A/N: can we just appreciate that broad muscly back of our best commander and that fine ass.. i simp so hard for this man istg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you weren't such a fucking snail we would've won!"
"If you didn't keep on nagging at my ear I would've been able to focus!"
"What's that gotta do with your slow-ass speed, dumbo?"
Isanna stared with a smirk as she watched Adalaide and Nile go at each other, throwing insult after insult. Their morning race had just ended; it was now late noontime, and Isanna and Erwin were the winners, followed by Mike and his partner, then Adrian and Chiara. Nile and Adalaide finished fourth, and the eight cadets were currently at the training grounds, waiting for the rest of their batchmates to finish.
"Chill down guys," Adrian grinned as he rested an arm on Chiara's shoulder, slightly bending down to lean on her. "it's not like you'll be the only ones cleaning the bathrooms."
Chiara grunted in disgust and slapped Adrian's arm off her, muttering a "Get off me, flower boy." Adrian feigned a hurt look at her harsh gesture.
"Yeah, just suck it up, Dok," Isanna butted in. She was still on Erwin's back, refusing to come down since a while ago, stating that she enjoyed the view (Erwin didn't complain). She had her elbow resting atop the blond's head while her cheek lazily rested on her palm. "You lost."
Nile shifted his attention from Adalaide to Isanna, shooting the latter girl a pissed look. "Quiet, chipmunk. Just stay where you are and enjoy the view while you still can, it's not everyday you can look down on me, anyway."
"What did you - wanna go, loser?" Isanna's face changed into a more annoyed expression as she quipped with a challenging tone at Nile's backhanded statement. She started rolling her sleeves before getting down from Erwin's back.
Nile didn't back down at the challenge and stood on his spot, glaring right back at the girl.
"This is gonna be interesting," Nile heard Adrian say out loud as Isanna neared him.
Straightening his posture, Nile raised both fists in a fighting stance, about to lunge towards the girl when Erwin stopped them.
"Enough, you two."
Like a puppet, Isanna stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder to see Erwin staring at them with a disapproving frown, Mike standing beside him who looked a bit disappointed that Erwin had stopped them before the juicy stuff could happen.
"Dok, I knew you were stupid, but not like this," Adalaide bluntly stated, arms crossed while shaking her head. "Remember the last time you sparred with Isanna?"
Nile flinched, recalling how he had literally wiped the floor with his face when he had been thrown by the girl who was a head shorter than him. It happened months back.
Whenever it came to strength and skills, nobody could beat Isanna. She was a league of her own and had honed her skills at the highest level, executing exemplary combat and 3D gear techniques above everyone else. Undoubtedly, she was the top of the class.
"Tch," Nile looked away while Adalaide strolled towards Isanna and grinned at her friend, bumping fists together.
While the girls went off to cool down after their 5-hour morning trek, the four boys gathered around, with Adrian playfully teasing Nile.
"Is our wittle Nile's ego hurt?"
"Shut up, Adrian," he snapped before he looked at Erwin. "if you had just let me fight her, I would've beaten her this time."
Erwin didn't look convinced. "I doubt it."
"You always take her side," Nile grunted, not surprised. If the chipmunk was Erwin's overprotective bodyguard, then Erwin was like her supportive big brother. The blond was never that vocal when it came to expressing emotions, but his small circle of friends was aware of his brotherly affection towards the girl, albeit he rarely showed it.
"Nile, stop being such a jealous fanboy and say you love Erwin and go," Adrian dismissively waved his hand with a matter-of-fact tone while his free arm rested on Nile's shoulder. Nile shrugged his shoulders and muttered a "Fuck off" at him.
"What?" Adrian lifted both shoulders and raised a brow. "Who doesn't love Erwin? You don't have to be shy, even I do. Even Mike - "
"Adrian," Erwin cut him short while pinching the bridge of his nose before he could say anything else stupid. "Stop it." He didn't know if he should be flattered or not.
Only God knows why Erwin landed himself such an eccentric group of friends.
