"I hate you Lucas Ackerman!"
Looking at his wife in slight annoyance at her outburst, not only was she yelling at him for something that was partly her fault as well but her hair was splayed all over the place, it wasn't neat, it wasn't tidy, and it definitely wasn't clean.
"This is all your fault Lucas!" She yelled once again, the contractions obviously getting more painful for her. She had been like this for the past two hours, usually he wouldn't take something like that without dishing it back, but since she was currently in labour and about to give birth to their child, he let it slide this time.
"Is this normal for a woman giving birth?" Lucas asked one of the nurses that was helping with the birth.
"Giving birth is one of the most painful things a woman can experience." She replied to him. "I wouldn't take anything she says too seriously, she's just trying to take her mind off the pain of the contractions." She told him. "It might also help if you hold her hand and talk to her, give her something to distract her from the pain."
"But my job requires the full use of my hands." He looked over to where Frieda was, she might just break his hand if she squeezed hard enough. "I don't want to turn up to work with a broken hand because my wife broke it while giving birth."
"Lucas! Stop arguing with the midwife and give me your fucking hand!" Frieda demanded in between breaths. "If you don't give me your hand, I'll kick you out of the room and you won't get back in until tomorrow!"
He wasn't sure if this was meant to test him in some way, one one hand, she was a lot stronger than she looked, she was nowhere near as strong as him though, but she could probably fracture or dislocate a few bones in his hand if she squeezed hard enough.
They had both mutually agreed that his livelihood as a Scout came first, that was one of the ground rules set at the start of their relationship, and if she did break his hand, that would break the first rule they had, which would make him trust her less, especially if she couldn't control her outbursts around him.
Granted she was in labour, which was admittedly an extremely painful thing for a woman to go through, but she should've thought about those consequences nine months ago when she basically told him to knock her up. She was either stupid, or insane, probably a bit of both, but there was nothing he could do about it now, except just being there right now.
"Are you going to give me your hand or not?!" Frieda demanded, losing her temper once again.
"If I feel that you're going to either break, fracture or dislocate any of the bones in my hand, I'm retracting it immediately." He told her. "And you won't get to hold it again." He held out is left hand for her, which was his less preferred hand, although he could write with his left, but he preferred to use his right hand for most basic actions.
Grabbing onto his hand with her right hand quite roughly, she squeezed it as hard as she dared, which was still quite hard, but not enough to cause any instant damage.
"You're not going anywhere Lucas." She told him. "You're going to hold my hand until our child is born, no matter how hard I- SHIT!" She yelled as the pain of the contractions started again, doing her best to not break her husband's hand, but she couldn't promise that, especially if this went on for a few more hours.
After another two hours of painstaking labour and constant hand crushing, Frieda Reiss had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, with only her head and soft black hair poking through the top of the pink blanket she was wrapped in, Frieda was holding onto her with tears of happiness in her eyes.
"Lucas, come sit next to me." She moved over and patted the spot on the bed next to her, to which he sat next to her, albeit with some slight nervousness on his part.
"Isn't she just beautiful?" Frieda asked him. "I never thought I would ever love someone as much as I love you or Historia, but after giving birth to her, I just can't put it into words."
"What about her name?" Lucas asked her. "It's not like we can keep referring to her as 'the baby', you'll need to name her."
"Actually... I want you to name her." She replied. "If I named her it would be something boring, but you have this way with words that I don't, and I think that you'll pick a beautiful name for our beautiful baby girl."
"I'm not so sure thats a great idea Frieda, the last time I was told to name a newborn child, she died." He revealed to her. "So I think you should name her."
"No." She simply said in return. "You dont have to name her this instant Lucas." She reminded him. "But I would prefer it if you did it soon, it will be much better when you do have a name for her."
"I don't get a say in this, do I?" He asked, only receiving a gentle smile and a shake of the head in return. "Tch, insufferable woman. This is exactly why men are so whipped by their wives, because women like you lace your words with sugar and make it irresistible for simple males like me."
"Or maybe I'm so irresistible to you because you love me so much." She teased him, knowing fully well that he was awful at displaying his emotions for others to see. There wasn't a specific time she could recall where he had shown her his emotions for more than ten seconds at a time before going back to the blank mask he always wore on his face.
"I still don't think I should name her." He ignored her teasing. "You're the one who gave birth to her, so it should be you that gets to name her." He said, hoping that she would just accept that he didn't want to name her, mainly because he had no idea what to name her, especially since Frieda had said that he would choose a good name for her, the pressure of that was something he didn't want.
