The 13-Year Campaign

Chapter 4

The day came, the one you had been waiting for. The time for you to get your hands on some ODM gear.

You practically ran to the selection room and chose yours with just a feeling and a whim. You looked over the equipment with a poorly contained glee that everyone noticed.

Once outside, you strapped yourself into the gear, waiting for the anticipated clicks as a sign that it was secure. you slid your fingers into the triggers and felt your body jerk as the hooks launched from your hips and into the trees. you were pulled out and up into the air. your stomach fizzled and rose as your body did. the piercing wind cut at your face and you slammed your eyes for a second. when you opened them again, you were above the trees. The sun painted the world gold and the trees dazzled around the glittering lake. you stayed there for a moment in awe. your heart fluttered and your gut touched your ribcage.

then you were crashing back to earth, the skyline disappearing under a rising floor of leaves. with another pull of the hooks, you zoomed through the forest, zipping and dodging trunks of wood. the sounds of hooks and ODM lines zipped and orchestrated throughout the forest.

you laughed as you started weaving and dodging branches and trunks. you played with the gear, spinning after launching with one hook and spiraling with the other. somersaulting through the air. kicking off of tree tops. the obstacle course in between soaring was amazing. the grin on your face wasn't going away anytime soon and you exclaimed noises and whooped.

As the week had went on, friend groups began to form and you found yourself falling along with Jean. The bet with Jean had established a fun competitiveness and made you two close.

While using the ODM gear, Jean appeared next to you and called out to you. It was hard to decipher where he was coming from until he flew to your right with a shit-eating grin. His voice was muffled but you correctly guessed that he was challenging you to a race, which you accepted. your friend and you were going too fast but the exhilaration was too addicting. Although your use of the gear was graceful and beautiful like a dance routine, Jean's efficiency and natural ability with the gear beat you out.

When you reached the finish line, you were the first ones there and Jean was celebrating. He had finally beaten you.

Sasha and Connie arrived, cheering him on as did a few cadets when they showed up.

"Celebrate all you want, it took a machine for you to beat me," you teased, "but good game." Jean pulled you in for a side hug and smugly bragged about how you need lessons from him.

Eren watched how close you were to Jean. And wondered why you were.

Eventually, you befriended Armin as he needed help with ODM maintenance and you were the best at it. Eren sat in on a cram session with you two before and couldn't keep up as much as he liked.

You were cordial with Eren and he felt as if your behavior was too formal and sterile. Even the way you spoke was too proper in his opinion. He only spent time with you when it pertained to academics and that was always with a group or at least third party.

The year passed by and you two were anything but close. You found his outbursts annoying and he thought your nonconfrontation silly. The fact you were closer to someone like Jean than him was infuriating.

He hated how you talked to him as if you were being just cordial, which you were. Every time you two interacted, he felt as if you were sizing him up and looking down on him. The girl who was always at the back of his mind for years and intrigued him that fateful night was not easy to connect with. They could talk now but never a conversation it felt.
One of the few and first conversations you two had that went beyond pleasantries ended in an argument. When Eren found out you were vegetarian, he asked why. He had noticed you leaving your meat untouched every day.

"I just don't believe I should benefit from another creature's death," you answered. "I was raised without meat too so I just don't see the need for it. I would never kill anything if I had the choice."

He sat back in his chair in the common space near the mess hall. The candles lit for you two and arm in warmed the room as the tension grew thick.

"What about Titans?" Eren asked.

"What is there about them that makes you ask me that question?"

"Do you think killing them is wrong?"

You tightened your mouth at that leap in the conversation as if he was looking for a reason to dislike you. "I don't think killing is wrong, it's just not something I want to do."

"So you wouldn't kill Titans?"

You sighed in annoyance. "Does it matter? It takes a lot of guts and drive to commit to such a goal. A will I do not have. I figure I'm better supporting those who do. There's more to a cause than just fighting head-on."

"So you're a coward?"

"If you want to see it that way, I have no desire to change your mind. My life is my own, not yours. People have different desires and dreams. We can devout ourselves to something beyond just violence."

Eren gritted his teeth and stood. "What's that supposed to mean?!" you stood as well.

Armin stood up and put his hands up to calm his friend.

"Have some decorum," you said. "You're not going to get anywhere with that temper and attitude."

You took your books and left to your sleeping quarters. Armin chastised his friend and decided to study separately with you both.
For the rest of the year, you and Eren did not get along. When you were in the same circle, oftentimes it would turn into hushed insults and arguments.

But Eren wouldn't let anyone else talk badly about you. In the boy's barracks, you were not respected behind your back. Debates over whether you were pretty or not occurred constantly. Most of the time the consensus was you were but too odd. Jokes about how you'd disappear in the dark or how prissy you seemed. When comments went about things you could not change, Eren jumped in to defend you. He didn't like you but respected you enough to not let you suffer because of brainless people. Eren thought you were very beautiful but your mindset was too off-putting and he saw you as self-righteous even though it didn't interfere with his life, it irked him for no reason.

Maybe disappointment and finally being able to talk to you didn't build a connection. Everyone he respected or tolerated had only high things to say about you. The marks and grades you received were not to be frowned upon. Everyone liked you but he did, and the same goes for your feelings about him. The Suicidal Bastard was bound to butt heads with the calm girl who often thought too hard about what she was doing. Overthinking to you was an art form. Reading people was easy, but the conclusions you'd draw could be considered excessive. Exact opposites did not attract in this case.

When the second year came, it had lessened but the tension was still there. But for how long?