3:20 PM

Alright, Reiner thought, taking a deep breath, here goes nothing…

Once a majority of the class had filed out, Reiner rolled up his copy of the plans, making his way to the front of the class.

"Section Commander," He asked, "May I ask something?"

"Sure," Ness replied, "What can I do for ya?"

"I have a day off from training tomorrow, who do I talk to for permission to go off-grounds?"

"Your superior officer." Ness clarified, "Which would be me. Where will you be going?"

"To Caranese, sir."

Ness pondered the request for a moment, "… I'll allow it. As long as you're back by 10 PM tomorrow, there shouldn't be any issues." He eventually replied, "You're Cadet Reiner Braun, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Don't let me catch you passing notes again." Ness replied, "Pass that warning on to your friend, too."

Reiner gave a single nod before making his way out of the room. Maybe next time we should just sit at the same table… He mused, I could probably use that to get a bit closer to Krista, too… No reason to let Eren be the only one who can enjoy himself…


4:00 PM

"So you got permission to go?" Bertolt asked.

"Yeah." Reiner confirmed, "Once Eren and Annie get here, I'll get their safe combinations, and I'll turn in a few hours early so I can get an early start."

"Anything we need to do?" Ymir asked, relaxing against the wall.

"Besides getting Eren and Annie's lists, probably not." Reiner replied, before an idea struck, "Actually, you two should go fishing."

"Why?" Ymir asked, "I mean, yeah, we caught a few last night, but that was mostly an afterthought."

"Fish jerky." Reiner explained, "We'd be spending less money on food, which we could put towards other supplies."

"Sounds like a plan." Ymir replied, "You should probably find Eren and Annie, though. They should be done with training soon."

Reiner nodded, "I still need to get Eren's combination. Shouldn't have to wait too long."


4:45 PM

Come on… Reiner fumed, leaning against the outer wall of the stable, Can't believe I have to wait this long…


5:20 PM

Reiner woke up from his trance to the sound of horses approaching. Sure enough, both Eren and Annie rode into view moments later, both with tired expressions and, in the former's case, several healing bruises and large splotches of dirt and mud. Reiner raised an eyebrow as he approached the pair, who were beginning to dismount their rides as they noticed his presence.

"Trouble in paradise?" The burly man joked.

"He fell off his horse on the way back." Annie replied, "Still had his foot locked into the stirrup."

"So what are you doing out here?" Eren asked hurriedly, trying to change the subject.

"I need your safe combinations for the bank." Reiner explained, pulling out a scrap of paper and a pencil, "I'm heading up to pull out the funds."

"Oh, that." Eren responded, "Mine's 19-9-6, deposit box 914."

"3-22-16, deposit box 315" Annie added, "Do you need our lists yet?"

"Nah," Reiner dismissed, "This trip is just about getting the money."

Annie gave an uninterested hum before turning to Eren, "Let's clean you up." She muttered, grabbing ahold of a cleaner part of Eren's cloak and dragging him along, leaving Reiner alone to watch the pair with mark amusement.

Those two… He mused, It's like watching kids dealing with their first crush. Socially awkward kids... With swords, years of military training… The ability to turn into giant fighting machines…

Reiner blinked in confusion at where that train of thought was going, before shaking his head slowly.


6:00 PM

"Looks like this table's getting more lively…" Bertolt muttered, glancing around. With the addition of Ymir, Krista naturally tagged along to sit with them. Since there wasn't enough room, Ymir had dragged one of the unused tables over to them. This extra area added by the new table left spots that Jean, Connie, and Sasha immediately swooped into.

"It's not always a bad thing." Reiner replied, taking a sip of tea, "Maybe if we're lucky, some of that liveliness will rub off onto Annie."

"Don't count on it." Annie snarked, turning her attention over to Eren, who had the newcomers transfixed in a story.

"… and then I finally slashed my hand through the rock, slicing it clean in half!" Eren finished, emphasizing the point by swiping his open hand through the air.

