Three days after graduation
"I'm so proud of all of you!"
The words of Martha Carolina were, by all means, somewhat meaningless in retrospect, but even so, they warmed the hearts of the Cadets, now newly minted soldiers, as they returned to Trost for the first time in years.
Upon returning, Martha was quick to engulf each and every one of them in a massive hug, something that they all returned her in kind, and thereafter, they all sat down and got to work on telling their shared mother about all the going ons within the 104th Trainee Brigade.
For the most part, Mina and Nac had done most of the talking, what with both Mikazuki and Annie being as antisocial as they always were, even now, and as they listed off what they had been doing whilst they were off in the military, their parent listented to them intently.
Some things weren't exactly taken in with all that much grace…
"You PUNCHED Mina?!" cried Martha after Nac realized that Mikazuki had knocked Mina out in a single punch some years ago. It was an understandable reaction to this, really, as Mika was a powerhouse, and although Nac insisted that it wasn't the worst, Annie ruined that alibi by stating that the pilot had knocked the lights out of her to the point where the only light she would've seen, had she not been incredibly lucky, were the very lights of heaven.
Mikazuki had enough decency to look sheepish when his adoptive parent shouted at him.
Other things, though, were met with glee.
"I always knew you were the smartest, Nac!" giggled Martha as she pulled Nac into a hug, burying him in her bosom as she patted his head. Mina had made the mistake of telling her that the oldest soldier present had constantly scored the highest for their written works, and upon learning of this, the Carolina Matriarch was quick to reward her son with some snuggles, much to his chagrin. Things only escalated after Nac had let slip that Mina and Annie weren't all too far off from him, though as for Mikazuki…
… well, let's just say that the less said about his written work, the better. There was a reason why the pilot never wrote back to Martha during his tenure as a soldier, with him instead resorting to asking Nac to do it for him.
And from time to time, she'd just…
"You have a friend that… loves potatoes?"
"Mmhm."
"And she stole a potato on the very first day…"
"Yep."
"Ate it in front of your platoon commander."
"Correct."
"And took the punishment of running around the fields over the punishment of skipping dinner?"
"That is what we just told you."
"... I need a minute."
… yeah. That. Sometimes, she just didn't know how to respond to the going ons within the 104th Trainee Brigade, which was understandable, really, as the 104th in general was very much a mishmash of clashing personalities and square pegs that were meant to work with round holes.
It was honestly a miracle, how they had even gotten this far without burning themselves to the ground… and not through lack of trying either, considering how certain individuals had taken it upon themselves to do just that several times over, be it intentional or not.
That aside, the soldiers were quick to get settled back into their old rooms, with Martha having graciously kept them all clean for the past few years. For that, the three (Mikazuki still slept on the couch as per usual) were grateful, though Nac was a little grouchy when he realized that he had a minor growth spurt that made it hard for him to fit on his bed properly, something that everyone, Mika included, found amusing as they got settled in for the night.
And as that happened, Mikazuki moved towards the living room as his friends tucked themselves in, with him wishing them a very flat goodnight all the while, and somewhat unsurprisingly, when he got down there, he found himself face to face with Martha once more, with the woman smiling up at him as she watched him move to sit by her atop the couch.
"You kept your promise. My children are safe… all of them," smiled Martha as she set a hand atop Mikazuki's shoulder, with her words making the pilot's cheeks flush faintly as he nodded.
"I always keep my promises," hummed Mikazuki, with him sounding somewhat matter-of-factly as he said this, and to that, Martha could only really pinch his cheek as she heard some of that uncharacteristic sass from him, not that she disliked it of course.
"I never doubted you for even a second," giggled Martha as she did this, and thereafter, Mikazuki could only huff in acknowledgement as he nodded at the woman's words.
Was it wrong for him to have missed this…? Probably, but he didn't really care… he liked having a mother.
All good things inevitably came to an end, and alas, after about a day spent with their mother, the four freshly minted soldiers were called in for their duties.
They weren't sent back to Trost for the sole purpose of returning home, after all; rather, they were here to get to work on their duties as newbloods. Their first course of action: cannon maintenance! And although they did consider this to be very much boring, they didn't exactly dwell too much on it as they moved to work on their duties.
All except for Annie, anyways. When they had woken up, and after getting pecked on the forehead by their mother, adoptive or otherwise, Mina realized that Annie had been missing this entire time. When asked about it, Martha told her daughter that the blonde had left early to do something important, though what this matter of importance was eluded her for now.
Respecting their shared friend's privacy, the three 104th graduates did not question what Annie was working on as they travelled off to the top of Wall Trost, and once they were up there, they linked up with several other graduates with gusto. Said graduates included Eren, Mylius, Samuel, Hannas, Franz and Connie, all of whom waved at them as they cleaned up the wall mounted cannons with gusto.
