This is my first Attack on titan fanfic, so it's a work in progress that will frequently be edited and scenes added into the story in random places in previously added chapters, like this one, which I am adding on to. ^-^

Eren looked in the direction everyone in the silent meal house did. It had gotten quiet so quickly, you'd think they had seen a ghost. It wasn't a ghost though, but it even had Mikasa a bit surprised. A new student stood beside a slightly uneasy lower unit instructor. Jean had stopped attempting to pick a fight with Eren, and was now staring confused at the woman. She was about Jean's and Marco's age in appearance, but her eyes held that same coldness that everyone who had seen a titan and had seen what they did, held.

She had dark eyes and long hair, something no one was supposed to have. She wore the same outfit as them, but she carried herself as if she knew something they didn't, as if she were better. She crossed her arms over her chest. "So some of them also want to be in my brother's regiment?" she asked and the man nodded. Armin seemed extremely interested in her. "I see... any of them going to truly join, do you think?" she asked and he nodded. He pointed towards Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.

"And who do you believe is going to join the military police?" she asked and before he could speak Jean snorted. "Why are you so interested in who is going where?" he asked and she sighed. "I see. So you are aiming for military police, am I right?" she asked and he nodded. "For what reason? So you can be safe? So you can hide? So you can be protected. The military police are pathetic. Even my older brother thinks so." She said and Jean glared at her. "And what makes you or your brother so special that you can call someone pathetic?" he snapped.

"My name... is Evelyn Rivaille, and my choice of joining the scout regiment is more important to humanity then the military police will ever be." She said and turned to the instructor who jumped lightly."Thank you, that will be all." She said and the shaky lower unit instructor bowed and left. "How will you ever be more important than an entire regiment!?" he snapped and she smirked. "As I said, I am Evelyn. The younger sister of Captain Levi. Or have you not heard of him?" she asked and the silence resumed.

"It doesn't matter who your brother is, if you aren't good you won't make it, and your life is never more important than another's!" Eren snapped and she looked at him oddly. "What do you know of my brother? Nothing, so what worth do your words have?" she snapped and Mikasa stood. "You really shouldn't be like Jean. Getting angry and taking out your emotions on others just because they try to help you isn't doing anyone any good. So maybe if you would try making friends instead of treating everyone badly, you would feel better and have less reason to do so." Mikasa said without even looking up from where she was cleaning up her tray and Eve looked at her in a bit of surprise.

"I would be glad to be your friend... you seem like you need some, so if I could be a starting point it would make me glad as well." Armin said and held a hand out to her. Evelyn stared at the quiet blonde for a minute before her shoulders slumped slightly and she turned on her heel and walked out the door. "Did I say something wrong?" Armin asked with a saddened look. Marco shook his head with a small smile. "No, no... she's most likely putting up a front. I believe in all actuality she's scared." He said and Armin nodded, but he still wanted to go after her.

Jean had stood and followed her out, surprising the rest of the group. Armin, Mikasa, and Eren walked out soon after, deciding to head towards their respective bunks. They all went to their own bunks and went to bed. They woke up the next morning only to be hurried into formation. This was something they were going to get used to for the next three years, whether they liked it or not. Shadish glared at the recruits as they stood in formation.

His eyes landed on Evelyn and he blinked once then sneered at her. "And who the hell are you?! You didn't come here with the rest of the group." He snapped and she only gave him a blank look. "Evelyn Rivaille." She said and a wicked flicker flashed through his eyes. "I figured as much." He said and she blinked in slight surprise. "You're not your brother... so... I'm going to make your life hell until you can prove to me that you are worthy of the Rivaille name." he said and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Ano... sensei... isn't that kind of unprofessional? Treating someone differently just because they are related to someone?" a red haired kid in the back asked and Shadish was about to lecture him on how it was none of his business when Evelyn began laughing. Apparently the fact he had spoken in her defense was hilarious to her. "Thank you, kid. But if he thinks he can break me by being unprofessional... he is wrong. I admire your efforts in standing up for others... but if he is trying to break me down, he will only build me up." She said and flashed him a brilliant smile. The kid was awestruck and she laughed lightly and flashed a smirk at Shadish.

"As they say, what doesn't kill me; can only make me stronger." She said with a challenging glimmer in her eyes. Shadish looked a bit shocked to say in the least, but nodded and folded his arms behind his back and continued his stroll from one side of brigade to the other. "Alright, cadets, starting today you will be going to daily classes, then you will be getting to know each other so we instructors can figure out what squad placement is best for you. Now, don't go being idiots and picking fights like the stupid children you are." He snapped and he took one last look at the brigade before he sighed and waved them off.

"Dismissed, get to the classroom before I decide to take precautionary measures to cut down on the idiots I have to deal with." He said and they saluted him then quickly vanished from sight. Marco made his way into the classroom and he saw her sitting in the second row on the very inside of the row, her feet propped on the back of the chair in front of her. She appeared to be bored out of her mind and class hadn't even started yet.

He walked up to her and she looked at him. "Umm... you wouldn't mind if we sat by you... would you?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck slightly nervously; and she blinked in surprise. "Uh... no... I guess it would be ok..." she said and dropped her legs back under the table. Marco blinked in surprise because she had actually said yes; he had been fully prepared for her to say no. he quickly sat down beside her, before she decided to change her mind.

"So... uh... Evelyn right?" he asked and she nodded, not saying anything else. He frowned and scratched his cheek. "Umm... You're very pretty." He said and Jean choked on his laughter from beside him. "Smooth." He laughed and Evelyn blinked a few times rapidly. "Um... thank you..." she said softly, then leaned back and stretched; swatting Jean in the head as she did so. He glared at her and was about to say something rude to her, but she slapped a hand over his mouth with a glare.

"Shhh... you have nothing relevant to say... chicken." She sighed and leaned back away from where she had been leaning over Marco to slap her hand on Jean's mouth. Marco was fiddling with his hands, not wanting to move or say anything. "At least he had enough balls to tell me what he thought, you take one look at Mikasa and you babble like an idiot." She said as she sat down once more and he glared at her, but decided not to say anything else.

