A cloudy haze had settled over the late afternoon sun. The battle in the abandoned town raged on, but Kuro and Eren still waited on the sidelines. As they sat there in the tree, Kuro kept a lookout for any signs of trouble. Luckily, due to the large number of soldiers drawing the attention away from them, the two went mostly unnoticed, and the few titans who had spotted them couldn’t reach.

Although he was there to guard Eren, Kuro felt his mind beginning to wander. Considering how important his comrade was, Kuro wondered if someone else would have been better.

He wasn’t the best soldier by a long shot… or even among the best of the new recruits. Kuro’s track record for avoiding injury wasn’t great either. First Trost and now here. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he really messed up and made a fatal error. More and more, he felt like he was becoming a liability. Kuro really wanted to help make a difference, just to do something that might change things for the better, but he had no clue how. There wasn’t anything special about him, and in the end, his name would just be one more addition to the long list of dead Scouts...

A soft moan came from Eren's hung head.  Then he twitched a bit, his top lip curling and exposing his teeth in a snarl.  "Nnh-!"  His one foot slid towards him a little, bending his knee up.  Consciousness was returning to him, but his head was still in the battle.

Kuro quickly snapped back into reality. “Eren?” he said softly, leaning closer. “Eren, can you hear me?”

Kuro's voice sounded hollow and far away, but then it was right there in front of him.  Eren's brows knitted together above his closed eyes as awareness came to him gradually.  "Wha- what happened...?  Nhh--!  I... I can't remember.  Something landed on me..."  His head came up then, and his eyes popped open.  "Dammit!  Am I outta the fight??"  He looked around frantically before his eyes fell on his slowly regenerating arms.

“Easy, Eren. Calm down.” Kuro rested a hand on the other's shoulder. “Yes, you’re out of the fight. You got attacked by three titans and then had part of a building land on top of you. It broke your titan’s neck, so the Captain and I had to get you out. Unfortunately, in order to do so, there was no option but to cut your arms... sorry.”

Eren grit his teeth and scowled, hearing only about half of what Kuro was saying. "Shit!!"  He knocked his head back against the tree trunk in frustration.  "So now two soldiers are out of the fight because I couldn't keep it together... Great. Perfect."  He hated always having to be babysat like this.

“Captain’s orders," Kuro stated simply, moving back again to give Eren some space. “It wasn’t your fault. That 15-metre came out of nowhere, as did the other two. Even Captain Levi couldn’t stop them.” He sighed and swung one leg over the branch so he was straddling it. “Anyway, it’s not like I would have made a difference if I was still fighting. And it’s a chance to rest, so…”

Eren sighed in defeat, though he was still scowling.  "Don't say that," he snapped.  "Of course another soldier can make the difference.  And now 'cause of me, you're not there either."  He pulled his knees up and rested the incomplete end of his longer arm atop them.  Inwardly, he felt sick.  Would anyone die due to his absence from the battle?  Could the wagons full of supplies get crushed?  Would the mission fail?

“You fought well today though, and you’re definitely improving.” Kuro looked out again, letting his legs swing as he sat there. “And,” he sighed, "don’t worry about me being out of action. Right now, keeping you safe is the top priority.”

Eren averted his eyes as a warm breeze tugged at the ends of his brown hair.  Then he dropped his head back again and closed his eyes.  Being in his titan form always drained him of energy.  In fact, the tree trunk was really the only thing holding him upright at the moment.

Kuro noticed how Eren was sitting and shuffled closer to him, just to be on the safe side. The last thing he wanted right now was for Eren to fall off after he had woken up.

A few moments went by without conversation, and the leaves rustled above them with another passing breeze.  After a short while, Eren spoke softly, his words seeming completely out of the blue.

"...I remember you and your brother."

“You… remember us?” Kuro was surprised.  He thought back to when he’d first met up with Eren and the others from Shiganshina on the first day of cadet training. Only Armin had seemed to recognise him back then. Still, at the mention of his brother, he couldn’t help but to smile softly... albeit sadly. Even now, Ryu was still the child who could make anyone smile, even though it hurt. Kuro wasn’t sure if the ache of losing his family would ever ease. It had been years, but there were still many times when it felt just as raw as when he had first lost them.

"Mhm."  Eren opened his emerald green eyes and lifted his head off the tree trunk to look at Kuro.  "I didn't back when we first met.  But since then, you've become more familiar.  You two delivered a dress for my mother once.  It was a gift from my father... for her birthday."  Eren's eyes had drifted, and they now gazed somewhere far away.

Thinking back, Kuro seemed to recall making such a delivery… or at least his mother mentioning something along those lines. “I… think I remember that…” he said slowly. Kuro clicked his fingers. “Emerald green with dark green stitching and minor detailing.” It really was bizarre what he remembered at times.

Eren looked up again, surprised.  "Y... yeah," he said, a bit impressed at Kuro's recall.

Kuro chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I- er… remember my mother making it. I watched her do the embroidery on it. It was like… small leaves and flowers… along the hem… collar and cuffs, I think…” He’d always loved watching his mother work. How, stitch by stitch, she could create the most beautiful of patterns. It had been like magic to Kuro’s young eyes.

