Chapter 20 A New Home

Riding through the woods on horseback, Gohan was briefly reminded of home. The trees looked similar enough to those from where he grew up, the birds were chirping and critters could just be heard skittering around in the brush, and here he was heading off to do some good old fashioned Ki training. Ok, so maybe he wasn't actually the biggest fan of training, but he had spent many years doing it out of necessity, and he was trying to put his mind back to that fundamentals stage. All in all, it wasn't a surprise to him that he rode along with a smile on his face. Part of that was also thanks to his company as well.

"And so of course I'm there freaking out, scrambling along the ground as fast as I can while this Titan is reaching out to me, and Mike is just standing there rolling his eyes at me." In a display of experience, Ilse waved her hands about enthusiastically as she told her story, her horse not changing pace in the slightest.

"Oh wow. But weren't you in danger?"

"Oh no. I mean, I thought I was, but from where Mike was standing he could see the way the house had the thing pinned in place, so all he saw was me screaming and fumbling about because a Titan was just near me." Ilse smiled brightly at the memory. No doubt it must have been as truly terrifying in the moment as she made it out to be, but something Gohan had learned quickly whilst catching up with her on his ride had been how she took great effort in being able to laugh about living. Maybe that was a result of the near death experience he'd saved her from, or maybe it was simply an attitude all scouts developed after a while. From the way Petra laughed along as well, he suspected it might have been the latter.

"Isn't that the same night you cornered him and you two got into a screaming match?" She asked, casually flicking her ginger hair out of the way as she looked at Ilse from the side.

"Well I screamed. He kinda just stood there and watched me until a calmed down. Gave me a bit of a talking to after since he's my commanding officer and all, but I think that was the night he started looking at me a little differently." Ilse smiled warmly, a distant look in her eye as she thought about her boyfriend.

"Started looking at your butt you mean." Teased Petra, the woman immediately sputtering and berating the woman who laughed wildly at the reaction. Gohan listened as Ilse called Petra inappropriate, and he had to admit he was surprised as well. His childhood had been very tame in comparison to how a lot of the military people he met spoke, though he had heard similar things before during basic. The men had obviously been the biggest offenders, with Jean, Reiner, Connie, and even Marco making comments about the women they all trained with. Who was the best looking, who seemed the most likely to date, which one of them was the most sought after, all sorts of topics. Christa's name came up a lot, from a lot of different people, though Reiner was perhaps the loudest. Mikasa was perhaps the second most popular, no points for guessing who was her biggest supporter, and although it did come up how strange a lot of people found it how devoted she was to Eren, not many were bothered by it. He might have put that down to shallow chit chat, but Sasha apparently "went down a few pegs" because of her food obsession and rather… strange behaviour at times. That hadn't stopped people commenting on her and the others in more… unsubtle ways.

To Gohans surprise the women had been just as bad. Ymir was obviously one of the worst, but there were many others who talked. He remembered hearing them talk about the boys, except for Ymir, and which one of them was cutest. To Jeans eternal dismay if he ever found out, his name didn't come up much aside from to be rejected, mostly due to his pompous attitude and brazen cowardice, their words not his. It was actually a rather similar ranking with the boys to the girls, with one standing above the rest and a few notable ones here and there. Reiner seemed to be their favourite. Big, broad, and friendly, he'd heard more than enough suggestive ideas about where a hug from him could lead.

Still, he wondered just how natural it was for girls to talk like that considering there were a fair few girls he did know who hadn't seemed interested in it all. Christa had only ever talked when suggestions had been teased out of her, swiftly followed by dramatic betrayal sounds from Ymir. Annie had obviously clamped up whenever someone made mention, though someone had seen her blush once and rumours began to float that she did in fact have her eye on someone. Mikasa had been likewise just as silent, but something more akin to apathetic about it than reserved like Annie was. She only ever really spoke up when she was denying suggestions about her and Erin, and although many of the girls, and guys, didn't buy it, Gohan actually did. The way she looked at him didn't really seem romantic in any way.

