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【𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄】
*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*
(cw: nsfw-ish scenes towards the end. Will be marked with a jumpcut)
OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, THE WEATHER BECAME WARMER as June rolled around. It had been a little over two and a half months since Himari and Levi had helped empty the Underground and give second chances to the children and families that had once occupied the sunken city. It had taken many, many weeks of time and patience for the kids to become settled at the orphanage. Those who had come from Trost and Stohess had a bit of an easier time adapting - everything was still new to the kids from the Underground.
Gisela, the young girl in the blue dress whom Himari had saved during the mission to capture Annie in Stohess, had been amongst the group who had come to the orphanage where the scouts were temporarily residing under Historia's orders. She'd practically cried Himari's name the first time she'd seen her and Himari didn't need to blink to recognise the young girl almost immediately. She'd crouched down and smiled brightly as the blonde girl sprinted towards her, nearly sending Himari tumbling backwards when she'd thrown herself at the older girl.
"I still have your jacket! I promised you I'd give it back to you one day!" Gisela had said excitedly once she had pulled away from the hug. Himari had laughed and ruffled her blonde hair affectionately, smiling down at her.
"Keep it, kiddo." She had said. If it was possible, Gisela's smile had grown even wider. Himari had grinned right up until Gisela had spoken next.
"When I grow up, I wanna join the Scouts and be just like you!" Then, her heart had sunk in her chest, retreating deep within her ribcage. This kind of a life came easy to her because she was used to the death, destruction and danger of everyday life that came with being part of the scouts. Most children who said they wanted to join the Scouts were ones who didn't realise how dangerous it was and Himari didn't want to see Gisela, of all children, experience the same things that she had.
Instead, Himari had only smiled softly and patted her on the shoulder.
"Think on your future a little bit longer, kiddo. You could do so much better than the Survey Corps."
There were much more changes happening other than just those in the Underground, however. Each member of the Military Police had a thorough background check ran on them, many of them being arrested and purged from the military for treason. While they had been staying at the orphanage for the first half of their break from titan-killing, they took up residence at the Stohess Military Headquarters during the second half.
Whenever Himari wasn't at the orphanage during the day, however, she was helping Eren, along with Hange and the rest of the members of the Survey Corps, conduct hardening experiments. It had taken weeks upon weeks of leaving Eren completely and utterly exhausted, barely able to keep his eyes open during the days he had off, for Hange to finally create a titan-killing machine that actually worked.