"Lucas..." She sighed, he really could be extremely stubborn sometimes. "I won't force you to think of a name for her." She sat up a bit so she was able to look at him better. "But could you at least try? Please, for me?"
Seeing her bright blue eyes looking at him like that, with an almost pleading look to them. It was enough to make any man crumble after just once glance at them, but not Lucas Ackerman, he wasn't going to trip over his own feet just because a pretty girl looked at him like that.
"Your attempts at trying to use your feminine charms to change my mind will not work on me." He said, turning his head away to avoid her gaze. While at the same time, Frieda looked at him, unamused and unfazed with his attempts to deny the effect that she had on him.
"We both know that's not true." She chimed out. "I know that you like it when I try and take charge, especially when we're-"
"Fine!" He conceded, rather loudly as he interrupted her. "I'll think of a name for her, but no promises that it'll either be good or respectable."
Smirking at him in response, knowing that she had beaten him this time, she then offered him the chance to hold the baby. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, mainly because she was extremely tired and wanted to sleep.
"I... don't think I should." He responded. "What if I drop her?" He asked, it wasn't like him to be this nervous about something, but this emphasised the fact that he was just as human as she was, still able to feel emotions, except that he was rather exceptional at hiding them most of the time.
"You've never dropped me, so I fail to see how you would be able to drop her." She teased as she gently held out their baby towards him. "Go on." She urged him. "She wants to meet her daddy."
Seeing that he really had no legs to stand on with any argument he tried to put to her, he gently took the child out of her arms and into his, swallowing the lump in his throat as he got over the nerves he had of accidentally dropping her at first, she would probably end up an idiot like Frieda if he did, and he wouldn't allow that to happen.
"See, you're a natural." She told him as she watched the way he held her in his arms. "I'm also really tired, so I think I'm going to go to sleep." She said as she leaned her head against him.
Seeing her hair was a mess as she leaned on him while she drifted off to sleep, he used his index finger to brush the hair out of her face and behind her ear, leaving his finger behind as he softly caressed her cheek and frowned at her at the same time.
Only when he heard her breathing even out as a signal that she was now fast asleep did he dare speak out loud, but even then he was still muttering, just in case somebody else tried to listen in.
"I can't believe that you talked me into this, stupid woman." He muttered, gently tracing her cheek with his free index finger, still cradling their child with his other arm. "Then again, I could've easily removed myself so you wouldn't have gotten pregnant..." Why didn't he pull out? He didn't really know to be honest. All he could say about it while he held this little girl in his arms, his little girl, he didn't regret his decision in the slightest.
(104th Introduction Ceremony)
The heat produced in the middle of the summer was no laughing matter, especially in the southern regions of Wall Rose where it could become extremely hot, especially during the middle of the day. It almost made Lucas feel bad for what was about to happen, the new cadets were about to be grilled by his former Commander Keith Shadis, then he would make them do whatever he felt like until they either made it to sundown or quit while they still could.
Leaning against one of the walls of the wooden cabin with his arms folded across his chest, looking out at all the cadets that were mainly talking in hushed whispers as they waited for their Commandant to come out and address them, Lucas took note of the man next to him, the two roses on his uniform jacket easily identifying him as the Garrison Regiments Liaison Officer.
"Captain." Ian greeted him, standing straight with both arms behind his back, looking and acting how a superior Officer should.
"Ian." Lucas greeted him, not bothering to take his eyes off the rows of cadets in front of them. "I was expecting Rico to show up this year." He remarked. "She finally had enough of me?"
"I wouldn't know anything about that." Ian responded. "I was only told that I would be the Liaison Officer from the Garrison this year."
"Sure." He snorted at him, Rico basically hated him, he wasn't sure why though, she just seemed to dislike him very much.
"I noticed that the MP's still haven't bothered to send somebody." Ian noted the lack of the MP Liaison Officer. "You would think that they would send somebody eventually, you never know who you'll find in the cadets."
As Ian was talking, Lucas was still skimming through the crowd, he had seen Mikasa, Eren and Armin all there as expected, except Eren looked super serious and looked like he wanted to murder something. But the other thing he noticed was the head on blonde hair on top of a girls head, somebody he certainly didn't expect to see there.
Locking eyes with the only person here that she knew, Historia felt a sense of dread pass through her system. She knew he would be here, yet neglected to tell him that she had signed up for the cadets. She knew that he would have tried to stop her from joining if she had told him, that's the reason why she hadn't even told Alma about it until the day she had to leave.
