Chapter 1: The Average Anime-Watching Teenager

There's one thing that people don't tend to tell you when you start transitioning out of childhood into adulthood.

Okay, maybe not adult adult life yet. But, teen life.

Life sucks.

Life majorly sucks, no matter what it is that you want or tend to do. Even if you have done literally nothing to deserve it.

Like Adam, for example.

Because at age sixteen, despite how filthy rich he was from his deceased father being a surgeon, he was parentless, with his mother in a mental hospital, living in a mansion of a house that made everything seem far too lonely. Adam hated his life. An understatement, really, if one was to consider that in some way or another, everyone managed to hate their lives at one point.

But, to cut it short—Adam hated his own life, all because of the fact that he was all alone.

There was nothing quite as terrifying as being all alone as a child and then growing into that loneliness as a teen. The silence of the house that surrounded Adam shaped him, even if his guardian, Sarah, was always around. It was that looping sense of grim eeriness that surrounded him like a sickening glow that eventually became the source of all his misery as bullies stared down at his slinking form and rained fists right down upon his face.

If there was one thing that had made life quite happy for Adam—it was that he had a couple of friends who loved some things the way that he did.

Adam sighed to himself as he got out of bed with a low groan bubbling from his lips. The springs of his ancient bed that needed replacing gave a nasty little moan, as though a sigh of relief that was well needed as soon as his weight left its caving appendages.

Ironically, he was not looking forward to the last day of school.

Not because of that environmental science test that he had been feverishly studying for, but more so for those bullies that somehow always lay right in wait for him when he least expected it.

Adam's fingers stilled against the dark fabric of his hoodie, fingertips smoothing against the roughened fabric as he gave a light shake of his head, pulling the hoodie over his frame and slipping into his jeans, bread in his mouth as he hopped over to his desk.

7 am. Shit. He was going to be late.

Adam's fingers closed over the strap of his bag hurriedly, quickly sweeping every bit of his stationary to papers from his table and into his bag as he stumbled out into the long hallway. A yelp burst from his mouth as he stumbled over the untied shoelaces of his black vans, hastily brushing his hands against his dark hoodie as he stepped out of the mansion with a heavy sigh. The resounding thunk of the door closing behind him filled him with a vague sense of relief.

"Right," Adam mumbled to himself, patting his pockets vigorously as he searched for his keys, fishing them out finally from a messy pocket of his bag.

The lock clicks, the jingle from the keys merry as he slipped them into the pocket of his pants, plugging his AirPods into his ears as he started to make his way towards school, the soft drone of the morning news drearily filling his ears.

7:10 am. He still had time if he wanted to make it slightly earlier than 7:30—Adam quickened his pace, the tap of his shoes against the tarmac muffled by the sound of the news anchor announcing the latest news. He checked his watch once more.

7:15 am. Perfect. Just fifteen more minutes before the start of the exam. Perhaps he could take the time to have a little revision whilst he had his breakfast.

Adam slinked down the corridors towards the canteen, buying himself a cup of coffee and whipping out his half-eaten piece of bread.

"Hey! Be careful with that, will ya?"

His eye flickered, the thick paper of his notes rustling against his fingers as he watched a few of the seniors who had been early to school struggle with a couple of decorations in preparation for their last leaving party after school.

Adam's thoughts trailed off as his lips pursed. The sudden rip of his AirPods was wrenched from his ears, causing him to yelp just as another heavy hand made its way onto his shoulder. The familiar stench of Jack's deodorant invaded his nostrils as his meaty arm slung itself over his shoulders. He grunted, barely able to push himself away from the table as Jack's weight violently shoved him towards the dirty table, his nose, and lips just barely inches away from his revision papers.

"Hey..." He grimaced, wincing as Jack's fingers fisted into his brown hair, cropped clean and messily washed in favor of arriving early for school.

A nervous laugh bubbled from his lips. "Fancy seeing you guys here." He offers his bullies a slight grin, hoping that somehow this time, the four of them would very well leave him alone, perhaps with fewer bruises.

