The Wings Of Our Dreams

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Here's another chapter of The Wings Of Our Dreams! In this one is completely original content so you won't see parts of episodes with Collin in them, but completely original scenarios. I hope you enjoy it.

Now to reviews.

rp9976955: Thank you for the praise. I'm not sure I'll use the OST for some scenes but who knows. I just might in the future.


4 Commandant's Punishment


Year 848

Entry Twenty Five

Well, I have to say that training has been fruitful so far. Everyone has improved and I don't like to brag but I think I'm doing really well. Ma, Pa, I hope you're proud of your boy, even if this wasn't the life you imagined for me. Gramps, if you're still alive, I hope you'll be glad to see your grandson as a Scout.

Now, when it comes to company, I think I'm doing better than ever. Eren is still his determined self, Armin can be a bit squeamish but he's definitely doing better, and Mikasa is still her stoic self, though I think she's opening up to me like she does with Armin and Eren.

Reiner and Bertholdt (I finally learned how to spell that bloody name) are doing great as well, they are definitely among the top cadets at this point. It's great hanging out with them, though I'm sure Reiner is still a bit peeved I beat him at that arm-wrestling match a week ago. Still can't beat Mikasa though, that girl is something else. And dear God, Bertholdt's sleeping positions are a hilarious sight to watch.

Jean is also doing well, and he is definitely a good cadet. He just might end up joining the MPs like he wishes. Connie, while he is doing good, I think he does overestimate himself sometimes.

Sasha, well, that girl is still obsessed over food, but she does keep up her training so I can't complain. I wonder if I should try to cook something for her. It's been a while since I did some cooking.

Shadis is his usual hardass self. I can tell many cadets hate his guts, which honestly wasn't surprising. I guess he is prideful he actually came through with his promise.

Now, I also met this girl named Krista. A lot of others treat her like a goddess, and boy do I see why. That girl is really cute, the fact that she is shorter than most helps that. She's also very nice, so much so I can hardly believe it sometimes.

And then there's… Ymir. Dear God, that girl is frustrating. After a while of speaking with Krista, Ymir showed up and told me to piss off, that I had no business being with her. Who the hell does she think she is?! I just talked and she treats me like I'm a creep or something like that. That girl has issues, I tell you.

But all in all, everything is good so far. I keep my grades up, I often practice, and I do well in physical training. I hope I do as well for the next two years.


One of the training grounds for the cadets was a small but long canyon, filled with wooden dummies of Titans in various sizes, from simple four meters to fifteen meters, all of which had some paddings on the back of their necks to indicated the weakspots of the Titans.

On a sunny morning, the members of the 104th Cadet Corps were using their ODM gear to traverse the training ground. Several people can be seen flying through the air as the cables from their gear pulled them.

Jean let out a battle cry as he sliced through the weakspot with his twin blades. Pressing the trigger on the blade handle, he shot a cable to the side of the canyon and continued flying.

Jean couldn't help but grin. "And there goes another one!"

Another slice was heard, making Jean look to the side to see Collin grinning at him as he sliced another dummy. "I don't know, but it looks to me like you're slackin', Jeanie-boy!" Collin taunted as he flew through the air.

Jean frowned. "Just keep talking, you country bumpkin! I'll get to the finish line first!" he exclaimed as he accelerated forward with his gear.

"Come on, guys!" Thomas said as he moved behind them. "This isn't a race, the number of Titans killed also comes into account!"

Mina, who was right next to Thomas, sighed as she watched Collin and Jean move ahead. 'Boys will be boys. Always trying to outdo each other.'

"Just you wait, Collin!" Jean said as he set his sights on another fake Titan. "I'll beat you yet! And don't call me 'Jeanie-boy'!" He then roughly swung his blades through the nape of the Titan, but then slightly stumbled in the air from the overswing. "Whoa!" He then immediately pressed the triggers and fired two cables to catch himself.

Collin laughed. "Guess these Titans ain't the only dummies 'round here, eh Jean?!"

Jean glowered at Collin. "Ha, ha, you're hilarious!" he said sarcastically.

