Not long after, their conversation with Bertholdt petered out and the dark-haired cadet excused himself. Ada got up to put her tray away before returning to her seat beside Rasmus, who was still eating.

"You don't have to wait for me," he said. "I know I'm a slow eater."

Ada just brushed him off. "No worries, I really don't mind. Trust me, you would know about it if I did."

"I'm almost done anyways," he urged. "Go, talk to the other girls and find a good bunkmate."

"Are you sure?" she asked, oddly reluctant to leave his side.

He looked her in the eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Once I finish then I'm going to head to the boys' barracks anyways. There's no point in you sticking around."

"Okay, sure." Ada got up out of her seat. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"See you tomorrow," he repeated. "Have a good night, Ada."

"Good night."

Once he had finished the food on his tray, Rasmus felt satisfied. He didn't feel full, but at least he wasn't hungry. Somehow, he had a feeling that this would be commonplace at the Cadet Corps.

As he stepped out onto the mess hall porch, Rasmus spotted a small blonde figure huddling on the dirt ground on the edge of the night. For a moment he thought it was Annie, but the girl wore her hair down, not in a bun. He couldn't make out much beyond her size and hair colour; his sight limited by the flickering light that illuminated her. Maybe five meters from her was the collapsed body of a cadet. At first Rasmus thought one of the recruits hadn't made it back to the barracks and instead fell asleep on the way there, but he soon recognized the reddish-brown locks of Sasha, the girl who Sadies had made run laps the entire night.

"She's cute, isn't she?" a voice arose behind him.

Rasmus jumped, caught off-guard by the unexpected interruption. He quickly spun around to find the source of the voice.

When he did, he was confronted with the sneering face of the girl whom Ada had dubbed 'Freaky Freckles'. She stood over him, with one hand carelessly planted on the railing beside them. "Someone's jumpy, huh?"

"It's not like that, you just surprised me is all." Despite his words, Rasmus felt his cheeks warm with a blush. He realized how the situation might look to an observer, with him standing on the porch and watching the two girls below.

"Relax, no need to get all worked up. I'm just teasing you," the girl chuckled. They watched as, in the distance, Sasha had somehow smelled the bread and had ripped it out of the startled blonde's grasp.

"I'm not worked up," Rasmus insisted, trying to spare himself further embarrassment.

The freckled girl just rolled her eyes in response. "Well?" When he gave her a questioning look, she elaborated further. "I asked you a question, remember? Do you think she's cute or not?"

Rasmus frowned, not sure if this was a trick question. "Who do you mean?"

The brunette seemed to find that very amusing. "Who do you think I mean? I'll give you a hint: it's not Potato Girl. Seriously, you don't think Potato Girl's cute, do you?"

"Well, I don't know," Rasmus mumbled. He was uncomfortable with this line of questioning, but he couldn't help but feel there was something familiar about his interrogator.

"Really? Wow. Let me know if you ever find the balls to ask her out, I bet that'd be hilarious to see."

Rasmus began to chuckle, having finally placed why this girl seemed familiar. She had the same sarcastic sense of humour as Ada. Emboldened by this discovery, he responded. "Even if I was interested, it'd never work. I doubt she could ever look at someone the way she looks at potatoes."

This elicited another laugh from the girl, who placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, how about that? I think I like you. What's your name?"

"Rasmus," he told her.

"Ymir."

Rasmus' lips curled upwards. "Nice to meet you, Ymir."

"Oi, what are you smirking for?" Ymir said, giving him a pointed look. "You do know what they call boys who peep on girls."

"What?"

"Perverts."

Rasmus felt himself begin to sweat, and peeled his eyes off the blonde girl who had just offered Sasha a drink of water. "But I wasn't—"

"Ha, I got you again," Ymir laughed. "You should have seen your face, all red and flustered."

Rasmus crossed his arms across his chest. "Yeah, yeah. You're such a comedian."

