Chapter 17: Eren Came for the Waves

"Ok, I think everything is ready." Ai said excitedly as she finished packing the various stuff for the beach in Miyako's car.

"Ichigo is picking up the rest of the girls in the company van." Miyako said. "But with all this, I doubt we'll be able to fit Eren."

"Eren said he has his own ride there." Ai said.

"Really?" Miyako asked.

"Yea, his boss will take him." Ai said.

Ai was dressed in a long white dress that covered her from her ankles to her wrists. Not only did she have to maintain her identity, she also had to ensure she didn't get a tan. She would only be able to have it off for a little bit so she could show Eren her bikini.

Miyako was dressed in a white button up shirt and jeans shorts, which were on top of her swimsuit. She had a bikini as well since she wanted to show off her body at the beach.

The kids had simple small swimsuits. Simple swimming trunks for Aqua and a cute one-piece suit for Ruby that had an integrated skirt.

"And time to go!" Ai said in excitement as she put on her wide brim sun hat and large sunglasses.

"Did we remember the sweaters?" Aqua asked Ai.

"Yup, just in case the weather changes." Ai said, since the water would be cold, and they needed to stay warm when they got out.

That was one of the downsides for going to the beach in the fall. However, they had no choice since summer was too dangerous for any members of B-Komachi to go to the beach since there were too many people. Even to private beaches, since it was possible for people to still wander on the privately rented property.

Ai never really had the opportunity to go to the beach and was excited. She always wanted to go, but between being an idol since twelve and her own rough upbringing, she had very few chances to even think about going. She was glad that Eren recommended the beach for a little get together, even if he was being a little etchi by wanting to see her in a swimsuit.

She blushed at the thought and get just a bit more excited.

Unlike normally, Ai got into the front seat of the car. Since the back of Miyako's car was so full of stuff, she struggled to fit not only Ai but the twins in the back. So, they had to find ways to make room. Ai was a bit upset since she always sat with her kids but didn't make a fuss about it either.

She lowered the visor in front of her and checked in the mirror. She wanted to double check her hair, which she spent the past half hour styling. Her bangs were the same, but it was in a ponytail since she never really had her hair in the style. Her hair did get a little messed up from the hat, so she took a second to smooth out the bangs of her hair with her fingers.

"You'll be fine Ai." Miyako said.

"What do you mean?" Ai asked.

"I mean you look fine, Eren will be very impressed." Miyako replied.

"T-that's not what's going on." Ai denied.

"Look, I still don't really like the guy, but he is still a guy." Miyako said. "He'll find you incredibly attractive, so don't you worry about it. If he didn't find you attractive, he wouldn't have recommended the beach." She said.

"I'm just making sure my hair is good, nothing more." Ai continued to blush.

Aqua shook his head. She was still so shy about the idea of trying anything romantic with Eren. You'd think a woman with kids would be at least a little used to men, but he had to remind himself that she had one short relationship that ended poorly. A relationship that ended almost five years ago. She was clearly nervous about a new potential relationship, so she was trying everything to make sure she was pretty.

"Don't worry mama, he'll be really impressed." Ruby chimed in. "You always look amazing."

"Thank you, Ruby-Chan." Ai, smiled at her daughter through the mirror.

Ruby was also excited for the beach. She never got to go since she was hospitalized for a large part of her original life. She was also excited for Ai, since she wanted Ai to get to know Eren more.

Ruby really liked Eren. He was handsome, strong, a westerner, and protected them when they were in danger. She normally didn't like anyone new entering into their lives, such as their real father. Ruby was very possessive of the time she spent with Ai and didn't want to share any of that time with anyone. Eren was the only person she made an exception for, since without him, she wouldn't have this time now with Ai.

"Do you have anything fun planned with him?" Miyako asked.

"Yup!" Ai said excitedly. "I have an activity that we can do that I'm sure he'd enjoy."

"If you're sure." Miyako said. "Just remember, we need to make sure we arrive and set up before Eren gets there. When did he say he'd arrive again?"

"He said around 0900 AM." Ai replied.

"Good, we need to make sure you all are far enough away so whoever he's with doesn't recognize you all." Miyako said.

"No problem!" Ai held up a peace sign. "I'm sure we'll have everything set up before they arrive."

0821 AM

"You know I am not taxiing service, right?" Sergei asked.

"It's hardly out of the way." Eren said.

