Chapter 25

The Fire

He should have expected the giant gust of wind that came from two titans transforming in front of him, but Kuroko was still caught off guard. Everything changed so suddenly. One moment they were preparing to mount up, the next Reiner and Bertolt had revealed themselves. Kuroko could barely make out the conversation the two traitors and Eren were having, but the way everyone was beginning to freeze in place meant something had been up.

When the transformation came, he thought he was ready to face the titans that killed so many people. Seeing them materialize atop the wall gave him pause, however. This was the first time he had seen either titan since Shiganshina five years ago. One titan had killed his best friend's family, the other caused for 250,000 people to be culled. He would not let them get away.

The gust of wind had pushed everyone back. Anyone without ODM gear clung to the metal rail or a large enough crack on the wall. Kuroko was quick to deploy his cables, but even that felt like it could snap at any moment. The power of a transformation itself appeared to be just as strong as the titans themselves. He looked up to the cloud of steam that formed. He could see the silhouettes of the Colossal and Armored Titans. From the steam the Armored Titan emerged and grabbed Eren.

He knew there were already soldiers that were thrown off the wall due to the blast. He hoped they recovered quickly enough and managed to save themselves. He decided on leaving the Armored Titan to them. It was for a moment, but he could have sworn he saw Mikasa and Aline being thrown off. He knew Mikasa could keep Eren in line, but Aline was a different story.

When the steam began to clear, the chest and head of the Colossal Titan emerged. Even without its legs, the titan still looked as big as he remembered. The memories of that day flashed in his brain. He drew both his blades and turned to his team. Momoi was still shaken. The look of fear on her face was evident. With it was on of rage. She facing down the titan that caused the death of her family after all. Connor was able to keep himself composed, but his hands were tense and a nervous sweat dripped off his brows. Kuroko could only guess if this was the first time he had seen the Colossal and the Armored, but he could figure that out later.

Over the edge of the wall, he heard Eren's titan roar. He was glad he was able to transform quickly compared to the fight with Annie. That meant the Armored Titan problem could be held off for a bit longer.

He could also hear Hange beginning to bark out orders. The only order he cared about was the one to combat the titan. He retracted his cables from the wall and sprinted over to their side.

"Hange!"

The section commander turned and breath a sigh of relief when they saw the Oriental captain running towards them.

"Good, you're alive."

"Takes more than that to keep me down," Kuroko replied.

Hange nodded. "That's good. We'll need you in order to take this guy down. Without Levi, you're our best shot at fighting this guy."

Kuroko nodded in response. "Distract him long enough and I'll get my opening."

Before Hange could respond, something caught their attention. Hange looked past Kuroko and saw the Colossal Titan rearing back its arm.

"Everyone, scatter!"

Kuroko turned and saw the giant hand coming towards them. Kuroko quickly jumped into action to avoid the hand. The Colossal's arm swept over the wall, kicking up debris and steam. Kuroko was caught in the steam, which felt like he was breathing in ash and smoke. His lungs felt like they were on fire.

"Tetsuya!"

Kuroko looked down to see Momoi and Connor attached to the side of the wall. He quickly joined them and surveyed everyone present.

"Are we missing anyone?"

"Aemilia!"

Kuroko looked up and saw Kagami clinging onto the metal rail. He then turned to the Colossal Titan and saw that he had his hands full with people. One hand had Ymir and Aemilia, the other had two soldiers. He watched as the titan brought his hands to his open mouth and threw them all in there. He closed his mouth with so much force that the sound felt like it echoed.

"Shit! They got the shifter!" Connor yelled.

"And our comrades, Connor!" Momoi chastised."

"I think the priority should be the shifter, Satsuki!"

"Everyone is a priority, Connor!"

The two turned to their captain, who still had his gaze firmly on the Colossal Titan.

"The mission is now to defeat the Colossal and save everyone in his mouth."

"How're we supposed to do that? If everyone is inside the bastard's mouth, how do we know they're not dead?" Connor asked.

"They likely want Ymir alive. Therefore it's a safe bet that the others are alive as well."

Connor grit his teeth in frustration. "Sometimes, I really hate the damned optimism of yours."

"Soliders!"

The three turned to see Hange turning their attention to the Colossal Titan.

