-

Levi was genuinely stumped. He had no idea where to go from here and now, here he was, back in his office, where he'd rushed to go get his demon 'manual' of sorts, as Onyankopon called it, the moment he got back to the Scouts Foundation, taking it out of the cabinet he had hid in it, haphazardly putting in the code, and then not even waiting to sit down before he started to flip through it for anything that could help him get out this and find a solution.

After that disastrous attempt of trying to complete the deal with the wrestler, feeling more fed up with this situation than ever, he decided to go back to his office.

He could no longer ignore the situation he was in or try to find the silver lining of things, because whether he liked it or not, his fate relied on you and it was getting harder and harder for him to leave his pride aside and just try to continue to get you to reason.

That experience with those wrestlers just proved that he couldn't do his job like he used to anymore because he didn't have his powers, and it wouldn't be any different with anyone else he has to complete deals with sooner or later.

As Levi continued to flip quickly along the pages and panic began to fill his veins, that he could no longer keep at bay, he was getting more and more horrified when he saw that he was nearing the end of the book with each page he turned and he still couldn't find anything that could help him.

This couldn't be happening. This book was his last resort to try to fix this issue on his own, but things were looking further and further away from that possibility. Levi wasn't one to panic, but because he's never had to.

Now all he could think about was how things were going to be from here on out. But he truly felt what it was like for his face to drain of color when he turned the last page and he was frozen on the spot, with the book open.

It was truly a dead end. If this book didn't help him, he didn't know what would. He knew exactly what would happen to him if this didn't get resolved.

He couldn't move a muscle as he continued to stare down at the other end of his book. His hair had fallen in front of his face and lightly fanned over his eyes as his breathing became heavy and uneven.

He really didn't want to admit any of this was happening. When did it all go wrong? 200 years have passed and nothing in his lifetime has even come close to this that has caused him to be so out of sorts. He really didn't get it.

Was he being punished for something? If so, how could he possibly make up for it? He needed to make things right but racking back through his mind clearly wasn't working.

The only thing that hinted at what could have made him lose his powers like that was the incident the night before. But even that seemed blurry to him. Nothing could help him connect the dots.

Knowing words or more pages would appear magically at the end of the book, Levi groaned and shut the book loudly as he leaned back in his chair as he put an arm over his face and swallowed hard. He needed to get it together.

This book couldn't be all there is to this. He refused to believe it. This is the way Levi has lived for years and it couldn't just change like that.

There had to be some sort of loophole that he wasn't aware of yet. But the thing is that he couldn't take his time with this. The clock was running and even if his distress might be because of the heat of the moment and he felt like he was losing all perspective, he just couldn't think straight and even if he found the simplest of clues, that would be enough to put him at ease. He doesn't recall a time where he's lost control like this, and he didn't like it.

Levi remained leaned back in his chair, dropping his arm from his face, but still kept his head leaned back with his eyes closed. What was he supposed to do?

There were no mentions in that damn book about tattoo's getting transferred, or much less, how to get them back. His mind continued to go back and forth, over and over, through every possibility but that only made his head spin and hurt even more. Why wouldn't you cooperate?

Levi's eyebrows pinched and he raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh. He needed to pull himself together or he wouldn't get anywhere with this.

But then a thought occurred to him. Levi's eyes went wide as he sat up from his chair and reached for his phone on his desk. He grabbed it quickly, opened it, unlocked it, and quickly began looking through his contacts. This was his last shot.

Albeit, even if this option would take the slightest bit longer, it was truly better than nothing, and Levi had everything on the line, He'd remembered having asked Onyankopon to research anything he could about you, and if he knew a little more about you, maybe there could be a way that Levi could sway and convince you to help him. He'd tried doing it alone and his way, which didn't work at all, so now this is what he was counting on.

Levi quickly stumbled upon his assistant's contact on his phone, and did not waste a second to press the button that immediately started calling his assistant's number. Levi raised his phone and pressed his phone to his ear as he felt like his heart was going miles per hour and racing against his chest.

Two of his fingers drummed against his desk as he continued to wait for the other line to pick up and all he heard was a series of dial tones that made only one of his feet on the ground began to bounce rapidly.

Before Levi felt like his heart would beat out of his chest, he finally felt the other line pickup and soon, he heard Onyankopon's voice. "Hey, Levi! What's up?" Onyankopon said, clearly in a good mood. Levi's drumming of his fingers on the desk subsided and so did the bouncing of his leg. He really needed to calm down. He decided he would go straight to the point.

