Souls Of Sorrow || 𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑎𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑋 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

Chapter 39 - Eren

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How long have I been here? I don't know exactly. Time feels like it's been going by too fast but also much too slowly.

After leaving the rest of the squad a year or so ago, I experienced the war on Marley. My leg and eye both irritate me sometimes, begging me to let them grow back. Unfortunately, my cover here as Eren Kruger depends on them being gone.

After disguising myself as an injured soldier, I got shelter at the hospital. My plans have been going slowly, but they will work, I know they will. It's just difficult to help them along myself since I can’t move around freely without nurses trying to get me to sit down and take it easy.

When the scouts had first arrived in Liberio, I wasn't going to stay. After leaving the forum, I returned to the squad, showing them what I found. They weren't of any help besides helping me search the city. I still remember the panic I'd felt standing aboard the ship that evening, waiting for Y/n to come back, but she never did.

I didn't talk to anyone after that, leaving the ship without a word of goodbye. The letters I recently sent out is the first contact I've had with them in months.

I've met with Zeke a couple times, but his visits are sparse. He's given me a baseball glove and ball, but they just sit at my side until I have someone to toss the ball around with.

"Mr. Kruger!" a voice calls out to me, and I turn my head to see the smiling face of a blond haired boy waving at me. The kid has been coming by for nearly about a week now, just to keep me company it seems. I've been trying to subtly pick his brain for any information, but he doesn’t know much about anything I care about.

I nod slightly in greeting as the kid approaches me. "Falco, good timing."

He grins, taking a seat beside me on the bench I'm sitting on. "How are you feeling today?" he asks brightly, setting down the bag he has slung over his shoulder.

"Fine." I answer evenly. It's the same response I always give, but he never follows up. "What about you?"

"I'm doing good." he shrugs slightly, leaning back. "I've been doing better with my training. I might be getting closer to being chosen to inherit the armored titan." He smiles.

"Nicely done, Falco." I praise in a level tone.

"It's all thanks to what you said, Mr. Kruger!" He grins at me briefly before looking down at his hands folded in his lap. "Honestly, I doubt I'll catch up to Gabi, no matter how hard I push myself. But even so, I'm going to keep moving forward."

"I see." I murmur. "I would still say I'm in your debt though. Thank you for delivering those letters for me. You've been a big help."

Falco nods slightly, offering a small smile. He looks to the other side of me, tilting his head. "That glove, did your family send it to you?"

I glance down to the leather glove beside me. "They thought it would make hospital life a little less boring," I partly lie, resting my hand on the back of the glove. "It's hard to do much in this shape, but...I need to move forward too. After the festival, I'm going back to my hometown."

"I'm glad to hear it," Falco murmurs. "You know, you don’t talk about your family a lot."

"Not much to say really." I reply, shrugging slightly as I drag the end of my crutch through the dirt, drawing idly. Falco pesters me with simple questions but I only vaguely hear him, responding with half-hearted answers as my focus drifts.