Nac Tias considered himself to be a somewhat observant person.

Sure, he wasn't as observant as, say, Mikazuki or Annie, but even so, he was good at noticing minute issues that most others tended to overlook. That was probably why he was able to get close to as many soldiers as he's been able to. His observational skills allowed him to read others with minimal difficulty, and he made use of this to keep the morale and spirits of his comrades up whenever possible.

Now, however, the young man found himself making use of his observational talents in a somewhat… different manner. Namely, he made use of them to take note of how… off Mikazuki Augus has been in the past few days.

For the past three days, Mikazuki, alongside Eren, have been visiting the Rose Survey Corp HQ rather frequently, something that none of them minded as they very much enjoyed the company of their friends. Nac in particular was thrilled to see his pilot pal present once more, with him always greeting him with a smile whenever he arrived. Mina, on the other hand, did act strangely subdued, though after asking about it two days prior, Carolina brushed him off, stating that it was a personal issue.

Nac reckoned that it was one of them 'girl things' that the women kept talking about, so he let the issue drop from then on.

Regardless, Nac hadn't noticed Mikazuki's strange behavior at first. However, by the second visit, the young man was able to pick up on the irregularities regarding the pilot's mood. He seemed a lot more subdued than he usually was whenever he listened to him or Mina talk to him, with his shoulders slacking a little more than usual and his gaze a bit more distant than Tias would've liked. To an outsider, Augus would've looked the same as he did every other time, completely neutral and stony faced, but to Nac, who's known him for as long as he has… these were a cause for concern.

Evidently enough, however, Mina took note of this as well, as, after Mikazuki had left the base on his second visit there in a row, the young woman ended up dragging Nac off into her room and began to discuss the issue with Tias in secrecy. The taller soldier was, admittedly, a tiny bit surprised by just how worried Mina was of Mika as she spoke to him, with her tone of voice suggesting a lot more than just platonic concern, though then again… the two of them did technically sleep with one another back in the training room, and if that wasn't an advancement in a relationship, then Nac didn't know what was.

That aside, the two of them ended up discussing what could possibly be wrong with Mikazuki for the better part of an hour before they settled on asking him about it the next day, and with that, they parted ways, with both hoping that what was irking their friend wasn't too severe.

All of that had more or less led them to the present, with the two of them sitting by Mikazuki in the base's mess hall, staring over at him in silence all the while. Mina sat to Mika's left as she drummed her fingers against the top of the table they were sitting in front of while Nac himself sat on the opposite end of the table, with him clasping his hands together whilst twiddling his thumbs against one another. Augus found the silence to be rather… off putting, as he was used to his friends being chatterboxes, though he said nothing of it as he remained silent himself.

"... you still haven't removed your bandages," observed Nac after a few moments of silence, with him motioning towards the aforementioned bandages that were still wrapped around Mikazuki's hands. They had this conversation twice in the past two days, with Tias worrying about the state of Augus' hands both times, and as with the previous two times, Mika answered by raising one of his hands up to eye level before clenching and unclenching the limb. Thereafter, he shrugged indifferently as he lowered his hand back down.

"Don't wanna. I like them," responded Mikazuki, the same as he did the past two times, something that made the face of the girl beside him heat up a tiny bit as she did her best to hold back a smile whilst drumming her fingers even more intensely against the table. Nac took notice of this as he offered his friends a half-smile, though it was gone relatively quickly as he nodded and continued to speak.

"I see… well, good for you, huh?" laughed Nac awkwardly as he scratched his cheek. He… wasn't really sure how to ask his friend about how he was feeling at the moment, and his, and Mina's, focus on the issue had led them to acting a lot more disingenuous than they usually did when together with their friend. They really wanted to just straight-up ask him about what was bothering him, but at the same time, they didn't wish to come off as insensitive as that could very well have come across as rude.

Unfortunately for them, however, Mikazuki had quickly caught onto their strange behaviour, as evident by how he raised a brow in confusion as he looked between Mina and Nac several times over. He took note of their less than stellar body language, alongside their odd silence, and initially mistook it as a byproduct of them still recovering from the Expedition, but after a few moments of reconsideration, he considered that to be a ridiculous thought, especially as they weren't acting this way the previous two days, as he shook his head and voiced out his thoughts.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mikazuki rather abruptly, with him raising a brow at Nac in particular as he spoke. The taller young man found his cheeks reddening in embarrassment as he realized that Augus had figured him out in such a short span of time… and likewise, Mina flinched a little at just how blunt their friend could be when asking certain questions. "You're both acting strange."

