"Aidan... no..." My voice shook. I was quickly breathing in and out, not able to control my breathing. I ran my fingers through my hair, and then squeezed.
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*Play 2chijou*
"Pick up the pace, you lead-heeled laggards!" Shadis shouted at us as we carried cargo on our backs, running in the forest with rain pouring on us.
"Your boots waterlogged, Artlet?" Shadis slowed his horse down to go to the back, and I saw Armin struggling to keep up. I faced my head back forward, and kept jogging.
"Let me see some hustle! Gear too heavy for you, son? Drop it! Leave it in the mud! The Titans will have easier work digesting you without all the excess baggage." Shadis nagged at Armin and sped his horse back up towards the front of the group.
I looked back to see Reiner take Armin's bags, and they were talking. Armin then sped up with Reiner and took his bag back, and determinedly kept on jogging. He then sped up to the front of the group, almost beside me.
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We were practicing combat with the Titan cardboard cutouts in the forest. Eren and Mikasa were slicing the napes of the other cutouts a short distance away from me, while I was aiming my blades at the nape of another cutout just ahead of me. As the grapple hook swung me to the cutout, I swiftly cut the nape of it.
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Jean and I were practicing hand to hand combat. After the third time of pinning him, he insisted on another round. I readied my fists and looked at him through my forearms. He nodded and he took a step forward, swinging a fist to my face. I quickly dodged it and threw a kick to his side, but he caught my leg mid air.
He smirked and I looked at him, and used my momentum to flip around and do a 360, and he lost his grip. He sighed in frustration and threw a punch at me, but I ducked under his arm, and wrapped both of my arms around his back. I tripped his leg from the back, and he fell forward, and I came crashing down on him.
I quickly turned him over and pinned him to the ground, and he gritted his teeth.
"Alright, alright!" Jean scoffed and I let go of my grip on his arms, and we stood up.
"How can you throw a grown man onto the ground like that?" Jean asked, while I dusted off my pants. "Training." I continued to dust off my pants.
*Play The Way We Were*
I looked up and saw Jean stretching out his arms, and I looked to the side to see Mikasa and Annie getting ready to fight. I looked farther into the distance, and saw a squad of people with the Scout symbol. There was a man about my height, maybe taller, who had black hair with an undercut. I noticed him glance over to me.
We made eye-contact, and we looked at each other for what felt like ages.
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*Play Warm Up*
"I know, okay? And look, I'm not saying it's right but it's just the way things are. Before Wall Maria was compromised, ODM experts were rare. Only Scouts ever risked proximity to Titans, and their regiment wasn't large to begin with." Armin explained, and I stared down at my soup bowl and stirred the spoon around.
Something about that guy...
"Interior." I heard Eren, and I looked over to him, and he was talking to Jean and Marco.
"Five years ago, this was part of it." Eren added, and took a drink of his water.
"You got a point to make, friend? I'm right here."
"Poor Jean. So misguided. And besides, I don't think your head will fit in the interior anyways." Eren scoffed as I looked at the others, who were holding in their laugh. Jean's eye twitched, and he looked back at his table.
"Very funny." Jean furrowed his eyebrows.
"Seems a little backwards to me. Fine-tuning your Titan killing skills so the brass'll station you somewhere you'll never see one." Eren looked at Jean. "You'd rather I was good at getting killed? Thank you, but I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on." Jean glared at Eren.
"You son of a bitch!" Eren shot up in his seat, and angrily looked at Jean. "Bring it on!" Jean sat up with him.
"Eren!" Armin shouted. "Gentlemen, please." Mikasa grabbed Eren's arm and brought it down, but suddenly Jean grabbed Eren by the shirt.
"You think you can judge me, eh?!" "You rip my shirt, you're dead!" "I don't care about your shirt! You piss me off!" "What? Are you crazy?"
Eren stopped for a moment, and then drop kicked Jean, and he fell straight to the floor.
"What was that move?!" Jean asked and rubbed the back of his head.
"A little something I picked up this afternoon. You honestly believe the Military Police is the way to a good life? You're not a soldier, you're a joke." Eren looked down at Jean. Jean furrowed his eyebrows and stood up, ready to fight Eren, but I swiftly shot up out of my seat.
I quickly dodged the punch he was sending towards Eren, and went under his arms and locked my arms around his back. I used my legs to send him backwards, and we went falling down to the ground, and I turned him over, pinning him. I heard inaudible shouting, but I ignored it.
*Play Earthquake I*
I tightened my grip on the pin, and he furrowed his eyebrows, saying something, but I couldn't hear. I tightened my grip even more, until I felt arms link under mine, and they pulled me back, and I felt my arms go limp.
All of the sound around me came back, and I turned around to look at Armin, who had held me back. Everyone was staring at me, shocked. Jean quickly sat up and rubbed his arms, and everyone looked scared of me.
"Come on." Armin looked at me, and I followed him back to our table with Eren trailing behind us.
Suddenly, the door slammed open.
*Play Counter-Attack Mankind*
"Would someone like to explain all of the ruckus I heard just now? I do hope everything's alright." Shadis said, as we sat down in our seats.
"Sasha passed some gas, commandment." Mikasa raised her hand, and made an excuse. Everyone was struggling to hold back their laughter, as Sasha looked petrified.
