Small Blade

"This world is cruel. And yet...so beautiful."

- Mikasa accepts her fate

Small Blade (小さな刃) is the 3rd chapter of the 2nd volume and the 7th chapter overall of the Attack on Titan manga, written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama.

Overview
The soldiers are low on faith that they will be able to reach their supplies after a horde of Titans have surrounded the HQ, trapping several inside. Mikasa arrives at the scene and finds Armin, asking where the rest of his team is. Armin breaks down before answering that all of them, except him, have been killed. Mikasa calms Armin down and tries to motivate the soldiers. She promptly leaves them and eventually, everyone follows. The teams tail Mikasa, but after killing a few Titans, she runs out of gas. Mikasa readies herself as a Titan approaches her, planning to give up if Eren is not with her anymore. Somehow, she remembers Eren's words to fight and she instinctively defends herself against the Titan. Before she is able to attack it, right before her eyes, another Titan arrives to fight the Titan.

Summary
Desperate and running out of supplies, a group of soldiers uses tables and chairs in an attempt to fortify an upstairs room. With Titans surrounding the building and peering at them through the windows, the situation is bleak. When a Titan crashes its arm through the Wall trying to get at them, a trainee decides that suicide would be preferable to getting caught and shoots himself.

Mikasa, reaching the front, joins Connie, Jean and other trainees on a nearby roof. With very little gas left in their vertical maneuvering equipment, they are unable to escape or help their comrades in the upstairs room. Jean reveals the reason for the supply shortage. Two trainees, charged with the task of supplying the soldiers, have barricaded themselves in the headquarters, too scared to go out. In an attempt to motivate the others, Connie declares that they should fight the Titans with the remaining gas, otherwise, they risk being in the same position as the upstairs group. In a morose yet realistic response, Jean asks Connie if he really thinks they can make a difference given their current manpower. On another part of the roof, Sasha tries to raise morale, suggesting they pool their resources. She asks Armin, but he is still in shock. Reiner, Annie and Marco converse about the situation. They are soon joined by Mikasa, who asks where Eren's team is. The group reports that their whereabouts are unknown and point her to Armin.

Armin notices Mikasa running towards him, but cannot bring himself to look her in the eye as he thinks back on what had transpired. Mikasa asks Armin if he is alright, but he continues to evade looking at her and does not answer. When she asks where Eren is, Armin bursts into tears. He then mournfully announces the casualties of his entire team, ending with Eren's name. This catches everyone's attention, especially those that were among the top ten in the 104th Training Corps. Armin continues to cry and is comforted by Mikasa who dissociates herself from the news, appearing emotionless. She then repeats the advice Eren gave to her years ago: if you want to live, you have to fight. After lecturing the team about choosing not to continue fighting, they each follow her one by one into battle. Armin believes that Mikasa is not her usual, clear-headed self and surmises that she is trying to take action so as to avoid reacting to the news of Eren's death.

Mikasa runs out of gas and falls, fortunately landing on a cloth covering. Thinking about the news, she worries that she is losing her family again. On the ground and without the mobility of the vertical maneuvering equipment, two Titans start to close in on her. Remembering her friend, she says that she has had a good life, prepared for it to end. However, recalling the day Eren saved her life and him telling her to fight, she rises to her feet and readies herself for battle. As she is about to attack the oncoming Titan, the one behind Mikasa attacks it instead, smashing its face with a single punch. Surprised, Mikasa tries to figure out what is going on, as this Titan turns against its own species.

Trivia

 * The title of this chapter is also the name of one of Mikasa's missions in the video game Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains.

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