The Only One I See

Levi

Before You Read:

•I have only read the manga for AOT and my manga reader spells her name "Hange." I later learned that it was most commonly spelled "Hanji." By the time I learned that, I had already written quite a few chapters and was not planning on going back and changing every "ge" to a "ji."

•STOP FUCKING TELLING ME THAT X=5. I KNOW X=5.

•This story contains sensitive subjects such as smoking, homosexual discrimination, and rape.

Thank you and enjoy. :)

...

Levi took a long drag from his cigarette, holding the smoke in his lungs. He blew it in the face of the freshman girl in front of him. She giggled in a sad attempt not to cough. She and her flock of first-years had been following Levi around for quite a while now. He knew why. He was a flirt, a bad boy, a forbidden fruit of sorts. He was the king of leading girls on, especially the freshman. The upperclassmen girls knew of his reputation and most stayed their distance. But the younger girls were so... inexperienced. They thought they could break the wild mustang known as Levi Ackerman. They thought they would be the ones to soften his heart and ease his pain. Levi snorted at the thought. As if. These girls were much too easy. They would give him anything he wanted. Money? Sure. Nude pictures? Not a problem. Sex? They would have their clothes off before he even asked them. And for what? The love of a boy who they would never have? It was effortless. Levi wanted girls, then wanted them gone. All of them leaving him with the empty satisfaction of no strings attached pleasure.

"Listen, Mila."

"It's Mina," she giggled, not even bothered by the fact that he didn't remember her name. Levi snaked a hand behind the girl's short, black pigtails and around the back of her neck.

"It's almost the end of my senior year. I need to step up, get better gardes, start looking at collages, you know? I don't think we should see each other anymore, okay?" Levi continued. All of this was a lie, of corse. Levi didn't have bad grades, although he liked to lead on that he did, for these exact situations. As for colleges, a 33 on the ACT promises Levi a front seat ride to any college he wanted. He was golden.

Levi put his forehead to hers, not because he didn't want to see her sad eyes, but because he was almost annoyed by her quivering lip. Too bad he still had to hear her pathetic sniffling.

"But we-"

"I know we did, and it was wonderful, but we both need to start thinking about our futures. You understand," Levi asked, effortlessly acting like he was concerned. Levi had getting, using, and breaking up with girls to a science. "Right?" Mina pulled away abruptly, tears in her eyes. She ran away crying. With no intention of following her, Levi slid the cigarette back in its rightful place between his lips and leaned against the brick wall behind him. How tedious he thought, finishing off the last of his cigarette.

"Breaking hearts and taking names, I see," said Hange, skipping up beside the troubled teen, the chains hanging from her hips clanging with every step.

"Yup," Levi said dryly, flicking the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and crushing it beneth his foot. Hange was... different, and not just different from everyone else. She was different from herself. Every week a new phase. Dressy, scene, grunge. This week's theme was Goth, which is why Levi almost cracked a smile while watching her skip towards him. Hange was preppy. She enjoyed football games, assemblies, parades, basically anything that would make a real grunge, especially Levi, cringe. The only reason that he even hung out with Hange was because they had been friends even before Levi's bad boy days. She was the kind of friend that, no matter how hard you tried, you could never get rid of them. Plus, his inner circle friends seemed to be amused by her, so that helped.

"You know, one day you're going to lay your eyes on someone and there will be music and angels and you won't see anyone else but them!" Hange giggled, imagining the scenario, "You're not gonna know what to do with yourself."

Levi allowed himself to smile a bit. Hange definitely had a way of putting things in perspective. Her idea of love and his were two very different things. Her's was all rainbows and hugs and Levi's was, well... for lack of a better term, non-existent. He didn't have an opinion of love; he didn't really believe in it. He might have at one time, but after three years of sleeping with girls and receiving nothing but empty pleasure, he began to believe that love was only a bedtime story, told to us by parents who had or will, in all likelihood, be divorced.

...

Levi and Hange made their way to the lunch table, trays in hand. On today's menu was meat substitute surprise and something green. While Hange sat to his left and began devouring her something green, Levi looked the other way. Hange had always been a messy eater and he had always had a weak stomach.

To his left, a few tables over, was Mina and her friends glaring daggers his way. Levi rolled his eyes and looked around the table. To his left was Hange, who was currently attempting to suck the spilled lime colored paste off her leather vest. Next was Ymir. She was a junior who was currently winking at a short blond girl across the cafeteria.

Petra was next. She was the only first year allowed into the inner circle, also known to outsiders as "The Levi Squad." She may seem like an innocent little girl, but get on her bad side and you'll wish you hadn't. Once, Oluo had whispered something rather inappropriate in her little ear. She punched him so hard that he bit off the tip of his tongue. That's when Oluo himself had started bringing her around.

"She'll be a kick-ass addition to the Levi Squad," he had said, "Not to mention a hot one." That earned him a sharp jab in the crouch from Petra's knee. She's was accepted fairly quickly.

Which brings us to Oluo. He was a junior, like Ymir. He was also a self-centered, arrogant son of a bitch... also somewhat like Ymir. Most of all, he was Levi's least favorite. The spark of his hatred for Oluo, Levi thought, had been when he tried to pick up Hange their sophomore year. At first Levi was worried, but after going on one date with her, the situation had resolved itself. She could definitely handle boys alone. Other than that, Levi didn't know why he had a problem with him. Oluo used girls just like he did, or tried to at least. Maybe it was his sloppy way of doing it. Half the time, he wouldn't even get the girl. He would just end up with a red cheek and a sore crotch. Levi swore the nurses office had an ice pack reserved that read: Crouch Pack, Do Not Touch Except For Oluo. His way of dumping them was even worse. He would just stop talking to them in hopes that they would take the hint. Even Levi didn't stoop that low. He knew that he needed to give girls a straight answer and tell them that it was over.

The others were Gunter and Eld, the seniors. They were pretty cool guys. They didn't cause trouble; they didn't start anything. They just made good company, especially for the not-so-talkative Levi.

Levi picked at his meat substitute and stared off into space. He thought about what Hange had said earlier. What she said about love at first sight. It seemed so farfetched. Just think about it. You're sitting anywhere, like here at a lunch table. You're doing anything, like staring off into space. You look across the cafeteria and...

There they were...

He was tall, for what Levi guessed was a freshman. His hair was light brown and shaggy. His cheeks were puffy with food when he smiled. He tried to keep his mouth closed as he laughed, making his nose crinkle adorably. His best feature was his soft green eyes. Levi didn't know about music or angels or any of that, but one thing Hange said was definitely true.

He couldn't see anyone else but him.