"Hey, did you get to look into the woman I told you about? Anything at all?" Levi asked, and he heard a hum on the other end from his assistant. Levi was just relieved to hear Onyankopon's next words.

"Oh, yeah! I did. I didn't know if you were back in your office yet, so I waited," Onyankopon said, and Levi realized that if his assistant was still in the building, there couldn't be a better time to do this than now. Levi leaned back in his chair and ran a hand back through his hair, then letting it go as strands fell onto his face again.

"Well, get over here, then," Levi grumbled, earning a chuckle from Onyankopon on the other line. He didn't expect anything less from his boss.

"Yes, Levi. Right away," He said, and quickly hung up the phone, leaving a couple seconds of silence for Levi to do nothing but try to process all of this a bit better and wait for his assistant.

Now that the call ended, Levi pulled his phone away from his ear and put it back on his desk, leaning his head back on his seat as he closed his eyes, trying to pick himself back up.

Whatever this situation was, he didn't want to let it allow him to continue to think and act as irrationally as he did. That situation with the wrestler was a real eye opener.

All he could think about before was the worst case scenario and it felt like his world was crumbling. Now, after realizing he needed to go about this another way if he wanted it to work, his mind was cleared.

This information about you that Onyankopon had was his last shot at trying to find any leads that could get you to help him. He knew you weren't his favorite person either, and you had no reason to like him or help him, but hopefully he could get some intel that would be just enough.

Levi knew that you would probably think that in return of helping him, if you agreed, and you would most likely want retribution and something on your end of the deal to make it even and you wouldn't just be lending him your time when you barely knew him and clearly didn't like him. The feeling was mutual, though, which made this that much harder.

You also seem like you don't have your schedule wide open either, so that was going to be an issue. A chip is all he needs to get you to help, even if you had no reason to. What could he possibly say? He'd also have to reveal what he is exactly, which would be another pain in and of itself.

God, why was this so hard? His head was spinning, but he couldn't let himself get carried away again. Now, all he needed to do was wait for Onyankopon and hear what he found out about you.

Levi crossed his arms over his body and continued to remain leaned back in his chair. He couldn't stop his mind from going to the worst possible cases and that's what's driving him nuts. He wished he had more time but he knows he doesn't.

A couple seconds after having his surroundings riddled with silence, while simultaneously hearing nothing more than thousands of thoughts running through his mind, he heard the front door to his office open.

One of his eyes opened and he saw that Onyankopon was closing the door and quickly making his way around the room. Levi quickly straightened up in his seat.

"Onyankopon, how much did you find?" Levi said as he leaned his forearms on his desk and watched as his assistant seated himself in the seating living room area in front of his desk. Onyankopon turned on the tablet that he had in hand from the moment he walked in.

"You won't believe it. I found a lot more than I thought I would. She's clearly very important. Her information is out there on the internet from just one search," Onyankopon said, making Levi's eyes narrow and his eyebrows to pinch suspiciously.

He should've known that. Everything from your appearance and from the information on your card alone should've screamed at him that you had some sort of influence in business, but back then, it just didn't occur to him since the situation at the restaurant had just been too much for him to bear. "Okay, so what did you find out about her?" Levi said as he, once again, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, ready to hear.

Levi uncrossed one of his arms and put his hand lightly over his mouth as he tapped his lip thoughtfully. He looked at his assistant and saw the way he scrolled lightly through his notes.

"Well, you knew this already, but her name is Y/n L/n. She's known across the business world as Eldia Groups' princess and the group's predicted heiress, but it's just speculation. She's a pretty big deal" Onyankopon started, and Levi continued to listen carefully. Nothing so far rang any bells in his brain as to what he was hearing was useful to him. But there was still a long way to go.

"Go on," Levi said as he saw that his assistant had paused in his words and looked up at his boss expectantly to see if he could continue.

He knew Levi was just processing the information and had asked for this information for a reason, so Onyankopon nodded and turned his attention back to the information in his tablet.

"By blood, she is not originally from a family-owned-conglomerate. Both of her parents passed. Her father used to be a mechanical engineer and her mother used to be a small business owner," Onyankopon listened, all the while Levi continued to listen.

He didn't know why but he felt some sort of tug inside him when he heard the details about your parents, but he brushed off the feeling and continued to hear what his assistant was listening to.

