848

Annie Leonhardt watched as Eren Jaeger once more stood up, this time on shaky legs. She struggled to keep count of how many times she had put him into the dirt. After the third takedown, he insisted that she only use the leg sweep that had downed both him and Reiner during their initial confrontation. The coward had limped away to trouble Bertholdt instead of facing her full fury. It pissed her off, his stupid soldier persona. Reiner was no Marcel, despite his efforts to act otherwise. It was a delusion and frankly he should either get rid of it or embrace it completely.

"I think…that…that I'm getting the hang…of that move, Annie," muttered Jaeger, wiping dirt and blood from his mouth. He prodded his jaw briefly, as if that was the sole cause of his slow, tired manner of speaking.

Though, Annie reflected, if it wasn't broken yet, it certainly had to be bruised or dislocated. Surprisingly, Jaeger acted as though he was fine and raised his arms to spar once more.

Suicidal idiot, she thought, raising her arms as well. I should compliment him for living up to that ridiculous nickname.

A year had passed since she enlisted into the Paradisian military. Were it not for her mission, Annie would have washed out by her own accord. The hours were tedious, the other trainees obnoxious, and worse were the instructors. With the exception of Commander Shadis, they had the knowledge and charisma of a radish farm in monsoon season, and none of them were aware of their true enemy, beyond the walls.

There were several notable personalities among the trainees, though few that Marley would have tolerated. Sasha Braus—the Potato Girl, as she quickly become known—would have been shot for the stunt she pulled during Induction without question. Were Annie in any other position, it would've been humorous instead of disappointing. Connie Springer's family would've been placed under suspicion solely because of his failed salute, and given his lacking intelligence, a member or three could have found their name placed on the list for the Pure Titan platoons. His errors would not go unpunished.

Yet it was Eren Jaeger and his hanger-ons, Armin Arlert and Mikasa Ackerman, which continued to draw her attention. They were the sole survivors from Shiganshina itself enlisted in the 104th South. That fact alone had given them minor celebrity status, especially once people realized Jaeger and Ackerman had been among the six cadet candidates that Shadis had passed over during Induction. The others had been herself, her two fellows, and the strange Ymir girl.

And then that very night, in the middle of the mess, he had openly and brazenly admitted his ambition to kill every Titan. Were he not as determined as he was, it would've been almost hilarious to hear such a declaration on their first night. But he had been deathly serious, and Eren Jaeger had motivation in spades to press forward with his ambition.

He had witnessed the death of his mother, devoured by a Titan Annie knew she had led to Shiganshina. It would have entered through the breach once Bertholdt had finished with his work.

Eren Jaeger also had the anger management of a town drunk and the self-preservation instincts of a rat that had seen a tomcat struck dead by a car. Annie believed that were it not for his friends, he would've died years ago. Perhaps even then and there when Shiganshina fell.

They, more than Eren Jaeger, troubled her. Mikasa Ackerman's combat ability gave credence to the old of the mythical Ackerman clan, bodyguards of the Eldian royal family allegedly purged by one of their own, long before the Great Titan War. To find one attached to a suicidal maniac instead of, say, the king's child brought doubt to those tales and furthered her growing fear that the devils of Paradis were pure Marleyan propaganda.

She sighed, dropping her stance. Jaeger blinked, slowly doing the same. He was befuddled by her action, as his expression all but screamed.

"Jaeger," she began. "You must remember what I mentioned earlier. Why do you think the system is designed so those who are the most skilled at fighting Titans are allowed to be the furthest away from them?"

He frowned in a manner that came across as being oddly thoughtful. Earlier when Annie introduced the idea, Eren had been all clenched jaw and simmering anger. Several seconds later, he said, "Because they're cowards?"

Annie smiled despite his wavering answer. His frown deepened, likely expecting a mocking response from her. "All of those at the top are exactly as you described them—cowards. The king just happens to be the most cowardly of them all."

If he weren't, then the Rumbling would've been unleashed in response to ou—the attack on Wall Maria. Why would he allow Marley, or anyone else, assault the walls?

"Is that why we failed to retake Wall Maria? Because we're all cowards?"

She shrugged, caught somewhere between surprised and disgusted he thought the attempts following the Fall of Shiganshina were anything other than population control, and then lunged forward. Caught flatfooted, Jaeger was unable to resist her leg sweep. He collapsed backward, landing harshly upon his shoulders as he had several times before. It was almost embarrassing, but she had lowered his guard for a reason.

