Silence…

That was the only thing that hung in the air as they stared at one another in silence.

Blue eyes locked onto one another as two of the top graduates of the 104th Trainee Brigades stared each other down, and as they did so, the senior soldiers that brought them together, namely Gelgar, Tomas and Lynne, were quick to back away uncertainly as they weren't sure if the silence, alongside all the glaring, shared between the two of them was just how they greeted each other normally, a sign of hostility or perhaps a sign that they were about to tear each other apart…

And yet, before any one of the three Elites present could make a move to separate the two soldiers from one another, however, the shorter of the two found herself chuckling humorlessly as she looked away from the taller blue eyed soldier. Likewise, the taller young man relaxed a little as his shoulders sagged a tiny bit, with his gaze softening just a little bit all the while, something that came as quite the surprise to his seniors as they blinked in shock.

"I didn't expect you, of all people, to come visit me like this, Annie," admitted the blue eyed pilot with a raise of his brow. The surprise was apparent in his tone of voice as he spoke, but even so, there was a genuine undertone of happiness hidden beneath his neutral tone of voice as he watched Annie Leonhardt shrug her shoulders before responding to his little admission.

"Well, that's a surprise, considering how you tend to expect the unexpected quite often, Mika," rebutted Annie as she stared up at her blue eyed friend with a sarcastic glint in her eye, and that comment on its own was enough to make Mikazuki Augus snort in some form of agreement as he shrugged indifferently. He had to admit, Leonhardt got him there, and he didn't have any comebacks to that little jab from her, and as a result, he shrugged, a sign of defeat as the blonde Military Police officer rolled her eyes victoriously.

And all the while, the three senior soldiers found themselves staring at both Mikazuki and Annie in confusion, though before long, Tomas was quick to connect the dots within his mind as he chuckled awkwardly and took a step towards the two blue eyed soldiers, who, in turn, turned their attention towards him in near perfect sync, prompting the soldier to pale a little as he stepped backwards.

'Jeez… and here I thought having to deal with one of their glares was frightening enough!' thought Tomas as he shrunk a tad under the combined intensity of both Mikazuki and Annie's gaze, though he was quick to get over it as he smiled and held his hands up defensively towards the two and spoke up.

"Hey… erm… Mika… you uh… have a visitor," muttered Tomas, with him stating the obvious as he gestured towards Annie, who remained neutral, if not a little irritated at the guy butting in on the moment, as she glared at him. Even so, she said nothing about it as she rolled her eyes a little and snorted as she recalled the events of the past few days.

Roughly a week prior, Annie had taken a few days off from her MPB duties in order to visit her friends. Thanks to her position as a MPB officer, regardless of her junior status, Leonhardt was able to pull some strings within the higher ups of the Military Brigades and arrange a meeting or two between herself and her old friends. One of these meetings had taken place just a few days prior, with it being between Annie, Mina and Nac, and it was… eventful, so to speak, and now, she was attending her second, and presumably her last, meeting before she went back to the innermost regions of Sina and returned to active duty.

Rather unfortunately, however, it seemed as though the info in regards to Leonhardt's visit to the refueling station had not reached the ears of the members of Team Mike, or at the very least, Gelgar, Lynne and Tomas were unaware of it, as they were quick to insist on her leaving the area mere seconds after she arrived. If she were anyone else, she would have been confused as to why they wished for her to leave, though thanks to her position, Leonhardt knew that the refueling station was completely off limits due to it serving as a holding spot for Mika. Even so, the blue eyed officer was unwilling to leave here without at least seeing one of her only friends within these walls, and as such, she ended up arguing quite a fair bit with her seniors as they did their best to drive her away.

Before their little exchange could get too heated, however, Mikazuki, conveniently enough, stepped into the scene in quite a literal way, with the pilot stepping into the room they were arguing in and catching everyone's attention with the sound of his feet impacting the ground. And, evidently enough, he was caught off guard by his blonde friend's sudden appearance in the base as he appeared momentarily startled, and likewise, Annie, who was still immensely irritated by Lynne, Tomas and Gelgar's attempts at driving her off, found herself unintentionally glaring at the pilot as their eyes locked onto one another.

And yet, as the blonde officer looked into the eyes of her old friend, she felt her lingering anger fade away as something… new replaced it. She honestly had no idea as to what this new sensation was, but even so, she didn't really mind it all that much as she shook it off and got ready to greet her friend, though Augus beat her to it with one of his own, and thereafter… the rest is history.

