"Hey, uh… do you think that Mika and Annie are doing alright?"
Upon hearing that comment from Mina, Nac blinked and snapped himself out of his mild trance-like state as he glanced up at his friend with a rather dazed expression. Vice versa, Mina, despite her recent lack of energy, couldn't help but giggle just a little as she watched her friend rub the bridge of his nose to refocus himself.
Currently, Mina and Nac, alongside every other Survey Corp recruit present, were in the base's cafeteria, with a good majority of the soldiers present, including the two aforementioned rookies, sitting down behind the numerous tables that were lined up in the room. Mina and Nac had both, rather unsurprisingly, chosen to sit with each other, and for the past few minutes, they had remained silent as they subconsciously went over the events that transpired over the past few days.
Mina was the one that broke the silence with her little comment, and thereafter, Nac had snapped out of his trance and, upon fully recovering from it, he shook his head and replied.
"Of course they are, Mina," assured Nac as he offered her a weak smile, one that didn't seem to suit him one bit, though Mina didn't voice out that thought as she looked away from her friend with apprehension, prompting Tias to continue on speaking in a hurry. "Trust me, Mina, they're the toughest duo we know of. Nothing could possibly take them down…"
"Or so you say… a lot of our friends said the same, and they were still killed in the Trost incident," muttered Mina, who grimaced as she remembered the innumerable amount of deceased bodies that she had cleaned up during the Trost cleanup. She had seen too many of them that, at a point, she ended up losing count of how many there really were. Hell, Carolina had even found herself getting used to seeing the deceased bodies of those that she had trained beside, a thought that was… horrific, to say the least.
"The Trost incident is over, Mina… you don't have to worry that much about them," assured Nac, with him offering a weak smile directed at his friend as he spoke. At that, Mina nodded rather weakly as she placed both her hands atop the table and clasped them together in a rather nervous manner.
She knew that the Trost incident was over… the nightmare that she had lived through was but a thing of the past now, but even so… she still found herself plagued by nightmares of that day even now, and every time she shut her eyes for long periods of time, all of her thoughts would inevitably return to the incident itself, albeit with several differences in its outcome…
… key of which being a very specific variation of the whole incident where… none of them survived. That potential outcome in itself had haunted her greatly, and by all means, she hated to think about it at all, with her squeezing her hands together tighter and tighter as she forced that thought out of her mind with reckless abandon.
"I know… I know. It's just… I know that Mika's tough, and Annie only just left us, like… yesterday… but it's hard for me to not worry about them…" replied Mina. As she spoke, the young woman bit her lower lip as she began thinking of several things that could potentially happen to her two blue eyed friends in their absence; killed by the traitor, abused by authority or even a simple accident whilst on duty… every possible outcome burst into Carolina's mind with reckless abandon, with each one only serving to scare her more than the last.
A pair of hands wrapping around Mina's own managed to snap her out of her delusions, however, and thereafter, she turned her attention up towards Nac, who was now leaning a little forward over at his side of the table with both his arms extended towards her all the while. His hands encased her own like a protective bubble, and the smile that was present on his face was no longer weak in appearance, and though it wasn't as bright as it was prior to the Trost incident, it still held no small amount of comfort as Tias made eye contact with his pigtailed friend.
"I know it's hard to not think of them, especially after what we've gone through, and especially after all that we've learned about Mika… but it helps to have some faith in the two of them. They didn't get as far as they have just by being lucky, after all," assured Nac, smiling gently as he leaned back a little, though he still kept his hands wrapped around Mina's as he spoke. "They made it into the top ten for a reason, after all."
"Y-Yeah… I guess I shouldn't burn myself up over those two. They're more than capable of taking care of themselves…" muttered Mina, with her nodding in agreement with Nac's comment as she leaned back and sat a little straighter. At that, Tias smiled and removed his hands from Carolina's, and moments later, he lifted his hand up to flick his friend on the forehead, much to her irritation. "Hey, what gives?!"
"Oh, nothing. Just happy to see that you've stopped sulking," replied Nac, with him smiling a little as Mina offered a mild pout before she shook her head and sighed.
"You're such a child, Nac…" quipped Mina, though it was rather obvious that she didn't mean any insult with her comment, though before long, Carolina realized something that caused her to blow her top towards her friend in annoyance. "And don't give me any lip, Nac; you've been sulking too, you know!"
Nac's response to that was to chuckle a little behind his hand, and despite herself, Mina couldn't help but smile a little at that. And yet, all the while, neither of them noticed how Luke Sys was leaning against a close by wall with one of his ears perked up as he listened in on their conversation.
'Now isn't this interesting…'
An entire day had passed before the recruits found themselves lectured by their Captain.
As soon as the rookies had woken up from their sleep, they were quick to have a light breakfast, with Sasha stress eating much more than the others and taking half of Mylius' share all the while (somewhat conversely to Braus, the poor blonde was so stressed that he couldn't eat whatsoever!), before they were corralled into a lecture hall, courtesy of Sys, where Captain Ness greeted them.
"Just so we're clear, the uh… incident that happened yesterday with Charlotte. It never happened, you got that?" was more or less the first thing that left Ness' mouth as soon as the junior soldiers had taken their seats in front of him, and when they answered positively, Dita sighed in relief before he began to speak about the upcoming Expedition.
Ness wasn't one to sugarcoat his words, that much was obvious, as he was quick to tell the recruits that, by all means, they were most likely not going to survive the 57th Expedition, even if they had Barbatos and Eren by their sides. Even so, he did at least try to be a little optimistic about their odds, with him stating that: with myself and Sys by your sides, you'd get out of there without a scratch!
It was safe to say that his comment didn't do much to calm the tense juniors down. Even so, Ness wasn't deterred as he continued on with his lecture, with him going through the incredibly early expedition plans that were given to him by Erwin in great detail. The senior soldier spoke of the fundamental basics of an expedition, including the Long Range Scouting Formation and the Signal Flare Relays, with him making sure that none of them would forget about this information anytime soon, as to do so would most likely result in their deaths.
The usually unattentive recruits were, shockingly enough, at full attention as they listened to Ness ramble on and on. Hell, Connie was even taking down some notes as he listened to his senior explain the fundamental basics all the way up to the advanced, and by the time he had dismissed them, almost a quarter of Springer's personal notebook had been filled up by his messy handwriting, which was… impressive, to say the least.
Ness' lecture had, more or less, taken up the entire day, as, by the time the recruits left the lecture hall, they realized that the moon was already high up in the air. Upon noticing this, Ness almost immediately dismissed them back to their respective rooms, with him stating that tomorrow's session would be much more strenuous than today's.
The soldiers were quick to do as they were told with gusto, as they retreated to their dormitories with little to no resistance, though at the same time, Mina and Nac did pause momentarily as they glanced up at the moon above them with wonder.
"Hey… that moon's cresent shaped," commented Mina as she followed Nac back to the recruit dormitories, and in response, Nac bit his lower lip before nodding and responding.
