When he had woken up, the first thing which came to Mika's mind was him wondering if he was having a strange dream.

Unlike the past few days, where he had always woken up within the cockpit of the Barbatos with an aching neck, Mika had woken up on something which felt moderately soft, feeling almost like a bed. It wasn't as good as the ones found on board the Isaribi, but it was definitely a step up from the cockpit of Barbatos in that it did not give him a minor neck cramp when he woke up.

For a moment, Mika simply laid on the bed which was provided to him, eyes closed as he did. Once he was satisfied, Mika groaned and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gave a yawn and shook his head to relieve himself of the sleepiness spell. As he did, Augus began to remember how he had gotten here.

'Huh… Mina invited me over… and Mrs Carolina insisted I sleep here…' thought the boy as he looked down at one of the legs of the bed. It visibly squeaked under Mika's weight, but it still held. Mika also noted that the leg had an 'N' inscribed into it, leading him to believe that he had slept on 'Nac's' bed. He didn't know who he was, and if he were honest, he didn't exactly care if Nac didn't like him sleeping on his bed.

After Mika had rid himself of the sleepiness spell, he stood up and made for the exit to the room. The door was closed, though it opened with the greatest of ease, giving out a rather loud squeak as Mika, rather gently, pushed it open, prompting the pilot to wince. Even though he was standing at the door on the second floor, Mika could still hear Mina's voice from down below.

"Come on, Annie!" she protested, sounding rather close to whining. Seeing as how Mina had called out 'Annie', Mika suspected that the other two residents of this household had returned from 'Reiner' and 'Bertholdt's place while he was asleep. "Give him a chance! You became friends with me and Nac, after all! Why not Mikazuki?"

"Because I don't want to," was Mina reply from who Augus presumed to be Annie. And Mika had to admit, she did sound at least a little lifeless, confirming what Mina said when she said she was like him.

"Come on, Ann'," came another voice, though Mika thought it sounded somewhat muffled, most likely because whoever was speaking had their mouth full. The speaker went silent for a while, most likely to get rid of whatever was in their mouth before speaking up, and he sounded distinctively male, leading Augus to believe that he was Nac. "I know you don't like to make friends, but you gotta give everyone a chance! I mean, you gave Mina and I a chance, didn't ya?"

No one replied to that, making Mika assume that the conversation was over, prompting him to make his way to the bottom floor. He didn't intend on announcing his arrival, but the first step which he took down the stairs gave a rather loud creak, a sound which made Mika cringe a little.

"Hey, I think he's up!" came Mina's voice, and as Mika made his way down, he heard a chair get pushed out of the way and the sound of footsteps approaching the stair. By the time he had gotten to ground level, Mika had his gaze fixed onto a boy, a tall one at that, completely ignoring Mina, who was standing beside him, and the one who was most likely Annie, who was shielded from his field of vision by the tall boy anyways, though he had a feeling that she was sitting on the kitchen table. Mika did silently wonder where Mrs Carolina was, but he suspected that she was out working.

Standing somewhere between Orga and Akihiro in terms of height, the boy in front of him was most certainly the kid which Mina had called Nac Tias. He fit all the descriptions which Mina had given him, with his exceptionally fine black hair which was swept back in a rather stylish way, the intimidating height of nearly 5.90 feet, and outfit which consisted of an ash brown shirt and medium grey jeans/long pants which reached his ankles. He was so tall that Mika was required to crane his neck up rather intensely in order to look him in the eyes. Judging by his face, Mika predicted Nac to be older than him, perhaps at the age of fourteen or fifteen.

"Heya!" greeted the taller boy with a smirk, his voice a lot friendlier than initially expected, giving Augus a simple wave, a gesture which Mika didn't return. The shorter boy simply looked up at him blankly, unsure of how to respond, though he didn't expect the taller bloke's expression to turn a little worrying, an expression which reminded him of someone…

"Erm… you ok there… Mikazuki-San?"

Quickly shaking his head, Mika looked back up and saw that Nac looked and sounded, rather surprisingly, worried. His expression conveyed his emotions pretty well, something which Mika envied a little. However, he pushed that thought out of his head as he nodded in response.

"...I'm fine," replied Mika, making the taller boy smile in what he assumed to be relief.

"Good ta' hear," he said, before he extended a hand, presumably for a handshake. "I think Mina's told you about me, but it's polite to formally introduce myself. Name's Nac Tias."

Looking at his own hand for a moment, Mika clenched it rather tightly before accepting the handshake, giving it a good, tight grip as he shook it. "Mikazuki Augus."

"Y-Yeah… hey there, Augus," groaned Nac, sounding a little in pain as they shook hands, clearly finding the handshake a little too tight. Noting that, Mika released Nac's hand. Upon releasing it, Nac pulled his hand away and began nursing it. Mika, on the other hand, headed over to the couch and sat down. "D-Dang… you got a tight grip…"

Mika gave no response, simply moving over to sit on the couch, so Mina spoke up in his place as the boy rubbed his wrist. "Well… I guess he was trying to make a first impression on you? I mean… he made one on me… and Annie sure did make one on you…"

Nac gave an embarrassed chuckle at that, most likely remembering the 'incident' which happened just a week ago with Annie when he had made an attempt at befriending her. "I suppose so…"

While the two spoke, Mika took a quick glance at the table where Annie was sitting at. The girl was rather short, as noted by how far her feet hung above the floor as she sat on the chair, though Mika couldn't accurately say how tall she was at the moment. Aside from her height, her other notable features were her light blonde hair and light blue eyes, eyes which seemed to be almost as dead as his. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail. And, judging by her face, Augus suspected she was twelve or thirteen, either one year below or on par with him. The short girl wore a rather thick, white/light grey parka and light brown pants.

While he was examining at Annie, Mika failed to notice that Nac had taken a seat beside him until he had sat down. Turning to glance at the taller boy, Mika raised a brow at him. Nac, on the other hand, flashed a friendly smile as he gave another wave. Mika wasn't sure how he should respond to that, so he just stared, something which seemed to make Nac a little uncomfortable. From the corner of his eye, Mika could see Mina behind Annie, tidying up her messy hair.

"So… uhm…" said Nac, sounding somewhat awkward as he twiddled his fingers against each other. For a moment, the boy stayed silent as he tried to think about a topic which he could speak of. "...nice weather we're having… huh?"

Mika's response was to glance out the window, where the sun was blazing down heat which was most likely close to forty degrees down on at least the eastern side of Trost. If he were honest, it wasn't what he'd consider 'nice', but he decided that he may as well humor Nac, replying to him with a nod and a grunt. The taller boy seemed to take it as a sign to continue onto a random topic.

"Well… erm… Mina told me and Annie that you were from Shiganshina…" continued Nac, fumbling onto another topic as he tapped his index fingers together. "It's probably a lot hotter in there, ya know?"

