She sits upright in a chair as I visit her at the barracks of the Scouting Legion.
She gives a small nod when she notices me, but our eyes never meet.
She is Mikasa Ackerman, an unprecedented talent in humanity’s history.
“Nice to meet you”, I say. She answers “Ok,” and the interview begins.
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Q: Are you nervous?
Mikasa: …a little bit.
Q: I heard you’re not normally good at conversations…
Mikasa: …I will answer any questions asked.
Q: Then I shall accept your advice and begin right away. Mikasa, you graduated at the top of your class. You could have joined the Military Police, but why did you choose the Scouting Legion?
Mikasa: Because…Eren chose the Scouting Legion.
Q: Eren Yeager, the one from the same class and hometown as yourself. Did he ask you to do this?
Mikasa: No. That was my own decision.
Q: Yeager wanted to enter the Scouting Legion ever since he joined the training corps. You didn’t try to stop him?
Mikasa: You mean…why didn’t I try to convince him to join the other Military Units?
Q: Yes. Because he’s your ‘family,’ so I thought you would recommend the safer routes.
Mikasa: …Now that you mention it, I did…when we were younger, I was against joining the Scouting Legion.
Q: And why did that change?
Mikasa: Because Eren didn’t change his mind. And…
Q: And?
Mikasa: Auntie…Eren’s mother said that we have to help each other.
Q: You spent your childhood with Eren.
How were your days with the Yeagers?
Mikasa: …Ya, we often fought with the other kids in town.
Q: I’m surprised that there were kids who wanted to fight you.
Mikasa: Eren provoked them, and they bullied Armin…
Q: So you were the mediator.
Mikasa: I beat them up…and tossed Eren around.
Q: Eh…you tossed him?
Mikasa: Yes.
Q: I thought you were the mediator?
Mikasa: …? Other than tosses and punches, are there other ways to stop people who don’t listen?
Q: Ah, you’re right.
Mikasa: But…I failed once.
Q: How?
Mikasa: I threw him too hard…and he ended up in the river.
Q: He fell into the river?!
Mikasa: It was only once. Armin noticed the river and tried to stop me, but I threw him into it, too.
And then they both caught colds…I have reflected on my actions.
Q: That was a horrible thing you did.
Mikasa: After that…I made sure no water was around whenever I tossed Eren.
No fire, either…burns are worse than colds, after all.
Q: You’re right…do you remember anything else other than fights?
Like Armin Arlert, whom you just mentioned. He’s a childhood friend, too, right?
Mikasa: Eren and Armin…often talk about the outside world.
Armin would bring along his grandfather’s book…
Q: About the world beyond the walls?
Mikasa: Their eyes always shone brightly whenever they talked about venturing outside…I liked watching them as they spoke.
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Q: Let’s talk about your much younger childhood. What kind of kid do you think you were?
Mikasa: I was raised in the mountains and we grew vegetables for a living. I…was a sheltered child.
Q: Sounds like you had a happy and normal family.
Mikasa: It was different from living in a town. There were no kids near my house.
Q: You must’ve been precious to your parents.
Mikasa: …Yes. At that time, my world was small…my father and mother were everything.
Q: Were you strong at that time, too? Like you are now?
Mikasa: No…I took care of the fields…
Q: That’s a totally different image from your current self.
Then, can I ask you about the incident that made you an orphan…
Mikasa: ……
Q: You don’t need to answer that.
In the records, Eren and you fought the robbers together.
Mikasa: Eren came to the place I was taken to.
Q: So he came to save you.
Mikasa: At first, I didn’t know who he was…
Q: You guys never met, yet he came to your rescue?
Mikasa: Yes. He was prepared to throw away his life…I was shocked.
Q: So you guys didn’t fight together?
Mikasa: I was ready to give up. And then, Eren was about to get killed by one of the robbers.
Q: Did he ask for help?
Mikasa: No…he said “Fight. If you don’t fight, you can’t win…”
Q: That’s some amazing mental strength. Did anything change from that incident?
Mikasa: I can’t explain properly, but…I felt like, I could actually control my body.
Q: The feeling that you could control every single nerve?
Mikasa: I was able to move as I wished. And before I realized it, I had defeated the robber.
Q: I guess that was when…your talents surfaced.
Mikasa: I didn’t really understand, but…ever since then, there was nothing I couldn’t do.
Q: Thanks to Eren, your life changed.
Mikasa: I died once, and it was Eren who gave me strength.
This time, I will be the one to protect him.
Q: So you joined the training corps after that. What were your impressions of your classmates?
Mikasa: I don’t really remember…
Q: …I’m sure you had plenty of chances to team up with the top trainees.
What do you think of Jean Kirschstein?
Mikasa: Ah. Jean…he fought with Eren often.
Q: If I’m not wrong, Jean graduated with nearly the same results as Eren.
Mikasa: His results were