Beyond Belief [AOT x HXH!READER]

#5: Conversation

It was well into the night.

Only the moon brought light to the headquarter's kitchen. Lonely, [Y/N] was sitting on the counter, a glass of water in her hand.

It had been a few days since she'd learned she wouldn't get Erwin's permission to come along in the next expedition. She understood the man's view; after all, he didn't know about her abilities. Still, being viewed as a rookie stung her pride. She just hoped she was making the right decision, going along with the commander's orders.

The night felt sorrowful. The young woman couldn't help but to think about the world in which she belonged; she missed the technology, the food and the environment, but most of all she missed the people she knew.

Was the troupe doing well? She assumed they were looking for her. She just hoped they wouldn't give up and abandon her. Although, she doubted Hisoka would ever let that happen, considering all the time he'd spent nurturing her power. He would never let his prized apprentice go to waste before getting the chance to fight her seriously.

It was reassuring, in some way. Knowing that he somehow cared. Even if it was for all the wrong reasons, she knew that he would go to the end of every world one by one if it was to find her.

Then, briefly, [Y/N]'s mind wandered back to the hunter exam. God, that had been some fun. She remembered the group of people she'd met there; Gon, Killua, Kurapika and Leorio. She had pretty much spent the whole exam with them. Their shared bond grew pretty strong, and Hisoka had even said it was good for her to make friends.

She had been saddened to find out about Kurapika's grudge with the troupe, and made sure to keep her hip hidden at all times. Even if she hadn't participated in the Kurta massacre, she'd still felt somewhat guilty. Though, she wasn't stupid enough to reveal herself.

However, the group came to know about her affiliations with the pink-haired magician... which had damn near scared them away from her. Especially in Leorio's case.

After going along with them to retrieve Killua from his home, she had promised them to meet them again on September 1st.

Alas, with the current situation, she doubted she could make it.

Still, right now, there were other things she had to worry about.

"Hello, Levi," she called out in the dark.

Silently, the man walked into the light, facing her. "How'd you know I was here?"

She had felt his aura coming, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

"That's a secret," she told him instead, forcing a smirk on her features.

"Tch," the other scoffed. "You and your smart mouth. Get down from that counter, your butt will dirty it. I don't want shit in my food."

She held in a chuckle. "You have a way with words, Corporal. Rest assured, I do bathe and wear clean clothes at all times."

"Well you don't stink, unlike some of the idiots we've got here. I'll give you that," he replied, fetching the kettle. "If you're here, I might as well get you some tea, too."

"I would appreciate that," [Y/N] replied, deciding to go for politeness. There was no point in picking a fight now. Plus, she had found that tea was about the only thing in this strange place that might actually taste good.

"What are you doing out of your quarters?" asked the man, a slightly irritated note in his voice. "It's 2 in the morning. You get up at 6."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm your superior, you brat. Don't you forget it."

At that, she sighed. She hated the concept of being anyone's subordinate, unless it was someone in the troupe. "I have trouble sleeping. I find that the moonlight is prettier here."

"That's weird." Levi replied, earning himself a half-assed glare.

He paused to look at her. Sorrow and longing were evident in her eyes, and he could imagine why. Getting thrown in the unknown with no one but strangers with get him in a sour mood, too.

He thought back to all she had said to them. If she really was telling the truth, if she really came from a world without walls and titans, then he could see why she longed for home. Their world was a shitty place.

He hadn't believed a word of what she was saying at first; he'd thought they'd found a total lunatic. But the more he thought about her, the more he remembered the strange phenomenons she caused, the more he listened to Erwin theorize... the more he was inclined to believe. And if all of it was real, then they couldn't let her die on them.

"I get that you want to come with us outside the wall to find your way back home," he suddenly said, causing the young woman to look back at him. "But you haven't a clue what's out there. You haven't seen what I've seen. Every month, I see elite soldiers get massacred by these monsters. I don't know what you're picturing, but that's not it."

"You say that, but you don't know anything about me," she countered. "Think, Levi. Why do you think I'm so strong? I've killed my fair share of people and weird creatures too. I'm not one of your little trainees."

"Can't argue with that," he answered, handing her a cup full of black tea, which she took. "But if you want us to take you seriously, you should give us more details about who you are. Far as I know, you've only given us information about the society you live in and its functioning. You haven't said more about why you're involved in crime, or what you do, or anything. We don't know you."

She let out a dry chuckle. "Can you blame me? You're one to talk. You don't seem like someone who'd be very talkative about himself, much less with strangers."

He hummed. "You've got that right. Still, how do you expect us to trust you? We can't work this way with someone we know nothing about. At some point, you'll have to say something. Anything."

[Y/N] didn't grace him with an answer. As the silence became heavier and heavier, both of them just stood there, sipping their respective cup of tea. Their breaths and the ticking of the clock were the only sources of sound.

Seconds were turning into minutes, and Levi took that as a sign that the conversation was over. Finishing his beverage, he turned away to leave the room. However, just as he was reaching for the doorknob, her voice made him stop in his track.

"Meteor city."

The Lance Corporal turned around, staring at the young woman who'd spoken. She was looking at the ground with a neutral expression, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Meteor city is a place where live people that don't exist in any known record. It's used as a dump by the rest of the world. Kilometers upon kilometers of trash, all the way to the horizon. People of all ages live there, and die without ever having seen anything else," she stated. "Every single person living there has been thrown out by their peers like an old pair of shoes."

Her eyes clouded up with something that Levi knew all too well. Memories from the past resurfaced in him, scooped out by her horrid description and dead voice tone. It was as if something emitting from her was dragging his old feelings from the depths of the dark underground. The air suddenly felt a lot colder, making his breath hitch.

Silently, she walked away from her spot to go look up at the moon from the window. There was something new and unnatural about the air surrounding her, something that rejected his presence quite harshly. Their talking session was over, that much was clear. Yet curiously, he found himself longing for her to say more.

Standing there, the only sign of life he could bring himself to give her was a stiff nod.
After that, he turned around, finally exiting the headquarters kitchen, too uncomfortable to even greet her goodnight.

And so, as Levi closed the door, [Y/N] watched his shadow on the ground walk away with him.