"Ah," muttered Mika, still unsure on how he should actually respond to Nac's attempts at starting various conversations. Mika simply listened as Nac moved onto another random topic. It was rather obvious to Augus that he was trying to befriend him, but he seemed rather awkward about it. Almost as though the boy was a little afraid of him, something which wasn't exactly unjustified as Mika, in spite of his size, was a rather threatening figure.

And that essentially summed up what happened for the next couple of hours, most likely two if Mika's estimation was correct. Nac had been shooting Mika with many trivial questions and topics while he shot back with the same, general, bored sounding response, usually an unenthused "ah" or a grunt and a nod. Over by the table, Annie didn't seem to bother with even staring at him, but Mina kept glancing over at the two of them, most likely to see how far Nac had progressed in earning Mikazuki's friendship.

During said two hours, however, Mika managed to draw a connection to Nac and an old friend of his. At first, Mika couldn't quite put his finger on who Tias reminded him of. But by now, the connection became clear. Nac had reminded him of Shino…

Nac was nearly a carbon copy of Shino, personality wise, anyways. Like Shino, Nac would keep speaking to a person in an attempt to get them to cheer up or smile. He also seemed very keen on befriending him no matter what, as evident by how he relentlessly blasted Mika with wave after wave of trivial nonsense, most likely in an attempt to get him to reply and start a conversation, something Shino was rather (in)famous for doing back at Tekkadan/CGS. Unfortunately for Nac, however, Mika wasn't one to trust anyone so quickly, even if the taller boy had reminded him rather strongly of an old friend. He only trusted Mina after many weeks of working together in the fields.

Despite that, however, Mika couldn't help but feel something strange in his gut. It felt exactly the same as the feeling he had back when he first met Mina, only a little stronger this time. Atra had always labeled it as butterflies in one's stomach. Mika used to think it was preposterous for a butterfly to be in a person's stomach until Atra had explained the actual meaning, someone feeling nervous or anxious. Though why he was feeling this way was beyond his comprehension.

Though Mika did spare some times to contemplate one thing… if him hanging around Mina and her family was slowly making him softer than he used to be.


Eight days later

By the eighth day of him being here, Mika had more or less gotten used to living in the Carolina household.

When he was first invited to stay, Mika admittedly expected that he would only be there for a day or two before getting the boot. But to his surprise, Mrs Carolina, not counting her initial (somewhat) cold reception to him being invited here, was rather welcoming towards him. He didn't know why her attitude towards him took such an unexpected turn, but he didn't exactly mind or care. And considering how the Carolina residence was actually better much than the barn which he used to call his new home, Mika wasn't exactly going to complain.

His days in the Carolina household were usually the same. According to Mina, it was apparently rather easy to skip over the fieldwork which the Garrison had appointed to the refugees of Shiganshina/Maria. The girl told him that they didn't bother taking the attendances of the refugees, either as an oversight or just plain laziness. Mika was inclined to believe either. Even so, Mika did still made a conscious effort to go to the fields every now and then, mainly because he did enjoy farming, even if it was forced upon him, but also partially because he found it to be the most entertaining thing to do around here.

Most of the time, Mika would eat the food provided to the refugees who worked at the fields. But whenever he was taking a break from that, he noted that all three of the kids in the Carolina resident would take turns cooking whatever they were eating. A stew-like concoction seemed to be a popular cooking choice among the three, though if they didn't feel like getting their hands dirty, they would just grab pieces of bread. Mika may never know the true answer as to why, though he suspected that it was because stew and bread were the cheapest things out there. He did note that there was no meat in any of their food, though he never complained. To him, it never mattered if his food tasted nice. All that really mattered was that it filled his stomach, even if he did like big chunks of food, something which the others didn't seem to like making.

Of course, he did try his hand at cooking from time to time… something which didn't exactly end too well, with the boy nearly burning the makeshift stove at one point. From there on, Mika was only chosen to prepare meals when there we no other options left, something he didn't mind or care about enough to complain.

Despite Nac telling him that he could have his bed, Mika had insisted on sleeping on the couch for the eight days since he and Nac were acquainted with each other. He would have accepted Nac's offer to take his bed, but he didn't feel like he had any right to take it. After all, he was technically a guest, unlike Nac or Annie, who, from what he knew, were permanent residents. Though the boy did remember hearing Nac speak of making another bunk bed, something which kept Mika a little on edge as the makeshift top bunk which Annie slept on didn't seem too safe.

Aside from the food and his sleeping habits, Mika's relationship with the four residents of the house did improve to a certain degree, though not by much, considering how secluded Mikazuki tended to be in regards to his emotions.

His relationship with Mrs Carolina stayed more or less the same. Mika almost never saw the older Carolina. According to Mina, her mother was working in a hospital or clinic at the west side of Trost. She said that her mother worked 24/7 as some sort of doctor, though Mika knew that was an exaggeration as he has seen the older Carolina return home not long after the sun had set multiple times, most likely at nine or ten at night. Thanks to this relatively late schedule of hers, and the fact that he never sought her out for any conversations, meant that their relationship never really improved or lessened in any way.

As for Mina, Mika did admittedly find himself growing more used to her. Most of the time, Mina would accompany him to the fields, something which confused Augus as he didn't think that anyone in their right mind would do so. Mina reasoned that she wanted to keep him company, something which Mika did appreciated slightly, even if he still found it somewhat annoying. Still, he did end up getting used to Mina's company, perhaps even considering her an acquaintance of sorts, maybe even inching close to being considered a friend.

Annie was perhaps the coldest towards Mika. Unlike Mina or Nac, the blonde had never sought him out for any conversations, though Mika generally did the same to her so it was rather even between them. In the very few instances where their paths would cross, Annie would almost certainly give him her usual, cold glare, a glare which Mika would return in full. Mika also noted that Annie tended to be gone on the days where he had decided to not go to the fields, and soon found out that she had either went to 'Reiner' and 'Bertholdt's' house or she had went to the fields in his place, most likely because she was actively avoiding him.

Nac, however, could be considered the total opposite of Annie in every way possible, the most obvious way being that he was nearly twice as tall. Aside from height, Nac was also much, much more friendly than his blonde (presumed) friend. Unlike Annie, Nac made a conscious effort to seek Mika out at every opportunity, perhaps even more so than Mina, with his primary goal being, if Mika had to make a quick guess, to befriend him at all cost. Mika did start to think that Nac was trying too hard, but he was both amused and impressed at the amount of trivia which Nac had at his disposal. The taller boy seemed to know practically everyone in Trost, at least according to Mina, something which was both impressive and just a bit worrying, and he knew just about every corner of the District, namely what areas to avoid and areas which are more tranquil than most.

