22 years ago...

Zeke Yeager didn't understand why they had to move.

Plucking a six-year-old kindergartner from the life he's been accustomed to and forcing him into a new life with new environments, new faces, and new adjustments were just straight-up incomprehensible. He couldn't think of a solid reason why they had to—sure, maybe he occasionally heard mom and dad arguing in the living room late into the night while he tried to sleep upstairs, screaming hysterical, and maybe his mom could go on for days, even weeks on end without coming home at all, and maybe he did sometimes find his dad stumbling home with the pungency of alcohol while he was studying in the living room, but was that really reason enough?

I mean, Zeke was the brightest in class. Excellent scores, top of his year, his friends thought he was fun to hang out with, and life wasn't really that bad in the city. At least, he didn't think of that then.

All he knew was that his grandparents from his father's side made him sit down and told him that they were taking him with them to the countryside together with his father, while his mom 'went to sort things out'. They probably thought he wouldn't understand anyway, so they left out the complicated parts.

But now, as he struggled to get along with the new kids in this small town with the nearest convenience store a few roads down the block (not really convenient anymore, huh), he really had himself questioning, and slightly even resenting, his father. The kids at the children's park always kept giving him awkward glances, with a clear divide between him and the others whenever they played outdoor games. Maybe making friends at this age is easier normally, but not for someone like him.

So, like a typical six-year-old, Zeke took his baseball which he'd brought with him from their old house in the city (he found it amidst the box of junk in their unused garage one boring day) and found faux enjoyment in playing catch with a nice, sweet brick firewall as a substitute for a friend. For some odd reason, Zeke Yeager always found some.. therapeutic calmness in throwing baseballs, catching baseballs, and throwing them again. It was an activity so repetitive—mundane—probably the only sense of normalcy in his life, and the only constant thing, too.

Even though there wasn't anyone to throw it to, nor was there anyone to throw it back to him, Zeke eventually came to terms with that fact.

Until one day, he threw the baseball a little bit harsher, and as it bounced against the surface of the rough wall, he failed to catch it precisely.

Zeke followed the ball with his eyes. It soared through the air silently, and Zeke got momentarily blinded by the sun and he had to shield his vision with an arm, but as he recovered, he watched the ball land onto the grass not too far from him, rolling until it stopped in front of someone.

No, not someone. It was a group of kids.

The one at the front was a bit bigger and taller than the rest, with a grin that just screamed of 'trouble' and crooked teeth. He bent down and grabbed the worn-out baseball, turned it in his palm while staring at it, before he looked at Zeke with a sneer.

"Does the new kid need a fwend?" he mocked, earning a few sniggers from the other boys at the back. Just your typical clique of immature boys, was what Zeke would realize in retrospect years later, but at that time, what the kid said really got to him. He never really thought about it, but he knew the feeling of loneliness before even knowing the concept at all.

"Give it back," he said, brows pulled into a frown. He balled his fists at his side, trying to think of ways to get out of this with his baseball back in hand. And then he'd just run back home, probably never stepping foot into the park ever again, probably just look for other places to play fake catch.

The kids looked at each other, smirking.

"Or what?"

Just as Zeke was racking his brain on how to retaliate with the least injuries sustained, a pebble came zooming through the air, hitting the big guy by the side of his head with a soft 'tak!'. He flinched, letting go of the baseball as he rubbed the sore spot while the rest looked shocked and confused.

"Lay off, pea-brains."

When Zeke turned to the direction of the voice, all he saw was a little girl with dark hair and a firm frown etched on her face, glaring at the group. She had one hand on her hips, the other holding another pebble as she bumped it in the air before catching it with the same hand.

Zeke figured something bad was going to go down, because after all, she was just a little girl, and she was threatening a group of kids, some inches taller than her. Granted they were all kids, but still comparatively bigger than her.

So, when the supposed leader of the group flinched at the sight of her and visibly looked conflicted, it genuinely had Zeke at a loss for words.

"What's she doing here?"

"—can't even mind her own business.."

"Damn, it's Isanna."

In the end, the group turned around without casting Zeke so much as a second glance, and left the scene. Probably to cause trouble in another area or whatever. At that point, Zeke couldn't care less.

