Birch - Ereri/Riren AU

Chapter 1 - Sleepless Bird

A/N: Warning for excessive alcohol consumption, suicide attempt and depression. You have been warned, I won't be responsible for all you children being scarred for life~

The cold breeze blew softly in Levi's face, weaving its way through his raven hair. The warm orange light of the dying day colored the bright grass beneath him into a soft amber. Levi closed his eyes, listening to the quiet melody of the clearing, the chirping of an occasional bird or grasshopper, the murmur of a nearby stream and the rustling of birch leaves above his head. Levi smiled, enjoying every moment of it.

This bright clearing in the young forest has been the only place he could find peace, ever since he moved to the little village owned by his uncle Kenny and some distant relative, Mikasa. It was almost the end of the school year when Levi and his two best friends, Isabel and Farlan gathered at Isabel's house for a sleepover. During the night, something went wrong with the wiring and the house caught on fire. Too late did the three realize that the house was engulfed in flames; Levi was the only survivor, despite his desperate efforts to drag the two out of the house.

After the accident, Levi fell into a deep depression. About a week later, his friend Hanji found him in his room trying to hang himself. He probably wouldn't have even stopped, if not for her. Hanji was already in college, studying to get a degree in psychology. Believing that life around nature might relieve his depression and calm him, Hanji convinced his parents to send him to live with his distant relatives during the summer, who lived in a cute little village in the countryside.

And everything would be fine if not for the hatred Levi was greeted with the very first day. Not hatred towards him, but the hatred looming over the house like a cloud about to rain thunder, created by the war going on between his second cousin and uncle.

Kenny would barge in the house on a daily basis, drunk to the bone along with buddies not less tipsy than he is. If his drinking wasn't bad enough, he was extremely aggressive, as Levi guessed, fueled by his previous job as a police officer. He eventually got kicked out of the station for being trigger-happy and almost killing some petty thief. Instead of going to find himself a new job, Kenny chickened out that no one would take him on after looking at his not-so-spotless record of behavior and escaped to the small cottage left to him by his parents. Levi suspected him of being a bit off the sane chart.

Mikasa, on the other hand, was the one running the household. Her parents died when she was little and she had no choice but to move in with Kenny. He appeared to be her closest relative who offered to take her in - and rumors say he wasn't very sober when he signed that paper.

Mikasa never grew to like Kenny as did he never had affection for her, forcing her to do most of the house chores almost since the day she stepped into the house, while Kenny himself would stumble around the village screaming songs or lying in bed with the worst hangover.

Levi would have probably warmed up to Mikasa eventually, but whenever she got a speck of free time, she would run off to her friends' house. She never offered to take Levi along, but he didn't mind and just shrugged it off. He didn't want more friends. At this point, it felt like he would never find someone like Farlan or Isabel.

Shaking off the heavy thoughts off his mind, Levi sighed, looking over the sunset that took over the horizon with annoyance. The sunset meant he had to leave the one place he actually felt more or less alive in and return to the house before it gets dark.

Hesitantly getting off the soft ground, he swooped any specks of dirt and grass off his shorts, and scuffed down through the grass, following the familiar path of the trampled grass that appeared there for the first time a week ago.

Along with the wind that suddenly became colder and harsher, his walk quickly became more brisk.

It was already dark when he reached the small house at the edge of the village, the tiny windows already with a light that was both welcoming and terrifying. Kenny must be drunk again, Levi thought, shuddering at the distant yelling coming from the house.

As he approached the house, the door suddenly slammed open, two silhouettes tumbling out of it. Out of the house hopped out a furious Mikasa, Levi noting the angry grimace plastered on her face, surprisingly visible even from so far away at night.

"...and don't you dare come near this house again or I'll crack both of your skulls!" she shouted, shaking her hands threateningly, one hand clutching a small, but quite heavy frying pan. Moments later, the door slammed shut so loud, Levi thought half the village must have heard it. Kenny's drinking buddies, eh? Levi thought with disgust, quickening his pace as he passed the two intoxicated men, the strong stench of whiskey making him cringe.

With a deep sigh, Levi pulled the doorknob - and barely dodged the frying pan that flew past his head with scary precision. He was greeted by the furious Mikasa, standing in the doorway with a murderous expression, both hands on the frying pan and legs wide apart for balance. Her expression however, quickly changed as she realized who Levi was.

Levi wore an annoyed expression as he lifted his hand to his forehead in caution and raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, its just you Levi," Mikasa let out a sigh of relief, quickly relaxing her hands which were still gripped on the frying pan. "Sorry, thought you were one of those bastards." She nodded at the dark scenery behind Levi's shoulder.

"I figured." huffed Levi, shouldering his way past Mikasa who quickly shut the door behind him and angrily pointed at the couch, occupied by a loudly snoring middle aged man, stinking of alcohol.

"Look at that piece of shit. I just wish he will drink himself to death one day."

"I'm on the same page with you there." Sighed the raven haired man, carelessly throwing off his shoes and heading to the stairway with a yawn.

"Goodnight." he threw over his shoulder as he dragged himself up the stairway, making way into his small room.

"Sleep well!" he heard Mikasa's answer from downstairs.

Too tired to put on a night suit, he merely threw off his shorts and t-shirt, plopping into the soft pillow face-first.

Yet he couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he was. The memories of that horrible spring night replayed in his head over and over as he tossed and turned. It's been almost a month, but Levi still remembered every horrible detail of it. The most clear image of all was Isabel's burned face and the scent of the smothering, pitch-black smog as Levi crawled and crawled, despite the sharp pain on his back.

The unpleasant thoughts still flooding his mind, Levi didn't notice the tears streaming down his cheeks into the pillow.

He didn't know how much time has passed as he just lay there, suffocating in the pillow and his tears. Eventually it must have exhausted him, as he fell into a deep slumber.