Chapter 25: Free

Levi's POV

"WAKE UP SLEEPY HEAD!!!"

A loud shout jolted me up. I immediately got up from my bed, facing the crazy woman at my side who just freakin' screamed at my ears.

"What do you want?!" I half yelled at her while rubbing my right ear. The four eyes laughed.

"It is already 5:30 am! Get your pretty ass off the bed now or you'll be late for work" She said and then she stood up. Hanji was actually kneeling at the floor earlier when she woke me up.

"My first class is at 8 am. It is still too early" I yawned and wrapped the blanket on me. I was up late last night because I just finished checking the essays of my students. And Hanji waking me up this early is not really a great idea.

"Come on chibi" Shitty glasses pulled the edge of my blankets "Let's go and jog! Weren't you even used to waking up this early?" She said, taking my blankets off completely making me groan.

She was actually right. I used to wake up at this time of the morning to jog and prepare us our breakfast. But eversince I started working in a local high school, I became too busy to even do those. It takes me a while to check the works of my students because unlike the previous college undergraduates that I once facilitated, their skills are still raw in making literatures and writings. This is why I also hate teaching at secondary level schools. It takes too much dedication and the high school students are such a pain in the ass since they are all going thru puberty.

I let out a breath and grabbed my warm up hoodies at the side. "Let's go" I said in a bored tone but her eyes still sparkled in excitement. Hanji nodded a few times as I went off my bed.

I got out of my room afterwards, walking to the kitchen to grab myself a glass of water. Hanji was following me behind blabbering about how excited she is with our first jog together and how we should do this more often. I didn't bother to answer any of her comments for 2 reasons: one, since I don't have to energy to even mutter a word and second, to cut the conversation short. So instead of answering her satirically, I just poured an amount of water on my glass and gulped it down. I need to stay hydrated before I ran after all.

"Levi~" Hanji whined "You are taking too long" She said pulling me by my hood. I rolled my eyes and walked past her, towards the shoe rack where I grabbed my rubber shoes. Hanji was making excited sounds while I put it on and honestly, eventhough I got up a bit pissed off because of how she woke me up, seeing her this anticipated to spend time for a jog with me just made me want to smile. But being the same old Levi who can't even contract his face muscles to form a smile, I put on a blank face and just continued tying my shoe laces.

I stood up after I put my rubber shoes on and faced the woman in front of me who is grinning in excitement.

"Come on" I said, patting her shoulder. Hanji smiled widely, almost imitating the expression of a kid who just got praised by her parent.

"Okay!" She nodded a lot of times, following me when I started walking a distance from the apartment. After I have warmed up my body from a series of brisk walking and stretching, I started jogging with Hanji behind me.

We finished one lap around the central park and it seemed like she was having fun for she was even humming a song. She occasionally makes comment around us too like how the newspaper guy looks so done with himself as he scowl while dusting off the papers in his stall, and how the old lady who is walking her dog looks so good despite her age. Eventhough Hanji was very loud that it makes me want to kick her back to the house, I don't know but I am having fun with her accompanying me while I do my usual exercise. I just realized that this feels better than having to do it alone.

We finished another lap around it with Hanji still being loud and energetic but when I reached half of the distance for the third lap, I started to notice that there was no shitty glasses behind me. I stopped for a moment, looking around me but no signs of her were found. So I walked back our route and it made me frown when I saw her leaning at a post lamp while catching her breath. She saw me and then she grinned, falling on her butt in the process.

"I-I t-think that w-we have ran e-enough" Hanji said as she catched her breath. She then extended her legs, patting it from thigh to toe. "My legs hurts so much" She whined, slouching her back.

"You wanted to do this didn't you?" I walked towards her, giving her a hand so she can stand up.

Hanji reached for my hand. "Yes because I want to engage into some of the activities that you do" She bit her lower lip and stood.

A small smile threatenes to form in my face but I fought the urge and just frowned even more. "You're trying so hard" I commented to Hanji who looked at me straight.

"I want to make you fall in love with me after all" She said in a very obvious manner. I was taken back from her statement that my eyes grew wide and my face reddened. Hanji smirked when she saw my expression.

"Hoho. Is our Levi blushing right now?" She teased me while poking my side. I hissed and swat her hands away.

"Shut it shitty glasses" I turned my back at her and started walking towards the direction of our apartment. I looked so gay earlier, blushing due to her comment.

Hanji jogged after me. "Oy, are we finish already? But you usually take half an hour on your jog right?" the four eyes blabbered beside me but I just gave her another 'shut the fuck up' reply as I tried to mask that emotions that were swelling up inside of me.

~*~

The day inched by and before I know it, the school day has already ended. I walked out of our faculty room, ignoring my colleagues who said their goodbyes. With my laptop bag on me, I got out of the building. A few students saw me walk out, greeting me in the process but I just nodded at them. When I reached the gate, a hand suddenly pulled the strap of my bag making me look back. It was shitty glasses grinning at me.