"Yeah… it is…
The next day, the soldiers found themselves being corralled into the base's equipment room. This time, Sys was the one who was speaking to them, and he was quick to tell them about the training session that they would undertake today.
"With permission from Commander Erwin Smith, today's training session will be a joint exercise between Teams Levi, Mike and you guys. Teams Levi and Mike will be observing you from afar and they will be grading your abilities once all of this is said and done," explained Sys, short and simple as he went silent to allow his juniors to process what he had just said. As soon as they did, a handful of them seemed to perk up a little at the prospect of training with such highly regarded teams, though of all the soldiers present, none were as ecstatic as Armin and Mikasa, who knew of Eren being under the watch of Team Levi.
Then again, Mikasa's facial expression didn't show much happiness anyways, so it was easy to forgive anyone who thought otherwise.
Sys had asked if any of the new recruits had any questions for him, and when all he got was a few seconds of ear splitting silence, the soldier nodded and gestured for them to begin equipping their gear. The recruits did so within ten minutes, which was decent enough, Sys reckoned, and before long, they were led to the Survey Corp maneuver gear training grounds by Luke on horseback.
The Survey Corp training grounds were, by all means, very similar to those used by the Trainee Corps, though in order to simulate the wider and less predictable terrain of an expedition path, the site was noticeably much larger than the ones that were made for Cadets to train in. Likewise, the terrain was less even, with random patches of empty space and trees that were inconsistent in height, all of which were used to prepare any aspiring Survey Corp recruit for what was to come.
By the time they had arrived, however, the group of newly arrived soldiers saw that both Team Mike and Levi had already begun their training exercise ahead of time, with all of them already out on the fields and darting from tree to tree with reckless abandon. The only ones that weren't out on the field were Mike, Levi, their teams and Eren, with the former two, plus their teams, remaining on standby as they observed the training ground from a distance whereas the latter appeared to have collapsed from exhaustion some time prior.
Seeing Eren after so long had almost caused Mikasa to lunge at him out of concern, though Armin was able to hold her back, albeit only just barely, before she could 'greet' her younger brother in a way she deemed to be appropriate. Turning to face him in disbelief, Ackerman seemed ready to snap at the blonde, but even so, a pointed look from Arlert was more than enough to tell her that now was not the time for this, and although reluctant, she relented.
"Jeez… Captain Levi, Captain Mike!" proclaimed Sys as he and the recruits that he was leading drew closer to the two Teams, prompting everyone gathered to turn towards the incoming group all the while. Once they were close enough, Luke pulled on the reins of his stallion and halted its gallop before dismounting it, and while his juniors did the same, the senior soldier jogged up to the two Captains that stood before him and saluted. "Luke Sys, reporting for the joint training exercise."
"Well, you definitely took your time," chastised Levi, frowning at his junior's tardiness as the ponytailed man scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Mike, on the other hand, said nothing, though he did nod towards Sys, as he watched the younger soldiers fall in line behind his junior, with all of them saluting their senior soldiers thereafter. Ackerman raised a brow when he noticed a girl with a scarf around her neck glaring daggers at him, though he didn't think much of it as he rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Luke.
"Apologies, Captain Levi, but I had experienced some technical difficulties whilst arriving at this point. It won't happen again I promise," said Sys rather sheepishly as Levi rolled his eyes. Typical Sys; the guy was too soft for his own good, and he reckoned that Luke only said that to cover up for one of the new recruits' blunder. though Levi reckoned that it was the main reason as to why Erwin had ordered him to assist Ness in taking care of the new recruits anyhow; considering just how shaken they still were, they needed someone like him to babysit them. "Aphem… with all due respect, Captain, but I must ask… why is Eren so…"
"Worn out? Simple, really," cut off Levi, with him crossing his arms as he stared over at Jaeger, who had a small towel thrown over his head, courtesy of Oruo who told him to stop being so wet or something. "When we got here and saw that none of you guys arrived, we decided to send the newbies out to show us what they could do without their powers. Eren performed decently, though he could use some work on his movements."
A pause as Sys nodded in acknowledgement, with his momentary bout of silence giving the juniors behind him some time to think; when Levi had spoken, he said newbies, plural, so who was that second guy…?
"I see. Between the two of them, Eren was the first to drop out, it would seem," observed Sys, with him eyeing Eren with a raised brow as Levi nodded. "Well, in that case, what about…"
"Mikazuki Augus is still on the field," cut off Mike, and upon hearing the pilot's name, several of the new recruits perked up and listened a little closer, with two in particular feeling their hearts jumping up their throats all the while. "He has been on it for the past hour, with no real indication of stopping any time soon."
"Is that so…" muttered Sys, with him rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared over at the massive grove of trees that made up the Wall Rose Survey Corp training site. Narrowing his eyes a little, Luke found that he could vaguely make out a figure within the grove of trees darting around swiftly, with the figure never stopping at a single point for more than a second as it zipped from tree to tree. Several of the other soldiers and recruits did the same, with all of them attempting to figure out just where Mikazuki was exactly, though the speed of the pilot, coupled with how their vision was impaired rather heavily thanks to just how many trees there were, stopped them from doing so effectively.
Rather abruptly, a Fifteen metre wooden Titan replica could be seen being raised up into the air within the training site. The Titan replica was very similar to those used by the Trainees, though it was noticeably thicker and with much more cut resistant fabric napes so as to give the soldiers a greater challenge whilst they trained.
For a brief few seconds, the Titan replica simply remained upright within the massive grove of trees, though before long, a figure could be seen circling it swiftly. The figure, most definitely Mikazuki himself, darted from tree to tree a handful of times before he sprung towards the erected Titan replica, and with a single swing of his Anti-Titan blades… the pilot cleaved his blades straight through the Titan replica's neck, effectively beheading it in one fell swoop.
"W-What the fu-" began Henning, only to be cut off when he heard the Titan replica's head hit the ground. A small amount of silence followed, with everyone present unable to fully comprehend just what Mikazuki had done as they simply stared at the beheaded Titan replica. The one who broke the silence was, surprisingly enough, one of the new recruits, namely Mina, who couldn't help but snicker a little as she saw the reactions of her seniors.
Evidently enough, however, Mina's snicker was just loud enough to catch the attention of a handful of her fellow recruits… and likewise, Mike seemed to have heard her as he turned his attention towards the young woman.
For a brief few seconds, Zacharius simply stared at Mina with an observant gaze as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Not long after, Carolina noticed his gaze, and at that, she tensed up and was quick to look away.
"Sys, a word," said Mike, motioning for the man in question to step forward and speak to him privately. The man in question appeared somewhat taken aback by that request, though he didn't deny it as he did as he was told, though before they moved to a more private area to converse, Mike gestured for some of his subordinates to step forward. "Nanaba, Tomas. Fill in for Sys until we return."