"That's enough," Annie decided. A moment later, she turned away and walked off.

He grumbled something in return, but Annie ignored him. Fighting Jaeger had knocked away some of the rust that had been building up. She remembered those days with her father, drilling the martial art of a land foreign to her. Her hands clenched, remembering how pale, almost a ghastly white, he had been on what was meant to be a celebratory night.

She wished she knew what brought about his sudden death. It had been overnight, right before her departure for Paradis. The memory Annie remembered most distinctly was the day after she crippled him with a rage-fueled kick at the age of nine.

"Now you're truly strong, Annie," he had said, proud of the fact she had pulverized the tibia and fibula of his right leg. "You will never need to worry about being weak."

What a foolish man, Annie thought grimly. Would he want me to continue, despite the fact a dead man can win no honor or glory or wealth? She glanced back at Eren Jaeger. Or would he respect the foolish strength of another?

Annie watched with disinterest as Jaeger and Jean Kirschstein had their almost nightly argument over their stupid desires for once they graduated. The clashing idiots were amusement enough for several other trainees that they hadn't been stopped. Weirdly enough, Eren was not repeating his own lines concerning the 'righteousness of fighting Titans' and instead was using what she had pointed out to him that afternoon.

Along with calling Kirschstein a coward, she mentally added, almost smirking. It was nice to see that he was capable of learning a lesson.

"Damn you, Jaeger! I can't believe I'm fucking jealous of you!"

She snorted into her mug at the public reminder of Kirschstein's awkward crush on the Jaeger-obsessed Ackerman. Mikasa was remarkably tight-lipped about how she met the idiot, while Eren was evasive and Armin only shrugged, saying she showed up one day and stayed with the Jaeger family.

But then, to Annie's surprise, Jaeger paused, as if to think. His green eyes shifted first to where Reiner sat, then to her. A split second after his gaze refocused upon Kirschstein, Eren's right hand shot forward, latching onto the far side of his collar. The other arm drew inward, shifting Jean's balance so he was sideways—

Annie gaped, recognizing what Jaeger was doing. Something akin to pride burned in her at the sight. It was messy, almost incompetent, but the striking leg and shifting balance brought down Kirschstein as if it were her practiced move instead. She couldn't help the soft smile that graced her face as the obstinate Kirschstein was dropped onto his back and struggled to rise.

"What…was that?" he grumbled weakly.

"That was something I went through hell to learn," Jaeger declared. Annie nearly laughed at how he described her session. Perhaps I should inflict actual hell upon him, if he learns so easily from such a plain session. "While you were goofing off, I was taking matters seriously. You're no soldier, Jean. You're an embarrassment."

Kirschstein struggled to drag himself up from off the floor. Before he could retaliate, the mess door creaked open. Everyone went rigid as a frighteningly familiar voice asked, "What was that noise?"

It was deathly silent. For whatever reason, Commander Shadis was ignoring the fact Jaeger and Kirschstein—notorious for fighting—had hastily sat down after he spoke. Annie had barely noticed them all but lunge into their seats.

"It was Sasha Braus, sir," replied Ackerman, her voice filling the room. "The sound you heard was her farting."

Several tense, confused seconds passed before they all realized precisely what Ackerman had said. Annie snorted slightly, a chucking hiss coming through her nose. A few others giggled, shoulders shaking as they tried to stuff down their reaction.

"You disgusting woman," reprimanded Shadis. "Learn to control yourself."

He slammed the door shut. Most of the trainees laughed quietly, afraid of the Head Instructor returning and shouting at them in turn. Annie watched as Jaeger and Kirschstein continued to glower at each other across the table they had been sharing. Her gaze lingered upon Jaeger. She was almost impressed that he could replicate her move with any efficacy after being its subject for roughly an hour.

A stray thought, an inappropriate one, crossed her mind: If he can do that in an afternoon, what could he do in two years?

When trainees began to pair up for hand-to-hand training a few days after their first session, Eren was surprised when Annie stalked up to him. He noticed, if only distantly, that Mikasa tried to storm in their direction, a dark expression upon her face. Someone—Armin or maybe Reiner, all he noticed was blond hair—was able to head Mikasa off as Annie reached him.

