Chapter Text
Eren was in the middle of sixth grade when the new boy was introduced to his homeroom class.
New arrivals were unusual- he lived in a relatively small town. It wasn't an everyone knows everyone kind of place, but chances were you could place a name or an event to almost every person around your age. New faces were often shunned or welcomed a bit too eagerly into any clique they chose.
This particular new face was likely to be ignored by the majority- while he wasn't unattractive, he had a blank look settled onto his features like it wouldn't make any sense for there to be any emotion. Not to mention, if it weren't for the slight angular features on his face and lack of any baby fat, this new person might have been mistaken for an elementary kid due to his lack of height. Standing there at the front of the class next to the teacher, he was completely dwarfed.
"Class, this is Levi Ackerman," Ms. Pender began. "He'll be joining us for the rest of the year, so be sure to make him feel welcome! Levi, would you like to tell us something about yourself?"
Twenty four pairs of eyes were trained on Levi, and yet he didn't seem fazed at all.
"Sure. My name is Levi," he stated bluntly, eliciting snickers from the class and causing a light blush to appear on Ms. Pender's face. Fortunately for Levi, she was a young thing and rather kind, and so had not yet developed the air of authority needed to send him to the office immediately for 'disrespect.'
Ms. Pender cleared her throat and straightened out her floral cardigan. "Well then, feel free to pick a seat. There's an open chair at Historia and Eren's table, or you can in the corner table with Jean and Marco over there."
The "tables" mentioned were desks of three pushed into a group, and with such a large class only two seats were open.
Much to Eren's dismay- he didn't really want to talk to this new kid with the boring voice- Historia beckoned Levi over with a grin on her face, eyes sparkling. She loved making misfits feel at home, and Eren both loved her for giving him a place to belong, and dreaded her talent when it came to doing so with other people.
For a moment, it seemed that Levi would go sit at the other table just to spite Historia's smile, but much to Eren's surprise and chagrin he made his way over and tossed his bag onto the floor before yanking out a chair and slouching into it.
"As Ms. Pender said, I'm Historia!" the blonde girl began immediately, shooting her brunet friend a look that said to play nice. "If you didn't already have it explained to you, this period is homeroom. Basically we can just sit around and talk the whole time, or we can work. Ms. Pender can help with your schoolwork too, if you ask her!"
Levi gave Historia a subtle nod. "I kinda figured by the fact that 'homeroom' isn't exactly a subject name, but thanks for the heads up." Swiftly he bent over to his discarded bag, unzipping it to pull out a simple gray notebook and slapping it on the table. He moved with purpose, Eren noted.
Now that Levi was already here and engaging in conversation with his only friend, Eren figured he may as well join in. "So, you're in sixth, right? Historia and me are in seventh so you probably won't get no classes with us unless you're in higher math or somethin'," he chirped, trying to force a good mood and make a good impression.
Apparently the whole good impression plan didn't work, what with the way Levi's neutral expression shifted quickly into irritation as he glared at Eren. Historia leaned back slightly from her position leaning across her desk, hit by a small wave of sympathy fear.
"And what do you think I'm in sixth grade for, huh?"
Eren was suddenly struck with the urge to run, but instead cowed back into his chair. "Well I mean, you're short..."
"I'm in seventh grade, you ass." With that, Levi flipped through his notebook to a clean page, ignoring Eren's slight frown at his cursing. "Hey, either of you got a pencil I can use?"
Eager to fix his mistake- how could one tiny person cause such fear? Eren didn't want to be on his bad side- Eren quickly grabbed his mechanical pencil and rolled it over to Levi before Historia could offer. "You can take that 'un. I pretty sure I got another 'un of 'em in my bag." Historia flashed Eren a small smile as if to thank him for listening to her and being nice, and got back to filling out the paper she had been working on before Levi had been introduced to the class.
Levi spared Eren a quick glance, most of his earlier anger already faded. Uttering a quick thanks, he picked up the pencil and began writing, but before he finished writing a single letter, flung the pencil back at Eren. Disgust was painted onto his face.
"There are teeth marks on it."
Were there? Eren picked up the pencil, and, sure enough, there were teeth markings all along the half with the eraser.
"Sorry!" Eren gave Levi a sheepish look. "It wasn't me. My parents, they done and got a puppy for an early Christmas present for me and my sis and he be chewing on everything."
Levi wrinkled his nose. "I think that's worse than you chewing it, really- your parents can spend the money to spoil you with a dog, yet they can't pay someone to teach you decent English."
Eren's mouth dropped and the pencil fell from his hand, forgotten as he blinked at Levi with shock and hurt stewing in his eyes. Historia herself had stopped her work to gawk at Levi, surprise etched onto her gentle features.
Eren knew he had problems with his speech. Heck, he used to get made fun of his strange manner of speaking all the time, and he knew he had made progress. He didn't run his sentences together as much anymore, and he didn't ever have to stop and think before repeating himself a different way for someone to understand him. It's not like he wasn't trying to get better, and it's not like he was unintelligent according to school standards either- he had skipped a grade! But here this new kid struts in and rubs his one major insecurity in his face like he knows anything with his stupid black hair and his stupid pale eyes and his stupid, stupid face. Eren had just been trying to be nice! Screw not getting on Levi's bad side- Eren hated him with a passion.
Face red with rage and embarrassment, Eren stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder before slamming his chair under his desk. Historia tried to get him to stop, but he ignored her, making his way over to sit with Jean and Marco. Ms. Pender glanced up with a raised brow and a warning glance, but at this point she was used to Eren's fits of anger so long as he didn't cause trouble. If she interfered, Eren would really lose it.
Time passed, Eren listening in on the conversation at his new table while glancing over at Levi with spite every few moments. He appeared to mostly be talking with Historia about his schedule, which was now on the table in front of him. At one point the two of them had been leaning close together and whispering, and Levi himself looked back at Eren. If Eren didn't know any better, he would have said Levi almost looked guilty in that moment. But, he did know better. If Levi could spit out a comment like that with ease, then he wasn't the kind of person who could be sorry for it.