The Devil ⥋ Eren Jaeger

Interlude: Valentine's Day Special

In another universe some light years away, Eren sat on a bus.

It was his usual bus, the one he rode on every morning to the University of Eldia. He would find himself a seat and put in his earbuds. For twenty minutes no one would disturb him and he was left with twenty minutes of the loudest music that only he could hear. That was until he started to notice that a girl would get onto the bus one stop after he got on.

She looked new and as if everything intimidated her. The first time he saw her she wore a baggy blue hoodie with black jeans and a white top. It was a basic outfit, although he personally didn't like wearing color, he found the shade of blue nice on the girl.

He noticed that she would do the same thing as he did. Get onto the bus, put in earbuds, and then get off the bus at the same stop as him. At his university he spotted the blue hoodie. She had the brightest smile complete with two dimples. She laughed as she walked with Colt, a person Eren only knew to be in one of his classes.

After a few weeks he had forgotten about the girl. Until his father came into his room scolding him about his grades. Yes, he wasn't the best student but he didn't really care. To Eren, school was just another task that he had to complete. He had no goals in his life and he had no motivation to do anything. He was depressed to the point where talking to his friends became a chore. But it wasn't Mikasa and Armin's fault. They tried their best to check up on him. But with Mikasa studying abroad and Armin's new internship there just wasn't enough time for Eren to fit in.

Grisha pulled the bedcovers from Eren and shouted in his face. Eren only blankly stared at the ceiling and ignored his father. He used to feel indifferent to Grisha. That was until he found out about his father's secret family. Eren never confronted his father about it nor did he ever tell his mother but he couldn't help but feel betrayed. Ever since, he had a hatred for his father. How could he leave his other family to be with them? Unless he still kept in touch with them but after snooping around his father's things, Eren concluded that Grisha was no longer in his other family's life.

His father was a hypocrite. A renowned doctor that won multiple awards in the field of medicine couldn't even notice the obvious signs of depression in his own son.

Grisha nagged his son, "Why can't you do better? Why can't you try a little harder? Why don't you care? Why are you like this? Why can't you be more like-like"

"Like what?" Eren stood up. Eren was a late bloomer. He hit a growth spurt once he turned seventeen. Now nineteen, he was 6'0 ft tall and towered over his father.

Grisha stuttered for a moment trying not to say the wrong words. But Eren knew what he wanted to say, Why can't you be more like your brother?

After learning about his long lost brother, Eren did some research and learned that his half brother, Zeke, was a professor at the University of Eldia, where he taught history. He knew that much but never wanted to talk to his brother or even acknowledge him.

Grisha closed his mouth, unable to get anything out, "Your university offers free tutoring. I suggest you go there now."

With nothing left to lose, Eren found himself in the library waiting for his tutor who was...He checked his watch, four minutes late. He sighed and got out of his seat intending to leave when the same girl from the bus dropped her books on the table with a loud bang.

The people around them gave her looks and she whispered an insincere apology, "I'm sorry I'm late, you're Eren Jaeger?"

He nodded his head. Today was one of those days where he didn't feel like talking.

"Hi, I'm Yi, you signed up for tutoring, yes?"

Eren nodded again.

"Alright, so what are you struggling with?" she asked.

Eren sighed, realizing that he would have to speak, "I guess I just need help catching up with the concepts. It's been a while since I've paid attention in class."

Yi smiled. There it was again, the beautiful smile complete with two dimples. Eren couldn't help but lift the corner of his mouth but quickly dropped it when he realized what he did. But he couldn't help it. She had one of those smiles. One of those that instantly affected everyone within a 20 feet radius.

"Alrighty! So with this..."

But Eren zoned out opting to instead watch as her eyelashes fluttered every few seconds when she needed to blink. He occasionally nodded his head to make her think that he still paid attention. It wasn't that he didn't value her explanations and input, he just found what she was talking about to be boring. He knew that she also wasn't very fond of the topic because of how monotonous her tone was.

The tutoring sessions were bi-weekly, every Tuesday and Thursday at the library 4:00 pm sharp. After the first incident Yi made sure to never be late. In all honesty Eren never paid attention. He just observed her features and did the work she assigned him.

"Where are you going after this?" Yi asked him after one of their sessions.

"Home." he answered. "Just taking the bus."

"Oh, me too." she said. But Eren knew that Yi would usually meet a friend at the front of the library after their lessons.

"No friends today?"

Yi shook her head, "They're all busy with extra credit work and stuff."

Eren nodded his head and the two waved goodbyes. Only they headed in the same direction. "Oh, you take this bus too?" she asked. He nodded his head for what felt like the nth time of the day. "Cool."

The two waited in comfortable silence for the bus. Once he took a window seat and Yi took the one next to him.

"Sorry, I should've asked if I could sit here first." Yi apologized.

"No, it's fine." Eren dug into his bag to find his earbuds only to realize that he left them at home. He groaned internally at the realization that he would have to spend twenty plus minutes on the bus with no music. He watched with envy as Yi took out hers from her bag and plugged them into her phone.

She noticed him looking at her and took the right earpiece out and offered it to him. Usually Eren would say no fearing that someone else's ear wax would contaminate his and give him an ear infection but he strangely agreed.

Yi shared her music with him. Music that he strangely liked and genres that he never would have listened to if it weren't for her. Yi bobbed her head to the beat and hummed along and the humming turned into singing. Although she wasn't the best singer, Eren enjoyed watching her feel happy. And at that moment, he was too.

It's a little late but it's still Valentine's day here in chicago. I feel like I rushed this, idk if this made anyone giggle or kick you legs in the air but happy valentine's day thank you for reading this story