"Jaeger!?"
"Present!"
"Braun?!"
"Present!"
"Springer?!"
"Present!"
"Bodt?!"
"Present!"
"Wagner?!"
"Present!"
"Hoover?!"
"Present!"
"Arlert?!"
"Present!"
"Okay then." Levi said. "But where the f*ck is Ryder and Kirstein?!"
"We're here!" The two boys walked into the court sluggishly. On closer inspection, their eyes were heavy and had bags under them.
"Woah!" Connie exclaimed. "What's up with the panda eyes?"
"Shut it, baldy." Jean said, too tired to start a quarrel with the shorter boy.
Finn on the other hand, simply crashed on top one of the benches without saying a word and sunk back into dreamland.
Armin looked a bit worried at the boys.
Just what in the world happened to them.
"Get up the both of you slackers." Levi said, whacking them both to reality. They immediately stood on attention, though with Finn still being weary in his movements.
"Levi, are they all here?" Erwin's deep voice called out.
"Finally. I honestly wouldn't have minded though, if we just ditched the latecomers."
"Now, now, Levi, you can't just do that. They're still kids." Hanji patted his head with her usual grin.
"Don't touch my hair, four-eyes. I'll seriously get angry if you do that again."
Before it could escalate into a quarrel, Mike cut in immediately and dragged Hanji out of the court.
"That's our cue to leave." Erwin said, and walked out with them.
Tch. Levi clicked his tongue in irritation and followed Erwin as walked out.
"Haaa." Eren sighed. "I have a really bad feeling about today."
...
The crowd was buzzing with excitement. The seats were packed with massive amounts of people who had come to see the game between The State of Liberio college and Ruhama University, and needless to say, Liberio was entirely dominating the match.
"A-are those the guys we're facing off against?"
"Looks like it. That's scary."
The entire team nodded their heads in agreement.
"I hope you can see we mean business when we say these guys are our rivals." Levi said.
"Ye-yeah, but how can anyone be that good?" Marco asked.
"A lot of things are involved in that. Erwin and Mike will explain that better to you when they get back." Hanji replied.
Inasmuch as Liberio was frightening, Trost couldn't help but feel excited at the amazing gameplay performed by them. It was astonishing and refreshing to witness such good players all in one court.
They play like pros, Armin said to himself. I wonder what Eren thinks of this.
Armin looked over at Eren to ask him but Eren, was distracted by something, or rather, someone else, on the benches.
Armin followed his gaze, until he saw the man whom Eren was looking at.
Zeke Jaeger.
Eren's half-brother, older than him by ten years, the son of a woman from an earlier marriage, was the basketball head coach at the State of Liberio College, as well as a former star player. Standing at 183cm with gray eyes, shaggy platinum blonde hair and a thin mustache that descended into his well-trimmed beard alongside a broad, well-toned body, he played as a starter-up for the college for five years, with 362 points overall, 100 assists, 220 steals, and a shocking 303 three pointers. Not only a star player, but also the main rival of Levi Ackerman, only surpassing Zeke with 372 pts, 125 assists, 230 steals and 122 three pointers. Despite his stats and numerous contracts he received, he chose to stay as the head coach of the SLC (State of Liberio College), while maintaining a PhD in Anatomy and Cell Biology. A truly gifted man in both sports and academics.
"Eren, are you okay?"
Snapping out of his musings, he looked to his left and saw Armin throwing him a concerned gaze.
"I'm fine, sorry about that."
"You know, it's not like you to space out so suddenly. Is it still bothering you?"
Eren sighed and tore his gaze away from Armin.
"No. It's just, you know, Zeke and I don't necessarily get along all that well, ever since all that."
"Oh, yeah, I understand." Armin replied, knowingly.
Ever since Eren refused Zeke's offer to join the SLC, the two brothers have not really been on speaking terms. Maybe just a few greetings here and there, but always clipped and curt in speech and action towards the other. Their father, Grisha Jaeger, had more than once, tried to reconcile his two boys, but, if there was anything Eren and Zeke had in common aside basketball, it would be their stubbornness and obstinacy. His wife on the other hand, Carla Jaeger, would whip up her two boys into shape anytime they both came back home. Despite being grown adults, neither Zeke nor Eren, dared to argue or fight in the presence of their mother. It would not end up in their favor at all.
Whack!!
"Ugh!" Eren groaned in pain. "What the hell, Jean?!!"
"Shut up, douchebag! The match ended like, 7 minutes ago. Quit your spacin' out and get your head in the game. We're heading over to meet Liberio."
Tch! Damn horse face.