"Why thank you!" Collin exclaimed with a smile. Looking forward, he saw the end of their path, with a large Titan in the middle. "Guess that one's mine!"

Jean soared through the air, trying to catch up to Collin as far as his gear could take him so he could at least beat him to the finish but no dice. Collin was already ahead of him, readying his blades.

Collin crossed to the open area of the canyon and latched one of his cables unto the dummy Titan's neck. Whirling around until he was behind the dummy, Collin was pulled towards the nape with the cable mechanism. With a grin, he slashed cleanly through, slightly shaking the dummy, and then his booted feet found themselves firmly on the ground.

Jean, Mina, and Thomas soon landed as well before walking up to Collin.

"I just hope that you won't be so selfish when it comes to team exercises," Mina said as she put her blades away in her large sheaths with other pairs, with the others following her example.

"C'mon, I ain't that dumb, Mina," Collin said. "When the time comes to work together, I'll do it."

Jean groaned. "Well, in any case, well done. You won," he said.

Collin then playfully put his arm around him in a one-armed hug, making Jean slightly groan as the hug had some strength. "Oh, don't be such a downer. You'll get your time to shine."

"At least I didn't unnecessarily waste gas," Jean said.

Collin shrugged. True, he didn't really bother to preserve gas while moving through the air, but in the end, it didn't really matter. "For the objective we had, I had plenty."

The exercise was essentially to see how they compare against each other as they used the gear and sliced through Titans. Collin, Jean, Thomas, and Mina were a part of this particular group, with several other showing up as they spoke.

"Well, let's see if Shadis will give us some of his mock-praise," Collin said. "Better not keep 'im waiting."


Images flashed through Collin's head, a group of children surrounding him, then him standing next to a long-haired blonde woman, sitting at his family table, talking to a man in a trench coat, and others, all of which were accompanied by voices.

"What's the matter with you?!"

"Answer us, bastard!"

"You alright, miss? You look lonely?"

"Come here, Collin! It's your favorite!"

"You better start fightin' back."

The rest became muffled as the sight changed, this time in a more concrete vision. He was once again running with his parents away from Shiganshina's inner gate, his mother holding him by the hand as people panicked around them.

Then the crashing sound was heard, and the three turned back to see a giant boulder hurling towards them. Collin was filled with fear as the boulder crashed unto them.

"Hey, Collin."

Collin's eyes snapped open as he looked around, seeing that he was still in the camp dorm. A drop of sweat dripped down his head as he rose to sit. Among the sleeping cadets, he saw that Reiner was awake as well, in a similar sitting position.

"Judging by how you started kicking my head I guess you had a nightmare," Reiner said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Collin sighed as he wiped his forehead. "Sorry 'bout that. It's just… ah, never mind. Nothin' important."

"If you say so," Reiner said with a shrug. "Too bad we don't have more space to sleep. Would save me some headaches."

Collin chuckled. Yeah, the dorms could really be cramped when it came to sleeping arrangements, with the cadets having to share a single bed, and Collin was paired with Reiner and Bertholdt.

Speaking of which, Collin looked over at Bertholdt. The young man had a happy look on his face as he slept, but he was in a position where his legs were up in the air, balancing himself on his upper back and shoulders.

"Well, that means we'll either have rain or it'll be a bit windy today," Collin commented as he and Reiner slightly laughed. It was a running joke among the cadets to predict the weather with how bizarrely Bertholdt was positioned when he slept.

Collin looked out the window and saw the sun wasn't even out yet. With a shrug, he rose and stretched. "Right, I'm goin' to do some mornin' exercises. I ain't in a sleepin' mood anymore."

"Suit yourself," Reiner said as he laid back. "But I'm not wasting my sleeping time."

"Right. See ya at trainin'," Collin said as he climbed down from the bunk. "Don't forget to wake up Bertholdt again."

Reiner groaned. "God damn it, that was one time!"

Collin couldn't help but laugh remembering the trouble Bertholdt got into because of oversleeping. By God, he loved hanging around with this group.


