Chapter 6: Rival

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Previously: Levi joins the Training Corps and excels. He develops a crush on Petra and butts heads with Oluo, often beating him in spars and drills.

"What you hold before you is the standard issue rifle carried by the Military Police," the instructor lectured from the front of the class. "It's a flintlock musket rifle and it weighs about eighteen pounds. Go ahead and feel it, test its weight. It's not loaded, of course. You'll be dry firing it next week."

"It's almost as tall as you," Levi teased, pushing the rifle toward Petra. "Probably weighs as much, too."

"My growth spurt is going to hit any day now," she vowed.

"You're going to be sixteen in two months, right? You're done growing. I'm going be the one getting a growth spurt."

"That's what happens normally. But you never know."

"Didn't you say your dad was short?"

"My mom wasn't. It could still happen!"

Levi inspected the rifle, not all that impressed. "You have to reload it after every shot. What a waste. It's slow and tedious. This is why I prefer knives and swords."

While they checked out the rifle, the instructor wrote out the steps on how to fire it. After giving them more information on the weapon, he told them to copy down the numerous steps from the blackboard. "It goes without saying this will definitely be on the test. That will be all for today," he said and left, leaving the class to finish their notes.

"So much information," Petra muttered, scribbling it all down. Her writing was so neat and clear. It was dumb but for some reason, her elegant writing made her even more appealing to him.

"Can't be helped." Levi shrugged. "They've gotta prepare us for all three divisions. Anyway, you always do well on examinations—written and physical—so you shouldn't be complaining."

"Maybe not," she agreed. "But it's still so much work!" Petra stood and stretched once she finished with her note-taking. "How do you think everyone is ranking? I'll bet you're number one."

"It doesn't matter." Levi walked beside her. "Rankings will change during the years based on our performances. We won't know officially where we stand until the end."

"The forest trek is in a couple of days. At the end of it, they'll have an unofficial list made based on all of our scores. I wonder if I'll make it into the top ten," Petra mused.

"You will." Of that, Levi had no doubt.

"Thanks. I think you have more faith in me than I do."

"Let's hurry now. We'll be using the 3D gear in the forest today."

She gasped. "I can't believe I forgot! Let's go!" Petra harassed him into walking faster, ignoring his grumbles that they had plenty of time.

"I'll give it a shot," Oluo volunteered, stepping forward. He sent Levi a challenging look.

"I think I'll wait."

"Scared?" Oluo sneered at him.

Levi shrugged. The trainees stood outside the forest. He knew there were Titan dummies set up in a different part of the forest but that was too advanced for them yet. For now, their sole objective was to put what they'd learned in the classroom, plus last week's exercise with the 3D gear, to the test. From the way the other trainees were eyeing him, everyone expected him to be among the first to volunteer. But he was content to observe first, learn from others' mistakes before attempting it himself. It was going to be more complex than simply aiming the hooks and landing against a twenty-foot wooden, padded wall, which had been their first use of the 3D gear last week.

Much to Levi's chagrin and grudging respect, Oluo was the only one who performed well. All the rest of the volunteers were rather ungraceful. One idiot actually crashed right into a tree—many of which were padded for that very reason—instead of landing against it, inciting laughter and sympathetic sounds.

"Wow!" Petra's eyes were glued to Oluo's form the entire time.

"He's good," Nifa remarked.

Levi felt a spark of jealously. And he wanted to smack the pleased look off Oluo's face when he came swaggering back. "Hmph," Levi grunted. "Guess I'll give it a shot this time." He pulled out his swords.

"Try not to eat dirt," Oluo said, passing him by.

It was awkward at first. Adjusting to moving around without solid ground under his feet wasn't easy. Unlike some of the fools in the first group who got too cocky and went straight to moving between the trees, he kept it simple, only flying straight until he figured out how being groundless affected him. From there it was easy to weave through the trees.

Levi knew he only had to land against one tree successfully after maneuvering around a few of them—which seemed easy enough but was much harder in practice—but he flew in complex patterns and vaulted from one tree to another, egged on by the cheers. The world spun around him as he smoothly maneuvered between trees, continuing to execute moves too advanced among the trainees at this point. It came to him naturally, knowing when and exactly how to twist his body with the perfect amount of force to fly so smoothly. Finally, he completed a flip midair as he landed gracefully on his feet.

"That was exceptional maneuvering, especially for your first time," Commander Lange praised and he felt his ego swell. Until she said, "The peacocking you could have done without. You're not here to impress your girlfriend."

