Vogel Im Kafig (End Of Tears) Levi X OC

Mission: Impossible

Sorry guys. Haven't done a chapter from Levi's POV for a while. Here goes!

LEVI

I didn't forget my mission, and I didn't appreciate the way Erwin was treating Rukia after she broke up with him.

No one hurts my woman and gets away with it.

She and Isabelle were now chatting away, scrounging up something for breakfast. I didn't know what the two had up their sleeves. Farlan was whittling away at a twig, and I was brushing down the horses.

"What are you gonna do about Commander Smith?" Farlan asked. Curls of wood fell at his feet, getting his boots dirty. I was almost tempted to smack the knife from his hand, throw the twig into the woods, and clean up his mess.

"I guess all I can do is support Rukia. That ordeal is between her and Erwin. If the issue becomes physical, that's when I step in. Rukia is strong and independent. She can take care of her own problems. But I won't let him lay an eyelash on her without her consent."

"I suppose that's all you can do," he agreed.

"Let's go for a walk, Levi," Rukia said, walking up to me. She grabbed my arm and started tugging as she backed up. She tucked her bottom lip behind her teeth. She was irresistible.

"How could I say no?" With my free arm, I grabbed my shirt off of the wire we hung last night to dry our jackets. I thrust my arms through the sleeves as I walked, and fastened the buttons.

Rukia muttered something that sounded like "Left that behind..."

I shook my head while smiling. Women.

"Hey, Levi, you should smile more often. Makes you look less like a sociopath," Isabel called out, sticking her tongue out.

"Hey, Isabel, you should stop sticking your tongue out. Makes you look less childish." I flipped her the bird as we walked past.

The leaves under our boots crunched softly as we rolled our feet to remain silent. It was a habitual reflex; surprisingly these titans had magnificent hearing, as slow as they were. I leaned from years of living underground and thievery to run an illegal market; she learned from years of training.

I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers through hers. I used my thumb to roll circles on her skin. She gently squeezed my hand.

"So," she said. "Isabel and Farlan consider you family?"

"Yeah. Isabel even calls me her brother. We knew each other since she was a little girl. Like me, she was on the brink of death after losing her parents. I'm lucky that my uncle took me in, but he was not a nice guy. I found Isabel on the streets, nearly dead from starvation. I couldn't let her die out there. Underground is a cruel place to live in.
" And Farlan? I've known him for so long. I don't even remember how we met. We all had one goal: find a better life aboveground. "

"So you joined the corps."

"Yes. We were given an opportunity and we took it without hesitation. I didn't want us to die shriveling away in other people's filth. It's rare for someone to leave the underground."

"Yeah, we really don't hear much from the underground. I hate how people assume that everyone who lives there is trash. You can't judge someone based on where they were born and raised."

"What was your childhood like?"

"I was born in a southern district village. My father was a hunter and my mom was a midwife. I really don't remember that much about my village. It was attacked by a hoard of titans when I was five. I eventually found the wall after my parents died, and I was taken in by a widow, whose husband was in the scouting corps. I don't remember in which expedition he died. She also lost her son, who had just completed training.
" She always wanted a little girl. She immediately claimed me as her own as soon as I was put into the orphanage. She primped and pampered me, and entered me into contests when I was a teenager. I hated it."

"You mean to tell me you didn't like playing dress up?"

"No. I wanted to focus on getting stronger. I wanted to help end the threat to humanity once and for all. I didn't want other kids to go through the same thing I went through. Girls should be braiding their mother's hair, not identifying their corpse. Boys should be bonding with their fathers, not sharpening their 3DMG blades while the father tries to drown his fears in a fifth of scotch."

I had no idea where Rukia was leading me, and I didn't care. I would follow her anywhere. She clamped a hand over my eyes.

"What the?" I asked, unsure of the sudden movement.

She kissed me softly. "I want this to be a surprise." She removed her hand. I closed my eyes, feeling quite silly, but I did so for her. She grabbed my hand, and we walked for what seemed like forever. We stopped after some time, and she let go of my hand.

"Can I look now?"

"No."

"Now?" I demanded.

"Now," Rukia says, and I opened my eyes.

Behind her was a crystal clear blue pond and a sort of picnic set up on the bank. Granted, we only had our canteens and rations, but it was still a date.

Rukia slipped off her uniform jacket and folded it up before placing it on her cloak. She than removed her 3DMG and boots and pants, leaving her in nothing but a tank top and shorts.

I took my boots off and rolled up the legs of my jeans. I didn't exactly have the appropriate swimwear at the time. I dipped a toe into the water, and it felt amazing as my skin was cooled down.

Rukia spent that afternoon sending jets of water in my face. I just dealt with it.