"You gettin' smart with me?" Jack said as he dramatically got in Adam's face.

Adam fought the urge to vomit at the stench of Jack's onion breath passing in the space between them, gasping in short breaths of air whenever he could that weren't dirtied by the severe stench from Jack's breath in the air.

"Good lord, did you forget to brush your teeth this morning?" scoffed Adam.

Before he could react, his head was slammed hard into the table, the cackles from the other bullies as they oohed at the bloody nose Jack had given him.

"You must be smoking crack if you think you can talk to me like that," Jack hissed, his bright blue eyes narrowed in deep malice. "Or maybe you've grown some beach ball-sized nuts 'cause it's the last day of school."

Adam's eyes fluttered, roving as they scanned all over his classmate's body. Without thinking, he knocked over his hot coffee, spilling it all over Jack's shoes.

"What the fuck!" yelled Jack, as he jumped up and down like a madman.

"Aw, you poor thing," teased Adam.

"You think that shit is funny?!" cursed Jack as he grabbed Adam by the shirt.

Adam licked his lips, swallowing hastily as the other three crept forward slowly, eyes narrowed menacingly, as though eager to pound him in for an inference that he had simply jumped the gun to make, albeit a little too wildly.

"I was just—"

Riiing!

Relief flooded Adam almost instantly as Jack squinted, then released his grip upon his shirt.

"We'll see you after school, prick," spat Jack as he and his cronies began to walk away.

Saved by the bell—as if that wasn't as cliched as it could ever be.

He grabbed a hanky from his bag, wincing to himself as he hastily stuffed it against his nose to staunch the flow of blood.

Shit. What was Sarah gonna say about all this again? He mopped up his bloody nose, making a mental note about getting his story straight with Harry and Alex when they got together in his house in the afternoon. Speaking of Alex and Harry.

"Holy fuck. Again?" He hears Alex before he even sees her, waving as she makes her way towards him, with Harry just on her heels.

"You should really report them, Adam." Harry's brows creased at the sight of his bloody nose, almost reeling back in disgust as a speck of blood dribbled between them, splattering right in front of Adam's shoe.

"Come on, man, you should know that'll only make things worst," Adam glared almost pointedly at his friend, yelping as Alex braced her fingers against his nose and pulled it forward.

"Ow! Jesus! Why'd you do that?!" cried Adam.

"I wanted to see if it was broken," replied Alex. "Looks like you're okay."

"You couldn't have given me some type of warning?" He groaned, watching as Alex rolled her eyes at him.

"And give you the chance to be a big baby about it? Yeah, no way." Alex flounced down the corridor, her dark hair with red highlights fluttering slightly in the wind as they made their way to class.

"See you later?" He yells, watching as both Harry and Alex disappear into their classes with barely a wave back. "Jeez. The least they could do is just wave back." He mumbled, stopping short in his steps as all eyes trained upon him, and the sound of his teacher clearing her throat made his ears burn in mortification.

"Uhm…"

"Well, the least you could do, Mr. Foster, is to be on time for your class. As everyone here is,"

Adam shuffled his feet, cheeks flushed as he yearned for a hole to open up and swallow him whole—at the very least, to spare him from the mortification of having to listen to a tirade that would have earned him more attention than he ever needed.

"I was early." He mumbled, too low for the teacher to hear as he shuffled his feet once more.

"And I see that you've once again gotten yourself a bloody nose." A couple of sniggers could be heard throughout the classroom, and Adam gritted his teeth as Jack and his team barked out a laugh. "Do you need to go to the nurse's office?"

Mortified, Adam quickly shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he fumbled his way to his seat, plopping down with a sigh as his deskmate shifted a little further away from him, as though reluctant to be associated even in the slightest degree to him.

See? Life was an absolute misery, and Adam really couldn't wait to get far away from it.

"Hopefully, your habit of being late won't follow you into the next school year."

"Hey, Mr. Anderson, did you hear about the plane crash that happened this morning?" asked a student.

