A/N: I'm just bored right now so I was like, "Fuck it. Im just gonna upload a new chapter." I'm thinking about a monthly schedule for uploads because with high school, things are going to be busy. What do you guys think? Thanks and happy reading.

SLAM

Reiner fell to the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Sorry, I'm not good at holding back," Eren says sheepishly as he helps Reiner up.

"It's fine. Hey, look. Annie and Drayce are slacking off," Reiner says grinning evilly. "Let's teach them a lesson," he says slyly.

"Reiner, there's a reason why the commandant let's Drayce skip this part. Well Annie just thinks it's boring," Eren says nervously.

"I have a plan, don't worry," Reiner continues. He sneaks up and pushes Drayce into Annie. Everyone stops and steps back a few feet.

"Watch where your going," Annie hisses at Drayce.

"Well, not my fault you're too short for me to see you," he retorts.

"We'll see who's talking after I'm through with you," Annie says, assuming her stance. Drayce sighs and takes his form.

"Care to bet?" Reiner asked Jean.

"Sure, 5 sils on Annie in 10 minutes," he whispers back.

Reiner snorts. "Really? 5 sils on Drayce in 7 minutes."

The match starts and Drayce charges at Annie. She narrowed her eyes and brings her leg up for a kick. As she strikes, Drayce drops, easily avoiding the attack. He slams a fist into the back of her knee and she goes down. Drayce turns and goes for a kick but Annie rolls away.

"Not bad," she admits.

"Well, your not going to like the next move," he says grinning. He leaps at Annie, grabbing her shoulders and tackling her down.

"What is he doing?!" Eren says.

"Hey just watch. Annie has no chance," William says.

"You see how he uses the momentum," Mable points out.

"Which results into that," George finishes pointing to Drayce and Annie. Drayce rolls forward still gripping Annie and throws her off him. She lies in a heap on the ground. He walks over and she sweeps his legs. He lands with an "oof". Annie stands over him, planting a foot on his chest.

"Lesson one, don't let your guard down," she says. She starts to walk away but Drayce gets up and sweeps her feet right back. "Well here's lesson two then. Don't walk away from a fight until it is declared over," He leans in with a small smile and says softly. "And this fight is over."

Annie could feel a slight blush going up her cheeks. She couldn't help but like how he fought and his mentality. While helping her up, Drayce sees this and smirks. "Good fight," he says swiftly.

"Yeah sure," she mumbles, still embarrassed. Seeing everyone still staring, he glares and says

"Aren't you supposed to be training? That is unless you want your butt handed to you," Everyone scrambled back, not wanting to get on his bad side.

Later that night, they are all in the mess room. Jean and Eren are arguing as normal. Drayce walks up and try's to break up the fight starting. He gets punched by Jean and a photo falls out. Jean picks it up.

"Who are these?" he taunts.

"Give it back," he says quietly.

"Dropouts, weaklings?" he continues.

"They weren't weak," he growls.

"Oh shit," William says, turning pale. Drayce's eyes flickered between red and gold.

"Then why aren't they here? Go back to your mommy and daddy if you're gonna cry," Jean continues.

"WELL, MAYBE I CAN'T BECAUSE ALL OF THEM ARE DEAD!" Drayce explodes. He kicks down the door and storms out. Silence. William sees the photo and suddenly everything clicks.

"OK, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" William shouts angrily. Jean falters.

"What do you mean?" Everyone starts crowding and Rachel quietly starts the story.

"All the people in the picture were our friends. We were all taken away at birth because of our, umm, differences. We were kept by the Military Police, unable to leave, ever. For eight years, we were beaten, whipped, experimented, and tortured. Drayce protected us. He very often takes our place when we were getting hurt. Eight years of that does something to someone, Jean," she says softly.

"His natural eye color isn't gold. The strain changed it from black to brown to gold," William says. Everyone stares open mouthed.

"When we were eight, we were transferred to another corporation. Two years after that, we escaped. Except not everyone made it. Five of his friends were murdered before his eyes. He took it very hard on himself. He thought he wasn't able to protect them. He decimated half the base's army trying to defend them. A few months after we escaped, his parents were murdered as well. So now what will he do? He's got nothing left. So here he is at the Trainees Corps," George finishes.