Forgoing his shirt completely so it didn't get soiled with too much sweat, Collin was left in his white pants and boots, currently busy doing one-armed pushups. He was located next to a hill a little bit away from the dorms. It was just far enough for him to quickly get back but also private enough that nobody disturbed him.

After doing a hundred pushups with his single arm he quickly switched to the other, sweat starting to drip down his head. With his upper body exposed, a lot of people would be surprised to see how… developed he was. It definitely made an interesting scene when the boys went to the shared showers.

With his stature and broad shoulders, it was easy to see that Collin was on the stronger side, but exposed it was noticeably more than that. At only fourteen, he already had very visible muscle definition with no sign of body fat, at least noticeable. He had visible abs, strong pectorals, and wider muscles in his forearms and biceps. Reiner was a year older than Collin and even he wasn't as developed.

And of course, he kept himself in shape regularly with exercises even before he started training at boot camp. After what happened at Shiganshina, he wanted to make sure he was in the best shape possible for the future. So far, it seemed to pay off.

His head snapped to the side as he heard something snapping in the bushes not far from him. He then stopped doing pushups and rose. "Who's there?"

There was a yelp coming from the bushes as a head rose from it. A head belonging to Sasha Braus, who had a nervous look on her face.

"Oh, h-hey Collin," she said in a shaky voice as she rose. Out of the military uniform, Sasha was dressed in a white shirt below a brown vest and black pants. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doin' fine. And what are you…?" he stopped himself when he saw a lump in her vest pocket. "You've been to the kitchen again, weren't ya?"

Sasha's eyes quickly darted to her pocket and she gave a nervous smile as she rubbed the back of her head. "Oh… well… um, yeah, I was," she answered and saw the disapproving look on Collin's face. "I'm sorry! It's just that… the bread there smells soooo good! I couldn't help myself!"

Collin sighed. "Sasha, you'll end up gettin' in trouble one of these days," he commented, but then remembered something. "Wait, why exactly were ya hidin' there?"

Now Sasha began to sweat as she tried to look everywhere but at Collin, her face getting flushed. "Oh, you know, I was just… passin' by and uh, well, I didn't mean to interrupt ya durin' yer exercise and-" Sasha's eyes suddenly widened as she quickly put a hand on her mouth.

Collin was caught off guard by that and looked Sasha with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, what is-?"

Sasha interrupted him. "Oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" she hurriedly said before going into a run. "Sorry, Collin, but I gotta go! See you later!"

And then she ran towards the dorms, leaving a confused Collin behind. 'What on Earth's the matter with her?'


Sasha hurried towards the dorm, her hand going near her mouth. 'I can't believe I let my accent slip through,' she thought as she looked back. 'Well, for him it probably wouldn't be a problem but for everyone else…'

Her mind then went back to how she found herself in this situation.

With a satisfied look on her face, Sasha made her way back to the dorms, feeling the pleasing warmth of freshly baked bread in her pocket. She gave a little whiff, also enjoying the great smell.

As she walked she suddenly hear someone… grunting(?) from just around the corner of the hill she was passing by. Curiosity got the better of her as she went to check it out.

The moment she did, her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. A few meters away from the rocky hill she saw Collin, his upper body completely exposed, doing one-handed pushups. His long hair framed his face and there was some sweat on his upper body, making it slightly glisten.

Sasha felt her cheeks beginning to warm before her breath got stuck in her throat and she quickly ducked behind a bush next to her. 'Oh dear God, I hope he didn't see me!' she thought. She tried fighting the urge to look over, but the urge won out and she took a peek. 'What on earth did he do to get those muscles? No, no, no, Sasha, get yourself together.' She took a breath and tried to avert her gaze. 'I shouldn't look but… wow!'

Then she heard something snap beneath her knee and looked down to see she broke a branch.

"Who's there?"

Sasha quickly shook the memory away and took out the bread from her pocket and began eating to calm her nerves. 'I really hope he doesn't think I'm weird because of that. Oh, who am I kidding he probably does.'