For the longest time, Mika simply went about his business, not caring about getting close to any of the residents of the Carolina Residence, at least not intentionally anyways. He did, occasionally, wonder if anything had happened to Barbatos, but he doubt that anyone had stumbled upon it as, according to Nac, no one dared venture into the eastern forests of Trost. Despite that, however, Mika would occasionally venture out to the barn where he kept Barbatos just to check on it or to store a piece of stale bread inside it's cockpit, generally during midnight as that was when everyone was assured to be asleep. Thus far, Mika has stuck three pieces of bread (wrapped in cloth) inside the cockpit, an emergency ration for whenever he would need to pilot Barbatos once more. Mika doubt that he would need to, but past experience had taught him to always be prepared for anything.

If he wasn't off at the fields, Mika would spend his free time in the house sitting on the living room's couch. To him, it was the most comfortable place to sit on, and, more or less, the most peaceful, as Nac, Mina and Annie tended to hang out in their shared room. Mika didn't intend on joining them in their conversations. The boy would usually be wondering what his old friends were doing as he sat on the chair. He hoped beyond hope that they were still alive, not as prisoners of war under Gjallarhorn, but as the company which Orga had envisioned. He knew it was a bit much, but he still hoped for the best for his family.

Mikazuki would have spent some of his time thinking back on his past deeds, perhaps doing some self reflection with all the free time he had, but to him, there was no point in indulging in past grievances. The boy has seen what the consequences of doing so were, one such consequence being too distracted by the regret for what they did in the past to focus on the present, something Mika didn't intend on doing. After all, he was here to survive, not feel bad about events from another world, events which were long behind him.


Currently, Mika had his rear planted on the couch of the Carolina household. The boy had decided to take a pass on working at the fields for the day, meaning Annie had went to take his place. Mina had also decided to tag along with her friend, leaving Mika alone with Nac, something which would have annoyed Mika, if Nac wasn't strangely absent.

Yes, unlike most days, where Nac would be firmly situated next to Mika on the couch, awkwardly babbling on about trivial nonsense which Mika had no interest in, Nac had remained in the top floor bedroom for quite some time. By now, Mika had gotten used to Nac babbling nonsense into his ears, so not hearing him do so was a little… strange, to put it simply.

After some time, however, Nac had come down from the top floor. At first, Mika didn't pay him any mind, but he eventually noted that Nac seemed to be preparing to leave the house. Why, he had no answer.

Out of curiosity, and before he could stop himself, Mika spoke up. "Where are you going?"

As soon as he heard his voice, Nac froze and turned to stare at Mika, his expression showing his surprise. But that expression eventually faded and turned into an awkward smile as he scratched the back of his neck. "Well… erm… I'm going to go have a stroll round' Trost… it's something I tend to do."

Huffing, Mika gave a nod and averted his attention away from Nac, a sign of acknowledgment and telling Nac to carry on with what he was doing. The taller boy, on the other had, had a thoughtful look on his face as he rubbed his chin. And, most likely without thinking, he asked, "Would you like to come with?"

When he had asked that, Nac froze up as he realized what he had just asked. Mika, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow in amusement. However, he did consider the offer. Tias did know Trost rather well, as evident by the amount of random trivia about the district which Nac had brought up during most of his random talks with him. That information could some in handy for him, especially if he was shown around the district personally.

So, not without some reluctance, Mika gave a nod and stood up. "Sure."

"Alright-" said Nac, only to realize freeze when he let what Mika had said sink in. "Wait, what?"

Mika simply raised a brow as he approached the taller boy. "I said sure."

And Nac only widened his eyes as Mika moved to stand in front of him, the taller boy's shadow completely engulfing the shorter. But the boy didn't complain as Mika stared up at him, waiting for the taller boy to lead the way out. Nac seemed to notice that, as he quickly opened the door.

"W-Well… let's go!" he said, smiling rather nervously as he held the door open. Mika exited while Nac followed, not noting the rather impressive, victorious smile plastered on the taller boy's face.


An hour later

If he were honest, Mika had definitely underestimated Nac's knowledge of the ins and outs of Trost.

Over the course of an hour since the two had left the Carolina household, Nac had led Mika through nearly the entirety of the eastern wing of Trost. The boy was most definitely knowledgeable on areas which were best left unexplored and areas which were practically boistering with activity. And, while Mika did know of Nac's knowledge on the district thanks to the pieces of random trivia he dropped on his head from time to time, he didn't expect the taller boy to know the place this much, something which was enough to impress Mika.

"It's just a perk of living here for all your life, half of which as a homeless kid who likes moving about, y'know?" said Nac rather modestly when Mika brought up the fact that he was extremely knowledgeable on the district, or at least the eastern side. However, Nac decided to take that as an opportunity to perhaps attempt to impress Augus. "Like for example, that store over there has some pretty good doughnuts on sale, and there's a store over by the western side which sells a pretty wide variety of fruits at a decent price."

Mika simply huffed and nodded, not exactly interested in those two snippets of detail, though part of him was surprised that Nac used to be homeless, not too a large extent, however, as his family name was different from Mina's. And, for a short while, Mika was silent, simply listening to Nac rather attentively while he spoke of random segments of the eastern wing of Trost, something his expression didn't exactly suggest, as they moved along.

At the hour thirty minute mark, Nac made a rather dramatic show of stretching his arms as he spoke. "So… erm… you wanna head back now?"

Opening his mouth, Mika was about to say yes, but he then remembered something. "...what about the West side?" he asked, and he thought he saw some form of panic begin to develop in Nac's eyes when he asked.

"Oh, that side… well," began Nac, sounding somewhat nervous as he re-adjusted his grip on his book. "That side's not exactly where I'd go when it comes to sightseeing… bad stuff happens there a lot more than in the eastern side… considering how it's the district where more people gather in and all that…"

"I'm curious," was Nac's reply from Mika, who turned west. "If you don't want to, you can just go back."

When he said that, Mika began heading west. He wasn't exactly worried that he'd get lost, as he knew that going east would lead him back here, and even if he couldn't find the house, Mika could just head to the barn which held Barbatos, the location of which being ingrained into his memory by now. The boy had fully expected Nac to go on his way back to the Carolina residence (or, if he were brave enough, try knocking him over the head and drag him back). However, what he did not expect was for Tias to give a defeated sigh as he spoke up. "God dammit, man… I'm not letting you go alone."

Turning his head back to face Nac, Mika saw that he wore a defeated expression, though it did look somewhat exaggerated, as he approached him, hands on his hips.

"I'm not letting you go alone, Mikazuki Augus," repeated Nac, scowling just a little as Mika raised his head upwards to stare at him. "It wouldn't be nice if you got lost and couldn't find your way home… so I'll come with."

And at that, Mika couldn't help but give an amused snort as he nodded.

"Let's go then."


