See Me Now

XXIV. (F/N)

Levi was still processing everything that happened.

Absent - mindedly, he went back to the infirmary, (F/N)'s diary still in his hand. He didn't even notice Mikasa and Eren when he entered the room.

He only began to notice when Mikasa charged blindly at him in an attempt to strangle him. He looked numbly at her and saw Eren and Hange grabbing her arms to stop her from assaulting the Captain.

"What kind of a person are you?!" she screamed, still struggling to escape Eren and Hange's grasp onto her. "Why did you let this happen to her?!"

"Mikasa, Levi was also a victim of what happened there!" Hange frantically explained. "It's not his fault!"

"Mikasa, stop being so irrational!" Eren begged her.

Ah, they're defending me again despite my mistakes. And to hear that coming from Eren,...

Levi looked carefully at Mikasa, his cold eyes feeling awfully tired.

"You're right, Mikasa." He said to her with a voice that sounded so foreign, even to him. "I was useless. I couldn't defend her. It's my fault that she was hurt. Has always been."

After what the defenseless Captain said, the occupants of the room were utterly surprised for what happened next. Levi knelt down in front of Mikasa and bowed down his head into submission and defeat.

"I do not have any right to defend myself." He said in a low and calm voice. "I give you my permission, Soldier. Kill me. It's solely up to you."

Hange and Eren gasped at the same time, they haven't seen the proud Captain in such a state before, and it was definitely unnerving to witness him in such a position of complete submission.

Mikasa's dark eyes widened even further. In one full force, she managed to shove both Hange and Eren away. She grabbed the hilt of her sword, but even before she could pull it out of its scabbard, she removed her hands from it. She's positively trembling in suppressed anger.

"Nothing good will ever come from murdering you." She said to Levi. "I'll let you live. I'll let you suffer the pain of seeing someone dying in front of you. Someone who saved you from everything, despite you being blind to her presence."

Mikasa inhaled deeply and strode out of the room, leaving Eren behind.

"Mikasa, wait!" Eren uttered. He stood up from where he landed because of Mikasa's push and went towards the Captain. He looked at him like he was one of the Titans he detested.

For a brief moment, it looked as though he was about to say something to Levi. He opened his mouth, then closed it once more. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Hange, who was still dumbfounded at what just happened, scrambled back to her feet and went to Levi, pulling him up to his feet and noticing the book he was holding at the same time.

"What is that book, Levi?" She said being the curious person that she was.

Levi solemnly handed Hange the book and went towards the bed where (F/N) was lying. He sat on the edge and looked calmly at her, still showing no signs of emotional breakdown.

"That book you are holding right there - that is (F/N)'s diary." He uttered.

Hange's eyes widened. She opened the book and browsed. A few minutes later, she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"She really did everything she can for me." He said, still looking at (F/N)'s unconscious form. "She,... managed to keep up with someone as detestable as me. I hurt her, both physically and emotionally. I destroyed her, and yet she never abandoned me. I didn't know fools like that still exist."