NOTES:

This is my first fic EVER. I wrote this because I couldn't accept the fact that there aren't that many ReiCon materials out there on the internet, so I hope I can inspire fellow artists and writers to start this revolution with me. The world needs more ReiCon!

This story is closely based on the Attack on Titan anime as I DO NOT read the manga. I refuse to read the manga because I want every bit of the story to come at me full force in all its animated glory. So as of writing, the anime is at episode 35 (S2E10)

BUT the first chapter, and everything that follows, unless I state otherwise, is quite safe to read if you're as iffy about spoilers as I am (I HATE spoilers with a passion btw.) I pretty much have a plot in my head for this possibly long saga, but that is subject to major change when more episodes of the anime are out. So without further ado, I give you Shingeki no Shinzo. (please dont judge my title kthx)

UPDATE 01/03/2018 : Someone was kind enough to translate this story into Russian. Thank you so much Ms. Sophya for your efforts! Here's her link: ficbook*net/readfic/6535352 (replace asterisk with dot)

It was a bright and sunny day over at the southern district of Wall Rose in the year 847. Today was the first day of the 104th training corps, the enlistment ceremony that welcomed young hopefuls to become soldiers in the fight for humanity. Eversince the fall of Wall Maria 2 years ago, there has been an onslaught from the masses, mostly young ones, to join the ranks. What with scarcity plaguing the walled cities, and safety being compromised.

Among the horse wagons carrying the soldiers-to-be was Connie Springer. "Wow look at this place." taking in the sights around the camp looking like an excited schoolboy going on his first day of school. "I can't believe I'm finally here," he whispered to himself as he stepped down from the wagon to join the others outside.

Connie wasn't special. He was as ordinary a person as you can possibly get. Growing up in a small village away from the major towns of the walls, his world mostly consisted of nothing but a simple provincial life. So small was the town, in fact, that even the fall of Wall Maria didn't affect their lives very much. The plethora of refugees who came from the outer walls mostly found shelter on the larger outlying districts of Wall Rose.

Connie, still breathing in the sights of the huge camp, was walking around aimlessly and failed to notice the other people around him, causing him to collide with the back of another recruit.

"Ow!-Oh sorry, my bad!" muttering a quick apology, he looked up to see a large blonde man scowling at him. Connie was so short that he was easily half the size of this glowering giant. He was about to say more when the marshals spoke up towards everyone arriving.

"Alright recruits, line-up! We'll be handing out your uniforms for the enlistment ceremony. Suit up and assemble at the center field to receive the commander's greeting!" announced one of the marshals.

This was it. Connie was so giddy with excitement that he totally forgot about the stranger he bumped into just now. He couldn't have suited up faster than he did and was the first to stand out on the field. He always wanted to be a soldier ever since he was young. He wasn't the smartest person around and coupled with his height-or lack thereof-most people never really took him seriously. Even the people at his own village doubted him. Being a soldier was his big chance to prove to everyone, and to himself, that he can be worth something. And that day was finally here.

The enlistment ceremony began with a series of loud shouts coming from Commander Shadis, who was possibly the scariest person Connie has ever seen in his entire life. The commander was making rounds down the lines, talking down each and every one of the recruits. Yelling a few inches away from their faces, forcing out self-introductions for everyone to hear. Unfortunately for Connie, the first impression he gave that day was, as always, of how much he lacked in the mental department. He's probably the only recruit in history to mess up the salute! But then again, at least he wasn't caught eating a potato during the ceremony...

The initial briefings-and numerous insults-of the commander pretty much took up the entire day. By the time he was done, out of about the 200 people that came in that morning, more than 20 people already dropped out and left the camp. Connie was standing outside the mess hall with a bunch of the new recruits, watching the wagons take away the dropouts.

"I can't believe they already dropped out," said a lanky blonde haired boy, "it's only the first day."

"That's just the way it is," replied the green-eyed boy next to him. "The weak have no choice but to leave." Everyone looked at the him in surprise as his hard words flew across.

