Luckily Mr. Rutlee wasn't told about the heated argument that had occurred the day before because if he were, he would probably make Eren say sorry to Levi until it was the only word that mattered in the world, and that man got awfully terrifying when he got angry. Eren ditched school for a few days, figuring that it would be horribly awkward between himself and Levi after what had happened.

He didn't exactly do anything important while away from school, he just kind of walked where his feet took him and before he had an idea of what he was doing, he was in town. It was a rainy day and all he was wearing was a very thin sweater and black, tattered jeans because he had no idea it was going to rain so heavily. The sun was shining quite a bit but was hiding behind delicate, dull clouds.

He loved these kind of days because it reminded him of the days when he, Mikasa and their mother would go out to the video rental store to rent a movie since they were forced to stay inside all day. It pissed him off that they didn't have those kind of stores anymore; people got lazier and invented Netflix and all those other things so that they didn't have to take a step out of the house.

He felt his sneakers grow even more damp as he stepped in puddles here and there. He didn't come in this area a lot but he knew where the music store was which was pretty ironic. It was a small shop in the corner of an outdoor shopping plaza with exciting lights flickering in the display cases to get attention from window shoppers. It was almost evening and he should be at home by now, but his inner misfit told him to go inside anyways.

It's been quite a long time since he went to this place, but he wanted to go take a look at the large variety of pianos. He entered as the door chime rang and he was immediately greeted by the workers behind the counter with a smile. Normally he would only go to music stores to buy new reeds but he just wanted to stay in this sort of space because it made him feel at home. The walls were completely stacked with both acoustic and electric guitars,  violins, wind wood instruments and drum sticks.

The place has excellent lighting and they were playing some kind of main stream song on the radio. He was walking down the aisle of music books but stopped when something caught his attention. Right next to the violins on the wall was a small room with glass doors and dim light. The lady behind the desk seemed to notice this caught his interest and spoke out to him as she tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear.

"That's our new practice room," she told him with a grin. "Basically you can just waltz in there and try out the instruments provided in there. It even has speakers."

"Really? That's cool."

"You should give it a try," she said. "It's been a long time since I've heard anyone play anything decent in there," she added with a cringe.

"Alright..." he trailed off and walked inside. The walls were built out of a wood and looked like it was polished until it shined brighter than a star ever could. The wall had a few wood wind instruments hung up as well as an ordinary violin and a few guitars here and there. Right in the corner of the room was a Steinways and Sons piano. The place was a little small, but it gave him a very welcomed and cozy feeling.

He would have went for the guitar first, but for some reason his hands drifted towards the violin. It was like some natural reflex but he decided he was gonna give it a shot anyways. It's been quite a while since the last time he's even touched one and it felt very foreign to him. The bow next to it was in perfect condition, meaning no one else has picked it up until he came along.

He got into playing position, trying to remember any good violin songs he could play. He didn't know a lot because he rarely played the violin for competitions but he finally decided he was gonna practice a bit of Violin sonata No. 1, Op 105 by Robert Schumann. He remembered that it had a piano part to accompany it but he knew it should sound just fine without it.

He relaxed his shoulders and began playing smoothly. The whole piece itself was like some kind of giant crescendo because it was a bit quiet from the very beginning but when louder and louder as it gradually got deeper into the score. Eren's eyes were closed as he let his arms control the bow along the body of the violin, jerking the movements of it from time to time and holding it as if it were some living, breathing human.

He believed the instrument was a bucket of paint, the bow was a brush and he himself was an artist who painted the vast and dreary air with invisible colours, and that colour was a magical thing called music. The notes were swirling above his head and entering through his mouth and out his ears, the music was quick sand he was the victim.

He played with his eyes closed because there was no big audience, he just wanted to imagine the music unravel around him. The German teen really began to enjoy himself but stopped suddenly when he heard a ring from the door and a low, silky voice following it. The pause was no longer than one second and he figured he should continue playing.

"Oi, Four eyes, have you seen Erwin lately?"

Shit.

Eren only knew one person who said 'oi' nowadays and his brain began to flood with terror and anxiety. Why the hell does he always manage to bump into Levi? Why out of all moments did it have to be now?

"I dunno," the lady behind the front desk mumbled. She seemed to be listening to Eren's violin playing.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I dunno."

"What are you even staring at-"

Eren's eyelids snapped open and he was panting for breath and he stopped the movement of his arms and hands. He lowered the bow and slowly looked at his watchers who were across the room gaping at him.

