"From this day forth, each and every one of you here are members of the 104th Trainee Corps!"
Straightening himself up when he heard those words, Mikazuki Augus lowered his brows and refocused his attention on the man who was currently standing before them on a small platform. He was almost as tall as Nac, with dark, tanned skin and eyes that were sunken into his face, giving him a very rather stressed demeanor and a goatee that somehow made him look even more stressed.
How that worked… was anyone's guess.
Currently, Mikazuki was within the confines of Wall Rose, with him standing in one of its many training fields at attention, with his hands behind his back and his expression unreadable. He would've complained about all this, about the sun bearing down onto him like a scorching iron, but really, it wasn't anything he hadn't faced before in the past. The same couldn't really be said for Nac, however, as the taller and older guy was sweating up a storm, both from the introduction of their commander and from the scorching heat in general.
'I wonder if he's regretting his decision,' thought Mikazuki, somewhat sarcastic as he fidgeted a tiny bit. Oh, who was he kidding, Nac definitely didn't regret his decision to become a Survey Corp. None of them did. Just a few days prior, when they had been greeted by a soldier that would bring them into the training grounds of Rose, both Nac and Mina had the doofiest smiles plastered onto their faces as they left, and at the same time, both Mikazuki and Annie kinda just… followed them, really. They had no reason to be happy about the situation, though they did not voice out any of their complaints along the way.
Upon arriving here, they were given a day to familiarize themselves with their barracks, with Mikazuki and Nac being separated from Mina and Annie due to gender related reasons. Mika himself was unfamiliar with these sorts of rules, though it was mainly because of how he was once a part of an all-male military group, though his friends assured him that this was normal, and as for the girls, they assured him that they would be fine.
Honestly speaking, Mikazuki was just glad to know that his bunkmate was Nac.
Upon waking the next day at an absurdly early hour, the soldiers were all ushered into the training fields, where it all led into the present, where they were now being yelled at by-
"Unfortunately for you lot, I, Keith Shadis, will be your platoon commander for these next four years! I am not about to give you maggots a warm welcome. Currently, in my eyes, all of you are livestock! No… you are all worse than livestock! You aren't even fit to be considered HUMAN SHIELDS! Not until I deem you worthy of being considered as such!"
Keith Shadis… Mika thought he recognised that name. Wasn't he a former commander of those Survey Corps? He recalled his name being brought up on several instances by Nac and Mina. The man did look vaguely familiar, though Mika didn't care enough to try and see if he remembered him. It didn't really matter anyways; if he did save his ass during a prior skirmish whilst he was still piloting Barbatos, it wouldn't matter as no one even knew about his little secret anyhow.
Beside him, Nac seemed to be resisting the urge to smile, something which made Mika quirk an eyebrow up. He knew his friend was a fan of the Military Brigade, or at least ⅓ of them, and that he would often nerd out when they were speaking of them, so seeing him trying to not geek out was a first.
Then again, being positive looking may draw some attention to him. And from what he was currently hearing, that would be a bad idea.
"You, what is your name?!" demanded Keith, who had moved from his platform after finishing his introductory speech and was now giving his new recruits a stern grilling to gauge their potential when going through stress. Mikazuki couldn't see who he was interrogating at the moment, but Nac, being much taller, could see that the one being interrogated was blonde and rather short, with a somewhat feminine face and large, hazel eyes, the latter detail being something Nac had to look hard to notice thanks to how far he was from the poor soul.
"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina, sir!" came a voice that sounded as though it were trying its best to be brave, definitely the one whom Keith was yelling at. Nac didn't recognise that name, but he could see that Keith's expression had softened just a little as soon as the name Shiganshina had left Armin's lips, only to instantly harden once more within a second.
"Is that so? What a ridiculous name! Did your father give it to you?!" demanded Keith, obviously trying to scare the wits out of the blonde. However, to his credit, Armin did not lose his (somewhat) calm demeanor as he gulped and replied in a shaky tone of voice, eyes shut as he mustered all of his courage and poured it into his voice.
"N-No sir! My grandfather did!" blurted Armin, making Shadis snort and make a harumph sound. That was a fair enough response, he reckoned, but he wasn't done just yet
"I see. Why are you here, Armin Arlert?!" demanded Keith, arms still behind his back as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde, increasing his intimidation factor as he spoke. In response to this, Armin answered shakily.
"To contribute to Mankind's victory a-against the Titans, sir!" shouted Armin at what everyone thought to be the top of his lungs, and a handful of people, even Keith himself, seemed surprised at just how loud he could raise his voice, though the latter's initially shocked look was quickly replaced with a neutral expression as he gave a firm nod of apparent approval.
"How commendable of you, Armin Arlert," complimented Keith flatly, though Mikazuki in particular could tell that he meant those words, before he placed a hand atop the blonde's head and rotated him a full 180 degrees with seemingly no effort. From where he stood, Nac almost snorted when he saw the lifeless white eyes of Armin, with the boy looking as though his soul had migrated from his body in that very instance. "We can use you as Titan Bait. Now, Third line, facing backwards!"
While Mika had no reaction to what just happened, he noted how Nac seemed to be doing his best to stifle a chuckle. Averting his eyes ever so slightly so that he could stare at his friend, Augus raised a brow to show his confusion, which Nac responded to with a small, practically unnoticeable shrug.
"You have to admit that it's kind of funny, yeah?" hummed Nac, with him offering his friend a half-smile as he said this, and to that, Mikazuki rolled his eyes at his friend's immaturity, though moreover…
"I guess, but I never thought that you'd think someone else suffering could be funny," admitted Mikazuki, with him shrugging as he acknowledged how Nac was such a softy that the thought of him laughing at anyone felt haram to him…
"Hey, we all need to indulge from time to time, ri-"
BLAM!
"GAH!"
"...?"
Rather abruptly, however, the two's minor conversation was quickly cut short when they heard the sound of someone being struck, and moments later, a yell of pain could be heard. Mikazuki, being short and all that, was unable to clearly see where either sound had come from, but, as per usual due to his immense height advantage, Nac could do so with very little issue.
"Who gave you permission to sit, Jean Kirstein?" demanded Keith, glaring down at who Nac and Mikazuki assumed to be 'Jean', who remained doubled over in agony as he continued to speak. "If such a simple injury, one which did not even draw blood, can bring you to your knees, then there is no hope for you to be enlisted into the Military Police Brigade."
Looking in between their would-be comrades, Nac and Mikazuki saw the one whom Keith was addressing. As he had said, a boy, most likely 'Jean' himself, was slouched over on his knees, hands wrapped around his head in pain. Keith paid no mind to his current dilemma, however, as he simply moved on to his next target.
Shadis' 'interrogation' of the 104th Trainee Brigade went on for quite some time, and during that time, Mikazuki found himself endlessly amused by everything Keith had spouted out. The man sure could talk, or at the very least, dish out some creative insults. It was a tactic which Mika had heard of, a scare tactic to show the new recruits that they were signing up for more than what they bargained for.
His time with Tekkadan, back when it was still the Chryse Security Guard (CGS), was really paying off, it would seem, as the guy's awareness of how things went in these sorts of militaristic organisations was really shining through. He hoped that he could use some of that knowledge of his to help his friends get through all this with minimal issues, though considering their luck… he doubted that such a thing would occur.
After about forty minutes, Keith himself came walking up in front of Mikazuki and Nac's row. The two of them were standing close to the center of the gathered individuals, so it took some time for Shadis to get to Augus and Tias, though once he was there, he instantly gave the two of them his heated gaze.
Keith's glare was probably much more intense than Annie and Mikazuki's combined, and Hell, it even managed to make Mika twitch his eye a little, slightly intimidated, though he kept his neutral expression firm as Keith walked past him, with the pilot not even making eye contact with the commander a second time as he passed him by. Unfortunately, Nac was not as composed as his diminutive friend, sadly, as his somewhat calm expression broke when Keith gave him the eye, with that more or less painting a target onto his back in an instant.
"You, who are you, and where did you come from?!" demanded Keith, with him stopping in front of Nac as he said this. In an instant, his gaze locked onto Tias', who froze in fear for half a second, though not a moment thereafter, he gave the man the Military Brigade's signature salute and responded as bravely as he could.
"Nac Tias, SIR!" responded the taller boy firmly, clenching his fist tight as he rested it against his heart. His fear was evident to both Mikazuki and Keith, though the former spoke nothing of it whilst the latter huffed mentally, with him fully intent on capitalizing on his fear. "From the Eastern side of Trost, SIR!"
