Reluctant Truce

Jean wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he took out his water bottle out of his backpack.

Reiner slid down next to him,he was hardly sweating but he was breathing a bit aggressively as well.

'These pricks are trying to put us through the wringer,already?!' Jean thought before he took a big sip of his water bottle.

"The girl is fast.Too fast," Jean complained. "I mean,look at her.There's not a sweat drop on her."

The two boys looked at the ginger haired instructor as she was talking to another instructor with no sweat on her face.

"Pathetic…" Jean heard Krista mutter under her breath as she took out a red handkerchief to take some of the sweat off her brow. 

"Hmm… What's up Krista?"

"Hmm?Nothing.It's Armin.He needed Mikasa's help to catch up with the others,"Krista explained.

Jean noticed a sad Armin sitting next to Mikasa,who was gently rubbing his back with her left hand while he was in the fetal position and slumped against the wall.Jean rolled his eyes,unsurprised at Armin's physical breakdown.

Reiner scoffed. "I knew he wasn't ready for this.Intelligence can only get you so far."

'And now he wants Mikasa to coddle him,'Jean tightened the grip on his water bottle.

"If he expects his friends to give him a path for success ,then he's severely mistaken," Krista said coldly. "Because if push comes to shove,they will most likely abandon him to fulfill their own desires."

Reiner and Jean held their tongue before Krista grabbed her things and walked away.

"Way to lay it down," Reiner muttered.

Jean hummed in agreement.'But she's right.If push really comes to shove,will they still be there for him?This ain't junior high anymore and they probably don't give bonus points for niceness.'

"I guess we have to find out," Jean stood up and grabbed his bags.

"Alright,Petra.End the loop."Rico said.

Petra clapped twice causing the corridor to revert to normal length.Jean was shocked seeing the corridor shrinking down.

"What?!"Some of the participants shouted in unison.

"It's my ability.I can create loops of small areas.That's why the corridor seemed longer than usual."The ginger explained.

"10 more minutes till the end of the break," Petra announced.

Jean and Reiner kept sitting in silence while Jean decided spend the rest of his break to play a first person shooter game on his phone.Jean was playing a game of team deathmatch,a game where 2 teams compete to reach the kill goal first.The goal was 100 kills and Jean fell into the middle of a match and his team losing 56-71.After a couple of minutes,he already got a 3 person kill streak until he died.He wanted to change his equipment loadout and respawn back in the match until Reiner broke his concentration.

"Do you think Krista likes me?"he asked.

Jean wanted to tell him to shut up but,whenever Reiner talks about Krista,it tends to be a touchy subject because Reiner gets rather emotional about it like a year ago when Floch made an underhanded comment about Reiner's likelihood of getting with her,he nearly stuffed his fist into Floch's face but luckily Floch dodged it and the teacher saw him,earning a detention from it. 

"Yeah…i think so…but her top priority is passing the exam.After all,if she passes and you fail,you two can't be together," Jean said carefully.

Reiner put his right fist on the palm of his left. "That's true.We can't be together if one of us fails,thanks Jean."

"No problem,"Jean turned around before rolling his eyes.

'Maybe if you wish under a shooting star,your dream can come true,' Jean thought.

Jean stood up and began to approach Armin as Floch and Eren regrouped with Mikasa and a sad Armin.

"What happened to Armin?The warmup was too hard for you?"

"Step off,"Eren warned,standing between him and the blonde while extending his left arm.

"Or what?You're gonna beat me up because I'm telling the truth?That he can't handle this?If he struggled this bad in the warm up,he's not gonna go far and you know it,"Jean argued.

"And people like you are the problem,"Eren snapped at him. "Instead of encouraging others and helping them go past their limit,people like you bring them down and force them to stay at the same level because they're afraid of them getting to their potential…just like you are with Armin."

Jean grabbed Eren's hoodie and pulled him closer to show him the fury in his small brown eyes.

"What are you trying to say?!"he said in an aggressive tone.

"That Armin has more potential than you."

Jean curled his left hand to a fist. "Say that again,you fucking punk!I dare you!I fucking you!"

"Armin has more potential than you,"Eren repeated more slowly and clearly.

Jean tightened his fist until he realized what happened with Reiner when he threw a punch.

'If I see another fist swung in here again,you're disqualified!' Jean remembered the instructor's warning, causing him to look at the woman.

Her face was stone cold and looking at him with her silver eyes,waiting to see what happened next.

Jean gritted his teeth and instead shoved him to the floor before walking away.

'Fucking bastard!Armin has more potential than me?!I'll show him!'