"Yes-" began Nanaba as she and Tomas saluted, though before she could finish her statement, she paused when she heard the sound of blades tearing through wood, with the deafening sound of oak slamming into the ground following thereafter, with it being enough to make the soldiers who heard it flinch just a little. "-sir."
With a nod from Mike, the two soldiers lowered their arms and moved to take Sys' place in front of the new recruits, who remained rather tense as they stared up at their superiors. Tomas felt a little awkward as his juniors stared up at him, with all of them being at full attention all the while, though Nanaba seemed mostly indifferent to all this as she stared blankly at her juniors.
"Alright, kids. Quit standing around and doing nothing, introduce yourselves, if you will," insisted Tomas after some time, smiling gently as he spoke. The recruits noticeably relaxed at just how polite Tomas was, though they were quick to tense back up as they introduced themselves one by one.
Upon introducing themselves, however, both Nac and Mina noticed how Tomas and Nanaba shared a look between one another. It was a brief one, to be sure, though their gaze lingered just long enough to be noticeable. Even so, however, neither recruit pointed that out as they watched their temporary overseers clear their throats.
"It is good to meet all of you," said Tomas rather kindly as he rubbed his chin awkwardly. Nanaba said nothing to add on as she kept her gaze fixed on Mina and Nac for a short while, something that made the two in question shudder a little, though before it could get too bad, Tomas nudged his teammate and got her to stop her staring. "I'm Tomas, and this is Nanaba. Of course, it's better to address us as Sirs or ma'ams for now. Whichever you'd prefer, really"
"Yes sir!" was Tomas' response from the soldiers that were gathered before him, and in response, the senior soldier winced a little at their volume.
"Jeez, so this is how Mike feels every day, huh?" quipped Tomas, with him glancing over at Nanaba as he spoke. In response, Nanaba simply scoffed before waving him off, prompting the older man to chuckle awkwardly before turning away from his teammate. At that, a small amount of silence followed, with both Tomas and Nanaba keeping their lips sealed as they watched over their juniors in awkward silence.
A few minutes of silence passed before everyone present heard the sound of a flare gun firing off a shot, and almost immediately after, they turned their attention up towards the sky to see that a grey flare had been fired. Nac raised his brows at that as he recalled how grey signal flares had no use outside of training sessions, where they were used to recall soldiers who were still on the field. Evidently, whoever shot it wished to recall Mikazuki.
Mere seconds after the signal flare had been shot into the air, the soldiers present heard the sound of someone getting closer to their position, no doubt Mikazuki himself, and upon realizing this, a good chunk of the juniors present stiffened. The prospect of seeing their former 104th trainee once more was certainly enticing to most of them, sure, but even so… a good chunk of them felt unsure of how to think of him just yet.
Few were willing to fully trust the pilot, now that his true nature had been unveiled to them, and even fewer still were in a hurry to see him once more… barring a small handful of individuals, at least.
Regardless of how they felt towards one of their former fellow trainees, however, the newly minded soldiers still felt somewhat relieved to know that Mikazuki was, in a way, alright, and for a few of them, they were very much happy to know that he was doing alright for himself, though before the pilot could land before them and confirm his existence in the fields, a Fourteen metre Titan replica rather abruptly stood itself upright, blocking his path.
The Titan replica wasn't the usual ones that were used for Trainees, however. Whereas the replicas made for Trainee use were simple wooden cutouts that possessed easy to strike napes and two limbs for ease of training, this one possessed four limbs, all splayed out in a neutral stance with its arms held up in a… menacing manner. The fabric nape of this replica was located on the flat of its neck, making it significantly harder to strike.
This variation on the Titan replica was meant to replicate an Abnormal Titan, and upon seeing it, Mikazuki stopped himself mid-flight before he boosted straight into the back of its head. Thereafter, the pilot boosted backwards, away from the Titan, before he began to circle it, much to everyone's surprise.
"Did you plan that?" asked Eld, with him directing that question to Mike, who had only just returned from his conversation with Sys, and in response to the younger Elite's question, the mustached man simply shook his head as he pocketed his flare gun.
"That was a complete coincidence," assured Mike as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he and Sys began to walk back into the open. The Elite found himself silently wondering what Mikazuki would do now as, by all means, the logical thing to do was to simply go around the Titan target and fall in line, though something about the scent of the air told Zacharius that what he was expecting to happen was not about to come true.
And alas, it did not, as, mere seconds after the Abnormal Titan replica had been erected, and after circling it for a handful of seconds, Mikazuki burst straight towards it and, with a single, well placed slice, he severed its left arm at the elbow, causing several of the soldiers present to gasp in shock at the sight of what they saw.
No one had ever bothered to disarm a Titan replica whilst they were training as they were usually hard to replace when damaged, and yet, here Mikazuki was, severing the five inch thick arm of the Abnormal Titan replica with seemingly little effort. Mike found himself frowning at this act as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, wondering why Mikazuki would do something so… illogical, but even so…
'Even if this is a training exercise, Mika's still doing this tactically. That's just like him… heh, I'm glad to see he hasn't changed,' thought Nac with a smile, and as he thought this, Mina lightly nudged her knuckles against his own, prompting him to turn towards her with a smile, one that she mirrored with gusto; she too realized that Mikazuki had not changed one bit!
Back with the pilot, not even slowing down for a second, Mikazuki swung upwards and, before the left arm of the replica could even hit the ground, the young man delivered yet another slash that severed the Abnormal replica's right arm, and thereafter, both arms of the Abnormal Titan replica fell onto the ground with a series of loud thuds.
With his target disarmed, Mikazuki swung high up into the air and, as soon as he reached the apex of his launch, reorientated himself mid-air and burst himself down towards the Titan replica's back. Most of the soldiers spectating thought that he was about to go for the replica's fabric nape, though they found themselves guessing incorrectly as the pilot swung past it and aimed for the legs of the Titan replica.
Swiftly, Mikazuki swung himself in between the legs of the Titan replica, and with two powerful swings of his Anti-Titan blades, the pilot slashed at the replica's legs, just below the knees, and by some ungodly miracle, his slashes were strong enough to slice the Titan replica's legs off at the knees, as evident by how it began to topple forward seconds later. The sight of this caused even Levi to widen his eyes in shock as the other soldiers found themselves stunned into silence.
As for Mikazuki, however, the pilot simply swung himself past the Titan target's now severed legs and flung himself up into the air, where he used his momentum to perform a backflip that allowed him to realign his maneuver gear anchors with their target; the Titan replica's nape. Augus had only a split second to fire his anchors, though he was able to seize that opportunity as, when he launched his anchors, he hit them dead on their marks before he reeled himself towards the Titan replica's nape.
And at that, the pilot disappeared from view for a brief moment, though the sound of fabric and wood being torn asunder could be heard not even a second later, followed by Mikazuki launching himself up into the air as he swung himself towards where Team Mike, Levi and the recruits were gathered at.