"We are but children to kind yet humble Gods who watch over us! Come one, come all! Let us bask in the endless glory of the gifts which were provided to us by our saviors, the ones who rain salvation upon us all!"

Despite standing just barely a hundred metres away from him, Mika could hear that man rather clearly. Standing atop a rather sizable wooden crate, dressed in what appeared to be a priest's robe and holding what Mika assumed to be a bible of sorts, the man had most likely been standing there for the better part of thirty minutes, babbling his nonsense speak about these 'Gods' of his.

Currently, both Mika and Nac were standing somewhere in the middle of Trost. During the entire journey here, Nac had seemed rather nervous and a little reluctant to follow Augus to the western side, even if he did carry on speaking as he usually did. However, instead of speaking about specific locations, Nac had told him about the rather bad reputation which the west side of Trost had.

Apparently, the western side of Trost was more prone to having violent crimes take place. Nac had explained that the relatively cooler temperature of the west side invited a whole lot of people to seek refuge there. Thugs, gang members, or even lowly bullies who liked picking on those weaker than them, the western side of the district had them all. Though Nac did add that there were more 'normal' people than the undesirables.

While he spoke about the western side during their walk there, Nac seemed somewhere between neutral and a little panicky, but when he saw, or much rather heard, that priest looking guy, his face noticeable contorted into a disgusted expression as he cringed, and Augus even noticed that his fingers were tightened around his book in what he assumed to be fear. "Dear lord… not one of them again…"

Turning to face Nac, the shorter boy raised an eyebrow, inviting Nac to explain what he meant by that. Nac seemed to notice, as he rubbed the back of his neck and turned to face him.

"This is one of the reasons why I'd prefer to avoid the west side of Trost," explained Nac. "Among most of the unsavoury things that I've mentioned, this side of the district is where the Church of the Walls prefer to operate."

"Church of the Walls?" questioned Mika, his tone showing hints of his surprise and disappointment. Nac seemed to pick up on that as he continued.

"Yeah. you never heard of em? Asked Nac, a brow raised in surprise, and it only increased when Mika shook his head. "Huh, well you're one of the lucky few. I guess they don't operate much in Shiganshina. Call em what you want, the Church of the Walls, Wallists, the Wall Cult, it's all the same to me."

Mika raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Nac's tone slowly began to shift from neutral/somewhat panicky to what he assumed to be a mild form of anger.

"You see, some people around here consider these Walls… these huge, fifty metre slabs of brick," continued Nac, and Mika was surprised to hear some venom in his voice. He didn't know the boy much, but in his experience with him, Mika had always heard Nac with a positive, upbeat tone, or at worst, a panicky, anxious or awkward one. So hearing him like this was rather jarring, to say the least. "They consider them their Gods, so to speak. Or at least gifts which were granted to them by God himself. And they aren't exactly fond of people challenging that belief…"

Upon hearing that, Mika noted how the boy's facial features hardened as he gave a mild grimace, though the boy didn't ask him about it. Instead, Mika huffed in bewilderment. He knew that this world was different from his, but he didn't expect it to be this much different… this much more… primitive, to believe that something was as basic as a fifty metre wall, despite its impressive size, to be a gift from God… it was baffling to say the least.

"That's pathetic," was all Mika could say. And Nac simply looked down at him.

"I second that," he said, surprising Mika yet again as he didn't expect Nac to agree on something negative regarding anyone. Still, he didn't bring it up as Tias led them away from the lone Wall Cultist. Nac didn't stop talking about them, however. "Those Wall Priests, they tend to babble on about stuff regarding the Walls, most of the time telling the Garrison to remove those 'impurities'," Nac used air quotes when he said that. "From the tops of their 'Gods'."

Nac was being rather indirect with his wording, but Mika could make a rather educated guess on what he meant by impurities on the tops of the Walls.

"Those guys also tend to leave offerings for those blasted Walls," grumbled Nac, and his tone took a rather drastic shift from unsavoury to downright hateful when he said that, something which made Mika raise an eyebrow. "Those bastards… they have enough guts to leave stuff like meat in front of those blasted Walls… not even allowing us to take it, letting that food, food that's scarce enough as it is, go to waste, just to please some imaginary God of theirs!"

For a moment, Mika was left staring at Nac in a mild form of shock, not expecting the sudden change in his tone. He have never seen the boy sound this mad before, at least not when he was speaking of random topics before now. Nac also seemed to be surprised at how much heat was in his tone, as the boy cleared his throat, his face red in embarrassment.

"S-Sorry about that…" he apologised, scratching the back of his neck as he forced a smile and a chuckle. "Got kinda carried away with my ramblings… forgive me…"

Mika simply huffed and nodded as the two continued to walk towards the western side of Trost. During the walk, Nac was unexpectedly quiet. Mika could only assume that he was thinking about his sudden outburst of ramblings regarding the Wallists, and for some unexpected reason, he could help but feel a small bit of worry for the taller boy. He didn't voice that thought out, however.

In an effort to distract himself from his rather strange thoughts, Mika busied his mind by looking around the west side of Trost. It worked relatively well, as the amount of stalls around the place helped pull his attention away from his strange thoughts.

Most of the stalls which the two came across sold mainly food items, carrots, corn, some big, green, oval shaped thing which Mika had never seen before (watermelon). The variety did impress Mika to a certain extent, though he did note that none of them sold any kind of meat products, leading him to believe that meat wasn't exactly a commodity around here. The stall owners kept calling out to anyone within their sights, trying to goad them into buying whatever they had. None spared him nor Nac a second glance when they realized they weren't giving up their cash.

Their walk had more or less ended when the two of them reached a rather sizable lagoon filled almost to it's brim. It was at about thirty metres wide and was most likely filled with more rainwater, piss and other unsavoury fluids than actual fresh water. From where he and Nac stood, both of them could very easily make out what was on the other side of the lagoon, most notable to Mika as being the fields where he would often go to work in, though he did also spot a couple of larger buildings which seemed to be warehouses. The only actual way to get across (aside from swimming) was to walk through a wooden bridge which had no handrails, one which Mika used to cross on an almost daily basis.

"Welp, no real reason to cross over," muttered Nac, making Mika look at him. "I'm sure you already know what's on that side anyways. Fields and whatnot."

Mika simply shrugged at that, somewhat agreeing with Nac. After all, he would only come this way if he wanted to get to work on planting stuff, so there was no reason for him to bother learning any more of the layout of the area in front of them. That, and admittedly, he was getting a little tired from all that non stop walking. "Sure."

With that said, both Nac and Mika turned on their heels and began trekking back to the Carolina household. For a rather long moment, neither of them spoke, at least until Nac cleared his throat, catching Mika's attention.

