Orphanage {LeviHan}

Chapter 3: Big Bro

Levi's POV

10 Years Later...

"Ahh! Levi!!!" Hidden in my tree house, I saw Eren being chased around with Armin by his side. The people chasing him? Girls. Apparently, they've been calling him cute, and chasing him all over the place. Armin as well. "Help me!!!" He continues to cry out, and I just sighed softly with a smug. Now that... reminded me all too well of Hanji.

"Come on, man, you can do better than run."

Eren nods, quickly stopped running. "L-Leave us alone, please!" He cries out, "I-I haven't done anything wrong! Please!"

The girls simply giggled and walked away. One girl looked at Eren in such a... loving way... but she quickly turned her head. Eren smiled gleefully when he peered upwards towards me. "There ya go!" I shouted towards him, chuckling. "Stand your ground!"

Soon enough, that girl who was staring at Eren appeared. She leans forward, whispering something in his ears. Armin seemed to react, but I could hear a thing. Suddenly, Eren looked up again at me with his head tilting a bit. "Hey Levi, who's... Hanji?"

*   *   *

Upon hearing her name, I felt myself retreating into this tiny ball again... just like when I was a kid. When she left, I was about to turn 8 when she... she was 7. Left right before the week of Christmas. I hated every second, not enjoying presents of my birthday and the holiday when she wasn't there. We never had the ability to communicate with each other... so we couldn't update each other. I didn't know where she was living... it was confidential, so I couldn't write letters. Why didn't she write me a letter...? Or send me gifts...? She knew where we lived- who didn't?

Breath in... breath out... I repeated those words to calm my anger. Perhaps she had a good reason why she couldn't do anything... but seeing her again... would we still be somewhat of a couple...?

No... probably not. She found some other guy better than an orphaned boy. Why would someone want me? They wanted an intelligent young girl, so they got Hanji. They wanted boys who looked better- goodbye Erwin. Anyone need a sweet little girl to babysit their other kids? I'll never see you again, Isabel. Need a brother to rely on? Farlan's perfect for the job. And me...? None of the parents wanted to adopt a troublemaker like me. So I was left alone... and I stayed.

I stayed for one reason: Eren. He was going through the same process as I was. A troublemaker at school, and no one wanted to adopt him because of that. Despite him actually being mean at heart, he was kind-hearted. Even looked up to me. That's why he would always come to me for help. In the orphanage, I'm known to be his brother. If our genetics didn't tell the truth about us, some people may call us blood-brothers. 

But again, Hanji... Hanji...

"When will you come...?" I whispered under my breath. "I've missed you..."

Eren told me that a girl named Hanji would come back soon... it was a common thought around the girls' sector. Hanji apparently promised that she would come back and adopt a girl from the orphanage. That was her choice... 

"Maybe when you turn 18...? That's when you'll come?" 

Tears flooded down my cheeks when I continued to think about that afternoon when she was taken away from me. And everything else that happened after that... all the bad memories. I protected her from bullies, and she helped me with school. After she was gone... I felt like it was hopeless. So many bad memories were overwhelming me.

"Levi...?" I perked up slowly when I heard Eren's voice. "You're supposed to work today... right? Are you gonna be late?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna head out now." I say quietly, clearing my throat and wiping the tears. "Thanks for reminding me, Eren."

If his grin made noises, I swear I could've heard it. "Heh... bring me a doughnut tonight! Please? The chocolate one with rainbow sprinkles! I've been a really good boy, haven't I? Oh! And can Armin have one too? You know he likes the glazed one!"

I chuckled softly, "I'll see what I can do. I can't steal from my workplace... but I'll buy some. How about it? I'll buy a couple dozen for everyone."

"Yay!"

I chuckled softly, crawling out of the tree house. Once more, it was my safe area... my safe house. Out there, in the real world, I was no one. Just a delinquent that no one wanted to care for. But in this orphanage, I'm everyone's big brother. I would take care of everyone... and by far, I was the only orphan to stay here, even after turning 18 years old. Hanji would be 17 years old already... going onto 18 in only a few months. 

If I can stay here much longer... let me see her... I want to see her... Hanji... please stay out there. Please be safe... there's so much I want to talk to her about...