Landing on one knee, Mikazuki held both his Anti-Titan blades by his sides as soon as he made landfall, and not even a second later, he stood himself up and stared blankly at both Teams Mike and Levi. A good majority of both Teams, and even most of the juniors present, nodded in approval of Mikazuki's skills as they watched him sheath his blades, though a small handful of them couldn't help but feel a small amount of envy as they glared at the pilot.
"Nicely done, Mikazuki Augus," praised Mike as he nodded in approval of Mikazuki's skills. In return, Mika simply shrugged as he sheathed his Anti-Titan blades and wiped some sweat off his brow, ignoring the baffled look Eren was giving him all the while. As he did so, the pilot found himself being approached by Gelgar, who offered him a towel as he stated that hygiene was important, and Mika opted to just accept it as he slung it around his neck to soak up his sweat.
As he wiped his hair dry, however, Mikazuki glanced over at where Sys was standing and raised a brow, seeming confused as to why he was here. Upon noticing his confusion, Gelgar chuckled just a little as he jerked a thumb towards Luke and the recruits that were standing behind him.
"I reckon you forgot that we were gonna be joined by the new recruits, huh?" quipped Gelgar, smiling a little as he spoke. In response… well, there was no response, actually, as Mikazuki simply remained silent as he scanned through the small crowd of recruits, with him narrowing his eyes a little as he attempted to find some familiar faces.
Connie Springer and Sasha Braus in particular had both stiffened when the pilot made eye contact with them, though Mikasa seemed mostly ambivalent to his stare, with her glaring at him briefly before his eyes shifted elsewhere.
Rather abruptly, however, Mikazuki's eyes found themselves widening when he took stock of Mina and Nac amidst the crowd of juniors. Seeing them present did serve to bring some comfort into his heart, but even so, that comfort never did last, as the pilot realized's shoulders sank as he realized what was likely to come in the foreseeable future.
Even so, however, Mina and Nac did offer him a pair of smiles, smiles that made it abundantly clear that, in spite of his dishonesty, the two did not hate him, and for all it was worth… he found that to be quite a relief, though that aside, the pilot was quick to break eye contact with them, lest his superiors found out his one real weakness in this God forsaken world, and continue on with his day.
"Yeah. I guess…" muttered Mikazuki as he brushed past Gelgar and moved to a spot that was out of view. He ended up standing behind Henning and Lynne, with the former seeming keen on complaining about his lack of respect only for the latter to pinch his ear at being so sensitive. The other soldiers found this display somewhat amusing, though they were quick to get over it as Sys cleared his throat.
"Well, I reckon that we've been standing around for long enough. Let's get you guys onto the field."
Swinging from tree to tree was quite the experience for a good majority of the new recruits present.
Though by no means easy, the young soldiers have all been trained in the fine art of zipping around the forest for the past four years, and as a result, they were able to swing around the Survey Corp training site with relative ease. The uneven terrain and inconsistent tree heights did pose a bit of a challenge for some of them, though for most others, it was nothing more than a mild inconvenience.
From time to time, a wooden Titan replica or two would burst out from the shrubbery at the base of the forest and get in the way of the recruits, though for the most part, they were dispatched rather quickly. Most of the time, these dummies would emerge near areas where Teams Mike and Levi were present at, with the Elite soldiers grading their juniors on how fast they could recover and strike at the Titan replicas after they had emerged.
"That blonde kid's not gonna cut it for this profession," pointed out Henning as he casually stood atop a thick tree branch and leaned his back against the tree trunk, seeming almost disappointed as Mylius Zeramuski, after having the soul scared out of him by a Titan dummy abruptly rising up to meet him head on, swung by and struck its fabric nape with his Anti-Titan blades. Beside him, Petra shook her head as she narrowed her eyes at the cut Mylius had given the thing, with her gaze critical, just not as much as her fellow Elite's was.
"Don't be so harsh on him. The slash is deep enough to kill a Titan," retorted Petra as she gestured for the Garrison who were helping them man the training site to lower the Titan dummy back down. Henning didn't look too impressed by that, though, as he sighed and placed both his hands behind his head.
"Really now? That cut was pretty shallow, all things considered, so it'll come down to luck if it downs an actual Titan. You sure you're not just going easy on the kids? I know they're fresh out of the oven and all that, but they don't need someone to be their mummy," quipped Henning, and in response, Petra simply rolled her eyes as she knelt down atop the branch.
"You child…"
Elsewhere, Lynne and Eld found themselves watching as a small group of soldiers circled a Thirteen metre Abnormal Titan replica. The two recognised the juniors as Jean Kirstein, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover, all of whom were ranked in the top 10 Trainees of the 104th.
"It's admirable, y'know?" muttered Lynne as she watched Jean circle the Titan before he told Reiner to strike at its arm. The bulky blonde did as he was told, and with a single swing of his blades, he managed to slice the arm straight off, though at the cost of damaging his Anti-Titan blades rather severely in the process. "Quite a lot of our newbies were ranked in the top 10, and yet, they chose to join our brigade."
"Admirable, yes, though at the cost of sounding rather cruel, it is also stupid." replied Eld as he raised his brows in surprise when he saw Jean order a coordinated strike by Bertholdt and Reiner. Kirstein had both Braun and Hoover strike at the Abnormal Titan replica's legs, and though Reiner managed to sever the leg, Bertholdt fell short and ended up slicing only halfway into it. Despite Bertholdt's lackluster slash, however, Eld reckoned that if the replica were a proper Titan, the injuries it had sustained would have been enough to bring it down to its knees long enough to be killed. "These kids worked hard to get to where they are now, Lynne. They shouldn't have squandered their chance at a good life by joining us. You know what Erwin said when he spoke to them, don't you? They all have a sixty percent chance of dying on their next expedition. Sixty percent… those are not favourable odds, and for these kids to have even considered joining us…"
"These aren't kids, Eld. Not anymore, at least," corrected Lynne as she placed a hand atop her fellow Elite's shoulder, an act that made the blonde raise a brow as he glanced in her general direction. As he did so, he missed the sight of Jean slashing into the Titan replica's nape with a swing that cleaved deep into the fabric on the back of its neck. "They're soldiers. They've been through one of the worst incidents in mankind's history; to call them kids, or even recruits, would be a major disservice to them. They are tried and true Survey Corps, Eld. All of them."
Upon concluding her little statement, Lynne went silent as she released her fellow Elite's shoulder, with Eld going silent as he pondered her words. By the time he had regained his bearings, however, Jean, Reiner and Bertholdt had already left the general area to locate their next target.
"I suppose you're correct on that front, Lynne…"
"Well, they're pretty good, I guess…"
Frowning as he forced himself to admit that, Oruo sighed as he crossed his arms rather distastefully. In front of him, Nanaba said nothing as she took down some notes on her personal notepad, with her observing the new recruits intently all the while.
'Mina Carolina, nothing particularly special. She'll survive one expedition if she's lucky.'