"Nac Tias, why the Hell are you here?" demanded Keith, with him speaking sternly as he narrowed his eyes at Nac. He didn't seem the least bit impressed by his nearly perfect salute or his loudness, not by a longshot…
"To devote myself to mankind's victory against the Titans, sir!" replied Nac, straightening himself even more as he spoke… if that was even possible. Mikazuki thought that he was already ramrod straight at this point, though he spoke nothing of this as his taller friend continued, blurting out a conclusion all the while. "And to serve as a Survey Corp if I can…"
At that, Mikazuki had averted his eyes up to give his friend a questioning stare, one which Nac didn't notice for obvious reasons. The poor guy's gaze was stuck onto Keith as he glared up at him with fury in his eyes… controlled fury, but fury nonetheless…
"Hm… that is all fine and well, Nac Tias. It is a good end goal to endeavour for," muttered Keith, his expression softening just a little. Nac, for his part, seemed to calm down a tad, at least until Keith narrowed his eyes and continued. "But, know this… as things are right now, you have a higher chance of dying in an accident in training than you do in becoming a Survey Corp…"
Nac's response was a gulp and a horrified expression which made Augus snort. Thankfully, though, Keith didn't notice that as he moved on to his next target, allowing Nac to finally let loose the breath that was stuck in his throat as he glanced down at Mika with a rather relieved smile, one that Mikazuki responded to with a roll of his eyes. Truth be told, he was surprised that the softy didn't just break down, there and there, but that was honestly irrelevant at this point, especially when-
"You, who are you and why are you here?!" demanded Keith, having found his new target and bringing about the metaphorical flames of Hell upon the poor lad.
"I… I'm M-Mylius Zeramuski, sir!" replied the blonde, saluting shakily as Keith glared at him. Rather unfortunately for 'Mylius', Keith noted his stutter and took advantage of it.
"Why do you have a stutter, Zeramuski?" demanded Keith, inching his face closer to his target's as he zoned in onto the blonde's seemingly weakest point. Mylius seemed uncertain on how he should reply, though even if he could, Keith would have cut him off regardless. "Such nervousness is not needed in any of the three Military Brigades!"
"I… I s-see, sir… I-I apologise… I-I…!" muttered Mylius apologetically as he leaned away from his Commander, most likely without thinking, prompting Keith to raise a brow, and upon noticing that, the blonde to gulp and start sweating even more.
"Mylius Zeramuski, why the Hell are you here?" demanded Keith slowly, his tone a little harder than usual and eyes narrowed as Zeramuski twitched a little under his glare.
"To… t-to try and earn enough to help my family… s-sir…" muttered Mylius, frowning as he tightened his fist which rested on his chest. Keith huffed at that. "The Military Brigade's increased pay could help me with doing such a thing…"
"Admirable, but horribly foolish and naive of you," said Keith with a frown, resisting the urge to shake his head as he spoke. Mylius flinched as though he had been physically struck when he heard that, though he wasn't given the proper time to process any of this as, with a simple smack to his shoulder, Shadis had forced him to turn a full 180 degrees, spinning him about like a top before stopping him when his back was turned in his direction. "But your naivety is still useful in some aspects; we can also use you as Titan Bait. Third Line, facing backwards!"
The soft sigh of relief was not missed by Keith, though he did stop to glare back at Mylius, who stiffened when he felt his superior's gaze fall upon him, though thankfully enough, it did not linger as Shadis moved on, much to his relief.
Whilst he continued on looking for a new victim, however, Nac flinched lightly as he kept his gaze on Mylius.
"He didn't have to be so hard on the guy…" muttered Nac, sounding at least a little sympathetic towards Mylius as he spoke, and in response to this, Mikazuki shook his head.
"No, he did," argued Mikazuki, and as he said that, Nac gave him an incredulous look, prompting him to explain himself. "If he didn't, Mylius might've thought that things would be easy for him in training. Keith doesn't seem to want that… so he's scaring the ones that won't be able to keep up into quitting ahead of time."
"That… doesn't seem too nice of him, but I guess it's a good reason. Weed out the weak links and all that…" muttered Nac. He didn't sound approving of Keith's tactics, but even so, he could see the logic behind it, with Mikazuki nodding in agreement all the while.
And once more, their little conversation was interrupted when…
THUD!
"You have it backwards, Connie Springer…" came Keith's voice, making both Nac and Mikazuki turn their heads back to look at where Keith had ended up at. As usual, Mika was unable to see most of what was going on, but Nac, being much taller and all that, was able to do so; Keith was now interrogating the row two spaces behind them, and that he also had a bald boy held up in the air in between his hands, roughly at eye level/a quarter metre above ground.
The two had, admittedly, found it to be an amusing sight, though for their sakes, they did not comment on it as they simply watched in silence.
"It should've been the first thing you learnt before you even thought of joining the Trainee Brigade…" continued Keith, with his words filled with fury and his posture reflecting said fury to great effect. "That salute is a symbol that openly declares your determination to offer your life to the Military Brigades! Is your heart on the right side of your chest, Connie Springer?!"
Connie, the poor kid being held up in between Keith's hands, didn't seem as though he could reply at the moment, with him simply giving a soft squeak as his head continued to be squished. Nac, who saw everything out of the corner of his eye, let out a soft snicker whilst Mika simply rolled his eyes just a little, feeling just a little amused at the punishment that had befallen Connie more than any actual pity for him.
Rather surprisingly, however, Keith had stopped his reprimandation of Connie Springer rather prematurely, as he had dropped him back onto the ground like a sack of potatoes before zoning in on another person in the crowd. This time, neither Nac nor Mikazuki could see the individual that Shadis had focused in on, but the silence which followed had put them on edge…
… and Augus swore that he heard something which sounded like someone taking a bite out of a steamed potato off in the distance, though he spoke nothing of it as he simply listened.
"Hey…" muttered Keith, with him breaking the silence as he turned to glare at the one that had caught his ire. His new victim, a girl with reddish brown hair and light brown eyes, didn't seem to notice that she was the one being spoken to as Shadis' gaze zeroed onto her and her alone, and, true to what Mikazuki had heard prior, she was indeed chowing down on a steamed potato held in her hand during their welcome committee, and by all means, she seemed too preoccupied with her 'meal' to really pay attention to her surroundings. "You… what are you doing…?"
When he muttered those words, practically everyone around the brunette, aside from those in front of her, glanced over at her in shock. Ironically, though, the girl herself didn't know that she was being addressed; instead, she took another bite of her potato as though nothing was going on, and, rather unfortunately for her, this simple act of ignorance served only to infuriate Keith much, much more, as, right as she took that bite, the heavily tanned man moved so quickly in front of her face, quite literally teleporting in front of her with just how fast he had moved, his face just inches away from hers, before roaring straight at her.
"YOU! I AM TALKING TO YOU!" exclaimed Keith, loud enough for the entire 104th Trainee Platoon, front, back, left, right, center and beyond to hear, and finally, the girl whom Keith was yelling finally realized that she was the one he had been referring to, prompting her to quickly speed up her chewing, and after swallowing the piece in her mouth, the young lady gave her platoon commander a rigid salute, slamming her potato holding hand against her chest in an instant. When that was done, she responded, though said response was something which Keith wasn't particularly interested in.
"Sasha Braus from Dauper Village within Rose's Southern District, sir!" she introduced, still not understanding why Keith had 'greeted' her in such a way, apparently, as her tone didn't show any real signs of fear; more so confusion than anything. For his part, Keith straightened himself out to his usual height and gave 'Sasha' a glare which she wouldn't forget anytime soon.
"Sasha Braus… what is that you have in your right hand?" demanded Keith, with his tone sounding calm and collected as he spoke, though Mikazuki and, to some degree, Nac could hear some real hostility behind them; like the calm before the storm, Shadis was holding back his fury for when he learnt of why the bumpkin was doing what she was doing. His subdued anger was enough to make the latter sweat a little, though the former had no reaction to the underlying hostile tone outside of acknowledging that it existed.
On the total opposite end of the spectrum, Sasha seemed oblivious to it.
"A Steamed Potato, sir…" responded Sasha, with her looking up at Keith as she spoke, her eyes locked with his as she kept her salute. Her lackadaisical tone amused and bemused many around her, and as she said this, Shadis' subdued anger only grew, something that everyone, except Braus apparently, could feel as they instinctively shifted away from the Dauper child.
Keith didn't pay them any mind, for his gaze was fixed squarely onto Sasha as he responded to her words.
"And where did you find this potato, Sasha Braus?" demanded Keith, with the first few hints of genuine anger creeping into his voice as he spoke. Likewise, doubt and fear began creeping their way onto the brunette's face as she responded with a gulp.
