8 104th Cadet training

Staring directly into the eyes of Keith Shadis, Gohan reflected that he hadn't felt as close to being intimidated as he was as when he had been training with Piccolo for the first time. His bald head, booming voice, and quite notable Ki certainly helped to emphasise his imposing presence. His most notable feature however, were the dark circles around his eyes, which were currently trying to bore their way into Gohan's brain.

"Monkey Boy!"

Disregarding the insult, Gohan gave his best salute possible.

"Sir!"

"What do they call you?"

"Gohan Son, sir!"

"And why is it, Cadet Son, that you feel the need to accessorise your uniform?"

As if to punctuate his question, the instructor then grabbed hold of the white headband that Gohan had still not taken off. When they had been lining up just the hour before, there were quite a few odd looks thrown his way by several of the other Cadets, though that was most likely due to his tail which was wrapped around his waist. The amused looks that he'd received from the several of the other instructors should have been indicative that something was up.

"It's a momento, sir. Of my family."

"Oh really? Where the hell are you from anyway, brat?"

Despite himself, the words "Mt. Paozu" almost escaped his lips. Instead, he quickly remembered his cover story, and blurted out "Wall Sina, sir."

"Sina, huh? What's a prissy rich kid like you doing dirtying your hands with the rest of us common folk?" At his question, several of the other cadets subtly turned their heads as well, eager to hear the answer.

"I want to protect humanity, sir!"

Shadis didn't answer, keeping his gaze directly on Gohan's eyes, as if judging the certainty he had answered with. His gaze never wavered for several seconds, until finally he gave a grunt, which sounded vaguely like approval, and laid his hand on Gohan's head.

"Very well. Row one about face."

He twisted his head around and moved along, continuing down the lines for several minutes.

"Hey! Moptop!"

Shadis's voice rang out through the throng of cadets once more, and Gohan could hear the sounds of a salute being made.

"Sir!"

"What do they call you, maggot?"

"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina, sir."

Armin? He was here? Having already been turned in the correct direction, Gohan had merely craned his neck to look over another cadet's shoulder to see him.

"Wow, seriously? Why would your parents curse you with such a dumb name?"

What was Armin doing here!? Didn't he have a job in Trost? But wait…if Armin was here, then that meant…

"It was my grandfather's, sir."

There they were! Eren and Mikasa had enlisted as well! Why!? The military was too dangerous! Except…Eren had always wanted to join the scouts. Mikasa had always followed him to keep him safe, no matter what it was. But Armin?

"Cadet Arlert, why is a runt like you here?"

"To help humanity overcome the Titans."

Armin never spoke like that. At least, not in the short while he'd known him. There must have been a deeper reason.

"That is delightful to hear, you're gonna be a great light snack for them." He laid his large hand atop Armins head and twisted him around. "Row three about face, runt."

Marching through the line, Shadis stopped himself in front of a blonde youth.

"What do you call yourself?"

"Sir, my name is Thomas Wagner. I'm from the Trost district."

"I can't hear you!"

Thomas raised his voice.

"I'm from the Trost district, sir!"

A short distance away, another soldier walked up and down the line of recruits.

"Look at him go."

Shadis's voice rang out once more.

"Nobody here gives a damn!"

"The man is a master when it comes to fresh faced recruits."

"That takes me back." His comrade chipped in.

Shadis had now moved on and was screaming in the face of a short girl with pigtails.

"Is a pathetic worm like you the best Karenese has to offer?"

"Sir, I'm afraid that's the case, sir!"

"What's the point of all the intimidation?"

"It's a rite of passage. Through stress and degradation we revert them back to blank slates. From there we can mold them bit by bit into proper soldiers." The soldier watched as Shadis moved onto his next victim. "He is the first step in that process."

"I didn't know they stacked shit this high!"

"Sir, we seem to really excel at that back home, sir!"

"Row four about face!"

The soldier's comrade noticed something odd, however.

"There's some he's passing by."

He noticed it again as Shadis passed a whole group of cadets. Merely looking into their faces before moving on to scream at the others.

"A drill instructor is nothing compared to what those recruits have seen. They were there. Witnesses to the hell of a Titan attack two years ago. You can read it in their faces. C'mon, let's go."

"But wait. What about them?"

Following his comrades pointing, the soldier spotted a group of two standing on the nearby ridge. Observing the drill sergeant's work.

"I don't know. They don't look military, though."

"Then how'd they get in?"

"I'm not sure. And I don't think we should ask them." The two walked away, no less concerned about the two mysterious onlookers that were present.

"What do we have over here?"

"Jean Kierstien, sir, from the Trost district."

"And why are you here, Cadet?"

"T-to join the Military Police, sir, the best of the best."

Shadis gave an ominous pause. "That's nice. You wanna live in the interior, do ya?"

"Yes."

Without warning, Shadis swung his forehead directly into Jean's, sending the boy painfully to his knees.

"No-one told you to sit, recruit! If you can't handle this, Kierstien, then forget about joining the Military Police!"

'Wow. This is like training with Piccolo all over again. Only…less painful.' Gohan thought to himself.