"W-Wha?! Nah, we're totally fine! N-Nothing's up, trust me!" assured Nac sheepishly as his arms began flailing about rather awkwardly, eliciting an raised brow from Mikazuki whilst Mina gave him a look that more or less asked if he was being serious right now. It took all of two seconds for Tias to realize that he wasn't fooling anyone with his little charade, and at that, he sighed and tilted his head forward in defeat. "... was it really that obvious?"

"Yes. What's wrong?" answered Mikazuki, who wasted no time in getting back on track with his question as he spoke. In response to this, both Mina and Nac shared a quick glance between one another before nodding, and at that, the former cleared her throat and began to speak up.

"W-Well… you see, Mika… you… we kinda noticed how you've been acting… off recently. And, well… we kinda got worried… so we decided to just ask you about it," answered Mina sheepishly as she smiled and waved both her hands in front of her chest in a somewhat childish manner. Mikazuki huffed a little in amusement at this, with him finding it intriguing, how they could read him as well as they could, but then again, Carolina and Tias were both his best friends for a reason, and as such, it shouldn't really come as much of a surprise.

If anything, he did feel rather touched by just how much they worried about him, but even so, he didn't let it show outside of a fond nod as he responded accordingly.

"It's… alright. I'm fine," assured Mikazuki as he waved Mina off, with him hoping that he didn't have to reveal too much of what he knew to her all the while. Carolina seemed a little disheartened by this… but even so, Tias did not back down as he sighed a little at that response.

"Mika… you do know that we're good at keeping confidence, right? I mean, we're your best friends, you know? You can tell us anything and we'll promise to keep it all a secret," said Nac with a grin, one that was accompanied by a stiff thumbs up as he winked at his pal. Mikazuki, despite his reluctance, did find some truth in Tias' words, mainly because- "Besides, we haven't told anyone about… that secret of yours, now haven't we?"

… Nac had a point there. Thus far, Mikazuki has told three people about his actual origins, with those three being Mina, Nac and Annie, though that last one had been through indirect means. Augus had to admit that he did feel a little irked, that his friends had told Leonhardt without his approval, but even so, he reckoned that he would've told her regardless. Either way, the fact that they hadn't told anyone about this did put them high up in the trust category, even higher than they already were anyways, and as such, Mikazuki decided that, if he was going to tell anyone about what was on his mind, it may as well be them.

He wouldn't tell them everything, of course… he still wanted Annie to choose the correct course of action and live how she wanted, and if he told Mina and Nac about the deaths she had caused, that would likely never come to pass, and as such, he had to keep some things under wraps.

With that being said however, the pilot realized that he couldn't exactly share any of this right now, seeing as how there were so many other soldiers present around them. From the corner of his eye, he could spy Ymir, Reiner, Bertholdt and Christa, all sitting within earshot of the table, with Christa herself appearing to be a little worried over Nac's previous loud assurance to Mikazuki, and not too far off were Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Jean, Connie and Samuel, all of which were conversing with one another, though Ackerman seemed to have her sights fixed on Mika's table in particular, with her gaze glimmering with steely focus all the while.

It was possible that she had taken note of Mikazuki's strange mood as well, and though they were by no means friends, Mika knew enough about Mikasa to say that it was entirely possible that she'd make an attempt at eavesdropping, if only out of natural human curiosity. It was a risk he wasn't willing to take… and with that in mind, he stood up from his seat and stared down at his friends, who were, in turn, staring up at him curiously.

"I'll tell you, but not here," assured Mikazuki as he got up to his feet, eliciting a surprised blink from both Mina and Nac all the while, though they were quick to get over their initial surprise as they nodded and stood up alongside their friend.

"My room?" suggested Nac, to which Mikazuki nodded, and without a second thought, the three of them departed, with Tias taking the lead while his two friends followed.

And all the while, they did not acknowledge how a single soldier was following them, albeit at a distance, in silence.

Line break

Not much was said between the small group of friends when they entered Nac's room, with the three of them simply getting comfortable when they got in.

Mikazuki had moved to lean against the sole desk of Nac's quaint little room, with the old wood of that dingy little thing creaking a fair but under the pilot's weight, worrying everyone else all the while. Mina, on the other hand, jumped onto Tias' bed, with her bouncing up on it a little, before she repositioned herself into a sitting position, blushing a fair bit when she noticed the amused expressions on her friends' faces all the while. As for Nac, he had entered last and moved to stand against the singular window of his room, peeking out of it briefly all the while.

No one really said much of anything as they kept to themselves for quite some time, with Mikazuki wondering how he should phrase what was on his mind without accidentally revealing something on accident while his friends patiently waited for him to speak. And speak he did, with him being the one to break the awkward silence after about… a minute of not speaking.

