Please call me Instructor Bai Yu.

Kali stood before him, momentarily at a loss for words, while Keith continued questioning her.

"Did Bai Yu say anything to you about graduating from the Training Corps early and joining the Survey Corps?"

"Yes. He said that if I agreed, he would let me graduate early after one year and join the Survey Corps."

Keith studied Kali for a while, looking somewhat puzzled.

"In the previous class, there were two cadets who spent only a year and a half in the Training Corps before Bai Yu recruited them. They're members of the Support Squad now.

This may sound rude, but they had more talent for the Omni-Directional Mobility Gear than you, and their physical abilities improved much faster, too. If he wanted to recruit someone for the Support Squad from this class, it should have been Mikasa Ackerman."

His words made Kali lower her head.

"After all, your main strengths are teamwork and intelligence, but Bai Yu is already very good at those things. You'd be an excellent fit for any other squad, but the Support Squad alone seems somewhat unsuitable for you."

"Is... is that so..."

Seeing how dejected his words had made Kali, Keith suddenly changed tack.

"But Bai Yu chose you anyway. That must mean you have some talent I don't know about that's well suited to the Support Squad. After all, although Bai Yu is about your age, he isn't someone who would gamble with soldiers' lives, especially in the Support Squad, which serves as the Survey Corps' neurons."

Seeing that she seemed tempted, and remembering what she had said when she first joined the Training Corps, he spoke again.

"So, if you really want to kill the Armored Titan, the Support Squad should give you the means to do it. All right, that's all I have to say. Think it over yourself. Go back and get ready for training."

"Yes, Instructor!"

At Keith's words, the cadets by the door hurriedly scattered. Even now, they could hardly believe that the rather easygoing Bai Yu, who was no older than they were, was already one of humanity's most elite soldiers.

Eren looked over at Mikasa beside him.

"Hey, Mikasa, do you think what Instructor Keith said was true? Is Bai Yu really that strong?"

Mikasa fell silent for a moment, too.

"I don't know, but Instructor Keith wouldn't make things up. We can just ask Bai Yu the next time he comes."

Beside them, a faint glimmer flickered in Annie's eyes.

But every encounter brought a few surprises.

The next morning, all the cadets assembled.

Keith stood before them as usual, but three people stood behind him: Bai Yu, Ming, and Xiate. Bai Yu had requested this himself. He figured Eren and the others had reached the point where they would begin hand-to-hand combat training, so he had asked Keith to let his squad teach them.

While he was at it, he planned to see how good Annie's fighting techniques were and whether he could learn anything from them.

Of course, his main goals were still to help Ming and Xiate improve and see about recruiting Kali.

Looking at the assembled cadets of the 104th Cadet Corps, Keith shouted.

"You will now begin hand-to-hand combat training. Your instructors will be the three people behind me."

With that, he stepped aside.

Bai Yu stepped forward, looked at the spirited faces before him, and smiled faintly.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Bai Yu Doyle. For now, you can just call me Instructor Bai Yu. For the next two months, I'll be in charge of your hand-to-hand combat training. I may not look it, but I am one of the Survey Corps' elite soldiers. All right, does anyone have anything to say?"

The moment Bai Yu finished speaking, a boy stepped forward.

"I object!"

Bai Yu nodded lightly, glanced at the others, and spoke again.

"Does anyone else object? This is your only chance to challenge me, you know. Once it's over, you'll be in for a rough time if you refuse to follow orders. I might even fail you in this subject."

Bai Yu's voice wasn't particularly loud, but everyone could hear him as clearly as if he were speaking right beside their ears.

Then another person stepped forward. It was Eren. He stared hard at Bai Yu and shouted.

"I object!"

Bai Yu nodded again to acknowledge him, then swept his gaze across the others.

"Anyone else who objects, step forward together."

"I object!"

"I object!"

Nearly two-thirds of the cadets stepped forward. Originally, neither Mikasa nor Armin had intended to join them, but when Mikasa saw Eren step out, she couldn't stay where she was and took a step forward as well. Though she said nothing, her intentions were clear.

Bai Yu naturally knew she wanted to stay with Eren, but he didn't concern himself with that. He merely watched them all with a faint, knowing smile. To his surprise, however, Yishi stepped forward too.

"All right, that looks like everyone. Gather at the front, then."

The cadets were puzzled by Bai Yu's actions. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt showed no intention of stepping forward. They felt that something unpleasant would happen if they did, while Annie simply couldn't be bothered.

Bai Yu had Ming and Xiate move aside, then beckoned to the cadets before him.

"Come on, I'll give you a chance. All of you can attack together. Beat me, and every one of you passes hand-to-hand combat."

Hearing this, some of those who had stayed behind regretted not stepping forward. In their eyes, no matter how strong Bai Yu was, he couldn't possibly defeat so many people alone.

At last, an irritable-looking cadet couldn't hold back and attacked first. He looked several years older than Bai Yu.

"Don't underestimate us!"

Then.

Thud!

There was a heavy impact against the ground. Without even looking at him, Bai Yu pressed one hand against his chest, used his forward momentum to shift his center of balance, and slammed him hard into the ground.

His eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

Bai Yu had used too much force.

Bai Yu shook out his hands, brought them into position to strike at a moment's notice, and adjusted his stance. He watched the others with a faint smile.

"Come at me together."

To the others, he was looking down on them.

Finally, someone else let out a shout.

"Let's all attack together! No matter how strong he is, he can't take on this many of us at once!"