Darkness covered the square-shaped buildings made of hard stone, their colors not yet visible to the naked eye.
No sounds are heard except for the occasional cry of an infant or person coughing in the distance. No wind, no grasshopper chirps. It was sometimes enough to make one feel claustrophobic. The only sources of light were candles lit in windowsills.
Morning was declared as soon as large street lanterns were lit by the shopkeepers as they quietly opened their doors. The black smiths began to light their fires, and the cooks as well. The smell of bread traveled down the crooked streets made up of stone bricks that covered the ground unevenly.
Soon enough, the large clock tower that stood higher than any other building chimed six times, signaling the beginning of the day.
Levi awoke from his deep sleep as the clock tower finished chiming. He slowly rose, blinking several times before rubbing his eyes. For a moment, he sat on the mattress in silence, still half asleep. He could make out the pillows shape, but not so much its color. He longed to place his head back on it but knew the consequence of over-sleeping. After a moment, he rose, sighing, as he brought his bare feet to the cold, stone floor of the room. He quickly made the bed before wandering into the bathroom where a bucket of water sat. He struck a match, illuminating his tired face in the mirror. He combed his hair and examined the dark circles under his eyes, gently caressed them with his finger he quickly changed into his uniform and blew out the candle.
Time passed. Levi ate his breakfest in silence at the small table in the kitchen. He glanced at the time and quickly cleaned up the mess he made grabbing his bag (containing his meal for later) and left the house, locking the door behind him.
As he traveled down the few steps before reaching the street, he glanced around at his surroundings. It was always this dead this time of day, yet, it almost seemed a bit too dead. He didn't think much of it but kept his belongings close to him. He had on him a small wallet in his pocket containing a small handful of coins, paper, and a small knife-all located in his pant pockets. He continued down the street at an even pace until he felt a slight breeze from behind him. A person.
It was already too late as he glanced behind himself while several arms simultaneously grabbing his arms, covering his mouth while forcing him to the ground. He closed his eyes as he felt the brutal force of his head hitting the stone bricks. He opened them again, angry, and in pain. He assessed the situation: three young boys, about his age. All around fourteen or so. He had seen them before. They must be apart of a gang. But what did they want?
He felt their hands digging through his pockets. He felt his wallet leave his side.
"Oh, look! I got his wallet! Though I doubt it's much judging by his clothes," said the leader with dirty blonde hair, laughing with an annoying tone.
"Eww," said the other, rounder young boy, holding his nose. "I bet he hasn't bathed in weeks. Are you sure we want his dirty money?"
"Of course we do." The leader took out the coins from the wallet and examined them closely. "It's like taking money from a baby."
"Yeah, a BABY," said the third boy with crooked teeth. He laughed in a weird way.
"Except babies are supposed to cry. I wonder what will make this sucker cry? Can't be that hard.." The boy seemed to spot an authority figure and quickly rose to his feet. "C'mon," he said, signaling the other two to follow. The leader made eye contact with him. He gave a smirk. "Next time, BABY!" They all laughed and disappeared into the alleyway.
Levi lay with his back on the ground and looked around before letting out a long sigh. "Shit."
Several blocks away, worn hands folded wash clothes, setting them in piles by color. Buckets clicked together, filled with various cleaning materials.
Workers slowly gathered around, waiting. A roundish man, with receding hair and a thick mustache, glanced at his watch, and then gave the signal. All eyes stared back at him. He spoke in a low, deep throat voice. He was cut off by the sound of a door swinging open-Levi, sweat on his forehead, quickly walked to a wall near the gathered workers. He quickly scribbled on a sheet of paper before joining the others.
The man continued. "And that was all I had to remind everyone. Carry on. Enjoy the day."
Nobody spoke but quickly scattered to grab their cleaning supplies.
Levi grabbed a large bucket filled with cloths, cleaning solutions, and a large mop. A man beside him, who appeared to be in his fourties', grabbed a small wagon, dragging it behind him. They walked out of the building and onto the dusty, dirt road.
The day went as it usually did. Levi and his partner would travel to a clients home, clean it for a while, leave and repeat until done. It was hard, gross work. Especially if the home hadn't been cleaned for quite some time. But, it was a job, one he needed since jobs were scarce in the underground.
After a hard days work with little pay and little break time, Levi wandered down the road a ways until he was back where he had left that morning.
He opened the door. Trash littered the floor. Random items were piled on top of one another. He cautiously stepped around the objects into the living room. There sat on the couch was a young man, 20's, staring down at the table, reading. He said no greeting to Levi, even though he seemed aware that another person was nearby.
Levi continued past the man, through the kitchen where another young man, early 20's, stood, cutting a vegetable. The man stared at him, not saying anything, then looked away. Levi could feel the anger rise from his stomach up to his chest. The familiar feeling of being ignored still stung, though he didn't understand why. He tried to rid the feeling. He stepped downstairs into a small bedroom. It had one twin sized bed, a dresser with a broken bottom, a small desk with scratches on the top, and a small lantern. A window stood over the desk, covered with dark curtains. The was quite dark and cold. The floor was made of uneven concrete. It felt less like a bedroom and more of a space to put things, like a storage room.
Levi lay on the bed, his clothes slightly sweaty, and recalled that his wallet was still missing. He sat up and opened his dresser, pulling out a small box. He unlocked it. Inside were several bills neatly stacked on top of each other. He counted it before locking the box, putting it back, and closing the dresser drawer.
Fortunately, he only had a small amount of money in him that morning. Money for food. He ended up using the tip money he earned that day for food instead. So it wasn't a major loss. He knew better than to carry a load of cash on him in this neighborhood.
He brushed off the loss and continued with his day: washing off, changing clothes and then preparing supper for himself. He brought a dish of food to his room (they had no dinner table) and ate quietly at his desk while reading a book. After finishing his meal, he heard the floors squeak loudly from above him. He waited several minutes for the noise to stop. It took ten. He let out an annoyed sigh, groaning.
He lived with three other roommates. Everyone was around the same age (14-16) and worked throughout the day at different jobs. They met about a year ago, when Levi was desperate to leave his home with Kenny, a verified sociopath. With mood swings and questionable morals. The house was decent, and rent was cheap. But it became clear that he would not be seen as a friend for having cleaning standards. They much rather liked the risk of black mold, dust collecting on shelves, and dropping food on the food without a care. Some of them liked to call Levi a "neat freak" or a "clean freak", simply for wanting the home to be free of any hazards. He tried his best to ignore their twisted point of view by keeping his distance and working most of the time. It helped slightly, though he felt pretty lonely most of the time.
Once again, fear crept into his stomach as he lay on the bed with his thoughts. He needed a more stable job. One he didn't hate. Sure, cleaning was something that would always be in demand in the underground, but, it was exhausting. His right shoulder hurt every day after carrying all of the equipment through each home. Making the same quick movements for hours on end. His hands were dry, bruised in some places.
But what would he do? He felt stuck, trapped. Like a mouse in a maze trying to find its way to the cheese. There had to be something more to life than cleaning up after other people all the time.
Hi. I wanted to include a note on this in case you are thinking "what is this story?" "That's not how that happened?" Yeah, well, this is a what-if story. Or in my mind, a different angle than the No Regrets OVA that you might be familiar with. To me, the no regrets ova is not canon, because it was not written by the author of Attack on Titan. So, do we really know what it was like for Levi in the underground? How did those teenage years work out for him?
Anyways, this is an idea I've had for a while and just wanted to play with it.
Feel free to let me know what you think or if you have any questions.
Thanks for reading!