Not that Gohan actually knew anything about romance. Heck, he hadn't even had a date yet. Even Connie had done that, though granted it had been something of a pity date from Mina, who had most certainly not been pleased about it all when she'd come back that night.

"Seriously though, we all thought Mike was gonna retire a single man, or that he actually had some kind of secret family he never told us about." Continued Petra, having calmed Ilse down enough to talk again. "I mean c'mon, guy his age in a job as dangerous as this not having any kids already? What are the chances!?"

Ilse frowned at the mild rebuke of her lover, and placed a hand proudly on her chest. "Well maybe, he was just waiting for the right girl to come along."

"Come along and shout at him." Petra teased, leading to Ilse to grind her teeth together dramatically.

"Oh come on Petra, we all know that screaming is the language of love." Gohan joined in, spreading his arms wide and letting his voice boom. "For what is true love but not the desire to proclaim your heart to one for all the heavens to hear?"

Petra snorted and laughed, whilst Ilse pouted between the two of them. "Here I come, joining my two friends for a lovely trip through the woods only to be picked on all the way." Gohan could see the smile she wore though and allowed himself to laugh, before abruptly stopping as he heard someone scream up front and saw a small spray of blood.

"Ugh, guess I'll go deal with this. Back in a sec guys." Petra gave her reigns a snap and pulled ahead to deal with whatever had happened. Gohan actually sent Ilse a questioning glance about it, and she seemed confused before realising something.

"Ah, I don't think I ever told you. Petra is the special operations squad medic, so whenever someone gets…mildly injured it's up to her to patch them up." She leaned in a little closer. "Don't let that fool you though, she's just as dangerous as the rest of these guys. She mostly sticks to support because of her job, so she's only got 10 titan kills solo. Impressive compared to most, but not much in regards to her team. In team kills though, she's all the way up to 48."

"Wow." Gohan wasn't underselling it either, that really was impressive. With the casualty numbers amongst the garrison at Trost, some soldiers hadn't been even able to slay a single Titan before their life was tragically cut short, so to reach 58 was incredible. And with so many of them being team kills, her teamwork abilities must be amazing. "That's impressive. What about the others?"

"Hmmm." She paused to think for a little bit, before starting with a man near the head of the group, pointing him out as the one currently holding his bleeding mouth near Eren. "Oruo Bozad over there has 39 solo kills, and nine in a team." She moved her hand across slightly and marked out another person, this one notable by his blond hair folded back into a bun. "That right there is Eld Gin, he's Levi's second in command with 14 solo kills and 32 in a team. And just next to him," she pointed to the horse beside him where a brown haired man rode along stoically "is Gunther Schultz. He's got seven solo kills and 40 assists."

"Whoa." Gohan felt a wave of respect for the people around him, all of whom had proven themselves as beyond capable Titan killers. If there skills transferred over to Ki control, then there wouldn't be any kind of issue.

"Whoa is right. They're the best of the best for a reason." Ilse said proudly. It was a vicarious type of pride, a pride in the skills her regiment had been able to develop and allow to flourish.

"I can tell. What about you Ilse? How many do you have?"

"Oh me?" She seemed genuinely surprised he asked her, and for a second he thought she looked almost embarrassed or ashamed. If she expected him to be unimpressed because she wasn't among the best then she would be dead wrong. As far as he was concerned, the very fact that she'd survived so long meant that she was strong. "Uh, well I suppose it depends on how you look at it. I guess I'd be somewhere around… two solo kills, and 22 in a team."

"Wow, well done Ilse, that's incredible."

"How many before you were placed in Mike's team?" A voice asked from behind them, and the two turned to see Captain Levi bringing up the rear. He'd been so quiet since the trip started that Gohan had almost forgotten about him.

"Uh, just the three team kills sir." Well that was certainly surprising, he wondered just what had changed about her new team to make her rise so quickly. "You don't keep track of your kills do you sir?"

The man looked away in mild annoyance, it was clear that he'd been asked his record far too many times to care. "No, I don't." He turned to look directly at Gohan. "What about you Son? Do you keep track?"

