Erwin fixed his eyes on the second hand of his luxury wristwatch as it moved in a precise rhythm. Just a few ticks from now and it would exactly be 08:00 AM. He had been standing in front of the precinct's building for almost a quarter of an hour, patiently waiting for his junior to arrive. As soon as the minute hand struck 12, he heard the screeching sound of car brakes followed by a gentle purring of an idle engine. Erwin knocked on the door of an old sedan that pulled over in front of him. The glowering face of Levi Ackerman appeared by the window.

"We are leaving for another location." The blond man told him before going over to the other side and settling himself on the passenger's seat. Levi scowled even more. When his senior partner asked him to render overtime this Saturday, he didn't specify that he's going to work as his personal chauffer. Erwin was oblivious to his driver's death glares because he was too busy adjusting the seat to make room for his long legs. As soon as he was satisfied with the additional space, he pulled down the vanity mirror to check for any wayward strands of hair from his perfectly gelled head.

"Where to, Your Highness?" Levi mumbled the last two words so Bushy Brows could not hear them.

"To the Paradis Police Academy (PPA)."

We are going to the Open House?!

Levi gritted his teeth. Great just great. Bushy Brows manipulated him into attending an event where Four Eyes would be delivering a speech that he had heard for about a hundred times already. If he wanted to support her then he could have just gone there alone. Why drag him on a Saturday morning? He knew that listening to Four Eyes was just the tip of the iceberg. His bigger problem was that he would be mingling with his former classmates, teachers, and school staff who would probably deny their affiliation to him if they were to be asked about it. After all, he made quite a reputation as their second worst alumni. Their most f*cked up graduate was even related to him.

This is gonna be a long day.

He sighed.

"Oi, look who dropped by. It's THE Erwin Smith himself!" A tall blond man with a thin mustache stood up to greet the pair of newly-arrived detectives by the registration table.

"Nice to see you again, Hannes." Erwin took his hand and shook it.

"The academy misses you. You know... the number of female applicants dwindled when you stopped your part-time teaching stint with us."

Erwin chuckled. "I miss the academy, too, Hannes. I believe you have met my junior partner, Levi when he was a student here?"

"Ackerman, yes. Welcome back to the payroll, kid."

Levi gave him a curt smile. So even the entire academy knew that he almost got kicked out of the police force.

"Well, enjoy the event! I'm looking forward to what 139 has prepared for the audience later." Hannes patted Erwin's shoulder and proceeded to accommodate a pair of wide-eyed youngsters who had just arrived.

"Petra, did you see who went before us? That's Erwin Smith!" The teenage boy with curly light brown hair shook the shoulders of his female companion who was hunched over the registration table.

"Stop drooling on my hair, Oluo!" She told him off as she signed the form. "We are not here to fangirl over famous detectives. We're here to support Eld and Gunther in their school event, remember?"

"Pfft. Loosen up, Petra. Those two are too busy with their volunteer work, they would not even have the time to look for us among the guests. I'm going to approach Erwin Smith now and ask for a picture and you can't stop me!" Oluo marched towards the small crowd that had formed around the famous detective.

Levi noticed that the hall was getting quickly filled up as the minutes passed. He was astounded that the open house would actually draw flocks of potential student applicants who were aiming to start a career in the police force. Becoming an officer was no easy feat. HQ required all job applicants to be four-year course graduates. It's either they earn a degree from a civilian university then take the one year police training course at the PPA OR they earn a degree from PPA itself which already included the police training course in its curriculum. The academy's being run by public funds which meant the tuition's free. However, it's hard to get into its degree program because an applicant had to pass numerous background checks, IQ, psychological and physical ability tests, and must belong to the top 10% of their high school batch. Basically, anyone who entered the academy as a freshman was a scholar of the people of Paradis City. Levi was lucky to be one of them despite his family relations. Most of the applicants would just go by the first route. That's why booths from partner universities had been set up in the hall along with booths by private companies offering scholarships and part-time jobs. It was really surprising for Levi to find young people who were interested to join the police force in spite of the rigid requirements. They had their own personal motivations or maybe they just want to see Detective Erwin Smith and his perfect smile.

Levi grumbled to himself as he was handed one camera phone after another. He had been serving as a photographer for Bushy Brows and his young fans for what seemed like an eternity. They just never stopped coming. One teenage boy was so starstruck that he stood like a frozen ice statue next to his idol.

"Oi, are you not joining your friend there?" He irritably asked the boy's female companion. "It's better if I take your picture in one shot. More people are waiting in line."

The girl's cheeks turned pink as she stared at the annoyed face of the junior detective before her. She found him cute despite his perpetual angry look.

"Come Petra! Hurry up!" Oluo got to his senses and pulled his friend towards him. They stood on each side of the famed detective, curved their lips into big smiles, and raised their thumbs.

"Okay, say shiiiiiiiit!" Levi clicked on the camera phone and returned it to the curly-haired boy.

Someone announced over the PA that the program would be starting soon and everybody was asked to take his seat. Levi was relieved when Erwin's fan club was dispersed by the student volunteers. He finally got his peace back.

"Eld! Gunther!" Petra waved at her friends when they came over to do crowd control.

"Hey, thanks for coming! Listen to the speakers well so you can decide which course to take in the future." Eld suggested as he ushered them to their seats.

"Oh come on, Eld. We're only 16. We have two more years to think about it." Oluo groaned at being pressured by his older friend. The four of them had sworn to become detectives when they were children. Eld and Gunther were only three and a half years away from fulfilling their dreams and they expected their younger friends to enroll in the academy in due time.

"Do you guys know who is that with Erwin Smith?" Petra asked.

Gunther glanced at the short grumpy young man sulking beside the famous detective at the back of the hall. "Not sure. Maybe his personal assistant? I haven't seen his partner, Mike Zacharias around."

"Ohhh, let me know if you spot him. I would love to have a picture with him, too!" Oluo excitedly said.

Levi flexed his fingers as he leaned on the wall. He never knew holding and clicking phones repeatedly was such an exhausting task. Bushy Brows made him his personal assistant for a day and Levi swore that he would never ever do overtime work with him again. Suddenly, a man in a hoodie wearing dark sunglasses and jeans appeared by his side and fell in line with them at the back of the hall.

"I came prepared." Mike lowered his sunglasses and winked. "When the academy announced that 139 is hosting I expected people to come here to catch a glimpse of Erwin and me, the famous detective duo. Sorry, kid. The whole of Paradis doesn't know of our break up yet. Shoot, that did not come out right. Anyway, I never really liked being in the limelight thus, the disguise."

"Yeah, I did not recognize you at all." Levi remarked sarcastically. "What are you really doing here, Mike?"

"I drove Hange here. Erwin's car is still at the mechanic so I'm the next available person aside from you, of course. Erwin doesn't want you to know where her house is." The blond man whispered the last statement to him.

"Where's Hange, Mike?" Erwin pretended that he was not listening to their conversation.

"Oh, you did not see her? I bet you did not recognize her. We dropped by Nanaba's house first before coming here. Hange looked like shit so I had to seek Nanaba's help in order to make her presentable. There she is by the front row where the other speakers and admission directors of the different universities are."

Levi followed Mike's pointing finger with his eyes. As if she had sensed them gazing at her from behind, Hange turned her head and waved at them. She was wearing a plum-colored power suit with a white inner shirt. Her hair was tied up in a half ponytail and she probably had some makeup on. Levi wasn't sure if he liked it more but she looked... different. The man sitting next to her noticed the scientist waving at her friends at the back. Out of curiosity, he turned his head to look.

It was Nicholas Lovof, Levi's second most despised person in the world after Kenny.