AUTHOR'S POV:
It had been 2 years since the three of them enlisted into the cadet corps.
.
.
.
Rain came down heavily, soaking everything beneath it.
.
In a forest, a horse galloped.
"Too slow! Pick up the pace! Run, you lead-footed laggards!" Shadis yelled, riding on his horse.
The trainees were running, carrying large packs.
Keith looked behind him and slowed his horse. "What's your problem, Arlert?! You're dragging your feet! Too heavy for you? Maybe you'd prefer I let you drop your gear? If this were a real mission, you'd be Titan food by now!" He galloped ahead.
"Damn." Armin said and gasped.
"Give it here!" Reiner said and grabbed his pack. "You're gonna fail out at this rate! We're being graded today!"
"But you'll get points marked off, too, if you do that, Reiner." Armin said, looking at Reiner.
"Then make an effort not to get caught." Reiner said. "Don't make me change my mind."
.
'Reiner Braun.' Keith watched them sneakily. 'He has both a robust physique and mental strength. His comrades also have great trust in him.'
.
"I refuse to be a burden!" Armin said and shot forward. "Even if it costs me my life!" He snatched back his pack. Breathing heavily, he raced ahead.
.
'Armin Arlert. Although lacking in physical strength, his aptitude in the classroom is extraordinary.' Keith thought.
.
Ahead, a Titan dummy was raised.
Jean, Bert, and Annie sliced through the nape.
.
Keith looked at Annie. 'Annie Leonhart. Her slice attacks are absolutely flawless, but her reclusive tendencies make her a poor fit for coordinated efforts.' He looked at Bertolt. 'Bertolt Hoover. He possesses remarkable potential but lacks assertiveness.' He looked at Jean. 'Jean Kirschtein. Top-class 3D mobility. But his volatile personality tends to cause friction with others.'
.
'I can't slice as good as those two! I'll just have to find the Titans before them!' With great ease, Jean navigated through the forest. 'If anyone gets into the Military Police it'll be me!'
"Thanks for the help, Jean!" Connie said, passing him by. "Following you was a good idea!"
"Hooray!" Sasha cheered, having gotten the kill before Connie.
.
Keith looked at Sasha. 'Sasha Braus. She has unconventionally good intuition but also demonstrates poor teamwork as a result.' He looked at Connie. 'Connie Springer. He excels at executing quick turns but is also a bit dim-witted.'
.
"Here they come!" One of the helpers said.
The other one pulled the lever, setting up two Titan dummies.
Mikasa then quickly cut deeply through the nape of 2 dummy titans.
.
Keith looked at Mikasa. 'Mikasa Ackerman. Completely proficient in every area. It's apt to say she's an unmatched, unprecedented genius.'
Eren was behind her and cut through one dummy titan nape, ofcourse less deeper than her.
.
Keith looked at Eren. 'Eren Yeagar. He is proficient in every area too but, less proficient than Mikasa. He also possesses twice the sense of purpose than anyone else.'
Thus, the evaluation ended.
.
.
It was now time for hand-to-hand combat training.
Reiner was sparring with Eren.
Reiner charged towards Eren holding the wooden dagger.
Eren slammed him into the dirt.
"Ow!" Reiner said in pain as he fell to the ground.
"Sorry." Eren said, offering him a hand. "I'm not good at holding back."
Reiner stood up. "Now it's your turn to be the criminal." He held out the wooden knife.
But Eren didn't take it.
"What's the matter?" Reiner asked.
"I don't get this training." Eren said and took the knife. "Why would soldiers fight other people? Only an idiot would take on a target barehanded."
"That's irresponsible thinking." Reiner said. "We're soldiers. There are times we can't run away, no matter how bad the situation is."
.
Around them, the trainees continued to spar.
.
"No matter what the enemy is, we have to be ready for it, whether it means using cannons or combat techniques." Reiner said. "I believe that's the responsibility of a strong soldier." He looked to his left. "Anyway, look there."
Eren looked to his right. "Oh, it's Annie. She's slacking off without the commandant noticing again."
Reiner turned to him. "Alright, Eren. That slacker needs a lecture, too. Let's teach her how a soldier's supposed to act."
"Huh?" Eren said, looking at Reiner.
.
Annie was looking behind her and ended up almost running into Reiner's chest.
Reiner smirked. "Not fond of the commandant's head-butts? If you don't wanna end up any shorter, think back to why you enlisted in the first place and start taking things seriously."