Ymir leaned in towards him. "Seriously though, you'd better scram. Bunks are going quickly, and I doubt Sadies would take kindly to you spying on the girls."

"But that's not what was happening-!" He began, only to be cut off as Ymir placed her finger to her lips.

"Pipe down, the show's over anyways. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to help the little angel carry that sack of potatoes to bed." True to her word, Ymir descended the porch and approached the two girls. The blonde began conversing with her, while Sasha ravenously wolfed down the bread.

Seeing the sense in Ymir's words, Rasmus decided to heed her advice, and headed off towards the barracks to find an empty bunk.

After retrieving his uniform from the spot he had hung it up outside of the barracks before dinner, Rasmus stepped inside the wooden building.

The boys' barracks were as packed as he had expected, though he was surprised to find an interior that looked surprisingly homey. The barracks, though spartan in appearance, was flooded with warm torchlight. Each bunk, aligned in rows throughout the room, was covered by a white blanket that actually looked like it could be comfortable, though it was probably made of the cheap material that made your skin itch.

The room was fairly crowded as most of the male recruits had already made their way here. The hum of hushed conversation flowed throughout the lodging, with the occasional loud outburst dissipating as quickly as it had arrived. It seemed the intimidating instructor had already made an impression on the cadets.

As Rasmus began to work his way through the crowd in search of an open bunk, he felt a large hand grab his shoulder.

"Hey, Rasmus, is it?"

The owner of the hand was a tall, broad-shouldered recruit, dressed in a dark green shirt. He had close cropped blonde hair, and peered down at Rasmus with narrow golden eyes.

Rasmus nodded, feeling dwarfed and a little self-conscious next to the towering cadet. "Yeah, and you're Reiner, right?"

"That's right. Bertholdt pointed you out to me when you came into the barracks." The dark-haired boy, who was sitting on a bunk behind Reiner, offered a shy wave. "Well, what do you think of the Cadet Corps?"

"Everything's been going well so far," Rasmus said, beginning to feel more comfortable in the other boy's presence. "The instructor seems strict and Ada already got in trouble, but other than that it's been pretty great." He paused for a moment before deciding to test the imposing recruit's humour. "The food is better than we got as refugees, so that's a bonus." He was relieved when the blonde let out a hearty laugh, indicating that his joke had hit the mark.

"Yeah, it's definitely better than that black bread and slop they served us in the refugee camps," Reiner agreed, giving him a heavy slap on the back. "Anyway, like I said, Bertholdt pointed you out and I thought I'd introduce myself. Don't be afraid to let me know if you're ever in a pinch, I'd be happy to lend a hand. You know, one refugee to another."

Rasmus grinned as Reiner gave him a wink. "Sure thing, and same to you. I can't promise anything, but I'd like to help you and Bertholdt out too."

"Sounds like a plan," Reiner said, giving him another friendly slap on the back. "Have a good one, man."

"You too," Rasmus replied as he resumed weaving through the crowd. He felt good; he may not have found a bunk yet, but he had gotten to know another of his fellow cadets a bit better.

As he continued making his way through the crowd, he spotted another familiar face.

"Hey Milieus," he called out, causing the boy in question to look up from his bag. "Did you finish unpacking yet?"

"Yeah I have." Milieus smiled sheepishly. "Well, as much as I could unpack. We don't have as much room to spread out as I hoped we would."

The village boy's sentiment resonated with Rasmus as well. "Same here. At least it seems pretty cozy in here. Say, would you be open to bunking with me?"

"Oh," Milieus said, glancing away awkwardly. "See, I already agreed to bunk with Nack." He gestured to the lower bunk to prove his point, and Rasmus' gaze fell upon the talkative boy from earlier that evening who was already passed out on top of his blanket.

"Ah, my bad. I should have noticed him over there."

Milieus gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't already agreed to bunk with him, I'd definitely bunk with you. I bet there are others here who are still looking for bunkmates."

"Yeah, don't worry about it. It's fine," Rasmus told him, forcing a smile.