He felt his cheeks warm. Was he that obvious? "Yes, Commander," he said and walked away. His eyes immediately sought Petra's delighted face.

"That was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen!" Petra gushed and he almost beamed.

Nifa smiled and said, "You make it look so natural!"

"It wasn't bad." Oluo sniffed and Levi knew he was jealous—he would be too if he were in Oluo's place. "It wouldn't surprise me if you had previous training with this too like you did with CQC." Seemed Oluo hadn't let that go yet and was still using it as an excuse for why he lost all the time against him when they sparred.

Nifa appeared to be picking up on the mood between them, but Petra was oblivious. "I think I'll give it a try next. Any tips?" Petra asked.

"I'm sure you'll do great," Nifa assured her.

"Try not to hit a tree with your face."

"Very funny, Oluo."

"Make sure to brace yourself for impact and cushion it by keeping your knees bent," Levi advised her. "Also, if you clench your teeth it's gonna hurt."

There was a close call once but Petra managed to successfully stick the landing on her first try.

"I'm not surprised," Oluo commented off-handedly. "Ever since we were kids, she's always been like that. Once she gets something in her head she sees it through. We grew up together so I know her really well. Her dad really dotes on her since she's an only kid and her mother passed away years ago. So we'd play together a lot and our families became close and I swore to myself I'd stick by her side no matter where she goes."

Levi pulled his eyes away from Petra. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"After it is fired," the instructor said, "the final destination of a bullet can be changed as it can go either up or down, or left or right. It won't always shoot straight. For this rifle, the bullet is going to fall an inch for every hundred yards. To adjust for that, you have to aim higher. And the wind will also affect the trajectory of the bullet. You must compensate for those two things. They are called windage and elevation adjustments."

Levi copied down the definitions and the diagrams the instructor put on the blackboard before moving on to the different shooting positions—prone, crouching, lying, standing. As the instructor went over things like how to test the wind speed and equations and angles, Levi felt his head spin. And they were only just going over it in class. It's going to be even harder when we actually practice shooting. Shooting under stress out in the real would be the hardest.

From their dry-firing practice, he had a good idea of what the kickback was going to be like. Initially, they were to start by firing at targets set up twenty yards away. Then fifty. Then a hundred. One hundred and thirty yards were also available for any talented trainees, if there were any skilled shooters among them who wanted to take a stab at it and earn a marksmen badge.

Levi's success at shooting didn't come as quickly as the majority of the other exercises they'd done, which relied heavily on physicality. Still, he was doing pretty well. By the time they were done, his shoulder felt sore and he'd exponentially cut down on the amount of time it took to reload the rifle after making the shot.

"Finally!" Petra rubbed her shoulder. "Time to eat. I'm starving." The expectant way she was staring at him made him realize she was waiting on him.

Normally, before mealtimes, they had drills or other training exercises with all of the trainees present. The class was the one time he and Petra were alone together. The rest of the time Oluo, Nifa, or some of her other friends were with her so they would all go to the mess hall together. He never really felt comfortable joining them and would drift off by himself. It made him feel like a third wheel to their group when he was around them so he usually sat by himself.

"We've never eaten together," she continued, either obvious or ignoring his uncertainty. "It'll be nice."

When they reached the mess hall and grabbed dinner, Oluo waved to Petra. There was one only spot open at the table, next to Nifa. "Enjoy your dinner," Levi excused himself. Right as he sat down, she took a spot across from him at the fairly empty table. Two other trainees were sitting there but on the other end, fully engrossed in their own conversation. "Don't you want to sit with your friends?" Levi asked.

"I am sitting with a friend."

He grunted, hiding a smile. "How is your father doing?" Often times they talked about military-related subjects, but only occasionally did they venture into details about their personal lives beyond surface-level things like where they were from or if they had any siblings. Levi wanted to know more about Petra, get to know her better.

"He's accepted my decision, finally," Petra told him happily. "He was disappointed I didn't apprentice under him to eventually take over the family business and grudgingly supported my decision to join the Training Corps when I left, but now he's finally fully accepted it. Though he asked I give all of the divisions a fair shot and really consider the pros and cons before picking one."

"That's good that he's fully supporting you. The man who raised me would probably suffer an aneurysm at my decision to join the Military Police," Levi said, thoroughly amused imagining what face Kenny would have made at that.

Petra quirked an eyebrow. She was the only one he'd told about him growing up in an orphanage. Not that orphans were rare in the military—quite the opposite—but simply because he didn't interact with the other trainees all that often. And when he did, it wasn't about their personal lives.