"From the mess hall, sir," she responded, inadvertently tightening the rope tighter around her neck as she spoke. How she had gotten into the mess hall without anyone knowing was beyond everyone's comprehension, even Keith's, though it wasn't exactly the most pressing issue they had at the moment.
"In other words, you stole it," muttered Keith, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Those around Sasha slowly inched further away from her, with none of them wanting to be caught within the danger zone if Keith were to snap. Fortunately for them, though, all of Keith's attention was currently directed towards Sasha, who remained rigid as he continued speaking. "You stole it without anyone noticing… something that is impressive in its own right, so tell me, why did you decide to take the potato out now?"
"Well… it… it's best to eat a Steamed Potato before it gets cold…" responded Sasha, with her tone of voice a mix of nervous, appalled and even shocked at what Keith had asked. That last emotion was felt by Shadis as well, as he looked over at Sasha incredulously as she continued. "I thought it was getting cold… so I thought now was the best time to have it…"
Keith simply looked stunned at that response as he frowned deeply, eyes narrowed. "I… I don't… I still don't understand, Sasha Braus… why did you eat it now…?"
"Commander… are you asking me why people eat potatoes?" asked Sasha, uncertainty slowly creeping into her voice as she spoke. Unbeknownst to her, her odd response made practically everyone in the field, or at least everyone that was within hearing distance anyways, turn towards her and stare in wide eyed shocked, with their fear of Keith having been overridden by their disbelief at her apparent stupidity all the while.
Even Mikazuki had to widen his eyes ever so slightly to show his shock. Hell, even Keith himself was dumbfounded by what he had heard, with him unable to formulate a proper retort as he resorted to simply staring at Sasha with wide eyes as he thought of a response.
Before he could, however, Sasha did the unexpected and, with a thoughtful expression, ripped off a small chunk, roughly ⅓, off the steamed potato she was currently holding, with the greatest of ease. That simple motion confused everyone, at least until she handed the smaller chunk of potato out to Keith, though she did have a pained expression as she handed it to off him with great reluctance.
"...this half is for you, sir," said Sasha as Keith took the potato chunk. The Platoon Commander simply looked at his chunk, dumbfounded.
"This… half…?" muttered Keith, with him looking towards Sasha as he spoke, and his only response was a massive, goofy smile.
Much later
"She's still at it…"
Huffing in response as he nodded at his friend's words, Mikazuki shoved his hands into his pockets as he continued to watch Sasha Braus continue her run around the field with Annie by his side.
When Sasha had given Keith the potato chunk, the Commander had, after recovering from his shock, ordered her to run around the entire field until she could not run anymore. Mikazuki, Annie and a select few others had found that it was just a nicer way to say: 'run until you die', which was a little morbid to think of, really, considering how he was their Commander and all that…
Of course, with Shadis being a… reasonable man, he did give an alternative to the running; she could skip dinner as punishment for her theft of the potato. Considering how things were at the moment… her choice in that matter was very much apparent.
While she ran, Keith went on with his interrogation as though nothing happened. It took roughly five hours for the entire thing to end thanks to the sheer amount of victims to interrogate, and when it was done, Keith ordered them to head to the field's Dining Hall to recuperate and to change back into their casual attire… everyone except for Sasha, anyways. Before they left, however, Keith gave them a warning that he was going easy on them today and that things would be much, much more harsh in the future.
Nac in particular shuddered at that; this was considered him taking it easy on them?! May God have mercy on his soul!
That aside, however, Mikazuki and Nac were quick to move over to the dining hall, with them meeting up with Mina and Annie when they were there. The two were waiting by the entrance, and upon seeing the two guys approach them, the former waved at them enthusiastically whilst the latter stood by neutrally, seeming uncaring but still happy to see them still in one piece in her own unique way.
Once they were back together, Mina and Nac began to speak to one another, with the former mumbling about her interrogation, which was too far away for either of the guys to overhear.
"The Commander called me a Pig… well, he called me worse than that. A Pigsy…" moaned out Mina in sadness as she crossed her arms. She didn't like being called that, but all the same… she did understand why.
"He probably didn't mean it in a literal way, and if he did, show him what for when it comes time to train!" encouraged Nac, with him lightly punching Mina on the shoulder as he spoke. For all it was worth, the pigtailed girl did appreciated what he had said, though moments later, their conversation moved on to what they were looking forward to in training. Mikazuki in particular cared little to involve himself in this conversation, though he was pulled back into it on occasion, and the same could be said for Annie, who just looked ready to fall asleep right about now.
Thankfully enough, however, Mina and Nac thought it best for them to introduce themselves to their fellow Cadets, with them hoping for Mikazuki and Annie to follow them in doing so. They declined, of course, and even with some persuasion, the blue eyed duo remained firm in not following them on such a matter, and although disappointed, they still assured them that they'd introduce them to some of their new potential friends in the future.
Both Mikazuki and Annie were… thrilled for that, I'll tell you that much.
Regardless, all of that more or less led up to the present, with both blue eyed teens simply staring out towards the training fields blankly, and by proxy, out at Sasha as she sprinted along with iron-willed determination. In spite of their typically cold exteriors, both were admittedly immensely impressed and endlessly amused at Braus' stamina, though it was probably for all the wrong reasons.
"How much longer until she drops dead?" piped up Annie after some time, making Mikazuki turn to her with an amused expression. The slightly shorter blonde teen had her gaze firmly fixed on Sasha out in the distance as she spoke, so she did not notice the shrug which Mika gave.
"I… don't know, honestly. Maybe an hour. Maybe two. Probably four at most," answered Mika truthfully, prompting Annie to snort out loud as he tugged on his sleeveless blue shirt, which was now technically his innerwear for his Trainee Corp outfit. The boy still had his Tekkadan jacket with him, seeing as how he considered it important enough to bring with him, but he had a feeling that he wouldn't have many opportunities to wear it from here on out.
Of course, seeing as the boy was wearing his sleeveless innerwear, his Alaya-Vijnanaspines out and visible to everyone with a good eye, and as a result, he got several stares directed towards him thanks to this unique aspect of himself, but ultimately, the boy ignored them without issue. It didn't exactly matter to him, after all. The Alaya-Vijnana, as he had told his friends at one point, were practically a part of him by now. If people thought him to be beneath them just for having them, then so be it, he supposed. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to it anyways.
Whilst he thought of this, however, Mikazuki found his ears perking up a little when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him from behind, and likewise, Annie heard it too, and without a second thought, both teens turned and instinctively assumed defensive stances, only for them to pause briefly, for varying reasons, when they came face to face with a large, broad shouldered and stocky blonde guy.
Said individual stood just as tall as Akihiro Atland, a thought that sat poorly in Mikazuki's mind as it made his heart clench, but that aside, the guy had quite the jawline, with his skull almost looking like a rectangle, with short blonde hair and hazel eyes that regarded both Mika and Annie with a surprised look. The position of his hands made the two of them realize that he had been attempting to sneak up on them in a somewhat comical manner, though considering how he had been caught, he had, evidently, not been sneaking so effectively.
"... oh, it's you," groaned Annie, with her sounding somewhat annoyed at seeing this individual as she spoke. Said individual appeared to be rather heartbroken at Leonhardt's words, but even so, Mikazuki seemed somewhat curious as he eyed the big guy with a raised brow.
"Do you know this guy?" asked Mikazuki, to which Annie nodded. Thereafter, she motioned towards the bulky blonde before introducing him.
"Yeah. This is Reiner Braun, an… acquaintance of mine from back in Maria. He's an idiot," introduced Annie, with the blonde, Reiner, letting out an indignant hey! at his less than pleasant introduction, but even so, he didn't seem all too miffed about it as another guy ran in to join the chat.
This new individual was an incredibly tall fella, taller than Nac even! Outside of his impressive height, however, the guy didn't seem all that impressive, with his overall demeanor and appearance making him look somewhat plain. His black hair was kept short and his pale green eyes weren't anything out of the ordinary, and by all means, the guy looked keen on ignoring this whole situation were it not for the fact that his gaze was focused almost exclusively on Annie.
"A-Annie! Oh God, we were so worried for you… when you weren't with us in Rose, we assumed…" began the taller bloke, with him glancing over at Mikazuki as his words trailed off, and thereafter, he paused when he fully processed the shorter boy's presence, and thereafter… "O-Oh… I apologise. Were we interrupting something, Annie?"
