đ The Top 10
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The graduation ceremony came with a strange mix of energyâpride, relief, and a quiet undercurrent of dread.
Standing before the formation of cadets, Commander Shadis called out the top 10 graduatesâthose eligible for transfer to the Military Police.
From lowest to highest:
10th â Christa Lenz
9th â Sasha Braus
8th â Connie Springer
7th â Marco Bodt
6th â Jean Kirschtein
5th â Eren Yeager
4th â Annie Leonhart
3rd â Bertholdt Hoover
2nd â Reiner Braun
1st â Mikasa Ackermann
Cheers broke out. Hugs were exchanged.
For a moment, normalcy returned to a world at war.
...
Back at the barracks, cadets gathered in clustersâtalking about their placements, future hopes, and what came next.
Thomas Wagner approached Eren, brow furrowed.
"You're choosing the Scouts?"
Eren nodded.
"Yeah."
Thomas hesitated. "But⊠the death rate. The futility. Doesn't it feel like a lost cause?"
Eren's voice was calm.
Measured.
"Everything we know about Titans was bought with blood."
He looked out the window, eyes hard.
"If we stop nowâif we give upâwe spit on their graves."
Thomas said nothing else.
Because what could he say?
...
Eren found them at the edge of the fieldâjust beyond the barracks.
Kaelen sat cross-legged in the grass, staring at the sky.
Krista was beside him, humming softly to herself.
Eren dropped into the grass with a grunt.
"Am I interrupting?"
Kaelen didn't look over.
"I'm alone."
Eren pointed.
Krista waved brightly.
Kaelen waved her off. "She's just a wallflower."
Krista giggled. "Hey!"
Eren chuckled. "Why weren't you in the top 10?"
Kaelen finally looked at him.
"Didn't need to be. I can follow you without it."
Eren smirked. "I'm not planning on dying, y'know."
Kaelen shrugged. "And I'm not planning on letting you die."
Krista clapped her hands together.
"You two have such an enviable bond. Like real brothers."
Kaelen grinned. "I am the best older brother."
Eren gave him a sideways glance. "You also made us the most hated kids in Shiganshina."
Krista blinked. "Waitâwhat?"
Kaelen sighed theatrically. "It was for Eren's personal growth."
Eren rolled his eyes. "You threw rocks at boys who talked to Mikasa."
"I had to test their strength."
"And you ran through Mrs. Elheim's laundry line to see if the 'winds of freedom' would bless you."
"Character development."
Eren was about to him before he asked, "What about when you decided to test if you could 'lift water' huh?"
"Have you ever heard about a water-bender?" Kaelen's copyright was stopped by Eren throwing a barrage of punches.
Krista laughed because family is enviable...since she doesn't have it.
"Were you two always like this?"
Kaelen looked up at the clouds.
"âŠNo."
...
"I joined the Yeager family a little over eight years ago," he said quietly. "After⊠the orphanage. After the Underground."
"I don't remember much from back then," Kaelen added. "Just that one day I wasn't alone anymore."
Eren picked up where he left off.
"Dad brought him home one evening. Said he was special. Said he needed a family."
Krista tilted her head. "You didn't have a last name?"
Kaelen shook his head. "Didn't want one."
Eren laughed. "He also sleeps cross-legged, like some meditating monk."
Krista gasped. "That sounds so uncomfortable!"
Kaelen smirked. "Comfort is weakness."
Eren leaned back.
"Mikasa joined after her parents were killed. We lived together ever since."
"She doesn't talk much about it, but she's always been the strong one."
"And then there's Armin," Eren continued.
"Met him when I got into a fight trying to defend his crazy ideas about the outside world."
Kaelen chuckled. "You got beat up."
"I was outnumbered."
"You lost."
Krista smiled, eyes soft.
"You three⊠you're like a real family."
Kaelen watched the sky.
The clouds shifted.
The sun dipped lower.
A chill in the breeze now.
The day is almost over, he thought.
And tomorrowâŠ
Eren stretched.
"Well. One day down. A whole future left."
Kaelen didn't respond.
He just listened to the rustle of grass.
The distant laughter of cadets.
The sound of something approachingânot in footfalls or footsteps, but in inevitability.
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[Auther: I'm speeding as fast as I can, guys...]