CHAPTER 6: Danger Lurks
//“I keep getting the feeling that you’re so familiar. I just want to ask; have I seen you somewhere before?”//
~*~
"What…What’s happening?! Why is everyone running away?!” Eren shouted at the people around. Many of them were running away from the small village by the edge of the city. Eren had gone out to get something for his mother, but returned to total chaos. Even before he reached the village center, people were crowding and bumping into one another, all trying to push their way out. He could see some children crying, some of the weaker people were pushed to the ground as the others scrambled for safety. He quickly squeezed his way through the crowd, running toward his home to see what all the commotion was about.
That was when he saw his village- his home, all colored in flames and nothing but ruins…
Some of the houses were completely reduced to rubble, others were smashed and burning. Smoke filled his nostrils the way it filled the air, and he panicked. He noticed that most of the fire was coming from the direction of his house and there were still some people running around in the village.
He picked up the pace, fearing for the worst for his family. He ran past dead bodies of former neighbors and trudged through blood that split on the floor. Even as he still had no clue on what was going on, his mind was only preoccupied with his family.
“Mom!” he called at the top of his lungs when he rounded the corner. His heart dropped.
The sight of his house almost completely eaten up by flames caused his breathing to pick up feverishly. He ran faster, calling out for his mother over and over again.
And he saw her, trapped between pieces of the roof of his home and the ground.
“Mom!” he cried, running up to her and frantically trying to free her. He pushed away rocks and broken parts of what used to be his wall.
“Eren…?” he heard his mother stir, and that made hope wash into him. She was still alive! He had a chance to save her! He wasted no time to take hold of the roof and try to pull it off of her, but to no success as he could only make a small difference in the gap.
“Eren, you need to run! There are very bad people here that are set out to ruin everything!” his mother pleaded to him with desperate eyes. Tears poured from her eyes as she looked up at her beloved son. The way his mother was in, Eren was already crying, not wanting to give up yet. He was set on saving her if it was the last thing he would do.
“No…” he cried, “No…! I won’t leave you! Please hurry and come with me!”
“I…I can’t, Eren! My legs…they got caught in the flames… Please, just go! You need to stay alive, Eren!”
Eren was about to retort something when he heard the sound of many men approaching. He could faintly see their outline….and it looked like they were all armed with guns and rifles.
“Who are those people?!”
Still not giving up, he tried to push the roof again, and this time, he was able to move it a little bit. He didn’t care; every ounce counts as long as he could save his mother! He couldn’t lose her!
“They… They belong to the mafia. In this country, they’re one of the most dangerous mafia societies. I-I’m sorry, Eren… Your father and I, we had a big debt with them… We weren’t able to pay them back on time. So…”
“They decided to do all this just because of that?! Are they even human?!” Eren growled, giving another hard push and managed to move it a little more.
“Mom… Hurry and come with me! We can still make it! There’s still time! We mustn’t wait until they— ”
“Eren!” his mother pleaded again, “I… can’t escape anymore… Please just listen to my last request! You must run and get out of here! Those men are dangerous!”
“I said I won’t leave you—!”
Eren was unexpectedly shoved away from his mother and he hit the ground hard. The sound of his mother calling him could faintly be heard. He looked up with a hard glare, full of hate for the person who did this to his mother.
His eyes met with those of a very dangerous man. And even in his eyes, Eren almost faltered at how scary he looked. His eyes….they were just terrifying to him at that time and the thing that he could clearly remember was the skull-like tattoo the man bore on the left side of his neck together with the word “T”.
But Eren had the passion as hard as steel, he kept his glare hard.
“Why?! You bastard! Why are you so heartless?!” he leapt to his feet and lunged at the man, managing to scratch the man’s arm before he was shoved to the ground again. Said man apparently got angry at the sudden assault; he took his rifle out and aimed it right at Eren’s head.
“NO!!!” Eren could hear his mother scream.
The click of the lock on the rifle came off and the man prepared to shoot. Eren’s breathing picked up, maybe this would be the end—
BANG!
The sound of the gunshot rang through the village but Eren felt nothing. He slowly looked up…
And he could feel his heart stop right there.
Blood splattered on him as he witnessed his mother’s now lifeless body fall to the ground. ....She had managed to use the last of her energy to squeeze out of the debris and push herself in front of Eren to protect him.
“Mom… MOM, NO!!!” he shrieked, cradling her body close to him.
