Just... Thank You

Part 2

(A/N: This part is way shorter than the last. That's because I stop the parts where it seems most logical to me. I don't really have a specific length that I would like to have the chapters be so... enjoy!)

Levi's POV

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I was ready to start the year off with a bunch of brats first period, and I was right. They file into the classroom so slowly and walk without a purpose. I hated it.

They all eventually get into their seats. "Quiet down brats!" I yell. That sure shut them up, "I'm Mr. Ackerman, and as you know I will be your psychology teacher for the year. I'm going to take attendance. Mikasa."

"Here."

"Jean."

"Here."

"Armin."

"Here."

"Eren."

Silence. I marked him tardy and then moved on through the rest of attendance. I heard the door creak in response to being opened. I look up from my notes and my eyes fall on this scrawny boy with brown hair and eyes the color of the ocean. "Ah. You must be Eren Jaeger. Why are you late?"

He doesn't respond. I have never had a student not respond to me in all the years I have been teaching.

"Shitface silent as always!" I recognize that voice. "Quiet! I will not tolerate that language in my classroom!" I yell, "Detention after school Jean." I look at the boy in front of me. He looks extremely pale and is looking like he is about to have a panic attack. I decided to let him go for the time being. "As for you, go to your seat, I will talk to you after class." He scurried to his seat in the corner.

I decided that I would keep an eye on him during the class. "Alright brats, let's lay down a few ground rules. I will not tolerate swearing, and if you don't bother me, I won't bother you."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eren start to shake. This boy, he looks so far away and sad. His eyes look dead.

The bell soon rings and the brats walk out of the classroom. It sounds like a stampede. I glance over at Eren sitting alone at his desk with his head down. "Come here, Jaeger."

He hesitates. He must have some sort of trust issue, and coupled with the silence... When he comes over, I make a mental note of his body language, how he pulls down his sleeves, how he pulls the waist of his hoodie over his thighs, how he looks down all the time. This boy must have been through a lot. I'll look at his middle school file. "Why were you late?"

He was silent. I could see from his face that he was panicking. "It's okay. You're safe in this classroom. You can be yourself here." I start, trying to comfort him.

My attempts didn't work and he just burst into tears. "Just stay with me for the next period. I have a free period now okay? You can go and sit back at your desk if you would like."

He shuffles back to his desk. I use this time to look up his middle school file. After a little bit, I found it. Even in his school photo he's not smiling. There must be something up. I scroll down a bit further looking for notes of any kind. So he is selectively mute. This explains a lot. Something must have happened to make this happen. Not to mention he is so thin, and he wears something with long sleeves even though it is at least seventy-five degrees out, and the clothes are big on him. There has to be more than this than what I'm seeing.