Hanako Norene's Past

Chapter Five

About 3 years had passed since Wall Maria had been conquered by the titans, and since my parents were murdered at the hands of the titans. Also, today was the day that the people that wanted to join the military would have to leave and head to their first day of training. I was actually quite excited, and pumped. I was going to train with Kazumi and we were going to be in the field, attacking the titans side by side. Well, that's at least what I thought until we were stopped by a tall man that had the exact same purple eyes as Kazumi. He pointed at Kazumi and I, speaking in a loud and commanding voice. "Hand Kazumi over!" I was alarmed by this and quickly turned my head towards Kazumi, whispering. "Who the hell is that? And why does he want you?" I noticed a frown dancing across Kazumi's lips as he looked down at me. "T-that's my grandpa.. h-he doesn't want me in the military.." My eyes widened in horror as he spoke these words. I had grown so attached to Kazumi after my parents died, he meant so much to me. Kazumi and I were both picked up and tugged away from one another by grown up soldiers. I extended my arm forward and grabbed Kazumi's hand, desperately trying to hang on. My grip tightened as I heard Kazumi's grandfather yell. "Let go of him you little pest! I'm not letting him join the military, he'll die out there! Tear them away from each other, soldiers!" I looked into Kazumi's eyes, tears welling up at the bottom of mine as he spoke.

"Listen, Hanako.. he's right, I'll die if I go out there.. Y-you need to let go, it's for the best..  I swear I'll be back for you one day..  I won't leave you behind!" I took everything into consideration, looking down at the ground beneath us. I closed my eyes tightly, one tear running down my face before I looked up and hesitated quite a bit before nodding. "A-alright. P-promise you'll come back for me, pinky swear.." As the guards tried to pull us back from eachother even more, we curled our pinkies with one another. "I swear on my life, Hanako. Now let go." Our hands brushed together one more time before I let go, flung back with the other guards by the sudden force. I was put back down on the ground on my feet, shoved forcefully back with the other cadets. I knew a few eyes were locked on me and I quickly turned away, my hands clenched in fists as I stormed forward, ahead of the other cadets. From that point on, I knew I'd have to take every bit of this training more seriously, making sure I did not die before Kazumi one day returned for me. I know you'll be back one day Kazumi.. I'll be here waiting for you, no matter how difficult it gets! Looking down at my hands, I took a deep breath and unclenched my fists, seeming to calm down. After I finally caught up with the others after standing at the back alone for a moment, I looked up at the wall, noticing two soldiers using their gear to easily go up and down the wall, helping cadets up one by one. I had a fear of heights, so I was already freaking out on the inside. When it was my turn to get up the wall, I took a deep breath before stepping forward with my eyes closed.

One of the soldiers picked me up and swung to the top of the wall, dropping me off with the other cadets. I looked around my surroundings for a moment before walking over to the multiple lines of cadets, standing with them. To my right was a tall and pale white man who was wearing shades for some unknown reason. I looked up at the sky to check if it was even sunny out, which it wasn't! Which only made me question why he was wearing those shades. I didn't want to seem rude though while the captain was talking, or even talk to a stranger, so I turned my focus towards the captain, who had a rather stern look on her face. Despite this, she looked kinda cute.. She mentioned something about introductions and I glanced at the boy to my right out of the corner of my eye. Hmm.. I wonder what his name is.. guess introductions will help a bit..