“Eren…” he heard her last breath get drawn in, “Please… you must survive…”
“No… Don’t die… You can’t leave me!”
It was too late, the life had left her eyes forever, and he couldn’t feel her heartbeat anymore… he knew she was gone...
“You… fucking… bastard…” Eren’s expression morphed into that of pure, solid hatred.
But, as he was about to get up and lunge at the man again, a big burning tree bark suddenly fell right in front of him with a loud bang, and the impact pushed him off the edge of the hill, considering that his house was situated right at the edge. Darkness hit him as he banged his head on the way down, and he fell into unconsciousness before he could realize that he had dropped into the river below….
~*~
“I… was considered very lucky. They must have thought I was dead, so they left me alone. When I woke up, the authorities had found me and I was brought back to the city. I got treated and when I got better, I was sent to an old house that I even didn’t know my grandparents owned. Mikasa was already living there at that time because of some matters my father had to settle with her moving in as my new step-sister so she didn’t witness what happened at the village. …My father was killed too…on that same day.” Eren finished his explanation of what happened in the past and looked down with tears brimming in his eyes. But he held back, he didn’t want to seem weak in front of Levi, at least that’s what he thought.
The hand he used to hold the photograph was clenched and shaking slightly, out of anger or the dread of remembering it, Levi didn’t know which.
Now, Levi regretted his choice to show Eren the photograph of that very man with the skull-like tattoo lined with the initial “T”. He felt sad to see Eren in so much pain, the stinging in his heart when he saw how Eren’s eyes looked made it unbearable. He was truly worried for the boy- he cared for the boy. He admitted it to himself, the fact that the boy did mean something to him couldn’t be denied.
And as he saw how the boy struggled to keep his emotions in, Levi abruptly stood up with a frown. He didn’t want to see Eren in so much pain… Going to stand in front of Eren who was sitting before his desk, one of his hands pulled Eren close to him, and the other went to rest on the boy’s head softly, gently stroking his hair.
“Tch. Why are you holding your emotions in, you brat?” he grumbled, “…It’s okay to be sad- to cry and to show despair. Because…” Levi trailed off, slowly turning Eren’s head upward to look into his eyes. “…it doesn’t make you weak; it makes you human.” It was like as if Levi knew what Eren thought about.
That was enough. Eren’s tears which he had carefully bottled up into himself all these years spilled, and he gave out all his emotions to Levi. Levi’s words were much kinder and comforting than any other consolation he had gotten. And somehow, the fact that it was from Levi, made him feel much better, it eased him.
He cried, revealed all his emotions to the older male who had managed to get so close to his heart through the time they’ve been together. Yet even if this was the first time, the comfort he got from Levi felt familiar in a way. But he didn’t care about that, for now, he was sure that as long as Levi was there with him, he would be alright. It made sense now.
Levi’s presence meant a lot in his life, Levi was important to him.
~*~
After Eren had calmed down, Levi started explaining to him what the conversation was originally about.
“This whole company works for the government to protect the country in a way. We are an underground source of military support for the city. This company is divided into three: the Military Police, the Garrison and us, the Scouting Legion. The Military Police are the police in actuality, but they mainly safeguard the VIPs of the country and focus on the heart of the city. Everybody knows them.” Levi sighed, “Technically they’re nothing but some useless piece of shit. Most of the crimes come from them to be honest.”
Eren was listening intently. He didn’t understand where this is going after Levi showed him the photograph but it didn’t matter, it was pretty interesting to learn about something he hadn’t expected.
Levi continued: “The Garrison, on the other hand, is more genuine as police. They protect everyone within the cities and are put in charge of any minor security problems. Then there’s us- the Scouting Legion. We get stuck with the dirty jobs of catching and hunting down wanted men in the underworld of society. We deal with the dangerous people. To be honest, only our department is top secret to the society. And the company acts as a cover for all three branches as well as a secondary source of income for those in the military. Not everyone who works here knows, though, because not all of them are part of the military force.”
That made Eren feel kind of proud that Levi trusted him enough to let him know about what was going on. Grinning, he urged Levi to go on.
“Recently, we, or rather, I, received a new assignment from the authorities. There have been some suspicious activities going on with an organization called “Titan” in the underworld of the city. But… they’re slippery; it was hard for us to pinpoint their activities.” He looked into Eren’s eyes with seriousness. “There was one thing that led me to solving it, though. When I met you for a second time, I noticed that the guys whom I saved you from had uniquely same tattoos on their arms. I didn’t pay attention to it at first till I returned to the office and took another look at the photographs.” His hand went to the file again and pulled out the said photograph, placing it on the middle of the table.