"No, you weren't, Berdholdt. Mika and I were just standing around is all," assured Annie, and thereafter, she glanced over to see her fellow blue eyed Cadet appearing somewhat confused, prompting her to sigh as she jerked her thumb over at the tall guy. "And that's Bertholdt Hoover. Another acquaintance of mine from Maria."
"Ah. Are these two…" began Mikazuki, with him motioning between Reiner and Bertholdt as he spoke to Annie, and before he could finish that statement, Annie nodded, with her not wishing for him to finish that all the while. Mika complied with her quiet demands as Reiner walked up to him and examined the significantly smaller guy thoroughly from head to toe.
"Hm… I'm not sure who you are, though. You a friend of Annie's or something?" asked Reiner, with him exaggerating his words as he stared down at Mikazuki with a hand on his chin, and in response to this, Augus shoved both his hands into his pockets before responding to his question.
"I guess we're friends, in a way," answered Mikazuki as he shrugged. "I'm Mikazuki Augus."
"Mikazuki, huh?" echoed Reiner, and when he spoke his name, Mikazuki nodded, prompting him to grin all the while. "Heh… well, I hope we get along in the future, Mika. If you can get a sourpuss like Annie to befriend you, then you've gotta be an extraordinary dude!"
"Yeah, good luck with that," snarked Annie, with her rolling her eyes as she silently acknowledged how, in truth, neither herself nor Mikazuki were truly friends just yet. They respected one another, yes… but even so, to call them friends would be a horrible mischaracterisation of their current relationship. Reiner flinched lightly at her words, but even so, he didn't let them deter him as he grinned at Mikazuki and placed a hand atop his shoulder as a sign of friendship.
Said sign of friendship was quickly swatted off the shorter boy's shoulder as he glared at Reiner in annoyance.
"Don't call me Mika," was all Mikazuki bothered to say as he walked past Reiner and Bertholdt, and as he did so, he continued. "Only friends get to call me Mika."
And thereafter, he motioned for Annie to perhaps follow him inside the mess hall, and at that, the blonde did just that, with her suppressing the grin that she felt coming on all the while. Along the way, though, Bertholdt did stop her as he winced at his attitude.
"Jeez, you have a knack for bringing in quite the crowd. You know that, don't you, Annie?" mused Bertholdt, and in response to this, Annie rolled her eyes before walking on, ignoring her acquaintance's comment all the while.
"Whatever," groaned Annie, with her moving to follow Mikazuki moments thereafter. As she did so, though, the girl took stock of how Mika was looking at her in apparent annoyance, prompting her to snort all the while. "I'm coming, I'm coming, Mika."
And as she said that, Reiner and Bertholdt gave each other a surprised exchange of looks.
Dining Hall
When everyone had filed in for their meals, the Trainees had split up into several smaller groups, mainly sitting groups with their friends or with those from the same district out of familiarity, and unsurprisingly enough, Mikazuki, Nac, Annie and Mina all sat on a single table. Mikazuki sat beside Mina, who hummed softly as she stayed by his side, whilst Annie took her spot beside Nac, with her slight relief at having escaped Reiner and Bertholdt overriding her annoyance at sitting next to her goliath of a friend.
Size differences aside, as they got seated, the four found that there was some sort of bowled 'soup' sitting in front of them atop their tables; this was their food, it would seem; a weird concoction of vegetables and stew. Mina and Nac didn't seem all too thrilled with their meal, though on the polar opposite side of the spectrum, Mika and Annie thought little of it as they just ate. The 'soup' wasn't great, though it was still better than whatever the pilot had tried to cook that one time…
Whilst eating, Mina, Nac, Annie and Mikazuki had chatted between themselves regarding their current situations, or at least the former two did. The latter duo, as per usual, simply opted to just listen rather than speak, and besides, their conversation was mostly dominated by Mina and Nac anyhow, with the duo stating that they were happy that they were able to get to where they were today, or them commenting about their excitement regarding the upcoming Training they might undergo soon.
"It'll be a meat grinder, but I'm confident that we'll get past it!" smiled Mina encouragingly as she punched in front of herself in a somewhat playful manner, and in front of her, Nac chuckled lightly as he gently pushed his friend's arm back down with a blush on his face.
"Perhaps, but let's just focus on finishing up our food before then, alright?" mused Nac, and to this, the pigtailed girl blushed faintly before doing as she was told. The stew-like concoction was definitely an acquired taste, especially for both herself and Tias, as they had barely touched their food whilst they spoke; meanwhile, both Mikazuki and Annie had long since finished their shares, and now, they were simply waiting for their friends to finish their share.
"A-Alright then, but still… what part of training are you guys most looking forward to?" asked Mina as she stabbed a carrot with her fork and shoved it into her mouth, with her scrunching her features up briefly as she chewed and swallowed after some time. "Bleh… I'm… looking forward to Maneuver Gear Training… it seems fun!"
Mikazuki would've preferred to not see soldier training as fun, especially when one considered what they were training to become, but even so… he supposed that a joyless experience wouldn't amount to much either, and as he thought of this, Annie, who was twirling her fork in her hand absentmindedly, responded to Carolina's inquiry.
"Close Quarters Combat Training. I've been getting a little…" a pause, with Annie twirling the fork in her hand before grabbing underhanded, and moments later, she stabbed the sharp points of the utensil into the table, embedding it into it with minimal difficulty. "Rusty."
"Y-Yeah, sure, whatever you say," muttered Nac, with him sweat dropping as he saw this, though as he spoke, the pilot found himself raising a brow at the blonde girl's words. "What about you though, Mika? Anything you're looking forward to?"
"Not really. I guess just training in general… it's been a while since I got an opportunity to work out like this," hummed Mikazuki, with him shrugging as he felt very much unsure of how to respond to Nac's question. Thankfully enough, however, Tias found his answer to be satisfactory as he nodded in acknowledgement, and moments later, their conversation hit a mild loll as they went silent, allowing the silence to take ahold of them all the while.
Said silence didn't last all that long, however, as, after quite some time, the four noted how a small crowd had formed around a table, with all of them questioning three Cadets in particular about certain things. From where he sat, Nac managed to figure out the names of those who were currently being bombarded with questions; Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert, and by keeping their ears open, the four had overheard that they were from Shiganshina and were currently being asked about the Titans by all who surrounded them.
Mina and Nac themselves would have joined in to ask about Shiganshina as well, though they were quick to reconsider… asking such a question to the survivors of such a horrific event in mankind's history just felt… imprudent, to say the least, and as such, the kids held their tongues for now as they turned back towards their friends and remained where they were.
Whilst they did as such, however, Mikazuki found himself shutting his eyes as he allowed the general atmosphere of the place settle into him. He couldn't help it, really… the whole vibe of the dining hall just felt so… homey to him, and by all means, it reminded him a lot of Tekkadan…
The occasional yell from a random Cadet, the boisterous uproar of a group of kids, and the general sense of camaraderie… it was all here… and it mirrored a Tekkadan that was not in combatin almost every way. The nostalgia that welled up in Mikazuki's chest ended up causing him to shudder just a little. The feeling of being home wasn't exactly bad, per say… though being reminded of where he could be right now rather than where he was riled him up in more ways than one, and not exactly in a good way either.
Clenching his fist a little, Mikazuki sighed as he rubbed his wrist, his frown deepening as his fingers made contact with the little bracelet that Atra had made him so long ago. Seeing it back then served as a small reprisal, a reminder that he still had something… no, someone outside of Orga to live for. Now, however, it only served to remind him of what he had lost… and he hated it. Not enough to discard that bracelet of his… but still enough to consider it.
"Hey."
Blinking as he heard that comment from Annie, alongside feeling a soft nudge from Mina, Mikazuki snapped out of his mild stupor and glanced up at his blonde friend, who had her head propped up on her hand as she addressed him. She seemed rather bored at the moment, which probably explained how she noticed Mika's uncharacteristic bout of silence, and as she spoke, Leonhardt lifted her spoon up and pointed it at him.
"You alright? Of all the times for your mind to start turning off, I never thought it would be now," said Annie, with the sarcasm oozing from each word as Mikazuki shook his head, not feeling all that insulted or amused at the blonde's words as he clenched his left hand into a fist rather tightly. Annie noticed that, though she spoke nothing of it as he sighed.
"It's nothing…" assured Mikazuki, and to that, Annie nodded, rolling her eyes as she glanced back towards Mina and Nac, only to raise a brow when she saw that they were glancing back at the crowd gathered around Eren, Mikasa and Armin once more. Curiously, Mikazuki followed their gaze towards them as well, with Annie doing the same moments later, and soon thereafter, they raised their brows when they saw that the situation had changed quite a bit.