Seeing she was already halfway into her bread she took another big bite, hoping that today's training would get her mind off of what happened earlier.


Well, it did for the most part, but then came dinner time, which would be one of Sasha's favorites, however, she was seated back to back with Collin who was on the next table with Eren, Reiner, and Bertholdt. She couldn't help but have the event from before replay in her head.

She heard the four of them laugh behind her, probably from something Collin said but she couldn't hear what exactly. At least it seemed like he didn't tell anyone what happened this morning.

"Man, that Shadis is a real slave driver," Connie complained, seated across Sasha on the same table with Jean next to him and Mikasa sitting next to the redhead. "My legs are still killing me from all that running," he said as slightly moved his legs about. "What do you think, Sasha?"

The said girl was snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her short companion. "Oh, yeah, it's… great."

Connie blinked as he looked strangely at Sasha. "Um, are you alright?"

Mikasa then put her hand on Sasha's forehead. "It doesn't seem to be a fever."

Sasha then put Mikasa's hand down. "Look, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong with me."

Jean gave her a smirk. "I don't know about that. I never really saw you that deep in thought, Potato Girl."

Sasha grumbled before rubbing her forehead. "Oh, come on! Is everyone going to keep remembering that?!"

"They will now!"

Sasha quickly turned back to the sound of Collin's voice and saw him smirking at her while holding his journal open for her. On one of the pages was a waist-up drawing of Sasha in her cadet uniform looking nervously to the side, holding a partly eaten steamed potato with a few crumbs on her face.

"Wha… whe… when did you draw that?!" she asked.

"Oh, just a couple of months ago," he answered. "The moment was so stuck in my head that I couldn't help but draw it."

Several cadets around them chuckled at Sasha's partially horrified expression.

"Looks like you're immortalized as Potato Girl, Sasha," Reiner said teasingly.

Sasha then crossed her arms. "Yeah, laugh it up, why don't ya?"

"Oh, come on, Sash, it ain't that-" Collin stopped himself before he saw something in Sasha's vest pocket. He then rose and approached her, but before she could ask, Collin quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a loaf of bread. Judging from the freshness, it definitely wasn't the one from the morning. "Really, Sasha? Again?!"

"W-well, you see… I, uh…" she stammered as her lip quivered. "I… I couldn't properly enjoy that loaf of bread in the morning so I thought… well, at least one more wouldn't hurt."

Collin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Sasha, I swear. I don't get you sometimes."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Sasha said before reaching for the bread. "But what's done is-"

And Collin promptly moved his hand out of the way, making Sasha grasp air. Sasha looked confused at what happened before once again moving towards the bread only for Collin to move it out of her way again. "Hey, what are you…?" She tried again only for the same thing to happen multiple times. She gave Collin a glare. "Hey, what's the big idea? Give it back!"

Collin just smirked at her. "Hmmm, Nah."

Sasha then got up from her seat and went for the bread again only for Collin to back away. She grit her teeth and half-leaped at Collin only for him to spin out of her way. Sasha then turned back and tried to grasp it but Collin just continued moving it out of her reach, chuckling while doing so.

"This isn't funny!" she exclaimed.

"Depends from where you're watchin'!" Collin retorted before moving out of the way again.

The other cadets couldn't help but look at the amusing display as Collin continued to tease Sasha. If anyone knew one thing, you don't want to separate Sasha from her food.

"I swear, those two are like little kids," Jean said.

Connie shrugged before drinking some water. "Guess someone has to be."

Collin then brought his hand upwards and held the loaf of bread as high as he could. Sasha then tried hopping with her hand outstretched so she could reach it.

"Give it back, you big lug!" Sasha said.

"Lug already means 'big man', so puttin' 'big' in front of it is redundant," Collin said as Sasha continued desperately hopping. "Maybe I should give this good ol' Bert here, he's taller than me."

That made Bertholdt slightly panic as he put his hands up defensively. "D-don't rope me into this, please."

