Year 850
—Day 8—
Hoshino was walking with her fellow rookies towards the headquarters of the Scout Regiments, they were told that their uniforms were arriving so there they are, eagerly waiting on the said uniforms for them to put on. Hoshino on the other hand was looking around, seemingly searching for someone amongst the cadets in the area and she led eyes on two specific soldiers outside the stable. She widened her eyes in excitement as she recognised them as Shiyo Ashford, one of the soldiers under Levi's command, and Aven Chamberlain, a squad captain.
"Shiyo! It's been so long since I last saw you!" Hoshino exclaimed while running at her, the rookies promptly watched her as she went and hugged the soldier then giving the taller one a fist bump "Where's Levi? I haven't seen him in ages..." She then said with a noticeable longing on her face making the soldier chuckle.
"He's inside the stable with your friend Eren. He's about to leave with his horse soon." Shiyo told the rookie as she patted her head, seeing Hoshino here didn't seem to alert Shiyo as she already knew which branch she would choose. It in fact relieved her that she wasn't forced to join a branch against her will "I'm proud of you, Hoshino. I'm sure your brother will be happy to see you." She told her before taking her hand off her head and there Hoshino took glimpse of her hand with a bite mark.
The girl grabbed the soldier's hand, examining the bite mark "Did you bite yourself? What happened?" She asked in which Shiyo awkwardly laughed.
"Well, just a compensation for a misjudgement we did the other day..." She said while scratching her head.
Aven on the other hand sighed "You're just too tensed up all the time, why don't you relax? He's just a kid, he wouldn't think about hurting you." He told the red head as he ruffled her hair in which she just slapped his hand away.
"It's not 'just a kid' if he can turn into a 15 meter class titan! I'm pretty sure you'd understand if you were in our position! You'd probably shit your pants..." She teased the taller one with a smirking face.
Hoshino just chuckled at the soldiers in front of her before looking inside the stable where she found Eren who was scooping up horse feces, she felt relieved that they didn't do anything unspeakable to him considering the existence of a certain person in the Scout Regiment, Hange Zoe.
She smiled at him "Eren! I'm glad you're okay!" She shouted which Eren heard making the boy look at her in surprise before walking towards her "Mikasa and the others are outside waiting for their uniforms."
Eren was still indeed still surprised to see her in the Survey Corps headquarters "You... You're all here? You all joined the Survey Corps?! Even Shallie?!" He asked in both shock and concern making Hoshino nod with a confident smile.
They both went back to the rookies and everyone was glad to see Eren alright, they all chatted with each other not until Hoshino took sight of her brother who just walked out of the stable making her immediately run towards him, shouting his name. The rookies got startled by the sudden commotion as they watched Hoshino run towards the captain and jumped in his arms that led both of them to fall to the ground.
Eren watched with his eyes widened and mouth opened, shocked at what Hoshino just did. All of them except Bertholdt were unaware of the fact that Hoshino was Levi's sister so all they could do was to stare shocked and terrified at the two on the ground "Captain Levi! Are you okay?!" Eren asked as he ran towards them "Hey, Hoshino! Get off from Captain at once! What do you think you're doing?!"
Levi was stunned at first, shocked to see his sister in the Scout Regiment headquarters. He didn't know if he should be happy to see her or be mad that she joined the Survey Corps. He stayed frozen while staring at her on top of him, hugging him tightly not until Eren locked her arms between his and pulled her up away from the captain. There he was able to think things through and move freely, standing up on his feet while wiping dirt off his uniform.
They all watched in terror except Shiyo and Hoshino who had a bored expression on their faces, it was a matter of time before Levi looked at Eren which earned a terrified look from the boy "I'm so sorry for my friend's behaviour, captain!"
"Let her go." The captain then said before turning around, facing his back at them "Come with me in my office, Hoshino." He ordered as he walked away with his black stallion horse and Hoshino catching up with him, walking beside him.
Eren still had a worried look as he watched Hoshino walk away with his captain "Why did she suddenly charge at him like that?! What was she thinking?!" He panicked making Shiyo on the other hand laugh, and so did Bertholdt "What's so funny?!"
"Calm down, Eren. She'll be fine, trust me." Shiyo told the boy with a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure Captain Levi enjoyed his little sister's warm greeting." Aven then said which earned a look from all of the rookies making him and Shiyo laugh before walking away, leaving them dumbfounded.
Aven then left to go to his own squad so it left Shiyo walking alone, and as she was walking away from the rookies, she came across a young lady with blonde hair. She recognised her as Shallie Elz, Hoshino's friend. Her hair reminded her about the disappearances lately making her walk closer to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping the blonde girl's tracks.
"Don't wander around by yourself, okay?" Shiyo told her before walking away, leaving her in a confused state.
Shallie's eyes followed the soldier as she walked away, she scratched her head seemingly forgetting about something "I could've sworn I saw her somewhere before..." She whispered to herself before completely moving on, walking towards her friends with a carefree smile.
Hoshino on the other hand has entered her brother's office in the headquarters, she looked around and it was the same always clean office. Despite having long expeditions beyond the walls, he still managed to maintain cleanliness in his office, Hoshino definitely liked that practice of his. She walked towards her brother who was now standing in front of his desk while looking at her, seemingly waiting for her to close the door, and so she did.
"You joined the Survey Corps?" Levi asked almost immediately after the door got closed, the girl promptly nodded as a response while she walked towards her brother, standing before him. Levi took a deep breath in and out before placing his hands on her shoulders "Are you really sure about this, Hoshino?" He asked his sister sternly.
Hoshino had a determined look on her face before nodding "I am..."
"There will be continuous bloodshed, you can't guarantee your friends' safety and there's no knowing when they will die, you'll just find yourself staring at their corpse one moment later..." Levi told her with a stern voice "To put it bluntly, I don't want you joining the Survey Corps because even I cannot guarantee your safety, Hoshino. I don't want you to experience what I've been through..."
