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Chapter 8.5

"Eren?... Eren!?... Eren!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry! I lost myself for a second there..."

I was so lost in thought, that I didn't even realize that Armin was here with me.

"Eren, are you okay?" Armin asks with a look of concern on his face.

"Eh? Hmm, I was just thinking..."

That is all I able to muster in response as I trail off but the from looks of it, Armin isn't going to let me off that easy.

"Thinking about what?" he asks.

"Ahh, erm... it's nothing."

"Well, you certainly seem to be rather distracted by this 'nothing' of late so it must be important," he says, sounding unusually confident.

Has it really been that noticeable?

"You can talk to me anything, you know?" he says with a comforting smile.

"Yeah, I know..."

"... is it Annie?" he probes reluctantly.

"..."

Am I really so transparent? And to be honest, I'm kind of surprised that Armin would just come right out with that... it caught me off guard.

"I'm worried about it too..." he continues.

So he's thought about it too? None of us have really spoken about her, it's a taboo subject but I suppose that's to be expected after everything that has happened.

"It's just that... what are we supposed to do with her after this is all over? I know that might be way off but I can't stop thinking about it."

Armin listens intently as I offload what has been playing on my mind for awhile now.

"It wouldn't feel right to just let her go free, regardless of the reasons behind her actions... but at the same time, I don't want her to die either."

I glance at Armin who seems to be searching for the right words.

"Damn it, I don't even know why I'm worrying about this! It's not even my decision, it's completely out of my hands."

"Eren, have you ever asked yourself why you care so much?" he asks.

"Huh?"

"I mean, she's given you every reason to despise her and she is our enemy after all... so why are you going to so much trouble?" he continues.

"Well... I'm actually not too sure myself."

Armin smiles to himself and it kinda pisses me off.

"Before thinking about anything else, I think you should first ask yourself how you feel about Annie and why you so desperately want to save her," he states in a matter of fact way.

I don't really know what he's getting at...

"Armin. If you have something to say, just spit it out."

"You really are clueless Eren..." he sighs.

"... but I think this is something you need to figure out for yourself..." he pauses, looking troubled.

"... before it's too late," he finishes with a glum expression.