Eat Your Young ↝ Jean Kirstein

III ; The Military

Freya wasn't nervous about joining the military, until she met Commander Shadis. He was angry, even angrier than Magath. She breathed a sigh of relief when he glanced at her and walked past.

Her line faced forward, and Shadis stopped, facing the boy in front of her.
"What's your name, boy?" Shadis demanded.
"Jean Kirschtein, sir!"
"And why are you here, Kirschtein?"

It was the same questions he'd asked everyone else. He started out nice and polite, and would then jump into horrifically degrading questions that not even Magath would dream of asking.
"To join the military police, and live a good life in the interior, sir!"
"Ah," said Shadis, his tone remaining steady and polite. "You want a cushy life in the interior, far from the titans?"
"Yes, sir." The boy seemed to relax. Rookie mistake, Freya thought. Just as she suspected, the commander suddenly headbutted Kirschtein, who fell to his knees, and yelled, "Did I give you permission to sit, boy! If you can't handle that, good luck getting into the top ten! Next!"

Shadis moved on to the next recruit, who gave his name as Connie Springer, while Jean Kirschtein got to his feet, his face covered in a red blush. He sheepishly met her eye, and she grinned. He looked taken aback, but eventually smirked back at her, even while his face became steadily redder. Freya frowned to herself when he looked away; she hated cocky people, and this boy was certainly cocky.

She was astounded when a girl of the name Sasha Braus offered the commander half (barely) of a potato she admitted to stealing from the kitchen. Maybe these people were a little bit savage; she tried to imagine doing that to Magath, and struggled to not vomit at merely the thought of the look on his face.

Freya sat with Annie at dinner, along with a girl named Mina, a boy named Marco, and the cocky boy, Jean.
Jean was, much to her disappointment, even more conceited than she could have ever dreamed. For the entire duration of dinner, he bragged about how he was certain to finish in the top ten and join the MPs, where he could live out the rest of his days eating the finest food in the walls.

She was so enraged by his pure arrogance that she muttered, "I bet you would shit your pants if you ever saw a titan."
She thought only Annie would hear, and they chuckled into their broth together, but Jean also heard. "I would not!" he sputtered. "Have you ever even seen a titan yourself?"
Her smile fell. "I have, actually."
"And what, you took it down? You fought it, tooth and nail?" Jean laughed to himself, while everyone else at the table went quiet.
"I was able to handle myself, anyway. I mean, it's clear you've been pampered enough to wipe yourself after."
Jean went red. He did that a lot, Freya noticed. It was only their first day here, and she'd made him blush twice. He opened his mouth a few times, but the bell rang before he could respond. Freya gave him a sweet smile as she tidied up her space, and she joined Annie in returning to their bunks.

"What was that about?" Annie asked, sounding disinterested, but Freya knew she was only asking because she was curious.
"He's annoying." Is all she replied with.
"Hmm," Annie hummed. "You're right about that."