A small yawn was the first thing to escape Mina's lips as she sat herself down behind one of the many tables within the HQ's cafeteria, and as she did so, Nac couldn't help but offer a small yet exhausted chuckle as he sat beside her, equally as tired but unwilling to show it.

In one of his hands was a cup of water, and as soon as his rear made contact with the seat beneath him, the tall guy was quick to gulp the entire cup down before slamming it back down onto the table thereafter. A quick sigh of exhaustion wormed its way out of his lips not long after, though he was quick to get over it as he nudged Mina gently with his elbow.

"Training certainly was something… huh?" quipped Nac in a rather lighthearted manner as he eyed his friend, and in response to his words, Carolina shrugged indifferently and rested her elbows up on the table they were sitting behind. Thereafter, she propped her head up atop her hands and exhaled sharply, and though Tias didn't really approve of that gesture of hers, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop it as he understood that she was tired, to say the least.

Hell, she wasn't the only one who was tired, after all. Rather quickly, Nac looked away and glanced around the cafeteria, where he could see several other Survey Corp recruits in similar states to Mina. From where he was sitting, the guy could see that Sasha had already fainted from exhaustion, with her head buried in her bowl of gruel all the while. Not far from her, Ymir looked as though she wished to laugh at her expense, but she too was too tired to do so.

"Y-Yeah… training's a lot harder than it was back in our Cadet days, now isn't it?" replied Mina, sounding somewhere between sarcastic and serious as she glanced over at Nac with a small smile on her face, a smile that seemed forced, Tias noticed, though he didn't comment on it as he nodded and shrugged.

"It could be worse, honestly," assured Nac dismissively as he set his cup down and raised his hand up to rub his forehead. "It's manageable, but still… to call it easy would be a massive lie…"

As Mina had said, their new routine was definitely a lot more… strenuous than what they were used to. As Cadets, Keith, whilst not being the kindest drill sergeant in the world, had still 'gone easy' on them, so to speak, as he knew that they weren't full fledged soldiers just yet. Now, however, their trainers, namely Sys and Ness, who were almost always present to whip the recruits into shape, spared them no quarter as they quite literally worked them to the bone.

Nac understood why they were doing so, of course. He knew that neither one of his superiors wished for any of them to be Titan food when it came time for them to depart on their first expedition, which wasn't too far off into the future, now that he thought about it, but even so, they could stand to be a little more lenient when it came to teaching…

"It could be worse, huh? Yeah, I guess you're right on that front," chuckled Mina rather offhandedly as she removed her head from her hands and rested them atop the table they were sitting behind. Rather stiffly, the pigtailed woman clasped her hands together and stared down at her intertwined fingers with a rather… distant look in her eyes, and upon noticing this, the taller soldier found himself frowning as he exhaled gently.

It was rather obvious to him that she wasn't feeling great, so to speak. Ever since the end of the whole Trost incident, the Cadets that participated in the whole ordeal had left it much worse for wear. Though it has been more than a couple of weeks since the incident had ended, the experience as a whole was more than enough to traumatize the participants to the point where a complete recovery was most likely impossible, and though everyone else did show signs of being changed by it, Nac realized that Mina may have taken it harder than most, though then again, she was technically one of his closest friends, and he could pick up on small changes in her demeanor whereas others would fail to take note of them entirely.

Ever since the end of the Trost incident, Mina had been a lot more… reclusive than Nac was used to her being. Silence was never really her strong suit, especially when amongst friends, and now, she spoke less frequently, even to Nac, and had a tendency to stare off into space more frequently than he was used to. For the most part, Nac found himself dismissing it as he didn't wish to push too much into his friend's personal space, especially after what the two of them had been through mere weeks prior, but even so… he could only hold his concerns back for so long, and before he could stop himself, the black haired young man sighed and cleared his throat, catching Mina's attention as she glanced his way.

"Hey, Mina, can I ask you something?" began Nac, with him keeping his tone of voice as gentle as he possibly could so as to not agitate the aforementioned girl. Though it wasn't exactly obvious, Tias himself had been losing his touch in regards to being friendly to everyone, something that was rather embarrassing for him to admit, but even so… the things that he had experienced amidst the Trost incident… and all the friends he had lost amidst the carnage… all of it had compounded rather poorly onto his shoulders, as evident by the man's change in demeanor, though even so, he did his best to not dwell on those issues as he put on his friendly mask once more and smiled as kindly as he could whilst Mina spoke.

"Of course. What is it?" asked Mina, with her offering the taller guy a small, if a little tired, smile before he rubbed his chin and cleared his throat. This was going to be a rather… awkward conversation, but he's been through worse, he reckoned, considering all the nonsensical conversations he had in the past…

"You've just been acting… off recently, and it's starting to worry me," pointed out Nac, with his worries for his friend more than a little audible in his tone of voice, something that made Carolina shudder a tiny bit as she bit her lower lip and looked away from him, and when he placed his hand over her shoulder, the young woman jolted upright rather intensely as her friend spoke in as calm a tone of voice as he could muster. "Mina, if there's anything you want to get off your chest, I'll listen. We're friends, aren't we? Friends can always count on each other when we're down!"

"Heh, you got me there, Nac," quipped Mina as she gently punched her friend's shoulder. Tias snorted a tiny bit in response to her comment, though he was quick to shake off his amusement as he reminded himself that this could be a serious issue, and at that, he cleared his throat once more and continued speaking.

"So… you care to share what's on your mind? Only if you want to, of course. I'm not going to push you to do it," assured Nac as he shifted his hand forwards and rested it atop her clasped together pair. The guy raised his brows a little when he noticed how her hands were shaking ever so slightly, almost as though she were afraid of something, though as soon as he rested his palm atop them, the shaking subsided a little as she shut her eyes and exhaled gently.

"It's probably best if I did. You definitely won't stop bugging me if I didn't, after all," quipped Mina, with some sarcasm apparent in her tone of voice as Tias flinched a little at that.