As he turned, Shadis locked eyes on yet another potential victim. His temper rising as he looked the boy over.

"What the hell is wrong with your face, you smiling idiot!?"

"Marco Bott at your service sir from Shinè, south side of wall Rose. I aim to join the Military Police and give life and limb in service to the king."

"Well then. That makes you an idealistic fool. You want the truth?" Shadis stepped in close, his head almost pressed against the boy's. "The only use the king has for your life and limbs are as Titan fodder." Stepping back, he looked down the line again. "Hey, cueball, you're up next."

The boy was short and sported a tidy buzz-cut. He gulped at the sight of the imposing man and gave a salute.

"Uh me? Sir! Connie Springer from Ragako village, sir."

Shadis's eyes darted to his chest, where his poorly executed salute was present. In a flash, he had lifted the boy off his feet and was gripping him by his head. The man's great hands stretched Connie's eyelids painfully.

"You have it backwards, Connie Springer. That was the first thing you were taught! The salute represents the resolve in your heart to fight those bent on the systematic destruction of our people. Is your heart on your right side!?"

A loud -crunch- ripped through the almost completely silent compound. He couldn't help himself, Shadis found his eyes drawn to the noise's origin. It was a brown haired girl with a ponytail, still ignorantly munching away on the potato she held in her hand. Every eye was upon her, including her fellow recruits. Shadis unceremoniously dropped Springer on his ass.

"Hey, you there. What do you think you're doing?"

She locked eyes with him, a small bead of sweat appearing on her cheek as she looked around nervously, before taking yet another bite.

"YOU ARE OFFICIALLY ON MY SHIT LIST! I RECOMMEND YOU TO TELL YOUR DAMN NAME NOWW!!

Hastily swallowing the food in her mouth, the girl hurriedly saluted.

"Sasha Blouse from Dauper village at your service, reporting for duty, sir!"

"Sasha Blouse, huh? And just what is that you're clutching in your right hand?"

"A steamed potato. It sat in the mess hall begging to be eaten, sir."

"The theft, I understand. But here? Why eat it here of all places?"

"It looked quite delicious, and it was getting cold, so I gave it warm shelter in my stomach, sir."

"Why? I can't comprehend. Why would you eat that potato?"

"Are you…asking me why people eat potatoes? I'm surprised you don't know, sir."

The silence of the compound sat heavily for several painful seconds as Shadis continued to gaze silently at her. Desperate for it to end, she gave a nervous chuckle and pulled a piece off of the potato, before presenting it to the drill instructor.

"Here, sir, have half."

He accepted it. "Have half? Really?"

Sasha gave a nervous smile, confident that she had won him over. Her heart almost stopped, however, when he dropped it from his hand. The potato piece hitting the ground with an audible thud.

'No! Food!'

"SASHA BLOUSE! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE THE DUMBEST RECRUIT I HAVE EVER SEEN! GET YOUR ASS RUNNING AROUND THE COMPOUND, NOW!"

Tears brimmed her eyes as she hesitantly stepped out of line, unsure what to do with the rest of her meal. It was violently slapped out of her hands by Shadis as his temper reached his breaking point.

"I want to see you running till you drop! And you will have no meal privileges for the next five days!"

More and more tears threatened to spill over as she began to hyperventilate. "N-No food?"

"NOW!"

With a stifled sob, she broke out of the line and began to run, all of the Cadets' eyes upon her as she left.

"What the hell are you looking at!? Eyes forward! You! What's your name?"

The rest of the recruits were 'broken' quickly. Shadis had apparently reached his breaking point after dealing with Sasha, and was eager to see the remaining Cadets finished.

"Alright. Now that that's done with. It is to my extreme displeasure to say that I have never, in my life, seen such a worthless bunch of maggots. You are all disappointments, unfit for service of any kind. But that will change. You will change. From now on you will do what you are told, and you will become valuable to humanity! Your dorms will be assigned to you by my fellow instructors. Dismissed!"

Many made their way to line up in front of the senior soldiers, but Gohan instantly broke through to reach the trio of friends, joining them in their cue.

"Armin! Mikasa! Eren! What are you guys doing here?"

"Us?" Eren replied sarcastically. "What are you doing here? You said you were going to an orphanage."

"Oh, uh that. Well I was going to, but then I…" Gohan gave a heavy sigh. "I remembered the refugees I saw when I was in town. After what happened to them, and to your mom, I knew I had to do something. So I asked Commander Erwin to let me join and…well, here I am!"

"Wait, you met Commander Erwin? Leader of the Survey Corps? What was he like?"

Gohan took a cautious step back as Eren seemed to fanboy in front of him.

"He's okay, I guess. Pretty imposing. But you guys? What are you doing here? I thought you all had jobs?"

Eren gave a frustrated growl and kicked a stone by his feet. "The government raised taxes and we needed more money. This was the best way to get it."

Gohan didn't buy that. Although he was never especially adept at spotting a liar, he could tell that wasn't Eren's true motivation. With a questioning raise of his eyebrow, he relented.