After the break was over,Jean was ready for the first test as Petra opened the large white doors in front of her.Inside, the room was nothing about a large circular platform next a computer.She pressed a button next to the keyboard before jogging to the platform and telling us to stand on it as well.The guide recommended the first timers to shield our eyes as the big white flash of light nearly blinded Jean.It lasted a few seconds until the light disappeared.

He moved his hand and realized that they teleported, now being in a large green forest surrounded by trees varying in sizes from as tall as house to as gigantic as a skyscraper.In the middle was a large dirt trail.Jean stood with his arms crossed,waiting for the test to start until the silver haired woman rose ten feet above him rest of the examinees using her circular hoverboard.

"Even with the 10 minute break,some of you guys still look exhausted.Petra,you didn't have to go that fast,"she said jokingly.

Petra giggled. "Well,I didn't even go half of my full speed,Rico."

"Yayy…."Jean mumbled under his breath.

"This is the first actual part of the test.It's a test of speed,agility,stamina and endurance.There's a goal line by the end of this hundred kilometer trail.You have to make it there within thirty minutes or you're eliminated.However,not all of you will be able to make it to the next round because only the first eighty will pass.Originally it was going to be half,but since a large chunk of the total participants left,I had to change it a bit,"Rico explained.

Some of the examinees were mumbling with each other,some complaining about the distance and some complaining about the rules and time limit.

Rico continued. "Unlike the warmup,you are able to use your power to aid you or your allies in any way possible.I will give you 5 minutes to prepare before the test begins.Leave your bags here and stick your badge onto them,that way we can tell who they belong to. "

As Jean placed his bags together,he realized that he was in more trouble than he expected.His power didn't benefit him in terms of speed and Jean can never run that much within 30 minutes,much less in a day.He then looked at Reiner who was talking with Krista.

'I know Reiner is in trouble.He's not much of a speedster at all so unless he sprints the whole time, he's fucked,'Jean thought. 'But then again,in terms of athleticism,he beats me out of the water.'

Jean turned his head and saw Eren,Floch,Mikasa and Armin in a small huddle as he stuck his badge onto his backpack.

'They're coming up with a plan.Since Floch can fly,they're most likely going to rely on him,if i can join them then…'Jean thought.

Jean stood up and invaded the huddle by putting an arm around Armin.

"So what's going on here?Mind if I join the huddle?"

Eren grew a scowl on his face."What do you want,Jean?"

"Well,I saw you guys in a little huddle.So I thought to myself: 'hey,let me join the fray,'"Jean explained.

"Get the hell out of here,we don't need your help,"Eren said.

Jean's goofy and friendly demeanor quickly faded away as he approached Eren. "Listen,here as much as I want to rub it in your ugly fucking face about my impressive speed and endurance,we could both pass by helping each other out."

"Explain,"Mikasa told him.

"Look, I know that since Floch can fly,he's going to most likely going to carry you guys all the way to the damn finish line and I want to be a part of it too.There could be people trying to shoot Floch down when they see him flying and i could use my power to protect us from any projectiles coming our way,"Jean explained.

"Why should we trust you?"Floch asked,skeptical.

Jean turned to Floch."Because you swirly haired dumbass,I'm going to be on top of you too, and I don't want to fail this damn test and pretty sure you want to be in one piece by the end of this."

Armin adjusted his glasses."I-I don't know… You make sense but-"

"We don't like you,"Mikasa added.

Jean heard that numerous times from them but it was usually from Eren or Floch.Jean knew that Armin didn't have the balls to talk to him like that way, but Mikasa never said that to him.Mikasa will usually tell Jean to leave her alone and she would do her best to ignore him,but hearing her say that made Jean felt a little bit hurt like a small knife went through him.

Jean sighed."Look, I know you guys don't like me and I'm definitely not a big fan of you guys either, but we all want to pass and I could use my power to defend ourselves from anything,therefore increasing our chances."

Floch sighed and crossed his arms. "As much as I hate to say this,especially to you,you're right.We do share a common goal and as much i will hate this so much…fine,you could join."

Mikasa, Armin and Eren looked at the auburn haired teen in anger and confusion,even Jean was a little surprised at his conclusion.Jean knew that out of the four,Floch disliked him the least.He always thought that they were similar except that Floch sometimes doesn't know when shut his mouth,getting in trouble like with Krista situation.

"Are you serious,Floch?!Did you hit your head when you flew here?!"Eren yelled angrily.