As he continued on wandering through the sea of recruits, glancing around every so often to see if there were any vacant beds, Rasmus pondered who he could share a bunk with. Milieus and Nack were bunking with each other, and he was almost certain that Reiner and Bertholdt were the same. Jean could be a possibility if he hadn't already found a bunkmate, but Rasmus wasn't keen on the idea, and he figured that the loudmouthed boy wouldn't be either.

He was lost in thought when, out of the blue, he felt an elbow in his back. The unexpected force made him drop his uniform and knocked him to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" a voice spat, and he looked up in time to glimpse red-haired boy strutting away. A few of the boys around him snickered, but none of them offered him a hand.

"Hey," a gentle voice said as he had begun to pick himself up off the ground. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Rasmus replied, dusting himself off and looking up to notice a dark-haired boy with a sympathetic look on his face. He had prominent freckles on his cheeks, and Rasmus recognized him as the freckled boy who had tried to break up the fight between Jean and the crazy-haired boy.

"Are you sure? It looked like you fell pretty hard," the boy continued, bending down and picking up Rasmus' uniform for him. "Here you go, hopefully it's not too dusty from falling on the floor."

"I'm fine, really. And thanks for the help," Rasmus said, taking the uniform from the boy's hands.

The boy smiled. "No problem, I'm just happy I could help. I'm Marco Bodt, by the way."

"I'm Rasmus," Rasmus said, smiling back at him. "By the way, you're from Jinae, right?"

Marco raised his eyebrows. "How did you know? I don't remember telling you."

"That's also where Milieus is from. He told me there was also a freckled boy named Marco from his village, so I figured that must be you," Rasmus explained.

"Oh, Milieus? That's right, he joined the Cadet Corps too. We aren't that close, but I've spoken to him once or twice. I guess it's true what they say, that it's a small world in these walls."

"I guess so," Rasmus agreed. He paused for a moment, beginning to hope he'd solved his bunking problem. "Hey Marco, have you already found a bunkmate?"

"Yeah, I'm already bunking with Jean," Marco said.

Rasmus was taken aback. "You're bunking with Jean? Really?"

"Why?" the freckled boy asked, confused. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, it's just that you're so nice, and he's…" Rasmus trailed off, not wanting to say anything that might offend Marco.

"Yeah, he does come off a bit rude and inconsiderate," Marco admitted. "That said, you can't really judge people by first impressions. Some people who seem really nice can turn out to be cruel, and others who seem uncaring can turn out to be some of the kindest people out there."

"Huh," Rasmus responded, feeling called out for being so quick to judge. "I guess that's true."

"Anyways," Marco continued with a smile, "I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet you. I'm sure you'll find someone to bunk with soon."

"Yeah, thanks Marco." Despite his reassuring words, Rasmus was starting to feel as if he would be forced to sleep on the floor.

"No, I'm telling you, he wiped something on my back. Nobody wipes their 'trust' on other people." A short boy with a shaved head was talking over his shoulder to another boy who had spiky greyish-brown hair.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing there," the spiky-haired boy replied.

Sighing, the other boy turned to look over his other shoulder and spotted Rasmus. "Hey, you! Yeah you, with the blonde hair! You got a moment?"

Rasmus blinked. "Sure."

The boy with the shaved head walked up to him and then turned around. "Are there any stains on my back? Maybe a smudge, or some snot, or something?"

"No," Rasmus said, surveying the boy's green shirt. "It looks fine to me. Why do you ask?"

"I swear Jean wiped something on my shirt after dinner. He told me it was just his 'trust', but what the heck does that even mean?" the boy seemed thoroughly annoyed as he turned back to Rasmus. "Whatever. The name's Connie, by the way."

"And I'm Daz," the spiky-haired boy piped in.

"I'm Rasmus," he replied, shaking hands with both of them. "So, are you two bunking together?"

Daz shook his head. "No, I'm bunking with Samuel."