"Took you guys long enough to get here!" laughed Connie as he wiped the side of a cannon with a smile, with him watching as Mikazuki and Nac moved to check on another. The former didn't even acknowledge him as he set a hand down onto the side of the cannon, humming softly as he wiped some dust off its surface, whilst Nac chuckled meekly whilst picking a rag up.
"Sorry… we were kinda stuck with our mum for a while," apologised Nac as he began wiping the side of the cannon diligently. Out the corner of his eye, Tias saw his pigtailed friend linking up with Hanna to assist her in wiping clean the cannon set before her, and likewise, Eren and Mylius were speaking to one another whilst maintaining their own, with the latter glancing at him several times over before looking away moments later, confusing him quite a bit all the while.
"Our mum? So like… you, Mikazuki and Mina share a mum?" asked Connie, surprised at this revelation as he spoke. The topic of parents rarely came up within the 104th Trainee Brigade, which was fair enough, and in response to this, Nac nodded lightly.
"Yeah. Annie too, though I wouldn't consider us siblings or anything. Ms Carolina adopted us years back, and she considers us her kids, even if we're not related to her by blood," hummed Nac with a smile, eliciting one from Connie as he chuckled lightly at his words.
"That's pretty sweet of her, really. My mum's cool too; she practically adopted half of my hometown by now!" cackled Connie, with his words surprising Nac whilst Samuel rolled his eyes at that apparent overstatement, though he didn't do much to comment on it as he continued to wipe at the cannon, and all the while, Mikazuki crouched by the edge of the wall and peered down its edge with a frown.
Noticing this, Nac moved to check up on him.
"What's up, Mika?" asked Nac curiously as he leaned against the cannon and peered over to his friend, to which the pilot shook his head.
"It's nothing. Just… thinking, is all," assured Mikazuki as he kicked a decently sized pebble off the edge of the wall, and as it fell, he moved his hand towards his hip, where one of his Anti-Titan blade sheathes dangled, before speaking. "We'll likely be transferred to the Survey Corps by the end of the week, huh?"
"Yeah, we will be. Getting cold feet?" asked Nac, with there being a hint of teasing in his voice as he spoke, eliciting a shake of his friend's head as he responded.
"No. I'm just worried. Joining the Survey Corps likely won't be beneficial to us in the long run. It's a very dangerous occupation, you know," reminded Mikazuki, with him peering out into the distance, where several Titans roamed the land without a care in the world. Those that he could see were but a fraction of how many there truly were, Mika reckoned, and by all accounts, actually retaking Shiganshina and Maria, much less the whole world, from these mindless beasts felt… impossible.
Still though, the word impossible never did mean jack shit to Nac, and with a smile, he sighed and responded to Mikazuki's bleak words.
"Well, you're not wrong there, but even so, I wanna believe that we can make a difference. Even if it's a small one…" stated Nac with conviction, with him rubbing at his nose as he said this. "After all, big changes start from some of the smallest of movements, and all we need to do in order to win this war is to strike at the Titans from just the right angle… with the right tool."
"The right tool, huh…?" mused Mikazuki, with him finding that wording from his friend to be quite… niche, to say the least, though he spoke nothing of it as he nodded, with him finding Nac's optimism to be very much infectious all the while. "Well, I guess that could work, though you're being very optimistic by saying that."
"Better to remain optimistic than to be a nihilist, I say," smiled Nac as he flashed the peace sign to his friend, who rolled his eyes as he acknowledged how, although infrequent, Nac had a slight tendency to call him a nihilist from time to time due to him being too realistic with his worldview.
Considering just how optimistic the guy tended to be, Mika reckoned that it wasn't all that much of a surprise.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."
Whilst the two went back to their duties, Mina and Franz hung by their own cannon and conversed with one another whilst cleaning theirs up. They weren't particularly close, but they were familiar enough to be able to speak with one another without much compromise. Mina in particular spoke of how she herself was keen on joining the Survey Corps, something that Hanna was already aware of by now, though personally speaking, the young woman was more interested in becoming a Garrison soldier.
Honestly speaking, Mina could understand why she'd want to. The Survey Corp life wasn't for everyone, and by God, the MPB life was definitely not for everyone, and unless they wished to die an early death, the Garrison Brigade was usually the way to go for sure. The pigtailed girl held nothing against Dietrich for her decision, but even so, she'd be lying if she claimed to not be saddened to not have a fellow 104th by her side within the Survey Corps.
But hey, at least she had Mikazuki and Nac…
Regardless, after a few minutes of speaking, the duo went silent as they attended to the cannon, with Mina peering into its barrel and blowing into it somewhat thoughtfully, only for some dust to fly out of it and pepper her face. Hanna cackled lightly at her misfortune whilst the pigtailed girl pouted at her being laughed at.