"It adds fifteen minutes to route, I could be getting fast food instead of driving you to beach." Sergei complained.

"I helped you well enough on that last job, so I don't care about that." Eren retorted.

Eren and Sergei just finished up a morning job delivering weapons to a warehouse that would be shipped to Latin America. The client started to get angry at the price of the movement, so Eren had to use force to deter him. Luckily, he didn't have to use his pistol.

"Only reason I'm helping is because you're too good of asset to lose." Sergei said.

"I really don't care." Eren said.

"Besides, warmth of good woman would help you, I think anyway." Sergei said.

"I just want to go to the sea." Eren said.

"It's not sea, it's ocean." Sergei said.

"Whatever you call it." Eren replied back.

"So, you're planning to go meet single mom at beach... dressed in that?" Sergei referenced what Eren was wearing.

"What's wrong with this?" Eren asked.

Eren was dressed in simple black slacks, his normal boots, and a white button up shirt. It was just a normal outfit, what was wrong with is?

"Didn't you get swim trunks?" Sergei asked.

"I guess not." Eren said.

He really didn't feel like getting ridiculed by Sergei for not knowing something basic again. What even were swim trunks? It sounded like some kind of underwater tree.

"Whatever, at least take shirt off in front of single mom. She'd like that." Sergei laughed.

Sergei drove Eren to the edge of the beach, right near a car and van that head people pulling stuff out. Eren looked at Sergei's vehicle clock and saw that the time was maybe about 0834 AM. Eren was starting to get used to the English symbols for numbers and was able to generally tell the time now. He still had no way of learning the actual written language, but at least he can recognize numbers now.

Eren arrived a bit earlier than he was planning since the job went by so well. He even had to leave his pistol at home and borrow one of Sergei's for the job since he didn't want to bring it out to the sea and potentially get it damaged or risk rusting if he didn't clean it properly. In the four years after reaching the sea, the Eldian Military learned just how bad salt water was for gun and other weapons with moving parts.

"I'll walk back home, so don't worry about getting me." Eren said as he got out of the car.

"Who are they?" Sergei asked.

"Friends of the single mom." Eren said vaguely.

"Wait a minute..." Sergei said as he eyed the young women closely.

It was kind of far away, so he couldn't tell at first. But there was no mistaking it, they were disguised but when all of them were together, he could instantly tell who they were.

"Single mom is Ai from B-Komachi!?" Sergei yelled.

"Yes?" Eren said, not sure why Sergei yelled that out.

"I knew she looked familiar but didn't put it together." Sergei said. "I can get autograph."

"Why would you want one of those?" Eren asked.

"Are you kidding me? I told you, big fan." Sergei said.

"I thought you were joking." Eren said.

"I grew up in Soviet Union, cute girls dancing is something we didn't have. Didn't even have TV." He said.

"So?" Eren said.

"When I first saw Japan media, I loved it. You have to introdu-"

"No." Eren said as he slammed the door.

Sergei took that as his cue to leave, so Eren started to walk over to Ai and her friends as he drove away. What was with Sergei? Was he obsessed too? He saw a lot of fans during the concert who just seemed obsessed over the girls. He never imagined Sergei to be the same way. Eren found that to just be strange. Sergei was 30 years older than these women. If he was interested before, they'd be much younger.

Then again, the man was a criminal. Eren was kind of worried, but he honestly doubted that Sergei would try to harm the girls. After all, he was very business oriented and refused to take unnessecary risks. So Eren didn't expect him to be a danger, even if he was apparently a fan.

He noticed that they were now rushing to get everything out to the sand.

The area looked really nice. It was a small crescent shaped bay, no more than 100 yards across, which was surrounded by trees to hide the beach away. Apparently, Ai's boss had to rent this area, so they would be the only ones here.

"E-Eren." Ai stuttered as she walked over to Eren. "You got here early." She said.

"Yea, we avoided the other vehicles." Eren said.

"You mean traffic?" Ai asked.

"Yes." Eren said.

Ai was used to how weirdly Eren talked by now, and now that she had the context that his first language was probably Russian or something, now put away that red flag for good.

"Hey Eren!" Meimei greeted as she walked up to him.

"Hi Meme." Eren greeted back.

"Mei-Mei." Meimei said, saying her name slowly so he can get it. "It's not that hard, even for an English speaker."

All the other girls, to include Miyako, crowded Eren again. Aqua walked near the group as well, wanting to listen in on their conversations while Ruby went over to the beach with President Saitou.

