Light in the Dark: Bertholdt x Reader {AOT}

104th Cadet Corps

There is a five year time skip between the last chapter and this. I hope everyone is enjoying this. This chapter will pick up more. The first was more of an intro chapter. I apologize now if the chapters seem short, but I don't wish to drag on too much in one chapter. This means the series will likely be long. Enjoy regardless!

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It had been five years since the wall had been breached. You had signed up to become a soldier, hoping to be able to do something with your life for humanity. You always wanted to be free and see the world outside the walls, let alone outside the house you were always hauled up in. At least you were kind of free. Or more free than you were before. You joined in hopes of joining the Survey Corps, not to kill all the titans but to see the world outside of the walls. You also wanted to know what the titans were. You were always thinking back on that day, the day you should have died. You never figured out why that titan let you go, perhaps it was full? Or was it something else? You didn't think titans got full from what you had been told by tidbits here and there about them. They looked to big to you to be satisfied just from eating two people, or that's what you thought in your mind.

You were in the lineup, going through what people referred to as a "right of passage." Keith Shadis was drilling into people, asking why they were there and attempted to break them. You didn't blink an eye at what he was saying to the others, as you'd already lived through hell before the titans even breached the walls. He made his way down your row and stopped in front of you. You stared up at him with an emotionless face. He stared at you for a minute and turned away, continuing down the line. He could tell you had been through hell and didn't want to waste time when he knew you couldn't be broken. 

He made his was to a teen roughly the same height as you. His name was Jean Kirstein, and he told Shadis he wanted to join the Military Police. He gave him the usual rundown and smacked his head against Kirstein, causing the teen to drop to the floor. He scoffed, yelling at him for sitting and proceeded down the line. You continued to stare forward emotionless. You suddenly shivered, feeling like you were being watched. You decided to look over your shoulder behind you, noticing a tall, black haired teen staring at you. You stared back at him, trying to figure out why he was looking at you at all. He seemed to notice this right away and he began to sweat a little bit, turning his head away from your direction. You looked forward and sighed to yourself. He seemed familiar to you but you couldn't figure out why.

Everyone had been dismissed from lineup, some people being sent away to the fields to work instead of becoming soldiers. Your stomach started growling as everyone was making their way towards the mess hall. You went and grabbed your food, sitting down at a table alone. You hadn't spoken to any of the other people that were there, nor did you try. You had always lived life on your own without friends, not that you ever had a choice. You didn't know what companionship felt like. A few people started to sit down at your table, chatting amongst themselves. One guy sat across from you. You knew this teen because he had gotten the lashing earlier from Shadis. It was Jean. 

"Do you mind if I sit here with you? You seem lonely over here anyways." He smiled warmfully at you, although he did have a smirk across his face as he spoke to you. You felt some ulterior motive coming from him, but ignored it. 

"Sure if you want." You answered him quietly but loud enough for him to here you. You were a quiet person. You had been taught not to speak unless spoken to, so it was more out of habit if anything. You continued to eat your bread and soup as he occasionally glanced at you. You knew he wanted to talk to you, but he hadn't come up with a conversation starter yet. He suddenly spoke as he was taking another bite of bread, swallowing.