Pairings: kaisoo (kind of)
Rating: pg-13
Summary: shingeki no kyojin AU (this is me not having an actual summary sorry)
A/N: Because I feel like Tumblr is not precisely the best place to get a lot of people to read this I'm crossposting now.
The ceremony is already over but Kyungsoo’s knees cannot stop shaking. He’s still staring at the empty stage, where moments before Commander Kris and the rest of the Survey Corps stood. It’s a good thing that his friends were holding tightly to his arms; else he would’ve collapsed (or ran away, most likely).
“I hate you both,” Kyungsoo whines.
“There is no glory in staying behind the walls,” Sehun mumbles, his face stoic.
“There are also no titans!” Kyungsoo all but screeches while he struggles to rid himself of the hands holding onto him.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Baekhyun offers with a sheepish smile and let’s go of Kyungsoo’s arm.
Sehun is still holding tightly so Kyungsoo elbows him until he let’s go with an ‘oof’. Kyungsoo must have overestimated his abilities at the moment, because his legs give out from under him and he ends up sprawled on the dirt floor. His uniform is getting all dirty but he finds he does not have the will to get up. Maybe the idiots he calls his friends will just leave him there to die. Dehydration and starvation do sound better than being eaten alive.
“That is all nice and stuff, but why was I required to accompany you in your suicidal quest?!”
“Because we’re the three musketeers. We said we would join the same branch together,” Baekhyun answers matter-of-factly, though Kyungsoo spots a fault in his logic.
“But we were all within the top ten cadets! I thought you meant the Military Police!”
“There’s no glory in being a dog of the police,” Sehun says, arms crossed.
“Shut up, Sehun.”
They had all heard of Corporal Kai, of course. The young prodigy that had joined the Survey Corps a few years back. He was supposedly the best soldier out there, gliding through the air in his 3D-manouver gear as if it was not even there. Little else was known about him or his past, the only piece of personal information anyone had was his age.
“What do you mean that weapon of mass titan destruction is younger than me?!” Kyungsoo exclaims over dinner.
Baekhyun scoffs. “As if that should matter.”
They are in the cafeteria with the other recently-promoted-from-cadet soldiers, and Kyungsoo would constantly steal jealous glances at the lucky seven that joined the Military Police, cursing his shitty taste in friends for the millionth time that night.
“I mean, he would’ve had to graduate pretty young,” Kyungsoo reasons, dunking his bread into the tasteless mush they served for dinner. “Do they even let anyone graduate that young?”
“Sometimes they do,” a voice says from behind him and suddenly Sehun starts choking on the spoonful of soup he had just shoved into his mouth all while looking behind Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun, always being quick to think, gets up and salutes. “Corporal!”
Kyungsoo turns around slowly and there he is, Corporal Kai in all his glory. Next to him stands a giant with a wide, crazed smile and large ears. He must’ve been staring because the giant breaks into laughter, clapping his hands in front of him.
“Look at this one’s eyes, any bigger and they might pop. You might’ve scared him into pissing his pants, Kai,” the giant says between barks of laughter, making the Corporal smirk in amusement.
“Save that for the expedition outside,” he says to Kyungsoo, before leading his laughing friend away.
Kyungsoo stares at the Corporal’s back until he is out of sight. Then he pushes his soup away and bangs his head on the table.
“I did not sign up for this,” he mumbles while Baekhyun pats Sehun’s back as he struggles to regain his breathing.
Their first expedition happens a month later. The goal is to capture specimens for study and for that they will all be assigned to different squads. The orders are given during breakfast and while Baekhyun was okay with his squad, Sehun is still complaining when the meal is over.
“Why do you get to go with Corporal Kai? You don’t even want to be here,” Sehun whines, tugging on Kyungsoo’s jacket. It already brandishes the black and white wings of the Survey Corps, as does his green cape, which is bundled up on the saddle he’s trying to strap onto his horse.
“If you want it so much then we can just trade! I’d rather stay back there in the safe part of the formation where you were so luckily assigned to,” Kyungsoo grumbles back.
Sehun perks up at this. “Really? You would trade with me?”
Kyungsoo opens his mouth to reply but someone beats him to it.
“There will be no trading. Kris’ orders are absolute,” Kai tells Sehun in a calm voice. He’s leading a horse behind him, his cape already around his shoulders and if you twist Kyungsoo’s arm behind his back and tickle him for an hour he would eventually admit he looks cool.
