in the middle of the chaos | jean kirstein x fem!reader

20 | in the middle of putting on the green cloak

''Salute!''

Everyone saluted as they faced a man with a headscarf stroking a horse. Y/n almost wanted to laugh. If Eren was here, he would've ended Jean with horse jokes by now.

''I'm Squad Leader Ness. And this is my favorite horse, Charlotte,'' Ness said as he lovingly looked at his horse. ''She likes chewing on hair, so watch out if you don't want to go bald. Nice to meet you.'' As if on cue, Shallot bit on his headscarf and now the cloth made sense. ''You dolf! Stop, Charlotte! Hey, wait—Someone stop her! Hey!''

They began their Survey Corps training the very next day.

They studied the long distance scouting formation Commander Erwin had devised, rather than doing field training. Well, we surely had some experience already, Y/n grimly thought back to Trost. Strangely enough, Eren's position in the formation wasn't revealed, despite him being one of the most important soldiers currently. Are they trying to hide him?

Each new recruit was given a horse and then they all moved over to an old castle where they would be preparing for their following expedition.

''Oh, wow, you're all here!'' Y/n heard Eren's voice call and she looked ahead, pulling on Jean's wrist as she did so.

He looked at her in question. ''What is it?''

Y/n pointed over to where their friends were crowding up around Eren. ''Look.''

''Then, the only ones who picked hte Military Police Brigade are Jean, Y/n, Annie and Marco?'' Y/n heard him speak as they neared.

Y/n scoffed. ''You really have so little faith in us, huh, Eren?''

Eren's head snapped back at that, his eyes widening. ''Y/n? No way . . . You too?!'' He was looking at Jean now, neither of them really pleased to see each other.

''Marco's dead,'' Jean bluntly said.

''Huh?'' Eren's eyes widened. ''What . . . did you just say?'' The mood dampened. Y/n shifted on her feet, looking away from her friends as she crossed her arms. ''Did you say Marco's dead?''

''It seems like not everyone dies a dramatic death,'' Jean told. him. ''We don't even know how he went down. He died alone, without anyone seeing or knowing.''

''Marco . . .''

Silence fell around the group. Y/n wished they hadn't brought him up, but she knew they had to let Eren know. They'd been comrades, too. He deserved to know.

''Hey, recruits, gather up!'' Ness yelled. ''Your uniforms are here!''

Everyone was distributed their new regiment uniform. Y/n put on the jacket, the Wings of Freedom resting snugly on her back. She straightened her jacket and looked at Jean, who was putting his on as well. ''I mean, at least we got the coolest uniforms, right?'' She had to convince herself joining the Survey Corps wouldn't be that bad somehow.

Jean snorted. ''Yeah . . . those girly unicorns have got nothing . . . on this.'' He seemed to be trying to do the same thing.

Y/n picked up her green cloak and looked at the back for a moment. Dad must've worn one of these, too. She smiled bitterly as she threw it over her shoulders, tying it in the front so it wouldn't fly away with the wind.

I'm officially a member of the Survey Corps. Who would've fucking thought?

———

''You guys are really . . .''

''Yes, we'll be participating in the expedition as well,'' Mikasa confirmed Eren's thoughts.