𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙣

"Some people made it back. But I haven't seen either of them." Annie cuts Reiner off, frowning.

Mikasa won't give up. "What about other soldiers in Eren's squad?"

"Armin's over there." Reiner points his thumb over his shoulder. "He's the only one that came back, though."

Armin is so shrunken, practically withering, head hidden between his knees, that Mikasa didn't even noticed him there when she arrived. She rushes to him. The knot in her chest unwinds at the sight of her friend alive, and most importantly, intact.

"Armin, thank goodness." She says, crouching down to his level. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

He doesn't answer her. He fails to even meet her gaze.

She straightens up. "Where's Eren? Johanna went to your squad to check on him. Have you seen them?"

With a shudder that rocks his whole frame, Armin finally looks at her. The tears flooding his face now revealed, Mikasa gets horrible, sinking feeling.

All eyes are on him now. The atmosphere is tainted with foreboding.

Armin's bottom lip trembles as he tries to keep himself from falling apart. "We, the cadets of Squad 34... Thomas Wagner... Nack Tierce... Millius Zeremski... Mina Carolina... Eren Jaeger!" His voice breaks, "And rear guard cadet Johanna Archer!"

"No!" A twisted cry leaves Jean's mouth before he can stop it. He already knows what Armin is going to say next, but he doesn't want to believe it. He simply refuses.

"These brave six upheld their duties. They died valiantly in the line of battle!" Armin announces.

Whispers travel from people to people.

"His whole squad was wiped out?"

"The same will happen to us if we take on those Titans..."

Armin inhales a shivering breath. The struggle to look Mikasa, his childhood friend, in the eyes is daunting. So he stares at her boots instead. "I'm so sorry... Jo died trying to save me... and Eren died trying to save her... but I couldn't do anything to save them! I'm useless!"

The strength quivers in Jean's legs and he falls to his knees. Numbness washes over. He's vaguely aware of a comforting hand on his shoulder, probably Marco's, but he ignores it. Nothing in the world seems to matter or hold any kind of relevance. The planet can stop spinning on its axis and still he will remain there. Statue-like.

He lost his closest friend today. The one who was there since the very beginning. He remembers the day he first met her, clear as though it were yesterday...

"Hey! Can I play?" Jean ran up to the group of boys playing in the town square. They stopped their game of catch and turned to look at him, unenthusiastic.

"Who would want to play with you?" The boy currently holding the ball said with a sneer. "We need strong men for this game. You're a momma's boy."

The other boys snickered. Jean lowered his head, embarrassed. They walked away, whispering mockeries, and yet making sure he still heard them. Discouraged, Jean turned and went back the way he came. Now he would probably spend the rest of the day at home, bored with nothing to do and no one to play with. Lonely.

'Idiots... who needs them? I didn't want to play anyways...' Jean tried to convince himself. He walked by the water canal's edge, hands in his pockets. He stared at his reflection in the water and picked up a pebble, throwing it angrily under the bridge.

There was no splash or clack, or any indication that the pebble had landed. Instead, he heard a whimper. He felt a chill go up his spine as he stared at the darkness under the bridge's alcove. Was someone there?