"And I'm going to kill the Titans. All of them. After everything that has happened. All the people they killed. What they did to mom. What they almost did to you? I'm going to make them pay."

Oh no. It was what Gohan had feared would happen. Despite what he had said when Gohan had seen them again in Trost, Eren still clearly felt guilty about leaving him behind. Now, after two years of thinking he'd betrayed him, and struggling to take care of his mother, Eren's emotions had driven him to be single-mindedly determined to kill Titans.

'Maybe I should have returned sooner?'

He shook his head, those were thoughts for later. He already suspected why Mikasa was there. She and Eren were practically inseparable, which only left…

"Armin? How come you joined?"

"I…I knew I couldn't sit idly by as the royal government forced the citizenry into the failed territory retrieval operation."

Of course, his grandfather had been killed in the reclamation attempt. He felt like he should give Armin his condolences, but he didn't wish to bring his past to light more than necessary. It was undoubtedly painful.

"But wait, what about your mother?"

"Hannes is staying with her. After what happened, he couldn't afford a new place so…while we're here he offered to take care of her."

It seemed like they'd planned it all out, but Gohan couldn't help the anxiousness he was feeling.

"Eren, are you sure about this? It's really dangerous."

It was the wrong thing to say. Eren's mood immediately changed to offended as he crossed his arms in frustration.

"What? You don't think I can do it, is that it?"

"What? No i-it's just that-"

"I'm here Gohan, just deal with it."

"Well…yeah, but I…" He sighed in resignation. Eren was nothing if not headstrong. There wouldn't be a way to convince him, especially since he was already enlisted.

"Next Cadet! Pay attention!"

Gohan swung around to face the aging man who had called for him. Embarrassed, Gohan quickly made his way over to him, the man's impatience clearly showing.

"Name?"

"Gohan Son."

"Hmmm." He inspected the paperwork in his hand, his eyes raised in surprise at some unseen note. "Keith! You may want to have a look at this."

The drill sergeant walked over and gripped the paper, reading it with great detail.

"Well, well. Cadet Son. Mind explaining to me why it says that you have a medical condition?"

"Uh, what?"

"It says here that you require at least five times as much food as anyone else."

Several cadets who hadn't yet left looked at him with confusion.

"Oh, uh. That."

It had probably been noted by Dr. Jaeger during his stay with them. But what was the issue? The Jaegers hadn't seemed to be very bothered by it when he'd lived with them.

"Just why the hell were you not rejected immediately, Cadet!?"

"Uh…well, I asked Commander Erwin if I could join…and he organised it so…heh heh."

Shadis glared at him. "Is that true?"

"Uh, yes, sir!"

"I'll speak with him then. And see just what the hell is going on." Shadis gave him another glare, but handed him his spare uniforms. "Hut three. Get going!"

…

It hadn't taken Gohan long to unpack, one of the few benefits of owning very little, he supposed. He felt very lucky though, having secured a spot in the same hut as Armin and Eren. Not Mikasa though, as she and the rest of the girls had their own rooms separate from the boys. The huts themselves were quite Spartan in nature, with only the double layered beds as notable features. So Gohan didn't stay for long, instead heading to the cafeteria where many of his new comrades were gathered. They watched as Sasha completed yet another lap of the compound in the distance.

"Man, I thought Shadis was gonna kill potato girl." It was the boy with the buzz-cut, Connie Springer, if Gohan remembered correctly.

"I know, one hell of a first day. It's funny, being told to run till the sun sets didn't seem to bother her nearly as much as losing meal privileges for the next five days." Eren's voice showed no sign of sympathy.

"I think she said she's from Dauper, if I remember right that's a small hunting village up in the mountains."

"Hey, what's that?" Eren pointed towards the horse drawn carriage that was making its way out of the compound.

"They're drop outs. They prefer to work in the fields." Chipped in Mina, one of the few girls who had finished unpacking and arrived. Many of the boys had simply thrown their belongings in their rooms, promising themselves they would simply do it later.

"But, it's only the first day?"

"That's the way it is. If you can't handle the pressure, you gotta leave. I can't believe anyone would rather pull plants than fight."

"I know about some of us, but you never mentioned where you were from Eren."

"The same as Armin, from Shiganshina."

"Oh wow, that means…" It was Marco, one of the aspiring MP's.

"You saw it. You were there that day." Connie stepped in closer, his eyes widening in glee.

"Huh? Come again?"

"The colossal one, did you see him?"

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Hey, guys, food's ready!" Gohan pointed inside with delight, taking particular interest in one which was several times larger than the others. Drool began to pour from his mouth, threatening to form a small lake around his feet. Sprinting inside, he immediately began to devour the mountain of food that way laying before him. Before suddenly stopping.

"It's so…so…bland!"

He groaned loudly before resuming his feast, his mood both rising and dropping with every bite. The rest of the recruits made their way inside, grabbing their own meals before Connie shouted out loud.

"Hey, guys, Eren saw the Colossal Titan!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, okay? I saw the big guy." Eren paused as he drank his soup.

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Exactly how tall was he?"

"He stuck his head over the outer wall."

"Whoa wait, I heard he stepped over the wall completely!"