"I can see that, Tomas," said Mika rather dismissively as he glanced over at his senior with a neutral expression, one that made him chuckle awkwardly at having stated something so obvious to the pilot. Despite this, however, there was nothing in Augus' voice or his stare that told Tomas that he was irritated in any way, prompting the soldier to smile awkwardly as he nodded and turned back towards Annie, who was snapped out of her thoughts after her fellow blue eyed soldier spoke up. The MPB officer raised a surprised brow when she saw Tomas bowing apologetically to her, something that was… unexpected, to say the least.

"Hm, either way, Annie Leonhardt, on behalf of my team, I apologise for inconveniencing you. We truly did not get the memo that you were visiting Mikazuki Augus until now," apologised Tomas wholeheartedly as he stood himself back up, and as he did so, Gelgar rolled his eyes at that while Nanaba remained silently amused. Leonhardt had no opinion on the whole debacle, surprisingly enough, outside of a lingering sense of annoyance.

"It's fine. I got to see him in the end, didn't I? It's good enough for me," assured Leonhardt passively as Tomas nodded and offered her a thumbs up, and over by the side, Nanaba and Gelgar appeared rather surprised at how passive Annie was being. They had fully expected her to make use of her position as an MPB to get back at them in some way, though then again, they reckoned that not all officers were as petty as they were led to believe…

"Good point… we'll leave you guys alone for now. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about," said Tomas with a small smile as he motioned for Nanaba and Gelgar to vacate the area alongside him, though he was quickly halted when he saw Annie shake her head dismissively, confusing him a little as he glanced at her.

"No need. We won't be remaining here anyways," assured Leonhardt passively as she eyed her friend with a neutral gaze. The pilot raised a brow at that, though he quickly caught onto what she was implying, and likewise, Tomas did so as well, prompting him to blink in surprise at first, though before long, he shook his head and responded.

"While we aren't exactly against it, Miss Leonhardt, we can't allow you to bring Mikazuki outside the confines of the base. Not without one of our own watching over him, anyways," pointed out Tomas, with him recalling the basic instructions given to him by Erwin and Mike as he spoke. The entire team as a whole may have grown a little fond of Mikazuki over the past few weeks, but even so, they still had their orders… orders that Annie, evidently enough, cared little for as she rolled her eyes dismissively.

"You can pass that responsibility over to me, Tomas. I'll make sure that Mikazuki stays in line," assured Annie in a bored tone of voice as she crossed her arms and glared at her senior. Said senior did shudder a tad under her glare, though he didn't cower under it, unlike so many others in the past, as he sighed.

"Passing on our responsibility to you is an irresponsible thing for us to do, Annie Leonhardt," pointed out Tomas as he gestured a little to try and get his point across. His response was a mildly irritated look from the blonde in question, who crossed her arms a little tighter together. As she did so, the officer tugged on her sleeve, causing her Military Police Officer badge to become a little more noticeable, and upon noticing that, Tomas rolled his eyes a little when he got what she was trying to do. As an MPB, Annie technically outranked all Survey Corps except Erwin and, as a result, her word typically overruled theirs, and as a result, despite being her senior by a lot, she still had more power over him, a prospect that was less than ideal for the senior, but he had to live with it… "But you're the MPB here… so you do you…"

"Thank you, Tomas. C'mon, Mika, let's go," thanked Annie flatly as she motioned for the pilot in question to follow her lead. The blue eyed soldier nodded and did as he was told, with him sparing neither one of his seniors a second glance all the while, and as a result, he missed the bewildered look that was on the faces of Nanaba and Gelgar as they watched them leave.

"Hey, Tomas… I know that they are friends and all, but still… was that really a wise decision on your part?" asked Gelgar rather worriedly as he watched Mikazuki disappear from view, and as soon as he was out of sight, the oldest person in the room simply exhaled awkwardly and shrugged, showing just how unsure he was of the whole situation as he did so. Despite this, however, he didn't seem too fussed about the whole ordeal as he responded.

"Admittedly, this is an incredibly irresponsible thing for me to do. Not only am I passing over this responsibility to my junior, but I am also letting a powerful asset roam free," admitted Tomas as he crossed his arms a little. Both Nanaba and Gelgar agreed with him on that one, as the two of them found more than a bit of issue behind their elder's decisions, but even so… "But with all that said, the records given to us by Keith state that Annie Leonhardt, as with Mina Carolina and Nac Tias, is a close friend to Mikazuki, and we all know just how… protective Mr Augus is of his close friends, now don't we?"

