~ Fate ~

I did it again.

I got another burst of inspiration. This time, the story is a lot longer, but once again I will give you no clues as to what it is about. You’ll have to read to find that out. I hope you enjoy this AU story!

I am so sorry for the length of this story-🥺 :sob:

Cover art by Monochronix

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Run rabbit, Run rabbit, run, run, run.

Hanji’s alarm clock started blaring, waking her up in shock. No matter how many times she heard it, no matter how much she thought she would expect it, it always scared her. Maybe she should try a different ringer? All the others she had tried never worked, though. She knew that ‘Run Rabbit’ was the only tune that worked. Hanji took a moment to contemplate switching her alarm off completely, rolling over and going back to sleep. Skip school. However, she had recently made a new friend there, and she didn’t want to leave him alone.

Dragging herself out of bed, while groaning in exhaustion, the brunette started to shuffle her feet across her hall to the bathroom. Her pyjama shirt had come undone a little in the night, and she was able to see the names imprinted in her skin. Levi and Erwin. One name on either shoulder blade.

It was well known in the world that everyone had two names somewhere on their body. Everyone was born with the names. One name was the persons soulmate, and one name was their killer. Sounded great growing up, being young and knowing you had your soulmates name on your body. Knowing your killers name was also there, a pre-warning from birth of who would evidently end your life. Everyone always got excited whenever they met someone with a name that was on their body, hoping it was their soulmate rather than their killer. The only flaw in having the names, was nobody was able to tell which name was which.

Hanji had never met anyone with either name. Not until recently. Her new friend at school was called Levi. It was one of her names. Maybe she was stupid to want to investigate further, find out if he was her soulmate or her killer. But there was no use in running from him, all because he was one of her names. She felt drawn to him, in a way she hadn’t felt drawn to any other person. She wanted to know more about him. A spark had started inside her the moment they had met, in the lunch cafeteria. It was purely coincidental that Levi had sat at her table to eat. He didn’t speak to anyone, but Hanji felt inclined to start a conversation. Ever since that day, the two had become closer.

As Hanji finished getting dressed in a simple T-shirt, a checkered flannel and some jeans, the brunette decided to check her schedule for the day so she ed which classes she needed to attend. Walking over to her closet, she looked at the printed schedule pinned to it while brushing through her hair. She mostly tied her hair back in a scruffy ponytail, as it was quick and easy to do, so she went for the usual style once again.

Luckily, the school wasn’t far from her house. As always, the girl checked the back building to see if Levi was standing, waiting around for her, and as always, there he was. He was dressed in a hoodie and jeans, his hands stuffed in his pocket with his hood pulled up. “Levi!!” Hanji yelled excitedly as she approached the male, her hand waving wildly in the air.

The male looked up from where he was staring at the dirt as soon as he heard the woman call his name. A small, lighthearted scoff came out of his mouth as he turned his body to face the taller female. “You’re early, for once.” The male grumbled under his breath, before just simply starting to walk away. He knew Hanji would follow him, so he didn’t need to say anything more.

The two friends managed to drag themselves through school together, for years. They remained at each others sides throughout the whole of their school years. Although, graduation was now coming up. They were running out of time to figure out what Hanji had wanted to figure out, were they soulmates or was he her killer? Hanji had spent years befriending Levi, trying to get closer to him. He did the same with her, and the two were extremely close now. So, Hanji told herself that she would finally it to him why she had become friends with him. She wouldn’t tell him about the other name on her body, she hadn’t managed to meet this ‘Erwin’ person, but she didn’t mind that.

Levi was waiting for Hanji just outside the school gates, and as the girl approached he could tell something was wrong with the girl. She wasn’t as excitable as usual. “What’s up, shitty glasses? Realisation that we are graduating just hit you or something?”

”No, Levi. It’s not that.” Hanji started, stopping in front of the shorter male. She met his eyes for a split second, and noticed as his became smaller. He was trying to read the girl, figure out what was on her mind. Well, it was now or never. “So, I wanted to tell you my intentions about befriending you years ago. I felt like something was telling me to be friends with you, because...” Hanji trailed off, chewing the inside of her cheek as she thought about if she should say it straight out or be subtle about it. The brunette decided to go with the former. “You are one of my names.”

Levi’s expression didn’t change. Had he expected this? Was she that readable? The truth was, Levi didn’t know that she was going to say this. It actually shocked him to hear that she had his name on her body. After a long moment of silence, the shorter male spoke up. “So, we must be soulmates.” The male blankly stated, indicating that he too had her name on his body. Levi noticed the girls expression change to a happier one, less worried than before. She had clearly been wanting to hear that, to know that they were soulmates and he wasn’t her killer.

Hanji beamed brightly, her left hand reaching up and rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, that’s a relief then! So...” the girl got cut off by Levi gently nudging her arm, patting it slightly. That was his way of saying he had to go, that he would speak to her later. Before Hanji could say anything more, Levi had already walked off down the street.

Later that evening, she sent him a message on her phone, asking if he would want to meet up at the weekend for some food. He replied soon after, informing her that he was busy that weekend. ittedly disappointed, Hanji didn’t hold it against him. There were other times they could meet up.

