The Bullies

At one of the last rows of the class sat an unassuming young man around the age of seventeen. He had stark white hair with dark red eyes dull and lifeless.

While the lecturer was going on about his accomplishments. Eren sat facing the window. There was a cool breeze that blew from it letting his mind drift to the skies.

There was something about peace that made the young Eren uncomfortable, after all, how much peace could a weak high school student expect from the world when there were so many who wanted to push him around?

Still, Eren didn't let it trouble the peace and quiet he had now.

The chirping birds, the picturesque view of the world that lay on the other side of his classroom window, he could only enjoy it now, knowing nothing could ever make it last long.

And just as he had predicted — it didn't, almost the next moment Eren could feel wet swabs of paper hit him right in his ears, the stench of saliva making its way up his nostrils.

The sheer weight of the spitballs forced Eren to his feet, waving around anxiously as he frantically tried to pull the spitballs out of his ears.

As he did, he couldn't help but turn to face the culprit, dirty blonde hair with dark eyes, a mocking smirk on his face as the whole class joined him snickering.

'DRAKE KHAN.’

If Eren had to answer the question of why he had been bullied by Drake and his ever-changing group of goons, he would probably be as clueless as the next person.

Maybe it was because he was weak or looked funny, or maybe it was just because he looked the funniest when making fun of his situation.

The truth was that he could never figure out why Drake hated him so much, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had begged, cried and bribed but it never stopped him.

The class was just as bad, they'd laugh at the littlest of things as long as it was at his expense, it didn't even need to make sense.

One of the students, Justina was like that. She had her head pulled back in hysteria raising her double chin and neck folds as she bellowed loud enough for the lecturer who had been jotting down on the board to turn.

The first thing the old man saw was Eren trying to pull swabs of paper out of his ears. At that point, Eren already knew what was next.

Lecturers were the worst when it came to turning a blind eye. Their position allowed them to impose jurisdiction but when it came to students like Drake Khan every minuscule bit of self-endowed power they had was immediately pulled from underneath their feet.

However, Eren still watched with a bit of hope as the old man lowered his glasses forcing all the mouths of the students shut.

It was then, at that sensitive moment Drake chose to laugh out loud like a fucking ape. The man glanced at him and then at Eren, it was obvious he now knew what had happened, it was time to rule his verdict.

"Eren to the principal's office now!"

Who would've guessed. How could a measly school teacher even dream of going against a member of the Khan family?

The sad part was Eren never asked for that. If the old man didn't want to get in trouble with Drake parents he could easily do that without throwing Eren under the bus every damned time just to make himself feel like he still possessed even the faintest strand of authority.

As the man ruled his verdict, the class only erupted into laughter once again, Eren watched as he had been unjustly treated, dehumanized and mocked all in under ten minutes.

He knew his peace was always short-lived.

The principal's office had two windows placed right behind the man's table. It made the face of the old man hard to see, not that it mattered much. Eren preferred his shadowy figure, it made him easier to detest.

Eren had been sent here more times than he could count, at this point all the speeches were all kind of the same.

It was always something about disturbing the peace and how Eren could try to be less of a nuisance, but then suddenly the man sighed, rubbing his hands across his shadowy face.

"Listen Eren, today's the last day of school."

'Huh... didn't notice.' The words rang through his head.

"I know you've tried everything when it comes to this situation, but have you ever tried fighting for yourself?"

It wasn't the first time he had heard that, Eren's friends had told him that when it started a couple of years back, right before they left him too.

'Why don't you fight for yourself.'

They just didn't want to feel bad anymore, placing the responsibility of saving himself solely atop his head.

Yeah...it surely made them feel better about themselves. He should fight against an awakened genius with the strength of ten bears and his even more insanely powerful family members.

'So easy.'

Yet Eren couldn't help but wonder;

'Just how different would my life have been had I awakened?'

Surely he would have been treated much better. It didn't even matter what abilities he possessed, as long as he was awakened he would enter an entirely different league, the acknowledgement and recognition just for being born into something...

It didn't matter though, his father was missing and his mother was caught in a freak accident at her workplace, and as far as he knew none of them was secretly an awakened hero, they were both mundane.

Excluding his late mother; there was nothing mundane about the love she showered him with, and he would forever be grateful.

The meeting was done before he noticed, but when Eren stepped out of the office, Drake and his goons sat waiting patiently for him.

There was a round of applause and then he could feel Drake’s arm around his shoulders, pulling him in for a tight squeeze.

"And how are you my little mouse?”

He didn't care for Eren’s reply as the next moment he continued to speak dragging Eren along with him.

Drake dragged Eren to a familiar hallway, with all his classmates and juniors eyeing the situation from the side.

It was no surprise Drake had chosen this very spot to humiliate him. He would have done the same had he wanted to reduce someone to nothing.

There was no insult Drake didn't throw at Eren, from physical to mental, when he got tired he added jabs to the gut.

But Eren was all but used to this, and it seemed Drake had noticed so he said in a loud voice.

"What of your slut of a mother."

"I heard her ass was still smoking even after they pulled her corpse out of the lab." one mocked.

There was a slight pause and Drake turned to his friend who said it, trying desperately to hold in his laugh.

At the same time the whole hall erupted into laughter.

Eren could barely make sense of it, the school knew about the explosion at his mother's lab, so why make fun of something so sensitive?

Eren’s head drooped and his eye were fixed on the floor.

He wanted to hurt them. To make them grovel and crawl while begging for mercy, but at the same time he felt nothing.

His body was numb, emotionless. The feeling only grew stronger as the laughter continued, and then finally died away, as footsteps approached them.