"Uh, not properly sir. I think it's somewhere around 50 though." He heard Ilse gasp, and immediately begin to sing his praised, but if Captain Levi had any sort of reaction he certainly didn't show it. Instead, he nodded over at Mikasa, who was riding side by side with Eren in an all too familiar sight.

"And Ackerman? What about her?"

"Uh, I don't know, you'd have to ask her sir." Gohan felt a surge of uncertainty, and felt the need to try and defend her from the non-existent accusation. "But I heard she did really well in Trost, she's got at least a few solo and team kills from helping in the evacuation." He grunted non-committedly, looking away to take in the sight before them, as did Gohan.

The former castle was still a sight to behold in spite of the obvious wear and tear that could be seen. It was a unique kind, one that came from something that had truly been used and abused for whatever its original purpose had been, before being abandoned and left to time. Gohan remembered when his father had told him stories about when he was a child, and especially one about when they were at the castle of someone named Pilaf. Granted, his father wasn't someone with anything like a perfect memory, but the way he'd described it made it sound a lot like what he was seeing here.

They trotted up to the semi-ruins in more hushed tones than before, Gohan quiet as he took in the sight of his new home for the next month at least, whilst the rest were either also taking in the view or watching as Petra helped Oruo off his horse and checked his mouth.

When Gohan did finally climb down and stretch, he was surprised when Ilse didn't. Turning to her, he asked why she was still sat comfortably on her horse.

"Oh you haven't heard of Captain Levi's reputation have you?" She continued when he shook his head. "Captain Levi is a total clean freak, even wipes Titan blood off of him he can't stand how long it takes to disappear. Place like this, you can bet the first thing he's going to do is have you guys scrub it from top to bottom, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't feel like staying around. I get enough cleaning duty as it is."

He laughed good naturedly. Even if he didn't have memories of his mother being the same, he'd been put through cleaning detail in basic training just as much as any other recruit, he knew how bad it could be some times. "Fair enough. I suppose this might be the last I see of you until the expedition right?"

"Maybe." She smiled sadly. "But even then, it's no guarantee that we'll be working near each other. On the old route there were some places where we would all stop and take care of any Titans we'd attracted, and so we might have seen each other in action then. But with whatever new route we take, who knows?" She shrugged, and turned to root around in her saddle bag. "Make sure you write to me and keep me up to date on what you can, no secrets obviously. But I'm sure you can tell me who the Garrison and MP representatives are when they get here. Also, I will still leave you with a present."

She pulled out a small box and handed it down to him, which he took in surprise. He was even more surprised when he opened it and saw a shiny medal staring back at him, the first he'd ever had.

"The medal of valour, in light of your bravery at Trost." She explained. "Commander Erwin was told just before we left and let me have the honour of giving it to you instead of having some big ceremony and delaying the transfer to the castle. Congratulations Gohan, I really am proud of you."

"Wow, thanks Ilse. This… it really does mean a lot to me." He took it all in, a basic design, but one that highlighted its simple elegance. A silvery metal rectangle with a golden bird overlapped by a shield in the centre, with a red and black ribbon attached. It occurred to him that he didn't actually know when and where to where it, but he was sure he could ask one of the others about it, and closed it with a grateful sigh. "Thank you again Ilse."

"Don't mention it monkey boy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of here before Captain Levi ropes me in, since here he comes now."

She snapped her reigns and rode off in a quick trot, only breaking into a proper ride when she was back out onto the open path. As he watched her disappear, he heard the man himself approach from behind. "Cadet Son, there's cleaning supplies inside. Get to work, and we'll start our training tomorrow."

The sounds of brushes and brooms in action as the squad set to work was an almost pleasant sound. Hunched over with a brush in hand and bucket of water beside him, there was something almost relaxing about it all. Though Gohan did doubt how much they'd be able to improve the state of the castle as there weren't any advanced cleaning supplies like detergent that he was still used to from his world, the hallway was already looking a thousand times better at least.