"It was before he left me at the orphanage," Levi explained. It was probably even more confusing to her now. "He wasn't family. He just took me in after my mother died and raised me for five years."

"Is he the one who taught you how to fight?"

"He is. He was a piece of work but he did teach me some useful shit. Ironically, I'll be able to use those skills in the Military Police, the one division he held a grudge against."

Petra smiled and asked, "And how is Ms. Rascal?"

That immediately brought a genuine smile to his face. Any mention of his dog always softened him up. "She's doing well. She loves the farm and has taken to protecting the chickens." He launched into some of his and Rascal's exploits during his years at the orphanage and Petra listened keenly, laughing at some of the shenanigans they pulled.

Levi was greatly disappointed when the bell signaling the end of dinner sounded. He walked Petra back to the women's barracks as she finished sharing a story from her childhood about the time she ran into a pond to avoid getting stung.

"...wasps are just assholes," she said, fully convinced. "One particularly stubborn little bastard actually stuck around and waited for me, can you believe it? While his buddies left, he stayed behind and lulled me into a sense of security and attacked when I had my guard down, on my way back home. Asshole."

"Must have hurt like hell," he said sympathetically, remembering the time he was stung by a bee.

Petra yawned suddenly and he swore he'd never seen anything cuter in his life. "I better go get some shut-eye. You too. We're gonna need it for tomorrow."

It was their first long trek through the woods carrying full packs. Typically they ran five miles around the courtyard of the training camp shouldering heavy packs. But this was going to be much harder, hiking through the forest with its bumpy path full of twisted roots and rocks, and it was inclined ground at that with the air thinning the higher you went. By the end of the trek, unofficial rankings would be made. The ranking order wouldn't be available to the trainees but knowing they were being tested and scored added another stress factor to the trek.

I've just enough time to shower before curfew, Levi thought. After showering—he had long since become immune to public nudity and showering in full view of his fellow trainees—he slipped into bed, reviewing his conversation with Petra before falling into easy sleep. Back at the orphanage, he used to take an hour or longer to fall asleep. Being worked to the bone and the strict sleep schedule did wonders to improve his sleeping habits.

For the first time, Levi was beaten. Rather, he wasn't the best among the trainees at something.

"Looks like you've got the makings of a sharpshooter," one of their instructors said to Petra.

"Thank you, ma'am."

Levi was a great shot for the most part. But he couldn't quite measure up to Petra and another one of the trainees when it came to marksmanship. He was still one of the best so it didn't bother him. "You should join the Military Police. These skills of yours will be better utilized there," he said to Petra. Guns were useless against Titans and the Garrison had no need of them to maintain the Walls. And if she earned a marksmen badge her chances of being placed in the top ten would improve greatly. Not that he doubted she wasn't already on that list.

"Maybe. My father would definitely be overjoyed to hear that."

Later that afternoon at lunch, Oluo had a haughty look on his face when he joined them. "So, I heard the great Levi finally got knocked off his pedestal. How's it feel not being first for a change?" Oluo taunted him gleefully.

"Better than almost shooting myself in the foot," Levi retorted without missing a beat.

"What?" Petra didn't miss the way Oluo flinched in embarrassment. "Did that really happen?"

Nifa, who had told Levi the story, coughed and looked away to avoid Oluo's accusing glare. "My rifle jammed," he said defensively.

"And it went off when he had it pointed at his toes while he messed with a fully loaded weapon. Genius move, really," Levi deadpanned.

"You had your finger on the trigger?" Petra asked, dismayed. "The first two things they taught us was not to have the finger on the trigger or point a loaded gun unless you meant to fire!"

"Well," Nifa said, trying to be nice, "he didn't actually mean to point it at his toes."

"Which means he wasn't aware where his fully loaded rifle was pointing," Levi countered.

Oluo glowered. "It was just one slip-up and no one was hurt!"

"Except your pride," Levi reminded him helpfully, earning a scowl.

"Are you ever going to forget this?" Oluo asked Petra hopefully.

"Not a chance," she replied, smiling toothily.

"Please don't rain," one of the trainees begged the dark sky. "Please. Just don't rain."

Another one groaned in agreement. "I really don't wanna get wet."

"This is gonna be hard enough as it is without getting rained on," a third one grumbled.

Levi silently agreed with them.

Shouldering large, heavy packs, the trainees stood and awaited the commander's signal to begin the hike. "You'll have three and a half hours to complete the trek," Commander Lange said, atop her horse. "This is a graded exercise. If you're not able to complete it within that timeframe, it will negatively impact your score, thus your ranking."

