"Kerai, run now." Tsuna?

"I won't leave you, Tsuna!~"

"Kerai, just go I'll be right behind you. Now go!" Her voice is so stern and scared what's going on?

Everything is black, all I hear is Tsuna telling me to run...I remember this night...make it stop...stop I don't want to remember...make it stop please...please stop this memory...

"Kerai." A quiet hushed voice called out.

My eyes flew open and I was greeted by the familiar ceiling of four years. My breathing was ragged as if I had just been running. A cold sweat had started to roll down the side of my head and the back of my neck. It was still dark outside, it couldn't be much later than three in the morning or so. I turned on my side and came face to face with Petra who was standing on the side of her bed to see me.

"Are you okay Kerai?" She asks in the same tone.

"Y-yeah I'm fine...I was just remembering again..." I say in a whisper.

"That's been happening a lot recently."

I nod my head. "I just think it's because I'm nervous for today." It's kind of true.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine." She smiles at me.

I nervously smile back. "Thanks Petra." I whisper.

"No problem." She whispers back then goes back to sleep.

I lay back down on my back and stare at the ceiling. For the past few weeks, the closer that graduation came the more I kept remembering what I try so desperately to forget. I take a deep breath to steady my nerves and try to fall into unconsciousness instead of attempting to go back to sleep. Thanks to that little start my brain was completely awake. Eventually the sun rises and everyone starts to get ready for the graduation ceremony and they are starting to make the final decisions on where they want to go. Today we had no exercises to complete and Shadis was M.I.A. for once. After breakfast Petra, Olou, Gunther, Eld and I sat and talked about what we think will happen after we choose the branch we want to enter. As it stands I'm the only one who wants to go into the Scouting Regiment. It's a little disheartening, having my friends choose something different but it's their choice. The day flew by in a flash and before I realized it, we were standing in front of the stage while Commander Erwin Smith stood on the stage explaining the Scouting Regiment. Erwin was without a doubt, one of the men I saw with commander Shadis that day. He had a powerful and inspiring voice, and spoke very highly of the Scouting Regiment. There was also the other squad captains, with one standing out. It was the other man from the previous day. His gaze was just as terrifying and intimidating as before, if not more because now there was the chance that he would become my superior.

Just as soon as Commander Erwin's speech began it ended and those who were joining other branches were dismissed. I watched as almost everyone started to leave, even though I expected it it was still shocking seeing that many people leave. I could leave too and join something like the military police. After all I ranked third overall in the trainee squad but I was bound and determined to join the Scouting Regiment. I shook the thought of joining something else out of my head and looked at Commander Erwin with determination. After a few minutes everyone that was going to leave was gone, leaving about twenty of us. To my surprise Olou, Gunther, Petra and Eld were still here; just having them still here made me glad about my choice.

"If someone tells you to die, would you do it?" Commander Erwin asked in a stern voice.

"We don't want to die sir!" Everyone besides me replied.

"I see, I like that look on your faces. Then effective immediately...! I welcome all of you here as new members of the Scout Regiment! This is a real salute. Give your heart!" Commander Erwin placed his right fist over his heart.

As soon as he told me to give my heart I gave the proper salute and looked straight ahead with a smile in my heart. I could hear everyone else move to salute and Commander Erwin looked pleased. I snuck a glance at the other captains and all but one shared the same prided expression as Erwin. The one whose expression never changed was that raven haired man. The commander dismissed everyone and I headed to meet up with my friends.

"I thought you guys weren't joining the Scouting Regiment." I say when I reach them all.

They all exchanged a look then Petra spoke. "Well, the way you'd been talking it up and Commander Erwin's speech. It was hard to even think of leaving."

"In all honesty the best way to show off my skills is to be in the most dangerous branch and-" Olou tried to go on but ended up biting his tongue yet again.

"We couldn't exactly watch you join the corps all alone." Eld said and smiled at me.

"Gunther Schultz, Olou Bozado, Petra Ral, Eld Jinn and Kerai Yana." A firm voice spoke from behind me.

I turned and there stood Commander Erwin. As if we all shared one thought, we saluted the commander. Have we done something wrong already? I worry to myself and try to remain calm on the outside.

"At ease cadets." The commander motions for us to stop saluting.

Hesitantly I relax but still stand with my hands at my side and my feet together.

"Is there a problem, Commander Erwin?" Eld asks.

