𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗦 | 𝙀. 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙍

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

Wall Maria, it was hot out.

The sun shined on my neck and skin from where I and at least a hundred others stood, waiting for Commander Shadis to torment us. I really should've accepted that blond girl's sunblock: I could already feel my skin starting to burn.

I ached to give my legs a good shake from how long we were all standing out there; memories from taking my leave this morning were the only things keeping me from falling asleep right then and there. I still remember how Leria cried when Roger said I had to go, and I remember how he shed a few tears when I went through the training grounds gates. I called him a baby but he just hugged me instead of insulting me back.

"Who the hell are you?" Shaids loud and extremely annoying voices broke me out of my daydreams. He was not standing in front of a kid a few kids away from me. Huh, he kind of resembled a horse.

"I'm Jean Kirstein from Trost, sir!" He saluted the commander with a straight back.

"What are you here for?" Shadis asked him, his face even closer to horse-boy.

"To join the Military Police Brigade and reside in the Inner District, sir," he answered back. I rolled my eyes at that but understood why. No sane person would willingly want to join the Scouts, but good thing I'm fucking psychotic. 

I zoned out again, thinking how good a nice and cold shower would be right now.

I felt a presence in front of me and looked up to see Commander Shadis. I saluted him with a knowing smile as he recognized my face.

One time while Roger was training me on the training grounds, we ran into Shadis coming back from drilling his cadets to death. Nothing was very special about the interaction, but I noticed that his face was less intimidating when he was talking with Roger. His mouth wasn't turned into a sneer like it was right now, and his beady eyes weren't filled with disdain. 

"Cadet Y/n, how is Roger?" My eyes widened a fraction at his question and the normal tone of his voice, but I kept my cool. I felt eyes on me so I let my mouth show a tiny smirk.

"Cried like a baby when he dropped me off, sir!" He chuckled at that then went to go scream at his next victim.

The baldy next to me, Connie Springer, whispered to me once Shadis was out of earshot. "How do you know the Commander?" His eyes were wide in astonishment. I shrugged and that seemed to tick him off, making his thin eyebrows furrow in annoyance.

"Met him once," I explain, leaving it at that, not wanting to explain how. Baldy was about to speak again but I gave him a look that said I'd tell him later. He seemed content with that and went back to staring at nothing straight in front of him. I copied his actions, waiting for this to be over so I could eat again. I should've been smart like that girl and brought food with me to chow down on to pass the time.

About half an hour passed until we were dismissed from our positions in the empty field. I groaned when I stretched out my back and heard a chuckle from next to me. It was Conny. I shoved him with an eye roll.

Once he regained balance from my nudge he pounced close to me again and began to hammer me with questions about the Commander.

"Oi, Springer, stop harassing the girl!" Our head whipped to see Jean stalking towards us, a smirk on his face. Connie made to say something but Jean cut him off and looked towards me. "But do go on, I want to know too."

"Rog- I mean, my adoptive father knew him," I say nonchalantly. my body tenses slightly at the small crowd that was forming.

"Adoptive?" Jean asked confused.