Chapter 2 : Life as a Cadet… Again

We were all standing in line while the commandant "Keith" is "scanning" each cadet, he stops Infront of a small blonde boy , I gave him a look and I can't help but think that I saw him before? Almost as if we have been through a lot of stuff throughout the years, maybe I did went back in time?

"You cadet!"

"Yes sir!" The blonde immediately salutes upon being called.

" What do they call you maggot!."

"Armin Arlelt from Shiganshina District!"

I became wide eyed , the same name and district it can't be coincidence, can it? Does that mean everyone I know is here as well? Eren? Mikasa? Sasha? Connie? Mina? Marco? Thomas? Jean? Even those 2 people… The same 2 that ruined my life!

"I see! That's a dumb name! Did your parents gave it to you!" Keith replied harshly to Armin.

"My grandfather did, sir!"

"Arlert! What drives you to join the Corps!"

"To help humanity achieve victory!"

"That's wonderful to hear from you cadet! Maybe we can feed you to the Titans!"

"Third row! About face!"

The commandant orders the cadets to turn while making Armin turn still saluting and he went to scan the next few cadets.

"What do they call you maggot!"

"I'm Thomas Wagner from Trost District, sir!" Thomas said not so loudly.

"I can't hear you!" Keith shouted even louder than usual.

"I'm Thomas Wagner-"

"I told you to speak up! Go practice sounding off properly in the barracks!"

"Next, what do they call you maggot!"

"Mina Carolina, from Trost District, sir!"

"Wrong! You were born in a pigsty , inferior even to swine!"

"Yes! I'm inferior to swine, sir!"

"Fourth squad, about face!"

I felt sorry for both Thomas and Mina , not because they get treated poorly by the commandant , because they died before graduation, but that will change this time, I will save the both of you, even if I have to take the fall for 1 of you.

"What do they call you maggot!"

"Jean Kirschtein , from Trost District!"

"And what drives you to join the Corps!"

"...To join the Military Police Regiment and live in the interior!"

Jean... It's good to see you again pal but… That is honestly the worst answer I ever heard in my life and telling that to the.. if my memory is correct, a former scout commander is just like adding salt to the wound.

"Oh... You wanna live in the interior, do you?"

"Yes sir!" That receive a headbutt , a really painful one if it made Jean kneel to the ground.

"Who told you that you could sit, maggot!? If you can't handle a headbutt then forget about joining the Military Police!"

The commandant starts walking to my direction , I immediately turn my head to face my front , trying not to sweat about the fact I did this already and I'm doing it again, he stops Infront of me.

"What do they call you maggot!"

"Zade Wright, from Shiganshina District!" I salute to the commandant.

"Wright, is it? Another good-for-nothing, pathetic-sounding name!" I tried my damn best not to flinch , twitch or anything bad Infront of the commandant, Kirschtein is a pathetic-sounding name and you didn't make fun of that.

"What drives you to join the Corps!" Keith demanded while having his face very close to mine.

What is driving me to join? To help humanity? To serve the king? None of them , even though the one responsible is probably here in this Unit right now is downright terrifying. And also my main reason why am I joining, I want to avenge my dead parents no matter what!

"To take out the Armored Titan and reclaim my home, sir!"

"The Armored Titan you say? Setting your sights high, huh? Remember to mark your body so we can identify your corpse!" Keith replied with a shocked tone when I mentioned the Armored Titan, but otherwise he was strict.

"Sir, yes sir!" I shouted still saluting to the commandant.

"And another thing Cadet!, what's with the bandage wrapping your right eye!" Keith demanded while pointing at my injured eye.

"Sir!, an incident that happened back at Shiganshina when I was just a young boy, sir! But as long as I can see the Titans! I will fight to survive, sir!"

"Honorable!, despite having an injury that will never recover, you still fight on! I hope the other cadets will follow your example!"

He went on to the next cadet, I let go of my breath I didn't know I was holding on to , but to avoid attention I let it go slowly, I did this once before but the nervousness of being called out again is scary. Keith then stops in front of a boy with black hair with freckles on his face , he is smiling too.

"And what do they call you maggot!"