"Bleh…" grumbled Mina as she staggered back a little, with her wiping at her face all the while, though moments later, she felt something cold press against the arch of her back, prompting her to tense up slightly as she flinched forwards with a frown, and as she turned back to see what had touched her back, the pigtailed girl found her eyes widening when she saw that it was an Anti-Titan Blade, with its flat surface held up against her back.
Normally, Mina would've been horrified at this realization; having a blast resting against any part of your body would do that to you, but honestly speaking, she didn't feel as such right now… probably because the blade was being held by Mikazuki, of all people, and it was also being held out to stop her from backing herself off the edge of Trost!
"Be careful," admonished Mikazuki lightly as he gently pushed Mina forwards with the flat of the blade, prompting the girl to hop forwards a little as she watched her friend sheath his weapon. His voice was just as unreadable as it always was, but even so, there was an obvious undercurrent of genuine concern buried beneath his neutrality, and upon noticing this, Mina bowed slightly as she apologised for her blunder.
"S-Sorry… it won't happen again, Mika, promise!" assured Mina as she bowed, and to that, Mikazuki sighed and waved her off before moving back to his post, leaving a somewhat flustered Mina and an amused Hanna behind all the while.
"Heh… Mikazuki really is something, eh?" mused Hanna sarcastically as she watched the pigtailed girl turn towards her with her red cheeks. The smirk that Dietrich had on her face made it apparent that she knew more than she was letting on, and by all means, she had seen how Mikazuki had made a literal mad dash towards his friend when he saw that she was about to back off the edge of Trost.
If that didn't show proof of how much he valued his friend's life, then Hanna wasn't sure what would've!
"Yes… he really is!" replied Mina as her flustered state slowly subsided, and as it did, Mina felt her gaze falling onto the young man in question, with her feeling her mind absently drifting off all the while. Upon returning to his post, Mikazuki hadn't shown much in the way of interest when it came to cleaning his assigned cannon. Rather…
"Mika, could you give me a hand here?" grumbled Nac, his voice as calm as usual, though hints of irritation were apparent. One couldn't blame him, however, as, rather than help him, the pilot had been kicking pebbles off the edge of Trost without much of a care in the world, though after he was called for, Mikazuki ended up nodding before he sauntered up to assist Nac with their duties, though not before kicking a decently sized pebble down the side of the wall.
The pebble went straight into the mouth of a Ten metre Titan down below, though it seemed oblivious to that fact as it clawed at the Wall, trying to get to its prey. Mikazuki himself snorted a little at that before moving to help Nac scrape the cannon clean.
His movements were precise and methodical, so much so that one could easily forget that he was quite literally a ball of highly condensed muscle. Mikazuki did always say that to have your enemies underestimate you would oftimes tip the battle in your favour, and by all means, his appearance, posture, mannerisms and movements complimented that mindset of his excruciatingly well.
It was likely quite a shock to many that the pilot had gotten into the top 10 because of all those reasons, but in truth, to those that truly knew him like the back of their hands, him being considered for the MPB was more of an inevitability than an actual possibility.
The Military Police Brigade… thinking about that reminded Mina of a conversation she and her small group of friends had the day prior, just a few hours before they went to bed. It was a simple conversation to say the least, with a single end goal; which branch they were joining. Annie herself expressed her desire to join the aforementioned MPB, but as for Mikazuki… the was of a different mindset.
"I go wherever the two of you go," was what Mikazuki had said after Mina stated that the goal that both she and Nac had of joining the Survey Corps had not changed whatsoever, and although they were still slightly taken aback by this, they said nothing as he continued. "Someone has to keep the two of you alive with Annie gone."
"Are… you sure?" Mina remembered asking Mika, with her not wanting his future to be ruined because of his doggish loyalty towards Nac and herself. Sure, it would be nice to have him around, but at the same time… "You're kinda abandoning a good life in the interior walls just to make sure we don't break a leg in the future. You do know we're not that weak, right? You don't have to…"
"I know. You two are strong. But I'd feel better if I was with the two of you all the way. I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself if either you or Nac get killed."
She still remembered the expression both she and Nac gave the pilot when he said that so openly. Though he has shown his love, in his own way, for all three of them in the past, Mina felt that this was perhaps the first time Mika has ever shown some form of intense compassion towards either one of them in the past five years.
Sure, it was rather lackluster by regular standards, though by Mikazuki's, this was the equivalent of a lover's goodbye! And, if anything, just remembering what he had told them was enough to make Mina's heart stop for a few moments, and even now, as she stared at the boy prod at a crack on the body of the cannon he and Nac were maintaining, the girl couldn't help but feel a little giddy.
"Mina…? Yo, Trost to Mina! You there?"
