Chapter Seven

Levi's POV

"What are you doing here, Petra?" I ask, manifesting a perplex look.

I was openly confused by her presence, prior to searching throughout the premises to see if Mikasa left for class. Of course, that must've been too much for me to wish for because I see her standing on the opposite side of the car, scowling at me with a cross between disdain and infuriated. I nod my head towards the direction of the school's entrance way, hoping that she will figure out my signal, then go inside for class on time.

To my dismay, she shakes her head in a stubborn manner, in the middle of the parking lot, standing tall and firm like a spoiled brat.

"I'm not leaving you." Mikasa declare loud and clear.

Becoming frustrated, I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath, before glowering back at her. "Quit being a brat and take your butt inside! That is an order," I command severely.

Mikasa stomps her right foot on the concrete ground, in addition to turning on her heel and facing directly in front of the school.

"Tch... midget." She grumbles under her breath before storming away.

"Hey! I heard that!" I yell out, while watching her disappear through the crowd. "Tch... teenager brat."

"Student of yours?" Petra questions curiously with a sense of knowing.

My steely grey eyes shifted to meet hers as I rub my sore temple again. "What of it? More importantly, what are you doing here?"

Huffing impatiently, Petra folds her arms over her chest and shakes her head. "Same old Levi..."she mumbles with a wistful smile. "I suspect Hange didn't tell you that I would be working here as the new school counselor starting today?"

With a derisive snort, I roll my eyes and look away momentarily. It seems like nothing surprises me anymore when it came to Hange. The women is a walking hot mess.

"It seems, four-eyes forgot to mention a lot of stuff to me lately... Like how you were supposed to meet up with us for drinks on Friday night," I refresh Petra's memory.

I made a mental note to give shitty glasses a piece of my mind, or better yet, the silent treatment.

Petra blushes slightly, while twiddling her fingers, nervously. "About that... I was quite nervous about seeing you again after our break-up a year ago... So, I backed out last minute."

I click my tongue and shake my head at her pathetic excuse. "What a shock... not only did you break up a 3 year relationship, you are acting like the one that got dumped first." I point out with disgrace at the tip of my tongue.

The cherry blond lifted her eyebrow at me and snorted with amusement. "For your information, I had a good reason for breaking up with you. You were neglectful the last 6 months of our relationship, plus we were arguing almost everyday... and when I asked you about marriage, you said, 'You wasn't sure... marriage is too far into the future to be considered...' that's when I figured there was no future between us, so why even bother..."

I close my eyes and sigh contentedly. "We were 20 years old in our final year of college, Petra. There was plenty of time to talk about us getting married in the future. I could barely take care of myself, but you wanted me to focus on you instead of focusing on making it through university first?"

"Not everyone has time to waste, Levi," she utters out passionately. "People that come from a wealthy families like mine have demands they have to meet by a certain age. My time is precious, okay?!"

"You act like you're the only one that came from a wealthy family," I began to remind her. "News flash, my father was born into a rich family... Remember? And my mother was his college sweetheart, who he got pregnant out of wedlock. After I was born into his family, my parents were forced to get married. When I was 5 years old, my father fell ill due to pneumonia . After he died, my grandparents kicked my mother out the house, forcing her to leave me alone with them for one year. Despite my mother not being qualified enough to meet my grandparents standards, she still came back to get me like she promised. Two years after that, the worst day of my life happened at the tender age of 9 years old. On that rainy night, my mother was hit by a bullet on our way home from the grocery store. The bullet wound pierced her arteries and she died on the way to the hospital that night. My uncle was called into the hospital, so he took me home and raised me as his own son. When I grew mature enough, I promised myself to avoid the same fate my father and mother met... I also wanted to finish college and fulfill my mother's dream of becoming an educator. Why is it so hard for you to understand why it's too soon for someone like me to get married so young," I question her.

