Levi deeply regretted being the head of the history department, sometimes.
Well, the fact was he adored history. He adored teaching Euro-history, he adored seeing students chuckle at small jokes he'd slip into the lecture, he just adored the subject overall. Despite the fact he was teaching an AP level course, he was frankly okay with the small amount of students he taught with every class period. There was never more than nineteen, and although he was strict, the students always ended up getting along with him.
That was okay, until Erwin went and let Pixis retire and had to hire a new WHAP teacher.
And the little shit could not be any more irritating than what he has experienced.
Levi thought he must have the patience of a damn saint, because just a month into the school year and he was completely fed up with Eren Jaeger's antics. First it was the recognition of Levi, because apparently Levi had been a student teacher back during Eren's senior year of high school. He'd decided to take EHAP to get another college credit, plus, the class was a good mix of eleventh to twelfth graders anyways. He was only the student teacher for maybe five months at most, but Eren must have recalled the same look in his eyes he still held five years ago.
So, upon first meeting the brat the wide eyes set upon Eren's pretty little face, and his mouth dropped right open at the sight of the man who was still short as ever. He struggled for words in the moment, before Levi simply scoffed and told him to spit it out.
"Do you not remember me?" The brunet asked, with his hair messy as ever and shirt surprisingly neat. His dress pants were straight and held up by a simple black leather belt.
"I've taught for five years almost, I've seen a lot of faces," Levi placed his hands on his hips, raising the thin black eyebrows.
"You were a student teacher during my senior year of high school. You worked with Mr. Smith, actually. I'm surprised he remembered me, seeing as I was loud and still really short-tempered back then," The younger rambled, deciding to leave 'And you're still short' out.
That began a cycle. Eren had a lot of questions, trying to get used to teaching, and Levi felt as though Eren was still a high school student. He became more irritable every time Eren entered before knocking, coming in with more and more stupid questions, until about halfway through the first month they finally died down.
"I'm sorry for asking so much, I was just really nervous since I know how students can be. Sophomores especially, but seriously, thank you for putting up with it," He smiled, handing Levi a coffee early one morning before the first period.
He had noticed though, the teacher was becoming more acquainted with the staff. He'd learn the Aquatic Sciences teacher, Armin Arlert, had been friends with Eren for many years. Him and Mikasa Ackerman were even adoptive siblings, but kept that under the wraps so Erwin wouldn't get too up in arms about the two working together. It didn't take long for Hanji, Levi's closest and dearest friend, to become attached to the new teacher. When she was teaching of certain reactions and almost burned Eren, he just laughed it off and said it was okay.
On the morning of September 27th, though, his students brought up an interesting dynamic. Although it was always advised not to become friends with his students, he still at least tried to seem somewhat approachable to them, but kept a strict demeanor with work and tests. He was wrapping up the unit on the renaissance in Europe, drawing a diagram on the board. Although it was a Friday, he still wanted them to at least have them study since he knew they wouldn't over the weekend.
"And with Art came wealth, which is exactly what the Italians had at the time of the renaissance," Levi wrote the summary next to Italy on the board, cursive neat as always.
Familiar footsteps came down the hallways, but instead of hearing the tap of converse on wooden floor and the dangling of a wallet chain and car keys, as it was casual Friday, he was introduced to the sound of Vans shoes running to his door and letting it fly open.
"Levi!" A masculine, yet soft voice filled the room and Levi rolled his eyes. He turned to find a woman wearing her usual thick-rimmed glasses, and her hair tied back in a messy attempt of a ponytail. She wore regular blue jeans and a shirt reading 'I wear this shirt periodically.'
"Hanji, please knock. You're picking up Jaeger's habits. What the hell do you need?" He sighed, looking at her with tired eyes.
"I was just wondering if you'd like to come to my place later? A few others are coming along too, we're just gonna hang out," She offered, leaning against the doorway. She had the look of an adult skater, and it was no doubt she was. Hanji had a penny board, two long boards, and three regular skateboards. She designed them herself, always able to ride after school or on the weekends. A few students even saw her sometimes, laughing with she waved and high fived them as she wheeled by.
"Yeah, sure, fine. Go back to your planning period," Levi shooed her out, shutting the door. A few students giggled and he raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the students tapping their pencils on the notebooks.
Sure, the students had gotten used to antics between Levi, Hanji, Erwin, and Eren. Erwin occasionally came in to joke with him, Hanji always came to just talk, and Eren either had questions or was asking if he'd wanted to do something after work.
A senior girl, Ymir, piped up to add her own opinion to the conversation, "Mr. Rivaille, you always say 'Eren this, Eren that' and act like he's the most annoying person ever. Why do you talk about him so much if you hate him?" She was rather loud in attitude, not afraid to speak up when needed. She had a lot to add with conversations.
