"That's not a good hypothetical, Bertolt couldn't possibly be a Titan," Reiner said, waving his hands repeatedly.
"But what if he were?" Armin pressed.
"Uh... then I think I'd be really heartbroken. We grew up together, and now we've been comrades fighting side by side for years," Reiner said, steadying himself.
"Then if Bertolt were a Titan and nobody else accepted him, what would you do as his friend?" Armin kept grasping at straws, trying every approach he could think of to get something out of him.
"Well... why would you ask that? Is a friend of yours facing that problem?" Reiner changed tack. He needed to establish whether that fifteen-meter intelligent Titan was Eren.
"Yes. Eren might very well be a Titan." Saying those words seemed to drain Armin of all his strength.
"Ah! That can't be. How could Titans be transformed humans? That's impossible," Reiner hastily denied. If Eren drew attention, capturing him would become difficult.
"Oh, anything's possible. Maybe you and I could turn into Titans too, right, Armin? Hahahaha!" Chen Si continued teasing Reiner.
Reiner had been frightened so often by now that he had developed something of an immunity.
"Chen Si, you're always making these jokes. That joke of yours really hurt Annie," Reiner said, hastily changing the subject.
"Oh? Why?" Chen Si asked curiously, eager to see what Reiner would make up.
Mikasa also glanced at Annie. She didn't have a particularly good impression of her.
"You don't know this, but Annie's been interested in fighting since she was little. She's trained in martial arts since childhood, and the other kids always called her a tomboy. Titans are creatures that do nothing but eat people. Calling her a Titan is even worse than calling her a tomboy," Reiner said with a straight face.
"I see. That's true, she's a girl, after all. I should apologize." Chen Si slowly rose, walked over to Annie, and sat beside her.
Watching Chen Si sit down, Reiner breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to talk that terrifying pest into leaving.
Mikasa and Bertolt looked toward Chen Si and Annie at the same time, their two hostile gazes converging on the pair.
"Annie, Reiner told me what I said really upset you," Chen Si began.
Hearing that, Annie had a fairly good idea of what Reiner had said. He was trying to clear her of suspicion.
"It didn't." Annie turned her head away, refusing to look at Chen Si.
Chen Si stood and walked around to Annie's other side. Annie turned away again, ignoring him.
Well done, Annie! Hahaha, Annie will never like you, Chen Si. Give up!
The sight filled Bertolt with delight.
Seeing her reaction, Chen Si stopped moving and said with a soft sigh:
"Annie, do you know that when I said you were like a Titan, I wasn't trying to insult you maliciously? What I actually meant was that your fighting skills were as powerful as a Titan's, and I learned a great deal from you," Chen Si said.
A faint light flickered in Annie's eyes.
"Besides, so what if you were a Titan? You're so kind, willing to share the last of your food with the children in the refugee camp. I consider you my friend. I've really enjoyed spending these past three years with you. No matter what you become or where you go, you'll always be my friend. Even if you turned into a Titan, what would it matter?"
Chen Si spoke with solemn conviction.
Annie remained silent, but ripples were already spreading through her heart.
Friends... forever...? Annie repeated silently.
Seeing that Annie still wouldn't speak, Chen Si slowly stood, pretending to be hurt and dejected:
"Annie, do you know that silence kills love? If you hate me, I'll quietly leave." With that, Chen Si pretended to wipe away his tears.
Perhaps Chen Si's acting was too convincing. Watching from a distance, Mikasa's anger hit its limit. She thought that cruel woman Annie had said something to hurt him.
Seeing Chen Si looking so pitiful, Bertolt couldn't help rejoicing. Great! Annie doesn't like Chen Si. I still have a chance!
Just as Chen Si was about to leave, Annie suddenly reached out and caught the hem of his clothes.
"I'm not staying silent," Annie said flatly, though the faint blush on her cheeks betrayed her.
Delighted, Chen Si turned around and put his sorrowful expression back on.
"Do you have some final words for me...?" Chen Si asked pitifully.
"Do you really consider me your friend?" Annie asked.
Without hesitation, Chen Si turned away and said:
"So after everything I said, none of it reached your heart. It looks like all these years of considering you my friend were just wishful thinking on my part."
The moment Chen Si turned, Annie suddenly stood, grabbed his hand, and pulled him back.
Is she going to attack him? Mikasa immediately stood, glaring fiercely at Annie.
"Isn't that Chen Si and Annie? What are they doing?" asked a soldier who was replacing his gas canisters.
"Are you stupid? Annie's holding Top Graduate Chen Si's hand. Obviously, she's about to confess!" another gossip-loving soldier said.
"Huh? Doesn't that mean I have no chance?" a female soldier said sadly.
"Hmph! Top Graduate Chen Si would never accept that tomboy Annie!" a girl with twin tails said in a sugary voice.
The boys around her all looked at the twin-tailed girl with complicated expressions. Unfortunately, they didn't know the slang for putting on a cutesy voice, or they would certainly have said:
"Holy crap, that fake-cute voice! Taste my sword!"
"You're my friend too." Looking at her hand clasped around Chen Si's, Annie shyly turned her head aside as she spoke.
Chen Si immediately put on a radiant smile again.
"Yes, we're friends forever. Good friends should share a hug." Chen Si slowly stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Annie.
Annie trembled slightly when he hugged her. Eight hundred techniques for taking him down suddenly flashed through her mind, but she forcibly suppressed them all and reached out to hug Chen Si back.
"Ah! Our Top Graduate actually accepted Annie! No!" The twin-tailed girl from earlier fainted on the spot.
"Hey, hey! Are you all right?" The nearby soldiers hurried over to her.
"Look! Mikasa seems really angry."
"Why would Mikasa be angry? Aren't she and Top Graduate Chen Si siblings?"
"Oh, they're not related by blood!"
"Oh, I see. Doesn't that make this a romantic showdown?"
Everyone chattered away, gossiping.
Astonishing killing intent radiated from Mikasa's entire body. Even the air around her seemed to be compressing.
"Calm down, Mikasa! Calm down!" Armin pleaded fearfully beside her, waving his hands.
Sasha had just come over with a few peanuts to ask Chen Si to zap them for her, but Mikasa's aura frightened her so badly that she didn't dare approach.
Women in love are terrifying... Sasha marveled inwardly.
Beside them, Bertolt's jaw practically hit the ground. His mouth hung wide open, and he couldn't close it at all.
How could this happen...?