(This chapter is based on the events in the Attack on Titan OVA; "A Sudden Visitor: The Torturous Curse of Adolescence". You might want to watch it first if you haven't for this chapter to make sense, however, it is no spoiler for the main plot of the manga/anime so you can read it anyways if you want:) It is not like you won't understand anything if you don't)
Six months after our winter-training exercise, we made our way to Trost district for another exercise. We had to walk all the way there from boot camp while our higher-up's rode horses. It was exhausting, but nothing compared to the winter exercise.
You eyed Jean as you closed in on the mighty walls of his hometown. You prided yourself on having a sharp mind, being able to read people easily. However, Jean's face seemed to be a mix of a whole lot of emotions, making you unable to understand what he was thinking.
"I heard it's shown up again", you heard a group of people discuss once you entered the city. They were standing in front of a poster with a picture of a huge wild boar. "Someone should go and get rid of it already. We can't even work in peace with that thing around".
'Hmm, seems like that boar is causing a lot of problems. How big could it be?'
"This is awesome! I've never been in a walled city before!", Connie exclaimed and looked at the five of you walking with him.
"There are all sorts of tasty things here!", Sasha added excited. Jean just looked tired of being here already. How strange, this is his home, isn't it?
"You guys!", Jean called out to them, suddenly with the slightest smile on his face. They both turned around to face him as we kept walking. "if you join the city Garrison, you can stay here as long as you like! And I'll come to check up on you when I join the Military Police!", he said as he laughed, his manner indicating superiority. Sasha and Connie just looked like they were over it and you furrowed your brows as you eyed him. You then exchanged confused looks with Marco, both wondering what had gotten into Jean.
"Hey Jean, where do you live?", Armin asked him kindly, maybe trying to defuse the sudden tension?
"Does it matter?", Jean stated plainly, looking at Armin over his shoulder.
"You're going to visit home, right?", Marco asked.
"Yeah, Thomas said he was going home", you chimed in. "I'm sure your mom would be happy-"
"Shut up already!", Jean yelled at you, turning around, still walking. You were baffled, a shocked expression planted on your face. "It's none of your business anyways!".
"Geez, sorry Jean", you said, your tone as baffled as you felt.
"No reason to take whatever you are feeling out on her Jean!", Marco defended you. Jean just turned away. Marco put his hand on your shoulder to get your attention and gave you an expression that silently asked if you were okay. You simply nodded. Jean's reaction sure was unexpected, but him losing his cool wasn't something new, so you knew not to take it too personally. The six of you walked the rest of the way in silence.
~
The cadet corps were in Trost to carry out a practice evacuation and titan attack. Titan dummies were placed all around town. The population of Trost were to evacuate as you practised manoeuvring through the town, killing dummies as you saw them. Commander of the Garrison Regiment, Dot Pixis, where to observe the southern cadet corps. The whole cadet corps had gotten a stern command from Sadies to do your very best in showing the commander the skill set a cadet this close to graduating should have obtained after two years of boot camp. You were now standing on the roof of the Trost buildings, watching as the towns-folk evacuated. The towns bell rang, it's sound baring across the whole town. It was time to start.
You ran and jumped off the rooftop, feeling free as you let yourself free fall before sending your hooks connecting to the walls of a building. You noticed Jean, Armin and Marco running on the roof to your right.
"Jean, is it okay to move this far ahead? Our orders were to hang back and deal with the titans that break through-" Armin started saying.
"We can't afford to be laid back! Soldiers are meant to cut down titans!", Jean yelled at him as he ran in front of the two others.
'Just what is he planning...'
The three of them jumped off the roof as they reached the end, activating their manoeuvre gear. You decided to join in with them.
"Hey guys!", you said as you entered their formation. "Weren't you assigned the defensive post?", you then asked them. Jean didn't answer, he just kind of side-eyed you and moved on. "Or are you more concerned with getting a high score?", you added teasingly. Jean just huffed.
*3rd person POV*
At the top of the wall, Pixis along with a pair of section-commanders watched the cadet's as they were carrying out their mission.
"Commander, Team 21 has abandoned their post", one of the section-commanders reported, watching the cadets through a telescope. She looked up at Pixis, who was... sleeping? She sighed as she got up on her feet. She placed her mouth by his ear and yelled out; "Commander!". Pixis woke up in an instant.
"Is it chow time?", he asked in confusion. He reached for his pouch, going in for another swig of his alcohol. The section commander quickly reached out for it and walked over to the other man observing it all.