"She also ended up being their only daughter from their late marriage. Turns out that they passed away in a car accident about 16 years ago on the day of her birthday. She was 10 years old at the time and became an orphan with no other blood relatives to go to," He continued, making Levi's eyebrows furrow once again as he kept his hand at his lips, getting lost in thought while still hearing all of those details.

Even if none of this was becoming useful to him to convince you, in some weird way, he couldn't help but stop to think for a moment as his mind replayed the details about your parents over and over.

He feels like he's really getting a glimpse of your life even if none of this was what he needed to hear. He couldn't deny that it must have been unbelievably hard for you as a child, but he didn't want to dwell on it too much. This wasn't supposed to be his focus right now so Levi went right back to listening to what his assistant was listing off.

"It was only a couple years after that incident that the chairman of Eldia Group, Grisha Jaeger decided to take in Y/n," Onyankopon added and Levi nodded, avidly listening even if he looked like he was looking off into space. He was just taking every bit of this information as much as he could.

"Grisha Jaeger co-founded Eldia Electronics, one of the branches in the group, with Y/n's father," Onyankopon said, and Levi's eyes squinted slightly as he dropped his hand from his mouth and moved it to be on top of the table, drawing shapes on the wood surface of it. None of this seemed helpful.

It seemed that Onyankopon wasn't close to being done, because after Levi sensed a pause from him and was ready to say something, his assistant spoke up and continued to scroll down a page with information about you.

"She really hasn't stopped working for a while, hasn't she? She was a top student in high school, university and graduated early at the top of her class. She has everything going for her," Onyankopon said in awe as he continued to scroll through the website. But Levi didn't care about any of that. None of that seemed relevant to him in any way whatsoever.

Levi stopped drawing circles on the table and straightened up in his seat, ready to say something. "From the sound of it, what hasn't she done yet?" Levi grumbled as he leaned his head on his fist as he propped up his elbow on his desk.

"Yeah, that's the million dollar question. She even started her own fashion brand during her college years, and was number one in several charts. That's what ended up becoming Eldia Fashion & Beauty after Eldia Group acquired it. Wow.." Onyankopon mused as he seemed to be getting overly invested in this. But Levi felt like he's heard enough.

Your business life didn't really interest him that much, but that was until he noticed something. Levi turned his gaze away from Onyankopon and there was something that began to pry at his mind.

He took the edge of his jacket and looked down, seeing the inside of it, and there it was in all its glory, a small tag that had the logo of your company on it plastered on it.

God, he really couldn't escape you even if he tried, huh? You were everywhere. But now, he had no choice but to have faith that you were his solution.

Levi opened his laptop and began doing some research of his own, and by then, Onyankopon was still spewing out information about you that he had found on that same website.

Very unnecessary information about you that Levi was no longer interested in, by the way, but he continued to listen because it's clear his assistant was very impressed by you.

"She's currently single at the moment as well, and her past relationships ended for different reasons but they mostly followed a common theme. that she's practically married to her work," Onyankopon finished as he stood up from the couch and walked over to stand in front of his boss' desk, but Levi wasn't surprised at all by that.

Those were quite literally the first words you said to him at the restaurant when you sat down in front of him and also, earlier that day you said you weren't looking for a relationship any time soon.

At the very least, he respected that you were self aware and knew what you wanted. That was one thing you and him had in common.

Onyankopon sighed and his shoulder sank while he turned off his tablet and held it to his side, looking at his boss expectantly.

"Well, did that answer anything you needed? That's really all I know for now. What's your plan now?" Onyankopon asked, knowing that the information was for something his boss was clearly planning to do to get his powers back one way or another.

Levi looked up from his computer to face his assistant, who was clearly waiting for an answer. He found all of that information and he hoped it was useful for anything at all.

Levi closed his computer and propped up both of his elbows on the table, intertwining his fingers together, leaning the bottom half of his face against them, thinking hard.

Onyankopon watched the way that his boss' narrow and feline-like eyes remained squinted as he seemed to be thinking about something in his mind, and it's he could see his entire body language through his eyes alone and it was fascinating.

But after a few seconds, it was so eerie the way Levi's lips slowly twitched into a smirk and his face had a knowing look of recognition to it, and Onyankopon knew what that meant.

He came up with an idea. After everything he listened to about you, Levi had a lightbulb moment in his brain and it felt like everything clicked simultaneously.

Levi's smirk didn't fade, even as he leaned back in his chair and made eye contact with his assistant. Onyankopon watched his boss carefully and crossed his arms.