"I saw the wreckage on my way to school," added another student.

"Yes, I did hear about it on the news," replied Mr. Anderson.

"Do you know what happened?" asked a student.

"It was reported this morning that a military fighter jet crashed into an area near our high school. That's pretty much the story in a nutshell. The news didn't have a lot of details on what exactly happened," explained Mr. Anderson. "And as much as I believe that all of you are not children and will not endanger yourselves by going close to the wreckage to explore, please do not go and look for that crash site. Police and soldiers are in that area, and I'm sure none of you want to end up in handcuffs."

His teacher gave a slight pause before continuing.

"As I was saying before, we were so rudely interrupted by Mr. Foster trying to say goodbye to his friends, you all are aware of the exchange student program that your teachers and I have been encouraging you guys to enroll in, correct?"

Adam's eyes flickered slightly in disinterest at the continued drone of his teacher's voice, opting to slowly sink into the recesses of his brain—until something of great importance stood out to him, which was for better or for worse, one of the many reasons why he had gotten picked upon by most if not all of his teachers.

Retreating into the fantasy world that was his inner mind was one thing, but being able to do so whilst paying attention to class was yet another thing entirely, which was why—most of the time that his professors called upon him to answer a question, Adam could basically do nothing but return a rather constipated stare, much to the utter disdain and chagrin of most of his teachers.

"Wait, I forgot, what is it exactly," asked one student.

"It's a program where you will have the option to house exchange students for this summer. There are only two more weeks to enroll in the program, and our applications for housing such students have been a bit low, so I'm encouraging you guys to consider it. Remember, this is the stuff that looks good on college applications, so please continue applying for the program over the next couple of weeks. It is a good chance for all of you to interact with others of your age that aren't a part of this school or even this country. Maybe you'll even manage to make some new friends along the way."

Adam jerked out of his reverie just as the shrill bell noting the end of the first period of class trilled through the hallway, and the class exploded almost instantly into loud, raucous laughter, whoops, and talking between friends. He nearly clapped his hands out of reflex, standing up jerkily, before smoothing them hastily against his hoodie, stuffing both his hands into his pockets, right where they wouldn't be able to do further harm than what was necessary.

I'm watching you, Adam. He spied his teacher waving an empty form for housing exchange students at the front of the class just as he tried to slink out of the classroom, unnoticed once more.

Adam groaned lowly to himself.

He wasn't as social as many would have liked to think that he was. On the contrary, he rarely had any friends—the only two that were of great or greater significance were Alex and Harry.

Which he was thankful for, as they had made his life a little less dreary.

"Hi. Again." Adam glances up just as Alex slides in next to his locker, ignoring the slamming doors of other lockers next to her. "I was wondering if you were still pissed off from this morning."

By now, Adam's nose had stopped bleeding, and time had flown by from the first period right into the next.

"Well, thanks for asking." Adam couldn't help but snort just as Harry slid up to Alex, fitting himself comfortably between Adam and Alex with a slight clear of his throat.

"Jesus, Harry. I was just about to go," Adam yanked a couple of trash pamphlets from his locker, fighting back a small yawn as he swept most, if not all, of the contents of his locker into a small plastic bag.

"You're planning on bringing home all the stuff you've had in your locker?"

"Well, I mean… it's not like we'll be having the same lockers for the next year. Besides, I have a few important things that I had originally left in there." Adam's fingers pinch the memorabilia of his favorite anime show between his fingers, drawing the Attack of the Titan memorabilia of the Shiganshina trio from the pile of trash. "Attack of the Titan has given me the strength the most if none of you ever have."

"Wow. So you're gonna say that to your only friends?"

Adam ignored the raised brow that Alex gave him, dusting off and pocketing his figurines quickly, grinning as he nudged Harry secretly.

"Are you two coming over tonight? As usual? Which part or episode do you think she's gotten to?" Adam grinned as he pointed his thumb back at Alex, purposely ignoring her to the best of his ability.

