Chagara - Chaos in the Darkness (Levi x OC Fanfic / AttackOnTitan)

4. Tradition

Afternoon. Levi rolled his eyes in annoyance. Although he could not sleep for long, he had kept sitting in the armchair, staring at the ceiling. He had studied the recruits' evaluations, read, showered extensively - almost ten minutes and not the usual three minutes - put his clothes in order and cleaned his room thoroughly.

And yet, the day just wouldn't go by. If they had black tea here? Driven by this thought, Levi made his way to the kitchen. And if there was no tea, should he look around outside? Although... Then there was again the danger that he would meet people. People who knew it was his birthday. People who wanted to congratulate him. So far he had successfully managed to avoid them.

***

Chagara quickly tiptoed through the kitchen door. As in all previous years, there was a mistletoe hanging over the door. It seemed to be a tradition, passed down from the trainees. A kiss from a kitchen help or from a comrade on kitchen duty was considered as a nice distraction during the hard years of training.

Chagara looked around. She had to leave in less than an hour. Until then she had to clear her room and: Find the sweet highlight of the year. A piece of the Christmas cake. Her personal favourite tradition. Her only tradition.

Hopefully it was made already. Hopefully it was made of chocolate. Hopefully someone from the kitchen staff would be kind enough to hand Chagara her deserved piece already. Normally, the cake was only served for dinner on December 25th.

But while her comrades were able to enjoy supper, she would already be on her way to the headquarters of the Scout Regiment. She inhaled the warm scent and smiled.

"Chocolate," Erwin heard a cheerful and familiar voice sing as he knelt in front of an open kitchen cupboard.

Smiling, he stood up. "You don't change a bit," he greeted Chagara, who immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Oi. What are you doing there? Are you searching through our food supplies? Checking to see if it's worth taking us over?"

"Mh, doesn't seem worth it though," was all Erwin said and turned his attention to the next cupboard.

"I can also sleep in the stable."

Erwin paused for a moment, then put the box of sugar back and closed the cupboard. "Would you really quit?" he asked slowly, looking into her sad eyes.

She nodded. "I'm not joining the military police. You know that very well."

Erwin nodded and went to the nearest cupboard. "Then the ink under your papers was worth it."

"I'm in already?" asked Chagara in surprise as she opened a cupboard. "So soon?"

"Mm. We had massive losses recently," Erwin said seriously.

"Expedition?"

"Mh. You fill in the gaps. There are never many recruits volunteering anyway."

"Thanks, Erwin."

"Mmh," hummed the commander.

"Erwin?"

"Mm?"

"What are we looking for?"

"Tea."

"The regular or the good one?"

Erwin laughed. "The good one." But when Chagara made no move, he asked. "Where?"

"What's the occasion?"

"A birthday. Is that enough?"

Chagara thought about it. It wasn't neither Erwin's nor Peter's birthday. Was it the birthday of Erwin's companion? She pointed to the kitchen cupboard to Erwin's left. "Second shelf from the top."

"Thank you," Erwin replied and followed her instruction. He reached for the box labelled "Black Tea", opened it and smelled it.

"Black Tea?" asked Chagara in irritation as she took a knife out of the drawer.

"Mh, why? Is there something wrong with it?"

"It's just bitter. And I thought you wanted to give someone a treat for their birthday, not scare them away."

Erwin laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing," he replied. "What?" he asked as Chagara held the knife out to him.

Suddenly she saluted him. "Commander Erwin, I look forward to serving you shortly. We both know that I am an absolute godsend. Could you therefore already cut me my deserved piece of cake?"

"Can't you wait?"

"I have to go. In forty minutes." She looked at him with wide eyes. "And I still have to pack my stuff and clean my room."

Sighing, Erwin reached for the knife. Shaking his head, he cut the cake.

Chagara's eyes sparkled. "Thank you, Erwin. With a commander as a witness, no one can blame me." With these words, she reached for the piece of cake. "Take care, Erwin. I'll see you at the headquarters," she said as she stuffed a huge piece of cake inside her mouth.

Erwin looked after her, wanting to warn her. But it was too late.

Just as Levi was about to enter the kitchen, a figure ran out of the kitchen. A collision was unavoidable. Irritated, Levi touched his nose. Normally he ran into people's chests or even stomachs. But this time he had bumped into something hard.

With a "Tch" he opened his eyes and looked into a face distorted with pain and filled hamster cheeks. The theft hidden in her mouth must have been so big because only an undefinable whimper could be heard coming from it. Levi took a step back. Chagara. Again. In a simple training suit. Just like in the night. With one hand she scanned her face, in the other hand she held a piece of chocolate cake. Or what was left of it. Was he having a nosebleed? He glanced at his fingers. No. No blood to be seen. He knew that his movements were being carefully studied by the chewing girl in front of him.

"Oi, brat!" cursed Levi.

Chagara's eyes snapped open as she realised where she was standing. Under the mistletoe. Along with the sad, grey eyes. Now what?

"Did you steal?" Levi hated it when soldiers stole food. There would be consequences.

Chagara looked from his threatening little eyes to her half-eaten slice of cake. Levi hadn't missed her flushed cheeks. So he was right. He had caught her stealing. Her red head was a clear confession of guilt to him. Levi wanted to grab her by the wrist and drag her into the kitchen, but the girl was faster. Quickly she broke the rest of her piece of cake in two and shoved one half into Levi's mouth.

"Now you're an accomplice," she winked at him chewing, grabbed his hand, kissed the back of his hand and ran past him.

It took Levi a moment to realise her action. She had actually shoved her bitten piece of cake into his mouth. Disgusted, he rolled his eyes as he touched the sweet chocolate with his tongue. He hated this stuff.

A familiar laugh brought him out of his shock. Levi recognised Erwin, who was leaning over a countertop. Had he seen it all? Judging by his reaction: Yes. Choking, Levi swallowed the bite.

"I never thought I'd see you so emotional, Levi," he heard Erwin say. "Do you want tea? I found some. And I was just going to ask you anyway."

Erwin tried to make peace again. But his friend's angry twinkling eyes did not calm down. "Levi, sometimes it is not what it looks like," Erwin tried again, letting water into the teakettle.

"Oh no?" Demonstratively, Levi raised the back of his hand. Her kiss was visible through the chocolate. "Theft is theft."

Erwin just shook his head with a smile and pushed the box of tea he had found towards Levi. Smelling the pleasant scent, Levi's expression relaxed again.

Erwin watched his friend out of the corner of his eye. The water tap was within his reach. There were also plenty of kitchen towels. And yet, something kept his friend with his extremely developed cleanliness tic from wiping off the imprint of Chagara's chocolate mouth. If he had realised it himself? Erwin looked smiling to the kettle. He preferred to keep his thoughts to himself. So I was right after all. You have a heart too, Levi.