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She’s only seen her in passing.
Well no, that wasn’t the complete truth. Annie caught her peeking glances sometimes. Her dark narrow eyes framed by black black hair would cut to her, and then away. She’d then look down and relatch the velcro on her red gloves. She wore a lot of red. Annie thought it suited her.
So Annie would show off, desperate for more attention than stolen glances. She tried more complicated fighting patterns. She started wearing a sports bra and boxers instead of the loose tee and pants she was used to. She made sure to wipe her sweat off her brow and to sit with her legs spread.
The girl with black hair never seemed to take the hint.
Annie hypothesized maybe the girl was fate sent on an angels wing, or maybe the devil smiling cruelly down at her. Either way, she was getting tired of waiting for her to make the first move. Annie would train from six to eight every night. Mikasa, who’s name Annie gained by finding out she competes in the same ring, trains from six thirty to eight thirty, excluding wednesdays. Enough shared time to create a bond.
Annie decided to bridge the gap.
“Mikasa.”
Mikasa was sitting on a bench, sweaty and hot, half empty water bottle in her hand. Perspiration gathered on the sides. She was staring down at her phone, she looked up, and her short choppy black hair fell around her nose and cheeks.
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
Annie frowned. She gestured with her hand towards the sign-in bulletin board nearby. Mikasa knows fully well who she is.
“Spar with me.”
The gathered droplets of water fell onto the mat underneath. Mikasa placed the bottle next to her gently.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Jesus christ. You’re an asshole.”
Annie stomped away. Mikasa went back to her phone.
Ok, so, maybe a direct confrontation by asking for a fight wasn’t the best idea. So Annie went back to strengthening her kicks. Weeks passed in a blur of training and sweat, and Annie pointedly ignored Mikasa. Only once, she glanced over, wanting to be noticed, and caught her staring, again.
Annie went home early that day.
----
Mikasa was starting to tease her. Annie didn’t know if these small little changes were directed at her, but they were infuriating. Mikasa started putting her hair in a little ponytail. Mikasa started wearing shorts that showed off her thighs. Mikasa came in at six thirty, and spent thirty more stretching in full view of Annie, taking particular care to bend in a specific direction. It was driving her crazy.
On Friday, Annie confronted Mikasa.
“You cut your hair shorter.”
Mikasa’s black hair was indeed cut shorter. It was a little longer than a pixie cut. Too short to fit into a ponytail anymore, and too long to stay out of her face. Annie liked it, and she noticed, for the first time, a white scar underneath Mikasa’s right eye.
“Well yes, I suppose I did.”
Mikasa lifted her duffel bag higher up on her shoulder and brushed past. A clear sign the conversation was over. But Annie wasn't finished. Mikasa wasn’t getting away that easily.
“Your scar... we fight with gloves.”
Mikasa paused. She let go of the handle to the locker room and turned.
“I got it when I was younger. It never healed properly.”
“How?”
“A knife.”
Annie waited for an elaboration that never came.
“It looks cool.”
Mikasa smiled, a smile that made her eyes crinkle and her ears lift.
“Thank you, Annie.”
“Your welcome, Mikasa.”
-----
They now greet each other when Mikasa arrives to train. Sometimes Annie will spot Mikasa, and sometimes Mikasa will spot Annie. They talk and joke and prattle on about things that don’t matter and things that do. They discuss winnings and losses and the mistakes that they made in the ring. Mikasa competes weekly, Annie competes monthly. Annie offhandedly mentions watching Mikasa fight, and Mikasa is adamant at the idea.
They never spar, and they never approach the topic.
“Annie.”
“Hm?”
Mikasa blew out a long breath and then arced her leg up and over Annie’s head. Her heel gently laid on Annie’s blonde hair. She held the pose.
“I should give you my number.”
The leg completed its journey and plunked back onto the mat floor.
“Why?”
Mikasa gave her a frown and crossed her arms (a difficult task due to the gloves she was wearing.)
“Do you not want it?”
Annie held her taped hands up in surrender.
“No, I do, I want your number.”
Mikasa quickly threw out a couple jabs. She brushed the sweat off of her forehead and grinned.
“Took you long enough to ask.”
Annie gasped in astonishment.
“You offered!”
Mikasa only hummed in response, a smile on her face.
----
Now they were texting, and Annie was thrilled.
Mikasa would ask her about how long she fought for. She asked how much she trained. They discussed their workout routines and where they grew up and their favorites foods. Every so often they would call each other. Mikasa would call Annie, and they would stay up late just talking about whatever came to mind.
“Annie.”
Annie nodded for her to keep talking, phone squished against the side of her face, but then hummed instead.
“Would you like to fight this weekend?”
Annie shot up from where she was laying on the couch.
“Mikasa, I have been waiting to pound your ass into the ground from the moment I met you.”
“I’m going to assume that phrase has more than one meaning?”
“You bet it does.”
Mikasa cleared her throat.
“Alright, so, meet me at the gym at seven on Saturday, we can go out for drinks after.”
“I will be there.”
“Bye, goodnight Annie.”
“Goodnight, Mikasa.”
Annie scrolled until she found a specific contact. She dialed and held the microphone up to her mouth. The phone rang for about ten seconds before it was picked up.
“Annie.. It’s two in the morning.”
“I’M GETTING PUSSY, REINER.”
Annie heard the sound of something hitting the floor and then a gasp.
“RIGHT NOW??”
