The Country Boy: Annie X Reader

Chapter 18: Fight or flight?

Hange's POV: 

All I could remember was a sharp pain that reverberated through my ribs. Next thing I knew, the canvas was devouring me and everything seemed as though they were dancing. The entire ring was tilting to its side, it's speed steadily increasing until everything went dark. 

"Hange! Hange! Not like that...!" A stern voice reprimanded me as I stood in front of a massive punching bag. The bag was almost twice my size and probably twice my weight. "You need to use your feet to jab. Look here!" The voice called out which made me redirect its attention to the man beside me. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties at that time. He always wore an angry looking expression, even outside of training. But despite that, I didn't seem to hate him. After all, he was the one who started my boxing journey. 

"Hey...quit slacking, Levi!" He then turned around, fuming at the little brat that stood behind him. "Go out and run and don't come back until you hit at least 2 miles. Got that?" The boy nodded before shooting me a dead look which made me giggle. 

The next thing I knew, I saw lights coming from above with a loud voice shouting, "Down!!! One, two! Three! Four!..." The voice kept on coming. I felt more and more light headed thinking about the count. I need to get up now I think. I can't even remember what match this was anymore. All I knew was that I was knocked out and now my legs don't even work. "Argh.." I moaned embarrassingly as I leaned onto the rope, hoping to get myself up. My eyes still blurry from the knockout. 

I could barely make out my opponent. Wait who was it again? The blurry image in front of me resembled Levi. Wait that's impossible! Levi is- Oh right! Mikasa. Yes. Everything was starting to come back to me. Her long arms and quick reflexes. Damn it, she reminded me too much of an older opponent I used to face when I was still a newbie. My head slowly stopped spinning as I managed to get back onto my wobbly feet. I held up my guard, signaling to the referee that I was fine and to continue the fight. 

When the round resumed, I saw Mikasa swinging wide which barely grazed my cheek. Yikes! That was a close one. I knew that she had the advantage with her longer reach. She'd probably already have known why I throw hooks more than jabs. 

Because they won't land with her reach. 

My head just nearly missed her cross as I ducked to the right. 

Ok Hange, you got this... 

I put my guard up and marched forward as I bob and weaved pass her jabs and crosses. Finally, after a long while, I managed to match her rhythm. The moment she showed signs of retreating, I decided to try a hook-uppercut combo. The first hit landed clean and I could feel her body arch forward in pain. Then came my thunderous uppercut which sent her head flying up. 

~Can we get much higher!!!~ So High!!!~ 

Mikasa's POV: 

I felt the impact the moment her glove landed. A shockwave reverberated through my body and a searing pain surged through me. A silent scream escaped from me as I fought to stand up. Hange's famous combo had changed the tide of the match in an instant. I knew that if I were to fall onto the canvas now, I won't have the strength to stand up. Seeing as Hange is all fired up for another round of "beating the crap out of me", I retreated sideways, keeping a good distance away from her. That should do it. I just need to keep her an arm's reach from me. 

The next few moments were intense as I tried my best to push her away. But her repeated bobbing and weaving made it hard for my punches to land. She also was getting eerily close to me. I had no choice but to retreat further back. I knew this battle would be long, but I didn't expect it to be this long. 

Many rounds have passed and we were still at a standstill. I could see my opponent already covered in sweat. Her cheeks were flushed and her bobbing and weaving had gotten slower. She looked tired. This! This was my time to strike! But unfortunately, so did my stamina. I realised that I had exhausted most of my stamina in the earlier rounds. Mya rms felt limp and my legs were jelly. Seeing the beads on her forehead, brought me back memories. Before I knew it, my mind was not on the match... 

Last summer... 

"Y/N! Jab! Come on!" I cried out as I stood under the sweltering sun, cheering him on. "Come on, I need a break!" He retorted with both his hands on his waist. His body was drenched in sweat and he looked like he was about to pass out. "Come on! You'd want Annie to see your improvement right?" As I finished that sentence, the fires in his eyes burnt brighter. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Truth be told, I'd always had abit of a crush on Y/N. I loved everything about him. His goofy self. How his smile always seemed to give off a ray of sunshine. And how he smelled like the sun. But did I really want to mess up Y/N and Annie's relationship. Is it selfish of me for thinking that? After all, wasn't I the one who first spotted him. Wasn't I the one who suggested to come to his house for our first training session? Maybe I shouldn't have brought Annie with me. Maybe... 

"Down!!!" The commentator screamed and the referee began counting. All I could see was blinding lights and I felt my entire body plastered to the floor. The screams all around me were getting louder. So loud that I think I may be going deaf. I didn't remember much of what happened. Only a loud thud before my body slumped over and my body slammed into the ground. I used my tongue to brush the underside of my teeth. Yep. My mouth was definitely bleeding. She probably struck my mouth.