Chapter 18: Sergei is Training Eren
Eren stepped out of the car as Sergei pulled up to the abandoned warehouse in the industrial district. It was a different one from other warehouses that Sergei conducted his deals and businesses at. Inside was a bunch of plywood panels that were stood up straight to make walls and doors for a simple model of a house. Sergei called it a shoot house, which would be used for his training.
"Seriously, how many of these warehouses do you own?" Eren asked.
"I own a lot of property, but this one is friend of mines." Sergei replied.
"Another criminal?" Eren asked.
"No, he's honest businessman. But he doesn't mind letting me use place." Sergei said. "In Japan, you can get away with a lot of crime as long as it doesn't hurt people or cost government money. Police are very relaxed when it comes to organized crime."
"I remember that boss said something like that." Eren remembered.
"Da." Sergei said. "Police allow organized crime, though they're getting upset recently due to gang war."
"You think it'll be an issue?" Eren asked.
"Initially, Da. But once they get things under control, everyone goes back to same old." Sergei said.
"So why bring me out here?" Eren asked.
"Well, after fun at beach you had yesterday, I figured I give you pointers so you can hopefully survive safe house attack." Sergei said.
"I know how to fight Sergei." Eren said.
"Even against overwhelming odds?" He asked.
"I've fought worse." Eren said.
"And you intend to use small pistol, no other weapons? What weapons do you intend to bring."
Eren was quiet when he said that. Eren felt that the pistol would be enough, but he did understand that Sergei was right and that he would need better and more effective weapons. He primarily used bolt action rifles while in the trenches, but occasionally he got his hands on the Slam-Shot gun that was recently developed by Marley. It was a gun that fired pellets instead of regular bullets.
Eren didn't remember the actual name, but in the trenches of the Mid East, they all just referred to it as a Slam-Shot since you have to pump the front grip to fire.
"So, you brought me to a range in the middle of the city, in a country that bans guns?" Eren asked. "Seems like a dumb idea. Why not go out into the countryside?" He asked.
"Don't be dumb, we have way to train. Good way too." Sergei said.
Sergei handed Eren one of those small fast firing guns. It was a bit bulky and had a large detachable magazine sticking out of the bottom.
"This is Airsoft Gun; it's modeled after the AKM Rifle." He said.
"Airsoft?" Eren asked.
"It shoots little BBs using compressed air. In close ranges, ballistics and accuracy are same as real gun. It is Gas Blow Back, so it operates almost exactly the same." He said.
"These are allowed?" Eren asked.
"Japan allows fake guns and is one of few countries that doesn't require an orange tip." Sergei said. "That orange tip is how you can tell it's a toy, before you decide not to ask."
Eren scowled, Sergei was used to how little he knew.
"I can train you in guns use, then teach you actual Close Quarters gun fights, then make sure you're armed enough for job." He said.
"So, we're training with a toy?" Eren asked.
"It's replica, not toy." He said. "Japanese Army sometimes use these to train their Soldiers. That way you can shoot each other without killing. Also, less expensive than what Americans use." He said.
"Fine." Eren said. "How does it work?"
Sergei went into depth on how the AKM worked, or at least the replica. Theoretically, it was the exact same as the real thing, with only minor differences since it's designed to fire BBs instead of bullets. The gas was housed in the magazine, which not only propelled the BB forward, but also pushed the bolt back. It had actual recoil and operated much the same way; however, the recoil was much less than a real gun.
"You use index finger to push safety down." Sergei said, as he demonstrated.
Sergei pushed the small lever on the right side of the gun all the way down with his finger, which allowed it to fire.
"One click down is full auto. Two clicks in Semi. Always use semi in close range fight. If you use full auto, you waste ammo." He said.
"Why?" Eren asked.
"AKM uses 7.62 ammo. It hits hard, though not as hard as real rifle 7.62. One or two shots kills most people." He said. "It's faster to fire two shots in semi than to go full auto and waste five bullets in target. You shoot target in chest, he dies, then go to next target."
"Where'd you learn that?" Eren asked.
"Back during Afghan war." Sergei said.
Eren never fought in close quarters like that. He fought in enemy trenches, which turned into chaos and almost always turned into bayonet and entrenching tool fights, or he used ODM gear and fought Titans. The only unique thing was fighting as a Titan, which basically was a hand-to-hand fight in every scenario.
