Chapter 14

Training began the next morning, after everyone had a full night's sleep. Well, tried to at least. The Twins, Honey and Mori were back outside, practicing their skills. While Mori and Honey practiced the 3DMG, the Twins worked on hand-to-hand combat, being instructed that once they got the hang of that, they'd move onto the swords. Once that was mastered, they'd have to put it together and learn how to attack while airborne.

Hange had fought her case rigorously. Finally, there was someone who legitimately wanted to learn about titans and there was no way she'd let them have him. So, in the end, they gave in. Tamaki was placed in Hange's squad, who then, after keeping him up all night explaining what they knew so far, began to teach him what they planned on doing. She'd teach him survival skills once the courtyard quietened down.

That left Haruhi, who planned on never leaving the walls, and Kyoya. "I have medical skills," Kyoya told them, recalling the, very, few lessons he'd had a while back. Maybe he didn't put as much effort into that, but he remembered enough to be of use. "I'll join Tamaki with his training later." Erwin nodded, deciding it would be helpful to have a medic on the field with them. But there was still Haruhi.

"What did you do back home?" He asked her.

"Nothing like this," she answered, looking slightly queasy.

"You don't want to go out there, do you?"

"No." Her voice was quiet and fearful.

"Haruhi," Erwin knelt down, figuring this was the time to be on the same level. "Everyone fears titans, it's only natural to. But we've all decided that there are more important things to protect."

"Like what?"

"It's different for all of us. Your friend, Tamaki, was completely right. We do it because there are things we love more than ourselves. Thing we aspire for, things we'd do anything to get back, or return to."

Haruhi looked up at him, "you think we can get back?"

"I do, but for that to happen, you need to get over your fears." Erwin stood up, giving Haruhi a friendly smile. "Talk to the others around, ask them how they get over their fears. Once you've got a hold of them, come back to me. Then you'll more on to the next step." He then ruffled her hair, before walking off, leaving Haruhi with lots of plans.

Just get them to... talk about their feelings, Haruhi thought, walking through the courtyards to where everyone was training. Her eyes flickered through the people, landing on Levi and then Mikasa. This should be easy.

"Haru-chan!" Honey exclaimed, waving from his place in the 3DMG gear. Haruhi smiled at him, giving a wave.

"Haruhi!" The Twins shouted, Hikaru momentarily forgetting that he was in the middle of a fight. The results? His chest on the floor with Jean's foot on his back, making Kaoru roar with laughter. Which made Hikaru scowl at him. "Don't laugh! Help me."

"No," Eren pulled on Kaoru's shoulder, "it's your turn now." Kaoru gulped.

Haruhi looked around at all the people, before spotting Armin sat on the side. She made her way over. "Hi." she greeted. sitting besides him.

"Hi," he replied. "Are you going to train?"

Haruhi shook her head. "Erwin told me to first get over my fear."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"By talking. Why do you fight titans?" Armin looked slightly surprised, but then he realised what Erwin must have told her.

"Because I want to see what else there is," Armin replied. "I want to know what else is out there. I have a book, that talked of large expanses of water and so many wonderful things."

"Oceans? You don't have those?" Haruhi questioned, before remembering they were confined to walls. What they saw was limited. Armin shook his head. "Any more questions?"

"How do you forget about your fear of titans?" Haruhi said after a pause.

Armin thought about it."I don't forget about it. When you're facing a titan, that's when you feel it the most."

"But don't you need to be fearless?"

"Fearlessness leads to recklessness. You have to remember you fears, otherwise you'll do stupid things that'll cost you your life. But that wasn't your question, was it? I don't forget about my fear, but the desire to see what else is in this world is much greater than my fears, so I fight through it."

Armin looked up, finding Levi glaring at him. Oh how he hated it when Levi was in charge of training. "I've got to go. But here's my advice; find something that you feel stronger about." Then he ran off, thinking of how he'd get out of the cleaning Levi was sure to assign him. Find something you feel stronger about. What did Haruhi thing strongly about? She didn't know anymore. With a huff, Haruhi stood up. Perhaps a nap would clear her head, as she didn't really get much sleep the night before.

Her movements were sluggish as she moved through the castle. On her way, she bumped into someone. immediately apologising. "Haruhi." the person said, making Haruhi look up in shock. "Nekozawa?" She said in shock, gasping. "How are you here?"

"I'm not," he answered, looking the same as ever, excluding the fact that his image was almost transparent, like a ghost. "Look, we're working on getting you back."

"How are you doing this?"

"Portals, black magic, very complicated," he told her. "Just, you have to get back to where you first were. That's the only place a portal can be opened."

Haruhi didn't understand what he was saying, but nodded. "We're working on it. We're leaving soon."

"One week," he said. "It'll be open in one week. You have to be there. Ouran's falling apart without you,"

"We'll be there, I promise."

"Good. I need to leave it isn't stable yet. Good luck." Then he disappeared. Tonight, the Hosts would need to make plans. One week. That was all they had. One week and they'd be home.