"Hey, erm, Mika," he started, drumming his fingers over the side of his arm in a somewhat nervous fashion. "I know it's not exactly polite to ask this… but I was wondering… how was life like in Shiganshina?"

Upon hearing that, Mika had unintentionally thought of Tekkadan once more, and rather abruptly, he was hit with a rather strong wave of emotion which caused him to slow his walking a little. Not by much, but enough that Nac took notice.

"I… I didn't mean to bring up and unpleasant memories," he apologised, stopping in his tracks so as to let Mika catch up. "I… was just curious."

"I know," was Mika's response as he began walking up to Tias. When he was beside him, he glanced up at Nac with a slight edge, making the taller boy look away in shame. "You were curious. I can't blame you for that."

"I guess… but it's not exactly my right to ask you something you're clearly not comfortable with," stated Nac, crossing his arms as he turned away from his acquaintance. "You don't have to answer if you don't feel like it."

Amused, Mika gave a huff. He didn't exactly know how to answer Nac, but he was curious as to where this conversation would lead. So, in an attempt to keep it going, he asked, "Why do you want to know, anyways?"

"Oh… erm… well," muttered Nac, clearly surprised that Mika had asked such a question. "I've just heard a lot of things involving Maria and Shiganshina in the past, ya know… enough to make me a little curious…"

"What kind of stuff?" questioned Mika, deciding to have a shot at starting a conversation with the boy for a change.

"Well…" muttered Nac, looking a little unsure on if he should continue. But he eventually settled on doing so. "Not much pleasent… I'm afraid. I heard that before they were breached, Shiganshina was considered the most unpleasant district in all the Walls…"

"And why is that?"

"I… haven't heard too much talk about it. Most of the time we tend to talk about the going ons within our district instead of those around us," admitted Nac rather sheepishly. "But what little I've heard is worrying… like how the amount of kidnappers in Shiganshina is a lot higher than the amount which are assumed to be in Trost, or how crime rates tend to be higher there than in both Maria and Trost…"

If he were honest, Mika suspected that Nac was worried for him. The taller boy's tone backed up that thought, though he wasn't a hundred percent sure. Still, he ignored it and thought of something else.

'The way he talks about it… reminds me a little of Chryse,' thought the boy, huffing. And that was when he got an idea.

"Life in… Shiganshina wasn't easy," said Mika, glancing up at his acquaintance, whom in turn looked at Mika, a little surprised that he responded. "I spent most of my childhood alone on the streets. When I grew older, I met a kid, a friend who stuck with me through thick and thin. And the rest is history."

Upon hearing that, Nac gave a rather solemn nod. Mika hadn't said much, but it was enough to tell Nac the basics on his younger years.

It wasn't the entire truth, obviously. Mika had used his younger life in Chryse to mold a somewhat convincing history for himself here. But Nac didn't seem to realize that he was just told an elaborate lie, so Mika didn't bother adding in more details to hide that fact.

"This… friend of yours," muttered Nac, drumming his fingers against his upper arm a little more now as he was entering a rather risky conversation topic, at least to him. "Was he… close?"

"He was practically a brother," replied Mika, and unlike most of his things he told either Nac or Mina, where he would have to stretch the truth or outright lie, the boy was entirely upfront on what he said. Orga was indeed as close to him as a brother.

"I see…" muttered Nac. After that was said, he found it best to not press the matter any further, instead staying silent for the rest of the journey back to the house.

Mika was rather thankful for the silence however, as he was feeling that strange, gut feeling in his stomach once more. It was a lot more noticeable now, and he didn't know why, but he felt as though he was warming up to Nac just a bit more.

Turning ever so slightly to look at Nac with a raised brow, the shorter boy couldn't help but give a huff.

'Am I… am I just getting soft?'


Two days later

If Mika knew anything, it would be that change wouldn't happen in one day, not even two… or perhaps even in a week. However, Nac was directing him onto a steady path of believing the complete opposite of that statement.

Ever since his outing to the West side of Trost and him sharing just a small bit of himself with the taller boy, Mika had found himself feeling a little weird whenever he was around either Nac or Mina. At first, he wasn't sure what it was, but he eventually realized that he was developing some form of compassion towards his new acquaintances, minus Annie as he had yet to really know her at all.

At first he didn't really pay attention to this newfound sense of compassion. But as time went on, he did express it to a certain degree, in his own way of course, by actually replying to Nac and Mina when they were trying to start a conversation. It wasn't exactly much, but it was how he usually showed compassion, however sparse, to others. Shino had always harkened it to something he called 'tough love'.

Unlike when he first met Nac, Mika would actually make a somewhat conscious effort in starting a conversation with the boy. It wasn't much, though, as Nac was almost always the one to start one up, but he was trying. The same could be applied to Mina.

Despite not having it confirmed, Mika had a hunch that Nac had told Mina and Annie, and possibly even the older Carolina, about what little Mika had told him about his 'history' in Shiganshina. Mika wasn't a hundred percent sure, but the occasional pitying looks he got from Mina made him suspect so.

Even with this newfound sense of compassion, however, Mika was still not actively trying to make any friends, so his relationships with both Nac and Mina, while somewhat better than before, remained relatively the same, with neither being considered anything much more than acquaintances, and with Annie being considered even less so. His daily routine also had no changes, with him going to the field every so often for farming experiences and occasional free food.

On this particular day, Mika had went to the fields on his own. Mina was not free at the moment as she was off with Annie to 'collect firewood'. Mika didn't need anyone to explain what that meant to him.

During his field work, Mika did learn about some sorta orange fruit which was, unimaginatively, called an 'orange', and some long, green thing which was called a 'papaya', which he considered to be among the more imaginative names for a fruit. He wasn't fortunate enough to be able to taste any of them.

Once the day was over and his field work had ended, Mika wasted no time in heading back to the Carolina household, a place where he was slowly starting to consider to be his home. Sure, it wasn't as homey as Tekkadan, probably never will be, but at least there, Mika felt some form of camaraderie amongst two of the four residents. That, and it was, at least, better than staying in that barn with his silent Mobile Suit as his only source of company.

On this day, his field work had ended relatively late. Most of the time, he would be let out when the sun was still up, perhaps around six to seven in the evening (or somewhere around that time). Now, however, he had a feeling that it was close to nine at night. The darkness made it somewhat of an issue to travel back to the Carolina household, but he managed it (or at least managed to get 25% of the way to the house), even if he did unintentionally walk in a circle a couple of times.

During his walk back, however, Mika heard a rather aggressive sound coming from a rather dark alley. It sounded similar to a voice. At first, he was fully intending on ignoring it, until he heard another, more familiar one. It took him a second or two to realize that the scared, practically petrified, voice coming from the alley was Nac.

And that was what made him investigate, if only out of curiosity, or perhaps out of a mild form of worry. He knew that Nac considered the west side of Trost to be unsafe… so why come here, alone no less. The boy had a feeling that he was just hearing things, but it wouldn't hurt to have a look.