"Hey that reminds me," chimed in Marco. The tall, freckled boy standing beside Connie. "the commander didn't ask you anything earlier. Where are you from?"

Smiling, the green-eyed boy looked at them with a friendly face. "My name's Eren." he said as put a hand beside his blonde friend "I'm the same as Armin here, we're both from Shinganshina."

"Oh man, really?!" Connie exclaimed excitedly, knowing full well what that means. "Then you two were there on that day! Did you see the Colossal and the Armored Titan too?"

"H-hey Connie," stuttered Marco. "You shouldn't ask him like-"

"Yeah. We did." Eren had a hard look in his eyes, making it clear to everyone that's he's seen everything that happened that day.

They continued the conversation inside the mess hall during dinner. Connie and a bunch of the others were all gathered around Eren like children during story time, listening to his stories about what happened 2 years ago. For a lot of them, no one really knew exactly what happened that day. Everything they knew was just second hand information, hearsays. To be hearing it from someone who used to live in the fallen town, Connie couldn't believe it. He was talking to a survivor. And they we're recruits together!

"What did they look like?" he asked for the nth time "I heard that the Armored Titan was just as huge as the Colossal one!"

"I told you," Eren said, a little annoyed now. "It looked like an ordinary titan to me. It was just really strong." He continued eating his dinner, not really affected by everyone's attention directed at him.

"Then what do normal titans looks like?"

A clang. Wide eyed, Eren dropped his spoon and held a hand to his mouth. He looked like he was going to be sick. "H-hey Eren, sorry I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine." Eren swallowed, his hardness returning. "Just a little hyped from today. I can't wait 'til they teach us how to use the ODM gears. Those titan's won't stand a chance against us." he said with quite a determined tone.

Connie decided that this was a good time to stop pestering him and start eating himself. Going back to his seat, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Eren, and maybe a little guilty for prying too much. Truth was, he found the whole titan disaster a little exciting. Having never seen one his whole life, he could only wonder in amazement what the two special titans looked like. "Wow can you believe that?" he whispered to the guy sitting across him "He actually saw the Colossal and the Armored Titan that day." he said in amazement as he started on his meal. "Not a lot of people can say the same. Although it must really suck to lose your hometown like that."

"Hmph, you're even dumber than you look." said the guy across from him, scowling. "Look at you, all wide-eyed and excited from stories about titans. If you keep that up you'd be dead the moment you see one."

A little offended, Connie frowned at the him. He was just sharing his thoughts with the guy. Who was he to belittle him like that? "Oy, what I'm interested in isn't any of your business." he spat. "For all we know you'll be the one dying first. A huge meat head like you, the titans are in for a treat!"

The other guy scowled even harder. Finishing his drink, he slammed his cup on the table and stood up to leave. Startled by the sudden outburst, Connie could only stare at the back of the guy's blonde head with a bewildered expression on his face as he left the mess hall, finally remembering that he was the same guy he bumped into that morning.

What's his problem? He continued eating in silence, a little bothered about what the guy said to him.

After dinner that night, everyone was billeted to their respective quarters to get some rest for tomorrow's first day of training. Everyone was still buzzing and talking about the events of the day especially the funny thing with 'Potato Girl'. A lot of them were also getting to know each other and were sharing stories of where they came from and why they enlisted at the corps. Connie, still thinking about his weird encounter at the mess hall earlier, noticed someone getting up and leaving the dorm room. Looking closer, he realized it was the same guy from dinner earlier, the exact person he was thinking about just now. Not wanting to make a bad first impression with his fellow recruits, he got out of bed and quietly followed the guy outside, hoping to apologize for whatever he may have said earlier.

The air outside was peaceful compared to the ambience inside the dorm. It was dark too. Only the lights shining from inside the windows of each room was what helped him see where the guy was headed. He treaded carefully so as not to alert anyone that he left. When they were finally at some distance from the dorms he called out.

"Hey!"

Startled, the large man turned around. Surprised to see someone following him, and even more surprised to see that it was the dumb, bald kid from earlier.