"So did I."

"That was the rumour in my village, too."

"Nah, he was big, but not that big."

"So what did it look like?" Asked Mina.

"It had a mouth like a corpse, and no skin, just muscles."

"And the armoured Titan? The one that broke through wall Maria."

"Is that what they're calling it? In all the panic, it was just another Titan to me."

"No way! So what were they like?"

Eren flashbacked to seeing Gohan getting grabbed by that smiling monstrosity.

"If you want to know more you'd be better off asking Gohan. He got grabbed by one, after all."

The crowd that had been gathered around Eren all immediately turned to face the monkey tailed boy. Even those who weren't originally listening found their interest peaked.

"Uh…"

"Is it true? That you were grabbed by a Titan?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Really? How did you get out?"

"Um, well I used an…old martial arts technique that I saw my teacher use once."

"Martial arts? How did that help?"

"I managed to slip out of his grip and run."

"Wow."

"Wait, so did you see the Armoured Titan?"

"Yeah, I saw him." The memory of it flashed through his mind. The golden eyes that had locked on his form sent a chill up his body. "I ran right past him."

"What?"

"No way!"

"After he broke through the gate, I was still inside. I followed through the hole he made and he…just looked at me."

"Looked at you?"

"Yeah. He didn't do anything to me just…watched."

"Wow. So what are you going to join? You know, since you've seen Titans and all."

The horrors that he had witnessed in Shiganshina had always plagued him, even two years later he could still vividly recall the blasted skull of the beast that had almost eaten him. Regardless, he knew where his future lay.

"I'm joining the Survey Corps."

"Hey, are you crazy or something? Not that it's my business, but signing up for reconnaissance is like a death sentence." The crowd gathered around Gohan turned and looked at one of the boys on a nearby table. It took a moment, but Gohan remembered him introducing himself as Jean.

"I guess we'll see." It was Eren, cutting off Gohan before he he could retort. "Or at least some of us will. You seem content on hiding in the interior with the MP's."

"Look, I'm just speaking honestly here, kid. I think it's better than being some wannabe tough guy pretending he isn't as piss-scared as the rest of us."

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" Eren shot up from the table.

"Stop it, you guys." Gohan fruitlessly tried to disarm the situation. Eren had always been rather hot-headed in the brief time he had known him before, but it seemed to have gotten worse since then.

"Alright, sure. Makes no difference to me." Jean stood up and faced Eren, their faces inches away from each other. The tense moment was cut off as a bell rang out in the distance, marking that it was time to go to sleep.

"Hey, I apologise. Sorry for calling your friend names and dismissing your choice of career. Put her there, kid. What do ya say?" He held out his hand in apology.

'Maybe Jean isn't so bad?' Gohan thought to himself.

"Right, yeah, I'm sorry as well." Eren slapped away his hand and walked off.

As he left, Mikasa followed, immediately drawing the attention of Jean.

"U-um, excuse me." She stopped and turned to look at him. "I'm uh…I just wanted…I mean, I've never seen anyone like you before. I mean uh…I-I'm sorry. You have really beautiful black hair."

"Thank you." She turned back and continued walking out the door, leaving Jean standing embarrassingly in the middle of the hut. Collecting himself, Jean sprinted outside, pausing just by the steps.

"Would you lay off? It's no big deal."

"It's just that, you get so worked up sometimes you don't think things through."

"Again with this? If you insist on worrying, worry about how long your hair is. It's gonna catch up with you in a bad way when we start working on the 3DMG."

Mikasa clutched a strand of hair in her hand. "Okay, fine. I'll cut it." Jean watched in horror as the beautiful girl walked away with that loud-mouthed, braggart friend of hers. As Connie passed him, Jean slowly wiped his hand across his back.

"What the hell? Leave my clothes alone, damn it. What did you wipe on me?" As Connie fruitlessly scratched at his back, Jean's eyes lost all sign of emotion.

"Don't worry. Just my trust…" Slowly, he walked back inside and took his seat. Eating much slower than he had been before.

As he swallowed the last crumbs of his meal, Gohan found himself in the awkward position of having nobody to talk to. Eren seemed quite mad when he'd walked out so it was probably best if he let him blow off some steam before they talked again. Armin had opened a book and begun to read while nibbling on his meal. That left…everyone else present. The crowd had dispersed after the almost-fight, which meant that he had to approach someone if he wanted to make a friend.

He scanned the room carefully. A lot of them seemed to be quite invested in their meals, finishing them up quickly before they headed back to their rooms. Except for…

"Hey, Jean."

The Jean looked up from his meal, eyeing Gohan with annoyance. "What do you want?"

"Uh, well. I guess I wanted to apologise for Eren. He has a bit of a temper at times, but he's a real good person once you get to know him."

Well, that caught Jean's attention. He'd assumed that he'd been coming over to start a fight like his friend. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad.

"It's alright, I guess. It's not your fault, anyway."

"Great. How about we start over then? I'm Gohan Son from wall Sina."

"Jean Kierstien, Trost."

"Nice to meet you, Jean."

