Chapter 2

*Night of the Graduation Ceremony*

Under the darkness offered by the sunless skies, a shrilly voice rang throughout the whole place that it practically bounced off the bricked walls. It was the night of the graduation ceremony, and for the first time, the trainees felt glad to have a voice ringing into their ears without the fear of being scolded.

"Hands upon your hearts!"

"Yes, sir!"

The enthusiastic graduating trainees obeyed the command with swelling pride, fisting their hands and placing it against their chests with energetic 'thumps'. Now lined up uniformly, they faced their former instructor and a few other individuals who stood with intimidating poise.

"For you trainees graduating today, three paths now open before you." A blond haired man's voice boomed. "You can be stationed in the walls and defend the cities as members of the Garrison! You can put your lives on the line to fight the titans in their own territory with the Recon Corps! And you can serve the King by controlling the crowds and protecting order as members of the Military Police Brigade!"

Rachel stood by the very end of the line formed by the superiorly ranking solders, her face shadowed by a cloak and covered by a black cloth of concealment to properly hide her features. She could feel the heat being given off by the fire that burned in a tall torch by her side, and it made her sweat unnecessarily from the warmth. She gave an unseen smile, her eyes glinting within the darkness.

"Of course, only the ten people with top scores we announced earlier are allowed into the Military Police!" He continued.

At this queue, a few couldn't help but turn their gaze towards the magnificently saluting line of top contenders for this year's graduating bunch.

"This concludes our graduation ceremony," he continued. "However, remember this. If you receive an envelope of invitation, do not throw it away for it holds utmost importance. Do what its contents say for it may pave open new paths you can take." He said. "Is that understood?!" He yelled.

"Yes, sir!"

(-(0)-)

It wasn't the first time that Rachel saw Eren. She made a few visits to the training grounds and saw him in action a couple of times—but not that frequently. Still, this was the first time that she actually made contact with him.

It was during the celebrations after graduating that it happened. Eren had voiced out his thoughts like he did normally, never shying away from the questioning gazes of the other graduates. Why would he, a top scorer, want to join the Recon Corps when he could live the high life of being a member of the Military Police?

He had left the room and was briefly followed by Armin and Mikasa. Unknown to him, Rachel watched the whole scene occur and found her interest being pulled by a certain turquoise-eyed boy who probably received a 10/10 score of passion from Keith Shadis—which he did, actually.

After accidentally 'overhearing' his conversation with Armin and Mikasa, and their obvious plans to join the Scouting Legion, she decided that it was time to make her presence known.

He had not seen her face since it was hidden under a hood. Not to mention that she was also wearing a dark cloth that concealed the area around her nose and mouth. Yet, the only thing he was able to see was a pair of enigmatic brown eyes staring straight into his with a glint of mischievousness and amusement with unknown cause.

"You're pretty interesting kids." She told them, before tossing them three brown envelopes and disappearing just as fast as she came—like a brief brush of the wind that seemed to have left no trace of its presence, yet marked its arrival.

She had given him an invitation—just like she did towards Armin and Mikasa. It was a traditional custom for the SOR to hand out invitations to a handpicked few of the freshly graduated trainees every year. Her branch was particularly kept confidential, so recruits were discreetly chosen and only those who were given the invitation would have the chance to join.

The invitation stated nothing more than to go back to the spot where the graduation ceremony was held. Eren and the entirety of the 104th batch were given the instruction not to ignore an invitation if they were ever given one—for this would pave open new paths for them to take. He wasn't sure what that meant, but surely this must be it. He wondered who else aside from him, Armin, and Mikasa received the invitation. But surely, he would find out eventually.

When they went, they saw the entirety of the top contenders of their batch present in the room. A few other faces he had seen were present as well—but never really talked to or ever got the chance to get close to.

Everyone was in a state of confusion, but was either excited or daunted by the animosity the invitation held.

"What do you think this is all about?!" Sasha exclaimed while nibbling on a boiled potato.

Jean made problematic sigh. "Who the fuck in the world knows?" He said.

"We all came here because of the invitation." Armin stated. "You guys received them as well, right?"

"You sure bet we did." Connie held up a similar brown envelope.

A few moments later, the atmosphere within the room changed as hooded figures clad in the typical getup as ordinary soldiers arrived. Everyone fell quiet as the figures took different and individual positions, all the while carrying an intimidating aura about them. One in particular, had taken the very center of their formation.

"Cadets!" A voice rang, obviously coming from a female. "Line up properly! This is not a party you are invited to, thus, you must show proper discipline that you have learned from your training days! Do you wish for me to inform your instructor of your behavior?"

At the mention of Keith Shadis, everyone scampered to line up uniformly like they were trained to do in circumstances such as this.

To Eren though, this sounded strictly familiar.

When everyone got into position, the female continued to speak. "You are here because you are being given the chance of having an additional option." She said. "As you know, there are three military branches. But if you count ours, that makes it four."

"Huh?" Jean had let the words unexpectedly escape his mouth while everyone else stifled the urge to ask.

As if to make the scene even more dramatic, all of the hooded figures grabbed hold of the cloth covering their heads. With a swift swing, they threw it off, revealing faces they weren't exactly that familiar with.

"I am Rachel Ventrist." The woman told them. "Commander of the Secret Operations Regiment, or SOR for short."

Everyone else felt shocked. She possessed an unlikely youth that made it seem impossible for her to be handling a position so important.

Yet, Eren was completely familiar with her eyes. It was her from that night.

(-(0)-)

It was truly unfortunate. For the first time, Eren hesitated about joining the Recon Corps, not because he suddenly felt afraid of the titans—he was still dead set in killing them—but because he felt like a part of him wanted to join the SOR—the branch currently under the rule of an enigmatic, young commander.

He wanted to get to know more about her for some reason. This might've been just a small blossoming crush but he already had a few crushes before, yet his feelings were not as strong as they were now. He felt the need to admire the grace she possessed like a tiger in the wild . . . and that emotion swelled inside his chest right now.

After the introduction about the SOR, he had come up to Commander Rachel and gave her his best salute. "Can I speak to you, si—ma'am?" He felt embarrassed for his slipup but she seemed to had paid no mind to it at all.

Before one of her men could speak up, she did, "What can I do for you, cadet?"

"I was wondering if I can learn more about the SOR since I feel mildly curious"

Mikasa and Armin both looked taken aback by his sudden words. "Eren . . . ?"

"You know that we only disclose that kind of information to recruits who are already certain about their decision." She answered, smiling at him lightly. "And haven't I already told enough in the introduction?"

"I was sort of hoping a little tour won't hurt." He said.

Rachel tilted her head to the side questioningly. "Really?"

He blushed under her gaze. "Y-yes, ma'am."

"Interesting. I'll consider it." She said, turning her back to him.

A gush of wind blew in opposite towards the direction she was walking to, bringing a waft of her scent towards Eren. He inhaled sharply at the alluring smell and found himself watching her form retreating.