Hey!

So, not much of an introduction this time around, besides thanking people for following and reading. ^_^

I don't own SNK and enjoy!

Two: New Meat

"Twenty-twenty-twenty-four hours ago, I wanna be sedated."

Armin pushed the door to his locker shut, brushing past the group of kids from where the song was playing.

He kept his head down, books tucked in between his arm and chest, and he made for the exit immediately. He wasn't big on "hanging out" or screwing around after the final bell tolled; no, the boy left as soon as he collected his things every day, not stopping to see if a smile was being cast his way.

And, if his prediction were correct- and they typically were- there wouldn't be one anyway.

The first week of school had been, quite simply, hell.

Monday had brought along plenty of unwanted attention. His grandfather insisted he get right to school, no lollygagging around, especially if he wanted to keep his grades up. And, although all Armin had wanted to do lately was sleep or read, he agreed. Senior year was stressful, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. School was easy, school was second nature. So, he went on Monday, which brought the unholy wrath of a few of the football players- the football team, the Titans, were infamously known as the armpit of the state's high school sports teams. Some kid with a closely shaven head had tossed a book at him in the hallway.

On Tuesday, the news spread. "New meat." The words echoed like a phrase uttered into a long cavern. "New meat." The shaven kid, whom Armin came to know as Connie, had friends. Some ass, Jean Kirschtein, and his buddy Marco Boldt. Armin had speculated that Marco wasn't nearly that bad. Just a tag-along, a lapdog to Jean. They pushed him around in the hall in the morning, but tired of him quickly by lunch.

Wednesday brought the wrath of a few girls. "New meat." Some girl, a friend of Connie's, named Sasha Braus, tossed a few potato chips at him. Another girl, Ymir, gave him a noogie. Nobody helped.

Thursday was almost as bad as the days that came before. A few spitballs, "new meat," a shove there, a trip here. Paper scattered on the floor. Spit on the back of his head. A few tears on his pillow at home.

Friday ended quickly, thankfully.

Armin bolted down the hallway, shouldering the front door open.

They were waiting for him. Jean and Marco, Sasha and Connie, Ymir and her girlfriend Krista. They littered the stairs, their faces lighting at the sight of him.

"Hey, hey man!" Connie shouted excitingly.

Armin took a step back.

"New meat!" Sasha laughed, fishing around in her bag of chips. "How's it going?"

"Ah..f-fine," Armin stammered, eyes finding the floor. "Just...going home."

"Doing some homework?" Marco asked, his voice a bit hesitant.

Armin nodded. There was an apology in Marco's eyes.

"Let me get a hold of that, will ya?" Jean asked, reaching into Armin's grasp.

"H-hey!"

Jean ripped the textbook from Armin's arms, the rest of his things spilling onto the staircase. The bully leafed through the book. "Philosophy." Jean contemplated the words a moment, a smirk on his face.

"Isn't that the class with the brain shit?" Ymir questioned.

"That's psychology, dip-shit," Connie retorted.

"This book isn't for a class," Jean began, shutting up the text. "What? Check this out of the library?"

"Uh, uh-huh."

"Heh. Figured." Jean tossed the book to the floor, and began a descent down the steps, kicking every other belonging of Armin's down the staircase as he went. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he grinned up at the blonde. "Say, I got a question for you, new meat."

Armin gritted his teeth, falling to his knees and indignantly picking his things up once more.

"Hey, man, he said he had a question," Ymir ordered.

"You don't have to yell," Krista sighed.

"New meat," Jean barked.

Armin kept his head down, hands busy.

Marching back up the steps, he pushed Armin off his hands and knees. The blonde fell onto his back, forced to look into Jean's burning eyes. "I said I have a question for you."

"What?" The force of his own voice surprised Armin.

"What brought you here?"

"What?"

"What the hell brought you to this school? Parents not want you anymore?"

Armin bit his tongue, sitting up and shouldering past Jean. As he bent down on the stairs, fingers finding his books, he felt something heavy collide with his side. A foot bound within a boot. His body rolled down the stone steps, the pain reverberating through his head with each slam. Nobody said a word as he curled into himself at the bottom, tossed like his papers and notebooks.

"Jean, come on, man," Connie said, concealing a snicker.

"Let's get out of here," Jean muttered, flitting past Armin. "This meat's making me sick."

And, in their obnoxious, raucous pack, they left, making for the student parking lot.

Slowly, rubbing away the pain, the blonde sat up. His head was throbbing and heavy. All he wanted to do was lie down once more. He wanted to curl into a ball on his parents' bed, feel the comforters his mother had just washed, smell the food his father would cook. Run his fingers along the spines of the books in their library. Charity. Their library had been donated to charity.

He staggered to his feet, feeling those forsaken tears of frustration prickling in the corner of his eyes once more.

No, he told himself. You're not going to cry. Not here.

Grunting, he rubbed his face into the crook of his elbow. He wiped away tears, he wiped away blood; somewhere on his face, he was bleeding. He didn't care.

Bending down, he picked his things up at a lackluster pace, turned away from the school, and made for home. Home was a few miles away. Armin didn't have a car to drive like the other students, nor did he have any desire to ride the bus. He could only imagine dealing with such intimidating forces in an enclosed vehicle for however long.

Besides, he didn't mind walking.

So, what did you think? I'm trying to upload as frequently as possible; I'm sort of writing as many as I can now and I'll upload them periodically. ^_^

In the next chapter, he'll meet Mikasa and Eren, and in the chapter after, he'll go to the bar, I think. That's how it's planned out so far, but. *shrugs* Who knows!

Peace, L.