All she wanted to do was make the only person that had been there for her proud of her. He had done so much for her, saved her and Alma's life, given them both a new one, and even a chance to restart her relationship with her mother, which she wad eternally grateful for.
If she had to go through three years of gruelling training, lying her way through the entire process with her fake identity, living the past two years as a person called Krista Lenz instead of Historia. The only times she had been Historia was when he had visited and refused to call her Krista.
She didn't know her last name. Historia was her only name. Both Lucas and Alma refused to tell her her real last name. She lived her whole life on a Nobles estate, but couldn't remember the name of the Lord for the life of her.
She was given the name Krista Lenz on the way to Wall Rose about an hour after they had left the Reiss Estate that she and Alma lived on. He came up with the name Krista because that was the name of the girl in the book that Frieda liked to read to her, which he occasionally had to do if Frieda was doing something else.
The name Lenz was a bit different though, he had come up with that as a play on the word 'lens', which was what Hange liked to use on her microscope when she tried to see if there was any difference in the composition of his muscles and somebody of the same build because he was much stronger than everybody else in the Scout Regiment at the time.
She could feel herself beginning to shake the longer they kept staring at each other. It was impossible to tell what he was thinkig in this moment, but even if he tried to get her to quit, she would be stubborn and stand firm at the decision she had made. Maybe she wasn't the child that her mother wanted, but she would do everything in her power to make Lucas proud of her, even if it means going to hell and back, even joining the Scouts if that's what it takes.
"Idiot." Lucas thought as he continued to stare at Historia. "I swear that Frieda must have done something to you that night. Joining the Military is hardly the best way to lay low when the Royal Assembly wants your head." He let out an exasperated sigh at that. "For someone who isn't supposed to remember her, you do take after her quite a lot Historia, but if she dies during training, then you won't be the only one who suffers." He thought, he wouldn't put it past Frieda to maim him if Historia did die, it was quite creepy watching her fawn over her like a piece of glass a few years back.
"Straighten those spines pissants!" The voice of Keith Shadis rang out, silencing everyone that was assembled. "The 104th Cadet Corps boot camp starts now!" Shadis announced. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Commandant Keith Shadis, and you will grow to hate me!" He yelled.
"While we're on the topic of introductions, let me introduce these two!" Shadis shouted as he gestured to both Lucas and Ian. "These two are the Liaison Officers from the Scout Regiment and the Garrison Regiment! Their job is to make sure you know what you're getting into when you're choosing which regiment to join, and maybe if you're lucky you'll get a few tips!"
"Now then." Shadis continued. "Training is gonna be a white knuckle ride through hell! If I've done my job you'll be waking up in a cold sweat from memories of this place every night for the rest if your miserable lives! Right now you're nothing, livestock!" He yelled at them.
"But over the next three soul crushing years, you'll learn to take down your own goliath! Remember this moment when you come face to face with him, because here's where you ask yourselves, am I a fighter? Or am I feed? Am I gonna be ground up to pulpy human gristle between boulder sized incisors?! Or am I gonna be the one to bite?!"
"You see anybody that catches your eye?" Ian asked. "You usually go for the stone faced cadets, seems to be plenty of them this year as well."
"Of course, they're my specialty, who doesn't love berating helpless little kids who try and put on a brave face?" He sarcastically asked him. "Don't you enjoy seeing them squirm like worms when you look at them."
"Not everyone has the ability to stare into someone's soul from a mile away like you can Captain." Ian dryly commented. "It's a miracle none of the recruits have run for the hills yet."
"I'll remember that Dietrich." Lucas grunted in annoyance. "See the blonde girl, really short, looks like she couldn't lift a sword, let alone swing one." Ian hummed in acknowledgement. "Leave her to me, the cute ones always give the funniest answers."
"I'll never understand you Captain." Ian retorted. "But it looks like Shadis is starting to yell, we better get to it."
The rite of passage for the new cadets was supposed to break them down and make them into a clean slate, designed to create perfect soldiers who would obey orders without question.
But in reality, when you call someone filthy and that they used to live in a pigsty, they're more than likely to hate you from that first meeting. That's why there were originally no members from either three Regiments helping train new cadets, because if they were disliked and then gave a questionable order in the future, there would probably be problems with the authority being challenged.
