Three days have passed since the conclusion of the 57th Expedition beyond the walls, and in those three days, quite a few things have happened.
Among the less important things that occurred included the various members of Squad Mike (read; Henning, Gelgar and Lynne, to a lesser degree) asking about the little incident that occured between Mikazuki and Mina, namely their little cuddle session in that broken down training room. Augus refused to comment on the issue, regardless of how hard his superiors pushed for an answer, though he did, at the very least, tell them how he had gotten those bandages of his.
Him telling them that Mina had applied those bandages for him did little to stifle their curiosity. If anything, it only got them to ask him even more questions, all of which were promptly ignored as the pilot refused to tell them about anything beyond surface level details. Thankfully enough, however, they didn't pry into it too much, even if Henning was bordering on doing so, but after a quick request from Mike (read: thinly veiled threat) to stop pestering him, they reluctantly dropped the issue… for about thirty minutes before Gelgar had nudged his arm and began asking about it again.
If he were honest, Mikazuki wasn't particularly sure why they were so interested in the first place. His relationship to Mina was nothing more than friendship, Augus reckoned, and it's been that way since the very beginning, and he doubted that it'd move past that anytime soon. Sure, his heart might beat a tiny bit faster whenever she smiled at him, and sure, he did find her laughter to be rather melodic in a strange sort of way… but even with all that, Mikazuki still firmly believed that they were best friends and comrades, nothing more, nothing less, and he didn't wish for his superiors to wrongly believe that they were in a relationship that moved beyond that.
Relationships like that wouldn't work out for him, after all. His brain just wasn't… wired properly to allow him to be in one, and though the thought of actually settling down did feel rather… comforting to him, in a sort of way, the pilot doubted that it would ever come to pass.
That aside, Mikazuki has also reported the damage that Barbatos had sustained in battle to his superiors as well. Though he wasn't particularly good at troubleshooting his unit without aid, the Alaya-Vijnana worked wonders for assisting in his endeavours, and with very little issue, he was able to isolate the most damaged portion on his Gundam down to its left arm, something that came as no real surprise to him as it was struck by lightning, and for as hardy as it was, anything would give when struck by lightning that intense.
A second check of the damage told the pilot that the joints had suffered an overload when struck by the lightning, with a multitude of internal fuses having combusted the second it had struck. Multiple internal components had also been spot welded into place thanks to the immense heat of the lightning strike, and the Autcannon was rendered unusable thanks to the shell that had been melted inside of it. Overall, the performance of his unit would take a drastic hit, with the AV system estimated that it would be at least 15% less effective than it was prior, and at worst, overall effectiveness would be down by 40%, something that was… less than ideal, to say the least.
A single portion of damage did set Mikazuki on edge, however, and it was the damage to the elbow joint. All signs pointed to the joint being on the verge of collapsing as the warnings urged the pilot to repair the damaged portions, but that in itself was not happening any time soon, unfortunately, and as such, Mika would have to keep an eye out for that joint lest he wished for it to break completely.
The soldiers that Augus had reported this to, namely Erwin, Levi, Mike and Hanji, were rightfully taken aback by this revelation as they were rather confident in the fact that the Gundam was as close to indestructible as anything could get in this damn world, especially when he shared his concerns regarding the left elbow of his unit, but when the pilot told them how the unit was damaged in the first place, they were quick to realize that, as with most things, the Gundam was not infallible.
And, in Hanji's words, "I guess anything would get damaged when they get hit by lightning as intense as that."
For once, Mikazuki was inclined to agree with her.
Erwin had requested for any potential ways to fix Barbatos, but much to his disappointment, Mikazuki was unable to offer any solutions to the issue. He wasn't its mechanic, after all, he was simply its pilot, and when he relayed this information to Smith, the Commander seemed noticeably disappointed, with him asking if Augus could possibly get in contact with any of its mechanics to fix the issue. It was quite a stretch, but it would've been better to do something rather than nothing at all, but, unsurprisingly, the pilot said no, something that still disappointed the blonde as he nodded and told him to try and be more careful next time, as they couldn't afford to lose Barbatos in combat.
The promise Mika had given Erwin on being careful felt rather hollow, even to himself.
There was apparently also an issue in the Junior base in Rose involving a pillow fight that kinda happened at random. Allegedly, Sasha, of course it had to be Sasha, had started a ruckus with her waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and things just… spiralled out of control from there on out. For whatever reason, Erwin had dispatched Squad Mike to solve the issue.
