The Universe In Her Eyes • Levi Ackerman

4 • beginner's luck

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The next day came quickly, and Eva was more than ready. It was her chance to prove herself. Making a good impression that day was vital, and she knew it perfectly well. Not only in front of Commander Sadies, but also in front of the leadership of the three branches of the military. Well, particularly the Survey Corps — she was not interested in the Garrison, let alone the Military Police.

Commander Erwin Smith, Section Commander Hange Zoe and Lance Corporal Levi —Eren's idol— where there to assess their potential, so this was their first step towards potentially wearing the Wings of Freedom one day.

"We'll begin by determining your aptitude!" Sadies shouted at the recruits. "If you can't do this, you're not even fit to be bait! You'll be sent off to the fields!"

The recruits tried the exercise with different degrees of success. Mikasa barely moved, and Eva herself —having actually tried the 3DMG before— was able to hang completely steady, pleasantly surprising Commander Sadies and the other Officers.

Eren on the other hand... well, he was struggling.

"What are you doing, Eren Jaeger?!" Sadies screamed at his face. "Straighten yourself up!"

His face was that of pure embarrassment and shock. He was just so bad. Mikasa and Armin tried to shout encouraging words as well as some tips, but it all seemed to go to waste. He was not even able to stand for a second.

Instead of giving him tips, Eva just observed the situation. Eren was not physically unable —he was definitely a lot stronger than Armin, who was actually able to balance himself for a decent amount of time. Hence it did not make sense that Eren couldn't.

There has to be something else... And then it clicked.

She positioned herself in front of the angry Commander and her adoptive brother, who were being carefully observed by the Survey Corps leadership.

"Permission to speak, sir!" she demanded, giving Commander Sadies her best salute and stoic expression.

"Granted, Cadet Jaeger."

"His equipment is faulty, sir!" Eva declared, causing the expressions of the people in the vicinity to change, suddenly curious about the situation developing.

Eren's factions relaxed a bit, and so did Armin and Mikasa's. The instructor was just shocked and the certainty of her tone caught the attention of the three scouts around them.

"Faulty?" Sadies questioned, "explain yourself, Cadet!"

"Yes, sir!" Eva started, "the way his belt is pulling him differs from the way other belts pull other Cadets, sir!"

She gestured at his brother's equipment, "the distribution of forces is off, thus making it nearly impossible for him to stand, sir. If my calculations are correct, he would need to exert a force approximately five times stronger than usual in order to counterbalance the dynamics of the faulty belt, sir."

"I am afraid I don't follow, Cadet" said Sadies.

"If you have a piece of paper, I can draw it for you, sir" Eva offered. "It is simple physics, really."

"Can I marry her!?" Eva's keen ears heard Hange Zoe whisper to her comrades.

"Although it might be faster if we simply exchange belts, sir" she started taking off her equipment, "I am certain he will be able to balance himself now, sir."

They quickly exchanged belts, with Eva pointing out the problem in Eren's belt to Sadies, who was really surprised at her ability to detect it.

Eren was finally able to balance himself and the grin on Eva's face was priceless.