"Make sure when you reload, you charge the handle. This isn't like new guns. Design was made in 1940s, the bolt won't lock to rear." He said.
Eren learned most of the basics. He learned how to reload the rifle, how to properly shoulder it, and how to aim with it. He noticed that it was a bit different than the Marly rifles he used, but much of the basics was still the same. The iron sights were even very similar.
"Now we'll move to room clearing." He said, once he felt that Eren was good enough.
"So basically, fighting room to room?" Eren asked.
"Da." Sergei said. "Normally, you want a team to go in with you. You will be alone. Which means you're fucked."
"Thanks for the confidence." Eren said sarcastically.
"I'm being honest." Sergei said. "The worst thing that can happen is a man comes up on a blind side. You can only look and shoot one way. If he's on blindside, you're dead."
"Then I'll be careful." Eren said.
"No, you'll die." Sergei said. "But you'll need to learn anyway. For now, we'll see how you do. You stand at one end, I on the other, and we'll fight. Whoever shoots who first, wins." Sergei said.
"Fine." Eren said.
"Make sure to use face protector." Sergei said as he handed Eren a mask with a glass shield for his eyes.
Sergei walked into the shoot house while Eren prepared his replica gun for the fight. He loaded the magazine that had 30 BBs loaded and racked the charging handle. He figured this would be relatively easy since he fought close quarters in a trench.
After a few minutes, Eren went into the shoot house and started looking for Sergei. Eren was confident in his abilities to defeat the older man. He knew he'd be able to shoot first.
Eren never had to fight in doors in this capacity. When fighting Titans, you only ever used ODM gear so you're never indoors when fighting. Even in the Mid East, most engagements were shooting people in no mans land or storming a trench, which again was easy since most of the time they had to resort to melee fighting.
PUSHT!
"Damn!" Eren yelled as he was shot.
The moment he walked into a room; he was shot by Sergei who hid in a corner. Eren wasn't expecting Sergei to be in the corner of the room and blind side him.
"See, blindsided." Sergei said.
"I didn't expect you to hide." Eren said.
"Expect unexpected." Sergei said.
Yea, Captain Levi would kill him if he saw that. Was Eren getting sloppy, or was he still completely unused to how this new world fought?
"When you came in, your gun was pointing up. You looked like you were ready to charge with a bayonet. You need to keep gun shouldered." He said as he demonstrated. "Every room, you check corners first since most enemies hide there. It's luck of the draw when alone since you can only check on corner at a time."
"I see." Eren said.
Eren recognized that Sergei was right. He wasn't used to this kind of close in fighting with guns that can fire rapidly. He knew he could close the distance before someone racked their bolt action rifle, but less confident with these automatic firing guns.
"It's better to use explosives." Sergei said. "You through grenade into room, either flash bang or frag. It either stuns or kills all in room."
"Flash bang?" Eren asked, needing to know what it was.
"Grenade that makes a lot of light and noise. Still dangerous if you're near it, but primarily blinds and deafens enemy. They become helpless, though you can still be killed by blind panic firing." Sergei explained.
"That makes sense." Eren said.
It made perfect sense to him, the easiest way to clear out a Mid-Eastern trench was to throw as many explosives and grenades in the trench before storming it. That's why most of their grenades had sticks, to give extra leverage and a further throw.
These grenades looked like small ovals.
"We'll go again, this time focus on proper room clearing."
Eren ran through the drill's multiple times. Sergei almost always beat him in these room clearing drills due to his own experience. Anytime Eren had the drop on Sergei was due more to luck than skill. Sergei laughed every time he caught Eren by surprise, but he emphasized how important it was to be fast and aggressive.
Sometimes, Sergei would use unique tactics in order to confuse Eren. Sometimes, he'd hide behind a couch or mock counter and let Eren pass by before shooting him in the back. It taught Eren to check every single hiding spot in a room in order to be as thorough as possible.
Eren knew his chances of winning were slim to none. As a young man, Eren would always suicidally charge into a fight. Even during the attack on Liberio, it was still somewhat suicidal. He went in basically blind and on the hope that not only did his letter reach his comrades, but that Armin came up with a good enough plan to survive.