“NO! This weekend...hopefully.”
“Did she ask you out?”
“We are gonna beat eachother up, get drunk, and then fuck.”
“Wow, sounds like something only you would do. Call me in the morning.”
The beep signaling that he had hung up rang. Annie looked at her phone screen in disbelief. She frowned and texted a long string of curse words and interesting descriptions of what he should be looking out for in the future. Annie got up from the couch and flopped down into her bed. She dreamed of Mikasa, and the sweet scent of victory.
----
Saturday arrived in a blur of barely contained jitters and velcro gloves being adjusted and readjusted. Annie arrived at six, Mikasa at six thirty. They both stretched and trained in the time before the clock hit seven. No one else was at the ring tonight, so they would have complete privacy.
“Hm… Annie?
“Yes, Mikasa?”
“Can I have some help wrapping my knuckles?”
Mikasa held up her one unwrapped hand and waved it around. Annie dropped the stretch she was holding and stood up.
“Sure. Yeah, come here.”
Mikasa walked over and held out her arms with her palms up. Annie wiggled closer to pull on the tape loosely wrapped around one finger. Mikasa scooted closer. Another tug. Mikasa scooted closer. A tug, harder this time. Mikasa swayed with it until all Annie had to do was look up to see her. Annie could feel Mikasa’s breaths making the stray hairs in her bun fly. She could feel her breath on her neck and cheek, and all she wanted to do was pull her even closer. Until the distance was mute and she was breathless.
“You’re standing way closer than you need to be.”
“Oh, I know.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
Annie finished wrapping the tape around Mikasa’s knuckles. Her hand lingered on top of Mikasa’s.
“Let's do this.”
Mikasa grasped Annies hand. Hard, and tipped her chin up so their eyes met.
“Let’s do this.”
----
Annie stared at Mikasa from the corner of the ring, Mikasa stared back. Annie had analyzed Mikasa’s fighting style, she learned from weeks of watching that it was a mixture of street fighting (learned from her Uncle who had adopted her) and kung fu (learned from her mother’s branch of the family.) Annie had only mastered Muay Thai, although she dabbled in a few other styles. Mikasa walked to the middle and beckoned Annie closer.
“Alright, so. I have a few ground rules.”
“Lay them on me.”
“Since we have no audience, cheating is encouraged. We don’t have to follow specific styles. Whoever lands three hits first wins. Is that good?”
“Yes.”
Annie got into her stance, and so did Mikasa. There was no official start, Mikasa twitched and Annie threw a punch and then jumped back. Mikasa advanced and threw one of her own. They kept up the pattern of testing the waters before Annie kicked and landed a hit on Mikasa’s ribs. Mikasa flew back and onto the floor with an oof.
She got back up and advanced. The real fight starts now.
The main portion passed in a blur of rhythmic beats and stretched muscles. Mikasa landed a hit on Annie’s cheek, and then another on her stomach. Fueled by rage, Annie was able to clock Mikasa in the head with a well timed roundhouse. It was two to two, they were tied.
Annie stole a glance at the clock while they both retreaded to separate corners for a small break. It was nearly eight, she was starting to get tired. She turned her focus back to Mikasa, who had allowed Annie to check the time without interruption.
“I need to hit you one more time, Mikasa.”
“Hit me? I’ll hit you.”
“Sure. If you can get to me.”
The moment those words left Annie’s mouth she knew it was the wrong thing to say. Mikasa’s pose became looser, more relaxed, and Annie only had a split second to notice her bent knees before Mikasa barreled straight into her, knocking her over. Annie hit the floor with Mikasa on top, straddling her.
“The fuck are you doing?”
“Winning!”
Mikasa bent down and flicked her finger against the side of Annie’s nose.
“Hm...I think I’ve won?”
“I hate you so much.”
Mikasa bent down and angled her mouth to Annie’s ear, she whispered.
“Do you, really?”
Annie shuddered.
“No, no I don’t”
Annie lifted her hands to thread through Mikasas hair. She hummed, enjoying the feeling of Mikasa up against her. She ran her hands down Mikasa’s back slowly until they rested on her hips. Mikasa sighed happily and shifted so she pressed deeper into Annie.
“Are you enjoying having me whipped, Mikasa? If anyone else had cheated me like that in a match I would’ve beat their ass.”
Mikasa giggled and pressed her forehead to Annie’s neck.
“Hm… yes. I enjoy it quite a bit.”
“You are,” Annie pressed a kiss behind Mikasa’s ear, “insufferable.”
Mikasa sat up and got on her knees. She reached down and grabbed Annie under her armpits and slung her over her shoulder.
“You are so tiny.”
“Say that again and I’ll pull your teeth out.”
Mikasa grunted and started walking to the locker room.
“C’mon. We’re going.”
Annie laughed and then grumbled.
“It would’ve been fairer if we had someone watching our match to decide on a winner.”
“Yeah, but then we couldn't have all the sexual tension. It would be a little strange if someone was here to witness,” Mikasa gestured between her and Annie, “us.” Mikasa let Annie slide off of her and gently placed her on the ground.
“True..” Annie trailed off to rummage around in her duffel bag for a change of clothes. “Will there be…” She copied what Mikasa did before, “an us tonight?”
“I would like there to be, if you’re willing?”
“Yes, yes I would.”
“Alright. We’ll have drinks at my house.”
Mikasa held out her hand for Annie to hold onto.
“Then let’s go”