"I know exactly what I'm going to do. It's what I know how to do best," Levi said as his face suddenly turned smug, really hoping Onyankopon could catch his drift and where he was going with this. But it really seems like he underestimated his assistant.

"And that would be...?" Onyankopon said, trying to figure out what his boss meant, and Levi rolled his eyes as he sighed and leaned his head on his hand since his arm was propped up on the armrest.

He dragged his hand down and rested it on the bottom half of his face, shaking his head. Levi looked back at his assistant and cleared his throat before continuing.

"Captivating humans, come on, you should know this by now," Levi said as a lazy smile came upon his lips, a sinister tone crawled onto his and his smug look from before returned. A look of recognition crossed Onyankopon's face.

"Ah...gotcha," He said as he chuckled, but in Onyankopon's defense, there were so many ways that sentence could have gone and he went with the odds. Levi was really unpredictable in that sense when it came to his business as a demon and he tried to not get involved too much and it never hurt to make sure.

Now that he knew what he meant, he wanted to know what Levi was planning to exactly to 'captivate' you. It seems like you weren't one to fall for tricks that easily or persuasion as other humans that Levi has made deals with so he wondered how his boss would go about this.

It also looked like you weren't entirely fond of him by the way he described the 'date' before just like Levi clearly was just as fed up with you with the way his boss sounded extremely annoyed just by him asking to look into you.

But Onyankopon didn't know that Levi was already thinking of something by just trying to connect the dots from the night before on how his tattoo disappeared in the first place.

Maybe he had to get it back the same way that he lost it, and he already had an idea on how.

He had nothing else to go off of and he had to rely on this. If he followed his plan in the exact same way that he was thinking, then he would have his tattoo back in no time.

At least he hoped it worked out the same way, because if it didn't, then he would truly be out of options. He'd be completely screwed.

-

On the way to your office, at last, Hange had made sure to make a pitstop by Erwin's office building and they dropped him off there. On his way out, you bid your goodbye's to your friend and as he closed the door to your car, making his way around as he headed inside the building, you watched him go in and Hange took that as their cue to start driving again.

Now, after being on the road for a while, Hange eventually pulled up and halted the car right in front of your company's building. It was only early afternoon still so you could still come in and check in on your employee's, get things done, and get back into your work rhythm.

You wanted to forget everything that happened these last two days and want everything to go back to normal. Even if your 'normal' was forcing you to bury yourself in work.

You preferred that a lot more than trying to mull over the nightmare that these last few days have been. Without having something to do, you would drive yourself crazy thinking about every little detail that was starting to come back to you bit by bit.
This is what you needed. You knew you could just go back to your old routine and everything would be okay.

At least you hoped. You're going in later than you usually did, on top of the stocks of your company dropping, so you prayed that things weren't too bad in your absence.

You needed to meet up with a couple of your employees, who a couple days ago, you'd asked to come up with a pitch for a new product. You just hoped they came through and everything could stay right on track, and you could start to fix those issues on your own that arose without anything having fallen out of place.

Once Hange put the car in neutral, you quickly gathered your things next to you like your purse, your work items, etc.

You turned to the side, ready to open the door, but before you could get any further, you paused in your movements when you saw one of the valet workers that you've happened to see regularly outside of the building these last couple months suddenly rush to open your car door as swiftly as possible.

They must have recognized your car and the license plate since it's often that you hand over your keys to whoever's on the shift and have them take the car to the garage and you can get to your office quicker, and it also saves Hange some time as well. You needed this today of all days since you wanted to have a quick and smooth transition back to work.

You saw that Hange opened their door on their side and stepped out, closing the door behind them. You heard the door click on your end and then you turned your head to see that the valet worker opened your door.

You held your purse tight in your grasp and stepped out of the car as well, with one foot at a time, feeling your heels click against the concrete floor.

You stood up and brushed over your clothes, then turned your head to send a grateful smile to the employee. They returned your gesture and as you began forward and into the building, you heard the door shut, and then met Hange halfway, so both of you began to walk side by side into your company's building.

You kept your gaze forward, and they hardened just the slightest bit as you realized you were about to walk into an environment in which you had a reputation to uphold. Purely out of instinct.

As Hange walked in rhythm by your side, you could feel your mind centering around one thing, and that was your career. Right now, it was one of the most important things in the world to you right now and you weren't going to let anything change that.

You've worked hard for this; endless and sleepless nights, rejection after rejection, years of building it up, and lessons you have permanently learned from and continued to remember.

