Content warnings; none!
My next designated area was physical training. I'm not too sure why I got put in this class either, but it shouldn't be too hard for me. I trained a lot with my dad growing up and that's all that I ever did, as far as I can remember at least.
It was always eat, sleep, train, repeat.
"Do you have physical training next?" Historia asked me, politely.
"I do." I sighed, giving her a small smile.
"Oh, great! You're with all of us again!" She squealed, clapping her tiny hands together.
Good luck again!
The girls and I went into separate changing rooms from the boys, so they could change into their uniforms. I didn't have mine yet unfortunately, so I waited for them to finish up.
"By the way (Y/N), to test your luck here, you transferred right before the team battle." Annie explained, sighing.
Bad luck again..
After the girls got done changing, we had all entered a classroom. It was absolutely spotless and all of the desks smelled like lemon cleaning supplies. Everything on the shelves were neat, you can definitely tell there wasn't a single thing misplaced.
The desks were in pairs, so I waited for everyone else to sit down, so I knew exactly where to sit and of course, I ended up sitting next to Jean again because he saved a seat just for me.
"Jean, I have a question?" I asked, inquisitively.
"Go for it." He suggested, side-eyeing me.
"Annie told me that I came right before the team battle's about to begin..." I explained.
He waited for me to continue.
"What's that? What is this class?" I asked.
"To explain what this class is, everyday we go out into the fields and practice our combat and self-defense skills. Sometimes we're given a knife and with that knife, you or your opponent are suppose to take the knife out of each other's hand—other times, it's different drills." He explained, thoroughly.
"That's it?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows.
He chuckled, "No, of course not! There's tons of other things that we do, but of course this is only training." He shyly smiled.
"Training for what?" I asked, nervously.
"I'm getting there—Training for the military, if you want to join of course. It's totally optional, so you don't have to feel pressured." He explained, lightly tapping my shoulder.
"W-what?" I asked, breathlessly.
Don't tell me this a military school of some sort I was forced to go into..I'm not strong enough for any of this.
"Relax. This is what training is for, so you can be prepared for anything that lies ahead." He smiled, confidently.
"So, I'm assuming that I'm going to be fighting against you guys in the upcoming team battle?" I asked, sighing.
"Yes, actually. You will be. We're also going to be practicing with other gear and so much more." He said, casually smiling, as if he wasn't nervous about any of this.
"What happens if you win this so called team battle?" I questioned, tapping my foot.
"Nothing really, to be completely honest. As if Levi's praises aren't enough. Although, sometimes he does recommend his best students for the Survey Corps and that's big for a lot of us, especially me." He smiled, pointing at himself.
My father told me that many years ago, titans had existed. There were even walls up at one point, to where no one knew or could explore the outside world, but after the walls were destroyed, all the districts united and we were finally one.
However, I knew about the Survey Corps and everything else. My dad taught me, but I didn't much care either. A titan hasn't been in sight for years, they were finally extinct. I'm starting to think that choosing a branch is pretty much meaningless.
"Hey? What's the point in joining the military? Why do you want to join the military?" I asked, intrigued.
"Well, the military here is different now. We mostly protect civilians and watch over districts. That's something I wouldn't mind doing." He continued, looking at the white board.
"Oh, I see." I stated, softly.
"Why are you here if you're not planning on joining the military?" He asked, looking down at me.
"I don't really know, I was kind of forced to attend here." I sighed, rubbing my forehead.
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're here. I'll try to make this school a fun experience for you." He replied, laughing softly.
I giggled, "Have you seen the world? Like the world other than this island?" I questioned him.
"Uh, no not really, you?" He asked me, shaking his head.
"No, it's always been my dream. To explore and you know..." I stopped myself from talking, before something I didn't want to say came out of my mouth.
"I feel you." He replied.
"I really hope I don't compete against you guys, since I've kinda just got thrown into this class." I twiddled with my fingers, anxiously.
"Look, you're new here. Unless you prove yourself on the practice field today, I don't think you'd be competing against any of us." He patted me on the shoulder and I was relieved.
A short person walked in the classroom, I almost thought he was a student, until he started speaking.
"Who's that?" I asked, nudging Jean's shoulder.
"That's our Captain Levi, the one I just mentioned." He whispered over.
"He looks like a student." I giggled, leaning back into my seat.
"He isn't. He is much older than us, he's just short. He's the strongest one here, the closest one to ever beating him was Mikasa and she could barely get ahold of him." He elaborated.
"She must be really good, huh?" I asked, glancing over at her.
Her eyes were straight forward, sometimes she would look at Eren, but other than that she seemed to be highly focused on Captain Levi.
"Alright. You annoying brats, as you know the team battle is coming up real soon and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you getting your ass beat." He explained, drinking what seemed to be hot tea.
"That means I want you all to prove yourself extra hard—without getting your uniforms dirty and this room better be spotless before we head out to the field—especially you Sasha, with your inadequate eating habits." He said, scolding her.
He sighed, "...I've also noticed, we have a new student. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself?" Levi's attention soon focused on me, along with everyone else's.
No, please no. I hate this.
I awkwardly got up from my seat and walked towards the front of the classroom. My stomach was turning into knots, as I saw nothing but pairs of eyes, staring at me. I didn't know what to say or where to start, so I was just gauchely standing there like a dumb ass.
"Well?" He replied, motioning me to start.
"I'm-I'm (Y/N), though some of you know that already. I-I don't know what to say, this isn't an interview." I shrugged, looking over at Levi carelessly.