"Hmph, f'course we do. Reports of Barbatos sticking as closely as it did to them during the whole Trost debacle is enough proof of this," quipped Gelgar, with him placing his hands on his hips as he rolled his eyes. "We know that the kid loves his friends and all, but how does that connect to us letting whatsherface carting him off?"

"The records Keith gave us state that Annie, while not a model soldier by any stretch of the imagination, is still a soldier that can be relied upon. Because of this, I don't doubt that she will stick to her guns and do her job of keeping him close, not that he'll stray far from her, anyways," explained Tomas rather dismissively as Nanaba rolled her eyes at that explanation. It was rather lackluster, all things considered, but even so, it wasn't out of the question either, and Gelgar seemed to agree with her as he shrugged and nodded.

"Alright fair point. Kid's in the top ten for a reason, I guess… but where does that leave us, anyways? We… don't really have anything to do right now," pointed out Gelgar as he stared at his comrades with a gaze that told them that he intended on lazing off, especially now as they had no actual responsibilities burdening them. Tomas didn't like it at first, as he almost immediately shot Gelgar down by telling him to report to Mike about all this, but he was quick to stop himself when he realized that opportunities like these were hard to come by, especially for Elite soldiers like them, and as such, he allowed it to slide for now as he smirked.

"Well, usually I don't condone this, but you guys wanna go grab a drink with me? Ian's arm is fully recovered and we may as well use that as an excuse to do something to pass the time," suggested Tomas, and to say that Gelgar agreed within a second would be an understatement, and as for Nanaba, though she seemed rather uncertain on abandoning her post, she eventually came to terms with how… boring the day would be without this little outing of theirs as she shrugged and nodded indifferently.

"That sounds wonderful, I guess."

Meanwhile

No words were exchanged as the two blue eyed soldiers made their way through the bustling streets of Trost, and by all means, that was completely fine for the two of them.

After leaving the confines of the refueling station, Annie began leading Mikazuki off to parts unknown. The pilot would've asked where they were headed to, but if he were honest he found that rather unnecessary, as he trusted Leonhardt enough to let her lead the way… even if he was feeling a tiny bit… suspicious about her thanks to recent events. Even so, he did his best to push those suspicions to the back of his mind for now, as he didn't have any concrete evidence for any of them, and focused on following his blonde friend for now.

Inevitably, however, boredom was quick to get the better of them as the blue eyed soldiers trudged on, and before long, Annie cleared her throat and held her fist up to her lips, a rather unnecessary gesture and, honestly speaking, an unexpected one coming from Leonhardt, though the pilot didn't think much of it as she spoke.

"Have the Survey Corps been treating you well?" asked Leonhardt flatly as she glanced over at her friend from the corner of her eye, and to that, the pilot raised his brows in surprise for the briefest of moments, only to drop them soon thereafter as he remembered that, for as tough as Annie's exterior was, on the inside, she was a real softy, and to that, he offered his blonde friend a small smile… one that seemed to confuse her just a little as her cheeks reddened for reasons beyond her. "Is something funny to you, Mikazuki?"

"No. I just didn't expect you to ask that," assured Mika gently as his blonde friend's frown deepened, though for as intense as it appeared to be… there wasn't any real sign of malice behind her expression, more so a small amount of… embarrassment(?!), as she glared the pilot down, and by all means, he was more worried about the growing redness in her cheeks more so than her gaze. "Oi, your cheeks are growing red. Are you-"

"Yes, Mikazuki, I'm fine," assured Annie, with her slapping Mika's hand away before he could bring it up to her forehead. The pilot blinked a little at that, though he trusted Leonhardt enough to leave it at that as he watched her cheeks go back to normal shortly thereafter. "I've been in Sina for too long. It made me unused to the Trost heat."

"Ah," muttered Mika, nodding as he found that line of reasoning to be logical as he dropped it for now. Annie seemed relieved at that, and mentally, she was beyond relieved that Hitch wasn't present to see any of this. That damn lady would never let Leonhardt live any of this down if she were to find out… "But to answer your question, they've been treating me fine."

"That's good to hear," replied Annie after some time, with her closing her eyes and exhaling deeply before she spoke. As soon as she reopened them, the blonde stared up at her slightly taller friend with a mostly neutral gaze, and though there was still a small amount of embarrassment, and perhaps some irritation, hidden beneath her emotionless eyes, Augus opted to ignore that for now as she continued. "You visited Mina and Nac, didn't you?"