"I'm not that invasive…" defended Nac as Mina smiled and smacked his shoulder with the back of his hand.

"I know, that was a joke," assured Mina with a wink, prompting Nac to roll his eyes before he stared over at his friend expectantly. At that, Carolina exhaled sharply before she glanced behind herself to make sure that no one was listening in on them, and as soon as she confirmed that they weren't about to be eavesdropped on, she turned back to Nac and spoke. "But… I… I'm just worried, alright?"

"Worried…" echoed Nac as he glanced away for a brief few seconds to think about just why she felt this way… though before long, the gears in his mind clicked into place as he blinked and turned back towards his friend. "You're thinking about them, aren't you?"

"It's that obvious, isn't it?" quipped Mina humorlessly as she smiled and pinched the bridge of her nose. She kept it there for a handful of seconds before removing it and smiling meekly. A humorless chuckle left her lips not long after as she responded. "Yeah, I… I'm worried for them. For Annie, Mikazuki… and alsofor both of us."

"You want to elaborate on why?" asked Nac rhetorically. He already knew of why Mina could be concerned over all of the above, themselves included, though he hoped that, in speaking her mind, she could ease her concerns, if only by a little, and upon hearing his request, the pigtailed woman found herself offering him a strained smile before responding.

"The Trost incident's aftermath… we… were on cleanup duty. And there were so… s-so many…" began Mina, with her frowning deeply as she recalled the faces of all those soldiers that were lost during the Trost incident. Many others didn't even have any faces left to look at, and that in itself was more than enough to make her sick to her stomach as she nearly belched at the memory.

So many lives were lost… all because they weren't strong enough to perform their duties. They had fallen to the Titans because they weren't good enough… and in truth, Mina found herself very much concerned over the matter as, truthfully speaking, neither herself nor Nac were any different from them. They should have been alongside the faceless hordes of dead soldiers in Trost, they shouldn't have survived the whole ordeal… and the only reason that they had gotten as far as they did was because of…

It took Nac a little longer than he wished to admit to take note of how uncomfortable his friend was getting as she explained herself to him, prompting him to raise a hand up and rest it atop her shoulder as he offered her a small smile to calm her down. It didn't do all too much to alleviate her stress, but even so, he did get a small smile back in return, which was something, at least…

"Hey, if it's too much to talk about…" muttered Nac in a reassuring manner, only for Mina to wave him off as she strained her smile rather intensely. Nac didn't like it, though he said nothing as she responded to him.

"Don't worry about it. It's just… a memory, and it can't really hurt me…" assured Mina, prompting Nac to shudder a tiny bit before he reluctantly nodded, allowing her to continue as he simply listened. "But even so… the thought of all of that happening to anyone… to any of our friends… to either Mika or Annie… it's unbearable… and beyond even that… I'm… worried that we're not prepared for all this.

"Even with all our training, all the work we put into becoming Survey Corps, and all the Titans we've faced during the Trost Incident… it almost feels as though we're… not ready to be soldiers yet. We weren't good enough to make a real difference on the battlefield… Hell I'd argue that we were liabilities. Mika probably would've done better if we weren't there…"

"..."

"I don't know how to say it without sounding weird, but… I just…"

"..."

"It just feels like… even after those four years of training… and even after the Trost Incident and the regiment that Sys and Ness had put in place for us… I just feel as though…"

"..."

"... as though we're still not good enough to be Survey Corps…"

"It always feels that way, huh?"

"Hm…?"

The curious look present on Mina's face, coupled with her confused hum, had almost made Nac smile, and as he leaned back, he glanced up at the ceiling and stared at it solemnly before speaking.

"We can train as hard as we want, grow as far as we can feasibly get, but at the end of the day… it will never truly be enough. We're all still human, after all… and one way or another, we will fail eventually," stated Nac solemnly. "Everyone fails, be it us, the best humanity has to offer… and even Mika. We all have moments of failure, and honestly speaking, we all have moments where we think that we're not good enough.

"But even so… that's probably the wrong mindset to have, if you ask me."

"Is that so…?" mused Mina, curious as to what Nac had to say on the matter as she tilted her head at him with intrigue. Although a general goofball most of the time, Tias was still a wise individual, something that came with him being the oldest of his friend group, and the pigtailed woman was keen on hearing what he had to say as she leaned towards him curiously. "Well, then what's the correct mindset to have, then?"

"Well, technically there's no objectively correct mindset to have, but even so-"

"Hey! Mina Carolina! Nac Tias! Are the two of you in here?!"

Leaping up from their seats as they were called upon, both Mina and Nac, alongside several of the other soldiers present, turned towards the exit of the cafeteria to see Luke Sys peeking in and calling out to them, holding a hand to the side of his mouth to amplify his words all the while. His inquiry seemed to be a rhetorical one, though as he almost immediately zeroed in on his juniors as he smiled in greeting, and moments later, they rushed over to him and saluted him tensely.

"S-Sir! Is something the matter?" inquired Nac in confusion as Sys offered a shake of his head, in turn causing his ponytail to wave a little behind him, and smiled gently, with him gesturing for his juniors to be at ease all the while.

"No, nothing is wrong, Nac Tias, Mina Carolina. I simply wish for the two of you to follow me. Don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I just need you guys with me for a bit," assured Sys with a sly smile as he turned on his heel and gestured for his juniors to follow him out.

Both Mina and Nac shared a quick glance between one another before they shrugged and did as they were told, though as they walked on, the older of the two found himself frowning a little as he watched his pigtailed friend rub her upper arm uncertainly, with her uncertainties on whether or not she was good enough still bothering her a fair bit.

On instinct, Nac raised his hand up and rested it atop his friend's shoulder, offering it a gentle squeeze and prompting her to jolt upright a little as she was jolted out of her thoughts, though she was quick to relax when she saw that it was Nac's hand atop her shoulder and not the tooth of a Titan.

