Evening

Everyone had been gathered in the field with a small stage in the middle. There were numerous nervous and confused faces. Now that all of them had seen a titan, willingness to join the survey corps was declining rapidly.

Only ones who didn't appear nervous were Mikasa, Reiner, Jean and Annie. The former 3 had already decided to join the scouts and didn't look like they could be persuaded otherwise, while the latter wanted to join the Military Police, as she had stated in the past. There was no changing minds of these four.

Other members of the 104th training corps were in a dilemma. Connie, Sasha and Christa were extremely nervous. All three of them had the option to join the MP but they had seen what the titans could do and there was no guarantee that what happened to wall Rose wouldn't happen to wall Sina as well. Also, most of their friends were joining the scouts and would be risking their lives for the sake of humanity, how could they just stand behind and watch them put their lives on the line.

Commander Erwin Smith walked to the stage and addressed all the cadets that were assembled "Today is a very important day of your lives. Today you will be deciding which branch of military you would be joining. All of you who wish to join the scouts, I would like to be completely honest with you. The death rate in the Survey Corps is 60%. Not a very good number. Most of you will not survive for more than one year after enrollment. But all of those who survive, would be the mankind's strongest and bravest soldiers!" He let that settle in as murmurs broke out throughout the crowd "All those who still wish to join the Survey Corps stay here, rest can go back."

Slowly, people started dispersing as only a handful of people remained. Annie left without glancing back, her resolve to join MPs as solid as ever. Though, what came as a shock to others from 104th training class was Jean staying back to join the Survey Corps as well.

"All those who are still here have proved that they are willing to die for the sake of humanity and I salute you for your bravery. Starting tomorrow, your life as a scout will begin and I hope that all of you survive and give your best for serving humanity." Finished commander Erwin with the soldier's salute to the remaining cadets.

"I can't believe that we all joined the scouts," this voice belonged to Connie Springer "Especially you Jean, I thought you were going to join the MPs for sure."

"Yeah, last few days made me reconsider," the boy in question replied.

Everyone fell silent at that, news of Marco's death had spread among their friends and everyone was sad to hear of his death. It was a hard fact for them to swallow but it has served to open their eyes to the dangers of their chosen field.

"What's done is done. All we can concentrate right now is the future, Marco wouldn't want us to dwell in the past. Stop moping around." Jean continued seeing the sad faces of his friends. Dwelling on such thoughts would do them no good.

"Spoken like a true soldier" said Reiner, he was also impressed by this change in the brown haired boy. Everyone agreed with Jean's words. They can't bring him back but they can keep fighting to preserve the memory of their fallen friend.

Mikasa, although impressed by his words, truly knew what the boy was feeling. He did a good job of masking his true emotions from the world but she was not fooled. She could understand his situation very well, since she herself hid behind her mask of indifference, bottling down her feelings in the deepest recesses of her mind.

"Never thought I would hear wise words from horse-face." teased Connie.

Jean's eye twitched at hearing that damned nickname that the motor mouth Yeager had bestowed him and didn't feel bad when he punched the shorter boy. Everyone laughed at Connie's expense as he was lying on the ground with stars in his eyes.

In truth Jean was glad that the somber mood was lifted. What he didn't know was that a raven haired beauty was having similar thoughts.

Mikasa watched the her friends' antics and even smiled a little when Jean punched Connie for his comment. She wanted her friends to enjoy these peaceful moments where their thoughts weren't constantly plagued by the titans. But that is only wishful thinking. Their lives are going to be changed completely, especially with the 57th exterior scouting expedition coming up in a couple of months.

They stayed there and chatted for another half an hour but seeing that it was quite late, they decided to call it a day. Gradually everyone retreated to their dorms until the only ones left were Jean and Mikasa.
Mikasa too bid him goodnight and turned but his voice stopped her.

"Wait Mikasa," Jean blurted " I wanted ask.. no, request something from you ?"

"Yes ?" She asked curiously. What could the brown haired boy want from her ?

"I uh... wa" He cursed himself mentally. Of all the times that his brain could decide to stop cooperating, why did it have to be now ? She just had that effect on him, especially with her beautiful and awfully distracting eyes.

Mikasa waited for him but soon impatience started seeping in when he didn't say anything for another couple of minutes.

"If you don't have anything to say then I'm leaving. Good Night." She finally said.

"MIKASA WOULD YOU TRAIN ME?!" He blurted out, louder than what was necessary, his face dusted pink with embarrassment.

Her eyes widened. To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Out of all the things that she had expected from him, a request to be trained by her was not one of them. She stood there in complete silence for a complete minute not able to comprehend the reason for such a request.

"Why ?" she finally asked.

"For the entire span of three years that we spent in training, my only goal in life was to join the MP and thought that I would never have to see the face of a titan in my life. I only made efforts where it was necessary to get into top 10, maybe that's why I was useless in Trost. I never trained to kill a titan, my only purpose to become a soldier was to life a save luxurious life" He admitted shamefully " So I want to correct those past mistakes and finally become someone who can actually contribute towards mankind. I want to become a soldier, in which his comrades can put their trust"

She just stood there, listening to his reasons. Despite his initial motivations, the brown haired boy has come a long way in an extremely short period of time. He has shown that he is a good person deep down and can easily take the role of a leader when the situation demands. Two qualities that Mikasa respected in a person.

"As for why I am asking you is simple. You are the strongest cadet from 104th training corps and one of the strongest soldiers alive. Only ones who can compete with you are veteran scouts who have been fighting titans for years." He continued "I will understand if you will decline as you have-"

"Yes." she simply said.

"more import-" He stopped when his brain finally processed her answer " What ?"

"I said yes, I will help you" she replied. Her voice having a bit of warmth as against her usual stony tone.

Jean couldn't believe that she said yes. He had already prepared himself to be rejected by her, so it took a little time to accept that she has said yes. But once his shock wore off, his baffled expression was replaced by an elated one. Not only will he train under the top graduate from their batch, but he will also get to spend more time with the girl he adored.

When he looked up he saw that Mikasa also had a small smile on her face. She looked like an angel standing there and Jean was not able to take her eyes off her. After almost a minute, which seemed like eternity to him, he finally gained some semblance and took his eyes off her, looking anywhere but her, a blush clearly visible on his face.

She was amused seeing him getting all flustered and almost laughed at his blush but didn't say anything that would further embarrass him. Seeing that it was getting late and they could get into trouble if seen out of their dorms, Mikasa bid him goodnight and sauntered towards her room.

Jean also turned to walk towards his room with today's events going over his head. Morning he spent with Mikasa, all his friends joining the scouts and finally Mikasa agreeing to train him.

Today was undoubtedly one of the best days of his life and there was a spring in his step the entire way to his room. He almost tripped once or twice.