"H-hey," Connie said, trying to keep quiet to avoid raising attention. "they said we're not supposed to leave the dorms at night. You could get in trouble."

The larger man raised his eyebrows in confusion, wondering how this kid even noticed him leaving. "I was just going to use the outhouse" jerking his thumb towards where he was going "Why? Did you want to join me?" he smirked, causing Connie to turn a deep red.

"N-No! S-sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Relax," the larger man snorted, evidently amused by the smaller guy's reaction. "I'm kidding. I was actually gonna go for a walk before bed. All that talking in there isn't going to help me fall asleep anytime soon"

Willing himself to stop blushing, Connie narrowed his eyes, "So you are sneaking out."

"Yeah I am," he brazened. "And why are you following me?" he countered with a raised eyebrow.

"I-uhh," he stammered, not really having thought out what to say. "because at dinner earlier. I just wanted to say-"

"Save it." he cut off, frowning. "I'm a stranger to you. Why are you trying to apologize."

Connie hesitated. He didn't know what to say to that and he clearly couldn't understand what the guy was thinking. As if this whole conversation couldn't get any more awkward for him. He sighed and gathered what remaining self-confidence he had left. "My name's Connie. Connie Springer"

The other guy raised his eyebrows once more. How awkward this whole exchange was for Connie was becoming as equally entertaining for the the blonde. "Reiner. Reiner Braun."

Connie smiled. "Then we're not strangers anymore. I'm sorry for what I said back at the mess hall earlier. That was a jerky thing to say." he said hastily

"You're quite the stubborn one aren't you?" Reiner couldn't help but chuckle at the little guy's innocence. "Come walk with me." he said before grabbing an oil lamp nearby and started walking towards the woods surrounding the barracks. Now totally confused by the whole situation, Connie looked back at the dorms contemplating on just going back inside and avoiding trouble, on account of the fact that he didn't want to get in any more of the commander's bad side than he already was. But there was something about Reiner that got him curious. After all, all he got was his name. He seemed to have a lot more to say and there was no way he was getting anything else if he didn't follow him now.

Oh screw it. "Hey wait up!"

They walked through the woods with Reiner leading the way at first, until setting a comfortable pace for Connie to follow beside him. He was still trying to take in what just happened-from their little argument at dinner, his awkward attempt at an apology, to walking alone with him in the woods way past curfew. So lost in thought was he that he didn't see the tree-root jutting out from the ground in front of him, forcing his face to have an unceremonious meeting with the ground.

"Ow!-shit! Stupid tree.."

"You okay?" Reiner said, offering a hand.

"Yeah-I'm fine." Connie brushed him off and tried to act nonchalant. How much more can he embarrass himself with this guy?

"What?" After getting up, Connie noticed the blonde staring at him.

"You got a cut." Reiner pointed out and pulled a small handkerchief from his pocket. And Just when Connie thought it couldn't get any more humiliating, Reiner actually started dabbing at his chin where the scratch was.

"Watch where you're going. I don't wanna have to carry you back." Reiner chided.

"Stop it," pushing Reiner's hand away. "I'm not a little kid you know."

Reiner just stared at him before he started walking again. Connie was now intently focused on the ground, trying to keep himself from tripping again. So much so that, again, he didn't notice when Reiner stepped in front of him causing him to bump into his thick chest.

"Sorry! I wasn't-" Connie looked up to find a smirking Reiner eyeing him.

"-looking where you're going?" Reiner suggested, driving his point across.

"Yeah...that." Connie frowned and looked away. What was wrong with him? He wasn't usually this flustered and clumsy. Thankfully, Reiner didn't say much more on the subject and continued walking in silence, Connie following right behind him.

They were deep in the woods now, or so Connie suspects. He doesn't really know where they're going or if they're going anywhere at all. Reiner could be walking him in circles for all he knows. But strange as this night was turning out to be, it was kind of nice. The woods were quiet, save for a few cicadas singing in the dark. He couldn't see the moon or the stars, the only light source coming from the lamp Reiner was carrying, illuminating half of his broad body and serious face. There was a slight summer breeze in the air, tickling his shaven scalp and giving him a nice chill to the spine.