"Marco Bott from Jinae , in Wall Rose's Southern District, sir! I came to join the Military Police Brigade and pledge myself to the King!" Marco said excitedly and with a smile on his face

"Is that so? Good man. A noble objective" Keith replied with a calm tone of voice , very unlike him.

"But always remember : the King would rather use you as Titan fodder." Keith said angrily ,kinda like a killer tone.

He moves on to the next cadet that is just right besides Marco.

"Next, you there!, what do they call you maggot!" Keith demanded to the familiar looking nearly bald boy

"Connie Springer from Ragako, in Wall Rose's Southern District, sir!" Connie saluted , but it doesn't look correct , first off he put his fist on the right side of his chest instead of his left. Which made the commandant carry him from his head with just 1 hand, I definitely do not want to piss him off.

"Listen up and listen well , Connie Springer. This was 1 of the first things you were taught: That salute means you're offering your heart to the King!" Keith threaten Connie while holding his head , Connie seems to be in pain from that.

"Is your heart on your right side, shithead!" Keith again threaten Connie with vulgarty , until everyone heard someone eating loudly among the cadets. Please tell me that is not who I think it is.

Everyone , myself and even the Commandant had a look of shock on our faces, there's a girl eating a potato during a rite of passage. Keith released Connie which he fell onto the ground and he turns to look at the girl.

"Hey, you. Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Keith asked the girl calmly while walking towards her. All she did in response is looking left and right and continue to eat the potato.

"YOU! I'M TALKING TO YOU MAGGOT! WHAT THE HELL DO THEY CALL YOU!" Keith screamed at the top of his lungs, I reacted by covering my ears as soon as he started screaming. My ears can't take the pressure and it's really sensitive to sound.

With pressure onto her , she immediately swallow the potato she took a bite off and salute. "Sasha Blouse from Dauper, in Wall Rose's Southern District, sir!"

"Sasha Blouse… Is there a reason why you're eating in the middle of this passage and where did you get that potato?"

"I came across the potato in the kitchen, sir! So I pick it up."

"So you're saying you stole this potato right? Why would you do that? Most importantly, why are you eating it right now instead of break time."

This is getting awkward for me , one moment ago he was screaming his lungs off and my ears exploding and the next he's being gentle and kind? There's something I'm missing here is it?

"I wanted to eat it while it was still warm, eating it now is risky but I have to eat it before it gets cold." Sasha replied worriedly.

Sasha then split the potato in half trying to give it to the Commandant , I'll admit that's a pretty risky thing she is doing. He is already pissed off about the fact you decide to eat it now instead of later.

"T-take half of it for yourself, sir."

"Half?"

No other words whatsoever, the commandant just walk away like he doesn't care but he is being too nice , it's actually scaring me! After a short while of Cadet calling and yelling at them to give their motivation/drive to join the corps, he walked to the front of the unit and gave out an order.

"104th Cadet Corps! Today all of you are now soldiers in training! All of you will begin your proper training first thing tomorrow morning! As of now , you are all free to do training on your own or with a fellow comrade but I better not catch any of you slacking off until sunset! Am I clear on that statement!"

"YES, SIR!" Everyone shouted and saluted… except for Connie who is still doing it wrong, but Keith didn't see it , consider himself lucky for now.

"Dismissed!... Except for you Sasha Blouse! I'm ordering you to run until you drop! No dinner or supper for you!"

"EHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Annnnd there's the strict commandant that I missed. Everyone move on to their own training , A few doing push-ups , sit-ups and even a comfortable jog. I notice Mina and Thomas feeling down so I decided to be the one that boosts their morale and even train with them if they want me to.

"Hey! Thomas , Mina!" I said while jogging to them and waving.

"Oh Zade! Is there something you need from the both of us?" Thomas said while looking at me.

"Yeah guys, we should do some training together first just us three what do you say?" I said with a smile and a hand stretch out for them to shake.

"We should do some training after all Thomas! We need to show the commandant we aren't inferior!" Mina said back with a determined look on her face.

"All right! Let's do this!" Thomas sounded so pumped up after hearing Mina said something about the commandant.

After we did some light stretches , we decided to set a task of doing 100 sit-ups , 100 push-ups and 100 squats for the next 2 hours.