"Jean, you should apologize to him. He didn't need to remember any of that," Marco says.

"He's been through so much," Mable says.

"Wait, who's not here?" Rachel asks.

"Oh, Annie went to bed early," Mina pipped. "At least I think," she adds.

Annie ran hard through the forest. "Where did he go?" she thinks. Frustrated, she runs to the one place she finds clarity. She comes to a clearing and sees him staring out to the lake and moon.

"Drayce," she says softly.

"Who do you see every night?" he asks heavily.

"I see my mom, she's just as beautiful as I remembered," she says, sitting next to him.

"Did you ever think that whatever happened, you were powerless to stop it no matter what?" he continues.

"Yes. I felt so helpless just looking at my dad kill my mom. She was turned into a titan," she adds softly.

"I should go," she says quickly. She stands up but Drayce grabs her hand.

"No, you can stay," he says quietly. Annie sits back down and notices his hand still in hers. He takes out another picture.

"Who are they," she asks, eyes gazing over it.

"Mom, dad, Uncle Kenny, and Aunt Kutchel. There's my cousin Levi and here's my little sister..." he trails off. Annie's eyes widen at the girl being hugged in the picture by Drayce.

"Is that Mikasa?" she whispers.

"Yeah. Although she doesn't remember me. The memory serum," he explains.

"Why? Why are you showing me this?" Annie asks confused.

"Because you're someone that can relate to my pain," he says. "Were just the different sides of the same coin, Annie."

"No, we're very different. You won't like me if you saw who I really am," she said, looking downcast.

"You came from Marley. I think I would have an idea about who you really are," he said rolling his eyes. "Come on, let's go back," he mumbled. They walked back to the cabins in silence.

"Hey, Annie."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks and good night."

With this, they went back towards their cabins.

Annie took her tray and sat down at an empty table. Her mind was still replaying the events of last night. Her best friend, Mina, sidled up next to her. She looked at Drayce and back to Annie.

"So, what happened last night?" Mina asked.

"We talked," Annie replied shortly. She looked over at him. She was surprised about his horrific past but even more so about his family.

"Hellooo? Earth to Annie," Mina said, snapping her back to reality. "You were staring at Drayce for a pretty long time," she said grinning.

"What do you think about him?" Annie asks. "Oh, I don't know. I was so sad to hear about his past, but I think people are just scared of him when they heard about him going, you know, berserker mode. Why ask?" she said.

"No reason." She gets up to put her tray away. When she reaches to put her tray away, her hand brushes against Drayce's own hand. She felt a small jolting feeling. What was this feeling? She hadn't felt this way towards anyone else. She didn't have a crush on him did she? She turned red and avoided his gaze. Drayce raised an eyebrow at this and she quickly sat back down.

"You totally like him," Mina declared when Drayce was out of earshot.

"Shut up, I do not," Annie mumbled turning redder.

"If you say so," Mina said grinning. The trainees gathered outside after breakfast.

"Attention cadets! Today will be your final evaluation. Due to circumstances, the amount of people eligible to freely choose the branch they wish to join has been upped to fifteen this year. Good luck," Keith says.

Rain pours hard down on them. Armin is breathing heavy and is lagging behind.

"What's wrong Arlert?! If you can't keep up, you'll be titan food!" Keith exclaims. Reiner runs back to Armin and grabs his pack.

"Come on! You don't want to fail do you? We're being graded today," he says shouldering the pack.

"But you'll get points taken off!" Armin exclaims.

"Well I'll try not to get caught," Reiner replies.

"Reiner Braun. He has both a robust physique and mental comrades also have great trust in him," Keith thinks.

"No! I'd rather be dead then be a burden!" Armin thinks. He grabs the pack back from Reiner and accelerates forward.

"Armin Arlert. Though he lacks physical strength, he makes up for it with his extraordinary aptitude in the classroom." Keith notes. Soon they move on to Titan dummies. One is raised and Jean, Bertholt, and Annie slice the nape.

"Annie Leonhart. Her slices are flawless, though her reclusive attitude makes her a poor choice for coordination efforts."

"Bertholt Hoover. Possess a lot of potential but lacks the will to do so."