He'd had to swap out his water more times than he cared to count, and even now it was getting close to a disgusting brownish green colour again, but it was still progress being made. He also, wasn't alone. Scrubbing the floor beside him was Mikasa, who had been given the same job as him despite her initial suggestion to help Eren with cleaning one of the upstairs rooms. The man had simply given an outright rejection and given her another job instead, but Eren had made his displeasure known at her suggestion, groaning and moaning in a way that had sent the others in Levi squad sending him funny looks. They, unlike him, hadn't missed Mikasa's embarrassed wince at his reaction, which reminded him that at some point he needed to talk with her about that again.

Unfortunately, it would have to be another time as he saw Eren heading towards them, only briefly meeting their gaze before he headed into the room next to them containing the Captain. "I'm done with the upstairs sir. If uh, if I may ask captain where will I be expected to sleep?"

"Your sleeping quarters are in the cellar."

Really, the cellar? "The cellar? But sir, again?" Well it was good to know that Gohan and Eren both thought alike in how undesirable that prospect was. The place hadn't been cleaned yet but Gohan had seen enough to know that it wasn't about to become homely with a simple scrub.

"Our safest option. Your abilities are far from being under control, you might go Titan in your sleep. One of the conditions of my having custody of you at all is that I keep you under strict security, morning, noon, and night." As much as Gohan found the man irked him, it was hard to deny that he wasn't smart about his job. It wasn't comfortable, but at least he didn't seem malicious about it. "While we're in dreamland, you're in restraints. That's the rule."

"Sir, where will I be staying?" Asked Mikasa from the floor, having scrubbed her way up to the doorway enough to look at the man.

"You'll be with everyone else on the second floor Ackerman. You want to check up on him in the night that's fine, but if you're on this squad then you're going to act like it." The man's voice was startlingly serious, and Gohan had the feeling that Mikasa's presence on his team bothered him more than he had initially let on. "You're a member of the special operations squad first, and the brats mother second." Both Eren and Mikasa bristled at the comment, but he didn't back down, instead turning back to Eren. "I'll check your work, take over here, I want it spotless."

He left the room without any further word, leaving Eren and Mikasa to exchange a silent conversation, one that ended with Eren huffing and turning away in annoyance, while Mikasa returned to her scrubbing, albeit much less enthusiastically than she had been before. The awkward silence that followed was broken by the arrival of a familiar orange haired girl, who leant comfortably against a doorway with broom in hand.

"No need to look so discouraged guys, Captain Levi is like that with everyone."

"Rude, belittling, arrogant?" Mikasa almost spat, her frustration no doubt only partially aimed at the man in question.

"Mikasa!" Eren rebuked her, with his disappointment somewhat backed up by the frown that briefly tugged at Petras lips.

"I'll admit, up close and personal Captain Levi doesn't seem much like the hero he's cracked up to be. For one thing he's a lot shorter, and on the temperamental side too. Not exactly imbued with what you'd call the social graces." She teased, with the two of them visibly relaxing a little before Petra turned serious. "But he is the captain for a reason. It isn't just about how personally dangerous he is, he cares about the people under his command. Us, his squad." She turned to Mikasa. "The people here have all proven themselves for a long time, and we'll do whatever it takes for humanity. From his perspective, you're not somewhat who's willing to do that. Everyone can tell your number one priority is Eren, and if people can't trust your skills, and can't trust you to follow orders, then you're placing a lot of people's lives in danger."

Mikasa paused her scrubbing, her face hidden and reaction unknown. Before the quiet dragged on for too long though, Petra relaxed a bit. "Sorry for sounding super harsh and all, but everyone's under a lot of stress with what's going on. Nothing like this has ever been done before and well, people are on edge, so they get cranky. I hope that in time you'll realise that we're not all so serious all the time."

"It's ok." Mikasa whispered, much to Erens surprise. "I apologise." With that she returned to scrubbing, moving on to the steps in front of her.

