Attack on Titan (A basketball Au)

Chapter 18: Motivation from Within

On normal days Jean would've been calm and peaceful but on days like these, he couldn't help but feel empty within himself.

Life has always been easy so to say for Jean. Gifted with the splendid talent of fast learning, he had always been good at whatever he did to the point of perfection. Whether it was studying, drawing, martial arts, sports, cooking and so on, he had always been good at it. At first glance, one would think that he has it all and has made it but beneath the surface, he was hurting, bored and tired of being perfect. All he wanted was something, just one thing that would be his passion. In high school, he tried playing football but he quit on the first day, he was never interested in studying so he didn't pay much attention in class -not that he would fail anyways, he tried cooking and he was as good as chef on his first day but he got bored and quit the class. The only thing that genuinely interested him was drawing and he learnt it but due to the lack of competition he also left the art club.
This was how Jean's entire life was till that day in his last year of high school.

It was an after school project he and Marco, his best friend decided to complete as the next day was the last deadline. They finished early and went home together as they usually did.
On their way home, they came across a street basketball game and decided to watch to pass the time since it was quite early and they had some time to spare.

The game was pretty interesting in Jean's eyes and he was fascinated at the moves the street ballers did. One of the players in particular caught his attention and he focused more on what he did. This particular person was so good he outmatched everyone on the opposite team. For the first time in his life, Jean couldn't follow the movements of someone else. He couldn't learn his moves or put them to memory at all. That was what inspired Jean to play basketball. At that moment, everything became clear to him as he had found something worth having a passion for.

Coming back to the present, Jean still has that fire in him but meeting Finn made him realize how much harder being the best would be. He often wondered if the person he saw years ago was Finn but he brushed it off as quickly as it came.

He trained everyday, sometimes with Reiner but mostly by himself. He proposed in his heart that he would work his butt off if it meant being the best at basketball.

Of all his teammates, Jaeger is the most worrisome in Jean's perspective. The guy had so much latent talent in him that it was hard not to notice. And Arlert, while he's not particularly good at basketball, he's the damn best support player a player could ever have and Jean was determined to beat one way or the other.

"Oi Jean!", Eren's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "we asked you if you're up for drinks later tonight."

"I don't drink though", Jean said flatly

"Oh come on. Don't be such a spoilsport", Reiner put his arm around him, "it's not necessary you take alcohol. We're just going to wind down from all the practice we've been having. And it seems to me that you need a girl to take your mind off things", he reasoned.

"I guess I could show up. Just us men?"

"Just us men", Eren replied.

"Ahhhhh! I needed this", Connie exclaimed after taking a long, satisfying gulp of his drink.

They were in bar beside the college, well cafe at day, bar at night and it was surprisingly run by Coach Levi who expressed disgust at them entering his bar/cafe. Hanji unsurprisingly was there to soothe his aching soul.

"Another glass Armin", Eren requested.

Armin to their shock worked part-time at the Ackerman cafe/bar. He said he needed to keep himself busy from time to time not that he was planning something special for Annie or anything, oh no he wasn't.

"I'm gonna take a leak. I'll be right back", Jean stood up.

As Jean walked, he noticed that while it was a bar it was surprisingly very clean and there weren't any couples sucking faces in the corners. Levi has made it especially clear that his bar wasn't for that kind of stuff at all. Quite wholesome if you ask him.

I guess I really needed to go. After finishing his business, he made his back to his friends. He spotted Hitch and decided to have a chat with her first.

"Hey Hitch". Said girl looked around for who called her. Her eyes widened in surprise then happiness when she spotted Jean.

"Hey what's up", she waved back, "have a seat". Jean did so in response.

"So, what are you doing here. I thought you don't drink", she asked him.

"Yeah I don't. My friends invited me and I kinda wanted to relax a bit too", he replied.

"Heehhh" she smirked slyly.

"Don't look at me like that jeez", he chuckled.

"Can you blame me though", she lifted her hands in a teasing manner.

"Tch. Loser"

"And you're a goof so suck it up", she laughed.

Jean laughed along with her thinking of when last he laughed with a girl like this. Sure in high school girls confessed and asked him out but he was
never really interested, at least till now.

"Say Hitch, have you ever dated before? Not that I'm intruding or anything, I'm just curious", he asked.

"Nope", she said, popping the 'p'. "I've thought about it a few times but I've never had time. But I do have someone in mind", she said with a smile.

"Really now?"

"Yeah"

"Mind telling me about him", Jean said feeling a bit dejected.

"Hmm let's see", she said in a thinking motion, "for starters, he looks like a horse."

"What an unfortunate guy."

1. 2. 3.

"Oi, hey what the hell Hitch", he barked.

Hitch's laughter rang through the building.

"Took you long enough", she said still giggling.

"Wait a sec. You like me?", Jean asked.

She blushed. "Y-yeah I do. You're a great guy and you've been really helpful in cheering me up. I'm  here because I've been in a really sad mood lately and when you came over you really made me happy so thank you Jean.", she said.

"I guess that makes two of us. Hitch, would you mind going on a date with me tomorrow?", he asked a bit shyly.

"Sure", she replied, placing her hand on top his.

He looked up and returned her smile.

Looks like today wasn't all bad, they both thought.

Yo everyone. Sorry for the late update. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I do so feel free to give comments and reviews on it. Well that's all for today so thank you all for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye 👋