Chapter Text
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Monday, April 2nd
850 at 9:08 am
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You saw a face you didn't recognize, while standing in a line during cadet orientation. Commander Shadis yelled at another cadet from the row in front of you. But the only thing you're focused on is the strangers face ahead.
The girl was extremely short with a bad case of resting bitch face, but her eyes are what captivated you the most. They were a beautiful pair of piercing blue eyes, and they were so light a person could barely tell her irises were even blue.
If you were any normal person with common sense you would know not to stare, but you couldn't help it. Thankfully she hadn't noticed, or at least acted like she hadn't noticed, she's just had a blank stare the entire time.
As Shadis was walking in between the rows you took it upon yourself to stop staring and just look straight ahead, not wanting to get on his bad side so early on. He walks past the two of them, but you found yourself disappointed in the fact that she never got to find out the blue eyed girl's name.
She remained stone-faced the entire time even when Shadis yelled at her row to turn around.
You took this at an opportunity to take a glance at the back of her head, seeing her platinum blonde hair tightly put into a small bun. You suddenly felt a slight nudge to your right arm.
You turned your head slightly and glanced at your friend Ymir responding with a simple, "Hmm?"
"This is gonna be three years of hell huh?" she half whispered.
"Well it was your idea to join wasn't it?" you bit back, a little too loudly.
Shadis' head snapped toward your direction, you saw him in the corner of your eye and you immediately straightened up, Ymir following suit. He made his way over to you with an irritated look in his eyes. He stood directly in-front of you looking down at your face.
"And who might you be?" he asked in a commanding tone.
You put her hands into fists bringing your right one over your heart, and your left arm alongside your lower back.
"(Y/n) (L/n)! From Shiganshina sir!"
"We'll tell me cadet (L/n) what gave you the audacity for you to believe that this is the appropriate time to speak to your fellow cadet!?"
While maintaining eye contact you felt sweat start to drip down the left side of your face, "Well you see, I-uh-"
Shadis cut you off, "I asked you a simple question (L/n) and I'm expecting an answer! Or do you not have a valid reason!?"
"No sir I do not have a valid reason!"
"That's what I thought was the case! Alright cadet (L/n), you'll be running five laps today!" his spit splattered all over you. Making it difficult for you to keep a straight face.
"Yes sir!" you responded loudly.
He glared at (Y/n) and walked away, you returned your right hand to your back, interlinking your wrist into your left hand. A small sigh escaped your lips, turning your head a bit when Shadis is far enough. (Y/n) glared at Ymir while she chuckles a bit, looking at you.
After Shadis walked through all the rows and yelled at his fair share of cadets you were all dismissed. Even though you were suppose to run laps, Shadis informed you to pick out your bunk before doing so.
(Y/n) went to go find Ymir after speaking to Shadis and punched her in the arm, "This is all your fault you know that?"
"Hey! Not my fault you don't know how to be quiet," she quipped back while rubbing her arm.
"Oh please, if you didn't talk to me back there I wouldn't have to run laps!"
"Still not my problem."
"Bitch," you said, as you both reach the girls dorm.
"If I'm such a bitch then I guess you don't want to share a bunk with me."
Truth be told you always hated sharing a bed with Ymir, when you met her two years ago you always shared a bed with her, and she always found a way to kick you to the point that you would get bruises.
"You know, maybe that'd be a good idea."
"What? I was just joking!" she responded grabbing your shoulder from behind.
"Nope can't back out now, it was your idea I'm just following through with it," you said pulling your shoulder out of her grip.
"You're the bitch," she mumbled under her breath.
You pretended to not hear that last comment and decide to start looking for a bunk to sleep in. More of the other female cadets were following close behind you and Ymir, meaning that there were still loads of empty bunks.
You choose the one with the most privacy, the bunk in the back corner. The bunk bed had two beds on top, and two at the bottom.
You decided to go for the bed on top that was closest to the wall. Placing your bag full of your stuff down and heading straight out to start running laps, not wanting Shadis to add more to your punishment.
As you started walking down the steps of the dorm she heard a, "Hey!" not thinking it's for you though, cause who would be calling for you? But then you heard it again, "Hey! Uh- (Y/n) was it?"
You turned around to see a girl with reddish brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"Oh uh-hey! Yeah I am (Y/n), you're Sasha right?"
Thinking back on it you did remember seeing Shadis yelling at a girl who decided to eat a potato while standing in line.
"Yup that's me!" Sasha answered, "Anyways, I remembered you also had to run laps so I thought I should introduce myself."
