in the middle of the chaos | jean kirstein x fem!reader

3 | in the middle of flying

Never in her life did Y/n think the army might be fun.

That statement sounded like an advertisement to join the army — Enlist today and have the time of your life getting your ass kicked and sweat in places you never thought was possible! — but it was the truth. Sure, every cadet was being pushed hard and Shadis was ruthless. But it wasn't all bad.

They'd been at the Cadet Corps for a few weeks now — their days consistent of meals, physical training, learning strategy and more physical training. It sounded monotone, yes, but thanks to the friends she'd made, Y/n was more or less having the time of her life.

''YOU'RE SO SLOW, CONNIE!''

''SHUT UP, SASHA!''

Y/n laughed as two yelled at each other in the air, racing ahead. Today was the first time they would be trying to slay titans with their blades. They'd been only mastering the flying alone for a few weeks now and Y/n was a natural pro at it — from the moment Sasha had challenged her a few weeks ago and Y/n had flown for the first time, she'd become addicted to the feeling of being in the air. This was the one thing she would miss in the MPs for sure.

Slaying titan dummies, however, was a whole different story.

They had to cut the nape at exactly one meter and ten centimeters. That was easy to memorize, but harder to execute. She tried to slide her first titan, alas only one of her blades actually went through. The second one she managed to cut off, though not in the center. The third one was no better as one of her blades got stuck halfway through because she wasn't putting enough pressure.

''GODDAMIT!'' Y/n yelled as she pulled her blade out. She was angry, yes, but fear was starting to consume her, too — she needs to be able to cut a titan's nape or she could kiss life in the interior goodbye.

''WHAT'S UP, Y/N? HAVING TROUBLE?'' Jean yelled from her left, a cocky smirk on his face. He didn't have any difficulties slaying the titans; his current count was three, from what she'd seen.

''SHUT UP, HORSE-FACE!'' Y/n yelled. She glared at him before she tried to slice another nape.

Both her blades got stuck this time, causing her to get pulled back and land on the cushion nape. The blades were nestled deep within, deeper than they should be. Her wires retracted back to her gear as she pulled, trying to free them. After three hard tugs, she finally managed to pull them free, but the sudden loss of resistance she stumbled back, falling right off the dummy.

''SHIT!''

''Y/N!''

She was free falling, trying to trigger her wires to shoot out. Before she could, hands wrapped around her and a body slammed on her side, pulling her up to a thick tree branch.

''Holy shit, are you okay?'' Jean let her step on her feet.

Y/n pushed him back, yelling in frustration. ''I was fine! You didn't have to come save me!'' Y/n yelled at him. Upon noticing Jean's furrowed eyebrows, Y/n calmed down, still panting. ''Sorry. Thanks for catching me.''

''Don't worry about it.'' Jean took a hesitant step forward. He put a hand on her shoulder. ''What's up?''

Y/n looked behind Jean — Eren had just sliced off the dummy nape she had tried and failed to. She groaned in frustration. How is Eren doing it but she can't? Hell, even Armin and Christa are managing!

''I don't know! It just doesn't work!'' Y/n ran a hand through her head. She was starting to feel hot. ''I don't get it, why won't my blades go through?''

''You need to relax,'' Jean told her. He gripped her shoulder and she finally looked at him. ''Don't put too much pressure or you'll get stuck. And spin a little, don't just stand above the titan, you're never going to get your blades through like that. Look at Annie over there.''

She looked to where Jean was pointing. Annie spun as she sliced the nape off perfectly. Y/n had certainly not done that motion before.

''I see.'' Y/n nodded. Jean squeezed her shoulder again. She looked at him. ''Thanks, Jean-Bo.''

''Of course—''

''HEY, YOU TWO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SLACKING OFF?'' Shadis yelled from his horse right under the tree they were standing on.

Both Y/n and Jean stiffened. ''Shit, let's go. I'll be right behind you.'' Jean said.

Y/n nodded and shot out her wires, flying ahead. She heard Jean's wires shooting out as well as he followed her. She looked to her right and found a still-unsliced dummy, so she rushed over. Once there, she lifted her blades and twisted her torso, trying to give herself the momentum so she could spin as Jean had told her to.

She cut off a smaller part than she was supposed to and didn't manage to spin like Annie had. She huffed.

''THAT WAS BETTER!'' Jean yelled from behind her. ''TRY AGAIN!''

Y/n looked back at him for a moment. He gave her a nod as their eyes met and Y/n circled back, going back to the dummy to attempt to properly slice it again. She angled her body, lifted her blades and swung down with not too-little and not too-much power.

Clean slice.

The nape fell on the ground as Y/n lifted her blades in the air. ''YES! WOHOO!''

''GOOD JOB, Y/N!'' Jean called from behind her.

Y/n looked back with a grin. ''THANKS, JEAN-BO! LET'S SEE WHO CAN GET MORE TITANS NOW!''

''HEY! YOU HAD ONE CLEAN CUT, DON'T GET COCKY NOW!''

Y/n ignored him and rushed ahead. She could tell Jean was right on her back. Another titan dummy came into view and both Y/n and Jean headed straight for it. Y/n pumped more gas and made it first, cutting off the nape just as clean as the previous time.

It became a game to them. By the end of it, Jean had sliced seven titans, including his three from the beginning, while Y/n had eight.

''That was fun!'' Y/n called as the two landed on the ground, both of them panting. Shadis was yelling around, telling them to go and check-out their gear before going to lunch. ''And I beat you! HAHA!''

Jean scoffed. ''It was by one point! Besides, you wouldn't even be cutting napes if it wasn't for me!''

Y/n waved him off. ''Details, details! Don't be a sore loser, Moron Kirstein!'' Y/n laughed, though an easy smile fell on her face. ''You're right, though. Thanks for helping me back there.''

Jean returned the smile. It wasn't often that she saw a smile of his that wasn't a smirk, honestly. He really had a nice smile. ''Yeah, no worries. We gotta go to the interior, right?''

''Exactly.'' Y/n lifted her fist and Jean and bumped it. They'd been doing that since they were kids. ''It's gonna be so fun once we're there together. I mean, being in Wall Sina? The amount of fun things we can do?''

Jean nodded. ''Yeah. And you'll be there to annoy, so I think it's gonna be pretty great.'' He smiled as he wrapped an arm around Y/n's shoulder and rubbed his fist in her hair.

''HEY! STOP THIS! MY HAIR IS MESSED UP AS IT IS!'' Y/n protested and pushed him off. Jean let go and smiled at her. ''Besides that, I can't wait to eat anything but stew and stale bread once I'm there.''

''ME TOO!'' Sasha suddenly butted into the conversation, Connie in tow. ''I'M SO TIRED! I CRAVE MEAD!''

Y/n nodded. ''YES! Oh my walls, I haven't had any in ages!'' The two girls got talking about food as they walked ahead, leaving Jean, Connie and a newly-come Marco behind.

Marco chuckled. ''Those two sure are close.''

Jean nodded. ''Yeah.'' Too close. He frowned.

Connie took notice of his change of expression. ''What's wrong, Jean-Bo? Are you jealous because Y/n has a new friend and doesn't pay attention to you anymore?''

Jean looked at Connie for a moment before he grabbed the back of his head and pushed him forward, causing Connie to stumble. ''Shut up.''

''HEY! I WAS JUST ASKING!''