"Whatever." Eren said, and rose up form his seat. Seeing the others walk down the aisle, he joined up beside them as they made their way to the benches, where the State of Liberio, were waiting for them.
"Ahhh, it's good to see you again, Mr Smith, Levi"
"Erwin will suffice, Mr Jaeger." Erwin said, accepting his handshake.
"Zeke will suffice, Mr Smith." Zeke replied with a small chuckle.
"Can't say I'm glad to see you again, Ape." A nickname given to Zeke because of his long arms.
"Still clinging to the old days I see."
"Never heard the saying, old is gold." Levi retorted.
Standing behind Zeke were ten students, five of which Trost had seen in the match earlier and the remaining five on the benches. Beside Zeke was a very tall woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob with straight bangs and large black eyes. She was not necessarily huge, that is, in build, but was quite tall for a woman, taller than Zeke himself and even Bertholt, and he stood at 6'6!
"Levi Ackerman." Levi stuck out his hand reluctantly to this specimen of a woman.
"Yelena." She replied, with a similar train of thought as she shook hands with the much smaller man. But with the strength he exhibited through the handshake, she knew there and then, that this man wasn't anyone to just mess with.
"This is the basketball team of the State of Liberio College. Introduce yourselves everyone." Zeke said, with an air of command to his speech.
The ten students from the State of Liberio came forward, like soldiers. Each of them lining up before Trost.
Is this really a basketball team? Looks more like a military brigade to me. Connie thought.
A young man came forward from the line and casted a polite bow at Trost's team.
"My name is Marcel Galliard. I am the team captain of the SLC basketball team. A pleasure to meet you."
Marcel was a young man, with short dark hair swept back and an upturned nose, standing at a height of 186cm with a slender but muscular build and brown eyes.
Marco stepped forward and gave him a handshake.
"Likewise. My name's Marco Bodt, captain of Trost basketball team."
Other introductions were done as both teams introduced themselves. Erwin and Zeke stepped aside to have a little chat with one another. The rest of the teams too, had somewhat adjusted to the other and were making small talk between themselves. Well, Yelena and Levi stood awkwardly with each other, as they were left out of the other conversations to their own devices.
Soon after, Erwin and Zeke returned from their discussion, and Zeke took Eren away from the small crowd to have a word with him.
"It's been a while, Eren." Zeke said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.
"Yes it has, Zeke."
The brothers stood silently before Zeke spoke up again.
"How is Father?" Zeke asked.
"He's doing good from when I last heard from him."
"And how's Carla?"
"Mom's still the same as ever, being a worrywart as usual. I keep telling her over and over, I don't need anything. She's already given me everything I want, including Mikasa." Eren replied.
"I see, and I presume Mikasa is doing alright?"
"Of course she is. She gets to see this handsome face every morning."
Zeke let out a small grimace.
"Still childish as ever."
"Heh, life would be boring if I was all stuck-up and shit." Eren said, purposely taking a jab at Zeke.
"..."
"Still hung up on me refusing to come to Liberio?"
"Well, that was the case, up till recently."
Eren raised an eyebrow at this.
"I've been watching you, Eren, for a long time now. I've seen how you interact with others, the relationships you've formed over the past months, the bonds you've shared with these people..."
"What are you, a stalker?"
Ignoring him, Zeke continued.
"And I realize, that I've been mistaken. The only thing I ever wanted for you, is your own happiness, and I thought that, well, if you could maximize your potential in Liberio, you could be happy, but I was wrong."
Zeke...
"You've been happier these few months, and that's all I could ever ask for. When you're with Mikasa, Armin, you seem so full of energy that I truly envy you. I realize now, that this freedom you always talked about, was not to do whatever you liked, but to simply be happy, with yourself and the people you love. I'm sorry for placing such a burden on you, Eren. It's must be tough having an older brother like me."
"No Zeke. In many ways, I'm grateful for you being my older brother. To be honest, if I didn't have that push from you, I wouldn't be standing here, on equal footing with Armin and Mikasa. I can be bratty at times and hotheaded but I mean well, believe it."
Zeke gave Eren a brotherly embrace which Eren reciprocated.
"I'm glad I could meet you before we faced off, Eren."
"Heh, likewise." Eren chuckled.
Everything was going smoothly, exactly as Erwin had planned, but of course, there would always be one anomaly. And in this case, it was Finn Ryder.
