Chapter Text
“Please! You have to sign up to be the trainer.” Moblit pleaded as you walked together to your Biomechanics course.
“No way, dude.” You sighed out and walked through the open door to the lecture hall. “If I wanted to spend time with a bunch of meat heads I’d just go workout in the morning.” You joked and cringed at the thought of the university gym at the busiest time of day, full of idiots who only talked about their biggest gains.
“Come on… It will be exciting! Rugby season has never been dull. The team is really good so the games are exciting and as a trainer you’re literally always doing something. It's never boring” He emphasized his first point and continued to beg for your commitment to the team. “And the guys really are nice. Sure, some of them are,” there was a moment of hesitation, “interesting but it makes for a good time.”
“Are you done?” You laughed and he made a sound of annoyance. “Well,” You considered for a second. “What’s in it for me, then?” It’s not a bad idea, it does give some experience to your degree and well, there’s definitely a worse way to spend time.
Moblit’s face lit up. He almost laughed. “Aha. Of course you’d say that” He grinned at the smirk displayed on your face. “Last year and I’m expecting this year too, I’ve gotten to use it for course credits.”
And there it is. How could it be any better than that? A kinesiology major's dream. Why do more work when a much easier option is right in front of you?
“Any course?” The thought of dropping the statistics class that you had just started seemed like a viable option. It was already kicking your ass and this seemed like a good trade off for devoting your time to the men's rugby team.
“Any course.” He confirmed. You grinned and he knew that you were interested in the position. “Also, you get a cool jacket.” Moblit wiggled his eyebrows which caused you to laugh together.
“Okay I’ll think about it.” You played it off nonchalantly as you leaned back in your seat. Moblit nodded as the professor walked in and started the lecture right away.
The lecture ended and even though it was only the second day of classes, the workload was already immense. The thought of dropping that stats class was still implanted in your brain because it would have it’s benefits.
“Okay hold on.” Moblit stopped walking as you spoke to him. “How come there’s even a spot anyways? It seemed like Hange really enjoyed being the trainer and they never said why they stopped.” Moblit began to laugh.
“Hange was always a little too.. How could I say?” He paused. “Overzealous.” He chuckled. You understood that for sure. “The team was a little intimidated by Hange’s enthusiasm and I think they realized that but they also got an opportunity for an internship this semester so that’s really why.”
“Right, I forgot about that.” You somewhat remembered Hange telling you about their new internship. “Okay so if I do it, there will be some big shoes to fill. Is what you’re saying?”
“No, no.” Moblit thought for a quick moment. “You know what, practice is at 4:00” He checked his watch and noted the time, “actually, I’m about to head there now for the before practice med kit check and to prepare. Why don’t you just come with me? You can just decide if you want to join then.”
The only thing you could think of doing was going to the store to get an energy drink and pulling an all nighter to do your homework. You thought how this would make for a better way to spend the evening.
“Yeah, why not!”
Moblit made sure to explain what to expect from the upcoming practice while you collected the trainer kits from the sports medicine area. Essentially every injury would need to be ready to be treated. Most commonly and most known concussions, “So, keep a flashlight handy” he joked. Lots of broken fingers, the occasional broken nose or the dislocation of a joint.
“Light work then.” You replied sarcastically. He looked at you and laughed.
“Yeah. Better keep that high school Sports Med brain active.”
“Whoo-hoo! Shin splint and ankle taping for days!” You said dryly and saw Moblit roll his eyes in your peripheral vision.
You walked up together to the field where practice would shortly begin. You arrived later than Moblit wanted but he figured it was okay since he was kinda initiating you. Some of the players began to roll in as well.
“Hey Moblit! I was wondering when you were gonna show!” One came jogging up to Moblit and you. He had short black hair and an angular face, a bit of scruff and a lean muscular build. He was handsome to put it simply. If that’s what they all look like, this won’t be a chore at all.
“Yeah well I had to bring a newbie and show her the ropes a bit.” Moblit replied easily. The man looked at you then smiled.
“Hey, I’m Nile. I’m the team captain. So if you get any shit from the boys, you send ‘em to me'' He laughed.
Nile stuck out his hand and you shook it then introduced yourself. “I’m just here for today though. Moblit here,” you patted him on the shoulder, “practically begged me to fill in.” You laughed.