"Actually, I'm still looking for a bunkmate," Connie said with a smirk. "What can I say, guess nobody wants to be overshadowed by having me as a bunkmate."

"Overshadowed by what?" a familiar voice said. "You're not even tall enough to cast a shadow."

"Shut up, Jean," Connie snapped. A few chuckles echoed around them as the arrogant boy approached. Once he reached them, Jean pointed at Rasmus.

"Hey, you're shit-for-brains' friend, right? She owes you one. If not for your intervention, she would surely have embarrassed herself."

Rasmus faced the taller boy, unamused. "I'll give you the same advice I gave her. Don't pick fights on your first day. If you want to survive the next three years, you'd do well not to alienate all of us."

"Whatever," Jean scoffed, brushing him off. "So, Connie, I hear you still can't find anyone to bunk with you?"

Before the bald cadet could respond, Rasmus jumped in. "Actually, I was just going to ask to bunk with him. Is that alright?"

"You were?" Connie asked, surprise showing on his face. "I mean sure, that's fine."

"With how short the two of you are, I doubt both of your heights combined could reach the top bunk," Jean sneered. "What are you going to do, share the bottom bunk?"

A few laughs arose in their vicinity, before a voice cut through the guffaw. "Hey Jean, could I get your help with something for a moment?"

Rasmus turned around and saw the freckled face of Marco. He quickly realized what the village boy was doing, and mouthed him a quick thanks.

"Really, right now?" Jean's annoyance was obvious. "Fine. What's the big issue, Marco?"

"Oh, well, I was trying to…" Rasmus couldn't make out the rest as the boys moved out of earshot.

As the pair disappeared into the crowd, Connie let out a big sigh of relief. "Well, I'm glad that's over. I can't believe we're going to be living alongside that guy for the next few years. Hell, I still can't believe we're going to be living here for the next few years."

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah," Connie vehemently agreed. "I've got to say, I'm definitely going to miss my village. My mom's cooking too, it's miles better than that garbage that they call food here."

Rasmus furrowed his brow, curious. "What village are you from?"

"Ragako village, on the south side of Wall Rose. It's a small town, where everyone knows everyone. What about you?"

"Me?" Rasmus paused. "I'm from Shiganshina."

Connie's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You're from the same district as Eren and Armin? Does that mean you're also a refugee?"

Rasmus nodded. "I am. But who are Eren and Armin?"

"You don't know them?" Connie sounded confused.

"No," Rasmus said with a shake of his head. "Just because I'm from Shiganshina doesn't mean I knew everyone who lived there. The districts are a lot bigger than your village, you know."

"Of course I know that, I was just wondering is all." Connie crossed his arms. "And for your information, Eren was the one who almost got into a fight with Jean in the mess hall. Armin's his blonde friend with the bowl cut."

"Ah, I think I know who you're talking about," Rasmus said.

"Anyway," Connie continued, "Do you want the top or bottom bunk?"

Rasmus thought for a moment. Though he was shorter than most of the other boys, he still had a few inches on his bunkmate. "I'll take the top bunk, if you don't mind."

"Sure," Connie agreed with a cocky grin. "I prefer the bottom bunk anyway." He threw himself onto the bed and laid back with his arms behind his head. "Night bunk buddy."

"Night Connie." Rasmus hung his jacket on the corner of the bed and climbed up the ladder to his own bunk.

As he pulled the blanket over himself, Rasmus decided that, though it wasn't as comfortable as it looked, the bedding was tolerable. It certainly wouldn't stand between him and a good night's sleep. Despite a feeling of nervous anticipation for the ever-approaching training he would undergo, Rasmus fell asleep fairly quickly. Perhaps the excitement of the day had finally caught up with him, or his body realized that it would need as much rest as possible to handle the rigours that tomorrow would bring. Either way, it was a welcomed occurrence.

AN: The end of initiation day, and the beginning of our protagonists' adventure in the Cadet Corps! I don't have much to add here, so I'll just wish you happiness and good health, and hopefully see you back for the next chapter.