ONE ʙʏ ONE

ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ᴛᴡᴏ

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WARNING

Some sensitive content follows. Read at your own discretion.

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Eren felt completely humiliated. His head was throbbing in pain, and his pride wasn't doing any better. The teen was shocked by his childhood friend's hostile personality change, and there was a part of him who started to believe the Armin he knew was gone.

Levi had changed him into a carbon copy of himself, destroying the kind and approachable boy he cared about. Armin's stare had become as stormy as Levi's, and his fists had toughened. His voice got more stern too. The blond teen's overall aura had gotten intimidating, even making Eren feel powerless around him.

Eren hid in the bathroom, a stinging feeling of betrayal swarming him as he heard laughter downstairs. How could they laugh while he was drowning in depressing thoughts?

"Armin," Eren sniffled, an unwanted urge building up in his wrist.

As memories of him and his childhood friend played through his head like an old movie, Eren started falling into autopilot. With stiff, robotic movements, the teen left the bathroom and entered his and Levi's room. He found his backpack and dug out a secret razor he hid from Levi.

"No, stop. What are you doing? This is wrong!" Eren protested, but his mind was too far gone.

No matter what he said or believed, his actions were cut off from his morals. Instead of dulling, his senses seemed to have sharpened with dread he couldn't quite feel. It was as if his soul was sending alarms, trying to wake him up, but the signals were just reflecting off of his drive.

Eren removed the bandages from his arm and neatly placed them on the bedside table. His arm had pins and needles, urging for the blade. He tried convincing himself one last time.

"Mom wouldn't want this! If you do this, she'll blame herself."

Though it made him hesitate for a moment, it wasn't enough to break him out of his trance. His auto-drive was in full control.

Tears freely fell from his eyes as he quietly pleaded, "Please, someone stop me."

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Levi placed his cup in the sink, ordering Erwin to wash it and put it away. He retrieved his backpack from the living room and sat it on the bar. Kenny raised a teasing brow.

"You're doing homework?" The man ribbed.

Levi smirked, "Nah, just thought since you're teaching Armin computer tricks, you could teach him to use all of this."

The teen dumped out Hange's flash drives from his bag, along with her notebook containing passwords and hacking commands. There were also some dark web URLs listed that she used to break into government building cameras.

Kenny retrieved the notes and flipped through the pages. He questioned, "Is this Hange's? This looks like her handwriting."

"Yeah, I nicked it after what she did." Levi shrugged, pulling out a file from his bag.

"What did she do this time?" Kenny huffed, laying his head on his hand. "Don't tell me she tried to perform another one of her experiments on you."

"Nope, something worse."

Levi went on to explain how she tried to overpower him and cuffed him in the boiler. When he began talking about his fight with Erwin, the brute excused himself and went home. Armin listened and couldn't believe what Hange did, or what he did to Erwin. Erwin did try to hurt him first, so Armin was convinced Levi attacked him out of self-defense.

As Levi finished, Kenny interrogated, "That seems out of the ordinary to just trap you without injecting you with something. Why'd she do it?"

Though Armin knew how violent Levi was, Levi knew Armin would freak out if he learned the raven killed people, so the teen hinted, "I'll tell you later."

Kenny knew what Levi was insinuating, and breathed out a long frustrated sigh. He motioned, "We talk about this now outside."

Levi couldn't argue back and followed his uncle to the backyard, knowing the earful he was about to get. Once Kenny shut the back door, he shot, "Spill, now."

"She got upset because I killed someone," Levi admitted, crossing his arms and leaning to the side.

"And who did you kill?"

And that was what Levi knew would get him in trouble–who he killed. He believed Petra deserved it, but she was crime-free and not a part of the criminal society. The boy's hesitation to answer irritated Kenny.

Levi finally revealed, "Petra Ral."

"Levi! She is an innocent!" Kenny exclaimed. "What were you thinking?"

Levi defended, "It was for someone important to me, okay? I made the choice on my own with a sound mind. All the evidence is gone!"

Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose and thought for a moment. Having a soft spot for his nephew, the man offered, "Fine, I won't question it, but next time, please, let me help clean up. And you better have a calculated plan and a solid alibi every time."

"Deal!" Levi quickly agreed enthusiastically.

Sure, Levi could kill without a trace on his own, but when his uncle gets involved, that person may as well have never existed. With his uncle on his team, Levi would be unstoppable in the criminal community and he could get rid of his victims quicker with fewer consequences.

Kenny stuck out his hand and clarified, "As long as you don't get caught, I will help you, but once the police are hot on your trail, I gotta cut you off. I can't have the Fox Hole discovered."

Levi took his hand and nodded, "Agreed. And don't worry, I wouldn't disgrace the family business like that."

Just as Levi let go of his uncle's hand, he got an unnerving feeling in his stomach. He furrowed his brow and glanced up at his bedroom window. Kenny mimicked him.

"Is something wrong?" Kenny asked, trying to figure out what was troubling his nephew.

Levi darted his eyes to the side before deciding, "I think I'm gonna check on Eren."

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I just want to take a moment to encourage you guys to check out a writer friend of mine. @Moist_Napkin They have an OC story that is so interesting and I really think you should read it. From when I first met them to now, their writing skill has increased so much, it's impressed me.

It would mean a lot to me and them if you would read their story 'He Said He Loves Me'. If you love drama, that story is definitely for you!

Toodles~