“Ah, no worries. I’m sure you’ll be back for our game tomorrow. You’ll have fun today.” He grinned at you and you gave a small smile and a nod back.
You took note of how Nile presented himself. Crisp green and white practice uniform that matched the other players who were slowly congregating towards Nile and the coaches at the side of the field. His neatly tied cleats which were worn by some mud and many creases by the toes and his hair which was bound to get ruffled was perfectly styled. Then you looked at your friend next to you. He managed to slip on his rugby team trainer sweater. You realized you were out of place in the worn grey pullover and old mom jeans, but that didn’t really matter for the time being.
Looking around, you saw that the team had all shown up. They all had matching bags that were being thrown on the ground or slinged over their shoulders. There were a couple of skinny kids who you were surprised to see playing rugby. A buff blond one with an intense look about him. An attractive one with longer hair was tying up his cleats and made a remark about the tall guy that sat next to him and scowled at him. Their other friend with a shaved head that they sat on the ground with laughed at the joke. You imagined that they were too young for you when you quickly figured out from what they said that they were freshman and you were now just starting your junior year.
“Nile, They’re gonna be late again!” The shortest of the bunch walked over and spoke out. Nile groaned and said something about the vice-captains being idiots. Who you imagined were the ones that were late. The short guy, you recognized. How could you forget him? His looks were noted by all those on campus who were attracted to men. His dark hair was cropped in an undercut and his grey eyes silently judged everyone under the hair that fell down to his forehead. Levi Ackerman. He was known to be kind of an asshole and brooding. He had an intimidating aura that no one wanted to cross but that’s what a lot of people found alluring. You never would have thought he was the sporting type yet, here he was standing right in front of you.
“I’m Levi.” He said simply. You introduced yourself, looking down a bit at him. It was funny to you that someone so intimidating would be so small. “So, you replacing four eyes?” He spoke, referring to Hange.
“Um… No?”
“Good idea.” Levi laughed a little then began to walk away.
You looked at Moblit. He shrugged and he seemed unphased by the exchange with Levi. Must be just how he is, you guessed.
“Okay, five laps and warm up while we wait for those sons of bitches get here!” Nile commanded the team. Groans of protests were heard but everyone began to jog around the perimeter of the field.
“What did you just call us, Nile?!” A deep voice jokingly called out to the captain who was now leading the team jogging around the pitch. You turned around and saw two tall blond guys walking your way. One had blue eyes and a chiseled face. His hair was slicked back neatly and had a sarcastic smile on his face. He, like Nile, was built but the one who walked next to him was taller and broader. He had green eyes, shaggy hair and a smug grin. With that expression, you could tell that he was the one who yelled across the field. Once seeing you, he raised his eyebrows and dragged his hand down his stubble adorned jawline. He was gorgeous. His eyes met yours and as soon as it happened you knew that he was gonna be a problem.
“There they are.” Moblit sighed. You understood that these guys were the vice-captains that were supposedly late. You turned back to watch the team warm up as Moblit kneeled down to organize the things in his bag. “Can you help me out please?”
“Yeah sure.” You took a knee next to him and began to unload the kit.
“Mike! Erwin! Get your asses moving!” The coach yelled at who you could presume had just arrived.
You took the various things out of the bag and handed them to Moblit so he could begin to prepare.
“You’re our new trainer?” Looking to your left you saw the broad guy sitting down next to you fastening his large cleats. “Thank God. Because poor Berner here has been doing it on his own since the beginning of the season.” He went to clap Moblit on the back and his face reacted with a small grimace and an odd laugh you had never heard before. It caused you to laugh as well. He gave you that same smug grin that he had plastered on his face before and you instantly regretted the small laugh you let out.
“Oh Mike, it’s really not that bad. We haven’t even had our first game yet.” The other one sat down and began to do the same. “Hey I’m Erwin, that bastard next to you is Mike” Once again, you introduced yourself. The one named Mike repeated your name quietly to himself.
“I’m not the trainer. I’m just helping out my friend.” You replied to the question you were asked at first. Erwin nodded and got up to join in the warm up. Mike looked at you and it seemed like he was gonna say something but was quickly cut off by some yelling toward him from the coach. He quickly got up, set one look toward you and ran towards the pack.
“They’re alright.” Moblit noted. You made a noise of agreement and your eyes followed them as the team finished stretching.
