(05) Trainee Corps II

"I already told you guys saw I saw it", Eren said with a frown and a slightly annoyed tone. For the past twenty minutes countless people had asked him the same question: Did you see the colossal titan?

A large number of people stood around him as he ate his soup, and even those sitting at other tables were paying attention to what he had to say. Strauss who sat opposite him could feel his irritation bubble as more and more people came over, disturbing him from his meal.

"Hey, how tall was the colossal titan?", one of the trainees standing around Eren asked, curiosity and eagerness filling his eyes.

"He was tall enough to look over the wall", Eren answered as he recalled the fateful day, forcing down a grimace as he remembered the face of the colossal titan.

"What? I heard that it stepped right over the wall!", one of the cadets exclaimed in surprise.

"That's what they told me in my village", a girl said as she leaned closer wanting to know more.

"No, he wasn't that tall", Eren said shaking his head.

"What did it look like?, the same girl asked him, and the other trainees around his table got closer as their curiosity increased.

"It barely had any skin, but it had a huge mouth", Eren described as his peers gasped im amazement.

"What about the Armored Titan that broke Wall Maria?", a voice sounded out from near the back of the group.

"They call it that, but I don't think it looked much different from a normal titan", Eren said calmly, continuing his meal.

"What does a normal titan look like then?", that same voice asked and Eren who was about to answer his vision suddenly remembered the sight of his dead mother being eaten. The loud crunching noise replayed in his head as he remembered seeing the titan chew her, limb by limb, taking its sweet time. His spoon dropped from his hand as he raised it to cover his mouth, feeling the contents of his meal threatening to come back up.

"You want to know what the titans are like?", Strauss spoke up, gathering everyone's attention. "I'll tell you. They're tall enough to make you seem like an insect next to it, an animal with no worth. Their body parts are often grossly out of proportion, making them look terrifying. And the expression on their faces, as they bite into people, devouring them alive, is one of pure joy. They're beasts and gluttons, not able to think about any single thing except for the next person they'll eat", Strauss described the titans as vividly as he could based off of what he could remember from them, making the trainees surrounding his and Eren's table step back a bit and gulp nervously. 'The worst part is that those titans used to be people', he thought to himself grimly.

"Lets stop with the questions now. I'm sure there's things they'd like to forget.", A taller trainee towards the front of the group, Marco, said to the rest of them in an attempt to get them to back off.

"Sorry for asking", Connie, the small boy with the shaven head turned to Eren with a guilty look on his face, not intending to bring up bad memories.

"No! Don't be sorry", Eren said with anger im his tone as he took the biggest bite he could from his bread. "There's no reasons to be scared of those titans! If we master the maneuver gear then that means we'll have the ability to fight them!", there was a smile on Eren's face as excitement coursed through his body at the thought of not only being able to fullfill his dream of joining the survey corps but also being able to kill titans. "I'll join the Survey Corps, and wipe the titans out. I'll kill every single one-", Eren expressed his thoughts and motivations before being cut off by a trainee sitting over at the table next to him. He had light brown hair and was fairly tall. Strauss recognised him as Jean.

"Hey, are you nuts? Did you just say you wanted to join the survey corps?", he asked with a smirk on his face looking at Eren with a mocking expression.

"Yeah I did. And didn't you say you wanted to join the military police to take it easy?", Eren snapped back with a frown.

"I'm no liar. I'm a straight talker, unlike someone who pretends to have balls of steel, even when he's about to piss himself.", Jean said, the smirk on his face growing as he openly made fun of Eren.

"You talking about me?", Eren asked, all trace of excitement from before replaced with utter seriousness. Some of the trainees from before tried to stop him from doing anything drastic but Eren and Jean walked over to each other anyway, the latter smiling down arrogantly at Eren. With them being the center of attraction in the dining hall, no one noticed Strauss discreetly steal the rest of Eren's food.

The bell suddenly rang, breaking the tension between the two as Jean sighed and raised his hand for a handshake, "Hey look I-", his next words were suddenly stuck in his throat, and time froze as everyone else became irrelevant when for the first time he experienced the beauty of this world. He looked at the prettiest girl he ever met as she walked over to him. "Hey- I, uh- Your hair is really prett-", he started before stopping once again.

"Eren, just ignore him. You always get way too riled up over the smallest things", Mikasa said sighing, not taking notice of Jean at all as she walked over to Eren.

"What!? He totally wanted to start a fight", Eren snapped back, trying to argue his case. Time froze for Jean once again, everyone freezing with it, their faces and voices fading away as for the first time, Jean experienced the cruelty of this world.

"Yeah I'm talking about you hot head! What you gonna do about it huh!?", Anger suddenly overcame Jean, as he cocked his fist back and swung it at Eren with full force.

