𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐂, levi ackerman 18+

The Rain

"Captain?"

"What now?" Levi practically groaned.

You hesitated, just for a moment. The sight of Levi so distressed in the rain was not only still prevalent in your mind, but, had become the object of all of your thoughts.

"Am I allowed to ask you a question?"

"I feel you're going to ask me, either way," Levi dismissively responded, "Go on."

"You were acting," You looked up at him, "Different today." Hesitating, you bit the inside of your cheek: "What I mean to say is, you seemed nervous when it began to rain. Even whilst we were beneath shelter, your hands were shaking."

He gave you a surprised expression, his eyes slightly widening, "What are you trying to say?"

Growing more nervous, you whispered: "I was just wondering why. Why did the weather make you so nervous?"

Levi Ackerman didn't respond. He stayed silent for a few moments, losing himself in his own contemplations.

His thin shirt had dried; the first three buttons had been undone, and, his cravat had loosened around his neck, revealing a hint of his sharp collarbones.

Levi swallowed, his tone sounding more hoarse than usual: "Would you really care if I told you why?"

Your curiosity overwhelmed you. You nodded adamantly.

"Fine."

Your eyes lit up with intrigue; Levi began to get himself more comfortable as irritability stained his face.

"You already know that I grew up in the Underground; I'm assuming you've gathered that it wasn't exactly.. lawful down there." Levi paused in between his words, averting his concentration onto your hair as if attempting to distract himself from what he was telling you: "I'm trying to tell you that I was a criminal."

Your eyes widened, nervously glancing at him through your lashes: "Oh."

Levi sighed through his nose, anticipating your stunned reaction: "I was apart of a gang alongside two of my closest friends, Furlan Church and Isabel Magnolia."

"What were they like?"

Levi's brow rose, not having expected you to truly take interest in his story; he sharply exhaled, his face becoming fixed and stern, "Furlan was intelligent; he might've not had an education, but, there's no doubting that he was smart. He was always so level-headed and calm, no matter how out of control a situation would get. I admired that about him." You watched Levi's stern expression begin to soften whilst his brows knitted together, "Isabel was head-strong and confident; she was so cheerful that it was practically sickening."

Levi hesitated for a moment, his hands slipping away from your head whilst his eyes glanced dejectedly off to his right. He hummed to himself for a moment as a glaze stained his silver eyes; you could tell that the memories were painful for him, yet, you weren't yet sure how they related to the rain.

Blinking heavily, Levi sighed: "I'll cut to the chase; we were caught by the Commander of the Survey Corps."

"Hange?"

"No, not Hange." He shook his head, "He offered me a deal: that if we joined the Scouting Regiment, none of us would be charged for our crimes. And, reluctantly, I agreed."

Levi began to slow the pace of his words, his eyes squinting. His mind began to fog, finding difficulty in recollecting the memories of his traumatic past.

"We were on a mission, and it was raining: raining so heavily that I could barely see what was in front of me." His voice lowered, "I wanted to kill him: the Commander. I wanted to kill him so badly that I left Furlan and Isabel, believing that they could fend for themselves." Levi swallowed his thickened spit, shaking his head: "Even then, I knew deep-down that I shouldn't have left them alone: but, I was blind with rage. When I was riding through the rain, I didn't even notice all of the dead bodies; I didn't even notice the abnormal titan that had torn through the Scout Regiment formation."

Beginning to realise where the story was heading, you instinctively placed your hand against Levi's; you comfortingly held onto his hand, and, to your surprise, he didn't retract it.

"They were both killed." He blankly stated, still unable to look you in the eye: "All that was left of them was Isabel's severed head and Furlan's torso."

"Levi, I'm so sorry."

"I can still hear the heavy down-pour; I can still see their paralysed faces; their blood was watered down by the rain." He finally removed his hand from your embrace, running his fingers through his dark hair: "I hate the rain." He repeated the mantra he had used earlier, obviously still affected by the incident.

"How long ago was this?" Your voice softened with sympathy.

"It was seven, or eight, years ago now." Levi's fingers slowly began to trickle back to the towel draped across your shoulders, gently massaging it against your temples: "I try not to think about it, but, when it rains: it's all I can think about. But, you grow, you adapt - I've learned my lesson about not letting my emotions get the better of me."

"I see." You stared down at your lap whilst feeling his fingers trace through your damp locks: "Is that why you grabbed my hand earlier?"

His eyes widened.

Levi hesitated, stammering subtly on his sentence, before he whispered, "I didn't want to lose you to the rain."