"Prepare to attack! The Colossal Titan does not walk away from this! It's a threat to all mankind!"

Hange then shot towards the top of the wall, followed closely by the rest of the soldiers.

"Swarm him to give Captain Tetsuya an opening to strike! Even if that fails, our objective is to terminate it!"

There was no need to respond. All of the soldiers launched themselves into the air and filled the Colossal Titan's field of view. As the Scouts moved to attack, the Colossal Titan tried to punch at them. However, he was much too slow with his blows for them to hit anyone.

Kuroko meanwhile, ran across the wall and began to advance from the other side. With the Colossal paying attention to everyone else, he had the perfect opening to strike. Even with the steam he emitted, Kuroko knew exactly where to strike. He knew the others would be quick to attack the nape as well, so he had one chance to strike. He used the exposed rips as a launching point and shot towards the nape. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the other Scouts readying their own strike at the nape. Even if he failed, the others would finish the job.

"I've got you this time!"

Just as his blades were about to make contact, a huge amount of steam was emitted from the Colossal. Kuroko took the blazing hot steam and could feel it filling his lungs. It burned, even more than before. He tried to keep himself tethered, but the force of the steam caused for his cables to unhook themselves. Kuroko swung around and managed to escape the cloud of steam, but his whole body felt like it was on fire. He quickly collapsed to the ground and began to cough violently.

He could hear muffled sounds of what going on around him. He felt someone pick him and began to move, but could not see who. His eyes had been clamped shut since the steam hit his face. He hoped that was the case and that he was not blind. He still had a score to settle with the Colossal and Armored Titans.

Whoever picked him up had put him down. He felt the pain coursing through his whole body now. He tried to open his eyes, but that only made the pain intensify. He felt something cool being poured on his face and helped alleviate the pain. The moment it stopped, the pain returned tenfold.

Shit! It's like my whole body is on fire.

"Someone bring water quick! Captain Tetsuya's got severe burns!"

Kuroko could not tell who was saying that, but he appreciated that someone noticed him. Kuroko slowly opened his eyes, and even that hurt to do. He saw two blurry people looking over him. One was male with brown hair, which he assumed was Connor. The other was a woman with a streak of pink her in her normally black color; definitely Momoi.

"Don't move too much. Most of your exposed skin is burned," Momoi said.

"You got a bad sun burn. You'll be okay in a minute," Connor added. "Shit! Do we have anything else?"

Kuroko turned his head to the direction of the intense source of heat. He could see the blurry image of the Colossal Titan. It looked a lot more stationary compared to before.

"The Colossal?" He asked hoarsely. "What happened?"

"We all went in for the kill, then, all of a sudden, it emitted a huge amount of steam," Momoi explained.

"Our gear is useless against it now. The cables are just blow away by the steam emission," Connor added.

"Steam emission? Is that why he looks blurry?" Kuroko asked.

Momoi rolled her eyes, but still managed a chuckle. "It's blurry because you took a lot of steam to the face."

"That makes sense."

Kuroko tried to replay everything that had happened in his mind. However, his mind felt cluttered. He wanted to push the thoughts of pain away, but it was the only thing he could think about. He knew Connor had lied to him about the extent of his injuries, but he appreciated that he would bounce back quickly.

A roar then broke him from his thoughts. It was a familiar roar. He remembered that Eren was still fighting below them.

"How's Eren?"

—

Kagami ran a hand through his hair to try to calm his nerves. He had always thought of himself as the one to stay composed in most situations, but now he was not so sure. Everything had happened so fast that he had trouble keeping up with it. One minute they were catching their breaths from surviving Utgard Castle, the next the Colossal and Armored Titans appeared. He never expected for those two titans be Reiner and Bertolt. A part of him still could not believe it.

Just when I thought I was being paranoid about them, Kagami thought.

Then there was Aemilia. Kagami had pulled her in close to keep her away from the transforming titans. He was not expecting for him to be pushed away. In that moment, he thought she was a traitor too, but seeing her being grabbed the Colossal and shoved into his mouth made him think otherwise.

