A/N: Something that was requested by Ms. Kasper because they liked Twin Tails so much. A special thank you to them for being so supportive and what not and I really hope I can do their request justice.

Also, a link to another user's profile will be given because they did allow me to use some characters of their own. Quite a few actually. They're quite the writer actually, so I'd advise you guys to check them out.

"You! Third row! State your name!" The trainee's fist thumped against his chest. Mina had almost thought that the boy would've knocked a solid hole through his chest. After the Potato Girl had already condemned herself to hell on the first day, instructor Shadis's drill had intensified. She had been so apt to join the military, to help humanity and more so to keep her hometown safe from the advancing titans. She had been staring directly at the fences ahead of her, a part of her considering making a break for it. She had known that military life was grueling, but she had never thought that it'd be so demanding emotionally.

"Millius Zermusky of Karanese!" Shadis's voice seemed to grow even more unnerving, nearing in as he had done so earlier to Marco. His tone was something different.

"From the same place as that pigshit in the first row!? Then why don't you go and accompany them! A lily-livered shit like you will be the first one the titans are gonna' dine on!" Mina rubbed her fingertips into her palms. She was still shaking a little from how draconian the man had been. He had bore into the short haired blonde a little ways to her right, Armin Arlert, he had said his name was, and had even struck out at Jean with a solid headbutt. By the time he had gotten to her, she had already been trying desperately hard to control her shaking. If he noticed, he hadn't said anything on it. She was a little concerned about Millius.

She had kept her eyes glued to Millius's hazing with the utmost conviction, wincing inwardly as Shadis bellowed out his usual "face front!" phrase when he was finished with them. Millius's eyes had gone from staring into Shadis's chest to her eyes directly, a sly, mischievous smirk gracing the edges of his lips.

Millius, don't, she thought fatigued. His eyes settled with a frown to match. Mina made a tired sigh as she saw Millius's lips part into speech, into something she couldn't hear. He had mumbled it really, but Shadis, who had been only a person away, had froze almost instantly on the spot. His sunken eyes turning to him with a vague and eery sense of control.

"Zermusky, mind repeating what the hell you said?" Mina turned away even as the rest of the new recruits looked on with disbelief. She knew that Millius had been wanting her in particular to be the one watching. Millius didn't respond. Mina squealed a little in fright at the explosion in the instructor. She had turned back around against her better judgment. Shadis's hand was planted firmly onto Millius's skull. It had seemed so likely that he would've tore the boy from the ground in a livid explosion of anger.

"Hey chicken shit! I'm talking to you!" Millius's face had gone blank and Mina couldn't tell if he was trying in vain to be stoic or if he had truly lost his train of thought. She corrected herself. She noticed then the sharp edge in his eyes. Again, he was looking past Shadis and at her. Mina's brow furrowed at him.

Look away. She bit the inside of her lip. She knew him. She knew him very well. Even so, the ways he stared at her made her hair stand on end. Look away!

"It was a remark to myself." Millius mumbled again. He was looking at Shadis now, jaw clenched and palms sweaty. "I'm sorry. I just thought that this uniform is ichy as hell..." A crushing silence filled the air. Shadis stared at Millius unabashed and unflinching, but Millius hadn't once returned even a glance and attempted to watch his feet with a fake interest. Shadis let him fall from his hands and watched the boy slip into the dirt.

"2000 push-ups. Get started," Shadis hissed.

Mina had lost count how many times she had heard Millius's name. Among other things, his brazen cool guy attitude had nearly gotten him killed. He had passed out twice from heat exhaustion and was delirious when he had strolled into the mess hall. He had only gotten to 150 before he collasped. She hadn't been surprised from how mountainous and dry the region was. The sun was usually very inforgiving when it came to the area. Still, she had wished he had thought his actions through. He had been one of the few new recruits who hadn't taken the basic aptitude test, even though he had the rest of day to rest. There were bits and pieces that she caught, the most pronounced one being that she hadn't been the only one to know that he had been staring past Shadis.

She sighed, and it earned her a slightly barbed stare from the other person across from here. Mina straightened herself then and ragged her eyes up to the girls. Her eyes were a piercing and crystal hued. It felt as though she were staring through her. Mina fumbled to form her thoughts, let alone a simple sentence.

"O-Oh..I'm, um, sorry about that." She laughed awkwardly, but the other girls eyes made her shiver inwardly. They showed nothing in the slightest. Who could live like this...? It was quiet then. For a moment, she figured if this had been what Millius had felt like when everyone had watched him in amazement at his attempted indifference. The other girl had finally looked away, propping her chin up. The look of boredom remained strong in her face. Again, Mina tried to find her words. "So, why did you join the military?"

Silence.

"I joined because I thought I could help humanity." Her crystal eyes shifted, flicking over toward Mina to observe her impassively. "I'm a little nervous about the whole thing..."

"I'd prefer it if you'd leave me out of whatever it is you're doing or thinking. I could care less." Mina recoiled at the sharp response, a part of her a little offended.

"I was only trying to be friendly."

"Don't." She combed through her food listlessly. "Wouldn't it be better for you to deal with other people? Maybe people who might enjoy your company?" Mina's mouth gaped slightly, but her face fell.

"I would, but I don't necessarily have anyone I've come here with." The other girl grunted, wiping a few strands of sunny blonde hair that had fallen over her eyes.

"So you don't know the idiot who nearly got himself killed?" Mina let out a rough exhale. "Do you?" For a moment, Mina had considered shaking her head in denial. The look in the girl's eyes had told her, frightened her into otherwise. She nodded bashfully.

