Never let me go

3: Not your fault

Wall Rose Year 849 - Hand to hand combat training grounds:

Christa held the wooden knife out in front of her. She was supposed to attack Iris with it, but you wouldn't have to take more than a look at her to know her heart really wasn't in it. She looked apologetic, even though she hadn't made one move yet. Iris thought to herself that once she did make the move, Iris would meet her with her arm to Christa's shoulder. She'd bring her other hand up quickly and knock the trajectory of the knife upwards. If this was a real fight she would then have targeted one of the girl's weak spots. Probably a knee in the liver and then a hard punch to her throat before disarming her. This however was not a real fight and Christa was small and harmless, so she would be gentle. Iris decided to just sidestep, knock her knife arm upwards and then kick her at the back of the knee to knock her over. Then take the knife of course.

Ymir was watching them both from where she was leisurely lounging in the grass some feet away. They'd all paired up, and she and Ymir were trying to help Christa learn some techniques even she could use, despite being so small. The ideal person to teach her this would of course be Annie, small and lithe herself. Iris had seen her moves and tasted them first hand however. The blonde had kicked her so hard in the side, Iris feared she would snap in two. So perhaps it was better this way.

"You know you have to make a move to attack me, right?" she smiled gently at Christa who swallowed hard.

"What if I hurt you?"

"You won't hurt me. And I won't hurt you so don't worry. Now come at me."

Christa did just that, and as planned Iris gently averted her knife's trajectory with a quick jab from below, and then (taking care not to do it too abruptly) knocked her to the ground using her right leg. Christa almost looked relieved to give up the knife.

"Alright, my turn. Why don't you try using the same move I just used on you to disarm me?" she suggested to the girl as they had gotten back up and it was time for her to attack. Christa nodded, and as it turns out she was better at defending herself than she was at attacking. Iris found herself on her back on the ground, looking up at the blue sky above. It was a beautiful day, she thought.

"Do you have any more moves you can show me?" Christa's face popped into her field of vision.

"I do, but a lot of them would need you to stop being afraid of hurting me."

They all lunched together on the grass after training. Iris sat cross legged next to Ymir and Christa, satisfied with the morning's workout. The sun felt hot against her back. She hated the stale bread they were fed here, but she'd also gotten some fresh carrots that tasted sweet and delicious. Close by Connie and Sasha were trying to figure out who'd be on top of the scoreboards if they were to graduate this year and not the next.
She noticed Eren come limping towards her, steadying himself on Armin. He looked like he'd been roughed up, and she had an inkling of who was responsible for his injuries. She snickered and looked down at her pack of food and snatched up a tin of boiled beetroot. She felt someone drop down next to her with a thud, and knew from the 'Ouf' he uttered that it was Reiner.

"Sorry," she heard Bertholdt say apologetically. She looked up an saw that Reiner too clearly had taken an Annie to the face. She looked up at Bertholdt and smirked.

"You let him do this to himself?" Bertholdt only shrugged dejectedly.

"You know he doesn't listen to me."

"You can't always back away from a fight just because you're not sure if you can win Bert," Reiner groaned. "Sometimes you have to give it everything you've got."