He looked up towards the Colossal. It stood tall and still, a continuous emission of steam. Within its mouth were two Scouts, Ymir, and Aemilia. He felt panic when he saw her being grabbed. He did not know where it came from. He could swear there was nothing between them, but that one moment felt like something had changed. Maybe he cared about her more than he believed. He inwardly cursed at himself. He made a promise to himself to not care about anyone. He did not want to go through the same pain as he did during Trost. But he feared the pain that would come from losing Aemilia. He had to get her back and confirm both his feelings and her intentions.

"Taiga!"

Kgami turned to the voice that had called to him. He saw Christa, he shook his head, Historia, walking towards him. She held bandages in her hands, but she her expression told him helping the injured was the last thing on her mind.

"You okay? I'm helping the medics with assisting the injured," Historia explained.

"I think Captain Tetsuya needs more attention than me," Kagami replied gesturing towards the Oriental Captain.

Historia turned to where the Captain was. He was with his two squadmates and the Scouts' head medic. She had only caught glance at his injuries, but what she had seen was enough to know he would be unable to fight for a while.

"He does," she said as she turned back to Kagami, "but right now I'm making sure you're okay."

"I'll be fine. I was far enough away from the blast."

"Let me see your hands," Historia demanded.

Kagami caught his breath, remembering about his hands. He held them up. They were still bandaged, it had become a routine at this point even if he did not really need them anymore. The once white bandages were brown and dirtied. He had not changed them in the last two days.

"See, the bandages are dirty. Let me change them."

Kagami rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine. Check on Josh and Aline. They were caught in that blast and took steam to the face too."

"Let me change them."

Kagami was caught off guard by her serious tone. His gaze shifted towards her and saw her eyes were looking at the ground. A sullen expression on her face. Her fake smile and jovial attitude were gone; almost like they were never there. He could guess as to why. It was not hard to figure out.

"Sure."

Kagami held out his hands and Historia began to remove the dirtied bandages. It was quiet between the two as the small blonde worked. Kagami found himself unable to keep his eyes away from her. He noticed how her own gaze would shift over to him, but the glances were quick.

"Hey, don't force yourself. I get that you're worried, it's fine to look panicked," Kagami said.

"I have to stay composed. I want to get Ymir back so badly, but right now there's nothing we can do about it," Historia replied. She finished wrapping his right hand and began to wrap his left.

"It's funny. Despite being with Josh's group all the time, only you seemed close to Ymir. I'll never know what you see in her, but I think I have an idea as to why you're so worried about her safety."

Historia finished bandaging his left hand and quickly turned away from him. She said nothing in response to what Kagami had said. Kagami let out a breath and turned back to looking at the Colossal Titan. He could hear the sounds of battle at the wall, but since he did not have gear there was nothing he could do about it.

Kagami took her silence as a sort of confirmation about his suspicions. He always knew there was more to their relationship than just friendship.

"You see Ymir as more than just a friend, right?"

Historia slowly turned to face him. He was taken aback by how red her face had gotten. He was not expecting that to be the way she confirmed his suspicions. A simple 'yes' would have sufficed for him.

"It's not that!"

Kagami's thoughts came to a grinding halt. He had been wrong? He was positive that was the case. He prided himself on his ability to read people. Based on every interaction he had seen between them, especially on Ymir's side, it pointed to that being the case.

"Then why?"

"Because she figured me out quick, like you. She never outright said it, but she knew I wasn't saying who I said I was. It felt like I could be myself around her while still keeping up the act."

"That conversation on the horses now makes way more sense," Kagami said.

"Besides, Taiga I-"

"Hey, Taiga, Christa!"

The two turned and saw Connie jogging towards them. He had a panicked look on his face and his head kept moving in every direction.

"Have you seen them?"

Kagami rose an eyebrow. "Them who?"

"Reiner and Bertolt!"

Kagami's eyes widened. He never expected some people to not have seen them transform. He looked over to Hisotria who looked worried, but for who, Kagami was not sure.

"What you mean you can't find them?" Historia asked.

"One minute they're with us and the next the Colossal and Armored Titan appeared." Connie's head continued to scan everything around them. "They don't have ODM gear and without it they can get away from the damn titans. What if they're wounded? What if they got eaten?!"

