Ryuu stood among the other cadets in the massive Parade formation. To his left he heard the two cadets talking briefly; they obviously knew each other judging by the nickname of 'Tynee' that one called the other. That was stupid; the concept of giving somebody a nickname would only bring you closer to them, and with their likely death at the hands of the Titans it would only lead to pain. Because of this simple fact, Ryuu kept those he was close to at a minimum so he wouldn't feel that pain. Besides, the boy didn't see the point in bonding with others he had no reason to particularly care about these people and unless they gave him a very good one then he wouldn't care about them unless it provided some sort of tactical advantage against the Titans. The only exception to this rule was Sage, his saving grace and the angel to his demon. The girl he had befriended long ago before the incident; then had helped through her own time of trial whenever her own family fell victim to those monsters. As they had fought side by side through this hell that was their life Ryuu had felt the girl piercing through and striking something... deep. At first the boy had been scared of this sudden feeling he had, he didn't understand why he wanted to be around Sage so much or why he wanted to protect her so bad. He certainly couldn't understand why he craved her touch and compassion, it was truly terrifying to the boy as he thought something was wrong. Then he asked Sage about it, and she explained love and happiness to Ryuu; who had only known the negative side of life for so very long. That was how their romance had begun, and even now it burned deeply within Ryuu's heart as he looked around to find Sage and ensure that she was fairing fine.
When the order was suddenly barked out; Ryuu quickly fixed his mask to ensure it covered his mouth and nose, then snapped to attention as their inspection began. It was a simple scare tactic on all of these trainees, which showed Ryuu who was weak among his peers. In his mind, if you were scared of a man who is on the same side as you then you had no business being in the field and dragging down your fellows because you're too scared to fight a Titan. The boy shook this thought from his mind, as now was not the time to worry about such things, and focused straight ahead. His expression was one of pure emptiness, devoid of all emotion beyond a determination to pass this inspection then pass this training camp before heading out to take on the Titans. Ryuu knew in his heart that he was going to succeed in this course because he simply has no other choice. He was going to avenge all of those who had fallen, he would make good on his promise to the Titans.
He noticed the captain making his way over towards Ryuu's position after staring at the two on the left of Ryuu. Ryuu quickly snapped to a salute as the captain walked over, and stared him in the eye. It didn't take long, a mere half second at most, before he noticed Ryuu's mask. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF CAMP DO YOU THINK I RUN HERE, CADET!? BECAUSE THIS SURE ISN'T SOME DAMN FASHION SHOW THIS IS THE MILITARY. WE FIGHT TITANS, NOT FASHION TRENDS!" The man screamed in Ryuu's face, thinking that this cadet would be like the others and back down. Ryuu simply turned his gaze to match the captain's. Then in a very calm voice responded; "This mask is not some pathetic fashion statement. Do not mistake me for that kind of person, as this mask is much more. You see the Titan mouth on it? It is there because that mouth is last thing most people see before they are devoured. So by extension it represents the ruthelessness with which the Titans hunt us down. Its presence on my mask is a promise to the Titans that I shall hunt them with the same ruthelessness with which they hunt us. It also is a reminder to me of the people I am avenging. My family, and those who perished in the recent Shinganshina incursion. Because I've stared Titans down twice in my life already, I do not fear them. I hate them. Sir." With that being said and the look in his eyes, Ryuu apparently passed as the captain simply grunted then walked on to the next cadet.