"Excuse me? I'm standing right here. You could just ask me that right to my face!"

"I don't know, maybe five? Or six? Or am I overestimating her ability to sit down for a couple of hours straight to watch something?" Harry played along with him quickly, a slight quirk of a smile curving the corners of his lips as both of them teased Alex together almost spontaneously.

If there was one thing that Adam found comfort in, apart from being with his friends—it was anime.

Whilst most people would scoff at the thought of it and ridicule him for loving something so… nerdy and strange, Adam had found that it had become his companion in his greatest times of need and loneliness.

When Harry or Alex wasn't there to help him cope with his crippling sense of anxiety or wished that someone would help save him from his troubles, anime was there. Specifically, an anime show called Attack of the Titan.

It had been because of him that Harry had gotten into watching and reading the AOT manga, and subsequently, Alex had been roped in, too, with his embellished words of an amazing but vague rendition of how Mikasa's character was a strong and yet empowered woman, with many details left for her to explore on her own watch-through of the animé to stimulate her interest in watching it.

"Of all the people that you ended up liking, though, I never thought that you'd have a crush on Historia. Didn't she end up becoming—"

"Shhhh! Is that a character in the later episodes of the anime? Shut up! I haven't even watched it yet!" Alex slapped her fingers almost viciously over Harry's mouth.

Adam couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the flush of slight chagrin and frustration creep up Alex's neck and towards her cheek, even as Harry struggled to free himself from her evil clutches.

"Well, you could always come over and have a sleepover at my place. You guys know that I have a big ass flatscreen that I barely use and snacks in the pantry. Those could be put to extra good use with the both of you there." He paused, leaning in slightly as though sharing a little secret with both of his friends. "We'll have you catch up on everything you need to know about AOT soon enough."

Harry squinted at him slightly as though thoroughly contemplating his words.

"Sure, but is Sarah okay with us coming over? I'm asking because of what happened last time..."

"Oh, yeah," replied Adam as he reminisced with Harry. "It's okay, you guys should be good. As long as you don't throw up on the carpet again."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault that Alex brought alcohol."

"Adam literally told me to! You said we needed to get drunk for the episode that we were watching! You didn't even say that it was for the first episode of AOT!" Adam finally managed to rip himself away from Alex's treacherous fingers, gasping slightly for air. "Mind you, Sarah still doesn't think that I'm a good influence on you because of that. And the irony is that you were the one who suggested it in the first place!"

Adam laughed a little sheepishly, slapping Alex on her back as he shook her slightly.

"Sarah will be just fine with you coming over, especially since it's summer break now. Just keep your stomach waste in your stomach, you know?"

Harry grumbled to himself as Alex gave a soft laugh.

"Aw, don't be like that, Harry, I'll make it up to you somehow. I'll give you one of my AOT posters, how about that?"

"I'll consider it if you give me the one with Historia on it."

Adam couldn't help but roll his eyes and pout at Harry's words, watching as his friend shivered almost in disgust at his attempt to act cute before pulling away in resignation.

"Ha ha, very funny," said Adam. "So you coming or what?"

"Fine, fine. I'll be there."

"And you?" Adam brightened almost immediately, turning to Alex.

"Oh, HEY! Look who decides to suddenly realize that I'm here!" Alex snarked almost immediately, the breeze mussing up her dark, highlighted tresses. "But yes, of course, you dummy. I'll be there."

With both of his friend's promises sworn and safe, Adam gave them a wave, trudging up the way towards his house as the hubbub of his friend's voices slowly turned into silence.

He swallowed, trying to convince himself that the silence itself wasn't somewhat creepy.

Dammit.

He stared at the long route towards his house before him, biting nervously on his bottom lip as he weighed the pros and cons in his head with a nervous jiggle of his feet.

Which route should he take? The long one or the short one?

The wind rustled the leaves of the trees, whipping past his hair in an eerie little whisper as though tempting him to take the shorter route where the road seemed a little less lonely and a little less dreary.