Armin whispered something to Mikasa,but Jean couldn't hear it but she sighed and nodded and Armin went to Eren and whispered something to him as Jean was glaring at Armin.The only person in that group that can stand a chance against him is Eren.However,Mikasa was ranked 2nd in athleticism and 3rd in our year in terms of long range accuracy,plus judging by the katana she's holding,she's definitely knows a few techniques and not to be messed with.Eren muttered something under his breath before he,Floch and Armin went to the starting line.Jean saw Mikasa hugging her katana while looking back and forth at her bags and her sword.

"What's wrong,Mikasa?"

"I'm unsure whether to leave my sword here or not,"Mikasa answered.

"I understand.Your sword is expensive and you are worried about someone stealing it."

"The price of the sword is not the issue."

"W-well,you have a c-cool sword,Mikasa,"Jean complimented."Didn't even know you had a real one since you always used a wooden one in the scenarios."

"Thanks.It was my mother's,"Mikasa said,hugging the katana even tighter against her chest.

Jean glanced at her chest before rapidly averting his eyes and clearing his throat as he felt cheeks quickly heat up like a furnace. "The promise I made,I really mean it.I swear i won't stab you in the back."

"We'll see,"Mikasa placed the sword on her back before she headed towards the starting point with her mother's sword in hand,walking past him and not even looking him in the eyes. 

'So that's why she's so hesitant to leave the sword.'

Jean sighed as he walked towards the starting line as Rico took out a white and black pistol out of her jacket.

"Ready?On your marks,get,set…GO! " She fired off a shot.

As the stampede of examinees started to run,all of a sudden one of the examinees made a big leap towards the end point.Another examinee was swimming in the ground making nearby examinees temporarily sink to the ground Jean then saw a girl with a wooden bow some pack of arrows on her back on top of a leopard.Jean cursed under his breath because he knew who those three are.

'Great…they're here too…'

Jean was behind the quartet,he wasn't too close to the point it seemed suspicious but he wasn't too far that he lost sight of them.Eren glanced back at Jean and gestured him to come closer.The brunette ran a little faster to catch up with them.

" Get ready! "Eren said before he jumped on Floch as he turned into a giant auburn,black and white colored hawk.Jean jumped on him as he slowly lifted off.Jean formed a spherical green barrier around them as Floch continued to fly.Mikasa briefly touched Jean's right shoulder,making his face burn up in excitement but he turned his face away,hiding his pink face from her.

Looking down,he notices Krista and Reiner looking at him in confusion.Jean quickly looked back up,pretending not to notice until he saw a red glowing crystal stuck to the bottom of his barrier,exploding beneath them but with Jean's barrier,it was no effect to them.

"They're trying to take us down,already?!"Armin said,panicking.

"Not surprised,really."Mikasa said.

Jean grew a small smirk."Told you,I could be useful."

"Focus."

"Got that!" 

Just as Jean said that,an arrow scattered his barrier and pierced his left shoulder,wincing in pain as the sharp arrow stabbed deeply in his flesh,oozing out blood and trickling down his arm.

"What the-?!"Eren shouted before a large bolt came from the trees at Eren's direction but he quickly ducked,dodigng the bolt.

Mikasa formed her own spherical barrier but it was black instead.

"Jean!How did your barrier break so easily?!"Floch asked,still focusing on flying.

Jean slowly sat back up from the injury."Don't know…It was completely fine…even when that crystal exploded."

Eren turned to Jean,his pale silver eyes started to analyze the arrow that was stuck in Jean's shoulder.The arrow's shaft was black was that gleamed a dark blue whenever any light reflects off of it with the dark blue head of the arrow being the shape of basal notch with the fletching of the arrow being a slightly lighter blue.

"That color,that pattern.Isn't that one of Krista's arrows?"

Eren said as Armin and Mikasa turned in his direction to look at the arrow lodged in Jean.

"Yes it is…" Mikasa nodded,confirming Eren's assumption.

"But I thought Krista was your friend,"Floch said in his bird form's deep,cracking voice.

"Shut up!No wonder it went through my barrier.Her arrows are made of some special material that phased through the barrier,"Jean said angrily as he tried to pull out the arrow.

"Don't pull it out!"Mikasa told him. "You'll make the wound worse and bleed even more."

Jean left the arrow stuck in his shoulder.He was angry at the fact that Krista shot him but then again he wasn't surprised either.After all,he hardly talked to Krista at all.All she did was look at her phone or doing homework.He looked back down to see Reiner glaring at him with Krista sitting on his broad shoulders holding her bow.

'Those fuckers!,'Jean thought as he hissed his teeth.

"Eren,where did the ballista come from?" Armin asked.

