Mismatch

Rations

Levi yawned and stretched as he sat up in his frozen bed. He'd gotten used to the lack of heat in his room by now but the temperature was still enough to make him shiver violently every morning.

Stupid electricity rations, he thought to himself as he clambered out of bed and attempted to navigate the pitch-black void in front of him to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, he took his pyjamas off (making sure to fold them neatly before placing them down on the toilet seat), dreading the next part of his morning routine. He would wait until they got a new set of ration points (for the hot water) but today was the most important day of Levi's life (Well, that's what they told him to believe): the matching ceremony. What would his friends think if he turned up on today of all days without having had a shower? Well, actually, they weren't friends; Levi Ackerman did not have friends. These people were merely peers whom he conversed with from time to time. With this in mind, however, he stepped into the shower, turned it on and braced himself.

The ancient shower took an agonizingly long time to get started, which meant even more torture for Levi. He closed his eyes, waiting for the icy waterfall to hit his bare skin as the old unit began to rattle and make a dreadful noise, as if it were about to explode. All of a sudden and all too soon, he was hit with the long-awaited Arctic blast. He gave a little squeak and a whimper as he attempted to squeeze the shampoo into his hand. It was near-impossible, since he was shaking like a terrified chihuahua, but he managed to wash himself and get changed into something more presentable than his everyday style. He put some of his best cologne on, tied the signature cravat around his neck and went downstairs for breakfast.

As soon as he got downstairs, he could tell that his father was drunk. He heard crashes and shouting, which involved various obscenities followed by 'Levi, you bastard!' or 'Fucking brat!', coming from the kitchen. He decided to forget about the food and slip unnoticed out of the front door. He couldn't risk being in the same house as Kenny Ackerman when he was in this state; he had the tendency to become extremely violent and start beating Levi up when he'd had a few.

There were still a few hours to go before the matching ceremony was due to start, so Levi got in his car and backed off the drive on a mission to mooch food off one of his "friends". It was only a 10 minute drive to one of his aquaintances' houses so he decided to begin the quest for breakfast there.

When he reached his objective, he slammed a fist against the door, much like how his father would smash a fist against Levi's skull when he was pissed.

"Oi, shitty-glasses, get your ass down here now!" He shouted through the letter box.

A series of banging, clattering sounds came from behind the door, then it suddenly swung open to reveal a slightly dishevelled-looking young woman with reddish-brown hair and round spectacles.

"Oh, Levi, it's just you. Come on in!" She had a very tuneful, enthusiastic voice, much different to Levi's deep, dull one.

"So, what brings you to Casa de Hanji this early in the morning? I know it's an important day but did you really have to get a massive head-start like this?" She sounded extremely cheerful, despite the constant aura of grumpiness Levi was giving off.

"No, idiot." Levi scoffed. "I came to steal your food, since dad's being a drunken asshole again."

Hanji's expression suddenly turned very thoughtful. "Ah, I see. Go grab anything from the kitchen, in that case."

Levi started rooting through the cupboards and finally found something edible: a breakfast bar. He sat down in a chair opposite Hanji in the living room while wondering how she is able to live off only stale cans and various other fungi-ridden sustenance.

"Hey Hanji, ready for today?" He asked in his bored, monotone voice.

She sighs. "As ready as I'll ever be... Hey, what if they match us together?"

"Nah, we're both ugly fucks, imagine the babies." Levi deadpanned.

Hanji had known Levi long enough to know that that was meant as a joke, so she laughed, even though he was sat looking as uninterested as ever.

Two hours passed while Levi was at Hanji's place. He didn't dare go home for the fear of getting torn to shreds by that pathetic, alcoholic mess he called his father. Hanji jumped to her feet suddenly, making Levi snap out of the trance he was in.

"Aw, crap. It's almost time for the matching ceremony; we have to go now!" She exclaimed, a little too loud considering that Levi was only a metre away from her.

"Ugh, great..." He didn't sound in the least bit interested.

"Come on, Levi, cheer up! It's gonna be great fun; I bet you'll meet someone truly incredible." Hanji said in her sing-song voice.

"I highly doubt it, you cheesy idiot." Levi mumbled as he marched outside and got in his car, slamming the heavy door behind him.

Hanji jumped in the passenger side and asked in her usual cheerful register, "It's cool if I ride with you, right?"

Levi sighed. "I suppose so, just don't make too much fuss."

"Roger, captain!" She saluted over-enthusiastically.

Levi started the engine and pulled away from "Casa de Hanji", heading towards the matching ceremony with his scatter-brained comrade singing along to the radio next to him. Maybe he would meet someone truly incredible at the ceremony; he was just too skeptic to believe that to be true... yet.