A Myriad of Scents (RivaMika Week 2015)

Day 7: Vegetal

Levi listened intently, and wondered where Mikasa was going with this story as he took another sip from his glass.

"Hundreds of thousands of people like Armin's grandfather died, so people like Nile Dok could fill their bellies, and drink so much wine that with every word they speak you are likely to be covered in saliva..." Mikasa paused for a moment, she had been building up the story in order to be able to ask Levi something, but she feared that he would not want to answer it.
"When I mentioned Armin's grandfather to Commander Erwin, he made an offhand comment that you had a lot to say about the "opposite spectrums that humanity finds itself living in". This made me think...I really don't know that much about you. Did you grow up in one of the outer districts like Eren, Armin and me?"

She asking me about my past...and she might not like what she hears.

Now Mikasa was done speaking, she drained the last of the liquid from her glass, her eyes crinkling from the burning sensation in her chest.

Levi was contemplating his answer, not sure what he should say – if he should say anything at all. Mikasa poured more of the liquid from the green bottle into her glass, before Levi answered.

"No. I did not grow up in the outer districts like you. Nor did I grow up in the interior districts." He said with his usual stoic expression. "Believe me when I say that you don't want to hear about my past. Just know that I did not grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth – quite the opposite in fact."

"I get it – the topic of your past is off limits." Mikasa said quickly.

Feeling as if he had upset her with his lack of openness, Levi began to speak again.

"It's not you Mikasa. It's just that I haven't spoken about my past ever. Erwin is the only one who knows my story – and not because I told him, but because he was a part of some of it."

Mikasa nodded solemnly, "I understand. Today was the first day I had spoken about my parents in a long time." She took another sip from her glass before continuing. "It felt strange to talk about them, especially in front of people that I'm not comfortable with, or even like for that matter."

Levi wondered if she wanted to talk to him about her parents, and how she had been kidnapped, and eventually killed one of her kidnappers.

"How old were you when it happened?" The words spilled out of Levi's mouth without him realising.

Mikasa pulled her gaze away from his near empty glass, and looked straight at Levi.

There is a storm in her eyes; she is still filled with wild torment, and mourning.

"I was nine years old. At nine years old I realised how cruel the world could be. At nine years old I realised the wrath I could muster at a moment's notice."

She is showing a vulnerable part of herself to me. I doubt that she has shown many people that part of her. It's only fair that I give her something in return.

"I too have seen how vicious the world can be." Levi told Mikasa that he had grown up in the underground, below the very streets they had walked today. He explained that although the outer districts had it tough, those who lived in the underground had it worse and were not permitted to go to the surface. Levi debated to himself whether he should mention his mother, but he did not.

"People were denied the right to even feel the sun rays on their skin." Levi finished. "Without the sun, people grow weak, and eventually die."

Mikasa had been listening intently to Levi and his story, and now her eyes seemed to be scanning him from head to toe.

She realises that the lack of sunshine in my childhood is why I am so short. Levi couldn't stand the sight of her gaze. His height was the only complex Levi had with himself, and he never breathed a word of it to anyone. Knowing that Mikasa was a good ten centimetres taller than him he drained his glass and set it on the table beside the chair where his jacket lay folded over.