Dreamland (Ereri/Riren)

Chapter 2

Eren stepped off of the crowded bus and glanced around the crowd of students passing by. He walked towards the front door and pushed it open, only for a horse-looking boy to push it back and knock him over. The boy snickered and strutted off, leaving Eren on the cold tile floor. How could someone so ugly find someone even smaller to push around?

Eren stood up and walked down a long hallway. As he walked, people shot him dirty looks and called him names. He just ignored it and kept walking to his locker. By now, Eren was used to the taunting from his peers; he was bullied ever since the third grade. Eren took a step closer and twisted in the combo.

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He pulled it open and grabbed a thick binder, full of wrinkled papers and long lost assignments. Ever since his mother had died and his father had taken off, his grades went down, and so did his spirit. Eren no longer felt it necessary to do well in school or in life. He wanted it all to go away; he wanted it all to be over with.

Suddenly, the locker slammed shut and the horse boy stood there with an evil grin on his face. An angel of sorts stood close by the horse-faced boy with his binder to his chest. Eren's eyes widened as he dropped all of his belongings in fright. He was a deer in headlights now, and he couldn't bring himself to move. Horse boy picked the innocent brunet up by the collar on his shirt and threw him down on the hard, unforgiving ground. He kicked Eren multiple times, making him wince and whimper from the pain.
By then, people had started crowding around and laughing. Though it was cruel, everyone loves a good show, right?

"I-I think he's had enough... Jean..." The angel looking sidekick said softly and hesitantly, standing close behind Jean, and just close enough to feel Eren's pain. He didn't want Jean to abuse him along with Eren.

"What was that, babe? Think he needs some more? Yeah me too. That's why I love you, Marco." Jean smirked and kicked Eren harder, causing another loud cry of pain to escape from his mouth.

Suddenly, a short, mysterious looking man with coal-colored hair pulled Eren back and shoved him into the mess of people in an attempt to save him from Jean and keep him out of sight. The man shooed everyone off and leaned down next to him. His piercing grey eyes stared into Eren's soul. As soon as the halls began to clear, he made his way back towards Eren's locker and started picking everything up off of the ground, stacking it into a neat, orderly pile.

"Here."

"Th-Thanks..." Eren looked down at him shyly.

The man stood up and started to walk off.

"W-Wait!" Eren called. "You look really familiar. Where have I seen you from?" He pondered for a quick second, the man's words cutting off his thoughts.

"I'm a new teacher here. Just doing my job," he said simply and walked off, turning down another hallway. The tardy bell rang and all of the usual late students rushed into their homeroom classes. Eren stood there, frozen and deep in thought. The way he walked and talked, he just seemed like a worn out, middle aged man. (Most teachers.)

"Well shit." He finally mumbled to himself.

~

The end of the day had finally come and Eren counted down the minutes left of school on the wall clock.

"10 seconds. 7 seconds. 4 Seconds," he counted. The bell rang and all of the students ran out of the classroom enthusiastically with Friday plans. Eren staggered out of the room with an awful limp due to previous events and searched for the mysterious new teacher. No sign of him anywhere. He continued down each and every hallway, peering into classrooms in search of any sign of him. Nothing. After thinking long and hard about it, Eren just accepted that he was gone and went to his locker. A note fell out and floated gracefully to the ground. He picked it up and read it.