Yourself

Whatever it takes

The next day Reiner returned to serving. The very moment he appeared in the HQ he was sent to the training area. He felt like a cadet once again, the bunch of higher ups were watching him training, studying the way he copes with the training track, each of them obviously judging him.

It only made Reiner more uncomfortable. However, no matter how lost and distracted his mind was, his body was going through the hurdles automatically perfect.
His body remembered and performed each movement on its own, without him even thinking much. He used to go through this so much during childhood and struggled being not strong enough and not tall enough. Now it was just... nothing special. Reiner grew up into tall and bulky young man, his muscles were ready for probably any kind of challenge.

He finished the track even faster than the required time and stopped to catch his breath. He carefully looked at the higher ups who stared at him and following each of his movement.

They're evaluating me. Want to know whether I am still capable - he thought.

His eyes accidentally met Zeke's. The man looked more relaxed than other, and he obviously paid less attention to Reiner than the others. As if he already knew it all, as if this little "show" didn't matter and everything was already decided.

Reiner left the training area, brooding. His eyes quickly studied the surrounding of the base, which he has already managed to slightly forget.

He felt being watched, all the time. He didn't dare to look at the windows of the HQ, being afraid that he would accidentally meet with somebody's eyes staring at him, judging him.

He then rushed to the showers area, adjacent to barracks. He wanted to get clean after training, but most of all he wanted to hide at least for a few seconds. He stood under shower for a little too long, gathering his thoughts. Reiner finally got out of shower and put on his uniform. He wasn't used to that. It felt so off.

The young man pulled up the red armband and looked at himself in the mirror. He definitely got slightly smaller since the time he returned from Paradis. Those 3 months of being locked took a toll on him and, well, now it wasn't better. With a heavy sigh, Reiner left the showers and dragged his feel in the direction of the HQ.

The news that the Union of Eastern States, a new confederation of nations created, according to Commander Zeke, with the sole purpose of stopping Marley's expansion, and their country were on the brink of a diplomatic crisis, came as a real shock.

Word of the outcome of the extraordinary warriors' meeting that had taken place that morning spread among the barracks' personnel with the same speed as an epidemic. Despite the highest ranks of the army and Marley's political leaders' best efforts to hide the loss of two of the Titans, they had not been able to prevent the news from leaking. They had no idea who the culprit was—whether it was a spy within the government agencies or even if the new queen of Paradis and her soldiers were responsible. The fact remained that the nations, which had long resented Marley's military and political hegemony, had seized the opportunity to wage war, and the person publicly blamed for this sudden turn of events was Reiner.

He was openly judged by the top ranks of the army as the sole responsible for the disastrous choices made during his years as an infiltrator in Paradis, which had led to Marley losing two of its most valuable population defense weapons.

Suddenly, his faults were no longer a ghost he had to face alone, but became the weapon wielded by an entire nation against him. The army's leadership considered his conduct during the mission so disgraceful and harmful to all of humanity that they deemed it necessary to expedite the transfer of the Armored Titan to a more deserving warrior.