A few weeks went by, Hanji and Levi had met up a couple of times, but not nearly as much as they had before they realised they were soulmates. In fact, it felt like Levi was keeping his distance from Hanji ever since he found out about them being soulmates. Did he not want to be her soulmate? Was he disappointed about them being soulmates? Did he prefer it when they were just friends, even if there was still nothing completely official between them yet?

Their most recent meet up, Hanji had decided to confront him on why he had been keeping his distance from her, been avoiding her calls so often. “Levi.” The girl stated, approaching him at the park slowly. The fire inside her grew bigger the closer she got. Hanji didn’t want to be angry with Levi, but for some reason there was this burning anger inside of her. Something she was worried she would lose control of.

Levi looked up from the bench, before standing and moving closer to Hanji. He simply nodded to her, his usual greeting to her now. He would never say hello physically, or pat her on the back like he used to. There was something bothering him, and Hanji knew it. She could read him like a book now that she had known him for so long.

”Why are you avoiding me so much? Ever since we found out we were soulmates, you’ve grown distant!” Hanji stared down at Levi, her eyes fixated on his, waiting for his next excuse.

Levi rolled his eyes. “I’ve just been busy, Hanji. I tell you this. Look, I met you today, didn’t I? I’m sorry if you feel I’ve been avoiding you, but really, I-“

”Bullshit! You can’t be busy every day of the week, it’s obvious you are avoiding me! Don’t you love me?!” Hanji suddenly blurted, cutting Levi off from finishing his sentence. The brunette realised that she had just suffered from uncontrollable word vomit. Talk about getting straight to the point. The girl needed to know the answer to the question, it had been bothering her so much.

”Of course I do!” Levi instantly retaliated, his voice raising slightly, a scowl appearing on his face. Of course he loved her, he had grown to love her even before they found out they were soulmates. That whole soulmate thing just completely sealed the deal for him, he wanted to be with her.

”Then why, Levi? Explain to me why you keep avoiding me! This has gone on for weeks, ever since we found this out. I need answers, what are you afraid of?” The brunette was getting desperate, almost begging the shorter male for him to give her a valid reason as to what was going through his head. His answer, however, was nothing that she would ever expect.

”You want to know why I’m avoiding you? Both of my names are you! My soulmate is my killer! If you want the damn proof along with this answer, here it is!” Levi grabbed his sleeves and rolled them both up. There, imprinted in his skin, were two names, one on either forearm. Both of them said Hanji.

The brunette couldn’t believe it. He had kept this a secret from her all this time? He should have told her! Hanji felt the fire inside of her explode, and what happened next was a complete blur. Something vicious came to life inside the brunette, and she swung a punch towards Levi. The initial punch may not have been so bad, however Hanji was still holding her keys in her fist from when she had walked to the park.

Levi made a guttural noise as Hanji’s fist connected with his neck, feeling the keys in her hand pierce his skin, before they were ripped out and his blood splattered on Hanji’s cheek. He stared up at her in shock at first, before he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground.

As soon as the girl had realised what had happened, realised that she had stabbed him, her eyes widened. The instant regret filling inside of her, the fire burning out. What just happened? The fire inside her, was her killer instinct coming to life. She had only heard of that growing up, when the killer is around their target, a fire sparks and burns inside them, until it finally explodes. She had never thought the fire inside her was the one that indicated she was around her victim. The tears welled up in her eyes as she dropped her keys to the floor, instantly dropping to her knees beside Levi and scooping him up into her lap. “Levi? Levi I’m so sorry...I don’t know...I don’t know what happened!” The girl cried, the tears just rolling down her cheeks.

Levi’s eyes were barely open, his breathing was heavier than usual. He looked up and met Hanji’s eyes, those beautiful hazel eyes. “Don’t- don’t cry...” he managed to choke out, some blood behind coughed up as he spoke, a small trickle rolling down the side of his face. The male weakly lifted his hand up to wipe Hanji’s tears away. He didn’t blame her, not at all. He knew it was bound to happen one day. He had a love to fight for, but it was always going to end up getting him killed.

Hanji kept applying pressure to his stab wound, wanting to save him. She didn’t want to watch him die like this. Her hands were stained red from his blood, and she knew that it was over for him. He wasn’t going to survive this. The girl had to stop applying pressure to just hug Levi as he was dying.

Levi’s mouth twitched into a small smile as he felt Hanji’s arms around him, hugging him in her lap. If there was one way he wanted to go, it was definitely in her arms. “Hanji...” he mumbled quietly, his eyes struggling to stay open as he reached up to her cheek, laying his hand on it. “Kiss me...”

Hanji held Levi’s hand that was on her cheek, nuzzling her head into his soft hold slightly. When Levi requested that she kissed him, she couldn’t deny it. It didn’t feel like the right time to share a kiss, but she had to do it, for Levi. The brunette immediately leaned forwards, her free hand behind Levi’s head as her eyes slowly closed and her lips connected with his soft ones. His hand on her cheek pulled her more into the kiss, his own eyes fluttering shut. This was their first kiss, and it was also going to be their last.

Feeling Levi’s hand fall from her cheek, to lay next to his body in her lap, Hanji pulled out of the kiss. It didn’t take her long to realise that Levi had let out his last breath during their kiss, that his light had died out. He was gone. She had killed her own soulmate. A few more tears rolled down her cheeks as she held his lifeless body close to her, wishing she could have stopped his death from happening, if only she had realised it sooner. However, she knew she couldn’t have stopped it.

It was just their fate.