The Empire of Titans Chapter 12 (Feelings of Love) (Patreon)

Eren was again training with Annie; it had been a year since they started their training corps, while here everyone who cared had taken it upon themselves to get the best with the little time they had, those that wanted a position in Military Police were trying their hardest to reach top ten, amongst them was Jean.

Eren hated to admit it, but the guy was quite persistent when it came to showing his skill in things that counted as points towards the Military Police. Jean had shown his skills several times, determined not to give up when it came down to it; sadly, he was using all his skills to join the Military Police, a bunch of idiots who did nothing but scratch each other's butts all day.

Connie and Sasha were trying as well, but perhaps not as much as Jean, the short boy was quite funny to have around, but sometimes his comments were so dumb that made his head hurt. During the night, everyone would move as far away as possible from him.

Sasha loved to eat meat above everything; Eren could only thank the gods that she wasn't a Pure Titan; if the day ever came that she became one, she would probably devour the whole world.

Throughout the first year, they had gotten to know each other better; Sasha often spent time with Mikasa, sometimes asking about tips on how to get better, sometimes because they shared food, which was probably the biggest reason, Eren had gotten to know the potato girl as well, she was quite fun, and not that bad looking, but still not as good as Mikasa, he had started to notice a few things he hadn't as much noticed before, mainly the way their hips moved, their chests, he knew what that meant.

Mikasa had caught him several times; he had thought she would probably be offended or simply not like him staring at her; it seemed to be the opposite.

Armin spent too much of his time with the Mina girl, mostly talking about the outside world, vast oceans, mountains, rivers, and a sea of fire called volcanoes. Armin had even told her about the book his grandparents had about the outside world; the girl had almost squealed, listening to every word Armin said.

Mina herself had shown to be quite good at climbing, one day they had climbing to do for the whole day; Sasha came from a hunting village, according to her she had climbed many trees, her father always said that it is important to climb trees whenever you are lost in a forest. Still, despite that, Mina had shown in front of everyone to have been the best at climbing.

She had climbed the whole twenty meters cliff with only her hands without using any security ropes like everyone else, ten times, completing the exercise before everyone else; the rest of the day, she would give tips, mainly to Armin, about how to climb.

"Always make sure that your feet are in a solid place; never try to climb higher if your feet are not secured,"

Mina had shown to have quite strong fingers since she needed to be able to lift her whole body with only her hand, primarily the fingers.

Armin looked quite happy, they weren't exactly dating, but everyone who was friendly with them was counting the days until they did.

Eren had come to learn that Annie was quite withdrawn; the only times they could ever talk about anything was during their training; only during those times had he seen her show some kind of emotions; any other time, she was stoic, her face as cold as snow. Despite that, Eren quite enjoyed the time he spent with her, and with the way how she treated others, he thought she did as well.

She and Mikasa had some kind of rivalry going on. They were both incredible in hand-to-hand combat; it was kind of normal for them to see themselves as rivals; Annie would often make snarky remarks about Mikasa.

"Mikasa, that's her name! I thought it was a lost puppy,"

"You know you never wash that scarf; I'm surprised you haven't suffocated yourself with it,"

These remarks caused Annie to smirk in satisfaction and Mikasa to glare at her.

Eren had gotten to know Reiner as well; he and the big guy were known as the best soldiers of the group; due to his training before entering the training corps, Eren had shown himself to be an excellent soldier, except on his first tries in ODM gear, everything else came naturally to him, even Shadis had sometimes commented when no one else could hear him, telling him that he was making his parents proud.

Eren wondered if he knew them but kept quiet for now, he would rather ask him later.

Reiner was friendly with everyone, Eren didn't know anyone who held any grudge with him, but the Yeager felt something was off with him at times; his smile was forced sometimes, and several times he had caught him looking at people with sadness, Eren didn't know why perhaps he was overthinking things.

Ymir and Krista were a special kind, the big girl quite often acted tough and would often send glares at everyone, especially when Krista was involved, but he quite liked her tough side and very hidden soft side.

