Year 850
—Continuation of Day 9—
-flashback-
Hoshino led her horse away from the titan she thought to be an aberrant 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 She whispered over and over again while watching the titan run towards her "What is that?... It's too intelligent to be a titan... It knows how the gear works... Am I going to die here?"
"Hoshino! Get out of there!" Armin who was nearby then shouted which Hoshino heard that made her feel a snap in her mind that led her to act quick and dodge the titan that was coming with her horse.
She rode her horse beside Armin as they got chased by the titan, it was just a matter of seconds when it got to them, attacking their horses that led them to fall off to the ground. The intelligent titan looked at them for a good few seconds before it continued running, leaving Hoshino and Armin in a confused state "What was that... It confirmed our faces..?" Armin asked on the verge of panicking.
Hoshino just watched the titan as it ran away from them before Reiner came and consulted both of them, she rode with Armin in one horse as they followed the titan a good few meters away from it. Jean also appeared behind them and delivered a message that the right flank had been wiped out, he was relieved to see Hoshino and Armin who was near the right flank. As they were following the titan, they talked about the possibilities of a person inside it and controlling it just like Eren, and so they formed a plan to distract it for a while to buy time for the formation to withdraw, also adding the possibility that they could capture the person inside with the use of Hoshino's skill.
Hoshino had snapped out of it and now she's prepared to fight, she agreed almost immediately at Jean's idea, shocking the three "We could slice its eyes and cut a few joints to slow it down..." She said sternly as she drew out her blades.
Jean chuckled, visibly scared at his own plan but despite the fear he's feeling, he was able to fight it and commence his plan "That's what I like to hear."
They put on their hoods and surrounded the titan using their Vertical Maneuver, Hoshino on the other hand was hidden in a tree, carefully watching the scene play out while waiting for a chance to target the titan's nape. Seconds have passed and she couldn't seem to have a chance to enter the fight, not until Armin fell to the ground and hit his head which alerted Hoshino making her immediately charge in between the fight with her hood on while playing tag with the titan. As she was about to shoot her Vertical Maneuver, the titan immediately caught it which led Hoshino to hang on the titan's hand by the hook. As the titan confirmed her face, it gently placed her down on the ground making her confused on why it was so gentle towards her.
She stared at the titan in shock while reiner suddenly came in and charged at it, she immediately acted fast and grabbed Armin by the waist and carried him towards where Jean is. They watched in terror as the titan grabbed Reiner in its hand and seemingly crushed him. As Hoshino saw the scene unfold, she immediately snapped, shouting vengeful words at the titan as she charged in at full speed while aiming for its nape "You bitch! What the fuck did you just do?!" She shouted before delivering a blow on its nape, she thought she had it until she felt like she hit a solid thing making her blades shatter in front of her with some of the shattered pieces cutting through her hands and cheek.
Then a second later, Reiner suddenly emerged from the titan's hand, quickly carrying Hoshino and fleeing away from it. Oddly enough, the titan started running the other way giving the four a sigh of relief. They all sat under the tree while Reiner tended Armin's and Hoshino's injuries, Jean on the other hand tried to call on his horse that ran away. Minutes have passed and they decided to shoot a smoke round for emergencies and thankfully, Christa who saw the signal came in with two other horses. They all rode the horses, joining in with Christa's formation, Hoshino riding at the back of Jean's horse.
Hoshino's mind still can't get over the fact that Shallie is missing and could be a possible victim of the disappearances, this has made her quiet during the ride while thinking about the possible reasons why she could be missing. She then remembered that Jean probably had the same thought making her look at him in front of her who was leading his horse "Jean..." She called him, she figured he might have a clue what happened to her friend considering they are close friends. Jean promptly hummed in response "Why is Shallie not here?... Do you have any idea what happened to her?"
Jean had a short pause before answering the girl "I don't know..." He said in a concerned tone "She usually comes and wakes us all up every morning but today she didn't, she wasn't in her room at all..."
That led Hoshino to realize something "Now that you mentioned it... I just thought I woke up earlier than her..." She told him, both starting to worry about their friend "Jean, do you think that–... It could be possible that she's–"
"No..." Jean said almost immediately, cutting the girl's sentence off. Hoshino stared in surprise "She's strong, really strong. As she told me last time, if she can handle a few titans, then she's able to protect herself from mere humans." The boy stated, not wanting to give in to his negative thoughts. He believes that Shallie wouldn't let herself get abducted just like that, but if anything bad ever did happen to her, he's sure he will punish the person behind those disappearances.
Minutes have passed since they started following their commanders directions and it had led them to the Forest of Big Trees. Almost all soldiers were confused and pretty much terrified of what the commander was planning but they didn't have any choice but to merely abide by the commands of the Survey Corps Commander. The rookies stood standby on the branches of the big trees for minutes, they could hear things happening deep within the forest in which led them more confused but didn't have any intention on taking part of whatever is happening, except for one person...
