Always (2)

Mina's POV

"Were you giving him instructions?" Mikasa asked me just when I finally caught up with her. I was about to reply when a sudden gush of air passed us, making us see how fast Eren- could be. "Did you tell him to go near the wall, just like what Armin had said?" 

While shaking my head, I replied. "No, it was something else." 

Mikasa looked like she wanted to know more about it, but we must give it our all and focus on the fight against humanity's greatest enemy – as of right now. "Tell me more about it later."

Noticing that it wasn't a request, I giggled. "Yes, ma'am." 

"Nice, Eren! Good call!" A soldier praises him just when Mikasa and I hooked ourselves on the wall. 

"He's back in control again." Mikasa comments, making Armin agree.

"Yeah, but like you said, it'll be almost impossible to escape Reiner." 

"But not impossible to take him down," I interjected, noticing how some of the soldiers gave me a horrified look. "Every living organism has a weakness, and that doesn't exclude the Armored Titan."

"She's right." A veteran Survey Corps soldier nodded his head, eyes gleaming with hope. "I saw you sliced the back of its knee earlier."

"It has a weak spot?" Armin incredulously asks before switching her gaze to my figure. "Our blades can affect him there?"

It's a cheat, and I don't think I'll ever regret using it. "Yeah, it will." 

"Then we have a plan." Unlike in the second world, where Armin gave Mikasa the rest of his blades, he simply took out his own and prepared to attack just in time before Reiner started tackling Eren on the ground, a desperate act to secure his target. To counter it, Eren tried to lock him once more, but Reiner became even more aggressive, giving Eren no time to breathe as he landed one punch after the other.

"Don't stay on the ground, Eren!" Armin warned his friend just when Mikasa followed up with, "Stand up!" 

Showing that he heard the voice of his friends, Eren pushed the Armored Titan with the use of his left leg, which gave him the chance to stand and jump back.

"Let's go, Mina!" Mikasa then dived in for the kill, applying what she had just learned earlier from our discussion. Captain Hange glanced at me, probably asking what we were about to do, but there was no time. 

"Yeah!" I gave Armin a sideway glance, wishing for him to understand, before following Mikasa in pursuit. 

As she was stationed on my right side, I took it as her way of command for me to attack the Armored Titan's left leg. Upon attaching the cables of my gear to the tree up ahead while making sure that Mikasa and I had the same speed, I tightly gripped the handle of my blade before finally landing a hit on its weak spot simultaneously as Mikasa did in the other leg.

Such an attack made the Armored Titan lose its balance, giving Eren the chance to tackle him upfront instead of placing himself at the bottom. After taking away half of its strength, the Armored Titan wasn't able to fight back as much as he did earlier. 

After landing on the trunk of a tree, I quickly whipped my head to witness the ongoing fight. It's… different, but at the same time, quite similar compared to the previous world. Eren is still trying to break its neck, but this time, he's in an advantageous position. It gave him the chance to finally break a part of its armor as I noticed the widened look of the soldiers. 

"You've got this!"

"Go for it, Eren!"

"Tear the head of his neck!" 

"Pull the traitor out of there!"

"Mina?" A gentle and callused hand tugged at my coat, prompting me to look up and witness two Titans trying to kill each other off. But, instead of focusing on that, I tilted my head to see Mikasa looking directly at me. "Why… do you look so pale?" 

"Mikasa…" The sudden onslaught of emotions took me by surprise. I had no choice but to bite my lip and whisper my next words. "We… have to save him. Okay?" 

"Huh?" She took a step closer before telling me to repeat myself. But I couldn't. Worry then became apparent in her expression just as her other hand made its way to grab my shoulder. "What do you-"

Without waiting for her to finish that sentence, I tilted my head to witness another horrifying scenario, making Mikasa look up as well. Reiner had already pushed Eren in a certain spot, unbeknownst to the other soldiers, but I know. 

The Armored Titan screamed, its way of calling for an assist from the other titan shifter that was still stationed on top of the wall. I'm sure that Captain Hange is currently warning the other soldiers to be on their guard since he might be calling in other Titans.

But that isn't the case. It's very… very far from that.

And here I am, doing nothing more than to watch it unveil. 

"Be strong, young Yeager," Ymir whispers, making me close my eyes in disgust at how I'm currently acting. "It has to be done."

I know.

I fucking know, okay?

Just let me hate myself!

"There's none…" Mikasa mumbles to herself, eyes anticipating any form of enemy. 

But I digress. "There is one."

"Huh?" And when she saw my finger pointing at the Colossal Titan, she paled. In that instant, fear, worry, and a sense of abandonment all passed through her expression, one that I greatly torment myself to look at. "EREN!"

"ABOVE YOU! LOOK OUT!!" 

When the colossal titan finally fell, the impact it caused was disastrous. I had to bite my lip to contain the impulse I'd most likely do and instead focused on pulling Mikasa into the nearby tree. Using it as some kind of shield, I had to dig my nails through the bark of the tree and pin Mikasa in between to prevent her from flying away due to the intense air pressure. 

"Mina!" Mikasa then placed her arms around my waist and pulled me towards her. In a way, just like how I'm preventing her from being caught in this catastrophe, she, too, made it her mission to secure my body onto hers. "Don't let go!"

"I won't…" I choked and buried my face in the crook of her neck just when I noticed the Armored Titan biting the nape of our beloved comrade. It's his fate, and you're not allowed to interfere. 

The future is at stake here.

Don't be too selfish.

Learn how to control your emotions.

"…"

And if I can't?

What then?

"Eren…" Like a kid who lost a precious comrade, I dug my nails even further into the bark of the tree as tears threatened to spill. "Eren!"

And just like that, the Armored and the Colossal Titan have achieved their task of securing the Attack Titan.

*****