Krista was a literal angel; Eren could swear sometimes there was an angelic aura around her like she was blessed from God's above as if he was in the presence of a goddess, and her cute smile more than once had made his heart beat faster.

Bertholdt wasn't that active; he seemed too shy about everything and talked as if he second-guessed every word he said.

But Eren hadn't forgotten about his mission, to find the identity of the Colossal and Armored Titan; thus far, he had no luck; he had hoped to find them somehow, but nothing; Armin had told him a few days ago that his biggest suspicion was on Bertholdt.

Eren dodged a swing aimed at his head by the short blonde, another kick, charging forward, he tried to hit her in the face, only for her to grasp his hand and send a good kick at his waist, resulting in him falling down, holding his stomach in pain but not screaming.

"Damn, Annie, have you never heard of holding back?" Eren questioned with a grunt, it wasn't hurting anymore, but Eren still acted as if it did.

Annie gave him an indifferent look, her eyes showing as if somehow insulted by his words. "If you want me to be soft, then go to Mikasa," She replied with a hint of annoyance when she said her name.

Eren left out a chuckle before standing up. "Nah, I would be disappointed if you started babysitting me," Eren replied, rubbing his stomach.

Annie wondered if she had hurt Eren more than she had thought; she was about to ask him when he took a stance before her; quirking an eyebrow, she crossed her arms.

"What are you doing?" She questioned, causing him to grow a smirk.

"Another fight; this time, I will take it seriously," Eren challenged.

Unfolding her arms, she gave him a skeptical look. "Weren't you giving your best, don't try it unless you want a broken rib," she warned, but with a hint of amusement in her tone.

"Didn't you say I should go to Mikasa if I want it soft? Why are you backing away?" Eren taunted, causing her eyebrow to twitch; now, he was annoying her.

"Or perhaps she will give me a better challenge," Eren suggested, now getting a murderous look from the blonde girl.

"No need to hide it, Annie; everyone knows Mikasa is quite fierce; perhaps she's better-" Eren dodged a blow from her, her fist inches away from his cheek, gently breezing his skin.

"I will show no mercy," she declared, taking her stance, Eren smiled in satisfaction, despite knowing he could get a few broken ribs, but it would be worth it.

"I would be disappointed if you did,"

**********

Since she was a child, she had trained in the mixed martial arts that her father had instilled in her day and night. The hours of effort, sweat, and even gore that she put into training under the watchful eye of her strict father made the training Shadis imparted to them child's play for her. The training she had received from her father, although it was against her will, had made her a fighter like no other.

For almost ten minutes, they had both been locked in a fight that forced each one to their limits. Annie had never fought anyone who would corner her like this. Every time she had used her fighting moves, it was to beat her opponent. Kill if necessary. Now, she was fighting someone who was forcing her to get the best of herself, and that caused adrenaline to flow through her veins and her heart to pump with an emotion that she had never felt before.

Fear for being feeling all that. She was starting to appreciate Eren's company; he was annoying sometimes but nonetheless good to have around. She hated that she was allowing herself to feel something like that, a small voice in her head telling her that nothing was wrong with that; she was a human just like everyone else; she had the right to feel emotions and perhaps feel...

A knee to her stomach snapped her out of those thoughts and caused her to spit out some saliva. Fatal mistake in a fight, getting lost in your thoughts. That forced her to focus on the fight she was having. She reacted just as quickly and launched a powerful blow that connected with Eren's cheek, causing him to take a few steps back.

They both gave in to their attacks to catch their breath. They were exhausted and breathing heavily. Their bodies were covered in bruises and scrapes from the number of times they knocked each other down, but neither had the intention of giving up.

Something that Annie had learned during the fight was that, despite the fact that Eren used various techniques that she had taught him, he favored kicks much more. He used combos that, although weaker compared to her punches, were much faster and truly unpredictable. Sometimes he used three-hitting combos in a row with the same leg, even kicking with both legs while suspended in the air, and Annie didn't know how to react to that other than to raise her arms to defend herself.