Instead of minging with the others, he stood away from the small crowd, at the opposite side of the benches, to be exact. Basking in the feeling of boredom, he sat down and shut his eyes. For some reason, he felt pissed off today. His good night's sleep had been ruined thanks to a certain horny bastard, he puked first thing in the morning, he didn't get to see or hear from Anna, his phone battery had been dead for days, and now, he's having a headache.
Maybe I'm just horny myself. No, that couldn't possibly be it. He thought. A random image of Anna, lying on his bed with nothing but one of his shirts on, her arms stretched out to him, telling him to come to her, popped up in his head. He quickly shook his head and dispelled the thought in an instant.
But nonetheless, Reiner and Bertholt seem to be awfully friendly with Liberio. They've had a shift in demeanor ever since they arrived. Just what is going on in the head of those two?
For some reason, he felt an unsettling feeling in his gut and he became wary of the both of them.
The Liberio guys on the other hand...
"It's unbecoming, ain't it?"
Without moving his head, his gaze shifted to the man who spoke those words.
"Depends on how you want to look at it, Pork."
"It's Porco, and that isn't funny."
"Goodness, your parents must have had some awful takes to give you a name that rhymes with pig, no?" Finn said, intentionally trying to get under his skin.
"As I said, not funny." Porco retorted, unamused.
Porco had the appearance of a young man of average height and slender build. He had gray eyes, and his blond hair was in an undercut style which was pushed back. He was the younger brother Marcel and next in line to become team captain, after Marcel's graduation. He bore a scowl on his face, possibly due to the unabated barrage of insults that Finn had thrown his way.
"Acting all stuck-up and shit isn't going to help you. Learn to loosen up once in a while." Finn said.
"Not taking that advice from the likes of you."
"I mean, I am one of a kind. Quite a compliment, if you ask me."
Porco didn't reply and simply stared in ahead, where his brother was speaking with Reiner and Bertholt.
"How do you gauge Reiner?" Porco asked.
"Huh?"
"I said, how do you gauge Reiner?" Porco asked, again.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time. Reiner's good not gonna lie, well, not enough to pose a threat to me, but still very strong." Finn replied.
I see, so they don't know.
"Are you really confident that you cannot lose to Reiner?"
"It's not about confidence, it's all facts. I could never lose to someone like Reiner, as an individual or as a team."
The amount of confidence Finn exuberated was starting to piss off Porco. This guy, just who the hell does he think he is.
"I'm just gonna warn you though," Finn said, breaking Porco out if his thoughts, "if you try anything funny, there be hell to pay."
Finn, for the first time since their conversation, turned around to fully see his face, eye to eye.
"And I'm the one who's gonna be bringing it." He said, not smiling at all.
Porco began to feel uneasy. He certainly did not bargain for this. The dangerous aura that Finn emanated, revealed instantly to Porco that he should not be taken likely.
"But rather than being worried about me, you should be more concerned with Armin and possibly Eren because I assure you, they'll do more damage than I could ever dish out."
"Fiiinn!! Erwin's calling us back. You too, Porco." Hanji shouted from across the court.
"That's our cue to leave." Finn said, rising up from the bench. "And also, don't bring down the house throwing a tantrum. It's 'unbecoming', isn't it?" Finn smirked and walked away from the angered male.
Bastard!! Porco cursed without restraint.
...
"So how are they, Reiner and Bertholt." Zeke asked.
"They are fine, Coach. They've been doing exceedingly well." Marcel replied.
Liberio were on their way home. After qualifying for the Bracket of Eight and their meeting with Trost, Zeke now had a full grasp of their abilities and personalities.
And I got to reconcile with Eren on top of that. It really is my day today. Zeke looked up at the sky.
"So what are we going to do?" Yelena asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Zeke replied. "We're going to utterly crush Trost."
/.../
A
nother chapter done. It's been over a month since I last updated. (I know, I suck 😭). But this chapter, is the beginning of very good things. I will make up for all the time wasting very soon by updating frequently at a very high pace. I just ask that you give me, just a little more time 🙏🏾.
I came across some of the AOT extra pages leak of the manga (*There may be spoilers, turn back now*) and I've got to say, I partly blame the fanbase for this. I feel like this wouldn't have happened if the fanbase weren't whining and complaining about how AOT ended. I mean it's not their manga, it's Isayama's, he can do whatever he wants. Now Jean and Mikasa are to-to-toge– No! I can't complete that sentence. Moreover, it makes it look like Eren's sacrifice was all for naught, considering in the leaks, Paradis Island is destroyed and there are still titan powers in existence. Damn, the fanbase messed up in this one.
Anyway, that's all for now, thank you for your patience and time in reading this chapter and I hope to see you all real soon in the next chapters. Bye 👋.