Adam jumped as a cat yowled loudly in the distance, shivers running right up his spine as he licked his drying lips nervously.

The only con to taking the shorter route was the possibility of meeting Jack and his team.

Adam winced visibly at the thought, cringing as he recalled the raucous laughter of the boys as they shoved him into a wall and the violent sting of his head and nose from this morning's scuffle with them.

If he had the choice, he'd wish to avoid them as much as he could.

Oh, how he wished that he had someone like Eren in times like this.

More often than not, Adam found himself likening himself to Armin, one of the characters written in AOT, a blonde-haired young boy who seemed, in every way, an emulation of his everyday life—from the way he was shoved around and bullied, to the way that he had little to no confidence, shrinking more into himself with each passing day.

The only difference was that Armin had Eren. The protagonist of the story would throw down in the face of justice, running towards the bullies violently to mete out retribution with his fist, even if he couldn't sock them in the face.

A friend like Eren would have been great if he existed in real life. Adam thought to himself morosely, kicking the loosened gravel that had rolled next to his feet.

Maybe if Historia was real too, he'd finally have a proper circle of friends that he had always imagined himself to be capable of having.

He'd be able to mold himself into the person that everyone would like, wouldn't he? Doubt slowly crept up in his veins as he nervously shifted his feet once again, making his way up slowly towards the checkpoint where the road diverged—one into the shortcut, the other into the long but lonesome route to home.

Maybe he should take the shortcut. Adam squinted slightly, peering into the alleyway where the route led, as though trying his best to see beyond the inky darkness if there were silhouettes of people that he knew—the hulking figure of Jack and his comrades.

Why was he so scared of them?

He did a pretty good job of talking back to them and holding his own before—even if it had resulted in him obtaining a broken nose and a few bruises here and there around his face.

Why was he still so terrified at the thought of facing them? He was no coward—that much he knew. He could stand up for himself. Of course, if Jack wasn't that brawny or strong.

His straightened shoulders slumped slightly at the thought.

Yeah, that was it.

He wasn't avoiding them because he was cowardly. He was avoiding them because it was something that he could not afford.

He was no protagonist in the story, unlike Eren.

He was always someone that was meant to be the side dish to the many, hidden from plain sight, out of view.

With that thought, Adam turned towards the longer route, the slow drag of his sneakers against the gravel loud against his ears.

Why did he feel so awful doing this?

Was he really a coward, like how Jack always mocked him to be?

So why was it unsettling him like this?

A light tsk sound slipped through his teeth, just as his brows furrowed deeply in what seemed to be an annoyance.

Why was he so perturbed to the point that he was thinking so deeply about this? What worth did it have to think so deeply about this?

Because a person who cannot sacrifice everything, cannot change anything.

A shiver rushed through his body, triggering goosebumps as Adam turned slowly towards the shorter route, where he was sure he had heard the echoes of bullies just moments before.

"I didn't lose… because I didn't run."

Armin's words echoed in his mind as Adam gritted his teeth, the image of the weak, blonde boy, shrunk into himself with idealistic notions in his head.

God, he was so lame, wasn't he?

Having to rely on his favorite anime to even summon up the courage that he thought he had to face down bullies that manhandled him just because they thought they could and would.

Of all the things that he believed that he was brave, he really sucked at showing it.

Adam inhaled a sharp breath, clutching his bag straps tightly as he abruptly turned, making a wild dash for the shortest route before he could even change his mind.

If they were waiting for him at the end of the road, so be it! At least he had done the same thing that Armin had done, banking on his bravery of facing things down and not running away, as he mostly or always did.

That was going to be the difference.

Choosing to stand up for himself, rather than waiting for someone to stand up for him.

A choice that most, if not all, protagonists had to make for themselves at some point in their stories.

And that was going to be… it?

His feet shuddered to a stop, eyes wide as he looked around in confusion, the empty alleyway of the short route almost mocking him as it gaped emptily before him, a strange hum in the air as the lack of bullies that he thought would be waiting for him stung against his skin.