Eren still was as suicidal as they come, his only main advantage at the time was the fact that he knew his own future memories. Now, he was once again entirely blind. Eren got good at adapting and reading situations as they developed, while at the same time staying levelheaded and not lashing out in anger.
But to win this fight, Eren had to find a way to even the odds.
"I'll need explosives if I'm going to take all of them out." Eren said after their most recent drill. "I also need a way to destroy walls and support pillars."
"I can get some RPGs and Semtex." Sergei said.
"What are those?" Eren asked.
"RPGs are long tubular rocket launchers, very effective for breaking structures." Sergei explained. "Semtex are plastic explosives, good for setting traps or demolition and breaching."
"Why give me so much?" Eren asked. "Those sound expensive."
"Honestly, it saves me money." Sergei said. "The more resources you have, the more of them you kill before you die. That's good for business since this gang tried to kill me. I'd rather throw away expensive weapons and explosives than die."
"Do you have any way I can practice on those?" Eren asked.
"No such luck kid." Sergei answered. "But I can get some YouTube videos playing, at least teach you a bit of Red Army tactics."
"You mentioned a Red Army before." Eren questioned.
"Da." Sergei said. "The Red Army is the name of the Soviet Army, now just Russian Army. I served in it back in 80s during Soviet Afghan War."
"You mentioned that." Eren said. "You learned all this from that war?"
"No, actually." Sergei said. "I was conscript at the time; our training was very little. We were given gun and taught very little before being sent to fight."
"How'd you survive?" Eren asked.
"I don't know, God maybe." Sergei shrugged. "We would be used to soften enemy before real Army arrived. Most of this I learned after I left the Army from old Spetsnaz business partners. It's good skills for criminal as well as Soldier."
"How did you get into this life?" Eren asked.
"Later in war, I became an Officer. Eventually found myself as Logistics Officer." Sergei answered. "It's dead-end job and fall of Soviet Union created a lot of scape goats. I sold a lot of Army Depot weapons and vehicles before I had to flee. Then I developed my business."
"Why did you sell away resources?" Eren asked. "Seems like you got what you deserved for corruption."
"Soviet Union was very difficult beast. Everyone was corrupt." Sergei said. "In Soviet Union, you actually distrusted people who weren't corrupt. The Senior Officer who reported my corruption found himself with promotion to General after Yeltsin took power. He was even more corrupt than I was."
"I see." Eren said.
"It's seen as a necessary thing in old Soviet Union. You ruined other people's lives and career in order to advance. I did it, and my higher ups did it. I was just unfortunate to be a mid-level Officer when Soviet Union fell." He explained.
"I guess you could never find legitimate work because of that." Eren said.
"In New Russia which hunted me as a corrupt Officer, Da, I could never live there again legitimately." Sergei said.
"What about here?" Sergei asked.
"I'm as limited here." He said. "Russia shared criminal information with international world, so Japan will have me arrested and returned if I'm ever discovered."
"Why chose Japan?" Eren asked.
"Because Manga and cute girls." Sergei laughed.
"That's not the whole truth." Eren said.
"Da, you're right there." Sergei laughed again.
"But that's my sad story." Sergei said. "What about you? How was time with single mom? You excited to be with idol?"
"It was nice." Eren shrugged.
"Did you two make any moves on each other?" He asked.
"What moves?" Eren asked.
"What did you two do?" He asked.
"Nothing much, she taught me some English and that was about it." Eren said.
"So, after spending time with her, you don't want more?" He asked.
"What, like marriage?" Eren asked.
"You don't have to go that far right now." Sergei said.
"She's a good woman and deserves to be married to someone who will be good to her and her kids." Eren said.
"And that person isn't you?" Sergei asked.
"I'm probably not even going to survive my next fight." Eren said. "She'd honestly be better off if she didn't even talk with me."
"So, you do care for her." Sergei said.
"Yea, in some ways I do." Eren said. "She's a good woman. But she doesn't deserve a life with me. Not after everything I've done."
"That's why you try to keep your distance?" Sergei asked.
"At first it was because she was annoying." Eren said with an annoyed look.
"Was she now?" Sergei laughed.
"She did that stupid idol act that comes off as completely disingenuous. She'd more interesting when she just acts normally." Eren said.
"You know, most people would love that act." Sergei said.