The practice mostly consisted of you watching the drills from the sideline and handing out water bottles at breaks. You were impressed at how limber these guys were. They tackled and grappled with each other. There were drills where they lifted each other up into the air to catch the ball. Another where they lay on the ground to simulate a play and would have to get up effortlessly to run to continue the game. You didn’t really understand what was going on but could admire how hard they were working.
Moblit tried to explain the rules of the game to you while the team played a scrimmage for the last few minutes.
“That makes no sense.” You laughed and your eyes followed Mike as he ran down the field with the ball. His large legs pushed him farther than the players on the ‘opposing’ team and he scored the point with ease. Impressive.
“I know right. I don’t think that even the creators of it knew how to truly play.” He joked.
“Well, it seems interesting enough.” Moblit raised his eyebrows and gave you a curious look.
“Are you saying what I think you are?” He asked excitedly.
“Jesus Christ, don’t cream your pants there Mobs” His brown eyes squinted at you in annoyance. “But yeah maybe. I’ll be at the game tomorrow.”
“Alright!” He smiled.
The whistle blew and the practice was over. The team began to stretch on their own accord as the coaches went over what was important from practice and talked about the game that was coming the following day.
Everyone was dismissed and the guys began to leave. You snuck a look at the four who remained to talk to the coaches. There was Nile, the two who showed up late and Levi. From what you saw, you imagined that they were the best players on the team and you knew that they were all the captains of some sort.
“So was I right?” Nile walked over to you. “Are you coming to help out at our game tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I think so.” You replied and he smiled, gave you a thumbs up and said something encouraging back to you as he left with his bag draped over his shoulder.
You looked at Moblit and he was starting to leave and you were beginning to walk with him, it was getting dark out and you didn’t want to go to your car alone.
“Hey!” Someone called after you. You stopped walking to turn around. “I’ll see you at the game tomorrow, right?!” It was Mike. He stood with Erwin and Levi where you once sat with Moblit on the side. Levi looked up at him, grimaced and said something to Erwin which made him laugh.
“Yeah. You might.” You replied in a snarky tone and turned back around to walk away.
You and Moblit continued to walk together toward your cars in the parking lot. The image of the cocky tall blond boy still burned in the back of your mind.
“So, what’s that guy's deal?” You started.
“Who?”
“Mike? I think that’s his name.” You knew that was his name.
“Oh” Moblit smirked. “Mike Zacharias.” Moblit began, “He’s like the best player on the team.” That didn’t catch you off guard. Even though you didn’t really understand rugby, from what you saw you could tell that he was good. “He is an absolute beast. I would not want to play against him. For sure.” There was a small look of fear that crossed his eyes.
“That’s not really what I meant but cool, I guess.” What did you mean? He seemed like a bit of a flirtatious asshole from what you could tell and guys like that always annoyed you.
“Ah. Okay. I see. I don’t really know him well enough to make assumptions about him. He’s pretty popular. He can be a bit of an ass but I don’t mind him.” Moblit paused. “I can’t believe you’ve never heard his name at least.” You shrugged. You had never really paid attention to those outside your circle.
“But he’s a nice guy from what I know. Same year as us.” He added. You wondered why you’d never seen him before. Moblit also mentioned how Erwin and Mike are best friends and Levi hangs around them but doesn’t really care for Mike. Which made you laugh.
“Anyways,” Moblit sighed. “I should be off now. Big day tomorrow.” You agreed and got into your car. Saying goodbye to each other, you started your car and began to drive away.
-
The phone ringing woke you up from your short sleep after a long class and a long night full of overthinking and studying. Groggily and annoyed you slowly picked it up.
“Hello?”
“You are coming today right? The pre-game meeting starts in like.. half an hour” Moblit's voice rang through the opposite end of the line. You could hear the uncertainty in his voice through the speaker.
Groaning, you rolled over in your bed. You managed to pull an all-nighter doing the work and reading for your class that you had in the morning. Feeling completely beat, you took a three hour long nap once you got home and forgot about your commitments for the evening.
“Yeah. I said I would, didn't I?” Laughing at Moblit’s nerves on the phone line.
“I feel like you just woke up. You tend to do this. I don’t wanna let the team down.”
“Jesus.” You scoffed and sat up. He really put too much pressure on himself and this seemed ridiculous. “Dude, you gotta relax. From what I could tell, the team seemed to like me. I mean, I thin-”
“That’s what I’m worried about. Some of them maybe too much eventually..” He spoke about the team with.
