It was dinnertime.
Arthur, Mikasa, and Armin sat together, eating a rather meager dinner. The Training Corps served only vegetable soup, bread, and potatoes-just enough to fill the cadets' stomachs.
As for anything tasty, that simply did not exist.
Meanwhile, Eren was surrounded by a crowd of cadets, apparently discussing Shiganshina District.
"Um, may I sit here?" A timid female voice sounded just as Arthur dipped his bread into his soup.
Arthur and Mikasa looked up to find the familiar figure of Christa holding her dinner. Beside her stood a tall, freckled girl whose gaze suggested she would not be easy to get along with.
"Christa, it's you. Of course you can." Arthur had a good impression of Christa, and he nodded with a smile.
"Okay." Christa looked pleasantly surprised by his agreement, then pulled the girl beside her down to sit.
Mikasa watched Christa with a hint of hostility in her eyes. Seeing another girl approach Arthur always made her feel a little uncomfortable.
"Arthur, Mikasa, this is my friend Ymir." After sitting down, Christa warmly introduced the freckled girl beside her.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Arthur Ackerman."
"Mikasa Ackerman." Mikasa introduced herself in a neutral tone.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Armin Arnold." Armin was rather more enthusiastic.
Christa nodded with a smile, and Ymir, the girl beside her, also nodded in acknowledgment.
"Christa, it looks like we'll be comrades from now on," Arthur said with a smile.
"Yes. I look forward to learning from you." Christa nodded with a sweet smile.
"Christa told me you helped her last time." Ymir stared at Arthur, sizing him up for a moment before speaking.
"Oh, you mean that. I couldn't stand watching those scumbags bully Christa, so I stepped in." Arthur waved it off as nothing important.
"Then thank you." Ymir thanked him, though her attitude was rather unpleasant.
Arthur frowned. He had no idea what he had done to offend this girl named Ymir. She sounded as though she was itching for a fight.
"Is that how you thank someone?" Irritated by Ymir's tone, Mikasa spoke with barely concealed anger.
"Ymir..." Christa was a little angry that Ymir had soured the atmosphere so badly.
"Sorry. That's just how I am." Seeing Christa's displeasure, Ymir apologized.
"It's fine." Arthur did not press the matter.
Just then, he noticed that Christa had been eating only her soup and potatoes, leaving her bread untouched beside her.
"Christa, why aren't you eating your bread?" Arthur asked curiously.
Christa panicked a little at his question, but she forced herself to answer calmly.
"I'm not very hungry right now, so I'm saving it for later."
"Oh." Arthur nodded without pursuing it. After all, there was nothing strange about a girl having a small appetite.
Ymir, however, shot Christa a displeased glance. She knew Christa must be saving the bread for that sweet potato girl, so she broke her own bread in half and shoved one half straight into Christa's bowl.
"Eat enough," she added casually.
"Ymir, I'm not hungry," Christa said anxiously when she saw Ymir giving her some of her own bread, and she tried to return it.
But after Ymir shot her a glare, Christa lowered her head and obediently began dipping the bread into her soup and eating it.
Arthur and the other two watched Christa and Ymir curiously. Something about their relationship seemed a little unusual.
Just then, a commotion broke out around Eren.
It turned out that while Eren was telling the other cadets that Titans were not frightening, a boy named Jean Kirstein had scornfully challenged his views.
Eren was a hot-blooded young man unwilling to spend his life cowering within the walls, while Jean wanted to live comfortably inside the inner walls.
Their conflicting beliefs had sparked an argument.
"What are you two doing?" Arthur rose and approached the pair, who had already begun grappling with each other, and questioned them with a frown.
"You're Arthur, the guy from this morning." Seeing Arthur's face, Jean remembered the boy who had left the instructor speechless.
"Arthur, I..." Eren regretted losing his temper again.
"This is a military barracks. Are you really going to fight here? Aren't you afraid Instructor Keith will throw you into confinement?" Arthur warned them.
"..." Remembering Keith's terrifying face, both boys shuddered. After considering the consequences, they let go of each other.
Clang, clang, clang! Just then, the bell marking the end of dinner rang.
"Sorry. I lost my temper," Jean apologized.
"Me too," Eren added.
The two slapped hands, putting the incident behind them.
After that incident, no one felt like eating anymore. Since the dinner bell had also rung, everyone cleared away their dishes and began leaving.
Armin went off to find Eren, who had already left.
Arthur and Mikasa said goodbye to Christa and Ymir, then walked out of the dining hall.
Jean had yet to leave. When Mikasa passed him, her glossy black hair and peerless beauty made him feel as though he had fallen in love at first sight.
He froze on the spot. Only when he saw Mikasa following Arthur outside did he snap out of it and hurry after them.
But just as he stepped outside, hoping to greet Mikasa and get to know the girl he had fallen for at first sight, a heartbreaking scene unfolded before him.
Arthur affectionately patted Mikasa's head, and she responded with the bashful look of a young wife.
Then Arthur took a lock of Mikasa's hair between his fingers and gently suggested,
"Mikasa, why don't you cut your hair a little shorter? Around shoulder length should be fine. Otherwise, it might get caught in the equipment during training."
"Is it too long? Okay, I'll do what you say, Arthur." Mikasa touched her long hair and readily agreed.
