Keith Shadis, their instructor, introduced himself and started yelling and insulting everyone. It was their first day of joining the cadet corps. Some people introduced themselves when Shadis asked them, "Who the hell were they? What did you come here to do?" etc.
"You there," yelled Shadis at Armin, who was trembling in fear but didn't show it.
"Sir," Armin also yelled while doing the Sassageyo pose.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina District, sir!"
Shadis insulted about his name and other things; sometimes, the trainees thought he was assigned to train them to become soldiers and insult them. It was his job, or more it had become his nature.
"Arlert, what did you come here to do?" asked Shadis. This time, it was not that loud as it was the last time, but loud enough so that everyone could hear.
Armin closed his eyes and answered loudly, "To contribute to humanity's victory, sir!" expecting he won't be insulted more. Still, his luck wasn't with him today. Shadis insulted him more and moved to the other cadets.
Armin remembered that Eren stood up for him whenever someone bullied him; no matter the circumstances, Eren always fought for him. Whenever Eren insulted him. Mikasa would've punched him.
After insulting Armin, Shadis insulted other cadets like Thomas, Mina, Jean, Connie, Shasha, etc. Mikasa introduced herself before. She and Armin weren't insulted that much.
"Your training will be started the day after tomorrow, as tomorrow other Titan baits will be coming," yelled Shadis as he dismissed them.
It was dinner time, and everyone surrounded Armin and Mikasa. As they heard, Armin and Mikasa were from Shiganshina District.
"As I said, I saw everything," said Armin annoyed. Mikasa saw that and wanted to brush them off, but then she thought Armin's only friends were she and Eren. Maybe he could make new friends. They asked Armin and Mikasa more and more questions.
"Let's stop asking them questions. They sure don't want to recall some memories," said Marco in a worried tone. They all realized they had crossed the line.
It was already the next day. They were already on the training grounds. Some new cadets were ready to be insulted by Shadis. Mikasa and Armin were expecting Eren to come. They were not the only ones Shadis was also expecting Eren to come. Shadis insulted the new cadets until he saw a figure standing there. He was surprised to see Eren but didn't show it.
He moved close to that figure and asked, "Who the hell are you?".
"Eren Yeager, from Shiganshina District, sir!" Eren answered in a cold tone while doing the Sassageyo pose. The cadets that came yesterday were all looking at him as well as the others.
"What the hell are you here for?" asked. Shadis, knowing that his answer will be to kill the Titans or something like that. But to his surprise, he didn't say anything about Titans.
"To destroy my enemies and leave the confined walls," Eren answered again in a cold tone, but this time with more seriousness looking at the warriors, who were standing opposite to him.
It was evening, and Eren was on the backside of the cafeteria; he was waiting there to meet with Mikasa and Armin. Eren felt someone behind him; he looked around to see only to find the other two. They didn't say anything. Eren knew it was his fault for completely disappearing without telling them. But then again, it wasn't. He didn't know why the hell he was disappeared.
"Yo, Armin, how's it been?", asked Eren finally breaking the silence between the trio. He knew Armin was going to yell at him, but still, Eren asked. Armin walked even more, closer to him, his head was down he grabbed Eren's collar and yelled at him "The hell, you were utterly disappeared for the last two months, without even telling us, you know how worried were, how much worried Mikasa was. It was a surprise for Eren to see how much Armin had changed. When Armin was still in the 104th cadet corps in his past life, he couldn't even punch anyone, even after that. But things changed in the end.
He only said one word, "Sorry." Armin and Mikasa was confused. They looked at each other and then at Eren. "Eren, have you been fine?" asked Mikasa.
It felt like he had heard her voice in ages. He brought himself to talk to her and said, "I am sorry for not telling you anything and doing everything on my own. I regret it." They both were confused about what he was saying.
Of course, they wouldn't have figured it out. He was talking about his past life, all the destruction he had done. But, then again, it was all necessary. The rumbling was necessary. He felt like he had to do it; no one other than him could do it.
I am getting good at this. I will act like this in front of everyone, including them, until I achieve my goal.
Armin was still grabbing Eren. Armin couldn't stay angry at him for long. Without hesitation, Armin hugged Eren and then, and after a moment, Mikasa also hugged him. "It doesn't matter, now that you are here with us," said Mikasa with tears rolling down her face. Eren was surprised by the hug. Maybe it was because the last time they met, Eren had beaten the hell out of Armin and said those terrible things to Mikasa. But it was all in the other life; he was given a second chance, which he would not waste.
It was dinner time, and the cadets that had come today had surrounded Armin and Mikasa. Eren wasn't there as he was unpacking his stuff. At least that's what he had told them. The new cadets eagerly waited for their questions to answer that they had asked the two of them. The cadets from the other days tried to stop them. But they couldn't, Afterall they had also asked them.
Eren walked through the cafeteria door with everyone looking at him. What the hell, Armin, what have you told them? He was annoyed by them staring at him. If he were still the hotheaded person he was back then, he would've been confused. What was happening? Why are they staring at me? Without having a clue.
Eren and Armin's gaze met, and Eren told him that he would stay somewhere else because of the crowd. It made Armin think how much Eren had changed; he felt like Eren had distanced himself from them. Maybe it was because of his mother. Eren sat at a table opposite Reiner's. He was thinking of ways to prevent the destruction.
