Chapter 9

Time for Graduation

It was the year 850. It was the last few days before Graduation. It was pouring rain as they ran through the forest. Kara had her hood up as she ran with Jean. Conny and Sasha were panting behind them.

"Pick up the pace you lead-headed laggards!" Sadies called as he rode next to them. Kara kept her eyes ahead. "You boots water-logged, Arlet?" Kara and Jean looked over their shoulders to see Armin falling behind. "Let's see some hustle! Gear to heavy for you, son? Hell, drop it! Leave it in the mud!" Kara looked forwad as they continued to run as Sadies yelled at Armin. Reiner slid back to rescue him.

'Only a few more days till Graduation. We finally made it.' Kara thought. Sadies came back and watched at people ran. Armin ran fast past them. Kara was impressed as he caught up to Mikasa and Eren.

"Tch. Not bad." Jean said.

The next day. Wood Titan were around. Jean was with Bertholdt and Annie as they neared a Titan. Annie and Bertholdt sliced through the nape of the Titan, cutting deep. Jean came in and sliced, but it was shallow.

'Damnit.' Jean thought. Jean took off in another direction.

"Think those showoffs can slice and dice? Best hope you see a Titan before I do." Jean said. He flew threw the trees.

'Military Police. Save a place for Jean!' Jean said as he burst through the trees and came upon a wooden Titan. Jean laughed.

"Way to lead the charge!" Conny said. He swooped in, using the branches to get to the wooden Titan. "You don't care if I steal you thunder, right?" Conny goes to slice and a blur comes and someone else slices the neck. "Huh!" Conny said. Sasha fell backwards with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah. Woo hoo!" Sasha yelled. she pulls herself up.

"Will you two stop following me!" Jean yelled. He went to find another wooden Titan.

"There you are." Jean said as one was right ahead of him. Hooks go flying by.

"Coming through!" Kara said as she flew by Jean.

"What!" Jean yelled. She turned in the air and sliced the neck of the Titan. She left a deep cut. Jean growled.

"Need to be quicker then me, Jean." Kara said with a smirk on her face. Sadies was watching from the tree.

'Kara Ackerman. First in her class with hand to hand combat but also excels in everything. You can tell she was trained by her father when it comes to fighting and ODM gear. Will she be as skilled as her father? Only time will tell.' Sadies thought.

"That was mine, Kara!" Jean called. Kara stuck her tongue out at Jean and took off. Sadies shook his head at the two.

Later that day out in the training field. Kara and Jean were paired together as Conny and Sasha were goofing off near them. Kara stood ready as Jean was the rouge. Everytime they did these exercises, Jean always picked her. He tried to take it easy on her and she always ended up kicking his ass. Jean stood looking at her. She looked bored.

"You going to attack or what?" Kara asked. Jean charged at her. Kara grabbed his arm and twisted it, making Jean grunt in pain as she flipped him over and he landed hard on his back. "Why do you keep going easy on me and you still get your butt kicked." Kara knelt next to him.

"I was always taught not to hit a girl." Jean said as he sat up.

"What are you going to do when the enemy is the girl. You can't hold back. We're friends, but still. You never know. If I was someone else, you would be dead." Kara said.

"Your good at fighting. Have been since day one." Jean said.

"My father and his squad have been training me since they got custody of me. Father was afraid that the men that are working for my dad would come after me and I should learn how to defend myself if needed." Kara said. They had gotten lucky. No other attacks from her father's men, but Jean, Conny, and Sasha always went with her when they went out on their days off. Sasha and Conny knew the situation. She trusted them enough to tell them the truth. Jean pushed hair out of her face.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you made the top 10. You should consider joining the MPs." Jean said. Kara shook her head.

"I promised my father I be joining the Scouts soon as I graduate. You still going to the MPs?" Kara asked.

"Yeah. Long as I make the top 10." Jean said, feeling sad that the two be seperated. Sadies passed the two, heading over to Sasha and Conny, who were goofing off with funny poses. Conny had the knife in his mouth. "You going to come visit me on your days off?"

"I will." Kara promised as they watched as Sadies comes to a stop in front of Conny and Sasha.

"Hello sir." Sasha said. Sadies grabbed Conny up by the ears as Sasha crowled in fear.

"We should do some training. I'll be the Rouge now." Kara said. She stood up and held out her hand. Jean took it and she helped him up. Kara charged at him. Jean grabbed her arm and went to flip her but she grabbed his face and they struggled for a bit till Jean had her pinned to the ground.

"Hah. Got you." Jean said. Sasha and Conny were watching. Sadies was watching as well. Kara saw that he was distraced and head butted him in the forehead and wrapped her leg around his waste and flip him. Jean gasped as he felt the knife pressed to his neck.