Every six months after today they would be tested on a trek through the woods with full gear, and the time provided was going to be cut down every time. There would be more treks between those but they wouldn't be graded. The purpose of those would be to help them gain more endurance and prepare them for the graded ones.

Everyone was wise enough to start off at a good pace, slow enough to conserve energy for later but fast enough to ensure the instructors wouldn't yell at them. No one was stupid enough to make a mad dash now and struggle later when the ground began to incline and became riddled with fallen branches and roots and rocks, ready to trip them. In any case, it wasn't a race.

Oluo had other ideas.

Levi ran by himself until his rival joined him, matching his slow jog. "Wanna have a little competition?" Oluo asked.

"You're not going to beat me at whatever challenge you're going to present to me now," Levi replied. "Why set yourself up for failure? Do you just like being a loser? Is that it?"

"Sounds to me like you're scared, Ackerman."

Levi scoffed. "I could be half-starved and still outlast you."

"Wanna bet?" Oluo challenged.

"Fine. You're on. But don't cry to me later if you exhaust yourself in some moronic bid to beat me and end up unable to finish the trek within the allotted time."

"First one to reach that fork in the trail with the two fallen trees wins."

Levi knew the landmark Oluo was referring to. It was just under a mile away. On the count of three, the two took off, weaving through the trainees who were pacing themselves. It seemed to light a fire under some of them as they began to move quicker, too.

As Levi predicted, he was able to outmatch Oluo with ease. He could hear the boy's tiredness as they neared their goal. Just to rub it in his face, Levi ran faster, leaving Oluo behind just to show him he could. With a smug look, he waited for a wheezing Oluo to reach him, taking the chance to sit on a fallen log and rest since there were no instructors or trainees around. "Took you long enough."

Once he caught his breath, Oluo growled, "Best two out of three!"

"Maybe later," Levi said disinterestedly, taking off at an easy pace as he spotted the oncoming trainees.

Deliberately Levi slowed down so he could wait for Petra without making it too obvious. A couple of instructors rode along with the large group near the middle while the commander yelled at those who lagged behind the main group, telling them to pick up the pace.

"There you are," Petra said, running alongside Nifa. "Where'd you run off to?"

"Oluo challenged me to a race. And although it goes without saying, he lost."

Nifa shook her head. "He does realize this isn't about speed, doesn't he?"

"Nope, it's about his continued efforts in failing to beat me at anything." Levi side-eyed Petra, wondering if she'd figured it out yet. Why her childhood friend kept challenging him. Her next words confirmed she had not.

"He can be competitive sometimes but I've never seen him take it to this extent. He sure has become more competitive since joining the military."

He's trying to impress you. Levi wondered what would happen if he told her that. Would she start to see Oluo in a new more favorable light? As a potential romantic partner? Or become uncomfortable because she only felt platonically toward him? She might just not believe Levi. For someone so good with people, she was not very perceptive when it came to male advances unless her admirers were being blatantly obvious. It was pretty entertaining sometimes to watch boys ask her out and deflate as it flew completely over her head.

Antsy for more action, he sped up, leaving the girls behind. It didn't take him long to catch up to Oluo, who was surprised at his sudden appearance, probably thinking Levi had tired himself out and thought he might be able to finish the trek before him. "Ready to lose again?" Levi asked.

It wasn't as easy the second time. He had to put more effort and pump his legs harder against the angled and messy ground. He felt like being kind of a dick and slowed, letting Oluo catch up and think he had a chance before leaving him far behind. "Need a breather, Grandpa?" Levi smirked when Oluo finally caught up to him.

"Fuck...you..." Oluo huffed out, face red.

"I don't swing that way."

Once again he moved slowly, resting up. It gave the rest of the trainees time to catch up. The thin mountain air was fully taking its toll on them. Levi could feel it, too. His breathing came faster to compensate for it. He kept an even pace for the rest of the trek, focusing on keeping his breathing steady and trying to enjoy the beautiful forest. The instructors kept them updated on how much time and distance was left so he knew he would pass easily.

"One last time," Oluo said stubbornly, never mind that Levi had already won twice.

"Let's go," Levi agreed. If Oluo wanted to punish himself for no good reason, who was he to refuse him?

The two began to weave through the other trainees for the third time. They shot them annoyed looks, whether it was out of jealousy for being able to run or for making them feel more tired by forcing them to watch as they ran, Levi didn't know. Where's Petra? He slowed down, letting Oluo take the lead until he and Petra were side by side. She needs to work on her endurance more. The trek was clearly taking a big toll on her.