Nobody in the first three rows were of any particular interest to Lucas, Mikasa and Eren would have been if he didn't know them. Mikasa because of her blank look, ans Eren because of that hate filled gaze he wore on his face like a mask.
The fourth row was a much different story however, a stone faced blonde girl shorter than Levi and a nose longer than an ODM gear blade, a tall blonde boy that oozed confidence and even with his brave face, an even taller black haired boy that tried to look the part but his darting eyes gave away his nervousness, and finally a tall female brunette with freckles on her face, she looked extremely bored at this point.
The only problem was that Historia was also on that row, and she woupd be easy pickings for Shadis, so to counter this, Lucas went down the row in reverse, starting with the brunette, then Historia, the two tall ones next and finished off with the other small blonde.
The whole idea of talking to the new cadets that put up a brave face was because children trained by an enemy nation to become mass murderers essentially, wouldn't be intimidated when the head instructor breathed in their general direction.
Another problem was the fact that a small number of trainees die each year from equipment malfunction, mishandling of the gear, or freezing to death during the winter survival training. If Historia died during training, then he was sure that his head was going to be on the chopping block, no matter how much Frieda loved him, she was always going to put Historia first.
Another strategy to make the brave cadets more nervous was that he carried a clipboard and a pencil with him during the rite of passage, he usually didn't look at it after the rite of passage finished, unless there were answers that didn't add up.
Making his way down the row in reverse, he stopped infront of the freckled brunette, she was just about the same height as him, obviously going to be taller than him in three years when she graduated. Giving her a once over with his eyes, he tapped the pencil against his clipboard three times before speaking.
"Name and place of birth." He spoke, looking directly into her eyes as he did, while she looked right back, clearly not caring about anything at the moment.
"Ymir." She said with a not so enthusiastic salute, which got Lucas to look at her, his eyes widening slightly in surprise in shock that she was named after the first Titan Shifter. "And I don't know." She answered the second question with.
"Ymir huh?" He questioned, she had obviously seen his reaction to her name, so there was no point in trying to play it off. "That's an interesting name, I've never met anyone with that name before, who gave it to you?" He inquired.
"Who cares?" She snorted. "It doesn't matter anyway. We'll all be dead eventually."
"That's the most interesting answer I have ever heard." Lucas remarked. "I hope that you're not one of the cadets that die this year Ymir." He started walking away only to turn back to face her. "I wouldn't worry about only having one name though, most people here are nice enough."
Seeing her stiffen slightly at the mention of her name was enough for him to know that she knew what her name meant, so that was one extremely likely candidate for an enemy shifter.
Next down the line was Historia, which was good since Shadis had almost arrived at her. It wasn't really a surprise seeing her tense up as he stopped infront of her, she really was like a blonde mini Frieda.
"Name and place of birth." He spoke using the same tone he had used with Ymir, giving the appearance that they didn't know each other.
"K-Krista Lenz Sir!" She saluted rather stiffly, while shouting at him. "I'm from Wall Rose!"
"I didn't ask for you to shout in my face Cadet Lenz." He calmly spoke to her, seeing that she was acting as if Shadis was screaming in her face. "My job isn't to scream in your face or belittle you without even knowing you. I'm here to build a... rapport with the new Cadets, and in turn, they get to know what being a Scout is all about, understand?"
"Yes Sir!" Historia responded, fitting in with her Krista persona quite well, the only thing left was to make sure that Frieda didn't brainwash her into being too nice right before they parted ways two years ago.
"So, what's an adorable little girl doing in a place that trains people to kill the monsters of this world?" He asked since Shadis had yet to pass them, he didn't know what she had been through, he wouldn't get to humiliate her.
"Um... well-" She hesitated and her salute loosened at the casual nature he had thrown that question at her with. "I want to help people in need, and I'll do whatever it takes."
"You could have easily helped people in need at a charity hospital in Wall Rose." He countered her statement with. "There are other ways to help people than by becoming a soldier."
"Well- that's- I don't-" She stuttered, not seeming to have an answer to that reply he had given her.
Holding his hand up to silence her, waiting for Shadis to walk past before he spoke back to her. Once Shadis had moved onto the next fearful cadet, he leaned down into her ear to whisper. "You did well not to give yourself away Historia." He told her. "But I expect you to tell me the real reason you're here later tonight."
Pulling away from her ear, he continued his way down the line until he stopped infront of the tall black haired boy. He towered above Lucas, to the point where he was staring directly at his chest. Craning his neck back to look up at the boy, who clearly became more nervous at the look he was getting from him.