Once they were alone, Zeke watched the girl walk up to where his baseball lay, watched her bend down and take it in her grasp, watched her make her way towards him. And when she stopped in front of him, the first thing Zeke noticed was that they were pretty much the same height.

"Sorry about that," she started, "not all the kids are like them. You'll meet decent ones, trust me."

Zeke merely watched in silence as she offered the baseball back to him. He stared at it for a while, then eventually moved on to her face, studying her features closely.

She had grey eyes, he noticed. A certain fire danced in them—bold, strong. Like she spends her free time saving poor kids from the big bullies. And yet, even with that flame of boldness, there was a certain kindness to her. And when she gave him a small smile, Zeke thought she looked cute.

Maybe she noticed he was looking a bit dazed, because she slightly tilted her head a bit.

"Um, hello. Earth to newbie?"

Zeke blinked and visibly looked embarrassed at spacing out. He mumbled a little 'sorry'.

Isanna stared at him a little longer, before she blinked in realization and her smile came back wider this time.

"Wanna play together?"

As if nature responded to his thoughts, there was a gentle breeze that blew through the air, the grass rustled, the random chirping of the birds now sounded like the melody of a song he'd long forgotten, and Zeke thought the sun shone just a bit gentler that afternoon. And now, looking back on it, he liked to think that maybe, he already fell in love by then.

───

A year later...

Zeke Yeager could probably count the number of times he ever slept in his own house.

He slept a lot at Isanna's. Her parents were pretty much welcoming to him, treating him like the son they never had and were even more loving than his own ever was, which was saying a lot. It was just him and his father living in their new home, their grandparents living in the same neighborhood but a few blocks away, and even then, his father was rarely ever home, so it wasn't like he was losing anything by spending the majority of his time at Isanna's.

Within the next year, they got closely acquainted. Zeke learned that Isanna was the same age as him, just a few months older, and if there was one thing that the girl was known for in the neighborhood, it was her toughness. Bullies were scared of her, despite them being a head taller, and Zeke never really knew what started her scary reputation. In fact, he couldn't grasp it at all, because in his eyes, Isanna did no wrong.

So when one day, he saw the kids circling around a commotion at the school yard, his curiosity spiked when he caught a glimpse of that familiar dark hair in the middle. Even from a distance, he could practically feel the unrest weaving through the crowd, so by the time he realized it was Isanna, he was already plowing through the other children, pushing through with enough force he could muster from his young, tiny body, just so he could see what the fuss was about.

And then he heard it: a girl's crying.

But it wasn't Isanna's. And to top it off, there was yelling.

When Zeke finally passed through the growing pack of school children and reached the front, the first thing he registered was a girl from their class sobbing while wiping her own tears away, Isanna standing in front of her, and a kid from higher grade glaring down at her, his face already so red Zeke was surprised it hasn't popped yet.

"Apologize," Isanna firmly said, gaze hard.

"It wasn't even that big of a deal! She's overreacting."

"I don't care; that's not for you to decide. Apologize," she insisted. "Why can't you just act your age?"

Zeke didn't know just how long they'd been arguing, but that was probably the last straw for the older kid. He snapped, stepped forward, and shoved Isanna into the asphalt.

Gasps from the other kids erupted, everyone looked at each other, some yelling to call a teacher, but all Zeke could hear was the ringing in his ears as he stood shellshocked, for just the briefest moment.

"Shut up," the kid spat, while Isanna was recovering from the fall, "you good-for-nothing orphan—"

And then something in Zeke just clicked.

Something huge was building in his stomach, the shock and surprise finally dissipating and being replaced with rage in the form of waves crashing over him, and the next thing he knew he lunged at the boy, shoved him down onto the ground so that he landed on his back with Zeke on top of him, a loud grunt and 'oof' from the older kid, and then Zeke just started to repeatedly punch him in the face, while the kid tried to deflect his hits. Yelps from the rest of the kids were scattering in the air, but none of that was Zeke's concern and all he really wanted was to make this kid pay for what he said and did.

Zeke eventually grabbed the front of the kid's shirt, pulled him up so that they were face to face, allowing him to see the sheer fury in Zeke's eyes, and Zeke was well aware that this was the first time he had ever lashed out at someone like this, first time he's ever felt seething rage towards someone, as if all that pent-up emotions for the last few years of enduring the negligence of his own family finally leaked out of him, and how this feeling was strangely familiar, like he's felt it before, and that seeing Isanna pushed to the ground was like a trigger.