Something about Mikazuki had always made her feel… weirdly happy, for the lack of a better term. Perhaps it was his stoic yet gentle nature, or the way he spoke to his friends with a tone very different from whenever he was speaking to acquaintances, but something about him made her smile from time to time just by thinking about him.
"Seriously, are you there?"
The fact that she has seen him half naked doesn't really help. The spinal birth defect he suffered from didn't make him look any less attractive, and if she were honest, Mina, or even Nac or Annie for that matter, had never focused much on those things anyways. The mere memory of a half naked Mika was usually enough to make the girl blush, and if anything, those spinal things only served to make him look more unique…
… and Mina quite liked that!
"M-Mina! Your face is turning red!"
Despite her typically innocent nature, Mina couldn't help but allow several… naughty thoughts race through her mind. It was enough to make her cup her cheeks as her mind raced through all the raunchy things that she wished to do to the pilot, though him being her friend was more than enough to make her reconsider. Surely, he didn't feel the same way about her, she surmised… it was best to not talk about this and-
"MINA CAROLINA! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
And at that, Mina yelped and straightened herself, with her briefly forgetting about how she was just fantasizing about one of her best friends in a not-so-innocent way as she snapped out of her trance, only to come face to face with none other than Hanna, who was leaning over the cannon and staring at her with a worried expression. And, before she could even ask what she was doing, Dietrich shot a hand forward, resting her palm against Carolina's forehead with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"Strange, you don't seem feverish," she muttered, confused, though moments later, she seemed to realize what was going on as she broke out into a grin. "Care to explain why your face is so red, Mina?"
"It's what?!" exclaimed Mina, hopelessly embarrassed as she cupped her cheeks in her hands, not noting the lingering glances from the other Cadets as she spoke, remembering what she had just been thinking of as she fumbled for an explanation. "D-Don't worry about it, Han'! Just… erm… overheating…?"
"If that's the case, you oughta get some water before you pass out!" proclaimed Hanna worriedly before she pulled a bottle of water out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to Mina. Deciding to play along, she snatched it away from her fellow 104th graduate and chugged it all down without a second thought, much to her amusement. "Gee, you really were thirsty, hmm?"
"You… y-you could say that," muttered Mina sheepishly as she emptied the bottle, with her wiping at her lips as she placed it down. "Thanks for that, Hanna."
"Yeah yeah, you're welcome and all that," responded Hanna, smirking knowingly as she said this. Thereafter, the duo stood there silently for a moment, just enjoying the wind blowing against them as they looked out into the distance, with Mina still trying to get over what she had just been thinking about as they looked out at the land the Survey Corps intended on reclaiming someday…
And suddenly…
"S-Sasha?! W-Where did you even GET that?!"
Blinking in confusion at this sudden cry from the sidelines, both Hanna and Mina turned to investigate the unexpected sound of Nac raising his voice in horror. Everyone present, unused to hearing Tias speak in such a way, felt surprised at this (barring Mina and Mikazuki, at least), though as for Nac himself, however, he was simply staring at Sasha with a horribly shocked expression.
By his side, Mikazuki was also glancing over at Sasha, and in stark contrast to his usually unreadable expression, the pilot's usually neutral demeanor had been almost completely replaced with a look of utter bafflement, complete with an arched eyebrow and his mouth slightly agape.
"From the Senior's locker!" was Sasha's response to Nac as she pulled something from her jacket completely, and upon doing so, what everyone saw made their jaws drop in both hunger and terror.
Meat.
Oh dear Tekkadan, it was meat, only the scarcest and perhaps the most delicious thing which could be found in the outer confines of the Walls. Despite doing her best to remember, Mina couldn't recall the last time she ate it. In fact, she doubted that she had even tasted meat before in her lifetime, prompting her to drool ever so slightly. The others, on the other hand, seemed apprehensive, with Hanna in particular moving her hand up to shut Mina's mouth before she drooled all over the cannon.
"S-Sasha, are you mad?!" exclaimed Connie. "When the seniors find out, you're as good as dead!"
"He's right," added Mylius, with him walking up beside Connie as he crossed his arms with disapproval. Disapproval and hunger… but primarily disapproval. "Meat has become much scarcer ever since the Fall of Shiganshina and Maria. If any senior finds out about this, you could very well be executed just by possessing this… or worse…"
"But we can't let this opportunity slip by!" protested Sasha as she approached the group, smiling like a hungry, hungry Titan whilst fantasizing about all the things she could do with the slab of meat she had in her hands, and apparently, she was feeling generous on that day, as she added something unexpected onto her words. "We can divide it among ourselves as celebration, you know? We did just graduate after all! We can slice it up and bread it… spread some butter on it and eat it with mushrooms…"
As she said that last line, Sasha gave out a low moan which made even Mikazuki a little uncomfortable, not that he really showed this as he watched the girl giggle to herself whilst caressing the meat like a lifeline, and shortly thereafter, the young woman knelt down and opened a box which seemed to appear out of nowhere and gingerly placed the slab of meat into it, smiling like a maniac as she did so.