The two then walked away shoulder to shoulder, like a couple, disappearing from Jean's sight.
Jean's face had gone ashen. He had never expected the girl he fell for at first sight to look like a bashful young wife in front of another boy.
No!! Jean screamed inwardly in despair. (Snowflakes drifted, the north wind sighed... ahem, wrong show.)
Just then, Connie walked past Jean, who raised his hand and wiped it on Connie's back.
"Ew! What did you wipe on my clothes?!" Connie demanded, looking at Jean in disgust. He thought Jean had wiped a huge booger on him.
"Trust between people," Jean said despairingly.
"Huh?" Connie had no idea what Jean meant.
Meanwhile, after escorting Mikasa back to the girls' dormitory, Arthur headed back.
As he passed the training grounds, he saw that the sweet potato girl had collapsed on the ground, utterly exhausted and gasping for breath.
"Pretty good stamina." Arthur had not expected this sweet potato girl, Sasha, to have such impressive endurance that she could keep running until nightfall.
Suddenly, Arthur noticed a figure. On closer inspection, he realized it was Christa.
"She still hasn't gone back to the dorm this late?" Arthur wondered. Then he saw the bread cradled in Christa's arms and understood.
Only then did he realize why Christa had left her bread untouched. It was not that she was not hungry at all. She had kindly saved it for the sweet potato girl, knowing she would miss dinner.
"She really is as kind as she is beautiful." Arthur shook his head and walked toward Christa.
By then, Christa had approached Sasha with the bread in her arms. Sasha lay sprawled on the ground, looking as though she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
But in the next instant, Sasha's nose twitched a few times, and her eyes snapped open.
Then she suddenly lunged at Christa like a tiger pouncing on its prey.
"Ah!" Christa cried out as a tremendous force struck her arms. In the next instant, the bread vanished from her grasp, and the impact knocked her off balance, sending her tumbling.
Just as she was about to fall, Christa suddenly felt someone catch her.
"Arthur?!" When Christa saw who had caught her and kept her from falling, she was both surprised and embarrassed.
"Are you all right?" Arthur asked with concern before letting go of her.
"Yes. Thank you." Christa shyly thanked him.
"So you were saving your bread for her." Arthur smiled as he watched the now thoroughly energetic Sasha wolfing down the bread.
"Yes. I thought she wouldn't get anything to eat tonight, so I saved some bread for her." Christa spoke awkwardly, like a child whose lie had been exposed.
"You really are a kindhearted girl, Christa." Arthur still had a good impression of her, so he offered her a compliment.
"Mm." Embarrassed by Arthur's praise, Christa murmured a reply barely louder than a mosquito.
"This is bread?" Sasha seemed to regain her senses as she ate. She stared doubtfully at the more-than-half-eaten bread in her hand.
"Yes. I saw that you hadn't eaten, so I brought it for you. Here, have some water so you don't choke." As she spoke, Christa took out a waterskin and offered it to Sasha.
At that moment, both Sasha and Arthur froze. They saw a radiance around Christa, as though she were an angel descended from heaven.
"Ah... you must be an angel!" Sasha exclaimed before wolfing down the bread again.
"Arthur..." Christa grew embarrassed when she saw Arthur staring at her in a daze, so she quickly called to him.
"Ah! Oh, right." Christa's voice snapped Arthur out of his daze.
Just then, Arthur keenly sensed someone secretly watching him and called out warily.
"Who's there?! Stop sneaking around and come out!"
"Arthur, who are you talking to?" Christa looked around in confusion. There was no one here but her, Sasha, and Arthur.
Ymir, who had been watching from hiding nearby, had not expected Arthur's senses to be sharp enough to detect her. Realizing she had been discovered, she stopped hiding.
Instead, she stepped out.
"Ymir?" Both Christa and Arthur were puzzled when they recognized her.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Ymir looked at the three of them and spoke in a rather unfriendly tone.
"I... I..." Christa stammered, unable to get any words out, while Sasha simply continued eating her bread.
"I was just passing by. Christa brought Sasha some food," Arthur answered truthfully.
"Tch! Christa, you're playing the good Samaritan again." Ymir looked at Christa with displeasure.
"I..." Christa lowered her head and fell silent.
"What's it to you if she wants to help someone?" By now, Arthur had lost any good impression of Ymir. He thought there was something wrong with this girl, as though she believed the whole world owed her something.
"Arthur, please don't." Sensing the tension, Christa hurriedly tried to stop him.
"It's fine." Arthur gave Christa a reassuring look.
Ymir stared at Arthur for a while, and he met her gaze without backing down. After they stared at each other for a moment, Ymir shrugged and pointed at Sasha, who had already fallen asleep on the ground after eating and drinking her fill.
"Come on. Let's carry this idiot back to the dorm."
"Okay." Christa agreed.
The two helped Sasha up. Christa warmly wished Arthur good night, while Ymir shot him a strange glare before taking Sasha back to the dormitory.
"What a baffling person." Watching Ymir walk away, Arthur decided he had better keep his dealings with her to a minimum.
After returning to the dormitory, Arthur also met a muscular blond boy named Reiner Braun and a very tall boy named Bertolt.
After they exchanged brief introductions and got to know each other,
Arthur fell into a deep sleep.
After all, their formal training would begin tomorrow.