The crowd around Eren had dispersed by this point, allowing the somewhat unassuming boy to stand up and glare up at the face of one Jean Kirstein, who glared right back at him with a heated gaze. Whatever the reasoning behind their glaring contest, the two seemed ready to start a fight, much to both Mikazuki and Annie's amusement and Nac and Mina's dismay.
"A fight on day one?" muttered Annie with uncharacteristic interest, sounding as though she really wanted this to happen. Mikazuki responded to that comment with a shrug, with him finding some interest in all this as well, though he spoke nothing of it as he and his friends kept their eyes on the scene with intrigue.
Rather unfortunately for Annie's interest, however, the conflict did not escalate much, as the ash grey haired boy let up and stopped escalating the conversation, prompting a defeated sigh to escape her lips. Mikazuki himself snorted in amusement at this whilst Nac began to rub her back reassuringly, a somewhat awkward gesture that was coming from him as he smiled and held an index finger up with gusto.
"Don't worry, Annie; we still have four years. A fight's bound to happen someday," assured Nac, who had, admittedly, intended that to be a joke, though in all honesty, there was probably more truth behind his words than the guy had initially realized.
And by all means, Annie took stock of the unintended hidden meaning behind his words, as she snorted in amusement whilst shaking her head with a sigh.
"Yeah, whatever you say."
Much later
"You're still here, hm?"
Raising a brow when he heard the familiar voice of Keith Shadis come from behind him, Mikazuki turned around to see the aforementioned man approaching him from behind. Wordlessly, his platoon commander walked up beside him, with him standing by his side in silence moments thereafter. Unlike his previous, stern, commanding self, however, Shadis seemed rather calm at the moment, looking quite passive as he stared at Augus questioningly, seemingly expecting an answer to his inquiry without having to raise his voice.
Mikazuki couldn't exactly blame him for approaching him, however, as almost everyone, including his three friends, had left the dining halls by now, with only a handful of Trainees lingering around, chatting idly or thinking about their current dilemma, away from their fellow Cadets. Mika was among the few who stayed behind to do the latter, though his thoughts were different from what most would expect.
"I just needed to clear my mind. That's all," answered Mikazuki, with him not exactly lying as he did need to do just that. The similarities between CGS and what he's seen of the Trainee Corps so far really gave him a sinking feeling of homesickness, though he had no real time to put any real thought into it until now. Keith, rather thankfully, seemed to understand, or at least thought he did, as he gave a small nod of affirmation.
"I see. Things will be different for you, starting today, so that much is understandable, but you should get back to your side of the barracks within the hour, Cadet," he ordered, turning to face the much shorter boy, who in turn tilted his head up to stare at the commander, noting that he had a stern expression befitting of his position once more; whatever softness he had once been showing was gone by now. "Tomorrow will not be as easy as today, and you'd want to rest before I really push you lot to your limits."
"Ah," was the Commander's simple response from Mikazuki, with him having considered it unwise to bring up how Sasha was probably still running out in the fields, as Keith turned on his heel and walked off, hands still behind his back as he marched to parts unknown. With him gone, Mika eventually went back to his usual thoughts whenever he was alone and undisturbed, thinking about Tekkadan as he stared out at the slowly darkening sky.
It was unavoidable, to be sure. Whenever he was alone and the place he was in was relatively silent, all of Mika's thoughts would inevitably drift towards Tekkadan. It wasn't annoying, really… just a little… heart wrenching, whenever it happened…
His thoughts regarding Tekkadan were almost always the same. 'Are they still active?', 'how is Orga?', or 'are they thriving as a business, or are they falling apart?'. These were among the most common questions which he asked himself. However, the more recent question was: 'could I have prevented this from happening if I had killed that thing faster…?'
It was a fair point, if he were honest. While that Graze Ein thing was powerful, Mikazuki himself was more experienced at using the Alaya-VijnanaSystem. Experience always outweighed fancy tech… at least he thought it did, so he had the upper hand. So why wasn't he able to dispatch it faster… why… if he did, all of this could have been avoided…
Then, another thought came to mind…
'Have they reached the place where they belong…?'
That was quite the question for him to ask, for it was tied to an event that was deeply personal for him. Tied to the day where he was truly born, when he had met Orga all those years ago in that alley… the answer to that question was not a simple one, and for now, he'd have to leave it unanswered, which was… unfortunate, at least for him, but even so…
'I shouldn't think about that…' thought Mikazuki halfheartedly as he pinched the bridge of his nose in apparent frustration. It wouldn't benefit him to think about his old friends, not when he had other things to be concerned with at the moment, key of which being where he belonged, now that he had more or less given up on returning to Tekkadan entirely. Living in the Carolina household was very much a rude wake-up call to him, one that reminded him of how he was no longer capable of returning to his one true home and that he'd have to just… deal with it, and as such, his goals found themselves changing with that realization.
He no longer needed to reach the place where they… where both he and Orga belonged, but rather… the place where he would belong now, in this wretched world. Silently, Mikazuki pondered on that thought for the briefest of moments; where did he belong now…? Did he belong with Mina, Nac and Annie… his… friends? That seemed to be the obvious answer to all this, but even so… there was still a small, if somewhat insubstantial, wedge between them, one that stopped him from seeing them as friends, much less family, just yet, so at least for now, that option was off the table.
Perhaps he belonged with the military? Such was the case for years, after all, what with his history with the military organization that became Tekkadan. As a somewhat militant individual himself, Mikazuki would fit right in with these nutjobs… though it wouldn't feel the same, now would it? Even if he tried his hardest to assume otherwise, the Military Brigades of this world would never feel the same as what it was back on his own, and moreover, there would always be the lingering feeling of him not belonging in this world, resting at the very back of his mind, that would keep him from fully accepting it as the place that he belonged in.
'Maybe… I just don't have a place in this world…' thought Mikazuki in defeat as he crossed his arms, shut his eyes and exhaled sharply in annoyance, with him finding some discomfort in not knowing the answer to this thought of his so soon, but even so, he forced himself to drop the issue for now as he grit his teeth and shook his head, dispelling that thought from his mind all the while. '... I won't get my answers immediately, so there's no reason to feel so down about it right now… I should just… head to the barracks now…'
And with that final, conclusive thought, and after giving a soft sigh, Mikazuki shook his head and turned on a dime, with him turning to leave the dining halls, though before he could do as such…
"AAAAAAAH-"
… the pilot heard a loud yell near the back of the mess hall, prompting him to pause as he perked his ears up with a raised brow. Out of curiosity, he moved to check it out, wondering if this had anything to do with those 'ghost stories' Mina would tell during the time of year everyone called 'Halloween'. Nac had always thought those stories to be horrific, though Mika and Annie had always considered them to be goofy, though that thought didn't really occur to Mikazuki as he peered over the corner of the dining hall to glance over at the source of the scream.
Rather disappointingly, though, the ruckus was not caused by a ghost, but rather by one Sasha Braus, whom Mikazuki was led to assume had been let off the hook for running by Keith, and some other, short, blonde girl who was cradling her exhausted form atop her lap. The 'Potato Girl', as the entire cafeteria had come to know her as, had bread crumbs lining the edges of her lips and appeared to be passed out, her head resting on the blonde's lap, and as for the blonde herself, she appeared immensely worried for her wellbeing.
"S-Sasha!" muttered the blonde in a panic, gently shaking the body of the brunette in an attempt to wake her up to no avail. Her facial features then hardened when she realized that Braus was not getting up anytime soon, prompting her to look around the general area hastily, and, quite impressively, she had spotted Mikazuki almost instantly in spite of him being rather concealed in the darkness, prompting her to widen her large blue eyes as she addressed him. "H-Hey, you! Could you lend a hand…?"
Rather unwittingly, Mikazuki stepped out of the corner he had peeked out of and came into full view of the blonde, who fixed her eyes squarely onto him in an instant. Silently, she considered him for a while before pressing her lips together, with her slinging Sasha's arm around her neck and standing herself up all the while, though she was rather obviously struggling to lift Braus up on her own. "Y-You! Could you help me get her back to the barracks, please? I don't think I can do it on my own…"
As she spoke, Mikazuki found himself shaking his head in amusement as he moved towards the two girls, and much to her surprise, rather than helping her carry Sasha back to the barracks, Mika had instead grabbed ahold of her body and slung her over his shoulder like some sorta ragdoll, an act that made the blonde widen her light blue eyes in shock. Said shock was rather justified, though, seeing as how the bumpkin was at least a head and a half taller than the pilot, but even so, the initial shock had quickly faded away and was replaced with a smile.
