Chapter Text
Eren lay on his bed, and the sun slowly rose, sending orange light waves into the room. The loud snores of his bunkmates filled the areas, and the sound of ruffled sheets echoed through the room as people rolled in their sleep. He could smell the morning dew coming from the slightly ajar window, bringing a gentle breeze from the warm spring air. Everyone else would start to rise soon, they would rush to breakfast and eat whatever bland slop was served before heading to their morning training. The strict yet familiar schedule had been ingrained into his mind since his cadet years, with very few exceptions ever changing his mundane mornings.
"Urg" Eren’s eyes shifted slightly, he watched as Jean slowly got up, stretching his arms far above his head before he grabbed yesterday's socks and shoved them on his feet. Jeans’ tired eyes wandered the room as he yawned, not focusing on anything in particular. Scoffing, Eren looked away, not caring about the other man and his morning routine, which involved him waking up before everyone else to head to the bathroom and then come back and get ready for the day. Eren figured he used this time for personal reasons but Armin would always hush him and say he just wanted some solitude.
Jean walked past his bunk, feet loudly slapping against the wooden floor as he rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly, not caring about the noise he made and if he woke anybody up. However, upon his notice of Eren being awake, he took a small step back and eyed the lump lying beside him.
"He looks like a baby, all curled up like that" Jean teased, knowing the insult, if it could even be called that, ways to annoy Eren, not Armin. As he spoke he gestured to Eren's bunkmate, the small boy having wrapped himself in not only his own but Eren's blanket that he always stole at some point during the night. If Eren was being honest he would agree, Armin always curled himself up in a small ball, hugging his arms to his chest and hair covering his face.
But this was Jean talking, and he would never admit the other man was right.
"Shut up! Armin is not a baby," Eren whispered harshly as he patted Armin's head, causing the boy to hum in his sleep and rub at his face before cuddling further into his blankets.
"Yeah, right," Jean poked, obviously enjoying finding something else to bother Eren with.
Eren debated saying something else, to let his anger get the better of him and scream at Jean until the other man's ears fell off or his voice went, whichever came first. But as Jean walked away his anger fizzled and he laid back down, deciding to rest for a short moment before he was forced to wake up and start another long and tedious day.
Closing his eyes shut, a pleasant moment of rest was disrespectfully disturbed as the other scouts woke up, loud voices filled the morning air; shuffling footsteps and rustling fabric impeding his once peaceful morning.
"Tell them to be quiet" Armin quietly complained as he pulled the blanket over his head. He could hear Connie greet Jean as he returned from his long trip to the bathroom as he shook the blond awake.
After a few shakes, Armin bolted up, deciding he needed to finally get ready. Eren tied his boots as he watched his friend struggle to throw his uniform on and precisely make their beds. Eren wasn't sure how he did it, Armin was always the last to wake, and always in a rush to get ready, yet he was always the most put-together of the cadets, never a hair out of place.
Running out the door the duo caught a quick dry breakfast, listening to Sasha talk about the process of harvesting oats before they all realized they were going to be late and hasty made their way off to the forest.
Their training was simple, exercises they used to do in their cadet years, except this time they had the bonus of broken trees and dug up dirt from where Eren destroyed the area in previous “titan training.’ The drill was straightforward, it would be done in pairs, but everyone would be in competition with one another. Each group would get a ball and they would throw it to one another while avoiding the destruction and each other's balls.
"Come on, Armin, we'll go together" Eren grabbed at Armin's arm, tugging him aside before he was stopped.
"Yaeger, you'll be with Springer, and Arlert will be with Brause." It was Levi who spoke as an annoyed expression played on his face, saying there was no point in arguing. Eren figured he and Armin were always split up because Levi just hated having fun, not that he would say that to the surly captain's face of course.
"It's okay, Sasha can hold his hand" Jean came up to him, speaking with an amused tone in his voice.
"Shut it! Armin doesn't need anyone to hold his hand; you're just sad no one wants to hold those hooves you call your hands." Eren retorted, knowing a horse joke was weak but still proud of it nonetheless.
"I'll have you know plenty of people want to hold my hand" Jean crossed his arms, scoffing as they continued to walk.
"Yeah, well-"
"What are you arguing about now?" Connie cut Eren off, obviously not in the mood to listen to the duo fight today.
"Jean keeps saying Armin is a baby," Eren yelled as he attempted to push Jean.
"Yeah, well, he's the small one?" Jean defended himself, shoving Eren into Armin as his voice grew louder.
"What's wrong with being short" Connie stepped in again, crossing his arms and eyeing Jean down.
"Nothing, whatever" Jean walked toward Mikasa, upset that he lost his fight and more upset knowing Mikasa was totally gonna kick his ass if he continued to pick at Eren.
"You know," Connie spoke to Eren, fixing his straps before he grabbed their ball and took off. "He does look pretty cute for a boy," laughter came from Connie as he yelled out.
"Armin is not a baby and he is certainly not cute!" Eren chased after him as a small smile grew on his face. He remembered when they were kids, Armin was always the center of attention around old ladies and tired moms. He had a way with people and how could anyone not like his polite nature and dimples?
