I Became the Villain of Attack on Titan

The Next Day.

I groaned as I grabbed my aching back, making my way to the breakfast table.

Yesterday, the pain was manageable. But today? It was way worse.

It felt like I'd been in a car accident. You know how injuries from minor crashes don't hit you right away, but the next day, you feel like you got run over?

Yeah. That's exactly what fighting Mikasa felt like.

"Ugh..."

My Titan healing could handle deep wounds and serious injuries, sure.

But for some reason, it sucked at dealing with the little things.

Minor aches, mosquito bites, an upset stomach—those were my worst enemies right now.

As I kept rubbing my lower back, Reiner shot me a smug look.

"Karma's a bitch, huh?"

Of course, he'd say that. I'd punched him before, and now he saw this as some kind of poetic justice.

Honestly, I only hit him for his own good. Maybe he needed a good smack from Titan-Eren to finally get some sense knocked into him.

I pouted, glaring at him.

Some friend he was.

"Oh? Look who it is—Shiniro Yang?"

A boy suddenly sat down beside us, grinning.

Jean Kirschtein.

Yep, one of Attack on Titan's main side characters.

At first, he and the protagonist butted heads constantly, practically sworn enemies.

But as time passed, they became teammates, joining the Scout Regiment and fighting Titans together.

Later on, Jean even fought to protect Eldia.

Still, he was one hell of a complicated character.

It was hard to fully admire him.

No, I really hated him while watching the show.

I mean, let's not forget—during the whole Rumbling situation, he told Mikasa to kill Eren.

And then, afterward, he ended up marrying Mikasa in Eren's place...

Sure, maybe he did it for the sake of humanity.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Without any personal motives at all. Right?

"…Jean Kirschtein?"

"Oh? So you know my name too, huh?"

"We trained together for weeks. Of course, I know you."

Jean and I had different dorms, different theory classes.

We didn't see each other that often.

But at meals and large-scale training exercises, we ran into each other all the time.

"By the way, yesterday was impressive. I thought you almost beat Mikasa."

"Nah, yesterday proved one thing—Mikasa's unbeatable with a blade."

"Oh yeah? She looked pretty pale when you had her in that chokehold."

…Wait. When did he even manage to check Mikasa's face?

Even I hadn't gotten a good look while choking her out.

Then again, Jean had a thing for Mikasa.

I remember—he fell for her exotic, Eastern features.

That alone probably made him butt heads with Eren even more.

Love really was just another kind of war, huh?

"Anyway, your techniques were impressive. Maybe you could teach me a few moves during our next training session?"

Jean was still rattling off compliments when—

Eren walked up.

"Hah! You're acting like you'd actually learn anything. You slack off every training session."

"…What?"

"Why don't you master the basics first before begging Shiniro for lessons?"

Eren's voice dripped with mockery.

Jean's smile vanished, his expression sharpening.

Why did these two always start fighting the moment they saw each other?

"Oh? Our beloved Scout Regiment's golden boy. Hate to break it to you, but I could wipe the floor with you without training."

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not losing to a slacker like you."

Jean's face tensed for a second—then he glanced at me, and his expression softened slightly.

Guess he didn't want to get into a fight in front of a potential new friend.

But then—his eyes flicked toward Eren.

Then to Mikasa, standing at Eren's side.

And just like that—

I saw the switch flip in his head.

"Hah! Alright, then. How about we settle this right now?"

"If I lose to you, I'll jump off the watchtower. What do you say?"

"Fine. Let's settle it in the next hand-to-hand combat class."

"Why wait? Let's go right now."

Jean's voice hardened when he said her name.

Mikasa.

Nobody else seemed to notice.

But I did.

Their argument escalated, words turning sharper, shoves turning rougher.

At this rate, fists were about to start flying.

Reiner shot me a look—one that clearly said, Shouldn't we stop them?

I shook my head.

Let's wait a little longer.

After all, nothing's more entertaining than a good fight.

And sure enough—

Smack!

Neither of them hesitated.

Eren and Jean started throwing punches like they were born for it.

Maybe because Eren had explicitly told Mikasa not to interfere, she stood back, arms crossed, watching like the rest of us.

"You bastard!"

"Die, you piece of shit!"

Fists flew.

Bodies crashed.

Before they knew it, they weren't just throwing punches—they were tangled together, grappling.

And that's when it became obvious.

Jean had the better physique.

Eren ended up pinned underneath him, struggling to break free.

The scene was almost nostalgic—eerily similar to when I had been seconds away from getting pounded into the dirt by Mikasa yesterday.

For a moment, I felt a slight pang of PTSD.

Shaking it off, I grabbed Jean's arm.

He snarled, trying to shake me off, but—well.

My grip was stronger.

"Jean, that's enough. You won."

The best way to calm down a pissed-off fighter?

Declare them the winner.

Especially when the whole reason they started fighting in the first place was because Mikasa was watching.

No guy wants to lose in front of the girl he likes.

Jean huffed, exhaling sharply.

"Tch… You got lucky, Eren."

With that, he pushed himself to his feet and stomped out of the dining hall.

I sighed, then reached out a hand to help Eren up.

He took it—but his eyes burned with frustration, hurt.

Like I'd betrayed him.

Probably because I'd declared Jean the winner.

But hey—

Teen emotions are one thing.

A loss is a loss.

Unless Eren planned on rage-triggering his Titan transformation, this fight was over.

"…I could've kept going," he muttered.

"I know. But trust me, getting pinned down like that? It's hell. No need to take a few extra hits just to prove a point."

I spoke casually, then glanced over at Mikasa.

She caught my gaze, her brows twitching slightly—like she had a hunch about what I meant.

I shrugged.

"Anyway, if things got any louder, Instructor Shadis might've shown up. And getting beaten up by him? Way worse than just losing a fight."

At the mention of Shadis, Eren sucked in a breath.

Even he wasn't dumb enough to argue against that.

Grumbling, he muttered something under his breath—probably an agreement, though it was laced with frustration.

Still, it was clear he hadn't fully cooled off.

Because as he stomped toward the exit—

BAM!

He kicked the doorframe. Hard.

"Gah—!"

Too bad for him, cheap leather boots were no match for solid wood.

Clutching his foot in pain, Eren stormed out, fuming even harder than before.