~ Chastise ~

The two pass by other food-stands that are varied in what they sell, some more busy then others, but all making their money from patrons trying to make the ends meet.

The unconscious child despite his actions is one of those people as his dirtied clothes show; the pants especially as their covered in rips. His sandy hair is darker then it should be and beneath the fruit stains on his face there is scrapes and scabs.

"You know hawk-eye isn't a bad name for you, Annie. Considering that impressive throw." Matias compliments as his arm adjusts the child still unconscious underneath his arm.

"Though I guess that isn't much for someone that graduated fourth eh? Honestly I didn't quite believe it at first, but now that I've seen you knock a kid out with an apple? I don't think there is any doubt that you're as talented as the files say. So you have my apologies for belittling you. You do deserve my respect." His words are genuine and the smile that he gives is welcoming although it quickly grows into a smirk.

"Nice comeback at the stall by the way, but I'm not looking to retire yet. Unlike some of the other officers that may as well have. For instance..." He moves the bag full of fruit a little down-wards for Annie to take some if she pleases.

"…If you ever smell an officer that smells like fish? It's not fish and they have a sore right or left hand."

"I'm not twelve... sir... I know a pervert when I see and smell one..."

Walking along with him and the boy in his arms. Looking at the boy who he carried, Annie spoke. "Perhaps he should be thrown in the local jail for a few days, I mean, he was stealing and the moment we get him home, he will steal again. I mean, where I'm from, people like him would have a hand or finger cut off.. Stealing is stealing and he is a criminal, no matter how old he is" she explained before realising she'd said "Where I'm from" and covered herself quickly with "At least in my village". Yea, that should do.

"If I had wanted to kill him with the apple, I would have chosen the first one, it was harder and had a solid core, the one I threw was rotten, so your little market friend Takeo was selling rotten food with less than a few days left" she told him, wiping her hand on her uniform jacket.

"Also, the reason I was ranked Fourth in my class was for several reasons, but not because of my skill level. People who come First are always watched, they are treated as perfect... I did not want that" she brought up her finger in a number one, then as she spoke down to four, she brought up a new finger each time.

"Those in Second are seen as winners even though they came Second and the First point still stands. Those in Third are watched for greatness, knowing they would achieve as much as the previous Two... while Fourth... no one ever cares for Fourth place... First, Second and Third have awards... Fourth does not... Fourth does not get noticed" She explained to him.

Throughout the explanation and answers gave him, the superior officer kept his relaxed and merry disposition in place. But beneath that his mind was intently listening to every single word that was said to him; key-words sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Where she's from." The slip up was clear and only became even more clear as she tried to correct her wording. It meant that she's hiding a secret and from the way she casually talked about killing the child for something as petty as stealing made that secret much darker. Then their was the very specific way she talked about how being in fourth doesn't get noticed or recognised unlike the top three. For starters it spoke about her own personal confidence and viewpoint when it came to her achievements. But more importantly it also hinted towards the desire to stay hidden among her peers and hypothetically explained her cold attitude. All of that was taken in mind, but the only response that was given was her comment about being able to label perverts.

"Really now? Looks like you're a regular ole Hawk-Eye after all!" The man said with a merry bout of laughter and a playful nudge of his elbow into Annie's side.

"It is pretty easy to kill a child, although I would not bawk at it, its not my job to kill the civilians..." she explained as she walked alongside him. He looked into his bag of fruit with a frown and then moved it a little closer to Annie.

"Do me a solid and pick out the rotten fruit from the fresh fruit. Takeo is usually a little more careful, but I guess the harvest is a little rough with the times." He looks to Annie as she begins to pick out the fruit with a smile and raised brow.

"You should eat one of the fresh fruit in here. I guarantee that it's better fruit then you'll find anywhere else in these walls and outside. The man is a genius when it comes to picking out fresh fruit."

At the mention of the rotten fruit, she took the bag and picked out one at a time, giving it a squeeze then throwing them over her shoulder or put them back in the bag. She sniffed a few and put them back or threw them away. There were defiantly mostly fresh fruit but about Fifteen percent of them were not good to her sensing.

She took the last good one and took a bite of it, it was good, surprisingly. She had found all the food here on the island was full of crap, even though they made a lot of it here with the lacking of certain things, she was surprised how the food got so well off.

"Where I'm from, there is a fruit you'd never taste anything like it" she explained, "I mean, your fruit you get here in the centre" she explained, covering herself again.

Annie was making more and more mistakes with every passing second the two were spending together. Perhaps this was the reason that she'd stayed a loner in training? She knew or was told that she wouldn't be able to keep a secret once she was in the presence of someone else. He kept the thoughts to himself as the two arrived at the kids house with a knock on the door.

When they arrived at the kids house, the mother wasn't surprised, as if she knew he was out stealing. She brought him in and made an effort to pretend to chastise the boy when he woke up although she obviously glared at them about the fact he was unconscious with a severe bump on the back of his head.

"It was me Ma'am... He was running away, maybe next time don't bring up a petty thief" she told the woman when the mother chastised them on their actions. Turning and walking away with him, as they headed back to the barracks, She stood outside his office and looked around.

"You know you should have brought him to the cells, even for a night... or few hours.. his mother probably gave him some food then let him out again to go steal.." she shrugged, not really caring but wanting to make sure that he knew her position on the act.

Although Annie didn't get it, her superior officer did as this couple was one of the many that he personally knew. Ryuji and his mother Andrea are a poor family abandoned by their father who belongs to the military police. He'd been trying to approach them for awhile with his money, but she'd continually declined the offer with a curse or two that showed her own distrust of the government. Perhaps now with how her son had been caught stealing food she'd reconsider his offer.

When the two returned to his office, the superior would turn to Annie with a glance as his office door was locked. "I wouldn't count on it. I know the mother and child. Their both victims of a military officer's abuse in the mother's case getting impregnated and in the son's case getting abandoned. I've been willing to offer them money from me to help them get by, but the mother refused saying she'll take care of it. The son stealing was probably the way and with him caught she's no doubt going to reconsider the deal. But enough about that!" The door to his office clicks with the lock and the officer turns towards Annie with a grin.

"It's time for you to get your stuff from the barracks. You're going to be living with me in my home since it'll probably make both our jobs easier."

He didn't mention that another primary reason he'd made this decision was his own suspicions that'd grown from the time they'd spent together and his gut instinct that he should probably keep tabs on her to some extent. "Plus I guarantee my company is a more suited for a loner then anyone in this squad. You have my word on that." That was also true. If Annie were to stay here she'd probably kill someone at some point, lose her mind, or do both with how infuriating and rather disgusting his squad could be.

"Perhaps if she actually acted like a mother, she'd stomach her pride and take your pitty money" She suggested before seeing him explain to her that she'd be staying with him.

"Oh, I see how it is, bed the new recruit to get them in your favour? Not able to get any of the other recruits so keeping it in your squad?" she asked and shrugged. "if you want that but I wont be letting you touch me without me getting any perks" she explained and turned to leave without even a salute or a goodbye, simply leaving with the remarks of assumed perversion, stopping at the door to speak over her shoulder.

"I'm going to go collect my gear, my 3DM gear and get food... so unless you want to come with me" She added over her shoulder. She did not like her commander, he seemed too 'goody-goody'. He seemed like the kind of person who would die to save their companion.

Not Annie, she had a job to do and if she died, they'd fail... she did not like to fail.