Kagami turned to Historia, who was looking equally as panicked as he was. He had to guess it was a similar panic to Connie. She turned back to the steaming Colossal Titan, while Kagami kept his eyes on Connie.

"Connie, I need you to listen to me, Rei-"

"Please, we have to find them!" Connie pleaded.

"Connie!"

Connie stopped jerking around and focused on Kagami. The red head took in a deep breath and released it. He hated that the words that were about to come out of his mouth were going to destroy the younger teen.

"That's Bertolt right there," Kagami said as he pointed to the Colossal Titan.

"What?" Connie asked, lips trembling.

"And Reiner," Kagami moved closer to the edge of the wall, "is there."

"What?"

Connie's question was accentuated by Reiner's punch sending Eren flying through the air.

—

Kuroko had finally managed to sit up, but his body still felt like it was on fire. His vision had cleared considerably, but the horizon looked blurrier than it was meant to. His lungs also still burned and his throat felt dry. He would find himself having coughing fits that lasted longer than a few seconds.

The only benefit to being partially healed was that he could watch the fight between Eren and Reiner. The Colossal became a secondary concern as it had remained still, continuously emitting steam. The fight on the other hand was going poorly. Seeing Eren flying through the air by Reiner's punch did not bode well for the length of the fight.

Eren landed on the ground hard. The trees surrounding him were leveled and he left a small crater. His face was destroyed, but it healed fast. Reiner lumbered towards the downed Eren, likely ready to finish him off.

Kuroko wished there something more he could do than just watch. He hated feeling useless and with his injuries, there was no way he could fight. The other Scouts seemed to be in a similar predicament. The ones that were not helping the injured, were hanging from the wall and watching the fight.

Kuroko was torn away from his thoughts by Eren screaming. He had gotten back on his feet and prepared to continue fighting.

"Connor, Satsuki."

His squadmates turned to him. By his tone they knew he was giving them an order.

"Join Hange and the others. They'll need help fighting the Armored Titan."

"But what about you?" Momoi asked.

"Right now there's nothing I can do besides sit here. You two can still fight. Besides, I got plenty of help here," Kuroko said gesturing to the medics scurrying around behind him.

Momoi turned to Connor and nodded. They both drew blades and jumped over the edge of the wall.

When they were gone, Kuroko turned his attention back on the fight. He surprised to see Eren fighting a lot more composed. He managed to get Reiner off the ground with a grabbling maneuver. The two titans fell to the ground and Eren kept Reiner locked in place.

Woah! I knew cadets went through basic hand-to-hand combat training, but that's something else, Kuroko thought.

Eren pulled back his arm for a punch, but Reiner used the shift in weight to push Eren off of him. However, that did not stop Eren. He grabbed Reiner's arm and locked his legs on his neck and pulled on his arm.

Kuroko could barely keep his eyes off the fight. Eren was fighting a lot differently than when he fought Annie in the forest. The lock Eren had him began to crack Reiner's armor. Reiner tried to push himself off of him, but Eren adjusted his legs and brought him back down. Reiner's armor continued to crack as Eren tightened his hold. With a scream Eren ripped off Reiner's arm and sent it flying through the air.

Holy crap! A smile crept onto Kuroko's face. I knew this kid had it in him.

"Hey, Kuro-chin!"

Kuroko's head shot toward where the voice came from. He saw Murasakibara and Hannes, along with their teams, landing onto the wall. They all had a panicked look to them. Hannes sprinted towards the side where the fight was happening, while Murasakibara went to Kuroko's side. It was the first time he had seen the tall Oriental look worried.

"What the hell happened? What happened to you?! We left but not long after we heard an explosion. When we got here the Colossal Titan is here!"

"There's a lot to catch you up on, but right now all we can do it wait. Right now Eren and the Armored Titan are fighting and we're figuring out a way to escape," Kuroko explained.

"I figured that much out," Murasakibara said looking down the wall towards the fight. "But what about you? You don't look in the best of shape."

Kuroko sighed and turned to the Colossal. "We tried to rush it. When I got in close I got blasted by that steam he's emitting. That stuff is burning hot."

The sound of loud cracking brought the two Oriental's attention to the fight beneath them. The Armored Titan was in a full sprint towards Eren.

"What the? He's so fast!" Murasakibara yelled.