"Breathe through both your nose and your mouth, not just your mouth," Levi told her and Nifa. It was something Kenny had told him. "It'll bring in more oxygen." He wanted to do something more but they were being tested and he didn't want to get them all in trouble. More than that, Petra would hate him trying to help her out, make her feel weak and incompetent. So he left it at that and started to gain on Oluo. Then he thought better of it. No point in making his lungs burn more than they already were. And to what end? Like Nifa had said, it wasn't about who finished first. And I've already won two out of the three times so victory is already mine. Levi decided he'd let Oluo have this one.

Everyone passed the exercise and were discussing rankings after Commander Lange dismissed them for the day when Levi made his way to where his crush was catching her breath.

Petra lay on the grass, holding up a weak arm to him. "Carry me."

Levi knew she was only joking. He almost wanted to do it, just to see her get flustered. How nice it would be to hold her in his arms and carry her close to him. Instead he accepted her hand and yanked her to her feet. With great reluctance, he let her go.

"I didn't think I was going to make it." Nifa breathed heavily and Petra nodded.

"You got too cocky and tired yourself out, Levi," Oluo said, coming over. "You weren't able to keep up at all the third time."

Levi knew he was going to regret letting Oluo have a win, already being forced to listen to him brag. He sighed, resigning himself to being pestered the rest of the day.

Only the sound of pencils scratching paper filled the quiet classroom. There were some deep sighs and a cough. Levi took his time, filling out the pages.

"Ten minutes left," the instructor informed them, sitting behind his desk.

Some of the students had already finished and left early. Levi was content to take the whole time if need be. Ten or fifteen extra minutes of free time meant nothing to him compared to a high score.

"Five minutes left."

For the second time, he went back to review the answers. Every question was fully answered and he made sure to answer every part of the question. There were only a couple of things he absolutely couldn't remember but it would only cost him limited points. Content with what he had, he placed the packet on the teacher's desk and left, waiting for Petra. She emerged two minutes later. "How was it?"

"Not too horrible." Petra shrugged. "I missed half the answer on number fifteen and a couple of others."

"The one about the cannon," he said, nodding. "Yeah, I had trouble with that one, too." With zero interest in the Garrison, he had a harder time with questions relating to that division. Retaining information about them was more difficult due to how boring he found them. At least Titans and the Corps were interesting, even if it wasn't to be his chosen division.

"Oh well, pretty sure I'll pass. Are you excited for next week?" Petra asked.

"We're supposed to start learning more about the laws." Levi was very much looking forward to it. "It's going to require a lot of memorization and information retention."

"No, not that. We have two days off," Petra said excitedly. "Are you going to visit the orphanage?"

"Oh." He made a face and shook his head. "No. There's only one person there I like and she'll be too busy taking care of the kids."

"Do you want to come to town with me for a few hours, then?"

"Sure, sounds fun," he replied cooly, not betraying his excitement.

"Oluo's birthday is coming up in a month so it'll be my only chance to get him a gift," Petra went on cheerily. "I was worried I might be late in gifting him. But it'll work out perfectly."

Levi nodded, trying not to be hurt she forgot his birthday was less than three weeks away. It was before Oluo's. And he remembered hers was tomorrow. Then again, how would she even know? She was his closest—note: only—friend so it wasn't like she could listen to his other friends talk about it and find out, which was how he had learned when her's was. Levi wondered if he should have mentioned it to her in passing so she'd know. Don't be so pathetic. But he badly craved a gift from her. Anything she gave him he'd cherish. She could pick a pretty pebble from the ground and he'd love it.

The following day he saw Oluo rush out of the barracks. Levi frowned when Oluo wished her a happy birthday and gave her a small package. It was still a few minutes before the commander arrived so Petra opened the brown paper, revealing a hair ribbon with a gaudy butterfly.

She's not a child. And her hair's too short for it. Levi thought pettily. When was she ever going to need such a useless thing?

"My mom sent it," Oluo said, beaming.

"It's so soft and silky." Petra stored it away in her jacket's inner pocket. "Thank your mom for taking the time to get it for me."

Oluo was clearly pleased. "It was no trouble. You know she adores you like a daughter."

Levi didn't get a chance to speak to Petra until later. He had nothing for her but polite words, wishing her a happy sixteenth birthday while Nifa excitedly gave her a present.

Unlike Oluo or Nifa, he didn't have a family who could get her something on his behalf. The thought made him bitter but there was nothing to be done there.

Maybe he could purchase a present during their trip into town next week. But it would be a week late. Still, better late than never.

Now he had a new quandary: What do I get her?

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