"It's about Annie," was what Mikazuki had stared with almost immediately, with his words catching the attention of his friends as they perked up rather noticeably. In a way, it was rather comical, to see his friends suddenly snap their attention towards him in such a short amount of time, but then again… he wasn't thrilled to reveal… anything to them as he bit his lower lip uncertainly. "She… did something. Something bad."

"W-What happened to her? Does she need help?!" proclaimed Mina almost immediately as she shot up from Nac's bed and took a step towards Mikazuki. Likewise, Nac jolted off the wall he was leaning against and stood at attention, a sight that almost made Mika smile as he shook his head in amusement. It felt… nice, in a way, to see how worried his friends were of the blonde, but at the same time… knowing that they were worried for the wrong reason didn't sit all that well with him.

"Annie's alright. She's not in any danger…" not unless she goes against my warning, "...but she still did something that might get her in trouble if she does something wrong," stated Mikazuki bluntly. He saw no reason to beat around the bush with his friends as he spoke, and as he finished that statement, both Mina and Nac appeared to be taken aback by what they heard. Annie… doing something that got her in danger…? That felt absurd to think about.

Though she was never really a model soldier by any stretch of the imagination, Annie never did go out of her way to find trouble. Rather, she actively took measures to avoid it. She was cautious, deliberate and, in a word, logical, never doing anything that could be considered illogical… not unless things were dire, anyways, and her friends knew it. But even so…

"Well… what kind of trouble is Annie even in?" asked Nac in concern as he crossed his arms and brought a hand up to his chin thoughtfully, to which Mikazuki grimaced. He really didn't want to risk sharing too much, but even so…

"... she did something bad. That's all I can really say. She didn't want me to tell you two any specifics," stated Mikazuki flatly, with him not outright lying as she did specifically request that he keep this under wraps. Sure she didn't specify for him to keep it a secret from their friends, but even so… he reckoned that they were a part of that blanket statement as well.

For the most part, both Mina and Nac did seem a little hurt by that statement, with the latter wincing a fair bit as he crossed his arms sadly. Mikazuki couldn't really fault him for such a reaction, honestly, as Tias was always considered by many to be one of the most approachable people out there. If anyone ever had an issue they were dealing with, Nac would always be there to offer them a listening ear, and to hear that one of his best friends of five plus years didn't wish for him to know what was affecting him so greatly… well, it must've been rather disheartening, to say the least. The guy didn't voice his concerns out, however, as he simply nodded, having respected Annie more than enough to give her personal issues some privacy all the while.

Mina, on the other hand, seemed rather skeptical as she stared over at Mikazuki with a somewhat uncertain look on her face. It took a quick glance at her to make him realize that Carolina knew something that she probably shouldn't, or at the very least she suspected something of Annie. Whatever the case was, she didn't let it deter her, not for very long anyways, as she huffed and plopped her rear back down onto Nac's bed, with her crossing her arms in dismay all the while.

"Well, fine then I guess. Annie's privacy is something that we can't exactly argue against," sighed Mina dishearteningly as she squeezed her upper arm a little tighter than necessary. Her tone of voice told both Mikazuki and Nac that she wasn't particularly happy with this outcome, though she wasn't willing to argue about it as she forced a smile onto her face and eyed the former awkwardly. "... is there anything else you want to get off your chest, though?"

"... not really," lied Mikazuki rather blatantly, with him having to almost bite his tongue as he acknowledged how he had at least one last thing to tell his friends before the week's end, and that was in regards to him and Eren being sent off to Sina, into the hands of the MPB, by the end of the week, but he just didn't know how to properly articulate his words. How was one even meant to tell one's friends that they were going to be shipped off into the innermost walls to be executed within the week, anyways?

"Not really means that you still have something to share, though," pointed out Nac meekly as he offered his friend a tiny smile and walked up to him. Mikazuki remained silent as this happened, with him staring up at Tias as he approached him, and not long after, his towering form stopped in front of Augus' comparatively smaller frame before he reached forwards and placed a hand atop his shoulder. "We already told you back at the mess hall… we won't tell anyone about anything you tell us. So long as you want us to keep a secret, we'll make sure to take whatever you share with us to our graves."

"It's not that simple," countered Mikazuki flatly as he maintained eye contact with his friend, who raised a brow at his words. "It's… something that's meant to be classified. Erwin only told me and Eren about it."

"Well… what Erwin doesn't know… won't hurt him, right…?" tried Mina with a sheepish grin as she waved her hands around provocatively. Nac, despite his respect for their Commander, nodded in agreement with Carolina's words, with him wishing to know what this tidbit was. If it was enough to disturb Mikazuki's mood, then it had to be bad, and as his friend, Tias considered it to be his job to fix that, posthaste.

