UnderWater

Chapter 3

Bean was not bounding around a bunch of crabs, as he had expected, but... a boy, sitting in the shallows. A boy Levi had never seen before. He seemed rather young, a teenager, definitely, his short tousled brown hair dripping with sea water as he vainly tried to push Bean away with tan arms.

It looked like he had been playing in the water before Bean had come up to him, but he didn't seem to mind the dog. The boy smiled brightly, revealing quite white teeth as Bean slobbered happily over his face. Sensing Levi's presence, he glanced up at the man with bright green eyes, eyes that seem to sparkle like the ocean on a sunny day-

... This boy... was actually quite good-looking...

To his utmost horror, Levi realized his mouth was hanging open. He promptly closed it, quickly frowning.

Finally tearing his eyes from the boy's face (because Levi had certainly NOT been ogling him this whole time), Levi glanced down and realized he was clothed in nothing but a... ...wait, what WAS that!?

As he looked closer, Levi realized it was a torn rag of what looked like an old sail mast with rope. His eye twitched. How someone could even TOUCH an article that came from Hanji-knows-where was beyond his thinking. Is THAT was teenagers were wearing these days?! Good grief... it was like he was some lone survivor of a ship wreck...

"Oi, kid," the black-haired man began curtly, taking a step towards the boy. "What do you think you're doing here?"

The boy only stared at him, his large eyes seeming to get wider at the sight of Levi while Bean continued to nudge his now unresponsive hands. After a few seconds, as if realizing he had only been gaping wordlessly, he suddenly lapsed into a flustered expression, fidgeting nervously.

"..." Levi raised an eyebrow. The boy seemed to panic more, turning towards Levi and making frantic hand gestures at his throat and at the ocean, none of which the man could remotely understand. "...you live around here, kid?"

The brunet paused hesitantly before slowly shaking his head.

"...you have any family here?"

More shaking.

"...you have a place to where you're staying at?"

A longer pause before... Shake, shake.

"...you ran away?" Levi questioned, voicing a suspicion that had been steadily growing for some time.

The boy's eyes widened even more as he immediately shook his head in response, scattering drops of sea water everywhere.

"...right..." Clearly unconvinced, the black-haired man sighed, looking at the brunet again. Great. Of course he would have to encounter a runaway like this. It would be impossible for him to just go and leave the kid now without seeming like a complete jerk.

There was a short silence, only broken by Bean, who ran back and forth between the two, still barking intermittently.

"...well..." Levi tilted his head to stare at the rather threatening sky. "Looks like a storm might be coming, so you'd better get your ass out of here. I don't want to be held responsible if you end up getting drowned or something."

The boy gave him an odd look, not seeming to understand Levi's words.

"...You better leave." Levi rephrased slowly. Could this boy be foreign? Levi was starting to find his silence a little unsettling. "Go. Walk away. You know?"

Still no sign of comprehension.

"Get up," Levi repeated, beginning to feel a bit of impatience. "Your legs are there for a reason, you know. Use them."

Much to Levi's frustration, the boy simply turned to the said limbs and also stared at them blankly.

"...what? You can stand, can't you?"

The boy bit his lip, as if in worry, then leaned forward awkwardly, placing his palms on the ground before shakily drawing himself up on wobbly legs.

Instinctively spreading out his arms in an attempt to keep his balance, the boy stared down at his quivering feet, his green eyes containing what almost looked like nervous triumph.

Levi continued to watch him, not understanding what was the big deal about standing, when the boy's temporary expression of pride was quickly replaced by panic as he suddenly lost his balance. Flailing wildly, he ended up crashing back into the water with a painful SPLASH!

Levi nonchalantly looked on for several seconds before shrugging and offering the kid his hand. "You look like you need help..."

Shaking his wet locks out of his eyes, the brunet glared at Levi before shaking his head empathically, drawing his hands behind him.

After witnessing several more stubborn and unsuccessful attempts, Levi finally reached out to stop the poor boy, grabbing onto his waist to stop him from falling again. "Hey, hey, quit flailing, you'll just hurt yourself."

Damn it, the brat would actually be taller than Levi if he stood straight.

"Could it be that... your legs are injured?" He gave the boy's legs a dubious glance. He didn't see any sign of a wound, but something was obviously wrong here.

"What a pain..." Levi muttered as he leaned down to better grip the boy's waist, hoisting him up onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He felt the boy stiffen, shocked, before quickly squirming in protest, clearly not happy about his position.

"Cut it out." The black-haired man snapped, inwardly wincing as his clean clothes came in contact with wet, sandy skin. "I really don't want to do this either, but at the rate you're going, you'll be stuck here until nightfall."

At those words, the boy reluctantly ceased his movements, his fingers digging nervously into the back of Levi's shirt.

"Tch. Relax, brat. I'm not going to drop you. ...on purpose, at least." Most people made the sad mistake of underestimating Levi's strength due to his height. Looks like the boy wasn't an exception.

Now laden with the mysterious kid, Levi began walking back in the direction of his house, Bean shadowing his step.

He shouldn't panic. It was going to be fine. Once Levi got back, he'd get the boy to spill where the place he came from and send the damn brat to wherever it was. Maybe Erwin would know-

A sudden punch to his shoulder abruptly pulled Levi out of his thoughts. Pissed, he turned his head back sharply to see the kid panicking and Bean barking frantically. "What-" For the second time that day, his mouth fell open.

In front of them, without warning, a huge wave had formed and was falling, a wave that was far bigger than what should be possible.

"The fuck?" Levi choked out in shock, managing to barely jump out of the wave's reach. Bean gave a loud yelp as half of his body got splashed by the salty spray that should not have been able to travel so far.

As the water slowly receded, Levi began to retreat farther inland, not taking his wary eyes of the coast. What the hell had that been, a miniature tsunami!?

To his surprise and relief, however, the waves continued their usual pattern at the shore, as if the abnormally large wave had never happened.

"..." Well, that was strange. Catching his breath, Levi glanced at the boy, who was still clutching Levi's back in terror. Recalling the way he had been warned, the man narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "...hang on, kid... are you mute or something?"

The boy nodded sadly in response, his green eyes seeming to darken as one of his hands lingered by his throat.

"...oh." Shit. This kid couldn't walk and he couldn't talk. Could he actually be from a shipwreck?! Levi gave another sigh. "Whatever. I'll take you to my place until I find wherever the hell your parents are. Don't touch anything and you'll still have all your fingers. Okay?"

Perhaps the lack of work was getting to him, turning him into a fucking softie like this. Not waiting for the boy to reply (it's not like he could, anyway) Levi continued to trek back to his house.

With all that had happened, he had completely forgotten the mysterious scream earlier.