Please visit me on archivofourown, ID Koyukiy, for the reader-insert version and if you want to read the story early!

A request from the lovely Krolina in which a Sweetheart Reader is shy, new to the Scouts Regimen and wants to make friends!

For these imagines, I will be using the same name, Snow, so that I don't have to think up a new one for every chapter. Different people every chapter, same name for convenience. I hope that makes sense.

Friends

"We will be expecting a new recruit the next coming day. Until then, continue as you have been. That is all." Erwin had explained the latest news in the mess hall during breakfast.

"A newbie!" Sasha excitedly bounced in her seat.

"The Commander left a lot for the imagination." Armin thought out loud. "He didn't specify if they were male or female..."

"We'll find out when they get here." Eren coolly added and Mikasa nodded, agreeing with him.

"What do you guys think?" Sasha pulled the three friends into her conversation. "What do you think this person's going to be like?"

"Well, it's hard to say without anything to go by." Armin responded.

Without any context, some of the cadets started sharing their own imaginings about what the new cadet was probably going to be like. Perhaps they were unremarkable, the type to blend in properly, someone kind of like Bertholt. The young man in question startled slightly when he heard his name, shooting a bemused expression in the direction he heard his name from. Perhaps they were outgoing, a small ball of hyper, maybe Hange level of hyper. This idea was quickly casted away. There was only room for one Hange in the Survey Corps and even then, it was sometimes too much. Perhaps they were serious, one who didn't know what humor tasted like or perhaps they were a prankster and knew how to have a good time. The possibilities where endless and by the end of breakfast, the cadets were brimming with excitement, some more than others. When the new cadet finally arrived, the Commander introduced her to everyone at once on a makeshift stage. She and the Commander stood on an elevated area at the current Scout HQ where everyone was staying at. She was seemingly staring off into space and saluted a bit belatedly after Erwin said her name. She seemed to be the serious type and maybe a bit of an airhead, which disappointed a couple of cadets, like Sasha and Conny, but others like Eren and Armin were glad. Afterwards, she was quickly assigned to work, but were told to socialize with the cadets and get associated with them first. Excitedly, some of the 104th approached her when she stepped off the makeshift stage.

"Hi!" she was first greeted by Sasha. "Nice to meet you, Snow! I'm Sasha Blouse!"

Snow nodded, slightly bowing her head in greeting. Sasha's smile slightly faltered, but she tried to stay cheerful. During the whole of her interactions, she was mostly quiet, but finally quickly uttered some words of greeting when Eren asked why she wasn't speaking and if something was wrong. When introductions were over, she excused herself to get to her first assignment. The 104th stared at her retreating form as she hurried away. She was pretty much uneventful.

"She barely even said anything." Sasha lightly complained, pouting a little.

"She might need time to get used to us." Krista spoke up. "I remember how we felt when we first joined."

The group agreed and decided to get back to what they were supposed to be doing before they get called out. At lunch, the cadets noticed Snow sat a bit away from everyone. She was also a cadet, so they found it strange she wanted to sit by her lonesome, but left her alone, thinking she just had to get used to things.

"Snow?"

She slightly jumped out of her daydream, her head shooting up to see Krista and a not-amused Ymir behind her. The small blonde offered a patient smile.

"Would you like to spar with us?" she invited.

Oh...She were supposed to be sparing, but she was, instead, drifting off to her own little world and was caught in the middle of it. Snow blushed, now grasping her situation, giving Krista a small nod. Krista, who was still smiling, waited for the new cadet to stand so she can lead her closer to the other cadets. Snow felt like she was back in camp as they greeted each other and watched as Krista got into a stance. Defensive, Snow quickly assessed just by glancing at her body language. The new cadet knew how to street fight, something she was never proud of. Her brother had taught her how to defend herself after she had come home one too many times hurt and crying because of her neighborhood bullies. They found her, a quiet girl who minded her own business, an easy target and she proved to be exactly that, until she was taught how to defend yourself. She never fought back, not once, but she learned how to get out of situations where it looked like a bully had her where they wanted and she also quickly learned to watch their body language and how to act accordingly. Then, when she joined the military, the moves she learned there only added to her street fighting skills.