Eren walked up to them.
"Alright!" Reiner said and. came up behind Eren. Then he grabbed Eren shoulders with a smile. "Get started, Eren!"
Eren let out a sigh. "Fine."
Annie got into position.
"You know what to do, right?" Eren said and charged at her, holding the dagger.
Annie swang her right leg, trying to swept Eren but he jumped up in time.
Before Annie could react, Eren spinned around and swept Annie's legs, making her fall to the ground with wide eyes.
.
Reiner gasped.
.
Eren stepped closer to her and offered a hand. "Nice move, Annie."
Annie took his hand and stood up.
Eren turned to Reiner. "It's over, right?"
"No!" Reiner said and placed his hands on his hips. "The drill's not over until she takes the dagger!"
Eren nodded and turned to Annie.
Both of them starred at eachother, ready to attack.
Suddenly Annie threw an uppercut at Eren while holding his hips.
Eren reacted quickly and blocked Annie's punch with cross arm.
Then he jumped up as Annie tried to swept his legs.
Taking the opportunity, Eren spinned around, went behind Annie and swept her legs, making her fall again face first.
Eren quickly went on his knees and pointed the daggers at Annie's nape while holding her back.
After a moment, he stood up and tossed the dagger to Reiner. "I think it's over, Reiner."
Annie sat up.
Eren turned around and lend Annie a hand. "Nice moves, Annie. Thanks for teaching me."
Annie took his hand and stood up. "When did I teach you?"
"Well, one's opponent could be their best teacher." Eren said.
"Hmm..." Annie said.
"By the way, who taught you this move?" Eren asked.
"My father." Annie replied.
"Your Dad came up with that move?" Eren asked.
"What does it matter?" Annie said harshly. "There's no point to any of this."
"You mean this training?" Eren asked.
"We aren't graded on our hand-to-hand combat skills." Annie said. "Most people brush it off, like them, because only the top ten trainees are allowed to join the Military Police and serve in the interior."
.
Jean fought Marco while Christa took on Mikasa.
.
"The only ones who take it seriously are naive idiots like you or just ordinary idiots." Annie said and started walking. "For some reason, in this world, the better you are at fighting Titans the further you can get from them. How do you think this farce came about?"
"I don't know." Eren said, walking with her. "That's a good question."
Annie stopped and looked away. "Maybe because it's human nature?" She turned around. "Anyway. I refuse to be stupid enough to play 'soldier' in this inane world."
"Looks like you're not much of a soldier at all." Reiner said as he passed by.
.
Eren shrugged his shoulders. 'Weird girl.'
.
.
The trainees were now having dinner at the mess hall.
All of them were engaged in some sort of conversation except for Eren and Mikasa.
Eren was just wondering about his weird habit blurting out random things at certain times.
He was so deep in thoughts that he stopped eating.
His thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.
"Eren, why aren't you eating?" Mikasa asked with concern.
Eren flinched a bit and came back to his senses. "Huh?" He turned to Mikasa. "Oh sorry." He resumed eating.
Mikasa smiled. "Do you want me to feed you, Eren?" She bit her lips to surpass her laughter.
Eren looked at her, blushing. "N-no!"
"Why not?" Mikasa asked.
"We're not kids anymore, Mikasa!" Eren said.
"So what?" Mikasa asked with a smile. "Who says only kids can feed eachother?"
"Ugh..." Eren said, not knowing what else to say. He shook his head and looked down.
Mikasa giggled at his reaction and resumed eating.
Armin just smiled at them. 'When will these two get together...?' He resumed eating.
.
.
.
Three years had passed since the three of them joined the cadet corps.
It was now their graduation day.
.
"Give your hearts!" A soilder shouted.
"Yes, sir!"
"You have three options after you graduate from the Trainee Corps today! The Garrisons, which reinforces the Walls and protects each city! The Survey Corps, which risks life and limb to venture into Titan territory outside the Walls! And the Military Police, which serves under the king by policing the people and preserving order! Of course, the only ones allowed to join the Military Police are the top ten trainees who were previously named!"
The top ten stood side-by-side in order of their ranking: Mikasa, Reiner, Bert, Eren, Annie, Jean, Marco, Connie, Sasha and Christa.
'We've finally made it here. Now it's our turn to devour the Titans!' Eren promised.
.
.