•
Their afternoon training had been spent by sparring with the other trainees. Normally, their instructor would make them complete a series of scheduled set of exercises but due to an unprecedented new trainee, changes were made.
Apparently, a son of a government official had just joined the Training Corps. Nobody had ever heard of a new cadet joining right in the middle of training years, but after hearing his connections, they didn't have any say.
"He's already so privileged, what's he doing here?" Chiara muttered under her breath before shoving a spoonful of rice into her mouth. After afternoon training, the cadets had already gathered in the mess hall for dinner, and the guys were trying to make friends with the newcomer probably in hopes of getting into his good favor. "And those guys are so obvious. Do they wanna live in the interior that badly?"
"None of our business," Adalaide couldn't care less and just focused on her food. Although it did bother her how easy the newcomer managed to join. I mean, right in the middle of training? You'd usually wait for the current batch to graduate before you could join the Training Corps, but this guy practically self-inserted himself into their batch. They had been training for 2 years now and a number of them had dropped out due to the stress and lack of skill and drive, but the rookie could literally graduate in just a year with a snap of a finger.
Such was the world they lived in. Always under the hand of the rich and elites.
Meanwhile, Isanna was quietly munching on her meal with no care in the world.
The three girls elapsed into silence as they finished their meal, until a loud thud caught the attention of everyone inside the hall.
Adalaide and Chiara turned to the source of the noise and almost choked on their food simultaneously when their eyes landed on the scene.
Isanna didn't like her meal being bothered so she didn't want to tear her attention from her food, but after seeing the reaction of her friends, she was compelled to see what had made them react like that. She followed their gazes.
The metal spoon in her hands bended in an odd curve when she inadvertently balled her fist.
Snapping out of their shocked state, Adalaide and Chiara gave each other panicked looks before they tried to calm Isanna down. Oh shit.
"I-Isanna, take a deep breath - calm down!" Chiara frantically patted the said girl with a pale face while mentally cursing.
On the other hand, Adalaide held her face that was also turning pale, her eyes grim. No use, it's a lost cause...
Standing up abruptly, the wooden chair behind Isanna clattered on the floor, her steel eyes locked on the boy a few tables away from them. Her bent metal spoon was now left forgotten on the table, the light emitting from the lanterns on their picnic table reflecting on the silverware.
With heavy steps, Isanna made her way towards the particular table where the scene was happening.
::
A few moments earlier..
The newcomer had inserted himself uninvited into the Dazzling Quartet's table. He had grown annoyed at the relentless befriending of the other cadets and took note of the 'cool vibe' this particular table had, so he wanted to join them to boost his ego.
"Hey," he started, mustering up a 'cool' tone.
He was answered with silence.
The guy turned to his left and right, where a dark-haired man and a blond were seated respectively and were eating their dinner with no changes in their expressions whatsoever as if he wasn't there.
"Yo," Adrian finally broke the silence with a friendly greeting. "I'm Adrian Schulz. Nice to meet you."
"Mike Zacharias, Nile Dok, and this guy is Erwin Smith," seeing that his friends made no gesture of introduction, Adrian took it upon himself to introduce them to him, because he was friendly that way. "they don't talk much."
The newcomer refrained from scoffing. 'They don't talk much'? That was rude. And here he was, making an effort in befriending them; shouldn't they show some recognition at least?
Not wanting for things to turn sour, Adrian decided to maintain a lighthearted conversation with the guy, asking him the basics like where he lived and what he was doing here in the Training Corps, because he knew the other three weren't talkative types towards people outside their circle.
"I'm just here for extra credit," the guy proudly boasted with a slight lifting of his chin. "dad's a government official but he needs more support in his council for a petition."
"Petition?" Adrian repeated. "What petition?"
"He wants to stop the funding of the Survey Corps and disband them."
At his words, the four men who heard him paused. Both Mike and Nile glanced at him with slight glares since they were flanking him at both sides, while Erwin's stare wasn't that menacing compared to theirs. Since all four of them were planning on joining the Scouts, they weren't at all pleased to hear that.
