The morning of departure dawned with the usual leaden sky. In a corner of the training ground, Yeager Eren slid his practice blade back into its sheath. A special morning, yet the sky offered no blessing. Well, that was just how it was. [serious] Outside the wall again today, huh. Outside the wall. A realm of death where Titans roamed. In the half-year since joining the Survey Corps, he'd been on several expeditions beyond the walls and watched countless comrades get devoured by Titans. The crunching sound of bones being crushed, severed limbs spinning through the air—he'd grown used to it all. Not that he'd truly gotten used to it. Just that some part of his heart had gone numb. His breath misted white. The weight of the ODM gear harness biting into his shoulders drove home the reality of the death trap they were heading into. Fifteen kilograms of iron and gas canisters in total. The thought that he was entrusting his life to this thing always left a cold knot in the pit of his stomach. Beyond Eren's gaze, past the training ground, the Wall loomed. Fifty meters high, its top a full five meters thick—a colossal rampart broad enough for soldiers to walk along. Three such Walls encircled humanity's territory in concentric rings: the outermost Wall Maria, the middle Wall Rose, and the innermost Wall Sina protecting the royal capital of Mitras. All told, they partitioned some seven hundred twenty thousand square kilometers of land. Someone had once said that was about one-point-nine times the size of Japan, but Eren, who knew nothing of the world beyond the Walls, couldn't quite grasp it. Still, it was a fact that these Walls had brought a hundred and twenty years of peace. Well, at least until the Colossal Titan smashed through Shiganshina District five years ago. Eren stared at his right hand. A scar remained there, still vivid—a memento from his trainee days when he'd first started using ODM gear and misjudged the timing of his wire launch, slamming straight into the ground. The device consisted of wire launchers on both hips, a gas propulsion unit on the back, and blades forged from ultra-hard steel. Mastering it took at least half a year. Even now, it was said that only about twenty percent of all soldiers could handle it properly. [excited] Eren! What're you spacing out for! His fellow soldier, Springer Connie, came bounding over with his usual springy gait. A short man with a distinctive shaved-and-clipped buzz cut. Always cheerful, he was the mood-maker who lightened the atmosphere wherever he went. [serious] Nothing. Just thinking. [laughing] It's about revenge, isn't it! Your eyes always change color the second you see a Titan! Eren gave a wry smile. True enough—his head was full of nothing else. The Titan that ate his mother. That day five years ago, when the Wall at Shiganshina was breached, he hadn't been able to save her. The Colossal Titan had kicked a hole in the Wall, and the ones that poured in through it had crushed his house, pulverized his mother's lower body, and then—like someone gnawing on a piece of fruit—crunched, crunched— Just remembering it made the back of his throat burn hot. Revenge. That alone was what had driven Eren forward. [angry] Yeah. I'll kill every last one of them. [sarcastic] Scary stuff, man... Connie shrugged. Just then, the air shifted subtly. Ackerman Mikasa walked quietly toward the two of them. Her long, straight black hair swayed in the morning breeze, and her cool, jade-colored eyes were fixed solely on Eren. She stood about a hundred sixty-five centimeters tall. Her frame, clad in the Survey Corps uniform, was slender—yet within it lay a terrifying degree of combat prowess. Among their cohort, no one could match her. She was Eren's childhood friend. They had grown up together, always. [gentle] Eren. I'm ready. Her voice was as flat and unreadable as ever. But Eren understood. She worried about him more than anything else. Proof of that was how Mikasa's gaze flicked to the scar on his right arm, her brow twitching for just an instant. [serious] Yeah, no problems here. Eren answered curtly. Mikasa looked like she still had something to say, but she closed her mouth. In the end, it was always like this. She was a worrier, always trying to protect him. But because Eren would get irritated, she'd end up saying nothing. A cycle that repeated endlessly. —This was our everyday life. Training was harder than usual. Deep within the Forest of Giant Trees—a primeval woodland sprawling roughly thirty kilometers southwest of Wall Maria—they conducted simulated combat using their ODM gear. The forest was dense with colossal trees soaring over eighty meters tall, making it an ideal place to fire their wires. But for that very reason, it was also dangerous. On actual expeditions, Titans frequently lay in ambush in this forest. Eren kicked off a tree trunk and launched his wires. The hiss of gas propelling him forward. His body floated into the air, then swung to the next tree. He didn't dislike this sensation of weightlessness. Yet, in the back of his mind, he was always thinking—what if a Titan appeared here, right now? [excited] Raaah! Kirschtein Jean, another of their cohort, swung a practice blade down at Eren from behind. Eren twisted his body on reflex and braked hard with his wires. He could feel the gas being consumed in a single burst. The needle on his fuel gauge crept steadily downward. [angry] You trying to kill me for real?! [sarcastic] No point if I don't go all-out, is there, Mr. Death-Wish? Jean smirked and vanished back up into the canopy. An infuriating bastard, but he wasn't wrong. Survey Corps training was a life-or-death affair. Slack off, and you'd die that much faster when it counted. It was as simple as that. And in truth, the Survey Corps' mortality rate was obscene. The citizens inside the Walls called them "tax thieves" and "a pack of death-seekers," convinced that whatever intel