"That's amazing…" Sasha muttered, her eyes wide in wonder.

"I still can't believe it…" Jean concurred, "Your hand just covers itself with crystal, and you can use it like a weapon?"

"Yep!" Eren exclaimed, "Once I get more control over it, I can probably use it to take out titans with single jabs."

Annie gave a snort, "Yeah, if they all stood still with their hands at their sides."

Reiner chuckled, "Aye, let the kid have his moment." He chided.


5 AM, the next day

Reiner looked down at the note in his hand, scanning it once again to make sure that it had all the safe combinations he needed.

Bertolt? Check. Ymir? Check. Annie? Check. Eren? Check.

With the combinations safely tucked inside his pocket, he locked his door and began making his way to the stables. Fortunately, none of his fellow cadets were waking up yet, so he wouldn't have to explain his absence yet. However, it forced him to keep quiet to avoid waking any of them up, an act that is easier said than done for somebody his size walking through a cobblestone hallway while wearing riding boots.

After a few minutes, he found the exit to the courtyard. Like the rest of the castle, it was completely empty, the only sounds coming from the burly shifter as he crossed over to the stables. Wanting to get a move on to cover the lost time from sneaking about the castle, Reiner hastily led his horse out of its stall, hopping onto its back as soon as he was outside of the building. With a single pull of the reins, he set off, riding west.


10 AM

After a few hours of riding, Reiner finally reached the gate of Ehrmich. As expected, he was immediately halted by a squad of Military Police guarding the area. Not wanting to cause any tension, Reiner slowly hopped off of his horse, stepping towards the squad and giving a respectful salute.

"Name and purpose of visit." One requested.

"Cadet Reiner Braun of the Scouting Legion." Reiner stated, "I'm here to make a money withdraw from the Southern Military Bank."

After a moment of deliberation, the officer spoke, "You're good to go. Just be warned, because of the recent breach we've still got an overflow of refugees. Try to stay away from some of the more desperate ones. I don't think they'll try to mug military personnel, especially not one as big as you, but always good to err on the side of caution."

"Caution?" One of the other officers snarked, "This poor sap's from the Scouts! I doubt he'd know caution if it smacked him in the face."

Reiner grimaced, "I was ranked second in the Southern division's top ten." He growled, causing the group of officers to look at him in shock.

"You were in the top ten?" The second officers asked, "Why the hell did you sign up with the Scouts? You coulda been living it big in the interior!"

"I was there both times the Walls were breached." Reiner muttered, shocking the group even further, "I lost people I care about to those monsters. If I die out there, I'll die thinning down their numbers so at least one less person has to worry about losing their family or friends. And call me a fool for going with them when they have the means to retake Wall Maria in a day."

Without another word, Reiner grabbed his horse's reins, leading it inside the city. True to the officer's word, the streets were flooded with scared and depressed refugees, only serving to worsen his mood. Sure enough, however, his uniform grabbed the attention of various refugees and citizens, and he soon felt dozens of eyes following him as he travelled through the streets.

"Excuse me!" A voice called. Reiner kept his head forward as he marched on, however the voice persisted, "Sir! Excuse me!" This continued for several minutes during his walk, until eventually he gave in and stopped.

"Yes?" He asked, turning to face the source of the voice: a middle-aged woman holding two small children.

"What's going on out there?" She begged, "The Military Police have been keeping us in the dark, just saying that the situation is 'under control.' Please tell me we can go home soon!"

Reiner sighed, letting go of his horse's reins, "As you might have heard, two weeks ago the Colossal Titan reappeared, breaching the outer gate and taking out the cannons mounted above the wall." He explained, "The outer gate was lost as titans began swarming the area, completely overwhelming the Garrisons stationed there. They wound up sending the fresh graduates like me to try and improve our odds of a safe evacuation."