She raised her arms just in time to stop a roundhouse kick from Eren, though the force of the blow caused her to stagger and her arms to burn. A hiss of pain escaped her lips before she reached over to Eren and struck him hard at the level of the liver, though Eren managed to block it just in time. Annie hit him with her knee in the face, though Eren raised his arms just in time to protect himself.

Annie swung her shin at thigh level, landing satisfactorily. Then, she kicked again, this time at head level, with the intention of finally ending the fight. But Eren blocked her kick and grabbed her leg, causing Annie to use only one foot to stay upright. Eren swept her kickstand hard, and Annie fell to the floor, though she was able to drag Eren to the floor next to her by grabbing him by the shirt.

The two combatants fell to the ground, with Eren on top of Annie, their faces inches from each other. They both breathed raggedly, trying to regain the air they had lost after the intense fight they had. A light sheen of sweat dripped from their faces, their hair was disheveled, and their hearts were pounding heavily on their breasts. Even with that, neither of them could take their eyes off the other's eyes.

Blue eyes met green eyes, and for some reason, only they knew they didn't want to look away from each other.

"You ... you're really awesome, Annie," Eren broke the silence, his voice being almost a whisper.

"Well ... you're not that bad either," she replied, gasping in the same low voice. The small smile on her face betrayed her attempt to remain listless.

"I had a good teacher."

His eyes slowly moved away from her eyes. They reached down and studied her face, her cheekbones, her prominent nose... until they landed on her lips. Those pink parted lips.

And he wasn't the only one who did. Annie also studied Eren's face, more specifically, his eyes. Those eyes that seemed so unique and captivating. Then, she slowly lowered her gaze until it rested on his lips.

They both said nothing. They just stared at each other in silence for a few seconds until, unconsciously, they both began to bring their faces closer together. They could almost hear their hearts hammering on their breasts and each other breath on their skin. Little by little, their lips were closer and closer ... until the sound of a branch breaking pulled them out of the small bubble they shared.

They turned so quickly and in sync that the new person who appeared in the clearing took a step back. Her hands covering her mouth formed a perfect "O," and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Two love birds showing their passion towards each other! Eren, what about us? Did you forget about me? I thought we had true love?" she teased with a devilish smirk, taking a step forward.

"Ymir?!" Eren exclaimed, getting up quickly and trying to compose himself and calm his stupid heart. "You're wrong! It is not what you think. We... We were training! Yes, I was kicking Annie's ass!"

Annie punched him in the stomach, and Eren staggered. "Not fair, Annie," he murmured, holding his stomach with his hands.

Annie ignored the fool before turning to the tall woman who was still smirking as if she had just found the biggest secret in the world.

"What do you want, freckles?" Annie questioned in annoyance; despite not spending that much time with the people around her, she still paid attention to everything, to people she thought could be dangerous, and thus far, Ymir was at the top of one of the most annoying girls around her domain, especially with the way she sometimes teased Eren about being true love, it annoyed her.

She thought her name was a bit odd; she knew the tall girl had the same name as the founder, but whenever that was a complete coincidence, whoever gave her the name knew about the outside world was still a mystery to her.

When they had learned her name, Reiner had been quick to point it out and say that they should perhaps kidnap her, but so far, the tall girl looked and acted normal, as normal one like her could get.

"Ahhh, nothing Annie, but you should know if you want in, you should talk to me first," Ymir replied before putting her arm around Eren, much to his embarrassment, who was blushing at the close contact with her.

"Ymir, please let me go. Annie, help me," Eren begged as the blonde girl simply walked away, ignoring them, but hiding a little smile on her face; she hated to admit that spending time with them was amusing and fun, much more fun than she ever had in Marley, despite her usual cold attitude, she hated admitting that being with those people made her feel alive in a way. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Tomorrow

Everyone was doing push-ups, sit-ups, and drinking plenty of juice. Most of the males had removed their shirts, training shirtless, this caught the attention of many from the female group, but the one who caught the most attention was Eren.

