A year of training and love

Chapter 1

In the year 847 Mikasa Ackerman, Eren Jeager and Armin Arlelt left the landfill they had been working on to join the trainees squad in order to become soldiers. After receiving their uniform they lined up on the training grounds. Shadis walked past the lines of new recruits, giving each of them a fright with his intimidating gaze.

"Hey, you there!" He suddenly yelled as he passed Armin.

"Sir!" Armin shouted in reply, his heart beating in his throat.

"Who the hell are you?!" Shadis yelled, his spit flying at Armins face.

"Armin Arlelt, sir! From the Shinganshina district!"

"Oh yeah? Silly name! Did your parents gave it to you?

"My grandfather did, sir!"

"Arlelt! What are you here for?"

"To contribute towards humankind's victory, sir!"

"That's what I like to hear! You're gonna make great titan food when it comes to that!" He messed up Armins hair and turned around. "Third line, look behind you!" Armin let out a sigh of relief as Shadis walked towards the next person. As his heart went back to its normal pace, he looked at the person who was being yelled at now.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Conny Springer, sir! From the village of Ragako, in wall Rose's southern district!"

Shadis looked at Conny's salute, then lifted the boy from the ground by grabbing his head. "You got it backwards, Conny Springer! It must be one of the first things you learned! This salute is meant to represent your resolve to commit your very heart to public service! Is your heart on the right side, Conny?!"

Then Shadis saw something far more horrific than a backwards salute. He dropped Conny and spoke to a girl in the line behind him. "You there… what's the big idea?"

The girl looked at Shadis, then to the potato she was holding, and bit in it. Shadis rushed towards her and yelled "You! I'm talking to you, damnit! Who the hell are you?!"

The girl quickly swallowed and replied "My name is Sasha Braus, sir! From the village of Dauper, wall Rose's southern district!"

Shadis looked at the potato she was still holding. "Sasha Braus… what is that thing you're holding in your right hand?"

"A steamed potato, sir! It was in the kitchen, and I thought it was just what I needed! I didn't think this through!"

"You mean you stole it… why did you… pull out that potato to eat… now of all times?

"I wanted to eat it while it was still hot, there's no point otherwise. So I reckoned it was now or never."

"Well I don't get it. Why did you eat that potato?"

"Is that a "Why do people eat potatoes?" kind of question?" Everyone looked at Sasha with big eyes. After a moment of silence Sasha got an idea. She broke a small piece of off the potato and held it out to Shadis.

"Here is half of it… for you."

Bewildered he accepted the piece of the potato. "A half…?" He looked back at the girl, who had a big smile on her face. He pulled himself back together, grabbed the rest of the potato and said in a low voice "Sasha Braus. You will run rounds at the training grounds, and don't stop until you drop. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"And you will be skipping the meals today too."

"What! But-"

"No buts, start running. Now!"

"Sir!" She jogged out of the lines, as she passes Mikasa she muttered "To think I offered him half of that potato."

During dinner Mikasa quietly watched as Eren was telling the other boys about the titans. It didn't take long for him to get in an argument. Mikasa sighed to herself. Somehow, he always manages to get on peoples bad side. Luckily the situation didn't escalate, and when Eren left the dining hall she got up from her seat and followed him. She passed the boy he had been arguing with.

"Hey, you." He said.

She turned to look at him. Err, um… I never saw anyone who looked like you before. Um… sorry. You have beautiful black hair."

"Thanks." She turned back and continued her pursuit of Eren. "Eren." She called to get his attention. "What were you thinking, you almost got in a fight again."

"The hell, no. I wasn't getting in a fight." He replied annoyed.

"I take my eyes off you for a second and this is what happens."

"Here we go again… But more importantly, isn't your hair a bit too long? Great way to get into an accident during the maneuver drills."

Mikasa looked at her hair, thinking of the compliment she just got on it. But Eren was probably right, besides, if she got into an accident she wouldn't be able to protect him anymore.