"You really think that the Military Brigade would pick you of all people?!" came that aggressive voice once more when Mika had just reached a corner. The voice sounded rather young, and it's rather pompous tone led Augus to believe him to be some guy who thought himself above others. He's heard that horrible self assured tone enough times in his 'previous life' to be sure. "The Military needs muscle, not… whatever you have."

"W-Well…" came a new voice, weaker, and even from where he stood, Mika could distinctively tell that it belonged to Nac. Pressing his back against the edge of the alley, Mika spared a peek, and he immediately spotted Nac on the ground, his back against the alley wall, with three rather pompous looking boys standing before him. All three of them were about the same height, though Mika noted that one of the three wore glasses.

"I… I think they'd need some brains too… y-you know? For… s-strategies… someone like H-Hanji… muttered Nac, looking as though he were choosing his words extremely carefully. However, it seemed as though he had not, as the boy in the middle of the three, the presumed leader to Augus, immediately seized the collar of his shirt and lifted him up to eye level. And even then, Nac had to be on one knee just to stare him in the eye.

"Listen, you're nothing more than a heretic," said the boy, sounding as though he stated a fact, his tone dripping with false friendliness as he went on. "The Military Brigade doesn't need any more of those. That, and you'd be useless in battle. Hanji may be an excessively smart freak, but she can fight, unlike you. Best to give up while you're ahead, don't you agree?"

Opening his mouth, Nac seemed willing to argue, but he closed it and looked down as though he were seriously considering those words. The boy holding his collar thought he was about to agree and loosened his grip on Tias' collar, until a rather fiery glint reappeared in the taller boy's eye. "N-No… I don't. I may be useless in a fight, but there's m-more to being a soldier than combat…"

"Like what?" demanded the boy who had him by the collar, shaking Nac in his grip as though he were trying to force a thought into his head. "TELL ME?! BECOME TITAN BAIT?!"

Nac seemed to intend on replying, but one of the other boys cut him off. The bespectacled boy, apparently, who propped his glasses up as he spoke. "Face it, Nac, you're nothing more than Titan Bait. An Outside World loving person has no place among the Military Brigade, unless you intend on joining those blasted Scouts."

Scouts… Mika supposed that was an alternate name for those Survey Corps which Nac occasionally told him about. He knew that Nac had some passion for them. And it was confirmed when the boy let out an audible groan.

"I… don't see a p-problem with wanting to join them…" he muttered, before his tone went hard. "To me, t-they're Heroes! The very ones who sacrifice life, limb and sanity in their Expeditions!"

When those words were uttered, however, Mika had heard a rather loud thud. It made him widen his eyes a tad as he peeked around the corner, only to see that Nac now had a sizable bruise on his right cheek along with some blood coming out of his right nostril. And just seeing that made Mika feel uncharacteristically worried, and furious.

The bruise was most definitely caused by the boy who had him by the collar, who simply rubbed the hand he used to inflict the wound on his shirt in an almost disgusted manner. As for Nac, he gave an expression which told Augus that he was doing his best to hold back pained tears.

"Heroes, what good are Heroes when they can't even do their jobs correctly?" he mumbled, just barely loud enough for Mika to hear. "They are not Heroes, dummy. They're nothing more than Titan food… and you'd best remember that."

When he said that, the boy seemed ready to let Nac go, but the taller boy said one thing which changed his mind.

"Just because they can't get the job done… doesn't mean they're not Heroes," he muttered, making all three boy's, and Mika, look at him in surprise. "Heroes… inspire hope in those around them…"

His response was a self assure snort from the boy who held his collar. "Hope, eh? Maybe false hope… ah well, guess we'll have to beat some sense into you again, huh?"

With those words said, the boy had raised his arm up once more to, in his own words, 'beat some sense into Nac'. However, Mika decided that he had seen and heard enough. Stepping out from the corner he was hiding in, Augus quickly closed the gap between him and the boy holding Nac by the collar. It took him three large steps, but he managed to get up close and intercept the boy's arm, stopping it dead in the air when it was about two inches away from connecting with Nac's face once more.

Upon doing so, Mika inadvertently gained the attention of all four boys. The one who had his arm stopped had a bewildered look on his face while the other two just stared in shock, as though Mika had done the impossible. Nac, on the other hand, had his eyes wide and mouth so agape that it looked somewhat comical. Mika, however, kept his expression neutral as he forced the boy's arm down, making the boy in question wince as he did.

"What's this arm doing?" he demanded, his voice neutral, though hints of anger were shining through and his gaze threatened to burn two holes into the boy's skull. To back his question up, Mika gave the arm which he held a tight squeeze, enough to cut off the circulation, and almost enough to break it, causing the boy to immediately let go of Nac's collar and try to pry Mika's hand off to little success.

"Hey! Get off him!" proclaimed one of the two whom were with the kid, the one who wore glasses. And the bespectacled kid wasted no time in attempting to remove Mika's by force. The boy shot a fist forward to strike Mika, who simply caught it in mid air. Nothing much more than a mild push with was all it took to send the kid landing on his butt rather harshly, and acted as a strong indication to how he was severely outclassed.

"I asked," continued Mika, speaking as though nothing had happened, squeezing the arm much tighter, cutting off all blood circulation to the limb and forcing the boy in his grip to yell in agony, and if a little more pressure were to be applied, his forearm would be snapped. For his part, Mika cared not. This guy hurt Nac, rather severely too. He was getting no pity from him. "What is this hand doing?"

"N-Nothing!" was all which the boy could come up with as his captured hand slowly turned purple, making Mika huff. Typical… the standard 'bully'. He's met a couple of them back in Chryse. They usually picked on those who were 'weak' or different from them, though if someone who was tougher than them came knocking, they would be out in an instant.

The boy who had his arm ensnared by Augus seemed close to fainting while his two companions were still over by the sides, looking unsure on if they should help or not after seeing his show of power. Mika made that decision for them by releasing the arm in his grip, causing the boy to fall back and hold his arm in pain, though he did spare Mika one horrified stare as he did.

"Get lost," commanded Mika, his gaze as hostile as before, and the three boys left without much hassle, running with their tails between their legs like most people whom Mika had confronted physically in his younger days. When they were out of sight, Mika let his gaze soften a tad before he turned to glance at Nac, who looked somewhat mixed in the emotion category.

The most obvious emotion, to Mika anyways, was shock. Shocked at Mika appearing out of the blue to save his ass, and most likely because did as well. In truth, Mika was still a little confused at why he actually stepped in. All he knew was that he felt a strong urge to help the boy, and he had followed that it.