'Nac Tias, below average. His chances of surviving are less than fifty percent.'
'Armin Arlert. Mediocre at best, terrible at worst. As with Nac, he has a low chance of survival without support.'
'Mikasa Ackerman. Very well rounded. She can very well survive more than one expedition before we can label her as KIA.'
Pausing for a brief few seconds as she bit the back of her pencil thoughtfully, Nanaba narrowed her eyes in the direction of Mina and Nac as she observed them closely. They seemed to be rather distracted about something, and if her intel was correct, they were most likely thinking about Mikazuki Augus.
'The records Keith gave us points to both Mina and Nac being part of Mikazuki's family. They also point us to two others, one 'Martha Carolina', a civilian from Trost, and an 'Annie Leonhardt', who joined the MPB,' thought Nanaba as she tapped the end of her pencil against her chin. 'It would be prudent to question those two as soon as possible…'
"Hey, Nanaba, how're things on your end, eh?" inquired Oruo after some time, prompting the blonde in question to turn and stare at the Levi wannabe with a raised brow. Bazad was now sitting on the tree branch that they were perched atop, with him looking incredibly disinterested in observing the new recruits as he sighed and stretched his arms. "With that Mika kid, I mean. He's not giving you guys any problems now isn't he?"
"No. He's rather obedient, all things considered," replied Nanaba as she turned her attention back towards the recruits. Despite this, she continued to speak so as to not be rude. "Mikazuki doesn't cause any trouble for us, not intentionally at least, and he has been helping us repair the refueling station these past few days."
"Well, that's more than I can really say with Eren. He knows just as much about his Titan form as we do, and he hasn't been able to figure out how to transform back into it just yet. We're planning to get him some help from Hanji soon," pointed out Oruo, sounding somewhat downtrodden as he spoke, almost as though he were a bit disappointed. Nanaba reckoned that he was in some small way, but she cared little for it as she nodded.
"I see. Regardless, I know that we will figure it out sooner rather than later," assured Nanaba as she scribbled something into her notepad before shutting it. Oruo allowed himself to chuckle a little as she spoke, with him adjusting his cravat all the while.
"Look at you being the optimist for once. Wasn't that Gelgar's job?" joked Oruo, though instead of responding positively, Nanaba simply rolled her eyes.
"Please try and be more serious with your duties, Oruo," chastised Nanaba, frowning as she glanced back at Oruo, who raised both his hands defensively as he remembered how Nanaba wasn't the type of person to joke around. At that, the blonde rolled her eyes once more before she turned back to observe the recruits, though as soon as she did so, she heard a scream ring through the air.
"What the-?!"
Mina had a lot on her mind, to say the least.
Though she appeared to be mostly alright from an outsider's perspective, to someone like, say… Nac, the young woman was most certainly not alright. For the past few days since the end of the Trost incident, Mina had found herself thinking about a myriad of different things. The well-being of her friends, her mother's state of mind after learning of Mikazuki's current MIA status, everyone's future… these were just a few of the things that the pigtailed soldier had found herself fretting over during the past few days.
And yet, at the center of all her worries sat one thing… or one person, if one wished to be specific, and that person was Mikazuki Augus.
The young man was practically the only thing that Mina could think of on a consistent basis these days. Several questions in regards to his true nature bounced around in her mind, so much so that she ended up getting a headache or two from overthinking, and though it probably would've benefited her to speak up about it, the young woman found herself unable to do so. To make her problems someone else's just wasn't appealing to her, and as such, she bottled her thoughts up and sealed them within her as tightly as possible.
Likewise, Nac found himself thinking quite a lot about the pilot as well, though as with Mina, he never told anyone about his thoughts as he opted to keep them to himself. On the other hand, Annie didn't seem to be that torn up over the revelation, though then again, the mild shudder of her hands said otherwise. By all means, it was probably for the best that she had left for the Military Police Brigade, as both Mina and Nac suspected that the possibility of her actually losing it (in her own unique way) when she reunited with Mikazuki face to face was rather high.
For the most part, both Mina and Nac were able to keep themselves composed for the past few days as they waited patiently to meet Mikazuki and question him personally. However, neither of them had expected to see him so suddenly, and as a result, they were unable to prepare themselves emotionally and were quick to find themselves distracted thereafter. Sure, they had acted rather jovial when they first saw him, but after the sinking realization of just how close their… friend was to them really settled in, the duo found themselves losing their composure rather quickly.
Still though, the two were able to concentrate enough to listen to their superiors dole out their orders, and they were able to maintain this composure of theirs as they swung around the training site without too much issue, and from time to time they were able to slash at the fabric napes of the occasional Titan replica that popped up to block their paths, something that was commendable in its own right.
Though, what wasn't commendable was their gas management, as they weren't able to focus as much on that as their minds were plagued with thoughts in relation to Mikazuki Augus, and, as luck would have it, right as Mina flung herself high into the air in order to gain some momentum for yet another swing, and right as she reached the apex of her launch, both of her maneuver gear boosters let out one last puff of smoke before they ran out of steam, and by the time she had noticed that she had run dry, the young soldier couldn't do much more than widen her eyes as she began to fall.
Her scream was loud enough to be heard by all as she began plummeting towards the ground, and upon hearing it, everyone who was close by turned towards her in shock. The one closest to her, with that person unsurprisingly being Nac, immediately widened his eyes as he turned towards her general direction.
Without wasting even a second, the man boosted straight towards her in an attempt to rescue his friend, and likewise, from where they stood, both Nanaba and Oruo were quick to leap off their perch and moved to rescue Mina from her descent, though it was rather clear that they wouldn't be able to reach her in time.
And yet, before that fact became clear to any of them, another soldier burst into the scene out of seemingly nowhere and tackled his body straight into Mina's, effectively snatching her out of the air in the process. The newcomer was quick to wrap his arms around Carolina's body in a somewhat protective manner before he fired his maneuver gear anchors towards a close-by tree, though due to Mina's additional weight and him not aiming properly, the maneuver gear anchor was quick to detach from where it was shot at, and as a result, both Mina and her savior ended up plummeting towards the ground shortly thereafter.
Despite this, the failed anchor shot was still able to slow their descent a fair bit as they continued to fall towards the ground, and though their landing was by no means gentle, it didn't result in any fatal injuries as they rolled to a stop on the ground, with the newcomer wrapping his arms rather tightly around Mina's body to absorb most of the impact for her.
By the time they had come to a stop, Mina found herself coughing a little as her savior released her from his grasp, with him setting both his arms by his side in relief all the while. Upon noticing this, Carolina placed a hand atop her rescuer's chest and gently pushed herself off his body, with her shaking head a little to stop her vision from spinning, though that in itself would take quite some time.
"T-Thank you for saving me… sir…" thanked Mina as she sat upright and rubbed at her eyes, frowning as her vision slowly but surely began to recover. There was a mild ringing noise in her ears as well, though as with her vision, it eventually faded away as she turned her attention back down towards the person that had saved her… though as soon as she had made eye contact with him, the young woman found herself at a loss for words.