To say that the issue was resolved much later than it probably should've… would be an understatement, as the pillow fight lasted a good three hours, with Squad Mike joining in on the action (sans Mike himself, who observed from a distance alongside Keith, who was just visiting for no real reason). Nanaba paired herself up with Mikasa and Armin, Gelgar and Henning with Reiner, Bertholdt, Samuel, Sasha and Connie, Tomas with Ymir and Christa (Tomas and Christa were more content with just staying by the sidelines while Ymir took the shots for her blonde princess, much to the girl's chagrin), while, unsurprisingly, Mikazuki took Mina, Nac and Mylius' side.
It was an experience that Mikazuki didn't want to forget, and he had to admit, striking Reiner over the head with a pillow felt cathartic. Of course, when Braun's head quite literally went through the floor and began steaming from the damage… well, actually, no one really cared. They were just having fun for a change, and said fun only really increased when Squad Levi, for whatever reason, randomly joined in as well.
No one got any real sleep on that day, and within the innermost sanctums of Sina, a blonde soldier felt as though she were missing out on something.
On the third day after the expedition's end, however, Erwin had summoned both Mikazuki Augus and Eren Jaeger, with the latter still recovering from having a sock shoved into his mouth by Sasha after she yelled about stealing Mikasa from him, whatever that meant, to his office to discuss a rather urgent matter. Both soldiers were initially clueless as to why they were summoned into his office, on such short notice no less, but even so, they didn't disobey a direct order from their Commander as they raced up to his office, accompanied by the respective leaders of the Squad assigned to oversee either one of them, and within a moment's notice, the two of them were now standing in front of their superior.
Erwin had been unreadable as the two juniors saluted him, and in an instant, he had told them to be at ease. His voice… at least to Mikazuki… it sounded resigned as he looked between the two Abnormals with an absurdly tired expression, though before long, he cut straight to the chase and told them why they had been called here on such notice.
In short; the court summons had arrived.
At first, both juniors were taken aback by this, though after they recovered from the initial shock, with Augus doing so significantly faster than Jaeger, the duo listened as their Commander told them that, due to the abysmal results that came with the 57th Expedition, especially on Mikazuki's part, they were now considered to be more of a liability than anything, and within the next three days, Eren would be sent into the innermost sanctums of Sina to be placed into the care of the Military Police Brigade, where he would more than likely be experimented on before being put to death.
The thought horrified Eren to no end, with him paling at the thought of that happening as he gulped in terror. He could only imagine what sorts of inhumane experiments would be conducted on him as he stared at his superior in shock, though, humorously enough, Hanji was even more distraught over the issue than even he was, as she proclaimed that only she could experiment on Jaeger's body, but her yells went mostly ignored for good reasons.
As for Mikazuki, however… the pilot would be brought into the innermost sanctum of Sina almost immediately after Eren's trial was over. Erwin didn't care to beat around the bush when he stated that Augus' fate would almost certainly be death, a fate that was brought about by his inability to keep the formation safe and his failure at capturing the Female Titan, as stated on the documents on his desk. Whilst he did, supposedly, kill the aforementioned Titan, the deaths that came as a result of it bogged down that victory of his, and as such, the Military Tribunal found it prudent to consider both himself and the Gundam to not just be a liability to the Military Brigades, but also a detriment to them.
Upon hearing this, everyone present found themselves gasping at that choice, and Hanji herself quite literally fainted when Erwin stated that Barbatos would be thoroughly studied before it would be melted down for scrap. Smith, despite remaining composed throughout the entire briefing, did feel some form of irritation growing near the pit of his stomach at the thought of the Tribunal electing to kill off both Eren and Mikazuki. Sure, the Expedition that was meant to serve as them proving their worth turned out to be a failure… but even so, their field effectiveness was undeniably high.
Though they were incapable of capturing the Female Titan, Barbatos and, by proxy, Mikazuki's interference had allowed them to minimise the casualty level down to just a bit below the expected amount, something that was an achievement in of itself, and Eren, despite contributing very little to the Expedition as a whole, still served his purpose through and through. In Erwin's eyes, this was proof enough of their effectiveness, as they served their intended purposes and, in certain situations such as Mikazuki going out of his way to actively save the lives of other soldiers or Eren transforming to do the same, beyond.
