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

46. "How weird?"

In a flash, the axe separated the wing from the chicken breast. The butcher's wife stepped out of the back room with a tray of fresh sausages. She closed the door to the butcher's room so that Ayumi could only see the salesroom through the window.

"In the back, where the hams hang from the ceiling, there were two little dressing cabins. She had attached shelves to the walls. They were full of fabrics. In the shop window, passers-by could always see her latest work. She was very talented. She tailored for women as well as for men. That was unusual. And it often led to discussions. I think that's how your mother met your fa ... I mean, Mr Stein." Henry Dober had described to Ayumi how her mother's shop had once been furnished. "And in the middle of the room there was a little podium. The customers used to climb onto it and look at themselves in the mirror. And your mother would then discuss further changes with the customers. She always had a tape measure hanging around her neck. Sometimes she even forgot to take it off when she closed her shop and did her shopping or visited us. And on her wrist she always wore a little cushion. That's where her needles were. And where the cash register is now in the butcher's shop, there was a table where she always drew new designs. It was too boring for her to always work in the back room." Henry Dober cleared his throat. "If people can see me and watch me draw, they're more willing to come into the shop. Yes, that's what she used to say."

Ayumi looked up at the first floor. A flower box with red and white geraniums was attached to the window. Her mother had lived above her shop. "Yes," Henry Dober had scratched his chin. "My wife said your crib was in the room facing the alley. So that must have been your room."

Ayumi closed her eyes as she felt tears. She stood in front of the place where her life had begun. If her mother had put a flower box there too? "I wonder what flowers she planted?" Ayumi couldn't remember if her mother had ever told her what her favourite flowers were. She looked to the other end of the alley. There, on the corner, Henry Dober had his bookshop. There was a school two streets away. "Would I have gone to this school?," she pondered. "Would I have taken over my mother's shop?" Goosebumps spread over Ayumi's back. It would have been a completely different life. No Scout Regiment, no Titans, no underworld. "No Levi," she realized in horror, shaking her head.

"What? Did the prices go up again?," she heard Ron say beside her. As interested as her comrade was looking at the individual sausages through the shop window, he was eyed by the young girls who walked past them, whispering. Since Paul's death, Ron had not used a razor. He now had a beard. Like Steve. However, Ron groomed it. Unlike Steve.

"You're looking in the wrong direction," said Ayumi. She had notice that the ladies had been looking at Ron more often lately. The beard made him seem more grown up and attractive.

"Mm?" Ron followed her gaze. "Oh. Nooo," he said to his comrade as he noticed the young girls waving to him. "I still think Titans are more harmless than women," he explained, waving back with a smile.

The young girls screamed briefly as two guys stumbled into the alley. They were fighting.

"What the hell," Ayumi muttered sceptically as she recognised the two soldiers.

"Oh no!" sighed Ron, following his comrade.

"What's your problem?," gasped Louis in pain after Jimmy had pushed him against the house wall.

"You're blabbing with strangers about Scout Regiment's matters," Jimmy shouted at him and was about to punch him. But before his fist could hit Louis' face, Ron had stopped him. He twisted his young comrade's arm and brought him to the ground. When Louis and Jimmy realised who was standing in front of them, they fell silent.