"Hey… things will be alright, Mina," assured Nac as he did his best to alleviate the aforementioned girl's fears for the time being, and despite everything, Mina found herself smiling a little at his attempt as she crossed her arms and nodded in earnest.

"For both our sakes… I hope so…"

Their walk was mostly in silence, with Sys leading his juniors through the Survey Corp HQ rather briskly.

For the most part, the junior pair found themselves growing increasingly worried as they marched on, with them doing their best to figure out just what Sys wanted them for. Sure, he had told them that they weren't in any trouble, but even so… you couldn't be completely sure these days, and as the seconds stretched on, the duo felt their concern increasing in intensity.

Before they could voice out their concerns, however, Sys finally stopped walking and stood in front of an office door, and likewise, his juniors did the same as they stared at their senior in confusion. In response to their confused stares, Luke simply gestured for them to enter the room with a smile on his face, and though he was apprehensive at first, Nac eventually got over it and approached the office door and knocked it before entering; best to be polite first, he reckoned.

"Come on in," came Ness' voice from the other side of the door, giving Nac all the approval he needed as he twisted the knob and pushed open the door, with him allowing Mina to enter first all the while.

"Ladies first," quipped Nac lightheartedly as he winked at Mina, who, at the very least, rolled her eyes a little, unamused, at his comment as she entered. Turning towards Sys thereafter, the junior soldier had expected him to enter along with them, though he motioned for Tias to go on ahead, prompting him to nod in understanding as he entered the room and shut the door behind him.

Turning away from the door, Nac was quick to widen his eyes quite a bit when he walked right into Mina's back, prompting him to turn and stare down at her in confusion. She hadn't taken more than a step away from the office door, Tias realized, as she was staring straight ahead, directly at… someone, with her eyes widened and her mouth slightly agape. Curiously, Nac followed her gaze and glanced ahead as well, and as with Mina, he found himself tensing up when he made eye contact with… two other people in the room aside from Ness himself.

The first was Mike Zacharius, who was standing in front of Ness' office table with his hands by his side and his nose perked up. Though they had met the Elite soldier in the past, to simply be in his presence was more than enough to overwhelm both himself and Mina as they were quick to salute their senior, a sight that seemed to amuse almost everyone in the room greatly as Zacharius chuckled mildly at their display of respect, though the gesture was easily mistaken for a deep sniff, something he frequently did.

And as for the other person in the room…

"Mika…" muttered Nac with a small smile on his face, and despite his tone of voice being barely even a whisper… the pilot in question seemed to hear it as he offered both of his friends the slightest hints of a smile as he nodded. Mike in particular took stock of how his scent had changed quite a fair bit as well; the former miasma of impatience and annoyance had been replaced with delight now, a rarity for someone like him, to say the least.

"Mina, Nac," greeted Mikazuki in a rather nonchalant tone of voice, though in spite of the flatness of his voice, there was still an undeniable hint of happiness buried beneath it all as his attention was now fully fixed onto his friends, who were practically shaking with barely contained delight at seeing him once more.

And yet, despite being elated at seeing their good friend once more after several weeks apart, neither Mina nor Nac had forgotten their manners as they were quick to snap out of it and address Ness, who appeared rather amused as he watched them from behind his office table.

"C-Captain Ness! You… called for us?" inquired Nac rather meekly as he did his best to focus on his superior and not his friend, and soon thereafter, his response came in the form of a mild chuckle from the bandana wearing man as he shook his head and rubbed his chin in amusement.

"Yes, but if we're going to be completely honest here, Mikazuki is technically the one who has called both of you here," explained Ness as he gestured towards the pilot in question, and at that, all eyes in the room turned towards him, and if he felt any form of awkwardness towards the sudden attention, he was certainly not showing it as he nodded and glanced away indifferently, much to the bandana-wearing senior's amusement. "He was pretty demanding too. Just marched in with Captain Mike and began demanding to see you both without leaving any room for argument. He's got guts, I'll give him that!"

"I… I see, sir…" mused Nac, with him finding that boldness to be very much in character for Mikazuki, really, as he grinned at his short friend in amusement. Mina did the same some time thereafter, and after a moment or two, the pilot looked away as the faintest dusting of pink peppered his cheeks; the sight of this surprised both senior soldiers present, though it wasn't exactly much of a shock to the two that knew Augus well. He was difficult to tease, sure, but Mina and Nac, and at times Annie, knew how to get him to blush on occasion, and to a certain degree, they were glad to see that they had yet to lose their touch! "I… don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm upset that he's here. Quite the contrary, really, I'm delighted and all that! But… doesn't the military brigade have other things for him to- oof!"

Before Nac could finish that statement, however, Mina quickly elbowed him in the ribs, possibly bruising one of them in the process as a tick mark appeared on her forehead; she didn't wish for her tall friend to accidentally send the pilot away with his words, and seemingly recognising this, Tias ended up blushing in embarrassment as Ness snickered slightly at his predicament.

Nac was a smart lad… but boy, did he have a tendency to not think before he spoke on occasion…

"Actually, due to his exceedingly good behaviour, paired with a more recent successful operation that he was a part of," a pause as Mike gave Ness the stink eye, though he retaliated by giving him a look that more or less said the kids probably already know about it before continuing. "Mikazuki Augus has been given some time off by his superiors… though he will be monitored by us from a distance during this time. He chose to spend this time with all of you, so you kids best be grateful, cos I know I'd be using this time to tend to Charlotte!"

"Y-Yes sir!" proclaimed Nac almost immediately after Ness concluded his explenation, and with that said, Mike gestured for Mikazuki to get a move on, lest he wished to continue standing around and burn his free time, prompting the pilot to nod and walk towards his two friends. Likewise, Ness dismissed both Mina and Nac with a simple wave of his hand, and seconds later, the three of them exited his office, leaving him in silence along with Mike, who exhaled sharply as he nodded.

