Levi walked down the line of cadets freshly out of training. They stood rigid with their chests puffed out, saluting him.
He stopped in front of a cadet, staring up at him with souless eyes. "You. What's your name?"
"Moblit Berner, sir." He responded without missing a heartbeat, staring straight forward.
"Why are you here?"
"To fight for humanity, sir." He yelled out.
"Tsk." Was all Levi said before moving on. He scanned the cadets slowly, analyzing each one.
The only sound that was heard was Levi's boots clicking on the wooden floor. It was as if everyone held their breaths.
Suddenly, a loud "ACHOOO" echoed throughout the room.
The loud sneeze broke the silence and it took Levi only seconds to pinpoint the cadet.
"Oi, oi. Why didn't you cover your mouth?" Levi demanded, keeping his distance. He did a once over of her and his face scrunched up in disgust.
"Your hair is greasy." He stated in a monotone voice.
Hanji faltered for a moment on what to say but just settled with an apology.
Levi stared at her for a few more seconds with his piercing eyes before moving on.
"Listen here," Levi began, his voice echoing. "You have all chosen the Survey Corps, hopefully with the realization that you may die." He paused for a moment to analyze the cadet's faces. Now was the optimal time to pick out the weak.
"But regardless of that, you have chosen to fight back against the Titans and reclaim the land we lost. You have chosen to fight for the civilians inside those walls. To save humanity." He stopped his pacing and fully faced the cadets. "Welcome to the Survey Corps." It was a bittersweet welcome; he knew half of the faces he saw today would be gone within four years.
"Dismissed."
The cadets eased from their salut and left the room in a single file line.
"Oi. Girl with the glasses, come here." He called out before Hanji could leave the room.
She stepped aside and reported to Levi. "Yes, sir?" She asked, wondering if she was in trouble for sneezing earlier.
"You're filthy. Go take a bath." He stated simply. His skin crawled just being around her.
"Heh?" Hanji reflexively responded, her mouth slightly agape.
"Don't you "heh" me. Turn around and walk yourself to the washroom." His patience was running thin with her.
"Y-yes sir?" She stuttered, confused by the request.
She swiftly turned around and headed toward the washroom.
"What's with him?" She grumbled bitterly, feeling her hair to see if it was that greasy. She was always so busy that she never had time to take a bath or she forgot.
Hanji opened the door and everything was sparkling clean. Her eyes widened in awe as she looked around and didn't even see a spec of dust.
"Clean, isn't it?" A female voice called from behind.
Hanji turned around to see who it was.
"I'm Eva." She introduced herself, holding out her hand.
"Hanji."
"The word around here is that Captain Levi is a clean freak and has deep cleaning sessions twice a week."
"Is that so?" Hanji grimaced. She didn't mind doing the work, but she wasn't the most organized person to begin with.
Eva laughed at her expression. "Don't worry. If anything, we can help each other out." She said cheerfully. "Welp, I'll be seeing you!" She excused herself, flashing Hanji a cute smile before leaving.
Hanji finally understood why Levi sent her to bathe. She closed the door and ended up giving herself a good scrub down since it had been a couple of days since she bathed.
o*o*o*o*o
Plates could be heard clanging against the tables from the outside. Hanji swung open the large double doors and went to grab her rations before sitting down. She looked around for a familiar face but didn't spot one. Most of her friends joined the Garrison and the ones in the top ten opted for the Military Police.
Hanji scarfed down her food, used to eating fast so she could go back to either training or reading up on Titans. Titans intrigured her the most and she wanted to know everything about them. What makes them tick, why they eat humans, and their anatomy and physiology. She could feel herself drool as she thought about them.
"That's an interesting face you have there." She heard someone say, laughing as they placed their food in front of her, taking a seat.
She quickly snapped out of her daydream and wiped her drool away, laughing nervously.
"What were you thinking about?"
Hanji tried to come up with a normal response but she couldn't hold it in. "Titans!" She yelled excitedly, getting up and slamming her hands on the table.
