"I'll do anything to get that life back."
WHAT IS THE COST OF ATONEMENT?
When two highschool volleyball players from Miyagi prefecture go missing, nobody knows what truly happened to them.
Somewhere in another world, the Scout Regiment makes one of...
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POV: NARRATOR.
The sun rose over the horizon, or at least - whatever was left of a horizon from behind the walls - and preparations to leave were made. The boys got out of bed, and it was silent. The atmosphere felt too tense, too full of the weight of their future. They all knew that this day would mark the beginning of their mission to return home. It was an oddly mundane affair, but it didn't fail to make everyone somewhat nervous nonetheless.
It started with a small breakfast, tables split into groups of six. Erwin, Hange, Tetsurou, Keiji, Levi, and Miche all sat together at one, where the other six sat at another beside them. The food was bland and sparse compared to the previous day's meal- each had a half loaf of bread.
The table which seated the named individuals was notably more stiff than the other. The group felt diplomatic at most. Uncomfortably dry pleasantries were exchanged between Erwin and the two teenagers, and the small talk quickly turned into a thinly disguised battle for conversational dominance. The other three sitting at the table could do nothing but watch as tension built up.
"So, how did the training go yesterday, boys? I don't think I had the chance to ask," The commander questioned, his curiosity almost seeming genuine. But both Tetsurou and Keiji were smart enough to see past it.
"I feel that we've all finally had the opportunity to put our skills to use," Keiji answered in his usual blunt, yet vague fashion. Although you can tell that he was clearly skirting around the real question Erwin wanted to ask- and Keiji wanted to avoid answering.
"That's good to hear. Tetsurou, what about you?" Erwin redirected to the teen mentioned, who was absentmindedly tracing his finger along the grooves on the wooden plate.
"Oh, it was interesting seeing the difference between Section Commander Hange and Captain Levi's training styles and movements. I was certainly quite pleased at the given chance to improve my capabilities," Tetsurou answered, adding in the last sentence to shove his apparent, yet really unnecessarily expansive vocabulary. Levi rolled his eyes at this, and placed his teacup down on the table.
"How much longer are you morons going to keep this up? Erwin, just ask them if they'll spy for us or not. I doubt any of them changed their minds overnight," The captain snapped, the two teens shrinking a little under his tone. Erwin let out a defeated sigh, but the smile on his face never left. But all the underlying fakeness faded away, and for once Keiji saw something in the commander's eyes he hadn't seen before.
Something along the lines of compassion.
"So, will you consider being a spy for the Scout Regiment?" He asked, his voice gentle and expecting. Keiji decided to give his answer first.
"I've already answered this, but I'm afraid it will continue to be no," The aquamarine-eyed teen answered, and once again he fell into the habit of fidgeting with his fingers.
