Floch Forster was a simple person. When living in the exterior, for people like him there were only two life choices. Either work hard for someone else, in hope that one day, you could possibly advance further within the social hierarchy, or join the military. If you weren't coming from a family of landowners, industrialists or high-class intellectuals, climbing up the social ladder was extremely hard if not impossible. When it came to the military however, whether you ended up within the military police or not, was all up to you.

Now that he finally became a recruit, it was only a matter of time and conviction. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

As it turned out, the competition was unimaginable. After the vertical maneuvering balance test, it was all apparent. The number of talented recruits this year was far beyond what Floch had expected. He passed the test, though it didn't look like the training was going to be easy. The redhead had to apply hard, if he ever wanted to finish up in the top ten.

Currently, it was lunch time. The food wasn't half bad for the exterior standards, yet the atmosphere seemed to be a little bit gloomy for everyone.

'So, they finally caught up to it, huh?' Floch thought as he took a tray filled with his meal for the day and looked around for a free seat.

Most of the tables were already taken by friend groups. Of course, the talented recruits decided to all sit together. As the redhead looked over the smug faces of Jean, Marco, Connie and Sasha, a small pang of jealousy filled him.

They were better off from the very start. None of them needed to work particularly hard and despite everyone else working their arses off, the talented recruits would still end up in the top ten, no matter what.

'I guess that's life' he thought, annoyed.

Other talents, such as Bertholdt, Reiner and Annie, weren't as pompous as the main four, but they still held a strange aura. Almost like they were unapproachable by anyone of lower standard.

And last but not least, there was Mikasa Ackerman.

She belonged to neither of those sorts. Sure, she was mysterious with her unique beauty and decisive nature, but the girl never bragged, nor made fun of others. Instead, she was a shut off, who never talked to anyone more than necessary.

Floch wondered for a moment if she even needed attention or friendship. Mikasa was always lonely and most of the time, she seemed like she didn't care, but somehow, he could swear that he saw a certain sadness within her eyes.

Maybe if he provided her with company, she would help him get to the top ten?

The redhead didn't waste a single second to make his decision and soon, he was heading straight towards the table occupied solely by one Mikasa Ackerman.

"Hey there" he said, gaining attention from the dark-haired female "is that seat taken?"

Upon that, he pointed to the one opposite of her. The girl spared him a single glance, before focusing on her food once again.

"As you can see" she responded without any emotion.

It wasn't really a good start but a start, nonetheless. As the redhead put down his tray and sat down in front of Mikasa, he took a moment to wonder about the ways of resuming this conversation.

"Floch Forster" he introduced himself as he picked up a fork "you?"

"Mikasa Ackerman" the girl responded, not even looking up "but you already knew that didn't you?"

'Damn, she's sharp' the boy thought with a slight gulp.

"You were the best one on the balance test" Floch explained, trying to sound cool "I'm sure everyone knows…"

Again, silence fell between them. Naturally, it didn't mean anything good, so the redhead decided to push his luck further.

"What branch are you hoping to join?" He asked, trying to spark up the talk once more.

"The MPs…" was her simple answer.

Finally, something that the boy could latch on to.

"Yeah, I guess all of us want to live a comfortable life…"

Suddenly, the girl stood up, knocking over the chair she was sitting on.

"We are not the same…" Mikasa seethed with anger as she looked at Floch, this time for real.

With the sudden outburst, the boy could only watch her unwind.

"…you want to be a leech for the rest of your life, and I understand that. But you don't get to assume that I desire such a thing as well…"

The dark-haired girl looked down on him with disgust.

"I want to save someone important to me. You want to save yourself. You and I are completely different."

Then, she turned on her foot and walked out of the canteen, slamming the doors behind her.

As everyone's gaze fell onto him, Floch couldn't contain his embarrassment. He finished his lunch quickly and soon after, he raised from his spot.

What was her problem? Never before had anyone seen her lash out like that, but then no one here really knew her. Maybe she just wasn't willing to help him, but it didn't seem like that was the case. He must've struck a nerve somehow, even though he had no clue how saying a few words could hurt the girl.

Then, there was Mikasa's declaration. The dark-haired female wanted to save someone. It wasn't unreasonable in the world where recently, many people died and many more could potentially share their fate. Floch wondered just who that person might be…

Nevertheless, if he wanted the girl to help him, he had to act. The boy went over to the canteen counter and picked up a few articles.

It didn't take him much to find her. The girl was leaning on the railing, staring at the setting sun, just outside. He slowly went up to her.

"It's you again" she spoke dryly, not even turning to look at him.

When the redhead stood next to her, he could swear he saw small watery trails on her face.

"You didn't finish your lunch" he said as he held out a little loaf of bread.

"Is that all?" She asked upon taking the food from the boy.

Floch thought about what he could say next. Anything that could possibly make him look cool was out of the question, so he chose to approach her more honestly.

"What did you mean?" The boy asked her.

Mikasa looked at him, puzzled.

"When I said that we were not the same…?"

"No" Floch interjected "when you said that you wanted to save someone important."

"Oh…"

The dark-haired girl looked in the distance. She seemed to somehow have shrunk in her spot, when that question arose.

"Eren…" she simply responded.

"And what happened to him?" The redhead asked with newfound curiosity.

"He's been kidnapped…"

This, Floch did not expect. It seemed as if he had made a fool of himself, before he even got to know the strange female.

"I'm sorry…" he spoke softly "…how much time had passed?"

Mikasa looked away, trying not to show him her crying face.

"It's been two years…"

As the two teens stood, watching the sun disappear beyond the horizon, the redhead handed her a handkerchief he was keeping in his pocket.

"Thanks…" the girl said, brushing the tears off her face.

"I hope you find him" Floch spoke with compassion, trying to reassure her.

"I will…"

Even if his intentions weren't pure at first, he could still imagine how hard it was to lose someone close, like that. In that instance, he decided that maybe it would be nice to stick around the dark-haired female, even if it didn't result in any kind of personal gain for him.

Yet, the teen never realized how important it was to this girl, for someone to finally show her compassion about the mysterious disappearance of Eren Yeager.