"Name and place of birth?" He requested once again, it was the same question posed every time, it was simple but effective in getting information on the cadets.
"Bertholdt Hoover Sir!" He saluted. "I'm from the South East of Wall Rose!" He announced.
"That's a very vague answer Hoover." Lucas replied. "Can you be a little more specific?" He asked politely.
"I'm from a mountain village in the south east of Wall Maria." He clarified.
"The name of the village?" Lucas asked in return, it should've been a simple enough question to answer, but seeing the boy falter and become more nervous, he knew something was off. "Were you the village idiot?" He asked, masking his suspicion with annoyance. "How fucking stupid do you need to be to forget the name of your village?"
"Well- uhh..." He stuttered in response, trying to think of something to say in response.
"You know what, it doesn't fucking matter." Lucas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just don't be so fucking stupid in the future, or you really won't survive this training."
After being acknowledged by the tall idiot and writing something down on the clipboard, he moved down the line to the person next to him, the tall blonde. He was a lot more muscular than the other lanky boy, more confident in his stance, overall just better at keeping his emotions hidden.
"Name and place of birth?" The question was repeated once again.
"My name is Reiner Braun Sir." He responded with a firm salute. "I'm from a mountain village in the south east of Wall Maria."
"You from the same village as that idiot next to you?" He questioned. "I feel sorry for you if you are, having to know someone as stupid as him."
"We are from the same village." He confirmed. "Our village didn't recieve the news of the breach like most river towns. One morning when I opened the window, there was a Titan standing right there." He looked quite saddened by this, but it was obviously a lie, nobody looks a Titan in the eye and just escapes.
"If I wanted to listen to a sob story, I would've gone down to an orphanage where parents dump their kids because they didn't want the responsibilities that come with parenthood." He deadpanned. "I don't care about what happened to you, nobody here should."
"Uhh... yeah, you're right Sir." Reiner replied after faltering for a second before regaining his composure. "I shouldn't have brought it up."
"No, you shouldn't have." He agreed. "But since I'm so nice, I'll let it slide this time, but for future reference Braun, don't talk about shit that's not relevant to the conversation at all."
After quickly writing somethinh down, Lucas moved down the line, ignoring the ones Shadis had already screamed at, instead going for the second smallest person he had ever met in his life.
She was just about taller than Historia, but about three inches shorter than Levi. Blonde hair tied into a bun, with her hair hanging over her right eye.
The same question was repeated once again, only this time the girl in front of him didn't waver at all during his questioning. Her responses were all simple, she was from southern Wall Maria, she quite bravely refused to give more details of her hometown, only that she managed to escape to Trost.
"Interesting story." Lucas commented after she told him that she was a refugee. "But why did you join the Military then?"
"I joined so that I could apply for the Military Police." She replied. "I just want to live a safe life behind the Inner Wall." She truthfully replied.
"That's only until the Walls are breached again, leading to another massacre, mass starvation within the last Wall and possibly a Civil War between the citizens and Royal Government." He deadpanned. "Nobody is ever safe, don't lie to yourself by believing you ever will be."
The girl didn't waver at that, which was somewhat impressive, most people would've crumbled after having their fantasy of safety brought down on top of them, but not this short blonde. Writing the name Annie Leonhart down on the clipboard, only one word accompanied it, 'Interesting.'
Most of the braver cadets were in the first few rows, but there were still a few more in the latter rows, only to look like they wanted to run for the hills at the sight of the Captain stopping in front of them. There were also a few more complete idiots within the ranks, a short boy with a shaved head who somehow managed to salute backwards.
There was also the girl who tried to bribe Shadis with a potato, after yelling in her face about eating at the formation , she offered him half, which wasn't even half, more like a quarter. Shadis then gave her the option of running until she dropped or losing food rations for three days. She took off running almost instantly.
Despite the fact that he knew people that were doing the training this year, Lucas couldn't help but think that this would the worst year by far, especially if there was anybody else as remotely stupid as Blouse and Springer.
Later that day, after Shadis had run them through the ringer with physical exercises, the cadets got to eat their dinner, well everyody except one cadet did. Sasha was still running well into the night, she was supposed to be at least, and she wasn't supposed to be fed until morning.
He didn't know exactly what Frieda had done to Historia when she said goodbye, but she definitely had something to do with her going out of her way to disobey a direct order from Shadis to not feed Blouse.