"What's going on here?" A stern voice sounded from above as Captain Levi walked down the stairs. Quickly, Petra and Gohan returned to cleaning, the latter having been too distracted by the conversation to multitask. He paid them no mind as he stepped past them, taking care not to hit too many wet spots from Gohan and Mikasa's work.

"Your cleaning is lamentable. Back upstairs now."

Eren walked past meekly as Levi's stony gaze followed him, before returning back to the room and noticing something out the window that made him groan. "Petra, you take over here, Son you can come with me." He strode down the hall in an annoyed march, and the half-saiyan followed quickly behind in confusion. It wasn't until they stepped outside that Gohan figured out the reason why, the representatives had arrived.

Four figures all arrived on horseback, two wearing the crest of the Garrison regiment, and two wearing that of the Military Police. The two from the Garrison he recognised quickly, Rico Brzenska led the pack with her grey hair making her stand out the most, and just behind her was Mitabi Jarnach, two of the squad leaders from the Garrison elite forces. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised to see them, he may not have known many from the Garrison but they were among the best, and already had proven combat experience against Titans and fighting alongside, or at least witnessing, Ki powers. It was the other two that made Gohan hesitate.

He obviously didn't recognise them, having never really interacted with the Military Police before, but the two before him had something about him that just set him on edge. The first was a blonde woman who had a strange, melancholy look to her, one that spoke of a sad acceptance of something he just couldn't fathom. She was likely one of the MP's best though, as even without Ki sense Gohan could see that she was still in prime shape, as was the other beside her. He looked much more alert than his companion, almost paranoid his eyes roamed around so much. Briefly studying something that caught his attention before he moved on. He was otherwise fairly non-descript, dark almost black hair and a trimmed goatee were about all that stood out from him. Aside from that look.

"Welcome to the temporary Special Operations Squad Headquarters, I take it you're all the representatives we've been waiting for?" Levi asked, still managing a commanding voice as he stood before them in his cleaning gear.

"That's right." Rico said, hopping down with the others following her lead. "Rico Brzenska and Mitabi Jarnach of the Garrison regiment."

Levi nodded disinterestedly. He'd no doubt seen them before but never really been introduced. Instead, his attention was focused on the two MP's who were dismounting, and the blonde woman who stepped forwards. "You can call me Caven, and this is Kuno, we're from the Military Police." The woman sent back a look that was equally as studying of Levi, watching for whatever reaction he might have. He did nothing however, instead brushing it all aside as he spoke.

"Your rooms will be on the second floor, you can ask someone if you can't find anywhere. Go pick a room, put your things away, then grab some cleaning supplies and get to work. We'll have this place spotless before sundown, and begin training first thing in the morning." None of the representatives complained, nodding along in easy acceptance. "This is Gohan Son, he'll be the one teaching us all. You have any questions about Ki you go directly to him. Don't forget that Eren Jaeger is also present, and he's our responsibility, so keep to yourselves around him."

They all nodded in silence at the warning, grabbing their gear and heading inside without complaint. And yet still, there was something about the two MP's that Gohan couldn't help but feel wary about.

With the help of the representatives, they actually managed to have the castle cleaned in time for dinner. The store room had obviously been cleaned out before it was originally abandoned, but a wagon had been sent beforehand to stock it back up in preparation, and while most everyone had been too tired to bother with proper cooking, Gohan had volunteered to do so for everyone. Initially, they had all thought it a kindness that had gone too far when he brought out the feast that filled the table in front of them.

And then, he started eating.

"I don't understand, where does it all go?"

"Is this because of your Ki stuff?"

"Are we gonna be like that?"

"Why aren't you surprised Rico?"

The woman in question wasn't the only one non-plussed about it, as Mikasa and Eren ate without delay, barely even paying attention to the human black hole that sat next to them. "I was there when he woke up after Trost and had his first meal. Couldn't believe it at first, still can't fully."

"You get used to it." Mikasa explained, picking away at the meal in front of her. "We had a big shock like this when we first met, thank god that the military was paying for his meals when we were cadets."