The sound of yours and Hange's heels reverberated against the ground as you and her got closer to the entrance, and you knew that once you did, you would forget anything that happened before and it wouldn't matter.

What lay before those doors is what mattered to you, not some silly dispute over a tattoo, or that psycho that you hoped deep down would be found. This was your life.

You and Hange approached the revolving doors, and in one swift movement, you and her went through it and entered the building at last on the other side of the doors. All you could see were people going back and forth across the lobby, in and out of the building and in your direct eye-line the machines that allowed entrance to the zone where the elevators are.

As both of you continued to walk in sync, when employees noticed your entrance, they immediately halted in place and greeted your arrival as you continued to walk towards the elevators.

You heard words like 'Welcome back, Ms. Y/n' and you acknowledged them by turning your head to face them and giving them small nods, which they received and they quickly went back to go about their business. You were glad everything seemed normal.

Hange and you didn't say a word to each other, but they weren't necessary. There had been too much going on for small talk to be enough to fill the silence.

When both of you reached the machines, with each of you in one, and placed your keycard on it, the machine's red light turned green while emitting an approving beep, the doors of the machines moved aside, so you and Hange both moved forward and headed straight for the elevators.

Stopping in front of the elevators, while you remained standing in front of them, you watched as Hange pressed on the button to go up and then go back to standing next to you.

Both of you had your eyes locked onto the monitor that said that the elevator was going down but none of you dared to say a word. That was until you finally got your mouth to say the words in your throat that had been begging to come out this entire time.

"Hange?" You questioned, and your assistant was quick to turn their head to look at you to see what you'd say next. Their faces fell when they noticed the anguish on your face now that it was just the two of you and there was nobody else around.

It took you a couple seconds to say your next couple of words, but they let you take your time, even if you seemed to visibly seem to be struggling to get the words to come out.

"Do you think...do you think I can get the company out of this?" You said, and Hange's eyes widened at how defeated you sounded. They looked back at the elevator's monitor to see that there were still many left until it reached the ground floor.

You had a completely different demeanor just walking into the building, and its like you flipped a switch once you knew this was a safe space. And your assistant was exactly that.

Hange sighed and raised their hand, placing it on your shoulder, making your head whip up to look at them in surprise. They felt their heart break at how shaky and gaze they were. It was saddening for them to see constantly.

You've always felt this pressure to make sure everything was perfect, that nothing was out of order and not just for yourself and your very own satisfaction so that you could feel accomplished, but you did it Grisha as well, and shockingly enough, your family that you knew hated your guts.

This company was adjoined to your family's company after all. This fall to your company took a harder hit to you than you expected, and you were desperate to show that you were able to come back from it easily and stronger than before. You've been desperate to prove yourself.

Hange had taken small steps to make you reevaluate, but you were just so incredibly stubborn and sure that your way was the only way and they were seeing how it was destroying you from the inside out. Hange sent you a gentle smile and squeezed your shoulder.

"Y/n, you can do anything. I've worked for you for years and I know another of Karina's petty schemes will not change that. Besides, you don't have to do it alone," They said, knowing that it was easier said than done, but they hoped you kept their words close to heart. They saw you take a sharp inhale, shaking your head lightly.

"I know, Hange. Trust me. It just seems to me that I have to be the one who makes it right because, maybe...I happened to take my eye off the ball for a second. I don't know when, though, but I did, and I have to fix it," You admitted, and when you saw that Hange was about to say something, you raised your hand to quickly cut them off. You still had a lot to say.

"And I know what you're going to say, but I have to prove to Grisha that I can come back from this just as quickly as It all came down. I had to lie to him before and told him I had it handled. But do I? I wish I knew the answer. I have to make it right or Karina will have the satisfaction of knowing she got her way. I just need some words of encouragement," You finished and sent her a weak smile, which Hange was quick to respond with a beaming smile and a chuckle. They patted your shoulder and nodded at you.

They turned their body to face the elevator again and that smile morphed into a knowing smile that made you raise an eyebrow and a smile tug at your lips. "I'll be there to give you as many as you need. And just so you know, I found something you might need, that is if you want it," They said, and as soon as they did, the elevator reached your floor and dinged but the two of you were still looking at each other knowingly.

As the elevator door opened, your smile turned into a smirk as well. "I'm listening," You said, making Hange laugh as the two of you begin walking into the elevator. Once the elevator doors closed and Hange pushed the door that led to the floor to your main office in the building.

