Chapter 27 – Jean A3

Needless to say, even after weeks and weeks of training in the 104th , whilst his mind was more than willing, Jean's body was forced to limits he didn't even realise existed. His muscles, though strong from working in the inventory, were still weak in the face of these brutal training workouts. His ego wasn't entirely shattered though, for none of the other cadets seemed to be handling it well at all. Then again, the only ones assigned to work with him were the 'Potato Girl', 'Cue ball', Wagner, Mina and that Marco kid. That guy was… Odd… to him. He was doing the exact same thing as the rest of the squadron, and wasn't in any less pain or exhaustion than them but still refused to stop smiling and telling little soft jokes that made the group break down from their drill in laughter from time to time.

As he looked around, he knew that there were other units, better ones, like the ones with Mikasa or that big Reiner guy in them. He found himself incredibly attracted to the girl, but he knew that it was only because she was so similar to the Raven Haired Girl that she fascinated him. Not to say that he didn't think she was beautiful, he just came to realise that it was only a passing thing. Still didn't stop him from trying to be with her as much as possible; despite it having earnt him more than a couple of punches to the nose from her over protective brother, Eren and from the lady himself. After a few weeks of training he felt something tell him he should probably pull back on it, but something even greater, his ego, told him that she was just playing hard to get.

It wasn't until he was sitting on the rocks by the edge of the training ground, lazily drifting his fingertips in the cold sea's water after an intense hand to hand combat session with Marco that that would change at all. As his thoughts drifted like the pebbles in the water in front of him, he let his mind wander around and review the memories of the training just gone by.

The cold head of the axe hooked around Jean's forearm as Marco shifted his weight forward, forcing the other to tumble to the ground. Both swiftly leapt back up, like spring loaded crossbows, before slowly circling each other in the square once more. It was a perfectly friendly and light spar between the two, focusing solely on technique rather than brutality, but Jean still couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of annoyance as his opponent's bright smile, even now reduced to a small grin, still refused fade. Jean leapt forward once more, feinting twice with his blades, forcing Marco to step back, the handles of his own weapons catching the nook of Jeans; Brown eyes met as Marco's softly squinted a bemusement as he pulled Jean forward once more to the ground, this time, throwing his entire body weight on top of his back

"I'd make that 7 to 2 now Jen, are you sure you want another round?" Marco asked coyly, the satisfaction in his voice washed over with a wave of concern.

Pinned to the stone surface, there was very little Jean could do but grunt and humph his responses as a very distinct tone of denial appeared.

"So you want to go again?" Marco queried,

"Mhm" Came the positive reply.

Marco seemed to sighed as he took a moment to look around them, the entire square was empty, with everyone else already having gone to relax for the evening. Well, all except Jean and himself. He had been confused when Jean first came to him and asked him to be his out of class sparring partner, what with Jean already being ranked the highest amongst the class. But after Jena explained his goal of being the best in the military police so he could be rich, he guessed it made sense and in all honesty, he had grown quite fond of Jean, so he saw no issue in taking an extra hour or two out of his day to help him out.

Feeling the insistent squirming beneath his knee as Jean tried to being attention back to himself, Marco let out a small life, an idea obviously implanting itself in his head

"Hey Jean?"

"Mm?"

"I've got an idea; why don't you try get out of this yourself? I'll push back but not too much" Marco knew that he himself was a powerful warrior, but he preferred to keep it back as much as he could, as he didn't like fighting but knew that sometimes it had to be done. "How about it?"

"…"

"Jeeeean? I won't do anything until I get an answer"

"… mm" Came the affirmative grunt that Marco had come to associate with 'Bring it' from Jean.

Marco felt the tough sinew that had built up in Jean's back from training shift as attempted bring himself upright through brute force; But Marco himself was much fonder of skill over strength and with one well-placed shift in his core muscles, Marco was able to shut down Jean's rebellious push as he flopped back to the ground. This dance went on over and over again until finally, Jean reached a lazy arm out to tap against Marco's leg, signalling his acceptance of defeat.

"Wow. Now that's a sight I'll never get tired of." Slowly shifting his mass into a lighter position "But still… the deal was, I can't let you go until you get me off"

"Marco… I swear to Thor I will throw you into the sea when I get out." Jean muttered under his breath but evidently not quite quiet enough for Marco's sharp ears,

"Alright Alright, I'll let you go on one condition. Nothing bad or tiring or anything like that."

Jean paused apprehensively before stating "Okay, name your price."

"What in Loki's name is happening to you with Mikasa?"

Jean felt his stomach clench as the words left his friend's lips, what did he mean by that? He thought, he probably doesn't mean that, there's no way he'd kn-

"Jean." Came the calm but solid voice "If you don't want to tell me it's fine, but I would like to know if I can. You've been putting yourself in a lot of trouble for her and I just want to know why and if she's safe for you."

The brown haired boy's eyes flared at the words as his legs tensed upwards, catching Marco off guard, allowing him to break from underneath him, twisting the grip, pinning Marco to the ground by the wrists

"What the Hel does it matter to you! I can do what I want and you don't get to decide what is and isn't safe for me!"

"Jean, calm down, I was ju- "

"No Marco! I swear, you have no idea what it's like to be me! Why the hell do you always act like you care so much?!"

"Jean…"

His anger seemed to be caught in a hangman's noose as he realised what he was doing and saw the fear in his friend's eyes beneath and the small droplets of angry tears that dripped from his own eyes. His hands trembled as they let go of the boy's wrist and in moments, even before his mind had time to register it, the freed hands had gone around Jean's neck and pulled him close to the boy on the ground.

"I'm sorry I pushed you on that… I didn't realise that was such a spot for you… Are you okay?"

"Mm"

Marco felt a small grin on his face as the familiar response came from Jean.

But before he let Jean see it, he quickly pressed a hand against the boy's chest, putting some small distance between them for a moment

"But Jean, you aren't to treat me like that again okay? If we're going to be friends like this, you have to use your words above your fists"

"… Okay… I'm sorry about what I did" Jean's small voice pushed out

Pulling him back in, Marco softly spoke "It's alright, you didn't realise your anger, but now you do, you can keep it in check right?"

"Mm"

"Now go wash up" Marco ordered" we have been sparring for the last hour or so and I wouldn't doubt that any dragon in a 3 days' ride can smell how bad we are right now"

The warm laugh filled jean's lungs as he broke himself off from the embrace, wiping the tears before standing up on his feet and turning to walk out of the Squares chained entrance. As his feet took him forward, he felt his head turn to Marco once more

"And to answer your question by the way, she reminds me of someone important to me. But I'll be sure to not do any more stupid crap because of it. Promise."

Marco's eyes lit up with warmth as he dipped his head slightly as Jean left the arena and walked to the shore, bringing him back to the current movement. Realising the sun was on the verge of dipping, he quickly ran back to his bunk, his head landing on the pillow as the night bell tolled throughout the training grounds.