"I'm not worried about Erwin being hurt. I'm worried about you two. It's… not an easy thing to talk about," rebutted Mikazuki, with his frown growing just a tad bit more as he spoke. His words didn't really surprise his friends, though they did look between one another in mild confusion as they wondered what this issue could be, and before long, Nac cleared his throat to catch his pilot friend's attention.

"Well, I for one am sure that it can't be that bad, so just… lay it out on us," assured Nac, with his smile remaining ever present as he spoke. Despite this, however, Mikazuki noticed the mild quiver in his lips as he did his best to maintain his grin, a telltale sign of uncertainty as he tried to appear strong for Augus' sake, and likewise, Mina appeared rather… awkward as she clasped her hands together in worry, more so for Mika's sake than her own, as she stared up at him in expectant silence, and before long, the pilot caved under their united gazes and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Fine… but just… don't yell or do anything irrational until I'm done, okay?"

And to that, despite their uncertainty in regards to why their friend would even ask such a thing of them, both Mina and Nac complied regardless. Honestly speaking, they didn't know why Mikazuki even asked such a thing from them regardless.

It couldn't be that bad, right…?

Five minutes later

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT MAN!"

"Nac-"

"YOU DID AMAZINGLY OUT THERE, MIKA! WHO THE FUCK DOES NILE DAWK THINK HE IS TO-"

"Nac."

"DON'T TELL ME THAT YOU'RE-"

"NAC."

Grimacing intensely as Mikazuki spoke his name in a stern, albeit still somehow calm, manner, Nac Tias found himself groaning in anger as he bit his tongue to stop himself from going on another tirade. To help himself with this, he pulled at his hair, grabbing fistfulls of it, before he moved to slam his head against the wall closest to him in anger, creating a minor tremor in the walls all the while. That reaction… was admittedly unexpected, all things considered, as Tias was never really one to overreact to… anything, really, so the thought of him doing so now had caught the pilot off guard.

Mina, on the other hand, seemed a bit calmer than Nac… on a surface level, anyways. Beyond that, however, Mikazuki could tell that she was fuming, as evident by how her head was tilted a lot lower than it usually was. That, coupled with her unnatural silence and the worryingly dark aura around her and, well… she looked to be ready to go on a massacre through the MPB ranks just to get some justice for her dear friend.

By all means, Mina and Nac's responses to what he had just told them was rather heartwarming, but that aside, he did find them to be just a tiny bit excessive. Sure, anyone would probably overreact when they heard that their best friend was going to be executed some time in the foreseeable future, Mikazuki included, but even so… Nac yelling about him ripping the MPB seniors a new asshole was certainly something that Mika never thought he'd hear escape his pal's lips.

Regardless, after a few minutes of cooling off, mainly on Nac's end of things as he needed to make use of some of his breathing exercises to get himself into a state of serenity lest he wished to blow up once more, the tallest person in the room pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply to himself, catching the other two's attentions all the while. Mina understood how he felt, and honestly speaking, she had been close to blowing up as well, though she managed to keep herself together, albeit just barely, as both she and Mikazuki listened to what Tias had to say.

"Why… why are they doing this?" groaned Nac in annoyance as he kept pinching the bridge of his nose. His exasperation was apparent with his words as he spoke in an oddly defeated tone of voice, with him knowing that, regardless of what they did, they wouldn't be able to fight off the court summons. "Both you and Eren helped out a ton during the Expedition! I read the reports, and the estimated casualties fell below the average amount! Shouldn't that be more than enough to prove that the two of you are effective?!"

"Apparently not," responded Mikazuki simply, with him exhaling sharply at the fact that he had to keep so much from his friends. Everything Annie told him had to be kept under lock and key… and likewise, he was more or less duty-bound to keep the real reason behind the court summons a secret, something that didn't feel right to him as he'd always shared everything with his friends. "They're afraid of me and Eren, I assume. They just want us dead, and if they need to break their own rules, then they'll do it without hesitation."

"Would they stoop so low, though…? The tribunal has to know that you and Eren are both invaluable to the Survey Corps," argued Mina, with her grey eyes glimmering with no small amount of worry as she watched Mikazuki shrug indifferently.

"They know. But they're too afraid of what we can do," stated Mikazuki, with his gaze darkening a fair bit as he slid his hands into his jacket pockets and clenched them into fists in annoyance. "They're afraid that we might turn on them, and for good reasons. Individually, we're powerful enough. If Eren and I somehow managed to work together seamlessly, we could drive mankind to extinction within a week."

"But you won't, we know that much!" pointed out Nac, with him sounding rather desperate as he spoke, to which Mikazuki raised a brow.