"Likewise…wait a minute, if you're from Sina, what were you doing in Shiganshina?"

"Oh that, heh. Well Dr. Jaeger, Eren's dad, found me unconscious in a forest, south-west of the Karenese district, I think. Anyway, my friends and I, we'd been in a fight and I ended up there somehow. Dr Jaeger took me to his home in Shiganshina were I recovered, and I stayed there while they searched for my mother in wall Sina."

"You were in a fight!? You were a kid! What kind of fight ends with you being stranded in forest?"

"Uh…well he was a really bad guy and…well my dad needed help so he-"

"Your dad brought you!? No offence buddy but your dad sounds like an ass."

"Hey! I wanted to go too! Besides…he saved my life. Even if it cost him his."

'Oh shit.' Jean thought to himself. 'He said his mother, should've seen that coming. Nice going Jean. Quick, change the subject.'

"Uh, sorry. But why not join the MP's? Get back in the interior and find your mom?"

"Well, there are other ways of finding her. I do miss her a lot, you know? But, I have to do something about the Titans. I can't just let them continue to threaten humanity."

"Is that right?" Well, the kid was still an idiot. But at least he wasn't as much of one as his friend. "So then, what can you tell me about that girl he's friends with?"

"Mikasa?"

…

(About three hours later)

"You're still here, hm?"

Turning his head around to see Keith Shadis standing behind him, Gohan felt himself tense up mildly as his platoon commander walked up beside him. Unlike his previous, stern, commanding self, however, Shadis seemed rather calm at the moment, looking passive as he stared at Gohan questioningly.

Gohan couldn't exactly blame him for approaching him, however. Almost everyone, including Eren, Mikasa and Armin had left the field area in the past three hours, with only a handful of Trainees lingering around, chatting idly or thinking about their current dilemma. Gohan was among the few who stayed behind to do the latter, though his thoughts were different from what most would expect.

In response to Keith's question, Gohan gave a shy nod, and Keith snorted. "Needed to clear your mind in an area far from the rowdier recruits, hm?"

"Yes sir…" answered Gohan , not exactly, the beautiful greenery around the entire training camp reminded him of the forest back at Mount Poazu, it gave him a sinking feeling of homesickness, though he had no real time to put any real thought into it until now. Keith, rather thankfully, seemed to understand, or at least thought he did, what Gohan was going through, as he gave a small nod.

"Get back to your side of the barracks within the hour, Cadet," he ordered, turning to face the much shorter boy, who in turn tilted his head up to stare at the commander, noting that he had a stern expression befitting of his position once more. "Tomorrow will not be as easy as today."

"Yes sir" was his response as Keith turned on his heel and walked off, hands still behind his back. Watching as Keith walked off, Gohan eventually went back to his usual thoughts whenever he was alone and undisturbed, thinking about his friends and family as he stared out at the slowly darkening sky.

It was unavoidable, to be sure. Whenever he was alone and the place he was in was relatively silent, all of Gohan's thoughts would inevitably drift towards the people he loved the most.

His thoughts regarding his loved ones were almost always the same. 'I hope your all safe?', 'how is Mom?', or is everyone else looking for me?', these were among the most common questions which he asked himself. However, the more recent question was: 'could I have prevented this from happening if I had killed Cell when he was vulnerable…?'

'No…' came a new thought as he sighed and lowered his head. 'Now isn't a time to dwell on these thoughts. Not when I have other things to deal with.'

With that in mind, and after giving a soft sigh, Gohan got himself ready to leave the field, noting how the sun had already set over the horizon, and how he was pretty much the only person left in the area, only to hear a loud yell near the back of the mess hall. Out of curiosity and concern, he moved to check it out.

Apparently the ruckus was made by Sasha Blouse, whom Gohan was led to assume had been let off the hook for running by Keith, and some other, short, blonde girl. The 'Potato Girl', as the entire cafeteria had come to know Sasha as, had bread crumbs lining the edges of her lips and appeared to be passed out, her head resting on the blonde's lap. The blonde girl, on the other hand, appeared worried for her wellbeing.

"S-Sasha!" she muttered, gently shaking the body of the brunette in an attempt to wake her up to no avail. Her facial features then hardened when she realized that Blouse was not getting up anytime soon as she turned her head from side to side. And, rather impressively, she had spotted Gohan almost instantly in spite of him being rather concealed in the darkness, prompting her to widen her large blue eyes as she addressed him. "H-Hey, you! Could you lend a hand…?"

Rather instinctively Gohan stepped out of the corner he had peeked out of and came into full view of the blonde. She considered him for a while before squishing her lips together and slinging Sasha's arm around her neck and standing herself up, though she was rather obviously struggling to life her up on her own. "Could you help me lift her back to the barracks? I don't think I can do it on my own…"

"Sure, of course." As he spoke, Gohan had moved up in front of the little blonde and grabbed Sasha off the ground with the greatest of ease, much to the shock of the blonde, who stopped talking by then. Without much issue, Gohan slung Sasha over his shoulder as though she were a ragdoll, an action which made the blonde widen her light blue eyes. It was rather justified, but soon her initial shock faded away and was replaced with a smile.

