Tebanasu

Ch 21

The next morning, they were taken to the market that was handled by the locals living there. There were various shops there which had numerous types of ornaments and traditional material; such as charms, bracelets, hair pins, keychains and much more.

The students all rushed in to buy whatever caught their eye. They were allowed to stay there for about 2 hours and after having lunch they would board their bus.

Mikasa went along with Sasha and Annie, much to their surprise as she usually goes along with Eren and Armin. Eren knew she purposely avoided him and couldn't blame her.

He went along with Armin to a souvenir shop to buy something for his parents and friends...and of course, Levi.

For his parents he quickly found suitable gifts, for his mother he bought a beautiful handmade hair pin and for dad he bought a lapel. He also bought something for Mikasa that he decided to give her later on.

The only thing left was to buy something for Levi, was being indecisive and couldn't choose.

Armin then came to call Eren, saying that everyone is being called for lunch and then they would be leaving. In a hurry, Eren bought Levi's gift and kept it safely in his bag with the rest of the souvenirs.

They all then ate their lunch and started to board the bus.

Eren climbed up and saw the seat beside Mikasa to be empty. He immediately went and sat beside her. Mikasa knew who sat there and didn't say anything until the head count was done and they started their return journey.

"...did you have fun at the market?" Eren awkwardly asked her to break the ice.

"No," Mikasa bluntly replied.

"Oh, why? Did you not find anything you li-"

"Ereh, you don't need to make small talk with me" said Mikasa sharply "I don't want your pity either"

"You know that I would never pity you, Mikasa. I'm just worried. I know you're hurt so you don't need to pretend either." Eren calmly tried to explain

He then took out a small package from his bag which was covered in wrapping paper and handed it to Mikasa.

"I bought you something, and not because I pity you. But because I care about you a lot as my friend. I just want you to remember that I would still worry about you no matter what. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner." Eren said, looking at Mikasa with a sad look on his face.

Mikasa stayed quiet again, but then made a relaxed expression and thanked Eren for the gift. She then kept her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Eren felt relieved and he too, rested his head on hers and looked out the window.

*

Since they had returned on a weekend the students got a free Sunday and then went to school on Monday.

Eren was walking there with Mikasa and Armin, who heard about Eren and Mikasa making up.

"You like Levi sensei!?" Mikasa exclaimed in an agitated tone.

"Is it really that surprising? I mean Eren made it pretty obvious Mikasa" Armin said, laughing.

"I didn't expect it though...he's a teacher, Ereh" Mikasa said after calming down.

"Mikasa, I have already heard about it all from Armin. I know what he is. And I've made up my mind about it and I'm going to back down now." Eren clearly stated as they reached school.

They walked to class and Mikasa asked Eren a few more questions that Armin too did after finding out.

By the end of the day she had come to realize that what Eren felt for Levi was similar to what she felt for Eren. But she knew that she couldn't do anything and told Eren that even though it would take her a while to get used to it, she will support him until graduation, as long as he is happy.

School ended and Eren and Armin parted ways with Mikasa as she went home and Eren and Armin went to their specific places.

Before dropping Armin at the student council, Eren gave him a souvenir he bought for him

It was a keychain and as it turns out, Armin too bought a similar keychain for him. They both, surprised, just laughed about it, after which Eren went on to the Levi cabin.

He knocked and went in and saw Levi sitting there leisurely. It was the first time Eren entered and saw that Levi wasn't busy with piles of books in front of him.

"Good evening Levi sensei" Eren wished Levi as he sat down "you seem a bit laid-back today. No work?"

"No. we just came from a trip. Do you expect us to work 24/ 7" Levi answered with his hands crossed as he looked at the sunset peacefully after a long time.

"No, of course not." Eren chuckled as he smiled at Levi.

Levi, seeing him, was about to say something.

"Eren." he said

"Yeah?" Eren asked curiously

Levi didn't say anything after that and just looked at Eren for a moment and then looked away saying "nevermind" which only confused Eren.

He didn't think much about it and just continued talking to Levi casually and they again talked for a long while before he took his leave.

Eren thought that maybe Levi just forgot what he had to say and didn't dwell upon his strange behavior.

...that was until it became a repetitive thing, where whenever Eren went to see Levi, Levi would look at him as he was about to say something but refrained to do so.

Since Eren wasn't sure what it was about he tried not to keep thinking about it and was deciding how he is supposed to give the gift he bought for Levi.

He decided to give it to him after the end of his half yearly had taken place after he got a good percentage.

When it was finally that time, he got his result and was delighted to see his grade and rushed to Levi's office after school. He went in, again, without knocking and saw that Levi wasn't there yet.

He took out Levi's gift and kept it on his table while waiting for him.

After a while Levi came in, saw Eren and sat in his seat.

"What is this Eren?" Levi asked, showing only a slight sense of curiosity.

"It's...a gift that I bought for you on the trip." Eren answered looking down as he felt a little flustered. "It's to show my gratitude towards you for all that you have done for me, thank you Levi sensei...really" Eren added an excuse to not make it seem weird.

But what came after was something Eren did not expect to hear.

Levi looked at the gift and didn't do anything. He didn't even try opening it to see what the gift was. Only after a long pause did he finally look up at Eren, in the eye, with a serious look. And alas, he spoke.

"Eren...Do you have feelings for me?"