'Is my class boring you, Mr Arlert?'
Armin's head promptly rose, eyes fluttering open to stare in confusion at the one who beckoned, a rather irked teacher standing with her folded arms. As the blonde wiped the drool from his chin and readjusted himself, all he could think about was how much he hated living with Eren Jaeger.
He didn't hold it against him of course, he realised that sex was a healthy part of relationships, and that Eren was perfectly within his rights to get down and dirty with Mikasa whenever they wanted. It was an annoyance, however, that he chose to do this almost every night, usually just as Armin had decided to retire for the evening. At first it hadn't affected him that much, he just accepted that there was nothing he could to to prevent it, and started drinking an extra coffee in the mornings. However, when he began to notice himself drifting off during his classes, Armin began to long for the days when Eren would stay up watching re-runs of old tv shows obnoxiously loud instead.
'N-no, Professor Hanji, please continue,' he mumbled, weary blue gaze stained with an unmistakable hint of guilt. Hanji sighed, rolled her eyes and continued to explain whatever it was she had been going on about. Armin had missed most of it, as he was painfully aware, and as usual would have to spend a few hours catching up online. To hell with it he thought, if I'm going to catch up anyway then what's the point in staying for the rest. With a dejected sigh he reluctantly decided to depart. Picking up his laptop and shoving it clumsily into his backpack, he climbed up the stairs and (with quite a large effort) pushed open the mahoghany double doors at the back of the lecture hall and made his way off campus.
As he made his way down the empty street, a light drizzle of rain tumbled down out of the cloudy sky bus stop down the road was crowded, full of people seeking shelter from the downpour. Businessmen and -women mostly, their briefcases dangling haphazardly from their hands. As he approached, in the distance he saw the approaching bus in the distance, and panicked. He usually caught the last bus of the night, being as he had recently switched to late classes due to his tiredness. Beginning to jog, he clumsily sauntered down the street, rushing to get to the stop and fighting to ignore the already viciously burning stitch in his abdomen.
While he finally leapt (with great difficulty due to his legs almost collapsing beneath him) up the step and through the door, he heard a quiet chuckle resonate through the bus. Combing the seats for the source of the noise as a dark red blush crept up through his cheeks, he spotted a small blonde girl near the front, with a hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter. He swiftly turned around, paid the driver and walked to the back of the bus, slumping into the farthest seat from the mysterious giggler.
Armin sat perfectly still during the start of the bus's journey, the youth's socially awkward nature becoming increasingly more evident due to the embarassment he currently felt. Slowly, his thoughts would shift, away from the woman's hurtful response and more towards...the actual woman herself. Though her face was obscured beneath the hood of her baggy black hoodie, Armin could've sworn that he recognised her, her tone of voice, her small stature, her hair, it seemed oddly familiar. So in his effort to find out where on earth he even knew her from, he spent the entirety of his journey just kinda looking over towards her, eyes narrowed in an inquisitive manner.
Before he knew it, the woman was on her way out, however in her departure she failed to notice a small, folded up envelope fall from her hoodie and onto the floor. When Armin realised that no one else was going to recover the item, he took it upon himself to return it, feebly making his way down the bus, swiping up the object and then hopping off after her.
After doing a double take to check which way she went, he walked briskly after her. She was quite quick for her short stature, so Armin had to make an effort to keep up. But, as he finally got near enough to her he reached out to grab her shoulder...
...and not a second later found himself on the floor, his head throbbing with pain. The small girl was standing over him, a look on her face, with her hand drawn back for a punch. 'Wait!' he exclaimed, terrified, flailing both arms up in defence. The woman seemed to recognise this and her agressive stance shifted to become more relaxed all of a sudden. 'What the fuck do you want, asshole?' she spoke, softly yet somehow filled with violent intent. Shakily, Armin mumbled 'I'm so sorry for following you please don't punch me again I just wanted to re-' Armin's voice ebbed into silence and his body froze, eyes widening while he felt his entire form shudder lightly. This strange behaviour prompted the woman's utmost confusion, so she paused for a moment, the hostility in her voice fading slightly, genuine concern taking it's place. "...are... you alright...?" she asked, though no longer violent she was still as cold as ever.
Armin did not respond, in fact he didn't even register the question, he was too concerned with the warm puddle emerging beneath his head. Is that...oh...blood...o-oh...bl...blo... And at that moment, amidst a harsh mixture of pain, shock and blood loss, the boy promptly passed out.
". . .fuck."