And lastly we were doing a light "jog" so to speak , a simple task of going around the facility 5 times should be enough to end today session after all this time training everything else. We start jogging where the mess hall is and we continue 5 times, 1 run around this area is about 2 kilometres and we have to run 5 times? Mina seems to be energetic as she is already out of view during our last run, she's probably waiting for both me and Thomas at the mess hall already while the both of us are still doing our run.

"Come on Thomas , catch up will you? , Mina is probably at the mess hall already!" I said while looking at Thomas who is basically out of breath.

"Crap how does that girl have the stamina for this, even you Zade I don't see you sweat at all, there has to be a limit to this." Thomas pant his way over to me.

"I'm as tired as you buddy but you are right about one thing and that's WHERE DID SHE GET THIS MUCH STAMINA!" I ran next to Thomas as we continue our run.

After what feels like 5 minutes I can see Mina waving at me , god damn this girl has so much stamina and none to spare.

"Hey Zade! Hurry up , dinner is going to start soon!" Mina shouted while waving at me.

"EHHHHHHHHHHH! DINNER!" Sasha screamed really loud, which make my ears bleed goddamn sensitive ears.

"No Sasha , bad Sasha! Bad!, the commandant forbids you to enter the mess hall today for eating earlier don't even think about sneaking in here." Mina said angrily, almost mother-like as well.

"AWWWWWWW!" Sasha jogged away , how long has she been running?

"I… made it… wooooo…" I fall on the ground flat , tired as hell.

"Don't lie down after running, it will hurt even more!" Mina again with her mother-like voice.

"Urghh.. Yes mom I get it." I slowly stand back up because my muscles are cramping.

There's Thomas finishing his last run and making it to the mess hall panting and sweating a lot, all of us enter and saw everyone was in their normal clothes eating while the 3 of us are still wearing our uniforms. To be fair we were still doing our training, so we pick up our food and decide what to do.

We decided to have dinner together at the same table and tell each other our reasoning for joining the Corps. I didn't get to hear why they join, mainly because the commandant is being a massive dick to them. We all sat at the table next to Eren who is currently explaining everything that happen at Shiganshina 2 years ago, the thought of it makes me cry as I kept remembering my parents death.

"So you guys wanna tell me the reason why you join the Corps? The commandant didn't made you two say it or… scream it I suppose, so tell me I'm actually curious." I said to them with curiosity in my voice.

"I was being a burden to my family, but I wanted to help people within these walls so I decided to join the Corps to become a Garrison member." Mina said with a bit of sadness at the beginning but excitement afterwards.

"I… was scared, when the news of the Wall being breached , I couldn't bear the thought of those helpless people being killed. I join with the same reason as Mina, to help the people in the Walls!." Thomas said with determination.

"Both of you have good reasons , I'm sure you two will do better than some of the Garrison members two years ago…" I encourage them further but with a hint of hostility at the Garrison members.

"What about you Zade?" Mina asked me directly

"What about me?" I asked back while drinking a glass of water.

"You said you are from Shiganshina right?... Does that mean you were there on that day?" Thomas asked with no hesitation.

I stop sipping my water , I'm at a blank , they are asking me for my backstory my reason for joining, I should tell them but as soon as Thomas said Shiganshina as if right on que everyone now has eyes on me waiting for me to explain.

"That's right! You are from my district! I want to know everything about you Zade!" Eren said with curiosity

"You all wanna know my side of that day?" I asked everyone and they just nod

"Ok, gather around , I don't feel comfortable explaining this but since you all asked I will answer."

