Year 850
-Continuation of Day 2-
The cleanup was eventually finished, they collected all the bodies into three different stacks and set them on fire. The trainees stood around them, regretting their decisions on being a soldier, Jean lost hope, Hoshino was staring into space, Connie crying, and Bertholdt getting eaten by his own conscience. Shallie on the other hand was calm and stoic as she stared at the fire with a straight face.
"Marco... I didn't know you would die like that..." She whispered before stepping forward closer to the fire "I didn't see that coming..."
Her close distance to the blazing fire caught Jean's attention which made him walk towards her and gently pulled her away from it "You'll get burnt..." He whispered softly to her as she looked up at him with her stern look.
"I'm joining the Survey Corps." she blurted out that caught the attention of the others, making them look at her in shock "I want to kill titans and finally discover the truth of my own future. This is what I was destined for, it's to follow my fate and be the witness of my own story." She whispered to herself, looking at her hands.
Jean stared at her wide eyed before looking at his hands also, seemingly regretting his choices in life "I-... I'm also joining the Survey Corps!" He shouted in tears, gripping on his own hands tightly. Shallie noticed his disturbed behaviour making her hold his hands in an attempt to calm him down.
"I am also joining the Survey Corps!" Hoshino then suddenly shouted as well, catching the trainee's attention. She had a determined look on her face and it seems like she has recovered from her trauma episode earlier. Hearing Shallie and Jean has made her realize that she needed to be strong for them and for humanity.
Bertholdt on the other hand stared at his girlfriend in shock "Hoshino... You have the best grades in class, you should join Military Police!" He told her, worried about her will to join the Survey Corps. He planned on joining Military Police with Reiner but now that his girlfriend had revealed to join the Survey Corps, he had second thoughts. He wanted to be with her outside the walls so he could protect her and look out for her if ever something happens.
Hoshino let out a little 'tch' at Bertholdt's sentence, not liking the idea of living within Wall Sina again due to her traumatizing experience "As if I'd work with those dogs..."
-Day 6-
It was a quiet morning for all the villagers but unfortunately it wasn't for the trainees as shouting was already heard first thing in the morning, waking them up in a hurry. Hoshino who was peacefully sleeping in Bertholdt's arms also got startled by the sudden shout and the noise of people getting out of their beds, she looked at Bertholdt and he was still sleeping soundly making her smile before stealing a peck on his lips.
"Rise and shine you two!" Shallie then suddenly exclaimed that startled the two lovebirds, it also woke up Bertholdt which was really kinda useful considering that he's such a sloth. Shallie smiled at them with her usual genuine smile, then she seemed to have remembered something "Also, I keep forgetting Marco isn't here anymore, I thought I saw his Vertical Maneuver last night, but I think I'm just seeing things."
Sweat dropped down from Bertholdt's forehead while Hoshino had a troubled yet concerned look on her face, she's been noticing Shallie's behaviour and she's been so forgetful lately and her zoning out episodes seemed to happen more often now to the point that it's been worrying not only her but also all of her friends. Shallie seemed fine with it, she's still her normal carefree self, but Hoshino couldn't help but to feel worried and concerned about her friend.
Several rookies then came passing by including their friends, they all passed by with greetings and the three returned it back. It was seconds before they saw Jean and Connie coming, Connie looked over at the two on the same bed and gave out a disgusted look "How gut wrenching..." He bluntly told them which made Bertholdt look at him with disbelief.
"HA?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"
Hoshino just laughed at the reaction her boyfriend gave out before getting out of the bed, they all decided to leave the dorm area and went to the main building where the meeting was held. Turns out that someone had killed valuable test subjects and they were looking for the culprit among the trainees, they were assigned to present their Maneuver Gears for inspection. And so the trainees did, placing their Gears on the table in front of them. They started the inspection but at the end of the day, they still didn't find the culprit.
By the time dawn came, trainees had been sent outside at the field to choose which branch they would join in, they waited patiently and eventually they were assigned to line up in front of the stage, there stood Erwin Smith, the commander of the Scout Regiment. He went on about persuading the trainees to join the Survey Corps, and also publicised the information about Eren Yeager's basement and a mission to take back Wall Maria that shocked Hoshino and the others, Shallie was keeping a straight face all the time which Hoshino noticed. In the end, Hoshino and her friends ended up joining the Survey Corps, except for Annie who had made up her mind in joining the Military Police.
-Day 7-
The first day of training for the practice mission to retake wall Maria was studying the formation, Hoshino was sat between Reiner and Bertholdt, listening silently to the lecture that was being told in front. She was fighting her urge to not fall asleep during the lecture but her heavy eyes were too much for her making her fall asleep for a bit. Bertholdt let out a small chuckle as he caught her head and leaned it on his shoulder, he knew what he had done last night that led his girlfriend to sleep late "You can sleep, I'll cover for you..." He whispered to her.
"I don't want to..." She whined, still paying attention at the front while her head is still on his shoulder "If you had kept your hands to yourself last night then we would've slept early." She scolded her boyfriend making the poor boy flustered as he hid his face.
"I... It was an accident..." He reasoned, stumbling on his words, his girlfriend promptly laughed at his shy behaviour which she found cute.