Eren laughed at the memory. "First night as cadets and Gohan went from table to table asking people if they had any leftovers. When Shadis found out the next day he was furious."

"Even more than he was at Potato Girl." Mikasa agreed, smiling as she remembered the tirade he'd went on after lining everyone up.

"At least I didn't make it worse." Gohan said, pausing briefly to defend herself. "I did manage to pick up on the idea of not offering him any food. I think he might have tried to kill me instead of just working me harder than everyone else."

"He upped your exercise?" Asked Petra, only now feeling her appetite come back and raising a fork from her plate and munching away.

"Oh yeah. He said that if I wanted to eat for ten cadets then he'd work me for ten cadets. He'd stop the workout when I stopped indulging, but I never did."

"Because of your abilities?" Asked Eld, likewise finally digging in.

"Sort of. You'll definitely need to eat more when we get into the training, but I was always like this." At least he wasn't as bad as his father or Vegeta.

"Damn, can't imagine what your parent's food bill must have been like." Joked Gunther.

"How did they pay for it all?" Asked Caven. The woman had been tight lipped for much of her stay so far, almost as much as her companion had been, and the sudden interest drew a variety of pointed looks at her. It seemed the rumour of the MP's being the least liked amongst the military branches were true.

"We mostly hunted, or grew our own food. My dad liked to farm sometimes as ways of keeping his training up." He hadn't really stuck with it, getting distracted pretty often whenever serious training came up, but he didn't tell them that.

"Must have had some land to do that. How'd you afford it?" Now Caven was starting to sound accusatory, as if she was digging for something, whether it was holes in his story or another thing Gohan didn't know about.

"Ah, well my dad inherited it from his grandpa, and I think everything else was paid for with either his tournament earnings or my grandpa on my mother's side. He owned a fair bit of land from what I understand of it all." He probably should have come up with some other explanation, since he couldn't exactly name drop the Ox King as his grandfather and have it make sense.

Unfortunately, it seemed like he had given a little too much away already, as Petra suddenly spoke up. "Wait, you're a noble's grandson?"

"I suppose so. I never really thought about it too much." He'd never really needed to worry about inheriting any lands come to think of it. As far as he was aware his mother wasn't in line to become the Ox Queen, nor did she have any siblings that she talked about. Maybe the Ox King had some other sort of inheritance law in place, who knew.

"Who was he? I might have heard his name floated around in the Wall Sina at some point."

"It doesn't matter… they're all gone now." A silence followed but Caven and Kuno didn't seem to relax, both instead still watching him intently.

"You could file a report, we'll find whatever bastards did it for you." Kuno finally spoke, his gaze unwavering yet unreadable in a way that Gohan really didn't like. Thankfully, Mikasa was ready to step in for him.

"He already did, yet none of you did anything before. Or are you only interested now because he might be high born?" She accused.

Kuno's eyes narrowed at her. "We weren't involved then. But we know some people who could get the word to the top with the right details. The Military Police is here to help after all, we just need a few more details."

"What is this, an interrogation?" She shot back, her cutlery being gripped tighter.

"Relax, all of you." Levi ordered, his voice raised just high enough to get the point across as Mikasa and the two MP's eased back in their chairs. "We're here for a whole month together, and I'm not going to spend it breaking up fights."

He leaned back and sipped his tea with a watchful eye on them all. When nobody spoke for a bit, people began to dig in to their meals. They ate in silence for a good few minutes, and it wasn't until they were almost finished that Eld spoke up.

"It's safe to assume our standing orders will stretch into next week. Word through the grapevine is we're gearing up for a big mission a month from now, one where a bunch of wet behind the ears graduates are slated to be our backup."

"That can't be right, why do something like that?" Said Gunther, wiping away some gravy from his mouth with a cloth. "The cadets have been through enough with the last Titan attack, why subject them to that kind of danger again?"

"You have to wonder how many of those snivelled up runts peed themselves." Oruo added in, snootily sipping away at his tea in a way that almost looked forced.

