hopeless | jean kirstein

10 | distraction

The Survey Corps Headquarters loomed over them as a group of soldiers led the new recruits into the premises. Their mouths hung open as they walked through the majestic stone archways, the old stone pillars and tall towers giving the place a very grand feel.

"This way," One of the soldiers instructed them, gesturing over to the vast courtyard. "This place is pretty huge, so do your best not to get lost. Not everyone's gonna have time to babysit a horde of recruits."

Sasha and Connie clung to each of Taryn's sides, tightly linking their arms through hers as they gawked at their surroundings. The two had taken to following her around for some reason, but she wasn't complaining.

"Woah," Connie marveled. "I guess the Scouts aren't that bad, huh?"

"The kitchens must be huge!" Sasha exclaimed, clasping her hands together in delight. "I wanna go there. Let's go there, Taryn!"

"Eh? I thought we were gonna check out the cellars first—"

"We can do that after we stop by the kitchens," Sasha said firmly, glaring at Connie before glancing back at the person right behind them. "Hey Jean, mind if we leave you alone for the day?"

He had been staring at the ground the whole time, only snapping out of his trance at the sound of Sasha's voice. "Huh?" He raised a brow, not really listening to their conversation as countless thoughts raced inside his mind. "Yeah. Whatever. Go ahead."

The three of them exchanged looks at the his lack of response. They've noticed the change in his behavior long ago, as the boy seemed keen on isolating himself from them and was surprisingly not as talkative as he had been before. He also appeared on edge and antsy, his shoulders jumping up at even the slightest sounds that reached his ears. Frowning, they turned away from Jean, deciding to give him some space.

They passed through the tall wooden gates, revealing a spacious courtyard filled with soldiers running about, training and doing errands. Everyone knew that the Survey Corps weren't as large in numbers as the other regiments were, but they were plenty nonetheless. In every corner they looked, there was always someone looking back at them with either a kind smile or a hard stare. They didn't dare linger for any longer though, as the soldier leading the recruits kept yelling at them to hurry up.

As they walked, they noticed a small commotion had started to form up ahead. Their eyes caught sight of Eren, standing tall with the familiar green cape wrapped around his frame and cheerfully talking to Mikasa and Armin. They haven't seen him ever since the whole turning-into-a-Titan fiasco back at Trost, so seeing him alive and well unknowingly lifted up a few worries from their shoulders.

"Hey, Eren." Connie waved at him, smiling as he caught the boy's attention. Eren turned to face them, a grin on his face as he started to make his way towards his former classmates.

"It's been so long!" Sasha exclaimed. Eren raked his gaze over each of them, finding that almost everyone from the Top Ten was in front of him.

An incredulous look began to take over his face, his eyes widening ever so slightly. "What? Everyone's here?" They nodded, all of them staring back at him with small smiles. "But if you're here, then...wait, that doesn't mean you joined the Survey Corps, does it?"

"Is there any other reason we'd be here?"

"So only Jean, Marco and Annie joined the Military Police then?"

Taryn cringed at the mention of the name, a taut silence coming over the group. Eren must've sensed the change in the mood as she saw how his brows furrowed in confusion. He opened his mouth, about to ask them about it when footsteps sounded out from behind him, causing the boy to turn and see who it is.