“What the fuck Mobs. Why'd you say that. It was so unnecessary." You bit your lip hoping that Moblit couldn't hear you laugh on his end.
“Yeah sorry, that was weird.”
“"You’re worrying about too much right now. Just focus on the game” You tried to keep your laugh in. "Wait, what’s that supposed to mean, anyways? That I'm just like super irresitable?" You joked. "Or hat they’re douchey? Hate to break it to ya’ Mobs but I knew that already.” You laughed at his scoffing noise. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. And I will be there. I’m literally getting ready to leave in like, five minutes.”
“Uh huh. You flake out a lot. I’m just making sure.” He laughed.
“Oh shut up. ” You smiled and began to sign off on the call. Moblit mentioned that he would have a jacket ready for you to wear so you could feel like part of the team and look professional or something along the lines of that.
Pulling up to the field you realized that yes, you were late. You had gotten a bit lost trying to find the field. You had never had a class on this side of the campus before. The team was warming up. You must’ve just missed the discussion of who was starting.
You jogged up to the field and you could see the relief on Moblit’s face when you came into view.
“Oh thank God.”
“I’m sorry! I had a really long night and then like a 3 hour nap and I was just running late.”
“I think it was good I called you. I thought that I probably woke you up from how you sounded on the phone.” Moblit laughed as he tossed a green team jacket to you. He explained what he had already done and how he helped prepare the water cooler for the team and how you would have to tape up some of the players before the game began.
The team began to split off for passing drills and it seemed like now would be the time that Moblit had just talked about. He had begun to tape the brawny blond sophomore’s ankle. You were pretty sure that his name was Reiner but you never were great with names.
“Could I borrow your tape, please?” You could feel a presence walk up behind you.
“Yeah sure.” You knelt down to get the tape and other supplies from the trainer’s bag. A hand reached down to you. Looking up, you saw it was Mike who needed the supplies from you.
“Here.” You handed it to him. He thanked you and kept his hand out for you to take. Which you did. His palm was calloused and his hand was almost two times the size of your own. Pulling you up from where you were, he smiled.
“I’m glad you ended up coming to the game.” You shot him a puzzled look. Why? You had never met the guy before yesterday. And you had already made your assumption that he was just some cocky asshole that knew he was good at what he did and you were not expecting for that to change.
“Oh yeah?” Was all you managed to say. Still confused by his interest in talking to you.
“Yeah.” As he spoke, he bent to look down at his leg and began to tape a single line over and over around the middle of his thigh. It attached right to the skin which made you cringe at the thought of taking it off. You were confused at what he was doing but thought it was better not to ask.
“It’s just that.” He looked up at you. “You seem way calmer than Hange. Don’t get me wrong, I’m friends with them.” Mike shot you a look of reassurance. He figured that you were friends with Hange too. “But last year when I broke my nose the bone stuck out a bit and they were so interested in it, I thought that they were going to like.. I don’t know” He breathed out a small laugh, “Like take it out or something.” His small laugh grew as he began to tape his other leg.
“Yeah. If Hange’s one thing, it’s passionate.” You laughed a little with him.
“So, I’m glad we have two normal-ish trainers.” He broke off for a moment and looked down at you from where he towered over you. “But I don’t know you well enough yet to say that. So, I’ll wait and see.” He smirked. Ripping the tape from the roll and handing it back to you he let out a low, “Thanks.”
“Um yeah.” You didn’t really know how to respond to what he had just said.
“I gotta get back now. The team needs their Eightman” Mike puffed up his chest and grinned. You gave an awkward smile back as he turned and ran to the field where the coach spoke to the team. You could see the number 8 in green on the back of the white jersey and hummed remembering how Moblit said something about how the positions correlated with the numbers each player wore and wondered the importance of Mike’s position.
After taping up another player. The game was going to be under way and you watched as the team did their pre-game ritual and moved to the field to get into their positions.
With a kick from Nile to the opposing team, the game began.
The first half went by quickly. No injuries yet. 5 trys and Nile had made all but one kick for the conversion points. The other team had only scored once. Moblit was right, the team was good.
At half time the team was all hyped up from their lead into the game. Pretty much guaranteed the win. Moblit took the role of head trainer seriously and began to ask how everyone was doing physically. Leaving you to hand out the water bottles.