Clearing his friend from his mind Eren focused on the task at hand, glad their training was going smoothly, no one had dropped their ball once and they managed to avoid any collisions. However, the group soon came across the area in which they were warned about the damage. Trees were broken, and branches stuck out; it looked like a titan had made its way right through the area, not caring about the damage. Eren could see ODM gear lying in the mess, blood stained some areas, and he could smell the faint scent of fresh dirt filling the air. Seeing the destruction he made always made him queasy, even if it wasn't his fault. As the wind blew, he watched as branches fell from the mess and the leftover bits of trees stood swaying in the breeze. There was no way the area would be able to stand their gear, and falling into it would be fatal.
"Do you ever think they'll be able to restore the land?" Connie threw their ball, his tone low and serious.
"I hope so "Eren caught it, face going slightly pale at thinking of the consequences of such damage. Armin would know more about land restoration they he could ever even hope to learn, and the boy was probably already working on a plan on how to fix his mess. Gripping his ball Eren looked behind him, Armin and Sasha were passing the damage now, both paying nearly no mind to it as they focused on their task at hand. Despite Sasha's bubbly personality, Eren knew she would care for his best friend, even if he didn't need help, Eren felt more comfortable knowing it was her and not some idiot who was hellbent on proving themselves, even for the sake of others. Eren smiled and returned as he watched Armin, glad his friend was doing well with their training, before he paled again, watching a new horror unfold in slow motion.
A ball was tossed, not his, not Sasha', some random ball, thrown in Armin's direction; the boy didn't see it until it was too late as the ball collided with him, moving his wires and forcing it to plunge into the damage beside him. He watched as Armin tried to save himself, as he tried to get a solid grip on something, but everything in the area was so damaged, and he was stuck, no amount of talent or smarts could save him, all Armin could do was fall.
"Armin" Eren tried to yell as he watched his friend fall, frozen in place, limbs feeling like stone, he couldn't do anything but watch. His small frame fell through thick tree branches, breaking not only the tree but himself. Leaves scratched at his soft skin, tearing the white fabric and twisting up his useless wires.
Suddenly gaining some sense of control Eren threw himself forward, gas seeping out of his tanks and wires snapping around wildly. He didn't care about the cuts the branches gave him or the fact that there was nowhere to safely land.
“He can't die, not like this!’ Eren thought as he reached out, wrapping his hands around his friend, his bigger frame shielding his small body.
“I have to protect him,” Eren closed his eyes, feeling the dig of one of Armin's broken pieces of gear dig into his side. Eren felt more pain and heard a scream, he wasn't sure if it was his, Armin's, or someone else's but he focused on his task, saving Armin. A loud crack broke its way through the screaming and a bright light flooded his eyes.
When Eren woke up he felt like his body was on fire, every inch of him burned and his head was foggy, he didn't know what happened but something deep inside him told him it wasn't good.
He wanted to throw up.
Cool wind blew on him as he felt the tight muscle of his titan slide off his skin, it popped as the muscle pulled against his skin, leaving painful marks all over his face and arms. He could hear muffled sounds like someone was talking to him behind closed doors, he couldn't figure out who the voice belonged to but he knew they weren't happy. Blinking the fog away from his vision he watched as his friends stared at him, faces pale and eyes worried.
He didn't remember transforming, didn't remember how or why but he knew it was important, that he was the one in control the whole time. But if he was in control and did nothing wrong, then why was everyone around him looking horrified? Why did he have this sinking feeling in his gut that something was wrong?
His mouth went dry as he swallowed, trying to think about how he was going to talk his way out of this, but before he could open his mouth, someone spoke.
"What did you do to Armin?" It was Mikasa, her sharp voice cutting through the cotton filling his head as she threw herself towards him faster than he could blink. Her hand pushed at his shoulder as she shoved him out of the way, looking around his titan, looking for something, anything, that would tell her what happened to her friend. Slowly Eren blinked, mouth agape as he remembered what happened, he remembered seeing Armin fall, remembering wanting to catch him knowing that he wouldn't be able to save him.
He knew the damage his transformation could do; he'd seen the broken wood, scorched grass, and terrified looks on people's faces when they stood a bit too close to him during his titan practice.
"Mikasa… did I?" She was on her knees, hands covered by titan smoke as the large body slowly disappeared, turning into smoke and flying off into the sky.
"Eren," Mikasa's voice had an unfamiliar concerned tone, not one that was angry or even sad, but one that was sharp and cold. He knew he was in deep shit.
"What. Did. You. Do?" She spoke through gritted teeth as she slowly lifted her hands to her chest, holding something in a dirty and beat-up white cloth. It wiggled a bit and he could hear soft breathing coming from the pile in her hands. As he looked closer, he saw bright hair peeking out; it moved softly in the wind as the cloth, which he now knew was a uniform shirt, moved, letting big, bright, and impossibly blue eyes stare up at him. The same impossibly blue eyes that he had seen a million times before.
"Is that?" He started, feeling like he was in some sort of denial and Armin would be in the bushes beneath them, a little scratched up and cranky but okay. However, Mikasa's harsh whisper and light smack to the back of his head broke him out of his trance,
"I can't believe you turned Armin into a baby!"