"Ah. How do you know?" asked Mika curiously, to which Annie snorted a little, with her seeming just a little smug as she did so, before responding.

"As an MPB officer, I tend to get information faster than the rest of you guys," explained Annie, short and simple as Mika nodded, with him accepting that line of reasoning as she continued speaking. "You visited them a week ago, didn't you?"

"Yeah. After the Preliminary Expedition," confirmed Mika offhandedly as he crossed his arms and smiled a tiny bit, with him reminiscing on that eventful night all the while. It was a good memory, all things considered… "It was a good few hours spent with everyone from the 104th."

"Yeah, I bet it was. I visited them a few days ago. It's nice to see them doing fine for themselves," quipped Annie offhandedly as she shrugged and sighed a little, and at that, a few seconds of silence prevailed as the officer went silent for a bit. Surprisingly enough, however Mika was the one who broke the silence this time, with him speaking up rather abruptly and snapping Leonhardt out of her mild trance.

"They told you about me, didn't they?" inquired Mika, with him raising his brow a little. At that, Annie appeared confused for the briefest of moments as she didn't quite get what Augus was talking about at first, though before long, she understood what he was getting at, prompting her to nod a little.

"Yeah… they told me about you being an alien or something," replied Annie nonchalantly. The lack of care in her voice was almost enough to surprise Mika, though considering just who she was exactly… he reckoned that it was to be expected. "But alien or not, you're still Mika, and that's all that really matters."

"You're not wrong there," agreed Mika, with the tiniest hints of a smile worming its way onto his face as he spoke. Annie took note of this and found herself staring a little longer at the smiling pilot than she'd like to admit, though before long, she tore her gaze away and cleared her throat, catching his attention once more.

"But I do want to know… about Barbatos," admitted Annie as she rubbed her chin curiously, and to that, Mika nodded as he opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Leonhardt as she beat him to the punch. "I know that it's a machine… something without life that you control. But there seems to be so much more to it…"

"There is a lot more to Barbatos. It's just that I know just about as much as the rest of you about him," admitted Mika, with him sounding rather sheepish as he admitted that he too knew very little about his own Gundam. For her part, Annie appeared befuddled at the notion of her friend knowing so little about something he controlled, something that warranted an explanation from him. "I never studied that much on Barbatos. I only know how to control him, and that's good enough for me. Everyone else handles maintenance, I'm in charge of heading into battle."

"I see. You always were the more straightforward sort of person, so I suppose it is to be expected," admitted Annie, and though he was probably just imagining it… Mika thought that he could hear a small amount of… defeat hidden behind his blonde friend's mostly neutral tone of voice as she spoke, though it quickly subsided as she shook her head and continued speaking. "Well, have you ever considered learning more about your Gundam?"

"Sometimes, but never enough to get too far ahead. The books are complicated," admitted Mika, and though it did sound absurd… the pilot wasn't exactly lying when he said that. The history books detailing the Calamity War and Barbatos' involvement in said conflict were so detailed that, even if he bothered to read them, he wouldn't be able to understand half the words inside them! "And I wasn't the best at reading either way."

"There's nothing stopping you from learning back then, though," pointed out Leonhardt as she walked on nonchalantly, and upon hearing her say that, Mikazuki found himself stopping dead in his tracks as he took a moment or two to process her words. They stung him a lot deeper than he was willing to admit, though he was quick to get over it when Annie stopped a little ahead of him and turned to stare at her friend. "Mikazuki…?"

And at that, Annie's words began to trail off as she noticed how her friend was staring at her with a rather… irritated glare, a telltale sign of him being set off by her words. Said glare was more than enough to cause a pit to form within Leonhardt's stomach as she hastily broke eye contact with her friend, though right as she did so, he continued walking.

"Ah," muttered Mika as he walked up to Annie's side. As he did so, a handful of… unsavoury memories from his earlier CGS days resurfaced, prompting him to shudder a little as he suppressed them once more, though the act was noticed by Annie, who raised a brow as she glanced over at her friend with a guilty look on her face as she walked with him… or at least as close to guilty as Leonhardt will ever look, anyways.

"Is something bothering you, Mika?" asked Annie as she stared up at her friend with a raised brow, and as she walked on, the pilot in question lowered his head down a little and snorted, a nonverbal response to Leonhardt's question, one that made the officer frown a little deeper than usual as she wondered what was up with him, though not long after, she realized that it was probably something that she had said, prompting her expression to soften out of regret as she looked down at her feet in apparent guilt. "It's what I said back there, wasn't it?"

