The Players
After dinner Eren, Hanji, Levi and I are lead to our 'living-apartment' that we'll be staying in for the next week. It's a giant suite with a large living room, equip with a large screen and furniture and four bedrooms. The only thing is there's only one bathroom but all together it is bigger than Eren's and my old house.
By the time we get there everyone is exhausted from today's events and decides to call it a night and head to their rooms and I do the same. I enter my room and although it is big, there is only a bed and a dresser in it. I notice my old clothes and my red scarf had been neatly folded and placed on my bed. I look in the dresser and I see that someone had already filled it with clothes for me and I find a pair of pajamas and crawl into bed.
I'm about to fall asleep when I hear a knock on my door. "Come in," I groan, thinking its Levi. But it is Eren who walks into my room and he takes a seat at the end of my bed. He looks terribly tired and a little sad. I look at him curiously. "What is it, Eren?" I ask.
"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting towards you," he sighs, "and I'm sorry for being so angry at you since the Reaping." His piercing teal eyes then lock with my grey ones and he says, "I know you volunteered for the Games to help me and to make sure I win but I can't forgive you for that if it means that you'll have to die. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you, Mikasa."
My throat starts to feel tight and my eyes burn with unshed tears. I take a deep breath and reply, "Just promise me that after you win you won't cause any trouble. I don't want the Capitol treating you the same way they treat Levi. I want you to go home and bring the Victor's wealth back with you so you can help our District. Don't worry about me, you'll have Armin back at home to keep you company. You saved my life back when we were kids and now I'm just returning the favor. This is for the best. You deserve to win more than I do, Eren."
Eren still doesn't look happy but he slowly nods. "I wish there was just another way."
"I know," I say as I close my eyes. My exhaustion is taking over and I can no longer keep them open. But when I do open them again my room is dark and Eren is gone.
I awake the next morning from Hanji bursting into my room and crying, "It's time to get up! Today is going to be a very big day!" I groan and cover my head with my covers but Hanji rips them off my bed. "Now, now young lady today is the day you start your training and its best if you start as soon as possible, after we have breakfast of course!"
Moments later I grudgingly get out of bed and look through the clothes. I find an outfit that is tight fitting and stretchy. It seems like a good choice if I am going to be active today. After I get changed I head out to the other room. Everyone is already out and sitting at the dining table and servants are busy bringing food out. I notice that Eren is also wearing a similar outfit as mine.
"Look who decided to finally grace us with her presence this morning," Levi says in his usual bland voice. "I thought we were going to have to throw water on you to finally get you up." He then gets a funny look on his face and decides to take a drink from his tea.
I sit down next to Eren and turn towards Levi. "So, what's going to happen now?" I ask.
Levi picks up a fork and examines it carefully as he speaks, "The rest of the week you train. You learn what weapons best suit you and you find your strengths and weaknesses."
"But Mikasa doesn't have any weaknesses," Eren claims and I feel my face go red from his praise.
"Oh," Levi says starting to sound interested. He puts down his fork and leans toward the two of us, "no weaknesses, huh? Tell me, then, what are your strengths?"
"Mikasa is very strong and fast. And she's almost immediately an expert at anything new she tries," Eren continues to boast and I look at him. I never knew he thought so highly of me.
Levi's eyes seem to shine as he stares at me. He then looks at Eren, "What are you good at then?"
Eren seems stuck on the question but I comment, "He's very brave and he has heart. And he never gives up, even if he fails a hundred times."
"Are either of you good with weapons?" Levi asks.
"I'm good with an ax, from chopping wood. And I guess I've used a knife and a spear before," Eren responds.
"Good, so here's the deal," Levi remarks, "when you go train do not show the other Players your highest strengths. You don't want them to know what you truly are capable of. Got it?" Eren and I both nod.
After breakfast we are all escorted to the training arena. There are different stations set up around the massive room specialized for different weapons. I notice on the other side of the room there's something that looks like an obstacle course. As usual, we are the last to arrive and all the other Players are already busy practicing with their weapons. The Players from District Five, Sasha and Connie, run up to us as soon as they see us though.
Eren smiles at them and they get into an excited conversation about what they had for breakfast this morning. I roll my eyes and look around at all the stations. In station one there is an impressive wall filled with different types of swords. The male Players from District One and Two are there already but I decide to go over anyways. I've never used a sword before and I wanted to see what it felt like to use one. I walk over to the station and the two boys turn and smile at my approach.
"Hi there," the blonde boy with the big muscles greets, "You're from District Six, right? Sorry but I forgot your name. I'm Reiner and this is Bertholdt but you can call him Bertl," he said introducing himself and the taller boy, who nods at me. They both seem friendly enough, not nearly as menacing as they seemed on the screen when we first saw them.
"My name's Mikasa," I tell them.
"Great meeting you in person, Mikasa, hopefully we'll see more of each other this week. We are just finishing up here, so the station is all yours," Reiner says and they leave.
I move and pick up a pair of double dual swords and swing them around. I'm surprised how right they feel in my hands and how naturally I'm able to use them. They feel like a part of me and I put them down, remembering Levi's warning to not give too much away at how well we can do. Instead I move onto the next station, which has knives. At the far end of this station is a target board. I pick up the biggest knife I see and examine it.
"Hello," a small voice says from behind and I turn. It's Christa from District One.
"Hello," I reply, "Are you good with knives?"