"Yeah, alright, I'll cut it. But how short do you think it should be?"

Later that day, as the sun had just set, Sasha dragged her feet, with every step she took nearly falling over. He really made me run 'till I almost died. She dropped to her knees and fell headfirst to the ground. So many things… I still wanted… to eat. After lying there a while she suddenly smelled something. She jumped at the person walking towards her, landing with a piece of bread in her mouth. She took it in her hands and enthusiastically said "Bread!"

"It's not much, but I thought you could use it." said the blonde girl she had jumped at. "Still… it might be better to drink some water first."

Sasha grabbed the girl by her shoulders and said "God! Is that you? My lord and savior!" Then she devoured the bread at lightning speed.

Another girl approached the scene. "Hey there. What do you think you're doing?"

"Um… wel, she's done nothing but run for a while so…"

"Not potato girl, you. What do you think you're doing?"

"Me?" The blond girl looked at the other with wide eyes.

"I saw you hide that loaf during dinner and it pissed me off. Just like those kids who raise a pet behind their parents back, you know. Now, tell me, you think you're doing the right thing, huh? Did you do it for potato girl? Is the sense of accomplishment and exaltation you get out of this worth the effort?"

"I chose to do this… because I wanted to be seen as someone you can count on."

"Is that it?" She looked at Sasha who was now sleeping on the blonde girls lap. "Anyway, let's get potato girl to her bed. You'd have a hard time carrying her on your own, wouldn't you?"

"Um… Why would you choose to do the 'right thing'?"

"If I do her a favor she'll owe me, that's why. I can get profit out of her stupidity."

Mikasa was sitting on her bed, thinking about her first day at the academy, when the dorm's door opened and two girls dragged Sasha in. They laid her down on the only free bed left, the one below Mikasa's.

"She sure is heavy." said the blonde girl.

"Probably because she eats so much. Err, what was your name again?."

"I'm Christa, You are Ymir, right?" Said girl nodded.

Mikasa looked at the two girls as they walked away. They seemed to get along. She never had friends, mostly because she used to live so far away from other people before she met Eren. Eren was her family, and that was all she needed. She took off the red scarf, placed it next to her pillow and went to sleep.

Mikasa woke up, but it was still dark. As silent as she could she climbed down, glancing at Sasha to make sure she didn't wake her up. She still wore her uniform. A beam of moonlight fell onto the brunets face, the peaceful look on her face made Mikasa forget all the hardships she had been through for a moment. She's so pretty… maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be friends with her. Mikasa felt her cheeks getting warm as she looked at the other girl, and a weird sensation grew inside her stomach. She closed her eyes for a moment and the weird feeling in her stomach went away. She turned around and continued her way to the restroom, the floor creaking under her footsteps. Behind her someone stirred in their sleep.

When Mikasa returned she found Sasha sitting on her bed, this time in her pajamas. She looked up when she heard her coming, a carrot sticking out of her mouth. The moment their eyes met, the weird sensation returned to Mikasa's stomach.

"Why are you eating in the middle of the night?" she asked.

"Well, I woke up feeling kinda hungry, and it so happened I still had this carrot lying around."

"You had it… lying around?" Mikasa wondered as the other girl took the final bite.

"No, you got it wrong! I didn't steal it together with that potato and hid it here!" Sasha said, waving her hands in denial, making it obvious she was lying.

"It's ok, I won't tell anyone... But why are you so crazy about food?" Mikasa said while sitting down next to the other girl.

"When wall Shina fell, we had to share our food with the refugees and I always went to bed hungry. So I ended up stealing food whenever the opportunity presented itself." The look on her face was grim, as if she was recalling a bad memory.

"I see. But don't worry, I'm sure we will get enough food here." Sasha gave her a little smile. "We should go back to bed. Goodnight, Sasha."

"Yeah, 'night, Mikasa."