Attack on Titan: A Blacksmith's Tale

Chapter 75: Advancement

Eren was getting really tired of waking up in the infirmary. In fact, he was sick of passing out altogether. He vaguely remembered a massive Titan and a lot of fire, but his short-term memory was still groggy. He hoped that things had settled down enough so he could get back to training with Annie. He'd kill for even half of her endurance.

To no one's surprise, he saw Mikasa sitting near his bed. She hadn't noticed him wake up, giving him a rare opportunity.

"Just once, can we trade places?" Eren snarked, catching her by surprise. "You be the one knocked out, and I'll be the one standing by your side."

The Asian turned to face him, giving him a glimpse of her reddened face. She had been crying recently. "Eren, thank God you're alright."

"It's not the worst thing that-OOMPH!" He was cut off by the girl practically crashing into him, embracing him tightly. "Mikasa, still recovering. Give me air, damn it!"

Embarrassed, Mikasa pulled away. "Sorry. I was just... I was worried about you."

"When are you not?" Seeing her hurt expression, he quickly retracted that statement. "Sorry. I'm a little on edge."

"I know." Carefully, she sat at the foot of his bed.

Eren sat up a bit, looking around. "Where's Armin?"

Before she could answer, the door slammed open to reveal the third member of the Shiganshina Trio, and he was very out of breath. "Sorry! Had to (huff) use the bathroom! (huff)"

Eren couldn't help but smirk a bit. "I wasn't going anywhere, Armin. You didn't have to run."

Armin all but collapsed into a nearby chair. "I know, but if you woke up, I didn't want to be called away before I could see you."

It felt good to be with his friends again. He needed some friendly faces after the hellish few days he had.

Of course, Mikasa had to ruin it by asking, "Eren, what happened? You've never disobeyed orders like that before. And the way you spoke to Commander Erwin-."

"I don't want to talk about it." Eren averted his eyes from her, his countenance darkening. With Annie confirming Rod's words, he couldn't let Armin and Mikasa know what he had done.

True to her nature, she refused to let it go. "No, Eren. We're not going to change the subject."

"Oh, for crying out loud. How long is it gonna take for you to stop acting like my mother?" Eren snapped suddenly.

Ever the peacemaker, Armin tried to mediate. "Eren, calm down. We're just worried about-"

"About me, right? You don't fuss over Jean like this. Or Sasha. Or Connie. Why is that, huh?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and promptly stood up, ignoring how wobbly his legs were. "You think I'm on the edge of my rope, don't you? That I'm just one bad day away from going completely crazy."

"Eren, please. We just want to—."

"You want. You want. You want. Do either of you give a damn about what I want? Of course not! If you actually cared about my well-being, you'd leave me alone and—!"

"Annie told me the truth!" Mikasa blurted out.

And just like that, any hope of avoiding the horrible conversation disintegrated into dust.

Eren found every possible word evading his grasp. She knew. And judging by Armin's sorrowful expression, he knew, too. There was no way out for him.

"I spoke to her," she went on. "She told me everything that happened to you when-."