldier in their regiment, on the whole island, or maybe even in the known world - had stopped and turned to head in a different direction, ears following that nostalgic and well-missed sound.
There was a crowd around an exhibit. It wasn't even an exhibit so much as a training course of some sort, with tall structures placed at various distances from each other. The field was huge, taking up a lot of space, but also not nearly big enough for proper training. The crowd of people around the training field were of all ages and sizes and they were all staring in wonder and amusement at some pure schmuck who was trying to operate a very real, very much working three-dimensional maneuvering gear, or 3DMG for short. Though the name of the exhibit seemed to be omni-dimensional maneuvering gear, or ODMG. But it was definitely the same gear Levi had used for nearly his entire life. The same harness, the same gas canisters, the same handles, the same detachable-sword housings, the same cables, the same anchors ... It was all identical. It was exactly the same.
This was made by someone who remembered Paradis.
This had to have been made by Hange!
"This is impossible!" Shouted one of the guys who had tried out the gear. He looked to be a sporty kind of person. He certainly held himself in a controlled, confident way Levi had only seen soldiers or professional athletes do. He was taking off the set he'd been using rather jerkily, clearly pissed off that he, just like the curious amateurs who were brave enough to give it a go, couldn't get a hand of the gear despite his probably lifelong training regimen. Levi glared at him when he saw how the man all but threw the most sensitive and important mechanism of the whole gear to the floor, glaring at it as though it had personally offended him.
"Oi! Just because you're incompetent doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it! Someone worked hard to make that, you piece of shit." Nothing pissed Levi off more than mistreatment or the maneuvering gear that saved the Scouts lives and allowed them to fight for the ungrateful shits within the Walls, the gear that had allowed Levi to see the sun and sky at all in his last life. Well, insufficient cleaning and betrayal did, but those were a whole different category.
"You think you're some kind of hotshot?!" The man stalked over to Levi and prodded at his chest. "Huh, shrimp? You think you can do better than me?" He flinched back when Levi glared at him but he had too much pride to recognize the danger he had thrown himself into by challenging Levi. "Let's see how your scrawny little ass handles slamming into one of those fucking fake trees."
Now, Levi was usually above such stupid competitions, but he really wanted to get his hands on a set of the gear and he really wanted to fly. And he really wanted to show this piece of shit his place, so Levi accepted. He ignored the guy's sneer as he picked up the gear and inspected it for damage and then for gas. The dipshit had used up almost all of the gas in the canisters with his one minute of use and Levi would have killed him for the waste of resources had he ever made it to the Survey Corps. He would have literally thrown him out and the dipshit would have been the first person thrown out of the military regiment most desperate for new members. And if he'd showed this much attitude, Levi might have even thrown him into the mouth of a waiting Titan. Back then, they really couldn't afford the waste of resources.
After refilling the gas canisters and strapping on the gear, he checked the grips and pulled out a cable a little to see the speed of the mechanism meant to retract it. It was a little faster than what he was used to, but that only meant he could fly faster, which sent a course of excitement through his veins. Oh, this was going to be fun. He had to readjust his balance a little because he sure as hell wasn't leaving his backpack unattended, but he was good to go.
If he had any less self control, he would have whooped in excitement and joy as Isabel often had when he launched himself off the ground at a speed faster than any of the other participants had dared, even when they had thought they had this in the bag. There were shouts of alarm coming from the watching crowd, clearly everyone was certain he would crash and injure himself, but Levi had never felt as free or as comfortable in this new world as he did now that he had the maneuver gear back strapped to his hips. His body still remembered the way to move, his Ackerman abilities making it easier to control it the way he wanted, the way he had always done. He could turn sharp corners, he could pirouette mid-air, he could dive real low and climb real high in a matter of seconds.
Levi felt like himself in a way he hadn't since he'd been old enough for his brain to comprehend the memories he carried from another life that had ended two thousand years ago. He felt like he could actually fly, even though he knew this flight was limited to the gear on his hips and the canisters of gas strapped into it.
The crowd below was oohing and aahing, clapping at his daring maneuvers and cheering whenever he decided to arc out of the training field to fly over them before he let the cables pull him back.
It was during one such arch that he saw three things of importance.
One, Eren had run over to the area, having finally noticed Levi's absence and came to search for him, Armin and Molbit running after him, out of breath and bent over heaving for air.
Two, having turned away from annoying generals and other such contractors, Hange Zoe, his best friend from his last life, had turned around and was staring up at him with tears in their eyes that had fogged up their now pushed up glasses and she was waving at him with all the enthusiasm she'd once held for Titans.
And three, the one that had the blood in his veins turning to ice ...
Was a pair of familiar glacier blue eyes looking up at him with the same expression he'd once seen among the crowd in the Underground ...
The same expression he'd seen after his first Titan kill ...
Erwin Smith had just seen what Levi Ackerman can do.
'Fuck.'