"Don't talk to her like that," he bristled, "and never put your hands on her, you piece of shit."

A large pair of hands pulled Zeke off the kid, who was already shaking in terror and maaaybe he did wet his pants just a bit, but Zeke could not care less as he allowed himself to be guided into the teacher's office.

Something had snapped in him, that Zeke was for certain. But he didn't know why, didn't know where this.. ugly rage was coming from. Like he was mad at the world for some reason, but why?

After a good scolding from the teacher, Zeke was eventually released from the room. He stepped out, feeling a bit lightheaded from everything that had happened, and when he turned, he saw Isanna leaning against the wall right next to the door frame, hands on her back while swaying on the balls of her feet.

"Zeke!" she called when he walked out, reaching out to grab his hands and worry flashing in her eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

The frown never left Isanna's face. She looked at his hands, noting the redness and swelling of his knuckles. She sighed and pulled him along, leading him into the infirmary room. It was late into the afternoon, class had ended but luckily the school nurse was still there so she was able to tend to the swelling. After a few more words of caution, she bid the two kids goodbye, and Zeke and Isanna started their way home.

The sun was beginning to set when they passed by the riverbank, golden hues cascading across the horizon and reflecting off the river and verdure. No one uttered a word ever since they left the school grounds, and all Zeke could do was stare at Isanna's back as she walked a few steps ahead of him, his hands gripping the straps to his backpack tightly.

Isanna eventually shattered the silence herself. "You didn't need to go that far."

"He pushed you," Zeke grumbled, the anger rising yet again. "And said stupid things."

"Well.. he wasn't wrong about me being an orphan. You already know I'm adopted—"

"I don't like it," Zeke cut her off, "I don't like it when people talk to you like that. So what if you are? What's so special about.. about blood-related family? What matters is that yours care for you."

Isanna stopped walking, and Zeke would have ran straight into her back had he not stopped walking. She turned around and stared at him for a while, looking at the deep frown etched on his face.

She reached out and lightly flicked Zeke's forehead with a small smile.

"Stop frowning so much. You'll age faster," she said.

Zeke huffed and rolled his eyes.

"And you should stop letting people walk all over you," he rebutted. "You like looking after other people so much, you'd think you'd know how to take care of yourself."

Isanna pouted and lightly punched him in the chest. The force came out too strong though, so Zeke had to hold back a cough.

"Out of pocket. I thought you were on my side."

He looked at her for a bit longer, before Zeke sighed.

"Whatever. Go protect other people if it makes you feel good then." And while you're at it, let me be the one to protect you.

Isanna eventually let out a light laugh. She grabbed Zeke's hand and continued walking, pulling him forward so that he walked beside her instead of him lugging at the back like her tail.

Zeke glanced at the girl at his side. He'd come to notice Isanna was a few centimeters taller than him now—which he'd grown a bit conscious about, but kept quiet. Last thing he wanted was to give her another leverage to tease him about.

His attention eventually moved down to their intertwined hands, before he looked away with his cheeks feeling somewhat hot, brows pulled into a mild frown because what was this sort of unpleasant yet pleasant feeling churning in his stomach?

The day went on, and as the sun set into the horizon and the sky slowly transformed into a canvas of purple and indigo with a hint of stars and there, all Zeke could think of was how his family was still in shambles, how his new home still felt foreign even after a year of moving here, how his grandparents tried to make up for his own parents' lack of presence but they just couldn't fill the void, and how for some reason, despite it all, he wasn't as disheartened as he thought he would be—not when this girl by his side gave him what his own family never did.

───

10 years later...

"So. What would you think if I confessed to Zeke Yeager right now?"

A snort.

"Huh. Don't even bother; guy's practically glued to Isanna."

As if on cue, there was a voice yelling that was passing by the classroom.

"ZEKE YEAGER IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME BACK MY HOMEWORK RIGHT NOW I SWEAR TO GOD—"

The two classmates turned to the open doorway of their classroom, watching the figure of a girl in their high school uniform whiz by in blur like the passing breeze. The next curse words she uttered were incoherent as she ran down the school corridors, getting farther away from the classroom. The two classmates turned to each other with a certain nonchalance as if a screaming Isanna Herrmann was a normal morning routine in the school—in a sense, it kinda was.