"We both know I'm not most people." Eren said.
"True." Sergei said. "I don't want to overstep, but you should give relationship a chance with her. I can tell you care for her and she probably does too. Maybe it's not so bad to-"
"Let's continue with the drills." Eren said as he loaded a fresh Airsoft magazine.
"If that's what you want kid." Sergei said.
For the rest of the day, Eren and Sergei continued to run drills and watch videos on how to utilize the weapons and equipment that Eren would need for the upcoming attack on the safehouse.
Aqua passed by Ruby who was sitting kneeled down on the table while writing in her small pink journal. Ai got it for her when they started their English lessons a week ago so she could write down and practice it. She was busy trying to memorize what they learned in the past week.
"Hey Aqua, can you help me." She asked.
"What?" Aqua said.
"I wanted to try and practice some of my English. I need you to let me know how it is." She said.
"Ok, go ahead." Aqua said.
"Gooda morningu. Whata is ur a name?" She tried.
"My name is Aqua." He replied. "What is yours?" He replied.
"Mya names a Ruby. Tanks you fur asking." She said.
"How is the weather?" Aqua asked.
"Weather isa crear, it is a good day." She tried.
"That's pretty good." Aqua told her. "But make sure you pronounce your Ls." He said.
"But it's so hard. Why does English have so many L sounds?" She asked.
"It's completely different and shares no similarities to Japanese, so it has unique sounds and structures." Aqua explained. "You'll learn."
Aqua was amazed at how fast Ruby was learning. She was able to start comprehending some sentences outside of basic memorization. He wondered if it was because she was still a child and was able to learn so fast. After less than two weeks, she has made amazing progress.
Aqua didn't know how their reincarnation worked exactly. Either they only had their former memories or there was more to it. Either way, Ruby seemed to benefit from her child like brain by retaining information more. Infants and toddlers typically learn languages faster than adults since their developing brain is able to soak up more information than an adult.
Aqua wondered how good she'll be since she's combining the experience of having older memories with the young brain of a toddler. He wondered if his brain would do the same, but he did slack off on studies since he saw this as kind of a break.
After finishing giving her a few pointers, Aqua stealth fully made his way to the front door and quietly opened it so he could get outside. He had a job to do and he hoped that Ai would remain asleep.
Sometimes, when Ai returned from a rehearsal, she would be completely exhausted and try to get a nap in during the day. It was extremely easy for her since Aqua and Ruby were both very well behaved and required minimal supervision. Aqua of course being 34 and Ruby probably being a teenager mentally after four years of being reborn.
It gave Aqua the perfect opportunity to break into Eren's room while he was gone and see if he can learn anything about him. While he appreciated Eren protecting Ai, and needed him to further protect her from Hikaru, Aqua needed more information on who the man was specifically. Eren could be dangerous, and he had to determine just how much of a liability he was to Ai's safety.
Which is why he needed to get inside, something that a bit of lockpicking would do. He wished he could say he's had experience lockpicking, but Aqua never had. Not as Goro or as Aqua. So he was very much going based off of what he could find on the internet.
While standing in front of Eren's door, he brought out the three things he carried with him.
The first was a small metal strip that was bent at a 90-degree angle on the end, similar to a flat Allen key. He fished it out of the trash and had to spend an hour trying to bend it to shape. Since his toddler muscles were so weak, he had to use a pair of pliers that Ai had and his whole weight in order to bend it.
The second item was a bobby pin that he took from Ai's room. It had the rubber piece taken off and had the tip bent slightly to make a hook like shape. It was very simple items that he had on hand from Ai.
Aqua lastly had Ai's cell phone, which would be the most important thing. He spent the last half hour watching a YouTube video on how to pick a lock. He found some channel that had a guy saying he was a former American Special Forces Soldier who went into detail on how to pick most lock and tumble security doors.
He opened the video and went back to the point where he would insert the lever, which was the metal strip that he bent. This is what would actually turn the lock, while the bobby pin acted as a scraper and pusher to push the tumblers into place.
It was simple in theory. All he had to do was keep pressure on the lever and push each pin up until each one caught, and it would allow him to open the lock. He was glad that unlike most Japanese homes, that used electronic locks, this apartment still used older lock and tumble styled bolts. So, it would be easy to sneak in.