Sighing, Petra rake her fingers through her hair when looking at me with pity. "I do understand, Levi. It's just that... my parents set high expectations and goals for me since I was a little girl... Marriage is a huge part of their plans. When I told them about what we were going through... and how you didn't want to get married, they proposed that I-"

Interrupting, I extend one of my arms towards her, with the palm of my hand facing out in front of her.

"I've heard enough... I am not dense." I say with sorrow.

My eyes tightening after hearing the confession that came out of her mouth.

"Is that the reason why you broke up with me and went on a date with another man? Because your parents told you to? Do you always do everything mommy and daddy tells you to do? Did you fulfill mommy and daddies wishes by marrying the snooty nose bastard," I interrogate curiously.

She peers up at me, the amber of her eyes dull and irresolute, while she fault back the tears that were threatening to fall down her cheeks. "That was a bit harsh... Don't you think?"

"Say what you want and I'll call it like I see it." I respond, while swinging my briefcase over my shoulder. "I never told you that I didn't want to get married, Petra... You did. First and foremost, you had no right to tell your parents about a private matter... I wasn't there to vouch for myself, so how could they possibly accept me as their son-in-law now, especially after everything you told them?"

Petra apologetically rubs the palms of her hands together, when presenting me with this expression that was full of regrets. "I was wrong, Levi. I'm sorry... Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me for everything?" She pleads with determination.

My eyes dart around the parking lot again before fixing them at my timepiece on my wrist. "I think we took up enough of each other's time." I mention, before looking back at her. "Class started a few minutes ago and I'm already late."

The cherry blond squints her eyes at me, while pushing back a couple strands of hair behind her head. "Oh yeah. I totally didn't keep track of the time.. Well, I hope you an I can look pass our differences some day and become friends in the future."

"Maybe, maybe not... Anyways, see you around in school." I bid her farewell with my hand in the air walk out of the teacher's parking lot.

"Levi..." shouts Petra.

I stop in my track, but didn't bother turning back around to face her directly.

"I'm not married," Petra admits. "The engagement was broken off a 3 months ago... I couldn't marry someone I didn't love... he wasn't you, okay?!"

Hearing her confess these words caused me to smile, slightly, as a cunning look came across my eyes. I had nothing else to say to her about the past, and continued to walk inside the school entrance, leaving her into a sea of emotions.

At least I know now that my love wasn't one-sided after all.

Mikasa's POV
Classroom 310-A

"Boy... our new homeroom teacher sure is late today." Connie points out rather loudly and smile with his arms stretching behind his head. "I hope he is late like this every day."

Sasha continuously taps her finger against her chin while glancing up at the ceiling in her thoughts. "I wonder what could be keeping him? He seem really strait-laced and a well put together guy."

Connie snorts. "You're only saying that because you think he is hot."

"I am not," Sasha retorts back. "Why do you care? You jelly(jealous)?"

"Tsk, as if!"

Armin hunched over his desk to whisper a question inside my ear from behind. "Psst... Mikasa. Didn't you and Ms. Ackerman drive here together?"

I nods my head in reply. "Yes.. if you're wondering where he is right now, he ran into some trouble inside the parking lot."

The blonde gapes in shock while hearing this assumption. "Trouble?! What kind of trouble?"

"A female chihuahua. In other words, his ex-girlfriend is in the building..." I reply with distaste in my mouth.

"So let me get this straight... Are you referring to the teacher's ex girlfriend as a female chihuahua?"

Tch, he should be thankful I didn't call her the B-word instead.

"That's right," I clarify, then continue to doodle inside my personal journal.

I wonder what is taking him so long... He wouldn't dare consider taking her back... Right?

'How do you know if a guy likes you?"

Despite my mind being occupied else where, I rub my face to try and get rid of the irritation lingering in my expression, then lets out a breath, feeling my annoyance melt away overtime. When the scowl no longer lingered on my face, I propped my chin over my folded arms on top of the desk and let my eyes flutter close, drifting off to sleep.