*Flashback*

It was the year 845 , I was just walking down the street after picking up some ingredients for my mother to make some breakfast, I heard lightning coming from outside of the walls. Curious, I turned around to see what looks to be steam? What is going on at the other side of the wall? But it has been answered when a giant skinless Titan placed his hand on the Wall and peeking over it. He kicked the front part of the wall down! Debris is flying everywhere destroying houses! Everyone was in a panic! Everyone was running for their lives! One of them even knock me down and didn't bother helping me up. I look around to see this much panic never happen before, why here? Why now! "Oh! I'm glad you're safe!" That is my mother who is running back to get me. "Are you hurt son? Come on! We have to get out of here now!" That was my father, the man I mostly look up to. We felt the ground shake and an explosion coming from the Walls. Me and my parents turned around to notice a big chunk of debris heading straight for us! My dad pushed me out of the way and BAM! I got up to see debris all over where my parents used to be, the ground covered in blood. I knelt and I cried… I cried so much, I never cried as much as I did that day, I got up while still crying to try and push it out of the way, no luck or anything. A Garrison member notice me. "Hey! What are you doing here! Hurry we gotta get to the boat!" He carried me on his back while making a run for it. There was an explosion again from the Walls , I look over to see the Titan that was responsible for my parents death… A Titan completely covered in gold plating… The Armored Titan. The Garrison member left me on the boat with the rest of the refugees, I curled up in a ball to continue my episode of crying. Until I heard a boy screaming "I SWEAR IT! I WILL KILL EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU TITANS!" That was Eren as his younger self, his motivation to kill every Titan has inspired me. Looking at my left hand , a tear drop onto it , I clenched my fist hard. That was the day I swore vengeance. I will find the Armored Titan and I will make him FACE MY WRATH!

*Flashback ends*

"That is my side of the fall of Shiganshina… Anyone want to ask me anything?..." I asked everyone around me , with tears leaking from my eyes even the bandages covering my injured eye is wet.

I look around to notice a lot of people are crying , some are even sniffing. I didn't explain my backstory to anyone before so this is awkward for me. I look at Mina and Thomas and their expression is not a comfortable sight. Mina has her hands covering her mouth and crying while Thomas looked at me wide eyed while having some tears leaking out of his eyes. Lastly I look over to Reiner and Bertholdt , the "Armored" and the "Colossal" both of their reactions makes me sick, they are pretending to feel sorry for me when they are the ones responsible!

"Dude, holy shit!"

"This Armored Titan is a threat!"

"I'm sorry for you Zade, no one should have to watch their parents die in front of them."

"It broke down the Walls! Are we even safe!"

"We all are gonna die man!"

I got up with a loaf of bread in my hand and make my way out of the mess hall, no one noticed me leaving since they are bombarding each other with questions but no answers. I headed back to the boy's dormitory to get myself changed out of this uniform, I am now wearing a simple red t-shirt with black pants. I got out of the dormitory and make my way to the girl's side of it , which is across from the boys, Sasha should be there and from what I know of her, she is dying of hunger right now, I had to give her some food if no one else will, but someone called out to me.

"Zade?"

I turned around to see Hist-Christa looking at me , she seems to be holding onto a bag as well. Must be food for Sasha?

"Christa? Shouldn't you be eating with that girlfriend of yours?" I teased her as I kept seeing Ymir with her all the time I'm surprised they aren't a thing.

"What about you? Are you here to peep at the girls!" Christa said loudly.

"What? No! I ain't a pervert! I'm just here to give Sasha my bread that's all!" I said back while showing her the loaf of bread in my hand.

She saw the bread and immediately change her opinion about me "Oh! I-I-I'm sorry it's just that you're a boy and you were near the girl's dorm I just assume-"

"Christa! If I want a girl to show me her wild side, I need to win her love and affection and not trying to sneak a peek!" I defended myself.

"Well I figured to give Sasha some food and water as well. I can't stand my friends being hungry like that." Christa said back while looking worried.

2 minutes later, we are getting closer to the girl's dorm but I have to be quick otherwise every girl will hate me for trying to "sneak a peek". I noticed Sasha who is just lying on the ground, before we move on to feed Sasha , I placed my hand on Christa shoulder.

"Wait, Christa."

"What's wrong Zade?" Christa asked tilting her head.

"Maybe you should let me go ahead first. I need to get out of here fast before any other girls sees me here." I answered hopefully Christa understands that I'm not allowed to be in this area.

"You're right about that. This is the girl's dorm after all , you could get in trouble for even walking near it." Christa understood what I said and even let me walk about 10 steps ahead of her.

