Chapter 18

Walking into the mess hall, Eren and Mikasa went to sit where they usually do with Armin, Sasha, Connie, Marco , Mina and the others. This time Annie joined them to sit at their table and luckily, there was room for her to sit.

Annie usually sits with Reiner and Bertholdt while she's in the mess hall so it was unexpected that she'd sit with Eren and Mikasa.

"Hey Eren and Mikasa! Where have you guys been? I was waiting for you guys" Armin said as he greeted his two friends, but ignored Annie. He never talked to her before and he knew how she gave mostly everyone the cold shoulder.

"Sorry Armin, we lost track of time after sparing together." Eren said as he sat down with Mikasa on his left and Annie on his right.

The rest who were at the table heard what Eren said and couldn't help but ask, "Spar? So that's what you guys do when you're not around is train even more?" Connie asked.

"Wouldn't it be better to use your free time resting other than training?" Sasha asked as she was eating her food. The others agreed as well. When they had time to rest, it was like a blessing so they couldn't imagine Eren, Mikasa and Annie to use that time to train even more.

"Sasha, why else do you think Eren and Mikasa are the two strongest here? Of course it's because of their hard work and training." Marco said. And what he did say was actually only partially true. He didn't need to know that Eren and Mikasa had an advantage compared to the others. With Eren and his abilities and Mikasa being an Ackerman.

"Marco is right Sasha, even with me helping Mikasa with her training, her own hard work was the results of her current strength." Eren said as he held Mikasa's hand under the table.

Everyone at the table listened to what he said. Truth be told, most of them felt inferior to Eren and Mikasa due to how strong they were. They were the same age as them, and yet the two were already leaps and bounds ahead of them.

But the one who felt the worse was Armin. Of course it was to be expected because his two friends were so ahead of him and he felt like he hasn't really improved. How can he go and discover the outside world if he's too weak? Wouldn't he just die trying?

Eren seeing the downcast look on his friends face was confused until he read his mind. After reading the negative thoughts of Armin, he decided to talk to him later. There wasn't really anything he could do to help him, but he knew in canon Armin would be fine. Up until the point where he sacrificed himself to take down the Colossal Titan.

Eren was broken out of his thoughts once he heard "Can you teach us too Eren?"

He looked over at Mina who gathered the attention of the others at the table. Most of them looked at him hopefully, but his next words brought their hopes down.

"No" Eren said instantly. Why did he have to teach them? He wasn't an instructor and he wasn't going to babysit them. Sure he'd sometimes give out tips and encourage the others, but that was all. Others may see him as an asshole for this, but even if he agreed, he didn't have time to do so. He had to leave here in about a year, and he was going to use most of that time for training. He actually planned to ask Keith if he could start training on his own without the other cadets.

"What, why not?" Mina said with a sad tone in her voice.

"Not meaning to be rude, but you guys are always so tired after training, what makes you think you could do anymore? The training here would also get harder as time goes by anyways." Eren said to them and left it as that .

After eating, Mikasa, Eren and Armin decided to leave as Annie already left. Stepping outside, he turned to Mikasa and held her cheeks with his hands.

"Can you walk to your cabin by yourself today? I need to talk to Armin about something." Eren said. Seeing her nod, he gave her a chaste kiss to the lips.

Armin who was nearby was a little confused on why he wanted to talk to him, but he decided to ask after the couple was done talking.

After Mikasa left, Eren and Armin began walking back to their cabin. "You don't want to go somewhere else?" Armin questioned because they usually go into the forest to talk. He could only guess what Eren wanted to talk about wasn't something so private.

"No, we can talk while we're walking. I wanted to talk to you because I couldn't help but notice how sad you looked back in the mess hall. Is everything alright?" Eren questioned.

Armin was surprised for a bit because he didn't expect Eren to ask him that question. He tried playing it off with a smile and saying he was fine, but Eren wasn't convinced at all.

"I can't keep anything from you, can I?" Armin said. Eren just smiled and thought 'not when I can read your mind, but you don't need to know that.'

"To be honest, I felt left behind seeing how strong you and Mikasa have gotten. I know I'm not the strongest, but how am I supposed to achieve my dream if I'm this weak?" Armin said while looking down. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Eren smile at him.

"There's no need to worry Armin. It's not like you alone would be enough to see the ocean. I know that sounded harsh but you'll have many people with you on your journey. Like me and Mikasa, and the friends you've made here. Even if you're not the strongest, you're the smartest person I know here." Eren said, trying to encourage Armin. He knew that canon Armin would end up having the Colossal Titan, but the circumstances on how he got it didn't sit well with him. It also seemed like canon Armin didn't even want it as well. Eren also wouldn't limit Armin's lifespan because if he ever became the Colossal Titan, he'd never be able to live for long.

The curse of Ymir still worried Eren. Everyday he thought about it because he still didn't know how to remove it.

Armin thought about what Eren said and smiled. He was lucky to have good friends.

"Sorry to concern you with my problems." Armin said.

"Don't think like that. We've known each other since we were so young, of course ide help you with a problem you need. And bring you back up when you're feeling down." Eren said to Armin who nodded his head.

Afterwards, the two continued to talk about their day on their way to the cabin for a good rest. Tomorrow, Eren would ask Keith if he could train on his own for the rest of the time he's here. He also planned to ask if he could possibly get Mikasa to join the Survey Corps with him as well.