Butterfly

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

It was a distinctive scent, very different than that of anything else when acquainted with fire. If you had never breathed it in, there was no proper way to describe it. The sickeningly thick odor that chocked you as it filled your lungs. Once you had experienced it, you would always be able to identify it. And, of course, after repeated exposure you could adjust, but that was all you could do. It was still something no ever truly got used to.

Surprisingly, the sight of burning bodies or dead people did not accompany the scent. Smoke covered everything like a translucent blanket; all that was left was the outlines of buildings and slight glimpses of movement from afar.

And everything was slow. Even screams and shouts were flatter, lower, even the sounds of buildings crumbling, fire crackling, or thump of footsteps seemed distorted. One could say it was a lot like being underwater; you were floating, motionless, listening to the warped sounds and slowly sinking deeper and deeper into nothingness.

Just a few feet away was a clearing in the smog and, immediately noticeable due to the grey surrounding it, a small butterfly with the most vibrant blue wings you could imagine. The juxtaposition of such a creature perched lightly on the gruesome remains of whoever that had been was enough to make anyone-if there had been anyone-stop and stare. And yet there was something about it that, despite the odd scenery, didn't seem misplaced in the slightest.

It was a reminder. A single piece of something beautiful in this ugly, destroyed world.

It was hope.

"Haru. Haru, wake up! Haru!"

Haru opened his eyes, his gaze focusing on Makoto's face hovering just above his. He blinked, once. Makoto smiled down at him softly. "You dozed off a bit."

Haru sat up slowly, his head still foggy from sleep. It took a moment for him to recognize the wooden porch he sat upon, the flicker of light that danced on Makoto's skin. He took a deep breath, and the air was cool and crisp.

"Sorry," he mumbled quietly. He remembered now; they had been looking up at the sky, which somehow appeared to be even more incredible now than it had been before. It seemed impossible to Haru that so many stars could actually exist in one place; he'd always thought so, ever since they were kids and had done this very same thing on the roof of their home. Of course, things had changed quite a bit since then and not involving just the setting.

"Don't be. You seem so tired lately. I wanted to let you rest, but I think we should go inside now. It's getting pretty cold..." Makoto's words brought Haru back from his tangent train of thought. He made moves to get up as he said this, but Haru didn't turn away from the sky.

"How long was I asleep?"

"A little over twenty minutes, maybe?"

Haru still didn't know what time it was given that information, but judging from the lack of activity in the camp, it was approaching pretty late. All the lights had gone out besides the ever-present torches near every building, and not a single sound could be heard save for the low hum of a breeze as it passed by. Haru breathed in again, feeling Makoto's inquiring eyes on him but offering no explanation. He didn't have one, really.

"Haru…are you alright?" Makoto asked finally. He whispered it, as if not wanting to press but at the same time not wanting to let it go either. To anyone else it might have seemed normal. Haru was always quiet like this; he had troubling explaining his thoughts and feelings to others (hell, even to himself), so he usually avoided trying altogether. Makoto had to be the only person on planet Earth that could tell the difference between Haru's normal quiet and his upset quiet.

Welll...one of the only people.

"I had a dream," Haru answered after a pause, letting go of the thought.

"About what?"

Haru kept his gaze on the sky, wondering if what we has about to say was stupid or childish, even though he knew Makoto would never think so regardless. "…a butterfly."

"HARUKAAAAA!"

Makoto jumped at the sudden outburst to their right, and Haru turned to see someone jogging towards them, waving a lantern about like they were trying to set the entire camp on fire. "HARUKA, I NEED YOU!"

Haru turned back to the stars, already knowing who it was without having to look. Nagisa, like Makoto, had been his friend since childhood. It was impossible not to know that voice, particularly when it was being broadcast loud enough to wake every Trainee in the general vicinity. He had always been that way; he was noisy and cheerful and ridiculously enthusiastic about most things. Haru couldn't ever remember a time when he'd been quietly angry or upset; if he had a problem, everyone in the room would know about it immediately. In reality though, that was probably the only reason they ever became friends in the first place; if he hadn't had the spunk to break into Haru and Makoto's closed off little world, it probably never would have happened. Rin had had a similar amount of persistence and deep determination...and there were those thoughts again, invading Haru's space. He shook his head slightly.

"I told you not to call me that," Haru said, but his voice didn't really sound annoyed. He wasn't very good at scolding anyway; his words always sounded the same regardless of intent, quiet and apathetic. It was frustrating to only be able to get so little across with words, but that was the way it was. Some people spoke with actions, and some people spoke with words. Nagisa was almost certainly the latter.