He propped his head on his hand and huffed. She leaned back in her chair and Marco sighed, those two were going to fight a lot, he supposed. He looked from Evelyn to Jean and sighed. Evelyn paid the instructor no mind what so ever, while Jean on the other hand; was halfway listening. Class was over and Jean stood and waited for Marco. Marco watched his friend in curiosity. Jean waited for Evelyn to get ready to leave then he kicked a chair right where she was about to step, only for her jump and slide over the desk behind her.

Marco sighed and shook his head at Jean's childishness. Evelyn just walked out as if nothing had happened. Marco and Jean made their way to the mess hall, where Shadish had instructed them to go 'make friendly' with the other cadets. Shadish sat in the corner with a look of extreme boredom on his face. Evelyn sat on the table with one leg crossed over the other with her palms flat on the table. She looked bored as well.

Sasha walked over to Evelyn and began talking to her, although Evelyn didn't appear to be paying all too much attention at first, which had been disconcerting to the purple haired girl. Evelyn grinned and everything in the room stopped and everything was silent as they listened to her talk animatedly with Sasha. "So the evil one speaks." Jean scoffed and Evelyn flashed a sneer at him. "So the chicken bawks." She snapped and Sasha giggled.

Marco cracked a smile and tried not to laugh at his friend. Evelyn smiled and waved at Marco, who blinked then walked over to talk to her. Jean huffed and noticed that no one else had even remotely wanted to talk to him, except Reiner, who patted him on the back and told him 'better luck next time, tough guy.' Jean scowled at the dark haired girl, she was evil, she was nothing like Mikasa. He didn't care what the others thought of him, he was going to make it into the military police and nothing was going to stop him. Especially not some egotistical GIRL.

Evelyn sighed, everyone was asking her so many useless questions... especially Sasha. Sasha only ever talked about food, but she had to give it to the girl; if there was food involved the girl could move fast. Her eyes flickered over to Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt; who were staring at her like she was something to be studied. "Hey... you three... Tall guy, muscle guy, and blondie; you have some sort of issue with me?" she asked and they acted surprised as if they didn't think they would get caught staring.

"Nah, there's nothing to talk about. Obviously you aren't what we thought you were." Annie sighed and Evelyn stood. "And what exactly was that?" she asked and Annie shook her head. "We thought you had a different personality is all, it is nothing you should worry your pretty little head over." Annie said and Evelyn rolled her eyes and sat back down. Her eyes flickered to Jean, who was staring at her again. "If you have something to say, feel free to speak your mind, chicken." She said and he sneered at her.

Her eyes caught sight of a short blonde and she stood and walked over towards him. "Uh... Armin..." she called and he turned towards her. "Oh... Evelyn... hi..." he said and she held a hand out to him. He looked at her in surprise, but she smiled and he grabbed her outstretched hand. "I accept your request to be my friend. You were first to try to ask, so you will be the first to receive a formal answer." She said and smiled brightly, her smile reaching her eyes.

Mikasa offered a small barely there smile and Evelyn nodded towards her. "I'm not going to encroach on your group, I promise. I just want to let you know, that if any of you ever need help I will be there." Evelyn said and Mikasa held a hand out to her. "I'm not good at making friends." She said quietly and Evelyn smiled. "Neither am I, but I can see that you care deeply for your friends. I wish to have bonds like that one day too." Evelyn said and grasped Mikasa's hand.

"Then we are at an agreement then?" she asked and Evelyn nodded. Shadish watched them in curiosity, he was curious as to what agreement they had exactly... an unspoken agreement was often one that stayed between them. Shadish had decided the ones who would be best compatible as leaders within moments, their personalities all set them apart. Those who would be the strength of the squad were easy to pick out as well, they were the people like Mikasa and Evelyn. Then there were the smarter ones, like Armin and Marco.

"Listen up!" Shadish yelled and everyone turned to look at him in curiosity. "There are four personality types that actually matter in the world of soldiers. One: the Leaders. The ones who have the dominant personality and ability to take control. "Two: The Brain. Obviously it means the smart ones, which over half are not because the majority of you are idiots. These people are the ones who formulate the best plans to attempt to keep as many of you alive as possible. Three: The Support. There are a lot of these in the room now. You are the ones who protect the leader and the Brain. You are the main fighting group. They are the ones who excel in fighting and speed. And... fourth: The guardian. This person is the one in charge of keeping the leader, the brain, and the support safe. This person-" Shadish was saying when Connie began jumping up and down waving his arm in the air like an idiot.

"Yes..." he sighed. "Uh... So... the guardian. There is only one of those?" he asked and Shadish had the urge to pick the kid up by his head again and not let him down this time. "Yes... Anyways, as I was saying. The guardians are the ones who excel in Physical speed, Not just the mechanical speed that comes with the omni-directional gear. This person has extraordinary speed without using the omni directional gear, so in certain occasions, they are extremely fast while using it. Being as to why they are guardians. They are not only fast, but their hand to hand combat skills are usually topping the scales. The only downside is that a lot of the time they are not the most cooperative..." he sighed and the group erupted in chatter once more.

"SILENCE!" he yelled and everything froze once more. "You cannot just choose which one you are, because these personalities develop over time. I already see some of them in a few of you, but as usual the rest of you are hopeless. Anyways... eat dinner and then return to your barracks." He sighed then stood and left as the cook brought in the bread, water, and some sort of odd smelling chili. Marco walked over and plopped down beside Evelyn with a smile.

Jean fell onto the seat beside Marco with a loud huff. Evelyn frowned at him and rolled her eyes. Marco tapped her on the shoulder and she blinked as he whispered something in her ear. A slight dusting of pink dusted her cheeks and she sighed and nodded. "Ok..." she sighed and he smiled at her. "Hey... Jean." She called and the brown haired male eyed her curiously. "Would you... be my friend?" she asked and he snorted, and then he began laughing loudly.

She glared at him and stood. "What is so funny? I'm trying to make peace you chicken!" she snarled and he stood as well. He wasn't much taller than her, just by about four to five inches, but she still had to glare up at him. "I don't make peace with those who think my endeavors are pathetic." he spat and she grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him to her level. "You listen here you stupid prick! You are pathetic! I don't agree with your views, but I'm trying to be your friend." She snapped and he frowned. "Its not just because Marco said it would be a good idea is it?" he asked, genuinely curious and she glared at him then shoved him away from her.

