"Y/n Arlert, are you ready?" Commandant Shadis asks.
"I've never been more ready, sir!" I reply.
It was now morning and everyone is gathered at the ODM gear training site again, ready to see if Eren and I will pass or be shipped off to the fields today.
I really appreciate Reiner and Bertolt's help last night. I feel like we'll be able to do this today. I can hope so anyways. I guess we'll see.
"Pull her up!" He commands. Just like yesterday, the cranking sound begins behind me. So, now all I've got to do is stay in a position I feel relaxed in.
My feet begin to leave the ground and I'm keeping my balance so far. That's good. I just need to keep this position a little bit longer and I'll be fine.
People in the crowd start cheering for me, making me smile brightly. I feel so proud and accomplished!
"Alright! Bring her down!" Shadis commands and the cranking starts again and my feet soon touch the ground. "Join everyone else, midget." I quickly unlatch the hooks from my belt and join Armin's side.
"Good job. I'm proud of you." Armin remarks.
I smile at him. "Thank you! I wouldn't have been able to do without Reiner and Bertolt's help!"
"I knew you had it in you." Reiner says, ruffling my hair.
"I said last night that you'd be able to become a soldier and it looks like you'll actually be able to." Bertolt adds.
I nod. "Yeah! I can't thank you both enough." I look at Eren. "I just hope Eren can do it too..."
"Eren Jaeger, are you ready?" Shadis asks.
Eren nods firmly. "Yes, sir!"
"Proceed." Shadis orders, and Eren starts getting cranked up. His feet soon leave the ground and he's doing fine even as he gets lifted up higher and higher.
We all start cheering for him. I know how much becoming a Scout means to him, so if he passes this, that's only one step closer for him to become one.
Suddenly, he loses his balance and falls backward, almost hitting his head again.
"No!" He yells. "Not yet! I can do this!"
"Lower him." Shadis orders.
This isn't good at all. Does this mean that Shadis is going to send Eren off to the fields? I mean, he was up for quite some time.
Eren is lowered and he falls to his knees. "I-I'm finished..."
Shadis abruptly looks at the guy that was cranking Eren up, whose name is Thomas, I think. "Wagner! Please exchange belts with Jaeger!"
He visibly stiffens. "Uh, yes, sir!" He quickly takes his belt off and gives it to Eren, who was ready to put the new belt on and attach the hooks.
"Pull him up again." Shadis commands and Eren is immediately cranked up. He doing great, just as last time and he's not falling either.
"Your equipment was defective." Shadis explains. "If given a piece of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. I guess the quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. I might have to visit the supply depot and crack a few skulls."
"He..." Some guy nears us starts. "He still did it even though he was wearing busted gear."
"Amazing..." Another guy remarks.
I smile to myself. "That's Eren for ya..."
"So, you mean I-I didn't wash out?" Eren asks, still keeping his balance.
"You made the cut." Shadis replies, making me get all happy. "Now keep training, cadet!"
Eren punches his fists into the air above him, while keeping his balance. Then, he looks at us with a huge smile on his face.
"It seems like things worked out for him as well." Reiner notes.
Armin chuckles lightly. "Look! His eyes are saying 'check me out!'"
I nod. "Yeah! He's so proud of himself!"
"They're not." Mikasa remarks, making Armin, Reiner, Bertolt, and I look at her. "His eyes are saying he doesn't need me. Not anymore..."
I look back at Eren, who still has a huge smile on his face. I nod. "Yeah...they say that as well."
I'm glad that he isn't being sent to the fields. His dreams would've been crushed, if he was, but he doesn't have to worry about that now. He's passed the test, so now he can work toward becoming a Scout.
⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡
"Congrats on passing, Y/n!" Connie congratulates, patting me on my back, as he sits down beside me.
Sasha grabs my arm, since she's sitting on the other side of me. "I'm so glad that you're going to be staying here! You're the goddess that gives me my extra food!"
It was now dinner time and Eren and I keep getting congratulated on passing this morning's test. I was going to sit with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, but I was dragged over to sit with Connie and Sasha, which I don't mind.
"Thanks, Connie." I thank with a smile, before looking at Sasha. "And I'm not a goddess, Sasha. I've already explained this to you many times."
"You're the only one that gives me my extra food, though." She remarks. "In my eyes, you are a goddess. You've given me your bread the last two nights."
"The first bread wasn't even mine. It was Mikasa's bread, but..." I break off a small bit of my bread and hold the bigger piece out toward Sasha, since I'm not very hungry. "Here yo-"
Before I could finish speaking, she quickly takes the bread out of my hand and starts eating it.
Connie chuckles lightly. "I see where she's getting the goddess thing from. You seem to be very giving."
"Hey." Jean sets his tray on the table and sits across from us. "You sure got lucky on passing that test, huh?"
"You make that sound like a bad thing." Marco says, soon joining his side. He looks at me. "I'm glad you passed."
"Hey guys." I greet. "Thanks. To be honest, I have a secret as to why Eren and I were so lucky today. Do you all promise not to tell anyone about this?"
Sasha begins nodding quickly and muffling something with her mouth full of bread, so I'll take that as a yes.
Connie nods. "Yeah."
"Of course!" Marco replies. "It would be rude for me to tell people you didn't want to know." He looks over at Jean. "What about you, Jean?"
"Depends on what you have to say..." He shrugs.
"Jean..." I drawl, as I pick up my spoon to eat some soup.
"I'm just kidding, Shortie." Jean informs. "Yeah. I won't spread it."