"Thank you… Mr…" she began, only to start trailing off when she realized she didn't know his name. The pilot noticed this and decided to give it to her as he adjusted his grip on Sasha, with him placing a hand firmly over her back to make sure she wouldn't fall off, ignoring how sweaty she was, before he introduced himself.
"Mikazuki Augus," introduced the pilot. "Don't bother with the Mr."
"Ah, thank you for this, Mikazuki Augus. I am Christa Lenz!" thanked the blonde, Christa, as she gave Mikazuki a rigid bow to show her sincerity on the matter. Mika huffed ever so slightly, unused to the formal respect this girl was showing him, as he turned on his heel to get the Potato Girl back to the barracks. Lenz remained where she was for a handful of moments, with her watching as Augus disappeared into the darkness, and once he was gone…
"Think that was really worth it?" came a new voice once Mikazuki was out of sight. The voice was a female one for sure, making Christa tense up, though only for a moment before she turned around to see a tall, tanned and freckled young woman, wearing standard casual attire, stepping out of the darkness with a somewhat smug grin plastered on her face. She had a discerning look on her face as she addressed the short blonde. "You risked a lot to help that buffoon, you know?"
"Well, she was running all day long…" protested Christa as she craned her neck up to look the taller woman in the eye. "It was the least I could do to keep her from dying from hunger…"
"Was it a good deed, though, one which was done out of the goodness of your heart… or do you have an ulterior motive?" asked the taller lady with an incredibly sly smile, with her unwittingly echoing what Christa had intended on asking Mikazuki before he left with Sasha in a somewhat mocking tone. The shorter blonde's cheeks lit up when she was asked that, with her shaking her head violently before responding.
"It was, Ymir!" replied Christa, with some heat entering her tone as she snapped at her… friend unintentionally. "I have no ulterior motives for Sasha Braus! I was simply doing what I thought was just!"
"And do you reckon that boy, Mikazuki Whatever, was doing it out of the goodness of his heart, or if he had some ulterior motives of his own?" questioned the taller lady, Ymir Fritz, making sure to emphasize her words as she spoke. Christa went silent before she gave her answer.
"I… do not know…" admitted Christa, still feeling a little antsy about that boy as she broke eye contact with her tall friend, prompting Ymir to give a mocking snort. However, she did add… "But… I do not believe that he will bring any harm upon Sasha. He seemed menacing… but I believe he means well…"
"Always seeing the best in others. Horribly naive, but also stupidly nice of you…" grumbled Ymir, rolling her eyes as she slapped an arm around Christa's shoulders, much to her dismay, and began tugging her off towards the barracks. "Now come on, let's get moving! Don't wanna be caught around here after hours, now do we?"
And to that, Christa simply nodded as she allowed Ymir to lead her back to their barracks.
Knocking on the door to the Female barracks, Mikazuki found that no one had come to answer it, much to his annoyance, and so he knocked again, this time doing so perhaps a little too hard as the door shuddered and groan a tad after he had essentially punched it the second time.
What followed were a few seconds of awkward silence before the door slowly creaked open, revealing the face of a freckled girl with long ginger hair. The girl seemed surprised that it was a fellow Trainee, not a platoon commander, who had knocked on the door with such force, and her surprise only really grew when she saw the unconscious form of Sasha Braus slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Can… I help you?" asked the girl rather awkwardly as she opened the door to the barracks a little wider, allowing Mikazuki to see inside it a little more. Granted, he didn't really need or want to look into an entire room full of girls who were dressed in casual wear, though he did catch a glimpse of Mina and Annie.
The two had seen him as well, with Mina giving a wave, one which Mika responded with by giving a small nod, while the latter stared at him in amusement, though immediately after that, he removed Sasha from his shoulder and passed her to the ginger, who awkwardly accepted Braus' unconscious form, albeit with a lot of reluctance.
"She passed out," stated Mikazuki flatly, short and simple as the ginger wrapped her arms around Sasha's sweaty waist, giving a somewhat disgusted "Eck" as she did, and nodded.
"So, you got her back, huh? That's sweet of you," said the girl with a friendly smile, to which Mikazuki snorted in amusement as he shook his head, surprising the girl a little all the while.
"Someone asked me to, so I helped them bring her back," he replied with a shrug. "She's your problem now."
"It doesn't change the fact that you helped her, no?" retorted the ginger, still holding Sasha by the waist and getting sweat all over her arms in the process. The Potato Girl seemed oblivious to all this as she simply snored her way through this conversation, though Mikazuki, on the other hand, shrugged as he moved on to the boys barracks without another word, prompting the ginger to give a gentle chuckle before she dragged Sasha over to her bed whilst another girl helped her shut the door.
"So, Mika helped Potato Girl, huh?" muttered Annie as she laid back down on her bed. Beside her, Mina gave a soft chuckle as she nodded, with her combing her fingers through her thick black hair all the while. "That's something I didn't think would happen, especially not from him."
"Ah… though Mika really is an unpredictable person. I'm sure he'll surprise us again in the near future," replied Mina with a smile, only to wince as she accidentally pulled a string of hair off her scalp. Discarding it, she laid down beside her blonde friend and watched as Hanna Diament set Sasha down on her bed. The Potato Girl was so sweaty that her bed had ended up getting a little soaked, so much so that the one who shared the bed with her opted to sleep on the floor that night. "Mika's got a good heart. I'm sure he's willing to show that from time to time."
And to that, Annie replied with a snort as Ymir and Christa entered the barracks. The former appeared as casual as she usually was, though the latter did seem a little on edge, at least until she noticed Sasha.
"See… I told you he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart!" whisper-shouted Christa to Ymir victoriously, who simply rolled her eyes as she sighed in defeat.
"Yeah yeah, whatever."
"About time you got back, Mika!"
"I wasn't gone for too long…"
"Mika… you were gone for three hours."
"Do you consider three hours to be long?"
"Wh- OF COURSE!"
Snorting lightly as he heard Nac's response, Mikazuki simply scoffed before he moved on to lay atop his bet. He got the bottom bunk in the arrangement after losing a match of rock-paper-scissors against his taller friend, and as such, he was forced to be the bottom for the next four years.
Nac had vehemently demanded for him to never refer to himself as a bottom ever again, for both their sakes.
That aside, however, close by, Reiner and Bertholdt were glancing towards the duo as they bickered rather tamely, with them grinning lightly all the while. Their interactions painted them as being much closer to one another than one would initially expect, though this thought remained unsaid as the two watched Mikazuki shrug before responding to Nac's comment.
"I just needed a lot of fresh air, I guess," hummed Mikazuki as he rolled to one side; he really didn't wish to poke any holes into his bed on accident, and as he did so, he gave Reiner a good view of his Alaya-Vijnana spines, something that made him shudder as Bertholdt blanched a tiny bit at that sight. They didn't ask him about it, though, as Nac, from the top bunk, peered down at his friend with a raised brow.
"Yeah, sure I guess," mused Nac, only for Mikazuki to toss his pillow at his upside down face, causing him to flinch all the while.
"Now shut up. I'm going to sleep," ordered Mikazuki as Nac, thankfully, did not fall off the top bunk from that vicious strike from Mika's pillow. Rather, he pouted and threw the pillow right back, only for Augus to catch said pillow mid-flight and throw it back at him, socking him in the face with it a second time. "What did I just say?"
"Jeez… fine. Good night, Mika."
There was no response from Mikazuki, who simply curled in on himself as he drifted off to sleep, and off by the back, Reiner found himself snickering whilst Bertholdt rolled his eyes at the exchange.
Yeah… those two were definitely friends, Reiner thought…
The next day
"Today, your aptitude to remain aloft shall be put to the test! Those who cannot do even this are not even suited to be a part of the Garrison troops! Not even as Titan Bait! Failures will all be sent back to the Reclaimed Lands!"
And as he said that, Commander Keith Shadis began to file out the Trainees who stood before him. Mikazuki remembered being woken up early today, something which he pinned on Nac's eagerness to be diligent. Rather ironically, though… the two had woken up roughly 2 hours earlier than necessary, something that had, admittedly, annoyed Mika quite a bit as he held back the urge to smack his taller friend upside the head.
He feared that doing so would cause his skull to go flying off his shoulders…
Regardless, after those two hours were up, the soldiers were ordered to gather at the fields within the hour. Rather thankfully, Mikazuki was wide awake by then, and as a result, both he and Nac were among the first batch of Trainees who arrived at the field, so in a way, Tias did manage to get what he wanted, he supposed.