"Yeah..." Eren said quietly, his voice full of memory.  Then he shrugged.  "Anyway, I remember the two of you coming to our house.  Mom sent you back with... something.  Bread, cookies... I can't remember."  His shoulders rose and dropped again.

“It was cookies, and Ryu ended up with crumbs in his hair somehow,” Kuro added with a laugh, thinking back. 

Eren was quiet again.  He watched as his hand slowly began to take shape on his right arm.  The left one was almost down to his wrist.

“Does that…” Kuro began as he stared at Eren’s arms. “Does that hurt at all? I mean, having them grow back.” It was still odd watching someone’s limbs regenerate from nothing.

"It's... hard to explain," Eren answered, not looking up.  "It feels like... like my hand is already there, but it's invisible... and it's slowly becoming visible again.  It's a tingling feeling.  Once it heals the open wound part of it, there's no pain."

“That’s a relief, at least. I always assumed that it would hurt having everything grow back.” Kuro's eyes wandered, and he saw a bird flitting happily between the branches below them, chirping away as it did so.

Eren flexed his fingers as they finished forming, the steam from them dissolving into the air like smoke from a snuffed-out candle.  "I do feel like a freak sometimes," he admitted with a sigh.  "I suppose I shouldn't complain... getting to work with the Elite and all.  And being personally mentored by Captain Levi is... well, it's tough.  But I've learned so much."

Kicking his legs back and forth, Kuro turned back to Eren. “You’re not a freak, Eren. So you can turn into a titan. It’s more useful than anything else. If it wasn’t for you, Trost would have ended badly.”

Eren made no response.  In truth, he was more weapon than soldier anymore.  But Kuro was right. He'd pledged to dedicate his heart, and if that meant losing his humanity to some terrible power... so be it.

“Anyway, I suppose that's what I meant earlier about not making a difference,” Kuro went on, looking out over toward the ruined town where the mission was still ongoing. “We all have different roles to play. Some have special abilities like you, some are amazing fighters like Captain Levi and Mikasa… some are smart like Armin, Commander Erwin and Section Commander Hange, but… some of us are just here to make up the numbers. It takes a lot more of us to make an impact than just one of you.”

Eren's eyes fell on Kuro's again.  "You made a difference when you helped me save Section Commander Hange," he pointed out.  "There was no way I could have held up that tree any longer."

“Guess that’s true, but I can’t exactly keep waiting around for trees to fall on people.” Kuro shrugged at that but chuckled a little.

"That's not what I meant," Eren retorted with an edge to his tone.  "I meant that you acted fast and did what you could in the moment.  Isn't that how to make a difference?  How any of us make a difference?"

“You’re right, you’re right,” sighed Kuro. “It’s what we can do in any given moment that can matter in the end...”

Over by the town, Captain Levi was giving the orders to fall back.  Soon, dust began to rise in a dull, brown cloud as the Scouts headed towards the treeline on horseback.

Eren sighed.  "Mind giving me a hand?" he mumbled, extending an arm.  He was likely to pass out again, or worse, if he tried rappelling down the tree on his own.

“Sure.” Kuro carefully stood up before taking hold of Eren’s arm and helping him up too. “If I crouch, do you think you’ll be able to get on my back?” he asked as he pulled his hilts out.

"Yeah, sure..."  Eren's limp form practically flopped onto Kuro's bent back.  He took hold of his own wrist to hold on tightly, and together, they descended to the ground.

The Scouts had almost reached them now, and Eren let go to lean against the tree.

"Thanks..." he breathed, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his stomach.  He always felt a little dizzy and nauseous after using his ability... and more especially after an intense battle.

“No problem. Just take it easy.” Kuro moved over to untie his horse.

Eren watched Kuro for a moment.  "You know..." he spoke up slowly.  "You're not useless, Kuro, even if you may feel like it sometimes.  We all have our own skills and ways we can contribute.  And hey... even if that is just being another body in the fight, it's something.  But I'm sure there's more to you than that.  I mean... none of the rest of us would have known how to stitch up Section Commander Hange."

"Eren!"  Mikasa was off her horse before it had even stopped moving, and Armin wasn't far behind.

"I'm okay, you guys," Eren protested.  Nevertheless, he accepted their help all the same, draping his arms around their shoulders as they assisted him to the wagon.

But Kuro's mind was still on what Eren had said... about stitching up Commander Hange.  The very beginnings of an idea stirred inside him, burrowing like a seed, small and new.  Maybe he did, in fact, have some knowledge and skills that the others did not... They were rough and rudimentary, sure, but he could learn.  That he knew he was good at.

As Kuro mounted his steed, Levi gave the order to move out.  Kuro clicked his tongue and tugged on the reigns to get into formation, but his mind was remembering that day.  The idea of suturing a wound had been terrifying at first, but... he'd done it, hadn't he?  And the Section Commander barely had a scar, even.  

T

he Scouts made their way back towards the safety of Wall Rose, the wind whipping their hair and their cloaks as galloping hooves tore up grass and dirt.  But the seed was firmly planted in Kuro's mind now as he rode onward, sprouting into fresh purpose and a newfound hope for his future.