"Lower him," he instructed, disappointment in his voice.

The minute he was on the ground, Eren fell to his knees in agony. There were even tears in his eyes. "I-I'm finished."

"Wagner, please exchange belts with Mr. Yeager."

Two things went through everyone's minds: "wait, what?" and "did Shadis say please?"

"Uh, yes, sir," Wagner replied, confused.

"Shit. Then you were right about the faulty equipment" Ymir whispered in disbelief.

"He did" Christa gave him an angelic smile that captivated him for a few seconds.

Ayanokoji didn't reply, instead, he nodded quickly before turning his gaze back to Eren.

Once the belts were exchanged, the old one given to the drill instructor, Eren was lifted into the air again. This time, it was the complete opposite outcome. The green-eyed boy was achieving balance as if it came easy to him. It was so different that he almost toppled because of how easier it was.

"Your equipment was defective," Instructor Shadis explained, holding the now-apparent broken belt. "If given a piece of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the supply depo and crack a couple of skulls."

Something in the instructor's gaze told Ayanokōji that the instructor knew from the beginning. It was as if he had intentionally damaged the equipment himself to prevent Eren from passing the test. The question is why? Had the instructor met Eren before?

Murmurs broke through the crowd. Even with broken equipment, Eren actually pulled it off for a little while.

"So, you mean I... I didn't wash out?" Eren dared to hope.

"You made the cut" the instructor confirmed with a hint of pride in his voice. "Now keep training Cadet!"

A big smile appeared on Eren's face, the happiest anyone had ever seen him.

Ayanokōji knew that things were going to start to get a lot more interesting. From this moment.

Author Note:

With this, we finish the cadet arch.

It's a joke. I am going to explore Kiyotaka's relationships with other cadets and many other things that will happen in this arc.

One last thing, maybe I'll put out new chapters on the weekends. Saturday or Sunday, if I can't then I'm probably busy.