Indefinitely - Armin X Reader

Chapter 22 | Funeral Fires

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After Captain Levi arrives

After Captain Levi saved us, he took Eren away to where Erwin Smith was awaiting, leaving myself, Armin and Mikasa to regroup with the other members of the training corp. We were still standing on the ground next to Eren's decomposing corpse, taking a moment to finally breathe.

"Are you okay, Armin?" I had asked, turned and helping him up. I gave him a tight hug, and he held on tightly. I didn't want to imagine what might've happened if Levi had been a minute late. I pulled back and examined his face and arms. His poor hands and forearms were bright red, slightly burnt and raised from trying to salvage Eren's scalding body, and I gave him a sad, sympathetic smile.

Armin met my gaze steadily, and shook his head. "You don't need to worry about me; I'm okay."

"I'm glad." I replied. The air around me was a little more breathable, now that I knew he was okay. All I wanted to do now was to make sure that the rest of my friends were alright.

"I should be worried about you." He muttered, crossing his arms against his chest. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid! You could've died... again! All because you were trying to save me!"

I sheepishly looked away only for Armin to reach out and grab my arms, imploring me to look at him. "Why Y/n..." He finished weakly.

"I couldn't just watch you die, Ar." I whispered, and in return Armin bit his lip softly and pulled me into a tight hug.

"I just don't want to lose you..." He murmured, his voice muffled in the fabric of my jacket.

"I know." I replied, giving him a squeeze.

Somewhere behind us, Mikasa cleared her throat, and I reluctantly pulled away, butterflies buffeting at my stomach at how close we were.

"C'mon, we should get on to the wall as soon as possible." Mikasa reminded.

I nodded before remembering that I was out of gas.

"Oh shit, wait, I'm out of gas." I sighed exasperatedly, and in response Mikasa lifted me into her arms with ease.

"There'll be supplies at the top." She offered shortly before taking off, followed by Armin. Just as we got on top of the wall and Mikasa put me down, I spotted Connie and Sasha standing not too far away.

"Sasha!" I called out, relieved. I started rushing towards her and she turned with an overjoyed expression. "Y/n!" She exclaimed, meeting me halfway and wrapping me up in a hug. Connie walked over to stand beside us, and once I had let go of the brunette, I turned to him. He smiled gratefully at me.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, especially after you saved my ass earlier. It would've sucked to be indebted to a dead chick." He joked. I elbowed him, rolling my eyes despite the grin on my face.

"Don't say shit like that, idiot." I chided, voice softening. "There are a lot of people who we owe our lives to right now that aren't alive."

I looked away from him and glanced down at the city below. I could still make out a fair few titans wandering around the streets; there was nowhere for them to go anymore. They would most likely stay stumbling around there until specialized soldiers were sent down to pick them off one by one. Only then would we be able to recover the bodies of our friends and comrades. Even now, soldiers were taking on the titans in groups. We might even be able to begin the clean up today. I shuddered at the thought of who I might find down there.