The doors closed and they began telling you all about what they found, and the more they did, the more your smirk grew and felt more confident you could turn this whole situation around. It could work. It really could.

But as the two of you headed up, while things seemed to be normal down at the lobby, your office itself was nothing short of chaos. Because of your late arrival, though unusual, they quickly noticed your absence and used it to start putting their energy in other things. Your employees were all young adults like young adults so they could still get a little rowdy sometimes

Everyone was out of their desks right now, and they were all crowding around the desk of a single employee. Sasha Braus. See, she recently picked up a hobby to do tarot cards and the rest of the office has taken a habit of asking her during the day to draw out cards to see how the rest of their day would go and guidance what their futures would be. Nobody ever took it that seriously, though. It was just to pass time on most occasions.

Now, everyone watched carefully as she spread out the cards equally in front of her, face down. Her eyes were zeroed in on the cards, focusing on each card and manifesting the best option.

Everyone who was crowding around her had very different reactions. Others were very invested, others had nothing better to do but watch this happen, and others couldn't be bothered and continued working on their desks because you missing an entire day was too good to be true and knew you'd stop by.

Sasha's best friend, Connie Springer, was behind her with his hands on her shoulders and holding them with encouragement.

"Come on, Sasha! You can do it! Give us a win today," Connie said excitedly, as he kept an eye on his best friend's movements to see which one she'd choose. There were some who took this game more seriously than others, and others who participated for fun. Connie was not one of those people.

Connie was among the few who were actually invested, while others were hanging around just to watch because they were that bored. "Why are we doing this again?" Ymir asked flatly, earning a gentle nudge from her girlfriend, Historia as the petite, blond girl sent her a sweet smile.

"Come on, Ymir. It's all for good fun," Historia said, turning her attention back to Sasha retracting her hand back and forth as she kept changing her mind.

And there were others who had been working for you long enough to know what you were like, but participated regardless. Like Jean Kirschtein, who was one third of the trio of Sasha, Connie and Jean.

"Guys, the boss could stop by any second now," Jean said as he tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. He was happy he was able to land this job a couple years ago, but now he reconsiders that fact knowing these were his coworkers.

Ymir, despite not caring about this at all, still rolled her eyes and looked at Jean with a mocking and teasing look. "Relax, horseface. She hasn't been here for half of the day. We'll be fine," Ymir said as she brushed off the possibility of your arrival, since everyone in the office knew it was highly unlikely, especially after they all witnessed the stocks drop.

Jean deadpanned at Ymir and narrowed his eyes at her at the name she called him. They've never let him live that nickname down. He looked back down at what Sasha was doing, still not having picked a card yet, and he could tell they were getting antsy.

But as everyone waited for Sasha's decision on the cards, a voice from across the desks could be heard. "You guys just love wasting time, don't you? It's like you want to lose your jobs" Annie said bluntly as she didn't take her eyes off her computer and continued to work. Her response was met with glares from people crowded around Sasha but Annie really couldn't be bothered to care at all. She continued to work, undisturbed.

Another employee quickly piped up after that, which happened to be Annie's cubicle mate. "Guys, why don't we just go back to work? Usually when she's not around in the morning, she always stops by in the afternoon," Bertholdt stated, as-a-matter-of-factly, and encouraged everyone crowded around Sasha to go back to their assignments. But he knew that with the people he worked with, it was a long shot.

Ymir smirked when she took in Bertholdt's words and then crossed her arms in front of her, looking at Jean cheekily. "Oh yeah, don't you guys have some big pitch she told you three idiots to have prepared for today?" Ymir said as she couldn't help but let out a chuckle after that, knowing that she hasn't seen Sasha, Connie, and Jean work on that pitch for a second.

But it seems some people have selective hearing , like Connie, and clearly had bigger priorities in their heads "Shh! You're breaking her focus," Connie said as he remained over Sasha and watched as his best friend got closer to picking a card. But Jean seemed to be the only one to have processed Ymir's words because his eyes widened, his face drained of color and he straightened up, given that he was leaning his body against the cubicle.

"Oh, shit. She's right, Connie. How are we on that pitch? Is it done? I finished my part a while ago" Jean said, expressing clear panic in his voice. Him, Sasha, and Connie had gone out for drinks the night before to discuss some ideas, and some were thrown out there, that he could barely remember now because they went a little overboard with the drinks. It's a miracle all three came into work today.