The woman's look turned to one of pure horror, "So Wall Rose is…"

"Still standing." Reiner finished, "During the evacuation efforts, we found an Abnormal titan that had gone rogue: instead of killing humans, it was systematically hunting down other titans. We used him to clear the way to the supply rooms so we could restock and regroup with the rest of the soldiers for a second battle plan. By the time we were done restocking, this titan was getting cannibalized by the others. Me and a few of the other cadets began plotting to rescue it, but the thing broke free and killed the last few titans in the area before dying. That's… When things got weird, to say the least."

Looking around, he saw that there was now a group of refugees surrounding him, all listening intently to his story. Clearing his throat, he continued, "The titan's nape burst open, and there was a person inside of it, connected to it by a bunch of tissue. We went down to investigate, and it was one of my friends. One who had only hours before had been eaten by a titan. What's more is, according to the cadet who saw him get eaten, he had his arm and leg bitten off before, but there they were, clear as day. We took him back up the wall, but we were cut off by some of the Garrison captains who were convinced that he was a threat."

"But isn't he?" One of the refugees cut in, "How do you guys know he wasn't working with the titans!"

"Eren's only fifteen." Reiner replied, "And he's spent his whole life within the walls. Several Garrison soldiers and MP Officers confirmed that later on. But one of our cadets, Armin, began arguing with the captain about what we should do with the kid. He said that, since Eren was able to turn into a titan before, he could do it again, and we could use it to seal the breach caused by the Colossal Titan. Of course, the captain was too scared to listen, and tried to execute Eren, Armin, and even Eren's sister, Mikasa even though they were innocent."

"Did they… You know…" One of the refugees asked, to which Reiner shook his head.

"Commander Dot Pixis stepped in, and began devising a plan to use Eren's titan form to seal the breach. Eventually, it was decided that he would transform into a titan, lift a massive boulder near the gate, and block the breach off with it. We used massive congregations of soldiers on top of the wall to steer the titans away from Eren when he transformed, while a few soldiers would fight on the forefront to keep any stragglers away from him. We had four squads down below; Eren's bodyguards, who would make take care of any titans that got too close, the Garrison squad, who would lure titans away from the group and towards the walls, and two squads of cadets, who would pick off titans that were heading towards Eren. I was in one of the cadet squads, along with the other cadets who were involved with the Rogue Titans first appearance."

"So did he do it?" Another refugee asked, "Did he seal the breach?"

Reiner gave a smile, "Eren sealed the breach, and Trost was reclaimed after a few days. I can personally assure you that no titans will ever walk through that hole again. With that kid joining us in the Scout Regiment, we're only a month away from sealing Shiganshina."

His words brought a wave of excitement throughout his audience, which he responded to with a humble salute before continuing on his way.


12 AM

Of course, he couldn't just walk away. He was joined by dozens of refugees and native citizens, all wanting to hear about what happened, what Eren looked like, when they were going to seal Wall Maria, how many titans had they killed, and various other questions. Reiner tried to answer as many as he could while still heading to the bank, but there were several points where he had to stop and retell the story.

Eventually, however, he reached the Southern Military Bank, and he was given a reprieve from the few who were still following him. Not wanting to lose any more time, he quickly rushed into the building, making his way over to the front desk.

The banker positioned there barely spared him a glance, "Name, please?" She asked, shuffling a stack of papers idly.

"Cadet Reiner Braun of the Scout Regiment." He stated, "I'm here to make a withdraw from my account."

The banker flipped through the stack, before stopping at a certain page, "The 104th's vault is in room 43 of floor 5. I assume you can find your way?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you." Reiner replied, turning to head to the stairway. Thankfully the vault was close to the staircase, so he didn't have to spend nearly as long as he had thought to find. After providing his papers to the guards stationed in the hallway, he was allowed into the vault.

"Alright, mine first…" He breathed, eyes scanning the lines of deposit boxes. After a few minutes, he found his number, and proceeded to quickly spin his combination into the lock. Inside, as expected, was a fair amount of copper coins, with a modest pile of silver coins, and a few small stacks of gold coins. Without hesitation, Reiner pulled off a drawstring backpack hidden under his Scout cloak, and began scooping the contents of his safe inside. After closing and reshuffling the combination, Reiner moved on to Bertolt's safe.

