Blood and Blades | Bertholdt x OC

#02. attraction

Year 845

—Continuation of Day 2—

Beside her was Eren who was determined to make it to that list, he was even more inspired now that he heard those words from a Survey Corps soldier. Shallie on the other hand was chatting with Armin, she wasn't listening to the commotion in front at all, she gave no interest in it and kept talking with Armin about the outside world. She seemed to know what he was interested in.

The balance test then began and Hoshino kept close with Shiyo who was recording everything she noticed with the trainees as the younger one waited for her turn.

Shiyo walked around with Hoshino following her and took notice of the black haired girl who was balancing steadily with ease, they watched her in surprise "Look at that girl, she's steady as hell. What's her name?"

"I think it was Mikasa Ackerman. She doesn't talk much and she's pretty much just clinging to Eren most of the time." Hoshino told her as they moved on to the following trainees.

Jean Kirschstein, Connie Springer, Sasha Blaus, Reiner Braun, Armin Arlert, and Annie Leonhart all had positive reviews from Shiyo. Now they went over to the tall guy with black hair who's steadily swinging. Hoshino recognized him as Bertholdt Hoover, he was the guy she was besides with during the rite of passage.

Bertholdt had noticed the two ladies observing him that led him to get distracted and almost swung off balance that earned a chuckle from the two ladies "You're doing good!" Shiyo exclaimed at him and he promptly smiled before turning his look at Hoshino who trailed off with the soldier.

Next was the girl from yesterday, Shallie Elz. She was steadily balancing without even moving, oddly enough she had a rather shocked expression on her face making Shiyo and Hoshino look closer at her and it turns out she had zoned out in the middle of balancing.

The black haired girl walked up to her and lightly tapped her in the shoulder to not ruin her balance "Shallie?" She called her.

Her shocked expression quickly turned into a confused face as she went back to reality, she looked around confirming where she was before turning her gaze back to Hoshino, she gave her a smile "Oh, Hoshino. Didn't see you coming. Sorry I zoned out a little."

Hoshino smiled back, seeing her okay "How's your balance?"

"Pretty great!" She confidently said as she swings around like a kid.

Shiyo watched the girl with impress, Shallie was able to balance herself even in the state of zoning out "Even when she was out of it, she was still steady as a rock." She told Hoshino as the younger walked towards her.

A whistle was then heard throughout the field, insinuating for the next group of trainees to test their balance. Hoshino was with that group so she hurriedly went to her place which was the middle one where Bertholdt was.

She had people watching her and they were surprised she was able to steadily balance with ease considering her small size. The truth was, she's been practicing Vertical Maneuver with Shiyo at the Scout Regiment field. Even then, she was surprisingly steady in her first time of trying the gear out.

Amongst the surprised faces in front of her, there was one guy she noticed who was standing out in the crowd due to his tall size. It was Bertholdt and he was staring at Hoshino with both impress and surprise, she took notice of this and smiled at him. That caught him off guard, shyly smiling back at her.

Shiyo smiled knowing full well that Hoshino would be able to pull it off. She then went ahead to the next trainee which was completely upside down, unable to balance himself.