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

15. Old Times - "Are you losing on purpose?"

Ayumi looked at him sceptically, but smiled when she smelled at the tin. "Yes," she exclaimed. "How did you know?," she wanted to know.

"Do you want me to teach you?"

"What?"

"Reading. Writing too."

"You can read and write?," asked Ayumi in amazement.

Erwin nodded. "My father was a teacher."

Ayumi listened up. "Was?," she inquired quietly, coming to Erwin.

"Mm." Erwin poured himself another drink.

"Deceased?"

"Mh."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ayumi said sadly, patting his head.

"Thank you," Erwin replied with a smile. "So shall we start tomorrow night?"

~~~ Flashback End ~~~

That had been five days ago. On the following three evenings, she had learned quickly the alphabet. Yesterday she had written her first sentences in addition to single words. Today she wrote her first essay about her kitchen duty.

"And I thought we were friends," Mike said to the girl with a wink. Ayumi lifted her eyes from her sheet of paper and looked dejectedly at the boy.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "Do you want me to teach you something too?," she offered Mike.

"Don't you dare," Erwin joked.

When Ayumi had a break, she always stood on the side of the training ground and watched the one-on-one fights. Although the humans on the surface went into battle against Titans, their survival instincts were not as well developed as those of the underworld. This was what had surprised Ayumi the most. It were small things why some, including Erwin, lost the battles on a regular basis.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

"Are you losing on purpose?," she had asked Erwin as he helped her clean the hayloft in the stable. To the boys' surprise, Ayumi didn't want to sleep in a bed in one of the houses.She wanted to sleep in the stable. It was probably because of her bad experiences with people that she avoided them as much as she could - that was the boys' opinion.

Erwin's broom stopped when he heard her question. "No," he said in surprise.

Ayumi tilted her head. "So you can't do any better?"

"Apparently not," Erwin smirked.

"But how are you going to fight those titans outside and survive if you're already losing in a one-on-one fight with a human?"

It was an interesting question, Erwin thought. As interesting as the little girl herself. Her skin colour was not as light as Erwin's, the shape of her eyes was reminiscent of almonds and her nose - compared to the majority of the people who lived behind these walls - was smaller and more delicate. The origin of her family was not here. If there were still people out there somewhere who also had to live behind walls?

"What am I doing wrong?" asked Erwin finally, sweeping on.

"I can always read your next steps. If you want to grab the arm, your eyes are fixed on it for seconds at first. I really should have been watching you down there," Ayumi said, shaking her head.

Erwin smiled. It hadn't been the first time the slight girl had wanted to take responsibility for him or one of the other boys in the short time they had known each other.