Adam flushed at the thought, almost chiding himself for doing something as stupid as barrelling right into the alleyway and thinking that running at full speed would somehow allow him to be braver than he thought he would be—that it would allow him to face down his bullies, just like every protagonist in every story.

He should have just stuck with that long, creepy road to his house in the first place.

Look at what he—Adam stopped in his tracks, his sneakers squeaking as they shuffled slowly towards a briefcase, conspicuously lying on the ground—half opened and gleaming with a strange light.

A sudden wild excitement enveloped him just as trepidation held him back, the strange symbols on the case making him swallow almost nervously as he inched a little closer, just to pry open the suitcase and take a little peek at what had piqued his curiosity.

"It's fine. Nothing's going to happen." His voice squeaked in the strange air, almost cracking as a small hum came from the suitcase in response, as though affirming him warmly that what it offered deep inside held no threat.

Gripping the suitcase in both hands, Adam started as the suitcase crackled to life, buzzing with life as it unfolded before his very eyes-revealing, in his utmost surprise, as he sat staring at the sight of the strange cube flickering away in the suitcase's depths.

…What was it? It was so high-tech looking he wasn't sure if something like it even existed in this world.

The cube shone with a shimmer that was almost ethereal to view—a blinding yet digitized blue that hummed as soon as one drew a little too close to it, quivering as though it seemed to be alive. Lines crackled from where a dogged crack ran from the top of the cube in a jagged line right down its side.

Smoke hissed from the unraveling suitcase, and confusion marred his features as Adam prodded the cube tentatively, brows furrowed as sparks flew off the cube, yelping as it stung him in the process.

Unnoticed, a picture of the AOT cast that he had stuffed alongside his other things into his bag fell onto the cube-like machine.

The cube buzzed, the photo of the cast slowly disappearing as the cube enveloped the picture, and Adam shook his hand, wincing in pain from the crackle of electricity that had stung him, all too oblivious to what had just happened.

It seemed to be… damaged. Somehow.

What a… strange thing, Adam thought quickly to himself, almost excited at the possibility of finding out something new. Maybe it was something important that someone had accidentally left behind.

Who knew?

Perhaps he should report it.

Or take it home to tinker with. It seemed like some electrical cube that needed a little fixing. Adam hummed to himself, all thought for caution thrown to the wind as he lifted a finger and prodded the cube thoughtfully once more.

Bing.

"Huh?" The cube shivered violently against his finger, the slight indent from where his finger had somehow pressed a strange button on the cube, alarming him as he struggled to pull himself upright and away from it. A strange hum in the air grew as it quivered, the sound of static screeching in his ears as a loud burst of feedback assaulted his ears.

Instinctively, Adam clapped his hands to his ears, squeezing his eyes shut with a yell as a brilliant flash of light burst out in a splendid array from the cube, engulfing him with a loud hum.

Authors Note: Hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of my fanfiction. While it might not be evident to most people, I'll address the elephant in the room. This fanfiction is blatantly borrowing a lot from the story, "Attack on titan in real life: a new world" by Wall Maria's time master. However, a lot of it is different, and I've taken the story in a new direction of my own, so it isn't completely plagiarism. Here's a quick rundown of how this all came to be. The original story was published on July 27, 2017, and after posting 15 chapters, there hadn't been an update since 2018. (Through my research, I learned this long drought was because the author was in school.) However, in March 2021, the author returned with a new chapter stating that the fanfic had to be remade due to the developments in the manga. A new story, called, "A second chance" was made to replace the old one. However, after posting the first chapter on Jun 10, 2021, there hasn't been an update since. It's been over 2 years since we've gotten any update from the author. The original fanfic gives you 15 chapters and then ends so abruptly. which only leaves you wanting more. With this story, you can expect a chapter to be posted monthly, I'll also be updating this community on any delays or developments. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.

Special thanks to everyone who helped me with this fanfic:

purelyred

creative_nate

adri_creativa

tommytwd

faithlaneauthor