"It's just like-"

Before he could finish, the wall shook by the force of Reiner crashing into Eren and the wall. The was undamaged, but the impact left a few cracks in it.

"Dammit! I felt that all the way up here," Murasakibara said.

"He's getting desperate. They want to capture Eren and get out of here just as badly as we want to leave," Kuroko said.

He turned back to the Colossal. He still emitted steam, but something about him looked different. His skinny arms had somehow gotten skinnier and his head looked devoid of flesh. His mouth hung open as well. Kuroko tried to see if her could see the people the Colossal had taken but could not see them. His vision was still blurry though.

"Woah! Your guy's got the Armored Titan on the ropes," Murasakibara said.

Kuroko turned back to the fight and saw that Eren had Reiner in another lock. His arms were around the neck and legs on his back. Reiner tried to break loose, but one of his legs seemed to have been injured. As Eren tightened his lock on Reiner, the armor on his back cracked and blood began to seep form them.

However, Reiner continued to try to fight and pushed himself forwards. Kuroko was unsure how that was going help break the hold. Reiner then stopped pushing himself and remained still.

Kuroko rose an eye brow. Did he give up?

"Looks like this fight is over. All we have to deal with is the Colossal now," Murasakibara said turning to steaming titan.

"Hold on." Murasakibara turned to Kuroko. "Something feels off. I doubt he'd give up."

"Your guy is about to rip the Armored Titan's head off. What could possibly feel off?"

Before Kuroko could respond, the Armored Titan let out a roar. All motion stopped as he heard Hange call from everyone to stay alert and watch for any incoming titans. There was silence as everyone waited for the titan to appear, but none came.

Then what was the point of the scream? Kuroko thought.

Creaking and squishing of flesh came to Kuroko's ear. He turned to see the Colossal Titan beginning to move again. Kuroko's eyes widened. He took in a breath, but before he could call out he began to cough violently.

Then came the snap of the Colossal's rips and that's when everyone noticed. There were screams to get away from the falling titan, but they came too late. The Colossal began to fall with increasing speed.

"Murasakibara-kun! Anchor yourself!"

Murasakiabra understood quickly and hooked his anchors onto the ground beneath him. Kuroko tried to stand to do the same, but his body would not let him. He felt the pain intensify.

The Colossal Titan made impact on the ground. Sending a gale of wind, steam, and debris. The wall shook and Kuroko was in the air. He heard Murasakibara call out to him, but the sound of the explosion cut off any sound. He tried to reach for his holsters, but the pain in his arms flared up.

Then, he saw it. The force of the winds had taken him past the edge of the wall. He again tried to get his holsters, but the pain stopped him. He tried to fight through the pain, but his body stopped him. He then began to fall, the wind no longer carrying him backwards. This time, gravity had taken over. The ground inched closer and closer. He always knew fifty meters was high, but this time he felt the height.

Is this really how I go out? Not fighting, but plummeting to my death?

He reached out, trying to grab the wall. He knew it was futile, but he might as well try. His vision got blurry again, so he simply closed his eyes and waited.

"Tetsu!"

Kuroko's eyes shot open and in his face was Momoi. She adjusted her course to get under him. She increased her speed in order to meet his falling speed and managed to catch him. She shot her cables towards the top of the wall, and two shot straight up into the air.

Momoi tried to slow down their descent, but she used up her gas to save him. The two held each other close and began to fall. Compared to the fifty meters, the few feet they were about to crash on was nothing, but it would still hurt. Momoi used what little gas she had left to get them to spin in the air and when they landed on the hard stone, they managed to roll. It still hurt like hell, but at least they were alive.

—-

Kagami had seen the Scouts look defeated before. All those times he saw them returning in Shiganshina were easy to remember. However, today, it felt different. The air of defeat was heavy, but it was laced with the sense of failure. The afternoon sun beat down on them as anyone without injuries tended to the wounded, which there were a lot. The blast the crashing Colossal Titan had sent many soldiers flying. Kagami had to cling to the metal railing so hard it felt like his wounds were going to reopen.

Some were worse off than others. A majority of Hange's team were out of commission due to burns from the steam. Others had broken bones due to the force of the blast pushing them into the air only to come crashing down. Josh had suffered that fate trying to save Historia.