"Dis.. disband them?" Adrian lifted both brows, half-perturbed at the thought, half-worried on how his friends would react.
The guy nodded his head proudly. "Yeah. I mean, it's been a long-time petition some of the geezers in the council have been planning already. All we've been doing is fattening up those pigs for the titans to eat, so might as well cut off their fundings for the better of humanity."
Erwin's (fancy) brows twitched at his ignorant statement, moving his eyes to stare at his half-empty tray. He didn't like judging people, but when he first heard the son of a government official had joined the Training Corps, he automatically didn't see him in a good light. Ever since his father had been killed, he's had some resentment against them. Now that he was hearing this guy spouting nonsense, his dislike for the government had increased tenfold.
"The disbandment of the Survey Corps would mean distinguishing the spark of hope left in humanity."
Adrian, Mike and Nile turned to Erwin, surprised that the blond had actually said something, knowing how reserved he usually was.
The newcomer lifted a brow at him, staring at the blond sitting across the table. "What?"
Erwin finally lifted his eyes to stare at the guy, and the latter swore he could see a fire of determination burning in those bright blue eyes.
"It would be a waste of everything humanity has achieved so far if the Survey Corps would just disappear."
The guy scoffed, leaning backwards while crossing his arms as he eyed Erwin with a smirk. "Achieved? The Scouts haven't achieved anything! A hundred years have passed and nobody still knows where those titans come from. The Scouts are just baits masked as 'Humanity's Hope' to give the masses false assurance. If we all just let the government do its thing without those stupid Scouts getting in the way, we wouldn't be experiencing this shortage of funds!"
At this point, some cadets from neighboring tables have already heard the conversation and were observing them.
However, even with his outburst, Erwin's face remained calm. "Shortage of funds? Coming from a son of a government official, that sounds bold," he started. "it's not that humanity has a shortage of funds - it's the fact that those funds have been wrongly distributed. If it weren't, then the royal government wouldn't be enjoying those piles of resources and money hidden among their confines while humanity suffered outside."
"However," Erwin continued, "at the end of the day, there lies a common enemy: the titans. Disbanding the Scouts will not merely destroy our only hope, it will also lose its only spear and shield against our enemies. Without the Survey Corps, there will be no one to protect your precious government should titans breach the walls one day."
The newcomer sputtered with embarrassment after Erwin's lengthy defense, "T-thats stupid! We've been living in peace for 100 years, and we have the Military Police Brigade!"
"The Military Police Brigade you're so proud of, although boasting of excellent skills, has not even seen a titan," Erwin smoothly countered, an unwavering gaze trailed on the boy before him. "and 100 years of peace do not guarantee a life of complete safety from them."
"N-now, now," Adrian were looking back and forth between Erwin and the newcomer with hands raised in a poor attempt to cool down the rising tension. "Let's not get too -"
He was cut short when the newcomer slammed his fists down the table and stood up, grabbing Erwin by the collar and pulling him up so that both men were standing. The sudden impact had clattered the silverware atop the table and caught the attention of everyone.
As if predicting what would happen, Adrian, Nile, and Mike looked at each other, all three thinking about the same thing. Fuck.
"Oi, let go," Adrian stood up and tried to pry the newcomer's hands from Erwin, who didn't seem fazed at all.
Fuck, if Herrmann sees this it won't end well, Adrian thought to himself, jittering at the mere thought. He gave Nile a look, signaling for help.
Meanwhile, the rest of the cadets were murmuring amongst them, some shaking their head in disapproval at the scene.
"He's new here, so of course he wouldn't know about Isanna," cadet number 1 muttered.
"Why Erwin, of all people?" Cadet number 2 voiced out.
"May his soul rest in peace," another cadet said with his hands together as in a prayer.
The newcomer gritted his teeth, not able to hear the murmurs of the rest. "For a guy with ugly eyebrows, you sure know how to talk," he spat, tightening his fist around Erwin's collars.