"Surely this can't be the case." Petra was at least a little more tact about her disbelief.

"Mission planning isn't my responsibility, but it is Erwins, and you can bet the mans' obsessed over every angle." Answered Levi.

"That's the truth. At the very least, it seems like we're getting a good batch this time." Eld turned towards Gohan, Mikasa, and Eren, though he seemed more interested in the former two. "Well, got any insights on who we might be getting as our new comrades?"

"To be honest, there aren't many who are interested in joining the scouts." Mikasa said, though none of the scouts seemed surprised. "Eren was the biggest supporter of you guys, and some might have been convinced, but after Trost...?"

Eren couldn't help but agree and nodded along before finally speaking up. "Sadly people just don't seem to have the guts for it. But I know Armin will."

"Well there's one at least. What's he like?"

This time, it was Rico who spoke up. "Wasn't he the one who helped you get control of your Titan form Eren? Short, blonde kid, got a kind of mop top thing going?"

"That's right. I didn't know you saw him much."

"Mostly just at the briefings or the trial." She said, before turning to Eld. "Smart kid, helped come up with the plan for moving the boulder and distracting the Titans. Saved a lot of lives like that. Good in the moment too, didn't you and he come up with a plan together Gohan?"

"Ah, well it was mostly him. I helped execute it, but he sorted out fine details that made it work." He said proudly. Armin really did deserve more credit than he got when it came down to it. "He was always top of the class in tests as well, probably the smartest kid in our group."

Gunther nodded along in acceptance. "A good head on your shoulders is a real good thing in this line of work. A lot of people underestimate that. Still, by the sounds of it he might end up more like officer or squad leader material. Think you'll need to watch out captain?"

"No, that's more Hange's side of things, and he's more than welcome to it. All that paperwork and planning? No thanks." A few others around the table chuckled at that, happy to see their captain relaxing. "Who else?"

"Maybe Jean?" Added Gohan, much to Erens frustration. "He was in the top 10 of our class, and he really proved himself in Trost. He saved a lot of the other cadets when we had to make it to the resupply headquarters."

"Oh yeah, I think I heard his name come up." Mitabi put a hand to his chin as he tried to remember. "Unfortunately I don't think so. Word is he had some kind of real close encounter with a Titan, got pulled right out of ones mouth during the counterattack." A few of the scouts visibly grimaced, no doubt either having seen the situation before or been too late in some cases. To Gohan though, the whole thing was a shock.

"Was he hurt?" He asked urgently.

"Nothing serious if he was." Assured Mitabi. "Though that almost sounds like a bad thing looking at you Eren. What's the matter, don't like him much?"

He pointed, and Gohan suddenly realised the annoyed face he had been pulling at the very mention of the boy. Mikasa answered as he quickly tried to hide his expression though. "He and Jean have been at each other's throats since day one since Jean always had his eye on the Military Police."

"It wasn't just that. Horse face just couldn't accept that some people actually believed in something. Everyone always had to be as scheming as he was, not to mention the way he constant mooned over Mikasa."

A few chuckles rippled among the table and the woman in question merely rolled her eyes. "Horse face huh?" Asked Petra, turning to Mikasa. "Doesn't sound like he had much of a chance anyway."

"He looked fine, I'm just not interested in anything like that."

Eren sputtered angrily, almost choking on his tea. "He looks fine? What's that supposed to mean!?"

Mikasa shot him a dirty look. "What do you think? He's a decent looking guy, it's his personality that pushes the girls away."

Even that was too much for Eren to accept as he sputtered angrily, the others mostly outright laughing at the sight now, even Gohan chuckling along briefly before filling his mouth again. The most dour of them was Captain Levi however, who voiced his disapproval as the others quietened down.

"Ugh, this is why I hate relationships among soldiers. So many times it ends up in this bickering and then people make mistakes."

Rico nodded along before speaking up. "Agreed. I get why people do though, it's pretty hard to get free time and meet someone. I was pretty lucky in that regard."