"21… 3… 19…" He mumbled as he entered the combination. Like Reiner's, he had a large amount of copper coins, with smaller amounts of silver and gold. Once again, Reiner scooped the money into the bag. And so he repeated the process with Ymir and Annie. However, when he reached Eren's safe, he received a surprise.

Inside Eren's safe were piles of gold coins, dwarfing even the copper coin piles in the other safes. Reiner had to rub his eyes to confirm the sight, but sure enough there were large piles of all three coins. After a moment, Reiner loaded the coins into the bag, still widely ogling the sheer amount of money that Eren had.

With the last safe cleared, Reiner shut the vault, reshuffling the combination. After slinging the sack back underneath his cloak, he began heading out of the vault. Thankfully the guards stationed in the hallway didn't make an effort to question him again, allowing him to pass through with a nonchalant nod. With a smirk, he began humming a tune as he continued his way out of the bank.


1 PM

"Excuse me, sir!"

Reiner sighed, stopping once again to face the refugee calling him. Interestingly enough, he recognized the refugee as the first one who had stopped him. Seeing no harm in talking a bit more, he walked over to the woman.

"Yes?" He asked, pulling down the hood of his cloak.

"Are you heading back to Trost anytime soon?" She asked, "Me and my kids, we just need to head back home. We're from a small town, just north of the district."

"Sorry, ma'am." Reiner apologized, "I'm stationed at the Scout headquarters, northeast of Trost. If you're looking for an escort back to your town, I'm not really the guy." As he finished his statement, a thought lit up in his head. Quickly, he pulled his bag from underneath his cloak, opening it just outside of the woman's view. Digging around, he pulled a handful of silver and gold coins, holding them out for the woman.

"Take this." He said, using his free hand to close the bag and sling it back under his cloak, "It should be enough to buy you and your kids some food and tickets for the next ferry to Trost."

The woman stared gapingly at the coins Reiner had given her, her eyes darting across her hands as she counted up the amount. Seeing that she was deeply in awe by the charity, Reiner hopped up onto his horse, making his way towards the outer gate before she could try to return them. Fortunately, he wasn't stopped by any of the other refugees, and was able to head directly to the checkpoint.

Seeing the MP Officers stationed at the gate waving for him to stop, he kicked his horse's sides twice, causing it to slow to a halt.

"Yes?" He asked, looking down at the officer that flagged him.

The first MP from before cleared his throat, before producing an envelope from his jacket pocket, "If you're heading back south today, Commander Niles Dawk has a letter for Commander Erwin Smith concerning the boy in their custody. It'd save time and money if you could deliver it for us."

Reiner reached down to grab the envelope, flipping it over and seeing the seal of the Military Police Brigade pressed onto it. "I take it Commander Dawk will want an immediate response?"

"Preferably." The MP replied, "If I heard correctly, the boy is still under the jurisdiction of the Scout Regimen until after your next expedition. However, the Commander sees it fit that he be made aware of any necessary information."

Reiner nodded, tucking the envelope into his pocket, "I'll make sure to give this to the Commander before nightfall." With a final nod to the officers, he pulled the reins of his horse, sending it into a full gallop.


8 PM

Fuck, it's getting dark… Reiner cursed silently, questioning the detour he took on the way back to base. Thankfully, at least, a few minutes after the sun had set, he was greeted with the faint glow of the Scouting HQ. Still, not wanting to be late, he pulled the reins of his horse once more, kicking it back to a higher speed and sending him quickly down the road.

After another ten or so minutes, he finally reached the courtyard of the castle. Dismounting his horse, he gave it an affectionate pat on the side as he led it into the stables. Once he had led it back into its stall, he began rushing into the castle, readying himself for a long search to find the commander's office.

… Only to run straight into him as he turned his first corner. Given his strong build and the situation catching them both off-guard, Reiner crashed into Commander Erwin, knocking the older man back a few feet before he corrected his footing.