"Ah. Are you alright, Mina?" asked Mikazuki as he stared up at her with his usual blank gaze, though beneath his emotionless mask of a face, there was quite a bit of worry that shone in his eyes. Worry that Mina, in her embarrassed and somewhat sore state, was quick to overlook as her face heated up, and it only continued to do so as Mika propped himself up on his elbow and leaned a little closer towards his friend. "Are you hurt? You probably are. I'll call for a med-"
"N-No! I'm completely fine, Mika! It's just… well… you-" began Mina, with her fumbling over her words several times over as she struggled to find a way to actually greet her friend(?) after being separated from him for so long. She had so many questions to ask, though it didn't seem to be an appropriate time to do so, and likewise, their current position made her go rather ballistic as she continuously tripped over her own words. "I-I… you… f-f-fall… you didn't have to…"
"M-Mina!"
Never in her life had Mina felt so relieved to hear Nac's voice, and likewise, Mikazuki seemed to perk up a little when he heard him as well. Seconds later, the two of them turned their attention to the side and raised their brows a little when they saw the tall man in question land and sheath his blades. He ran forward a little before he stopped completely, with him appearing speechless at the sight before him as he slowed down, though as soon as he made eye contact with Mika, the guy froze a little as his shoulders slouched forward.
"M-Mika…" greeted Nac, his voice a little shaky as he rubbed his neck awkwardly, and in response to this, Mikazuki offered a small nod of his head, with him avoiding direct eye contact with both Nac and Mina for more than a handful of seconds all the while. Carolina seemed to notice this, however, and before long, Tias did as well, as flinched lightly at this; he might've been prickly, so to speak, but even he has never failed to give them eye contact whilst speaking to them in the past.
"Hey, Mika…?" began Mina, with the pilot in question raising a brow as he finally made eye contact with her, and by then, Carolina had calmed herself down just enough to notice just how… frightened the pilot seemed to be, in a way. His lips were pressed together much tighter than they usually were, and when he opened his mouth to respond, he seemed incredibly hesitant to do so.
Luckily for the pilot, however, he didn't get a chance to speak up as the three were rather quickly interrupted when Oruo and Nanaba landed behind Nac, who leapt into the air a little in shock as he turned around immediately thereafter. Oruo found himself chuckling a little at Tias' jumpiness as he offered a few lighthearted jabs at the slightly taller soldier, who reddened with embarrassment, though as for Nanaba, she simply brushed past Nac and stared over at Mikazuki and Mina with a raised brow, one that showed her amusement better than anything as she sighed at what she was seeing.
"If you wish to do it, then could you two at least find a more secluded spot to do it in? No one wishes to see either of you get down and dirty in public, you know?" quipped Nanaba, with her tone of voice reflecting a very small amount of playfulness as she stared at Mina sitting atop Mikazuki's waist, sitting dangerously close to his crotch all the while.
It took a few seconds for the two of them to process her words, though as soon as they did, Mina's face began to burn up in both a metaphorical sense as she scrambled to get off her friend, who didn't seem to get what Nanaba was talking about as he watched the pigtailed soldier leap off him.
"N-No! You've got the wrong idea, M-Ma'am!" assured Mina, with her voice cracking quite a bit as she waved her arms around in embarrassment. Despite her stoic nature , the blonde couldn't help but offer the faintest hints of a smile as she watched Carolina attempt to deflect her comment, though before long, she shrugged it off and cleared her throat, cutting Carolina off almost immediately with that act.
"I see. Regardless of your intentions, however, you're probably injured, and as such, please follow me, recruit" ordered Nanaba as she motioned for her junior to follow her, though she quickly stopped herself when she remembered something. "Oh, wait. You're out of gas, aren't you?"
"Uh… yeah, ma'am," replied Mina, sounding rather awkward as she tapped her fingers together in a somewhat nervous manner. With a mild sigh, the blonde looked around in an attempt to find an answer to this problem, though before she could do so, she heard the sound of gas canisters being unhooked from their casings, and thereafter, she turned her attention towards the source and blinked in surprise when she saw that Mikazuki was offering Mina his maneuver gear gas canisters.
"Take it. I don't need them," insisted Mikazuki, and before she could protest, the pilot had shoved both canisters into her hands before he began to hastily make his way out of there. Nanaba raised a brow at the sight, with Oruo snickering a fair bit when he saw the pilot moving to dive into a bush to get himself out of sight and, hopefully, out of mind, though she opted to dismiss it for now as she gestured towards her fellow Elite with a sigh.
"Right, then… Oruo, lead the girl to the closest medical ward and get her checked up," ordered Nanaba, with her leaving no room for argument as she spoke. Oruo appeared to be rather displeased with his orders, though he was quickly shut down before he could even speak them out by a glare, courtesy of Nanaba, with enough fury to make him reconsider speaking up, and within a second, he gestured for Mina to follow him.
With a nod, Mina did as she was told, with her, alongside Nac who tagged along, departed alongside Oruo. Nanaba could tell that Mina was reluctant to do as such, but even so, she had known better than to disobey her superiors. And as for Nac… the guy was likely more concerned over his friend's wellbeing than he was of Mikazuki at the moment, which was understandable, if a tiny bit cold, however unintended, on his part as well, but regardless, now that those two were gone, Nanaba was quick to move towards the bush that Mika had jumped into moments prior and poked at it with her foot.
"Hey, kid, they're gone now. You don't have to hide," informed Nanaba with some amusement in her voice, and thereafter, Mikazuki's shrub ridden face poked out of the bush, amusing her further all the while. "You seem to… know those kids."
"No comment," muttered Mikazuki as he momentarily glanced away from Nanaba. This act in itself more or less confirmed her suspicions, really, as she nodded in acknowledgement to his words, and moments later, after watching the pilot trip over some twigs whilst exiting the bush, causing him to land face first onto the ground moments later, and after snickering, however faintly, at his situation, the blonde sighed and nodded.
"Well, whatever you say, I suppose. Now c'mon, we need to get you refueled and restocked up; the joint training exercise isn't over just yet, after all."
"Yeah, sure I guess."
Some time later
By the time the recruits had finished their joint training exercise, the sun had seen fit to disappear over the edge of Wall Rose, and to say that the aspiring soldiers were beyond exhausted would be a massive understatement.
Several of them had ended up collapsing as soon as they got back to their Commanding officer, who seemed just a bit disappointed in their overall performance as he slowly but surely corralled them back in line and led them back to their base.
Not long after Sys had led the new recruits back to their base of operations, Teams Mike and Levi saw fit to return as well, with the two teams exchanging farewells before returning to their respective bases. Eren himself seemed rather relieved to be getting away from Mikazuki, though the pilot himself had no opinion on the whole matter as he simply followed Team Mike back to the Trost refueling station, though as he rode on, the pilot found the frown that was usually on his face deepening more than usual.