"But they don't. You, Mina, Annie… everyone else in the 104th have been with me for the past four years. You all know me better than they do, and you know that I probably won't try to kill you all," pointed out Mikazuki, with that last part making him grimace as he acknowledged how, while he wasn't out for the blood of his comrades, a certain blonde was… "The tribunal only has notes to go off on. They don't know me as well as all of you do, and they won't focus on the… good things. They'll only focus on the fact that I can use something powerful, and that I won't play to their rules.

"And to them, anyone that doesn't play to their rules… is an enemy. To them, I'm only an ally for as long as they want me to be, and the moment they get the chance to do so, they'll reclassify me as an enemy and throw me to the people that want me dead."

Blinking a little at Mikazuki's words, both Mina and Nac found themselves hard pressed to argue against his logic. Though a good majority of Survey Corps did indeed find Mikazuki and Eren to be invaluable assets, with some of the Garrison even agreeing with them on that front, many others, namely those that had not fought alongside it, the MPB and the few civilians that knew of its existence, still saw it as a major threat to their established status quo. And for good reason, too.

With Barbatos and Eren's ability, the reclamation of Shiganshina, Maria and, potentially, even the plains beyond was very much a possibility, and likewise, mankind's freedom was no longer a distant dream thanks to the combined might of the machine and man… and that potential future scared those living in comfort within the innermost walls.

They did not want change to occur. They wanted to keep their comfy, mundane lives. They wanted to forever live in serene tranquility, to ignore the problems that lay beyond the confines of Sina. They wanted the Gundam and the Titan Shifter gone because they knew that, if things went according to what Erwin had planned… they would both bring ruin to their luxurious lifestyle within a handful of decades.

And as such, in their narrow minded point of view, the two had to be destroyed… not for the greater good, but for the maintenance of their high class lifestyle…

"... FUCK!" swore Nac in a mixture of anger, annoyance and dismay as he clenched his fists and slammed one of the two into the closet closest to him, with him gritting his teeth through the pain all the while. Both Mika and Mina were surprised to see part of the wood collapsing inwards on impact, with neither having seen the taller guy display this much strength in the past, though considering his current mental state, it was hard to say that this was a surprise. "I fucking hate politics…"

"Same, though I think this is less about politics and more about those damn aristocrats and their stupid lifestyle…" corrected Mina with a grimace as she crossed her arms in annoyance, eliciting a nod of agreement from Mikazuki all the while.

"It's a bit of both. Some normal civilians are scared of me and Eren, and they want us locked up or, preferably, killed," stated Mikazuki, eliciting a grimace from Nac all the while.

"And considering how Zachary, more often than not, values the word of the people over the Aristocrats and even the Military Brigades, there's a good chance that he'll do what they demand of him, in turn doing the one thing the Aristocrats and MPB want of him… fuck…" groaned Nac, with him huffing as he resisted the urge to punch something… namely one of the Sina Aristocrats, as he opted to just bash his head against the wall closest to him. Meanwhile, both Mina and Mikazuki were more surprised to hear him swearing as much as he was, though they didn't comment on it as they watched him groan and continue talking, even with his forehead bashed against the wall. "... hey, Mika… what's stopping you from… y'know… hightailing it out of here?"

"... excuse me?" responded Mikazuki almost immediately as he gave Nac an inquisitive look, one that conveyed his confusion regarding his taller friend's question, prompting him to elaborate.

"The MPB want you dead, that much is obvious… but even so, what's stopping you from… oh, I dunno, just… leaving? Barbatos can definitely take you far away from here, right? Beyond Shiganshina, even! You could escape and-"

"No. I won't… I won't leave either of you."

Nac's suggestion to Mikazuki had been rather violently cut off when the pilot stated that he had no intention of going AWOL. In truth, Mika himself has considered doing so several times over, though all those times, he had been stopped by the thought of his friends getting into trouble because of his desertion. He'd rather die than let something like that happen to them… but moreover… there were other concerns when it came to abandoning the walls in such a manner, key of which being…

"Besides, even if I wanted to, it won't work long term. Barbatos is damaged and running out of fuel, and even if it was at 100% working condition, I wouldn't have time to load up enough rations into it before I'm summoned. That plan just won't work, Nac. I appreciate the thought, though."

Opening his mouth, Nac seemed ready to counter Mikazuki's statements, though he was quick to snap it back shut before he went back to pulling at his hair in frustration. Mika… did admittedly understand how he was currently feeling, as, despite him not showing it whatsoever, he did still feel some form of frustration over his current situation, but he knew that it was unavoidable, and as such, he chose not to fight it as he exhaled sharply in annoyance.

