A Soldier's Heart |Attack on Titan| |Reader Insert| |Discontinued|

Trainee training

The next day, the cadets were practicing their 3DMG training. Most of them were pretty well balanced, surprisingly. More times than not, a majority of the cadets would fail at balancing.

'Back to the good old days.' You thought with a fond expression. Your eyes scanned over each of the cadets. One of them, Mikasa, was completely still. Only swaying by the light breeze. You nodded to yourself lightly.

"What are you doing, Eren Jeager?! Straighten yourself up!!" You heard Shadis shout. You walked over to where Eren was and saw he was hanging upside down by the wires. People were laughing amongst the crowd. You turned your head to glare at them, silencing them immediately. Eren's and your eyes locked together, but he just furrowed his brows angrily.

"Oi. Cadet Jeager, try again."

~
It was later that day and Eren was on the machine again. The others had gone in already since training was over and it was only you, Mikasa, Eren, and Armin.

"Shift your weight to the center of your hips and relax. Don't try to do anything fancy," you advised. He nodded.

"Yeah. I think I got it. Lift me up, Armin," Eren said. Armin nodded in reply and started cranking up the machine, slowly lifting Eren. Eren wasn't even five inches off the ground and he flipped, hitting his head hard on the ground. You sighed, shaking your head.

"Come on. I'll get him patched up," you said, easily throwing his arm over your shoulder with Mikasa and Armin following.

'He's light.' You thought while walking him to the infirmary. Once you got him there, you sat him on a table and got bandages for his head.

"Eren. How do you feel?" You asked softly, checking his head for any wounds.

"I'm fine," he replied sternly, keeping his gaze away from you. You stayed quiet and just unwrapped the roll of bandages. He saw what you were doing. "I don't need your help." You glanced up at him, expression falling flat.

"You need all the help you can get," you replied sharply. "Jaeger, I have something important to tell you." You wrapped the bandages around his head. He grunted lightly from the tightness of them, before finally looking at you.

"What is it?" He asked. Once you were done wrapping his head, you sat down on the chair that was across from him.

"Your mother was Carla Jeager, correct?" You asked. He nodded, clenching the table between his hands.

"Yeah, why?" He asked. You huffed.

"Eren. You and I are cousins."
His eyes slowly widened, and you could see the cogs turning in his head, processing what you said.

"Wh-what?! But how?!" He stood up, but wobbled from the sudden action.

"Calm down first, then I'll explain," you said firmly, pushing him back in a sitting position on the table. He slowly nodded, shutting his mouth. "My mom, M/n L/n, and your mom, Carla Jeager, were sisters. My mom was five years younger than your mom, but she had me years before your mom had you. We lived in the underground district in Wall Sina only because living with her sister and her husband in a small house was very tight. Carla would sometimes visit us, but not always. When she had you, she visited once, showing you, then stopped visiting all together. Then, I saw her one last time a year ago. And I promised her that I would look after you."
Eren stayed quiet, eyes wide. Your declaration of blood relation made a tense silence settle over you two.

"You're serious?" He asked.

"I would never lie about something like this," you replied. "Now, you probably have a lot of questions, right? Ask." You leaned back into the chair.

"Why...?" He quietly said. You tilted your head at him.

"Why what?"

"If we're family... then..." He looked at you, face contorting into one of anger. "Why did you leave my mom to die?!"
You expected that sort of question. You were prepared, actually. What you didn't prepare for, was to have an answer.

"There was something about Carla that day," you began, "She accepted her fate... normally I wouldn't listen to the death wish of a person, but something... something made me do it that time."

"So you listened to some bullshit voice in your head?!" He raised his voice, a snarl coming to his face. "That's why you let her die?!"

"It's a horrible excuse, but it's the only one I have," you calmly answered. He stood up angrily, and you looked up at him.

"My mother's dead because of you!!" He exclaimed, "I'll never forgive you!!" Tear blurred his vision, but he wasn't sad, no. He was angry, he was livid. Silently, you stood up, almost coming to his eye level.

"Then let that anger be your fuel to guide you through these three years," you said, "But just remember that no one can know about yours and my relation. If they do, they're dead. You can't tell anyone about this, not even Mikasa and Armin." His expression darkened.

"Why? To save your selfish ass?" He seethed. You shook your head.

"No. To save yours," you replied. He seemed confused by your statement, but nodded anyways.

"Fine, I won't say anything to anyone."

"This--" You started, waving your hand in a circle. "Never happened. You and I just came here so I could tend to your wounds. Got it?" He straightened up with a serious look on his face.

"Yes," he replied. You nodded.

"Good. Go get ready for dinner." You walked over to the desk to put the medical supplies away. You heard him walk towards the door and leave. You packed the supplies and began to leave as well, but stopped right in front of the doorway.

"Exactly how much did you hear... Keith Shadis?" You called, never turning around.

"All of it."
You let out a sigh, turning your head around.

"What I said to Eren applies to you," you said. He looked at you, but you couldn't gage his expression. It almost matched Eren's, but you didn't know why.

"Understood," he replied, eyes hollow.

"Good." You nodded, walking out of the room.

Ja ne!

{Ruby Red}