The harsh sun beat down upon Hana Dupont's ebony hair. The warm, dry air caused a single drop of sweat to form on her forehead, run down her cheeks, drip off her chin, and finally land onto her brown leather boot.
It was sweltering.
And it didn't help at all that Hana was forced to stand stiffly in a soldier's position. Plus, she didn't even know how long the new military recruits had to stay outside in the blazing hot weather.
She sighed, feeling her brown uniform jacket slightly chafe against her arms.
Finally, at the very front of the rows and rows of new military recruits, a man appeared. He had tan skin that was rough and worn from the elements. He was completely bald, and had a small tuft of brown facial hair jutting out from his chin. The man was wearing a thick green jacket. Hana guessed that he was going to be involved in the training of the new recruits.
"MY NAME IS KEITH SHADIS!" he boomed, which caused Hana to slightly flinch. All of the recruits' heads snapped his way, and they all gave him their full attention, so he began speaking again. "The 104th Cadet Boot Camp starts right now! I will make sure to make it my personal goal to put all of you cadets through hell! If I've done my job correctly, you will all be waking up from nightmares of this place, every damn night for the rest of your miserable lives! RIGHT NOW, YOU ARE ALL WEAK AND USELESS! BUT, OVER THE NEXT THREE SOUL-CRUSHING YEARS, I WILL TURN YOU PISS-HEADS INTO SOLDIERS!"
Hana's heart thumped rapidly in her chest. She knew that the leaders at Boot Camp would be harsh and loud, but she was already getting scared. In fact, deep down inside of her, she wondered whether or not she should actually go through with becoming a Titan-fighting soldier.
But, she quickly threw that thought aside. "No. There is no way I'm backing out of this now. I'm going to become a soldier. I will not let myself get scared away." She scolded herself silently.
"Alright! Let's get a peek at the new recruits this year, shall we?" Shadis said with a malicious grin.
He walked forward, and Hana could hear his heavy boots scrape against the dirt as he took each step.
As he walked along side the rows of recruits, he eyed each one carefully. All of the recruits were obviously very intimidated by him, because Hana saw that after he passed each person, their bodies tensed up nervously as he brushed past them.
Eventually, Shadis stopped walking and stopped in front of a short boy that was standing only a couple rows away from Hana.
"Hey, you! State your name!" Shadis barked at him.
He immediately placed his right fist onto his chest, saluting Shadis.
"My name is Armin Arlert, and I am from the Shiganshina District!" Armin shouted.
Shadis scowled at Armin, and in response the blonde boy slightly winced.
Hana turned her head, and looked at the boy, who's name was apparently 'Armin'.
"Armin is a nice name…and he has such nice hair, too…" Hana murmured, too quiet for anyone around her to hear.
Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she admired the thick mop of blonde locks that sat atop of Armin's round head.
"Who in the world gave you such a stupid name, cadet!?" Shadis squawked.
"My Grandfather named me, sir!" Armin replied, trying very hard to keep his voice even and steady, and not shake with fear.
"Cadet Arlert! Why did you decide to join the military?" Shadis shouted, while moving closer to Armin.
"I joined the military to help humanity overcome the Titans, sir!" he answered, his voice now becoming shrill and high.
"That's good to hear! Now, turn around, you runt!" Shadis commanded, apparently satisfied with Armin's answer.
Armin turned around and Hana could see his muscles relax after Shadis walked away.
Hana could feel Shadis coming closer to her, and she silently begged that he wouldn't go to her next. But, just her luck, he stopped right in front of her, his tall body towering over Hana's small one.
"State your name!" he screamed, and Hana attempted to muster up all of her courage to reply. However, she was so nervous and scared, that when she tried to say her name, no words came out.
"DO YOU HAVE COTTON IN YOUR EARS? I SAID STATE YOUR NAME, YOU MAGGOT!" Shadis roared, and Hana clenched her teeth, and saluted him.
"M-my name is Hana Dupont! I'm f-from the Stohess District in Wall Sina!" Hana stammered.
After she revealed that she was from the Stohess District, Hana heard many of the other recruits gasp and whisper. Her whole body trembled as she felt hundreds of eyes on her.
Shadis raised his eyebrows. "So, you're a little princess from the Stohess District? Why did you join the military, you pipsqueak?"
Suddenly, a blast of courage spread through Hana. Her short black hair flung fiercely as she spoke.
