Year 845
—Continuation of Day 2—
Beside her was Eren who was determined to make it to that list, he was even more inspired now that he heard those words from a Survey Corps soldier. Shallie on the other hand was chatting with Armin, she wasn't listening to the commotion in front at all, she gave no interest in it and kept talking with Armin about the outside world. She seemed to know what he was interested in.
The balance test then began and Hoshino kept close with Shiyo who was recording everything she noticed with the trainees as the younger one waited for her turn.
Shiyo walked around with Hoshino following her and took notice of the black haired girl who was balancing steadily with ease, they watched her in surprise "Look at that girl, she's steady as hell. What's her name?"
"I think it was Mikasa Ackerman. She doesn't talk much and she's pretty much just clinging to Eren most of the time." Hoshino told her as they moved on to the following trainees.
Jean Kirschstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blaus, Reiner Braun, Armin Arlert, and Annie Leonhart all had positive reviews from Shiyo. Now they went over to the tall guy with black hair who's steadily swinging. Hoshino recognized him as Bertholdt Hoover, he was the guy she was besides with during the rite of passage.
Bertholdt had noticed the two ladies observing him that led him to get distracted and almost swung off balance that earned a chuckle from the two ladies "You're doing good!" Shiyo exclaimed at him and he promptly smiled before turning his look at Hoshino who trailed off with the soldier.
Next was the girl from yesterday, Shallie Elz. She was steadily balancing without even moving, oddly enough she had a rather shocked expression on her face making Shiyo and Hoshino look closer at her and it turns out she had zoned out in the middle of balancing.
The black haired girl walked up to her and lightly tapped her in the shoulder to not ruin her balance "Shallie?" She called her.
Her shocked expression quickly turned into a confused face as she went back to reality, she looked around confirming where she was before turning her gaze back to Hoshino, she gave her a smile "Oh, Hoshino. Didn't see you coming. Sorry I zoned out a little."
Hoshino smiled back, seeing her okay "How's your balance?"
"Pretty great!" She confidently said as she swings around like a kid.
Shiyo watched the girl with impress, Shallie was able to balance herself even in the state of zoning out "Even when she was out of it, she was still steady as a rock." She told Hoshino as the younger walked towards her.
A whistle was then heard throughout the field, insinuating for the next group of trainees to test their balance. Hoshino was with that group so she hurriedly went to her place which was the middle one where Bertholdt was.
She had people watching her and they were surprised she was able to steadily balance with ease considering her small size. The truth was, she's been practicing Vertical Maneuver with Shiyo at the Scout Regiment field. Even then, she was surprisingly steady in her first time of trying the gear out.
Amongst the surprised faces in front of her, there was one guy she noticed who was standing out in the crowd due to his tall size. It was Bertholdt and he was staring at Hoshino with both impress and surprise, she took notice of this and smiled at him. That caught him off guard, shyly smiling back at her.
Shiyo smiled knowing full well that Hoshino would be able to pull it off. She then went ahead to the next trainee which was completely upside down, unable to balance himself.
"What are you doing, Eren Yeager?! Pick yourself up!" The instructor, Kieth Shadis shouted at the struggling boy.
Shiyo stared at the boy as she observed his equipment "Eren Yeager, huh?" She mumbled to herself before writing things down at his profile which Eren noticed. He knew he was done for, if he can't even balance himself then he's better off not joining the Scout Regiment.
After their trial, Eren ran around the field with Shallie looking for Shiyo and found her near the gate with a Black Stallion horse. They walked towards her and saluted as they introduced themselves. Shiyo merely smiled and greeted them a nice afternoon, recognizing them as the boy earlier who struggled and the girl who she gave an impressive review of.
"I apologise for my performance today, I'll keep working on my balance!" Eren stated which surprised the soldier "I want to join the Survey Corps and I'm determined to make it to your list and be acknowledged by the commander!"
The soldier slightly smiled "Your commitment and bravery is admirable Eren, keep on doing your best. Don't die while training okay?" She chimed that earned a slight blush from Eren as he nodded.
Shallie chuckled at the two as she took notice of the beautiful Black Stallion horse "That's a gorgeous horse, although a brown one would've suited your hair better." She then said making Shiyo look at her by surprise.
"My horse is actually a Brown Stallion..." Shiyo told her, looking at the horse she's in right now "This is captain Levi's horse, he let me borrow her since mine was in the middle of his bath."