Everyone were at the mess hall, celebrating their graduation.
Some were eating while some were talking to their friends.
.
"Yes!" Connie said with a grin. "Now I'm gonna be in the Military Police!"
"No more worrying about food!" Sasha said with excitement.
.
'How'd I get ranked under Eren?! Damn!' Jean sighed and took a deep swig from his mug.
.
Eren, Mikasa and Armin were surrounded by some of their friends.
"Are you seriously not gonna join the Military Police, Eren?" Thomas asked.
"Even after you got into the top ten and all?" Samuel said.
"My mind was set from the very start." Eren said. "I didn't train all this time to live in the interior. I did it to fight the Titans."
"We can't beat them!" Thomas yelled.
.
The room instantly quieted.
.
"You know how many tens of thousands of people have been eaten so far?" Thomas said. "The answer was clear after we lost twenty percent of our population. Humanity can't beat the Titans."
"So? You're gonna give up because you think we can't win?" Eren retorted.
"Well..." Thomas trailed off.
"Yes, humanity has lost so far. That's because we were clueless about the Titans! Material warfare is useless against them." Eren firmly said. "We lost, but the information we gained in battle will lead to further hope! Are we just going to throw away all the advances in fighting techniques that cost us tens of thousands of lives so we can be Titan fodder?!"
.
Every pair of eyes was on him.
.
Eren suddenly calmed down. "Since the day I saw my home getting destroyed, since the day I left Shiganshina, until the day comes when I get rid of all titans, until the day I explore the outside world, I can only move forward. Until death. Even after death." He furrowed his eyebrows. "And this is why I'll join the Survey Corps." With that, he turned around and left.
"Wait, Eren!" Armin called out, looking at him.
Then Armin and Mikasa went after Eren.
.
'If you wanna go outside the Walls, be my guest! I'm gonna join the Military Police!' Jean thought.
.
.
Eren was sitting on a stair, looking at night sky.
Then his friends came towards him.
"Eren." Armin said, "That stuff about your dream just now..."
"Oh that." Eren said and nervously chuckled. "I blurted out random things again."
Mikasa and Armin sat beside him on the steps.
"But those words are true." Eren said, looking at the sky, smiling. "I borrowed those ideas of yours about going outside instead of staying inside."
They were in a comfortable silence for some moments.
"I'm going to join the Survey Corps!" Armin said with determination, looking ahead.
Eren looked at him with worry. "Are you serious, Armin?! You were the top in classroom studies! You should put that to use!"
"I won't be a burden. Even if it costs me my life." Armin said.
"I'll join the Scouts, too." Mikasa said, looking ahead.
Eren looked at her with concern. "Hey! You graduated top of the class! You should join the Military Police!"
Mikasa looked at him. "If you join the Military Police, then I will, too. If you join the Garrisons, then I will, too."
Eren smirked. "Why? Can't live without me?"
"Well, don't you think it's the other way around?" Mikasa said with a smile.
"Ah. Says the one who wants to join the Survey Corps because of me." Eren said and looked ahead.
Mikasa's smile dropped. "Well, I can't just leave you alone like that."
"And why is that?" Eren asked and looked at her.
Mikasa shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Who knows?"
Armin smiled at them. "Well, I don't know about Eren but I definitely know why."
Mikasa looked at him, blushing a bit. "You know what?"
Armin chuckled a bit. "That Eren means a lot to you... more than just friends." He smiled, looking at Mikasa. "Isn't that right, Mikasa?"
Eren blushed and looked down.
Mikasa blushed and hid her face in her scarf. "Armin..."
Armin laughed a bit and looked ahead. "Just get together already."
Mikasa and Eren looked at eachother, blushing.
Then, they looked away in embarassment.
Armin smiled and shook his head. 'Idiots...'
They continued to look at the night sky in complete silence.
.
.
It was the next day.
.
Survey corps member were infront of Throst gate.
They were ready for another expedition outside the walls.
.
The people were cheering for them.
"It's here! The main unit of the Survey Corps!"
"Commander Erwin! Give those Titans a real thrashing for me!"
"Look! It's Captain Levi! They say he's as mighty as an entire brigade!"
.
"Ugh, shut up already." Levi said.
.
Eren, Mikasa and some other graduated corps were standing in the crowd, looking at the departure of the Survey Crops.
"This is nothing like five years ago!" Eren said with a smile. "People actually feel hopeful about the Survey Corps!"