Sehun manages to salute through the petulant pout on his face, Kyungsoo following suit. The Corporal stops in front of them and Kyungsoo is surprised when he finishes buckling Kyungsoo’s saddle for him. When he turns to look at him it is with curiosity etched all over his face.
“What is your name?” he asks.
“Do Kyungsoo, sir,” Kyungsoo replies.
“Is that seriously your permanent expression? You look like a scared rabbit all the time,” the Corporal tells him with a chuckle.
“It might as well be now,” Kyungsoo mumbles quietly to himself.
“Anyways, follow me, Do,” the Corporal commands and makes to leave the stables.
Kyungsoo waves a small goodbye to Sehun who is still staring dumbfounded at the Corporal while his horse neighs next to him, still unsaddled.
When the gates open, the only thought in Kyungsoo’s mind is that he is not made for this. He should’ve gone to baker’s school, he thinks as he spurs his horse on. He should’ve taken over his parents’ bakery, he tells himself as they cross the safety of wall Rose. He could’ve married the neighbor’s daughter, he decides after they spot the first smoke signal coming from the east. Instead he is stuck in a life-or-death situation because his friends think flirting with death is fun and courageous. He must be the dumbest one out of the bunch though, since he decided to follow them here.
They switch directions, but instead of going in the direction opposite of the smoke, they go directly towards it. In front of Kyungsoo Corporal Kai leads the squad, while people he does not know surround him and force him to turn with them as they follow the Corporal.
“What are we doing? Shouldn’t we go in the opposite direction?” Kyungsoo screams over the sound of the wind whipping past them.
“This is the right direction,” Kai’s voice is carried by the wind towards him.
“But we’re going straight at them!” Kyungsoo exclaims, confused.
“Exactly! We are the bait!” Kai replies, turning around long enough to laugh at Kyungsoo’s terrified expression.
Kyungsoo thinks everyone in the Survey Corps is absolutely mad. He must be pretty crazy himself because instinct tells him to run, to get the hell away from there and return to the safe side of the wall but he keeps going out of sheer willpower.
Before long there is a 15-meter type hot at their heels and they’re switching direction again, this time going towards a shadow in the distance that over time turns out to be a forest. The wheels inside Kyungsoo’s brain start to click together and he begins to finally understand how the plan will work out. It is practically impossible to attack a titan on an open field but in the forest they’ll have plenty of places to use their 3D-manouver-gear. He’s still thinking about how they are going to capture the titan when out of nowhere an aberrant appears to their right, coming directly at them.
“Corporal!” he shrieks, eyeing the running monster with terror.
“Keep going!” Kai screams back.
There are only a couple hundred of meters before they reach the safety of the trees when the aberrant catches up to them, and though smaller, it runs faster than the 15-meter-type. It is closing in on them and Kyungsoo can almost feel it stepping with its massive feet right behind him, its shadow looming over him. He tries to focus on the forest in front of him, counting down the meters until they reach it.
It feels like an eternity but they finally find themselves under the cool canopy of leaves. The two titans running after them fight for space in between the trees, though eventually the aberrant wins, being quicker and smaller makes it more fit to run between the tight fit of the forest.
Even though Kyungsoo is nowhere near the rear, when he looks back the titan seems to be looming directly over him. He spurs his horse but he does not think the poor animal can go any faster.
“When do we switch to 3D-gear?” he wonders aloud, his voice going high-pitched with fright.
“Keep going,” the Corporal reminds him from the front.
“Then what’s the point of luring them into the forest?!” Kyungsoo inquires, desperate. There’s a hand already on the handle of his blades and he’s two seconds away from being uncaring about having to deal with a punishment for insubordination later. Survival is more important than all that crap.
“Just trust me, Kyungsoo!” Kai says, turning around to look at Kyungsoo for good measure.
Kyungsoo is feeling pretty hysterical, but he nods, moving his hand back to grab the reins again. Just this time, he tells himself.
They keep going at a fast pace until they reach a clearing. Kyungsoo vaguely makes out the shapes of a pair of carts hidden in the bushes and he thinks he spots a tall man with blonde hair before he hears the order.
“Fire!”
All at once, several cannons go off behind them. Kyungsoo coughs from the smoke but otherwise does not look back. It is only until the Corporal gives the signal to dismount and switch to 3D-gear that he allows himself a look over his shoulder. There is mostly smoke still, but through it he can spot two big figures crouched on the floor, unmoving.
