[Soul mate AU where the red string is connected in people's feet; Tumblr prompt that I fell in love with]

Reader's POV

I was 7 when I first felt it.

It happened when me and my cousins were playing tag under the scalding sun. The hot summer breeze embraced me and sweat started trickling down my face.

I started running from my older brother and went straight to the grass field when I suddenly fell face first on the dirt and felt blood starting to run down my forehead.

I started looking for the reason why I tripped, maybe a stone or a hole or just something, but there was nothing.

The strange thing was I felt something tug on my left foot.

---
I was 12 when I finally understood it.

All the sudden trips and falls that happened this past few years, a few almost knocking me dead, had a reason.

I overheard my parents talking about their past experiences with loving expressions on their faces when they suddenly mentioned something about soul mates and invisible red strings.

Being a curious kid, I started fiddling around our computer and started searching. Thousands of matches appeared and I started reading.

'Soul mates have red strings around their feet; some feel it while some don't. If you're one of the people who do feel the red string, it means that the two of you are far away and the string is trying to take you closer to each other.'

I stopped reading then and somehow it felt good that someone across the world was tumbling and tripping too. It wasn't fair that I was the only one with the bad luck.

---
All my friends started finding their soul mates while I continued getting scars and started blaming whoever was on the other end. Why do they have to be so far away?

I was 17 when I almost died. I was crossing the road when of course I was slipping into nothingness again. The black car was approaching and I squeezed my eyes shut. I waited for the pain to come but realized that I was being hoisted up. I finally opened my eyes and realized that I was being carried by a girl.

After we arrived in the sidewalk, she put me down with a thud. She was looking at me like she was expecting an explanation of why I was lying on the concrete road.

"Uh, thanks?" I said, not really wanting to explain the whole thing.

"You're welcome." She said hurriedly. "So?"

I sighed and stared at her.

"Soul mates." I said with a frown.

She started laughing until she was clutching her stomach and wiping the tears in her eyes with her hands.

"You're funny, I like you." She suddenly said after laughing. "I'm Sasha." She continued while extending her hand forward.

Despite being weirded out I reached out my hand and shaked hers."(Y/n)."

---
It turns out that Sasha also attended the same school as me and we started hanging out. She told me that she didn't believe the whole soul mates thing and said that it was ridiculous.

I started telling her all the times that I collided with the ground and told her that it wasn't just a coincidence but she said that maybe I was just really clumsy.

Months passed and I wasn't able to convince her. Her thinking made me question the whole ordeal too.

But truly, I still hoped that there was someone in the end of the red string.
---

A few weeks passed and somehow the times I was tripping suddenly increased and increased.

Was my soul mate trying to kill me? I thought to myself as I clutched my head that just got hit by the door that was in front of me.

I started getting frustrated and started trying to untie the string in my left foot that I can't even see or feel. There has to be some way.

I started scratching my skin and pulling at the air beside of my foot and I knew that I looked like a crazy maniac right then and there.

Letting out a sigh, I stopped, realizing that this would never work.

---

After the whole week, my classmates were starting to notice the scars that were littered across my body, in my face, in my arms, in my feet, everywhere.

I sighed and ignored the glances while I walked down the hallway.

I looked at the time in my phone and realized that I was running late for a couple of minutes so I decided to run. When I finally found the class I was supposed to be in, I started to knock. And just as about I was starting to walk into the class, I fell and landed on my ass.

Laughter erupted within whole classroom.

---

Sasha seemed to see the sourness of my mood. I talked less and snapped more to people who talked to me because everyone was asking about my wounds.

"I actually believe the soul mates thing now." She said, getting my attention.

"Why?" I asked, my tone clipped.

"Someone cannot be that clumsy." She said while snickering and pointing at the scar in my forehead. I slapped her hand away and frowned.

"If I find the person that's causing this, I'm going to kill them."

---
It was a Sunday morning when Sasha dragged me to 'the best restaurant in town'. She told me that I should let all my negative energy out by eating.

I'm going to be fat after a year of hanging out with Sasha.

I started eating the actual feast that was laid in front of me while Sasha continued talking about the flavor of ice creams she hasn't tasted yet.

I was nodding along when I suddenly felt a tug on my feet. I sighed and waited for impact but it never came. Pain started creeping its way into my bones and into my flesh and I started hissing.

"(Y/n)? Are you okay?" Sasha said while I fell out of my chair and clutched my feet. I groaned because of the pain, feeling like the string was tightening and crushing my bones.

A loud shriek came from the other side of the room and a couple of loud footsteps were heard.

"It's you! Oh my god! It's happening!" I blinked my eyes open, not even realizing that they were shut, and I saw a woman with a manic smile in her face, her brown hair clipped into a ponytail and her eyes hidden behind her glasses. "Look Erwin! Look!"

A blonde man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and disappeared right after.

Despite the pain that I was feeling, I looked back and saw him starting to walk back into our direction with someone in his arms.

When he was right in front of me, he set the person down and that's when I realized that it was a guy. It seemed like he was feeling the same pain as me, when I saw his pained expression, eyes squeezed shut and lips pressed into a thin line.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me, our gazes meeting. The pain in my left foot suddenly disappeared and the weight that was with me for all of my life was suddenly gone.

We continued staring at each other in silence.

"I can't believe my soul mate is a brat." He suddenly muttered under his breath.

Soul mate?

A sudden realization hit me. Overwhelming feelings started coming and the first thing I felt was hatred.

"How dare you?!" I shouted at him while slapping my hand into the ground.

The man seemed shocked by my actions but his expression remained neutral.

"Excuse me?" He said, teeth clenching hard and voice daring.

"Do you know how much I suffered while you took your happy little vacation around the world?"

"For your information kid, I was travelling the whole world to find you. And this is what I get?" He said with venom slipping from his lips.

"Travelled- the whole? What?" I said with confusion prominent on my face.

"Listen you little shit. I wasn't able to do anything properly because I was stuck with this string that I didn't fucking ask for. You think I'm enjoying this?"

"Im-"I started but couldn't let the words spill out of my mouth. I stared at the guy like an idiot.

A laugh suddenly erupted from beside me and I saw the brunette girl with glasses, clutching her stomach.

"Shut up Hanji." The man sighed deeply, his teeth crunching in irritation. "Ok. Let's start this again." He stood up and started dusting his clothes. After he was satisfied, he reached out his hand at me to help with me standing up. "I'm Levi."

"(Y/n)." I muttered under my breath, still overwhelmed by the situation.

"Well (Y/n), please stay by me from now on because I've got a shitload to do back in my country."

"Your country?" I said weakly.

"Yes, pack your things. We're flying after 30 minutes."

___
(A/N): And scene. AAAAHHHH, this au that I saw on Tumblr really inspired me despite my mini hiatus. I hoped you enjoyed it! ILL BE STARTING THIS ONE SHOT BOOK FROM NOW ON (you can give me ideas yay)