Snow awkwardly stood there as Krista readied herself, watching to see if she would switch and go on the offensive.

"Don't hold back!" Krista encouraged with a serious expression that almost looked like a pout.

Snow got nervous. Krista wants her to start? Ahh...Snow was no good with this kind of activity. Dodging and defending, sure, but attacking another human being? Why was she even here again?

"Sorry...I-I'm no good at..." Snow muttered, but Krista must have caught it, judging by how she loosened her stand and gave Snow a slight worried expression.

The small blonde opened her mouth to ask if the newbie was all right, but Ymir nudged the blonde aside, scoffing.

"Such a wimp." she locked eyes with Snow and without warning, attacked her.

Quickly, Snow ducked, just barely getting away in time. Ymir wasted no time in attacking again and again. Snow skillfully dodged each attack, even managing to push her back with a couple deflecting moves, but not once did she attack back.

"You've got some moves." Ymir said, finally stepping down. "But, you're going to end up hurt if you don't fight back."

"I-I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Only fools like you think they can live their whole lives without hurting someone. Eventually, you'll come across someone who really wants to hurt you without rest. What then?" Ymir didn't wait for your answer, ending her speech by putting both her hands behind her head. "Well, I'm spent. Let's go relax, Krista."

"Ymir! We still have thirty minutes left!"

Ymir simply looked to the side with a not-interested face and Krista pouted at her, telling her that she should take this more seriously, especially now that they're part of the Scouts. Snow decided to leave them to their own devices.

Those two seem like good friends...

Some of the others saw Snow's interaction with Ymir, watching with awe as the new girl was quick on her feet and seemed to know just how to defend with each attack aimed at her. The watching cadets were impressed and Eren approached her with a grin.

"That was really something, Snow!" he praised and she blushed in response, stuttering a broken thank you.

"I agree." Reiner approached her next. "You have impressive reflexes."

"How were so fast?!" Sasha was next to quickly approach her. "You have to teach me!"

Soon, she was surrounded by her new teammates. She was happy they seemed to like her, but this was too much, too quickly. So, after she thanked them all again, she quickly hurried away once again. Confused, Armin called after her, but she only quickened her steps and disappeared from view. The cadets muttered amongst each other. What was that? Why did she just leave like that, they were only praising her.

"What's her deal?" Jean thought out loud as the cadets started to disperse. "She doesn't interact with anyone, doesn't talk to anyone unless spoken to. What, does she think she's better than us?"

"I'm not sure that's it." Armin replied.

"That's what it looks like to me."

At dinner is when the cadets saw her again, once more sitting away from everyone else, eating silently.

"Maybe Jean's right." Sasha muttered. "It doesn't look like she wants to be near us."

"You think she hates us?" Conny asked.

"Hold on." Armin spoke up, trying to deflate the conversation. "She's only been here for one day! Let's give her the benefit of the doubt."

"She might not hate us. She could just be stuck up." Jean added more fuel to fire.

"Like you were?" Eren pointedly retorted and Jean glared at him.

"You really think that?" Reiner asked Jean, but his face expressed that he didn't believe she was for a moment.

"Well, why else does she not want to interact with us? She only does it when she has to!"

"I don't agree with you." Krista spoke up after hearing her fill. "She doesn't seem like that type of person."

"She's too much of a wimp and an airhead."

"Ymir!" Krista lightly scolded her.

"She kind of is." Mikasa spoke up, agreeing with Ymir. "I saw her bump into the door frame before walking in here." Clearly, she hasn't been paying attention.

Sasha, Conny and Ymir snickered, wishing they had seen her do that.

"I say we try again." Eren suggested. "We have an off day coming up, we should take that chance to try to get to know her."

"Where is she going?"