"There's no need to worry about it, everyone," assured Sasha as she closed the lid of the box rather gingerly, patting its top all the while. "Once we've recaptured Shiganshina and Maria, we'll be able to raise more cattle and cows for meat. And by then… ooooh, by then…"
In truth, Mikazuki wasn't a fan of how Sasha was brushing aside the difficulty that would come with doing that, but that aside, it would appear that the bumpkin's gluttony was getting to the other 104th graduates, as Connie's formerly indifferent expression began breaking down, leading to him demanding for a bit of the meat. Mina, eager to try it out for herself, was next to ask, with Mylius, Franz, Hanna, Samuel and Eren coming in not long after. Sasha seemed to be fine with sharing, though Nac was on the polar opposite of the spectrum, as he swung his arms about in a bid to have his voice be heard.
"S-Stop it! Stop and think about what you're doing, you guys!" protested Nac, catching everyone's attention with his words all the while. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the most serious and level headed one at the moment, with him frowning as he crossed his arms in disappointment. "If any one of the seniors even catch us holding that slab of meat, we'd have a very high chance of being courtmarshaled! Hell, just thinking about the consequences makes me queasy! You should put that thing back and try to learn some self control, like Mi-"
"Sasha," piped up Mikazuki, making everyone turn to him as he had effectively cut Nac's rambling short with but one word. Turning towards him, the much taller man had fully expected Mika to back him up, having come to see Augus as a sort of voice of reason whenever he butted into an argument. So perhaps-
"Leave some for me, if you don't mind."
And at that point, Nac nearly fainted. His point was proven moot after Mikazuki had asked for some of the meat, and all he could do was drop down to his knees in defeat before pointing a finger at Mika, with the word TRAITOR echoing in his mind as Sasha gave a thumbs up in approval to the pilot's request. Mina seemed keen on comforting Nac, though before she could, and when he had noticed his friend's sadness, the pilot added in another request.
"And some for Nac as well," added Mikazuki nonchalantly, prompting the taller guy to stand back up and point a finger at the pilot.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?! I HAVE NO INTENTION OF BEING COURTMARSHALED!" proclaimed Nacas he leapt up to his feet, re-energised by Mikazuki's out of left field request, causing chuckles or giggles to erupt from everyone present at his sudden change of attitude.
"Don't be such a downer, Nac!" proclaimed Mina as she walked up to him and lightly punched his shoulder. "You should take whatever good stuff life throws at you, like now! Just say yes and enjoy the moment! Who knows if you'll ever get this chance in the future?"
"But… I… I…!" began Nac, fumbling for a retort as he glanced between everyone, hoping that some of them could see his logic, only to realize that none of them were able to do so. Not even Mikazuki, Mikazuki-fucking-Augus, the one who was usually on his side, was willing to back him up here! And, as soon as his mind acknowledged this defeat, he knelt over and conceded. For a moment, no one spoke as Nac stayed on his knees, silent, with Mina patting his back sheepishly.
And finally, after some time, he stared up at Sasha with a defeated expression.
"...could we at least have some small slices saved for Mum and Annie as well…?" he pleaded, and everyone, minus Mikazuki, chuckled at that.
"Of course!" proclaimed Sasha, sounding just a bit uncertain but not heartless enough to deny that request as she spoke. "This is practically a once in a lifetime opportunity, so we may as well make the most of it!"
"Ah… now could we please get back to work before someone notices something is up… please?" pleaded Nac. Everyone seemed fine with that, and they moved back to working on maintaining the cannons, though Nac himself still seemed rather antsy as he allowed himself to be hauled up to his feet by Mikazuki.
"I swear, Sasha's gluttony is going to be the end of us all…" muttered Nac, apparently still not liking the idea of having meat without the express permission of his seniors. Mikazuki, on the other hand, felt indifferent to the entire thing, though, honestly speaking, he did, admittedly, miss the taste of meat, so the prospect of potentially having some did still excite him to a certain degree.
"It's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity," pointed out Mikazuki, sounding just a tiny bit more enthusiastic as he said this whilst dusting off the back of Nac's Cadet uniform. "Just enjoy it."
"Yeah yeah, whatever…" muttered Nac in defeat as he and Mikazuki went back to their assigned cannon. There, the taller guy tapped the side of the cannon as he shook his head, changing the subject at the flick of the wrist. "Frankly speaking, though, I do hope that what Sasha said will come true. Being able to reclaim Maria or Shiganshina sounds so… impossible. But with enough conviction, even the impossible can become possible."