"So where are you from?" Connie asked after a while, hoping to break away from his awkward predicament. Reiner didn't answer immediately, as if trying to gauge whether he should tell Connie or not.

"I come from a mountain village, southeast of Wall Maria" Reiner answered with a straight face. Sending the unspoken message clear through Connie's innocent mind.

"Wait, then that means-"

"That's exactly what it means" he scowled "It's not the same as it was for that Eren guy from Shinganshina, but I can assure you that it's not any better either." The air suddenly grew colder at Reiner's words. "You wanna know why I couldn't stand being in that dorm tonight? Hearing everyone talk about being soldiers as if it was the best job in the world. You and a lot of the other recruits have no idea of what we're up against."

There it is again. He was right and Connie knows it. Hell, he even thought the attack on Wall Maria was exciting! How naive he must look. In just one question, he got more than what he bargained for from the large man. Still, he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration towards the guy. "That's very brave of you," he ventured "to witness so much horror and then decide to fight against it."

Reiner's scowl couldn't go any darker than it already was "All I care about is getting back my home. Nothing else matters but that. Nothing."

Connie had nothing else to say to that. He couldn't even apologize anymore. No wonder he was so upset at dinner. He suddenly felt small-well, smaller. Here was another guy who was victim to the attack, rendered homeless and rough. Connie's reasons for being being there meant so little compared to Reiner. At least he has as village and a home to come back to whereas Reiner had nothing.

Sensing the change in his mood, Reiner looked over at his companion and saw what his words did to Connie. Not wanting to delve any deeper into the topic and upsetting the boy, his expression immediately softened and offered a smile. "Hey there, I didn't mean to sound so serious." trying his best to sound gentle. "That's just me, don't let it get to you, okay?"

And there it was. His smile. Connie couldn't say for sure, but he was certain that Reiner's smile was probably the most magnetic feature he had-and what probably made him follow the blonde to the woods in the first place. He must've been staring for a good minute before catching himself and looked to the ground, thankful for the darkness to hide his reddening face.

"We're here."

They arrived at a cliff overlooking a huge lake. Connie looked up, and as if it was some sort of divine timing, the clouds above parted to reveal the moon and her children, causing the lake to glisten and glow a beautiful nighttime hue.

"Wow" was all he could say. Taking in the view, his worries from earlier were magically drifting away. He's never seen a lake before, and all his doubts of coming with Reiner tonight were gone in an instant. They just enjoyed the scene from there, or at least Connie was. He was so enamored that he barely noticed the blonde staring at him this whole time.

"So, how about you?" Reiner finally spoke. "Why did you sign up to be a soldier?" he asked with genuine interest in his tone.

A little off guard, Connie didn't really expect to be asked like that. Everyone else either assumed you joined for the military privilege or for the Military Police, to serve within the safety of the interior walls of Sinna. And the more he thought about it, the more the truth came out of his heart. There was something about the way Reiner was looking at him that made him want to speak from there. But he still hesitated. He didn't think Reiner would be interested in what he had to say.

As if reading his mind, Reiner walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I told you. Don't let what I said bother you. I know very well that our situations aren't the same. You have an entirely different reason for being here and no matter what it is, I respect that. I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't interested, you know" he finished with a warm smile.

"Well," Connie said, blushing. "I wanted to prove my worth. As a soldier. As a person. To show that I can atleast be of some value to the world. I wanted to be someone my family could be proud of."

And at that, Reiner flashed that smile of his that made Connie all the more flustered. "Then it's a good thing we're not strangers Connie Springer. Go on and add me to the list of people waiting to be proud of you." Reiner winked and Connie had no idea how he was still standing that night because he was pretty sure his legs just turned to mush.

Thank you for reading! I hope to update the next chapter pretty soon. Please feel free to comment but do keep in mind. NO SPOILERS please! :)