"Nino is asking why you aren't wearing your swim trunks." Ai said, as she translated for her non-English speaking friend.

There was that word again, swim trunks. Eren remained silent, unsure of exactly what he should say.

"Those aren't common from where I'm from." He said after a bit of a pause.

"Seriously?" Miyako asked.

"Eren's actually from Ukraine." Ai explained. "I saw his passport."

Eren shrugged as the girls all looked at him with a bit of confusion.

"Ukraine?" Meimei asked.

"Yea, he said he's from Crimea." Ai explained.

Eren shrugged, preferring to let them come to their own conclusions instead of trying to explain himself and possibly missing some details.

"Is that why you're in Japan?" Meimei asked sadly. "Are you trying to escape the war?"

"War?" Miyako asked.

"Yea, the invasion of Crimea." Meimei said.

"Sure." Eren shrugged again.

It's better if they make assumptions, that way if he makes a mistake in his story, he can blame them for coming to the wrong conclusions.

After it was translated, suddenly the girls all got sad. Even Miyako looked sadly at Eren. It explained how strange Eren was, and why he was always so vague about everything. If he was a victim of war, then that would mean that he wouldn't want to talk about his experiences. Miyako looked around and knew that the other girls felt the same. That was why he was always so vague and probably didn't fully understand modern things.

Especially if he was from a rural area. Eastern European countries didn't have the same standard of living as the rest of the world. So if he was from a rural area in a war torn country, it now made perfect sense why he seemed so lost and confused.

Aqua however, didn't fully believe that. He had his doubts since Hikaru mentioned it a few days ago. The rest of the girls probably didn't know this, but Japan had a very strict limit on who they take in instances of refugees. Especially from the other side of the world. With the Syrian Civil War, Japan only actually accepted maybe less than a dozen refugees this year. Japan had such strict policies on refugees that they always sent refugees to western nations or other nearby nations. What were the odds that a Ukrainian from Crimea would be accepted as a refugee?

Aqua grew suspicious of Eren again, and wondered if he had to find ways of investigating just who Eren was.

"Well, we'll get you swim trunks later." Ai said. "For now, let's set up. You can help me with the towel and umbrella." Ai said, bringing Eren with her.

Eren spent a few minutes helping Ai with the umbrella and laying the towel down. He felt the sun already start to warm him up, a strange kind of warmth compared to the chill of the autumn breeze. It was warm enough that he didn't need to get extra clothing to stay warm, but he knew from experience that the water would be cold.

Eren heard Ai shift behind him as he finished planting the umbrella into the sand. The other girls worked on their areas right next to them.

"W-what the..." Eren said in shock as he turned around and faced Ai.

Why was she undressed!?

"W-what?" Ai asked as she noticed Eren blushing.

"Why are you in your underwear?" Eren asked.

"Underwear?" Meimei asked as she walked over to Ai.

Eren noticed she also took off her dress and was now walking around in her underwear. Come to think of it, everyone was now disrobed and walking in their underwear.

"It's a swimsuit you idiot." Miyako said.

"You have clothes specifically meant for swimming?" Eren cursed himself as he asked that question out of habit. He was too distracted from all the nearly naked women around him.

"Duh." Meimei said.

Ai giggled at how shy Eren was being. She never saw this side of him and it was actually kind of cute. He was acting like a child who saw his first swimsuit magazine.

Eren however, was just confused. He never met anyone who would swim for fun. The only people who spent time in the water were people who fished or took a boat across a river. Even when they reached the Sea four-years-ago, no one swam for fun. No one even knew how to swim until they were forced to train that skill since they would be crossing the sea and didn't want to risk overboard situations.

However, even when they trained in swimming, they did so in full equipment. Even fishermen who spent their lives on the rivers wore extra stuff to stop from getting wet. Very rarely would they disrobe like this.

"Well, if you take your boots off, roll your pant legs, and take your shirt off, it'll look like swimwear." Meimei suggested.

Suddenly, Miyako remembered something.

"W-what do you mean" Miyako tried to say. "Foreigners always keep their shirts on." She said.

"We do?" Eren raised an eyebrow, confused on why she was stuttering.

"Well, this is Japan and that's weird." Ai said. "Besides, you need sunscreen on."

"Right, that weird paste." Eren said.

"It's best to get your whole upper body, so take your shirt off." Ai said.