Her eyes sparkled with pure happiness as she talked about them. "I want to experiment on Titans. I want to know what makes them tick, how their anatomy works, why they eat humans but ignore animals, and all of the behaviors of the different types of titans. Just imagine if I discover a new type of Titan!" She squealed in delight at the idea of finding something other than a normal or abnormal.
She sat back down and rested her head against her hand. "The normal stuff." She jokingly said, knowing full well that she had an obsession with Titans.
The guy tried to hold back his laughter, covering his mouth with his fist. "You're a trip." He said between chuckles.
"I'm Moblit by the way."
"I'm Ha-Ha-" Hanji barely held back her sneeze. "Hanji." She wiggled her nose as she sniffled.
Moblit became a little concerned as it was starting to reach freezing temperatures. "Your hair is still wet. You'll catch a cold."
Hanji smiled widely and brushed it off. "I'll be fine! I'm healthy as a horse!" She gave a thumbs up reassuringly.
She was about to say something but stopped mid sentence because of a violent shiver; not from the cold, but from the feeling that someone was watching her.
She turned around and saw Levi staring at her with that same emotionless expression from earlier.
He got up and left the room, which both confused and relieved Hanji. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding.
"He's intimidating and emotionless. You can never tell what he's thinking." Moblit confided in her.
"I don't think he's totally emotionless... He's just someone that's been through a lot..." She said, trailing off, lost in her thoughts.
Hanji jumped as something warm covered her head. She pulled the object off to see what it was and realized that it was a warm towel. She looked up toward the direction that it was thrown in and she made eye contact with Captain Levi.
"Dry yourself off properly." He ordered, placing a cup of hot tea in front of her before walking back to where he was sitting. She could see his comrades giving her odd glances.
"What was that all about?" Moblit asked, confused by the situation.
Hanji smirked. "Like I said, he's someone that's been through a lot." She placed the towel back on her head and started to dry her hair.
A loud banging on her door jerked her awake. She struggled to keep her balance as she almost rolled off the bed.
"Wake up, Titan fodder!" A familiar voice yelled.
She grumbled as she begrudgingly swung her legs over the side of her bed, shivering as her feet touched the cold floor.
"I'm awake," she responded meakley, her voice coming out hoarse.
"Ah shit." She muttered to herself as she realized she had a sore throat.
"Hurry up! You'll be late for training!" Keith yelled again, giving one good last bang before leaving.
She cleaned herself up and walked out to the meeting spot for early morning training. She brought her small book of notes on Titans, and read through them again while she waited for the training to start.
"Get in formation!" A man yelled.
Everyone obediently got up in a line and saluted the man that stood in front of them.
"I'm Oluo from the Special Operations Squad." He introduced himself, giving off a stuck up aura.
"You'll be training with me and Captain Levi. We will analyze your skills as a soldier today through simple missions."
Hanji became excited as she could finally show what she was made of. The better she presented herself, the better the chance that she'd go on an expedition and finally begin her goal to research Titans.
"The first mission will be done solo. The second, you will be put into a team." He explained. "Who wants to go first?"
Hanji sprung up and waved her hand in the air. "I do! I do!" She called out excitedly.
"Okay, first things first. I'll test your ODM skills. Reach each checkpoint as fast as you can."
Hanji stood in front of the large forest where her starting point was. She took in a deep breath while stretching her muscles and waited for the go.
As soon as she heard it, she dug her anchors into the trees and flung herself in the air, using the gas pressure to propel herself as far as she could. She looked around for the arrows. When she spotted one she quickly changed her anchors to swing in the direction of the arrow. She spotted the green O and practically flew to it, where a Scout marked her time. That was easy, but she knew that it was about to get harder from then on.
It was a minute of straight propelling through the trees and she was starting to get worried that she missed an arrow.
She could feel them analyzing her which didn't make her nervous at all, just more eager to show off her skills. After all, she worked hard to get to where she was.