"... yes. It was," confirmed Mika as he looked back up and offered his blonde friend a sideways glance. And, for as calm and collected as she usually was, Annie had to admit that the gaze her pilot friend was giving her was putting her on edge, so much so that she was quick to look away from him as she clenched and unclenched her fists in a somewhat nervous manner.

"If it means anything, then I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything unwanted," apologised Annie, with her sudden apology being more than enough to jolt Mika back to normal as he glanced over at her with a bewildered expression, one that Leonhardt missed completely as he snorted, catching her attention shortly thereafter. "Mikazuki…?"

"Don't worry about it, Annie. Me remembering things isn't your fault. You wouldn't know that would happen, anyways. You were just curious, that's all," assured Mika gently as his friend stared up at him, surprised at his sudden and out of left field reassurance, though regardless, she wasn't willing to question it too much as she nodded in acceptance and sighed.

"Hmph… well, that's a relief, I guess. Wouldn't want our little reunion to be ruined by something as simple as me being worried, now wouldn't we?" quipped Annie, with her making an attempt at sarcasm as she eyed her friend gently. Evidently enough, Augus was able to pick up on her sarcastic tone of voice, as he offered her a minor chuckle, one that, honestly speaking, sounded more like an amused groan.

"Of course not," agreed Mika, with his tone of voice matching Leonhardt's rather closely, and upon acknowledging this, the young blonde allowed a small, practically unnoticeable smile to make its way onto her face, and for whatever reason, just seeing it was enough to make the pilot smile a tiny bit as well. "But enough about me… what about you? Have the MPB been treating you well?"

"You're interrogating me now, huh?" quipped Annie sarcastically as she shrugged indifferently, to which the pilot shrugged as she rolled her eyes. As she did so, the two of them found themselves near the ravine located close to the western side of the district, and upon reaching it, Annie took a seat on the edge while Mika remained content with standing by it. "I would say that I'm surprised at this turn of events, but considering how you're the kind of person to flip things around on a dime, I can't say that I am."

"It's a talent, I guess. To make the impossible possible," quipped Mika offhandedly as Leonhardt rolled her eyes, with her forgetting about the initial question as she realized something. Did Mika just boast about his talents…? It seemed so… un-Mika like, so to speak, as was something that very rarely happened, so much so that it caught the officer off guard as she eyed her friend cheekily.

"Was that a boast?" asked Annie rhetorically, and to that, Mika shrugged nonchalantly as he responded, and if she were honest, Leonhardt thought that she could see some smugness behind that gesture.

"What if it was?" asked Mika sarcastically, and at that, Leonhardt had to suppress an amused snort as she rolled her eyes once more.

"And is that sarcasm I hear, Mikazuki Augus?" continued Annie, with her seeming interested in seeing just where this back and forth would lead them. Her response was a quick shrug from Mika once more as he replied.

"It just might be," answered the pilot, with the corners of his lips twitching upwards a tad as he spoke, a sight that made Annie's heart skip a small beat as she acknowledged just how… cute Mika looked whenever he smiled. She quickly shelved that thought, however, as she responded to his little quip.

"Very cryptic of you, Mika. I don't remember you being this vague whenever anyone asked you a question," commented the officer, to which her friend shrugged before going silent for the briefest of seconds, something that worried Annie once more, though before she could turn and add on, the pilot cut her off.

"Well, things change, I guess. The Trost issue made sure of that," reminded Mika flatly as he crossed his arms and exhaled gently. The comment wasn't meant to mean much, with it being more or less something for him to say as he didn't know how to respond to Leonhardt's previous statement, and he didn't wish to leave her hanging, but if he were honest, he didn't expect for her to take it as seriously as she did, with her glancing over in the general direction of the sealed breach not long after he finished speaking. "Annie?"

There was no response from Leonhardt, something that, quite frankly, worried Augus quite a bit as he stared down at his fellow blue eyed soldier. Despite her antisocial self, Annie was by no means rude… or at least not unreasonably so. She would always respond in some way, and as such, her silence was enough to cause a small amount of worry to bubble up in his stomach, prompting him to crouch down onto one knee beside his friend worriedly.

