"Huh ? Captain? What are they calling me now again?" Eren asked again, apparently in disbelief.
"I told you, they are calling you the Flash Blade:Eren, your heroics in killing the aberrant horde have been the talk of the survey corps, the entire Trost district also knows about it now. They say with every flash, an unlucky titan is felled by your blade. Why do you look so dissatisfied?" Janie remarked with a weird look.
"No it's just …. That, I didn't expect everyone to know about it so fast." Eren replied as he scratched his head.
"Well no helping it, apart from Captain Levi , no one else has ever done what you did, u had 6 confirmed solo deviant kills, do you know how incredible that is? Take pride in it. Anyway, Commander Erwin wants to see you, come along ." Janie commanded as she led the way.
"Flash Blade: Eren huh? Doesn't sound so bad. It's actually a pretty cool nickname ."Eren thought to himself as he gave a satisfied grin and followed after Janie.
======
"You're awake Eren! Or should I call you, Flash Blade: Eren now?" Erwin chuckled as he motioned for the saluting Eren to be at ease and take a seat.
"Come on commander, not you also" Eren replied, giving Erwin a tired look.
He had been greeted by that alias so many times along the way by survey corp members that he was starting to get a little tired of it.
But the look of worship in their eyes as they said that, he couldn't help but reciprocate it, to at least try to keep the atmosphere upbeat.
He knew that despite his efforts, many lives had been lost in the expedition.
"Anyway, the expedition was a success. If you hadn't defeated the aberrants, the expedition would most likely have failed, thank you… for making sure that the lives we had lost, were not in vain" Erwin said, his voice getting softer to the end. It was clear that he was trying to hide his sorrow at the loss of his comrades.
"I only did my duty sir. Besides, there's Captain Levi, isn't there? I'm sure he could have taken care of the horde himself ."
"Yes definitely, but even then, the battle would be closer to the carts, there is no guarantee he would have been able to finish them off in time with his special-ops squad." Erwin continued.
"I see, sir, so why did you want to meet me?" Eren nodded his head
"First, I wish to speak to you about the colossus titan and the armored titan that appeared in your home district of Shiganshina , as well as our efforts to reclaim it. The relay outputs for the retake of the wall have already been completed. "
Eren gasped. Was it finally time?
"Based on the reports that we have from the battle then at Shiganshina district, it is clear that colossus and armored titan that appeared are intelligent beings . The colossus titan did aim to break a hole in the wall anywhere , but went for the weakest part of it ."
"The gate" Eren quickly caught on.
"Correct" Erwin nodded, evidently impressed by Eren's quick thinking before continuing
"The armored titan did the same as well. He could have charged at any of the weaker sections of the wall but instead went for the inner gates too."
"Furthermore, the timing of the attack was too coincidental. It was as if they planned from the start to break the wall. Even aberrants and deviants cannot exhibit such a coordinated action. It was obvious the armored and colossal titan were working together."
Eren gritted his teeth. He swore, he WOULD kill those titans.
"And this leads me to my next topic, it's concerning your new deployment and rank"
=====
Over 2 weeks have passed since Eren returned from the expedition. His body had fully recovered. Erwin had given the entire survey corps a month's break to relax and rest up.
"Are you sure that would work Armin?" Eren asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. To be honest, anything you do would probably make her happy. " Armin replied and gave a thumbs up.
"mhm… didn't know girls were so easy to coax" Eren nodded his head.
"That's only for her… can't you tell she has feelings towards you? She's totally fallen heads over heels for you" Armin laughed
"Oii Armin! We are… brother and … sisters okay! Hey!" Eren replied. He tried to give a lame excuse as to why he and Mikasa could never go steady. But everyone knew they were not.
Mikasa was someone his family took in. It was definitely fine if they decided to be together.
Looking at Armin's doubtful expression,it was so clear his attempt to lie had been seen through.
He was a total blockhead when it came to relationships. That was why he had come to ask Armin for advice on how to make Mikasa happy when he brought her out tomorrow for a birthday treat.
He had promised Mikasa previously regarding that.
When Armin heard it, his mouth was so big you could probably fit a few tennis balls inside. It was as if the sky had collapsed. He couldn't believe Eren would do something like this.
"You know, even if you did nothing, and let her look at you, it would make her happy heh" Armin continued in a teasing manner.
"Huh? Are you serious? O.O " Eren replied in disbelief
"God, Eren, are you seriously so dense or just trying to run away from her feelings?" Armin sighed.
Eren didn't know the answer either. But he did know one thing.
He would make tomorrow a day Mikasa would never forget.