I saw some of my classmates snickering like Sasha and Connie, but others were staring in shock. I didn't know why, I don't think I've said anything wrong or funny.
He hummed impatiently, "I see you're not one to hold back your thoughts. What school were you from?" He asked, curiously.
I have to lie! No way in hell am I gonna tell everyone I've been home-schooled my entire life. I'm sure they'd laugh at me.
"I'm from...M-Maple high school." I blurted out nervously, thinking about those pancakes I ate this morning.
"Is that even a thing?" He asked, suspiciously.
"Sure it is!" I cheered sarcastically, hoping he'd let me sit down now.
"Go sit down, you giddy brat. Anyways, like I've stated before, cleaning is very important. If you don't clean, you'll get dirty and if you're dirty, that means you have germs and germs make you sick. Tch—so disgusting." He frowned, leaning against his desk.
I sat down blocking out Levi, as he was rumbling on about how cleaning was essential. He was serious about keeping everything tidy, it came to me that he was most likely the one who had this room looking spotless. I wonder how long it even took him, for it to be this clean.
"Without further ado, I'm announcing today's pairs." He began to explain, as he picked up a piece of paper that was laying on his desk.
"I hope it's Eren." Jean said whispering to himself, clenching his fist tightly.
"You need to see it first hand when Jean gets laid out." Connie said, turning around to face my direction.
"Pair one, Sasha and Ymir."
"Pair two, Historia and Armin."
"Pair three, Bertholdt and Reiner."
"Pair four, Mikasa and Hanji."
"Pair five, Jean and Annie."
"And Pair Six, Eren and (Y/N)."
What did he say? Couldn't I have gotten a day to observe first, before participating!? This isn't fair.
"Connie, you'll be paired with me." Levi explained, in an emotionless tone.
"Ah, come on!" Connie complained, flailing his arms up and down.
"Let's head to the field now and I want this room spotless for tomorrow and that's an order." He commanded, sternly.
How many times is he going to say that...
"(Y/N), here's your uniform. Go change into it quickly." He said, throwing it at my face.
I quickly ran to the changing room and changed into the uniform, which was way more comfortable. A shirt and shorts was undeniably perfect for training. I ran back to the classroom and that's when we all headed out onto the practice field.
We headed to our assigned squared area with our partners. And here I was, face to face with Eren Yeager, who never even bothered to introduce himself to me after he kind of thrown me a rude facial expression earlier.
Don't make enemies...
Captain Levi had given him the knife too.
Just my luck, yet again.
"Just because you're new here doesn't mean I'm going to hold back. I'm here to fight, not chit chat and stand around. So, take the knife from me, before I make you." He tossed the knife up and down, threatening me.
I practiced my combat skills before, but never on people other than my dad, let alone a teenaged boy. However, I didn't say anything, I let my actions do the talking. I ran up to him and luckily, he dodged my punch and ended up striking me down with a powerful kick.
I guess my actions didn't do much talking either.
I laid on the ground and looked to my left, as I saw everyone fighting with their partners. I admit that kick really hurt, but I knew that physical abilities wasn't the only way to take down your opponent. Outsmarting them is a way too, so I knew what I had to do.
"Done already? You're weak and a coward. Get up, I want to fight and I can't fight anyone when you're on the ground." He scoffed, creasing his eyebrows.
Is he putting on a show for me? Trying to intimidate me?
I knew I had to lower his guard somehow, so I pretended to be hurt and mumbled something under my breath, so that he'd be dumb enough to walk closer to me. I had to make it to where he was vulnerable.
"What?" He asked walking closer, as if he was about to help me up.
That's it ..closer!
I continued to mumble random shit and acted like I was in pain, while staring up at him.
As he was hovering over me, I briskly went for both of his legs with a fast sweep kick, causing Eren to fall on his back. He looked dumb-folded and incensed. Before he could get up, I put so much force into his chest and stepped on his wrist, which was holding the wooden knife.
"Make any sudden movements and you'll be tasting shoe. Give me the knife, so I can win." I ordered, trying to threaten him. I tried to be intimidating as possible, but I'm sure I came off as cringy.
I hope it's working..after all this was fun!
He groaned indignantly at me.
"You think I'm going to give up that easy?" He asked, impatiently.
He grabbed my foot with his other hand, getting the weight off of his chest. He stood back up and he went in for the punch, but I quickly dodged it and gave him a right hook. I then elbow him in the neck hard enough, causing him to fall back down.
I stepped back on him, in my original position and he looked up at me with a red mark on his cheek from where I hit him.
"Done already? You're weak and a coward. Get up, I want to fight and I can't fight anyone when you're on the ground." I said, mocking him playfully. I noticed he was frowning at me, so I smirked at him.
He groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Hand over the knife Eren, please." I stepped on his wrist even tighter and he ultimately let his grasp on the knife go.
I kicked it out his reach and to where I was able to grab it when I had gotten off of him. I picked it up and smiled, proudly. It was my very first practice drill and I succeeded in it. I felt overly exhilarated.
"I win." I smiled, as Captain Levi watched and he seemed to be impressed.
I ran over to Sasha, Historia, and the others, who happened to be cheering me on, after they were done with their drill. It felt nice to have people that acknowledged me, I was tired of being lonely every day. Not to mention that they're so nice to me too. Coming here, was in fact, a winning situation for me. We all continued to converse, while watching some of the other boys and girls fight.