"Annie…?" echoed Mika, with him sounding a little more worried as he stared at his friend. Still no response from the officer, who remained nearly motionless as she kept her gaze fixed in the general direction of the breach, and though he couldn't see too much of them, Augus thought that he could see a small amount of… guilt(?) shining in her eyes. Almost as though she were regretting something… "Oi… Annie…"

Still no response from the blonde, with her completely ignoring the pilot, even as he placed a hand atop her shoulder. Mikazuki squeezed her shoulder a little in an attempt to get her to respond in some way… though it was unsuccessful as evident by how Leonhardt was still ignoring him completely.

"Annie…!" continued Mika, with him growing increasingly more frustrated and worried as he raised his volume. Though it was a rather mild increase at best, it was loud enough to make several civilians turn towards his general direction and glance at him in confusion. The pilot ignored all of them, however, when he noticed how Leonhardt's shoulders were… shaking a little… almost as though she were afraid of something… and upon acknowledging that, Mikazuki grimaced and forcefully grabbed onto his blonde friend's shoulders and forced her to look at him. "Annie Leonhardt!"

And instinctively, the blonde in question snapped out of her trance-like state and swung her arm towards her friend, with her hand balled up into a fist and poised to strike the pilot in the cheek. Mika wasn't able to respond fast enough to dodge or block the hit, however, and as a result, he felt Annie's knuckles slam into the left side of his face. To his credit, Mikazuki was able to tank the hit rather well, as he barely flinched when he was struck, but even so, he had to give Leonhardt some credit… that hit actually hurt quite a bit.

It took the blonde less than a second to realize just what she had done, and by then, her eyes widened just enough to be noticeable as the shock settled into her system. They widened a tiny bit further when she noticed a trickle of blood flowing down from Mikazuki's nostril, and at that, she retracted her hand shakily and held it close to her stomach, expecting the worst…

"I…" muttered Annie, only to trail off for quite some time as she attempted to justify that attack. She wasn't able to find one, however, as the blonde had never found herself in such a situation in the past, and as such, she had no prior knowledge on how to deal with it. Likewise, her racing heart made it close to impossible to think straight as she did her utmost best to avoid even looking at Mika. "I-I…"

"It's alright," assured Mika, with him speaking up rather abruptly as he pressed a finger against his nose and exhaled forcefully, forcing a mixture of blood and mucus to eject out of his bleeding nostril and into the ravine down below thereafter. Annie watched on with an… emotionless look on her face as the disgusting drop of red disappeared into the ravine, and as soon as it was gone… the pilot stood up and continued speaking. "Are you alright, though?"

"Am… I alright…?" echoed Annie as she stared up at the pilot, who, aside from the noticeable bruise on his cheek, appeared mostly normal as he stared down at her flatly. That in itself was more than enough to make the blonde shudder, as she wasn't able to tell just what he was thinking. She could make a few guesses, but unlike the pilot, she wasn't too adept at reading others that well… "Yeah… I'm fine, Mika… but…"

"Hm. Well, should we get moving then?" inquired Mika, with him cutting Annie off as a bit more blood slid down his cheek, though as it did so, the pilot was quick to wipe it right off with his sleeve and leave a red smudge on it. Said smudge was more than enough to make the blonde officer look away from him guiltily as she frowned a little deeper, though she was quick to dismiss it for now as she exhaled sharply and stood herself up.

"Yes… come on then…"

Some time later

"...you're probably wondering what all that was, huh?"

Annie's voice ringing through the silence was more than enough to jolt Mikazuki out of his thoughts as he stared down at his blonde friend with his neutral gaze, and likewise, Leonhardt was staring up at him as well, with that uncharacteristically remorseful glint still present in her eyes all the while. Augus didn't like that, though he didn't comment on it for now as he shrugged and rubbed at his cheek absentmindedly.

"Not really. The punch didn't hurt that much, so it's fine to me," assured Mika gently. That wasn't far from the truth, all things considered, as the initial pain that he had felt after being socked in the cheek was mostly gone by now, with it being nothing more than a mild irritation that he'd have to deal with for a few hours before it would go away completely. Annie found herself nodding in response to his words, with her knowing that such a feeble strike from her wouldn't do any long term damage to the hardy pilot, but even so…

"I know. But you're probably wondering why I did it, aren't you?" muttered Annie as she shoved her hands into her MPB uniform pockets. Silence prevailed for quite some time as the blonde found herself impatiently waiting for Mika's answer, and when he finally did respond to him… the young woman found herself rather surprised by what he said.

