One week had already passed since the induction of the 104th recruits into the Survey Corps. For the past week, continuous training and preparations had been made to gear them for the 57th expedition.
"How's training with the kids, Dita?" Isanna asked befor she brought a glass of water to her lips and took a gulp. They were currently in the mess hall for their breakfast and saw the man passing by the table, so she thought she should ask how the new recruits had been faring.
Dita Ness, the senior soldier responsible for teaching the new recruits their long-distance scouting formation, stopped in his tracks to face the woman as he saluted at her. "They've been doing fine, Sergeant." His lips quirked into a smile. ".. I have a feeling they'll do well in the expedition. It's a good thing we got most of their top ten this year."
Humming, she brought the glass down on the surface of the table. It was a surprise that they managed to reel in majority of their top ten, especially since most of them usually joined the MP. Isanna never got to skim through their profiles yet, partly because she wanted to get acquainted with them personally instead of reading a bunch of files. Also, even though it was morbid of her to think so, she didn't want to personally get to know them before the expedition only to feel disheartened if some of them wouldn't return.
"That's certainly impressive," she muttered and smiled at him, "keep up the good work."
As the soldier saluted at her once more before heading away, Hanji, who had been surprisingly quiet this whole time, turned to Isanna. "Hey, you didn't forget about the promise you made to me, right?"
Isanna raised a brow. "What promise?"
"You told me we were going to hold a funeral for Sawney and Bean."
Pressing her lips together, Isanna mentally sighed. She hoped she had forgotten about that. Their expedition was right around the corner, and she wasn't too keen on the prospect of receiving an earful from the Commander. "I don't think I promised you, but—"
"Come on," Hanji whined and clung to her arm, vigorously shaking her back and forth, "you promised. Don't go back on your word, Isa!"
The dizziness slowly got to her, so Isanna had to pry her off her arm. "Okay, okay! I never said I wouldn't do it.. I just—"
"Yes!" Hanji cut her off by smothering her with a tight hug, rubbing her cheeks against hers, "you're the best, Isa! Forget about Erwin and just marry me!"
Flustered, Isanna clamped her hand over her mouth and warily glanced around just to see the soldiers from the other tables glancing at their direction, before returning to their breakfast. She shot her a mild glare. "Why did you have to mention that guy?"
"What?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nobody's even surprised anymore. Watch this." She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Hey everybody! Isa has a crush on Erwin! See? They don't care."
"Hanji!" An involuntary blush crept on her cheeks as she gave her friend an incredulous look of betrayal. "What the fu—why would you—" She bit her own tongue and desperately looked around the mess hall in case the man in question was in the area. Luckily, Erwin rarely ate in the mess hall. Heck, he rarely even ate.
But true to Hanji's words, nobody seemed to mind. They were either too preoccupied with small conversations, or were busy with their food.
Isanna clicked her tongue and glared at her. "You're such an embarrassment."
"Oh but you love me," Hanji cooed with a wink.
Rolling her eyes, she snagged the loaf of bread on Hanji's plate and shoved it into the brunette's mouth, choking her. "Fine—choke on my love."
As the two continued to playfully struggled for a bit, they were interrupted when another figure sat down in front of their table. "Stop flirting so early in the morning," Mike commented as he seated himself in front of them.
Hanji finally managed to pluck the bread out of her mouth, recovering from the visible gag she had made before she looked at him. "You're just jealous you don't have anyone to flirt with."
Her comment was so unexpected Isanna couldn't help but laugh. "Mike, just say the word and we'll include you." After sharing a knowing grin with Hanji, they puckered their lips and began making kissing sounds together.
Mike shook his head at them and decided to focus on his breakfast.
•
The morning sky was filled with white puffy clouds that day, and the sun was fortunately not that jarring on their skin, which made the new recruits' training much easier to endure. They were currently out on the field, standing in a formation while listening to team leader Dita Ness' instructions who was standing in front of a wooden board where a large parchment of paper of the long-distance scouting formation had been drawn.
Behind the cadets, Isanna was leaning against the fence that separated the training field from the horse-back riding area. As she stared at the new recruits, Erwin's words of warning came echoing inside her head. While they had already discussed about the possibility of a spy within their ranks, he inferred that it was mostly likely among the new recruits.
There were only a total of twenty-one cadets, so hopefully, they wouldn't have to go through all the trouble of pinpointing their enemy. Or enemies.
A howling wind whistled by, tousling her hair and Isanna had to bring up a hand to keep her strands in place. She lightly frowned when she realized she forgot her hair tie in her room. Running down a hand through her hair, she absentmindedly began twirling the ends with her finger, the tips stopping just below her shoulder.
It was the first time she had ever cut her hair that short; for a long time, she always trimmed it into a certain length and only tied it up into a neat ponytail during expeditions, simply because she remembered Erwin had complimented her long dark hair back then when they were kids. She was a simp like that. Back then, anyway, before things between them went south. Now, she was proud to say that she had finally graduated from the Erwin Simps club.
She liked to refer it as her character development.
"Um, Sergeant Major."