However, underneath all that shock which was reflected in that look in Nac's eyes was something else. Mika didn't exactly know what it was at the moment, so he ignored it as he extended a hand towards the taller boy. It took him a while to notice it, perhaps two seconds, before he accepted the hand and allowed Mika to haul him up onto his feet. And despite being much shorter than him, Mika was able to get him back up onto both feet without much issue.

"...are you alright?" asked Mika when Nac was up. It was a rather stupid question on his part, as he knew that Nac was not alright in any sense of the term, if the huge bruise on his cheek and the still flowing streak of blood coming from his nose was any indication. However, Nac nodded a tad and coughed into his palm.

"I… I'm fine," he muttered, only to wobble a little, prompting Mika to step forward in case he fell. Thankfully, he stayed upright, trying to stop the bleeding from his nose. "M-Mika… h-how… nevermind…"

"I was walking back home," answered Mika flatly, only to step forth and help Tias when he nearly fell forward. "And heard you."

"That's… pretty convenient…" muttered Nac in an attempt at sarcasm despite their current situation. "And you must be wondering why I'm here…?" Mika nodded, and Nac went on. "I… wanted to just meet you along the way. Thought… it'd be nice for us to just head back together…"

That was… nice? Yes, it was nice… but rather stupid of Nac. The chances of him finding Mika was rather low, and him getting into trouble was apparently very much higher than the chances he would have in the eastern side. Despite his mild appreciation towards Nac, however, he did not tell him as he stayed silent, prompting the boy to speak up.

"We… should go," muttered Nac as he rubbed his bruised cheek and took a rather harsh sniff which cause the blood to disappear up his nostril, making Mika nod in agreement.

Like their first outing to the West side, Nac led the way back to the Carolina residence. Unlike their first outing, however, Nac was uncommonly silent during the duration of the walk. Mika did the same, though he did consider speaking up on several occasions, only to go against his instinct and stay silent.

Right when they got back to the Carolina Residence, Nac went straight up to his shared room and secluded himself inside for a rather worryingly long time. Mika, instead, sat down on the couch as he usually did and draped his Tekkadan jacket over his shoulders like a blanket.

For a long moment, Mika simply sat downstairs, quiet. Despite himself, Mika found that he was thinking more of Nac than he was of Tekkadan this night. Looking towards the stairs which led up to the second floor, Mika felt his insides tangle up with a small form of sympathy. Sympathy towards what had happened to Nac, and perhaps some curiosity towards why.

After some time, Augus decided to at least check on Tias to make sure he was alright. Standing up, the boy went up the stairwell, causing the stairs to squeak rather loudly under his weight. Mika didn't pay it any mind as he wasn't trying to mask his approach in any way.

Once he was up top, Mika saw that the door to Mina, Nac and Annies shared room was wide open. Moving towards it, Mika took a slight peak in and saw that Nac had his rear planted firmly onto his bed. His eyes seemed rather red and puffy, telling Augus that he had been crying for some time, and his book was under his rather small pillow. A couple of blood stained tissues laid scattered all over the floor, telling Augus that he was trying to quell the bleeding.

For a short moment, Mika simply peaked in on Nac, not making any move to disturb him. Nac, for his part, didn't seem to notice Augus, simply looking down at the floor, eyes red and his nose still sniffing. During this time, however, Mika felt his insides tangle up with a rather large amount of sympathy for the boy. He did his best to ignore it, but in the end, he could not. Despite his rather tough exterior, Mika was still human. And even he couldn't resist human emotion. It was just in a human's nature to feel worried for someone they consider at least an acquaintance.

Moving into the room, Mika moved to stand in front of Nac, who gave no indication of noticing. An eyebrow raised, Mika knelt down so he was looking Nac at eye level.

"Oi, Nac," he said while snapping his fingers in front of Nac's face, making the taller boy glance up in surprise as though he had just noticed Mika.

"M-Mika-San?!" proclaimed Nac, recoiling back a little in shock and straightening himself up a little as Mika stood. The boy was clearly surprised to see him here. "W-What're you doing here… and when d-did you even get here? And… for how long?"

"Not long ago," replied Augus, ignoring the other two questions as he moved over to take a seat on Mina's bed, just opposite of Nac and straight in front of him. For a moment, Mika simply stared at his acquaintance, who seemed more fidgety than when he first saw him in the room. It took a while, but Nac eventually spoke up.

"...why are you here, anyways?" he asked, making Mika raise an eyebrow.

"I wanted to check on you," was his reply, something which made Nac raise his brows in what he thought to be shock. But it went away rather quickly as he nodded.

"That's… oddly nice of you," admitted Nac, smiling a little, only to wince and rub his cheek, an action which managed to make Augus flinch in slight worry. Though it faded once Nac lower his hand. "I… I'm guessing that you're also wondering who that guy was, huh?"

"... a little," admitted Mika, and Nac thought he was just hearing something, but he thought that Mika seemed at least a little sheepish when he said it. He ignored it, however, as it seemed a little too subtle, and tapped his fingers together.

"Well, it's a little complicated," muttered Nac, cupping his hands together rather nervously. "You… remember how I told you that the West side of Trost was home to more of the undesirable types of people… killers, gang members… and bullies?"

A nod from Mika prompted him to continue, though the boy did let out a sigh beforehand.

"Like I said… it's complicated," repeated Nac, cupping his hands together and looking down. He stayed that way for a good few minutes before looking up at Augus, a little unsure but still willing to go on. "You know how secrets… they don't tend to stay as such for too long. Given enough time, and a secret will become public knowledge…"

"You secretly like something," concluded Mika, and Nac chuckled at that, amused that he figured that out so quickly.

"Exactly…" muttered Tias with a nod. "It's… if you don't know by now… I have an interest in the outside world…"

Mika's response was a gentle huff through his nostrils as he nodded. That much he could figure out thanks to the scraps of paper which littered the room floor. He never took time to actually read them, but he did catch a few words from time to time, such as the repeated use of ocean or blades of grass on occasions.

For his part, Nac seemed surprised at how nonchalantly Mika was taking this new bit of information. He quickly shrugged it off, however, and continued after clearing his throat.

"How long have you known?" asked Tias a little guardedly, and Mika shrugged.

"A week or two," answered the boy, and Nac could only hold back a chuckle in response.

"Well… you can say that my most closely guarded secret got out," continued Nac, tapping his fingers together in an awkward manner. "I… I mean, it's not like I don't trust you or anything! It's just that I hardly speak to anyone about this… only Ms Carolina, Mina and Annie knew before now… "

Nac's tone told Mika that he wasn't too comfortable on talking about his interest. It was strange to him, as he felt that no one should be uncomfortable when speaking about something they liked, at least to those who shared their interest or didn't mind listening anyways. However, Nac's tone reminded the shorter boy of his old CGS days. Back then, he remembered hearing a similar tone from Takaki or Ride when they did something which the First Core did not approve of, giving Mika a slight thought, one which he voiced out almost immediately.