The video said one effective thing to do was to do an initial scrape with the bobby pin. You scrape the tumblers so that you can get some of them locked before actually beginning the lockpicking. So, he scraped along the top.
Only for the lock to completely turn and open the door... how? Was it that easy? The video said sometimes that can happen, where they all catch and open the door. But he didn't expect it to be so freaking easy.
"Well, don't complain about good things." Aqua said to himself.
He slowly opened the door and turned on the lights. This was actually the first time he's been in Eren's room and understood why Ai would always complain about it. It was almost entirely empty, with no posters or anything that would make it more comfortable. Eren didn't have anything besides the one picture of Ai in a one piece suit that was signed by her.
It was clean though, very clean. Ai always made sure their room was clean, but there was only so much she could do. She made sure their apartment wasn't gross, but since she had two children, it did get messy occasionally and she'd have to reorganize. Eren's room was spotless.
Aqua even ran a finger on the underside of the kitchen counter and saw it was perfect. He wasn't sure if Eren was a germaphobe, but he kept a very clean room. He guessed it made sense if Eren was a veteran, they tend to be very strict about cleanliness.
There was nothing out of the ordinary though. Nothing that showed that Eren as being either unusual or dangerous.
He noticed a small cardboard box, maybe as big as his palm, in the trash. Aqua fished it out and couldn't understand what it was. He noticed some English numbers, but everything was written in what he assumed was Russian. He guessed it wouldn't be odd for him to have something from home, so he ignored it and returned it to the trash can.
One thing he noticed though, was a small notebook that was on his dinner table. It looked like one of the ones that normally come with hotel rooms or even the apartment. Ai still had one that was on a side table in her room, but she never actually touched it since she used it more as decoration than anything else.
Aqua opened it up. On the first page was a list of numbers and next to them, symbols that he couldn't really tell. Some of the symbols looked similar to Roman Numerals, but it also looked different. Was Eren learning English numbers?
As he flipped through the pages, he saw what looked like a diary or journal. It was all written in an unfamiliar language. It didn't look familiar at all, it didn't even look similar to Russian or whatever language Ukraine uses. The letters in his writing looked strange, so he decided to try and see if he could figure out what language it was.
Aqua typed in a random sentence in Google translate, then he started to try and go through each language in order to see if he noticed anything similar. He picked the first language on Google translate and went down the line to see if he recognized anything. He noticed after maybe ten minutes that it didn't look familiar at all.
That wasn't surprising, Aqua was a doctor in his previous life, not a major in any form of language studies. So it would make sense that he couldn't easily recognize it.
"I'll need someone who can actually translate this, or at least recognize it." He said to himself. "But I don't have a clue who can help me, not that I can ask at this stage in my life."
Aqua was still a toddler and no one would take his request seriously. Even if he found someone who could help him translate the book, no one would believe why he would want to learn it. Maybe he can do the whole "I'm curious" card, after all, it's normal for a child to be curious. But that would also bring up questions that he didn't want to answer.
Wait... there was one person he knew that was able to easily recognize most languages. Or at the very least, would have a much easier time doing the research than him. The person who he thought of not only was one of the best in the field of language studies, but also might be able to understand his situation, at least from a certain point of view.
However, did he really want to see that person again? No, he really didn't. But this person was one of the best that he knew of, maybe the best. With as prestigious a job as that person had, they would no doubt be able to at least help.
"Do I really want to go see her?" He asked himself.
She might be just as crazy as when he last saw her, but sadly, she might be the only one to believe this whole reincarnation thing. Something that still somewhat terrified him.
"Guess I have no choice." He said.
Aqua took out the phone and took some pictures of the journal, making sure to get as good a quality as possible so it can be easily read. He then went into the photo app of the phone and set the pictures to hidden, that way Ai didn't accidently see them on her phone. He never checks the hidden section anyway, especially since there are no hidden pictures besides the ones he just added.
Now he needed to get back before Ai woke up or Ruby noticed he was gone. She would rat him out if she knew he was breaking Ai's rules.
He placed the journal exactly where he found it and made sure it looked as undisturbed as possible. He then went to the door and did the same. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to relock the door from the outside, so Eren may be curious as to why his door was unlocked. Hopefully he thinks he just left it unlocked.
