Chapter 29

Upon being questioned with such a question, Annie finally came back to her reality. This was a kind of trigger that immediately made her remember her past and the reason she was infiltrating the walls, and as if she had just had an epiphany, she finally realized that at some point both of them would no longer be friends, or even worse, both of them might be forced to kill each other in the future.

She doesn't know if this was done unconsciously or not, but as she became more intimate with the boy, the consequences of begetting a friendship within the walls were slowly being kept aside. As if she didn't want to even think about the possibility of someday being responsible for the death of a person so dear to her.

Annie didn't show it, but she knew that deep down, Ezir's importance within her heart was only less than the importance she gives to her father. She had no idea why she felt that way, but she knew that should something happen to him, a deep mark would be left on her heart.

"I...don't feel well right now. See you later."  - Annie, as she pushed the boy's head away and stood up.

"Wait, I'll come with you-" 

"No need." - Annie, without even letting him finish his sentence, put the hood over her head and walked off.

'*sigh* Just wait for me Annie. I won't let you almost sacrifice yourself for the interests of a nation that sends even children to war.' - Zirken.

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Three months have passed since then. Zirken successfully passed the balance test, making his talent noticeable even to Keith. In the meantime, all the cadets lived their lives as normal. The training routines and theory classes remained the same until then. 

The results demonstrated in training were making Zirken top of his class and getting the best grades. His relationship with the other cadets in general has improved greatly after he was transferred to the male dormitories due to some cadets returning to the camps.

At first they didn't get along so well, but after some occasional conversations, Zirken/Ezir quickly meshed well with his dorm partners. However, he still didn't mesh as well with some.

This was the case with Eren and Jean. The former just didn't want to have contact, while the latter Ezir didn't like him at all, so he just threw him aside. 

However, he managed to get closer to Ymir and Historia/Krista because he could hold a conversation with them at times during the boring lectures. Because of this, their friendship deepened, but they still did not get to talk to each other individually.

His friendship with the trio of spies did not change much, he still talked every day with Bertolt and Reiner, either inside the dorm or at meal times. However, after their last conversation about the past, Annie has been distancing herself from Zirken every day.

In the first month there wasn't a glaring difference, but since the beginning of the second month she has stopped hanging out with him. They still talked occasionally, but the conversations didn't last long as the girl always found some excuse to stay away. It was as if she simply didn't want him around, because she wouldn't even sit at the same table as him during meals.

"Hey, Annie. Where were you at combat training this morning?" - Zirken.

Right now, it is lunchtime and the boy has just sat down next to Annie to eat. However, it didn't go as planned, once again....

"It was out there." - Annie.

"I know..." - Zirken.

"I'm going to get some exercise." - Annie, being short and thick, as she picked up her empty plate and left.

'*sigh* How long does she intend to keep distancing herself? She started doing that so easily...' - Zirken, a little sad.

In a matter of seconds, 5 other people joined the table at which the boy was sitting. They were none other than Connie, Marco, Armin, Mikasa, and last and least, Eren, who was dragged along by his other two companions.

"Man, your sister is really ignoring you. You must have done some huge shit." - Connie.

"But Annie has always been isolated from everyone, right?" - Marco.

"She always only talked to Ezir or the other two girls in class. Did you guys have a fight?" - Armin.

"She must have finally understood how horrible her own brother is." - Eren.

"Sure, sure, I'm such a horrible person. Maybe I should learn to be a better person from you Eren.... Oops, sorry, I forgot that you are an even bigger piece of shit than I am." - Zirken.

"What-" - Eren, being cut off abruptly by the voice of the only girl at the table.

"Then why did you two fight?" - Mikasa, intervening before a pointless argument began.

This was the group he talked to the most during this time, except for Eren, the others were already considered friends in Zirken/Ezir's view. Among them, the one who keeps in touch with the boy the most is Mikasa.

A week after Zirken 'discreetly' helped Eren, the girl sought him out for satisfaction. He only gave her an excuse like "I felt sorry for him, so I wanted to help him" and that was that, even if she still suspected something. However, Zirken continued to make conversation, and the two of them started talking at least once every day.

"That's the problem, we don't fight. This is probably just a phase, soon she will come back to talking to me normally." - Zirken.

'I hope so...'

"We're rooting for you, Ezir." - Marco.

"Right, right. I don't have much of an appetite right now, so I'm going to go for it."  - Zirken, as he paid for his bowl and stood up.

"Wait." - Mikasa.

"Huh?" - Zirken.

"Are you going to train now?" - Mikasa.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, but if you want to..." - Zirken.

"I want to." - Mikasa.

"Then let's go-" - Zirken, being interrupted.

"Wait, what?! You can't go with him, Mikasa! It could be dangerous to be alone with him!!!" - Eren

"Hey, hey, don't treat me like a scum. I can tolerate being called a horrible person, but don't talk as if I'm going to put my hands on a woman against her will. Besides, you should have more confidence in Mikasa, I'm sure she knows how to defend herself better than you do, Eren." - Zirken.

"What-" 

"He's right, Eren. I'm sure Ezir wouldn't try anything funny...would he?" - Mikasa, as she stared at Ezir with a piercing gaze.

"N-no."  - Zirken, with a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Then let's go." - Mikasa.

At the same moment, the girl grabbed the boy's arm and dragged him out of the place. They left so quickly that there wasn't even time for Eren to retort. 

"They really got close pretty fast." - Connie.

"Tsk."  - Eren, who just dumped the bowl on the table and left the place.

"Wait, Eren!" - Armin, going after him.

"Seriously, Connie. You should just be quiet sometimes..." - Marco.

Some time later, Mikasa and Ezir finally arrived at a secluded spot where the boy often used to skip training when he felt like relaxing. 

Since they had started talking to each other frequently, Mikasa had discovered Ezir's mastery of martial arts, so much so that he sometimes asked to train with him to try to learn, but the boy had no idea that there was an ulterior motive behind this...