"Not really. Snapping someone out of a trance tends to make them do weird things," responded Mika nonchalantly as he shrugged, catching Leonhardt off guard with his words as she stared up at him in shock. The pilot noticed this, prompting him to continue speaking. "You didn't mean to hit me, and the hit didn't hurt too much, so it's fine, Annie."

Mikazuki's initial response from Annie… was silence, as the blonde raised a befuddled brow up higher onto her face as she attempted to figure out if her friend was being genuine or playing an elaborate bait and switch on her. It took her less than a handful of seconds to realize that he was completely genuine with his words, however, as there were no hints of deceit to be found, be it in his body language or even in the look in his eyes. That… was to be expected, Leonhardt reckoned, as, while Mika was known to be many things… a liar was not one of them. Or, at the very least, he wasn't one to lie for malicious reasons…

"... you're a lot kinder than you let on, you know?" muttered Annie as she trudged on, with her now standing a little straighter as she stared over at her taller friend, who, at the very least, appeared flattered by Leonhardt's words as he nodded as thanks.

"Thanks, I guess," thanked Mika as he offered his friend a small smile, one that made the blonde offer a small smile of her own as she broke eye contact with him. Thereafter, things became rather silent as both blue eyed warriors trudged on aimlessly through the district of Trost, with the duo seeming rather content with the silence as they walked onwards. Surprisingly enough, however, Mika was the one who broke the silence this time, with him speaking of something that was on his mind. "I want to know something, Annie."

"And what would that be, Mika?" responded the blonde in question almost immediately after the pilot spoke, causing him to blink a little as he has never seen her respond this quickly in the past. Despite this, he was quick to dismiss that little detail as he glanced off into the distance and responded, with a small amount of curiosity lining his words all the while.

"You were thinking about something just now, before you hit me. I'd like to know what was on your mind," said Mika, short, simple and to the point as he stared over at his friend, who tensed up quite a bit at that. Augus was quick to realize that he may have stumbled onto a sensitive issue, and as such, he was quick to backpedal as he held a hand up reassuringly. "If you want to. I won't force you if you don't."

Silence was the only thing that Annie responded with as she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the ground in front of her, something that, quite frankly, worried Mika quite a bit as he slouched his shoulders a little and shut his eyes in irritation. He shouldn't have asked that… regardless of his suspicions of her, Annie was still a friend, after all, and they were having a little reunion, something that shouldn't be interrupted by something as minute as Augus' accusations against his friend. With all that in mind, Mikazuki opened his mouth and got ready to dismiss the whole situation right there and then, though before he could do so…

"Hey, Mika. Do you… believe in destiny?" asked Annie, with her offering him an out of left field question as she stopped walking and stared over at him with a rather… tired gaze, one that told the pilot that she had a lot of pent up grief buried within her heart as she held her hands up to her chest. Likewise, Mika noticed how Leonhardt's knees were quivering a tiny bit as she stood before him, and likewise, her hands shivered just enough to be noticeable as she stared down at the ground.

"What do you mean, Annie…?" asked Mika curiously as he didn't quite get his friend's question, and to that, the blonde shut her eyes, exhaled deeply, before reopening them and stared up at her friend with a look that could best be described as soulless. Mika recoiled a little at the sight, though he said nothing as Leonhardt explained herself.

"Do you believe in preordained paths in life, Mika?" asked Annie rather cryptically as she hugged herself in a rather uncharacteristic manner, making her look incredibly… vulnerable as she spoke, something that caught the pilot off guard as she continued. "Paths that you were told by others to follow… regardless of how painful they become further down the road…"

"..." no response from Mikazuki… not yet, at least, as the pilot found himself frowning as he lowered his gaze down to the ground. His hair shadowed his eyes as he found himself silently admitting to having been in a similar situation to what Annie was describing to him in the past, but even so…

"I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you such a dumb question, Mika," apologised Annie after a few seconds of silence, with her sounding more like her usual self as she shook her head and dropped the topic entirely, with her having noticed that it was messing with her friend just as much as it was her. And yet… before she could motion for them to continue onwards, the young woman was stopped dead in her tracks when Mikazuki responded.

"I don't believe in preordained paths, Annie, and I sure as Hell don't believe in destiny," replied Mika rather abruptly as he stared over at his friend with a serious look in his eyes. Leonhardt, admittedly, shrunk a tiny bit under his intense stare, but even so, in spite of just how… serious he appeared, there seemed to be a small undercurrent of understanding buried beneath his gaze, one that made Annie calm down, if only a little, as he continued speaking. "I won't let anyone else control my life. I'll do whatever I want."

