victory_road | 6th [video network post]

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6th [video network post]

Hey everyone!

[Kazuki waves at the camera. One thing about him immediately sticks out-- He's wearing traditional Japanese clothing. On his shoulder is his Sensu Oricorio, who is also wearing a loose jacket, behind him, his Primarina, wearing a cute furisode with fur trim, and finally, near his feet, his Vulpix, wearing a tiny yukata made for a four-legged Pokemon.]

[The Oricorio looks quite severe, but the Primarina and Vulpix are obviously having fun playing dress-up. Kazuki himself looks proud, and also a bit bashful.]

There's a point to this, I swear. [He chuckles nervously.] It's my birthday today-- and before you say anything, it's okay that you don't know if you don't know! I'd have to tell you it was coming up first for that to be something to worry about! And that'd be too embarrassing, you know? Hey! My birthday is tomorrow! I want a cake! [He laughs again.] Nah, there's no way I could do that. I don't mind things like this.

But anyways-- I'm turning 20! Back in my world, in Japan, 20 is when a person comes of age. It's a tradition there that the January after you turn 20, you wear formal clothes-- either or a suit or old-timey stuff like this-- and go to the prefectural office for the seijin-shiki, the coming of age ceremonies. Then you usually have a party with friend and family...

Anyways, I know it's not Coming-of-Age Day yet, but I figured I'd celebrate early since that isn't a thing here. I flew up here to Ecruteak to rent some clothes for the day, and, well, these three insisted on joining in on the fun.

[His Primarina opens a fan and flutters it demurely in front of his face. The Oricorio shakes it's head and shows him the real way one handles a fan. Meanwhile, the Vulpix looks up at her trainer with shining eyes.]

I've always felt younger than I actually am, but I guess I really feel like a man when I wear these clothes. I think I'm gonna try to be more mature from here on out!

Oh-- And if you've got a tradition like Coming-of-Age Day in your world, tell me about it! I'd really like to know!

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That's good! I wouldn't even mind seeing my brother right now, even though he likes to pick on me sometimes.

Oh, really? I have friends in Sevii too, though I just take the ferry from Olivine to get there. [She really needs to borrow someone's Fly HM one of these days...]

I believe that's simply how it is between siblings. Envy and I do the same.

Not his dad.

Just... in general. I feel like that's important.

A lot of people live there! And I can't blame them-- the weather is gorgeous. Armin has his whole pod of Lapras out there too.

Yeah, you're not old enough to be a dad to a full grown person. Unless you've been hiding things from me?

Oh, I remember hearing Armin talking about breeding Lapras. Did you get yours from him?

I am... fairly sure even if I was old enough, that is not physically possible.

More or less. Jean actually has his gear here. It's been adjusted to work using a Pokemon rather than the gas we normally use, but you could probably ask him to show it to you. [A small wry smile.] Jean always did love showing off his gear skills.

[It's a side effect of being good at it, Armin figures.]

It is.

[There is no denying it. Even now, Armin has the occasional night where he's wake up with cold sweat running down his back, recalling the destruction of Shiganshina, or Trost, or the Female Titan (doesn't matter that he knows it is Annie now) knocking him down, bending over him, removing his hood.]

The first time I faced off against them I froze. I prepared to fight them for three years, but I still froze. [There is still a touch of old self-loathing in his voice recalling that.] But even if they are terrifying, this is something we have to do.

No-- Shimizu's an orphan. I found him near the coast south of Fuchsia City. I think he got washed away from his pod, because he was alone. But he didn't look like he'd been harmed at all, which is good. He's not shy with people at all anymore.

If he'd be up to it, I'd like to see it! It doesn't hurt you at all, does it?

[Kazuki looks upon Armin with sympathy, not pity. How could anyone be expected to fight a monster like he just described? It was an impossible task, yet he still decided to take it on.]

Can I ask... why you decided to fight Titans? You weren't forced to, were you?

Using the gear? Oh no. You might bruise from the straps if you are using it a lot, but seeing as Jean uses a pokemon here to power his gear, he's pretty limited in how long he can use it.