No POV

Not long after that, the homeroom teacher enters the classroom. "Good morning, class." Levi announces, glancing around the classroom to check and see if everyone was present today. Even as he walks over to his desk, he spotted a particular student resting her head down with her eyes closed, but didn't say nothing at first. Instead he sighs deeply, while placing his briefcase down and takes a seat on his desk chair. "Sorry to keep you all waiting," he express with regret. "I ran into a personal situation on the way here."

"It's alright, sir," Connie speaks up. "Sometimes, I make it a habit of not showing up to class on time myself."

"Yeah, me too. So take all the time you need getting here, sir." Sasha adds, nodding her head with approval.

Levi pauses with his hand on the draw and looks up rather puzzle by their reaction. Not long after that, he stood back up and walked around the table, picking up the chair along the way and placing it off to the side. While observing them, he leans back against the desk and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Is that so, Ms. Blouse and Mr. Springer? Well I hope you two don't purposely be late to my class, or else I will have to see the both in detention for a week." He declares, narrowing his eyes at them. "We don't want that, do we?"

They both incline their heads up and down at the same time. "No, sir."

"Good... Overall, I hope everyone had a good weekend and completed the homework assignment I assigned on Friday." Levi reminds them, while putting on his glasses. "A simple essay telling me about yourself isn't that complex, people... It was so easy, a 4 year old can write it."

Levi quirks a brow and glance around the room one when watching his students take their homework out of their backpack; all except one student of course. To his dismay, Mikasa was still fast asleep, with her back hunched over the desk and her face buried in between her arms. Levi forced on a unpleasant smiles and shook his head to himself, thoroughly. Letting Mikasa continue to sleep was a big mistake on his part, especially when he should've woke her up as soon as he walked inside the classroom. The 21 year old figured she'd hear his voice and wake up, automatically. Apparently, he was wrong for thinking this, especially since this wouldn't be the first time he caught her taking a nap at a inappropriate time or place.

The 5'2 teacher went over to her desk and stared down at her sleeping figure a bit longer. He proceeded to clear his throat and loosening his tie as he got ready to call her out by the surname she was born with, "Ms. Ackerman, wake up."

Still no answer.

Mikasa roused from her sleep after he gentle shakes her shoulder a few times, making her wake up and blink with confusion. She slowly sits up at the desk and looks at Levi hovering over her with a sheepish look.

"Hello, Levi..." Mikasa accidentally let slip out of her mouth.

The class grasp with shock at Mikasa casually calling their teacher by his first name in the middle of a section. Levi however burned with anger inside, but didn't let his face show how upset he was in front of the other students.

"Welcome back, ... Now that I gathered your full attention, I will see you in my classroom for detention this afternoon." Levi proclaim before walking back over to the chair by his desk.

Stunned, Mikasa leaps up from her seat and slams her palms on top of the desk. "You can't do that! Who do you think you are?!" She retorts, giving him a sheepish look.

He glance over his shoulder at her before taking a seat on the chair and crosses his leg over the other one, gracefully. "The last time I checked, I am your teacher... and I do whatever I want in my classroom. So please take a seat, you are disrupting the other students."

Levi withdraws from a now infuriated Mikasa, who clearly looks like she has been slapped across the face with a frying pan. Shortly after that, Mikasa turns to her peers in the classroom, their once cheerful faces were now replaced with horrifying stares every which way.

Mikasa's shoulder lowered with defeat as she gave her peers an openly downcast look. Levi embarrassed her in front of her classmate and friends without any attentions on doing so.

"A-hem, Ms. Ackerman..." He calls out from the front of the classroom.

The troubled teenager raises her head and glares at him, intentionally. He was still sitting on the chair with his legs casually crossed, wearing a pair of reading glasses on his handsome face.

"Please take your seat and pull out your homework assignment I told you to write over the weekend." He reminds her with his hand gesture out to take a seat.