As soon as Keith Shadis had arrived, he almost immediately got to work on filling in the Trainees on what they were gonna be doing today. As stated above, the man would be testing their aptitude for being upright while suspended in the air via twin metal 'strings' which, according to Nac, were taken straight from the Maneuver Gears that were used by the military.
"It's pretty important for a soldier to remain upright while suspended, especially when the fastest means of mobility for them is via their Maneuver Gear," pointed out Nac, with him smiling a little as he said this, and right as he finished, Tias was called out to be tested by Shadis himself, who had taken stock of his enthusiasm and demanded for him to convert that energy into something useful for a change. The tall guy was very much embarrassed at being called out like this, though as for his friends, Mina snickered lightly at his predicament whilst Mikazuki and Annie kept their amusement subdued to the ebay of their abilities.
Amongst the two hundred or so Southern Trainees who were present, about half of all Trainees were able to pass the test without too much issue, with the other half failing even after a multitude of tries.
A small handful of the former half were able to finish the aptitude test with no issues whatsoever. Somewhat unsurprisingly, Mikazuki was amongst this group, with him being able to remain upright whilst being suspended via the wires for an unprecedented amount of time, something that served to inspire quite a few of his fellow Cadets, even after Keith had asked him to get down. Likewise, Annie was able to remain aloft with minimal issue as well, though she did appear somewhat focused as she kept her balance and equilibrium centered.
Annie was considered to be naturally gifted when it came to all this, something that she did not confirm or deny as she was brought down from her harness. The same was said for Mikazuki, but even so, none of them were aware of how the sensation of being held aloft was very similar to how it felt when piloting Barbatos. When plugged into his unit, Mikazuki's body would be one with his Gundam's, and as such, he could feel the movements of his unit as though they were his own, and as a result, he knew how it felt to try and maintain his equilibrium when in a pinch, something that allowed him to pass this little 'test' with flying colours.
Regardless, the other 'naturally' gifted Trainees were Mikasa Ackerman, a black haired girl with grey/blue eyes, Sasha Braus (something which surprised even Mikazuki himself), Connie Springer and Jean Kirstein. The latter three did wobble a tad, though to their credit, they were able to keep themselves upright after some time. The 'less gifted' ones, ones that kept themselves upright after one or two tries, included Marco Bolt, Ymir Fritz, Christa Lenz and both Mina and Nac. Mikazuki himself recognised the Christa girl as the one who helped Sasha yesterday, though he spoke nothing of it as he simply observed.
After he had passed the Aptitude test, Mikazuki was sent to the side of the field alongside a handful of others who wore proud smirks on their faces, with Annie following him not long after. Mika and Annie appeared to be the only ones who remained neutral amongst the sea of ecstatic faces, something that they cared little for as they stood side by side in silence.
Neither Annie nor Mika bothered to strike up a conversation during this time, with the two of them simply standing idly while their fellow soldiers spoke up a storm. If anything, the constant chatter seemed to irritate Annie to a certain degree, though she didn't voice that out as she crossed her arms and drummed her fingers along her upper arm with impatience. Mikazuki, on the other hand, didn't care, as usual, and after about an hour after they had passed the 'test', Mina and Nac had joined them in the aptly named 'victory corner'.
"You two did pretty amazingly there!" complemented Nac when he and Mina had joined up with Mikazuki and Annie, with him lightly punching the former's shoulder as he smirked. Mika simply nodded at that, even if he did feel much pride at passing the equivalent of a small stepping stone. Annie herself also responded with a nod, followed by a snort of amusement as she looked between her friends in silence.
"And what about you, hm?" she asked, sounding rather sarcastic all the while; it wasn't common for Leonhardt to turn up the snark, but whenever she did, she would be merciless with it. Nac's face turned mildly red in response to her inquiry as he pursed his lips together in embarrassment, and upon noticing this, Annie had to suppress a smirk before she turned towards Mina, who stiffened rather noticeably at the sudden attention. "And you, Mina?"
"Eh… I, uh… I only needed three trie is all…" muttered Mina rather shyly as she tapped her index fingers together meekly, only to smile a little playfully as she shut her eyes and pointed over at Nac, who flinched at that sudden gesture. "Nac needed five, though!"
"I'll have you know that I have a perfectly valid reason for needing so many tries, you know! It's not as if you have to contend with this much extra height, after all!" whisper-shouted Nac, his face completely red with embarrassment as he motioned towards himself and how much extra height he had over his friends. Mina's response to that was a sheepish chuckle as she scratched her cheek, and Annie, in spite of herself, could not resist a soft chuckle whilst Mikazuki allowed himself to give a small smile.
Whilst smiling, though, Mikazuki's gaze did wander back to the field once more, where he saw one Eren Jaeger hanging upside down from his harness. The sight amused him more than he'd like to admit, but even so, he thought nothing of it as he turned back to face his friends.
Later
Absentmindedly biting into his bread, Mikazuki remained silent as he watched and listened as Nac spoke with Annie about what they could expect for their next day of training. He spoke of how they didn't have anything to do tomorrow and essentially had a 'free day' due to them having passed the aptitude test. Despite this, however, Nac still planned on going to the fields to provide moral support for those who were lagging behind, and Mina was planning on doing the same.
Having passed the test as well, both Annie and Mikazuki did plan on sleeping the next day off, but Nac and Mina insisted they be there to offer support to their fellow Trainees. Annie reluctantly agreed to it when Nac said that he'd give her half of his bread tomorrow whilst Mika only did so because he knew that he'd never hear the end of it if he had declined.
And now, while his two friends chatted away with one another with great enthusiasm, Mikazuki noted that a familiar black haired boy seemed rather… out of it to say the least. For whatever reason, he had a bandage wrapped around his forehead and his eyes were so wide that they looked ready to pop out of his head and roll off to parts unknown at any given second. Beside him, Armin Arlert was doing his best to provide him with some comfort, and at the same time, Mikasa Ackerman… well… she was kinda just sitting there, really.
That in itself was fair, honestly, as Mikazuki doubted Mikasa's overall effectiveness when it came to making anyone feel emotionally better. Sometimes, it was better to just not try whatsoever.
"What's going on with him?" questioned Mikazuki for the lack of anything better to do to pass the time, with his eyes glued onto Eren's withered form as the other three on his table turned to either face or eyeball him. In response, Annie gave a soft snort of amusement while Nac offered a rather sympathetic expression.
"You didn't hear?" replied Mina, speaking up for Nac as Mikazuki turned to face her with a raised brow, prompting her to elaborate. "Yesterday, before you came into the dining hall, Eren said that he'd slaughter all Titans once he was done with training, but he wasn't even able to keep himself upright for more than a second during the Aptitude Test."
"Hmph… it'd serve him well to have his ego be taken down a notch or two," mused Annie, with her biting into her bread as she said this. Nac flinched lightly as she said this, with him evidently not fully agreeing with her words all the while.
"True, I guess, but he's got at least one more day to prove that he's good enough to be a potential soldier," reasoned Nac, sounding rather sad for Eren's sake as he shifted a little atop his seat. "If he doesn't manage it, then he'll be sent back to the Reclaimed Lands. While it would probably be for his own good… he did show a lot of spirit and determination yesterday… and it'd be a shame for it to go to waste."
Mikazuki and Annie didn't exactly care if that boy succeeded or not, but Mina, having heard Eren pledging to annihilate all Titans the day before, gave a small nod, with her agreeing with Nac's words almost completely all the while, though by then, dinner was essentially over, and at the command of Keith Shadis, they all stood to head back to the Trainee Barracks.
Male barracks
"Please… Mikazuki… Nac, the two of you got past the whole assessment in no time… I need your advice… please!"
Huffing lightly as he listened to Eren speak, Mikazuki opted to just remain silent as he laid on his side, ignoring the boy's words as he tried to get some shut-eye. Nac, on the other hand, felt himself rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to answer Jaeger's question, with him finding himself incapable of responding to him fully all the while.
Upon returning to the barracks, a little later than most, and after getting to their bunk, Mikazuki and Nac were swiftly cornered by Eren and Armin, with the latter seemingly present only by proxy. The former was going around, asking for advice on how he could potentially improve with his Maneuver Gear skills from anyone he could stomach speaking to, and evidently enough, he had hoped for some advice from Mikazuki, who was amongst the very first to finish his assessment.
Unfortunately for him, however, Mikazuki wasn't keen on entertaining him as he ignored a good chunk of his questions, leaving Nac to fend for himself as he tried to answer Eren's inquiries. The boy was desperate for answers by now, and the taller boy could tell.