After that talk with the soldier, the two trainees walked together towards the dorms while Eren was on about wanting to join the Scout Regiment. Shallie listened patiently with a smile.
"By the way, how did you know she had a brown horse?" Eren asked the blonde girl which she responded calmly.
"I didn't, I based it on her hair. It was a lucky guess... And I want her to feel better with her hair."
Eren looked at her in a confused state "What do you mean?"
Shallie's carefree expression turned serious "Haven't you noticed? She hates the color of her hair, she's insecure about it. And her hair is uneven on the back, no doubt she's been cutting it herself..."
Silence roamed between the two trainees as they felt bad for the soldier they had just talked to, no one should ever feel that way towards their own bodies.
"By the way, I heard you were good with your balance. Can you tell me tips for staying upright?" Eren suddenly asked "If I want to join the Survey Corps, I need to balance myself with that Maneuver Gear..."
Shallie chuckled, gaining her carefree expression back "I can't explain it, Eren. Besides, something tells me you won't need it much in the future."
"Why do you say so?"
"I have a feeling that you'll only be able to kill one titan." The blonde girl bluntly told the poor boy which made him let out a tone of disbelief, she merely chuckled.
"How would you know?! I'll make sure to kill much more titans than you!" Eren crossed his hands in annoyance at the girl beside her.
Shallie smiled at his behaviour "Just my guts."
As they walked, a feminine figure suddenly showed up in front of them. Her face was darkened by the shadow of her bangs but Eren recognised her almost immediately.
"Mikasa, where's Armin?" Eren asked leaning over to the side to see Armin running towards them behind the Ackerman.
Mikasa's darkened face stays "Eren, let's go. We'll teach you how to balance." She said before suddenly pulling the boy away from the blonde girl.
Armin finally caught up and greeted Shallie before following the two, the girl smiled at them and nodded before walking towards the dormitories to have a nice beauty sleep.
—Day 3—
All the trainees had assembled around Eren who will be trying out the balancing test for the second time, it turns out Shiyo had talked to the instructor to give him a second chance while the instructor had intentions on doing so as well.
Hoshino on the other hand was far behind the crowd which she couldn't see what's going on in the middle "COME ON I CAN'T SEE!" She shouted at the men in front of her.
"That's because of your small height, pipsqueak."
"Go climb a post or something, chipmunk."
Those were the words that was thrown to her, greatly offending her. The men laughed before turning back around to watch Eren.
She looked at the men in annoyance "I'll show you a fucking chipmunk, dipshit!" She shouted, raising her right leg and was about to launch a kick at the men when someone pulled her away from them. She looked at the person who dragged her and it was Bertholdt, making her widen her eyes in surprise.
"You can't go around kicking other people you know." The guy told her as he takes her to a different place behind the crowd.
Hoshino frowned once again as she crossed her arm against her chest "They made fun of my height... I mean– why am I this short?!" She asked herself before kicking a small rock.
The taller one scratched his head, a faint crimson color crept on his cheeks as he gulped "Well, I honestly think it's cute..."
That caught Hoshino off guard, she looked at him with a surprised yet flustered look, the boy promptly looking away "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT AND PROCEED TO ACT SHY!" She shouted at him, blush still appearing on her cheeks.
"I'M SORRY I CAN'T HELP IT!" Bertholdt apologized before gaining back his composure, he looked at her with a smile "Do you want to watch Eren?" He asked her and she nodded as a response, so he crouched down infront of her and offered a piggy back ride "Hop on."
Hoshino hesitated for a bit before finally hopping on his back "I should be pretty light for you, so I won't worry much." She chuckled as he rose up and it led her to see everything in the middle of the crowd, she watched amazed "Woah, being tall is so cool!"
On the other hand, Bertholdt was crimson red due to how close this cute girl was. He could feel the warmth of her body, her arms wrapped around his neck and her thighs on his hands. She was right about her being light weighted due to her small size.
He tried to focus on what's happening with Eren but he kept getting distracted by how close Hoshino's face was with his. Her head is only beside his and he could sometimes feel her breath touch his ear. But what distracted him the most was her breasts pressed on his back.
Hoshino watched as Eren finally balanced his body making her smile "That guy finally did it huh?" She said, looking at Bertholdt to be greeted by his darkened face making her turn her proud expression into
a terrified one "BERTHOLDT! WHAT'S WRONG?!"
His darkened face stays "Nothing. Just trying to focus on Eren."