Chapter 2

Rui's lungs sucked in air like she would never breathe again. Her legs pumped as best they could, the heat of the afternoon sun glaring on her back. She watched her feet as she ran at the absolute back of the line. She didn't want to go near the others. They would probably laugh anyway. The idea made her run ever slower.

In the last few days, Rui had spent each and every meal in the presence of Captain Levi who, not surprisingly, never spoke to her unless she was "eating wrong" or going too slow. She would be horrified to find him watching her run. She couldn't take his eyes on her any longer.

"Cadet Stone! What is your goddamned problem?! Move those legs faster before I take them away as punishment for your crap running!" Shadis shouted from the front. Rui sighed, trying to run a little faster. The person in front of her dropped something and, of course, it landed just in front of her, causing her to trip and go hurdling to the ground. Her arms and legs scraped painfully into the dirt. She heard chuckling as the others got farther ahead. She looked back...it had been a large stone.

She stood, dusting herself off.

"Weird, I expected the bullying to start sooner than this," she winced, looking at her arms. Both elbows were bleeding. Her eyes closed. This was expected, but it was still sad that she would have to endure this again. She picked herself back up and began her run again. This time, she ran as fast as she could to catch back up. But she knew they wouldn't stop tormenting her. She didn't belong here.

Lunchtime played out as it usually did. She went to Levi's office and waited for him to bring her extra rations. He insisted on knowing exactly what went into her body and so retrieved it himself. He probably assumed people would think he was just getting more to eat for him or another trainer. She couldn't think of a single person who would call him out on it either. When he finally arrived to the office, she stood up, quickly saluting him.

"Good afternoon, Captain!" She greeted. She figured he'd heard of her issue while on the run, so she tried being as respectful as possible to escape his ire. He walked up to her small table by his desk, dropping her plate heavily in front of her.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked, glancing at her cuts and scrapes.

"Oh...I tripped while running," she explained. He huffed.

"Not surprised."

He went to the desk, sitting down and immediately began doing paperwork. Rui watched him curiously. He was in a foul mood today. She decided not to bother him and sat down, eating as quietly as she could. The time passed at a snail's pace, making her stomach churn. She stopped being hungry after the first three bites, but she knew he wouldn't allow her to stop.

"Your scores have improved, if just barely. Though I'm still getting reports that you're behind on everything. You need to step it up if you want to stay," he said into his paperwork. Rui choked on a slice of potato in her soup. She cleared her throat, her face going red again. Levi glanced at her. He stood, making her heart hammer in her chest. The room wasn't very large, but with just the two of them in it, it seemed to get smaller each day.

"Get up, I'm taking your measurements. You were practically nothing but skin and bones a week ago. I need to check that this is actually working," he said. She stood, her spoon clanging against the table. Her face got hot again.

"Can you relax? You act like I'm going to eat you alive," he said, moving over to a table against the far wall, pulling out a tape measure. She stood stiff as a board as he walked towards her. She wasn't sure why he cared. He didn't give this much attention to any other cadet. She swatted away her thoughts. He was just helping her because she was so helpless. No other reason.

He wrapped the tape around her waist, pulling it loose on her midsection. Every brush of his fingers sent a chill up her spine. She could feel the heat from his body warming her back.

"You've gained a little. I'm actually surprised," he said softly. He placed a hand at each hip, making her jolt.

"Where the hell are your hips? You're built like a twelve year old boy," he chuckled. Her eyes widened. Was this...a normal thing for Captain Levi to do? She turned back to look at him.

"I can't help how I look," she said for the hundredth time. He shook his head and placed the tape measure back where he'd found it. Her lunch was getting cold.

"Eat. We've made some sort of progress, at least. You're a lot of trouble for me, you know," he said, sitting back at the desk. Rui wasn't sure why he felt the need to tell her that. She supposed it was to convince her to take all this seriously. She sat down silently, holding back her gloomy feelings as best she could. The only sound was his pen scratching at the files at his desk.

Rui stared at her bed. The last few hours had been a nightmare. Failure after failure, she couldn't catch up. Rock climbing, ODM practice, tactical training. Each thing had been difficult and no one was willing to help. That was all well and fine, but the fact that her peers intentionally made things more difficult for her gave her heart a deep seeded loneliness that couldn't be shaken off.

