-Counting Stars- An AoT/SnK FanFic

The soldier's labour. 3

"It isn't that easy....but oh well." Keith turned as his polished black shoes began trotting over to a little man with a shaved head. He had his left hand across his chest with his right arm at the back, doing the exact opposite of the original salute.

"Where did you learn to salute like that? That is completely incorrect, you fricking idiot." His hands wrapped round his shaved head, making his eyes poke up and his arms flop at his sides. "What is your name, you stupid brat?"

"C-Connie Springer!" He said, gribble spreading across his chin while it hung from his open mouth. "Please let me go!"

"Learn how to salute properly, bastard." He chucked him on the floor to leave him on his knees as hold his head (That had a large bump!) Alone while sobbing.

There was suddenly a crunch.

Silence.

A girl with brown hair tied into a ponytail stood plainly next to me, a steamy potato sitting in the palm of her hand as crumbs layed around her open mouth, getting ready to bite once again while Keith stared at her solemnly.

"What is your name?" He asked with shadows covering his eyes.

Sasha looked round once and took another bite from the piece of potato, more bits of crumbs sitting on her mouth while she continued to look round, completely ignoring Keith while all the soldiers looked at her, sniggering.

"I SAID, WHAT IS YOUR NAME??!!!!" Keith shouted, making Sasha look up at him casually.

"Are you talking to me...?" She asked, pointing at her chest while she ate another bite.

"What an idiot...OF COURSE IM FRICKIN' TALKING TO YOU!"

"My name is Sasha Braus, Sir!" She suddenly saluted, her clenching fist hitting hard at her chest as she clutched the potato in one of her hands.

"And tell me, why are you eating a potato?"

"Because I was hungry, and I couldn't leave the potato staying there going cold on the countertop so I gobbled it up in my stomach to keep it warm, sir!"

"But why? Why here, out of all places?" He asked in a deep voice, frowning.

"Are you asking me why people eat potatoes, sir?"

Silence.

She sighed and cracked the potato open, shoving a quarter of the potato at Keith's face as she smiled. "Here, have half."

"Half?"

"Wow, she really ran." Connie said, leaning his back against the hut wall while he folded his arms casually as he watched Sasha run across the fields, her legs limping forward as sweat dribbled down from her temple, breathing heavily.

"What a stupid move, as well. Eating a potato? Wow." Thomas smiled, brushing his side burns as he glared at Sasha.

"I feel bad for her." I said in a quiet small voice, my shoulders collapsed in as I wrapped my shawl round my shivering shoulders, my dress trailing down to my ankles as a shiver trailed down my spine.

"Your always so kind, dear Eliza." Armin said, his hand patting my shoulder, his cheeks flushing red and dashes of pink spread across his nose.

"Yeah, so kind and caring no matter how cruel they are to you." Eren said, looking at me hopefully as he grinned.

A cart with a white roof trailed across the path up the hill, people with fearing faces and dark shadows sat inside, shivering with mud trailed across their cheeks. "Who are they?" Eren asked.

"They are the cowards who get sent straight to work on a farm instead. Poor souls." Thomas said, frowning.

"Cowards? By how?"

"It could be anything. Not showing respect to commander, chicking out straight away or just not being able to take in the suspense and frustration." Connie shrugged.

"That's horrible." I said, covering my mouth with my cuffed hands over my dotted freckles as the sun began to set, the sky turning crimson.

"Your from Shiganshina, right? Tell us all about it." Connie said.

That lunch time, Eren sat there while being crowded by people who asked many questions about that day.

Eren sat at the end, Mikasa next to him, with me and Armin opposite.

I kept being pushed and shoved by sharp elbows.

"What was the colossal titan like? Was it big?" Thomas asked.

"It wasn't too big." Eren said casually, slowly sipping some chicken soup in his mouth.

"Apparently, a rumour in my village, the armoured titan was really big and destroyed everything!" Mina said.

"Eh, it wasn't that scary." He shrugged, sighing.

"How was the titans?" Someone asked.

Eren flinched as his spoon fell from his clammy hand, his hands clapsing over his mouth as he remembered the dreadful moment of mother's death.

"Stop now, it's too hard on him. It's obvious he's going through a hard time now leave him be." Marco explained, a kind-of-tall boy with black hair and freckles, wearing a blue jumper and normal trousers.

"No. Its fine. They weren't that bad." Eren smirked as he slumped back on his chair, placing his hands behind his head with his leg ontop of the other.

People gasped and continued to rasper questions while I jerked my head to the side, noticing a girl with blonde hair and a curved nose staring at me, including a tall boy with brown hair and a muscled broad man with yellow golden hair.

~End~

'No matter how we put it, the fortunes and happiness of our actions are natural derived from past experience, hiding the guilt and regret. We see the dead one as balls of gas, like people are counting stars'