She closed her eyes while her head was still on his shoulder as she thought back to that time that night, it was just the two of them in each other's arms in Bertholdt's bed, Hoshino was facing the other way while the boy cuddled her from behind.
-flashback-
Hoshino enjoyed the warm feeling of their bodies and had found her comfort zone in Bertholdt's arms, she was about to fall asleep when the boy suddenly moved his arms, adjusting them and accidentally placing his hand on her chest. Hoshino's eyes immediately opened wide, getting surprised by her boyfriend's sudden touch. Bertholdt on the other hand was clueless and continued sleeping but he would often move his hand that were on Hoshino's chest making the girl occasionally flinch by his touch. Blush started appearing on her cheeks as she started to feel sensitive to her breasts.
"Bertholdt..." She sighed while gently shaking him on her back, trying to wake her boyfriend up "Bertholdt... Wake up." She called as she tapped him repeatedly and it worked, he hummed in response as he suddenly started moving his hand around the girl's chest while cupping them making the poor girl flinch and whimper while covering her own mouth.
Bertholdt was clueless on what was happening until he realised that he was touching breasts the whole time making him flustered and immediately pulled his hand away "I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING! I WAS ASLEEP I'M SO SORRY!" He shouted but not too loud. His eyes then widened as he saw her girlfriend panting with a bright red color on her cheek, looking at him with that helpless look "Hoshino..?"
As Bertholdt was about to say something again, Hoshino suddenly leaned in and kissed him on his lips passionately, moving their lips in sync and there Bertholdt realised what was happening making him deepen the kiss between them. It lasted seconds until they both broke away from the kiss to catch their breath and he took that opportunity to unbutton her shirt and plant kisses in every part of her neck, occasionally sucking the skin around her chest. As he was doing so, he grasped her breasts in his hands, massaging and squeezing them ever so slightly which made her gasp and bury her face on his shoulder to suppress the moans and whimpers she's letting out.
Bertholt then moved his other hand down towards Hoshino's stomach and was about to slide it inside her shirt when the girl held his hand, stopping him. The boy promptly looked at her "Still not ready?" He asked her with a smile, kissing her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her tightly while she buried her head on his chest for warmth.
"It was a tiring day, let's save that for another time."
-end of flashback-
Hoshino covered her face as she felt her cheeks warming up again just by remembering what happened last night, they were now dismissed from the formations lecture and she is now walking with Bertholdt towards where the horses are held, not until Shallie showed up, catching up on them with Jean, Connie, and Sasha with her.
"Hey guys! I heard that they serve meat here in the Scout Regiment dining house! Let's go get some when we finish training!" Sasha told them with saliva dripping down her chin, she really did love meat and it shows.
Jean sighed at the girl with clear disappointment "Do you ever think about anything else other than food?"
"I doubt she even remembers what we talked about in the lecture." Connie sighed also, visibly face palming at his sentence.
Hoshino chuckled looking at Connie "Do you remember it, Connie?" She asked which earned a blush from the boy insinuating that he doesn't remember making her laugh.
"Didn't you sleep throughout the whole lecture, Hoshino?" Shallie then blurted out with a wondering expression which made Bertholdt laugh while Hoshino had a flustered look, that's where Shallie decided to switch the topic "By the way, have you guys heard about the disappearances?"
They all looked at Shallie with a disturbed look "I heard... They said it started in Wall Sina but now it's all over the districts. One moment someone goes missing and the next day, they'll find their lifeless bodies just laying there with some unidentified symbols in their bodies." Jean stated as sweat dropped down his forehead, he looked visibly distraught at the said case "Most of the victims are girls and all of them have blonde hair..." He then said as he stared at Shallie in worry.
"Don't worry, Jean. I'm able to handle multiple titans, I sure can handle some horny creeps." Shallie said reassuringly which brought back the mood to them.
As they were walking and talking to each other, Shallie then went beside Hoshino and nudged her a little, catching the black haired girl's attention "What?" Hoshino asked her while they walked behind the group.
Shallie roamed her eyes and made sure no one was looking "So, how did it go last night?" She suddenly asked making Hoshino widen her eyes in shock.
She stared at the blonde girl, trying to figure out how she knew about it but still tried acting dumb to see if Shallie would fall for it and her biggest bet would be no. Blush then slowly appeared on her face "What... What do you mean..?"
But there was no fooling Shallie's perceptiveness so she immediately knew from the moment Hoshino widened her eyes, she sighed at herself with a smile "So something did happen, I knew it!" She celebrated.
The black haired girl was in a confused state "How did you know though? Your room is far from Bertholdt's room, and it's not like you're spying on us or anything."
"Oh, I noticed you were sleeping earlier in class, then I remembered what Jean said earlier in the morning about some noises he heard last night. It just so happened that his room was just beside Bertholdt's room." Shallie reasoned "So I pieced them together and asked you that question to confirm. That was a lucky guess."
Hoshino looked at her with both surprise and impress, Shallie was just gambling her guess and it came ou
t true "How are you so sure that your guess would be accurate?"
"Just my gut feeling..."