Tough // A.O.T

1 // home

"(Name), wake up!"

A rather lovingly annoying voice bellows from the door.

"Got it," The twelve year old child's eyes shot awake, alarmed from the sudden shout. The clock on the wall says that it was already around six in the morning—time for another day in the gutter.

You yawned after brushing the blanket off of your body. It had been a few minutes. Your legs found its way to your comfortable shoes before walking out of your room with eye bags. "Did you sleep late again?" Your adoptive parent, Claire, asks as she fried eggs up for breakfast.

"My bad. I had to study about some stupid titan I apparently have to inherit for hours." You muttered after another yawn. "Well, you know what they say about my titan. The only perk it has is that it enhances strength—ultimately relying on the pilot itself." Claire reminds as you went to the bathroom to go fix yourself up.

"Yeah, but I don't want to eat an ass like you!"

"(Name), I wonder why I haven't thrown you out yet."

"I heard that."

"Then remember to act a little more professional—you get the best treatment in the entire unit!"

"You say that as if the commander's motto isn't 'everyone here is treated equally'." You mutter as you turned on the shower.

-

After you've cleaned up and sat on the chair, breakfast was served. "You still have some additional training to do after your military training, remember?" Claire coldly reminds you.

"Man, I just had to be chosen to be the heir of a weak titan," You mumbled quietly, picking up the utensils and beginning to eat. Your adoptive parent chuckles, "Yes, it is rather weak. But with a wonderful, skillful human like you being to control it, it has so much more potential than you could ever imagine." She convinces you before eating the food on her plate.

"All right, I get it." You rolled your eyes with a smile and not before long, you were finished with your meal. "Oh, right. There's this technological advancement they've made, so I checked it out." Claire says with a mouth nearly full of food. After swallowing, she resumes, "It was able to immediately take portraits and keep them as memories—easier than standing still while being painted."

"So?" You ask, listening attentively. "So you know I had to get my hands on one." Claire says with a sly smile, picking up an item hidden behind her purse.

A small, metal object designed with leather and has what seems to be a circular lid on the middle. "Are you serious...?" You murmured in awe, taking the camera. "Well, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" You say, eyes darting all over the buttons on the back.

"Oh, take off the lid on the front first. It keeps the lens safe, apparently." Claire notifies you while drinking her coffee.

You turned it over and took the lid off the 'lens'. "Well, I don't concern myself much with technology and more on fighting techniques. Helps more than trying to shoot someone but ends up with an image of your cold, dead body on the ground." She deadpans with a smile. You felt disgusted by your own imagination.

click!

An image slipped out of the small slit in the bottom of the camera. "What's this?" You mumbled, taking the white paper. You flipped it a few times before it started to gain image.

"Did you really take a photo of me eating?" Claire regains her natural composure, looking at your face which was in awe. "Look. You look good, though." You admitted, handing her the black and white image.

Claire had a warm smile on her face from the photo. She thought of it as a gift. "Yep. You're a great photographer, (Name)." She slightly enlarged your ego before tucking it away safe in her purse.

"Okay, I gotta go." You say, standing up and hurrying over to collect your items before going back to training. "Thanks, Claire!" You then give her a grateful smile before opening the door and exiting the house.

"Good luck, (Name)." Claire shouts back, knowing you'd need it.