Chapter 3

This had to happen during a good day, huh. Levi resisted the urge to frown heavily at the ballistic woman in front of him that towered over him in both weight and height. He had a resting bitch face at the moment and grunted at every accusation she threw at him.

"My son does not deserve a B! This essay is worth A plus, no, absolute perfection!" Levi gritted his teeth. He felt his patience thinning but kept his resting bitch face. And yes, the fucker didn't deserve a B. He deserved a D, maybe even F. If it weren't for school protocol, he'd have done just that.

He even let it be a B instead of the usual C and she's still complaining? He knew it wasn't the student; Springer didn't care as long as he passed. Actually, none of his students cared unless it was an unfair grade.

"So, change this grade right at this moment or I'm bringing this up to the principal!" She fumed. Finally finished ranting like a mad banshee.

Levi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Mrs. Karen…"

"Springer."

"Whatever- this essay about...senior students underlying…study problems…" He sighed again. How many times has he sighed today? "The instruction for this essay- as I pointed out here- should be 1000 words or more. I would have considered if it was close to 1000, but he didn't even reach 500 words. Moreover, his improper usage of grammar made it difficult for me to give it the 'A plus' worthiness you say it deserves." He endured the umpteenth eye roll for the day as the woman's face burst in bright red. Out of anger or embarrassment? Probably both.

"I WANT THE PRINCIPAL NOW!"

He was already walking out of his classroom before she even yelled. She wasn't the first karen he had to deal with. But he was hoping she'll be the last.

Unfortunately, hoping only got him so far.

"Levi, what's going on?" Petra had stopped him from his stomping over to the principal's office. She looked startled- oh he was frowning and directing his glare at her.

He looked away and sighed. Again. "Just a know-it-all parent. I'm heading over to the sle- Reiss' office."

"That bad? What about?" Levi pursed his lips and debated for a few seconds whether to answer sarcastically or just get this over with.

"Essay. Not good enough grade." He went with the latter seeing that the former only made him more of the enemy. He raised a brow at the glimmer in her eyes.

"I can help if you want." For some reason, the student's exhausted, yet sparkling face appear in his mind.

He flicked his wrist and looked down to see the time. 4:30. And there goes his free time. He clicked his tongue. "Have fun. I'll be taking my leave- I'm exhausted." He motioned for her to take over.

"Yeah, you've been working your hardest, Levi. You should head home and rest."

This woman was oddly being nice to him… he narrowed his eyes as he nodded at her. "Thanks." The word tasted weird, nonetheless it was appropriate for this moment.

Petra gleamed. "No problem, Levi. See you tomorrow." She waved at him and he waved back as they walked in the opposite directions.

It felt unusual to say that to someone he wasn't familiar with, but it felt nice. This change of pace should be fine.

He got back his free time now with Petra dealing with that karen.

The walk home took only ten minutes since he shared an apartment with his best friends. It was better than having to wake up four in the morning and leaving at five. He stifled a yawn as he walked. The apartment was decent for three people where he shared a room with Furlan while Isabel had her own room.

And the rent was just around 10,000 pesos and he paid for only a quarter since he took care of the buying the cleaning supplies. Moreover, Isabel and Furlan had better paying jobs unlike him.

Upon arriving at the doorstep, he fumbled in his pockets for his keys. However, the door slammed open before he even got the key.

He was met with a bright red-haired woman that had a very big, annoying smile. And he sighed. Again.

Where was peace when he needed it?

--

The day was great. She had gotten an A from not one but two of Sir Levi's essays, breaking through forever B plus she was in for the past month. Two months had gone by since she worked there and she was already flowing through the customers with the fake, yet somehow realistic kind smile on her face.

She barely dealt with annoying and rude customers.

However, she was still stuck on what topic to go with for her thesis. She hummed as she washed the glasses. She can go with ecosystem of the Philippines or the lack of discipline of Filipinos, yet it just didn't sit well. Even if it wasn't common, it wasn't the topic she wanted to present to Headmaster Pixis.

(F/n) clicked her tongue twice at the thought. Well, she has the rest of the school year to figure that out. She has fourteen months to do it, so no pressure. Probably.

Most likely.

She shrugged.

"And, and, and this poor guy was screaming for his life when he was just a few feet above the ground!" An energetic, booming feminine voice shouted from behind her. Oh, lucky, another positive glowing customer.

She needed that.

There was no sarcasm hinted whatsoever. She really needed a very gleeful customer right now.

"Let me guess… you accidentally let go of the rope?" Another voice sounded, presumably answering the energetic one. They sounded right over the counter. (F/n) looked over at Gunther and rolled her eyes seeing he was flirting with the waitresses again.

Well, it's on her if he was busy.

"Tsk. It's filthy here." All of her hair stood at end hearing the cold and blunt tone of someone she knew all too well. "Why did you bring me again?"

(F/n) stifled the loud gulp that she was about to do as she turned on her heel. Stay calm. Act natural. You're wearing a wig. You're wearing a wig, (F/n). And you're not (F/n). You're (U/n). (U/n). Just be your usual self.

You're not at school.