Upon realizing who he had ran into, Reiner's face paled, "Oh, shit!" He cursed, "I'm so sorry, Commander!"

Erwin gave a smile, "No harm done, cadet." He replied, "Just watch where you're going next time."

Reiner gave a sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir," He muttered, before reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out the envelope, "I went over to Ehrmich this morning to get some money, and was stopped by a few Military Police officers. They told me to deliver this for you, saying it was from Commander Dawk, about Eren."

Erwin took the letter, "I see why you were in a rush, then." He commented, "You are one of Eren's friends, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Reiner confirmed, "Cadet Reiner Braun."

The commander gave a nod, "If you're worried about Eren, I promise you he is in safe hands. Due to recent breakthroughs with his titan ability, we will have a far easier time convincing the Top Brass that he is an asset, not a burden."

"Thank you, sir." Reiner replied, giving a sigh of relief before continuing down the hallway to find his room.


8:20 PM

"So… Eren's rich?" Ymir wondered, looking into the bulging bag of money.

"Apparently," Reiner admitted, "I have two theories for this. One, he's inherited Grisha's money since his disappearance five years ago. Two, he was paid handsomely for sealing the breach."

"Both are plausible." Bertolt muttered, picking up a gold coin, "For all we know, the Doctor's money could have been split between Eren and his sister. Not to mention it's impossible to believe he carried a boulder across town to block the breach without receiving any money for the job."

"Either way," Reiner continued, "I'm suggesting a change of plans for the mission."

Both Bertolt and Ymir gave the brawny shifter a confused glance, but allowed him to continue, "We take the Great Monkey on during the day. Once the Legion has entered the long-range formation, we break away from our position and find Eren and Annie. Once we're close enough, I'll transform and make a break to grab them, while you two hide in my mouth. From there, we make a break to the Great Monkey's den. We kill the fucker, and run the hell out of there."

"And the Scouts?" Ymir asked, "You really think they won't give chase?"

"Cannons couldn't stop me, and that's the military's biggest advantage against titans." Reiner replied, "What can they do without those in an environment where ODM gear is almost useless, especially when the blades can't cut into my nape?"

"What's the reason though, Reiner?" Bertolt asked.

"Extra time, the element of surprise, and clearing a majority of the suspicion from Eren and Annie." Reiner explained.

Bertolt frowned, "There's more."

Reiner looked over to Ymir, pressing for a different subject, "When I was returning from Ehrmich, I was ordered to deliver a letter to Commander Erwin, from the Military Police. I wasn't able to risk reading it, but what I do know is it concerns Eren, and might compromise Annie's identity."

"Do we know anything else?" Bertolt asked, growing uneasy.

"From what the officer giving me the letter said, Commander Dawk wants to be included in the research on Eren. Given the situation, Erwin's in no position to say no." Reiner sighed, "Annie's let herself into a corner with her own plan, and we can't help her out of it."

"Can we run away?" Ymir wondered, "Just take them, and leave in the middle of the night. Hell, I can probably just transform and yank them during their training."

"That is a last resort." Bertolt responded, "We'd be too easily cornered, and there'd be no way to get out of Wall Rose."

"He's right." Reiner admitted, "Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do without blowing our cover and putting all of our heads on the chopping block. Fortunately, we're less than a month away from the next mission, and the MP can't force another trial until afterwards. They can make their lives harder, but we'll be long gone before they can legally pull anything."

"Let's hope they'll agree…" Bertolt muttered.

Reiner didn't give a response, only turning his head towards the window.

One month… Too soon and not soon enough…

Okay, this was an interesting change of style! If you don't like the style of this chapter, don't worry, it was a one time thing. I had to place the times on there to show the amount of time between scenes, considering a large amount of Reiner's day was spent riding, walking and waiting.

Post a comment if you want to see a chapter from another character's point of view before the expedition, and I'll see if I can fit it in.