From time to time, the likes of Lynne and Tomas did make an attempt or two to turn that frown on Mikazuki's mouth upside down, but even so, it wasn't particularly successful. Their jokes and jabs at the pilot didn't really do much to improve his mood, but all the same, the sentiment… was not appreciated by Mikazuki, actually. He just found them annoying.
Eventually, Nanaba had her teammates lay off on trying to get the pilot to smile; there was no real reason for them to keep this up, and by all means, it seemed as though their attempts at lifting Mikazuki's mood were getting them nowhere. They reluctantly did as they were told, with Lynne in particular seeming somewhat saddened by the order, though they thought little of it as they continued onwards to their base.
Once there, however, Mike, surprisingly enough, found himself stopped by Nanaba, of all people, who had pulled him to one side rather hastily, much to his surprise. He didn't exactly mind this blatant disrespect, seeing as how he trusted the blonde quite a fair bit, but even so, it didn't stop him from growing confused over this uncharacteristic act on his subordinate's end of things.
"Nanaba? Is something wrong?" asked Mike, sounding somewhat concerned and every much confused as he looked down at his teammate. Though it wasn't exactly obvious to most, Zacharius cared a great deal about the various members of his team, and he knew that Nanaba would never stop him in such a way unless she had something important to tell him, and evidently enough, he was right, as before long, the blonde spoke up in a serious tone of voice.
"Sir. It's about Mikazuki," was all Nanaba opted to begin with as Mike, with his brows raised, nodded as he stood and listened.
"Alright so, let me get this straight."
Frowning a little as he rubbed his chin in thought, Henning narrowed his eyes at Nanaba and Mike as he processed what he, alongside Gelgar, Lynne and Tomas, were just told.
A handful of minutes prior, Mike and Nanaba had both dragged the rest of their team to a corner of the cafeteria to discuss the matter of Mika's apparent family, with Mikazuki himself sitting on the other end of the room all the while, occupying himself with chewing on raisins and drinking from a cup as they spoke. He sat just far enough that they couldn't hear what any of them were saying, but still close enough that they could dogpile him if he tried anything funny.
That aside, whilst they were here, both Mike and Nanaba had explained the situation in regards to the pilot rather clearly, at least they thought they did, anyways, as Henning seemed to be a little lost on the whole matter, with him asking a handful of questions just to be sure.
"Mikazuki's family… Mina Carolina, Nac Tias and Annie Leonhardt, as the info Keith supplied to us some time back… two of em are part of the Survey Corps now, and at the same time, one of em is a Military Police Brigadier?"
"Yes."
"And he met two of them, the Mina girl and the Nac bloke, back then, during the joint training session?"
"That is correct."
"And then he got sensitive and he's been acting off ever since?"
"Fucking…! Henning. Have you been listening to us at all!?"
"O-Of course I have! I just need to be a hundred percent sure that I've got all this right, alright?!"
That was quite a blatant lie, and though everyone present knew that, they opted to just let it slide in favour of continuing their conversation as they all turned towards their Captain, who seemed to be deep in thought as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.
"Alright, first thing's first… what exactly are we to do with this new info, eh?" began Gelgar, frowning as he leaned forward against the table he sat behind. "The records Keith had given us specifically states that Mikazuki is often seen with those kids, but that doesn't mean that he considers them family… right?"
"You do remember that Mikazuki saved Mina, right?" pointed out Tomas, who was standing up alongside Lynne as he held a finger in the air.
"Psh, anyone would have done that! It's common human courtesy!" countered Gelgar, sounding rather confident as he splayed fingers and gestured a little dramatically. And, admittedly, Tomas had no proper response to that comment as, indeed, any decent soldier would've saved a person in distress, and by all means, though he wasn't exactly a paragon of virtue, Mikazuki did, at the very least, seem like a decent young man.
Even so…
"You say that, Gelgar, but something about the way Mikazuki acted at the time seemed off," muttered Nanaba, frowning as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Upon hearing her, everyone present looked in her general direction with curious gazes, and after she found a way to put what she had in mind into words, the young woman continued speaking. "He seemed… softer, for the lack of a better term. Almost like he cared for Mina Carolina after he saved her. Likewise, he seemed… nervous when he came face to face with Nac Tias. He wasn't able to look him in the eye."
"You got all that just by standing beside him? Somehow, I find that hard to believe," quipped Henning, with the sarcasm being rather apparent in his voice as he crossed his arms. Gelgar couldn't resist snickering a little at that jab, though he was quick to snap his mouth shut when he saw Tomas grind his knuckles into the top of Henning's head.
"Perhaps if you were more observant than you currently are, you'd actually pick up on minor details, Henning," spat Tomas as he ignored his junior's pained groan. At that, Nanaba scoffed as she rolled her eyes, ignoring the aforementioned soldier's pained groans as she continued.
"Regardless, however, it's rather clear to me that both Nac and Mina are more than mere acquaintances to Mikazuki Augus. I can't say the same for Annie since I've never met her, but we can assume that he considers her to be more than an acquaintance as well."
"So seeing those two made him a little… twitchy, so to speak?" concluded Tomas, with him rubbing his chin as he spoke, having removed his fist from atop Henning's head by then. Nanaba responded with a mild nod of her head, and at that, the older soldier raised his brows as he snapped his fingers. "In that case, why don't we bring 'em here, back to their friend?"
"Say what now-" began Gelgar, only to be cut off by Mike, who raised a hand to silence him.
"Tomas, please elaborate," insisted Mike, sounding rather curious as to what his subordinate was getting at. At that, the soldier nodded and cleared his throat.
"Well, I'll just be brief. You know the saying; face your fears, yes?" explained Tomas, and at that, the rest of his team, sans Henning who was now nursing the top of his head, nodded, prompting him to continue on explaining. "Well, I myself firmly believe that he's tremendously frightened at the moment-"
"Wait, Mikazuki? Frightened?" cut off Henning, having recovered by now as everyone present instinctively turned over and glanced back at where Mikazuki was sitting. The guy was sitting with his back turned towards them, though even then, he didn't seem to be acting that differently regardless, as the pilot was simply popping raisin after raisin into his mouth whilst occasionally taking a sip from his mug, just as he always would when present in the cafeteria. "You've lost me there, Tom."
"Firstly, it's Tomas. Tom is too generic," grumbled the senior soldier as he thumped the younger soldier over the head once more. Henning was quick to apologise, however begrudgingly, and at that, Tomas continued speaking. "Secondly, need I remind you that Mikazuki is still human, and as such, he most certainly feels fear. If he cares as much about his apparent friends as we're led to believe in Keith's given intel, then it's very likely that he's frightened about how they'd react after learning about his little secret. Frightened in his own unique way, at least."
