Souls Of Sorrow || 𝐸𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝐽𝑎𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑋 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟

Chapter 5 - You

-Present day-

I wake to the sound of birds chirping outside the windows of the girls barracks. A steady stream of sunlight is pouring in, lighting the room. I rub my eyes and blink out the sleep from last night. I stare at the bunk above mine, I would do anything to stay in bed for another twenty minutes but Shadis will kill me if I'm late.

I reluctantly move to get out of bed, the sound of people hurrying and lively conversations come from the other side of the door. I quickly change my clothes and pull on my boots, hopping on one foot to the other as I tug them up. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror before leaving, my hair is wild and my eyes have faint dark circles under them. I don't think I went to bed that late, though Sasha and Christa's chatter went on for long enough I lost track of time.

I take a comb to my hair and walk outside, the other cadets have already eaten breakfast and started to head to training.
Seriously?
I never sleep in this late, I must have been more tired than I realized. I glance around and spot Marco walking out of the dining cabin, talking with Jean and a short boy with a shaved head I recognize from yesterday.

"Hey guys." I wave, walking over to them.
"Hey!" Marco gives me a boyish grin as he waves back.
"Ackerman." Jean says, holding out is fist.
"Kirstein." I reply, bumping it with mine.
"Hi! I'm Connie-Connie Springer." The other boy pipes up, introducing himself.
Oh that's right

"Nice to meet you, I'm Y/n." I nod and give him a small smile.
"Oh! I grabbed you something from breakfast since you weren't there." Marco says has he holds out a small loaf of bread for me to take.
"It's not much, sorry." He apologizes. I wave it off.
"Thanks." I take it and bite into it hungrily, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He does the same as we walk to the training grounds.

"Alright listen up!" Shadis shouts across the crowded of gathering cadets.
"We have two ODM practice rigs," -he points to two arches with metal hooks attached for gear- "the goal is to stay as still and balanced in the air as long as possible for at least thirty seconds. Make two single file lines, and we'll get started."
The four of us move to stand in line with Jean and Connie tripping over each other in haste.

I see Christa waving to me from the other line, a bright smile on her face. I wave back, noticing the tall brunette girl beside her looking at me with narrowed eyes. I raise an eyebrow and she turns to look away as she crosses her arms over her chest.
Armin and Annie are standing behind them, Armin talking about nothing in particular as Annie just nods along.

"Hey, the cut on your cheek is gone already." Marco points out.
"Hm?" I turn to look at him, pulling my arm off his shoulders.
"That cut you got from sparring. It's completely gone." He says again. I brush my cheek with my fingertips.
"Yeah I heal fast, besides it wasn't that deep." I smile.
"Your turn Bodt." Shadis says, indicating for Marco to step up to the platform.

"Wish me luck." He murmurs, walking up to the rig.
"Good luck, if you mess up I'm pretending like I don't know you." Jean tells him, patting his shoulder.
"Thanks man." Marco grumbles. He walks over and clips his gear in place as the rig slowly starts to lift him off the ground. He glances at us, his eyes wide. He rocks back and forth on the way up but ultimately stays balanced for the required thirty seconds.
"I'm doing it! This is so cool!" He exclaims as the rig starts lowering him back down.

"You're up next Ackerman." Shadis waves me up to the rig, checking Marco's name off his clipboard. I quickly finish off the rest of my bread before starting toward it.
"Don't bomb it, that's embarrassing." Jean tells me. I roll my eyes in response.
"Thanks."
He gives me a thumbs up. I clip my gear to the rig and wait patiently to be raised from the ground. Slowly, the contraption starts to move and my body lifts into the air. I relax my entire body, holding still. I turn my head slightly to see Mikasa on the rig beside me doing the same.