Chapter Three: Touch
Hitch groans through a large yawn when she hears a loud banging from outside the barracks. This definitely was her least favorite part of the day. Each and every morning, Shadis would bang some loud metal symbols in the center of the barracks, waking everyone up in the worst way possible. She forces herself out of bed and pulls out the trunk located beneath her bed, rummaging around for her uniform and belts.
Training has been nowhere near easy over the last few months. Many recruits has dropped out rather quickly, while a few others had actually been killed from the intensity of the training. Hitch didn't think it was that terrible, but it was much more work than she wanted to put in. However, she has been working quite hard over the last few months because if she plans on getting into the Military Police, she has quite a bit to compete against. The group of trainees she had been placed with were all talented and dedicated, which was a deadly combination for those who wanted a lush lifestyle in the interior without putting the work in.
Walking outside, the sun was already beating down on them. Hitch adjusted her straps, glancing around at the others. They walked like zombies towards the mess hall, only a few people chipper this early in the morning. She catches Marco animatedly talking to Jean, who looks like he's about to pass out. Eren is telling a story to those standing around him with Mikasa and Armin flanking him on either side. Hitch's eyes land on Annie for a split second, but she quickly looks away. That girl is terrifying, and even more so at this hour.
Breakfast seems to wake everyone up, although Hitch doesn't know how, given how bland it is. She hears some kind of squabble at the table behind her, which most definitely involves Sasha and Connie.
The loud banging starts again, signaling the recruits to make their way to the training grounds. As the recruits line up and solute Shadis, he drops the large symbols to the ground, motioning for the trainees to drop their solutes. He clears his throat and begins speaking loudly, "Recruits! We will be starting this morning off with hand to hand combat! Do not mess around, it will not be tolerated," he finishes, his eyes landing directly on Sasha and Connie. The group snickers at the two, who are blushing furiously at being called out by Shadis.
"On that note," he adds, "I want you all to spar with someone new today. You've all grown too comfortable."
Hitch glances around herself. Everyone looks lost, having to pair up with someone other than their usual partner. Her eyes land on Jean, who still looks like he could fall asleep right then and there. Marco has already paired off with a very bubbly Christa. Hitch comes to a stop in front of Jean, her arms crossed over her chest. "Should we do this?" she asks, annoyance glinting in her eyes. Sparring wasn't even necessary. Their enemy is titans, not humans.
Jean nods, not bothering to give her an actual answer. She follows behind the boy, who walks out of the clump of recruits and towards a much more open area. He stops walking after a few moments, stopping to face her. "Who attacks first?" he asks, sleep still lacing his voice.
Hitch pauses for a moment, squinting at him.
His eyebrows raise the longer she stares and he eventually asks, "What, do I have something on my face?"
"No," she says, "I'm still trying to decide what's going with your hair."
His hand reaches up, attempting to flatten it down, "What about it?"
"Why is it like that?"
"Like what?" he asks, brows furrowing. He feels too tired to deal with this kind of shit this early in the morning, but he continues to meet the girl's gaze anyway.
"The coloring," she says finally. "Why is it two colors? Is that natural?"
He sighs, "Hitch, you should really know the answer by now. I'm asked this on a daily basis. But yes, it's natural. No, I don't know how. Any other questions?"
"No, but you have obvious pent up aggression, so you can attack first."
He rolls his eyes, although she notes that he seems a little more awake after their exchange. "Ready?"
She positions herself to prepare for his attack and nods.
He shifts to run at her, but quickly says, "This one is a warm up, so we'll be slow." Then, he's running at her.
Her fingers meet his wrist and she feels a shock go through her entire body, followed by a warm, tingly feeling. They both immediately stop moving, their eyes focusing on Hitch's hand wrapped around Jean's wrist. Slowly, Hitch pulls her fingers away and flexes them. They're glowing a bright, brilliant, swirling blue. Her eyes shift to Jean's wrist. He has yet to move, but his wrist has illuminated itself in the same color. Hitch glances at his face and she sees both shock and surprise written all over his expression. She assumes she must look the same. His eyes eventually meet hers and she lets go of a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. He clears his throat and comes back to reality, looking around to see if anyone else has noticed them. So far, so good.
