𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝙴𝙲𝚁𝙴𝚃𝚂

2

Y/N had kind of lost track of time while she was trying to help Levi out with his reading. He was honestly getting pretty good, but 'good' didn't mean he was good enough for her. Y/N wanted him to get to a level where reading became second nature for him, just like it was for her.

When he was growing up with Kenny, Levi had never really learned how to read and after he left, it was up to Y/N to teach him. She hadn't even known that Levi couldn't read, if he hadn't told her at some point. Y/N wasn't really that surprised. Kenny had taught Levi a great deal of skills - everything he needed to survive underground. But honestly - there were a lot of people that were living underground and that had never even thought about learning how to read.

It wasn't really one of the most useful skills in the underground, if Y/N was honest. Being able to handle weapons and how to fight were much more useful and much more applicable skills. Handling money was as well - pretty much everyone here had at least some elementary knowledge of Maths, so they could count however little money they had and spend it on drinks or girls or whatever.

Still, she did like being able to read. It did give her an edge over other people. Granted, it wasn't much of an edge, but it was something at least. She was halfway decent with knives, too, but nowhere near as good as Levi. And she was starting to get the hang of the ODM gear that Levi had been able to get his hands on. It wasn't easy to handle, but with a little practice (okay, a lot) it was doable.

Everything was perfectly fine, until Y/N heard steps and the sound of the door unlocking. The panic rising inside her was almost an immediate reaction, as if she knew this was going to go bad. She knew these footsteps, she knew them exactly. She was terrified of hearing those footsteps.

"He's coming back..." she gasped, her eyes fixed on the door. Levi looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

"He? You mean your uncle?" he asked. Y/N nodded. She didn't need to say anything else, because Levi knew exactly what that meant. It wasn't just that her uncle did all those things to Y/N... it was also the way that he wanted her all to himself. And that meant he absolutely despised Levi.

Levi knew about all of it. There were so many nights when Y/N had run away from home once she was a little older and stayed with Levi and his friends. Sometimes it was a fairly regular occurrence. Y/N was glad that he knew, though. He was the kind of guy to stand up for her and to help her out when she needed help. He'd spend the whole night awake comforting her if he needed to.

"So we're leaving?" Levi wanted to know. Y/N nodded, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the door until she saw it opening slowly. It was then that she finally managed to get her body to move. She grabbed Levi's hand and dragged him behind her, back into the bathroom, before locking the door and barricading it with his help. They'd need to buy some time to climb through the tiny window in the bathroom that would lead outside. Once they had gotten out, they could run and hide, but now they just needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"Y/N? What are you doing, hiding from me? Come on, Y/N, come out of there..." she heard her uncle cooing. She quickly opened the window and climbed up on the edge of the bathtub. It was difficult enough for her to get to the window and climb out, but the panic inside her wasn't helping.

"Y/N... that bastard is here, isn't he...?" she heard her uncle growling. She closed her eyes and stopped, looking down at Levi. Maybe he should go first... her uncle could easily kill him any day.

"What are you doing? Go on, get out of here, before he gets in!" Levi urged her. Y/N nodded again and took a deep breath, before pulling herself up and crawling through the open window. She barely fit through there anymore, which just made Y/N panic more. If she couldn't get out through that window anymore then... well, then she had pretty much no way of escaping him.

She'd have to kill him. One of these days she'd have to finally stand up to him and kill him or he'd never leave her alone. She just wanted him to leave her in peace... why couldn't he do that? Why did he have to take her in when her parents died? She wished he had just left her to die...

There was a loud noise coming from the door. Damn it. He was trying to break through the door... and he was strong. He was strong as hell and Y/N had experienced it first hand. His punches really hurt. The door probably wouldn't hold out for too long and Levi was still in there, waiting for her to get out.

"Come on, hurry, Y/N! You want me to get killed or something?" he asked, grabbing one of the buckets Y/N used to fill the bathtub. Was he actually planning to fight with that? Damn it. Y/N crawled through the window, moving quicker and quicker, but it felt like she was moving incredibly slowly.

Finally, she managed to climb out on the other side. It didn't take long until she saw Levi's face in the small window, as he had jumped up, pulling himself up on the window sill. He seemed to be much better at climbing out of that window than Y/N was, because it felt like he got out in mere seconds, before landing on his feet on the dirty ground. He didn't even hesitate, before grabbing Y/N's hand.

And then they started running. Running and running and running, until Y/N's head was spinning and she wasn't even sure whether she knew where they were. But Levi knew for sure. He had grown up on these streets and he knew them like the back of his hands. He didn't grow up as sheltered as Y/N. Well, she wouldn't really describe her upbringing as 'sheltered', but compared to almost anyone else in the underground, she definitely had spent much more time inside.

They turned another corner, before Levi stopped running. He was leaning against a wall to catch his breath and Y/N did the same. She thought her legs were going to give out underneath her and her lungs were burning. They felt like they were on fire. Levi seemed out of breath, too, but not nearly as much as she was. Y/N sunk down against the wall until she was sitting on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Levi wanted to know, looking at her with his usual stern look. Y/N wasn't sure what to answer.

"Sort of. I think. I'm exhausted." she replied. Levi nodded, before glancing at the ground and grimacing.

"You're going to need another bath, Y/N. Seriously. Why would you even sit down when the ground is filthy like this?" he wanted to know. Y/N rolled her eyes playfully, before chuckling and pulling herself back up on her feet. Her legs still felt really wobbly, but at least she didn't think she was going to pass out anymore.

"Sorry, but I was about to faint. But I honestly wouldn't mind another bath..." she said. The panic inside her was slowly dissipating now. They had made it out of the house and away from everyone else. They could relax now... and they also could take their time getting back to Levi's place.

"Let's get going then. I need a cup of tea after this." Levi said, pushing himself off the wall and waiting for Y/N to do the same. She took a deep breath and stood up straight, walking a few steps. She was still feeling kind of dizzy, but things were getting back to normal now. Everything was fine.

"Sorry. Sorry about... you know... him." Y/N mumbled as she walked through the streets alongside Levi.

"Shut up. What the hell are you sorry for?"

"Just... that he exists, I guess. I don't know how to stop it, Levi, I really don't..." she answered with a sigh.

"You're 19 years old, Y/N. You don't have to live with him anymore, you know? Hell, it doesn't even matter how old you are. You can do what you want, down here no one cares anyway."

"I know, I know, but... do you really think he'll leave me alone? Because I'm pretty sure he'd go out and look for me and he'd find me and then... there'd be hell to pay." she replied and sighed.

"Then we have to make sure that doesn't happen." Levi just said. He looked angry and Y/N wasn't sure whether he was thinking the same thing that she was thinking. That her uncle needed to die.