Eren was caught by surprise at the oncoming punch not expecting Jean to suddenly try to fight him. Luckily he reacted fast enough and moved out of the way sending Jean flying into the table Strauss was still sat at. As Jean fell, the impact from the hit made Strauss' food fly everywhere, ruining his clothes.

"What the hell was that for!", Eren shouted at the downfallen Jean. His eyes suddenly caught sight of Strauss who sat there with a stupefied expression, not taking his eyes off of where his food used to be. "Hey, you've gotta get away! Now!", A look of pure terror flashed on his face as he tried his best to warm the brunnette boy.

"Wha-", the warning wasn't fast enough as he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned around to see Strauss, standing there, his expression dark, looking like he was about to murder someone.

"My food". Those were the last words that Jean heard before his world suddenly began spinning, as he was lifted into the air and slammed into the floor. His vision went blurry and a sense dizzines overcame him from the impact.

"Looks like your mother never taught you not to waste food", Jean looked on in pure horror at the sight of Strauss, both his fists cocked back and an expression so terrifying that Jean swore that he saw the devil himself. Not wasting a single moment, his torment began. Fist after fist rained down on him like heavens wrath.

'What... what did I do to deserve this?', Jean contemplated internally, as a few tears began to form in his eyes. For the second time in his life, Jean experienced the cruelty of this world.

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"Before we proceed any further we'll need to see what you've got first! If you can't pass this test then you aren't even good enough to be titan food!", Keith Shadis shouted as he stood in front of four weird contraptions. "This serves to show us if you've got the pre-requisites to advance with the manuever gear training. These four assistant instructors will call names one by one. You must be able to hold steady and balance yourself off the ground!", he explained to the students. Some looked on nervously, while others appeared bored.

Keith Shadis observed the trainees one by one as they were called out. There were a lot who struggled, but much to his surprise there was actually quite a bit of potential shown in this group.

'Mikasa Ackerman. One of the most talented I've ever seen. If not the most talented', Keith remarked as he watched the black haired girl balance mid-air, just slightly swaying, with a dull expression on her face.

"Strauss Ackerman!", one of the assistant instructors called out and soon a boy with black hair tied back, and similar features to the girl he was just observing walked up to the machine.

'Ackerman? It looks like they're related. If so I hope he's up to par with his sister', Keith thought to himself as he watched him begin. The boy simply ascended into the air slightly before all movements stopped and he stood perfectly still as if he was floating. Keith's eyes widened, as he saw the scene unfold. This was it! In all his years, he had seen plenty of soldiers with potential come and go, but this kid was on a different level. 'I must teach him well!', Keith told himself as he continued observing the kid.

Keith continued analysing the trainees, and he truly was surprised by the overall talent of the group. It was definitely a pleasant surprised.

Keith Shadis narrowed his eyes once more as he watched one of the last students attempt the test. Eren Jeager. As soon as the instructor turned the operating handle of the machine, he was suddenly flung into the air, catching the boy by surprise. 'Something's off. That's never happened before, and there's no way his balance is that bad', Keith narrowed his eyes as he watched Eren struggle to balance himself, rocking back and forth. Eventually he stabilised himself, but still seemed to struggle holding steady.

"Pass.", the assistant instructor declared as Eren got down and unbuckled his belt. He felt a sense of relief at the fact he passed, but something definitely felt wrong about that just now.

"Umm. I know this might sound like I'm making excuses, but can I try that again with a different belt?, I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with mine", Eren asked, not exactly content with his previous preformance.

"Wagner, swap belts with Jaeger.", the instructor commanded before stepping forward, before the assistant even had any chance of shutting the boy's request down.

Wagner gave a simple yes sir before stepped forward, taking his belt off and handing to Eren, who replaced it with his.

"Begin.", Keith signalled as the operating handle was slowly turned lifting Eren into the air. This time he stabilised himself far easier, almost staying still in the air as he only slightly rocked back and forth.

"The fitting in your belt was damaged. This kind of flaw hasn't been seen before that's why no one recognised it.", Shadis explained, holding forward the damaged area for everyone to see.

"Thank you sir!", Eren said as he got down from the machine. He was thankful for his second chance and far happier with his results.

"No need. Everyone is dismissed.", The retired commander ordered.

"Yes sir!", the group responded in unison, saluting before walking off in different directions.

'There are far more promising candidates this year than there has ever been before. I'm excited to see what these trainee's will amount to. Especially those Ackerman siblings. If trained right they could become humanity's greatest protectors. Of course it's too early to make assumptions'. Keith found himself contemplating the batch of trainee's he was in charge of. Today was made up purely of surprises.

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A/N: Needless to say Jean isn't ever going to waste food again... I swear this was gonna be a short chaper but it somehow reached 2k words, double of what I was aiming for ;-;