Standing in front of Historia, who looked like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, Ymir was also there with her, just looking on without a care in the world, Sasha however, was passed out on the floor, with breadcrumbs around her mouth and on the ground beside her.
"What are you two doing?" He demanded. "It's almost curfew, and Cadet Blouse wasn't supposed to be fed until tomorrow morning if she was lucky."
"We're just gonna take her back to the bunkhouse, Sir." Ymir spoke up before Historia could. "Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"Who fed her?" He cut to the chase, he knew it was Historia, but he wanted to see if she admitted to it, but neither of them responded. "I'll ask again, who fed her?"
"I did Sir." Historia admitted. "I did it on my own, please don't punish Ymir, she had nothing to do with it." She insisted.
"Take Blouse back to the bunkhouse." He directed at the brunette, then turned towards Historia. "Follow me Cadet Lenz, is seems that we need to have a chat about how to follow orders properly."
"Yes Sir." Her head dropped as she began to follow him, he was probably going to use this as an excuse to kick her out of the Military, she wouldn't blame him if he did, she disobeyed an order and had to be reprimanded for it.
The walk to the instructors cabin was short, but it felt like hours for Historia. She wanted a purpose in her life, she wanted him to be proud of her, to tell her that she had done well, to praise her, to make her feel needed. She wanted to be remembered by people, and the only way of doing that was to do something heroic.
Stepping inside the instructors cabin with Historia following silently, they stepped inside of a room which looked mostly bare but had a single desk with a window behind.
"Sit." He told her as he sat down behind the desk, leaning back on his chair as he put his feet up on the desk while she sat down opposite him, playing with her dress nervously. "Do you know why I brought you here?"
"You're going to kick me out right?" She guessed. "I'm sorry for disobeying orders, but I was just trying to be nice, I just wanted to make a friend." She told him.
"I'm not even remotely annoyed that you disobeyed Shadis' orders, I used to do that all the time, so I'm not in any place to grill you for it." He replied. "I'm not going to kick you out either, as much as it pains me to say, I don't have any authority in the Cadet Corps."
"If I'm not getting kicked out, why did you bring me here then?" She asked curiously, hopefully he didn't want to know why she really joined, it would be embarrassing to tell him about it.
"Well for one, I wanted to use your actual name Historia, instead of that fake one I gave you. Secondly, I want to know why you really joined the Cadets, you were safe enough living with Alma in Wall Rose, not to mention that helping people bullshit you gave me earlier." He said while staring directly at her. "Come on, out with it."
"I just wanted you to be proud of me." She mumbled out, looking down at her skirt, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Didn't hear that. Say it again." He requested.
"I wanted you to be proud of me." She looked up at him this time, but he didn't say anything so she kept on going. "You saved me and mother that night, you helped us, you gave us a new home, you got mother to talk to me, to have a semi-normal relationship with me." She took a breath after all that, but didn't stop yet. "You did it for nothing in return, you were the first friend I ever had, the first person who wasn't disgusted with my existence or ignored me completely."
"Historia, stop-"
"Everyone in the Walls knows who you are, you'll be remembered forever as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. I just want to be remembered as well, I want to have friends who can rely on me, who I can trust, who will trust me. That's why I joined, Historia isn't wanted, but Krista can be."
"Historia..." He began as he took his feet off the desk, looking at her properly this time. "It's not my place to tell you how to live your life, but I'll tell you that putting on an act isn't a good thing to do, because eventually you'll back yourself into a corner you can't get out of."
"I know that." She replied. "But it's what I want to do." She stubbornly told him. "You can't stop me."
"Is that so..." He hummed, she might have been timid most of the time, but she was quite stubborn when she wanted something, it reminded him of Frieda. "Historia." He stopped her from leaving. "Why did you give Blouse that food?"
"Because it was the right thing to do, and I wanted to be friends with her." She replied honestly. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No... it's not." He denied. "You just reminded me of someone when you did that."
"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Historia asked.
"No... she's an idiot." He deadpanned. "I'd be worried if you ended up like her Historia, being nice to people is fine, but there's a limit to how nice you should be to people, if you continue on like she has, you'll be dead before you hit thirty."
"Right..." She trailed off, not sure how to respond to that. "Can I go back to the bunkhouse now?"
"Sure." He replied as they both stood up. "The aptitude test is tomorrow, you'll need to concentrate if you want to pass, if you don't pass, you can't stay."
"Okay." She nooded. "But there's something else Lucas."