“That tattoo apparently is the trademark of all the members in this organization.”
Eren swallowed a lump in his throat; a feeling of trauma hit him again when he remembered what his mother told him about this organization. He felt uneasy about this.
“Eren, with your help, we will be able to find out their filthy crimes, find them, and put an end to it; I want you to work with me on this case. Besides, it would be a great way for you to settle your parents’ debt, keep the two closest to you safe, and the key to avenge your parents.”
Somehow, though, Levi felt like he had a personal grudge against them after understanding Eren’s past. He just wanted them to suffer and rot in hell for what they had done. Heartless pigs who murdered people for their own advantages; they were the worst kind of people. Levi despised them, even more now when he saw the trauma they put Eren through.
With his lips drew into a frown at the thought, he extended a hand for Eren. “Would you help?”
Eren just took one look at Levi, and grinned. He nodded, determination filling his eyes again as his passionate self returned, and took hold of the outstretched hand Levi offered.
“Yes!”
~*~
“Eren, you can wait here for me or wait downstairs. The meeting won’t take too long; maybe an hour or so.” Levi set all his paperwork into a neat pile for tomorrow and headed toward the door. There was going to be a board of directors’ meeting so he recommended Eren to wait for him.
When he was a step behind the door, it got swung open by the one and only Hanji.
Hanji skipped into the office, obviously happy to be able to see Eren again. “Erennn!” she called in a sing-song voice, going over to cling on him again, “How’s everything today? Get used to the job as Mr. I’m-So-Bossy’s secretary yet? Did he bully you, Eren?”
A bead of sweat rolled down Eren’s head while Levi’s face pulled into a glare.
“Stop wasting your time here, shitty four-eyes!” he growled and stepped over to pry Hanji off of Eren. She eyed him with a crazy grin, “Did you really bully Eren?! Or did you do “something” that you don’t wish to be found out?” The last part came out in a fit of laughs.
“N-No! Levi treats me well!” Eren suddenly piped up behind of Levi, causing the male and Hanji to pause.
Hanji slowly turned her gaze questioningly and teasingly to Levi, but he ignored her and instead, pulled her out of the office.
“If we’re late for the meeting, I’m gonna fucking push all my paperwork to you tomorrow.” Eren heard him grumble before the door was pushed shut.
A small smile crossed Eren’s lips and he chuckled softly.
Looking around Levi’s office properly for the first time, he found that it was obviously spotlessly clean. In fact, there was something in his mind which kept telling him that Levi was a clean-freak. He didn’t know why, but he believed it.
He took a glance at the clock, and frowned; it was already that late? By the time they went home, it’ll be a little too late for dinner. And, he hadn’t cooked yet. What if Levi got hungry by then? He didn’t want that. He pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down that he would head home first to prepare dinner and left it on the desk before heading out of the office.
He pulled his coat over him and went out, picking up his pace when he realized how the night sky had started to twinkle with stars, showing how late it was getting.
Unfortunately, he failed to notice how his footsteps were echoed by a pack behind him, failed to see the dangerous men who slowly started showing up from their hiding spots in the shadows. And he didn’t have the time to notice that they were carrying guns… until it was too late and he was already surrounded.
They ambushed him all at once, and the last thing he remembered… was the sight of that very same skull-like tattoo that haunted him for the past 10 years of his life…
BANG!
~*~
“!!!!” a short distance back, in the safety behind the office’s glass doors, the girl with strawberry blonde hair fell to her knees at the shock of what she had faintly seen. Petra’s eyes went wide and she felt herself take in a sharp breath.
Eren…!
TO BE CONTINUED...
[Author's Note: Yoshhh! Let's celebrate for this long-ass chapter! X3 *victory dances around your screen* I promised for a double-chapter post, and I shall grant it soon! But back to this chapter, I really cried when I was writing the start of it. To me, Eren's mother's death was one of the saddest I have ever watched in mah life... I just.. ahhhhh *cries*
Well, hope you enjoyed reading this one! Try reading this to the piano version of Levi's theme song or watch the video I attached, it might give more effect and feels. As usual, if you liked it, you could vote it up and maybe give a comment! Following me would really mean a lot too, and all of your support reaaaally helps me to continue writing! Thank you all sooo much for the 2.2K reads and 145 votes! I love you all!!!]