Im a ghoul {aot and Tokyo ghoul crossover}

Chapter 41

Upon their arrival at the palace, the scouts engaged in conversations throughout the main hall. Most stuck together, while Hange went to mingle with some other higher ups. However, Kaya decided to stick close to Levi and her squad, if something was to happen, then she'd like to be the one to put them in their place.

"Well, if it isn't the brave heroes of the walls." A familiar voice made itself known, revealing a blonde girl with green eyes.

"Hitch, surprised you came." Jean greeted.

"Came to watch you guys get your medals." She explained as she joined the small crowd of scouts.

"Marlow was..." Jean began, but struggled to find the words because he wasn't there at the time of the tragedy.

"He was valiant." Kaya stepped up. "When everything went to shit, he was brave to the end. They all were." The ghoul continued. She liked to think that if she wasn't there, Marlowe would have been the most courageous and continued to lead on the scouts. After all, he did express his views to them in the forest once, and seemed headstrong.

"But in the end, he wished that he never volunteered." Floch said, changing the mood completely and making Hitch's eyes widen in sadness.

The officer turned around to face away from the survivors, and let a few tears she'd from her green eyes. "Thanks for that. I'll laugh if you guys screw up the ceremony." She stated, masking her tears with a light chuckle.

"Hey, why did you tell her that?" Jean scolded.

"Because, somebody has to speak the truth around here." He tried to reason.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Kaya spoke, turning her head towards Levi. She'd known it would be like this from the beginning, and slightly suspected Floch of ruining the peace between everyone. However, she wasn't fully prepared for his lecture and judgment of her and her friends.

"There really wasn't any avoiding it." He responded.

"Listen, about what you did Floch, how far you went to ensure Erwin would be revived." Armin began, but unfortunately, his apology was interrupted by the grudge-holder.

"You should be dead, and Erwin should stand in your place. I'm not alone in thinking that, all of us do. Everyone who read that report had the same thought, why wasn't Erwin the one that was saved?" He spat, making the blonde boy look down in shame.

"What do you know about Armin to justify you saying that? Not a damn thing." Eren yelled.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not a childhood friend of his, hell, I'm not his friend at all. But I can still tell you why he's the one standing here now, it's because you two got emotional and Captain Levi did the same. You made an irrational choice, you treated that syringe like it was yours and wasted it. He's alive because you think your friends are more important than the rest of us." At this point, Kaya was about to step in, but stopped when Levi took her hand, shaking his head at her decision.

"All right, I think it's time you shut your mouth." Eren warned, squaring up to the recruit.

"Eren, I bet even at your core, you're always completely certain that you're in the right. That's why you didn't give up, you're like a little kid who won't listen to reason." He continued.

Mikasa placed a hand on Eren's shoulder, she knew Floch had gotten under his skin, let alone Armin's. "Eren, just leave him be, alright?" She comforted him.

"At least Mikasa acted like an adult out there. I saw her give up, in the end."

That was it. The final straw. Kaya shook loose from Levi's hand and clenched her fist into a ball. Floch was getting out of hand, everyone already felt guilty, but they certainly didn't need a recruit telling them all their mistakes. Especially a recruit who was crying mid-battle. In one swift motion, Kaya's fist met Floch's jaw. He coiled over at the impact and held his face tight in his hands.

Kaya didn't give him time to recover, she crouched down to his eye-level and lifted him back to his feet by his collar. "Listen, recruit." She spat. "If you think you have any right to tell us how to do our damn job then you're dead wrong. It was Levi's order to give the syringe to whoever he saw fit, not anyone else's, and certainly not yours. As for Eren and Mikasa, they've lost more than you can ever imagine. Mikasa didn't give up, she's human, and has her own damn emotions. Got it?" She explained, dropping Floch's collar and watching him fall to the ground.

"What the hell do you know about being human?" He croaked. "I saw you on that roof, you had blood everywhere, you helped lead that charge, you're nothing but a monster. Just like Erwin."

"Maybe I am." She looked down at the recruit. "I'm far past caring." Though Floch acted out of line, the ghoul still had a little empathy for him, so she offered her hand and helped him back to his feet, beginning to break the slight tension.

It didn't take long for reality to strike him again, every ounce of resentment he held, he pushed towards the survivors. Even after Kaya had tried to get through to him. "Medals, for what? A memorial, for who? When you start rebuilding the survey core, you better tell your recruits the truth, or else you'll just end up with cowards like me in the ranks. What the hell are we supposed to do now that we've lost Erwin? I know that I'm just a recruit, and that my life is expendable, but still, I should get to call it like I see it, and decide if this cause is worth dying for."

"I think Floch is right." Armin said quietly, as if he were being cautious of his words around Eren and Mikasa. "Commander Erwin's the one who should've been saved, maybe he could have turned this situation around, I can't though."

Eren placed a hand on Armin's shoulder. "How can you be so sure?" He asked. "I don't know what choice was right, so I won't pretend to. None of us know what the future might hold, I mean, we could barely imagine. Think about it, if we rode straight from wall Maria, what would we find?" Eren asked, causing the other shifter to look up in admiration.

"The sea." He answered.

"That's right, we'd find the sea. A place we've only dreamed about. Water that glows like fire, fields of ice, giant rocks that take days to climb. How can we be sure of anything, when there's so much we haven't seen yet? On the other side of the wall, freedom is..." The green eyed shifter suddenly came to a pause, as if he'd come to a sudden realisation.

"Alright you brats, it's time. Line up." Levi walked over, he'd been listening the whole time, most of the soldiers had seen the events unfold and couldn't help but be nosy. In a way, they looked down on the lieutenant for acting so violently, but using reason wasn't much of an option for her.

Within no time, the scouts lined up in the main hall, violins, pianos and other instruments echoed throughout the large room. The ten remaining scouts stood in front of Historia, she'd changed. Historia had been through unimaginable conflict, not only with herself, but her family. She'd gone from the kind girl everyone knew her as, to a woman forging her own path. However, now she was a queen, and had become accustomed to a stoic face and less of a personality in public.

The queen saluted to humanity within the walls and began the ceremony. First it was Hange, then Levi, until it was the ghouls turn to receive a medal. Kaya was nervous, more than she'd like to admit, the whole situation was unfamiliar and whenever she looks back, she remembers the quick decision that led her to this moment. Scouts, or jail. It was stupid to say the least, but that moment was one of her most significant.

The emerald green medal was slowly placed around her neck by Historia, and the ghoul thanked her by laying a kiss to her hand, following the actions of her comrades. However, when it came to Eren's turn, something was off. As soon as he kissed her hand, Kaya could hear his heart rate increase at a rapid pace. At first, she thought it was just because he was a teenage boy, which would have been totally inappropriate at a time like the present. However, she'd soon learn that it wasn't so simple.

"Eren." Historia whispered. Alerting the boy and bringing him back to his senses. But his face kept the same scared look and his unfamiliar breathing patterns increased everyone's concern.

Little did they know, that moment was a turning point. Whether for worse, or for better, opinions differ.