"Listen... I'm not a mean or cruel person, and usually I'm pretty reasonable... but you just set me off. If you would put forth some effort then this could work you pathetic chicken." She snapped. She turned away from him and grabbed her plate, only stopping to place it in front of Sasha, who stared at her with hearts in her eyes. She walked out and Marco stood to follow her. Jean just watched his friend leave as he sat back down with a sigh.

"I guess some of us are lucky she isn't picking on us for wanting to join the military police. We got lucky she just hates Horse face enough to pick on him." Connie laughed and Jean turned to him with a glare. "What did you just call me?!" he snarled and Connie blinked. "I called you a horse... You know... cause you got the long face... and I thought I wasn't very smart." Connie laughed but his laughter ended the moment Jean lunged for him.

:-:-:-:-:

The months passed by and they sat through lecture after lecture, it was getting quite boring and Jean was getting extremely sick of it. They had one day left of lecture and then they would be working with the omni directional gear. He looked over at Evelyn just in time to get humped in the forehead with a crumpled up piece of paper, only to hear Evelyn's giggle. "Sorry, Jean." She giggled and he huffed and looked away from her.

She had become less annoying to him, seeing that she butted heads with Eren just as much as he did. In all reality he hadn't hated the girl when he had first met her, but then she opened her mouth and decided to bad mouth the military police, which had set him off. Marco on the other hand, had pretty much fallen head over heels for her. That was why he had pretty much followed her around like a love sick puppy. He had stopped following her around like that about a week ago when he had seen Marco kiss her.

He hadn't heard the entire conversation, but he figured it had something to do with her liking someone else, it was always something like that lately. The two were still the best of friends, despite the awkwardness that should have lingered. He still wasn't used to her sudden change in demeanor, she had been rude and hateful towards him up until about the time when the whole incident between the two had happened. He wasn't used to her being nice to him... at all.

He could feel her still watching him, and it made him uncomfortable. It wasn't like when he tried to talk to Mikasa, but it was somewhere down the lines of it. with this new change in personality, she reminded him of Marco, if only a little bit. She would smile at him, which always made him cautious. Before he had learned that when she smiled, someone was a target of whatever prank she decided to pull to lift everyone's spirits. He had gotten a basket of horrible smelling socks stuffed into his pillow, the smell of those socks still burned his nose, even if it was just the memory of the smell.

"Hey, chicken. Whatcha thinkin bout? Class is over, we get to go eat now." She laughed and Marco chuckled and shook his head. "Nothing... lets go." He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. Evelyn linked her arm through both his and Marco's arms and he felt his cheeks heat up. He clicked his tongue in a dismissive manner and faced away from them. He cracked one eye open and looked at them as they talked happily about whatever it was they were chattering about.

He had to admit it actually kinda felt good... actually having friends... her eyes flickered to him and he blinked. They weren't just a solid black like he had first thought, they were actually a dark blue... "What are you staring at me for?" she asked with an odd curl of the lip. "Nothing, damn. Your eyes looked messed up is all, che." He clicked his tongue and feigned arrogance as he looked away. "Says the one with eyes that are gold." She scoffed and he smirked. "At least mine don't look like they will steal someone's soul." He spat back and she opened her mouth to retort, but puffed out her cheeks a bit and looked away, signaling that he had won this little spat.

They entered the mess hall, but not linked together as they had been. None of them would have fit through the door if they had gone in there linked up like that. Evelyn appeared to always like having them close to her now. She re linked her arm back up with his and Marco's and they went and claimed their usual table. Armin and Eren looked their way and laughed lightly. "Looks like everyone has their own teams huh?" Eren asked and Mikasa nodded.

Jean huffed and looked away from them. Evelyn sighed and unlinked their arms, obviously he didn't think they were as tight nit a group as she was hoping they would become. She fiddled with her bread for a while before she walked over and handed it to Sasha, as she had done the past three meals. "Oyasumi... Everyone." She said with a soft smile as she had walked out of the meal hall. She walked towards the bunk slowly, not wanting to have to go very fast.

She looked up at the darkening sky and sighed in simplistic joy as she stared at the full moon and the shimmering stars that covered the sky. She walked into the barracks and walked over to her bunk, which luckily enough was right next to the window on the top. The barracks consisted one large room with bunks lined up along the walls, you had very little privacy but that just made it to where they knew that the cadets would not be... doing any inappropriate things with each other.

There were one hundred bunk beds in total, two beds per bunk and each was about a foot and a half away from each other just like any other military training facility. There were separate showers, but conjoined laundry rooms. She sighed with a small knowing smile as Franz and Hanna walked in holding hands. "So when's the wedding?" she joked and Hanna blushed dark red. Everyone knew those two were together, they weren't secretive about it.

"Well, good night." Hanna said as Franz helped her up onto her top bunk while he slid into the bunk right under her. Marco slept in the bunk next to hers on the bottom bunk, while Jean slept above him; right across from her. She had found the only empty bunk and it had been right there beside his, even though they had been fighting every time they crossed paths. She had to admit though, watching him sleep was the most adorable thing she had ever seen.

Her nose scrunched up in her humor as she tried not to giggle. Jean would randomly snort and flop around on his bed and when he did so, it reminded her of a puppy having a really good dream. Over the past few months though, he had been doing that less and less; which despite the embarrassment it would cause him, depressed her a bit. Well... it would have depressed her if he didn't look so peaceful as of late. She sighed once more and snuggled deeper into her blankets as she drifted off to sleep.

She woke the next morning to see Jean sitting on his bunk, a glare fixated on her. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head. "Don't start, I'm not in the mood to deal with anything you have to say." He snapped and she retracted her slightly outstretched hand in a hurt manner. She retracted her hand completely and her lips fell into a frown. "Fine... if that is how you wish to be..." she said and dropped from her bunk.

Her eyes flickered over to Bertholdt's bunk which was underneath hers, where Reiner stood on the opposite side scratching his head at his friend's odd sleeping habits. "Looks like its going to rain today." She whispered as she pulled on her boots only to secure them as tightly as she could without hurting herself. She stared at the short beige jacket on her bed with a look of disdain. "You know... Jean..." she began and the irate teen looked at her with a angered look. "Just because... just because at one time my brother was a criminal... doesn't mean you have to treat me like one as well." She said and everyone that was still in the barracks stared at her in shock.

