(Levi Ackerman x OC) Melting A Frozen Heart ~ Attack on Titan

Chapter 27: My Deepest Apologies

trigger warning: suicide, depression, self-harm

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"No, you've got it wrong," Levi protested gently. The tear Chi shed fell onto the fabric of the pillow and soaked in, creating a dark stain. Levi grabbed her fist and held it, caressing her cheek with the other. "That's not right. How much did you hear?"

"...Everything," Chi whispered in a crackly voice, barely restraining her tears; she'd slowly drank in all of the words Hanji had read off of the documents. "I heard every word."

"Ch—Chi!" Hanji stuttered, joining Levi by Chi's side. "Levi's right, it's not valid information! After all, these documents could be fake. I mean, if they aren't, and if you really are just a science experiment, it could mean that you would kind of be considered our enemy, and—"

"Not helping, shitty-four eyes!"

"S—sorry!" Hanji bit back the rest of her words and glanced back and forth between Levi and Chi nervously. Hesitation filled her stomach until her hands shook, but she forced herself to calm when she realized how empty Chi's eyes were.

"I'm sorry," Chi murmured, closing her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, you idiot?" Levi sighed, clenching her hand tighter. "You did nothing wrong." The nickname brought a small smile to Chi's lips, the corners of them barely curling upwards.

"I've been going mad over killing titans, when the entire time... I was one of the monsters. I had no idea I—"

"Shh. Quiet." Levi pressed a thin finger to Chi's lips to silence the rest of her pained words. "Stop. You need to rest. Just forget about all of this."

Chi looked at him with a face of regretful gratefulness and she closed her eyes. Levi retracted his hand and watched her silently. A few silent moments passed, then a few minutes, and a few more. Soon, Chi's breathing had gone steady and slow; she'd fallen into slumber. Levi's tense shoulders dropped and he sighed, grabbing his bangs in his fists.

"God dammit," he growled. "I'm going to find those bastards of the Reiss group and slit their throats! They will pay for what they did to Chi, those sons of bitches... they deserve to burn in  hell! I'll torture them so badly they won't even be able to shit properly for the rest of their short, filthy lives!"

"Levi," Hanji coaxed gently, setting her hands on his shoulders, "you need to calm down. High blood pressure isn't good for oldies."

"I'm not even in my thirties yet!"

"Still. I promise you that I'll search for and collect as much information as I can on the Reiss group, but for now, we will have to settle with helping Chi heal and making sure she's alright. Okay?"

Levi gritted his teeth, his jaw set. "...I don't care. I'm going to find them and kill them the moment I find out their names."

"Shortie, think about Chi! Suffering and alone—you know that when she feels pain, she refuses to admit it it. The best thing you can do is be there for her. Can you do that?" Hanji peered as deeply into Levi's troubled eyes. Levi was silent as he stood from his chair and latched his hand on the collar of Hanji's jacket, dragging her outside the room and closing the door. His skinny eyebrows scrunched together as he quickly shut the door behind him, pulling her out into the hallway.

"Wh—what're you doin'?!" Hanji squeaked, prying the fabric of her shirt away from Levi's deathly vice grip. "Levi!"

"We shouldn't argue in there, while that idiot is asleep," Levi replied, pacing back and forth across the wooden floorboards. "For now, let's devise bloody, agonizing deaths for those worthless Reiss shits."