"On second thought," classmate number one said, "you're right. Maybe I shouldn't."

Outside the hallway, random junior high students barely batted an eye as a furious Isanna stormed down the corridors; if you looked closely, you'd probably see her hair strands standing on their roots. Some were so casual they even started betting literal cash.

"Five bucks Herrmann never gets her homework back."

"Ten bucks Yeager wins this time."

"You're kidding—guy's too down bad for that."

When Isanna finally reached the classroom, she slid it open with so much force it rattled; only the gods know why it was still intact even after that. Luckily it was still some time before morning period, so there were no teachers in sight. The students inside however looked towards Isanna, majority not even looking all too surprised.

"Where's—" Isanna didn't even manage to finish her sentence when someone sitting in the front jabbed a thumb behind him.

Her eyes zeroed on a specific blond sitting at the back.

"Zeke," she called with all the irritation as she walked in and headed towards his desk. "My homework. Now."

Seventeen-year-old Zeke smiled at her like she was not glaring murderous intent. He had his chin resting on his palm, his elbow on the desk. "Come on, Isa. What happened to 'Hi?' 'Hello?' 'Good morning?'"

Isanna released a sigh as she stopped in front of his desk. "Cut it out. We literally walked to school earlier. Now—" she held an upturned palm out— "my. Notebook."

Zeke stared at her for a few more seconds longer, before he sighed through his nose and pulled his hand from beneath his desk, showing the notebook in his hand. He was about to wave it when it immediately got snatched from his grasp and Isanna briefly scanned through it, just to make sure.

"Don't even trust me?" Zeke tilted his head, mustering his best doe-eyed puppy look.

Isanna looked disgusted.

"I ought to sock you in the head," she muttered, although Zeke caught the slightest twitch in her lips that was threatening to form a smile.

"Sorry, okay? I just forgot to return it—"

Someone in the room whistled, "Get a room!" followed by a string of hollering and laughter from the other students.

Zeke only decided to worsen it by responding with a cheeky grin, "Don't worry guys, we have plenty of time for that later, right Isa?"

Isanna couldn't have looked even more disgusted. An entire 'Why-am-I-even-friends-with-you?' face glued on her before she rolled her eyes and walked away, heading out of the classroom, completely oblivious to the lopsided grin on Zeke's face following her as she exited the room.

The second she was out, some of Zeke's classmates began swarming, his friends patting him on the back as they settled on their seats.

"Invite me to the wedding," one of them playfully said with a snort. Zeke could only shake his head with a smile.

"We're not even dating," he muttered, although it was loud enough for the rest to hear.

The guy sitting in front of him turned around and sat reversed on his chair so that he was facing him. He had a cheek on his palm, smirk plastered on his lips in a tease.

"Soooo you mean I can shoot my shot with her? Herrmann's pretty cute, honestly."

The thin smile on Zeke Yeager never faltered.

"No."

The group laughed, unfazed at his confession. Pretty much everybody knew he liked Isanna. Even those from other classes knew, especially when they saw him hovering over her like a dog's tail. They had enrolled together, never failed to walk to school together, and even walked home together after class. In a sense, they made an impression among the students in their year as an inseparable duo.

Zeke Yeager was popular both for his academic proficiency and charming personality, and people naturally flocked towards him; he was just one of those students who couldn't walk five steps without greeting someone he knew, so the fact that almost 80% of the student population knew of his attraction towards Isanna wasn't that much of a surprise.

Isanna was a different case, though. While Zeke's presence was enough to ward off any admirers of her, she on the other hand was the girls' gateway to Zeke. He couldn't count the number of times Isanna had to act as their messenger, handing him their love letters and gifts and whatnot. Isanna didn't seem to care though, in fact she'd gotten so tired that one day she told him to just get together with someone so she could finally take a break.

Talk about dense. But that was yet another part of her that Zeke found endearing.

When class ended that day, he waited outside Isanna's classroom as usual, chatting with one of his friends with a hand on his schoolbag that he'd slung over his shoulder and the other one in his pocket.

