𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓.ᴀɴɴɪᴇ ʟᴇᴏɴʜᴀʀᴅᴛ, ᴍɪᴋᴀꜱᴀ ᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴍᴀɴ

『𝟏𝟕』𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍-𝐓𝐎-𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐒

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟖𝐓𝐇, 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐓 𝟏𝟖:𝟒𝟖

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

  "Now that you've completed your training, you have three choices."

  'Finally, tonight's the night... er, wait, no -it's technically the night before the night, it just feels like it.'

  The past three years of hard and gruelling training had all been for this very moment when it was all over; tomorrow -on the ninth of May, 850- you would graduate. Today had been, to no one's surprise, one of the hardest training days you had ever experienced -with the single exception of maybe the first few weeks or so when your body was simply getting used to its new daily routine- so, as you and your comrades stood before Shadis in single file lines, your body partially ached with a small soreness that served as a reminder to the abuse; Annie's personal training probably didn't help that much either.

  As of current, those who had ranked the top ten of your year stood before Shadis, five of them on either side of him in order of highest to lowest; the order from first to tenth was Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Annie Leonhardt, Eren Jaeger, Jean Kirstein, Marco Bodt, Connie Springer, Sasha Blouse, and Krista Lenz. Out of all the three hundred and fifty cadets, you had scored sixteenth place; it was a score that wasn't exactly the best or that acknowledged by others, but it was by no means the worst at all, 'I scored within the top five percent, anyways -which, in all honesty, is plenty good enough for me.'

  "The Garrison, who reinforces the Walls and protects all of the towns inside of them," sounded Shadis' informing voice, dulling out in the open space he was provided with but still easily able to be heard, "The Survey Corps, who's prepared to sacrifice their lives outside the Walls by going against the titans in their own territory, and the Military Police, who exercises control over the king's subjects and maintains order. Of course, out of you raw recruits, the only ones who can join the Military Police..." he spoke with a slight pause, casting his gaze over to the lining of soldiers standing tall before him -a glint in his golden eyes that was somewhat softer than the look he normally gave to his pupils, although you supposed that the lighting could have played a big part in your perception as he continued, "...are the ten with the highest scores."

  You found yourself spacing in and out of the words flowing past his mouth, mind fogging over with other matters as you couldn't bring yourself to fully concentrate; your eyes were trained on him in that complicit stare a soldier typically gave their commanding officer, and your ears were picking up on every syllable that escaped him -you just did not have the power to process your senses at the moment, unconscious to the world in all ways except phenotypically.

  Lingering your hues on your girlfriend standing in the first rank place -specifically on the necklace that hung visibly from below her scarf as it glittered smally in the dim lighting- you let your orbs skip two people over to your close friend in fourth place, her staring blankly forwards with her lightened pools as she seemed to listen to Shadis continue his spiel.

  Nothing much was really said on her part when you had informed her that you and Mikasa were still together; she had seemed to frown momentarily at how easily you gave in however, which planted a little seedling consisting of something along the lines of discomfort that only grew with the passage of time, 'And I'm still not sure why; I feel like I almost let Annie down in a sense...'

  You felt the feeling sprout up in your chest again, flourishing wholly until you tried your best to push it down, 'I don't know what's going on with me, Annie doesn't seem upset about it so why am I so focused on the fact that I didn't really do what she said? Am I worried that I'm being a bad friend? It was my choice to make...'