"Evelyn... no one is treating you like-" Marco began but her dark blue eyes were dull and they flickered boredly to Jean. "Then tell him that, the looks of disdain... the looks of disgust and hatred... I get them from everyone, Shadish knows of my brother's past and he trained my brother well to get him prepared for the survey corps, although more than half of it was natural talent. Yes... I was a thief... Yes... I used my abilities to do wrong upon people. Jean knows this... and I guess I would have thought he would have been an understanding friend and not held the past against me. I don't have a past like Eren or Mikasa, but I was left stranded there in maria... no one cared that I had been abandoned, so how else was I supposed to survive. You would think Jean would realize that I feel bad enough about stealing from those in Wall Maria... I promised my father that I wouldn't steal from anyone using my abilities, but you see... I had to in order to survive." she said and pulled her plain green cape around her shoulders.

Jean just scoffed and looked away. "Once a criminal, always a criminal." He sneered and Evelyn gave him a blank look. "Well I guess the same goes for you as well." She said and he looked at her in surprise. "Once a coward, always a coward... At least a thief wouldn't leave a comrade to die, unlike you... Jean. You would do whatever it takes to ensure your survival... wouldn't you, Jean?" she asked then Jean looked at her with pure angered shock coating his features.

She faded from sight, leaving the rest of them to wonder what exactly they had been fighting over this time. They got a bit of the cutting words, but that wasn't it. They hadn't even said one word to each other this morning before they were catching sparks once more. Those two fought more than Jean and Eren did anymore. "Uh... Jean... what is this fight about?" Marco asked with a small frown crossing his lips. "I hate thieves just as much as titans... neither of them have any right to be in this world." Jean said before he stood and angrily yanked his boot onto his foot.

Marco sighed, as did the rest of the cadets followed them out of the barracks. What they saw there was nothing but more trouble. Evelyn had one fist up near her face, the other lower down about the center of her ribcage. One of the other cadets from the other brigades had apparently set her off. "This should end swiftly." Jean scoffed and Evelyn's eyes flickered over to him. The 110TH brigade cadet took her momentary distraction to attempt a hit on Evelyn when she looked away.

Evelyn hit the ground in a move to avoid the punch and then the kick that followed as well. She continued to dodge the cadet's sloppy punches until Shadish had come across the one sided fight and had grabbed the boy mid punch and lifted him off the ground by his short reddish brown hair. "A cadet from another brigade? Here to attack one of mine..." he muttered then turned to look at his own brigade with sharp eyes. "And none of you thought to help her in the slightest?" he asked and Jean scoffed.

"The thief can handle herself." He sneered and Evelyn stood and dusted herself off. "You screwed up, 110th cadet." Evelyn said and Shadish smirked. "Meet Shadish, the harshest of all the instructors. Have fun..." she said and walked away, her head held high, despite the fact everything seemed to be going bad for her. They all headed for the designated learning area for the operationals of the 3D gear. She sat beside Marco, who sat beside Armin, Mikasa, and Eren.

Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt sat in front of them. There was an empty seat between Evelyn and Marco, because even though her and Jean were arguing, she was still going to allow him a seat, being as no one else was going to sit there at the moment. They knew who the seat was saved for. Jean walked in and every other seat was filled. He spotted the one seat and he walked over to it and she said nothing, there was only silence as he sat down and they were issued their omni directional gear.

They also had to learn exactly what made what work, how it worked, and if it broke how to fix it. starting with a pile of screw drivers Evelyn began disassembling her gear, cleaning whatever dust was inside the device and she finished putting it back together in record time. She smiled at her accomplishment and looked over towards Armin and Marco, who were conversing joyously as they cleaned their gear and continued to put it back together.

Her eyes then returned to Jean, who was fumbling with one piece. She frowned and her fingres brushed over his as she took the piece from his fingers and set it on the table. She grabbed his hands and placed his fingers on a certain part, acting like a place holder to keep the part from moving. "Now you remove this piece from here..." she said and handed him a screw driver. He removed the part and she nodded and moved his hand to remove another part, and then the whole contraption fell apart and he glared at her.

She giggled lightly and shook her head. "Look... you may not realize this, but that is what it was supposed to do..." she said and he clicked his tongue. Marco leaned over and grinned. "SO are you two making up yet, I know your little spat earlier was not about her past. You can't judge someone for what they have done, but more so for what they are doing now. She is trying to help save us humans, so people like you and me can head towards the career we want to, instead of being forced into another." Marco said and hadn't realized he had said something wrong until Evelyn's fingers trembled.

She dropped the screw driver that was in her grasp and she looked over at Marco. "Forced into a job you don't want..." she whispered and her eyes fell back to her trembling fingers. A small smile broke out over your lips. "Well... sometimes... being forced into a job isn't all that bad... sometimes you grow accustomed to it and it actually becomes your reason for living. Sometimes, you find that you're actually better at the job you were forced into, rather than the one you were wanting." She said with a small smile as her fingers stopped trembling. She fisted them in front of her and nodded in self resolve.

"Thank you... Evelyn..." Jean said and she looked over at him. "For what? I still don't get you... one minute you hate me for every word I say or even think, then the next you're begging like a wimpy puppy for me to forgive you. It makes me wonder how much you actually value my companionship." She sighed and he looked at her in a bit of surprise. "Its because in that way, you two are kind of alike... except when he gets mad he wipes his emotions all over the person he is focused on. You just wipe your happy emotions on us... he would probably even wipe a booger on Connie if he got mad enough." Marco sighed and Evelyn giggled.

Jean stared at his friend in shock. "M-Marco... you traitor!" he ground out and Marco laughed. Evelyn smiled and poked Jean in the cheek causing him to look at her. "What now?" he grumbled. "You're adorable when you're flustered." She laughed and he glared at her. "Oh wow... one of the female population complimented Jean and he is angered by it... not surprising." Eren laughed and Jean glared at him. "You really want to start with me Eren!?" Jean ground out and Eren just grinned. Their instructor cleared his throat and they went silent as he stood.

Everyone finished and the instructor studied their gear. With a nod of approval he dismissed them. Their first three months were focused on learning the insides and outside of their gear like the back of their hands, so if it ever broke or jammed up, they could find the parts to fix it or even learn how to make the broken gear work long enough to get them out of a dangerous situation alive and well.

