one
"Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it."
- Haruki Murakami
"πππππππ! ππππππππππ!" A mother's yell echoed through the alleyway to where a young girl sat. She had dried blood encrusted on her fingers, the corpse of a large rat sitting in a lump beside her. Its guts lay in an abhorrent pile outside its split abdomen, blood jeweling them. She spat on the carcass and stood up to return back home for supper.
"Where've you been the whole day? Adela said she couldn't find you anywhere," her mother scolded, roughly tussling with her hair.
"The woods. I had nowhere else I wanted to go," she lied as her mother quirked an eyebrow and let out an exasperated sigh. She grabbed Akihiro's hand and looked it over.
"You've cut yourself again, haven't you?" The girl shrugged, her head lolling lazily to the side.
"I don't see any cuts." She freed her hand and glimpsed down at her daughter. Akihiro hung her head in mocked shame.
Her mother directed her to her room, where she had no dinner and had a firm scolding about the importance of life on earth. She said it was unhealthy for the girl to have such a cruel attitude so early on. If she wanted to achieve her dream of becoming a Scout, she'd have to change, fast; she only had two years left until she could join the Training Corps.
The only thing was, she had a peculiar reason for wanting to join the Scouts. It wasn't the sort of thing where she wanted to eliminate the titans and bring peace to humanity, she wanted euthanasia. Complete and total wipeout; a factory reset. She believed that if humanity could have a fresh start without the pests mottled in society and the titans as well, they could redeem their sins.
She was willing to prove it as well.
Her siblings donned her a maniac, and said that the Survey Corps would exile or even execute her for treason. Akihiro believed otherwise. She had a devised plan as well, one that she'd been planning since she was eight. She would acquaint with anyone she could to form trust bonds, and make her less likely to be spotted and called out. She'd also try her best to work her hardest in training to sidle up to the commanding officers so that she could infiltrate the hierarchy without suspicion.
She chose to sleep on it as the sun cast a golden haze over her town, sinking below the walls.
...
"TITANS!"
Akihiro's eyes shot open as screams flooded through the town, followed by an ominous rumbling.
"The walls should've held them back-" She paused as she looked out the window, seeing a massive hole through the wall, and titans flooding through.
This isn't supposed to happen.
She grabbed her blankets and ran downstairs, only to find a 5-meter titan gruesomely dismembering her mother and hovering over her now deceased siblings. She covered her mouth to avoid any unneeded attraction from the titan, and sidled beside it to get out the door.
As she ran from the onslaught of the man-eating beasts, she saw a crowd start to gather near a small fleet of boats headed into Wall Maria.
"Move!" "Outta the way, I have children!" "Stop pushing!" The people were in a frenzy to get out of there, anywhere else but there, even if it meant pushing others to their death to do it.
Children were separated from parents and soldiers attempted to calm the mob down by telling them that the ships were full. As Akihiro snuck past one of the soldiers occupied by a screaming mother, she crouched down against the interior of the boat. It jerked to life and began its journey inside the walls, leaving Shiganshina behind in ruins.
I'm sorry, mom.
"The woods. I had nowhere else I wanted to go," she lied as her mother quirked an eyebrow and let out an exasperated sigh. She grabbed Akihiro's hand and looked it over.
"You've cut yourself again, haven't you?" The girl shrugged, her head lolling lazily to the side.
"I don't see any cuts." She freed her hand and glimpsed down at her daughter. Akihiro hung her head in mocked shame.
Her mother directed her to her room, where she had no dinner and had a firm scolding about the importance of life on earth. She said it was unhealthy for the girl to have such a cruel attitude so early on. If she wanted to achieve her dream of becoming a Scout, she'd have to change, fast; she only had two years left until she could join the Training Corps.
The only thing was, she had a peculiar reason for wanting to join the Scouts. It wasn't the sort of thing where she wanted to eliminate the titans and bring peace to humanity, she wanted euthanasia. Complete and total wipeout; a factory reset. She believed that if humanity could have a fresh start without the pests mottled in society and the titans as well, they could redeem their sins.
She was willing to prove it as well.
Her siblings donned her a maniac, and said that the Survey Corps would exile or even execute her for treason. Akihiro believed otherwise. She had a devised plan as well, one that she'd been planning since she was eight. She would acquaint with anyone she could to form trust bonds, and make her less likely to be spotted and called out. She'd also try her best to work her hardest in training to sidle up to the commanding officers so that she could infiltrate the hierarchy without suspicion.
She chose to sleep on it as the sun cast a golden haze over her town, sinking below the walls.
...
"TITANS!"
Akihiro's eyes shot open as screams flooded through the town, followed by an ominous rumbling.
"The walls should've held them back-" She paused as she looked out the window, seeing a massive hole through the wall, and titans flooding through.
This isn't supposed to happen.
She grabbed her blankets and ran downstairs, only to find a 5-meter titan gruesomely dismembering her mother and hovering over her now deceased siblings. She covered her mouth to avoid any unneeded attraction from the titan, and sidled beside it to get out the door.
As she ran from the onslaught of the man-eating beasts, she saw a crowd start to gather near a small fleet of boats headed into Wall Maria.
"Move!" "Outta the way, I have children!" "Stop pushing!" The people were in a frenzy to get out of there, anywhere else but there, even if it meant pushing others to their death to do it.
Children were separated from parents and soldiers attempted to calm the mob down by telling them that the ships were full. As Akihiro snuck past one of the soldiers occupied by a screaming mother, she crouched down against the interior of the boat. It jerked to life and began its journey inside the walls, leaving Shiganshina behind in ruins.
I'm sorry, mom.
