renegade (seven deadly sins)

ACT ONE / an attack

<EDITED ON JANUARY 30>

lmao a lot of these are kind of long-winded, just because i'm not certain which parts of the anime lines y'all need and which ones i can just cut out, but...meh. it's still fun to write

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"Wow, that was amazing!" Diane cheered, tackling you in a fierce hug. Even though she was human-sized, she still retained most of her Giant strength. Your ribs squeaked and shifted under her embrace, but thankfully, she let go quickly. You took a moment to catch your breath and turned to the others. They all looked shocked.

You gave them a sheepish smile. "Surprise?"

Almost immediately, they tumbled over themselves with questions, none of which you gave straight answers to. Most of them were variations of "Who was that guy?" and you weren't comfortable sharing something that personal quite yet.

Meliodas and Ban were called up to the ring for their fight. "Yo, Ban. If you lose, I will kick your ass," you taunted.

The man in question turned and gave you one of his charming smirks. Once upon a time, that might have made you swoon, but now all it did was just make your heart pump a little louder.

Someone put their hand on your shoulder. You turned, and your mouth ran dry when you saw that it was Howzer. To your surprise, rather than attacking you, he almost looked relieved.

"Hey, can we talk for a second?" Howzer asked. The others were busy watching Meliodas and Ban. You glanced around to make sure that no one else was watching, and followed Howzer out of the crowd to a more secluded area. It was close enough to where Howzer would be able to get to his match on time, but far enough that no one was within earshot.

"What are you--"

Howzer grabbed you and pulled you into a hug. You stiffened against his chest, but you started to loosen up and wrapped your arms around him as well. He laughed to himself, and his chest buzzed a little from the sound.

"I shouldn't have been too worried, but when Dreyfus and Hendrickson told everyone that you were really hurt and running away from Liones, I thought the worst," he murmured. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Is this where you turn on me and take me back to Liones?" you asked, still suspicious despite how nice the hug felt. You were waiting for him to pull out his weapon and stab you in the gut.

Howzer pulled back and tilted his head. "God, you have some weird fantasies," he teased. You rolled your eyes. "Really, though, why would I do that? I know you're innocent. You would never do anything like that to the kingdom." His gaze darkened. "Not to mention, things are still really weird back home and you haven't been there."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's a New Generation of Holy Knights," Howzer explained. "Hendrickson got a ton of new Holy Knights overnight and they were just Apprentices the day before. I can't tell if it's something super evil yet, but it's definitely...off."

You nodded slowly. "Yes, that is very concerning."

Howzer flinched as his name was called from the ring. "Guess that's me, huh?" He squeezed your shoulder and grinned. "Make sure you root for me, alright? I'll do better if I know I have you in my corner."

You smiled and waved him off. "I promise. You've got this, Howzer."

Howzer ran back for his match, and you followed at a more leisurely pace. When you got there, Ban and Hawk were missing, and Meliodas stood there with a cheeky grin on his face. Diane was back up on the ring, facing up against Howzer.