:-:-:_:-:-:

"Evelyn, you're up." The instructor said and she nodded, pulling her hair into a sloppy ponytail. She walked over to the contraption and secured her belt. She was perfectly balanced, just as Mikasa had been. "This is easy." She gushed and even began moving her arms, but she was still balanced as she did so. They lowered her down and she hopped away from the contraption. Eren huffed and looked away from her but she scowled at him and walked off, they were still butting heads, but everyone else seemed to like her.

He wondered what exactly her special talent was. Sasha's was obviously being able to steal food without being noticed and also being able to eat more than any one of them had ever seen. Armin was a critical thinker and could form plans that would succeed especially fast in his mind and be able to voice them just as fast. Mikasa's skills were pretty much everything you could think of... she had a strong mind, she was strong everywhere it counts when you're going to be fighting with the scouts.

He was curious about her, but he wasn't going to talk to her until her attitude about the lives of others changed. "She's fast." Armin said to him and Eren blinked at his blonde friend. "I know your curious about her..." he said and Eren shrugged. Reiner sighed and moved over next to them. "She's not just fast, I heard she has a special talent that could make it to where she wouldn't have to use as much gas as the rest of us in the 3D training." He said and Eren was caught off guard by this.

"Everyone has to use the fuel though!" he said and Reiner shrugged. "The instructors were saying she had some skill or talent that would make her fuel usage significantly less than ours, she's no doubt going to be in the top ten." He said and Eren shrugged. "I doubt she will go for the military police." He said and sighed as everyone else had finished their tryouts, and those who didn't do so well would try again the next morning, while those who didn't want to stay back and see who made it the second go round, would head over to the mess hall for lunch, then they would be heading out to the woods for endurance training.

When Jean walked into the mess hall, he sighed and rolled his eyes as he saw Evelyn. She was alone in the mess hall, waiting for the others to arrive. But... Evelyn being Evelyn, she wasn't being normal. He was mildly impressed with how she could deftly jump from one rafter to then next like a cat chasing something of interest. "Evelyn..." he called out and she squeaked, falling from the rafters and hitting the table with a thud.

Her glare fixated on him then she stood. "You are such an ass Jean! I could have gotten hurt." She snapped and he laughed, causing a dusting of pink to cover her cheeks. "Well I managed to get to you before you wore yourself out. Its going to be running after lunch, Shadish isn't going to let us off this time." He sighed and she groaned as more people walked into the mess hall as they brought in the soup, bread and water.

They ate amidst the excited chatter. Eren looked a bit dazed and Mikasa was watching him with worried eyes. Evelyn snorted and tried to contain her laughter, but as usual she couldn't and soon enough Jean knew why she was laughing, Eren looked like a zombie. They finished eating, ran their laps, and then they went back to the barracks. Evelyn groaned, her legs hurt by the time she got to the barracks, she had to run an extra two hours because her and Sasha were arguing and Sasha tried to cram a half of a potato in her mouth, lord only knows where the girl had gotten it from and lord only knows what had happened to the potato for Sasha to want to share it with her...

She turned around to see Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie walking towards the barracks behind her. She glared at the unconscious brunette on her back. "Damn you Sasha..." Evelyn grumbled and dumped the girl off haphazardly onto her bunk. Evelyn walked over to her own bunk and glared up at the bunk. "Now I have to climb..." she grumbled and attempted to climb up onto the bunk, seeing as there was no ladder. She managed to get her top half on the bunk before her legs where flailing about because she couldn't get up there.

"Hey shorty... need some help?" Reiner asked with a chuckle and she huffed, a light blush on her face. "Normally I wouldn't but someone stole my ladder." She whined and Reiner chuckled as she managed to pull herself back up to the bunk, her top half laying across her bed as she tried to pull her legs up. He walked over and grabbed a hold of her as she began sliding back down. "I'll help you." He said and she glared at him. "For a price." He said and she gave him a fiery glare as a wicked smirk crossed his lips and he rubbed his hands together.

"Oh hell no!" she sneered and sent her foot right into his face with an enraged kick as he felt the need to attempt to slap her ass as a fee for helping her onto her bunk. Jean, who she had thought to be asleep, snorted in laughter when Reiner stumbled backwards from the kick to the face. "Damn, Rivaille... that's some kick you got there..." Reiner grumbled with a grin as he held his now bleeding nose. "You're lucky I'm dangling here or else I would kick your ass." She snarled and Eren laughed.

"Here..." a gentle voice came from below her and Bertholdt gently grabbed her legs and helped her climb onto the bunk. "Thank you, Berty!" she said and he blushed and began stammering. "N-no problem." He said shyly while scratching the back of his neck nervously, avoiding all eye contact with her. He crawled into his bunk and muttered a shy goodnight to them all. Jean was watching her intently and she had no clue why.

She crawled over to the end of her bunk, where there was a suspended storage box, just like on the end of all the other bunks. She pulled off her boots and set them in the box along with her straps and the rest of her gear. She turned and crawled back to the opposite end of her bed and flopped face first into her pillow. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get me to comment on your ass again, Rivaille." Reiner said and she turned her head to look at him.

"If you wish to survive past this night... I wouldn't." she grumbled then shoved her face back into the pillow. Reiner grinned, but his grin faded as he saw the glare he was getting from atop the bunk on the other side of Evelyn's. He raised a brow and Jean shook his head and rolled over to face away from him and Evelyn. The next day it was pouring outside, and... Shadish decided it was the perfect day to go for a run... in the middle of the woods.... in foot and a half deep mud.

Evelyn glared at the mud as she lined up in formation as they were told to. Reiner stood behind her, much to her dismay. She sent him a dirty look and he rolled his eyes. "Look I was just trying to help you." He grumbled and she sent him a vicious glare. "Help me?! you wanted to smack me on the ass!" she snarled and he smirked. "Yeah, I do. But... that's beside the main objective here." He said defensively and she gave him a dirty look.

"Hey... I admit, I have ulterior motives... but I can only apparently have those motives for a while if I'm going to help you. Then it would be as if I have a death wish." He laughed and she smirked. "Apparently you already have one..." she said and he grinned. "Feisty, I like that about you. That and the fact you look after everyone even if it is detrimental to you. True soldier." He said and she blushed lightly. "Stop trying to flirt with me... its going to get you nowhere." She snapped and he laughed and leaned closer to her ear. "But... I think it may just help you out with dumbass." He said and she furrowed her brows then followed his gaze to where Jean was standing up towards the front with Marco.