It's not like it mattered too much. Other 104th cadets had meet their soulmates since training had started. The first day, Connie and Sasha had brought everyone's attention to themselves when they fought over a basket of bread. Everyone had realized the situation before the two even noticed, who were too preoccupied with bread to pay any attention to what was happening. Ymir and Christa had also realized they were soulmates on the first day of training because of Ymir patting Christa's shoulder and letting our a loud laugh at something another cadet had said. Marco and Mina's fingers brushed at dinner one night a few weeks into training and the room was filled with bright blue. Some people had soulmates coming into training, like Reiner and Bertholdt or Eren and Mikasa.
"Okay," Jean finally says, meeting Hitch's eyes once again, "if we keep standing around, people will notice. We can meet up tonight after dinner and talk if you want." He lets his hand fall to his side, his wrist still glowing.
Hitch follows suit, her hand dropping to her side. She nods, "Yeah, that would be good. Let's get back to training."
Dinner finally rolls around. The day has dragged on and Hitch has been dying for tonight to come around so she and Jean can talk about this. It's driving her a little crazy. She was aware she had a soulmate, obviously, but the fact they her and Jean had gotten so far into training and never touched before seemed a bit unbelievable.
She settles in her seat across from Marco, although her eyes shift to Jean. He's hard to read, although she can tell he's tapping his foot impatiently beneath the table. At least he feels the same as she does, or so she assumes.
She reaches out and grabs a piece of bread from the basket in front of herself, placing it on her plate. She hears Marco gasp and internally groans. Of course he was going to find out; he's Jean's best friend, after all. But that doesn't change the fact that she didn't want to talk about this with anyone other than Jean yet, especially not with all of the cadets cramped into the tiny dining hall.
"Who?" he asks quietly. The only people who seem to take any notice are Jean and Mina.
Hitch doesn't reply, but her eyes slip to Jean. Marco follows her gaze, his mouth dropping into an 'o' shape. He smiles and elbows Jean, who grunts in reply.
The rest of dinner is agonizingly slow. After what seems like hours, Jean and Hitch make their way back to the sparring grounds to talk. Sasha doesn't have to run laps tonight, so they have the barren field to themselves.
The two stay silent for some time, not knowing what to say to one another.
"So," Jean says, his voice cutting through the cool nighttime air.
"So," Hitch replies, her fingers playing with her jacket.
Silence falls between them again.
"Is your wrist still glowing?" Hitch asks, glancing at her fingers. They're still glowing brightly, the light casting shadows on her face.
He nods, pushing his sleeve back to show her. "I didn't think it was supposed to glow for this long."
"My mom always said that if it glows for a long time, it means your bond is stronger than average," she wiggles her fingers again. It looks like bright blue ink is swirling around right beneath her skin.
He's quiet for a moment and then looks up at her again. The blue hues shine against her face and he realizes that she is really pretty. He pushes away the thought (and wills away the pink blush brightening his cheeks, although it's too dark out for her to notice) and asks, "Have you ever had visions or like… dreams with me in them?"
When he finishes speaking, Hitch feels something in her mind click. The reason Jean had looked so familiar is because she has been seeing small snippets of his life since she was five years old. She meets his gazy with wide eyes and nods.
"Glad to know I'm not crazy. I thought I recognized you the first day of training, but when you said you weren't from Trost, I couldn't think of anywhere else I could've known you from." He scratches the back of his neck nervously. "My mom always told me seeing visions of your soulmates is incredibly rare. She didn't think it was an actual thing."
"I didn't know it was a thing," Hitch says quietly, studying him a little closer than usual now that she knows where she recognizes him from.
From behind them, a loud banging of metal on metal sounds, signaling curfew. The two sigh and start their way back to the barracks.
"I guess we'll see how this goes," Jean says.
Hitch nods in agreement and wishes him a goodnight, heading towards the girls end of the barracks. Jean watches her walk away, his mind whirling with hundreds of thoughts at once. After she disappears through the door, he turns in the opposite direction, trying to decide how the hell he's supposed to sleep tonight.
And so the canon divergence begins.