[And bruises, honestly, are just par for the course for them. The old scars Armin has from the gear have been fading. They are still visible here and there, might possibly always be visible, but in other places, they've slowly gone away.]

No, we all joined the military of our own free will. I know that is apparently hard for people to believe here, but it is true.

[Twelve years olds can totally make decisions like that. He's also quiet for a few moments, weighing the words in his mind.]

When I was ten, Titans broke through the outmost wall surrounding our homelands. They destroyed the city I lived in and the people who survived had to retreat back behind Wall Rose. Humanity lost a lot that day. I was lucky. I didn't lose anyone when the Titans destroyed our city, but my friend lost his mother. Part of the reason things were so bad is because people had gotten complacent. We had been safe behind the walls for over a century, so some people started disregard Titans as a problem. They started to think that, as long as humans stayed behind the walls, we could never be hurt.

[A mistake, obviously!]

Because people thought like that, we didn't really have any competent, trained soldiers standing by in our city. There were some of them to handle little incidents, but most of them were lazy and drunks. We also didn't have any artillery on top of the wall or evacuation plans ready.

After all of that happened, Eren swore he was going to destroy every last Titan. He didn't want anyone else to die like his mother had died. And I agree with him. I don't know what someone like me can do, really, but if it might change the future for humanity, I want to help. Even if it is just in a little way, I want to do my part.

[He averts his eyes, looking a little embarrassed.]

And... I suppose I had some private reasons as well, but those, honestly, aren't really that important. Not compared to the overall picture, I mean.

[Kazuki listens quietly-- Armin is an excellent storyteller, and even if the subject material is morbid, he finds himself quite interested. If he were to be totally honest, he would liken Armin's tale to something from a manga or video game, but he knew that would be disrespectful. It was extraordinary, even if it was also awful.]

That's really brave of you. Even if that happened to me... I don't think I could make that kind of decision.

But, even though you don't think it's important, do you think you could tell me that last reason? Like, why you did it. I want to know that.

Oh, that is-- [He looks a little embarrassed.] I just... I wanted to see the world. Everything outside of the walls, I mean.

That's not a silly reason at all! You never get to leave the Walls, right? Because of the Titans? There's got to be so much you never got to see... And the world is really beautiful!

Yes. That and because it is against our laws. It is considered a taboo.

And it is. I'm not sure if our world looks anything like this, but I hope it does. Though there is still so much more I want to see.

Taboo? It sounds more like a law to protect everyone, doesn't it?

I hope that you get to see everything you want there-- and everything you want to see here too!

On the surface, that is what it looks like, but it doesn't really hold up when you think about it.

Most people would never set foot outside of the walls, whether there is a law or not. And it is not like people going outside of the wall carries any risk to the people inside, not when there are ways to do so without opening the gates. So it really begs the question who this law is meant to protect. Plus, it doesn't just outlaw people from going outside the walls. Even just discussing what might be out there, questioning the history we've all been taught or making plans to go there is enough to be executed if the Military Police gets involved.

[Kazuki blinks, slightly taken aback. Not because of the subject of Armin's diatribe-- it was a conspiracy theory, to be honest, but one that made enough sense-- but because of Armin's sudden fiery conviction. He's never heard him speak with such fervor before!]

...You must be right. [He was surprisingly convincing when he wanted to be!] But why? Doesn't the Military want what's best for the people?

[It is not a conspiracy theory, it's a conspiracy fact!]

I think, on the whole, a military force is going to want what is best for whoever is in control of that military force.

Oh...I'm glad you managed to find him and give him a good home. I hear there aren't a lot of Lapras out there as it is.

Yeah, the only place you can find them in the wild in Kanto is at the Seafoam Islands. They're targets for poaching too. I knew a guy who owned a Lapras that had it's shell broken by Team Rocket. They're really a bad bunch!

So you think... It's a king that rules your walls, right? You think the king is bad?

I don't like use words like bad or good, but I'm certain that the king and his nobles are more concerned with their own personal agenda than they are with the good of all the people inside the wall.

[He's always been of that opinion, but ever since hearing what Annie had told him about their world, it has only become more cemented.]

[Kazuki makes a thoughtful noise.]

Maybe that's why Annie was so curious about how my country runs its government...

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