"Terrible day with a karen, huh?" The words flew out of her mouth before her mind even registered it. She bit her tongue while internally screaming bloody murder with all she could muster. Bullets of sweat flooded from the very tip of her head down to the soles of her foot.

Her teacher, Sir Levi Ackerman, glared at her. It brought (F/n) all the resting bitch face she's been practicing so as to not smile at him like she usually does. She gulped as his eyes narrowed dangerously. Yep, she's expelled. Oh, fuck it.

"No way---!" Their staring contest was cut off by the bright and energetic red head beside Sir Levi. "---are you psychic or something?"

"What the fuck?" She blurted out and scoffed. "Nah, it's just…he looks like he encountered a bullshitting lady who thinks she's the most important in the world." She whistled, a failed attempt by the way, and waved her hand.

Thankfully, the brown-haired man beside Sir Levi fell for it and laughed. "Oh, that's true! Your face does say that, Levi!"

(F/n) internally sighed and praised the heavens above from saving her from damnation.

The short man clicked his tongue and glared at her again. She felt her guard building up again when she realized…

She's not (F/n) (L/n). She's a bartender named (U/n) who is 27-years-old.

So, she grinned at the three of them and motioned over to the drinks behind her. "So, what can I get you, folks?"

Barely ten minutes in and both of Sir Levi's companions were drunk. (F/n) sweat dropped at the red-head who was clinging on the short man's side.

Sir Levi had drunk more than them and yet he didn't even have a red hue on his face whatsoever. She poured them another glass and his two companions downed it one go while Sir Levi took his time.

"Ungrateful! Ungrateful, I say!" The woman, she came to know was named Isabel, slurred out in a drunken shout. She raised her glass and slammed it on the counter. (F/n) scrunched up her nose at the sound. Fortunately, it was just hardened plastic made to look like glass.

"Second to that, Isabel!" The brown-haired man swung over his arm around Sir Levi's shoulders and gurgled loudly. "Levi is the best. The BEST teacher. And she said she's lying?!" (F/n) stifled a chuckle as the man named Furlan burped in Levi's ears.

"You find this amusing- you should see them knocked out." (F/n) jumped at the sarcastic voice of her teacher.

She took a deep breath and kept up the mantra in her head. She's not (F/n). Not (F/n). She can be herself and not the hard working, pleasing student.

She rolled her eyes and took the glass from the drunk woman before she could throw it off somewhere. "Seeing that they're not getting off of you means you take great care of them, huh?"

Sir Levi hummed, seemingly flowing along with her. Seeing her teacher like this acting all casual with her felt odd. It was like opening a chest to reveal another side of him. It was the same for her, but he didn't know who she was.

"They're making me drink to…" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "…feel 'free' or whatever." He finished the drink and tilted it over to her to pour, in which she did. His companions were still clinging to him, yet he acted as if nothing was on him.

"I doubt that. They're just finding an excuse to get all drunk and have a massive hangover in the next morning." She snickered.

Sir Levi raised a brow at her. "And how would you know?"

(F/n) smirked. "They're not forcing you to go all out."

He nodded and sipped his drink. "Point taken." He finally pushed Isabel off of his shoulder and she took refuge on the counter. "So, Mrs. Know-It-All, what are you doing as a bartender?"

She felt weirded out that he was continuing the conversation, but then she realized the people he'd have wanted to have a conversation with were down for count so this was understandable.

She raised one shoulder and quirked her lips. "It's Miss and that's not part of my payroll." She wiped a glass as she took a deep breath for the story she planned with her uncle for situations like this. "I'm just giving out drinks, getting money, and listening to the drunken banter of the customers. That's all I'm paid for."

He chuckled. "You're talking too much for someone who said that's not part of her payroll."

She looked at the ceiling then down back at him and shrugged. "Eh. I can say what I want, Sir Ac-" She coughed and turned around to arrange the glasses she had wiped. "If you're going to leave while my back is turned, I memorized your face and will report you three to the police."

It was stupid, but well, it was part of the 'employee' handbook guide she had to do. She was shocked when she first found out. Gunther looked dead while saying it so blankly now.

"You sound like you're reading off of a script."

It's still so weird for her to have a long conversation with Sir Levi, but she's not in school. He doesn't recognize her. And this was just a once in a while thing.

"It is. It gets exhausting saying it word for word." She turned back to find that he was by himself. She looked over at the stage to see that Isabel and Furlan had joined along the dancing. Usually it wasn't allowed, but only if it bothered the dancers.

They looked like they were having fun.

"Is this all you do? Work?" He tipped his glass towards her and she noticed the faintest hint of pink dotting his cheeks.

(F/n) pursed her lips and tightened her grip on the bottle in her hands. This was just casual talk. Casual talk. He does this to other people that aren't his students.

She shook her head as she poured another glass for him. "I work at night and rest as much as I can in the morning. I can't really attend a bar with no customers."

Sir Levi smirked. "Well, to each their own." He downed the drink and let out a heavy sigh.

He didn't talk after that and she didn't really care. Because at that moment, he wasn't her teacher and she wasn't his student. They were just strangers who met at the musty bar and just clicked into conversation.

Not only that…he looked like he was having the peace she could never see when they were at school. There was no question for that whatsoever.