Reluctant Heroes (Jean x Reader x Eren) CHAPTER 4

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” you cried from your perch high in the trees.

Today was the day the trainees of the 104th Training Corps would put their skills to the test with the 3D manoeuvre gear. You had been feeling anxious for weeks, often staying late after training to get in as much practice as you could, Jean offering encouragement (varying in enthusiasm depending on how much of your dinner you agreed to give him) along the way. But when it came time to face the real thing, being suspended barely a foot in the air could not compare to the some fifty feet now between you and the ground.

“You’ll be fine, just don’t look down,” called Jean from an adjacent branch.

“Too late…” You cowered back from the edge, back pressed against the trunk, eyes shut tight. You could feel a cold sweat start to form on your brow.

You had not been this scared since you were seven, and you had gotten stuck up a tree while you and Jean were out collecting firewood from within Wall Maria. He had made fun of you, teased you relentlessly. At least until he saw the tears in your eyes, after which he carefully coaxed you down into his arms. The two of you returned home empty handed that day, and you had both received a scolding from your parents, but after that, you saw Jean in a new light – not just as a neighbour, but as a friend.

“Stop being such a wimp!” Jean’s harsh voice cut through your haze of memories and you opened your eyes to shoot him a glare.

“I miss the Jean from five years ago,” you muttered under your breath, before finally pushing away from the trunk and peering down to the ground below. You regretted it instantly as your head began to spin and you had to grip the tree tightly so you would not go tumbling down, even though you were anchored by your wires.

You almost did go tumbling when someone alighted on the branch next to you, taking you by surprise.

“Jean, what the f—” You turned to find Eren beside you, watching you carefully. “Oh, it’s you.”

You had been somewhat cold toward Eren since that first day of manoeuvre gear training. After failing spectacularly in his first attempt, you had hoped he would be sent home and there would be one less trainee to compete with for the top ten. But he had returned the next day only to find his gear was faulty and, once provided with functioning gear, had passed with flying colours, whereas you had barely scraped by.

Needless to say, an unspoken rivalry had developed between the two of you, but as much as you hated to admit it, you were glad you had someone to push you to be better. That, and you didn’t think you were ready to say goodbye to those ocean green eyes.

Those same eyes were now watching you closely as you fought to look anywhere but down.

“You’re going to have to look down eventually,” he said.

You clenched your teeth. “I’d die happy if I never have to.”

“You might just get your wish if a titan sneaks up from below. What are you really afraid of?”

“Oh, you know. Falling. Landing. Splat.” You made a motion with your hands to accentuate your last word, but quickly scrambled for purchase on the trunk again as you felt your balance falter.

“Then don’t fall. Fly.” He said it as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

“Easier said than done.”

Eren only shrugged “You can’t fly if you never try. Either I’ll see you at the end or I won’t.”

And with that he took off and you watched him with jealousy. After his initial failure, he had taken to the sky like a natural. He was rising fast among the ranks, seemingly through sheer determination alone, and as a result, your place in the top ten was starting to look shaky. You simply could not let him take it from you.

You took a deep breath, retracted your wires… and jumped.

*   *   *   *   *

“You were amazing out there, [Name]!”

You looked over at the dinner table at the freckled face of Marco, the boy you and Jean had befriended over the weeks since training began. Marco was aiming for the top ten as well which, ordinarily, would have automatically made him the enemy. But the boy was just too nice for his own good and before either you or Jean knew it, he had become a part of your little group. It was impossible not to like him and the three of you had struck up a sort of friendly rivalry.

“Oh. Thanks,” you said, blushing wildly.

“He’s right, you know. Not to mention crazy fast,” Jean pitched in.

If you hadn’t been blushing before, you most certainly would have been now. Praise from Jean was a rare occurrence. You laughed it off.

“Probably because all I could think off was how to get back on solid ground as soon as possible.”

The three of you laughed, turning heads in the otherwise hushed dining hall. Eren caught your eye from across the room and gave you a discreet, approving nod. You gave him a small smile back before turning back to your conversation.