"You're married?" Gohan asked, surprised as he'd never seen a ring or heard mention.

"Boyfriend. Why so surprised Gohan?" She teased, and suddenly Gohan found himself blushing in embarrassment.

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Petra defended, no doubt thinking of Ilse and Mike's relationship. "If people can still concentrate on their work then everything should be fine. Maybe even better."

"Oh, and here I thought my advances were one way. If you wanted my attention you needn't be so subtle my dear." Oruo smirked, making many of the scouts groan and Petra roll her eyes. The rest were either confused or disinterested, quickly being distracted by the loud bang and ouch sound against the door.

When the piece of wood locking the door shut was removed a moment later, Hange could be seen rubbing her head in pain, apparently having ran straight into the door in an attempt to make a grand entrance. Such entrance was attempted anyway, when she promptly spread her arms wide and greeted everyone enthusiastically.

"Good evening everyone! How is castle life treating everyone?"

"Hey Hange." Gohan greeted, not quite understanding why so many of the older people looked as if dreading what was to come.

"Hellooo Gohan Son. Nice to see someone here has manners." She said merrily as she strolled inside. "Shame on the rest of you really. See this is why I came bearing gifts for you Gohan."

"Gifts? For me?"

"Mhmm, that's right. In the storage room below I've dropped off most of that training equipment you requested. There's a couple things which are missing but I'll try and find them in time." She pulled out a chair and sat down next to Gohan, somewhat awkwardly as she wasn't actually able to pull herself up to the table.

"Honestly though I was just so eager I couldn't wait and had to bring it all myself."

"Eager? Eager for what?"

She leaned in close, her glasses fogging up as she almost seemed to pant in anticipation. "For SCIENCE!"

Groans echoed around the table, and many of them looked like they wanted to leave. For Gohan though, there was a pause as he took in her words before he smiled. "Oh, I love science."

She squealed like a little girl, even though Gohan was sure she must have been in her late 20's or 30's at least. The groans became full on moans of anguish as people dramatically expressed their disappointment in him.

"Kid, why did you have to say that?" Asked Gunther, his head resting in the palm of his hand.

"What? Science is great. It's a process that helps to build and better our world, surely anyone would want to-AAAGHHHHH!"

And then his head slammed down hard onto the table.

"Oh no! I broke him!" Hange screamed, a startled gasp coming from the others as Mikasa and Petra both rushed to his side.

"Hange what the hell did you do!?" Demanded Levi who was likewise standing, a watchful eye on the boy who let out a weak moan against the wood.

"Ohhhh… you squeezed… my tail…" He explained, the words starting off barely audible but quickly building back up. Within a few moments he was leaning back again, albeit with a spell of dizziness. "My tail is really sensitive. If you pull it or squeeze it, I'll almost pass out."

"Oh god I'm so sorry! It was just so soft and fluffy and I got all excited…" She rambled off some more apologies while Mikasa returned to her seat. Petra doing so a little later after she did a quick check over on his motor responses. With the crisis averted, the rest breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, all save for Levi who still stood and was just as annoyed.

"I'll thank you not to cripple the soldier who's supposed to be training us Hange. Was there anything that you actually needed or can you go?"

"Well uh…" She scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "I was actually hoping to look over Eren if that was possible. Is he going to be busy tomorrow?"

"He'll be getting rid of the weeds and training, so no you can't have him. If he's free, I'll let you know, until then if there's nothing else, you can leave." He said sternly. Even if Levi hadn't been of as high rank as he was, he sounded like he would have given the order regardless. Hange embarrassingly obeyed, backing out through the door again with more apologies.

Levi personally shut the door behind her, and then the room was quiet. "Well, now that that's all settled. I think it's best we call it an early night. Son, make sure you're ready for teaching first thing in the morning. Jaeger, let's go get your room ready."

Eren grumbled, but stood as did everyone else. Some collecting their dishes and others leaving them to wash in the morning. Gohan did the same, bringing his stack of plates and cutlery with him, even as his mind began making plans for the morning.