She deadpanned at Reiner. "Jean is an idiot." She said simply and Reiner laughed. "Yeah well, he is your idiot friend and he doesn't quiet trust you still. So I am making a peace offering, I can help him trust you a bit more and maybe actually get it through his dense horse head that you are ultimately trying to help his sorry ass." Reiner said and Evelyn's eyes widened a bit. "So I see you heard about what Marco and I were talking about... we are just trying to look out for him. It isn't what he thinks it is... living in the interior..." she said and Reiner nodded.

"I know. And... I may not be the nicest looking guy because I mean look at me, I look like the type of guy to rip something in half out of anger." He laughed and she rolled her eyes. "And your point is? You look like a soldier." She said and he was caught off guard. "Soldiers are supposed to look fearsome. Sasha and Connie can't seem to get that through their heads, but they keep the place with a light atmosphere. You, Mikasa, Bertholdt despite his shyness, Annie, and I all know how a soldier is supposed to look." She said and Reiner raised a brow.

"What brought this on? I was going to help you..." he said and she looked at him. "I was just stating a fact. Don't judge me." she grumbled and he rolled his eyes. "Anyways... how could your assistance help get him to realize that we are trying to help him?" she asked and he smirked. "It won't. I can make him jealous. A jealous man is not an understanding one, but... he will pay more attention to you." Reiner said and she blinked at him dully.

"You are really that desperate to touch my ass aren't you?" she asked and he grinned. "Pervert." She sneered and he ruffled her hair as Shadish made his way over to the group on horseback. "Alright! Lets get going!" he yelled and they all shoved forwards as the rain began pelting them harder and harder. Evelyn frowned as she ran, she had to keep up with the group. She forced herself to run faster, but not fast enough to end up hurting herself or making herself tire faster.

Evelyn forced her way up to the front, nearest Marco and Jean, who saw her and nodded at her. She tried to push to catch up to them but her foot slipped. She expected to hit the ground face first, but not one... but two hands grabbed each of her hands. Both Marco and Jean grabbed her hands with both of theirs and pulled her to catch up with them. A smile broke out on her lips as Jean and Marco grinned back at her.

"You won't be left behind."

That was all Jean said and her eyes went wide. She had expected that from Marco... but not Jean. She leaned towards Marco as they ran. "Ano... Marco... did Jean hit his head?" she whispered and Marco laughed, causing Jean to look at them with curious eyes. "Nah... we just had a bit of a talk and he seems to realize that being that way to you is not going to be in his best interest." She laughed and her eyes flickered over to Jean. "And what made you decide to treat me nicely?" she asked and Jean scoffed and looked away from her.

"He still doesn't like me..." she said and Marco frowned. "Why would you say that?" he asked and she pointed. "He won't even talk to me." she said and Marco sighed. "You two are going to have to work some things out. You two are always fighting about the Scouts and Military police. Maybe if you two give it a rest you would become good friends." Marco said and Evelyn nodded. "As long he doesn't openly talk about the Military police, then I won't call him out for it." she said and he held a hand out to him.

"And you aren't going to call me a coward." He said and she smirked. "Alright, I won't call you a coward." She said and he nodded at her and shook her hand. "This is better than the alternative way of trying to get you to be my friend." She sighed in relief. Jean blinked and Marco looked at her confused. "Reiner was going to try and assist you into being my friend. And... my booty was his ulterior motive." She whimpered and her hands went to cover her rump, which she knew was going to Sting if he had actually hit it. Marco blushed lightly and Jean laughed.

"Wow... Reiner wasn't shy about it was he?" Marco asked with that light dusting of pink on his freckled cheeks. "You weren't shy with your attempt either, you caught her off guard." Jean said and Marco coughed and his blush darkened. "You saw that huh?" he asked and he scratched the back of his neck shyly. "Eh... I wouldn't doubt you two would make an awesome pair." Jean said with a shrug and Marco blushed. "If only that could be the truth." Marco sighed and Evelyn felt bad.

"Forgive me, Marco..." she said and he looked at her in shock. "Why should I forgive you? It wasn't your fault... I... I didn't think of anyone but myself when I had done it... I was selfish." He said and she shook her head. "It wasn't selfish. With all this training, we may only live a short life... So trying to find happiness while you can is not a selfish endeavor." She said and smiled at him. "I was the selfish one... denying you that happiness." She said and he stared at her in shock.

Jean said nothing as they trudged forth, he just listened to them converse. "You know... you two can still have a go before we graduate. Maybe you will come to see that Marco is a better man than the one you turned him down for. If you aren't with that guy yet, then he must be more of an ass then I am." Jean said, interrupting the two. Evelyn stared at him with wide eyes. He raised a brow at her and she looked to Marco, who had the smallest amount of concealed hope in his eyes.

"I... I don't know what to say..." she said and Marco grabbed her hand. The look in his eyes as they flickered from her to Jean made her heart ache. 'you will get closer to him as well.' That was what she read in his eyes. She felt awful... he knew that she wanted to be friends with Jean, and he was going to put his own feelings at risk so she could get to know him better. Her eyes stung... she really was a criminal... a thief, still a thief. She guessed Jean was right, once a thief, always a thief... she had stolen things she hadn't known she'd even stolen...

"Marco... I..." she began but Jean nodded at her. He really wanted her to do this for his friend. "That is what dating is for, right? Getting to know the other person... to see if you truly love everything about them." Jean said and Evelyn blinked. She hadn't given Marco the chance before... she looked over to him and smiled. "Let's give it a try I guess. If it doesn't work out then we can still be friends right?" she asked and Marco nodded. "You will still be my best friend, Eve, I promise." He said and she smiled.

"Hey... I thought I was your best friend..." Jean whined and Evelyn giggled. "Well... you can have my spot... for a while anyways. If this doesn't work like we hope, then I will be wanting my spot back. Or else you will regret it." she laughed and he smirked. "I would make you regret it first!" he laughed and took off running ahead of her and Marco. She and Marco exchanged glances before they grinned and took off trying to catch up to the horse that ran off in front of them.

"Hey horse get back here!" she yelled and Shadish gave her a dirty look, but when he realized she was running to catch up to him he sighed and shook his head. She looked back at Marco, grabbed his hand and they both sped to catch up with Jean, who was laughing like a fool form the front, until he tripped and landed face first in the mud. The two friends laughed and halted their progress and grabbed Jean by the backpack and pulled him back to his feet.

