The beige button-down shirt that Eren was wearing had been undone. "Eren! These bruises look so bad!" Armin gasped. Eren's beautifully toned stomach had a big spot of blue hue. Above, on his chest, was a similar kind of bruise, just a little bit smaller. That's where Levi's heel had hit him.

Eren looked down at his body and sighed. "Don't worry, they will disappear eventually. They don't hurt at all! My back is sore though." He looked puzzled.

"That must have been the impact from hitting the floor... Hey, I'll get you something cold for your cheek!" Eren nodded at him and watched Armin skip to the freezer. The so-called kitchen of Armin was actually a part of the living room. Armin's apartment was really small, after all. Armin searched the freezer and then he found a bag of peas and tossed it to Eren. "Here, try these!"

Eren caught the bag of peas flying at him, and placed the cold bag against his cheek. It was throbbing a bit. And talk about swollen! Eren winced at the sudden coldness on his cheek, and sat down on an arm-chair. "I don't really fancy going to school tomorrow if my face doesn't settle down! He could have saved my face at least..." It was Friday tomorrow and the weekend was on the verge of starting. Missing one day wouldn't be too bad, Eren thought.

Armin felt really guilty because of the whole scene that had happened before no less than 20 minutes. "I'm so sorry Eren. I should have just been brave against those bullies myself. Then this wouldn't have happened to you..."

Eren's eyes widened. "Armin. Are you crazy? If you had to take the beating, it would had been even worse!"

"Oh no that's not what I meant." He looked really sad now. Even his voice was cracking a bit. "I actually know a way how they would have just left me alone... But I'm such a coward and get scared too easily!"

Eren placed his hand on Armin's shoulder in an encouraging manner. "Oi, even I was scared back then. Don't be too harsh on yourself!" Eren smiled at Armin weakly, but then he got serious again. "But wait. You said you know a way of getting rid of those people?"

Armin nodded. "Well, think of this. If you didn't react to the bullies dramatically, they wouldn't be interested in you any more."

Eren was lost already. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you saw what happened to me. They smelled fear and that encouraged them to make their move."

-"Well... I guess that makes sense... But what about me? I'm not letting the fear show!"

"In your case, you are being too bold. They are getting big reactions from you Eren, and they like it!"

Eren looked confused and shook his head although that made so much sense now. "So you need to be more neutral... Don't show big emotions..."

"Exactly! Just come to think of it, why is everybody so scared of Levi?"

-"Well... He just is scary. I don't know how to put it, really."

"Let me help you. What actually makes him so scary is the cold acting. Think of this. He sure is vicious but when he acts, he does it with control."

This hit Eren like a lightning. How could Armin be so smart? Sometimes he was so smart that Eren got scared. "Just when did you... How did you become aware of that?"

Armin chuckled softly. "I don't know... The idea just came to me."

"Armin. You are a genius!" Eren smiled widely. "I retake my words. No matter what my face looks like tomorrow, I'll go to school. Not going would make them more excited, right?"

"Yes" Armin nodded. "..But do you really think you can control your emotions?"

"Haha, who knows... But I have to try, eh? I won't let them keep going on like this."

Armin really admired Eren's willpower. It was something that Armin himself lacked. On the other hand, Armin also had something that Eren didn't. These friends completed each other, and Armin felt so grateful to have this boy as his friend.

Levi knew the day would be rainy before the whole day had even existed. That's why he didn't go to school on his motorbike that day. It would have been too messy. He didn't want his Harley Davidson get muddier than it already was from the other day, not to mention his clothes. Therefore, he was on the bus this afternoon. He hated buses. Screaming toddlers and children bouncing around. Stuffy air. Often so many people that you wouldn't get a chance to sit down. You'd need to stand in the middle of the bus aisle and feel other people squeezed tight against you. He didn't enjoy it at all. He needed his own space.

This time the bus was quite empty, much to his liking. He was sitting on one of the back seats, next to a hazy window. If somebody from school had seen him there, they would have been able to tell that Levi was being out of his character there. He was staring at some vague spot on the window and absent-mindedly drawing circles on it's misty glass surface.

He was deep in thought, that's all it was. Group pressure is a rotten thing, Levi had thought earlier. The thought was still occupying his mind and he was sick of those six words hovering inside of his skull. And his whole body. His unconscious could have sworn that no cell in his entire body really wanted to offend Armin or beat Eren. But that was just his unconscious and honestly Levi wasn't sure if he should have listened to his unconscious or not. To put it in words, he was really confused.

So many things were swimming in his sea of thoughts and he didn't even know how to deal with them. Instead, he knew he wasn't capable of dealing with them all, not by himself. Much to his dismay, he had nobody who he could have told about his mixed feelings. What he really needed to do was write a journal entry.