"I… I see… that's respectable of you, Mika," praised Annie as she nodded in response to Augus' words, though before she could say anything else, the pilot placed a hand atop her shoulder, a gesture that made her tense up a little, before speaking.

"I don't know why you asked me that question, and I won't ask. I can tell that it's a personal issue to you," assured Mika as he walked forwards a little. After taking a few steps forwards, the pilot released Annie's shoulder and continued walking past her, though he didn't stop speaking all the while. "But just remember this, Annie…

"The moment you let anyone decide your future… that is the moment your life loses its meaning."

And with those words said, Mikazuki turned away from Annie and walked onwards, leaving her to ruminate on his words all the while. A mixture of emotions swelled up within the blonde's chest as she let his words sink in… and before long, the young woman felt just one thing as she allowed a small smile to worm its way onto her face…

'You really are something else, Mika…'

Thereafter, Annie jogged up to her friend's side and began walking beside him, and as she did so, Mika glanced over at her and noticed how she was walking a little straighter than usual, a sight that made him flash a genuine smile, if only for a handful of seconds, as he exhaled a little.

He may have had some… suspicions in regards to his friend, but even so… Mikazuki could never find it in him to feel too enraged towards her for extended periods of time. As with Mina and Nac… Mika… loved Annie in his own unique way, and as such… he would remain forever loyal to them, even in the face of death. And besides… Augus didn't have any confirmation for his suspicions regardless, so it was mostly rendered mute for now…

"Is something wrong, Mika?" inquired Annie, snapping Mika out of his thoughts as he blinked and stared over at Leonhardt, who raised a brow when she noticed him staring. Her response from the pilot was for him to rub his chin thoughtfully as he shrugged and closed his eyes to think of a response… and before long, he found himself smiling a tiny bit as he reopened his eyes and glanced down at Leonhardt.

"... do you want to get some doughnuts?"

"Fuck yeah."

I gotta admit… this was a pretty hard chapter to write.

There were about three or five initial drafts made before I settled with what you've just read, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Of course, that doesn't really matter, as the important thing is that you guys enjoyed it, which I hope you did!

Was this chapter too shippy? Fuck yeah!

The next chapter will be the (proper) start of the Female Titan Arc, so look forward to that if you will.

Review Replies!

starscreamer11: well you ain't hallucinating, trust me.

Jose Diaz1: ah… wholesomeness. It truly is the best, now innit? And aye… Mikazuki has indeed changed. I don't know if everyone likes how he changed, particularly, but still, he's a better person in general now.

Ianitri27: the flags are indeed everywhere, but what are they signaling? That's the real question…

Batman9117: I'm glad you think it was nice! As for Annie's fate… I'm unwilling to reveal too much, but her fate will be… different.

Guest: UNO Reverse Card chapter!

casnova5424: no problem, I'm glad you enjoyed my few recommendations! And it's mostly fine if you post a review on the wrong chapter. I can still figure out which one is which!

Touhoufanatic: I'm glad you enjoyed it as well! Here's what comes next!

TheStrangerThatCameFromNowhere: Ha! I'm glad you enjoyed that little 'joke' I put in there!

Shadow: time grows short, and I wish to update quickly until further notice. Besides the point, only time will tell how much Tekkadan will bring to the table!

pt10ef: Well at the very least, Ymir will indeed have a different fate. As for a trap… who knows? Mika is not a Titan shifter… that would be waaaay too overpowered, and though this is me jerking myself off quite a bit… I think I did a decent job at raising Mika, so to speak. I can't exactly respond to your comment on the AV System surgery due to spoilers… and as for Annie… well… who knows?

Guest: because it was filler. If I put everything as a main event this story would be over sooner.

aandreloyo: I'm glad you liked it! And as for Mikasa… let's just say she still has trust issues.

You wont believe me, most likely, but it's currently 7am in the morning. I just returned from nightshift and have not slept.

Chapter 20 has a few errors I oughta fix… later.

Ciao.

"... Mina?"

"Yes, Nac?"

"You look kinda mad…"

"I do…? I guess I kinda do feel a bit off."

"Care to explain why?"

And to that, Mina Carolina simply shook her head as she gulped. By all means, nothing extravagant was going on… so why did she feel as though she was getting cucked for some reason…?

Mild edits made on: 3/7/2021