Eren hates them.

It's kind of funny, actually, how fast he could shift.

One moment he was staring at his friends, his comrades, people he cared about and people he would die to protect or avenge.

The next?

Betrayal.

Nausea.

His mother's broken body swallowed down the giant's throat.

The people, screeching for someone to save them as humanity began to lose.

Gunter hanging from the tree.

Erd's blood splattering across the forest.

Petra, smashed like a fly.

Aruo, soaking the earth beneath him.

And this hot, trembling explosion in his stomach and this ache in his chest that should have made him fall over in agony.

Do you know them?

Things may have been easier if he hadn't felt.

But they snuck in, wormed their ways into his heart and soul. They did it slowly and carefully.

Annie opened up his eyes, made him better off. She taught him how to fight and use his strength. She brought him up the ranks, and he felt the airs of shock and pride when she saw him practice what she'd taught him. Just a rank above him, number four. He knew her.

Bertholdt didn't say much to him, but that was because he was shy. He was someone Eren looked up to, though. He'd shared his story openly and honestly with him and Armin, forming a bond with the words he spoke. He said that they were alike. Eren felt a tie to him, one between the horrified, and he felt that Bertholdt, despite his timid demeanor and the his lack of will, was strong. He admired that quality within him. Bertholdt had ranked number three. He knew him.

Reiner had become like an older brother to Eren, though he couldn't say for sure when he'd started to feel that way. Reiner teased him and made stupid jokes and was a huge idiot, but Eren liked him for all of those things and more. Like how he could carry both his own weight and the weight of others without a sweat. He may have been a dork, but he was also selfless and brave and determined, like Eren himself. He would tousle Eren's hair and laugh too loudly whenever he did something he found amusing or surprising. He would be the one to cut Armin's hair whenever it got too long or started to look uneven (since Eren usually sucked at doing stuff like that), and he was the one to carry anyone to the infirmary if they were hurt. Reiner held a big piece of Eren's ideal self. He'd ranked number two, only under Mikasa. Eren knew him.

And, even though they weren't who he thought they were, he still knows them. He knows them all. They're his friends. He's joked around with them and sparred with them. He knows them.

There was a time when Eren didn't know what to think.

They killed his family.

They were his family.

The blood of his mother, his squad, his comrades- it was all on their hands and teeth.

The blood of his teacher, his friend, his brother- it would all be on his.

That time did not last very long.

The burning explosion spread everywhere.

Eren fell into Hell.

HATRED.

THEY

KILLED

THEY

ARE

I

HATE

i know them.

Author's note: Hey, guys! Thanks for reading this; I'm always so happy and excited when people like or review my work.

So I just wanted to explore the betrayal Eren must have felt towards the titan trio. It's been shown so far how close the 104th Cadet Squad seemed to be, and how everyone considered one another friends on some level. I just feel like maybe, for a few seconds at least, Eren may have been pulled back and forth with his caring and his hatred for them, and I wanted to dig into it a little.

Catch you later! Please review. :D

(If you know the art source, please tell me. I couldn't find it.)