Eren just shrugged and did what he was told. He unbuttoned the shirt and easily took it off.

"Eto..." Meimei said as her eyes went wide.

"Kuso-" Miyako whispered under her breath.

Eren was muscular. Even Aqua and Ruby gaped at how defined his muscles were. He was very lean, but very defined and clearly worked out. Every movement made his muscle flex naturally but still was clearly seen. And his abs were just... so very visible.

"So how does this work?" Eren asked.

Ai's face was completely red. She was horrified of going near him with how completely muscular he was. She was afraid of accidentally touching him, since she knew she'd be able to feel how hard his body is.

"Show him Ai-Chan~" Meimei pushed Ai forward.

"Kyaa!" Ai screamed.

The sunscreen bottle that she clutched close to her with both hands suddenly popped open, a bit of sunscreen squiting out as the push took her by surprise. Some of it landed on Eren's chest. Eren just raised his eyebrow.

"So, what do I do?" He asked.

"J-just stay there." Ai stuttered. With a red face, she applied some on his chest and arms. "Now rub it in."

"Oh, what about his back?" Meimei grinned.

"I-I'll d-do that." Ai stuttered again.

Eren was very confused on what was going on. He suddenly felt like a piece of meat that was surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves. Dod these women find his muscles that appealing? Everyone in the Scouts looked like this, even many of the women. So, he didn't see what the appeal was.

Then again, these women weren't Scouts. They were ordinary women. Since joining the Military, Eren never really met or spent time with normal people. Even in Marley, he kept to himself and only every talked with fellow Soldiers while in the Mid East. So, he guessed that it would be embarrassing to be rubbing this weird paste on his body. He also considered that they must never have seen a physique like his, since they only ever saw average people and not Soldiers.

Ai blushed as she worked up the courage to put the sunscreen on his back. She was completely amazed at how toned and hard his back was. He looked like he only ever did pull ups since the moment he was born. She has never seen anyone who was this well-defined.

What if he held her with those arms? They'd probably be so strong. But then again, he would probably be uncomfortable to learn on or hug since he had so little fat. He may have a lot of muscle, but there was also bone showing, especially around his neck and upper shoulders.

As nice as his body was, she wondered if he had too much muscle.

"This is what I was afraid of." Miyako said to the girls in Japanese.

"When did you see him like this?" Watanabe asked.

"I saw him exercise outside of the apartment once." She said.

"Yea, I see why you said something. Ai is now physically hooked to him." Meimei whispered in agreement.

"He did like, forty pushups." Miyako said.

"F-forty?" Ari asked in surprise.

"Forty that Ichigo counted, he was going before and after he counted." Miyako clarified.

"My goodness. He's a monster." Nino said. "Ai got lucky."

"Right, a war refugee. What a lucky girl." Miyako shook her head.

"Yea." Nino sighed. "She's living my dream."

"Because he's a foreigner." Meimei said.

"Because he's a western foreigner." Nino corrected.

"Freaking Gaijin Hunter." Watanabe sighed.

"Come on, let's go look at the water." Ai said, taking Eren's hand as she dragged him over to the edge of the beach.

Ai stopped right as they reached the edge of the beach. Eren was slightly in front of her, as he looked out towards the Pacific Ocean. She turned around to the rest of the group that gave her a thumbs up. Ai blushed, since now she was going to talk with him away from the group while wearing a slightly revealing bikini.

She took a deep breath as she turned back towards Eren. Ready to start a bit of small talk and hopefully impress him with her swimsuit. She didn't go through that nightmare with Meimei for nothing.

"So-"

"Beautiful." Eren said in awe.

Ai blushed, any topic for small talk was completely gone from her mind as he just complimented her. She didn't know how she was going to follow that up. However, she willed herself to look him in the face and say something clever so that she wouldn't be too embarrassed.

When she did though, the blush faded.

Eren's eyes were completely fixated on the ocean, the morning sun just over the horizon as the light glittered off the waves. He didn't even glance at her. He was completely entranced by the ocean.

Ai agreed it was beautiful, but it was just the ocean. Something about the way he just stared at it made it seem like something more than it was. There was an almost childlike fascination in his eyes, as if there was such a deeper meaning about it that only made sense to him. Eren almost looked like a child with how amazed he was, his awestruck face made by something as innocent as the waves of the ocean.