"Nothing is wrong cadet Jinn, there was something we needed to tell you five." Commander Erwin said.

We? That's when I noticed the raven haired man standing next to him. Surprisingly he was only a few inches taller than me yet I completely missed him. He caught hold of my glance and glared at me with a burning hate. My breath hitched in my throat and I tried to avert my gaze, but I was stuck in place. After a few minutes of glaring at me, the man clicked his tongue in disgust and looked away from me. Until now I hadn't realized that I was holding my breath and I finally exhaled in the form of a sigh.

"The five of you have been hand-picked by Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman to be the members of the Special Operations Squad. Effective as of today." Commander Erwin said.

Ackerman...why does that name sound familiar? Corporal Levi looked at us and a chill ran down my spine.

"Yes Sir." The others saluted and I hurried to copy their actions.

Commander Erwin smiled kindly. "Corporal Levi will lead you back to H.Q. and instruct you from there." We turned to leave. "Cadet Yana, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"S-sure, Commander Erwin." I stopped and faced the commander, standing at attention.

"At ease cadet, you're not in trouble." Erwin smiled again.

I couldn't help but sigh in relief. "If I'm not in trouble then why do you need to speak with me, sir?"

"You had a sister named Tsuna, correct?" He asks out of nowhere.

Tsuna... "Yes, I had a sister named Tsuna." I dropped my gaze to my feet, she's the reason I'm here today.

"She told me to give you something when you joined the Scouting Regiment." He said and held out a small object wrapped up in a dark cloth.

"Thank you, sir." I took the object and unwrapped the cloth.

Inside was a beautiful hand-crafted metal pendant shaped like the 'wings of freedom' emblem for the Scouting Regiment. Even in the dim light, it shone brightly and it warmed my heart. Tsuna had always been good at crafts but I never imagined she would create something like this. I turned the pendant over in my hand smiling fondly at it as tears built up in my eyes.

"Tsuna spoke highly of you, I hope you live up to her praise." Erwin placed a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded my head. "I'll try my best." I pinned the pendant to my jacket pocket where the patch would go and wiped the tears away.

"Come, let's head back to H.Q." Commander Erwin started to walk the same way that the others had.

I ran to catch up to him. "You knew Tsuna?" I asked.

"Yes, she was an outstanding soldier and even better human. Her passion was admirable, I see a great deal of her in you." Erwin answered.

You see her in me? " Really?"

"Yes, the effort you put into your training and the way you fight is just like her." He turned and smiled at me.

"Thank you sir."

I'm so happy to hear that...I promise you Tsuna, I'll keep your dreams alive. We continued back to H.Q. in silence. With every step I took, the pendant moved and thumped quietly against my chest. Once we got to H.Q. he lead me to a room where the others were in and left. Apparently they were waiting for me to rejoin them.

"Where the fuck did you disappear to brat?" Corporal Levi snapped at me.

I gulped. "I'm sorry Corporal, Commander Erwin pulled me aside to talk with me."

"Tch, next time you ask before going off. Understand?" He clicked his tongue again.

"Y-yes sir."

He turned back to everyone else. "Listen up brats. This is where you will be staying from now on. You will be up and ready by six. Training is from seven until I dismiss you or the commander. You will have weekly room inspections, this being your only warning. And you each are expected to participate in cleaning duty." He spoke quick and harsh.

The corporal glared at us then left the room. There were two bunk beds, one regular bed, two dressers, one long mirror on the wall, and a coat rack in the corner next to the door. After a few minutes we drifted to the beds and started deciding who was bunking with who and who got the single bed.

"I suggest that Gunther be the one to have the single bed, Eld and Kerai bunk and Patra and I bunk." Olou spoke first.

Petra and I exchanged glances. "You want the top bunk?" She asks.

"Sure." I agree and we take a seat in our beds.

Gunther and Eld take the other bunk bed leaving Olou to the single bed. He looked defeated and didn't argue with our choices. Like I'd ever let a creep like him sleep in the same bunk bed as any of my friends. We set up our stuff, guys have one dresser and the girls have the other and we agreed that Petra and I have first use of the bathroom in the morning so we can get dressed and ready for the day. I looked around the room, it was well kept but somethings could use a good cleaning.

"Hey Kerai, we're heading to dinner. Are you coming with us?" Gunther asks.

I look over the room again. "Uh, actually I was going to stay and clean for a little bit. You guys go ahead."