But no. The Tribunal, as with all other innerwall residents, feared the power that these two possessed. Eren's loyalty to humanity was unquestionable, and though Mikazuki was less dependable, he was still firmly on their side via his adoptive family's association with mankind, but even so, the power that they held within them sparked fear in the hearts of those that doubted their alignments, and now that they had reason to put them to the noose, those that feared them could tighten the rope around their necks without any legal ramifications.
They just needed the Military Tribunal to finish the job for them, and though he wished only the best for his two juniors, Erwin feared that Zachary, despite his wisdom and claims of neutrality, would ultimately side with what the public wanted of him. The Military Brigades were already under scrutiny thanks to their decision to harbor these two Abnormals in the first place, and though it would be highly illogical to do so, Dalis would more than likely choose to side with those that were keeping the Brigade funded over the lives of two living superweapons.
In the moment, it would've been beneficial, but in the long run, the Survey Corp Commander knew that it would not turn out well…
Whilst Erwin lamented the fate that would befall the two greatest assets to humanity, however, he found himself missing the rather uncaring look on Augus' face as he silently pondered his fate, and not even a second later, he raised his head up and asked a simple question.
He asked if it was possible for him to just… spend some time off before the day of his trial, with him wishing to spend what was possibly his last few days alive with his friends, and to that, Erwin simply nodded. He told Eren that the same applied to him, and without a second thought, the two junior soldiers left the office, with the two of them looking rather downcast all the while.
In a way, the two of them were like death row inmates, but unlike a good majority of those fated to die, when their heads inevitably rolled off the chopping block, a lot more than just their skulls would fall onto the ground.
As they left the base, Eren had asked Mikazuki if he was scared of what was to come, because he was, admittedly, downright terrified of what would befall him. He didn't show it, of course, or at least he tried not to as he silently bemoaned his shortcomings to Mikazuki as they left Erwin's office, though throughout the journey, Augus said nothing in response to Jaeger's words. He reckoned that it would've been best to just listen to the guy speak as they walked onwards, even if his complaints eventually turned into nothing more than whining.
Something that piqued his interest, however, was Eren not mentioning anything about Mikasa or Armin. Though he knew that his relationship with them was… rough, to say the least, Mikazuki knew that they were close to one another, especially Ackerman, as they were siblings, if not by blood, then by association. Likewise, Arlert was very much the guy's best friend at this point, with neither of them rarely ever seen without the other, at least back in their Trainee days, so to not hear Jaeger bring either of them up was… interesting to Augus, to say the least.
He had brought that thought up with Eren at one point, more as an offhand comment than anything, as he stated that it would be best for him to spend some time with them before his trial. Jaeger's response to that was to scrunch his face up and grimace, with him stating that he didn't want them to see him in such a weak state. Thereafter, he began ranting about his own shortcomings, something that Augus cared little about, and that he could've done more to ensure the success of the mission that dictated their future, but deep down, Mikazuki knew that even he knew that he couldn't have done anything to change this outcome. He had done all that he could during the Expedition, after all, and even so, this was where they ended up in.
At rock bottom.
Thereafter, the two of them exited the base, and as soon as they were out of the building, they came face to face with the rest of Squads Levi and Mike, who were here to escort them back to their respective bases.
"Stay safe, alright, Mikazuki…?" said Eren back then, with him offering the aforementioned pilot a sad smile as he spoke, to which Augus grunted as he kept his vision averted from his fellow abnormal.
"Ah. You too, I guess," was Mika's response to his fellow junior as they parted ways, and before long, the pilot found himself back in the Trost Refueling Station, and without missing a beat, he headed off into his personal room and holed himself up inside without even speaking a word to his seniors. Lynne, Gelgar, Nanaba, Tomas and Henning were rightfully taken aback by this, as, despite him coming off as rude on multiple occasions, Mikazuki was never this cold towards them, but they didn't question it for now as they reckoned that his meeting with Erwin had been rather messy. It wasn't as though they knew of the court summon just yet, anyways.
And for the next few hours, Mikazuki simply laid on his personal room bed, with him simply staring at the ceiling in silence all the while. A small part of him did fear his inevitable demise at the hands of the MPB, but outside of that, he did fear for the safety of Mina and Nac once he was gone. He's come to realize that he's been worrying too much about them by now, and that he should trust in their capabilities, but even so, he still wished to be around to protect them in some way, and he couldn't do that if he was dead, now couldn't he?