“Did they do it?” he wonders, following the rest of his team towards the clearing, finding a sturdy branch to step on. He’ll take 3D-gear over horseback riding any day. He already feels lighter, safer even.
“Of course we did. Those are my snares, after all,” a boyish voice says next to him, startling him.
When Kyungsoo turns to look at the owner of the voice, he is met with an incredibly young face haloed by a mop of thick blonde hair. He’s about to ask for a name when a shadow appears over them and seconds later the Corporal lands next to Kyungsoo, going to lean against the trunk of the tree. His brown hair is wind-swept from flying around with his 3D-gear and Kyungsoo has to admit he looks nice like that. The Corporal takes a look down at the clearing and whistles.
“That is one nasty snare, Lu Han,” he praises the other man.
Kyungsoo looks between the blonde and the trapped titans underneath, wondering if everybody in the Recon Corps graduated early. He shifts his confused eyes back and forth until he feels a finger poking his cheek.
“Stop that,” Kai tells him, moving the finger previously on Kyungsoo’s cheek to point down. “Look, we even caught the aberrant. Chanyeol is going to go nuts.”
And sure enough, not even a minute passes when Kyungsoo hears a mad howling coming from below, followed by hysterical laughter. Following the sound Kyungsoo spots the giant that always hangs out around Kai running towards the immobilized titans followed by a smaller figure-wait, is that Baekhyun?!
“Baekhyun!” Kyungsoo shouts when the giant tries to touch the aberrant’s nose but has to pull his arm back lightning fast when the aberrant tries to bite it off.
Baekhyun is standing too close to the damn thing laughing his ass off and in general not paying attention, and Kyungsoo readies to go get him away from there, but an arms shoots in front of him, preventing him from launching himself forward.
“Your friend is safe with Chanyeol, as crazy as it sounds,” the Corporal tells him.
“It’s not Chanyeol I’m worried about,” Kyungsoo mumbles but Kai is already flying off the branch, and into the next tree, where Kyungsoo spots the looming figure of Commander Kris. They begin talking about something, but Kyungsoo turns his attention below at the men strapping the titans to the wagons. Lu Han waves at him before propelling himself towards the floor to supervise.
Kyungsoo suddenly feels all the day’s tension slipping from him and he no longer has the energy to stand up so he goes to lean against the trunk of the tree. The people in command start shouting orders to get the horses back, and Kyungsoo spots Sehun’s blonde head among the trees. He is gathering horses with some of the other new soldiers below. It seems like everyone is fine.
They are finally going home.
Surviving your first expedition is no small feat and it seems it has everybody in the dining hall talking louder and more excitedly than before the next day. Kyungsoo does not feel like reliving the experience. Upon waking up he picked a white hair out from his normally dark brown head and he decided that at this rate he will go prematurely grey. That is, if he does not die first.
That morning they have porridge, and though it’s bland and soggy the higher ups must have had a say in it because they got berries and honey to go with it so the experience is not all that unpleasant. Kyungsoo spoons his breakfast into his mouth methodically while he tries to ignore Sehun’s over-excited ranting about Huang Zitao, the person whose squad he was assigned to. Baekhyun is nowhere to be seen, and is most likely spending his morning with Chanyeol and the titans. They really seem to have hit it off, Kyungsoo thinks, what with them both being nut-jobs.
“I swear to you, Kai’s fame is exaggerated. Had you seen Zitao take down two titans with a single slash yesterday you would say the same thing,” Sehun babbles on.
“Ugh, shut up, Sehun. I don’t want to see or hear anything about a titan ever again in my life,” Kyungsoo whines, exasperated.
“Why?” someone behind him enquires, and Kyungsoo has spend enough time with Corporal Kai to recognize his voice. He raises his head from where he had face-planted on the table and barely spares the taller man a glance, much less a salute, though Kai does not seem to care.
“You were great yesterday, Do,” Kai praises with a hand on his shoulder.
Kyungsoo has the grace to blush at the sudden attention but before he can react the Corporal is already halfway across the dining hall. When he turns around Sehun is staring at him with a knowing smirk.
“Well, someone has a crush,” Sehun sing-songs.
Kyungsoo flicks a spoonful of porridge at his friend’s smug face.
“Shut up, Sehun.”
original A/N: well i did say i would write more SnK AU. this is only one story of many to come! yes, i am aware there was no romantic action… yet. *giggles* seriously though, EXO need more SnK AU fanworks. No prompt this time. Enjoy~