"What is-" He was cut off by Historia giving him a quick hug.
"Thank you for caring about Historia, but please call me Krista from now on." She requested.
"Cadet Lenz is the best you'll get, someone has to remember your actual name Historia." He replied as she let go. "Now get to bed before Shadis catches you... Pipsqueak."
She pouted at the use of the nickname for her but didn't say anything, instead letting the silence fill the air as she retreated back to the bunkhouse for the night.
(The next day)
The aptitude test, something Lucas hated with every fibre of his being, he had failed the first day of aptitude training, and barely passed on the second day, with the Instructor only passing him because he stayed upright for long enough before losing balance again.
Some of the 104th who hadn't dropped out after the first day were getting the hang of it. Mikasa who had cut her hair, had just hung there like it was second nature, others like Armin struggled at first but soon got the hang of it.
Eren however, was a completely different story, much like Lucas had, he was hanging upside down on his first attempt, while being not so subtly laughed at by the other cadets.
"What is your major malfunction Yeager?!" Shadis bent down to yell at him. "Straighten yourself up!"
"Why am I... how do I work this thing?" Eren asked himself in horror at his own failure. "This can't be happening."
"Idiot." Lucas muttered under his breath. "The one time I need him to do something properly, and he can't even do it."
Later that evening after the initial tests had finished, Eren had enlisted the help of Mikasa and Armin to help him learn how to use the gear, with Mikasa being used by Eren to go and get her big brother to help him as well.
"Just remember the basics and you should be fine." Mikasa told him. "No need to try any fancy manoeuvres. Just focus on your balance, then distribute your weight evenly between the belts on your waist and your legs." She explained.
"Loosen up your stance a little bit." Armin suggested. "If I could do it, I know that you can." He tried encouraged Eren.
"Okay, a loose stance but balanced." Eren repeated, he glanced to the side to see that Lucas didn't say anything, only a nod of the head from him. "Let's give it a shot Armin."
Armin nodded and started to crank the lever and hoist him up. As soon as his feet left the ground, he wobbled backwards, started panicking and fell forwards with his forehead colliding with the ground, leaving him unconscious.
"Eren!" Mikasa and Armin panicked as they rushed over to him, with Mikasa detaching him from the cables of the machine.
"Is he gonna be alright." Armin asked. "He looked like he hit his head pretty hard there."
"Eren, can you hear us?" Mikasa rapidly asked. "Lucas, is he okay?" She turned to her brother.
Sighing internally, Lucas bent down to have a look at Eren, there was a nasty cut on his forehead, but that would heal quickly. Taking his index and middle fingers, he placed them under the corner of his lower jaw, and felt a faint thumping every second or so.
"He'll be fine, he still has a pulse." He replied, and was proven right as Eren gave out a soft groan as he was coming to. "See, totally alright."
Before Eren could fully wake up, Lucas took the liberty of removing his belt, and before anyone could ask why, he started giving them instructions.
"Armin, take Eren to the infirmary to get that cut bandaged." He told him.
"I'll take him." Mikasa spoke up. "I can carry him easily."
"No, Armin will take him Mikasa." Lucas repeated. "You and me are going to see if this belt is broken the old fashioned way, and I doubt that Armin could lift me off the ground fast enough."
Knowing that arguing with him was pointless and that he was correct, Mikasa conceded and allowed Armin to help Eren to the infirmary once he could stand up.
"What are you going to do now?" Mikasa asked once Eren and Armin had left.
"I'm going to see if there's anything wrong with his belt." He replied as he removed his own belt. "Eren might be a complete idiot, but I refuse to believe that he can't complete this simple exercise." He explained as he pulled Eren's belt around his waist. It was a bit tight since it was meant to fit Eren who was smaller than him, but since he wasn't exactly a giant, he managed to get it on without cutting off the blood flow to his legs too much.
"You ready Mikasa?" He asked as he attached the wires to the belt, to which she nodded in return. "Okay, be quick about it, I don't want to hit my head like Eren did."
"You want me to lift you fast enough so that you won't hit your head if you do fall over like Eren?" Mikasa asked.
"Yes, you see why I asked you to do this instead of Armin now?"
"Yes, I do now." She responded. "He wouldn't be able to lift you fast enough in case you fall over, I'll do it quickly, if it will help Eren."
"Of course you'd take it that way." He sighed. "Whatever, you ready?" She nodded. "Okay, three, two, one, go."