"Now then, in regards to why you were here in the first place."

Outside

As soon as Nac shut the door to Ness' office, things became rather… awkward as he turned on his heel and briefly made eye contact with Mikazuki, who appeared just as neutral as he usually was. Despite that, however… there was an unmistakable glint of happiness in his eyes, something that made Tias smile just a little as he raised his hand up and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Beside him, Mina seemed… unable to look her friend directly in the eye as she stared off into the distance whilst she twirled one of her pigtails around between her fingers, whistling awkwardly all the while. That in itself was more than enough to worry the oldest of the guys present, with Nac gently placing his hand atop his pigtailed friend's shoulder after a few seconds of silence, with the gesture being enough to make her jolt upright in shock.

"Mina, are you…?" began Nac, only for Mina to cut him off as she waved her hands around in the air nervously, seeming unable to string together a sentence completely all the while.

"O-Of course I a-am, Nac! W-What makes you think that I'm not?!" demanded Mina in embarrassment as she looked between the boy in question and Mikazuki with her cheeks burning red, something that worried both as the pilot raised a hand up towards Carolina's forehead and rested the back of his hand against it, causing the redness to intensify as she recoiled from his touch. "M-Mika?!"

"You became red. I wanted to check if you were having a fever from all your training," explained Mikazuki as Nac laughed a little in amusement; as per usual, Mika's concern was very much present, though his lack of social graces was making itself very apparent as he performed such a brazen move on Mina. "you're not overworking yourselves, right? Both of you. Training is important, but rest is equally as."

"I… w-we're fine, Mika! It's just that I'm… I'm very glad to see you again, that's all…" muttered Mina, with that being the only thing she could think of to justify the sudden redness in her cheeks as she forced herself to make eye contact with the pilot for more than a few short seconds, thus allowing her to take note of the genuine worry that was present in his gaze as he nodded apprehensively. He didn't exactly believe her entirely, though he had more than enough trust in Mina to let it slide for now.

"Ah," replied Mikazuki with a gentle nod, causing his ahoge to bob up and down slightly as he dropped the subject right there and then. This probably shouldn't have surprised either Trost resident, seeing as how the pilot had a lot of trust in them, though they were still taken aback by his unwavering faith in them either way. "Either way, I'm guessing that you guys want to catch up with me now or something. Erwin didn't tell me anything about keeping what happened during the preliminary expedition a secret, so I don't mind sharing any of it with you if you want."

"Well, that would be nice, but… not here, preferably," commented Nac, with him rubbing his chin a little as he smiled slightly at his friend, and thereafter, he chuckled before speaking up once more. "Would the cafeteria work out for you? I know that a lot of our 104th graduates would wanna hear from you again, seeing as how none of them know about how you're doing, and beyond that… I'd prefer to sit down before we talk."

"Ah. Lead the way."

And with that said, the trio departed for the aforementioned location, and all the while, they failed to notice how a close-by door creaked open, allowing Sys to peek out at them as they waltzed off.

"Ah… the joys of youth…"

Survey Corp HQ Cafeteria

"So… Sasha fainted three days ago and had to be carted off to the infirmary?"

"That just about sums it up."

In response to Nac's claims, Mikazuki couldn't help but chuckle just a little as he envisioned Sasha fainting mid-training whilst on a mostly empty stomach, tumbling towards the ground shortly thereafter. It was definitely a sight to behold in his mind, one that he probably wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon he reckoned, though he was quick to dismiss it for now as he turned back towards his friends with a neutral look on his face.

Several minutes prior, Mikazuki, Mina and Nac had entered the HQ's cafeteria and found a spot to sit at to converse. Mika's presence did, understandably, rile up a handful of the recruits present as they were still unsure on if he was even completely on their side in the first place, though the pilot ignored most of their staring as he focused on catching up with his friends. Mina sat by the pilot's right, with her making sure to keep a respectable distance away from him, whereas Nac sat directly in front of him on the opposite end of the table, with him smiling somewhat knowingly between the two of them all the while.

For the most part, the three were able to converse in peace for quite some time, with Nac sharing their training regiment with Mikazuki, who appeared… unimpressed, so to speak , as he simply nodded in response to his friend's words (understandable, they all thought, considering how all of this was likely baby food when compared to what he had went through back on Mars). Mina remained oddly quiet throughout the whole conversation, however, something that worried both her friends to varying degrees when they noticed it, though they didn't press the issue for her sake.

Their relatively peaceful bout of conversation was, however inevitably, ruined when Ymir, of all people, burst onto the scene and claimed the empty spot to Mikazuki's left. Her sudden appearance was more than enough to startle both Mina and Nac whilst Mikazuki remained mostly unphased, and they didn't say much as they watched the freckled woman wrap an arm around Mika's back and poke him in the chest in a faux friendly manner.

Nac and, to a lesser extent, Mikazuki would pointedly ignore the murderous fury that radiated off Mina when she saw this happen.

"Sup?" greeted Ymir as she barrelled into their little conversation with the subtlety and grace of a whale being sucked into a typhoon before being promptly launched towards the closest city. She didn't get much of a response from Mikazuki, however, as he simply offered her a mildly irritated look from the corner of his eye, though Nac found himself chuckling nervously as he waved at their fellow soldier, and likewise, Mina found herself smiling just a tiny bit at her antics, even if her eye did twitch just a little in response to Ymir's brazen actions towards her friend.

"Sup yourself, Ymir," responded Nac as he lowered his hand down to his side, and to that, Ymir smirked as she winked at him, not really getting much of a response through that gesture all the while, though before long, she turned back towards the pilot she was sitting beside and eyed him, sizing him up, no doubt, prompting Tias to shudder a little on his behalf; the oldest person at the table was well aware of how Ymir and Mikazuki weren't exactly friends or even acquaintances, and the former wasn't a fan of how stoic the latter was, even in the face of her teasing and pranks, so he could only imagine why the young woman was here, of all places, as he watched Fritz lean in towards Augus with a grin. "Erm… any reason as to why you're here?"

