Together, we heal | Levi Ackerman

༅ 13. Welcome To The Family

Life in the Underground, Part 7: Welcome To The Family

Year 844

"Angle one... two... three, oy extend your arm! Four... five -- your grip is getting shittier.... Six... seven... eig -- Huh? What the fuck is that supposed to be?"

Levi clicked his tongue in irritation before demonstrating what the 8th basic knife strike was supposed to look like with his own knife. He drew back his left elbow before slowly pushing his knife forward, bringing it diagonally down to his right side before swinging the knife right back up again.

Like a swordsman dancing with lithe and agility in contrast to her sloppy arms that aimlessly swung around her that Levi had to cringe every second at how big the chances of her accidentally cutting herself from how lousy she moved.

There's no hiding the fact that Vanya Ronan was, for lack of a better term, an amateur at knife fighting.

That's why she was instantly floored by how graceful Levi moved and how the way he held his knife like it was a harmless accessory that adorned his performance. His eyes grazed at the imaginary opponent in front of him as he continued to fluidly move and slash through the air until the 10th strike. He ended with a stance where his dominant left hand was held out to point the tip of his shining knife right in front of Vanya's face, just a few centimeters from her nose. Any closer then he would have ended up leaving a gash on her face.

Her breathing hitched as she stared at the sharp tip in front of her face while Levi only stared at her with a steely and unflinching gaze.

"And that's how you end up dead," Levi spat harshly before bringing his knife down.

Vanya breathed in relief and released all the tension she held in her stunned body. "Ten strikes are just too many to perfect in just one session."

"There's no such thing as 'too many' when it involves survival, brat."

"Well, sorry, not everyone is a born prodigy like you, jeez," she rolled her eyes before dropping herself down to sit on a crate nearby. "Okay, that's it. We're officially done for today, I'm beat."

"Oy, you don't get to decide when we're done so get your ass up and finish the ten strikes."

"No," Vanya crossed her arms and raised her nose immaturely to the side. "I don't see why you just had to randomly drag me into training on a fine day."

She lied -- It wasn't a fine day at all.

A week later after Levi had walked out on her on the day of her 21st birthday, Vanya felt the queasiness building up inside her when she knew she had to face him if she was going to visit the hideout. Unfortunately, Furlan had persistently insisted that she drop by because apparently, a gang member just so happened to have pissed off another gang in the neighborhood. Vanya didn't know why or how but all they knew was that it horribly resulted in a chaotic fistfight, leaving a few of their members beaten up into a pulp.

She didn't have a choice but to give in to Furlan's request of treating their companions. After all, it was her job to patch up the aftermaths of the mess.

And so that morning, right when Vanya arrived at the doorstep of the hideout with a medical bag in her hand, Levi was already opening the door at her face, grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the entrance with only the words, "Just shut up for the day because it's about time you learn how to hold a knife."

She couldn't bring herself to protest because she felt like she owed him something right after that time he had walked out on her.

And so, this brought them to their current circumstance: a staring showdown between Vanya and Levi with the former sitting on the crate, exhausted from the day's training session while the latter could only glare as he gripped the knife at his side.