How was he even going to tell this to his friends, anyways? One couldn't exactly pop in and say hey! I'm going to be killed in about a week's time! in a casual conversation, after all, and though he reckoned that, for his mental wellbeing, it would be better to just not tell them in the first place, the pilot didn't want to disappear so suddenly on them without giving them a proper excuse, and as such, he was left to ponder on what he should tell them before he was carted off for 'judgement'.
Amidst these thoughts of his, however, Mikazuki's mind did occasionally drift off towards one other thought… the Female Titan, and whenever it did, the pilot would almost always eject it from his mind with a grimace. He's been doing his best to avoid the issue altogether for the past few days, but even so, his mind always came back to it, one way or another, as he couldn't help but think that… he had killed a friend of his back then. Sure, he didn't have conclusive evidence that pointed to a certain blonde MPB soldier being the true identity of the Female Titan… but even so… it didn't stop him from feeling guilty about it.
As he pondered those things, however, Mikazuki failed to acknowledge the knocking on his room door until it repeated itself a second time, with it sounding just a bit more aggressive as the pilot turned to stare at the door in silence. At first, he had fully expected whoever was standing outside to take a hint and leave him alone; he needed some time to be alone with his thoughts for now, but after a few moments, the knocking resumed yet again, this time a little louder and more annoying than it once was.
For quite some time, Mikazuki was adamant on ignoring the knocking on his door, with him rolling over in his bed and shielding his ears with his pillow all the while, but after it became obvious to him that the person at his door would not be leaving any time soon, he eventually caved in and grunted, with him getting off his bed and marching towards his room door in annoyance. Was it really so much to ask to be left alone for a handful of hours, Mika wondered… though he quickly retracted that thought when he realized that he technically didn't tell his seniors that he wished to be left alone in the first place.
He'd have to rectify that with whoever was trying to get him out, he supposed.
Reaching for the doorknob, Mikazuki grasped it firmly before exhaling sharply and twisting it, and, with an expression of practiced calmness, he opened the door and glanced up a little to greet whoever was standing outside his room… only to pause briefly when he realized that he had to look down in order to actually look them in the eye… and when he did so, he found his calm facade shattering in an instant when he made eye contact with…
"Annie…?!" muttered Mikazuki, with it taking a lot more effort than he was willing to admit to requiring to not yell her name out loud, and in response to his greeting, the young blonde found herself nodding a fair bit at him as she stared up at him in pensive silence. It took him a second to recollect himself as he stared down at his shorter… friend in silence, though not long after, his features hardened a little as he narrowed his eyes at the MPB junior. "What… are you doing here?"
"Can't I just… visit a friend?" asked Annie, almost rhetorically, as she lifted one of her hands up to rub at her upper arm. The gesture was an awkward one, there was no doubting that, but even so… in Mikazuki's eyes, it told him that Leonhardt was nervous about something, and considering his suspicions, he reckoned that he knew just what she was anxious about, though, having decided to give her the benefit of doubt, the pilot found himself exhaling sharply as he nodded and stepped back a little, just enough to allow her entry into his room.
"... right. Come in, I guess," invited Mikazuki flatly as he gestured for the blonde to enter his humble abode, and once she was in, he shut the door behind them, with the door impacting its wooden frame with a dull thud, one that resounded across the entire room with very little issue thanks to the near deafening silence.
The silence remained for the better part of a few minutes as both Survey Corp and Military Police Brigadier stood by one another. Annie moved to lean against a wall close to the only window in the room while Mikazuki stood by the door, staring at his friend with a somewhat wary gaze. Leonhardt did feel a little… scrutinized, to say the least, as, despite her staring out of the window, she could still feel Augus' cold gaze locked onto her at all times, and with each passing second, her fight or flight instincts grew stronger and stronger, goading her to do… something to cease the staring on the pilot's part.
Conversation was something that neither Mika nor Annie were big on, and as such, they weren't the best at starting either, but with that being said, there were always easy icebreakers that anyone could make use of in order to ease the tension and begin a conversation, and Leonhardt made use of the oldest trick in the book to do just that… and though it did end up sounding a little… ridiculous, especially when spoken by her in particular, it still served to break the tense silence that permeated the air between the blue eyed duo.
"... terrible weather we're having, huh?" muttered Annie, with her making a pathetic attempt at breaking the ice between the two of them as she spoke. In response to this, Mikazuki simply scoffed and glanced out the window, and even from where he stood… he could find himself agreeing with that statement of hers as the weather was, indeed, terrible.