“Really though, you faced your fear and you won,” said Marco. “Not many people can do that.”

“I’m still terrified of heights though,” you countered.

“Well it’s a good thing you’re not aiming for the Garrison then,” said Jean, smirking.

You punched him lightly on the arm and he only laughed, but the next minute, the laughter died in his throat.

“What do you want, Jaeger?”

“You know the worst fear is yet to come, right? A little vertigo is nothing compared to what’s outside those walls.” Eren stood to your side looking down at you, his mouth set in a hard line.

Jean leaned forward, forcing Eren to shift his gaze from you to him. “Well, it’s a good thing we’ll never have to find out.”

Eren frowned. “You must be stupid if you think this all just ends after graduation. Are you really that cocky that you haven’t even thought about the possibility of not making it to the top ten?”

“Then I’ll join the Garrison,” Jean said with a shrug.

“And what happens when we have a repeat of two years ago?” There was a tremor in Eren’s voice and you glanced over to find his fists clenched. You tried to catch his eye to give him a look of caution, but he was too focused on Jean. “What happens when the Colossal Titan returns to finish the job?”

His words ended in a shout followed by a hush. All eyes were on your table now, and Jean was glaring up at Eren, his mouth slightly open. You could read his thoughts even from across the table.

“Jean, don’t,” you warned. His eyes flickered to you and back to Eren, but some of the tension left his shoulders. He smirked up at Eren.

“Then I guess the Survey Corps will be there to save us,” he said, more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Eren gritted his teeth and for a moment looked like he was about to retort, but instead he turned on his heel and stormed out of the hall with one last glance in your direction. The door slammed and the room was left in silence for a few moments, before conversation began to pick back up again.

“Jeez, what was that about?” Jean growled.

“Will you stop picking fights with him? I know he’s an ass, but you know when he’s around, he brings out the ass in you too,” you spat out.

“Hey, he started it this time!”

“And you still took the bait! You’re both as bad as each other.” With that you slammed your spoon down and made to leave, bidding Marco a crisp goodnight. Jean called out after you.

“So does this mean I get the rest of your food?”

You didn’t even dignify his words with a response as you slammed the door behind you and met with the cold night air. Gods, he infuriated you sometimes. They both did, but lately it seemed Jean was letting this rivalry go to his head. He was always cocky, but he’d never been this outright arrogant.

It was dark out, the only illumination from the firelight that seeped through the windows of the dining hall, so you did not see the figure sitting at the edge of the decking until you almost tripped over them. As you looked down to apologise, you were met with a pair of green eyes in the semi-darkness.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there. And sorry for Jean. He can be… difficult.”

“You don’t need to apologise for him. It’s not your fault he’s a dick.” Eren smirked slightly at his words and it was the first time you had seen him smile.

You laughed and looked away, sitting down beside him and gazing out into the night. “He wasn’t always like this. I mean, he was always kind of a dick, but we’ve been friends a long time. He’s a good guy, really.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“I know. He’ll come around eventually.”

“Can I ask… how did the two of you become friends? I mean, the two of you are so different, how’d you end up here together?”

You blushed slightly. “We’re not together together. We were neighbours for years in Trost and I guess we just grew closer over the years. We were kind of forced to like each other, to be honest,” you said with a small laugh. “Our parents were friends.”

“I knew it.”

“Knew what?”

“I knew you wouldn’t have been friends with him by choice.” His face broke out into a smile and if you had thought his previous smile had been nice, this one was simply breathtaking. You hoped the light was not enough to show the colour in your cheeks.

“Shut up,” you laughed, and he laughed with you. It was a nice sound.

“I should get to bed,” you said with a sigh. “Big day, you know?”

“Of course.”

Eren stood with you. There was awkward silence between the two of you for a moment and you thought that might be the end of the conversation. You were about to leave when he broke the silence.

“Hey, you did well today. I hope to see you at the end.”

You smiled at him. “Me too.”



>>> Chapter 3
>>> Chapter 5