"Yo" She let go of the strap. My eyebrows met as I hanged the bag better on my shoulder. As far as I can remember, Hanji should still be at her office yet here she is, 3 hours early from her usual out.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked Hanji, hiding my amusement under the scowl that I am showing.

"I got an early out at work today so I decided to go in here" Hanji explained as she look around the place. "And it seems like this school is great. I mean, look at those kids in uniforms. They are so cute" she smiled while eyeing each student that went out of the gate.

"No. They look like brats" I said turning my back at her. I was about to walk out when Hanji pulled the strap of my bag once again. I hissed as I faced her.

"Lets go somewhere else!" Hanji suggested. "It is not everyday that the end of our shift matches after all" She said and then she leaned towards me, extending both of her hands to my face. She placed it at the sides of my head, with her thumb brushing just above my eyebrows. "And don't scowl too much. You will scare your students" Hanji said while she stretched my eyebrows from its frown.

A number of students pooled around us while Hanji and I talked. It looks like we have gathered so much attention to my horror. So I removed her hands from my head and faced the students who seemed to be enjoying the view that their supposed 'strict' professor is having with a woman who is new to their eyes.

"What are you all looking at?!" I rose an eyebrow at them who all immediately retreated and walk on their ways. Another reason why I hate high schoolers. They are too romantically inclined that scenarios such as this makes them amused already.

I then faced the woman in front of me. "Were you trying to raise another rumor to get me out of my job?" I sarcastically asked her which made Hanji chuckle.

"No you idiot. But I am asking you in a date so lets go before the day officially ends" She said pulling me by my hand. I followed her without even bothering to remove her grasp from me which supposedly suprised the students who saw us. Some quietly squealed, admiring the two of us while some were clearly shocked that they just had their eyes wide.

We walked for a while as Hanji started telling me about her work. I don't know but as time goes by, I feel like listening to four eyes has already became my distressor for my day. Just hearing about the fun that she experienced while looking at her expression surprisingly makes me calm. At first, I saw it as a very annoying thing but now, I don't think that my day would be complete without hearing Hanji's blabber about herself, or rather, without shitty glasses on it.

A small smile emerged from my face while I loosened my hand from hers which made Hanji stop. She looked at me, a bit unsatisfied but then, her face suddenly became red when I intertwined it with hers. Hanji beamed as we walked at the streets.

"This feels really great" she said tightening her hold at my hands. "It looks like we are really on a date"

I smirked, holding her hand in the same manner as how she is doing. "Well, you said that we are on a date right?"

Hanji suddenly stopped walking so I gazed up at her. She was looking at a stall situated at the side of the street with her eyes sparkling. Oh damn. I feel like I know where this is going.

"Levi!" She faced me "Let's try that!" Hanji said pulling me towards the stall in haste. She let out an amused sound when we got near the stall where a huge man is managing it. "Is that real knives?" Hanji asked the man who looked at her with a grin.

"Yes miss" He said grabbing one of it and throwing it in the air. He catched it by its handle, making Hanji more amazed.

The stall which Hanji and I are in front right now is a small fair stall. So it looks like the usual, a target a few meters away from us and with bears as prizes whose size varies depending on what points you have acquired.

"You are throwing real knives in that small target? Oh boy. That is so amazingly dangerous" Hanji chuckled.

"You want to try it? A try is equal for just a number of bucks" The man suggested. Hanji's eyes sparkled but before she could answer, I squeezed her hand. She looked at me, definitely reading the huge 'No' emanating from my face.

"I'm sorry. But I think that it would just be a waste of money for me. I have a bad accuracy" Hanji laughed. We were about to turn our backs at the guy when he suddenly muttered something which made my nerves almost pop.

"Then let your guy do it. But it looks like it would also be a waste since his height might not be able to compensate with the target" The man laughed. I gritted my teeth and faced him with a glare. As soon as he saw my expression, his laugh stopped mid way and his face became a bit stiff.

I walked back to the stall, pulling Hanji with me. I let go of her hand and then I grabbed my wallet from my bag to fetch a few bills from it. I slammed the money in front of him, which made his huge body flinch.

"Give me the fucking knife" I said to the man who nodded and shakingly gave me one of the blades. I smirked as I held it. This one feels so light in hand, definitely incomparable with the ones that I used to handle. He didn't know that my targets before were way more huge than him but since he crossed the line, he'll get what he want.

"Oy Levi, you don't really have to prove anything. He was just trying to provoke you" Hanji whispered in my ears but I ignored her. I just rose my hand, extending my arms up and eyed the center of the target. Hanji tried to shake my shoulders to stop but I just shrugged her off. With one clean swift, I threw it forward, hitting the center of the target which is just half an inch in diameter. It clearly has a small chance of getting hit but because I was trained since I was a kid, things like this are nothing for me.