"I've seen worse," responded Mikazuki halfheartedly as he marched over to the window and peeked out of it, only to grunt when the sunlight impacted his eyes. Annie could tell that he was quickly backpedaling away from that claim, as the weather was probably a lot worse than he had initially believed it to be, but even so, he didn't voice that thought out as he turned towards his friend. "Why are you here?"
"I already told you why, Mika. What's wrong with me visiting a friend?" asked Annie rhetorically, with her raising a brow at her 'pal', who simply grunted at that. He could think of several things wrong with that, key of which being-
"You're MPB, aren't you? Don't you have things you need to work on?" asked Mikazuki flatly. Though, according to what he knew, the MPB did live in relative peace and luxury, especially when compared to the two other Military Branches. The soldiers, or at least the juniors such as Annie herself, did still have to work on menial tasks to earn their stripes, and whilst it was… relatively nice to see his friend once more, Augus did sincerely hope that she wasn't abandoning any of her duties just to see him.
Much to his relief, Annie ended up shaking her head in response to his queries, with her looking almost proud of herself all the while. That was… a relief. While Mikazuki still had his suspicions on her, until they were proven to be true or, more preferably, false, he didn't wish to assume anything, and for now, he was glad that she wouldn't be facing any punishment for being here.
"I'm technically on medical leave, anyways," stated Annie flatly as she glanced up at Mikazuki, who raised a brow at her words as she explained herself. "A few days ago, I caught a terrible sickness. I think it was something native to Sina, and my body didn't notice it until quite recently."
"..." wordlessly, Mikazuki brought the back of his hand up and rested it against Annie's forehead, intent on taking her temperature all the while. In response to this, Leonhardt reddened in embarrassment as she slapped his hand away, with her giving him an undignified glare all the while.
"I've since recovered from it, Mika. If I was still sick, I wouldn't risk coming here to visit in the first place," stated the blonde indignantly as she eyed her friend in annoyance, eliciting a nod from him all the while. He reckoned that made sense, in a way, as he lowered his hand to his side. Likewise, it also felt oddly… coincidental, for Leonhardt to fall ill around the same time as when the 57th Expedition beyond the walls occurred, but despite his suspicions, Mika found himself willingly overlooking this detail for now as he shook his head.
Coincidences did happen, after all, and even if this was quite an unlikely one to begin with, Mika was still willing to give Annie the benefit of doubt as he squashed his suspicions behind a mask of practiced calm.
"I see…" muttered Mikazuki, sounding just a bit uncertain on if he should truly believe her statement as he flexed his fingers a little, and to that, Annie went silent as she stared up at her friend uncertainly. Mika did his best to ignore her gaze as he stared out the window in silence, with him taking note of how Nanaba and Lynne were chatting up a storm down at the courtyard.
"... your hands. What happened to them?" asked Annie rather abruptly as she stared down at the pilot's aforementioned limbs, prompting him to raise them up to eye level as he flexed his bandaged fingers awkwardly. At first, he said nothing about them as he clenched his hand into a loose fist, but after some time, he shrugged.
"Training accident," answered Mikazuki vaguely as he turned back to stare at Annie, who didn't seem to believe him entirely, though she gave him the benefit of doubt for once as she brought a hand up to his raised hand and placed her own over it. Augus frowned a little at just how gentle her touch could be, though at the moment, the gentleness felt… fake, even as she stroked his once bloody knuckles with her thumb.
"You should be more careful, Mika," commented Annie, almost scoldingly as she eyed him flatly. Mikazuki said nothing about that as he shrugged, and as he did so, Leonhardt took note of how, despite her putting a fair bit of pressure on his bandages, the pilot wasn't flinching, meaning that, at least on a surface level, his injuries had healed up by now, causing some confusion to emerge inside of her. "Shouldn't you be removing these bandages by now?"
"Don't want to," was her immediate answer from Mikazuki as he pulled his bandaged hand away from Leonhardt's grasp, confusing her briefly as she knew for a fact that Augus was never one to be sentimental about something as miniscule as this, but even so… she opted to just nod and drop the issue, for now, as she sighed and turned away from him in silence.
Said silence ended up reigning for quite a while as the two blue eyed soldiers seemed unwilling to break it for now. Mikazuki was content with being quiet, as usual, as he did his best to not think about the connection between Annie and that accursed Titan he had faced whilst out on the field… and vice versa, Leonhardt did her best to steel herself for the true reason as to why she was here in the first place.