"I don't know.It couldn't have come from the contestants below us because it came in a straight trajectory from the left side,"Eren told Armin.

"That means that the testers are trying to stop us,too,"Armin realized.

'Why is that not surprising?'

Jean extended his arms out,trying to form another barrier but he couldn't for some reason.Jean looked at his hands confused before extending his arms out again.But it was no good.Jean gritted his teeth as he kept pulling and extending his arms out,leading to Eren,looking at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?!"Eren asked.

"What do you think?!I'm trying to form another barrier but I can't do it!"Jean shouted.

"You probably have to remove the arrow first!" Armin said.

Eren approached Jean before the black haired teen tried to pull out the bow,but it caused a very sharp pain in his shoulder making Jean push him away.

"Ow!That fucking hurts!"Jean snapped as he grabbed his injured shoulder.

"I'm trying to help you,idiot!Obviously,the arrow is preventing you from using your power so let me take it out!"Eren snapped back as he sat back up.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!"Jean yelled at him. "You're the last person to call someone an idiot!"

"Shut up,horseface!I'm trying to help you!"Eren shouted back.

"What did you call me?!"

"Guys…"Armin tried to interrupt but to no avail.

"Horseface!Are you deaf?!I thought horses had very good hearing!"

"You fucker!"Jean threw a punch at Eren but he blocked it and landed a headbutt on Jean,making him fall back.

"This isn't the time for you two to be fighting!"Mikasa shouted.

Then another ballista arrow hit them,breaking Mikasa's barrier.Floch flailed around due to the impact of the arrow,tilting him and making the quartet had to grip harder on the giant auburn bird.Jean tried to grab on as well but with Eren headbutting him,it ruined his coordination and couldn't hold on time,falling down but the black haired teen grabbed his right hand in time.

"Hold on,longface!I ain't done with you yet!"Eren told him.

Jean was about to snap back at Eren until he looked down to see Krista pulling back the string of her bow,ready to shoot.

"Krista is going to shoot again!"Jean informed.

Then a big field of smoke clouded the area,blinding everyone nearby including Floch and causing the second arrow to graze Jean's face.

"What the hell did the smoke come from?I can't see now!"Floch said as he balanced himself again.

Eren pulled Jean back up as Mikasa and Armin pulled themselves up as well.Armin was breathing heavily with Mikasa sighing of relief.

"Woah… that was close!"Armin said as he continued to breathe heavily.

Mikasa approached Jean again and touched his hand that was covered in blood while still occasionally dripping down from the tips of his fingers.Although it was faint,it was warm and when he looked down at her hand,his cheeks got warm.Her hand was porcelain-colored with no blemishes or scars,with elegant,slender fingers her nails polished in black.As the raven haired girl rubbed and pressed on different points on his hand.He felt the smoothness of her hand making his cheeks heat up even more.

"Can you feel my hand?"Mikasa asked.

"Y-yeah,A little bit,"Jean answered.

"Good.It would've been worse if you took the arrow out…Eren,"Mikasa glared at Eren.

"Don't look at me like that!The arrow is preventing him from using his power,so I was trying to help him out!"Eren explained.

All of sudden,a tree was now in front of Floch but he dodged it in time with the tree luckily grazing him.

"Can't see shit with all this smoke!"Floch complained.

"Go up,Floch,"Armin advised.

"Hold on tight!"Floch warned before tilting and flying upwards,causing the teens on his back to hold tight.Jean was still able to hold on with one arm despite the fact that he could barely move his left arm,much less even feel it.Floch escaped the smoke and now was above the trees.Jean was looked at the army of trees below him.All of sudden,he heard a bunch of loud explosions and screaming coming below him.

'What the hell is happening down there?'Jean thought curiously.

"Don't know.But,luckily that ain't us down there,"Armin said with a sigh of relief.

"Floch,watch out!"Eren shouted as another one of Krista's arrows was heading their way,but it was too late as the arrow hit Floch in the midsection making him unable to fly.

Jean was falling down to the ground with the gust of air blowing into his face.He then looked at the arrow stuck to him.Jean took a deep breath before grabbing the arrow and prepared to yank the arrow out.The pain was excruciating but he rather be alive than to be worm food.He grunted as he successfully pulled out the bow,causing it to disintegrate into bright blue sparks.

Jean created a barrier below him to slow down his momentum but the weak barrier broke and he hit a tree then he fell through a barrage of branches before landing on the ground.He tried to get up but his numb left arm caused him to fall back down.

"Ahh fuck…"Jean cursed before passing out.