Once Levi and Hange had cried themselves into exhaustion, Hange pulled out their phone. They googled something.
"What are you doing, shitty glasses?" Levi asked, calling them by his favorite nickname. Hange didn't respond for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Levi!" They showed Levi their screen. On it was a dorky picture of Erwin beside a short bio on their university website. "He looks dumber than I remember him!" Levi smiled.
"Yeah..." he said. "He looks way better in person. Older though." They studied the picture and Levi admired the smoothness of his face, free of the worry lines that plagued him in the other life.
"You know what?" Hange said, standing and pacing the room.
"What?" Levi asked, knowing they wouldn't answer without him asking.
"He's here at least." Hange said, rubbing their chin. "I'm sure you could win him over in this life too."
"Sure..." Levi mumbled.
"C'mon!" Hange typed out something on their phone. Levi's phone lit up and he looked at it. It was their GroupMe.
Hange: Emergency meeting. Levi and I's room. Longdon 257. Everyone.
Levi rolled his eyes. "What's this for?" Hange was practically jumping with joy.
"It's a meeting of the minds, Levi!" They said.
"Right." Levi slid off his bed. "But you have to clean. I'll help." Hange looked at their side of the room. To say it looked like a Thunder Spear went off would be an understatement. Clothes littered every available space. It drove Levi crazy, but he let them live how they wanted as long as it stayed on their side.
They cleaned in silence and had just finished when a knock came at their door. Hange raced to open it to Petra, Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. They all found a place to sit and Hange pulled out a white board.
"Okay!" Hange said. "Levi? Would you like to explain?"
"No, no." Levi said. "Please, as the kids would say, 'spill the tea.'" This got a chuckle out of everyone.
"Erwin's here!" Hange said, buzzing with excitement.
"Levi that's wonderful!" Petra said, overjoyed.
"Yeah, but he doesn't remember Levi." Hange frowned. "But I think Levi can win him over with our help!" Hange began pacing again.
"How do you think we can do that?" Eren asked, draping an arm around Armin's shoulders who blushed deeply.
"That's why I employed the help of all of you!" Hange swept their arm over the room.
"I have Mike as my biology professor." Mikasa said. They all looked at her.
"Mike? Mike's here?" Levi asked and Hange clapped their hands.
"Wonderful!" Hange exclaimed. "I miss him so much. I haven't seen him since..." they all fell silent. "But he's here! We'll have to have a get together."
"He gave me his number." Mikasa said. "Do we want him to come help?"
"Full of surprises!" Hange said. "Yes!" Mikasa typed out a message in her phone.
"In the mean time," Petra said. "What have you three been up to?"
"Mikasa's a badass!" Eren said.
"Tell us something we don't know." Levi laughed.
"She's a third degree black belt in Taekwondo and a black belt in Aikido!" Eren said proudly.
"Damn." Hange said. "And here I thought you might take it easy."
"Armin graduated valedictorian." Eren continued. "And is on a full ride here."
Petra whistled. "Not an easy thing to accomplish, especially here. By the way. What's the story with you two?" She motioned to Eren and Armin. Eren looked at Armin who cleared his throat.
"We are dating." He squeaked. The room erupted into congratulations and applause.
"How long?" Petra asked.
"Four years." Eren said. "We ended up at the same high school and I asked him the second week of school." Armin chuckled.
"You would have thought he had done it a million times, too." Armin said. "He was so confident as if I couldn't turn him down."
"But you couldn't!" Eren said.
"Maybe I should have." Armin joked.
"Mike's here." Mikasa said. "I'm going to let him in." She stood and hurried out of the room. When she came back, Mike was with her, just as tall as everyone remembered. When he was finished with hugs and tearful greetings, he took a seat at Hange's desk.
"As messy as always I see." He said and they all laughed. "So you want to know about Erwin?" They all nodded, hanging on to every word.
Mike sighed. "It's... complicated to say the least. Nile and I - Nile's on staff here - noticed it when he signed on here to teach. He didn't recognize either of us. As of now we have not told him details. He knows we knew him in "the other life" - that's what we have been calling it. But other than that..." Mike looked to Levi who had tears streaming down his face. "Listen. He's single, has been his whole life. He said he's never found that person. He knows he needs you, he just doesn't know it's you."
Levi nodded. "Thanks, Mike."
"Of course." Mike said. "I'll also tell you that we frequent the bar The Overlook right off campus. We go there almost every weekend on Saturdays. We'll be there around nine this week. Also, he's the coach for the intramural swim team here. I don't know how much you like to swim, but he loves the sport. That's why he's in such great shape."
"You could join!" Hange smiled.
"Yeah. About that..." Levi shifted. "I don't know how to swim." There was a silence in the room.
"What?" Eren said. "Really?"
"Yeah." Levi laughed nervously. "I grew up with Kenny and he just never signed me up for lessons."
"I guess we could teach you." Mikasa offered.
"What if you asked Erwin?" Armin asked. "I'm sure he would help out."
"This is why we love you, Armin!" Hange joked. "You could ask him!"
"I'm not asking in front of the whole class!" Levi exclaimed.
"Go to his office hours." Armin said.
Levi sighed. "Alright."
"Cool." Mike stood. "Go ask him and meet us at the Overlook Saturday night. Now I'm getting out of here before rumors start." He winked at them before leaving.
"And this commences Project Eruri!" Hange said.
"Eruri?" Levi asked.
"That's your ship name." Hange said, winking. "I think we may want to let Levi have some down time." Levi mouthed 'thank you' to them. Hange corralled everyone out of the room and turned to look at Levi.
"Give me a ring if you need me." Hange said before they slipped out of the room.
Levi collapsed onto the bed and looked at the ceiling. He was here. Levi clenched his jaw. He would remember. He had to.
أنت تقرأ
Project Eruri Remastered
قصص الهواة"It was him, Hange. It was Erwin." Levi managed between huge, choking sobs. "Oh my god!" Hange said, excitement evident on their face. "He doesn't remember!" *** They call it "the other life." For them, it is a thing of the past, but not for all o...