Having had enough, and instead of jumping after the bread, Sasha jumped at Collin. She put her legs on his sides, her hand found itself on his face, and her other finally grasped the bread, and Collin was so surprised by the sudden action he didn't have enough time to stop her.

Sasha's joy was short-lived as beneath her Collin began losing his balance, making him stumble back. He actually hit another table, slamming into the two cadets that sat there, with one of them being accidentally hit in the head by Collin's elbow while the other's head was pushed into his soup.

Sasha fell off Collin right unto her behind with a grunt, though she was able to snatch the bread back.

Collin tried to get his bearings one of the cadets grabbed him roughly by the shirt. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Nothin's my problem," Collin said as he gave the cadet a glare. "Let go. There ain't no-"

He was then grabbed from behind by the other cadet. "Oh, you think you're some kind of tough guy, huh?!"

"I said. Let. Go!" Collin exclaimed as he kneed the one holding his shirt in the stomach, making him double over while reaching for the cadet that held him from behind. Grabbing the cadet by the hair, Collin pulled him over and slammed him on the floor, making the cadet gasp in pain.

Reiner, Eren, and others looked in shock at what was going on. "God, damn it!" Reiner said before getting up.

The first cadet went for a tackle but Collin sidestepped and pressing his hand on the cadet's back and pushed him down.

"Hey, Collin, stop it!" Reiner said as he grabbed Collin by the arms from behind.

"I can take 'em, Reiner!" Collin said as he struggled against Reiner's grip.

Reiner grunted as he tried to hold Collin back, but that proved to be quite hard. "That's not the point! I'm trying to-"

The second cadet, thinking Reiner was helping him, then grabbed Collin by the front and punched him in the face. Hardly affected and now very angry, Collin wrestled out of Reiner's grip and elbowed the second cadet to the side of the head.

Then Collin felt someone grab him roughly by the shoulder while yelling "HEY!" Instinctively, Collin brought his elbow back to strike who was behind him and hitting the person right on the nose.

However, once he saw who it was exactly he hit, his blood immediately froze as all the adrenaline left his body. Because lying there on the floor, clutching his bleeding nose in pain was… Commandant Shadis.

Nobody moved. Nobody dared to even breathe as everyone, even Mikasa had a frozen expression of absolute shock on their faces.

The commandant then slowly rose, still holding his bleeding nose, all the while Collin watched in absolute terror, beginning to heavily sweat as the commandant glared at him. Once Shadis stood at his full height, he slowly leaned down and glaring directly into Collin's eyes.

"Be at the training ground tomorrow at dawn," Shadis said in a low but dangerous voice. "If you don't, you can kiss your military carrier goodbye. Got it? Brat?"

Collin swallowed a heavy lump that formed in his mouth as his lips quivered. "Y-yes, sir. I'll be there… sir."

Shadis then turned and began walking away, no doubt going to the infirmary to treat his broken nose, which was also probably the reason why he wanted to deal with Collin tomorrow.

Everyone stared at Shadis as he exited the mess hall before turning to Collin who continued to nervously sweat.

'I'm in deep shit, aren't I?' Collin thought.

Sasha on the other hand was hiding under a table next to where all of this was happening, shakingly munching on her bread as her whole body trembled.


The dawn came all too soon for Collin as he stood in the middle of the training in his cadet uniform, with other cadets stationed behind him. He was currently saluting as Shadis stood in front of him with a bandage on his nose and arms behind his back.

Everyone wondered how this will go. Will Collin be expelled? Will he just be punished? He broke the nose of the commandant so there was definitely something extreme planned for him.

Sasha was worried about a whole other thing, something which made her just as nervous as Collin. As far as she knew, she was the reason this started in the first place as she was the one who accidentally pushed Collin into that table. She was sure that Collin would tell the commandant what happened.

'As if my dad wasn't disappointed in me already,' Sasha thought, certain that if Collin isn't going to be blamed at least she was.

"Cadet Holt!" Shadis called out as he got closer to Collin. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't have you beaten, kicked off the 104th Cadet Corps, and sent to the fields!"