He turned to Captain Tetsuya and saw him lying down again. Beside him was the male member of his team and a tall, Oriental Garrison soldier. Kagami recognized the Oriental soldier as Atsushi Murasakibara; someone from the same cadet corps as the captain. He was still alive, but he suffered from both burns and severe bruising due to crashing on the wall. His lieutenant laid beside him. She had jumped to save him without hesitation, leading the two to crash onto the wall when the wind form the blast had begun to recede. To him, it seemed the captain would be out of commission for the retrieval operation; whenever that went underway.

"Hey! You there!"

Kagami was broken from his thoughts when the soldier beside Kuroko called out to him. Kagami turned to him and pointed at himself. The soldier nodded and gestured for him to come to him. Kagami went to his side and managed to get a better look at the two wounded soldiers. The burns on Kuroko were starting to heal, while Momoi was beginning to sit up.

"Could you bring us some water if there's any? We need to find a way to cool down Tetsuya," Connor said.

Kagami nodded. "Will the captain be okay?"

Connor sighed as he turned to Murasakibara, then to Kuroko. "I think he'll have to sit the next mission out. His initial burns weren't heal, plus that tumble with Satsuki didn't help."

"Well someone had to save him. I didn't see you two trying," Momoi said as she stretched her arms into the air.

"You were in the air before I even noticed he was off the ground," Murasakibara said.

"How did you know he was in danger?" Connor asked.

Momoi shrugged. "Not sure. I just knew."

The three soldiers looked between each other, and Kagami was beginning to feel like he was the odd one out. It felt strange to see the Captain out of commission. He always felt like Kuroko was never in danger. He did not fully buy into the rumors that him and his group were unkillable, especially after Kise had died, but Kuroko always looked like he managed to get out of fights without any injury.

Kagami was broken from his thoughts when he heard Kuroko groaning. He turned to the Oriental Captain as he slowly began to open his eyes.

"You guys are very noisy," Kuroko muttered.

The three veteran soldiers rolled their eyes at the comment.

"If you can be sarcastic, then you must be okay," Momoi said swatting his shoulder.

Kuroko yelped in pain and tried to bring his other arm to soothe the pain, but the burn pains had yet to fade.

"Thanks for making my time to heal all the longer."

Momoi wanted to swat him again, but settled for rolling her eyes. Murasakibara and Connor, on the other hand, barely held in their snickers.

Kuroko then tried to sit up, but moving his arms hurt way too much. He turned his head and saw Kagami. A smile came to his face when saw that the red head remained mostly unhurt, but could tell he had a worried expression no matter how hard he tired to hide it.

"I'm glad you're all right, Taiga."

Kagami nodded. "Me too. I'm still pretty shaken though."

Kuroko nodded. "That's understandable. I'm sure other veterans are in the same state you are. Pretty sure this was Connor's first time seeing the Colossal and Armored." Kuroko used his head to gesture towards Connor.

Connor sighed. "Yup. First time. Pretty sure I would've shit my pants if I hadn't heard about him before."

Momoi chuckled. "I saw you quaking in your boots, so I'd say you were plenty scared."

"Satsuki, don't say that stuff in front of a recruit," Conno said with an embarrassed tone.

Kagami blinked at the sight in front of him. These veterans were talking so casually amongst each other. It was like if what had happened just prior was just another failed mission. He knew the Scouts were strange people, and the Oriental Captain even stranger, but this was something else. It felt like a cross between a normal group of friends and veteran soldiers.

"By the way, Taiga."

Kagami turned to who had called to him to see Kuroko looking intensely at him. Gone was the smile he had before. He was now focused on the mission ahead, even if he was not going to be part of it. It scared Kagami a bit. Forcing him to straighten his posture.

"That girl you called out to that was taken by the Colossal, who was she?"

Kagami let out a sigh and allowed himself to slouch. He gave one look at the people in front of him and they were all serious. Murasakibara was a bit more confused as he did not entirely know what was being talked about.

"It was Aemilia. She was with us at the castle and a member of the 104th. Not sure if she trained with us though. I can't remember, but she was at Trost," Kagami explained.

"Do you know her last name?"