He nodded and they all headed down towards the mess hall. Once they left I closed the door and looked for the cleaning supplies. Of course they ended up being in the bathroom which became the first room I cleaned. The place was an absolute pigs sty, dirt dust and grim had built up over the years and I doubt anyone's actually cleaned it. I sigh, remove my jacket, roll up my sleeves, and put on my cleaning mask and begin to scrub the walls. I guess you can say I'm a bit of a neat-freak, I just can't stand filth and dirt or misplaced things. I thought back to when I was a kid and I'd complain that the helpers never cleaned right. I can clearly remember throwing tantrums when I found dirt in my 'just cleaned' room or when I found dust on the shelf that was 'just dusted'. I laughed to myself at the memories and continued to clean.

"What are you laughing at, brat." Someone coldly asked.

I turned to see Corporal Levi standing in the doorway. "Nothing, sir." Nothing you'd understand.

He took a step into the room. "Are you cleaning?" He asks.

"I am. The room seemed a bit dirty so I decided to clean before joining everyone in the mess hall." I explained and dusted the dressers.

The corporal stayed for a minute more before I heard him leave. I mentally was thankful he was gone, he's intimidating to be around. This is going to be one hell of a time...maybe he'll become easier to be around after some time has passed. I opened the windows to air out the room while I put the cleaning supplies away. With one final check of the room after I closed the windows, I headed down to the hall to join everyone. The Scouting Regiment had a way different atmosphere than the Trainee Squad. It was more friendly but also more tense, probably because of our task to learn more about the titans and defeat them.

"Over here Kerai." Petra called and waved her hand.

I quickly grabbed a salad and some tea and sat down next to her. "Hey."

"Hey." She smiled

We ate while we talked about what we think will happen now that we are official soldiers fighting for humanity. As per usual, Olou tried to talk smack and bit his tongue. Honestly you should just stop trying Olou. Petra and I started making random faces at each other and bursted out laughing at one another. Apparently our laughter was extremely loud because one of the other captains walked up to us. She has long, dark, unkempt brown hair that is kept tied up in a high ponytail with bangs parted down the middle. She has square, thick-rimmed glasses that have bands that go around her head, probably to keep them from dislodging during combat. She also has wide, brown eyes with a slight golden tint to them. The captain smiled kindly at us and you could just see the energy behind it.

"You five are the new Special Ops. squad right?" She asks.

"Yes, ma'am." Eld replies.

"Awesome, I'm Hanji Zoë." She greets enthusiastically.

"I'm Eld Jinn."

"I'm Gunther Schultz."

"I am Olou Bozado, pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Petra Ral."

"I'm Kerai Yana." I say, noticing how much quieter I am than the rest.

Captain Hanji looked directly at me. "Yana? Like Tsuna Yana?"

"Y-yes...?" I say taken back by her sudden interest.

She wiggles her eyebrows and leans in close to me. "You and I are going to be great friends, I just know it."

"C-can't wait..." I say a bit unsure of what just happened.

Hanji took the seat next to me and placed her head into her hands and looked at us. "So how much do you guys know about the titans?" She asks.

That triggers something that Tsuna once told me, what was it again. If you ever meet Hanji Zoë, don't get her talking about titans. Or if she ended up talking about them come up with an excuse to leave. I look to captain Hanji and see that gleam in her eyes, it was the same look most people get right before they go on to lecture about something they care about.

"You must excuse me captain Hanji but I have to go clean my room." I say as I get up and leave.

"Oh, well you'll miss an amazing lesson." She says and turns back to the others.

Sorry everyone...Of course it was a lie, I cleaned the room before dinner. When I got back to the room, Corporal Levi was inside doing an inspection. I stood quietly in the doorway waiting for him to finish. When he turned around, he seemed to be impressed but it was hard to tell. He nodded at me then left the room without ever saying a word. Why do I get the feeling that he's going to make me redo this tomorrow? I close the door behind me so I can change into my pajamas. Well it was actually a grey tank top and a pair of short black shorts. I turned the lights out and crawled into the top bunk of Petra's and my bed and curled myself up into a ball. After a bit I reached to the backpack that I had hung next to my bed and pulled out a small stuffed panda. Yeah, even though I'm sixteen now I still can't sleep without a stuffed animal. Well I could, but I sleep better with it a security blanket I guess. I clutched the panda close to my chest and went to sleep.