Friend or Foe... (AoT Reader Insert)

Chapter 18: "Do you think I'm lying?"

I never liked to compare myself to other children. It wasn't because I thought of myself as better than them or worse; It was because I knew, even from the young age of a Warrior Candidate, that no two people had been raised in the exact same way.

Some were children who'd grown up in loving homes, others were people who had to take care of themselves from the start.

I wouldn't say that the home I grew up in was a loving one, but I definitely wouldn't go to say that I was neglected, either. I guess in terms of growing up I was lucky to still have a father around who had time to care for me. To... train me.

I guess in the long run, it made me stronger. No matter how much I suffered, I knew he only wanted to make me stronger.

But if how much someone suffers relates to how strong someone is, she would definitely be one of the strongest people I know.

"Time. Pencils down."

I lifted my head off of the desk and picked up the small stack of papers in front of me. I wasn't really someone who cared much for tests. Oftentimes I found myself endlessly bored with the assignments the higher ups made us do. There was no point to it. At least, not when you were being raised to be a weapon.

The brown haired boy who sat in front of me smiled as he took the papers from my hands and passed it forwards. In the small room I was currently in, two rows of four desks each were the only things of note; and two of those eight desks were empty.

One of the empty desks belonged to the slightly out of place Zeke Jaeger.

Zeke had been chosen to be a Warrior about half a decade before any of the others. It was rare to see the analytical blonde attend class evaluations; much less to see him in class at all. The absence of his presence never really bothered me, though. If anything, I often only found myself noticing the blonde's presence when he wanted to make himself known.

The second of the two desks belonged to a certain (h/c) haired girl.

(Y/n) (L/n) was probably the exact opposite of Zeke Jaeger in terms of attendance. She was rarely ever late and always made sure to attend class lectures; much less the evaluations. I guess that's why it was so strange when I walked into the classroom and wasn't immediately met with the girl's smile. Not that I paid attention.

As soon as all of the papers had been collected at the front of the room, the remaining six cadets were allowed to leave.

Despite the fact that I knew I had other things to do, I found myself headed outside to where (Y/n) was training. To the reason why she hadn't attended class. I don't know what I was expecting to see when the doors opened, but it definitely wasn't what I saw.

BANG!

An officer held a gun in his hand; a gun which he had just fired from across the field. The person on the other side of the barrel? (Y/n) (L/n).

She dropped down to the floor as violent coughs erupted from her chest and steam flew up from her wounds. An urge to check up on the girl welled up inside me but my feet refused to move. It would've been impolite to interrupt someone in the middle of training.

"Ms. (L/n), it is crucial that you learn this skill as quickly as possible before your mission." The commander called.

(Y/n)'s eyes flickered up towards the man. Even from where I stood I could see the tear stains that ran down her cheeks. It had only been a few weeks since our contracts began. Only a few weeks since we had eaten our predecessors and... changed.