the expeditions gathered had nothing to do with them. Eren and the others went beyond the Walls each time prepared to die, just to prove their own worth. Meanwhile, inside the Walls, the corrupt Military Police—the privileged class charged with maintaining internal order—sat on their asses. That organization, open only to the elite who graduated in the top ten of the Training Corps, was rumored to be in bed with the nobility, embezzling Wall repair budgets and skimming food rations meant for refugees. What a joke, Eren thought. But right now, the training in front of him mattered more than any of that. Gritting his teeth, Eren fired up his ODM gear once more. By evening, the sky had turned strange. Just as Eren and the others finished training and started heading back to the barracks, the western sky was swallowed by pitch-black clouds, and distant thunder began to rumble. The wind turned abruptly cold, and the branches of the giant trees creaked ominously. [scared] Crap, looks like it's gonna pour any second. [serious] We'll disperse and head back. Staying clustered makes us a target for lightning. At the command, the unit scattered. Eren caught a glimpse of Mikasa and followed after her without hesitation. The others fanned out in their respective directions. Leaves swirled up, and visibility worsened. A fat raindrop smacked against Eren's cheek. The next instant, a torrential downpour hammered the entire forest. [shouted] Mikasa! The roar of the rain drowned out even his shout. Eren tried to fire his wires, but his gas gauge was flashing a red warning. He'd overused it during training. He only had a few shots left at most. Mikasa descended from the trees to the ground and ran over to him. Her black hair was soaked and plastered to her face. [serious] Eren, I'm out of gas. [angry] Me too! Dammit, of all times! They ran. Feet catching in the mud, they pushed on desperately through the rain-blurred forest. Lightning struck terrifyingly close, making the very air vibrate. Each time, Eren's heart jolted. Had the sky looked like this the day his mother died, too? No, that day had been— As those thoughts raced through his mind, a small structure suddenly appeared before them. An old hunting cabin, half-rotted away. The walls were moss-covered and part of the roof had caved in, but it looked solid enough to keep out the wind and rain. Northeast section of the forest, by the bank of a stream. He remembered seeing it on a map before—an emergency shelter point for the Survey Corps. [excited] There! Get inside! The two of them tumbled through the door as if diving for cover. Inside, it was dim and dusty. A bleak space with nothing but old blankets and broken wooden crates lying around. There was only one window, through which flashes of lightning intermittently shone. Catching his ragged breath, Eren peeled off his soaking wet jacket. Mikasa, too, was struggling to remove her own heavy, waterlogged uniform. [gentle] —Wait, you'll catch a cold like that. Eren draped his own jacket, what little dry part remained, over Mikasa's shoulders. She stiffened for a split second but then immediately relaxed. [whispers] ...Thank you. A very small voice. So frail, so unlike her usual self. Eren felt a faint pang in his chest and sat down on the floor with his back against the wall. Mikasa sat beside him. Naturally, they ended up close enough for their shoulders to touch. Cold. Her body was terribly cold. Outside, the thunderstorm raged on. Rain hammered violently against the cabin's roof. Another clap of thunder boomed in the distance. That was the moment. —BOOM. The sound of thunder jolted loose the memories seared into Eren's mind all at once. That roar when the Colossal Titan kicked through the Wall at Shiganshina. Houses crushed, screams rising, his mother—Yeager Carla—seized in a Titan's massive hand, her lower body crushed with a sickening crunch, blood spraying, his mother screaming— [angry] Ngh...! Before he knew it, Eren had grabbed Mikasa by both shoulders. Her jade eyes widened in surprise. [scared] ...Eren? [crying] You're the one... you're the one person I absolutely won't lose. His voice was shaking. Pathetic, even he thought so. But he couldn't stop. He'd lost his mother, lost his hometown, and the only one left was Mikasa. The one person who'd been by his side since childhood, who always tried to protect him no matter what— Tears welled up in Mikasa's eyes. [crying] Eren. I... I don't want to lose you either. Never. Her voice trembled, so unlike the calm, composed Mikasa she always was—like a completely different person. That gap, that dissonance, shattered the last of Eren's restraint. Before he knew it, his hand was on her chin, pressing his lips against her wet, cold ones. It wasn't sweet, or anything like that. Something more desperate, a primal impulse. He just wanted—needed—to confirm that she was here, right now. Mikasa's body went rigid for an instant, but then her arms wrapped around Eren's neck. Her fingers dug into his back, and their lips pressed deeper together. [whispers] ...Mm. Mikasa's breath escaped. Inside her mouth, there was the faint taste of blood. Maybe she'd cut her lip. Even that, right now, felt precious. The two of them slowly collapsed onto the floor. Outside, the rain isolated them from the world. Their damp jackets were spread on the floor, and Mikasa lay upon them. Her black hair was disheveled, the pale nape of her neck exposed. Each time his fingertips brushed her still-cold skin, she gave a tiny shiver. [sad] Eren, I... all this time, you've been... [serious] I know. You don't have to say it anymore. Eren cut off her words and kissed her again. Words weren't necessary. He wanted all of her. He wanted to spill out every last bit of this feeling—the one he'd kept locked deep in his chest for so long, the one that had always been more than just childhood friendship. He gently rolled up Mikasa's wet shirt. Th