She smiles and pick up a few smaller knives and goes to stand in front of the target board. "You could say that." She then throws each knife one after another with an experienced hand and each knife perfectly embeds itself in the target board. My eyes widen in shock, Levi was right, this girl does have a few tricks up her sleeve.
"That's Christa for you, always the showoff," a smooth female voice calls from behind. I turn and it's the girl from District Three. Her dark hair is pulled back into a low ponytail and she grins and walks over to sling her arm around the petite girl's shoulders.
"I'm not a showoff, Ymir," Christa cries.
"You are so; during the feast last night you couldn't stop talking about how excited you were to show everyone your skills. You were so sweet you had all the guys swooning over you!" Ymir laughs.
I move on to the next station and I run into Sasha and Connie. It's an archery station with a target down at the far side of it as well. Sasha's already shooting and I pause to watch as she hits the target dead in the center. I remember that her District is the hunting District in the mountains so Sasha's probably had a lot of practice shooting animals. Connie tries to shoot but misses the target completely. He must not spend as much time hunting.
I look around and notice Eren at the net and snare making station along with the scary looking girl from Two. I'm about to go over and join him when a voice calls out next to me.
"Excuse me," I look over and see that it's the boy from Four, the one that keeps staring at me. I finally get a good look at him and he's an attractive boy with an odd haircut, its dark shaved hair underneath and spiked blonde tips. I wait for him to say something but he seems at a loss for words. "Y-you have really pretty hair," he stammers, "I wanted to tell you that last night but I didn't get the chance." His face is turning a bright red and he rubs the back of his neck as he stares at the ground.
"Thanks," I reply and am about to walk away but he grabs my arm and I turn towards him once more.
"I'm Jean, by the way. What's your name?" he asks.
"Mikasa," I answer and then I hear Eren calling my name, "I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Jean," I tell him and I go to sit by Eren.
"Who was that?" Eren asks.
"Jean from District Four," I respond and Eren then glares in Jean's direction, who was now talking with the boy from Three with the freckles and Jean buries his face in his hands.
"District Four is where we get our electricity and devices from," says the girl sitting on Eren's other side. Her voice is low and bored sounding and I look over at her. Her light blonde hair is pulled back but part of her bangs fall to one side of her face, coving one of her pale blue eyes. "So he will be good with technical junk and probably smart. He could possibly be a dangerous threat in the arena," she adds.
"Mikasa, this is Annie from District Two, the same District as the really muscly guy. She's been watching everyone as they train and learning all of their strengths and weaknesses," Eren explains.
"That's my specialty," Annie says in her bored voice, "analyzing and learning about my opponents and using their weaknesses against them. That is how I'm going to win the Games." She glares at the two of us and I can tell she is dead serious. "I've figured out almost everyone's strengths today and by the end of the weak I will know everyone's weaknesses as well."
"What are they?" Eren asks.
Annie gives a short laugh. "Like I'm going to tell you?" she continues on her net she's making and sighs, "Well it's not like it will do you any good anyways. Reiner and Bertl's are their strength and size, Ymir's too. I watched her go through the obstacle course and she's very agile for her size and very fit. Christa is good at throwing knives but she probably has a lot of experience with other weapons but knives are her specialty. Sasha surprised me with being an excellent archer. Connie, the moron, has no great skills at anything. Marco, from Three, is very fast not only physically but mentally too. The young girl from Four has no fighting experience whatsoever. And then there are you two. As of now your strengths are your secrecy."
Eren and I look at each other. Levi may be a lousy person but he's not a bad Mentor, it seems like he knows what he's talking about when he told us to hide our strength. He must have known that there would be at least one Player who would be evaluating everyone. Eren's net gets in a knot and he sighs frustrated and I take it from him and remove the knot and finish his net perfectly. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Annie watching us closely. She then gets up without saying anything and walks out of the training center.
"Did she do any training while she was here?" I ask Eren.
"No. She just sat here and watched the whole time," Eren responds. He looks over to one of the stations were Sasha and Connie is. "Let's go join them," he remarks.
I look at him sadly. "Eren you can't become friends with these people. It'll only end up badly."
"We need allies, Mikasa," he tells me.
"They'll only stab you in the back."
Eren ignores me and goes over to Sasha and Connie and I reluctantly follow. Sasha and Connie are busy trying to make a fire and while Sasha has a successful one already going, Connie is not having as much luck. Eren asks Sasha to help him make one, since neither Eren nor I had ever built a fire in the wild before, and also asks how she's so good at it.
"Once a year the Capitol allows us out of our District and further into the mountains to hunt. But all of our game is to be taken straight to the Capitol. On our hunts we have to fend for ourselves in the wild. We need to make our own shelter and fire. Otherwise we wouldn't survive," Sasha explains.
"How many hunting trips have you been on?" Eren asks as he's trying to start his own fire but to no avail. Mine has already started and grown twice the size as Sasha's.
"We start when we're twelve. It's sort of a reward for not getting Reaped that year. So I've been on five," she remarks.
"And what about Connie?" questions Eren.
Sasha laughs and Connie stops his attempts to starting his fire to glare at her. "Connie hasn't been on a single hunt! He stays at home with his mom to bake instead."
Finally, a tiny flame has started in Eren's fire. But he gets so excited he knocks over all of his twigs and branches and the fire goes out. Eren groans in frustration and he chucks a stick across the room, only to hit Jean right in the back of the head.
"OW! WHAT THE HELL, JAEGER!"