The cadets went along with Eren's idea in the next couple of days, but Snow had set out to town. Determined to keep tabs on the new recruit, the cadets followed her at a distance with her none the wiser. She went along the shopping strip searching for something. The cadets watched as she stopped at one of the gifts stalls, looking intently at the items. Just what was she looking for? Suddenly, she was on the move again and the cadets stumbled against each other to try to follow her while keeping hidden. At one point, the new cadet thought she heard a mutter that suspiciously sounded like Conny, but when she turned to look, she didn't find him. She even took a couple steps toward the direction she thought she heard it come from for a closer look, but since she still didn't find anything, she mentally shrugged it off, thinking she was only hearing things and continued on. Meanwhile, the cadets had separated a bit, hiding around a corner, a tree and an empty stall and Sasha had covered Conny's mouth when he spoke a bit too loud. When they thought the coast was clear, they looked to see she was gone and they cursed among themselves for losing her. They took about five minutes trying to find her, which was difficult since they were still trying to keep her from seeing them.

"Psst! There!" Armin softly called, pointing.

Finally, he spotted Snow on her way back, holding a brown paper bag filled to the brim. They tried to see or catch a glimpse of what was in it, but she had the top folded down, afraid that some would spill out. Before they were caught, they decided to head back before her. Maybe they'll find out what it was she bought later.

Snow was nervous. She wanted to get something for everyone, but she didn't know what everyone liked. She had thought to ask, but every time she tried, She chickened out in the end. She mentally chided herself, I should have asked!, but what was done is done. She waited for lunch time to come around and eagerly waited for most of everyone to finish their meals, even trying her luck by sitting closer to the other cadets. Before anyone had a chance to get up and leave, with a racing heart, she stood up and announced that she had something for everyone. Nervously, Snow brought out the bag she had brought back with her, revealing that she had bought donuts for everyone, including the vets, surprising everyone.

"I wanted to get everyone something, b-but I didn't know what everyone liked..." Snow paused, trying to swallow her nervousness. "I've seen how everyone interacts with each other a-and I want to be friends with all of you, b-but I'm no good at talking or i-interacting at all..."

As she spoke, some started to close the gap between her, wanting to hear her out.

"I-I thought everyone likes sweets, so I brought donuts for everyone. I hope you all like it..."

"Aw!" Hange was the first to verbally react and loudly at that, making her flinch. She came up to the new cadet and pulled her into a tight hug as some of the Scouts grabbed the treats she had generously bought them. Snow gasped in surprise as she pulled her in. "You're so cute! I would love to be your friend!"

"You're the best I could ask for!" Sasha exclaimed, stuffing her mouth full.

Even the Commander took part in the rare treat. It's not everyday that one gets to eat a donut.

"Where did you get these?" Armin asked with a smile.

"M-My mother is a baker. I visited her and she gave me those to give to you guys.

"They're good, thank you." Erwin offered a small smile.

Snow noticed lieutenant Mike grab a donut and nodded at her as thanks. She couldn't help but send him a shy smile in return.

"I guess these are good." Oluo commented after he took a bite, effectively grabbing her attention.

"Oh, stop it, her!" Petra chided him, but smiled at Snow. "They're delicious, thank you."

"Welcome to the Scouts." Levi said, then took a bite of his treat.

Her eyes watered, but she willed herself to not cry in front of everyone, even if it was tears of joy.

"Hey, um," Jean spoke to the new cadet, reaching over to grab a treat before they were all gone. "I had the wrong impression about you. Sorry for judging you before getting to know you."

"Eh?" she lamely answered. "Oh...It's OK. I wasn't being v-very, uh..." she tried to keep eye contact, but her nerves got the best of her and she started to look at anything other than him. "S-Sorry..."

"Thanks for the donuts." she heard him say.

She glanced at him and he shot her a grin, before walking off to give her some space. She smiled after him, thankful that he kind of saved her from herself there. The rest of the cadets chatted happily with her, saying that she's sweet for doing this, that she didn't have to and she could have just asked, but she was glad that she decided to surprise everyone like this. Even if it was a bit nerve wracking. All too soon, the Commander declared that dinner was over and that if everyone was finished eating, to get back to finishing up what they were doing as it was going to be late soon.

"Sit with us tomorrow, won't you?" Krista said, before Snow escaped her.

"Yeah, it'd be great to get to know you." Eren added.

She smiled, a warm feeling spreading in her chest as her new friends looked at her expectedly.

"Yes!"