And after several long, agonising moments of silence, the young MPB member made use of yet another icebreaker to ease the two of them into another conversation, though unlike the previous one, this one in particular was a lot more… serious in nature.
"... Mika, you were… told of the court summons, weren't you?" asked Annie after a few moments of silence, with her keeping her gaze away from Augus as she spoke. Upon hearing this, the pilot in question turned towards her, seemingly surprised to know that she knew of this so soon, though he quickly reminded himself of her status as an MPB as he nodded in affirmation, and upon noticing that gesture, Leonhardt crossed her arms tightly and sighed. "I… I'm sorry about that, Mika."
"Don't be," rebutted Mikazuki flatly, with him glancing down at his friend in bemusement as he waved her off. Thereafter, he turned on his heel and began walking towards the sole desk in his room, with him wiping some of the gathered dust off its surface all the while. Lifting his fingers up to eye level, he rubbed them together and watched as the dust particles fell off his digits. "It's not like you did anything to get me summoned, anyways."
The tone that Mika had spoken with sent chills up Annie's spine as she widened her eyes in shock, though her shock quickly became acceptance as she kept her gaze locked onto the back of his head, and seconds later, she shook her head and smiled bitterly. Though she would never tell him directly, Leonhardt always did know that Mikazuki was much smarter than he let on. Not academically, but rather, his spatial awareness and ability to figure out things that would normally go over others heads was beyond that of even some of the best soldiers in the Military Brigades.
And as such, it came as no surprise that Mikazuki had, at the very least, suspected Annie's true nature long ago. He was still unsure about it, that much was obvious, but with that being said, the evidence that pointed to his suspicions being true only grew with each passing day, and though he still clung onto hope that it would be disproved before it was too late, the pilot knew that would not be happening any time soon.
"... that is where you are wrong, Mika…" stated Annie, with her tone taking on an air of melancholy as she spoke. Upon hearing this, Mikazuki's shoulders squared themselves as he tensed up, though his posture didn't indicate any form of surprise. It felt as though he had been expecting this… but even so, he appeared to still be in denial as his shoulders shook with uncertainty.
"... I don't know what you're talking about, Annie. How could… you be responsible for… f-for any of this…?" asked Mikazuki, with his voice cracking just a little with emotion as he spoke. Leonhardt found herself taken aback by this as she began approaching her… friend from behind, with her taking deliberate care to not go too fast as she approached him. He was in a volatile state at the moment, and though he was well known for being a level-headed young man, even he had his limits, and Annie could only guess what he would do to her if she approached him without care.
"I think that you know exactly how, Mika," stated Annie, with her usually cold tone of voice now faltering as a small amount of emotion began seeping into her voice. She didn't like how… defiant Mikazuki sounded as he kept his back towards her. He was most certainly still in denial of what he knew to be the truth, and yet… with each step she took towards him, she could tell that his refusal was beginning to falter.
"I… I don't," argued Mikazuki, with him reaching into his jacket as he spoke. Behind him, Annie, through the faintest of reflections that could be seen via a metal segment of the desk, could see that the pilot's eyes were wide, and his pupils were diluted to their absolute limits… not a good sign.
That was the look of a cornered animal, and though they were both in the top ten rankings of the graduated 104th brigade, Annie knew that, despite him being only two spots ahead of her, Mikazuki was still more than capable of killing her with very little issue… even if she fought back against him with everything that she had. She had to pick her next few words carefully, as, if she did not, she could potentially die today…
"You do, Mikazuki. You know what I'm talking about, and you know full well of what I've done," stated Annie bluntly, with her squishing her lips together tightly as she braced herself for what was to come. Faintly via the metal reflection, she could see a glimmer of gunmetal emerge from her friend's jacket, though she did her best to ignore that as she continued to speak. "You knew, didn't you? You've always known, ever since the day where I tried to kill Hanji…"
Clenching his blades tighter, Mikazuki got ready to close the distance between himself and the traitor. He had every intention of outright killing them, though he paused briefly for thought when the traitor turned their head around to glancde at him… allowing him to catch the faint glimpse of blonde hair and blue eyes once more.
"... ever since the day those captured Titans were killed…"
Their traitor was strong, above average at best, though they were certainly not on the level of an Elite or senior, placing them in a Cadet or, at best, junior soldier category. Likewise, the traitor was smart, as they knew how and when to strike in order to maximise results. And finally… the traitor… they likely had blonde hair… and that last part was the thing that riled Mika up more than he wanted to admit.