Because of his training before coming here and the training he had done for a year now, his muscles had developed quite well, they weren't as big as Reiner's, but he had a six-pack and chest that made many girl blush, especially someone like Mikasa who was finding it hard to do her exercise, her eyes looking at him for some time now, she knew she liked or perhaps even loved Eren. Still, she had never seen him like this before.

She wondered what it would be like to put her hands around his muscle, to feel them; the thought made her feel hot in a new way, her stomach felt warm, incredibly warm, but she quickly noticed that she wasn't the only one.

The same could be said for the potato girl who licked her lips, her eyes looking at Eren as if he was a piece of meat, Mikasa wouldn't be surprised if that were the case for someone like Sasha, but she noticed Sasha was also paying attention at a lower region of Eren's body, besides the six-pack.

Krista had a deep blush on her cheeks; Ymir had to admit that Eren was quite good-looking.

Annie wasn't really showing it, but even she was paying attention to him, she wondered what it would be like to touch his chest, to ...

She groaned before returning back to her training; she briefly glanced at her only good female friend, Mina was also looking at the boys doing training, but unlike her, she was looking at Armin, her eyes sparking in a way as if they were stars in the night sky, her hands rubbing against each other.

If you're so thirsty, then drink some water, Annie thought before fully focusing on training.

Night

Mikasa had just arrived at the girl's barracks, messaging her sore muscles; she quickly noticed that her group of friends, mainly Sasha, Krista, Mina, and perhaps Ymir, were talking and sometimes giggling; Krista had a constant blush on her face, almost as red as her scarf.

Annie was busy lying on her back a meter away from them, but everyone could tell she was paying attention.

"Mikasa, why didn't you tell us Eren was so delicious looking, even better than sausage," Sasha started the moment her eyes noticed Mikasa walking in before she could even sit, taking her slightly by surprise at her choice of words.

"Very poor choice of words," Ymir said with a deadpan look before turning to look at Mikasa with a devilish smirk; seeing that face, the Ackerman girl knew she probably wasn't going to like whatever the tall girl would say next.

"Mikasa, tell me, how is it possible that you haven't mounted him yet?" She questioned without a bit of shame; her words caused Mikasa to blush, making her mind show images of her and Eren in that way; she would be lying if she said that it wasn't tempting. Images of Eren touching her in ways, his hands touching her naked skin, her waist, her back, her breasts, and her thighs, those images were cursed in her mind now, and she both hated and liked Ymir about it.

"Ymir," Krista yelled with a deep blush; everyone knew Ymir didn't really refrain from her words but to say something like that so openly.

"I thought you were all about Krista?" Mikasa asked, purposely dodging her question.

Ymir simply smirked, bringing Krista closer to her and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Oh, I like Krista, but I like it both ways, even if I have to share him with you," she replied, again without shame.

This caught the attention of Sasha and Annie; the latter simply glanced at them before going back to looking at the ceiling.

After an hour of talking, Mikasa fell asleep, wondering what the future held for them.

Tomorrow

"Alright, maggots, today we have something special. I will assign several groups; all of you worms will be sent into the forest alone with only a few things needed to survive; you are to stay there for three days before someone will find you to bring you back here," Shadis shouted with his booming voice.

Everyone had listened closely to Eren; this sounded like a regular survival exercise; it shouldn't be that hard.

"What if we get lost?" One questioned, raising his hand that was shaking.

An unsettling smirk grew on Keith's face. "What else? You die, of course, and be careful. There are bears and mountain lions in the forest. Titans are not the only thing that like a good meal in the morning," Shadis replied with a sadistic smirk that caused many to turn pale.

Eren simply rolled his eyes at the words; he doubted there were any actual dangerous animals around the forest, and even if they were, he would protect his group.

He heard Sasha squeal at the thought of bears and wolves, saying their meat was very delicious and had a lot of protein.

Shadis started shouting out names, who would be in which group.

"Team D consists of Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz, Armin Arlert, Jean Kristein, Marco Bodt, and Sasha Blouse," Shadis shouted before going over to the other teams.

Mina frowned slightly that she and Armin wouldn't be on the same team; Eren, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel as if things would change drastically from this exercise.