"Don't get distracted. That will cause you to end up dead." Kara said. Their faces were inches from each other.

"I'll remember that." Jean said as a tint of red was on his checks. Kara got off him and helped him up.

"I thought they were going to kiss." Conny whispered.

"So did I. Will those two already admit they like each other." Sasha grumbled.

"I hate to be in Jean's shoes when Captain Levi finds out Jean likes his daughter." Christa said, coming over with Mikasa. The others nodded.

That night. They all sat at tables. Jean, Sasha, Conny, and Kara were sitting at their usual table together. Marco and Daz joined them. Jean was sitting next to Kara. He was explaining how to save gas with ODM gear. Eren was staring him down. Kara was tuning out most of it.

"That's how you conseve fuel." Jean said, bumping Kara as he lifted his hands up. She looks up as the other sat listening. "Let the momentum do the work for you."

"Stil that's pretty advanced." Daz said. Jean brought down his arms, but put a hand to his face.

"Duh. It's called having a sixth sense for the finer points of your gear." Jean said. Kara rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her milk. Jean's eyes look at Kara as she ate. "You gotta do the strut if you wanna make the cut. The MP only recruit the best."

"Ah. Man, that'd be amazing. Working within a stone's throw of the King. No greater honor than that." Marco said, making Kara snort as Marco took a sip of his drink.

"Shut up, Marco." Jean said. He smacked Marco behind his head, making Marco spill his drink. Jean leaned over to talk to Jean. "We're not children. You can drop the misty-eyed B.S. Honor doesn't have any damn part of it. You just want a nice crushy job in the Interior playing glorified sentry."

"That's not true! That's not me at all!" Marco said.

"Jean. Let him be. He can dream all he wants." Kara said.

"Listen to you guys." Eren said. Jean and Marco look at Eren as Kara continued eating her food. "Interior? Five years ago, this was part of it." Eren takes a drink of his food.

"you got a point to make, friend? I'm right here." Jean said. Mikasa and Kara let out sighs. They knew where this was leading. Eren puts his cup down.

"Poor Jean. So misguided. And besides." Eren said. He looked at Jean. "I don't think your head will fit in the Interior anyway." Kara nearly spit out her drink at Eren's words as she coughed while laughing. Reiner was snickering. Jean's eye twitched.

"Very funny." Jean said.

"Seems a little backwards to me. Fine-tuning your Titan-killing skills so the brass will station you somewhere you'll never see one. " Eren said.

"You'd rather I was good at getting killed? Thank you but I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on." Jean said. Eren growled and stood up.

"You son of a bitch!" Eren said. Jean shot to his feet.

"Bring it on, you little bastard." Jean said.

"Guys, knock it off." Kara said as they got into each others face. Eren grabbed Jean by the shirt. Mikasa and Kara got up.

"Gentlemen, please." Mikasa said. She pulled Eren away as Kara pulled Jean away. Jean looked at Kara and she saw a glint in his eyes before he pulled free. He slammed Eren into the wall and held him by the shirt.

"Oh for heaven's sake." Kara whispered.

"You think you can judge me?" Jean yelled.

"Huh? You rip my shirt, you're dead!" Eren said.

"I don't give a damn about your shirt! You piss me off!" Jean said.

"What? Are you crazy?" Eren said. Kara rubbed her forehead as Jean yelled at Eren. Eren suddenly grabbed Jean's hand and then grabbed his neck. He kicked his leg out from under him. Kara's eyes widen as Jean is flipped onto his back on the floor. Annie gasped and Kara realized that was Annie's move. Everyone gasaped. Eren turns to look at Jean. Jean sat up, grabbing his head.

"Damnit. I get thrown on my back by Kara all day today and now you. What the hell was that move?" Jean grumbled. Kara came over to him.

"Little something I picked up this afternoon while you were getting your ass handed to you by Kara." Eren said. There were some snickers from some of their friends and Kara had to bite her lip from laughing. "You honestly believe the Military Police are your ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier. You're a joke." Kara helped Jean up. Jean and Eren stared each other down. The door opened and Eren, Jean, and Kara quickly took their seats as Sadies peaked his head in.

"Would someone care to explain the little ruckus I heard just now? I do hope everything's alright. Mikasa raised a hand.

"Sasha passed some gas, Commandant." Mikasa said. Sasha gasped with eyes wide.

"Why am I not surprised?" Sadies said. Sasha was gasping more. "For the love of God learn some self-control." Sadies closes the door and leaves. Sasha runs over to Mikasa demanding why she was to blame. Mikasa looked agrivated and Kara shoved a bread into Sasha's mouth to shut her up with a grateful look from Mikasa. Jean and Eren were glaring at each other.

