𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕤 ➸ 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐧

16 - Rumours

"So how come you guys were off for ages?"
"Oh...I was just feeling sick," Hange said, nibbling on her bento. The four girls were sitting on the rooftop during their lunch break. Granted, it was a little chilly and the cold nipped at their ears and fingers, but otherwise it was mostly nice and the sky was blue for a change.

The three girls looked at her suggestively, sharing glances and smirks.
"What?"

"Is feeling sick code for 'screwing Levi'?" Nanaba said, raising an eyebrow as she cracked open her can of black coffee.
Hange choked on her chicken, dropping her chopsticks into the lid. Rico and Nanaba chuckled, Petra lightly tapping Hange's back to ease her choking fit.

"I-it's nothing like that, oh my shitting hell, guys."
"Hange, it's totally obvious you guys like each other, what're you dancing around for?" Rico said, adjusting her glasses, the lenses glinting.

Hange gulped. That blatant feeling she'd tried to ignore? She figured she knew what it was. And it wasn't the first time she felt this way for Levi either.

Flashback:

"Hey, H-Hange? C-could I please take your cleaning duty shift today?"
Hange was thirteen when Dianne, a friend of hers at the orphanage asked this question.
"Sure...but why?"
"I'm going to confess my feelings for Levi."
"Oh...that's great," she said, a little downhearted. She realised the expression she was displaying, then immediately lit up to avoid Dianne's questioning look.
"Go get him, Dia!"

Passing the storage room on her way to her own bedroom, she noticed the door left slightly ajar and hushed voices from inside.
"L-levi...I really like you and uh... I have for a long time. Would you please go on a date with me?"
She didn't catch the rest of their conversation, rather headed towards her bedroom and decided to erase her own feelings.

End of flashback:

Although Levi never went out with Dianne, Hange had decided then that it was best to forget her romantic feelings for him for the sake of their friendship. It would just cause problems later on down the line.
So she abandoned them.

Or that's what she thought anyway.

They'd all been returning ever since the two of them started out on this adventure. Growing. Blossoming into something she couldn't control. She felt the butterflies. And even though, for as long as she'd been putting on this 'best friend' act, she was feeling frustrated.

How much longer would she have to keep it up?

"We're not dancing around, he just doesn't like me like that."
"So, you do?"
"I'm...not denying anything."
"Holy shit!"
"Oh crap!"
"Hange..."
The three of them gasped.

"I used to like him...when I was thirteen I had a huge crush on him...but I decided it was just best to leave it."
"What about now?"
"I guess...the feelings have...come back."
"Maybe they never really left, you were just hiding them," Petra's soft voice chimed, like bells dancing on the frosty winter breeze.

"You're right...but we're just friends. He doesn't see me as anything else and that's okay. I'll be there to help him out when he finds someone he wants to hold on to," she said, smiling a close-eyed smile at the sky.

"That's fucking tragic. You should fight for what you're feeling. You're giving up too easily," Nanaba huffed.
"To be honest...I agree with Nanaba. You need to stop resisting your heart...you might be surprised with the results," Petra advised, softly caressing Hange's back.

Hange picked her chopsticks and played with the cuff of her sleeve. She opened her mouth to say something when a kid burst through the door, panting and keeling over as he wiped sweat from his brow.
Jimin.

"Hange, it's Levi!"

-----
Levi stepped back, balancing his weight on his right foot, and threw his fist out in a curved punch at his temple. Turning a few degrees to the side, Kyo brought his right forearm up to counter the blow, forming a fist with his left, and threw it at Levi's outstretched jaw.

Levi growled, pulling Kyo by his collar, almost tearing his shirt. He heard the slight rasp of material ripping, over the sound of the large crowd that had gathered around him and his opponent in the hallway. Kyo spat blood on the ground, Levi slamming him into the ground as he kicked his toned side. Kyo groggily rose up, standing in a stance, as he took a blow to his nose from Levi's bloody knuckles.

"Levi!"
He turned his head around, his eyes widening at the sound of Hange's voice.

"Levi what're you doing?"
"Beating the shit out of this disrespectful little asshole," he said, wiping blood from his lip on his hand.
"Ooh, look who it is, the little slut who started all of this."
"Call her that one more time, I dare you," Levi said with a threatening glare, spitting his words with a venomous tone.
"She's a fucking slut," he said, a smirk on his now battered face.
"You asked for it, you damn prick."
Levi swept Kyo from his feet making him slip to the ground, then mounted him, throwing various punches to his face and losing his sense of control.

"Levi, you've gotta stop, we'll be expelled and then we'll have to go back!" Hange shouted, fire in her eyes.
He didn't stop, he kept at it.
She pulled him away, though he tried to resist.
"Levi, it's okay," Hange said softly, keeping him away from a beaten-up Kyo.

He sharply moved his arm out of her grasp and stormed away into the boy's bathroom. She sighed somewhat exasperated, then caught sight of Kyo, who was being helped up.

She trudged over to him, chucking her blazer to the ground and balling her fists.
He looked at her and smirked.
"Hey, sweetheart."
She punched his gut, then kicked him under his belt, for a second time. Only this time, she heard him yelp.

Yanking him by his tie, she whispered into his ear.
"Next time you even think about starting shitty rumours that you're sleeping with me, I won't hold him or myself back."

She let go, leaving everyone with their jaws on the ground, as she dashed towards the boy's bathroom.

-----
Meanwhile in the boys' bathroom, Erwin, Mike and Levi were talking about the fight.

"He deserved it. He has his finger up his own ass and someone needed to put him in his place."
"Erwin's right. And anyway, Hange would never do what he said, they're just dumb rumours." 

"On a different note...that was a good fight, Levi." The two chuckled between themselves, Levi cleaning his lip and brow.
"Thanks, I guess." 

A moment of silence passed, before Mike and Erwin exchanged glances. Erwin motioned for Mike to say something.

"So Levi..."
"What?"
"Are you gonna tell Hange?"
"Mike, I'm starting to wonder if your brains don't even live up to that sorry excuse of a beard. Are you insane?"
Mike raised his eyebrows, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his temple.
"It's just that, you practically fought someone for her. She's gonna have questions."
"She won't."
"But...didn't you say you had a thing for her?"
"What does it matter? She deserves better than what I am."

The boys looked at each other with awkward expressions. 

'At this rate, I'm going to lose the bet,' Mike thought, the horrifying feeling of losing to Nanaba becoming present. 
Erwin at this point was somewhat stressed that they were both being so dense. 
'YOU BOTH LOVE EACH OTHER, WE GET IT CAN YOU JUST CONFESS IT BEFORE WE ALL HAVE TO ARRANGE  SOME SORT OF SHITFEST FOR THIS TO SAIL.'

*****
A/N: Oh. My. Goodness. I reached the big 1K WHAT IS THIS OMG TYSM~~ UWU YOU READERS ARE AMAZING!! <3
On a more serious note stay safe in the world. Corona feels like it won't be over but once you hit rock bottom the only way back is up and I just hope that's the case. You'll be okay. Fighting~ 💪