"Thank you… Mr…" she began, only to start trailing off when she realized she didn't know his name. The Demi-sayian noticed this and decided to give it to her.

"Gohan Son," he said with a smile, adjusting his grip on the unconscious Sasha on his shoulder as he spoke. "You Don't have to call me mister, you can just call me Gohan." He said with a warm smile.

"Ah, thank you for this, Gohan," thanked the blonde as she gave a rigid bow. Gohan blushed ever so slightly, unused to the formal respect this girl was showing him. Gohan waved and turned on his heel to get the Potato Girl back to the barracks, though the short blonde stopped him before he could leave. "Wait, I must ask, are you doing this out of the goodness of your heart…or do you have an ulterior motive?"

Gohan looked back at the girl, confused at first but then caught on to what she meant. "Well I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do." He simply gave her a warm smile, but apparently it made the blonde blush. Sasha then let out a groan that reminded Gohan about the task at hand. "I should probably get going, it was nice meeting you, see you later."

Before leaving the fields. Whilst he walked off, the boy missed the sight of Christa as he walked off she couldn't help but look at his furry tail as boy walked, She couldn't help but he amazed by it, how a human can have a tail

"Was it really worth it, Christa?" came a new voice once Gohan was out of sight. The voice was a female one for sure, making the blonde, Christa, tense up, though only for a moment before she turned around to see a tall, tanned and freckled young woman, wearing standard casual attire. She had a discerning look on her face as she addressed her. "You risked a lot to help that buffoon, you know?"

"Well, she was running all day long…" protested Christa as she craned her neck up to look the taller woman in the eye. "It was the least I could do to keep her from dying from hunger…"

"Was it a good deed, though, one which was done out of the goodness of your heart… or do you have an ulterior motive?" asked the taller lady, echoing what Christa had asked Gohan before he left with Sasha in a somewhat mocking tone. Christa's cheeks lit up when she was asked that.

"It was, Ymir!" replied Christa. "I have no ulterior motives for Sasha Blouse! I was simply doing what I thought was just!"

"And do you reckon that Monkey Boy was doing it out of the goodness of his heart, or he had some ulterior motives of his own?" questioned the taller lady, Ymir, making sure to emphasis the two words. Christa went silent before she issued her answer.

"I… do not know…" admitted Christa, still feeling a little antsy about that boy as she broke eye contact with her tall friend, prompting Ymir to give a mocking snort. However, she did add; "But… I do not believe that he will bring any harm upon Sasha. He very kind I believe he means well…"

"Always seeing the best in others," grumbled Ymir, rolling her eyes as she slapped an arm around Christa's shoulders and began tugging her off towards the barracks. "Now come on, let's get moving! Don't wanna be caught around here after hours, now do we?"

Christa simply remained silent as they walked, not thinking much on the random conversation starters Ymir had attempted. She simply thought about one thing, something which sent a shiver up her spine as she wondered if she made a mistake by allowing Gohan to take Sasha.

…

Feeling a nervous Gohan knocked on the girl's barracks, Gohan found that no one had come to answer it. Perhaps due to there being a lot of noise inside, the half-sayian thought, so he knocked again, this time knocking perhaps a little too hard as the doors shook a tad on that one.

What followed were a few seconds of silence before the door slowly creaked open, revealing the face of a freckled girl with long ginger hair. The girl seemed surprised that it was a fellow Trainee, not a platoon commander, who had knocked on the door with that much force, and perhaps even more so when she saw Sasha Blouse slung over his shoulder.

"Can… I help you?" asked the girl rather awkwardly as she opened the door to the barracks a little wider, allowing Gohan to see inside a little more. Granted, he didn't really need or want to look into an entire barrack full of girls who were dressed in casual wear, though he did catch a glimpse of Mikasa. The former saw him as well and gave a nod, one which Gohan responded with by giving a small nod, while the latter stared at him in amusement, though immediately after that, he removed Sasha from his shoulder and passed her to the ginger.

"She…uh passed out," said Gohan, short and simple as the ginger wrapped her arms around Sasha' sweaty waist, giving a somewhat disgusted "Eck" as she did, and nodded.

"So, you got her back, eh? That's sweet of you," siad the girl with a friendly smile. Gohan scratched the back of his head and smiled shyly "Oh…uh Someone asked me to, so I helped them bring her back," he replied.

"But you helped out of the goodness of your heart, hm?" retorted the ginger, still holding Sasha by the waist and getting sweat all over her arms in the process. The Potato Girl seemed oblivious, however, simply snoring through the entire conversation. Gohan scratched the back of head once again. "I should back to my barrack, good night. Said the sayian as he waved and moved on to the boys barracks, prompting the ginger to give a gentle chuckle before she dragged Sasha over to her bed while another girl helped her shut the door.

Moments later, Ymir and Christa entered the barracks. The former appeared as casual as she usually was, though the latter did seem a little on edge, at least until she noticed Sasha laying down on her bed. The Potato Girl was so sweaty that her bed had ended up getting a little soaked, so much so that the one who shared the bed with her opted to sleep on the floor that night.