Aqua returned to Ai's apartment and stealth fully opened the door and closed it so Ruby wouldn't be disturbed. When he went back into the main room, he noticed she was still studying her English lessons. He went over to the TV and sat down to watch some shows.
Now he needed to find a way to meet that woman again. It wouldn't be easy, but he'd need to find a way.
After the drills, Eren sat down with Sergei as he went over some videos on the proper use of the Russian Grenades and RPG that he would use. Since there weren't any airsoft variants that Sergei had on hand, Eren would just have to do his best to memorize the instructions as best he could. The first time he'd use these things will be on the actual raid of the safehouse, so he'd need to ensure he is as knowledgeable as possible.
This almost reminded him of when they fought the Rod Riess Titan, where they came up with an improvised ODM styled barrel explosive set up without fully testing it. It worked then, mostly because Hanje and Armin were both far smarter than anyone on that wall.
"So, you're committed?" Sergei asked as they finished up for the day.
"Yes." Eren said.
"And there's no way for me to convince you otherwise?" He asked.
"No Sergei." Eren said.
"It's suicide." He said.
"I know." Eren said. "But I won't die, nor will I allow myself to be a pawn in a war."
"So, your answer is to charge to your death and be a pawn anyway?" Sergei questioned.
"I will fight on my terms." Eren said with determination. "I refuse to let those bastards control me. This job will be a statement."
"And what do you intend to state?" Sergei asked.
"That I am no one to be messed with." Eren said. "That if they cross me, they will lose. No matter how many people they send against me, they will lose."
"I don't doubt you'll do some damage on this, but you need to understand that you won't be the only one to suffer." He said.
"What do you mean?" Eren asked.
"Criminals who see threats they can't fight will find other ways." Sergei explained. "Criminals are resourceful and many lack morals or ethics to play fair in a fight. If they can't beat you through force, they'll find other ways."
"They can try." Eren said. "But they will fail then too. There is nothing that can stop me."
"Normally, I'd explain what ways they can get to you, but you'll be dead by the end of the week, so it's pointless." Sergei said.
"You don't have any trust in me, do you?" Eren asked.
"No, I don't." Sergei said. "No one would be able to take this job alone. No one. Fighting unfair odds like this is impossible. Not even a Special Forces Soldier could do something so crazy."
"Why do you care?" Eren asked.
"I guess I don't." Sergei shrugged. "You're a grown man and can make your own decisions. Even if you are young."
"I've seen things you couldn't imagine Sergei." Eren said.
"I don't doubt that you believe that." He said. "Even still, I'll be a bit sad to see someone as young as you die a needless death."
"Yet you're wasting resources to help me." Eren said.
"Not wasting." Sergei corrected. "I have no doubt you'll do damage before you die, and that can only help me. But I'll make sure to find you a good grave if I can get your body back."
"You'll see Sergei." Eren said. "You'll see exactly what I'm capable of."
After that talk, Sergei drove Eren back home to his apartment.
Once he got back to his door, he noticed that it was unlocked. Eren got concerned so he drew his pistol from his waistline and started to go through the small apartment in order to make sure there was no threats.
He saw that it was still empty and nothing was disturbed or missing. So he assumed he either forgot to lock the door or made a mistake when turning the key. He berated himself for being so careless, but he decided to let it go and would make sure to lock the door in the future.
Eren laid down on his Futon and closed his eyes. He would continue to train with Sergei until the boss contacted him, at which point he would finalize his plans on destroying the safehouse.
Eren was going to make his skills officially known to the Yakuza world, that much he promised.
And we're getting ready for the big fight.
For Eren's skill, I have no doubt he'd be good in most fights. However, between ODM training and what I'd assume is WW1 styled training (Depending on how much quality training the Marlyan conscripts got), he wouldn't know modern CQB or room clearing tactics. He'd be lacking in those skills, but he'd be able to get good at it relatively quickly.
As for the person Aqua mentioned, it's not any established character lol. It'll be a new character; however, I will say that the location will be well known. No spoilers lol. However, that won't happen for another 2-3 chapters. First, we need to deal with the safehouse plotline lol.
Anyway, thanks again for the reviews and the critisism. It really helps and I encourage you guys to keep it up lol. Hope you guys enjoyed.