Your Promise | Shingeki No Kyojin ;; Eren Jaeger |

Chapter Seventeen

Rose
Two Years Later

Heavy rain pours down, obscuring my vision in the already thick wood. I squint to see ahead of me while running ahead of the group to catch up with Mikasa and Annie. Today we're being graded so I can't be left behind!

When the rain settles to a drizzle, the official test commences. All of the cadets soar through the trees, mostly in groups but I decide to stay solo. I need to rely on my own abilities and not depend on others anymore. Before we started, I saw Eren go off on his own as well and I haven't seen him since. In the distance, I spot a Titan decoy and rush on over, keeping aware of my surroundings in case anyone around tries to steal it. Maintaining the right distance, I spin in the air behind the standee and perfectly slice the nape of the neck. 

"Gotcha!!" A voice behind me exclaims. I turn to see Jean following, approaching the standee that was near the one I got but he cuts it too shallow. "Dammit!"

"Need some advice? Go in their blindspot at a distance where they can't reach and then get closer," I suggest.

"And why the hell would I want to take advice from you?" He spits back. 

"Because I know that you want to get into the Military Police. If you keep up with cuts like that, your marks won't be near enough to be in the top ten. Even if I don't have the same goal as you, it doesn't mean I shouldn't help you, I've learned that now," 

I use more gas to go faster as I see another decoy and perform what I told Jean to do and he copies my movements on another Titan. He finally gets a good cut in and mumbles to himself, "Woah..."

"See what happens? It's not hard, you just have to face your fears,"

He grovels for a moment. "... Thanks,"

"No problem," I reply and we part ways. 

• • •

The following day, we're instructed to improve our hand-to-hand and weapon combat by fighting each other in pairs. Before starting the exercises, Sasha and I stretch in the shade of a tree when Jean approaches us.

"Rose, you mind pairing up?" He asks. 

I cock an eyebrow. "Sure, but why me?"

"You gave me advice yesterday but now I'll prove to you that I can be better than you without help!"

Sasha clicks her tongue. "Oi, that's too shallow and blunt, even for you, Jean,"

"No, no, I want to see this. Let's spar," I stand up and we both walk to the field, readying our wooden knives. "You ready?"

"Of course!" 

Jean charges at me with the dagger pointed towards my face but I quickly pivot over my left shoulder while grabbing his wrist with my right hand, twisting his arm. He swipes his foot under mine making me lose my balance and I stumble to the ground, lying on my back. My left hand is caught under my back and he steps on my left arm to confirm that I won't move it, resulting in me trying to shove him off with my right. However, Jean predicts my attack and grabs my right arm, pinning it to the ground. Jean's other hand with the knife dangles over my forehead at close proximity and I blow my hair out of my face. 

"I win," Jean smirks. 

"Not bad, that was impressive. I guess I just have to work more on building strength," I compliment him. 

A hand suddenly grabs Jean's shoulder and he's pulled off of me, thrown toward the same tree where Sasha and I were earlier. "What the hell?!"

Eren stands between us, glaring coldly at Jean. "What're you trying to pull, horse-face?"

"Eren, it's fine, we were just training," I quickly intervene before Jean can say anything. "Jean, that was a good fight. I'll see you later,"

"Tch, whatever," Jean says and walks away to find another opponent. 

I face Eren again and say, "You didn't have to do that, but thanks,"

"Don't let that bastard do what he wants, okay, Rose? You're stronger than him, we all know that," 

"I'm not stronger than Jean, I'm just more strategic in my fighting methods but he caught me off guard. Why'd you stop us so abruptly though?"

He holds the back of his neck and looks down. "Everyone was watching and it got awkward when you got pinned down,"

A bead of sweat forms on my forehead resulting in embarrassment. "Ah, did it? Sorry, I was caught up in the fight that I didn't realize," I reply. 

"Well anyway, everyone else has a partner already. Do you wanna practice together?" Eren questions me. 

I glance over at him and his expression seems softer. To settle the butterflies in my stomach, I scoff and grin. "Oh yeah, let's see what you can do, Jaeger,"

"Don't get so cocky, Wesler. I just saw you get your ass handed to you by horse-face over there," Eren retorts. 

"I went easy on him, if I went at my full potential then he would've lost in a second,"

"Is that so? So you do admit that you're stronger,"

"Maybe, but that's up for this fight to decide,"

"Don't hold back on me then," Eren smirks and his eyes give a glint of confidence. 

I prepare myself by getting into stance, spinning my knife around my fingers then grasping it tightly. "Like hell I would."