“What do you think so far?” Mike asked as he walked towards you gesturing for a bit of water. He towered over you looking down his nose at you, shaggy hair clouding his vision.
“It’s pretty exciting.” You responded to him and looked up to meet his gaze. “But I can’t say that I know what’s going on.” You let out a small laugh and Mike smiled. He squirted the water in his mouth and swallowed, preparing to say something.
“I know what you mean. When I first started playing I wasn’t too sure of what to do. You know..” His brow furrowed and he thought for a second. “If you keep coming back you’ll understand.”
“Stop bothering her, man.” Erwin cut into the conversation. Mike groaned. Erwin was looking a little roughed up but nothing notable other than the dirt all over his body and the blood from another player smeared down his leg. Mike passed his water bottle on to Erwin. Levi laughed as he walked over. Mike shot an annoyed look down at him.
“Anyways,” Erwin continued. “We’re playing well so Mike, Levi. Do not stop now.” His voice commanded them.
“Like the way you’re talking there, Vice-Captain.” Levi rolled his eyes and began to walk back to the field for the second half to begin.
“You better keep watching” Mike gave you a smug look and went over to join them. You rolled your eyes and tried to ignore his efforts to get you to pay attention to him.
After getting into positions the whistle blew and the second half began.
You had never been interested in Rugby so you didn’t know enough about it. Throughout the game, the little knowledge that Moblit had passed onto you at the practice the day before was helpful. But on the bench, he began to talk to you about it because he could see your face become more confused.
“Forwards are numbered 1-8. They do most of the work. Advance plays, tackle, lineouts, scrums, rucks.. All that jazz.” You couldn’t understand the lingo and thought to study whatever the hell he was talking about at some point. “And I guess 9 is a forward, that’s Levi. Scrum-half. He’s not supposed to tackle and do what all the forwards do but he’s part of the pack and Levi doesn’t follow the rules.” Moblit laughed. You thought back to the play you had just witnessed and how Levi would lunge himself onto other players and rip them down at their heels.
“Scrappy little son of a bitch.” You joked and Moblit laughed.
“You could say that again.” He continued on. “The backs are from position 10, Fly-half. Kinda the head of the backs and works together with the forwards” You scanned the field and saw that it was Nile who played this position. “All the way down to let’s say number 20, some of those guys are on the bench.” You looked next to you and saw a couple of the freshmen standing on the sidelines with higher numbers than those on the field. “Backs don’t really tackle, they mostly have the way paved for them to score by the forwards. They just do most of the running, I guess.”
You could notice all these things that Moblit was telling you as the game progressed. You weren’t really sure what the grappling in the middle of the field was that happened once a play began but you decided you could ask him or google rugby for dummies later.
The team really was good. Levi and Erwin would team up and take down the really big guys together. Levi would wrap around their legs and Erwin would body them from behind. They did it a lot and it would make you laugh every single time. Mike was right to have the cocky attitude that he had but you weren’t sure if he was aware of how good he was. Being as large as he is, he could power through the field with at least three players from the other team on him at once. He created all the plays for the points to be made and often had the assist that would cause the point to be scored. Once the ball met the field, he would glance around as if nothing had happened. Smug bastard.
As the sun continued to set, the game came to its end. This half, the team scored another 2 trys and beat the opposing team with ease. Nile scored one and Erwin the other. They seemed to relish in the cheers from the fans who came to watch the game.
“Okay! First win..” The captain began, “And first party of the year tonight!” Nile announced and the team cheered. They obviously knew it was happening, but having the feeling of a win was too good to not be happy about. You couldn’t help but swell with pride once the team came back to the sidelines.
“Party?” You weren’t sure that there would be one. You had never really gone to a rugby team party and honestly, didn’t really know they existed.
“You should definitely come.” Mike started and sat down to switch out of his cleats into his converse.
“Yeah Mike’s right, you better come! They’re always fun.” Moblit replied and you thought that maybe it was a good idea to go because sure, you could loosen up after the all nighter you pulled the night before. “And you could get to know the team. They’re all really nice guys.” Moblit continued.
“I guess I should do that.” You couldn’t keep having awkward exchanges with Mike and stealing glances at the others on the team. Looking at Moblit then Mike who sat next to your left, you decided that you would go. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Great, I'm looking forward to it.” Mike's green eyes had a glisten of something when he looked up and smiled at you.
You weren't sure how the night would end.