"I was almost impressed when you used my move against Kirschstein," Annie stated, her blue eyes boring into his own green. "Maybe you have some potential after all, Jaeger."

"Really?" he replied, astonished by the hint of praise from the short blonde. Eren kicked out, grinning stupidly. It was a poor imitation of her technique, but it was based upon what she had done without question. "I thought it was rather well executed myself, though I wouldn't mind getting better."

Annie huffed, shaking her head. "You weren't even close."

"Seriously?" asked Eren, surprised. He knew he hadn't replicated Annie's technique perfectly the night before, but he had thought it was at least done decently.

"Yes, seriously. That it worked is because Kirschstein is an idiot."

He sighed, resting the foot he had been kicking with upon the ground. "It would be nice to get better, you know…"

Annie glanced away, a small smile etched onto her face. Eren blinked, certain he had to be imagining that expression, yet when he looked again, it was still there.

Annie glanced at him. "If you want, I wouldn't mind teaching you."

Once more Eren blinked, as though he was imaging something. Annie was frowning at him now, as if demanding something. He found himself blurting, "Seriously? That hurt like hell, Annie. I might need to—"

Instead of responding with words, she tossed him onto his back with a technique almost identical to the one she had used upon him the prior day. Eren grimaced as his shoulders crashed into the ground, and wondered briefly who had taught her.

Two days after Annie and Jaeger—"Just call me Eren, please."—agreed to train together during CQC sessions, or hand to hand as the Paradisians called it, Armin Arlert confronted her. Beyond glaring across the mess hall, Mikasa Ackerman had yet to make a move against her. It was likely that Eren had interceded on Annie's behalf with the dangerous oriental girl, but had failed to do the same with his blond friend.

"Did Eren ask you to teach him?" Armin asked following a classroom lesson.

Annie glanced around before allowing her gaze to settle upon him. She had assumed Arlert was more perceptive than his question implied, though a moment later she wondered if he might be baiting her instead. The leaps of logic he had proven capable of so far into training had put him high on her threat list. Of everyone within the 104th South, he was the most likely to expose her and her fellow Warriors, should he discover shifting was possible.

Not as if my supposed fellows are terribly friendly with me these days. There's enough distance between us to walk the Colossal Titan through.

"Why does it matter?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Did Ackerman ask you to speak with me?"

Armin frowned, and she almost hoped she had taken him by surprise. There was a chance he hadn't expected a question in response to his questions. "Mikasa and I are worried about Eren. Your training isn't exactly…easy."

"Eren can look after himself. He's a big boy with bigger ambitions."

"We're his friends," Arlert explained, as if Annie didn't understand the concept of friendship. "It's just that—"

Annie turned away, annoyed by where the conversation appeared to be heading. She thought it was ridiculous how Eren's friends were trying to end his association with her. If he wanted to waste his time learning her techniques, he was free to do so. It wasn't as though she was losing anything in the process.

She frowned as she turned back to Arlert, who had stopped talking in the face of her disinterest. "Is there an issue with me training Eren in hand-to-hand?"

"Not exactly."

She sighed. "Then you and Ackerman will need to live with it, unless Eren changes his mind."

Before she could walk away, Arlert asked, "Annie, is there a reason you refer to most people by their family name?"

"Habit."

Unless the Walls collapsed and the Colossal Titans within began to march, Annie would never admit to another that she used surnames as a way to keep people at a distance. She knew their first names, but it was just easier to do as she was.

"Then why aren't you calling Eren 'Jaeger'?"

She tilted her head momentarily. "I guess it's because he was persistent."

Arlert nodded, as though she confirmed some bizarre theory of his. "You're rather nice, aren't you Annie. Despite your cold exterior, you like being around people."

She scoffed, turning away so he couldn't see her face. Annie was shocked anyone would dare use a word like "nice" to describe her. It would be more believable if someone friendly or foolish said such a thing about her, instead of a watching thinker like Armin Arlert.

Annie would never use that particular word to describe herself, even if she could think of some who'd say otherwise.

"You have odd ideas of what constitutes 'nice', Arlert," she said, turning back to him. "How did you become friends with a hothead like Eren?"

He smiled slightly. "Maybe I do have odd ideas, but that's why Eren and I are friends. We both want the same thing, to reach the ocean." Arlert shrugged and started walking away. "Maybe it's an odd idea, but it pushes us forward."