I drop my spoon back into my little bowl of soup. "Oh, come on. I'm not that short."
"Uh, Y/n..." Connie starts. "I'm pretty sure you're shorter than me, and...I'm pretty short."
I slump my shoulders. I better get some growth spurt as I get older. I refuse to be forever teased for my height.
"Guys, stop making fun of her. She has something to tell us." Marco speaks up.
Marco has been nothing but nice and helpful to me since I've met him. I really appreciate that from him.
Sasha taps my shoulder, making me look at her. "Are you going to, uh, finish that?" She points at my soup. I've only had, like, three little sips.
"Stop being such a pig, Potato Girl!" Jean exclaims. "She's got to eat and gain more muscle!"
I wave a hand at him. "It's nothing to worry about. I'm going to work so hard while I'm here, that I'll gain muscle." I slide the so-called soup over to Sasha.
"Ah!" She grabs me by my shoulders. "Thank you so much!" She then starts slurping down the so-called soup.
I nod. "You're welcome." I look at the three guys, to see Jean and Connie with raised eyebrows and Marco with a small smile. "Uhm...what's wrong?"
"How can someone be this nice?" Jean asks.
"I know, right?" Connie agrees. "She's literally the definition of nice."
Marco looks between the two of them. "Why do you guys make it sound like it's a crime?"
I rest my elbow on the table, then lay my cheek in my palm, looking over at Armin, Eren, and Mikasa over Jean's shoulder. "Armin and I were bullied a lot when we were kids, because we wouldn't stop talking about the world outside the walls. More importantly, our grandpa just raised us to be kind to others, also...I just don't want to be a bully."
Sasha suddenly drops the small bowl that was once filled with soup. "Sounds like you had it pretty rough."
"Yeah..." I nod. "We'd always go home with scratches and wake up the next day with really bad bruises."
"That's terrible..." Marco remarks.
"You showed those damn bullies who was boss soon though, right?" Connie asks.
"No..." I shake my head. "We never could. Eren would come along and scare them away, but then it got to the point where they weren't scared of him, so...Mikasa stepped in."
Jean lets out a scoffing chuckle. "You mean that stubborn friend of yours once intimidated people?"
I nod. "For a little while, yeah. Anyways, I've gotten so off topic."
"Oh yeah!" Sasha remarks. "What were you going to tell us?"
"Well..." I lean closer to the middle of the table to whisper. "Eren and I snuck out with two other guys last night. They taught us how to use the ODM gear. They're the reason why Eren and I are still here."
"So, you can rebel..." Jean mumbles loud enough for me to hear.
I shrug. "I guess I can."
"You snuck out?" Connie asks. "That's against the rules, yet you still did it?"
"Think of it like this, Connie." Marco starts. "If she and Eren hadn't snuck out, would they still be here?"
"Hmm..." Connie hums. "I guess not."
Sasha lays her head against the table, looking tired. "Then I'm grateful to them. I get to keep extra food and a new friend."
I laugh softly. "I'm grateful too. I get to stay here with all you guys. My new friends!" The bell rings and people start heading out.
Sasha abruptly stands up. "Well, I'm tired. So, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning."
I nod. "Goodnight, Sasha."
"Goodnight!" Connie and Marco chime together.
"Night, Potato Girl." Jean adds.
She leaves the building, leaving with many other people. Eventually, Jean, Connie, and Macro leave too, but I stayed, since I realized just how many people left their trays at the table.
I sigh and get up from where I'm sitting. "You don't have to walk far to drop your trays off, people..." I start collecting trays. "It's literally like ten steps to put it-"
"Would you like some help?" A voice suddenly asks, making me jump and almost drop the trays I have in my arms. "Ah! I'm so sorry!"
I laugh softly and look at him over my shoulder. "There's no need to apologize, Marco. I just thought you had gone to bed already."
He rubs the back of his neck. "I sort of forgot to put my tray away, so I came back and noticed that you could use some help. So, do you want any?"
I smile softly and nod. "Yes, please."
With Marco's help, it took the both of us no time to collect all the trays and put them away. We leave the building afterwards.
"I have a question." Macro remarks, once on the porch of the dining hall.
"What is it?" I ask, looking at him curiously.
He visibly stiffens. "Well, uh, if you don't mind me asking, what are you, uh, wearing around your neck?"
"Oh..." I pull the rings out from under my dress top and lay them in my hand. "These were my parents rings. They were also the last thing my grandpa ever gave to me..."
"Oh. I'm so sorry for asking." He apologizes. "That's something personal to you."
I shrug and put back under my dress top. "It's fine. I'm actually surprised that no one asked me about them until now."
"Still." He protests. "That's personal to you and I just asked without th-"
"Marco. It's fine." I assure, laying a hand on his arm. "Thank you for helping me out. I'll see you tomorrow."
"You're welcome." He rubs the back of his neck again. "And, uh, I'll see you tomorrow too."
I remove my hand from his arm. "If they're not asleep, please tell Armin and Eren I say goodnight."
He nods. "Ok! Goodnight, Y/n!"
"Goodnight, Marco." I reply with a smile on my face. I can't wait to spend these next three years with every one of my friends. New and old.
A/N: Hey, cadets! This chapter was fun to write, since Y/n mainly hung out with Sasha, Connie, Jean, and Marco. Btw, I'm trying to fit in as many Marco moments as possible, before...you know. Welp, I'm going to go cry, because of our precious boy Marco. I hope you all enjoyed. Bye, cadets!