Kagami nodded. "Liebrecht, sir."

"Do you know where she comes from?"

Kagami shook his head. "No, sir."

Kuroko stopped his questions for a moment to give Kagami time to think. As with Reiner and Bertolt there was no assured evidence she was affiliated with them, but he still had to make sure.

"What's your relationship with her?" Kurko asked.

Kagami was not sure how to answer that. Their relationship had changed since the conversation in his barracks. It became further complicated when they spoke at the castle.

"…It's complicated."

"Complicated how?" Connor asked raising an eyebrow.

The question earned a swat from Momoi. Connot turned to her with a confused expression.

"Why?"

"That was a rude question. Clearly they have a connection besides comrades. Remember that Kassmeyer kid when it came to Leonhart and her true identity," Momoi said.

"Stop you two. You both have valid points. I was going to ask that as well, but in a more subtle way, Connor," Kuroko said.

"Sorry," Connor said, hanging his head.

Kuroko turned back to Kagami and saw his conflicted expression. He must have figured out why he was asking these types of questions. He did not want to create more discord among the recruits, but he had to make sure they had all their bases covered.

"I have a guess as to why, but why are you asking me this?"

Kuroko turned away from Kagami for a moment. Momoi and Connor looked away as well. Murasakibara looked between all of them trying to piece together what was going on.

Kuroko let out a breath and turned back to Kagami.

"We need to confirm that she isn't a threat."

"A threat? You mean a shifter like Reiner and Bertolt?"

Kuroko nodded. "Exactly. On the cadet files her, Braun, Hoover, and Leonhart all wrote down they were from the same place. While we don't want to assume guilt just by being from the same place, there is still that possibility. There is the chance this is just a coincidence, but we cannot rule out the fact that she may be on their side."

"Did she ever act strange around you? Or was she close with the other three?" Momoi asked.

Kagami sifted through his memories. He was almost positive she was not part of their same cadet training, so that ruled out if she was close to them. He had seen her talking to Bertolt at the castle, but they all had spoken amongst each other. He remembered the comment she made when seeing Ymir's titan. It was almost like she recognized it, similar to Reiner and Bertolt. Finally there was him being pushed away by her when the Colossal titan appeared. He did not understand why she did that at the time, but it was now making sense in his head.

"I'm not sure about the second question. The only strange thing I noticed was that she pushed me away when the Colossal titan appeared. When we first met she seemed to know more than what she led on, but after the expedition I wasn't sure anymore."

Kuroko was silent for a moment. He took in all the information that Kagami had told him. The fact that she was not in the same training corps as the other three showed promising signs that she was not affiliated with them.

"Let me ask you this: should she turn out to be an enemy, could you kill her?"

"If she is on Reiner and Bertolt's side, then I won't hesitate. Though, I would like an answer as to why," Kagami said.

"No hesitation. I'm impressed," Murasakibara said.

Kuroko smiled and nodded. "Glad to hear that. Hopefully our suspicion will be unfounded." Kuroko paused for a moment to let Kagami think on his works. "Go back to your comrades. Erwin should be here soon."

Just as Kuroko finished his statement, the pounding of horse hooves could be heard. The five soldiers turned to where the sound as coming from and saw a large group of soldiers being led by Erwin.

"Speak of the devil," Connor said.

"Wait, isn't that Seijūrō with him?" Murasakibara asked pointing to the right side of Erwin.

The other four turned to where the tall Oriental was pointing and saw a familiar red head riding next to Erwin. Kuroko grit his teeth in frustration. It really was Akashi Seijūrō.

AN: Here we are with a new chapter. First, I apologize for making the wait so long. When I was going to sit down to write this chapter I couldn't find the document. I managed to recover it, but it was quite the scare. The second reason is because my semester at uni ended and getting back home plus settling back in took more time than I anticipated. With all that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It serves the same purpose as the original as a brief respite between events. We get some character info in regard to Aemilia too. I'll explain almost everything about her in another AN, as I have a scene planned out for her. Also, Kuroko will be out of commission for the retrieval mission. This was something I decided on as I was writing, as I want the retrieval mission to be focused on the other GoM's.

With that, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one! If you're enjoying feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review. I'd love to hear what you think about how this story is going.