The night of Graduation.

"Do you have heart?" Commander called.

"Sir!" Cadets salute.

"As of this moment, you have three options open to you. Choose wisely. The Garrison Regiment, whose job is to reinforce the Walls. The Scout Regiment, who rides out into Titan Country to take back what was once ours. And the MP Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from His Royal Magesty. Those Cadets eligible for the MP have already been named. The rest of you, take a look. These are the top of your class." The 10 cadets stood in front of all the Cadets. The order was:

1. Kara Ackerman

2. Mikasa Ackerman

3. Reiner Braun

4. Bertholdt Hoover

5. Annie Leonhart

6. Eren Jaeger

7. Jean Kirschtein

8. Marco Bodt

9. Conny Springer

10 Sasha Braus.

Kara couldn't believe it. She was number 1 of her class. Jean was glaring at Eren as he stood next to him. His eyes go towards Kara who stood next to Mikasa. A smile was on her face.

'Not surprised she's number 1. She deserved it, but why did I have to rank under Eren.' Jean said. Kara felt eyes on her and looked to see Jean watching her. She smiled at him and he returned it. Their eyes go back to the front.

To Scouting HQ. Hange ran through the halls, looking for a little short Captain.

"Petra! Where's Levi?" Hange called.

"He's in the Commander's office. Why?" Hange said.

"I got the top 10 list of Kara's graduating class. He needs to see it!" Hange yelled. Petra and Oluo look at each other and quickly follow. Eld and Gunther behind. Levi and Erwin were going over their next mission when someone ran into the door of the Commander's office. "OW!" Levi groaned. Petra opened the door.

"What is it Hange?" Erwin asked.

"I got the list of the Top 10 graduates that graduated tonight." Hange said in a sing song voice. Levi ripped the paper out of her hands. He didn't have to look far to find his daughters name. Erwin saw a surprised but proud look on Levi's face.

"So?" Erwin said.

"She is number 1 of her class." Levi said. Erwin smiled.

"She should join the MPs if she's top of her class." Eld said. Erwin and Levi shot him looks.

"She doesn't want that especially with her father still out there. She'll be joining us in the Survey Corps." Levi said, standing up.

"Sadies report says she is skilled at everything. She's gonna be a mini Levi." Hange said. Oluo groaned.

"Just what we need another Captain Levi running around." Oluo said. Gunther and Eld snickered as Levi glared at Oluo.

"I trained that brat since she was 10." Levi said.

"It'll be nice to have her back. Its been so quiet here." Petra said. Levi couldn't help but agree.

After graduation. There was a party in the mess hall. Jean was still realing that he was ranked under the suicidal maniac. Marco came over to Jean.

"Kara's missing." Marco said. Jean looked around and noticed the blonde girl was not in the room. "You really want to join the MPs and let Kara go to Scouts?" Jean sighed.

"She made her choice. I don't want to stop her." Jean said.

"Then why not join the Scouts with her. You do like her." Marco said. Jean's checks turn red.

"I don't know what your talking about. She's just a friend." Jean said.

"I know your lying. I see the way you look at her when you think no one is looking. You like her Jean. And you won't see her if your in the MPs and she's with the Scouts. I think you should join the Scouts to be with her." Marco said. Jean stared at the door as if wanting Kara to walk through the door.

"I don't know. I'm going to find Kara." Jean said as he headed for the door. Marco chuckled.

Kara was sitting on the roof of the stables. Her empty plate was on the roof beside her. Her cup was in her hands.

"Idiot. What are you doing up there?" Kara looked down to see Jean standing there.

"Just wanted some peace and quiet." Kara said. Jean climbed up and sat down next to her. "You placed 7th. That's pretty good."

"Tch, but under Eren. I'm surprised the Suicidal Maniac made the top 10." Jean said.

"You placed under me. So you upset on that?" Kara asked.

"No. You deserved that spot. I'm sure your father will be proud." Jean said. Kara smiled.

"Sadies sent the top 10 list to all the Commanders. So I'm sure he knows and is." Kara said. Jean pushed a hair out of her face.

"I might change my mind on hoining the MPs." Jean said. She looked at him.

"Jean. You don't.." Kara started.

"No. I want to. I want to be where you are." Jean said. Kara felt her heart flutter. Jean leaned forward. Kara leaned forward.

"HEY!" Jean and Kara split apart and both glared down at Sasha and Conny. "We're going back."

"Alright. Let's go." Kara said. She slid down the roof and dropped off. Jean facepalmed. He almost kissed her.

'Damn you, Sasha.' Jean thought as he jumped down and followed them.

AN: Heh heh. Almost a kiss. Even I'm pissed at Sasha. Till next time.