Mikasa flares her nostrils as her teacher continuously urges her to sit down, in which she refuses to do. "Want to know what I think of you and your stupid assignment," she self-proclaimed before he could answer. "I think you're a # &%*! And not to mention you # &%*!..."

The entire class mouths dropped on top of the desk in awestruck. Armin's eyes bulge in the midst of it all. Furthermore, he accidentally drops his number 2 pencil on the floor and stares upwards at his best friend, completely dumbfounded by her improper use of profanity.

"Mikasa, are you insane? Apologize!" Armin whispers, lowly as possible.

Levi's face grew beyond blank. He knew that something inside Mikasa snapped, so he shook his head mentally and decided to ignore the comment.

"Are you finished?" He ask with patience and continue to stare at her.

The feeling of irritation overwhelmed Mikasa without her even knowing it herself. A sigh escapes her mouth as she tries to calm herself down before her anxiety could kick in further. "Yes, I'm done."

"Good... now go to the principle office and don't come back until you apologize to me and your classmates for your carelessness," Levi commands.

Mikasa looks up at him straight in the eyes. Not only was Levi, her teacher, guardian, mentor and friend, she considers him to be someone very dear to her. In the short time they've known each other, Mikasa develop a fondness for Levi. It was quiet clear by now that she caught a crush on him, but right now, she wanted to kick the heck out of the little man in both his kneecaps. It wasn't like she could do much damage to his limps anyways. Levi is already short.

"Fine, I'm going!"

She threw her backpack over her shoulder and exit out of the classroom, quickly.

Mikasa's POV

"Stupid, chibi!" I grit through my teeth and kick one of the lockers, aggressively as I walk to the main office. "I can't believe he embarrassed me like that... this is all that damn chihuahua's fault!"

"O.K... who is the chibi and how is it all the chihuahua's fault?"

Hesitantly, I stop in track and turn around to find Eren standing there, staring at me with revealing concern.

"Eren... it's you!" I exclaim, but changed my expression once I remembered that we weren't on good terms right now. "What are you doing here?"

Eren sighs deeply. "I should be asking you the same thing."

I hold my head up high and smirk at him. "Hmm... I am taking a walk if you must know."

He snorts at me, while the corner of his lip pulls into a smile. "What a coincidence. I'm doing the same thing."

I raise a eyebrow at him curiously. "Why? If class already started?"

Eren huffs softly and rolls his eyes at me. "I'm sorry, but aren't you supposed to be in class too?"

Crossing my arms over my chest, I look away in the opposite directing, avoiding eye contact willfully. "Ha! You and I are not the same," I retort back. "To be honest, I was sent to the principle's office for bad mouthing the teacher."

Hearing this, Eren begins to laugh and points his index finger at me like a child. "Oh my god, YOU? Miss Goody Goody who never bad mouths anybody and always gets good grades in all her classes? That's the funniest joke, if I ever heard it."

An frown crept on my face as he continues to laugh at me alone. "FYI... I only bad mouth the teacher because he allows me to express myself freely whenever I want. Plus, he only sent me to the principal's office to cool off... You see, Yeager... me and him share something special."

Eren furrows his eyebrows, giving me a serious look now. "Mikasa, what are you talking about?" He asks, bemused.

Feeling like I got a rise out of him, I proceed to taunt him some more, because he upset me on Saturday. "I thought your parents told you... Remember that guy that I told you was the nephew of the relative I am living with now?" I refresh his memory.

His eyebrow raises with curiosity. "Yeah... what about him?"

"Well that nephew is also my new homeroom teacher... and we've gotten very close over the weekend," I confess with a smiling clouding my anger.

