” … Just when you think things have gone quiet for the night, someone has to start making a fuss and then it’s impossible to sleep all over again … “
“Just close your eyes and ignore the noise…" [ Though even she couldn’t deny that the fuss still kept her awake. Not that she was willing to give up her nightly chance at replenishing her energy spent during the day, however. ] "There’s no point griping about it if there’s not much you can do about it. You’ll only waste your breath.”
★ { AdeptFighter ;
Shadis hadn’t exactly lectured her about putting more effort into the her training, but he’d offered her several looks in the past few days that said he wanted to. So, she scours the available people lingering around, and her eyes land on Mikasa. It’s a surprise to see her standing off to the side, actually. Usually, she manages to keep herself occupied.
Lips pursing in thought, she gives a quiet hum before moving her weight off the wall, and stepping over to go and greet the younger woman. She’s always around Eren, so she’s heard enough from and of her before, but they aren’t exactly very well acquainted. … And if she’s standing out, maybe she wouldn’t have to do much today, either. It wasn’t hard to look busy.
” Ackerman. Are you occupied? ” A smooth inquiry as she steps up behind her, arms folding over her abdomen loosely. ” If not — we aren’t very well acquainted. If you’re such a close friend of Eren’s … I’d like to get to know you better. “
There was not a day in her time since her enlistment where long moments would come to pass without fruition. As always, although it may seem effortless from another viewpoint, she would often find ways to hone her skills; withstanding her instructors’ orders; following and leading her fellow trainees as they sparred; even performing drills that most trainees wouldn’t bother doing in their spare time– obliging self-discipline upon herself and training solo, that is.
At the moment, however, it was a different case. Though her current idleness wasn’t necessarily deliberate procrastinating on her part; rather, she was simply waiting out on orders from the chief instructor as per prior briefing. And despite feeling the slightest bit letdown that the two people whose companies she felt most at ease with were somewhere off to their own devices on opposite ends of the training grounds, she had passed off the feeling to be insignificant. There was no point dwelling in it; they had their own duties to perform, and it was a given that they’d all be occupied by themselves from time to time.
A voice quite unlike her instructor’s had drawn her attention, however. Dark eyes pulling themselves from the forms of her classmates, she shifted her head to one side, directing a curious glance at the figure behind her. It was a voice she didn’t hear quite often, but was familiar to her nonetheless.
However, Annie’s inquiry left her puzzled and somewhat in doubt.
“Ah, no… Not at the moment.” A pause lingered between her words. One little detail had left question marks over her head (metaphorically speaking); why mention Eren? “… Is that so,” it came out sounding more of a statement than a question, and her curious gaze remained firm on the other’s. “That’s fine… But if I may ask, what exactly do want to know about me?”
« 850年3月14日 »
Annie Leonhardt. Apart from some rumors I overheard from the boys, there is still little I know about her. She does not seem to mingle with others often, and sometimes she escapes our chief instructor’s eyes to skip training. Why, I am not sure. But even so, from what I have seen during training, her accuracy is near flawless. She is fast on her feet. Her focus and intuition is strong. I will admit; when it is time for our graduation, I am sure she will become a strong soldier. I have also heard that she is skilled in martial arts.
And today, that rumor proved itself to be true. As Eren told me during dinner, she had single-handedly beat him in hand-to-hand combat, along with Reiner. I should have felt surprised, especially knowing that even Reiner was thrown down, but… Instead, it took a lot of my self-control not to get angry at her for hurting Eren like that. No matter how skilled she thinks she is, she should have at least held back. It was only morning practice after all, there was no need to put such ridiculous strain on him. Back then, as I looked over to her table while she ate, I thought about confronting her about it the next morning.
But later that evening, Eren and Jean got themselves into another quarrel. It had started with Jean talking about wanting to live an easy life deeper inside the walls, and Eren disagreed with that. They started baiting each other with more words, and at some point I tried to intercept… But for some reason, it only got worse; Jean suddenly grabbed Eren and started yelling at him. It looked like Eren was going to lose his temper as well; but then I saw it. It was brief, but the look in his eyes in that moment was the look he would make when he finally realized something.
It all happened very quickly, but I was able to catch onto what came next. Eren grabbed Jean’s wrist, moved his other arm to hinder his neck and swept a kick under his feet, bringing him down before Jean could even realize what happened. At this point, everyone in the dining area had their eyes on Eren; including Annie, I noticed.
What happened that evening left a deep impression on me. It made me think. There was something about Eren’s throwing style that seemed… very unlike him. Taking that into consideration, I remembered the rumors about her, and what Eren told me during training today. About his spar with Annie. And it clicked. It may be just a guess, but Annie must have taught him that move. There was no other person I could think of who would be capable of doing that. As exaggerated as the rumors were, it was still believable that she was noteworthy of her skill in hand-to-hand combat.
And when I realized that, that was when another thought came to me. Maybe… just maybe. Instead of getting angry at her for hurting Eren, maybe I should have felt more gratitude for what she did. If only I had thought of that earlier.
Whether or not I should personally give her my thanks is a different matter. The idea of Eren getting hurt still did not sit well with me. But, at least for now, I feel no anger towards her actions anymore. Wasn’t it Doctor Yeager who said, “No pain, no gain”? I suppose that applies here as well.
… Perhaps I should not underestimate Annie’s intentions so lightly from now on. Hopefully, if I am right, her intentions may be better than what the people around her think.
→ January 23rd
I don’t know how I feel about her. On one hand, she’s entirely physically capable … someone to learn a lot from. On the other, her priorities are upside down. She puts him before her own well - being. I can’t gauge how she feels about Arlert, but I suspect she feels the same about him, too.
… If that’s the case, I’m not sure if I could trust myself to rely on her, even for a training partner. I may find myself too invested in something I can’t quite understand. Maybe, someday, when all of this is over … when I feel like a normal human being … I can talk to her about it.
