COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 21: Rebels

"NICE SHOT, GABI!"

"Thanks, Miss Y/N!" chirped Gabi as you got down on one knee beside her, loading up a brown bolt action rifle to practice shooting rubber bullets at a target approximately twenty yards away. "You do pretty well yourself."

"Yeah?" you asked, squinting as you began aiming at your designated target, a bullseye yellow spot at the center of a large circular range. "I could do better, I think."

You enclosed your index finger around the trigger, holding your breath as you pressed down and a loud boom echoed throughout the headquarter's shooting range. The shot missed the center by about two inches. What a pity, you thought. Now I look bad in front of Gabi.

"Well, it's not like you're a bad shooter," she said, looking at the bullet lodged into the board ahead. "It was still a good shot. And even if it's not perfect, you've still got a bunch of good skills to make up for it."

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better," you said amusedly, making Gabi send you a smile. "It's very kind of you."

"At least I can say I've got something up my sleeve," she replied. "I still can't disarm you with that move you taught me and it's been more than half a year since then."

"Eh, you don't need to beat everyone," you said, shrugging as you loaded the ammo again. "There'll always be someone better at you in something, but it's best to hone your skills as best as you can anyway. Personal fulfillment."

Gabi nodded quickly, hanging onto your every word. "I will! But it still can't hurt to aim to be the best, right?"

You couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Doing your best is good... but let's be honest here — there's just something really good about being ahead of everyone. We're not saints."

Gabi grinned at you before turning back to concentrate on her own rifle. She shot two rubber bullets at her target. They both hit the yellow bullseye without a single flaw. "I'm glad we understand each other so well, Miss Y/N!"

You're just like me, you couldn't help but think.

If your memories of you describing yourself as ambitious and confident like her were indeed true, then Gabi was practically a carbon copy of yourself when you were training in the Paradis military. It was only shameful that you couldn't remember why, or who you had been with then. And you still didn't know who to trust.

The other Warrior candidates except Colt had arrived, sweaty and tired from their previous training with Commander Magath and a few others. Gabi had been exempted because he wanted to invest in her sharpshooting skills, where you ended up shooting with her. When they saw you were there beside Gabi, the kids brightened.

"Miss Y/N! Glad you're here!" they noisily babbled out in different sentences at the same time. It was like having a small flock of baby birds flap around you. "We've barely seen you these past few weeks!"

"I was busy at the hospital," you explained. "And I had to go over a few briefings with the Marleyan military for when I leave for Hizuru tomorrow."

"Oh, so you're really going to go away?" Udo asked, looking sad. "Surely the military in Liberio could protect you better!"

"Udo, let's just be glad that Miss Y/N gets to be safe during the war," Zofia chided. "They always send off important people to foreign places when the threats become too big. Then the Mid-East Allies or anyone else can't get her at all because they won't suspect a thing."

"But what if Hizuru is an enemy nation?" Udo argued. "They might be plotting to kill her!"

"Hizuru? An enemy nation?" Gabi scoffed, setting her rifle down to look at her classmates. "They're no match for the great country of Marley! They know we could easily crush them with the Warrior Unit alone!"