"See… I told you he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart!" whisper-shouted Christa to Ymir, who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

…

(Over by the other side of camp, boys barracks)

Hey Gohan where've you been?" were the first four words which greeted the half-sayian as soon as he stepped foot into the boy's side of the barracks. They were proclaimed by Eren who had immediately rushed up to greet him when he heard the door creaked open. Eren then led Gohan towards the bunker bed they shared with Armin who was currently reading the last few pages of his book.The Said bed was a little crowded, with Armin speaking to at least three new faces who were all gathered there.

"Oh Gohan," proclaimed Armin who sat up and closed his book "Where were you? You said you'd stay behind to get some fresh air and that you'd be back within the hour! It's been two."

His response. "I needed more fresh air, I guess.

Eren himself gave an amused laugh at the response Gohan had given while Armin snickered a tad. The three who had gathered on their bed joined in on the laughter, though they had left before long when a platoon commander told all the boys in the barrack to get some shut eye.

And Gohan had no problems sleeping on that day.

…

"It's aptitude test time, so listen up! There is no place for you here if you cannot perform! Fail, and be shipped to the fields." Shadis's voice began its ever present booming as several cadets lined up to attempt the 3DMG practice exercises.

Gohan was among the first in line and was quickly strapped into position.

"Raise him up!"

At the command of Shadis, he was steadily raised up. And Gohan…was perfect.

'Hey, it's just like flying normally!'

He giggled to himself in exuberance as he held position with ease.

"Well done, Cadet Son. Perfect form."

Gohan flashed Shadis a wry grin as he hovered, yet unsurprisingly received no similar response.

"You know, cadet…I spoke to Erwin about you."

A look of confusion overcame his face.

"He had some very interesting things to say about you, but he did verify your appetite."

The smile graced his lips once more. Yes! He could eat normally!

"But there is one thing you must know. If you are going to eat as much as five adults, then you will be at least five times the soldier!"

He gave a subtle nod and two instructors came up from behind Gohan. Without warning, he was shoved forwards forcefully.

"Whoa."

He was caught off guard momentarily, however as he approached the ground he collected himself. He tucked in his head and complete the flip, swinging round until he was once again upright.

Hushed murmurs made their way through the crowd.

"Whoa."

"He just corrected himself."

"Very impressive, Son, now hold that position."

"Huh? Whoa, WHOA!"

The instructors began to aggressively shake his wires, attempting to make him fall. Gohan was wise to their act though, and with a little orientation of his hips, and a meagre exercise of Ki, he remained perfectly still with ease.

The soldier and his comrade from the day prior returned, inspecting the recruits once more.

"We're just drilling the fundamentals here. You can still determine a cadet's knack for it just by watching. Like him." The soldier nodded in the direction of Gohan, with whom the instructors were growing increasingly aggravated. "Completely steady. He inherently knows what to do and how to make it happen, but I've never in my life seen anyone show such skill before. It's as if he'd been using 3DM gear his entire life. That's what aptitude is all about." Looking down the line of the machines, the soldier was pleased to note that many were performing admirably. "I would say we have several capable cadets this year."

His comrade pointed to the side. "And what about this guy?"

Eren was strung uselessly upside down on his wires. Feeling the blood rush painfully to his head.

He adjusted his glasses with a small grin. "That is precisely why we run these tests. He proves that drive and dedication do not always translate into capability." As they walked off, the senior instructor noted the two figures on the ridge. It seemed that their guests would be sticking around.

"What is your major malfunction, Jaeger? Straighten yourself up!"

The other recruits waiting in line gave hushed chuckles at his misfortune,

'Why am I…? How do I work this thing? This can't be happening.'

"Just remember the basics and you'll be fine. No need to try any fancy manoeuvres. Just focus on your balance. Then distribute the weight evenly between the belts on your waist and your legs." Eren gave absolute attention to Mikasa as she spoke, ignoring Gohan as he double checked his straps.

"Loosen up your stance a little bit. If I can do it, I know that you can." Despite his attempts at encouragement, Armin merely made Eren feel rather embarrassed.

As he finished, Gohan stepped out of the way and took his place by Mikasa. "Remember, small adjustments. Or you'll throw yourself off."

"Okay, a loose stance, but balanced. Let's give it a shot, Armin."

Armin nodded to him, and began winding the crank to winch Eren up. Almost immediately after he was in the air, Eren began to tip.

"Don't over adjust!"

Gohan tried to help, but it was in vain. Backwards, forwards, backwards, then forwards until his head hit the ground painfully

…

"Hey, Daz, he was talking about joining the scouts but he got real quiet after 3DM training, didn't he?"

"I guess it's the fields for him tomorrow. Can't keep wasting food on the useless."

Eren continued to give his thousand mile stare while others in the room quietly mocked him. Until Mikasa's hand slapped down on his shoulder and brought him out of his stupor.

"Eren."

Armin tried to cheer up his friend. "Worrying won't solve a thing. There's still time to get some practice in come morning."

"How pathetic. How am I supposed to kill them if I can't even stand up straight?"

"It might be time to let that dream die." Mikasa's statement hung heavy in the air.