"Oop—your wife's here," his friend said with a smirk as soon as Isanna stepped out of the classroom. "I'll see you around."

Zeke playfully rolled his eyes and bid him goodbye before he turned to Isanna, who had yet to notice him waiting.

"Babe! How was class?"

Jerking in surprise, Isanna whipped around to look at him, and when her eyes registered his playful grin, she shot him a glare.

"Pipe it down, people will think we're dating," she mumbled, falling in steps beside him as they walked down the corridor with the rest of the students.

They already wish we are, he thought inwardly with a snort. He held out a hand. "Hand me your bag. I'll carry it."

Isanna looked at his hand, then at him, before she sighed and gave in. Just another one of Zeke's antics. "If you take something from my bag again, I'm plucking your eyebrows."

"Love you too," he cooed, earning another glare from her as he took her bag and slung it over his other soldier.

"Don't you have club practice?"

"Nope. Not today."

"Don't you have a game this Friday?"

"Yep, but coach said we should take a break just for today," he said as they finally exited the building and blended in with the crowd on the school yard. Once they were out of the school campus and were on their way home, they passed by the usual streets and lines of houses that they've walked through for the past twelve years of being together. Paints on certain walls have begun to fade, chipping out as the years caught up to it, the pavement had lost some of its shine from what Zeke could remember, and that one broken streetlight still stood strong and tall.

They eventually reached the riverbank where they used to play catch as kids, and Zeke noted some things never change as he watched younger kids run around the grass with all sorts of playthings. The sun was still reflected against the still waters, and the breeze still carried that gentle waft of nature.

"Can I stay over at yours tonight?" he asked.

Isanna looked at him weirdly.

"What?" he asked with a shrug.

".. You never ask for permission," Isanna said slowly, lightly squinting at him. "What happened?"

There was a brief flash of an empty house, unused furniture, and empty bottles of wine littering on the floor in Zeke's mind.

"Huh. Well. Was just feeling extra generous today."

He grinned and glanced at her. That growth spurt he so desperately wished had finally arrived, and he was finally taller than the girl he liked, so in a sense, it made him feel good and worthy enough.

"Zeke Yeager and the word generous don't feel right together."

Raising his hands in a surrender, Zeke dramatically sighed with closed eyes, sounding so defeated.

"Okay, you got me." He opened his eyes and winked at her, doing a 180-degree turn.

"I just miss you."

Isanna wore a 'So-done-with-you' face and looked back at the road, picking up her pace. "Nobody will ever take you seriously if you keep joking around, Yeager."

My feelings for you aren't a joke, though.. "So I'll take that as a yes?"

He jogged a bit and reached her side once more, leaning down to cheekily smile at her. "We can sleep on the same bed again—for old time's sake, you know?"

He was expecting at least a blush or a stutter—just anything to see her flustered, but Isanna just deadpanned at him.

"Sleep on the floor. We're not kids anymore, Zeke."

Feigning hurt, Zeke grabbed the front of his uniform and groaned. "Ohhh, my heart. The rejection. It's so painful. I can't bear it—I feel like dying.."

"Die somewhere I can't see you, please."

Zeke pouted in disappointment. So much for that.

"You really hate me that much, huh?" he muttered with a chuckle, more so to himself than her. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit upset at the fact that he failed to elicit any sort of reaction at all. After years of constantly flirting, she still thinks he's just fooling around with her.

Just when Zeke was about to drop the topic, Isanna reached for his hand. The warmth of her hand extended over towards his, giving him that little tug in the chest that made him swallow nervously.

It was unfair how she could make him run laps in his mind so easily like this.

"Dumbass," Isanna mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear her. She didn't look at him though, eyes glued on the road ahead of them. "I don't hate you."

And when Zeke looked closely, he could see the tips of her ears growing just a bit red.

Oh.

Instead of teasing her about it though, Zeke stayed quiet, if only to relish in her hand's warmth for just a bit longer.

They arrived at Isanna's home shortly after. After greeting her parents, they retreated to Isanna's room, which was neither too big nor too small. It had a singular bed leaning by the wall on the far side, a window beside it and a desk and a chair where she does her homework. A mini bookshelf stood across her bed, holding numerous books (duh) and some photo albums. Zeke dropped his bag on the space beside the shelf and couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of the room. That lavender scent that he usually associated Isanna with did its job in making him feel comfortable.