"Wait, you mean that the guy never told them about the Gundam thing?" asked Gelgar as he propped his head up on his arm, though within seconds, the pompadour haired young man was quickly bombarded with a multitude of amused and bewildered looks which prompted him to almost immediately reconsider his words. "Yeah… nevermind. Dumb question."
"No shit, Gel," quipped Henning, only to pause briefly as everyone's gaze turned towards him for a short while, which prompted him to clear his throat just a little before continuing. "But either way, you just want us to, what, get those two kids here and get them to talk to him? You think that'll ease his apparent fears or whatever?"
"It's the plan. Or at least, it's the one that's the most probable to succeed," replied Tomas with a mild shrug of his shoulders, prompting Henning to slouch his shoulders a little. And at the same time, the other soldiers present offered varying levels of agreement as they began discussing the issue between themselves, though before long, they were quickly silenced when Tomas continued speaking. "Of course, even with that said, Mike's got the last say on all this, so-"
"Do it," was all Mike said as he ended up cutting his subordinate off, and at that, everyone present stared at him in surprise, which prompted him to continue on speaking. "Mikazuki was entrusted to us. As such, we must make sure that he remains healthy, both physically and mentally, so that, when it comes time for him to be sent out into battle, he may do so without pause. Currently, he is undoubtedly suffering mental grief, and as such, it is our duty as the ones assigned to overlook him to correct this."
"Jeez, way to lay it out thick, eh?" quipped Gelgar after he had processed what Mike had said, and as he spoke, the man stood up from his seat and brushed himself off. "But still, I'll trust your judgement in all this. Yours, and the judgement of Tomas and Nanaba, of course."
A chorus of agreements came from all around the table as the other members of Team Mike voiced out their own thoughts on the matter, and moments later, Mike himself smiled lightly at just how much faith they were putting into a mere man like him, though that aside, he was quick to brush it off as he waved his superiors down, and moments later, he continued.
"I'll send a message over to Nile and Erwin in regards to our plans for this little… playdate," a pause as Gelgar snickered at what Mike had opted to call this inevitable gathering of friends, though he was duly ignored as Zacharius continued. "I do not know when Nile can respond, though one can hope that he'll do so within the week, and we can more than likely gather these kids up by the next."
"One can only hope. I'll look into the training schedule for our newbies in the meantime," hummed Lynne, with her finding herself oddly invested in the matter as she rubbed at her chin thoughtfully. Mike nodded lightly at the woman's words, with him appreciating the effort she was putting into the matter all the while. Likewise…
"And I'll keep an eye out on Mikazuki's scheduling as well. I doubt any of the Garrison helping us rebuild the place would mind, but to have him disappear so suddenly from the station would probably worry them a little, to say the least," mused Tomas thoughtfully. "Probably best if we told them about all this ahead of time to avoid unnecessary panic."
"Good thinking," mused Mike with a nod, and to that, Tomas couldn't help but blush faintly at the praise. There was still much for them to iron out about this whole matter, but even so, they could worry about that next time, as-
"Hic…"
"...?"
Pausing momentarily when they had heard that unexpected sound, the soldiers present all paused as they looked around the room warily, with them trying to figue out its source all the while. They took a moment or two to do as such, but when they did, they found their gaze locking onto the only other person present in the room…
… Mikazuki Augus…
"What the-" began Gelgar, only to hear it once more…
"Hic…"
"Wait, are you telling me…" added Tomas, his brows rising up higher on his brows as he spoke, with a hint of amusement audible as a smile appeared on his face.
"Hic…"
"He's got the hiccups!" concluded Lynne, with her smiling with glee as she squished her cheeks with both her hands and giggled a little. Upon hearing the third oldest member of Team Mike speak up so maternally, both Tomas and Henning stepped back a little as they watched Mikazuki turn and stare at them in confusion, though before long, he continued to hiccup several times more before turning away from them. "Awe… that's pretty cute…!~"
"I'd say embarrassing, but cute is a good word to describe it as too," quipped Henning as Lynne rolled her eyes and opted to go help Mikazuki out with his hiccups. The pilot didn't seem too thrilled about having someone barge in on his peace and quiet, though he didn't voice that out as the Elite sat by him. Meanwhile, her teammates all watched on in silence. "Hmph. She's really warming up to that freak, huh?"
"Mind your tongue, Henning," scolded Tomas, thumping his junior over the head yet again as he spoke. In response, Henning winced as he turned towards his senior with a somewhat annoyed glare, one that Tomas returned in full. "He's still human like the both of us, do you understand? Just because he's abnormal doesn't mean that we get to treat him like an outcast."
"Yeah yeah, I know. But still… it's hard to believe that he's a human, y'know?" defended Henning as he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Him and Eren. They... they're so small and yet… at the same time, they're larger than life in more ways than one. They're stronger than us, and at any moment, they could turn on us and kill us in like, an instant…"
"Which is why it is important to build up trust, Henning," piped up Mike almost immediately after Henning had finished his comment, prompting the two men to turn towards him, surprised that he had opted to have his voice be heard, though before long, their surprise died down as they listened in respectful silence to what their Captain had to say. "Trust is the foundation for any and all of the longest serving teams within the military brigades, and seeing as how Mikazuki is, essentially, an unofficial part of our team, we must learn to trust him and his… Gundam as well."
"I understand that, sir, but surely you must see that it's rather difficult to trust Mikazuki… especially after seeing what he's capable of, both with and without that machine," apologised Henning, sounding a little distressed as he spoke. Mike couldn't blame him, however, as, despite what his passive exterior might suggest, he too felt a little unsettled by just how skilled Mikazuki was in combat. The golden star rating Keith had given the pilot on his report card certainly didn't do his skills any justice…
"That much is true, but I would like you to remember that he's still as human as the rest of us. A unique one at that, but still a human regardless. As such, we will treat him with just as much respect as we would any other," replied Mike, his tone of voice sounding rather gentle as he glanced up at his junior. Henning found himself begrudgingly nodding a little in response to Zacharius' words, though before long, they heard Mikazuki standing up from his seat, prompting them to turn their attention towards him to see that he was now walking out of the cafeteria.
"Oi! Where're you going?" asked Henning, with him waving a finger at Mikazuki as he spoke, to which he responded without even looking back at him.
"My room," was the only thing that Mika gave as a response, and with that said, the pilot went on his way, with Tomas moving to follow him all the while, though before he could do so, Lynne got up and followed him.
"No worries, I'll keep my eye on him, sir!" assured Lynne as she offered her teammates a quick thumbs up, prompting Tomas to pause briefly as he turned towards Mike, who simply nodded in response to his junior's assurance. At that, Lynne smirked, offered a thumbs up, before jogging after Mikazuki.
"Think they'll be alright?" asked Henning, sounding a little concerned for the two of them as he glanced at his Commander, and though Tomas took a bit of offence at Henning's comment, with him thinking that he was doubting Lynne's skills with juniors, Mike simply waved off Henning's worries.
"They'll be fine."