The Ackermans

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The child raised his head as a bright light enter the cold room. A tall man in a beige coat and a dark hat enter. He held a luggage in his hand, but he couldn't see his face. The man walked over to the corpse on the bed that was his mother.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," he spoke to the corpse, "Damn, you've lost a ton of weight since last time, Kuchel."

"She's dead," the child whispered in a hoarse voice.

The man turned to the husk of a child, huddling against the wall in his mother's shirt. "And you? You still alive?"

The child raised his head, but didn't respond to the question.

"Hey, hey, gimme a damn break," the man said, "You hear me don'tcha?"

The child noticed the stained blood on the man's coat, but didn't bother to comment on it. He also noticed the cold expression on his face.

"...Gotta name?" he asked.

"...Levi," he gave his name, "Just...Levi."

Levi watched the man drop the luggage on the ground before leaning against the wall. His head hung low as he slid to the floor. He stopped midway, around the height of the bed next to his mother.

"I get it, Kuchel," he spoke to himself before he raised his head. Levi saw a hint of sadness and bitterness to them, almost as if he had some regret with her. "That name always gave us trouble. No point in using it."

The man hit the ground, his legs slightly spread out. "I'm Kenny. Just Kenny. I used to know Kuchel. Nice to meetcha."

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Levi yelled as he beat the man to the ground. That adrenaline, that rush, this...awakening. It flooded inside of him and it wouldn't stop, and he wouldn't stop until this bastard was dead. Because of him, his mother...his mother!

Levi kicked the blade away from the man before grabbing by the shirt and shouting at him. He didn't remember what he said; it was all a blur inside of his head. He just wanted to express his anger, his pain. She was too good for this rotten world. She didn't deserve to be here. To die down here! He didn't want to die down here! He could hear cheers and comments from the crowd, but he paid no mind. It was just this!

Levi landed one more blow to the man's bloody face, causing him to collapse onto the ground. His eyes rolled into the back of his head before he lost consciousness. He wasn't sure if he stopped breathing, but it didn't matter. It probably would've done him a favor if he did.

Levi panted, out of breath, as he turned his head to find Kenny. He didn't know what to say as he saw Kenny walking away from the crowd, and from him. Levi wanted to go after him, but...for some reason, he knew that he couldn't. This was the last time he would see him, and...he didn't get to say goodbye.

Why...why was he leaving him?

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Levi slowly opened his eyes as he adjusted the seating in his chair. He saw the stacked papers on his desk; it looked higher than it should've been. He saw the cup of tea next to it, something that he wasn't expecting to see. Levi grabbed the tea and drank some of it. It wasn't that bad; Hanji was doing a lot better in nailing his tastes. He'll give her that much.

Still, he felt tired, which was something he hadn't felt in a...long time. Even then, he didn't dream very often. But it's been a while since he's thought about Kenny. He tried to keep tabs on him, tried to determine where he might have ended up after his trade off. Killing people again like he used to would've no doubt put him on the Survey Corps' priority list. Kenny was good at disappearing, good at hiding. Wherever he was, he wouldn't have come back unless there was something he wanted. But there was nothing that he could want.

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