Everyone heads to the field immediately following the introductions. Even the first day of training was nothing short of hell as the instructor pushed everyone to their absolute brink. It was so tough that some quit the same day.
Afterwards, heads to the hall for dinner. You notice two familiar looking faces. The first was a boy with dark brown hair who he had a sharp look in his eyes; as if they were focused on something far ahead. Despite the grueling training, he seemed excited and couldn't stop talking. The other, in contrast was a relatively quiet girl. She wore a red scarf and had eyes that looked even more intense than the boy.
You recognize the two them from the attack on Shiganshina. They were the kids that the soldier was carrying as he came running towards your house. You approach them and introduce yourself. You learn their names, Eren Jager and Mikasa Ackerman. Also, with them was their childhood friend, Armin Arlert. He had medium length blond hair and seemed somewhat timid. But he was very articulate when he spoke.
"You're also from Shiganshina, right?" Eren asks.
"Yeah, if it weren't for you and that soldier, I'd be dead by now." You answer.
The four of you discuss your thoughts and grievances from Shiganshina. You learn how Mikasa was taken in by Eren's family after her parents were killed and how they watched a titan eat Eren's mother right in front of them. You couldn't even begin to imagine how harrowing it must've been to witness that while being powerless to do anything about it.
As you each shared your experience from the incident, the rest of the cadets gather around and starts questioning Eren about the titans. They were exceedingly curious as most of them had never seen a titan with their own eyes. As Eren went on talking, you take note of a few people that stood out to you.
The first was Marco, a boy with freckles who tried to stop everyone from bothering Eren, seeing as how it would've likely been a traumatic experience that one wouldn't want to relive. Eren says it's okay and continues explaining while Mina and the rest listened with intrigue.
There were two boys sitting at a table close to yours listening in on Eren's story. The buff looking one with short blonde hair looked anxious as Eren mentioned the Armored Titan. "Maybe he had seen it in person and still had PTSD." You think to yourself.
His friend was tall and had dark hair. He seemed more composed and didn't react much. Another boy with a long face that looked like a horse was also paying attention from a different table. His name was Jean Kirschtein if you remember correctly. Sasha, the potato girl and a few others were absent from the scene.
However, most notable to you was a short blonde girl who sat across the hall from you. She didn't seem interested in the conversation and didn't try to socialize at all as she ate by herself. She had a generally smug looking expression on her face, but you knew better, as it reminded you of yourself when you were cast off by everyone except Grandpa.
Coming back to Eren, he shares his ambition. "I'll enlist in the Survey Corps and exterminate the titans from this world."
It resonated with you as you too wanted to join the Survey Corps, albeit under different circumstances. While you also resented the titans, your goal was primarily to reclaim Shiganshina, as it held a special place in your heart.
Growing up without parents, you struggled to find a sense of belonging and eventually that void was filled by your hometown as it became the only thing familiar to you. The district was like an extension of yourself and helped you survive a difficult and desperate childhood. Having lost it, you were completely deprived of anything to call 'home' and decided to do whatever was necessary to reclaim it.
Jean looked particularly agitated as Eren went on with his idealistic speech and started to provoke him. "Woah there, you crazy?"
As Eren paused to take a look, Jean questions him, "Did you just say you were going to enlist in the Survey Corps?"
"Yeah, that's right! If I'm not mistaken, you're aiming to live it up in the Military Police Brigade, right?" Eren fires back.
"I'm an honest guy, you see. I'd say I'm a lot more pleasant to be around than someone who puts on a brave face, despite being terrified deep down inside." Jean says while remaining calm.
As arrogant and impudent as he was, he saw right through Eren and got under his skin. You confirmed it as Eren gets riled up by it saying, "Did you imply something?"
As they stood up and looked each other in the eye, things escalated quickly and nearly broke into a fight. They were quite literally saved by the bell and with that, everyone calls it a day and return to their barracks.
The following day you had an aptitude test for ODM gear. The purpose was to balance yourself on a contraption that simulated the conditions of using ODM gear. Mikasa stood perfectly still and didn't move an inch. One of the instructors called it 'Perfect Aptitude".
You also got a hang of it almost naturally as you had developed exceptional agility from your former career being a thief. Reiner, Jean, and Connie were pretty good as well. Eren however, didn't get it at all. He couldn't keep himself straight no matter how hard he tried.
Despite his apparent lack of aptitude, he had an incredible resolve as he didn't give up even after humiliating himself repeatedly. After countless trial and error, the instructor discovers that he had been using faulty equipment. Once he replaced them, Eren manages to pass the test to everyone's surprise.
❋❋❋
Things only got tougher from that point.
Mikasa aced at absolutely everything, as she had some kind of natural talent. She was clearly a cut above the rest and was the undisputed best among the cadets as far as overall performance was concerned.
When it came to individual skills however, there were a number of people that stood out. In your case, you specialized in using ODM gear. While Jean had slightly better technique, your skills were unmatched in the field.
You were also pretty good at coming up with strategies, but nothing compared to Armin. He was a bona-fide genius despite his timid and self-doubting nature. He was quick-witted and excelled at adapting to any situation and coming up with solutions on the fly.
In terms of charisma, Eren stood out in more ways than one. Despite how idealistic his speeches on exterminating the titans were, they inspired the others to work harder and he essentially became the backbone of everyone's morale.
While Eren kept everyone motivated, Jean's ability to stay composed and his skills in quick judgment made him an objectively better leader. His social skills could use some improvement however as he often came across as arrogant and generally unlikable. In contrast, Marco got along with everyone— even Jean. He was probably the nicest dude you've ever seen as he'd go out of his way to help just about anyone if he's able to.
One would argue Christa was the nicest person as she too looked out for everyone. But to you, something felt off about her; especially how everyone seemed to be mesmerized by her, almost in a hypnotic way. While she was cute indeed, you couldn't understand what the others saw in her.
Sasha had pin point accuracy and was the best in marksmanship. Her background in hunting translated really well into the military. Connie was the fastest and had a lot of potential, but was slightly held back by his clumsy nature.
Two years pass and you begin your third and final year as Cadets.
For the past two years, you've been putting extra effort into pushing your ODM skills to their limit and used every opportunity to train. You didn't particularly excel at anything else, so you figured you might as well be the best at what you're naturally good at.
While it definitely improved your skills drastically, it took a toll on your equipment as they hadn't taught you how to service and maintain ODM gear by yourselves yet. The instructors would check on everyone's equipment and lubricate them once a month. But your excessive training wore out your equipment faster than the monthly maintenance could keep up with.
As a result, your ODM gear gets jammed mid-air during training one day and you fall. Despite being one of the most agile among the cadets, there was nothing you could've done to break the fall. It must've been at least fifteen meters high and a fall from that height would undoubtedly lead to permanent damage or worse.
In a brief moment that felt like an eternity, you see your life flash before your eyes and dread as you recall how grandpa got paralyzed from an injury to his spine during work. Unable to do anything about it, you start praying in desperation and all of a sudden, you feel a gentle thud. You open your eyes to see that Reiner had caught you.
"T-Thank you Reiner, you really saved my ass there!" You thank him while trying to catch your breath.
"Don't worry about it. As soldiers, we've got to watch each other's backs!" Reiner answers.
He was likely the second best following Mikasa and seemed to take being a soldier very seriously. That, coupled with the fact that he had a similar dream to yours in wanting to go back to his hometown, made you look up to him. Since that day, you aspired to be like Reiner and put even more effort to try and catch up with him and Mikasa.