Annie watched him walk away, heading towards where his friends stood. She frowned as they spoke, yet was pleasantly surprised when Eren looked her way, met her gaze, and grinned. She smiled back despite herself, and he suddenly looked victorious.

Something else was said, drawing his attention back to Arlert. He frowned while Ackerman glowered, a dark look of promised retribution. She decided it was best to walk away while she could and avoid a confrontation for as long as she could.

"What did you and Arlert speak about yesterday after he spoke with me?"

Eren didn't think being pinned to the ground was the proper time to have a serious conversation. Annie, on the other hand, had no qualms about asking her question, though he wasn't sure why she cared. He hesitated with his answer. Her response was to tighten her grasp around his neck and shoulder, putting pressure on his throat.

"I don't think—"

"Don't try to skirt around the question, Jaeger. Answer or I choke you."

He growled, shifting as if he could throw her off. Despite having a hand's length of height and two stones of weight, Annie proved more than capable of beating him up and keeping him pressed to the ground. Reiner and Connie had asked if he liked being manhandled by girls, which he had struggled to answer.

"What did you and Arlert talk about yesterday?" she hissed, repeating her question.

"Why do you care?" Eren asked, awkwardly shifting his arms in the hope to use them to pry her off his body. Her shifting made his blood run hotter than usual and he had to squirm whenever her hips ground too close to his.

"You seemed worried about what he said," Annie whispered into his ear. "And Ackerman looked furious."

He snorted. Eren hadn't expected Annie to be so concerned about how nosy and overbearing his friends were. The fact Armin had bothered to speak with Annie, acting as if he had the power to put an end to their training sessions had been annoying. Armin had justified it by getting to understand Annie better and Mikasa had supported him.

Still weird.

"They weren't as accepting of us training together as they should be," he grumbled, wanting to set aside the issue. "I've been trying to get them to drop it, and they finally agreed."

That seemed to be enough to pacify Annie, for she released him and rose to her feet before he could attempt to reverse her pin and hold on him. Eren watched her warily for a good dozen seconds before rising to his feet as well. She had ambushed him enough times that he could never tell when their spars ended and when she was merely feinting him.

"I understand Ackerman being against our arrangement, but I'm surprised that Arlert was opposed to it as well. I thought yesterday that he was probing me because she had demanded it, not because he was worried about you."

Eren huffed, scratching at the back of his head. "He's only concerned you might hurt me too badly."

"A frail maiden like me is powerless against a man like you," Annie said with complete sincerity. "Maybe he was right to be worried about one of us getting injured, but you wouldn't be the one."

He gaped. Barely two weeks ago, she had opened his eyes to the twisted system of the Top Ten system in the Training Corps. It still enraged Eren how they rewarded the most skilled and competent trainees with exclusive access to the safest, comfiest posts in the military, tucked behind the innermost wall, Sina. It was revolting, especially given those top soldiers were needed on the frontlines, where the Survey Corps fought and pushed against the Titan advance.

If anything, they should be compelled to join the Survey Corps instead of being offered posts in the Military Police. Though now that Eren thought about it, there would probably be an effort to lower scores, not raise them. It was a perverse thing, yet it was the world they lived in.

"Is Eren Jaeger thinking something through?" asked Annie. Despite the jesting tone, her gaze was neither amused nor pleased. "Please don't tell me it's just another method to kill Titans."

He glared at her. "Real funny, Annie." Eren squared his feet as he added, "I was thinking about what if the Top Ten had to join the Survey Corps, instead of the option for the Military Police."

"Nobody would accept that, Eren. Especially not those who already benefit from the current system." She paused, turning away to stare at the others. "How do you think someone like Kirschstein would react to your proposal?"

His mouth pursed. While Eren had plenty of issues with Jean's intentions to join the Military Police and his reasons why, he also knew Jean would slack off on his 3DMG training without the benefits the Top Ten trainee graduates got. He already did so during hand-to-hand training, one of the few elements of their training that had no impact on their placements.

"That's what I realized before you questioned me."

"And?"

"It…wasn't my best idea."

Annie snorted at his reply, as though he had said something exceptionally moronic. Eren tried to maintain his glare, yet he faltered in the face of her amusement. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to see her smile more.

He raised his hands into a stance akin to hers. Annie's eyes widened before she too shifted, her smile transforming into a serious, focused expression.

Ten seconds later, Eren was staring up into a sky as blue as Annie's eyes.