A feminine voice brought her out of her thoughts, and when Isanna lifted her eyes to look at the owner of the voice, she was mildly surprised to come face to face with Mikasa, who respectfully saluted at her first.
She nodded and motioned for her to lower her salute. "You need something?"
Mikasa thought it over first before she parted her lips. "Yes, actually, may I ask where Eren is being held?"
Isanna's thoughts went over to Levi. After the court trial a little over last week, he had taken his squad together to an abandoned castle where they were to look after Eren until the scheduled expedition. "He's with Captain Levi as of the moment. Why?"
Her keen eyes didn't fail to notice the disappointment in Mikasa's eyes. "I see. I was just.. asking for his whereabouts. Thank you for telling me, Sergeant." She turned away and was about to head back to their training when Isanna stopped her.
"Mikasa, if I recall correctly, you've been with Eren ever since you were both nine, right?"
The younger soldier slowly returned her attention back on her and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
At her answer, Isanna lowly hummed, a small smile coming its way onto her own lips as she stared at her. No wonder she felt a funny connection with this girl. Looking at her, Isanna recalled the scene back at the military tribunal and was reminded of her younger self.
"I understand your sentiments, but always remember to keep your head cool and not lose your sense of judgement," she paused and lightly chuckled, "Eren is a lucky man."
Taken aback at her remark, Mikasa could feel her face heating up and averted her gaze. She firmly pressed her lips together in a tight line and silently nodded at her advice.
At the bashful reaction she received, Isanna's smile went deeper as she stepped forward and patted her by the shoulder, telling the younger soldier to 'take it easy' referring to their training, before she walked away with a casual wave of her hand.
As Mikasa trailed a stare on her figure as she walked farther away, she wondered where the rumors of the 'feared war goddess' had come from, because based on the interaction they had just shared, Isanna seemed to be far from the intimidating image the rumors painted her out to be.
•
Later that evening, the recruits were enjoying their dinner in the mess hall as small conversations from each table bounced across the room that was lit by candle lamps.
"Where do you think Eren is?" a blond teenager with a large build asked as he brought a spoonful of soup to his lips.
Armin, who was sitting across him, thought about the final decision of the court trial back then. "Um, if I remember correctly, he's under Captain Levi's supervision."
"Will we get to see him before the expedition?"
"I'm not sure.."
Another teenager with light ash-brown hair grumbled. "Who cares about that suicidal blockhead?" Ever since they had heard that his fellow cadet Eren had tried to kill Mikasa in titan form back at Trost, he had been having doubts about Eren's abilities. To think they were set to head out on an expedition just a month after joining the Survey Corps and were expected to risk their lives for a boy who couldn't even control his own powers.
"Jean, in case you forgot, this 'suicidal blockhead' is apparently humanity's new hope," this time, a bald-shaved teenager who went by the name Connie Springer, piped up while he pointed his spoon at his direction.
Jean Kirschtein, who had finished top sixth in the 104th recruits, clicked his tongue. "'Humanity's new hope' my ass. If it weren't for Mikasa and his titan powers, that jackass would've long been a goner."
"Just say you're jealous and go," the blond with the muscly build—Reiner Braun—said with a smirk.
Snapping an irritated look at him, Jean parted his lips and was about to retort when Armin released a small sound that could very well be identified as a squeak.
"Sergeant Major!"
All heads on the table whipped to where he was staring at and saw the said woman enter the mess hall; since their table was located near the door, they were the first ones to notice her. Quickly getting up from their seats, they all turned to her and promptly saluted.
Isanna swept a glance at the faces on the table and realized that these were all Armin and Mikasa (and Eren's) friends. Her eyes continued on until it landed on a certain brunette who had her fist on her chest—she would've looked serious. If you disregarded the loaf of bread stuffed in her mouth, with some crumbs around her lips.
Connie noticed and quickly elbowed her friend with a panicked whisper, "Sasha, what the hell?"
The brunette, Sasha Braus, gave him a questioning glance as she did not realize the rudeness in her actions.
Inwardly praying, Connie returned a nervous look at Isanna and quietly gulped. He recognized the woman before them as the second-in-command of the Scouts, working directly with the Commander himself. Rumors said she was even fiercer than their head instructor, which was saying something.
He really did not want to go through a whole lap around the headquarters just because of Sasha's inattentiveness, especially since they had just finished a whole day of tiresome training out in the sunny field.
But to his surprise, Isanna only chuckled.
"How's the food, cadets?"
The new recruits were all taken aback at the casual tone and the smile dancing on her features, except for Sasha, who just took the bread from her mouth so that she could answer.
"It's delicious, ma'am!"
Isanna's grin widened as she lifted a hand and casually waved their salute away. "That's good to hear. Carry on with your dinner."
The teens slowly lowered their fists and eased back into their seats, shooting glances at each other while some of them watched her pad towards the officers' tables.
"That's the Sergeant Major?" Jean muttered to no one in particular as he directed one last glance at her before he looked at his friends, who were all equally as confused as he was. "thought she would be.. scarier."