"Jean Kirschtein. Top 3D mobility class but his attitude causes friction with others."

"Argh, I can't cut as good as them so I'll have to find them first!" he says. Nearby, Drayce darts from tree to tree.

"Drayce Whitler. Top of the class by a wide margin, he possesses inhuman amounts of strength, speed, and stamina. Able to navigate without the use of 3D gear. Very protective of his comrades and keeps a strong mentality." Drayce slices quickly into a dummy and pushes off.

"Found one," Jean thinks proudly.

"Thanks Jean! I knew following you was a good idea," Connie says appearing above him.

"Huh?"

"Wee! I got it!" Sasha remarks and disappears upwards. Rachel and Mable then soar by and also cut into the dummy.

"Too slow," Mable called out back to Jean and Connie.

"Sasha Braus. Has good intuition but shows poor teamwork as a result. Connie Springer. Excels at quick turns but is also a bit dim-witted," Keith evaluates.

"Rachel Krest and Mable Green. Both excel at teamwork but individually are weaker. Rachel's slices are above average but has trouble keeping a clear head during a crisis."

Mikasa zips by and cuts deeply followed by George, William, and Eren.

"You good there Eren?" George shouts.

"Shallower than Mikasa again," Eren exclaims.

"Keep trying, mate," William says, pulling up next to him. "You'll get it eventually."

"Mikasa Ackerman. Second to Drayce Whitler. Proficient in every area. She has a strong sense of right and wrong. George Gaylent. An excellent engineer. Gets out of sticky situations with his understanding of 3D Maneuver gear though he tends to create the sticky situations himself. William Kent. Able to keep calm in almost any situation and make the right decision. Has potential but relies on others for confirmation. Eren Yeager. No special abilities but his sense of purpose is twice as strong as anyone else's."

"Congratulations. The fifteen people who are standing before you are the top graduates. Give your hearts!"

"Yes sir!"

The top fifteen were standing in ranking order. Drayce, Mikasa, William, Riener, Bertholt, Annie, Eren, Jean, George, Mable, Rachel, Marco, Connie, Sasha, and Christa. "Yes! Now I'm in the Military Police," Connie shouted happily.

"No more having to worry about food," Sasha squealed.

"Argh. I still can't believe I ranked under that damned suicidal bastard," Jean grumbled, taking another deep swig of his drink.

"Wait. Your not going to join the Military Police Eren," Thomas asked in disbelief.

"No. I set my mind on the Survey Corps. I trained to fight, not to live in the interior," Eren said.

"Same goes for me. Never wanted to see the damned Military Police again," Drayce said coming up behind Eren. Some trainees shuffled nervously around him.

"We can't beat them," Thomas yelled. The room went deadly silent.

"Oh really?" Drayce walked over to Thomas.

"If we can't beat them, then how come I'm still alive after the exodus?" he asked leisurely. He pulls his katana out. "Because I fought. And because I fought, I beat them," he said.

"There's no way you were in the exodus," Jean retorted walking over. Drayce's eyes flashed with anger.

"First you insult my dead friends and now you call me a liar? Be thankful I didn't take your head of with this sword the first time," Drayce growled.

"It's true. He helped protect my grandpa. That's why he's still alive," Armin says.

"Besides the only reason we lost to them was because of how little we know about them. Through the years, we gained valuable information about them. We're not just going to throw that all away and become titan fodder are we?! To hell with this! I'm not going to be stuck within these walls! I'm going to drive them extinct and leave! That's my dream," Eren shouted. He stormed outside followed by Armin and Mikasa.

"Eren, what you said earlier about your dream..." Armin said.

"Yeah. It was inspired by your ideas about seeing the whole world," Eren said.

"I'm going to join the Survey Corps!"

"Armin! You should join the Garrison Regiment! Your skill would be useful there," Eren said shocked.

"I'd just be a burden to them. I'd rather die then hold anyone up," Armin said.

"I'm joining the Survey Corps too," Mikasa says.

"What!? Not you too!" Eren exclaims.

"I'll join where you join but I am not allowing you an early death," she says. "I don't want to loose more family," she continued. "Let's go back inside. We have a long day of work tomorrow now that we graduated," she says dragging Eren back inside.