"Calm down, Eren! Take a deep breath in… that's right… and hold. Release after three seconds… one… two… three, release… good! Do it again… in… one, two three… release. And again…" advised Nac, with him motioning for Eren to take a few deep breaths before he spoke once more. By some miracle, the boy did as he was told, with him practicing his breathing a few times before he calmed down, and upon noticing this, the taller boy smiled lightly before speaking. "Better?"
"I guess…" muttered Eren meekly, eliciting a smile from Nac all the while.
"Good. Now, ask your question, but calmly this time," ordered Nac, and to that, Eren did as he was told. His inquiry was still the same, but it was spoken with less desperation this time, and upon asking, Nac found himself scratching the back of his neck before responding accordingly. "Well, if I'm being completely honest, there's no real way to explain to anyone how to remain upright whilst suspended from wires attached to our hips… but even so, my only proper advice is to just remain calm and try to not panic. Panic messes your mind up, and it forces you to act irrationally… so try to calm your mind and focus on what you're doing."
"I… I see. I'll keep that in mind, Nac! Thank you!" smiled Eren as he bowed his head at Nac, who waved him off as he departed. Armin followed soon thereafter, with him doing his best to reign in his friend's enthusiasm all the while, and once he was gone, the tall guy turned to face Mikazuki with an annoyed expression.
"You could have helped me there, you know?" grumbled Nac as he glared at Mikazuki with a rare look of annoyance, to which Mika shrugged, a gesture that was barely visible thanks to his current position on the bed.
"You handled it pretty well, though."
"That's besides the point, dammit!"
The next day
True to their word, Nac and Mina had dragged Mikazuki and Annie to the fields to provide moral support to their fellow Trainees. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the latter two did not really care about providing any real support unlike their friends, with them instead standing far from the crowd, who seemed to be focusing on Eren more so than anything, and staying secluded in a small corner of the fields.
Silence was dominant between the two for the most part, discluding the occasional exchange between them, primarily Annie expressing her irritation at being here, which was understandable Mikazuki reckoned, though before long, a gentle tap of Mika's shoulder prompted the boy in question to turn and spot a familiar brunette standing behind him, looking somewhat nervous as she lowered her arm.
"Ah, scuse' me?" muttered Sasha Braus, sounding somewhat sheepish as she spoke. Her nervous expression complimented her nervous demeanor quite well, and upon seeing her, Mikazuki raised an eyebrow at the Potato Girl as she tapped her index fingers against one another. Unseen by either Mika or Annie were Christa and Ymir, who were both watching over Sasha and the two Trost Cadets from a distance, with the latter pretending to not care about the whole exchange whilst the former looked encouragingly at her fellow Cadet.
"Hm?" grumbled Mikazuki as he stared up at Sasha, having to crane his neck up slightly to look Braus in the eye. The pilot had a feeling that he knew what she was about to say, but he decided to humor her for a bit as she fumbled over her own words in an attempt to figure out how to vocalize her thoughts.
"I just, y'know, wanted to thank ya," said Sasha, with her smiling as she closed her eyes and held her hands behind her back, kicking some dirt with her foot as she spoke, an act that reflected just how nervous she was of this whole situation all the while. Neither Mikazuki nor Annie seemed to care for her nervousness, though they did acknowledge how she spoke rather oddly with a simple exchange of glances. "Fer, y'know, helpin' me the other day!"
"Ah. You're welcome. I guess," said Mikazuki flatly as he nodded in acknowledgement, having expected the conversation to end right there as he waved his fellow Cadet off, with him turning back to face the general direction of the other soldiers all the while, though much to his chagrin, Sasha still remained in close proximity to both himself and Annie, with her apparently still not done with her thanks all the while.
"So, erm… nice weather we're having, yeah?" asked Sasha sheepishly as she moved to stand beside Mikazuki, inadvertently sandwiching him between herself and Annie all the while. Mikazuki did feel a small amount of annoyance at that, though in all honesty, the pilot could tell that the bumpkin wasn't exactly too comfortable with their current situation either, so he supposed that he could let it slide in favour of…
"Your definition of 'nice weather' is skewed," grumbled Annie coldly as she shot Sasha an annoyed glare which froze her on the spot, though before long the Potato Girl chuckled awkwardly, making Leonhardt narrow her eyes at her. "Spill it, Potato Girl, what do you want?"
"Eh?! What do you mean?!" exclaimed Sasha, eyes wide as she flung her arms around wildly. Mikazuki found the gesture rather amusing, even if he did have to step back to avoid getting smacked in the cheek by Sasha, though on the polar opposite end of the spectrum, Annie snorted as she found herself less than amused by Sasha's denseness.
"You're here for a reason outside of thanking Mika, that much is obvious to me," replied Annie, her brows lowering in annoyance, and Sasha chuckled softly, clearly getting a little nervous as she scratched the back of her head. "So spill it already.."
"Ah… well, the cat's outta the bag now, so I'll just get this over with, I guess… what can I do to repay you, Mikazuki Augus?" asked Sasha awkwardly. Upon hearing this, Mikazuki raised a brow to show his confusion, prompting Braus to rephrase herself. "Y'know, you helped me back then. I mean, Ymir probably would've helped me… I think," she paused for a second when she heard the woman in question snort defiantly off in the distance. "But since you helped me, I guess it means I owe you a favor?"
"A favor," echoed Mikazuki, with him rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he said this. Annie, despite her usual uncaring nature, couldn't help but wonder what he was gonna reply. She had a few 'inappropriate' thoughts running through her mind, though she decided to wait for a proper response before she thought too deeply into any of them… "Half of your Lunch Potato."
And admittedly, when he had said this, Annie couldn't resist a soft snort whilst Sasha reacted as though her dog was shot right in front of her face.
"W-WHAT?!" exclaimed Sasha, with her stepping back in immense shock as she yelled this. Her expression looked almost as though she were staring into the eyes of the Colossal Titan itself, with her eyes wide and all four of her limbs shaking in terror, much to both blue eyed teens' amusement. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"
"I am. Don't make me ask for the entire potato," warned Augus, and at that point, Sasha, after looking over at Ymir and Christa for help, only to realize that they wouldn't be offering any, with the former seeming to enjoy this too much to even act bored anymore whilst the latter appeared somewhat stunned by such an unexpected request from the pilot, Braus swiftly fell down to her knees and whined immensely.
"F-Fine…" she muttered in defeat as Mikazuki snorted in amusement, and thereafter, her head craned itself backwards as she let out a handful of animalistic moans of displeasure.
Hearing someone, anyone really, make such a fuss about half a potato was very much an amusing sight, and in spite of him still being able to maintain his usual stoic expression, Annie could tell that Mika was doing his best to keep a smirk from appearing on his face. Suddenly, however, Sasha shot her head up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
"B-But… can I have a larger half…?!" pleaded Sasha, with her attempting to coerce Mikazuki into giving her some leeway as she practically begged him to let her have the bigger half, and to that, the pilot, after giving Annie a quick sideways glance, nodded with a shrug.
"...sure, knock yourself out," muttered Mikazuki, deciding that he may as well be nice for a change, and at that, Sasha gave a victorious whoop as she leapt up onto her feet and thanked the pilot before heading off, leaving Mika and Annie rather confused. Though before long, the blue eyed girl gave a snort, one which caught her friend's attention all the while.
"I never thought you'd be one for jokes, intentional or not, Mia," pointed out Annie as she and Mikazuki watched as Sasha approached Christa and Ymir, looking shaken up but not yet stirred. Mika responded to her comment with a shrug.
"It wasn't a joke, though. I am taking my half of that potato," stated Mikazuki in a deadpan, eliciting an eye roll from Annie as he spoke. She didn't seem to believe him, which was understandable, but even so, she didn't care enough to retort against that comment as she rolled her shoulder absendmindedly.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Mika," quipped the blonde as she shook her head, sighing as the conversation ended right there and then. Still though, as she looked away from the slightly taller boy, the girl found her lips quirking up just a tiny bit into a smile as she still felt some lingering amusement from seeing what had just happened, and upon noticing her mild grin, Mikazuki looked down at Annie with a curious look on his face.
"Is something wrong, Annie?" asked Mikazuki, sounding almost rhetorical as he said this, to which Annie shrugged, with her ignoring how Eren Jaeger had finally passed his assessment all the while. She honestly couldn't give a rat's ass about the guy's success, and instead, she simply turned towards Mika with a somewhat amused look on her face.
"Not really. It's just that… I have a feeling that these next few years aren't gonna be dull…"
And in regards to that, Mikazuki could agree with her fully.