Between life and death, there is hope. But every ending has the same outcome: the Rumbling razes the earth, taking the person you love with it.
After you die, you reawake in the day you met your best friend, Eren Jaeger. In every life you relive, y...
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Armin.
You loved him so much. In your first life, he had been the last person you ever held. You had never been as close to him as Eren was, and that was fine. But you loved him. Armin, who had loved you back, enough to be your family when the dust after the Rumbling settled. One of your best friends in this unforgiving world.
Maybe you would never be to each other what Eren was to you both individually, but that was okay.
So, when you found Armin on the roof, charred to the bone, it took everything in you not to wail and cry at the top of your lungs.
You sat down next to him, quiet and unresponsive, as Eren and Levi began to talk about going after the Beast Titan. You gazed at Shiganshina, your old home, recognizing the streets where you used to play with Armin as a child. Technically, you still were a child, in this body.
You used to be more like him, quiet and intelligent. Never a physical fighter like Eren and Mikasa. That was why the four of you were so well-balanced—you and Armin were always the brains of the operation.
"Remember when we met, Armin?" you asked. Though you knew he was alive, you didn't know if he could hear you. "Eren introduced you. Gosh, I liked you so much, I became better at reading and writing because you helped me."
Armin didn't respond. Of course not. You chuckled to yourself, bitter and mournful, as you hugged your knees to your chest. You caught a whiff of your burnt jacket. It was torn. It smelled like sweat and smoke.
"I died in your arms, did you know that?" you asked. "You were there to see me before everything else. I'll never forget that, Armin."
You closed your eyes and began to curse the world.
"I wish it were different. I wish I knew if this was the right choice. I'll miss you so much, I love you so much, Armin. I'm sorry..."
A hand landed on your shoulder. It was Levi. His eyes lost their usual coldness, replaced with sympathy.
"You've got to get moving," he said.
You bit your tongue and nodded. You couldn't let anyone know that Armin was still alive.
Right on cue, he coughed.
Just like that, Eren was passionately telling Levi to use the serum on Armin. Back in past lives, you had begged with him. You even got on your knees, desperate for him to agree. Then Commander Erwin was brought upon you, and you strengthened your resolve to make the hardest decision you'd ever steel yourself to do so far.
You didn't help Mikasa and Eren when they began physically threatening Levi, but you didn't try to help him, either. You didn't say a word when Eren turned to you and began screaming to tell Levi to use the shot on Armin.