The girl looked up at her brother as she held his hand that's on her shoulder "Levi, I want you to acknowledge my strength and capabilities. I want to fight alongside you and be with you outside the walls!"
Levi stared at her with a rather surprised face before pulling her in his arms, hugging her tightly. Hoshino just laughed as she hugged him back "I'm so glad you're okay..."
—Day 9—
It was only a matter of minutes just before the expedition would begin to commence, Hoshino and the other rookies had prepared for the worst possible things to happen beyond the walls, they admit they were scared but it was the job they had chosen. As Hoshino was about to go to her chosen formation which was at the right flank, she came across Levi who had stopped her tracks by standing in front of her.
She had a confused face as she looked up at her brother "Is there something wrong, captain?" She asked, not even daring to call him by the first name basis due to the fact that they're on duty.
Levi let out a 'tch' before placing a hand on top of his sister's head and gently ruffled it "Be careful out there, don't die." He said as he took his hand off and walked away from her "Also don't call me that, it sounded weird." He added before completely leaving.
The poor girl had an embarrassed look on her face, she just did what was rational since she was just a rookie and her brother was a captain. She just couldn't stand what look she would get if she called him by his first name in front of the soldiers. And with that, she left and went to her formation. She looked around and she was with some veteran soldiers, she couldn't see anyone familiar within her reach making her sigh. She then remembered that Shallie was assigned in the right flank also, but she couldn't see her anywhere making her worried.
"Five minutes till we depart! The decoy teams have lured out almost all the titans in the area!" The Garrison soldier shouted from the top of the wall.
Hoshino widened her eyes, getting caught off guard by the sudden announcement "Wait! Sir please wait, my friend hasn't gone into her position yet!" She told the squad leader making him look at the list of the positions and it's true, Shallie's position which was in the right flank near the middle was empty.
The squad leader clicked his tongue before looking at Hoshino "You take her place, I'll send one of my men to take yours. We don't have much time left, go!" He ordered the girl in which she immediately obeyed.
She led her horse towards the said position which was beside Armin, Jean and Reiner. She was relieved to see them but still she was worried for Shallie who was nowhere to be found, she could see that Jean is visibly distraught as well. She then remembered the case they talked about just the other day where people their age would disappear without any traces, and to think that Shallie had blonde hair as well. Hoshino widened her eyes in terror, thinking of the possibility that her friend was the next victim. She looked at Jean and he held the same expression "Jean... Could we be thinking the same thing..?" She whispered under her breath.
And so, the 57th expedition has begun. It was a matter of minutes until they reached full titan territory where they commenced the long range scouting formation "See you guys later! Be careful!" Armin told them before they each went to their scouting positions.
It was just minutes passed and Hoshino already witnessed a herd of titans, attacking the right flank. Blood spattered and limbs were thrown everywhere, she watched helplessly while the squad leader she talked to earlier was eaten right in front of her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she realized something, that could've been her fate if she wasn't transferred towards the middle.
As she saw one particular titan running closer to her, she realized it wasn't a normal titan, she figured it was an aberrant making her widen her eyes in horror as she rummaged through her smoke signals, panicking due to her trauma. She knew that an aberrant killed Isabel and Farlan, since then she never wanted to come across such a creature in fear of re-experiencing her childhood trauma. Seconds of trying to fire the smoke signal, she saw someone fire it near her and it was Captain Ness who trained them these past few days. Hoshino felt relieved at the thought that a reliable person was near her, she believed he could kill that aberrant in one go.
She led her horse away from the titan as she watched the veterans play tag with the aberrant, as they were about to hit its nape, the titan crushed the attacker and then grabbed Captain Ness's Vertical Maneuver. Hoshino watched how he got slammed on the floor in front of her eyes in terror "Captain... Ness..." She stuttered under her breath while watching the titan run towards her with an intent to kill "What is that?... It's too intelligent to be a titan... It knows how the gear works... Am I going to die here?"
———
Green smoke rounds flew up the air, signaling the rear center team to go in the direction it's heading. Levi ordered one of his men to fire the smoke round to signal the others who are nearby. They're at the most protected place in the formation considering that Eren Yeager is in their custody, they need to protect him with their life. As the horses were running, one messenger came to them and delivered a message saying that the right flank had been wiped out.
Levi and his team widened their eyes in both shock and devastation, knowing that Hoshino should be at the right flank "It can't be–... Hoshino... Is she–..." Shiyo stuttered under her breath, trying to think things through and process the information she had gotten, refusing to think that Hoshino is dead. She looked at Levi and his eyes were darkened, he was maintaining his look ahead of them with a blank expression "Captain..." She called her captain in an attempt to consult him but he merely ignored it and continued to give orders.
"Did you hear that, Petra? Go send the message." He ordered with a stern voice. Petra had a devastated look on her face as she followed her captain's orders, Levi on the other hand didn't even try to be in denial about the thought that Hoshino had died, he felt like he had given up everything in life but still continued on forward for the sake of the mission. It couldn't be helped, death was an inevitable thing, but one thing he couldn't understand was why must his sister suffer, he wished it could've been him. But still he never blamed anyone for it except for himself, if he had just stopped her from joining the training corps that day and didn't give in to his sister's desires, then she would have a peaceful life inside the walls, away from the titans.
"I don't think she's dead, captain." Shiyo then said which Levi heard "Hoshino is strong, much more stronger than you think. I believe she managed to survive." She told him with a reassuring and comforting voice, it's true that Hoshino is strong but she still hasn't matched Levi's level. She's skeptical about Hoshino survivin
g a herd of titans but she wanted to believe in her strength "Hoshino, please be alive..."