The Country Boy: Annie X Reader

Chapter 17: The fight begins

Mikasa's POV:

It was finally the day of the fight. I have waited practically my entire life for it. As I stepped into the waiting room, I could see her at the far corner of the room. She looked as ready as always. "Yo...let's have a good fight!" She smiled and we fist bumped before she left the room. It was my turn now. I stepped onto the weighing scale. For a second I was worried whether or not I have made weight. But luck was on my side as I was just barely acceptable. "Phew!" I heaved a sigh of relief as I stepped off clearly still giddy with excitement at the match that was going to happen in a second. 

From the corner of my eyes, I could see lights flashing behind the curtains. "Let's give a warm welcome to our former middle weight champion (drum rolls) Hange...!" Immediately everyone all gave a round of applause and it felt as if the entire place would crumble because of the screaming it garnered. For some reason, Hange became the icon for all woman. Almost everyone wanted to be like her and she was especially popular with the girls. Eventhough woman's boxing was nowhere as well received as man's boxing, Hange's popularity was no less than the likes of the greatest boxer that had ever lived, Iron Michael Tyson. 

Her getup was simple. Unlike those flashy boxers who always wore the flashiest of clothing. Hers was always white. In an interview, she had said that the color white was one of the best colors in her opinion. Something to do with a blank canvas. But of course the media being the media, twisted her words with some saying that she wanted to paint her outfit with the blood of her opponents. 

If that was even remotely true, I would actually collapse right here and now. She rose her hand just as she entered the ring. One trademark of hers unlike the others was that she always wore goggles. And this was due to her poor eyesight that she'd gotten from watching too much boxing videos as a child. I even thought that it was cute at one point in time. But that didn't let anyone stop her. She would always finish on top. 

The announcer finally paused before looking in my direction and screaming, "Now for the challenger....will she be able to be the new middle weight champion? Or will she crumble in the might of the GOAT! Well let's give it up for...MIKASA!" The sound of the audience reverberated in a distance and I felt scared for the first time. I had no idea it was going to be that scary. 

As I emerged through the curtains, I could hear Hange's fans booing me from the opposite of the room which did nothing to my ego. In fact, it made me more hungry for the win. I wanted to win so bad that I could taste blood from biting my lip. But Hange seemed bothered with the boos and took the mike and told everyone to shut up. Gosh. She was always a queen. As she handed the mike back to the corner, we touched gloves and both headed into our corner for a quick break before the fight. 

"Ok...Mikasa! Remember what you learnt..." Annie's voice was echoing in my ears and I felt sick to the stomach. The room started spinning a little after hearing her voice. It felt like I was going to- "Mikasa!" Her voice suddenly snapped me out of whatever mess I was in. "Look, me and Y/N are here for you..." Her attention that moves to Hange. "And no matter what, remember that your goal is to win...but if you can't that's fine...enjoy-" Before she could finish, I was already on my toes, eyes locked on the enemy. 

Y/N POV:

"Ding!" The bell rang and the match had commenced. Mikasa and Hange were currently circling each other, each trying to catch each other off rhythm. There were a few gasps from the audience as both of them tried feinting and shifting their feet which really added to the tension. But finally, Mikasa broke it by charging forward and swinging past Hange's ear which earned her a smirk. However, that sat the tone for the rest of the round as Mikasa tried catching Hange with her long hooks and jabs. But the former champion guarded very closely and was able to evade many attacks. 

"Mika...are you okay? So how's it?" Annie was the first to speak as both sides headed for their respective corner during the break. "Yeah I'm fine...just that..." She paused, trying to catch her breath. "She's really good...And I think she's just testing me...she isn't using her signature style." "Yeah I found that weird too..." 

"Maybe she's changing her technique? After all I know boxers who had came out of retirement with different techniques because of their age..." I chimed, hoping to contribute to the conversation. 

"Don't speak as if Hange's old!" Mikasa growled, clearly annoyed at me. 

"Come on, Mika, Y/N's just tryna help." Annie tried to reason with her but Mikasa looked like she was trying to drown out the sounds around her. She looked stressed out but I think...she'd just be fine. 

The bell finally signaled the start of the next round. This time however, Hange was going in strong with attacks of her own. Quick one twos followed by a hook to the liver. Fortunately however, Mikasa was able to fend off most of the attacks. She returned with a right hook of her own which send the audience into a flurry when her punch connected and Hange's head swung to the right. But to everyone's shock, she ate that hook and continued charging at Mikasa. 

"But how did she? I thought it connected perfectly?" I was in utter disbelief. I thought that would have dropped anyone almost immediately. 

"Too perfectly. She rolled with the hook..." Annie explained. "That hook must have felt like nothing to her..." 

It felt like all of a sudden, Hange was now dominating the match. The hook that everyone thought was going to take out the former world champion felt like a blessing to Hange's fans. They were all cheering in anticipation as she used that to turn the tide around. Before she knew it, Mikasa was now backed into a corner. Hange immediately switched her stance so now she was all squared up against Mikasa as she let out a flurry of body shots, hoping to lower her guard. 

Mikasa's POV: 

OMFG...this...this is probably gonna be it if she doesn't stop...I don't think I can hold it on any longer. I lowered my head and kept my guard up eating those body shots like a champ. I know what was she doing and I wasn't going to fall for it. This was the oldest trick in the book. Many people have fallen victim to her after lowering their guard thinking that they'll be able to tank the shots. But this was all wrong. She's smart and she'd waste no time pounding the head once anyone's guard is lowered. But still...Urghhh. The damage on my body felt so heavy. I felt like I was going to collapse if the rope wasn't behind me. I need to do something now otherwise...otherwise...I'd. I felt my knees about to give way from the immense weight of her fists. 

Hold on a second, I told myself as I rearranged myself mentally and focused on her hits. Wait! She's only targeting my sides. And what's the one weakness that sides has over the front? I thought about for a second before delivering a heavy jab to her which seemed to catch her by surprise as she started inching backwards after being hit. Did I finally crack her weakness? 

Looking back on her fights...I'd always seen her relying on hooks more than jabs and crosses and I think I know why. Feeling a new found sense of accomplishment for figuring out her weakness, I held my guard out and charged towards her before delivering a tight right hook to the side of her body which saw her lost her balance and fell on the canvas. Immediately the crowd lost it and the cheering continued. What happened afterwards was a blank! But I knew one thing, I finally knew her weakness and I'd used that to defeat her.