"No real reason, really. I just wanted to know more about him," assured Ymir rather slyly as she smirked playfully at Mikazuki in the hopes of getting a rise out of him for her amusement, only to be (unsurprisingly) let down when she realized that it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, prompting her to roll her eyes as she sighed. "Well, not him specifically, of course. He's a fucking statue, no fun whatsoever. No, I wanna know more about your… Gundam, Mikazuki Augus."

"Well, don't you think that's a little too soon to ask? He just got here, after all…" defended Mina, with her giving Ymir a pointedly annoyed look as she jumped at the chance to get Ymir the Hell out of here. As she said this, the pigtailed girl reached forward and pinched at Fritz's hand, causing her to retract it on instinct, though before she could complain about that, Mikazuki hummed softly before shrugging.

"I don't mind sharing things about Barbatos," assured Mikazuki indifferently, with him not even looking towards Ymir as he said this, and to that, the freckled young woman found herself raising her brows in surprise before her smirk grew to twice its size. Now things were getting properly interesting, though she reckoned that she could make it even more so…!

"Heh, good to know that you're not so stone hearted! Hey, everyone! Mikazuki over here just agreed to answer whatever questions we have about his Gundam! Anyone got any questions to ask?!" replied Ymir, only to raise her voice and yell out the latter half of her statement, prompting everyone present to turn towards her in surprise as they felt their interest piqued by the pilot's apparent offer, and seconds later, their curiosity got the better of them as they swiftly rushed up to the pilot's table and more or less boxed him in, much to his annoyance.

Apparently, his annoyance had been showing as well, as Ymir had cackled a little at his expense, in turn prompting the pilot to sock her in the ribs. The strike had made her recoil in pain as she leapt away from him, prompting her smile to fall almost instantly as she gave him an annoyed look.

"Sheesh… asscrack…" scoffed Ymir as she rubbed at her ribs, grimacing faintly as Mikazuki glared at her in annoyance, and at the same time, Mina did her best to suppress her smile whilst looking away. Yeah, Fritz probably deserved that.

That aside, after Mikazuki had probably cracked a rib in Ymir, the other soldiers present congregated around the pilot and his friends. Not all of them were keen on getting too close to him, of course, as a good majority of them stood a respectable distance away from the short guy, which was understandable. Rather noticeably, however, the only ones who were not present were Mikasa and Armin, with the duo simply observing Mika from a distance, which, again, was understandable.

"...so, what do you all want to know?" inquired Mikazuki after everyone present had gathered around him, with him sounding half hearted at best and completely disinterested at worst as he glanced between his fellow 104th Graduates. Upon hearing him ask that, the soldiers were quick to go silent as they pondered on what to ask first, though before long, Sasha, of all people, moved to sit on the empty spot beside Mikazuki as she held a finger up in the air, shocking everyone with her apparent bravery all the while.

"Well, I do recall you saying back in court that you're from the outside? As in… beyond the confines of the Walls?" inquired Sasha, with her sounding strangely thoughtful as she spoke. Mikazuki didn't think much of that, however, as he nodded in affirmation, confirming the hungry hungry girl's question, surprising her and several others present as she continued. "Well, how's that even possible, anyways? Humanity can't survive beyond the Walls, right…? The Titans infest the world beyond…"

There was a pause, with Mikazuki huffing softly as he wondered how he should go about responding to Sasha's question, one that was shared by everyone present, it would seem, as they were all eyeing him with great intrigue (even Mikasa, off by the waysides, appeared greatly intrigued as well), and after a moment of consideration, Mika turned towards Mina and Nac, both of whom appeared… unsure of this as well as they shifted uncomfortably.

That in itself wasn't surprising; they were the only ones present that were familiar with Mikazuki's tried and true origins, after all, and they too were feeling unsure on whether or not he should tell them the truth. Sharing in their uncertainty, Mika ended up sighing softly to himself before he responded. His words weren't the truth, but they weren't a complete lie either.

"There are… places outside, beyond the Walls, I mean. Places where even the Titans won't go. Some colder areas that they can't go too deep into and all that," lied Mikazuki, with him lying straight through his teeth without much issue. Both Mina and Nac appeared shocked at just how easily he had done that… and at the same time… the pilot did acknowledge how Reiner and Bertholdt, who were sitting and standing beside and behind Nac, respectively, tensed up just a little upon hearing him… though he didn't voice that out for now as he continued. "I came from one of those places."

"One of? As in… there are more than one?" asked Bertholdt for clarification, to which Mikazuki shrugged.

"I dunno. There might've been. It was the only one I knew of before I had to leave my old home for… reasons, at least," mused Mikazuki, with him sounding mostly uncaring about this fact as he spoke. Still though, Mina and Nac could see a saddened look in his eye as he lowered his gaze a little; he was putting up a good facade, sure, but they could tell that he was still not completely over his unwitting exile from his own Earth.

Rather gently, Mina lightly nudged Mikazuki's side with her elbow, catching his attention and prompting him to turn to face her. He was quickly met with a gently smiling Carolina, and for all it was worth, he nodded at her, with him understanding what she was trying to get across to him all the while.

"Well… why didja have to leave, anyways? Considering how your old place seemed so fucking impenetrable when it came to Titans, and how you guys had a Gundam to defend it from any and all invading forces, why leave?" asked Reiner, with him rubbing at his chin curiously as he spoke. His question wasn't an unreasonable one, honestly, seeing as how, allegedly, Mikazuki's prior home was situated in a spot that made it difficult for Titans to invade, and likewise, they had at least one Mobile Suit to defend their territory.

Truthfully, Mikazuki had no real answer to this, and it showed as he lowered his gaze a little. This act was, somewhat fortunately, taken out of context by his comrades, however, as they took it as him being a little too overwhelmed by some bad memories to respond, prompting them to hastily change the topic.

