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Soldiers fell in line orderly before Keith Shadis, the long-time sergeant for the training academy. "In a few years we will see whether you're fit enough to aid Humankind against the titans, or if you are just titan fodder!" he shouted at all of the recruits.

The 104th Squad. No, none of them were soldiers yet. Right now they were but ignorant trainees in uniform. Most of them were around age twelve now, but the maturity in their eyes was inevitable. In a sense the trainees knew just what they were up against, and the horror had long kicked in. For the majority of them, at least.

Mikasa held her transparency as the sergeant head butted a recruit. Out of the corner of her eyes she spotted her friends, and silently hoped that nothing went wrong for them. As Shadis went on to his next victim, the wind caused Mikasa's red scarf to wave about. Her stony expression softened.

"I said, who the hell are you?!" the sergeant yelled in the middle section of the arrangement. The recruit finally spoke up after taking another bite from her potato. "Sasha Braus, sir!" she exclaimed right back.

...

The cadets were released before dinner time. Of course the four friends met up after the harsh orientation. Mikasa, Eren, Armin and Hinami exchanged eachother glances. They were out of their uniform, and now were dressed in their usual shirts. Eren slowly dispersed from their small arrangement. "Come on, Armin. Let's go to the meal cabin." Armin accompanied Eren without hesitation.

Mikasa looked in the direction the two had headed, where Sasha was running relays for densely choosing to eat a potato earlier. Mikasa and Hinami decided to wander around the academy grounds. Trainees talked amongst themselves, and many were already resigning as they hitched rides back to their district. "Oh, my.." Hinami murmured as they watched the horse-drawn wagons leave the campus. Two guys and a girl approached the pair.

"Some orientation, huh?" the blond boy said with a grin. Hinami shook her head with a sad smile. "I just hope I don't end up dropping out, like them." she motioned the wagons. The taller boy looked down and said,"Me too." The girl didn't say anything though, just stood there cooly as if she was bored. Mikasa eyed the blond girl suspiciously, but still in her transparent sense. The blond boy spoke up again,"It's going to be tough from here on. But we can be friends. My name's Reiner Braun." The other four introduced themselves and hung out together until dinnertime.

...

Word had gotten around that Eren was one of the survivors from Shiganshina who had seen the Colossal Titan. A lot of the trainees were hovering over him as he ate at his table, eager to get answers about the phenomenon. "How big was it?" someone asked Eren as he ate spoonfuls of his soup. "It was big enough to look over the wall." he answered. "What?! I heard in my village that it stepped over the wall!" a girl cried. All this shouting was distracting for Mikasa and Armin, who were there that day and just wanted to eat their soup and bread. Hinami on the other hand was just as tuned in as everyone else, since she was curious about the Colossal Titan herself. Eren continued answering until someone asked him a seemingly simple question, "What is a normal titan like?"

Eren dropped his spoon and clasped his hand over this mouth, no doubt reliving flashbacks from that day. And yet the recruits stood over him, still awaiting an answer. Hinami remembered how he'd tried to console her for her body-racking visions. She gasped and snapped,"He's done with questions!"

Eren dropped his hand."It's not like that!" He took a big bite from his bread and continued,"I was just having an epiphany. Titans aren't that bad." This probed most of the listeners to gasp. Jean Kirschstein - the recruit who'd been head butted by Shadis, listened with discontent to Eren's positive words. "And once I've mastered three-dimensional maneuvering gear, I'll be able to kill every last one-!" "You mean you want to join the Survey Corps?!" Jean interrupted, amused. Mikasa, Armin and Hinami watched from their seats uneasily as the situation escalated.

In the end Eren and Jean worked it out themselves, and Eren left the cabin with Mikasa after him.

...

Armin and Hinami walked out from the meal cabin with everyone else. "Wow, he really asked for it." Hinami mentioned Eren about earlier. Outside it was already dark - torches lit up the campus with a dull light. "Yeah that's Eren for you." Armin said. "He's always been like that, picking fights..." Armin suddenly recalled all the times Eren and Mikasa had saved him.

He stopped walking. "But that doesn't mean Eren is a bad person. He just acts with his heart, is all."

"..Oh?" Hinami finally said, wondering where the Girls cabin was located. Strangely, she already knew just how Eren worked. He was open around everyone. "I heard we're doing a hand-to-hand combat exercise tomorrow." She turned to face Armin. "So I better rest. Night, Armin." They hugged and headed for their different cabins.

Armin soon made it to the boys cabin. He thought he saw a group of girls lingering in the corner, but shook his head and headed inside. It was dark - the guys had blew out the lanterns already. Armin sighed and got into his underwear beside a bottom bunk bed. He shifted under the covers, and it was so quiet he could hear the others snoring. He heard a voice whisper,"You ready for tomorrow, Armin?"

Armin jolted and looked around to see who it was. Not far away on the bottom bunk across from him, silently laid Eren - who didn't appear tired in the least. His green eyes reflected the moonlight from the window brightly. Armin grinned when he saw him,"I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" he whispered back. Then he shut his eyes and hoped for the best.

Eren smirked and went back to staring at the key in his hand.