"It's been a while since I stepped in here," he mused, heading to the table and noticing a small notebook tucked between a pencil case and larger notebook.

"Don't you dare make a mess," Isanna called as she headed to the door leading to her separate bathroom to change clothes.

Zeke snorted, reaching for the notebook that had caught his attention. "Sweetheart, even if I do, I'm old enough to clean up after myself."

When he heard no reply, Zeke flipped the notebook open, scanning the pages. Just as he thought, this was Isanna's notebook during grade school; he recognized that little wings symbol at the cover and remembered how she used to doodle on this during class back then. He was mildly surprise she still had it after all these years.

When he heard no reply, Zeke flipped the notebook open, scanning the pages. Just as he thought, this was Isanna's notebook during grade school; he recognized that little wings symbol at the cover and remembered how she used to doodle on this during class back then. He was mildly surprise she still had it after all these years.

Even her squiggles are adorable.

You could call Zeke Yeager the man who was absolutely whipped for this woman. He literally found everything she did cute.

He was looking at a poorly-drawn alien, with some sticks below him—except they weren't sticks, Zeke realized. They were grass, and the irregularly-shaped object in the alien's hand wasn't a boot but it was actually a ball. And the alien-like creature wasn't exactly an alien but it was a human all along. And Zeke realized all this because there was an arrow pointing to a shakily written 'ZEKE' in capital letters.

Holding back a snigger, Zeke flipped the page, expecting to see another one of Isanna's childish doodles, only to pause.

But before he could even analyze it, someone reached and snapped the notebook shut, snagging it away from his grasp. He looked at Isanna, who was now wearing comfy clothes wearing an embarrassed expression.

"They're just doodles from ages ago," she mumbled with a red face, placing the notebook back in its place on her desk. "And keep your hands to yourself."

Zeke's curiosity instantly evaporated because when his eyes trailed down to her clothes, he realized she was wearing something quite familiar.

"Is that.. is that my shirt?"

Isanna followed his gaze and looked down at what she was wearing, before she looked back at him and huffed.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I've been looking for it back home," Zeke said and pursed his lips in a playful pout. "You've been wearing it and you never even told me?"

It was one of his favorite ones, too.

Isanna avoided his gaze and crossed her arms. "Well.. in my defense, I thought you left it here on purpose."

Instead of getting mad though, Zeke held back a smile. Now that he got a good look on her, he had to admit, she did look adorable with his clothes on. But then the realization that she was wearing his clothes sank in, and he immediately erupted into a blushing mess. It was entertaining seeing the change of expressions pass by his face, honestly.

For someone who spent so much time flirting with her, Zeke Yeager was oddly easily embarrassed when it came to certain things.

Noticing the redness in his face, Isanna tilted her head in a frown.

"What are y—" she paused for a bit, only realizing then, and lightly grinned knowingly.

"Ohoho? Am I seriously seeing the Zeke Yeager blushing right now?"

Zeke cleared his throat and looked away, subtly trying to hide it by touching his lip with a finger.

"Isa, you know this isn't—" he stumbled a bit with his words— "I mean.. this isn't really.. appropriate.."

Isanna raised an amused brow. For some reason, seeing Zeke so flustered was entertaining. The guy was usually so unfazed by everything, and all it takes for him to lose it was seeing her in his shirt? Really? For all the times she was subjected under his incessant flirting, she thought this was a chance to get even.

And so, she decided to take advantage of this rare occurrence.

"Appropriate? Am I hearing you correctly right now?"

She stepped forward, reaching for his hand and pulling it from his face. Zeke jerked and looked at her, biting his lip, and the sight made it even amusing.

"Tell me then, Yeager," Isanna cooed, lips drawn into a smirk, and a teasing glint in her eyes. She tilted her head, her voice lowered into a soft whisper.

"What about this do you think is.. not, appropriate?"

She saw the way his eyes glanced down at her lips for just the briefest of seconds—so brief she would have missed it had she blinked—and then Zeke inhaled a bout of breath.

"You're on dangerous territory here, sweetheart," he said so quietly, under his breath, as if afraid to break something. His eyes had gone half-lidded now, alternating between looking at her eyes and her lips, and Zeke wasn't sure how much he was gonna hold out any longer.