After all those years of crushing on Eren, as he carried on with his life by ignoring my feelings, I was starting to recognize the voice within me, that wanted to be heard by everyone I care about. I also want him to know how it feels to harbor a one-sided love I felt for many years. In additionally, how awesome would it be to have my first love pine over me? Text or call my phone every time he misses me... what girl wouldn't want another guy jumping to their rescue every time she gets herself into some trouble? Furthermore, I want him to perceive the pain of knowing how I felt about him and not do anything about it.

Four years ago, I found out that my love for Eren wasn't one-sided because he had a crush on me too back when we were in middle school. The sad part was, he knew that I had a crush on him and did nothing about it.

On Saturday morning I was reminded about the truth from four years ago. I knew that Eren was going to confess his feelings for me, but then he heard Levi's voice over the phone and decided to not tell me. Maybe I shouldn't have picked up the phone at the time, but I didn't want Levi to worry about me. For the first time in my life since I met him, I felt protected, especially since he didn't question me about my state of mind. He also didn't judge me or threat me like a child, instead he put his trust in me, for whatever reason. So how could I possibly ignore that man's calls?

The more that I think about it... How could I embarrass Levi in front of the whole class when he was only doing his job? It's only the his second day as my teacher and I already broke a promise to him. I feel terrible now.

"His nephew is your homeroom teacher?" Eren shouts out in utter shock. "How could he possibly be your homeroom teacher and you told me yourself that he was only 21 years old? Plus he looks too dangerous to be a school teacher, even if I only got a glimpse of him."

I glance upwards at Eren, clearly picking up on his pointed tone and clench my fist tightly. "Levi is not dangerous! You know nothing about him. Besides, plenty of people graduate college at age 21... Levi told me himself that he skipped a grade because he is very smart, despite being a troubled child. You should take a few lessons from him, education is important!"

"Are you saying, he is better than me?!" Eren yells, before closing off the distance between us.

"If the shoe fits DAMMIT, then wear it!" I grit through my teeth angrily, as we scowl at each other.

"See, Petra... this is a prime example of how nature it is for two people that care for each other, don't always see eye to eye." Hange spoke, shortly after she entered the hallway with Levi's ex girlfriend.

Hange was in the middle of showing Petra around the campus at the time, when she spotted Eren and I in the middle of an arguing; I was supposed to be going to her office to cool off, but instead, she found me at the worst time.

"These two have been best friend since they were in grade school, they are practically love birds," Hange whispers in Petra's ear.

Eren and I blush at the same exact time while turning away from each other to face them.

"Good morning, principle Zoë... what brings you here," I ask politely.

Did I mention that principal Zoë is one of my favorite teachers at this school? She's the true definition of the reason why girls rock. I inspire to become a principle like her some day.

"That's the funniest thing, Mikasa." Hange says with a carefree smile, while averting her eye back and forth at me and Eren. "I was just about to ask you two the same thing? Why aren't you both in class right now, hmm?"

Eren stretch his arm behind his head and rubs the nape of his neck. "I needed to use the restroom."

"And I was sent to your office by the teacher to reflex on actions and calm down," I admit, awkwardly.

Hange eyes widen once she heard this confession. "You got into an argument with Levi?" She questions me, while caressing her chin. "I thought you two would work great together in the same classroom setting, especially since you both are similar in many ways and share the same last name ."

Something in Petra's eyes lit up when she hears this new information.

"He's one of my guardians, Principle Zoë... I thought you knew that already," I inform her.

"Of course I do! Levi confirmed this information with me over the weekend," She states. "I think it's wonderful news, and Lil man can use a feminine touch around the house... Anyways, why exactly were you sent to my office?"

Lowering my head, I proceed to mumble under my breath, "I was using profanity while insulting him in class..."

Hange gasp for air while choking on her own saliva. "And you're still alive?!" Hange coughs out, before Petra starts patting her on the back. "He would've hunt me down until the end of the universe if I did that."

"I guess I got a tiny bit carried away," I admit with my head down.

Suddenly, Petra clears her throat for her presence to be known. Hange gaze over to her once it came to her that she hasn't introduced the new school counselor yet.

