True Colors

"I feel that we should wipe every Titan in existence off the face of the earth."

- Mr. Smith's true colors

True Colors (本当の姿) is the 2nd chapter of the 3rd volume and the 18th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan: Junior High manga, written and illustrated by.

Overview
As the Survey Club arrives at their destination for the overnight trip, Eren continues to hold Mr. Smith in contempt due to his peaceful approach to handling Titans. After finding out that Titans have been stealing non-food items from students (and discarding food not even eaten), Eren's contempt for Mr. Smith has reached an all-time high. Despite this, Mr. Smith resolves to get Eren to accept him as the faculty advisor. Only after an encounter with a Titan club staying in the same area do the members of the Survey Club get a look at the true side of their club advisor.

Summary
The Survey Club arrives at the lodge they will be staying at for the overnight trip. As they marvel such a place exists on campus, Eren takes note that it is relatively close to the Titan school building; Hange reveals that is the point and, due to it being the weekend, there will not be any Titans around and it is in thanks to Mr. Erwin's work behind the scenes. Mr. Smith reveals it is some much-needed downtime for him as well and looks forward to the time away. Eren still scoffs at his efforts and refuses to accept him as their faculty advisor; Mr. Smith merely smiles and resolves to get Eren to accept him like all the others.

Hange mentions that where they are staying is where Titans have spent their recess and lunch periods; the Club is told to find anything that Titans may have dropped and bring it to Hange's tent for examination. The Survey Club is stunned to hear that a Titan bird-watching Club is here on an overnight trip also and for them to remain on high alert. The others brush off Eren's claims of being able to protect them and go off to start searching. Soon, a large amount of human lunch boxes is discovered stuffed into a tree. Going further, test papers are found dated fairly recently; this causes some of the Club to realize that not all the Titans are as smart as they initially thought. Eren continues to bad-mouth Mr. Smith and, despite Mikasa forcefully telling him to stop due to everyone else glaring at him, remains incredulous as to why they stand by Mr. Smith.

Eventually, they discover the Titan bird-watching club and among the food they are discarding are the buns given by Mr. Smith just the other day. Once again, Eren stands up against Mr Smith, who talks down to him and says he has had to give up his pride and that he is the best equipped to advise the club.

After everyone retires after dinner, Eren continues to brood over Mr. Smith's demeanor. He starts yelling until Levi arrives and kicks him, telling him to go to bed. As Eren lies awake, Jean says he has no right to talk like he is capable of beating a Titan and that Mr. Smith is more than capable. Levi barges in the door and threatens them both with bodily harm if they do not go to sleep. Eren leaves the dorm and goes out to find a Titan he can defeat; unknown to him, Mr. Smith follows him. Knowing his intentions, Mr. Smith agrees to go with Eren and offers to show him where the Titans are; not trusting him, Eren goes off in another direction, but is caught by one of the Titans. As he is about to be put in its mouth, Mr. Smith arrives and tells the Titan to put him down; after they refuse, Mr. Smith proceeds to beat them all single-handedly. The shaking causes the others to wake up and investigate. They find Mr. Smith and he reveals, despite being nice to them, he holds the Titans in contempt.