"He's far too relaxed", she told him concerned, eyeing the commander.
"He hasn't had time to loosen up lately. Just leave him be", he answered. Just as he said that, Pixis pulled out a new bottle he had hid in his inner pocket.
"I wonder what we're having for dinner", he asked himself astonished.
*Back to normal POV*
"Hey!, I found one!", Jean exclaimed, and you noticed a titan dummy ahead from you. "I've got this!", he said confidently to himself. A raven haired soldier came out of nowhere, slicing the nape of the dummy before Jean could reach it. At first you thought he would be angry or something, but he just looked at her in awe.
'Of course he isn't going to be angry if Mikasa is the one in his way'
You rolled your eyes and noticed another dummy further down the street to you left. You decided to sneak up on it, treating this exercise as if they were real titans. Connecting your hooks to the roof, you rolled forward in a controlled motion as your feet meet the roof tiles. You ran, using the tilted roof as a cover so that perhaps the titan wouldn't notice your presence.
"You guys, this way!", you heard Jean command. You looked over in their direction. Looks like Jean noticed the same dummy as you. Leave it to him to be so distracted by Mikasa that he didn't see you take off. You were closing in on the dummy, bracing your legs as you got ready to attack. Jean and the others were closing in, but before he could reach, you swiftly jumped and hovered upside down right above the titans nape, using the gas to give you some more altitude. You spun and gracefully made a perfect cut to the nape of the dummy, landing lightly on the roof across from the one you jumped from. The three of them looked at you amazed.
"Wow, Y/N I didn't even see you coming! That move looked so effortless, how do you do it?", Marco said in admiration. You smiled at him sheepishly, butterflies forming in your stomach as you looked him in the eyes. Jean stuttered something you didn't quite catch.
"Hey Jean, sorry if I stole your target", you said sincerely. "I can see a pair of dummies from here in that direction", you pointed. "Let's go and get you that kill", you added and gave him a playful nudge. That earned you a smile, and he nodded at you proposal. The four of you took off once again.
Closing in on the next pair of dummies, you were sure Jean would finally reach them in time.
"Thanks Jean!", you heard Connie yell as he surpassed all of you, cutting the nape of one of the dummies. "Gotcha!", he said as he flew off.
"Damn you!", Jean cried out, hooking one of his wires so that he could turn around abruptly. "Quit screwing around!". Jean charged towards the other dummy, readying his blades. The nape was suddenly cut, as well as the nape of another dummy none of you had noticed.
"Yahoo! Yahoo!", Sasha cheered, standing on the neck of one of the dummies. "Y/N! Did you see that?", she looked over at you, face full of joy.
"Yes Sasha, that was incredible!", you cheered on your best friend, proudly raising your blades in the air the same way she did. Reiner was the one who had cut the other nape.
"You have improved!", Connie said to her.
"I've always been this good, what are you talking about?", she answered him, playfully offended.
"You're still no match for me though", Connie replied, sticking out his tung.
Down below on the road, you could see Jean becoming more and more furious as the two of them went on.
~
After the exercise concluded the towns-folk could return to their homes, resuming normal day to day life. You sat with your back leaned against the wall of a building in an alleyway, and ate some lunch together with Jean and Marco. Across from you sat Sasha and Connie, doing the same. You were making a simple sandwich for yourself and Marco. It was your moms recipe that you used to eat all the time as a child, and Marco really wanted to try it. The two of you had scowered the market to see if you could find anything that could work, and you managed to find most of it. You gave Marco his food. Jean told you he wasn't hungry, so you didn't bother making him one. Jean just scowled in Sasha and Connie's direction.
"Man, this is really good! No wonder you talk about it all the time!", Marco told you, closing his eyes and leaning his head back in delight. You giggled, looking up at him.
"Just wait until you can try it with all the proper ingrediencies! You are going to lose your mind!", you told him, excited. And there he went again, looking at you with such admiration, your stomach filled itself with butterflies on record time. He reached out for your face, gently placing his fingers under your chin, using his thumb to wipe something off the corner of your mouth.
Your heart was racing uncontrollably.
His hand stayed there for a bit, him still gazing into your eyes. He then seemed too realized what he was doing and swiftly but softly pulled his hand away.
"Uh, you had something on, uh, on your f-face", he said flustered, pretending to reach for something on the other side of him. You let out a soft laugh.
