Touch. (Ereri)

I will Be Your Eyes.

Levi spent the rest of the year with his new friend, Mikasa. He enjoyed having her there with him, acting as his eyes. She described the things around them from a child's point of view, which was--to him--the best point of view. She didn't hesitate to somewhat over exaggerate the size of skyscrapers ('It's so big it goes to the moon, Levi-san!') or the vibrant colors of the gardens nearby his home ('They're so colorful, aliens painted the flowers with pretty colors we don't have here, Levi-san!) or the various French foods he hadn't yet experienced ('They're eating snails, Levi-san, big huge giant green snails!'). Levi would laugh happily at Mikasa's descriptions, almost making him feel....normal.

But one day, Levi's mother introduced him to a new form of sight. His eyebrows wrinkled upward in confusion when his mother first placed his hands on a piano.

"Qu'est-ce, Maman?" "What is this, Mama?" Levi asked, looking up at his mother.

"A piano, little one," she said softly. "I am going to teach you how to play it."

After a few months of steady learning, Levi soon got the hang of playing the piano. His hand muscles could remembered where all the notes and corresponding keys were, and he played on, seemingly happy to find this new form of enjoyment. He developed a knack of playing by ear, but he also read Braille sheet music for more complex pieces.

But it wasn't until his mother introduced him to string instruments did Levi truly fall in love with music.

"We are going to try the violon today, little one," His mother said when he sat down at the piano for his daily lessons. Mikasa was nearby, and being his eyes, gave him a fairly accurate description of it.

"It's beautiful, Levi-san," she giggled, climbing up on the piano seat next to him. "It has lots of curves, and it curls at the top, and it feels really soft," she said. Levi knew when she said 'soft' she probably meant 'smooth', now eager to touch it for himself. When his mother put it in his hands he gasped, and he knew he would love this instrument forever. Once the bow was in his hand and his mother told him were the proper notes were and the proper way to hold the instrument and bow placings, he began to play.

It was beautiful, the sound this instrument made. He felt it understood him, with it's many sounds and musical capabilities. Levi loved the violin, and playing it was close to second nature for him. He was a prodigy, and his mother and father were overjoyed to see that their son had found the one thing he loved and could open up numerous opportunities for him.

His mother began introducing more string instruments to him, wondering if any others would stick. Levi also had a knack for the cello, which he also liked quite a bit, it's bass-y undertones and smooth sound relaxing to him. He didn't care so much for the ukulele or the guitar, but he did like the viola and the harp. He played the harp especially for his mother, who loved the beautiful and heavenly sounds that came from the instrument.

During all this, Levi and Mikasa did have to go to school, Levi ready to deal with numerous people making fun of him or treating him differently due to his lack of vision, while Mikasa was ready to defend her beloved cousin with her life if anyone dared make fun of him. They walked into the school, Mikasa protectively clinging onto his arm when a rather tall blonde boy came over staring at them. Levi sensed someone else nearby, he could hear an extra clang of a metal lunchbox.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi," the boy said, going over to Levi's other side. Mikasa gave the boy a warning glare, switching arms and keeping an eye on him. "Are you new here? I am, and I was wondering if you wanted to be my friend."

Levi was grateful this boy wasn't trying to be cruel or mean to him, but just to make sure, he disclosed to him his disability.

"You're blind? Oh, okay. So you still want to be my friend?" The boy said, as if blindness wasn't going to stop someone from making friends.

"I don't even know your name, and since I'm blind, I can't even see what you look like," Levi said skeptically. Mikasa took that as a cue for her to be his eyes again.

"He's really blonde, and he's kinda big, but not a big big big, but a big high big," she said in her limited vocabulary. "And he has really caterpillary eyebrows. Oh! And his eyes are blue, like a sparkly blue, not a darky blue like you, Levi-san." Levi had to bite back a giggle as she openly described the boy, hoping her comment about his eyebrows wasn't going to upset him.

"Yeah, that's it. So now you know how I look, can we be friends now?" The boy said hopefully. "Oh. I'm Erwin Smith, but you can just call me Erwin."

"I'm Levi, and this is my little cousin Mikasa. And sure, we can be friends," he said, happy to have met someone already.

Erwin, Levi, and Mikasa sat together during lunch, talking about toys and other childish things, being the friends that they were when another lunch box clang hit the table.

"Ooooohhhhh~!" A high pitched voice squeaked. "Are you Levi? Are you the blind kid?"

Levi could feel his muscles tense, frowning a bit. So this would be the person who would be his problem, huh?

"And if I am?" He asked defensively.

The voice giggled, and soon Levi felt another body right in front of him. "That's amazing! You're really cool looking, for a blind guy! Can I examine you? I wanna be a doctor scientist when I grow up, so you can be my first patient! I'm gonna fix allll the bad diseases and stuff and then I'll make you not blind anymore!" The voice squealed. Levi relaxed, but was still frowning. This kid was really kid of annoying.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine--"

"Don't be ridiculous, okay? I'm Hanji, but when you're ready to see again, lemme know!" Hanji giggled before running off.

Levi rolled his eyes before turning to Mikasa. "And what did she look like?"

"A bucket of crazy eyeballs," Mikasa said immediately, earning a loud laugh from all three.

The young boy felt happy, his blindness unable to curb his joy.

But time would tell further tragedies that would slowly strip him of this joy.