When Shadish said they had done enough endurance training for the day the mud had dried all over Jean and Marco and Evelyn grinned. They began picking the mud off of his face that he couldn't wipe off with grins on their faces. "Oh wow! There is a Jean under there! I thought it was just a scary mud monster." Evelyn giggled and Jean glared at her. "Man... I don't even think drowning you in a river would clean all this mud off of you..." Marco said, trying to hide his humored smile.

The endurance training continually went well and every time, Jean learned that mud was not his ally. Shadish had started them on the 3D maneuverability training when the second three months were up. The year had been coordinated into four sectors. Every three months one section of the brigade would swap sectors. They had just happened to have gotten lecture first. Then they had gotten the how-to for the 3D gear and endurance training all in one. This three months was getting them used to using the gear and testing them to see how well they could maneuver with it. The final three months was the final testing and hand to hand combat training.

Evelyn glared at her harness, she hated the stupid thing. It squeezed places that need not be squeezed, and she couldn't figure out how to loosen it up. "You know, Rivaille... I think over the past few months... that ass of yours has gotten even nicer." Reiner said and she whirled on him, a hateful glare in her eyes. "You can't touch it." she snapped and Marco walked around beside her and was currently attempting to loosen the straps on her harness. There was a blush coating her cheeks as he reached for the strap on her waist. "This one was too tight..." Marco said with a blush and she could almost breathe easier once it had been loosened.

"Now uh... how do I loosen this one?" she asked and Marco blushed darkly. "Uh... there is a clasp there and umm..." he began and she smirked. "Aw, my Marco is going all shy on me!" she giggled but glared back to the strap that went across her breasts, squeezing them, but not painfully as of yet. "I'll fix it! I will set you free." Reiner said and a wicked glare met his advances. "No." she sneered and he held up his hands in defeat, but the smirk didn't vanish. "One question though..." Jean said from sitting atop his bunk. She looked over at him in interest. "How the hell did you manage to get that thing to clasped around those things anyways... it looks very... compromising and uncomfortable." He said and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Jean..." she began and his jaw dropped, he had been thinking out loud and had actually said that. "U-uh..." he began and she narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits. "If someone doesn't help me fix this to where I can breathe right... I will end you all." She snarled and Jean hopped off his bunk and walked over to her with a grin. "How can you end us, if you can't really move?" he asked and she smirked and reached for the strap that was causing her discomfort, and she released it.

Jean felt dumb as of that moment, and he made a break for the door, knowing that if he stayed she would pummel him for this thoughts. She rolled her eyes when he made it out of the barracks. She turned to Bertholdt, whom she knew would help her and wouldn't make such a huge deal over it just because there were boobs near the strap. "Um, Bertholdt... would you mind helping me?" she asked and he blinked a few times before red flushed his face and he opened his mouth to speak, but only stammers came out. She sighed and her shoulders slumped. She knew what would happen if she didn't calm him down now... he would cause a puddle in the floor with his abnormal sweat patterns.

"Bertholdt its fine, you don't have to help me." she said with a smile and he fiddled with his fingers. He wasn't that shy when he was with Reiner, but... when it came to girls and other people who tease him, he got all flustered. "Sorry... Eve..." he said and she smiled at her friend. "It's fine, I promise." She said and he nodded. She turned to Marco who had a nervous blush on his face. "It's a shame that your boyfriend doesn't want to mess with your boobs... I know I would." Reiner said and she was tempted to hiss at him in her irritation, but she didn't. "No one asked you... pervert. Marco is a gentleman, unlike you." She grumbled and Reiner laughed.

Annie, who had been sitting on her bunk listening with bored eyes walked over. "If I fix it. I want you to do something for me." she said and Evelyn looked at her oddly. "And what would that be?" she asked and Annie smirked lightly. "I want to see if you can do better than me in the final tests." She said and Evelyn shook her head. "I'm not going to even try all too hard. I will do enough to get by, but I refuse to be in the top ten." Evelyn said and Annie blinked in slight confusion.

"And why would that be?" She asked and Evelyn shrugged. "I don't feel like crushing anyone's dreams. If they want to go somewhere, then so be it." she said and felt a tug on her strap, only to see that Marco had fixed it in one swift pull then turned away with a bright red blush on his face. Evelyn laughed and Marco turned to her in surprise. "Come on Marco, we have to get the rest of our gear gathered." She said and he nodded.

He followed after her not knowing of the look he was getting from Annie. It wasn't a mean look, but it wasn't nice either. Evelyn linked her arm with Marco's and he smiled at her. "Look, now you aren't all shy!" she laughed and he shrugged. Since that day Jean had convinced her to agree to date Marco, they had become nothing but closer. She actually really liked Marco, he was sweet and he cared for her. He hadn't been exactly what she had been looking for, but she made him happy and he made her happy as well.

Jean was already signing his gear out, after today their gear would be completely theirs. Shadish had told them for the past week that they would be learning about it once more, and then it would be theirs. The other instructors had to make sure the gear was put back together correctly first. Evelyn stared at her hands, seeing as they were going to be going to be training in the woods, she was going to need gloves. She wasn't going to be relying on Marco or Jean to lead her to the false titans, she was going to find them all her own, using her own abilities.

Speed was only half of her skill, the ability to maneuver without the gear was the other part. Sure, she was going to need it when fighting real titans because although she was fast, sometimes there were areas where she most likely wouldn't be able to get to a rooftop fast enough to escape a titan without her gear. She frowned at her hands because they were going to end up either scarred or callous after all the training that was to come. She sighed and Marco grabbed her hands and looked over them with confused eyes.

"I don't see anything wrong with your hands..." he said and a slight dusting of pink covered her cheeks as she looked up to meet his eyes. "No... not yet but after tis training there will be." She said with a small smile and he blinked. "OH! So that's why I was told to give you these!" he exclaimed in excitement. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of brown leather gloves. They were extremely expensive and hard to come by.