But Jean's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw his friend shrug and brush it off. "I don't know, man. Stop worrying, Jean. With the stock market crashing, she's probably not even thinking about something she asked us to do two days ago," Connie said, making Jean take a large inhale of air, closing his eyes and holding it there as his hands became fists, holding them up. He was barely able to keep it together right now hearing his friend's words. He was really losing his patience.

"Connie, you do realize that that's precisely why she's going to ask us about it today even more, dude," Jean said, as he continued to try to get Connie to grasp his words, ignoring the way Ymir was snickering at the situation and Historia was trying to get her to stop.

"We'll be fine, relax. She's probably not even going to show today," Connie said as he continued to brush off the fact that they had to present an idea today and they had practically nothing. It's like they forgot who they worked for.

Jean stayed frozen on the spot with the same look of shock on his face before he sighed and then leaned back against the cubicle once again, barely caring about the tarot cards anymore.

"I need to find new friends," Jean muttered to himself, but Connie seemed to have heard him because he snorted and let out a laugh after. "Good luck with that," Connie said, making Jean whip his head to look at his friend with offense.

After that, Jean couldn't help but put his attention back on Sasha who had reached over to pick a card at last, and he heard Connie inhale as he took a breath of anticipation. Jean needed some sort of distraction from the fact that they had no material for today, hey, should he be surprised by now?

When Sasha finally pulled out a card and turned it around, everyone but her gasped when they saw that it was the 'demon' card. Everyone but her either jumped in surprise, gasped, or took steps back at this revelation.

She had a pout on her face instead as she realized it wasn't the card she was hoping for so badly. Connie reached over and took the card from his friend's hand and looked at it. "It's the demon card!" He yelled out for everyone and people crowded around him to see the card better. It was bad luck.

Jean rolled his eyes and scratched the side of his head in exasperation, but then his attention drifted over to Sasha who looked a little down while everyone else was crowding over to see the card. Jean sighed and took a few steps towards his friend, putting a hand on her back comfortingly.

"What's wrong, Sasha?" Jean said as he patted Sasha's back a couple times, even when she slumped back in her seat and Jean moved his hand to her shoulder instead. At her friends' question, she looked up at him with that same disheartened look on her face.

"I really wanted the card that would hint at me getting a good meal today," She said as she let out a sad sigh and began to fiddle with her fingers. Jean deadpanned at her and realized he should've figured it was about that. He raised his free hand and began to rub the back of his neck, just to ease the tension in his body.

"Of course you did, but maybe you'll get it next time. Instead, why don't we think about the pitch presentation for a change and I'll buy you a big dinner tonight," Jean suggested as he put the hand that was on his neck, to rest on his hip, continuing to pat Sasha's shoulder comfortingly.

But his words made her stop fiddling with her fingers and look up at him cluelessly and waited a few seconds as she gathered her thoughts to say something back. "What presentation?" She asked blankly. Jean stopped his movements.

He looked down at her and blinked a couple times before his eyes wide, accompanied by Ymir's mocking laugh from across the room that made him close his eyes and inhale and exhale deeply. It didn't help.

Jean turned his head away from Sasha and then began to walk away, back to his cubicle. "Oh my God...we're doomed," He muttered to himself on the way there. This really wasn't his day was it? He had to come up with something for the three of them to present to you, because something told him you'd be walking in through those words at any second now and it was driving him insane. He sat down at his desk, and put his head in his hands.

But it seems like Jean and the trio in general had less time than they thought, because just as everyone had settled back into their seats, another one of the employees who just happened to be by the elevators rushed from where he was and headed towards the cubicle desk area where the rest of the employees were at.

He as panting quickly and his face was full of distress. His appearance made everyone suddenly look up and take notice of how out of sorts he looked. making everyone on edge all of a sudden.

"Marco, what is it?" Jean asked from his desk as he watched his friend panted and struggled to get the words out, but from his body language, Jean could tell that Marco had something urgent to say. It was only after a couple seconds once he regained his bearings, Marco spoke. "Guys, she's heading up. The boss," He said as he used his thumb to point backwards.

There were mixed reactions after that. Gasps were heard, others continued working, and others, like Jean buried his head in his hands briefly with a groan before starting to scatter and look around desperately in his desk for anything that maybe indicated that he wrote something down for the pitch which he could use the moment you stepped into the office and you called them in.

If neither Connie or Sasha had an idea, then the responsibility fell to him. He flipped over papers, folders, tabs on his computer. Anything at all. God, he had to find something that he could use for this.