"Uh..." Eren trailed off. "V-very nice practice room."

Levi was staring at him with a cold and deadpanned look as he set the violin back in its place. It felt as if his stare was burning his back.

"That was fucking beautiful," the person who's name seemed to be Hanji said. "What's your name?"

"Eren. Eren Jaeger," he answered.

"Oh my God. You're joking, right? I can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner," she said excitedly. "You're the guy that Levi over here got tied with in a competition!"

"Hmm mm," Eren muttered as he looked around to see if he could sneak away to the exit without being noticed.

"Gee it sure was great listening to you play up close," she added.

Eren nodded with a smile as he began to run towards the exit now, not giving a fuck if they could see him because he just wanted to be away from the scary, short male. If looks could kill, Eren would probably be in his grave right then due to an overkill. Levi rolled his eyes as he swiftly grabbed the younger male's jaw before he could even step in front of the door. He squished the boy's cheeks with his thumb and pointer finger as he leered at him and leaned closer.

"Why didn't you call me?" he hissed in a low voice as his pupils moved briskly.

"Uh well I-I-"

"Why were you ignoring me, you stupid fucking idiot?" he cut him off. "Why are you trying to avoid me so badly that you would go such great lengths such as skipping school?"

Hanji was silent, slowly moving away and figuring it would be better not to interfere.

"I was worried about you and for a while I thought you died by some idiotic accident caused by yourself."

"Then why the hell didn't you call me?" Eren finally spoke up.

"Because I always get the last word, stupid," he snapped.

"That's literally the most stupidest excuse I have ever heard," Eren said with a roll of his eyes. "Also, I wasn't trying to avoid you. I just got sick."

"You're so bad at lying."

"No I'm not and if I were, how would you know?"

"You won't look me into the eyes and you keep shifting your feet," he explained with a sigh. "You're coming with me," he added as he grabbed Eren's arm and tugged him along.

"What-"

"Don't protest," he said with a glare. "Bye, Shitty glasses."

"See you around, shorty," Hanji said with a wave as the exited the shop.

It was raining outside now and Levi swore under his breath as the droplets of water fell upon them. He quickly brought the two of them to a coffee shop near by with umbrellas to hide from the awful weather.

"I need to give you a bunch of the music lyrics and notes of your song but I need to make a stop at the bookstore first," Levi told him. Eren raised his eyebrows questioningly as he noticed he said 'yours' instead of 'ours'.

"Alright whatever. I have nothing better to do anyways," the teenager sighed as he shivered from the cold.

There was a large mall right next to the music shop so they ran to the entrance of the large building like their life depended on it. They were literally soaking wet now and Eren knew he was going to be stuck with a flu as soon as he got back home. The mall was (like almost all malls) crowded and any kid would get easily lost in such a place if they didn't hold onto their guardian's hand.

The place was buzzing with life and excitement as people exited and entered the shops.The place had an excellent heating system, so Eren stopped shivering and sighed with relief. The place had scent of cinnamon and bread wafting in the air from a bakery near by and the walls were built out of red brick. The place looked what the kids those days would call 'aesthetic'. It wasn't like any other mall because there were no glass ledges or see through elevators, it had metal furniture and fancy, black curlicue words written on the walls.

Eren was following Levi without a word and took a few turns from time to time. For a short man, he walked really fast and Eren even had to run in order to catch up. Soon he was struggling to keep up with him and eventually lost him in the crowd of strangers.

---

Walking all the way here would be enough to make me suffocate, Levi thought to himself as he gasped for breath. He spun slowly around to see if the teen boy was right behind him like he told him to but nearly had a heart attack when he noticed he wasn't by his side. He rolled his eyes and fished for his phone from his pocket and immediately called Eren's phone in a hurry. He pressed the device against his ear and listened to a few seconds of beeping until the boy finally answered.

"Where the fuck are you?" he demanded. "I thought you were following me."

"I was but I lost you," he replied with a sigh.

"Where are you now?" the short male asked.

"Uh...at Toys R us," Eren answered quietly.

"Why there out of all places?" Levi scoffed with disbelief.

"I dunno."

"Whatever. I'll be there in a few minutes so please stay put," Levi told him and hung up.

That boy is just like a obnoxious, little kid, he thought.

---

AN:

school is tomorrow save me please

i decided to update since im going to *groans* school tomorrow and i had to cut this chapter a bit short

i really hope you liked this chapter and if you did, please dont forget to vote and drop a comment because i like reading what you all think! c:

thank you for reading!

~Your Friend Takeshi