Rather abruptly, however, Mikazuki's small bout of annoyance was quickly put to a stop when he felt someone tugging on the long sleeve of his Tekkadan jacket, prompting him to stare downwards to spot Mina as the culprit. Raising a brow at this, Augus grunted in acknowledgement towards Carolina, prompting her to release his sleeve before she began to clasp her hands around one another nervously, and not long after, she asked a somewhat disconcerting question.

"So… you visiting us so frequently these past few days… was it-" began Mina, only for Mikazuki to cut her off almost immediately before she could finish that statement. He would rather not let her complete that sentence.

"Yes. Erwin let me and Eren visit everyone we know until the day we're carted off. I… didn't know how to tell you two this until just now. If it's worth anything, I'm sorry for not telling the two of you sooner," apologised Mikazuki, with him bowing his head just enough to be noticeable as he spoke. In response to this, Nac turned to face him with a mild grimace on his face while Mina reached buried her face in her hands and did her best to keep herself from screaming in anger.

"It's… no real biggie, I guess. You can't exactly just rock up to us one day and go: hey guess what? I'm going to be killed in about a week's time, after all," stated Mina, her voice slightly muffled by her hands all the while. Before long, however, she lowered her hands and stared down at the ground beneath her, with her sighing to herself not long after in dismay. "But… this is it, huh? You're going to…"

"Yes," said Mika once more, though to perhaps lighten the mood, he added, "But I overheard Nanaba saying that Nile might try to keep me alive. He's friends with Erwin, and, even if he sees me as a threat, she thinks that he might take Erwin's side. If I'm lucky, he might be able to change Zachary's mind."

"I'll hold onto hope for that," said Nac with a tiny smile, with him finding some hope having been reignited in his chest upon hearing that. Mikazuki nodded in agreement as he slid his hands back into his pockets, and at that, a brief period of silence ensued, one that was rather quickly broken by Tias as he cleared his throat dramatically. "Does Annie-"

"She's MPB. She knows," cut off Mikazuki yet again, with him wanting to divert all conversations away from Leonhardt for now as he suppressed a grimace. In response to this, Nac and Mina both perked up as the former hummed thoughtfully.

"Do you think she could maybe vouch for you? Or… I dunno, lend a hand or something?" asked Nac, with him knowing that Annie's position as an MPB gave her words a lot more weight, even more than even Erwin's, depending on the situation, and if she vouched for him in some way, Augus would have a greater chance at surviving this whole ordeal, but much to his dismay… the pilot ended up shaking her head.

"She did have an… idea to get me out, but it was impractical, and we both knew it," lamented Mikazuki, with him not exactly lying as the whole issue of relocating their family to Marley was, at best, a nice thought to have. There was no way Mina, Nac and Ms Carolina would follow Annie anywhere when they learnt of what she did, after all. "But I know she'll vouch for me in court."

"Let's hope her word'll be enough…" muttered Mina uncertainly as she buried her face in her hands, and to that, Mikazuki simply nodded.

"Hm…" hummed Mikazuki, with him sighing to himself as he shut his eyes in dismay, only to reopen them not long after when he heard Nac approaching him. The pilot watched as he walked up to him and stared down at him with an uncertain look in his eyes, though before long, the edges of his lips curved upwards into a small smile before he raised a fist up towards his shorter friend. It was rather apparent that he was going in for a fistbump, and though it was rather sudden, Mika didn't feel like denying him this as he lifted his own hand up and bumped fists with his taller friend.

"Well… for all it's worth, it's been a good five years," stated Nac dishearteningly as he slouched his shoulders in defeat, eliciting a nod from Mikazuki all the while. Not long after, however, Tias' expression hardened once more, with him narrowing his eyes at Augus as he continued to speak. "But screw it, you'd best fucking get back here, you got that? You've been hit with every known attack under two different suns, and it would be embarrassing if you died via a firing squad!"

"It… really would," agreed Mikazuki with an amused huff, one that almost got a smile out of him as he spoke. Thereafter, he turned to his side and saw that Mina had gotten up as well, with her walking up to his side and crossing her arms thereafter.

"... I would say something, a lot of things, really…" began Mina awkwardly as she raised a hand up to twirl one of her pigtails around in her index finger. "But I won't. Because I know that you'll come back alive, Mika. So please, don't die, you got that? I still have a lot of things that I really want to tell you… things that I don't think that I'm ready to say, not now, anyways…"

"Well shit, Mika. you kinda have to survive now! Mina's orders!" laughed Nac, with him attempting to lighten the mood with a tiny bit of attempted banter as he spoke. In response to this, Mikazuki simply offered him a half-smile as he turned towards Mina and nodded, causing her cheeks to take on a mild shade of pink all the while. One couldn't really blame her, honestly, seeing as how he had a nice smile.