"I joined the military so I could aid humanity's effort of destroying all of the Titans, sir! I also would like to help avenge the deaths of all of the fallen soldiers who lost their lives before me! I wish to live to see the day when humanity is finally victorious!"
Shadis just stared at Hana. By this point, every single other cadet had their eyes on her. They all didn't expect such a loud, brave speech coming from such a small, trembling girl.
"Well, if you wish to live to see that day, you're going to have to go through hell the next few years, Cadet Dupont!" Shadis finally said, his voice now quiet and deeper.
Shadis stared at Hana for a few moments longer, until he eventually continued walking, stopping at another cadet. He was a tall boy with brown hair. He stated his name, and Shadis continued to scream at him, as he did with Armin and Hana.
Hana let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her hands still shook nervously.
Eventually, all of the other cadets had turned their heads back forward, no longer staring at her.
With the exception of a certain blonde haired boy.
Armin kept his dark blue eyes on her, and his mind was racing.
He thought that it was odd for someone to leave the comfort of a home within Wall Sina to join the military. To live there, her family must have been quite wealthy.
"She doesn't seem like someone who descends from a rich family…" Armin thought.
A light breeze started to pick up. It caused Hana's short black hair to ruffle softly.
Hana sighed. A hint of blush was still left on her cheeks from the embarrassment of all those people staring at her earlier. In fact, she could sense one pair of eyes still settled on her.
She slowly swiveled her head to the side, and her violet eyes met Armin's blue ones.
His pale face turned red, because she had caught him staring at her. He quickly averted his gaze from her, embarrassed.
Hana had to stifle a laugh. She thought he looked adorable when he was flustered.
Then, Hana heard Shadis shouting at another cadet, who was eating a boiled potato right out in the open. Hana furrowed her eyebrows, wondering why a girl would be eating at such an odd time.
After Shadis ordered 'Potato Girl' to run laps until she collapsed, all of the other cadets were sent to the mess hall to eat dinner, and then go to bed. Their first official day of training would be tomorrow.
Hana looked down at her 'dinner'. It consisted of an awful smelling soup, and hard bread. That meal was very different from the expensive meals Hana was used to eating. However, she knew of a certain girl who probably needed the food more than she did.
Hana, while carrying her bowl of soup and bread, walked through the mess hall, and stepped outside, onto a porch. She walked over to a small group of people who were gathered on one end of the porch.
"Excuse me. Sorry for bothering you, but do you know where Sasha Braus is?" Hana asked the group after sheepishly approaching them.
All five of them snickered, and then the tallest boy in the group spoke up. "You mean Potato Girl? She's over there." The boy pointed to the left, and Hana smiled.
"Thank you!" she called over her shoulder, and jogged down the porch steps and to the direction he pointed.
Hana watched her feet as she ran. She frowned. She felt so bad for Sasha. Shadis had ordered her to run until she literally dropped from exhaustion, and he told her she couldn't have dinner either. All of that was punishment for when she was eating a potato earlier. Hana decided to give her food to Sasha, because she must have been starving.
Suddenly, Hana felt a sharp pain collide with her chest, and she was knocked over into the dirt. Her head slammed into the ground, and she groaned from the head ache that was already forming in her cranium.
"Oh! I-I'm so s-sorry! Are you okay?" a voice frantically asked.
Hana rubbed her forehead, and look up at the blonde haired boy standing above her. He extended his hand to help her up, and she gladly took it.
"I'm s-so sorry for knocking you down! It was all my fault! I wasn't watching where I was going!" he babbled on. Hana stared at his dark blue eyes.
Then she smiled. "It's okay. I wasn't watching where I was going either. No harm done."
Then, Armin's eyes traveled down to her uniform, and he gasped.
Hana looked down too, and groaned.
She had spilt the soup all over her uniform.
"Great…" Hana mumbled sarcastically.
"I'm so sorry…you must hate me now, huh?" Armin whispered. He looked like he was about to cry.
Hana grinned. "Of course I don't hate you! It's okay, I forgive you. I'll just get a spare uniform."
Armin sighed, while looking at his shoes. "Are you sure it's okay?"
"I promise." Hana nodded.
A tiny smile spread across his face, and he finally looked back up at her.
"Well, I'm going to go change now. What's your name again?" Hana asked, still presenting him a friendly smile.
"Armin Arlert. What's yours?"
"Hana Dupont. Nice to meet you, Armin!"
Then, Hana said a quick goodbye, and trotted back into the mess hall.
Armin watched her small figure retreat into the building.
"I hope I get to see her again…" he thought happily.