"W-Well, setting aside why you had to leave, if you don't mind me asking about that… Gundam. Back at the courtroom, you said that you were the only one with one of those," pointed out Connie as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The mere mention of the Mobile Suit was more than enough to put everyone on edge as they recalled just how effective it was at tearing Titans apart, though Mikazuki remained neutral as he nodded. "Well, call me crazy, but it sounded like you were… lying back there, y'know?"

"I wasn't. I'm the only one with a Gundam," assured Mikazuki nonchalantly as he waved Connie off; he wasn't technically lying, honestly, as he was the only person with a Gundam on this world, and to that, the bald soldier, for as boneheaded as he could be at times, saw fit to drop the issue for now as he nodded, and at that, Ymir wrapped her arm around Mika's neck, placing him in a headlock of sorts, before she asked another question, ignorant to how she was likely inviting him to smack her again all the while.

"Well, since we're on the topic of your… Gundam, lemme ask, how does it even work, anyways?" inquired Ymir, with her sounding genuinely curious as she held a finger up into the air. Likewise, everyone present, barring two specific individuals, appeared just as intrigued in Mikazuki's answer as they stared at him curiously, though much to their disappointment, the pilot shrugged, much to Ymir's ire. "Seriously, you don't fucking know how the thing works?"

"I only know how to control it. I don't know the finer details on how to operate it. Never bothered to figure it out myself," shrugged Mikazuki, with him elbowing Ymir, hard, in turn forcing her to release him from her headlock as she staggered away in pain. As she did so, Christa, who had claimed the empty spot beside Mina, gasped as she watched the pilot do his thing, though as for the pigtailed girl beside her, she couldn't help but snicker at that as she reckoned that Fritz had that coming from a mile away. "Isn't that good enough?"

"Well… n-not exactly, Mikazuki Augus…" piped up Christa, with her frowning quite a bit as she tapped her index fingers together. At that, the pilot in question, alongside everyone else, minus Ymir who was now nursing her bruised ribs with a pout on her face, turned their attention towards her, though to Christa, the only one that mattered was Mikazuki's gaze.

Unlike the stares of everyone else present, Mikazuki's in particular was more than enough to set Christa on edge as the young blonde felt a harsh shiver go up her spine. It felt almost as though he could see through her, so to speak, and that in itself was more than enough to make her shrink down in fear as she broke eye contact with her fellow 104th Graduate, though not long after…

"What do you mean?" asked the pilot, and rather abruptly, the blonde blinked and glanced up to see that Mikazuki's gaze had softened just a little. The harsh glare was still present, though there was an undeniable gentleness behind his gaze as he addressed the young blonde, with him seeming genuinely curious as to what she meant with her words, and for as subtle as it was, it was still enough to make the young woman respond as she felt some of her tension being released from her system.

"I… I mean to say that… we know not who built that Gundam… yes?" explained Christa as she twiddled her thumbs together awkwardly. Everyone seemed a little puzzled by her comment, everyone but Mina and Nac, anyways, as the duo were aware of most of the secrets behind Barbatos, though they spoke nothing of this as Lenz continued. "If we were able to find out who had built it, then perhaps… perhaps we could enlist their aid in creating more…? If we did so, the fight against the Titans-"

"That wouldn't work," was her immediate answer from Mikazuki as she flinched a little at his straightforward answer, and at that, everyone eyed the pilot curiously as they expected him to continue on with his words, and with a reluctant sigh, he did as they expected. "The person who built them isn't here anymore."

"As in… they died?" asked Reiner, with him perking up rather abruptly as soon as he heard Mikazuki speak of the Gundam's creator having apparently left this mortal realm. His response was a half hearted shrug from Mika as he responded.

"I don't know. But I do know that Barbatos was made a very long time ago. It had been abandoned when we found it in the first place, and we had to do a lot to make it combat ready," answered Mikazuki, with him speaking mostly the truth once more. Barbatos was an incredibly old machine, though he didn't wish to find out what would happen if he revealed that the Gundam was well over three centuries old. Telling them this would no doubt be quite amusing, but even so, it might cause problems in the future, and that was something he'd rather not deal with for now.

"I see… well, it certainly is a shame. Had we known who created the Gundam, and had they still been with us, we could have potentially found a way to mass produce them for our benefit," mused Christa, with her rubbing at her chin thoughtfully as she said this. The other soldiers present seemed curious at the connotations as they found the idea of controlling powerful machines like Barbatos to combat the Titans to be rather… enticing, though Mina and Nac were… not really on board with the idea.

After all, they had seen firsthand, via Mikazuki's cockpit recordings, several battles between two or more Gundams, and even if they weren't living through them in the moment, the mere memory of these recordings themselves were enough to make their hearts pound at how… horrific it was to go up against an enemy Gundam. Sure, some other human needed to be piloting it in order for it to turn on them in the first place… but even so… Barbatos' recordings had impressed upon both Mina and Nac that humans would always find reasons to fight one another, and had the residents of their world gotten their hands on Gundams, or any of the other Mobile Suits prior, they would've eliminated the Titan threat, sure… but it would've then been a matter of time before they began fighting between themselves as well, for one reason or another.

"Yeah, shame that… heheheh…" smiled Nac, with him scratching at the back of his head awkwardly as he spoke, though as he said that, Mina gave him a disapproving frown before she leaned towards Mikazuki and set a firm hand upon his shoulder, something that surprised him momentarily as he turned to face her.