Her eyes went wide as she pulled them onto her hands. "Where did you get these?" she asked and he shrugged lightly with a smile. "Some lady with glasses and brown hair gave them to me, asking me to give them to you. She left with the scouting legion though." He said and she stared at the gloves in wonder until it clicked in her mind. "Hanji... Zoe!" she squealed and yanked the gloves onto her hands. He stared at her in bewilderment and she grinned. "She works alongside my brother!" Evelyn said and clenched her hands getting used to the feeling of the gloves on her hands.

"That's cool, so what type of person is your brother?' Marco asked as he secured his blade holsters to his legs and connected them to the main part of the 3D gear, which was connected to the back of his hips already. Hanna and Franz walked over and they looked happy, as usual. "So... when is the wedding?" Hanna asked with a laugh, turning Evelyn's favorite joke back on her. Much to Hanna's surprise though, Evelyn smiled and said, "Right after yours."

Hanna blushed dark red, as did Marco. Franz and Evelyn just laughed. "Eve!" a whiny voice called and her eyes flicked to Jean, who appeared to be having trouble attaching his gear. "I'm not helping you." She said and he glared at her. "I offered to help you!" he whined and she laughed. "No, you just asked a question that almost got you hit." She laughed and Jean blinked. "Oh yeah..." he said and Marco laughed. "You have to move the gear up a bit or everything won't connect right, Jean." Marco said and Evelyn smiled at him.

Evelyn turned towards Marco and grinned once he had finished putting his gear on. She jumped onto him and wrapped her legs around his waist, effectively catching him by surprise. "Let's go Marco-kun! Take me away!" she laughed and he blushed as he chuckled as well. "Well he would, but he can't seem to get off the ground right now." Jean laughed and a dark look flashed through Evelyn's eyes. She leaned backwards swiftly and the moment her hands touched the ground she flipped into a running stance and sent Jean flying with a swift kick.

"Damn she's fast!" Reiner coughed and his eyes were wide. "What was that supposed to mean!" she snarled and glared at him, her foot still in the air from where it had connected with his gut, as he stared at her from the ground a few feet away looking like the devil had attempted to slaughter him. "I wasn't calling you fat dammit!" he snapped but she whirled on him yet again and he shrunk away. "Chicken." She said and he glared at her. "You said you wouldn't call me a-" "A coward, and I didn't call you a coward, I called you a chicken." She laughed and walked over to him and offered him a hand. He took it and she grinned. "Don't worry my little chicken, Reiner will get a much worse punishment for his perverted self." She laughed and ruffled his hair.

He blinked then laughed, ignoring the pain in his gut. "You kick hard..." he said and she turned to him and frowned. "Oh... sorry... You saw what Reiner got, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I kick..." she sighed and he laughed. "Well I knew you did, but at least you didn't kick me in the face, how would I be able to pick up hot girls in Sina if my face is all messed up?" he asked and she looked up at him, her eyes softened in slight sadness and she turned to Marco, who grabbed her hand.

His eyes told her everything would be fine and she couldn't help the pained twinge that gripped her heart. She knew things would never be alright... at least not while the titans were rummaging about.

They made their way out to the woods now and each of them had a starting place. She backed up about ten feet and waited for Shadish to give the go ahead. When he did, she sped towards the woods and jumped, her fingers grasping the rough bark of a low lying branch. She swung herself up and onto the branch. She then proceeded to run and jump from branch to branch until she saw one of the titan dolls. She propelled herself from the tree, pulling her blades for the first time and slicing through the back of the doll's neck. It wasn't deep but it was deep enough for a kill shot.

She then connected with another tree, grasping the rough bark tightly then sending out a navigational wire to get her swiftly to the next tree. She continued to carry herself from tree to tree, using the Omni-directional gear, little to none. This was her special skill. In the cities, this skill was known for reaching the tops of buildings with superior speed, which was also what had gotten her survival guaranteed after she had stolen something.

This was her skill...

And one of her biggest regrets all the same...

:-:_:-:

There they stood, or well she sat, on this dusty patch of ground. This was it... the final month, well more so the final week. She watched from the sidelines, as she had from the very start of the hand to hand combat training. She didn't see the point in it if you weren't getting graded for it, well actually that wasn't true. That really wasn't what she saw it as, but she didn't have a sparring partner so what was the use if no one was going to spar with her? She smiled over at Jean and Marco, who were goofing off in their 'combat training' those two were like brothers. Everyone saw it.

She crossed her legs over each other and leaned back against her palms with a sigh. "Really Evelyn? Don't you ever do anything?" Reiner asked and she looked up at him. "I do plenty. But as of right now I have no sparring partner. So don't give me the whole 'you never do anything' speech which will then lead to the 'you aren't a soldier' speech. Because I really don't want to hear it." She said and he smirked and offered her a hand.

She grinned and took it. "Seems you have the balls to fight me then."She sighed and grabbed his hand as he pulled her off the ground. She fell into an offensive stance and he smirked. He tossed the fake knife into the air then caught it with a smug look, but by that time she was already in his face, mid air spinning into a kick. The shock on his face was priceless and he was sent tumbling backwards to the ground.

"Disorient." She said with a smirk and ran at him once more as he stood. "Incapacitate." She said and with one quick punch to the jaw he was left reeling before the second punch to his gut had him gasping for air. She flipped onto his shoulders, locking her ankles around his neck, then with extreme muscle strength, she flipped once more, forcing him over her and onto the ground behind her. She stood straight up and walked over to him. "Disarm." She said and grabbed both of his arms and bent them so he would drop the knife.

"Game, set. Match." She said as she picked the fake knife up and tossed it in the air just like he had, before catching it by the blade with a smirk. She dropped the knife and walked over to him and leaned his head back so she could see his face. There was a mix of pain and amazement on his face. "Holy... mother of Kami..." he managed and she laughed. "M-marry me." he said and she blushed and stepped away from him. "Uh... sorry... I'm with Marco..." she said and made her way over to hide behind Marco and Jean who were still goofing off. "Eve?" Marco asked and she pointed at Reiner.

"I beat his ass and he asked me to marry him..." she whispered and Marco laughed. "Amazed at your skill no doubt." Marco said and she grabbed his arm and hid behind him. "He is such a weirdo." She laughed and he shook his head. "We all are at some point." Jean laughed and she nodded. There was one thing she liked about Jean more, the fact that he wasn't ashamed of the things she said. There were times where Evelyn said vulgar things and Marco didn't really like that she said them...

But she couldn't help but love them both. They were her friends. Her best friends.