"Oi, Nac," said Mika, making Nac blink and look at him. "The way you talk about the outside, it sounds like being interested in it isn't a good thing."

"That's the point," admitted Nac, looking somewhat sheepish as he spoke. "It's not exactly healthy to be as interested in the outside world as I am, at least within the confines of this district… I heard that… before it fell… Maria and all her districts usually held a lot of people like me."

"Those who're interested in the outside?" asked Mika. He had a feeling that he already knew the answer to that, but he decided that it'd be interesting to let the taller boy humored him.

"Yep," replied Nac. "From what I know, the Wallists don't operate outside the Walls of Rose or her districts that much… or they didn't, considering current circumstances. That, and they probably don't have as many supporters out there. But within Rose and Sina, they have quite a lot of support from the locals… up to the point where some people are openly hostile to people like me…"

It didn't take a genius to get that someone like Nac, a person who was heavily interested in the outside world, was not exactly liked around these parts of the Walls, and Mika picked up on that fact rather quickly. And based on what he had both saw and heard previously, it was apparently a normal thing, at least for Nac, to be attacked by people who did not like them.

"Hey, Mika… I've got a slight question for ya…" piped up Nac, knocking Mika out of his trance-like state and causing him to stare at the taller boy, who now looked close to a minor panic attack. Mika took note of that, though he didn't think too much about it. "I'm curious ...what do you think of my… interests?"

"I'm fine with it," said Mika, his gaze softening a little when Nac asked. He didn't exactly care as Nac's interest did not affect him in the slightest, so he didn't have any negative opinions towards it. However, Mika didn't feel like leaving it off there as, for some reason, the boy didn't find it right to not reassure Nac in some way. "But it doesn't matter what I think, Nac."

"...what do you mean by that?" asked Nac, sounding curious with both his brows raised. Mika simply scratched the back of his neck, silently cursing himself for becoming as soft as he has, before he continued on, improvising every word he would come to say.

"I mean that it doesn't matter what I, or anyone else, think," replied Augus, resting both his arms on his thighs as he slouched forward a little. "Other people may think that your interests are weird, and they may attack you for it, but at the end of the day, it's you who's interested in it, not them. It's your life, Nac, not theirs. Don't go changing yourself just because they want you to."

When he finished, Mika found Nac staring at him with wide eyes and his mouth slightly agape, as though Mika had done the impossible. Mika, on the other hand, simply raised an eyebrow, confused as, in his mind, he did nothing more than speak what he believed to be the truth. After all, it never did matter what anyone else thought about Nac liked. All that mattered was that he himself liked it.

Of course, there were certain things which did not fall under this category, but it was best to not speak of those… things.

"I…" muttered Nac, sounding close to tears as he spoke, and it he did break down a little, though he quickly wiped at his eyes before he could properly weep. "S-Sorry about that… I guess I just really needed to hear that…"

"Ah," replied Mika with a nod, and Nac gave a smile.

"Thanks, Mika," he said, and the boy in question had to turn away. For an unknown reason, he was currently feeling an uncharacteristically high amount of embarrassment. However, he quickly got over it and stood up.

"You're welcome," he said with a nod as he headed towards the door to leave the room. Though Nac stopped him before he could leave.

"M-Mika-San," he piped up, making the boy in question turn to face him. Nac seemed reluctant to go on, but he sucked up all his courage and did so anyway. "I… I want to know one more thing… i-if you would be so kind."

"I'm all ears," replied Mika, still maintaining eye contact with the taller boy.

"Why… why did you help be back then?" asked Nac, and Mika gave a gruff huff when he did.

"I…" muttered Mika, trailing off as he had no definitive answer, eventually breaking eye contact and turning his back against Nac. "I don't know… I just felt like it I guess."

"I see…" muttered Nac as he gave a nod. "Well, either way, you just saved my ass from an ass whooping… so thanks."

Turning once more, Mika saw that Nac was flashing him his signature, friendly smile. He also noted that Nac seemed to be sitting up straighter, his right fist was close to where his heart would be while his left arm was behind his back in an almost salute-like manner. Mika didn't know what to make of it, but gave a nod to acknowledge Nac's thanks before leaving the room.

'You were right, Mina… Mika-San is like Annie… he's lonely…' thought Nac once Mika was gone, dropping his rather forced 'Military Brigade salute' and placing a hand onto his bruised cheek. 'Hopefully we can help him… just like how we helped Annie…'

And finally, he sighed and yelped a tad when he unintentionally applied too much pressure on his bruised cheek.

'Now… how am I gonna explain this to Carolina-San…'


Boom, I'm back.

Two updates in a row. That's unexpected, even for me. Didn't expect to update this so soon :P

Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed this one. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the next handful of chapters will not have Barbatos. We needa have some character development (at least I hope I'm developing them properly).

And if you're wondering, I did kinda recycle the first chapter of Iron Blooded Heroes a little for this. Just putting that out there.

Now I have 2 updates I'd like to throw out, so bear with me

UPDATE #1: NOW, despite me being a side character lover, I somehow managed to forget about Hanji's assistant, Moblit. I realized that a little too late, and when I did, I went back to edit Chapters 3-5, most notably C3.

UPDATE #2: not too long ago, I got the AOT 2 game. Technically my sister got it, but you get the point. A lot of new ideas popped up for me while I was playing that game, so expect some ideas from there to be implemented here.

And that's basically all. Onto the 2 reviews I've got.

Glasses Writer: I guess I really am that predictable and hopefully this chapter of characters messing with each other is alright for ya :P

CrazyCriticer46: ah shucks. Thanks man :)

Aight see ya in… whatever story I update after this? Yeah, that works.

Not too long after the end of C7


"Hey, Mika?"

"Hm?"

"I was wondering if you were interested in hearing about the… outside?"

With a raised eyebrow, Mika shrugged as he adjusted his position on the bed he was sitting on. He gave a nod, and Nac immediately went ahead to speak to him about the outside. He spoke of everything he knew, which were essentially things which Mika himself knew about thanks to his time on his earth.

Not too long after Nac started, Mina joined in and told Mika about the stuff she knew about the outside. And not too long after, Annie came in to listen to Mika be barraged by information.

To his immense credit, Mika listened to Nac and Mina for hours on end. They spoke for hours upon hours, speaking all the way into nightfall, close to eleven at night. By then, Annie had fallen asleep on the top bunk of the bed she shared with Mina. Mina spoke herself to sleep by the time eleven came by, and Nac himself called it a day when twelve rolled by.

"And that mostly sums it up, the beginner stuff anyways…" muttered an exhausted Nac as he yawned and laid down on his bed. Mika himself huffed and nodded before standing and exiting the room, leaving the three to sleep.