"He doesn't usually act like that. When I had met him back when we were kids, he seemed... a lot more sincere." Mina offered up a small smile but the blonde made it clear that she had no further interest in talking, and simply kept her eyes averted with the same cold, neutral stare and offered Mina nothing more than that.

"Alright brats! Dining's over! All of you will line up outside the dormitories and will be assigned a room-mate! Hurry up and get to it!" It was Shadis again, and his voice still sent tremors through Mina's spine. Oddly enough, she found that he was less important at the moment. She kept her eyes on the blonde girl, who didn't even cringed in the slightest at Shadis's display. She had been hoping that the girl would turn to look at her, but to no avail.

Mina sighed, a little annoyed but gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Well, I guess it was nice meeting you... I'm Mina." That was all Mina had said and it was probably all the other girl could stand to listen to. Mina stood up and left her, not even stopping once to even make an attempt to remember her face.

The 104th had all lined up in front of the barrack quarters. It was divided into two factions, one for each gender. The dorm complexes were built interestingly enough, each being lined with its own, smaller mess hall and various extracurricular facilities and despite the dormitories and recruiting stations being built on a somewhat mountainous area, a small lake could be seen a little ways below them, just beyond the northern edge of the fence. It may have even been possible to slide down to it if someone could navigate the steep cliff-side.

Shadis's voice exploded a third time, but Mina hadn't been paying even the slightest attention. She had heard a few names in bits and pieces. Brandt, Tius, Mundis, Zermusky. She paused at the sound of his name. Her eyes flicked over to the boys squad, noting that each of them had stood next to their assigned room-mates, and among them she had seen the strangest pairings. She had been so intrigued by the odd pairs that she hadn't even heard Shadis barking off the girls room-mates.

"Carolina!" She tensed a little, but was steadily growing used to the sound of his voice and of the method to his madness. "Leonhardt!" Mina's heart sank a little. She wasn't quite familiar with that name and tried to place a face to the name with little avail. She gave up after a bit and figured she would find out once she went to settle into her dorm.

It had grown dark by the time the room-mates were assigned and Mina struggled to stay awake, nearly falling over a few times before they were finally dismissed for the day and she inched over to her dorm. Inside, she had found the basic necessities. A dresser was lined against the wall, big enough to accommodate both her and her room-mates clothes. Across from the dresser and pushed into a corner was bunk bed and next to that was small office style desk at which sat a familiar face and Mina immediately felt a familiar thought come with it.

It's that bitch... Mina put a hand to her mouth. It wasn't often that she was so calloused, but then again, it was the same blonde girl that had shot her down for what she felt was little to no reason. She had been trying to be a nice person, and to make a friend. The other girl had her back facing to her.

"Are you going to stare at my back all day?" The edges of Mina's mouth twitched.

"I hadn't thought you'd be my room-mate." Her comment was intentionally barbed that time, but she was met with the same deadpan.

"You weren't paying attention." Mina folded her arms.

"Do you think there's any chance that we could switch room-mates?" The girl in question shrugged.

"Most likely not. Besides, you're making a big deal out of nothing. You don't have to like me or make transparent attempts at making friends. Just go and find someone who's more like you than I am." Again, Mina huffed, but couldn't argue with her reasoning. No, she didn't really care for her and would much rather be someone else's room-mate. But she would've preferred as little friction as possible.

"Okay then," Mina started "That's fine. But I'd like it if at least tell me your name." Mina watched closely as the girls eyes found their way to her fluidly. They were seemingly burning holes into her skin or freezing her to the spot at least. The blonde blinked only once. She was smooth and controlled even in that. Mina felt a bit of jealousy flush into her face. Her roommate so far was insufferable to say the least, but she was without a doubt gorgeous.

"You should've been listening." That was a slap in the face. Mina's hands tightened in frustration.

"Are you seri-"

"Annie Leonhardt." The smooth voice stopped Mina in her tracks. Annie stood up from her seat, climbing up onto the top of the bunk. "If that's all you wanted to know, then you should go to sleep. I saw how terrified you had been of Shadis." Annie tossed the cover up over her head and said nothing else.

"I wasn't scared of him," she said indignantly. He..." She struggled for an excuse. "Caught me off guard." she finished lamely. "By the time he was assigning our roommates, I had gotten used to him screaming at everyone." Annie didn't say anything. Mina frowned. She had slipped into her sleepwear, sliding under the blankets on the lower bunk. "Anyway, I'm-"

"Mina Carolina," Annie finished. Mina's lips creased back into a small grin. She had been listening, it seemed and that thought in itself made her grin even wider. Neither girl said anything after that. It had occurred to Mina then that she didn't quite know were Annie had come from. She didn't talk much and couldn't imagine her shunning only her. It was a possibility that there was something going on in Annie's world that no one really even knew about.

She thought of Eren. His mother had been eaten right before his eyes and he had lost track of his father, who had more than likely succumbed to the same fate. Annie could be like that. Maybe she is...Mina closed her eyes and inhaled slowly and she was sudden;y staring at the bottom of Annie's bunk. A fire rose in Mina's chest as she did so. She needed to know more about this girl and about Annie. She needed to know where the girl had come from too. More importantly, she really just wanted to know what the world really looked liked to her.

She just needs a friend. She yawned. And I promise that I'll be that friend. Not even a moment after, Mina floated calmly into sleep.

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