The night had passed. Anya bade farewell to her sister and came to the gathering point. She then had been given her own military uniform and a bag of various accessories. She was also ordered to change into that uniform and wait to get assigned to her unit. Multiple other lolis also showed up, and were instructed the same.
When the time came a mid-sized bus had arrived and an unusually short girl in coat full of badges and a hat with an iron eagle sewed in it swaggered down the stairs. She then came up to the recruits and stood before them with crossed arms, pompously staring at them.
"Aww! Look how cute she is!" the crowd started chattering, complimenting her visual appearance
"Um, I don't think we should–" Anya started quietly, but nobody seemed to notice her. She directed her eyes back to the little girl. She was indeed very cute. Especially now when she was all red on her face and stomping her feet in frustration
"She's blushing all over her face! Oh my god I might scream! So kawaii!"
"And her pigtails! They suit her so well!"
"How old is she? I think she's at most 8 years old."
"Isn't she lost? Maybe we should help her?"
It seemed like that was too much for this young lady to bear, because to everyone's surprise she took a deep breath, clenched her hands and hollered with high pitched voice. "The audacity! I am not some little girl but your sergeant! Have you not seen the badges? Any insubordination towards me from now on will be severely punished. And for your information I'm not 8 but 9! Is that clear?"
Everyone stood dumbfounded, unable to believe that such a sweet looking girl just yelled at them.
"Yes sergeant!" they all yelled partially out of respect and partially out of fear.
"I did not hear you! Is that clear?!" She came back to her pouty expression.
"YES SERGEANT!!!" They bellowed as loudly as they could.
"Now line up! And be quick about it!"
A general disorder took place as all girls started chaotically lining up in a row. Some of them stumbling and falling, others bumping into each other as they ran.
"Oh God… Why do I have to deal with that?" The sergeant covered her face in her hands.
All the girls finally lined up and were instructed by the sergeant to get on the bus. They were then transported to the boot camp on the edge of the city. When they arrived, they had to quickly unpack their things to a big military tent and gather in front of it.
Anya did so quickly, and using a minute or two of spare time she looked around the place. The field was enormous and surrounded by forest from all sides. There were many tents like the one she was to live in. She also noticed many little girls in military uniforms walking around. Some were far away practicing at obstacle course, and some were even further at provisional shooting range, firing their guns at targets attached to hay bales.
Then realization hit her: she was in the army now. Her dream was finally coming true. She proudly presented her chest and smiled a little. She remained like that until she felt her sergeant's eyes on her, this gaze piercing through her. It made her feel a bit uncomfortable and guilty. She unconsciously slouched thinking, that maybe she did something wrong.
All lolis finally gathered outside and sergeant started speaking. "If you all think I'll go easy on you because you are lolis then you're wrong. Just because you have the comfort of being born as a superior race, doesn't mean you will be pampered. If you want to do something as honorable as protecting your country, you will have to show how useful you can be. Live up to my expectations and prove you are worthy of being called a true loli! Anyone who isn't suitable for the job better leave now and not waste my time."
Everyone stood still, facing forward, showing no sign of doubt.
"Good. There is no place for weak in my team. Now I should show you around, but I don't feel like it so go see it yourself. 30 laps around the training field. What are you waiting for? Run!"
Anya along with other girls hesitantly started running. Slowly at first but sight of their commander gave them reason to speed up. The sergeant who before just stood and observed with attention, now began to run along with soldiers shouting and trying to discourage them. Especially those falling behind.
In the beginning run was going smoothly for Anya, but as she kept jogging, she was more and more tired. After 5 laps her lungs already had problems keeping up. Her breath became very fast and chaotic. But she decided not to give up and make as good impression on her sergeant as she could. After all, she could definitely do one more lap. And then another one after that. And then one more.
After four more laps she already felt exhausted. Her lungs burning, strength leaving her entire body. She unwillingly started getting behind. The gap between her and the rest of the group getting larger and larger. She clenched her teeth, and gathered all the energy she had left to catch up to the rest of the group, because she knew if she gave up now, she would stay far behind.