Her ear twitched as she heard something rustle in the brush to her right and then to her left. They alternated the rustling from all directions. She smirked as she figured out what they were trying to do.
There was a small creak before the mock Titan was let loose in front of her. She released her anchors to fall below the Titan's head and continue on her way.
"Yippy!" She happily yelled as she fell and then caught herself. This was exilerating.
"Omo?" She saw a movement in the corner of her eye and she switched trees, avoiding yet another Titan.
She laughed like a madman as she spinned through the air.
She finally saw an arrow. It was a tight turn but she could manage to just squeeze in. She braced herself for the worst because she knew this would be an optimal time to do an ambush.
She was on guard as she meticulously scanned the area around her repeatedly. She saw the rustling and knew what was coming, but the way the obstacle was going to be angled would make it almost impossible to dodge. She braced herself as the mock Titan was released and knocked one of her anchors off of the tree, making it difficult to control her direction. She ended up finding herself scraping along the sides of very rough trees. She could feel the bits of bark digging into her face and hands, as well as ripping her uniform.
"Dammit!" She blurted out as she tried to regain control. She blindly shot her anchor out in hopes of snagging a decent tree that could pull her away from the trunk.
Her hopes shot up as she felt the line go taught and she placed her weight on the other line. After what seemed like forever, she managed to straighten herself up just in time to pass the next green circle.
The last Titan was a huge one, over 10 meters and right in front of her. She had no choice but to draw her blades and attack. She propelled herself as hard as she could and started spiraling, setting up the swords so that it was a continuous circle of blades. She spiraled over the nape of its neck, "killing" it. She saw the final mark and used up a lot of her gas trying to get there.
As soon as she passed the final mark, she let loose her anchors and walked towards Oluo for her evaluation.
She stood in front of him with her arms behind her back.
Oluo grumbled. "Not bad. Of course not as good as me, but not bad." He nodded his head approvingly. "Did you rank in the top 10?"
"No, sir." She had some formidable comrades.
"Hm. Go back and inform the next person to get ready." She nodded, saluted him and went flying back through the trees.
Almost an hour passed as all of the cadets did their turn, some returning with smug faces while others were ashamed.
As the last cadet came back, a disgruntled Oluo followed suit. "You have a lot to learn before you can go beyond the wall." He started pacing. "Take it from a pro like me. It was hard. But with the right mentality and training, we can get you up to par. Of course not surpassing me, because getting to my level i- oooww" He cried out in pain as he bit his tongue.
Hanji laughed, both at his attempt to give a pep talk and the fact that he bit his tongue while trying to praise himself.
Oluo's face turned red as the other cadet's tried to hold back their laughter. "Enough." A monotone voice called out, stepping from the shadows. Everyone immediately straightened up, including Hanji.
"This is a team mission. If you want to survive outside of the walls, you will have to work together. Otherwise you'll become Titan shit." Levi said bluntly.
"Actually, Titans don't have digestive systems." Hanji blurted out. She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth; not meaning to interrupt him.
Levi slowly walked towards her, his aura getting darker with every step. Hanji began to sweat bullets. "I'm so-" She began but was soon cut off as Levi reached up and pushed her head down to his eye level.
He tilted his head to the side as he stared down Hanji. "You'll make fine Titan shit, shitty glasses."
Hanji's eyes widened at the insult and she cleared her throat, holding back the laughter that was desperately trying to get out. His insult was so lame it was funny.
He pushed her head back and spun around, yelling over his shoulder, "Get a partner." Normally, he wouldn't give them the choice, but Erwin insisted on letting them pick their partners for mission purposes outside the walls. Or something like that. He didn't care or necessarily agree, but he trusted Erwin.
"Moblit!" Hanji immediately waved at him, claiming him as her partner. Moblit shyly walked towards her.
"Are you ready?" She asked excitedly, barely containing herself.