"Oh right!" Hange gasp. "Mikasa and Eren, this is Petra Ral, our new school counselor. She will assist you guys with whatever counseling is needed."

Petra smiles at Hange before averting her eyes at us. "Thank you Principle Hange, and it's nice to meet you both. Come to my office if you need to talk about anything."

"Can I come to your office sometime this afternoon" ask Eren.

"Of course you can, Eren." Petra replies. "Come to my office after lunch... and you Mikasa, I will like to have a word with you in my office now. If that is okay with you?"

"Sure... I guess." I mumble under my breath.

I rather die...

Hange claps her hands together. "Perfect! Your first student! I will be going back to my own office now, so you two have fun! Come along, Eren."

Hange turns in the opposite direction of the hallway and drags Eren by his collar through the hall with her.

"But, Principle Zoë! I still haven't used the little boy's room yet," Eren cries out.

"Should of thought about that before stopping in my corridors to flirt," Hange retorts back.

Eren coughs in shock at this assumption. "But I wasn't flirting!"

"I'm sure... tell that to the judge!"

"Step in my office, Mikasa," Petra speaks in the soft tone to me , as she opens the door to her new office.

I slowly walk inside her new refurbish office and stood by the chair in front of your desk.

"Have a seat, Ms. Mikasa," Petra encourage with her hand gesture out. "I insist."

"Excuse me, but why do you keep calling my name so casually? Isn't it more proper to call the student by her last name," I ask.

"That's up to you, Mikasa. Do you want me to call you by your last name?" She questions me back. "I though, maybe since you share the same last name as Levi, then it would be weird for you."

I shakes my head right away. "Never. Ackerman was my fathers last name and I love my father with all my heart. It would be morally wrong if I didn't approve of my last name, especially since he and my mom passed away."

Sorry for you loss." She says to me, sincerely. "Are you comfortable with talking about your parents with me? I know we only met recently in the parking lot."

I take my seat one of the chairs and stare at her directly in the eyes. "Fine, I will talk about my parents if you tell me why you took a job position at this exact location."

Petra chuckles slightly to herself and smiles. "Because... I needed a job and the position was open. So my good friend Hange from college put me on with the position. Anything else you'd like to ask."

Furthermore, I squint my eyes at her suspiciously. "Are you sure that you didn't take the position to get back with your college sweetheart."

Hearing me say this, caused Petra to laugh. "No offense, Ms. Ackerman... But aren't these questions a little too personal? Nevertheless, how is my and Levi's past relationship any of your concern?"

"Because I don't want him to get hurt again," I admit boldly.

The room went silent.

"This is the only thing I can do for him," I tell her with a gentle smile. "Especially after everything he has done for me in the last 4 days. I know it hasn't been long, but I care for him, a lot. He means a lot to me."

"He means a lot to me too," Petra declares. "Not having him around for a year was horrifying. I couldn't even concentrate with picking out a outfit without having him appear in front of me. I also had these illusion about him for months and how he would always help me zip up the back of my dress or how he used to help me wash my hair when I couldn't do it properly myself. He was just the perfect definition of a boyfriend and best friend... and I let him go because of a stupid situation that could've been talked out between us. I messed up with him, big time. He won't even consider us being friends. I just wanted be in his presences. His that too much to ask for? She says, wiping away some of the tears fall from her eyes. "My god! I messing up my Mascara, aren't I?

"It seems to me like there was some miscommunication between us," I say, gesturing my hand out to her. "My name is Mikasa Ackerman... and you are?"

Petra takes my hand in hers and shakes it. "Petra Ral, it's nice to meet you, Mikasa."

Giggles.

A/N: Thanks for reading guys. Sorry it took so long. I had more than half a chapter done but couldn't come up with a ending to the chapter. I decided not to make Petra the villain in this story. Besides I know women get tired of fighting with each other over a guy. Anyway, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter and I will be back soon.