Though it seems like nothing was going his way because his face drained of color and his body froze when he heard the elevator ding. He turned his head to the side, towards the elevators, and a couple moments later, he saw you and Hange come around the corner walking side by side.

He was quick to straighten up as you walked across the office, and the entire office of employees greeted your arrival, even his own coworkers who thought you wouldn't show up today.

But when you turned your head to the side to make eye contact with your employees, Jean's eyes widened and turned his head away, not to make eye contact because he knew that if he did, you'll call for him, Sasha and Connie for the pitch and he wasn't ready. Not in the slightest, and his friends even more so.

But it seems that him turning his head away quickly caught your attention even more, because you cleared your throat slightly as you walked across the office with Hange next to you and remembered you needed to get right to the point now that you were here and halted in your steps in front of your employee's cubicles. Hange stopped next to you, holding their tablet on their side, looking back and forth between you and your employees.

You stopping in front of their desks was enough for them to have your undivided attention. They had been watching you since you walked in. It was silent for a couple seconds until you finally found the words that you wanted to say and spoke up.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I know this isn't the usual time I come in, but some things came up and it delayed my arrival a bit. I wanted to address some things before, but I think they'll have to wait. For now..." You started speaking, and paused for a second, quickly finding the faces you were looking for before continuing.

When you did, finding the faces of Connie, Sasha, and Jean, ignoring the way they shrunk in their seats as you made eye contact with each of them, you cleared your throat again and continued. "Braus, Springer, Kirschtein. Meet me in the conference room, please. I want to hear your product pitch," You said, and when you saw the way their eyes widened, blinked at you and nodded numbly, as if in a daze.

You felt like that was enough confirmation that they'd do so. You nodded, turning your gaze to look over the rest of the office again. They were all looking at you, waiting for your next instructions.

"As for the rest of you, just keep up the good work. I'll look over your reports by the end of the day," You concluded, earning nods of agreement from the rest of your employees.

You sighed subtly to yourself and sent them all a single nod of approval, turning on your heel and beginning to head towards the conference room. As usual, Hange followed behind you and walked in sync with you, despite still feeling eyes on you.

The conference room itself was a room just across the cubicles, so it wasn't that far of a walk, so when you pushed the door open and walked inside with Hange following close behind you, you briskly walked over to sit at the head of the long table in the room.

You set your purse on the table, leaning back against your seat comfortably, waiting for your employees to arrive. You felt Hange's presence behind you as they stood behind your desk.

"I really hope they came up with something. The faster I can find a project to focus on, the better. I want to talk to them about the pitch, but also if they've made any headway in trying minimize the damage from here" You said, leaning forward in your chair and brought your chair closer to the table.

Hange sighed and took a couple steps away from standing behind you, to proceeding to pulling out the chair closest to you to your right.

They sat down and set their tablet down, letting out a huff as they settled in their chair. "Well, judging by their reaction when you called them, I'd say we'd be pretty lucky if we do get a proposal from them today," Hange pointed out, and you leaned back in your chair again when you recalled their reactions when you called the trio's names.

Those weren't the faces of preparedness. You shrugged, and realized that any ideas would be worth considering so you would hear them out with anything they had in mind.

But just as you were going to say something else, something else caught your eye. Since the walls to the conference room were made of glass, you could see in the corner of your eye when the trio stopped outside of the door. You turned your head and raised your hand, giving them a motion that they could come in.

Your eyebrows pinched together when you saw that they were slightly nudging at each other outside, as if to see who would come in first. Your eyes darted to Hange, who had also been looking back at the door for the arrival of your employees and both of you turned your heads to look at each other at the same time.

You locked eye contact with your assistant for a second to see if they were seeing the same thing you were, and judging by the way they raised their hand to lightly put it over their mouth, they did.

You pursed your lips together and looked away. They have been working for you for long enough and you should expect this by now. But your face steeled and took a breath when you heard the door finally open and the three of them came in together. They came in together and sat next to each other on your other side, in front of Hange. You waited for a couple seconds until they settled in, giving you a chance to adjust yourself in your seat too.

When they did, you looked at all three of them and were about to speak but then noticed their body language. They did not look like they were at ease at all. They were fidgety, their hands were playing with their notes in hand, and they were avoiding eye contact. You sighed and realized what this was about.

You would have to do this a little differently now because they were a lot more unprepared than you expected them to be, so instead, you were going to go about this meeting a different way. You weren't in your right mind either so in a way, you felt compassion to make this easier.

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