"I don't think it's much of a shame, really! Mika's good enough on his own, after all!" grinned Mina, with her smiling proudly as she acknowledged her best friend's worth. She had said this with as much confidence as she could muster, and in truth, it was very much touching to the pilot as a light swirled around his irises in appreciation, but all the same, the burning sensation on Carolina's cheeks made it apparent that it was difficult, to keep up her confident facade. "You guys do remember that he kept so many of us safe during the Trost fiasco, yeah? He saved so many of our lives, and he never really asked for anything in return! He did all that because he wanted to, a-and… well, a-and during the recent Pre-"

A hasty pause as Mikazuki brought a hand over Mina's mouth, causing her already burning cheeks to blaze into an inferno moments later.

"Confidential," stated Mikazuki, who, despite being fine with sharing confidential info with his friends, preferred it if she didn't do the same to the others. It was friendship bias, sue him, and thankfully enough, Mina seemed to notice this as she giggled awkwardly as her pal removed his hand from her mouth, seeming just a tad bit annoyed all the while.

"S-Sorry… but what I'm saying here is that Mika's reliable as all Hell! He's saved us all more times than I can count, and he did it out of the goodness of his heart! If you ask me, we don't need any more Gundams! We just need one… with Mika controlling it!" smiled Mina confidently, with her jabbing a finger in Mikazuki's direction as she said this. Its tip poked against the pilot's cheek as she said this, something that made him shift away a little as he eyed his friend with amusement, and for the briefest of moments… no one really said anything as they stared at the pigtailed young woman in silence; they weren't sure if they agreed with her on that fully, and the silence seemed to be getting to her as it ticked on, though thankfully enough…

"Well… she isn't completely right, but she isn't wrong either…" admitted Reiner with a thoughtful tone of voice, catching everyone's attention as they turned to face the ox of a man curiously. "It would be better to have an entire army of Gundams to fight back against the Titans; the war with em' might be over within a week if we did! But… to even have one by our side… it's a miracle enough as it is, and even if it's been a little damaged now, my trust in you still remains, Mikazuki. I've got no problem with trusting you with my life in a worst case scenario."

Reiner's words were poignant to everyone else present, with them now mumbling between themselves as they discussed the matter at hand. Slowly but surely, the awkwardness began to fade as conversation about the issue began to rise up once more, and with a sigh of relief, Mina ended up (metaphorically) melting into her seat out of relief.

"Well… I guess she's got a point. That Gundam did do a lot to help us during the breach…"

"It's just one machine, though… I'm… worried that it won't be able to protect us all…"

"Can we even… trust Mikazuki? He's so scary looking…"

"Hey, just because it's powerful doesn't mean we have to rely on it all the time! We're trained to do this, you know?!"

"W-Well, I've got faith in the Gundam…and Mikazuki…"

Before long, though, the conversation around the issue got rather… jumbled up, with Mina being unable to even hear anything noteworthy as the soldiers present spoke to one another on the matter; in truth, she was just glad that the awkwardness had subsided by now, though right as her heart began to calm down, she felt Mikazuki nudging her hand with his own, causing her to squeak softly as she turned to face the pilot once more.

"What you said. You… meant it, yeah?" asked Mikazuki, sounding almost rhetorical as he spoke, and upon hearing him ask this, Mina found herself smiling gently as she brought her hand up and gently set it over his own, a sign of reassurance on her part, before responding.

"Every word, Mika."

"... I see. Thank you, Mina."

"I… y-you're welcome, Mika."

Several hours later

"Hey there, Mika."

"Mina."

Smiling warmly at Mikazuki's somewhat expected greeting at this point, Mina shuffled up to the pilot's side and stood by him without much issue. Holding both hands behind her back, the junior soldier accompanied the pilot in staring up at the night sky.

The conversation in regards to Barbatos and Mikazuki in particular had died down some time prior, with Mika himself being rather reluctant to tell them much for one reason or another. For one, he had no real idea about the intricacies of the Gundam himself and, by all means, he didn't wish to let slip something that he knew he'd regret telling them, so he kept his lips sealed on most of that info… and when his comrades asked about himself specifically, Mikazuki had made it abundantly clear that he was not going to answer.

His history was for him to know… well, him and Mina, Nac and Annie, anyways, though you got the picture.

Some individuals did ask about what it was like to work with Team Mike, though, which was a valid enough question, so he answered them without issue. Apparently, his answers were subpar, seeing as how disappointed everyone seemed to be upon hearing what he had to say, which was weird, honestly. He just spoke the truth!

Either way, after all the talking had died down, Mikazuki had to break away from the crowd to take some time to himself. He was starting to get a headache from all the talking, and even Mina and Nac knew this, as they were willing to give him some time to himself as they motioned for most of the others to do the same. Mika did appreciate this… though he reckoned that it was inevitable for someone to jump in and break his peaceful moment of calm.

Ah well; it being Mina wasn't all bad, he supposed.

For a few brief seconds, neither soldier spoke as they simply stargazed in silence; the night skies of this world were, in Mikazuki's opinion, superior to that of Earth, seeing as how it had not been affected by pollution. The stars were in full view for them all to see, and Mika found it to be beautiful. Mina, however, found this all to be the same as it always was, though it wasn't as though she was taking any of it for granted, really, as she stared up at the sky with delight.

"I know that it's… potentially a little insensitive to say this, Mika… but I do feel kinda jealous of you right now," admitted Mina out of nowhere, with her smiling awkwardly as she glanced over at the pilot with a small smile. Curious, Mikazuki turned to face her with a raised brow, more or less requesting for her to elaborate, to which she did, albeit with some embarrassment. "It's nothing bad, o-of course… but it's… it's just that… you were able to be up there, you know? In space, to see the stars and all that. We only saw those… recordings?" a pause as she glanced over at her friend, silently asking if she had named it correctly, to which he nodded, much to her delight, "y-yeah, those recordings. Nac, Annie and I had only seen those recordings of space, and through that alone…"

Another pause, with Mina gently slapping at her cheeks as she recalled just how enthralled she had been by the beauty of space back then. The recordings alone (those without combat, at least) were enough to make her heart flutter with wonder as she longed to see something so dazzling up close and personal.

