Your Promise | Shingeki No Kyojin ;; Eren Jaeger |

Chapter Eight

Rose
The following day

The morning bell disrupts my sleep and the sun shines brightly through the window indicating that a new day has come. I climb down from the top bunk and spot my bunkmate Sasha who snores away with drool coming out of her mouth. I poke her cheek and announce, "Morning, Sasha. It's time to get up,"

She swats my hand away and rolls over. "No... Five more minutes," Sasha mumbles.

"Alright then, I guess you'll just miss breakfast," I say, knowing that she'll dart up, and she does.

"I can't miss any more meals!" She exclaims and immediately gets up from the covers.

I laugh at her sudden motivation and begin getting ready myself. I change into my uniform and French braid my hair to the best of my ability. When I was young, my mother used to always do my hair in many different styles, but I never learned how to do so myself besides a standard braid. After she died, I let my hair grow out and Mikasa liked to experiment with it since hers wasn't long enough and eventually taught me how to style my hair in various ways. Once I'm finished getting ready, I join Sasha as we walk out to the training field for roll call with all the other trainees.

"Today we'll be testing your aptitude. It's extremely important that you master this or else you'll be nothing but bait for the Titans!" Commander Keith announces.

We all gather around multiple machines, lining up and observing each person going ahead of us to note how to keep our balance. Once it's my turn, people help secure me in the straps. I breathe out steadily before being lifted from the ground. "Deep breath now, you can do this,"

As I give the okay for the other cadets to lift me up, my feet rise from the ground and I shake a bit in the air. "Okay, shoulders back, ribs and stomach sucked in, and back straight, you got this," I mentally encourage and remind myself. After a couple of seconds of struggling, I balance on my own. After a minute or two, the cadets around me throw punches towards my face and body as an exercise for me to dodge and to see how well I can keep my balance while also moving.

The commander walks by and stops in front of me, examining my form. "Nice work, Wesler. Perfect balance," He compliments.

"Thank you, sir!" After being reviewed, I'm lowered down to the ground and undo the buckles for the next cadet to try. "Whew, that wasn't too bad!"

"Jaeger, straighten yourself up!" Commander Keith's voice booms. Everyone's attention is directed toward Eren who hangs upside down, fear in his turquoise eyes mixed with confusion. "Don't act like a fool!"

Many snicker at the sight, but all I feel is sorry for his public embarrassment. Last night he spoke so confidently about using the ODM gear and becoming invincible against the Titans, but now he can't even stay straight. For the first time since I've met Eren, I feel pitiful for him.

• • •

Enjoying the little free time I have after training, I lie in bed allowing my muscles to rest after today's work. I just have to get used to the training and I'll be fine, right?

Just before I fully go into a completely relaxed state of mind, the door slams open, and a voice shouts saying, "Rose!! Let's go!"

I peek over the edge of the bunk and see Sasha changed into her casual clothes, standing with her hands on her hips in the doorway.

"Go where?"

"To dinner!"

I check the clock and bury my face into my pillow. "Sasha, dinner doesn't start for another 45 minutes," I say muffled into the pillow.