My Inner Demons: The Rise of a Devil

Chapter 10: Alone without him

(104th Cadet Corps)

While Y/n was on his first mission, the cadets were going through a normal day of training. The day began like normal. They woke up, ate breakfast, and assembled for morning exercise. Shadis put them through increasingly difficult regimens to increase their endurance and tenacity. He wanted every one of them to become the best versions of themselves and this was the way to do it. He had already figured out the varying strengths and weaknesses of each and often caught himself comparing them to Y/n.

Armin was gifted with intelligence but lacked physical prowess, Eren had terrifying amounts of dedication and average physical abilities, Reiner was a beast of a human and boasted physical prowess while being someone his fellows could continuously rely on, and Bertholdt showed promise but he lacked initiative, and Annie was second only to Mikasa in terms of physical prowess but her weakness lay in her ability to work well with others. Sasha and Conny were the goofballs of the group, often getting caught slacking off which found them at the mercy of Shadis, but they had excellent agility and critical thinking skills.

Jean was an excellent leader but not great at taking constructive criticism, often misinterpreting the words of his peers. Marco was average across the board, not showing any outstanding traits. Samuel and Daz were in the same category as Marco, but Daz was a spineless coward. Ymir had abilities comparable to Reiner but her lack of empathy was her undoing. Krista was by far the weakest in terms of physical and mental capabilities, her kindness to everyone proving that fact. She was simply too nice.

Mikasa had zero flaws whatsoever. Since Y/n left, she had risen to fill the position left by his absence as the top of her class. She worked well with others, took criticism as a learning experience, and demonstrated superior mental focus and physical strength. Shadis was impressed by how well she was doing and had high hopes for her.

The one thing he didn't know was how affected she was by Y/n leaving. In many ways, it did her good to not be around him so much, but it also made her lose focus because her mind was occupied with thoughts of him.

Armin: Hey Mikasa, you're distracted again.

Mikasa looked up from her breakfast and saw that most of the cadets she knew were looking at her strangely.

Mikasa: I was?

Armin: Yeah. Jean was asking if you wanted to be his partner for joint training today.

Mikasa: Really?

Jean: I know I'm no Y/n, but I'm not that bad, I promise.

Mikasa stared dead-eyed at Jean's lame flirting attempt, causing him to chuckle nervously. It was blatantly obvious that Jean had a thing for her, everyone knew.

Mikasa: Sure, why not?

Jean: Really?

Mikasa: Yeah.

Jean was at a loss for words. She'd never wanted to partner up with anyone except for Y/n, so this was a surprise to him, but one he welcomed. When breakfast was over the cadets were called to the training grounds. Mikasa and Jean paired up and prepared to train.

Jean adopted a battle stance with the wooden practice blade he was given. Mikasa avoided eye contact and also got into a stance. Jean could tell her mind wasn't in place at the moment, which concerned him. Usually, Mikasa was quiet and composed. The quiet part still held but her composure was gone.

Jean: You okay Mikasa? You seem a little out of it.

Mikasa: Im fine.

Jean: You sure?