We are now approaching the girl's dorm and I did see Sasha passed out on the ground, poor girl if only she resisted eating in front of the commandant, my sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone smelling? Then in a blink of an eye, Sasha pounced on me, growling!

"AHHHH! SASHA! WHAT THE HELL!" I fought back but Sasha is somehow overpowering me! Did all that running gave her increased strength!

Trying to get her off is a really difficult task and her eyes.. They are glowing red! I push her face but that seems to be a bad idea as she retaliate by biting my hand!

"OWWWW! SAS!-OWWWWWWW! STOP! PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!" I screamed as loud as I could while continuing my resistance at the crazy psychotic girl that is just chewing on my hand! I saw Christa just staring with complete shock , I don't blame her she didn't see Sasha like this at all. I manage to get my hand off her mouth and shove the bread into her mouth, that seemed to calm her down.

"Is this! It's Bread!" Sasha exclaimed now holding on to the bread.

"We're sorry Sasha! We tried to get more food for you but this is all we could get, but you should drink some water first. All that running must have tired you out right?" Christa explained while showing Sasha the container with water in it.

"Are you a goddess! Praise you all beautiful goddess!" Sasha kneels in front of Christa.

"If she's a goddess then I must be an angel." I said sarcastically as I hold my hand that has Sasha bite mark on it.

Sasha noticed me and start devouring the bread, Christa then look at the bite mark.

"That looked like it hurts." Christa said while holding onto my hand.

"Y-yeah it's nothing really, I had worse injuries." My whole face is red, damn this girl is too pure for this cruel world.

"What are you guys doing?" That voice came from Ymir, of all the girls I rather have Mina here then her.

"Well… She's been running all day so me and Zade decided to get her something to eat and drink." Christa said while looking at Ymir.

"Seems like you're trying to do a good deed." Ymir said softly and it seems to hurt Christa in a way.

"Hey! She's just trying to help someone unlike you." I defended her.

Sasha finished her bread and passed out on Christa lap. Wow she must have been starving to death.

"Was it for her sake? Were your efforts worth it?" Ymir said trying to hurt Christa and my pride for helping others.

"Well whatever, I'll get her to bed , she owes me a favor for this." Ymir proceeds to carry Sasha by her shoulder.

"A favor? What are you planning to do?" Christa asked.

"Nothing too stupid I hope, and you Zade unless you want me to tell every girl here that you are spying on them, I suggest getting out of here now."

I did what she said, I just turned and hightail outta there, that is literally the last thing I want in this second life! I entered the dorm and just went to bed, I'm sure Thomas and Mina have a lot and I mean A LOT of questions they wanna ask me tomorrow, it's gonna be a hell of a day.

But first I should write down on my Journal about everything that happened today, I took my journal from my bag and look around to see if anyone else is awake before walking to the table to write down today's event.

Journal, Page 1- This book belongs to Zade Wright , 104th Cadet Corps if found please return it to me.

Journal, Page 2-

Today was the first day as a Cadet , or should I say reliving my first day as a cadet. I don't know what happened but I should have been dead by the hands of Titans. I woke up in bed thinking it was all just a dream but after everything that happened today, the people that I have met, this isn't a dream. This is reality, I'm still alive but somehow went back in time? With all my memories from those 3 years of experience reliving my life shouldn't be too hard. Now getting back my Omni-Directional Gear will be a problem since I had more than enough experience with it, can I even try going beginner again? However, today I was suppose to be doing some solo training like my memory told me to, but ever since I know of who's gonna die years from now , I decided to be more open to everyone. Did some co-op training with Mina and Thomas, the reason why I chose those 2 is the fact they died after graduation. I won't let them die again if history ever repeats itself I know what I have to do. Afterwards I decided to help Sasha with her problem after she pissed off the Commandant. I didn't do this in my last life so I decided to help her now with some bread that I didn't eat for dinner. However she just pounced on me and trying to bite my hand off! Holy Shit! She's trying to eat me! I manage to calm her down by stuffing the said bread into her mouth. Historia was there as well , or should I say Christa since she didn't tell anyone her real name yet. Sasha then started to praise her as if she is a goddess, I tease about me being an angel. Tomorrow our first real training begins , hopefully everything is mostly like my memory told me.