Once the word 'go' was said, Mikasa began cranking the handle as fast as she could, lifting Lucas off the ground a lot faster than someone was supposed to be lifted using the aptitude test. Once his feet left the ground, he started wobbling forward and backwards, the combination of what was obviously a defective belt, and being hoisted off the ground quicker than usual, he ended up nearly falling over completely, with only his core strength keeping him upright.
Once he was high enough off the ground, Mikasa stopped turning the handle so tht she could help her older brother in identifying what was wrong with the gear.
"Have you found out what's wrong with the belt?" Mikasa asked as she observed him, he was hanging there, the only movements were the slight shaking that was happening every few seconds or so, and the adjustments he had to make to counter the defective gear.
"It's not working like it should." He replied as he shifted his weight slightly again. "I shouldn't need to constantly shift my weight to stay upright, the belt is definitely broken." He explained. "You can let me down now."
Once she had let him back down and he had taken Eren's belt off, he handed it back to Mikasa.
"Give this back to Eren, but don't tell him that it's defective." He told her.
"Why not?" She asked. "Surely you would want him to pass the test tomorrow."
"I'm sure he'll be fine Mikasa." Lucas reassured her. "Even if he fails again, I'll step in and give him a functioning belt."
"Mikasa." Lucas spoke up again before she could. "You could have stayed in Trost with Mom, why did you join the Military?"
"Because wherever Eren goes, I go." She responded with. "He's like family, and I promised Mrs Yeager that I would protect him, that's why."
"Mikasa..." He needed to choose his words carefully. "A life where you're dedicated to someone else isn't a life you should live. I'm not saying you shouldn't protect Eren or whatever you want to to do with him, just remember that Mom would prefer that you didn't throw your life away just because he saved your life."
"Would you stop me if that was the situation?" She asked suddenly. "If I could save him, but die, would you stop me?"
"... That's an odly specific question Mikasa." He replied after a short pause. "Let's hope that it never comes to that, because I'm not sure you would like my answer."
"I see..." She trailed off. "I'll go give this back to Eren." She left without another word to him.
"I hate teenagers." He muttered before walking away from the aptitude testing area as well.
The next morning, the air was thick with anticipation. Eren was about to have a second try at the aptitude test.
"Eren Yeager, are you ready?" Shadis asked once Eren was strapped into the testing device.
"Yes Sir." He answered.
"Proceed." Shadis commanded.
Slowly, Thomas began to turn the lever, which slowly began to lift Eren off the ground. He grunted with the effort that was being exerted, but despite the wobbling he was doing, he was able to stay upright. The Cadets all cheered for him, he was finally able to stay upright with the gear.
Unfortunately for Eren, the joy of staying upright only lasted for a few more seconds until he lost his balance and ended up on the floor again, but this time, not one of the Cadets laughed, giggled or even smirked at his failure.
"No! Not yet! Once more! I can do it!" Eren pleaded after seeing Shadis slowly make his way towards him.
"Lower him." Shadis ordered, the disappointment in his voice clear as day.
Eren fell to his knees the moment he hit the ground, tears welling up in his eyes. "I- I'm finished."
"Wagner, please exchange belts with Mr Yeager." Shadis requested to the surprise of many, mostly because he had asked so politely.
"Uh, yes Sir." Thomas replied, confused, but still complied with the orders.
Once Thomas had given his belt to Eren, and Eren handing his belt to Shadis, Eren was lifted into the air once again. This time however, it was a completely different outcome. Instead of falling on his head like before, he was able to balance properly on the gear like everyone else.
"Your equipment was defective." Shadis explained to the confused Cadets as he held it out for Eren to see. "If given a piece of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the supply depo and crack a couple skulls."
"So you mean I... I didn't wash out?" Eren was hopeful now.
"You made the cut." Shadis confirmed. "Now keep training Cadet!"
Eren smiled in glee, he was going to become a soldier and get his revenge on the Titans who invaded his hometown, and he wouldn't stop, not until every last one was dead.
A/N- I have finally finished up this chapter, it took much longer than I had hoped it would, mainly because I wasn't writing as much and as often as I naybe should have. Anyway, now that the 104th has started, what will Lucas do with the 'suspicious characters' he has uncovered? Mainly Ymir because of her name, but Bertholdt because he didn't know the name of his supposed village and Reiners BS sob story.
Anyway, if you have any questions about the story, leave a comment and I'll answer it at the start of the next chapter, until then. I hope you enjoyed!!!