Levi scrunched his nose up a bit, lips forming into a bit more of a frown. He tilted his chin upwards a bit more, and clicked his tongue. "Well, I don't hate him. I don't even dislike him," he capped the long forgotten Expo marker, setting it down and standing out of the way of the board so the students can continue to copy information. "Eren still acts like a teenager, despite being twenty four? Twenty five? And it makes it easier for you all to relate to him, but sometimes I'm just a bit irritated."
He should have known the glance in the student's eyes, when they all giggled and looked at each other.
He should have also known that Hanji would invite him, Erwin, and Eren.
Levi swirled his drink a bit, just a mix of Jack Daniels and a coke. At school he was always forced to give the whole alcohol and drugs are bad for you speech, but the occasional drink never hurt him. He never was very heavy on it, never found a reason to. Eren and Hanji were talking excitedly, about his time as a teacher and what it'll be like for Homecoming week, winter formal, more and more that the school offers.
"Say, Eren, what club would you sponsor?" She asked, leaning on her elbow. Oh God, was Hanji doing a poor attempt at flirting?
"I've asked Erwin if I could have the origami club, a few kids actually asked me for one. Mikasa taught me how when we were nine, so it kinda stuck with me. She occasionally joins in, but I've still got jars and jars of the lucky stars," Eren smiled, fondly remembering the amount of paper he's managed to waste over years.
"Oh sweet! I host the anime club, Levi is a stick in the mud and refuses to do anything. You and him should do something together, maybe the social studies club?" She suggested.
"You forget that the club is already sponsored," Levi chimed in with a sing-song tone, taking a swig from the glass.
Eren shot a glance in Levi's direction, taking a shot of Jaeger from his glass. There was something in the expression of his face, Levi couldn't exactly pinpoint it. But the small wrinkles near his lips and the slight furrow of his brows indicated that something was not settling right with him. Grey eyes looked sorry for a moment, before turning back and discussing the subject with Hanji.
They all decided to play a few rounds of video games for a while, Hanji obviously dominating. She'd learned the ways of Tekken by age fourteen, and by age seventeen she was competing in gaming tournaments. She still competed every now and then, mainly during summer or when she had vacation time. Levi would almost always go see her too, for moral support.
Eren whined at the constant defeats, suggesting they switched to something like Mario Party. That in itself was an awful decision, because with Levi and Hanji on a team and Erwin and Eren against the two, it was almost unfair. Midway through the first game, Hanji switched to team with Erwin and Levi with Eren, significantly improving his game. The teal-eyed man was having fun, high fiving Levi when they won the game overall. Hanji threw the controller at Levi, accusing him of cheating, to which he promptly decided she had too many drinks and said they should just watch a movie instead. Erwin picked on Pacific Rim, and they all sat down with drinks in hand, lounging and joking around about the movie.
The shorter teacher left around one that morning, kissing Hanji's forehead and giving Erwin a hug. Eren and he simply exchanged nods, and Levi left the apartment, beginning the ten minute walk to his apartment. He knew better than to drink and drive, and God forbid he just walk a few minutes to get to the condo. Thoughts were a little blurry at that point, but there's something in the way Eren looks at him that sets down an uneasy feeling.
The Monday after that was long and tiring, and Levi ended up having to push the test back a few days since he'd forgotten the Marching Band would be out that day. The students were relieved, and he'd just decided to let them have a study hall to speak quietly or actually utilize the time to study.
"Mr. Rivaille?" Jean piped up, chewing his gum and having one headphone in.
"Yeah?" Levi pushed his reading glasses up his nose, looking at the senior with an odd dye job.
"How was your Friday night? Anything crazy happen?" He asked, and Marco rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the question.
"Hanji beat us at Mario Kart and Tekken. There's never much more to us hanging out," He reached for the coffee, taking a sip and sighing. The book was set down, open to its place and ready to be picked up when needed again.
"Oh? So nothing else happened? Not even with a certain AP teacher?" Ymir chimed in, swirling the coffee in her thermos. Levi scoffed at their prying questions, rolling his eyes at the teenagers.
"I'm sorry, but do you not remember Friday and what I said? Eren and I have nothing going on, and we never will."
"Do you not see how he looks at you?" Jean asked.
"He looks at me like how he looks at everyone else," Levi countered.
"No, he gets this glint in his eye when he's near you. Like, the world just seems brighter, maybe he just wants to be friends?" Christa added in, smiling and braiding her hair. It was habit for Christa to play with her hair, Levi has come to observe.
"Maybe, Christa," He chuckled a little, picking up the book and going back to reading. "Maybe we'll just see how things go."