"What do you mean?"

"I think you should give up this attempt to be a soldier. There's a lot more to fighting and combat than just throwing your life away in vain."

"What are you saying? After everything we saw that day? After leaving Gohan to die? You're crazy if you think I'm just gonna walk away."

At the mention of his name Gohan tried to shrink into his clothes. He couldn't help but feel culpable for Eren's attitude.

"I get it, but it doesn't matter how determined you are."

"It-wait, what do you mean?"

"Because whether or not you are fit to be a soldier isn't up to you."

The compound's bell rang again, leaving many recruits to begin packing up their dishes.

"You misunderstand. I'm not saying you should return to the fields by yourself, I wouldn't dream of it. Because wherever you go, I'm gonna go with you."

Mikasa looked back at Eren, only to find that he'd left and his seat had been claimed by Sasha.

"So uh, are you saying that you're not going to finish that?"

She pointed to a small loaf of bread that was still resting on the table, though it was instantly snatched away by Gohan who stuffed half of it in his mouth. Sasha looked at him crest-fallen, guilt working its way into mind before his rumbling stomach began to drown it out. After a second glance at her however, Gohan ripped off a piece that hadn't been in his mouth and passed it to her. True, it was only a small piece, but for Gohan that had been very difficult to do.

After finishing up any remaining leftovers in the dining hut, Gohan wandered around the compound looking for his friends. He spotted Eren and Armin leaving one of the huts, the former looking (very?) dejected.

"Hey guys, where were you?"

Eren was too miserable to answer, so Armin took the lead. "We went to see Jean and Connie for advice, it…didn't work out."

"Oh." Well that explained why Eren looked so disheartened. "Why didn't you ask me?"

"Well…we already tried it with your help so, we kind of wanted to see if anyone else had other tips."

He could respect that in a sense. As a martial artist, there was almost always something that could be learned from anyone. But as his friend, Gohan did feel slightly hurt that Eren would give up so easily. Still, since he was present.

"What about meditation?"

"Huh?" Eren had snapped out of his trance and was staring at Gohan in bewilderment. "How would meditation help?"

"Well my first martial arts teacher taught me to do it. He said that to achieve mastery over one's body, one must have mastery over one's mind."

"Really?"

"Well, actually he said 'shut up and meditate'. But that's what he meant."

"Gohan, I know you want to help and all but-"

"Push me."

"What?"

"Push me."

Eren glanced over at Armin, who looked likewise confused. With a shrug, Eren stepped forwards and shoved Gohan's shoulder. Embracing the movement, Gohan pivoted his body with it, his feet unmoving.

"Notice how I didn't stumble? Try again."

Eren shoved him again, achieving the same result. Again and again he pushed his friend, but Gohans feet never shifted.

"See? C'mon, I'll show you how to meditate."

He led the two off to a secluded section of the woods before sitting them down.

"Okay. First take a deep breath…"

…

Eren stood nervously as he was strapped into his machine, Shadis's gaze levelled solely on him.

"Eren Jaeger. Are you ready?"

"Yes sir." 'I'm going to do it. I have to. I may not be as talented as the rest, but nobody, nobody has more guts.'

"Proceed." At the order, the winch was turned and Eren began to rise into the air.

'The moment of truth. I won't fail again. To hell with working in the fields, I'm not giving up! Not without a fight!' He struck his arms out as balance, holding position for several seconds as the crowd cheered for him. 'I did it? No, I'm doing it!' A whining could be heard as he began to wobble back and forth.

'NO!' Gohan screamed in his mind. 'Adjust! Adjust!'

Eren tried for several seconds to remain balanced, yet he continued to wobble back and forth violently. Shadis narrowed his eyes at the boy before barking out two simple words.

"Lower him."

"No! Not yet! Once more, I can do it!"

His pleas were ignored as his feet returned to solid ground.

"I…I'm finished…"

"Wagner, please exchange belts with Cadet Jaeger."

"Huh? Uh, yes sir!"

After swapping belts, Eren was lifted up again. Only to…find no trouble whatsoever. He felt light as a leaf. Like he could walk on the air. Like he was one with himself.

"Your equipment was defective. If given a piece of functional gear you might not be worthless after all." He held out the belt for Eren to see. "Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the supply depot and crack a couple skulls."

Murmurs swept through the throng of onlookers.

"He still did it, even while wearing that broken gear."

"Amazing."

"So you mean I…I didn't wash out?"

"You made the cut. Now keep training, Cadet."

'I did it! I really did it! Check it out, Mikasa, I'm doing it! I can fight the Titans. You don't have to worry about me. Not anymore.'

"Look, his eyes are saying 'check me out out'." Armin beamed at his friend.

"They're not. His eyes are saying he doesn't have to leave me. Not anymore." Mikasa continued to watch her foster brother, her face emotionless.

Gohan smiled brightly at his 'pupil', locking eyes and giving him a proud thumbs up. Eren returned it without hesitation, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

Shadis watched as Eren celebrated, nary a care in the world. 'Grisha. Today should bring you pride. Your son is a soldier.'