"Thanks Marco", you said. You turned your head to see if Jean noticed what just happened. You knew he would tease the two of you to no end, even though you weren't together. Too your surprise, he was still sitting there beside you, glaring at Sasha and Connie who were having a peaceful meal. It's the quietest you had ever seen the two of them be.
Jean abruptly stood up, making his way over to them.
'What is he planning exactly...?'
"That's cheating, you thieving scum!", he yelled at Connie. The two of them looked unbothered. "I found those targets first!".
"Cheating? I didn't expect you to sound so petty, Jean", Sasha replied smugly. "There are no rules when it comes to hunting". She took a bite of her potato. You saw other cadets moving a bit closer to better see what was going on.
"Keep your hunter logic to yourself, Potato Girl!", Jean stated coldly.
'Oh no he didn't!'
You abruptly got up from the ground, Marco following your lead.
"Potato? I thought you had forgotten about that! That's cruel!", Sasha yelled at him as she stood up.
"She's right! Apologize to her!", Connie defended her as he too got up from the ground. You were about to move towards them when Reiner suddenly joined in.
"We were assigned to that area, not you", he simply stated.
"That's right! The only person out of the four of you who was supposed to be there was Y/N!", Connie quickly agreed.
'No, don't bring me into this'
"You know, you're acting strange today", Connie continued. "Are you anxious to see mommy?", he added with a sarcastic tone and pouted his mouth.
"Oh, is that it?", Sasha teased as well.
"HELL NO", Jean shouted, raising his fist. Sasha and Connie quickly took to their ninja stances that they have been practising. They looked proper ridiculous, and you loved it.
"What is going on?", Marco whispered baffled. You just shook your head and shrugged.
"Stop that you two!", Reiner firmly said, looking over at Jean. "You too Jean, or you won't make it into the Military Police". Jean seemed to listen to Reiner and lowered his fist.
"Let's settle this at training tomorrow!", Jean challenged them. We'll see who takes out the most targets!"
"That sounds like fun!", a voice said. Everyone looked in the direction of the source.
You gasped and quickly saluted, Marco and the rest of the cadets doing the same as soon as they noticed commander Pixis walking down the alleyway.
"Allow me to put that on hold. Your tireless spirit is wonderful indeed, but settling scores during training is outrageous!", Pixis said as he took another swig from his flask. "Do you fighting in the kitchen", he simply added. The section-commanders behind him looked shocked, and his words baffled you and the rest of the surrounding cadets.
'Did he just say the kitchen?'
"You will compete to see who of you is the better chef!", Pixis blurted out firmly.
Jean has never looked to confused, however, Sasha looked like she had just won a lifetime supply of meat.
"Cooking?", she said hopeful.
"Yes, cooking", Pixis confirmed. What was his deal? "We will have e cooking competition!"
"We should have confiscated all his alcohol", the Man behind Pixis said as the woman silently agreed.
"With all due respect sir, we are soldiers, not chefs-", Jean stuttered. Sasha proceeded to almost hit Jean in the face with her potato, stopping inches away from his nose.
"Jean, what do you know about cooking?", Sasha challenged.
"That's right! I bet your mom always cooked all of your meals!", Connie chimed in.
'What is it with those two and bringing up Jean's mom all the time?'
"I will teach you what cooking is really like, little Jean!", she announced and demonstratively took a harsh bite out of her potato. Jeans hands started to shake as he balled them into fists.
"Bring it on!", he said firmly. "Whether it's cooking or cleaning, it doesn't matter. If I win, you stay out of my way from now on!", he said pointing at her, then adding "Potato girl!". You wished he stopped saying that as you know how mortifying that was for Sasha.
"It's settled then. The showdown will take place tonight!", Pixis stated.
'Seems to me that he just wants a snack and is just taking advantage of the situation between my friends...'
"Each of you will prepare a course for dinner. Bring your best dished to the table!" he added , essentially screaming at this point. All the cadets around you started cheering, excited to witness something other than training.
"Ahhh, a cooking showdown between Sasha and Jean!", a girl to your right exclaimed.
"This is so exciting!", someone else declared. You spotted Mikasa and Eren carrying boxes across the alleyway, looking utterly confused.
'Ah, you guys wouldn't even believe me if I told you what just went down'.
__________________________________________
A/N:
I figured I should split this one into two parts as it is waaaayy to long to be one chapter. I hope you enjoyed part one. I think this OVA is so funny, and wanted it to be highlighted as a part of your character's days in the cadet corps in my story:)
Have a wonderful day and look out for pt. 2!<3
~Jen