Everyone stiffened at the commandant's tone, Collin especially as he couldn't help but slightly shake. "Because…" Collin started before clearing his throat. "Because you are a very understandin' man, instructor, and you realize that what happened was an accident… sir."

Ymir, a tall girl with darker skin and black hair couldn't help but smirk. 'And I thought he couldn't be more of an idiot.'

'What are you doing, Collin?' Reiner wondered. 'Do you want to piss Shadis off even more?'

Shadis just continued staring at Collin. "Hmmm, is that so? Well, let's assume that's the case," he said before leaning closer. "Then tell me, Holt, how did that fight start exactly?"

Sasha now began fidgeting. This was it. Collin will now spill the beans and she will be shipped off to the fields. She hoped that at least she'd be able to have better access to food.

"Um, well, you see I…" his voice trailed his eyes slightly moved to the side. "I… kind of started teasin' the other cadets a bit too much, and, well, I think went too far and offended them. And things escalated from there."

Sasha blinked at that. Why would Collin say that? While what he said wasn't technically wrong, the fact he wasn't mentioning anyone by name struck her as odd, and he was essentially putting the entire blame on himself.

"I see," Shadis said before turning to the other cadets. "Does anyone object to this?!" Nobody spoke a word, so Shadis turned back to Collin. "If that's the case, then it makes this call very easy."

Collin didn't say anything, just waiting for whatever the commandant had planned for him.

"Normally, you would already be on your way by now," Shadis said. "But I'm feeling merciful today."

That statement caught a lot of people off guard. Shadis being merciful? That was unheard of!

"You won't be sent away, however…" Shadis gave a little pause before raising his voice. "You will definitely be punished! As it happens, today comes a new shipment of crates filled with equipment! And it will be your job to store them in the warehouse! BY YOURSELF!"

And that seemed more like the commandant they knew. Instead of being expelled, Collin would be forced to physically straining labor.

"Um, by myself?" Collin asked.

"Are you deaf, you little piss ant?!" Shadis bellowed. "Yes, by yourself! Now get out of here before I have you publically flogged!"

"Y-y-yes, sir! I-I'm off, sir!" Collin said before quickly running from the training area.

Shadis then turned to the other cadets. "And as for you worthless lot, you better start doing pushups!"


Noon soon came, with Shadis overlooking the training from one of the watchtowers. The cadets were put through various exercises that pushed them to their physical limit, with some doing better than others.

Regardless, this batch of cadets proved to be very promising, with some of the best he had seen in years.

"Seems like you had an interesting day, Shadis."

Turning back, Shadis saw an aging man with glasses dressed in the military uniform approach him.

"What do you want here, officer Norbin?" Shadis asked.

"Well, I was on my way to see how the cadets are doing," the officer answered. "And I couldn't help but notice that one of the cadets was taking one of the shipment crates to the warehouse. I asked and it turns out he had to do it by himself, on your orders. I'd ask why, but judging from your condition I can already guess. I'm surprised you didn't kick him out."

"He was in a little scuffle with other cadets, and I caught him by surprise so he acted in instinct," Shadis explained. "Regardless, he is one of the better recruits I've seen in all my years in the military. It would be a shame to lose someone so valuable."

"Ah, so that's how it is," Norbin said. "And why such tough labor? I'd swear you want the kid broken."

"The brat is tough, I've seen it firsthand. He can handle it," Shadis said. "Though, sometimes I wonder what the kid's deal is."

Norbin raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"When I deal with those brats down there, I can tell they harbor at least some sort of resentment or anger towards me, even when they try to hide it. But that cadet, Collin Holt, he doesn't seem to have any. I've never seen him frustrated with me, no matter what training I put him through, no matter how much I demean him, he always just accepts it and goes on. Even during the introduction, he was like that, not angry. If anything, he seemed amused."

Norbin adjusted his glasses. "Maybe he just sees things as they are and accepts it. Maybe he understands the situation."

"Yeah. Maybe," Shadis said.

Norbin then looked to the side. "By the way, when do you expect him to be finished?"

"By the end of the day, probably."

