[Thread takes place in Mitabi's cadet days. End of first year/start of the second year? Open to anyone who was a cadet during that time]

When Mitabi Jarnach crushed, he crushed hard. Ettie always said he was a romantic, which he used to gag at the very mention of liking girls, but now that he was in his sixteenth year,  the boy realized that he loved ladies very much.  Roanna. In his eyes was the prettiest of all the girls ever laid eyes on, not to mention a contender for the top ten.  Though, while Mitabi was interested in her, she was clearly not interested in him; instead preferring the likes of Jaco Holst.

That piece of shit.

A favorite amongst the instructors, he held one of the top spots in the class. Perfect little cadet. Jealousy. Hatred. Envy. A mixture of emotions coursed through his veins. In the eyes of Mitabi, he was an asshole.  A competitive asshole who'd do anything to ensure he got points. Roanna liked that. She liked egotistical, narcissistic assholes like Jaco. If he had not been blinded by what he considered to be love, Mitabi would have seen that she was very much like the man she called her boyfriend.

 He was determined to win her heart.

“That was so cool.” A cadet said, their voice full of admiration. As usual, Jaco was showing off his ODM skills, going from tree to tree dazzling the others with his equipment -- maneuvers.

“That is nothing, even I can do that!” He snorted as he walked up to the crowd, shouldering past the cadets who stood there with dropped jaw looking like little children seeing a magic trick for the first time.  It was just flair and tricks. Nothing more.  Several of the cadets, knowing what was coming next, rolled their eyes. “Mitabi, remember last time?” Roanna reminded, a hint of amusement in her voice as she quirked brow looking at him and then the others in the group.

“ Jaco may have been quicker than me,  but you all know I should have won.” Turning to Jaco, who wore a cockeyed smile, Mitabi’s brown eyes locking with him. “Your cut yesterday could hardly be considered a kill. Maybe on a 3 meter. Maybe.” Mitabi narrowed his eyes, his voice almost taunting the other. “Kinda pathetic for the instructors’ pet if I must say so myself.” Mitabi Jarnach, in a sense, was competitive.  He loved to compete against his friends in anything physical, which he often won. But this. All week he had been challenging Jaco to different competitions. Yesterday, Mitabi challenged him to a race of who could reach the dummy titan, deliver a blow that would eliminate the enemy, and race back. Jaco won regarding speed, but there was a lot of debate in whether his cut was actually deep enough. While, Mitabi was slower, but there was no argument of whether the cut to the dummy titan’s nape was deep enough or not. Despite this, Jaco’s cut was deemed good enough.  GOOD FUCKING ENOUGH!

Of course, it was.  The asshole was favored by everyone.

“Anything you can do, I can do it better” Mitabi’s taunted, taking a step closer to the much shorter competition.

Jaco snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.  “No, you can’t.”

“Yes. I. Can.” He accentuated every word, letting the words make a point as they rolled off his tongue. The corner of his lips pulled upwards until his smile reach ear to ear. Stepping close to the other cadet, Mitabi bent down so that he could be at the same height of the shorter boy. “You afraid you might make a fool out of yourself in front of your girl, Jaco?”

Glowering Jaco stood there still as a statue with arms crossed over his chest, clearly pissed off with Mitabi. “No!” He finally remarked defensively. “But I am not…”

“Boys” Roanna interrupted in a sing-song voice. “Why don’t you play a game of horse? Each turn you must travel from one location to the next, you may choose to engage the titan dummy if you want. If you don’t do it exactly how the other cadet does it, you get a letter. The first person to spell horse loses.” Blinking, Mitabi looked from Jaco and then to Roanna. “Oh, to up the ante, the winner will receive a kiss from yours truly.” Pointing to herself, she winked at the boys.

A kiss?  He couldn’t say no to a prize like that. Besides, it should be a piece of cake.

…… It was not

With all letters except E, Mitabi was on the verge of losing.

Jaco had one damned letter. He should have an O as well, but the other cadets, who served as judges, ruled in the other cadet’s damn favor.

It was Jaco’s turn and the smirk on his stupid face should have told Mitabi that he was about to lose, but Mitabi was so blinded by his drive to woo Roanna, that he did not see through the other cadet.  Jaco had setup Mitabi for failure in his next turn. The space was tight and full of low branches. His maneuver in the space could only be pulled off by someone that fucking small and fast. It was not ideal for 6’2” broad, awkward limbed, and still had an inch to grow, Mitabi.

It would have been less of a blow to his dignity if he had just forfeited. Though too proud to surrender, he attempted to copy Jaco from his spot on the tree branch. He just needed to copy, move for move, and land feet firmly perched on the tree branch across the way. Of course,  it was not a direct path, that would have been too easy. 

…..
He was not quick enough. 

………

Laughter erupted as Mitabi hung there, upside down,  one hook embedded in the thick tree branch above, the other hook, well that was knocking his against his backside as its cable somehow managed to get tangled around his body. Piss poor timing on his part. After a few moments, the crowd began to disperse, laughter still spilling from their lips, leaving an embarrassed Mitabi by himself, the cable spinning him slowly in a circle. Jaco and Roanna did not leave right away; instead, she rewarded the victor with his prize. Pressing her sweet lips to Jaco’s, she let them linger for a moment as to rub salt in already open wounds. 

Disgusted and embarrassed, Mitabi told them to piss off. “It's been fun” Jaco laughed before turning away, his queen in tow,  and headed back towards the barracks. He remained there, hanging upside down, his heart too broken for him to release the hook above him.

(Year 844, Fall)

Are you fucking kidding me?

