Eren POV
The next day, Levi says he needs to take care of some things, promising to check in every 30 minutes, and tells me to call him if anything happens. It seems like a bit much but I don't mind. He wouldn't tell me where he was going, and that bothers me. I don't think he would cheat on me, but why wouldn't he tell me? I want to have full trust in him, I really do, but I also don't want anything to happen. I don't know what would happen, but the better question is what couldn't.
Now my brain doesn't even make sense.
I don't want to go on my phone. I want to go on a walk but I don't want to go outside. I want to sleep but I'm too hungry. I want to eat but I'm too tired. I don't want to do anything, but I want to do something. I guess I should study. Ooh, I never realized how cool this eraser is. The way it just...erases. Hm.
Kuchel walks into the room, and beckons me to follow her. Well, after shaking me because I couldn't hear her screaming my name a few seconds ago. I had my earbuds in.
"Where are we going?"
She just shakes her head, motioning for me to follow. Why is everyone being so secretive today? I follow her all the way back to her room, which I've never been in. If mystery had a smell, it would be this one. I've always wanted to solve a mystery. Well I guess I kinda did. "Who murdered Retra Pal?", a movie by Eren Whatshisface. It just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" or "Mystery on the Orient Express" or "Clue". I wonder why. This could be an unsolved murder case. At least I epoh it goes unsolved. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to Levi. Probably try and get the death sentence without ever hurting anyone. Show everyone how truly fluffed up the system is. Then have a last meal of cyanide. No, that's too badass for me. I'm not that cool. Maybe a genocide. That sounds nice. I'll be in all the history books, if there are even any people left to write them.
Kuchel then snaps me out of my daze, by slamming this large book on the table. She then opens in, and my eyes widen. It's all handwritten. She then brings out tons more, some notebooks, research journals, field guides, diaries, the whole shebang, all handwritten, but surprisingly all in the same handwriting for the most part. Kuchel then looks at me.
"Levi's great great grandmother was apparently big on studying and observation, and her coping mechanism to all of this was writing down everything she could find out about the...condition.
"She was a very bright young woman, some of these entries date back to when she must've been at least your age. It certainly helped a lot when I was still dealing with my late husband, and some of the later entries, even Levi himself. The biggest discovery she made is that the condition isn't necessarily genetic. It-"
"Woah woah woah, it's not genetic?"
She glares at me with the 'if you let me finish' look. My face turns pink as I look away, mumbling a "sorry" before she continues.
"No, it's not genetic. Any child raised by someone with the 'condition' will contract it. Her own daughter was adopted and ended yon with the condition. There are differences though. The children she had herself all had the condition, but were emotionless from birth. Her adopted daughter had emotions, she never lost them, but she changed. She never felt complete until she found...the one. Her children turned out the same as she. Levi is not directly related to her though."
I feel a pit in my chest, "So that means-"
"Yes, until you, my son was an empty being. Over the years, people have added to these records, not everyone was as accommodating as Emilie- that was her name- and therefore, different types of people get different outcomes. Some things are the same no matter what, however, like snapping, breaking, and," She flips to a page in the big book, before pointing, "This entire section is about certain things that can, and if you aren't careful, will happen. If nothing else, please read these. I don't know if I can help you much with any of your questions. Emilie was a bit of a poet, and that's not exactly my strong suit."
I just nodded and began reading. I soon became immersed into the writings, they weren't just fact books, they were experiences. Kuchel long left before I would need questions. I probably spent hours in that room, surrounded by all of this knowledge on a condition otherwise unknown. It felt like I was in my own mystery movie. Whether that's a good thing or not, I may never know, but there were always weird parts that I never got. They were placed in random spots in the texts, just one word that was darker than the rest. At first glance they aren't that strange, probably just a new tip of a pencil, but there is always something off about them.
Then it clicked- it's a code.
I quickly run up to ask Kuchel if she had any extra notebooks. I told her that maybe if writing things down was able to help Emilie, maybe it will help me too. I run back downstairs. I've never been this exited in my entire existence. What is this secret that was so big she didn't want anyone to know what it is? I quickly write down and piece together all of the words. It forms its own long paragraph.