Okay, Let's start from the beginning. In this room, there are five Titan Shifters. Me, Ymir, Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie. First, there is Ymir; she is not on their side nor ours. I have to get her on my side. I don't know much about her, but I know her weakness, Historia. Thinking of her, I guess I should warn her. After all, she is the one that I-
She would do anything for Historia. For winning her trust, I have to save Historia from any danger. Come to think of it, wasn't Historia has taken hostage. I will take advantage of that and win her trust.
Even if it doesn't work, she will eventually side with me. I already have a backup plan. If I have Ymir on my side, it will help her and me also. After all-. He was pulled away by his thoughts by Jean and the other cadets.
"Did you just said you wanted to enlist in the survey corps?" asked Jean, trying to pick up a fight with Armin. "Y-yes," answered Armin. "Well, you are right. It's not like you are going to be in the top 10", said Jean mocking him.
Eren looked at him and thought, I had almost forgotten Jean was this annoying. So, he is trying to pick up a fight. Wait, I could use the moves Annie taught me. It would take the warriors by surprise. These moves are not taught inside the walls. They would be more cautious and try not to do something stupid while we are here. Damn, Jean, I don't want to say this but thank you.
"And if he did?". Armin looked behind him and saw Eren asking, more like telling him. "Who the heck are you?" asked Jean. "Answer my question," said Eren, with a cold tone. Jean was frustrated and thought, what is his problem?
"You trying to pick up a fight with me?" Jean asked, raising his eyebrows. "I have much better things to do than picking up a fight with a horse," said Eren, mocking him. Jean stood up and walked up to him and grabbed his collar. 'This is what I wanted,' Eren thought to himself and smirked. "Put your hands off," said Eren bluntly. "And if I don't?" asked Jean, with a smirk.
Eren gripped Jean's hand and yanked him by the wrist towards him, and then swept out Jean with one well-placed kick.
Everyone in the room was shocked by Eren's actions. Of course, Armin and Mikasa also were. Mikasa thought he was going to be beaten up like usual. But to her surprise, Eren had beaten Jean instantly. Armin was shocked to see his friend doing this. Usually, Eren was the one on the floor. But this time, he was there standing without having a scratch.
Eren was giving Jean a disgusting look. Eren was about to leave when he heard Jean calling him, "What the hell was that? Jean grunted. He looked back and said, "Something that I was being taught when you were daydreaming about enlisting in the Military Police."
"So, you also want to join Survey Corps," Jean stood up while saying.
"I believe that's what I said in the morning," Eren answered while walking away out of the cafeteria.
Half of an hour had passed since that incident. Eren was waiting outside the cafeteria waiting for Armin and Mikasa. Suddenly, he heard Mikasa calling out his name, "Eren…Eren", She was waving at him. She was not far enough; he walked to her quickly. "Where's Armin?" Eren asked her. She looked at him and said, "You didn't see him. He came outside just 10 minutes ago".
"Did he? I guess I wasn't paying attention", said Eren; his tone was dead. Mikasa was looking at him in nervousness, and she asked him.
"Hey, Eren…" she called out his name in nervousness.
"Yes," Eren said, confused. "Is everything all right?" said Mikasa. "You know you can tell me." Eren looked at her with a cold face, "It's nothing." He expected her to be stubborn like usual. Still, she just said, "Okay, but if you consider telling me, then don't hesitate." It took him by shock. Something is not correct. She is usually stubborn and overcaring. There was a silence between them which Eren decided to break.
"Well, I have a request to make," asked Eren.
"Okay, what is it about?" said Mikasa, not sure what he was going to ask her.
"About Armin," said Eren while looking away.
"Did you two fought?" asked Mikasa.
"No, it's about… can you train him?" asked Eren, who was still looking away.
"I don't have a problem," said Mikasa. "But..."
"What?" asked Eren, who now looked at her.
"When did you learn those moves?" asked Mikasa, who was also looking at him.
"Well…"
Eren didn't know how to answer her. He couldn't just say he was given a second chance. Wait, Hannes told me that I distanced myself from them after my mom was eaten for the last five years. I barely met them. But two months ago, I completely disappeared. Maybe, for the five years, I distanced myself from them right after I ate my father.
"Are you gonna tell me or not?" asked Mikasa, who was annoyed.
"Sorry," said Eren. "I learned these moves in the past five years."
"Armin is there waiting for you," Mikasa said. They were already at their destination.
"Y-yeah."
"Don't stay late. Tomorrow is our first day."
"Okay."
Mikasa went to the girls' barracks. Now Eren and Armin was alone outside the boys' barracks. There was a comfortable silence between them, which Eren finally broke.
"I never thought Mikasa would forgive me this easily."
"Well, I thought the same, but when I asked her, she just said, 'Eren took three adults for me. If he wanted to abandon me, he would have never saved me in the first place."
"Yeah, but only two of them. The third one was taken out by Mikasa".
Armin stopped. He was staring at Eren. "You forgot," Armin said while raising his brows. "What?" asked Eren. "You alone killed those three adults," Armin said, still not breaking his stare. "What?" Eren asked, his eyes froze.
This doesn't seem right. Mikasa killed the last one.
"Eren, you fine?" asked Armin to Eren, whose eyes were still frozen. He looked at Armin and said, "I am fine. You go. I will come later." Armin left, leaving Eren alone as he had asked.
"Ha-ha-ha," Eren laughed. "I can win", "This time. No one will hold me back."
A/n: Here is the 2nd chapter of my fanfic. I had to change the name of the story from 'A second Chance' to 'Back to the Past,' due to some problem. The name may change again. I hope you enjoyed it.