ONE ʙʏ ONE

ғᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ

Levi sat across from Girsha, Armin next to Levi. Carla disappeared somewhere as to not disturb them. The tension was so thick, Armin felt suffocated, even coughed. 

"So," Girsha began, "You're friends of my son?"

"Yes," Levi answered nonchalantly, "very good friends, actually. You see, Eren means a lot to me and Armin here. We'd do anything for him."

Armin picked up on what Levi was trying to do, but he stayed quiet, knowing he had no intimidation qualities like Levi did. 

Girsha grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah," Levi monotoned, "Personally, I'd beat up a bully, bandage his wounds, face a rapist that caught an eye for him."

"It was you, you son of a –"

Girsha stood from his chair, prepared to kill the kid. Levi was one step ahead of him, pulling out a pocket knife and laying it against his throat. Armin tripped and landed on the floor in terror. Grisha froze with his fist in mid-air. 

"Armin, go upstairs and help Eren," Levi instructed. Armin obeyed immediately, scattering up the stairs. "I'd feel bad if I had to kill Eren's father. Even if you are a drunken idiot, you're still his family. Sit down."

Girsha slowly backed into his seat, as did Levi. The raven didn't put his weapon away, just in case Girsha attacked him again. 

"You're drunk, I can tell, so I won't make you think too deeply. If I can send a grubby old rapist running, I can surely put the fear of God into you." Levi warned. "Eren is special to me, so special, in fact, I'd kill anything that dared lay a finger on him!"

The old man snarled, "Who are you really, boy?"

"Someone you should be very afraid of." Levi retorted. "Eren and his mother are now under my protection. I've worked with scum like you for a long time, so trust me when I tell you, nobody will care if your body miraculously ends up in a dumpster in some dark alley."

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"He what?" Eren gasped, grabbing Armin's shoulders. "My dad's gonna kill him!"

Armin squeaked out, "Maybe not necessarily. Levi pulled a knife, and your dad did freeze. I don't hear any yelling."

"Jesus!" Eren breathed out, resuming packing his things, now at a much faster rate. Armin helped as best he could. They finished filling two duffle bags, carefully zipping up the side pockets. "Okay, let's get out of here."

The two teens each hauled a bag on their shoulder and booked it down the stairs. Levi met them at the bottom, a calm expression on his face. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Eren huffed out. "Are you okay? Armin told me what happened."

"Eren, as I said, I can handle him. Just take your bags out to the car. Armin, come with me."

The two terrified boys shared a glance before going different ways. Eren darted out the front door, and Armin shyly trailed behind Levi to the living room. Girsha's chair faced away from them awkwardly, his head propped up on his hand. 

"I'm so glad we reached a compromise, Mr. Yeager," Levi smirked. "I'll bring your son home when you decide to shape up. It's been a nuisance talking with you."

With that, Levi guided Armin to the door, taking Eren's things from him. "Go ahead and get in."

"Okay, but why did you need me to go with you?"

"It's proper that the party you greeted with is the party you dismiss with. Now, hop in." Levi commanded, placing the luggage in the trunk. Levi slammed the door and got into the car.