Ai found it to be kind of cute, but also a bit disheartening. With the way his eyes looked, she didn't think anything could take his gaze away. She felt that if she stood in front of him, completely naked, offering her body to him and promising to let him do whatever he wanted, she still couldn't avert his eyes from the ocean.

Even then, she noticed a sadness in his eyes. Something that broke through the child like fascination and showed itself. As if, the thing that gave him the greatest joy in the world, also came with the greatest pain.

"I guess you do love the beach." Ai said.

"I had wanted to see it, ever since I was a kid." Eren said.

"Was this your first time?" Ai asked.

"No." Eren replied. "I saw it for the first time four years ago. But I heard about it when I was a child."

"So, you wanted to see it." Ai said.

"Yes." Eren replied. "A massive body of water, so big and so full of salt that merchants would never collect all of it."

"That's an interesting way to describe it." Ai said.

Ai was completely amazed at the way Eren's eyes just shined. It was probably a trick due to the sunlight hitting his eyes, but she could see such wonder and fascination there, barely concealing the sadness just below the surface.

"There were other things I wanted to see." Eren said.

"Like what?" Ai asked.

"Rivers of fire, fields of ice and sand, giant rocks that take days to climb." He recounted. "Whoever saw those sights, would be the freest person in the world."

"Did you see those things?" Ai asked.

"I saw the fields of sand, the Mid East." Eren said.

The Middle East? He traveled to the Middle East.

"What were you doing there?" Ai asked. "Were you a Soldier?"

"Yes." Eren said. "I crossed the sea and fought side by side with my enemy." He said vaguely.

Ai looked up information about Crimea and Russia when she found out that Eren was from there. She knew of the invasion of Crimea and knew that Russia considered Crimea to be part of their territory. She heard how Crimean citizens could be called to fight in the Russian Army, even if they were opposed to it. She also knew of Russia going to war in Syria.

Eren crossed the sea, probably the black sea, to fight with his enemy. He was probably a conscript in the Russian Army and was forced to fight in Syria. At least, that's what he assumed. Eren never specifically said anything about his past, but she understood why. He probably didn't want to relive those memories.

The Black Sea, something he wanted to go to for so long, only to be forced to cross it and fight for someone else's war. No wonder he always seemed so sad.

Ai reached down and took Eren's hand, giving it a small squeeze for reassurance. He seemed so conflicted right now, like he wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad. Ai never imagined that she would meets someone who was a victim of war. Japan was such a peaceful place.

She smiled as she looked out over the ocean. She wanted to take another look at it, tried to see the beauty through his eyes. Imagined what kind of impact it had on him. She could see that the ocean was very beautiful.

"She seriously didn't come up with a better idea?" Meimei asked.

"Nope, they've been sitting there for the past few hours." Nino replied.

"We should have checked her plan." Watanabe said.

After holding hands on the beach, which the girls thought was so cute from their perspective, Ai went back under the umbrella with Eren for a bit of fun activities. There were so many things they could have done, such as played volleyball, or wack the watermelon. Maybe even made a small lunch.

Instead, Ai decided that it would be the perfect time to begin teaching the illiterate Ukrainian how to read and write English.

Seriously, they're at a beach and that was the best idea she had!?

"Ai, a word." Meimei pulled her over as she pulled out the English books.

"What?" She asked as they were now far enough away so Eren couldn't hear them.

"You are seriously going to give him English lessons now?" Watanabe asked.

"Yea, he said he wanted to learn so I was going to help him." Ai said.

"That's nice, but isn't there a time and place for that kind of thing?" Meimei asked.

"Yea, like after dinner or something. Not now." Nino chimed in.

"Well, if I did that, we'd have a hard time trying to find the time." Ai said. "We're always busy with work."

"I know, but this is a beach!" Meimei shouted in a low voice. "You're supposed to do fun things. Games, things to work up a sweat, maybe even a bit of romantic kissing. Instead, you break out an English textbook like we're back on the schools roof? Should we get a Bento for you as well?"

"What's wrong with a bit of studying?" Ai asked.

"Do you really think he'd be interested!?" Meimei asked.

That's the thing they noticed, Eren was interested. From their vantage point, they could see his gentle and subtle smile as he learned from Ai. Even her kids were with them as they laughed and joked as they tried the different letters and sentence structures. She was even getting Eren to sing the ABCs, though he did so reluctantly and quietly out of what looked like a bit of embarrassment.