"Are you sure about that?"

Shadis looked at Norbin questioningly before Norbin pointed down. Shadis was surprised to actually see Collin run into the training area, his clothes completely soaked no doubt from the work he had done. Some cadets he passed were shocked to see Collin already here.

Narrowing his eyes, Shadis walked down to greet the cadet who now ran up to him, clearly out of breath. Collin supported himself on his knees for a bit as he panted before rising and saluting.

"I've… finished… the job… commandant," Collin said through several heavy breaths.

"Finished? Are you seriously telling me you already finished unloading all of the cargo and storing it in the warehouse?!" Shadis demanded.

"Yes… sir," Collin said as wiped some sweat that was getting into his eyes. "All done."

"Hm, I'll have to see it for myself," Shadis said before passing Collin. "Come with me, cadet."

"Yes, sir," Collin said as he tried to follow, but some stumbling steps before losing his balance. However, before he could fall, a pair of arms caught him.

Turning around, Shadis saw that Collin was held up by Mikasa Ackerman who put his arm around her shoulder.

"Permission to assist cadet Holt in accompanying you, commandant," she said.

Shadis stared for a moment before turning away. "Granted."

"Thanks, Miks," Collin said. "I… owe ya one."

"It's no problem," Mikasa said.


Shadis stood in front of the open door of the warehouse and he was surprised by what he saw. Collin wasn't bluffing when he said he stored all of the cargo inside. Shadis saw dozens of crates and they were neatly ordered to boot.

He turned around and saw that Collin was still being assisted by Mikasa. "Well, looks like you really are worth something, brat," Shadis said. "Can you walk?"

Collin nodded. "Yes I can, sir."

Shadis then turned to Mikasa. "Then you are dismissed, cadet Ackerman."

"Yes, sir," Mikasa said before releasing Collin who stood on his own two feet. "See you later, Collin."

"Yeah," Collin simply said as Mikasa left. "So, what now, commandant?"

"First, you can answer me something," Shadis said. "What involvement did Sasha Braus have in that little brawl of yours yesterday?"

"Um, what do you mean, sir?" Collin asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Holt," Shadis said sternly. "I saw it, both yesterday and today. That girl was so frightened she hid under the table, and even today she looked even more nervous than she should be, like she did something she shouldn't have. I humored your little story so far, and you paid for it, but you will tell me what Sasha Braus had to do with it."

"N-nothin', I swear!" Collin said. "She… I was just teasin' 'er by keepin' bread out her reach!" He then brought his hands up. "She slammed into me which pushed me at those cadets, but the fightin' was all me! She ain't to blame, please, commander!"

Collin's breath then got stuck in his throat as he realized what he said. Looking at Shadis, he saw the commandant looking at him with his mouth slightly open.

"What did you call me?" Shadis said in a low tone.

"Um… well I…" Collin said before taking a breath and composing himself. He then saluted to Shadis. "I'm sorry, commandant. It was a slip of the tongue. Won't happen again, sir."

Shadis then continued staring at Collin for a little while. A memory then surfaced. That expression. That composure. He remembered walking through the street of Shiganshina three years ago when his eyes with those of a small boy in the crowd people, the boy who composed himself before giving a salute.

"Are… are you alright, sir?" Collin asked snapping Shadis out of his thoughts.

"You're dismissed for today, Holt," Shadis said. "You've done enough."

"I… thank you, sir," Collin said as walked away, leaving the commandant to his thoughts.

As Shadis saw the boy leave, his mind went back to that fateful day. The brown hair and the eyes looked similar enough but nothing concrete. Yet he doubted anyone of the cadets knew that he was a former commander. Was Collin Holt really the boy who showed him respect that day despite what a failure he turned out to be?


AN: And that is it, my dear readers. So yeah, I decided to spend some time during their cadet years and see how they handle their training. And we get to see some scenes between Collin and Sasha, and looks like even Shadis got some development. I hope I did it well.

I implore you to check out my other stories, trust me, they are worth it. And leave a review, they are great motivators.

See you next time!