"Oh okay, well it's nice to meet you Sasha," you said with a polite smile, "But we should definitely start running unless we wanna do more laps."
Sasha agreed with a nod and you both start jogging. You two began to converse about their reasons for joining the cadet corps, while hearing a considerable amount of yelling coming from Shadis saying how this isn't "chit-chat time" and how it's "running laps" or whatever he wanted to call it.
Around your fourth lap you began to feel hungry and, wanting to of course eat, decided to run faster so you could eat sooner. Sasha was opposed to this since she had a lot more running to do, and no food waiting for her afterwards.
After completing all five of your laps you went to stand in front of Shadis where he yelled at you once again. In all honesty you weren't even listening to a word he said, you just wanted to get some food into her gut.
As soon as he was done you headed straight for the mess hall. Majority of the people were already sitting and eating while you were just getting her food. You grabbed your tray and looked around and spotted Ymir sitting semi-alone with an empty spot next to her. You began to walk towards her, "Hey Ymir."
"Hey (Y/n), how was it?"
"Oh you mean me running five laps on my first day here? Terrific, thanks for asking," you said with your voice dripping with sarcasm.
She chuckled at your response, "Hey at least here we know the food isn't complete garbage," she started playing with the food with her fork, "...for the most part."
"Yeah I guess it's better than living on the streets," you said as you ate your mashed potatoes while your eyes scanned the room.
Then something caught your eye, it was those blue eyes from earlier. They were looking down at the food below them, even though they had a bored look to them, but there was just something about them that just had you mesmerized. Unlike earlier, the pair of eyes looked up and were looking straight at you.
You diverted your eyes immediately to the food below of you, a slight blush spread across your cheeks. Trying to not think about the situation any longer you asked Ymir, "Hey Ymir do you know who my bunk mate is?"
"No? Do I look like someone who gives a shit about who your bunkmate is?"
"Do I look like someone who gives a shit about who your bunkmate is?" You repeated in a mocking tone. "You could've just said no, you prick."
You felt like you were starving after running those laps, so you finished your food pretty quickly. After Ymir finished you both headed back to the dorms. But on the way there you guys see Sasha, who seemed exhausted, and a dainty blonde girl, both of them sitting on the floor.
"Hey. What are you guys up to?" you asked them.
Sasha then gobbled down a piece of bread that was most likely given from the blonde girl. "Well, uh, she's been running all day. Without any food or water," the girl replied.
"I see. So you're trying to be 'nice'," Ymir said in a curious tone. You shoved your elbow into her ribs, implying that she shouldn't be rude.
You quickly noticed that the chewing from Sasha randomly stopped. You look down at her and saw her passed out on top of the small girls lap. Poor girl, she really did run a lot.
Everyone all talked a bit more before Ymir decided to carry the passed out girl on her shoulder. "I'm confused aren't you being nice?" the short girl asked.
"I'm helping her so that she'll owe me one in the future. I intend to make use of her stupidity."
"Ooh yeah I would hate to be her right now, owing Ymir is not fun," you said as you walked past the two girls giving Ymir a mocking smile.
You climbed up the ladder to the top bunk of your shared bed, feeling a little apprehensive about meeting your new bunkmate. You quickly changed into your night wear and pulled your blanket over yourself. As you lay there, staring up at the ceiling, you heard multiple footsteps approaching. There was the rest of the girls coming into the barracks who were also ready for some shut-eye. Feeling your bed move a bit, you turned your head to see the girl with those blue eyes climbing up the ladder to the top bunk. The blonde girl didn't say anything as she settled into her bed, pulling the covers up around her.
You tried to break the ice by introducing herself. "Hi, I'm (Y/n). Nice to meet you."
The girl just stared at her, her expression cold and uninviting. "Annie."
You felt a pang of disappointment. You had hoped that they could start off on the right foot, but it seemed like Annie had no interest in getting to know you.
"Okay," you said, feeling a little deflated. "Well, I guess we'll be living together for a while, so we should try to make the best of it."
Annie didn't respond, instead turning away from you and pulling out a book to read. You took the hint and settled into your own bed, feeling a little bit frustrated and a little bit lonely. It was clear that she preferred to keep to herself, and that she didn't have much interest in getting to know you or anyone else for that matter.
You couldn't help but feel a little bit hurt by Annie's cold demeanor, but you also knew that they were both there for a purpose. You were both training to become soldiers, and that was more important than any awkwardness between them.
So you settled in for the night, trying your best to ignore the uncomfortable silence that hung over their shared bunk bed. You knew that it wouldn't be easy to build a relationship with Annie, but you was determined to try.