"I'll survive. If not for myself, then for the two of you, Annie and mum. I don't think mum will like it when I stop writing to her," stated Mikazuki dishearteningly as he dropped his smile in favour of a neutral expression, eliciting a chuckle from Nac as he wrapped an arm around his pal's shoulders and pulled him in for a friendly hug. He did the same to Mina, who didn't resist as he brought his best friends in for a quick cuddle, and all the while, the pigtailed young woman had to hold back a snicker or two while Mika had to hold back the urge to zap Tias' sides.

"Hey, at the end of the day, all of us are rooting for ya, buddy. You've survived worse than this, after all, and we've got faith in you getting through this!"

To that, Mikazuki nodded, with him appreciating the faith Nac had put in him as he offered him a small smile of appreciation. However, part of his mind did end up wandering towards Annie and what she would do when it came time to send Eren into Sina.

He could only hope that she chose the correct option this time…

Sina

"Oi, Ann, you good?"

Blinking a little as she heard her name being called, Annie Leonhardt turned to face Hitch Dreyse as she stared at her with a raised brow. Vice versa, the blonde didn't give her much of a response outside of a mild huff as she adjusted the position of her rifle that remained slung over her shoulder.

Currently, the two of them were out on patrol, with Marlow Freudenberg leading them onwards all the while. The mushroom haired soldier seemed more interested in brainstorming potential ways to reform the MPB from its current corrupt state as he walked onwards, so much so that he ended up not as spatially aware as he probably would've been as he bumped into several Aristocrats several times over, with him even toppling a fruit stand at one point.

Hitch positively reveled in the chaos that Marlow was unintentionally causing as she never once passed on the opportunity to laugh at his expense, though Annie didn't think much of it as she walked onwards, ignoring the antics of her much more immature comrades all the while. These knuckleheads were certainly a lively bunch, though they weren't endearing in the way that Mina, Nac or even Mikazuki were, though then again, Leonhardt doubted that anyone could reach their level of endearment.

Regardless, when Hitch had asked Annie that question, she found herself quickly snapping out of her mild stupor as she turned to face her comrade with a practiced gaze of neutrality. Vice versa, Dreyse did seem to be staring at her with a small bit of worry as she strolled onwards without a care in the world, worry that Leonhardt readily dismissed as she shook her head.

"Yes. I'm fine. Just lost in thought," stated Annie flatly as she continued onwards, eliciting a raised brow and a sly grin from Hitch all the while. Oh no… this wasn't going to be good.

"Oh? Lost in thought, huh? Of who? A secret lover, perhaps? Oh oh! Maybe it's that Mika guy! You visited him the other day, didn't you? Or maybe you forgot to do something that our Captain asked of us? Oh, tell me tell me!" goaded Hitch with a smile as she leaned ever closer to Annie, who felt the massive urge to literally sweep her off her feet as she felt a tick mark appearing on her forehead. Thankfully for her, however, Leonhardt didn't wish to start a scene in public, and as such, she settled for poking Dreyse's eye, causing her to recoil in pain. "Youch! What was that for?!"

"For invading my personal space," responded Annie dryly as she continued onwards, ignoring Hitch's jabs at her being rude all the while.

In truth, however, Leonhardt wasn't exactly feeling in tip top shape. Her conversation with Mikazuki a few days prior had left her in a jumbled mess… and by all means, she reckoned that she would've been better if she hadn't admitted that she was the Female Titan in the first place. That being said, however, her admission did open up a new path for her to go down… one that was, admittedly, rather hard for her as it would mean betraying her hometown in favour of her sworn enemies…

… but if she were to be completely honest, Annie didn't really mind it all that much. Her… allies were loyalists to Marley. Annie… was not. She never did have any concrete loyalty to her hometown, she only followed their orders because she had been trained to do so, and even then, her blind loyalty to the Marleyans only went so far, and by all means… it had reached its breaking point by now, as her confliction between her status as a Warrior and lifelong friend to Mina Carolina, Nac Tias and Mikazuki Augus pulled her in two separate directions.

Ultimately, she chose the latter option. Marley was a great city, don't get her wrong, but in the end, there, she was nothing but a Warrior. Someone that was meant to carry the burden of being the Female Titan until the day she died, or until they deemed it necessary to pass this disgusting power on. The nation may have been a beautiful, not to mention absurdly prosperous, one, but ultimately, there was no happiness to be found in it, not for Annie Leonhardt, anyways.