Above average physicality, intelligence and with blonde hair… all of that was a dead ringer for… for…
"Shut up…"
Mikazuki was coming to terms with what Annie was saying… but even so…
"Ever since the planning phase, where you deliberately put yourself at the back to cut me off. You knew how I'd think… but I outplayed you…"
"Shut up…"
"You knew who I was even before the moment I transformed in front of your very eyes…"
As Mikazuki lifted one of the arm units upwards, in turn raising the Gundam's Wrench Mace above its head in an attempt to crush the traitor beneath it, the aforementioned traitor turned around to face Barbatos head-on… and as it did so, their tattered cloak, for the briefest of moments, fluttered backwards, revealing a small portion of their face in the process… and though he wasn't able to see their face in its entirety… what little Augus did see… made him freeze up in shock.
'... it can't be…' was all the pilot could think at that point as he widened his eyes in a mixture of shock, horror, recognition and guilt… though above all… he felt a massive surge of rage welling up inside his stomach as he faltered briefly in bringing down the Gundam's Wrench Mace.
That moment of hesitation was all she needed.
"Shut up."
His eyes had gone blank at that point, a clear indication of his willingness to… kill Annie as he pulled his hand out of his jacket, and with it, a metal object that looked suspiciously like a more advanced variant of the flintlock pistols used by the Military Brigades… a powerful weapon, no doubt, but Leonhardt's conviction was even more so.
"You knew that it was me when we fought in the forest.
"You knew that it was me when you had me at your mercy…"
'It's… it's her…' thought Mikazuki bitterly as some of his worst fears began to materialize into reality, with him ignoring Bertholdt's gaze as he stared down at the battered form of the Female Titan in apprehension. Though there was a lot to think about at the moment, the identity of the Titan's host was essentially set in stone at this point, at least to Augus, and though he did his best to convince himself otherwise… he simply couldn't.
The way the Female Titan had fought, with its exceptional planning and tactics, the way it struck the weakest point of the Expedition formation at the exact spot where Mikazuki had thought she would… and that look it had given him when it knew that it had lost… that pitiful, teary eyed gaze… it all matched up with a single individual that Augus was incredibly familiar with, and for as heavily as this weighed down on his heart, the pilot couldn't bring himself to even pretend that this was a different person as he clenched his fists tighter than he ever has before.
'How did you even get this power… and why… why did you…?'
"You know that it's true, Mika. You know that's who I am."
"..."
"You know that I'm the Female Titan."
And in a matter of milliseconds, Annie Leonhardt found herself staring down the barrel of Mikazuki Augus' pistol.
Mikazuki can't seem to catch a break these days, huh?
MEleeSmasher: who knows how they'll react to the pink Gundam? Only time will tell...
MrSoandSo: via Zalgo Text. It's a useful website. Maximum 'craziness' and copied and pasted onto here
ian12091995: ah shucks. You flatter me
cassnova5424: thanks! And regarding the other thing... *cough* you'll find out soon enough
Guest (Reader): regarding other universes, that feels a little out of my reach at the moment. I'm keeping this contained to IBO and AOT for now at least. Maybe other universes as story-end extras, perhaps?
Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed it! And regarding Zeke... give it some time
Jredor13: unfortunately the story will slow down after the next chapter (written out and awaiting editing as of now) is out. Regardless, Annie's fate may change, or it may stay the same. Who knows anymore? Well, I do of course, but I need some form of suspense!
Guest (Kook): Annie's a good person at heart, so I have no doubt that she'll choose wisely... maybe. *cough*
Guest: Well that's a relief. I was worried that Mikazuki would come off as ooc in... well, most of this story tbh
Touhoufanatic: I'm glad thought so! I found it fun to write, honestly
Kannn: I always did have a fondness for cute stuff
Boshwa: I don't really understand what you said, unfortunately
noobie53: the monkey... won't be a problem
KidGoku15: looks like Mika has to learn from himself at times as well
Hat109: why thank you, and yeah, it totally is
Please do ignore the review of me saying 'Test'. For some reason the reviews weren't showing and I decided to slap that there to 'test' it out. What will the next chapter entail? Who knows? Well, I do of course but still... I've been planning the next one for quite some time, and hopefully it'll be as good as I hope it'll be.
Till then, keep safe, maintain your bravery and go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!