"Tell me about it," said Connie with a defeated sigh, "I thought my soul was going to leave my body." She didn't seem to mind Sasha's tactlessness, which had come as a surprise to him.
Meanwhile, Reiner and Bertholdt—the latter being one of the more silent friends and had just been quietly eating his dinner away at the side—exchanged silent glances. They were both thinking the same thing; the woman was the same soldier who had helped them back then five years ago. They decided to stash this information away at the back of their minds.
"Well," Reiner began, a lazy grin on his lips as he looked at his friends on the table, "the rumors were right about her being pretty. How old do you think she is?"
A girl with blonde hair and large crystal-blue eyes disapprovingly frowned at him. "That's not a nice question, Reiner."
He apologetically chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry. She just looks really young. I was just curious."
This time, a tall dark-haired girl with freckles on her cheeks crinkled her nose at the blond in apparent disgust. "Never thought you were into older women. The lady's probably old enough to be your mom."
Following her rather blunt comment, everyone seating at their table wore horrified expressions while their jaws hung wide.
"Ymir!" Krista Lenz, the petite blonde girl, softly slapped her friend by the shoulder while some of the cadets nervously looked over their shoulder in case anyone else heard Ymir's comment. The last thing they wanted was to get dragged into a punishment because of her.
After recovering from the shock, Jean turned to Armin. "You guys met her back then, right? Is she really like what the rumors say?"
Armin thought about the time he together with Mikasa had become acquainted with her during the court trial. He decided to keep the part about his first encounter with Isanna to himself, since she hadn't made any signs about bringing the memory up with him; probably because the circumstances when they first met was unpleasant to talk about. "We didn't talk much.. but she seems to be a very competent soldier."
"So.. are the rumors about her being the Commander's wife true?"
The silence dropped on their table after Connie's question.
They were no strangers to certain rumors concerning famous figures in the Survey Corps. While they had already heard about Captain Levi's monstrous strength, there were also a few gossips running around about the famous Commander and his second-in-command.
Mikasa, who had been silently eating her dinner at the side of the table and minding her business, tried to recall about anything that could have hinted to a more intimate relationship, but the more she thought about it, the more the rumors seemed laughable. Isanna and the Commander were so professional to each other for them to be in a deeper relationship.
"Guys, it's rude to talk about such private matters." Krista lightly frowned with a slight blush on her cheeks.
Ymir nodded together with her statement. "Yeah. Everybody should just listen to Krista."
The rest of the cadets deadpanned at her, but nonetheless dropped the subject. As small conversations continued amongst them, they were interrupted by a jovial voice ringing from beside their table.
"Good evening, 104th cadets!" Everybody turned to the new figure. "I'm Section Commander Hanji Zoe. And I'm here to invite you all to an occasion that is of utmost importance."
Her announcement was so sudden everybody had to spend the first few seconds staring at her silence. Armin noticed Isanna was a few steps behind Hanji, who was quietly groaning while palming her face.
Hanji continued. "I'm sure you've all heard of the killing of the two titans the Scouts have captured after the Trost incident?"
When nobody answered, Armin decided to take one for the team. "Yes, we have, Hanji-san."
"Excellent! Sergeant Major Isanna and I—"
"Just you," Isanna muttered, but was ignored by Hanji.
"Are holding a funeral for them! So I was hoping you'd all join us."
Her offer of invitation sounded so weird to the young cadets' ears that they looked at her funnily. As if she just grew another head.
Isanna sighed and finally stepped, placing a hand on Hanji's shoulder while she gave the recruits an apologetic look. "So there you have it. The.. 'funeral'.. will be held at where Eren's been staying. You're all friends with him, right?" She glanced at Mikasa, whose eyes literally lit up. "So you'll get to see him there."
"That's right! Now, as for the dress code—"
Hanji couldn't finish her sentence since Isanna had briskly turned around and dragged her away back to their table at the far end of the mess hall. The cadets could hear few bits of their argument like "I wasn't done yet!" and "Don't scare the kids away."
Once the two superiors were away, the new recruits all shared confusing looks.
The next day, the new recruits were led to the ruined castles where squad Levi together with Eren had been staying for a while now. They had been informed that they were to continue their training and preparations there, but unbeknownst to the cadets, it was also a way for the veteran Scouts to focus more on the true objectives without the risk of any leakage of information.
That same night, the funeral for Sawney and Bean was held, and the new recruits could say with certainty that it was the most weird ceremony they had ever had the chance to witness.
Apparently, the veterans had refused Hanji's invitation, but since the new cadets had no guts to reject a superior's offer, they had to stand there in the field in front of a campfire while listening to Hanji's tear-jerking eulogy.
The only veterans who had been present at the scene were Moblit, Isanna, Mike, and even Levi—all who had been forcefully dragged and were visibly suffering from a severe second-hand embarrassment.
When the 'ceremony' was finally over and they were permitted to retire to their dorms, the new recruits could only think about one thing:
The Survey Corps is weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: a some sort of filler chapter away from the drama and tension. bc we all need a break lmao