Before Moblit could respond a monotone voice caught her attention. "This isn't some fun game. Treat it seriously." Levi chastised. This was a serious evaluation of skills to know everyone's strong and weak points. It was the start of making them the best soldier they could be for this branch. They teach you just the basics in training, but each branch has their own form of training to reflect their duties.
"Next mission." Oluo began. "There will be a limited amount of Titans in that forest. You and your partner will try to eliminate as many as possible before they're all gone. Simple. Get in formation." He commanded, stepping aside as the cadets lined up outside of the forest.
"We got this Moblit." Hanji gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before setting off.
"To your right!" Hanji directed, spotting the 5 meter Titan. Moblit immediately turned and sliced the Titans' nape.
"Look over there, Hanji!" He pointed to the Titan that was hidden behind the tree. Hanji used her gas pressure to get there within seconds, propelling herself up above the Titan's head and digging her blades into its neck.
"Woohooo." Hanji had the biggest grin on her face. "Let's go!"
Moblit and Hanji continued their tirade of eliminations, getting a good amount of Titans.
A green signal flare indicated that the mission was clear and for the cadets to start returning to the base. But as Hanji flew by, she spotted a Titan that wasn't finished. Hanji started to turn around, thinking she could get an extra point.
Moblit saw Hanji falling back to finish off the Titan despite the fact that they were being called back and that they didn't know if there would be a surprise Titan along the way. "Hanji, no!" He yelled after her.
"Hanji, yes!" She yelled as she swung around a tree to finish off the Titan. Just as she was about to dig her blades into the back of its neck, another Titan was released and knocked one of her blades out of her hand. She tried to hit it with her remaining blade until another Titan was released and knocked her completely out of the air. She fell to the ground, rolling a good couple of feet before stopping.
Moblit immediately turned around, hurrying to see if Hanji was okay.
"Hanji!" He called out, kneeling next to her.
"Hanji?" He was hesitant on touching her because he didn't know where she got hurt.
Before he could do anything further, someone smashed into him. Hard.
He found himself with a blade at his throat. "You're dead." An angry Levi towered above him.
He brought his attention to Hanji and kicked her, rolling her over onto her back. "And you! You just killed your comrade for a stupid point. When you're out beyond the wall, you work as a team to stay alive." He was furious with her recklessness. "I hate meaningless deaths."
Hanji didn't say anything. He was right. She acted on her own, got herself in trouble, and her comrade tried to help her, but he left himself exposed to the Titans that just appeared. She knew better than that.
"Get your priorities straight," Levi yelled at her again before disappearing into the trees.
She got up and placed her head in her hands in frustration. "I'm sorry, Moblit. You warned me and I didn't listen."
Moblit placed a hand on her shoulder and patted it, not saying anything. "Let's go." He helped her up and they continued on their way back to the meeting spot.
When they got back, Levi was already announcing scores. At last, he got to Hanji and Moblit. He slowly turned around to face them straight on. "Zero."
Hanji felt her chest get heavy and she tried not to show her disappointment. The cadets furrowed their brows in confusion as they heard the verdict.
Levi gave a bitter smile. "Dead men don't have scores." His words filled with venom, he raised his voice so all of the cadets could hear his warning.
Hanji hung her head down, not feeling sorry for herself because she deserved it, but feeling sorry because she dragged Moblit into this.
The training was over for today and she headed back towards her room, just wanting to be in solitude with her books.
Hanji crashed onto her bed, face first into her pillow. "I ehm a widiot." She mumbled, her words muffled and distorted by the pillow.
o*o*o*o*o
Minutes passed before she moved, reaching over the side of her bed to grab a book. That should cheer her up a little.
Levi sat in his corner sipping his tea.
"I heard what happened today." Petra tried to start a conversation with Levi, cautious of his bad mood.
"Is that so?" Levi didn't move a muscle as he just sat there, seething.
Petra tried to think of something else to say, but Oluo beat her to it. "She's new. Don't you think you were being too harsh?"
"Too harsh?" Levi leaned forward, setting down his tea rather roughly. Oluo could feel Levi's menacing aura intensify. "She put her comrade in danger for a stupid point. She needed to learn."
