The soldiers passed through the crowd while the people shouted abuse at them. Their gloomy expressions and the dragging of their their feet told the people they'd failed their mission again. The majority of the few remaining soldiers were injured.
Despite the obivous failure, 10-year-old Eren watched in amazement as they passed by. They were his heroes. In the corner of his eye he saw a red scarf and before he knew it Mikasa grasped his arm. She started scolding him for running away, but he gave no response as he was staring after the only people brave enough to leave the walls. Mikasa gave up. She sighed and dragged him home.
As they closed the door behind them their mother greeted them with a "hello" and a: "What took you so long?" Eren rubbed his arm Mikasa had been gripping tightly and grumbled something inaudible.
"Eren ran away to watch The Black Parade. Again." Mikasa placed the basket of bread they'd purchased before Eren got sidetracked on the table. Their mother sighed.
"Eren," she began.
"You just had to tell her, didn't you?" Eren hissed in his adoptive sister's ear as he got scolded for the second time that day.
The black parade had become a common nickname for the Survey Corps since the only time the people outside miliraty saw them was when they exited the wall and returned.
Eren told himself he'd never use that name. That it's disrespectful.
.
A few years after wall Maria had been taken down by the Colossal Titan, Eren and Mikasa along with their friend Armin were in training. They already knew that soon they'd be forced to choose in what division to serve in. So as a result, they ended up repeating the same convesation quite often.
It usually starts with Armin saying: "Are you guys still set on the Survey Corps?" It's not that he was unsure of what to pick. He just wanted to make sure they're still on the same page.
The answers were the same everytime.
"Yes." Eren said. He'd already decided on that a long time ago so it wasn't all that surprising.
"If Eren is, then I am too." Mikasa was still keen on protecting Eren, her last remaining family.
"Yeah,"Armin nodded. "Me too." He was both frightened and excited of what the future would bring.
"Joining the Black Parade." He said to himself.
Eren flinched slightly at the words. He'd learnt the name wasn't as disrespectful as he'd though it was, but he still couldn't quite bring himself to use it.
.
Eren stood firmly while his fellow soldiers turned and left. In that moment he couldn't care less what they did or thought. He would complete his life goal no matter what.
Armin and Mikasa stood almost as firmly as him. He was quite happy to see that, though he did not express it.
Silence fell upon the remaining soldiers. Commander Erwin stood with his hands behind his back.
"Can you die if you're ordered to die?" He asked, face emotionless.
Someone shouted that they didn't want to die. Eren didn't know who. He didn't bother checking. He was too focused on the Commander who surprisingly, cracked a smile. He welcomed everyone to the Survey Corps, and gave them a salute directly from the heart.
Armin looked around himself. "Everyone…" He mumbled. Most of the group had stayed.
Mikasa, like Eren, was relieved so many had stayed. She thought it'd be a lot fewer.
Afterwards they were all directly greeted by Commander Erwin. Eren was the first one up.
"Welcome to the Black Parade, kid." Erwin extended his hand. Eren took it. A quick handshake and a 'thank you, sir', then next. Eren stared at his hand.
"The Black Parade..." He mumbled. The words didn't taste as strange as he'd expected.
Actually, he kinda liked it.