"Look at you being optimistic," quipped Mikazuki flatly as he crossed his arms and stared out into the desolate world of Shiganshina that lay beyond the wall of Trost. Nac himself chuckled at his words, with him acknowledging how his own words had been used against him all the while.
"Yeah yeah, rub that one in, why don't you? But that's something I'll need in my future line of work, you know?" pointed out Nac with a smile as he stared out into the horizon alongside his friend. "Optimism gives you hope even in the bleakest situations, motivates you to go onward or perhaps even inspire others in otherwise bleak situations. That's why I refuse to cave into nihilism, for as long as hope remains, I, and the rest of humanity will continue to fight for our freedom."
"Perhaps…" muttered Mikazuki, with him allowing Nac's optimism to be contagious as he exhaled softly and shook his head with endearment. If it were about five years prior, Mika would've considered having some optimism in regards to the issue of him getting back to his home, his real home. But now, that optimism was reserved for another thing; keeping his comrades alive.
And by God, he'd use every ounce of his strength to see to it that this goal of his is complete.
Following that brief exchange, neither Mikazuki nor Nac spoke up again, with the former seeming content with just staring out at the outer half of Trost whilst the latter went back to work. This being his first time atop a Wall, Mika found the sight to be… agreeable with him, in a sort of way, as it did bring back some decent memories of him being back on the Isaribi. Back when he could still see the stars and reach out towards them without a care in the world…
Standing atop the Wall of Trost certainly didn't make him feel as big as he once did whilst within the Tekkadan Flagship, but all the same, it made him feel… nice, so to speak, as he simply admired the natural beauty that came with staring out into the distance.
Shame about all the Titans, though. They really did mess up the otherwise beautiful scenery laid bare for him to see. Perhaps that was a part of the reason as to why the soldiers wished to reclaim the outside world, he reckoned; just to have a good view of the world they were born into without a massive 50 metre wall or a hideous abomination to ruin it all.
"... hey, Nac?" muttered Mikazuki after some time, with him turning to face his friend as he said his name. Nac, who had been leaning against the cannon they were maintaining, turned to face him upon hearing his name be called, with him raising a brow all the while.
"Hm?"
"What are the odds of us being able to manage it? Retaking the outside."
"I… generally don't want to think about the odds, but honestly, I'm sure we'll be fine as Survey Corps. We got through Keith, hadn't we? If we can survive him, then we can survive anything!"
"I see…"
"You seem a little down… is something wrong?"
"No… it's just… you know that you'll likely die before we even come close to retaking the outside, right? All of us."
"I… yes, I do."
"And yet, you still want to go through with this?"
"Yes… I do. Even if it's not much, if I can help humanity in their battle against the Titans in any way, shape or form. Then you bet I'd take it in a heartbeat."
"... you're brave, you know that?"
"Heh, thanks."
"It wasn't meant to be a compliment."
"I'll take it as one, though. The brave ones tend to be the ones that accomplish great things!"
"They're also the ones who die first."
"Better to die for what you believe in than to die doing nothing, I say."
"..."
"..."
And with that said, Mikazuki opted to simply nod as he nonverbally signified to Nac that this conversation was over, and as for the older guy, he knew the pilot well enough to understand his nonverbal cues as he went back to scrubbing the grime off the cannon they were working on, leaving Mika to simply stare out at the outside, where Titans roamed without a care in the world.
Truth be told, Mikazuki didn't like how willing Nac and Mina were to throw their lives away. Was it brave? Yes, but it was also terribly naive and foolish. Keith had trained them, sure, but his training was (usually) done in a controlled environment, and when on the field, there were a multitude of things that one had to take into account that could affect their survival rate. Mika himself simply wondered if his friends would regret their decision to become Survey Corps after they had their first brush with death, whenever that might be, and in truth… the pilot did, admittedly, hope for it to come sooner rather than later.
'Knocking them out of their naivete at an earlier date would probably be the best possible outcome,' thought Mikazuki flatly as he crossed his arms and sighed a tiny bit, and thereafter, the pilot exhaled softly and just… loosened up, if only by a little. His concerns over his friends' futures was staring to get him a little tense, and by all means, that was not beneficial, and so, he began to calm himself down through a series of breathing exercises.
The first few breaths calmed his heart, the next few calmed his mind, and by the sixth inhale, the pilot felt himself calming down to a reasonable degree as he relaxed a tiny bit, a rarity for someone like him, as he felt his muscles easing up and his joints loosening a tiny bit.
Feeling relaxed was a rarity for someone like Mikazuki, and as such… he savoured this feeling for all that it was…
… and almost as though the universe itself wished for him to never be able to relax, a loud sound akin to that of a lightning strike, accompanied by a horrifically bright flash of light, struck the area right in front of the gates of Trost.