"But she hasn't even come to get her food!" He motioned to the tables of cadets happily chattering away.
"So? Let her starve for all I care." He leaned back against the wall, picking up his tea again.
"Levi!" Petra chastized, disappointed with his attitude.
Levi raised an eyebrow at her.
She clenched her hands together and a deep frown was beginning to set on her face.
"Now. Now." Oluo tried to calm down the negative aura between them. "I'm sure she'll come eventually."
Both Petra and Levi didn't budge. Oluo sighed, ready to give up on them, when
he suddenly brightened up. "How about we get her friend to check on her?"
"Do what you want." Levi coldly responded, taking a sip of his tea.
Petra got up roughly, pushing her chair back a few feet from the force. Stomping away, she searched for the guy she sat with yesterday.
"Moblit!" She yelled, searching around the room. "Moblit!" She yelled again, pulling random guys by their collar to see their faces.
She eventually reached Moblit who was peacefully eating his food. She yanked him by the collar just as he was about to take a bite of bread. He dropped the bread on the floor, looking a good couple of seconds at it before turning his cold gaze to the perpetrator that made him drop his food.
"You're Moblit, right?!" She asked roughly.
Moblit nodded his head, still waiting for an apology.
"Go check on your friend!"
Moblit furrowed his brows in anger and confusion. He hated confrontation but she made him drop his food and was now demanding things.
"With all due respect, I don't know what you're talking about." He said, holding back because of her status.
"That girl Hanji you hang out with. I haven't seen her after what happened today." She clarified, just realizing how crazy she sounded.
"Hanji? Ahhh..." It clicked what she was referring to. "She was pretty upset..." He realized that, but it wasn't really his business. She could do what she wanted. Besides, it wasn't unusual for her to skip meals.
Petra looked at him intently as she waited for a proper response.
"Umm... okay?" He had nothing better to do since his food fell on the floor.
Petra smiled brightly at him and thanked him.
Moblit headed back to find Hanji.
As Petra returned, Oluo pulled her to the side. "Question. Why didn't you go and find out?"
Petra smiled slyly as she nodded towards Levi. "He needs someone like her in his life."
Oluo looked confused as her response didn't answer his question. "But why? What does sending her friend have to do with him having her in his life?"
Petra slapped her forhead. "Oluo... You're as dense as ever."
As they were bickering, they failed to notice Levi leave the room.
"Those idiots..." Levi grumbled, shaking his head as he took a walk to clear his mind.
He was just reaching the training grounds when he heard two voices whispering.
"I thought you would be here..." A male voice said.
"Moblit? What are you doing here?" A female voice that he assumed was Hanji's asked in confusion.
"I just wanted to know if you were okay since you didn't show up for dinner."
"Omo?? It's already dinner time?!" She looked around frantically as if she just realized it was dark.
Moblit chuckled. "It is. But are you okay? After today..." He trailed off, giving her the chance to say what was on her mind.
Hanji grimaced. " I can't say I'm not upset. Well... I'm more disappointed in myself than anything. I had higher expectations for myself, and wanted to give a good impression that I was a capable soldier. But my actions from earlier would have caused two unnecessary casualties in real battle. I haven't told anyone this but I'm hoping to one day capture and experiment on live Titans. But I can't be trusted if I pull stupid shit like that again."
Moblit listened intently to her as she continued speaking. Who knew she had such thoughts on her mind?
"Anyways!" Hanji's voice was steadily getting louder. "Thank you Moblit for listening to me! I feel so much better!" She grabbed him by his shoulders. "Let's go get food! Yippy!" She excitedly yelled as she made her way to the commons, dragging Moblit along.
Levi was still in the shadows as this happened and his relaxing walk was ruined. "Tsk." He mumbled, kicking a rock. At least she reflected on her actions. "Stupid shitty glasses." He grumbled, continuing his walk around the base, still not regretting his decision.