Humanity's Jaegers (Attack on titan Male Reader)

Training like hell!

Everything! Hurt!

You continued to practice with Annie, spending more time with her on in hand to hand combat. She usually tried to skip it, but you would manage to find a way to call her out on it. Her annoyance was usually vented on you, using more and more advanced moves on you. She cleverly started using techniques so advanced that you couldn't learn them from mimicking, or at least not as well. One moment you were on your feat, the next you were rolling in agony.

Why did you keep at it? Even you couldn't answer that question for sure, you told anyone who asked that you wanted to be the best you possibly could and that was partly true, but not the whole truth. Was it just pride? Perhaps. Maybe some of that Jaeger stubbornness and refusal to learn humility now you'd become popular? Defiantly a possibility. But there was something more then that, something you couldn't say...

Eren wasn't as understanding at first, he couldn't understand your determination. Why put yourself through such gruelling paces? Why come back with livid bruises every time they you fought? There was no way there could be a good reason for you to be beaten bloody, your limbs dislocated regularly. But following an incident with Jean, Eren gained some new found respect for the hand to hand combat.

It had started when Jean had made a move on Mikasa, asking her out. He has been rejected pretty hard, causing you to laugh hysterically. Annie, Reiner and Bertolt has been sitting at one table, Armin Mikasa and Eren at another. You were standing in the middle, making your way over to your family when it happened. Jean, perhaps making the mistake of conflating you and Eren equally, grabbed your shirt collar with both hands causing you to drop your tray of food. "Who do you think your laughing at Jaeger?" He demanded, before your headbutt caught him in the nose. He stumbled back holding his nose, looking up at you angrily. You waited for the punch, knocking it to the side and slipping behind him as your arms moved under his own before coming up and locking behind his neck. He struggled as he tried to kick out, causing you to suplex him to the ground. He went still, knocked out.

Looking over to Eren, Armin and Mikasa, you noticed the expressions on their faces. Armin was shocked, Eren seemed a little stunned too, it was only Mikasa who wasn't and she just didn't seem to care. Reiner and Bertolt on the other hand had already gotten out of their seats, ready to rush over to help. Even Annie seemed to have a little sparkle in her eye, wiping what was left of your food off your shirt you sat down next to friends.

There was little conversation, the anger was radiating off you. Not from Jean, but from Mikasa especially. There was no love lost between you, that was never in doubt. She had and would always prefer Eren to anyone else, even Armin. Though it was true that you had not been part of the rescue mission that had forged their friendship into iron, she also never treated Armin with the same distain that she had held for you. The answer was obvious, you and Eren didn't get on when you were younger and you were always fighting for attention, this out you directly in Mikasas sights. Now you were even less part of the in group as you were before, you were an outsider now.

Well good! You thought to yourself. They never wanted me around in the first place, why would I want them now when I have other friends.

"A little help here!" You cried out to the trio on the way to a watery grave, Eren shook himself into gear after getting over the shock of the strange shaking that put you in the water in the first place. Your twin took off as fast as he could towards you and dived into his belly, grabbing your hand and stopping you drifting off further. Mikasa caught up a second later and reached down to grab your other hand as the pair tried to pull you up, using your own strength you firmly planed your feet into the wall and walked up the side with Eren and Mikasa holding on to stop you falling into the water.