Eren wasn't incredibly vocal or expressive, but they did see his subtle smile as he learned. He seemed like he was really enjoying the time they were spending together.

"So, we're going to agree that Ai has failed successfully?" Nino asked.

"That's one way of putting it." Ari said.

"Yea, he does seem invested." Kyun said.

"Well, regardless, if it works for her, it works." Meimei shrugged, though she had a small smile since she was glad that they were having a good time.

While the girls gossiped, Ichigo and his wife were enjoying the shaded tent as they ate small rice balls that they got from the convenient store. Ichigo noticed that his wife seemed to get a bit more affectionate lately, which wasn't something that he complained about.

"They seem to be getting along." Miyako said.

"That's what I'm concerned about." Ichigo said.

"I know you are; I am too. But she seems happy. He also saved her life, is it so bad to give him a chance?" She asked.

"Why are you switching sides now?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm not." Miyako said. "It's just, in the time I've spent caring for Ai's kids, I guess I kind of see them as my own kids. And if anything happened to them or Ai, I'd feel devastated." Miyako said.

"But they're not your kids." Ichigo said.

"I know." Miyako sighed. "And I'm glad that Ai is ok, but I can't help but feel grateful that Eren was there. Even if I don't like him and think he's dangerous for Ai."

"Well, if you want kids so bad, we could always make some." Ichigo smiled.

"Hmmmm." Miyako hummed in thought. "That doesn't sound too bad." She smiled.

Even though she was promised a handsome young actor later on, Miyako slowly started caring less and less about that. Her husband was a stick in the mud, but in the time she cared for young Ruby and Aqua, she began to want children of her own.

Ichigo still took glances at Ai and Eren while they talked, still very concerned about the foreigner. Even more so when he wife just told him that he's probably a war refugee. Ichigo knew Japan's stance on refugees and how hard it is to get asylum in Japan. Especially a Ukrainian person, who should have been either sent north to the unoccupied part of Ukraine, or moved to places like Poland, Germany, or even Scandinavia. There should be no reason that a Ukrainian refugee should be here.

If Eren was in a war, it could spell disaster for his mental health. Ichigo knew a bit about international affairs since there was always the chance he'd have to go international with B-Komachi. He was worried that Eren could have a breakdown and do something to one of his idols, especially Ai.

He knew that for the past decade, there was massive civil unrest in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, which led to pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian protests that often turned violent. There was also the actual annexation of Crimea recently, which was an actual invasion. Either Eren was a victim of the war, or he was a Soldier fighting in it.

He had to find out information. That's why, while Eren and Ai were at the edge of the beach, he looked into Eren's stuff and found his passport. He quickly wrote down the Passport number in his notebook that kept all his business-related notes.

He rushed a bit since one of the girls almost caught him, but he got the number. As a president of a company, he had access to Government systems to run criminal background checks on any potential employee.

He was going to take Eren's Ukrainian Passport, run the number, and see just who Eren is. After all, he'll have his entire file since coming to Japan. Since Japan doesn't share databases with Ukraine, he can't learn about Eren prior to him coming to Japan.

Once he learns the truth, he will either tell Ai or confront Eren.

And there's the mandatory beach episode that most Anime's have lol.

It was fun to write, but a few things to mention.

AoT has a very realistic depiction of their world. There's no skimpy lingerie, no sexy swimsuits, nothing. If it's anything similar to renaissance era culture, the context of swimming for fun, or having dedicated swimwear, didn't exist. So Eren wouldn't know what bikini's or swimwear is. Even if Marley is 1920s era timeframe, swimwear was full body covering. To Eren, swimsuits would look like underwear. Even more skimpy since underwear in his home would have a lot of covering.

If you also see what the girls wear when not in ODM gear, it's very conservative clothing that you'd expect in the renaissance. So Eren doesn't see very many women in such a state of undress. So, it would take him off guard lol.

I will kind of use that logic to fill in the blanks. Without spoiling anything, Eren is not dumb to romance either. He just would have a different opinion on it. You never see an actual courtship in AoT, so if it's similar to Renaissance period culture, Eren's idea of romance is meeting and getting married quickly. No one within the walls would date for any length of time. Dating would be quick.

At least, how I interpret it. Like I said, we never really see proper dating in AoT. So, Eren probably won't see the subtle signs of modern dating culture that Ai and the girls are throwing at him. Like I said, he's not dense, just has a different dating culture.

Anyway, hope that clears up some confusion.