"And where did you run off to Captain?" Steve questioned, as Hanji and I rounded the corner. "I had a question to ask you but you shot out of the hallway before I could open my mouth."

Hanji nudged me and I sent her a look in return. She had better keep her mouth shut.

"It's confidential." Levi's eyes met mine as I approached before darting right back to Steve. "What did you want?"

"If it's about taking another morning training session off, count me out." I called as we passed, waving my hand lazily in the air.

Steve laughed loudly. "No, it's about our training grading this afternoon."

I froze and rapidly backpedalled, giving Levi a shocked look.

"We have a grading this afternoon?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's just a formality for the Special Ops. I choose the members but Erwin wants to keep everyone under the same training regime." Levi imitated me and waved his hand in the air lazily. I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

"Yes, but a little warning would have been nice."

"Well now you know."

"You little sh-"

"-let's go and take a break before we head back out, shall we Rina?" Hanji howled in laughter and began forcefully pulling me away from my squad members. The damn Captain knew I hated gradings.

"Expect your ass handed to you on a platter once I'm done, Ackerman!" I yelled, shoving a finger towards him as Hanji dragged me away.

Although harsh Survey Corps schedules kept the soldiers all in shape and focused, every now and again, the entire department (save the leaders) were to undergo a 'training grading'. It was, simply put, a physical exam to judge on how much individuals improved and where to do better on. The grading system was done through 5 stages.

The first was hand-to-hand combat, where soldiers were put into pairs for judgement. The rest of the task were, of course, 3DMG related. Individuals were tested on their proficiency with the manoeuvre gear through 4 aspects. Speed: groups of people would race each other over a set distance, usually in a straight path. Distance: this examined the efficient use of the gas cannisters and the further a distance an individual could travel, the better. Dodging: a set path was pre-determined through the training forest, riddled with distractions. The point was to make it to the end destination, by the set path only. Finally, there was the usual titan training: completed in groups of three, teams would have to search through a set area for wooden titans and dispatch of all of them. They would be judged on their cuts, their efficiency and on their overall teamwork.

For cadets, good results could lead to better positions or squadrons. For leaders, it allowed them to identify who or what needed to be improved on. For the Special Operations Squadron, it was merely a formality, as Levi hand-picks the members, regardless of the gradings.

Fortunately for us, Levi began to lead us towards the training forest, indicating that our hand-to-hand combat would be the last task. We all let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god. Bags not being against Jack when we go on the field." Steve called. Jack laughed.

"I'm not that bad."

The rest of the squadron gave Jack a quick look down. Tall, muscular figure and years of experience. Direct combat was his forte.

"Right." Brian drawled.

"Hurry up your asses. Speed first." Levi monotoned at us before waving his hand towards a certain tree. Looking up, I spotted a yellow flag tied to the branch, indicating the start of the track. All six of us aimed at the branch and hoisted ourselves up.

"Any one want to make a friendly bet?" Brian offered, landing noisily.

"You'd be crazy if you bet against Linda. We all know she'll come first." Sophie chuckled, slapping Brian on the shoulder. He faked a wince.

"I was leaning towards betting on who will come second. I'm putting money on Sophie."

"And not me, brother?" Steve made a face at his closest comrade.

"Don't worry Steve, I will." Jack clapped a hand onto the blonde's shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm going to join the girl power team over here." I grinned and flicked my head over to Sophie.

"Ready!"

At Levi's faint command, we all quickly took our stances, evenly spaced apart across the branch. The Captain was standing a good distance away, a little figure in the distance. Separating us was a clear path to him, free of major branches or leaves. He silently lifted his arm and we all tensed, waiting for the axe to fall. It did and we all vaulted off. Wires hissed out of their pockets, grabbing onto the brown bark surrounding us and gas cannisters were all triggered at once. A brief cloud of white erupted around us and we all naturally fell into place. Linda shot ahead as expected, her light body surging ahead of the rest of us. Sophie and Steve, the two S partners began their war, inching ahead of each other, second place swinging between the two. Jack, Brian and myself were less interested in our time and more in the winner for second place. After all, we had bet money into this. Every grading was the same, with Linda being first and the S partners fighting for second. As Levi grew closer, the partners shot forward, gas propelling them at crazy speeds. It then ended in an instance, with all six of us flying past the Captain, within seconds of each other. More cables whizzed out as we all did a double-take and returned to the Corporal.

"Ranking, Cap't!" Brian yelled as he shot through the air.

"You obviously came last." Levi replied shortly, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry. Ranking please Corporal."

"Linda, Steve, Sophie, Rina, Jack, Brian."

"Yes! In your face!" Steve teased, dancing around Sophie. She shook her head in amusement.

"Keep dancing like that and my fist will be in your face." She chuckled.

I hung my head, as did Brian. Jack strolled past us.

"I expect my payment to come in the form of your desserts." He murmured, smirking widely.