"Yeah." Hannah said, "Everyone's cheered up since then. Nothing's happened in five years."
"They've upgraded the mounted cannons, too." Franz said. "I doubt the Colossal Titan will show up anymore."
Eren glared at them. "That's a load of crap, you idiotic couple!"
"Wh-What? Us, a married couple?" Franz said while blushing.
"You're getting ahead of yourself, Eren!" Hannah said.
"Hey!" Hannes called out, walking towards them with a smile.
Eren turned to him. "Hannes-san!"
Hannes stopped before them. "I heard you all graduated yesterday. You squirts really shaped up."
"You too, Hannes-san!" Eren said. "You used to be a drunk, but now you're chief of the Corps of Engineers."
Mikasa giggled at his joke.
"You little." Hannes said and flicked Eren's forehead playfully.
"How is Aunt Carla?" Mikasa asked.
"Oh. She is alright." Hannes replied. "She'll visit you kids this evening."
Eren smiled. "That's good." He turned towards the gate. "It's good for us as we're not ignorant anymore. We won't let another tragedy like that happen. We will defeat the Titans this time." He turned to them. "I'm leaving now."
Mikasa just nodded.
Eren turned around and walked away.
.
Hannes just stared at him with concern. 'I don't know if I should be happy that you've grown up or not. Don't go dyin', now.'
Mikasa let out a sigh. 'Bertolt is going to break this gate anytime soon...'
.
.
On top of the Wall, the newly graduated trainees were performing maintenance work.
"Huh?" Eren said, looking at Connie. "You're joining the Scouts, Connie? You were so set on the Military Police!"
"Yeah, I was." Connie replied, not looking at him. He kept polishing the cannon.
"But sounds like your speech yesterday won him over." Mina said, coming up to them.
Eren looked at her. "Huh?"
"Shut up." Connie said, turning to them, a little pink. "I decided it on my own!"
"Don't be so embarrassed. You're not the only one." Thomas said.
"Thomas, you..." Eren trailed off, looking at Thomas.
"Umm, everyone?" Sasha said, grabbing their attention. "I brought some meat from the officers' storehouse!" She took out a meat loaf from her coat.
All her fellow soilders were surprised and shocked.
"Sasha! Do you want to end up in solitary confinement?!"
"You really are crazy!"
"So much that it's scary."
"We can all share it later." Sasha said. "All sliced up, and between some bread." She drooled and let out a guttural sound in delight.
"Go put it back!"
"Yeah. After we lost all that land, meat's become really valuable."
"It'll be fine!" Sasha said and went to the wooden ice-box. "We can just raise more cattle and sheep once we retake our land." She put the meat in the box.
Then Samuel gathered enough courage. "I'll have some of the meat!"
"M-Me too!" Connie said. "Save me some!"
"I'll have some too, of course!" Mina said and smiled.
"Guys..." Eren trailed off.
"Why are you just standing there, Eren?" Samuel asked, looking at him. "We'll get found out if we don't get back to work! Lunch isn't for a while!"
Eren then looked out at the city. 'Five years have passed since then... Humanity is finally regaining its dignity... We can win! Humanity's retaliation is just beginning!'
Then blue lightning struck behind Eren and the Collosal titan's face appeared behind him.
All the cadets were frozen for a few seconds.
After a few moments, the Throst gate exploded.
Debris flew and the winds ripped apart homes.
.
The group on the Wall was knocked off as well.
"Oww! Hot!" Eren exclaimed and quickly worked his 3D gear.
"Wh-What the?!"
"Samuel!" Connie yelled, watching their comrade fall.
"Sasha!" Mina called out.
Sasha ran down the Wall, one hook in the Wall, and shot the other hook Samuel's calf, stopping him from plummeting to his death. "Samuel, stay still!"
.
'That was close!' Eren thought and looked at the broken gate. 'The Wall, it's broken!'
"It's happening again! The Titans are going to get in!" Connie said, panicking.
.
The promise Eren made filled his mind.
.
"I'll kill them all. Not sparing a single one of them."
.
Eren snapped out of his daze. "Mounted Cannon Maintenance Squad 4!" He readied his swords. "Prepare for battle! The target is the Colossal Titan dead ahead!" He swung up. "This is our chance! Don't let it get away!" He landed in a crouch and stared at the Colossal Titan.
"Hey, there. It's been five years."
_________________