Mikazuki himself couldn't find himself agreeing with Mina's words, honestly… though he couldn't blame her for thinking as such either. To her, space was a beautiful thing; even after seeing the various recordings of him fighting up there in the vast empty expanse, the whole prospect of the universe as a whole astounded Carolina greatly, and to a certain degree, Augus wished that he could share in her childish glee, but sadly, he could not. They were simply too… different, to put it simply.

Mina was a child that was slowly growing to become a soldier, whether she liked it or not. Mikazuki was a soldier that never got to be a child, and as a kid that was forced to grow up so quickly, he never got the chance to share in Carolina's innocence, to feel what she had felt in regards to… well, everything, really…

Be that as it may, though, Mikazuki did still feel a smile coming onto his face when he saw Mina smile wonderously whilst standing by his side, seeming completely enthralled by the whole prospect of space as a whole as she recalled those recordings, and after giving her a moment to bask in her still lingering childish innocence, the pilot spoke up.

"When… all of this is done, when all of the Titans are taken care of, maybe we can go up there? To space?" offered Mikazuki, with him speaking without thinking for a change as he made his offer. He had realized what he had said a little too late, however, as by then, Mina had turned to face him in surprise, though moments later, stars began shining in her irises as she bounced up and down in delight.

"R-Really? Do you mean that?" began Mina, sounding very much excited as she jumped at the chance to view the area beyond the heavens alongside her crus- aphem, her best friend, and as she did so, Mikazuki huffed softly, amused at her still-childish nature all the while, but even so, it eventually faded away as she realized something. "Oh… w-wait… we… we still have to deal with the never ending Titan problem first… and there's also the problem of actually getting into space as well…"

The disappointment was very much apparent in Mina's voice as she had come to that realization, and in truth, it had made Mikazuki frown a little more than usual as he processed her dismay. She seemed to be aware of how, in spite of the advantage they now had against the Titans, the two advantages no less, they still had a good ways to go before they could actually win this war against the Titans themselves, and even then, she had been made aware of how difficult it was to escape a planet's atmosphere, and with the tech they had now, especially when in comparison with the tech from the Milky Way, it would be a proper crapshoot for them to even consider making it to space with what they had now.

In short, she was setting herself up for disappointment, and that was something that Mikazuki realized as he stared over at Mina's disappointed form; he didn't like it when she was upset… he didn't like it when any of his friends were upset, so in an attempt to cheer her up, the pilot shifted his hand towards her own and rapped his knuckles against hers, prompting her to stiffen slightly all the while.

"It's a little too early to say that. Keep your chin up, Mina," encouraged Mikazuki, a rarity for someone like him, as he offered Mina the faintest slithers of a smile, and to this, the pigtailed soldier blinked in surprise before smiling a tad; he was right, she supposed, and with a firm nod, she straightened her back and sighed softly to herself.

"I… I guess you're right. I probably shouldn't be thinking that far into the future anyhow… I don't even know if I'll even make it that far- EEP!"

And right as Mina had said that, Mikazuki promptly zapped her side with one of his fingers. Considering his overwhelming physical strength, the pigtailed soldier had felt as though someone had obliterated half of her body with that gesture, though as she turned to fix Mika with an annoyed glare, the pilot spoke up.

"Don't say such things. You'll make it; you're competent enough," assured Mikazuki, with him speaking no real lies as he shrugged, ignorant to the annoyed look he got from Mina as he reached into his pocket and fished out a raisin. He threw it into his mouth and chewed, speaking all the while. "You made it through training and the Trost Incident. I'm sure you'll be fine, even if I'm not there to help."

"Do… you really think that?" asked Mina, with her rubbing at her side as she asked him this, to which the pilot huffed, swallowing the raisin all the while.

"I don't say things that I don't mean, Mina," responded Mikazuki flatly, with him glancing over at his friend with a serious gaze. He wasn't wrong there, Mina reckoned, as Mika refused to waste his breath on speaking dishonestly. He might twist the truth on occasion, and he might withhold information from time to time as well, but to lie to someone, especially a friend… that was something incredibly rare for him to do. "Both you and Nac… you're strong, stronger than either of you realize. You'll survive."

"..." no comment from Mina, who had gone silent as she grew somewhat bashful at Mikazuki's praising of her and Nac. She knew that the pilot had held his friends in such high regard, but even so, to be praised by him never did get old, and upon hearing this, Carolina giggled softly to herself as she felt some heat rising in her cheeks. "T-Thanks, Mika…"

"Thank me by proving me right, Mina," said Mikazuki, with him reaching forwards with both hands and adjusting one of Mina's pigtail ties as he spoke. He tightened it a little as Carolina's cheeks reddened at the gesture, though she didn't comment much on it as he continued. "Survive till the end of this war… and we can find a way to get up there, to space, together once we're done."

"Is… that a promise?"

"I guess. Think of it as a goal; survive this terrible war… and find a way up to space. Do you think you can manage it?"

"Well, if you think that I can manage it, Mika… then I do as well."

"Good. Because I know that you can do it, Mina."

"... heh."

And as he said that, Mina smiled and, with no small amount of courage, reached for Mikazuki's cheek to pinch it. Mika didn't show any form of discomfort from the gesture, only confusion really, as she did this, and moments later, she removed her hand from his cheek and stared up at him with a noticeable sparkle in her eyes.

"In that case… I'll hold you to that promise, Mika. Let's get up there and when we're done dealing with the Titans, alright?"

… and as those words were uttered, a shimmer reflected in Mikazuki's irises as he felt his heart skip a beat. He didn't know what this emotion was, really, but he would liken it to when he had first met Atra all those years back; it was a foreign sensation, one that he didn't quite understand, though for now, he thought little of it as he absentmindedly nodded.

"... alright."

And elsewhere… a certain blonde Warrior couldn't help but scowl as she felt as though… she was being cucked in some way.

The fuck was that about, she wondered?