The man in the stall looked at me with his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open. Hanji on the other hand gasped before she broke into a series of laugh. She embraced me from behind, patting my head with her right hand while her other arm is around my neck.

"Thats a really good chibi" She said teasingly and then she faced the man. "Oy, where's our prize?" Hanji asked her and that was the only moment when the man was broken out of his thoughts. He looked at us and chuckled hesistantly.

"O-oh yeah" The man walked inside the stall, grabbing the largest stuff toy which was displayed in front. Hanji's eyes grew wide as well as her grin before she let go of me, meeting the man half way. She took the large gray cat plushie and then she faced me with a smile. She hugged it tight, exhibiting it on me.

"This looks so cute isn't it?" She said burying her face on its soft body. "I'll name it Levi" Hanji giggled.

I frowned at her, pulling her away from the stall. "Don't name your craps after me" I said as we started walking again.

"Who said that I named it after you? It is not Levi. It is Lee-bye" She said emphasizing each syllable. "Damn. This is too adorable" Hanji embraced it even more while walking beside me. The lights at the city started turning on and that is when I realized that it is getting darker. More people are packing the streets as the roads became filled with noise produced by the growing number of vehicles. I looked up at Hanji's face and when I saw her expression, I felt an unknowing tug at my heart.

Maybe it is the right time that I accept it.

"Hanji" I called her making her attention fall at me.

"Yes?" She asked me and once I saw an alley at the side of a building, I pulled her in it making her gasp in shock. "Whats up with you?" Hanji looked at me confused but I didn't answer her. I just leaned forward and cupped her cheeks, claiming her lips with mine. Hanji was shocked but after a moment she kissed back. Her grasp on the plushie loosened making it fall at the ground before her arms wrapped around my neck, deepening the kiss. Her eyes closed as I pulled her closer, throwing every emotions in my heart towards her.

I know it. I always knew it.

We broke the kiss and my hands feel from her cheeks to her arms. My head bowed low and before Hanji could even comment on what happened, I cut her off.

"You don't have to try so hard anymore" I said, raising my head up while Hanji looked at me confused. But all of her confusion were changed into shock when she heard the next set of words that I said.

"I love you shitty glasses"

Hanji didn't say any words. She just looked at me with a very surprised expression before a single tear fell from her right eye. "Y-you are not joking right?" She asked me as a sob escaped her mouth

"This is the truest thing that I have told you Hanji" I said, raising my hand towards her face to brush her tears away. "I love you and I am sorry if it took a bit long to answer to you"

Hanji pursed her lips, muffling another sob. She shook her head and with tears running down her eyes she smiled at me. "I love you too Levi. I love you so damn much" She said and I couldn't contain the feelings in my chest so I just leaned forward once again to kiss her.

I feel so free. I just released every emotions that I kept caged in my heart and I know that I did the right thing. I am sure of it cause I never felt this great in my life. I have never felt so contented as I did while I hold Hanji and finally claim her mine.

???'s POV

"We have found no clue of him again sir" I apologized as I reported to my superior. "He is not in the previous town, nor is in the underground society. I have asked a number of men in the black market and they haven't heard any about him too"

My master chuckled, pulling his hat down as he sat more comfortably in his chair. Recently, he has given us an assignment to find someone for him and up until now, I have continuously failed him. I haven't found anything that relates to the target, much to my disappointment.

Suddenly, the doors bursted open. One of my comrades entered the room, dragging a huge body who was bloody from head to toe. His victim was gasping for air when he threw him in the center of the room.

"What is that shit?" My master asked my comrade who smirked.

"Talk" He said to his victim, kicking him down in his back. The huge man cried in pain as he looked at us with fear.

"I-I think I s-saw him" He said before he screamed when my comrade stepped on his back.

"He saw our target sir. Yet this idiot just let him get away" He said kicking the poor man in the face. A tooth came out from his victim which flew towards my feet.

My master chuckled as he got up from his chair. "He did?" He asked, half sitting in front of the huge man who cowered in fear. "Where?"

"A-at the city. W-with a woman" He said and then he groaned in pain. "H-he has ridiculous skill with knives" The man said making my master laugh.

"It is him! We found him!" He shouted laughing even more. He fetched something from his pocket, looking at it maniacally. "It is time that we meet again my nephew. Your uncle felt so bad when you suddenly left" My master said as he looked at the photo. A huge grin formed in his face as he once again tucked it in his pocket. He then stood up and walked out of the room, opening the doors aggressively. "Get yourselves ready" He yelled. "We are about to do something fun" He grinned at us underneath his hat that covers most of his face. We all saluted at him as he walked away, laughing hysterically.

My master is on the move. And I hope that you are prepared especially after you betrayed him, Levi Ackerman.