These were the thoughts of Mitabi Janrach when a man in his late 50's approached him one day, speaking about his mother Ettie and a niece of his that he'd like Mitabi to meet. The man, Raoul, was someone that was a regular at the Singing Boar Inn. A man who Mitabi remembered from his youth, he knew that meeting this 'niece' was all of his mother's doing.  Ettie Jarnach meant well, and always has, but this was the first time she set up a date outside of Karanes.  Over the years, Ettie has tried to play matchmaker for her son, and admittedly, some of the girls were as lovely as a beautiful spring day, and if Mitabi had been ready to settle down, a few of those girls probably would have made him happy.

Although it broke his mother's heart, Mitabi explained to his mother time and time again that he was not ready to settle down. Yet, this did not deter the small woman with her salt and pepper hair, and fierce determination for her only son to give her grandkids. As years went on, and sweet girls became harder to find, Ettie's matches took an interesting turn.

And now here he was walking alongside his mother's latest match. Light brown eyes grew wide as he felt an explorative hand snake its way down his lower back, checking out the goods he possessed before wrapping around his waist and pulling him in closer to her, causing him to suck in air through his mouth. Inwardly cursing, he held his breath for as long as he could, not wanting to inhale any more of the perfumed stench. Maude, his date,  dressed up far more than he did, her dress cut lower than was socially acceptable left little to the imagination, was more fitting for a night out at a social gathering. His outfit was simple: a jacket with a clean, white, shirt underneath, and pants. Her painted face brought out sharp, angular features and overly groomed brows that Mitabi was sure were more fake than real, gave her an angry or bothered expression. Or was it an expression that she just smelled rotten eggs? Mitabi couldn't quite point his finger on it. Heavily perfumed, the air around the woman caused his eyes to water and his nose to burn, forcing him to become a mouth breather whenever he found him too close to her, which happened to be always.

This was a whole new level of crazy. Had lost Ettie lost her mind? Mitabi certainly hoped not as he could not handle another nightmare such as this one.

Brows knitted together, a look usually saved for when he was on duty, nervous eyes searched for a way out of the woman's hold. Casually he tried to create space between the two of them, but the action only caused the woman to smirk, creating a contrasting image as her brows did not change and mold to the new expression she wore. Well, at least he knew they were in fact painted on.

"Oh honey, I am not letting you go that easily."  Thin fingers, once more took time to explore his lower body, giving his cheeks a firm squeeze before sliding an arm underneath his, giving the appearance they were a thing.

Fuck me

Wait. No. Take that back.  Mitabi was sure that's exactly what this Maude woman wanted to do to him. Walking arm in arm from stall to stall, Maude showed off her prize, telling all of those she knew that she had found herself a military man. Never before has he been paraded around as if he was a prized animal being ready to be sold to the highest bidder.  Mitabi wanted to run away and find a hole to hid from the woman.

The day was coming to an end as the sun would soon set, washing away the blue sky and painting it shades of red and orange.  The woman, not wanting to let her catch go, brought them to a bench. Mitabi, eyes redden from the constant onslaught of eye-watering perfume, faced the woman, putting on a brave, but fake smile, secretly praying that this would be the end of their time together. 

Unfortunately, the woman took this a sign of sadness; that Mitabi did not want to part ways just yet. Grabbing the side of his face, Maude kissed his cheek before bringing his head to her chest, wrapping him a tight, smothering embrace. Thank goodness her chest had not been any larger, or he would have been sucked in completely. Cooing, Maude stroked the back of his head, much like a mother would do to an upset child. Stuck in an awkward position, he tried to pull away but met resistance everytime he did. “Oh, how lucky for me to find myself a big ol’ softie!”

When attempts to wiggle himself out of her hold proved futile, Mitabi pleaded to be let go, which, muffled by the chest in which his was face planted, went unheard. Shifting his head to the side as much as allowed, the man inhaled deeply catching a bit of fresh air, his one free eye peering out to passerbys who looked at him funny.

God he hoped that the patrons who frequented the market were none that he knew. How embarrassing if he is squadmates saw him in such a compromising position.

Mitabi in a nutshell. 
~Comes from a big family and is close to them
~Family owns the Singing Boar Inn, which he visits as often as he is allowed
~Is a loveable big guy who looks out for his family
~Thinks he is funny, but really isn't
~ Worries a lot when on duty. 
~ Enjoys a good drink 
~His mom is always trying to set him up with nice girls from Karanes and this cause Mitabi a lot of stress. (I imagine some of those girls are quite interesting and maybe a bit scary as well).  He wants a family one day but prefers if his mom didn't try to play matchmaker.

Random headcanons -

~He loves working with hands and has developed a talent for woodwork, especially enjoys carving tiny figurines.

~Growing up with 4 sisters, Mitabi considers himself a master hair braider. Name it and he can braid it.

~ LOOOOVES food. Mitabi has a steel gut and pretty much eats everything that is put in front him.


Friends
He is not a loner or anything, so he'd definitely have a few friends and acquaintances. Off-duty he is especially social, especially if drinking is included.

Enemies:
Oh I am sure he has burned a few bridges.  He is vocal enough that if he didn't like someone, they would know it.

Romance:
One day he'd love a family of his own, but any lovey stuff needs to happen naturally.

Possible thread ideas:

Drinking shenanigans

Past thread - Love exploring cadet days

Hair braiding party! :p

Mitabi sharing a story of his mother's latest attempt to play matchmaker.  I have it in my head that as his mother gets older, the women she tries to pick for him get weirder.

Garrison/work related threads.