I live, I die, I live again [Eren J.]

2: The 104th Idiot Corps

The Demon Slayer Corps hadn't been a formal military organization, per se.

There had been no specific branch that was tasked with formal, standardized training. Cultivators of Breath styles took on students to pass on their craft, and slayer-hopefuls who did not land themselves such a mentor usually had training from within the ranks or, in rare cases, were entirely self-taught.

The closest thing that there was to a formal training camp was the sadistic amalgamation of "training" that the Pillars (herself included) had put the lower ranks through just before Muzan's attack on Ubayashiki Manor. Even then, those who had come to them were not only full-fledged demon slayers but (mostly) battle-hardened veterans.

That distinction was probably why it was pretty damn funny to Mikoto how the Commandant of the 104th Southern Cadet Training Corps was attempting to scream combat stress acclimation and backbone into a bunch of snot-nosed fifteen-year-olds.

" Listen up! I've seen a lot of shit in my time, but you are the sorriest pieces of shit I've ever seen! " The tall bald man yelled as he marched down the lines. Eyes zeroing in on his next victim, he stopped before a tall boy just the row in front of her. " Who are you?! "

" Jean Kirstein, from Trost! " The boy with the ash brown hair repiled.

" What are you doing here?! " Mikoto couldn't see the smirk on the boy's face from her position but she certainly heard it in his reply.

" Joining the Military Police for a life deep within the walls. "

The redhead bit down harshly on the inside of her cheek to swallow her laughter when the instructor headbutted the boy.

Despite her initial amusement, Mikoto began to tune out the barks of the Commandant soon enough. It was funny the first few times but watching brats being put into their place got old when she wasn't the one spitting burns. So, she let her gaze fall to the side in search of stimulation to ease her out of mind-numbing boredom when movement from her right caught her eye.

It was a girl, of average height, with brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and brown eyes of the same shade. She was all-around unremarkable to the eye. After all, it wasn't the girl's appearance that had caught Mikoto's eye but rather the potato she had pulled from who-knows-where within her standard-issue jacket.

Was this bitch for real?

Mikoto raised an eyebrow as she side-eyed the brunette. Slowly, but entirely conspicuously, the brunette raised the potato to her lips and took a giant (loud) bite. Mikoto cackled internally.

The Potato Bitch was for real!

And it seemed like she caught more than just Mikoto's attention.

" Hey, you... What are you doing? " Instructor Skullface looked so unbalanced that Mikoto would've snickered if she wasn't within his line of sight. The situation was so ridiculous that the man completely forgot to even yell.