But Paradis Island… the place where her true friends… and her mother were all located at? Annie felt truly alive whenever she was here. She felt… normal, in a strange way, whenever she interacted with those three lovable idiots and that old woman that she had long since stopped pretending wasn't her mother.

She always felt a wave of happiness whenever Mina ran up to her and asked to braid her hair for no real reason other than why not(?).

She always felt amusement, if not endearment, whenever Nac walked up to her to talk about some random, trivial guff that she would always pretend to not care about.

And she would always feel… alive whenever she sparred with Mikazuki back during their 104th Trainee days. He was never too rough with her, with him always knowing what their respective limits were. He never pushed Annie past them, not unless she wanted him to, and that was probably the biggest difference between Paradis Island and Marley, in Leonhardt's humble opinion.

In Marley, so many people expected so much of her. To be a Warrior, to protect them from any potential outside intruders (which didn't mean anything as the world was desolate outside of Eldia and Marley), to uphold the legacy of the Female Titan… and to regain the Titans that were lost to the Eldians oh so long ago. It was just so… stressful for her, and she hated it.

Here, however, she could, at the very least, try to live a normal life, one that she's wanted ever since… well, ever since the day she was forced to be a Warrior. Back there, everything felt so… fake. The smiles felt false, the laughter felt hollow and the pride that the Warrior Unit held felt more like false bravado more than anything… but here? Here, everything felt natural. The smiles of her friends were genuine and shone brilliantly… the laughs she shared with her friends, however few and far between she actually did, actually got her spirits up… and the pride that her little group of misfits possessed felt well earnt. The bravado they carried felt genuine, as they were not forced into this scenario. They had willingly chosen to be here… and in that sense, Annie respected them greatly.

She respected them almost as much as she loved them… and that was the core of this whole issue.

Back in Marley, even when pitted up against her adoptive father, there had been no real love shared between the two. His apologies for subjecting her to Warrior training had always been meaningless to her, especially now, after she was able to actually feel what it was like, to be a part of an actual family… and after that riveting experience, Annie would move mountains to make sure that this experience would last a lifetime.

'I'll make my own choices from here on out, Mikazuki. I promise you that much,' thought Annie with no small amount of conviction. Her hand was clenched into a fist as she thought this, and she stared up into the sky with a determined look on her face all the while.

She wasn't about to let Marley control her destiny… as, from this day onwards, whatever action she took would be of her own volition…

…and yet… even she wouldn't be able to foresee just how… messy her future would end up becoming, all thanks to a single eavesdropper…

Things can only end well... yes?

DojoYoyo: colleteral damage is the essence of a good fight! Just not ideal in universe, unfortunately

starscreamer11: Flauros really did get a lot of shit back in the day, poor lad

ian12091995: it does indeed thicken

Touhoufanatic: Mika is really just stressing out these days. He might get some white hairs soon enough

memoryofvirtual: is it Flauros? Well... who knows?

Starwarlord: honestly I'm surprised that anyone got those Arknight references.

Batman9117: the winged beast will definitely appear... eventually

Jrdor13: well that would be an interesting alternate possibility, but unfortunately... well... hey I might write that as an omake one day, perhaps

Dead344156: I wanna write that now. Dangit

Guest (Guest223): well I really didn't intend for it to come that way but I won't stop you from thinking that-

Guest (Haha): you seem to know how the story is going to play out. How cute

Doctor Snake Eater: WILL HASHMAL APPEAR?! WILL REX APPEAR?! I CANNOT SAY, BECAUSE SPOILERS!

Guest: I had this planned since last year so I'm pretty happy you guys seem to enjoy it

CodeCipher: actually it's just one Gundam frame in the AOT-verse. Not sure how you thought there were two, but regardless! As with Starwarlord, I'm surprised people noticed the Arknight references... and as for Iok and Jansley... hmmmmmm

og grid: I'd say that's a win

So tired... next chapter will be slightly delayed. Oh and by the way, happy 50!

"Armin."

Mikasa's voice was firm, and it was commanding. She wasn't messing around, not that she ever was, and she was walking towards Armin Arlert with an angered pep in her step.

The blonde didn't even have time to greet Mikasa before she stopped in front of him and scanned the area around them, only to grimace when she realized that Eren was nowhere to be seen.

"Armin, where's Eren?" demanded Mikasa, with her voice and gaze appearing rather frantic as she spoke. In response to this, the blonde blurted out his answer, stating that Research Assistant Lauda had come to collect him at the behest of Hanji Zoe, who wished to get some last minute experiments done before… something happened, and upon hearing this, Ackerman audibly swore as she forced Armin up to his feet.

"M-Mikasa?! What's-"

"It's important, Armin. We need to speak in private."