Upon hearing this loud sound, a stark contrast to the tranquil silence that was present moments prior, Mikazuki shot his eyes open to check up on what had caused it. Initially, he had expected it to have been caused by a malfunction of sorts, though he was quickly proven wrong when the pilot saw that, in front of both himself and the other soldiers present, a massive cloud of smoke stood in front of him.
By his side, Nac appeared horrified as he brought a hand up to the handle of his Anti-Titan blade, seeming just as trepidatious as his friend whilst falling into a defensive stance, and by the back, the other soldiers assumed similar stances whilst they watched the cloud of smoke dissipate within a handful of painfully long seconds.
"What the…" began Mikazuki as he watched the smoke part, revealing… a face. Devoid of skin and with twin pale green eyes piercing directly into their souls, the currently present soldiers could only remain silent as they stared over at the thing… the… Titan, which stared back at them with a completely indifferent gaze, and moments later…
BOOM!
… the Wall below them shook with the force of a tidal wave, knocking them off balance just enough to let a powerful burst of steam, most likely coming from the Titan itself, knock every last one of them back and send them flying off the side of the Wall.
"Tsk!" proclaimed Mikazuki as he was flung off the wall alongside his compatriots, with him allowing himself to panic for a split second before he remembered that he still had his Maneuver Gear equipped. Wasting no time, Mika and his fellow Cadets regained their marbles and fired both anchors of their equipment onto the side of the Wall, effectively saving themselves from receiving a nasty end via a fifty metre fall, though not all of them were so lucky to have been able to do this. Samuel, having apparently been knocked out by the force of the steam, was still falling, and those who noticed that he was still falling turned towards him in horror.
"Samuel!" exclaimed Mina, and right at that moment, Sasha narrowed her eyes and began to move. Detaching one of her anchors from the side of the wall, the Dauper resident began racing down the side of the Wall, with the other anchor keeping her from falling straight off as she did so.
Once she was sure that she was close enough to Samuel, Sasha shot her second wire straight at him, and, by some ungodly miracle, the anchor was able to snag onto the guy, with it piercing the young man's thigh and holding onto him like some prized catch.
"Dun' worry, Samuel! I gotcha!" proclaimed Sasha, ignoring the shocked looks she was getting from most of her fellow soldiers as she glanced back up to stare at her fellow graduates, breathing heavily as the adrenaline exited her system. "Is e'ryone aight?!"
"Yeah, we're fine!" assured Nac with a shaky thumbs up, with him ignoring the young woman's bumpkin accent seeping into her words as he did so. Sasha mirrored that gesture with some shakiness. "But… w-what the Hell just happened?!"
"I… I-I have no idea! But… that face we saw before getting blown off… if you ask me, there's no doubt about it!" replied Connie, turning up to stare at the top of Trost, with several others mirroring that gesture all the while. "The Colossal Titan has returned!"
This realization had struck the soldiers like a freight train, with all of them panicking quite a bit as they realized the full ramifications of what this could entail, though while most of the young soldiers attempted to calm themselves with varying degrees of success, Mikazuki and Franz both turned their attention downwards, with them having noticed the massive cloud of dust which shielded the gate of Trost from sight. It was a bad sign to say the least, and it made the former give a mild grimace while the latter widened his eyes in immense panic as they watched the cloud of smoke dissipate, revealing…
"Trost has been breached!" shouted Franz as the smoke faded to show a massive hole on the side of the Wall where its gates once stood, catching everyone's attention as they widened their eyes to match his own. The panic that they once felt intensified tenfold when they heard this, with Connie verbalizing this the most as he clenched his fists and swung them around in a panic.
"Why NOW, of all FUCKING TIMES?!" swore Connie clenching his fists so tightly that his veins began showing. His comment was largely ignored, however, as Eren ordered the small team of soldiers, also including the unconscious Samuel, apparently, who was still hanging from the wire Sasha shot into his thigh like some sorta puppet, to move on to engage the Colossal Titan.
To say that his fellow soldiers were… not particularly keen on doing that, would be an understatement.
"Did he seriously just give that order?!" exclaimed Mina, feeling a wave of shock as she watched Eren swing himself up to the top of the Wall. Down below, Sasha was carefully reeling Samuel in, and once he was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up to face Mina.
"It would seem so!" exclaimed Sasha as she held onto Samuel tightly and eyed her fellow soldiers with widened eyes. "I dunno know about cha', but Samuel ere' ain't lookin' too hot! Ah'll gettem to HQ fer medical attention!"
"That would be for the best!" agreed Nac as he grimaced. Said grimace only grew in size, however, as the man almost immediately widened his eyes to their limits when he saw the first Titan, a Ten Metre, stumble its way into Trost. Tias grumbled when he saw it enter, with him remembering it to be the Titan that Mikazuki had been tossing rocks at not too long ago. "Shit… we've got company!"