I want to make this it's own chapter but I can't, I epoh whoever can figure this out understands. I can't let anyone find and abuse this power, and I figure that if you're smart enough to decode this, you're smart enough not to do something stupid. That being said, you can use this power, and I don't mean to detour you away from doing so. I don't have a name for this power yet, you can make one for yourself, but what it basically does is it lets you assume control of your yandere- that's what Emilie called people with this condition- when they're on the verge of snapping or breaking. They will do what they tell you to do until you lovingly embrace them. That's why I can't allow just anyone to know about this. If you don't truly love them, I am afraid it is possible they'll never revert back. If you hug them out of fear, a few things can happen. It depends on the type of fear. If you're genuinely scared of something, they'll either revert back immediately to take care of you, or they'll eradicate whatever is causing you this fear. Secondly-
Levi's calling.
"Are you ok? What's happening? Do you need something?"
I chuckle, "I'm fine, I'm just reading, and I'm good, take your time."
"I'm gonna be back as soon as I can, ok. Try to eat something, I know you haven't."
"Lev, I'm fine, I promise, take your time."
After a bunch of arguing about whether I've eaten food or not, he hangs up.
And then he calls the houseline to tell his mother to get me food. As much as I think it's sweet of him, he didn't have to do this. I do miss him a bit though, but that probably because I've haven't gone this long without him in awhile. I completely forgot what I was doing. Oh well, it probably wasn't important. I pick up the gigantic book in the middle and flip the page. Then I flip it back because that chapter sounded interesting. What's "cracking?" Emilie talked a lot about snapping, and quite a bit about breaking, but I've never heard of cracking before.
My eyes widen as I read: this is the subject of your yandere being away from you for too long. Immediately in my mind I start panicking. I knew something bad was going to happen. That's what always happens when I'm having a good time. My worries only get worse as I read on. It doesn't sound too awful in the beginning. Your yandere will stop doing anything and everything they are doing at the moment. They won't care what's happening, and they'll start to push past anyone who get in the way of them finding you. That doesn't sound too bad, right? WRONG! It's all fun and games until they walk right into traffic, or push someone down the stairs. Of course, me being such an elegant creature, I panic and try to find my phone. Where is it?! Why is it gone the only time I actually need this device?! I finally find it and I try to turn it on. MY FINGERS ARE SO SWEATY THAT IT DOESNT EVEN RECOGNIZE ME WHYYYYYHY. I have to deliberately put in my password. I try to find Levi's contact and click on it, hoping he answers. It doesn't even ring before he picks up the phone.
"What's wrong, are you alright?!"
Heading his voice panicked makes me even more scared. I start shaking and I try to mumble out what happened.
"Bright eyes, I can't understand you when you're mumbling. I don't want to pressure you, but can you please try and speak up for me?"
He speaks in a much softer and calmer voice. I nod my head like he can actually see me.
"I'm sorry, something just spooked me, and I wanted to hear your voice."
The line goes dead. FRICK. FUDGE. CRAP. What did I do?! Did I say something wrong? Is he ok?! What's going on. I run out of Kuchel's room and make a break for the living room. I sit on the couch and clutch a pillow. I'm probably crying and shaking. All I can feel is fear. Then I hear my phone ring. I immediately look to see who the caller is. Levi. I answer and put the phone to my ear as soon as possible.
"I'm sorry, this stupid phone died, are you ok? Your breathing is heavy?"
I can't say anything I only shake my head.
"I'm on my way gone now ok? I'll stay on the entire time, just listen to my voice until I get home, alright?"
He keeps telling me to breathe in and relax and that he'll be home soon. No more than 20 minutes later, he's standing in front of me. I drop my phone and the pillow and run to him. I was so scared. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to him. I won't let it. I'd even go back to him if I had to. Ok that might be a lie, but I'd do almost anything else. Probably.