Bai Yu's Squad, the Support Squad!

After calling Kali aside, Bai Yu led her to a large tree nearby and sat on a rock. Looking into her silver-white eyes, which held a hint of anticipation, he spoke.

"Hello, my name is Bai Yu Doyle. Just call me Bai Yu."

"My name is Kali Lang."

Looking at the boy before her, who was about her age, she felt puzzled despite knowing he was a soldier in the Survey Corps. Had he really joined the Survey Corps when he was no older than her? Was he part of the logistics staff? He had said he wanted her to join his Support Squad, but what she wanted was to kill the Armored Titan...

"Then I'll get straight to the point. I'm inviting you to join our Survey Corps Support Squad. I'm its captain. What do you think?"

His words left Kali rather confused.

"I do want to join the Survey Corps, but, Doyle..."

"Just call me Bai Yu. We're about the same age, aren't we?"

"This Support Squad you lead... is it in charge of logistics?"

That caught Bai Yu off guard for a moment, but he soon understood what she meant and smiled.

"Our Support Squad fights Titans more often than any other squad in the Survey Corps. During expeditions beyond the walls, we rush to support squads that encounter Titans. At night, we're also responsible for clearing a path for the entire force. We're the most dangerous squad to be in, too."

Bai Yu did not sound as though he was joking at all. But according to him, the Survey Corps was the most dangerous of the three military branches, and the Support Squad was the most dangerous squad in the entire Survey Corps.

"But..."

Seeing the lingering doubt in her eyes, Bai Yu knew she found it hard to believe him because of his age. Still, he was in no hurry.

What Bai Yu did not know was that half her doubt came from how often he slept near the Training Corps grounds. Everyone had come to think he was a Survey Corps soldier who was afraid to fight Titans and wanted to slack off.

"Well, there's no rush to answer. Even if you agreed now, you'd have to wait at least a year before joining our Support Squad early. The training here isn't intense enough. If you're interested, you could also wait two years and then join the Survey Corps. You wouldn't be able to join the Support Squad then, but it wouldn't make much difference."

Kali nodded lightly at his words, indicating that she wanted to go back and think it over.

Bai Yu let her leave. Watching her retreating figure, he stretched hard. He still had hand-to-hand combat training with Xiate and Ming that afternoon.

After Kali returned, Eren came over to her at lunch and asked her a question.

"Kali, didn't Bai Yu say he wanted to invite you to join the Survey Corps? Did you agree? Damn it, why didn't he pick me too?"

Toward the end, he could not help grumbling about Bai Yu, though there was no real malice in it.

Kali shook her head lightly.

"I haven't agreed yet. I'm going to ask the instructor before deciding. I still don't know much about his Support Squad."

Armin, who was beside her, nodded at her words.

"Come to think of it, we don't know what Bai Yu does in the Survey Corps either. Whenever we ask him, he just brushes it off."

Kali looked puzzled.

"Bai Yu said the Support Squad he leads is the most dangerous squad in the entire Survey Corps. They often go to support other squads that encounter Titans. Didn't he tell you?"

Mikasa shook her head lightly.

"He told us he just slacked off."

Eren now realized that Bai Yu had lied to them, and immediately grew indignant.

"Damn that Bai Yu! He kept it from us."

Armin stepped in to smooth things over.

"He probably didn't want us to worry. Why don't we ask the instructor for the details? Bai Yu said the instructor used to be in the Survey Corps too."

"Yeah, let's ask him. Kali wants to decide whether to join Bai Yu's squad anyway, right?"

Kali nodded as well.

In Keith's office...

Kali stood before Keith while Eren and the others huddled outside the door, secretly listening through the crack. It was not just Eren and his two friends, either. Several other trainees had overheard Eren and Kali talking and had come over out of curiosity. Annie, Bertholdt, and Reiner were all there too. Annie's presence surprised them, since she was usually so aloof.

Armin shushed them.

Inside the room, Kali addressed Keith.

"Instructor, Bai Yu-that soldier from the Survey Corps-said he wanted me to join his Support Squad, so..."

Before she could finish, Keith interrupted her, looking at her with a slight frown.

"He said he wanted you to join his Support Squad?"

Keith's tone made Kali feel a little uneasy, but she answered anyway.

"Y-yes. But I don't know much about Bai Yu or the Support Squad, so I haven't agreed yet. I thought I'd come and a-ask you, Instructor."

Keith looked at Kali.

"Join the Support Squad... I thought he only wanted to recruit you into the Survey Corps."

"I-is there a problem?"

Keith let out a soft breath before speaking.

"The Support Squad is exactly what its name suggests: a squad responsible for providing support. During expeditions beyond the walls, it moves between the squads at the front. Whenever Titans appear, the Support Squad handles them. In other words, it's the squad that encounters Titans most frequently. Whenever an Abnormal Titan appears, they're responsible for that too. It's very dangerous."

At that point, he fell silent briefly before continuing.

"Do you know how many kills the Support Squad has accumulated in the three years since it was formed?"

"H-how many?"

"A total of one hundred and fifty-six regular Titans and twenty-six Abnormal Titans. The Support Squad has three members in all."

"The captain is Bai Yu Doyle, nicknamed the Sleep-Deprived Reaper. His recorded solo kills stand at one hundred and twenty-eight Titans and ten Abnormal Titans."

"Hiette Doyle has forty-six regular Titans and five Abnormal Titans on record."

"Ming has fifty-six Titans and four Abnormal Titans on record."

"Although Bai Yu helped with Hiette's and Ming's kills, there's no denying that the Support Squad is arguably the strongest squad in the entire Survey Corps. That information simply isn't allowed to circulate, and the records are kept in the hands of humanity's top brass."

"If Bai Yu hadn't invited you to join the Support Squad, I wouldn't have told you either."

By now, Kali's eyes were filled with shock.

Outside the door, the eavesdroppers exchanged looks of disbelief. They could not imagine that the boy about their age, who so often lay nearby sleeping while they trained, had such a record.

Eren looked as though he had seen a ghost.