Hoshino was with Bertholdt as they flew through the big trees, they had received the retreat signal so they started moving towards Calaness District by their Vertical Maneuver, but not until they suddenly heard a titan scream coming from deep inside the forest. Bertholdt immediately stopped, followed by Hoshino and the others. They didn't know what was going on inside the forest but Hoshino had been itching to go there, knowing that his brother had entered the forest. If she wanted to then she could've done it from the start but due to the orders, she wasn't able to. They stood on a branch, looking in the direction where they heard the scream, Hoshino clicked her tongue as she looked around for their squad leader and he was nowhere to be found. There she took the chance to jump down from the branch and flew towards the scream.
Bertholdt widened his eyes, surprised by his girlfriend's reckless actions "Hoshino!" He shouted at her, but she didn't seem to hear him. He didn't want her to go near that danger and so he went and jumped down as he flew towards her at high speed, he then eventually caught up to her tackling her to a branch of a tree. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, protecting her from scratches as they stumbled down on the wood.
Hoshino opened her eyes to see Bertholdt on top of her with teary eyes, her eyes widened in surprise as they sat up in front of each other "Bertholdt, what's wrong..?" She asked him as she scooted closer, wiping off the tears from his eyes with her thumb. Seeing her boyfriend tear up in front of her broke her heart considering that she didn't know the reason.
Bertholdt just sat there with a visible guilty yet sad look, he looked at Hoshino's hands and face, seeing her wounds that got cut just by fighting the female titan made him feel bad about both her and himself. He didn't want her to get hurt but he didn't want to let go of her either, he felt his conscience swallow him whole as he completely broke down, crying on his girlfriend's shoulder "I'm– I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Please forgive me... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." He whispered over and over again which his girlfriend heard.
She didn't understand why he was apologising but one thing she understood was he needed comfort, and so she kissed his forehead and wrapped her arms around him "I don't know why you're apologising but it'll be okay, Bertholdt. Whatever you're apologising for, I will always forgive you." She told him with a gentle voice while he creased his hair.
"No... I don't think I will ever be forgiven by anyone..." The boy cried, refusing to believe Hoshino's words.
"But I will... Whatever it is, I just know that I will forgive you." She then said as she looked him in the eyes genuinely, this helped Bertholdt calm down a bit before they hugged, holding each other in their arms "I hate seeing you cry..."
Bertholdt on the other hand had his face buried on her shoulders as he sorted things out in his mind, he then recalled what his girlfriend told him earlier about forgiving him no matter what. Knowing his own actions, he knew that even god wouldn't forgive him for what he did "Hoshino... How are you sure that you would forgive me even if I did something horrible?..." He asked his girlfriend as he leaned back from the hug and looked at her in the eyes.
Hoshino had a gentle smile on her face "Because I know that you wouldn't do something horrible without a reason... I believe in the kindness within you, I love you after all." She told him that surprised Bertholdt.
It was from that moment that he was sure that he would marry her and give her happiness, she was his life and he's sure that she felt the same. By hearing what she said, Bertholdt leaned in and kissed her so suddenly that led Hoshino in a shocked state. She had her eyes widened while Bertholdt's hand was on her chin and the other was on her waist, there she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back passionately, deepening their kiss.
They stayed that way for a good few seconds before finally pulling away with blushes appearing on both of their cheeks except Bertholdt was blushing even harder "I love you, Hoshino... I really do. I don't want you going near any danger, so please don't go." He pleaded with her but Hoshino's mind has already been made up.
"Don't worry, Bertholdt. You know that I'm strong, I promise I will come back alive and well. So please, trust me." That was her last words to him before she went ahead and left Bertholdt, flying at maximum speed towards the center of the forest leaving Bertholdt no choice but to let her go.
As Hoshino confirmed that her boyfriend is no longer chasing her, she slowed down her pace and looked around the place, there she saw a corpse on the bottom of the tree. She saw the color of the hair making her eyes widen in terror, thinking that it was Shiyo. She let herself fall down to have a closer look and it wasn't her, it was Petra, one of her brother's soldiers. Knowing that it wasn't Shiyo didn't change the fact that someone she knew had died, it made her realize something so she looked around and her guess was right, she witnessed the dead bodies of every squad member under Levi's command, but something reassuring was the fact that she didn't see Shiyo's and Levi's corpse, that would mean that they're still alive
She had a determined look on her face as she kept on moving forward until she saw the female titan in sight with three people flying around it, she looked closer and it was Shiyo, Mikasa and Levi, seeing them fine brought her great relief. She observed the fight for a moment and it looked like they did the job, not until Mikasa was about to get caught in the titan's hand when Shiyo went in and pushed her out of the way. This scene alerted Hoshino making her fly at them at full spee
d, slicing the titan's fingers on time.
—end of flashback—