For all the times he kept on flirting with her, this was the first time she actually flirted back, and for some reason, his mind had utterly, helplessly, shutdown.

Isanna took note of the way his eyes had changed, his breathing, his tightened jaw, the close proximity of their faces, and decided this was enough teasing for the day.

She laughed silently—exhaling through her nose as she finally broke eye contact and let go of Zeke's hand.

"For someone who was yammering about sleeping on the same bed, you're awfully bash—"

Isanna was suddenly yanked forward, her back landing on the softness of the bed with a small gasp. Breath hitching at the back of her throat, she realized their position—with Zeke hovering above her, a firm grip latched on her wrists as he pinned her down—it was anything but appropriate, indeed.

"Zeke, I—"

"You make me crazy, you know that?" he said in an exhale, as if he was out of breath despite them not doing anything, lowering his face so that his lips were resting right on the junction between her neck and shoulder. Yet, he didn't move nor did anything—just tightened her grip on her wrists as if it was all Zeke could do to restrain himself.

Isanna involuntarily shivered, mind ultimately malfunctioning at the feel of his lips on her neck. A flare of heat was spreading from her neck to the rest of her body, sparks of electricity dancing along her skin; her face was starting to feel hot, and her heartbeat quickened, pounding in her ears.

Her stomach suddenly lurched.

"Please—" she breathed— "don't—don't do this.."

The panic in her voice was enough for Zeke to wake, and as fast as a snap, he quickly let go of her wrists, pushing himself out of the bed. He faced the bookshelf and palmed his face, exhaling loudly.

Isanna stayed in her position, eyes fixed on the ceiling of her room and the heat of Zeke's body still pressing over her. Once she regained her air, she slowly sat up, massaging her wrists and unable to even look at his direction at all. Her heart was still beating loudly, her mind was whirring, in a state of confusion, and still trying to comprehend what had happened.

"Zeke—"

She didn't even get to say anything when he swiftly turned around, face contorted in a pained twist and full of regret.

"Isa, I'm—I'm sorry."

Silently, Isanna stared at him at a loss for words.

He ran a hand through his hair, visibly looking so distressed.

"I didn't mean to.. to scare you. I won't do it again." He looked so distressed, so disturbed, so deeply upset at his own actions, he couldn't even look her in the eye. "I won't do anything that you won't like. I'm sorry."

Isanna averted her gaze from him, suddenly finding the carpet the most interesting thing in the world.

Zeke Yeager always exuded an air of confidence around him. A sense of confidence that was practically impossible to shatter—Isanna couldn't recall an instance that could ever make him fluster.

But now, as he let out a string of apologies, she couldn't help but notice how he sounded so.. timid. So meek, scared, as if he was dreading the possibility of ever scaring her away with what he just did.

Isanna was still staring at the carpet, the beating in her heart never disappearing, which was strange. Her chest did flutter—at least, that was what she believed. She'd known Zeke all her life and she'd be lying if she had never once thought of him as attractive.

She liked to think her heart skipped a beat, but.. why did it feel off?

Zeke stared at her, waiting for a reply, but when she never lifted her gaze again, he decided that was enough and walked away, grabbed his bag, and left the room.

Zeke assured himself they'll go back to normal right after. Maybe tomorrow, or a few days later—they'll go back to their playful banter, teasing each other and joking around.

But he will soon realize they never will.

Because in a few days, during one of his matches, his memories of the past life will finally come hurtling back like a train—and just like the first domino that topples, it will be the tipping point of the beginning of the misfortunes awaiting him.

───

A/N: am i writing this instead of studying for a quiz? absolutely. 

but i wanted to get this flashback out asap so voila

we're finally getting a clearer pov of zeke's younger dayss 🤭

for those who noticed the parallels between isa's relationship between erwin and zeke respectively.. yes, they're intentional heh

but while they have parallels, there are also certain differences that define their relationship, so.. yeah. i kinda had fun writing this. realizing that erwin was to isa what isa is to zeke now was such a ride, i seriously thrive off drama🤩 forgive me for giving you headaches

i was supposed to write the entire flashback in one chapter but.. things happened and the word count was getting longer than i liked so i decided to cut it in half

hope you are doing well and thanks for reading!