Now, she sighed, looking at crumbs, globs of soup, and pieces of bread which had been dumped on her sheets.

They knew.

She crouched down, wanting nothing more than to curl up in her soiled bed and cry. What was she to do? Tell Levi? That wouldn't gain her any popularity with these assholes. But what else could she do?

She picked up the corners of her sheets, bundling the mess in the center and dragging it out to be cleaned. The crumbs and bread weren't so bad. But the soup had dampened the matress as well. She would be uncomfortable tonight. As she walked, she kept her head down, trying to will away the intruding sadness. Mid thought, her face bumped into someone. She snapped back to focus and quickly saluted whomever she had run into.

"I- I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and -"

"No, you weren't. But you don't have to salute me. We're both recruits, silly," came a female voice. She looked up into two lovely honey brown eyes. There was something else interesting about her.

"Your skin...is so dark..." She breathed in amazement. The other girl raised an eyebrow and Rui felt mortified all over again. That had been the very first thing she'd said to a person. She was the rudest in the world.

"I get that a lot," she said with a smile. "My name's Victoria. What's yours?" She asked kindly. Rui was stunned silent. She hadn't actually spoken to any of the other cadets. They tended to avoid her like the plague.

"R-Rui..." She said sheepishly. Victoria smiled warmly, helping with her sheets.

"Did you wet your sheets or something, Rui?" She asked. Rui blushed deeply.

"No...just...people like to have their fun, I guess," she said softly as crumbs tumbled out onto the ground. Victoria's eyes widened.

"Oh...you're cadet Stone, aren't you?" She asked with a lowered tone. Rui nodded, hoping Victoria wasn't upset by this information. She continued to help.

"I keep hearing people talk but...I didn't think you were actually a nice quiet girl. They say you're a gluttonous temptress whose sleeping with Captain Levi," she said. Rui turned a hundred shades of red.

"I'm not sure anyone would survive a night with him. And he's forcing me to eat more because he says I'm too skinny for the military. He bullies me just as much as they do," she said with a gentle smile. Victoria laughed.

"You're not wrong there! That guy is an enigma. What's he like behind closed doors? Like, one on one? Is he any nicer because all I've ever heard out of him were orders or insults," she giggled.

What was happening? Was she...making a friend? She dearly hoped so. The girl's chatted all the way to the laundry station, washing Rui's sheets as best they could. They spoke mostly of the higher ups, Levi in particular. Rui found out that Victoria had a small crush on captain Levi, but would never go forth due to age difference and the fact that being with a scout was just asking to get your heart broken.

"Well...I mean, we all gotta die. If anything the fact that he's stayed alive this long means he might stick around longer," Rui said as they started wringing out the sheets. It had been completely soaked from being washed. A few people came in and out of the large room to wash uniforms, but no one bothered them.

"Or it could mean his clock is ticking. You never know with titans," Victoria said sadly.

"Don't I know it..." Rui said, suddenly sad again. Victoria smacked her back before she could dwell on it any longer.

"Don't overthink it. Let's go eat! Dinner bell rings in ten minutes!" She said happily. Rui smiled.

"I have to eat in Levi's office, but I'll meet you after if you want," she said with a hint of hope in her voice.

"Lucky. Sure, I'll meet you here."

Both girls left, each going their own direction. A warm joyous sensation finally settled itself within her stomach, making her giddy. She had a friend. She finally had a friend.

"What are you so happy about?" Captain Levi asked as he set her plate in front of her. There was an apple on the side. This was an unexpected treat. She wondered if he'd heard of what had happened.

"Oh...I met someone today..." She looked down with a smile. Levi looked at her face for a moment, blinking.

"Oh...really? That's...nice for you," he said, stepping over to his desk. Rui wanted to giggle at his attempt at being nice to her. She hadn't expected him to care at all for her happiness. She supposed even he had humanlike feelings. Even if they were buried under a mountain of rusty nails and broken glass.

She ate her dinner, smiling from the day. It had been, despite her negative experience, been one of the better days in training.

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