"A Titan's already here?!" exclaimed Connie, prompting everyone to freeze up as they saw the Titan enter the district, with its eyes lazily scanning the area as it entered. "We gotta get out of here, NOW! We're not suited to going up against these things!"
"Bullshit!" shot Hanna, unsheathing both her blades as she turned to stare at the Ten Metre Titan, its eyes lazily looking around, trying to find its first meal. All around it, random civilians were panicking, running away from the monstrosity in terror as it scanned the crowd in ominous silence. "I don't give a damn what you guys say, I'm taking that thing down one way or another!"
"If you're going, then I'm with you!" proclaimed Franz, his blades unsheathed as well. Hanna shot him a sweet smile before the two of them began boosting towards the intruder before anyone could stop them, much to Nac's dismay. Mikazuki, however, simply grimaced as he turned to plant a hand atop Nac's shoulder, catching his attention and effectively stopping him from following Franz and Hanna to their deaths.
"... Nac, I want you to lead this team out of Trost. You're the one most suited to doing this," he instructed, unsheathing both of his blades as he spoke. Everyone turned to face him as soon as those words left his mouth, and Mina was the first to realize what he was planning.
"Wait, Mika! You can't-" she began, only for Mikazuki to cut her off.
"Hanna and Franz can't hold their own for long, and even if they could, we can't risk letting more than a handful of Titans getting into Trost," stated Mikazuki firmly, with him effectively cutting Mina as he narrowed his eyes down at the Ten metre Titan, which was now engaging Hanna and Franz in combat. Now was not the time to think like a friend or a Trainee, Mikazuki surmised… it was time to think like a soldier, and as an already well trained one himself, Mika, even if he didn't like it, had to resort to cold, hard logic now more so than ever.. "If you want to help me, then go and get the more experienced soldiers onto the field before more Titans can get in and swarm us."
"I… guess you're right…" muttered Nac as he glanced away, with him seeing the logic behind his friend's words as he said this, but even so…
"I-If you're going, then I am as well, Mika!" argued Mina, with her unsheathing a blade and bringing it up to her chest as she said this, but even so, Mikazuki, having seemingly expected this from her, turned towards his friend and shook his head.
"No. You-" began Mikazuki, with him frowning as he began to speak, though moments later, Mina cut him off as she swung her arms about in offence and concern.
"W-What?! You think I'll slow you down or something?! I promise I won't, Mika! I'll help you, you can count on me, I promise!" assured Mina, sounding just a tiny bit offended as she said this, though much to her surprise, rather than argue with her, Mikazuki instead held a hand up to his friend.
"I know I can count on you, Mina, which is why I need you to do something for me," stated Mikazuki, with his words catching everyone's attention as they glanced in his direction. "Go and tell mum about this… get her out of here… that is arguably more important than anything I'm going to do, and outside of Nac, you're the only one that I trust to do this."
"I… I-I…" was Mina's response to Mikazuki as she flinched, having not expected him to say this as she looked away in disbelief, though moments later, she hardened her resolve tenfold as she nodded firmly and brought her hand forwards, where she linked her forearm with Mika's and offered him a warrior's handshake. "I understand… but dammit… don't you dare die on me, you got that, Mika?!"
"I won't. Go, get out of here, now!" ordered Mikazuki as he pointed his blade towards the other end of Trost as he spoke, and as he said this, his friends and comrades found themselves scowling as they briefly considered defying his commands, but after some consideration, they chose to move on, with Nac leading a team off to retreat whilst Mina swung off to alert their shared mother about the current situation.
Stay safe, Mika!" Nac proclaimed as ge swung off alongside the other soldiers, leaving Mikazuki, Hanna, Franz and Eren behind by the gates of Trost. Mika himself nodded slightly at his friend's words, and thereafter, the pilot glanced up to stare at the very top of the Wall.
From where he was hanging from, Mikazuki could vaguely hear the sound of cannonfire from up above, making him believe that Eren was using the Wall mounted cannons against the Colossal Titan. A smart move, all things considered, but now was not the time to think about that. Turning back down to eye the Ten Metre Titan down below, the pilot saw that Franz and Hanna were already engaging it in combat.
For all it was worth, Mikazuki reckoned that they were doing alright, but even so, it wouldn't take long for these below average soldiers to slip up and give the Titan the edge it needed. They needed some backup, ASAP, and by all means, he was more than willing to provide them with that.
Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, the boy dislodged himself from the side of the Wall and began free-falling off its side. Narrowing his eyes as he did so, the pilot waited for the right moment to make his move…
...and when he was roughly twenty metres above ground level, the boy fired his Maneuver Gear anchors towards the closest building and used his built up momentum to slingshot himself towards the Ten Metre Titan.