"You're name is beautiful, Haruka, and you should claim it proud and loud," he replied. It was pretty much the same comeback every time, with a few minor adjustments in motivational suggestions.

"Is something wrong, Nagisa?" Makoto asked because he knew that names were a tender subject, albeit a frequently discussed one.

"I need your help." He paused. "Actually, it's a friend of mine that needs it, but..."

"Nagisa, if you're going to ask to steal food again, I'm going to have to stop you right there. Last time we-"

"No, this is serious," Nagisa cut Makoto off. "He can't hang still in 3D Maneuver Training. He keeps falling flat on his face, and as you know, the last evaluations are tomorrow!" He turned to Haru, who was examining an oddly shaped leaf next to him on the porch. "Haru, they said you were the best they had ever seen. You were hanging almost completely still! Do you think you could teach him?"

"…No."

"What?!" Nagisa exclaimed, loudly. Haru was honestly surprised someone hadn't come out to ship them off to bed by now. "Why not?!"

"Too much effort."

"But Haruka!"

"There's no secret method to hanging still. There's nothing for me to teach," Haru said, frowning as the leaf was blown away, just out of his reach.

"He's going to get sent away if you don't help him!" Nagisa warned. When there was no response, he crouched so that his face was in Haru's line of vision and he could more effectively stare at him grudgingly. "He could be a good soldier, and you're just going to let him be shipped off to the Development Areas?"

"There's nothing I can do about it. You either have the skill or you don't."

"Wow, that's harsh of you. Are you okay, Haruka? You seem a little evil tonight."

"Who is the person?" Makoto asked calmly. "You didn't mention that you made any friends here."

Nagisa stood up, enthusiasm restored as if Makoto had asked the question he had been waiting for. "That's the best part," he explained. "This guy, he's one of us."

"One of us?" Makoto inquired, but Haru already knew where he was going with this.

"He has a girl's name, just like us!"

According to Nagisa,—and he would argue with anyone until the end of time if they tried to tell him differently—their entire friendship was founded on one thing and one thing alone, and that was the fact that they all shared the unique attribute of having a girly name. Nagisa used better words to describe this coincidence, of course—'fate' seemed to be his favorite—but when it came down to it, Haru and Makoto had bonded over both being mistaken for girls when they were children, and Nagisa and Rin had joined forces later to fight back against the bullying. Haru didn't remember meeting Makoto or even any days before they had become friends—he had gone to live with his family after the disappearance of his parents and there had scarcely been a day since in which they weren't together—but he did remember the first time he met Nagisa and Rin. Rin and Nagisa had always fought back against tormentors; they weren't like Makoto and Haru who had always taken the abuse silently and done nothing to stop it. It was for this reason that Haru remembered being surprised to meet the two of them, fighting back no matter how many kids or how hopeless the odds.

But that was all before.

Before Rin had moved away.

Before the Titans had broken Wall Maria and pushed mankind back into the two remaining walls, Rosa and Sina. Before 20% of the population and 1/3 of their territory was lost. Before the government devised a plan to send the remaining survivors out to fight to retake Wall Maria, actually nothing more than a rosy way cover up for a mass killing to ease the starvation everyone was experiencing. Before Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa had all joined the military and pledged to dedicate their lives to fighting back against the Titans. They were happier days in happier times, and that was that. Now all that remained was the friendship, still one member short.

"Haru," Makoto said from behind him. He turned to look, not expecting judgment and certainly not finding any. "How about I go try and teach him, and if I need help you can give me a hand?"

Haru exhaled sharply, looking away from the two of them. He knew this was the way this situation was going to end; Makoto was too altruistic to refuse helping someone regardless of whether they were a stranger, and Nagisa wouldn't quit even if he did. It's not that Haru himself was opposed to helping someone, of course, he was simply tired. But if Makoto and Nagisa wanted it, he knew he would end up obliging eventually.

"Fine."

After a small cry of victory, Nagisa grabbed Haru's hand before he'd even properly been able to stand and dragged him off towards the grounds they had been training in earlier that day. Plenty of kids had already been accepted into the military for good, others cast out into the Development Areas if their skills in learning to exist in three dimensions instead of two were lackluster. But this was just a precursor—a test to decide who was capable of being trained to be a soldier. Tomorrow was the last day for people to prove themselves.

Then the real training would begin.