Adrian, Nile, and Mike flinched at his words. He should not have said that.
"What did you just say?"
The temperature inside the hall had went down a few degrees at the chilling voice, as if that one mere voice had the power to control the atmosphere. There was a heavy layer of tension hanging above the room.
Adrian slowly turned his head in robotic movements, his face sweating and paling when he saw the reincarnation of the devil standing right beside their table.
Some strands of Isanna's dark hair had fallen to cover parts of her face, but that dark, grim glare of hers was staring straight at the newcomer, sending shivers down his spine. There was a deadly aura oozing out behind her, further emphasizing her fury.
This was why the 95th training batch never laid a hand on Erwin. He had a guardian angel with the face of the devil.
Isanna's dark stare locked on the arm that was currently holding Erwin's clothes, crumpling it.
"Let go," was all she said. Her voice was oddly quiet, but it held evident threat.
The newcomer regained his bravery and glared at her. "What -"
*BAM!
In one swift movement, Isanna had grabbed the man by the front of his neck and slammed the poor boy on the nearby wall, his legs dangling above the floor by a few inches.
The cadets flinched, feeling pity for the boy who had incurred Isanna's wrath. But no one was willing to step up to stop them.
"Euk - !" The boy squirmed under Isanna's grip. "Let go of me - what are you? That bushy brows' lapdog?!"
In the background was Adrian face palming. Idiot.
Isanna's eye twitched as she tightened her hold on his neck, squeezing his throat.
"Kuh - !"His eyes widened, threatening to bulge out of its sockets. "Let... go... I'm Baldrick Lovof, son of Nicholas Lovof! M- my father.. will hear about.. this!"
Isanna squeezed harder. "How will he listen to a corpse?"
Baldrick clawed on Isanna's hand, but to no avail. His voice was starting to drown out in a gargle, words incoherent.
"You called me a lapdog, right?" Isanna brought her face closer to him, her eyes still as hard as steel and dark as a shadow. "Careful, dogs bite."
The rest of the cadets all gulped, fearing for the boy, and just when they thought his eyes would bulge out, a voice finally broke through the tension.
"Isanna."
In a second, Isanna had let go of Baldrick, who had flopped on the floor as he coughed while drooling, inhaling as much air as he could to fill up his lungs.
The girl turned around and walked towards Erwin, who was still standing and was calmly adjusting his crumpled collar, as if nothing happened. As if Isanna hadn't just choked the living daylights out of the son of a government official.
"You okay?" Isanna asked worriedly with a slight frown as she watched Erwin smoothen out the wrinkles of his clothes.
The blond nodded and looked at her. "You shouldn't choke people."
"And he shouldn't have grabbed you in the first place, nor made fun of your brows."
Meanwhile, Adrian, Nile and Mike all breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped back onto their seats, thankful that everything had finally subsided. Good thing Erwin decided to call the little devi - to call Isanna before she could kill someone. Erwin was literally the only person who could do that, which said a lot about their relationship.
Those two will be the death of me, Adrian thought to himself with a sweat drop.
Nile groaned as he whispered a "Stupid best friends" under his breath. He still remembered how Isanna had pulled his hair, almost snapping his head along with it on the first day of training when he had commented on Erwin's eyebrows. To his defense, he was just amazed how one's brows could look so.. thick. Nile was grateful Isanna wasn't fully trained at the time - else she would've snapped his neck.
The door to the mess hall creaked open, and a familiar face peeked into the room. "What the fuck was that noise?"
The cadets all flinched when they saw their instructor's trademark terrifying eyes. Another devil!
Quick-wittedly, Adrian raised a hand and sent a disarming smile to their instructor. "Baldrick tripped and fell, ma'am."
Gricelda stared at Adrian for a few, silent scary seconds, and just when he thought she didn't buy the excuse, she eventually closed the door after saying "I see."
All the cadets inside the room released an audible sigh as their shoulders eased away from the burdensome tension.
What a mess.