She ran fast, her body at it's limit, but with a great effort she did manage to close the gap between her and the rest. She tried to keep close to the others now. At this point everyone was panting intensely, but nobody dared to stop even for a moment. Anya felt her blood pulsing through all of her body. Her head was getting dizzy.
Dark clouds have been gathering up in the sky for a while, but now they started raining. The rain wasn't big and sergeant didn't seem to care, so Anya and the other lolis just kept going forward. That was, until her leg slipped and she smashed her face right into the muddy ground.
She sluggishly stood up briefly getting rid of some mud from her face and clothes. The fall was painful for her. She had trouble standing still after that. Her legs were shivering and she barely even controlled them. Moreover, her face was stinging badly. She thought about resuming the run, but it seemed like her body had other plans. Her legs refused to move any further so she bent in half, resting arms on her thighs and panting heavily.
"Why aren't you running?" the sergeant asked
Anya found herself unable to speak even a single word. She didn't know how to respond to that, and even if she knew, she would probably be so out of breath, that she wouldn't be able to stop inhaling air for even a second.
"What are you waiting for? I didn't ask you to stop."
Anya didn't budge.
"Who do you think you are? You only ran 10 laps! If you are that weak then you are not suited for an army! My team is only for strong girls who give it their best! You better just go home!" the sergeant shouted at Anya, while other soldiers run past her. "You won't make it here, so leave!"
Anya stood still, but now she was very shocked. She didn't know what to do. Her body was out of energy, and her mind was empty.
"Out of my sight!" the sergeant added, staring deep into Anya's eyes.
Anya's line of sight began to deteriorate, as tears started flowing down her cheeks. She stood paralyzed sobbing louder and louder. She then crouched, hugging her legs and hiding her face between them. Was her career already over? She dreamed of being a soldier for a long time, but this isn't exactly how she imagined it.
The sergeant was a little thrown off by this reaction. With worry on her face she looked at Anya and tried reaching her hand out to stroke her soldier's head, but she quickly pulled that hand back and emotionlessly walked away.
Anya felt miserable. There was no way that her commander would let her stay after she showed how weak she is. Her dream was in shambles and she needed to cope with that. But she didn't want to. The military was her whole life. Who was she without it?
Suddenly, when other soldiers ran past her, she felt a nice warmth enveloping her from all sides.
"It's okay, it's okay. Don't worry. It will be alright" the voice of a girl hugging Anya made her immediately feel better.
"B-but I dreamed about it for so long, and now I failed so badly! I will never be accepted into the military again!" Anya stuttered still sobbing.
Stranger girl just squeezed Anya tighter pushing her head into her chest. Anya tried murmuring something but this girl's body muffled everything. She tried to free herself from the grip but she was way too weak to move.
"Shh, it's alright. I'm not the brightest, but I think no one will get rid of you. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know much but I think this is just a test. So please don't cry"
Anya momentarily calmed down. Her breath began to stabilize and she was at ease. She felt as if she was in bed with her head wrapped up with the softest pillow in the world. All her problems faded away as she was more and more relaxed.
The sergeant came up to the two girls sitting on the ground and said roughly. "Soldier. I did not ask you to stop and help her!"
"I'm sorry miss sergeant!" the girl said, still not letting Anya go. Anya on the other hand noticed she didn't care what her sergeant had to say. She felt good the way she was.
The sergeant sighed and smiled looking at the couple. "Okay. As a punishment, both of you will help clean up after dinner today. Now stand up and keep running.
The newly-met girl finally stopped hugging Anya and began standing up. Anya still having dampened eyes and cheeks looked at her new acquaintance with worry, wondering if she did something wrong. They were both punished for her incompetence. Will this girl hate her now? Did she just break her first relationship here before it even started?
Anya lowered her head as the guilt took over her mind. For a second she thought she might start crying again. That was until she heard a grunt and looked, up seeing a hand reaching out to her.
"So, maybe let's run together?" Anya's new friend proposed, while helping her stand up.
"Yes, thank you" Anya responded as she tried putting up the best smile she could possibly muster. "Oh, and what's your name?"
"Rikka," she smiled back.