Eruri | Let's Try This Again | Reincarnation AU

Epilogue

The hallways were crowded as two girls struggled through them, desperately trying not to lose grip of their textbooks. They talked absently about anything and everything, their voices raised to be heard over the dull roar of the other students in the hall. The taller of the two had dirty blonde hair that fell past her shoulders, while the other was a shorter brunette. They rounded a corner when suddenly the blonde collided with someone, her books strewn all over the floor.

"Michelle! Are you ok?" The brunette asked.

"Yeah, Sarah, I'm-"

The words died on Michelle's tongue as her eyes locked with frantic blue ones. The man who had knocked her over seemed to have been in a hurry, his blonde hair mussed and his suit jacket folded over his arm sloppily. He was hot.

"God, I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," He said hastily, leaning down to help her collect her books. He stood back up, offering her his hand.

She stared at him, heat rushing to her cheeks, before realizing she had stared too long and accepted his hand.

"Right," He said when she stood, "I'd better go. Sorry, again!"

"Holy shit," Michelle said once he left. "Who was that?"

Sarah smirked. "You don't know? That's the history prof everyone's been freaking out about. I think his name's Professor Smith."

"That's Professor Smith? I have his class ten minutes from now!"

"What?! Lucky!" Sarah whined, punching Michelle lightly, who laughed.

"I have one more class today. After that, do you want to get coffee somewhere?" Michelle asked.

"Sure! There's this shop pretty close by; it's just barely off campus, although I don't remember the name. It's supposed to be pretty good but the owner is super grouchy."

"That works for me!"

Later that day, the two girls walked side by side to the coffee shop, gossiping about Michelle's class with Professor Smith. They had stopped at their dorms on the way there and were now skipping down the cobblestone path. The leaves were just starting to turn colors, making for an odd but beautiful mixture of dark greens and oranges.

"This is it," Sarah said.

The coffee shop was not, in fact, a coffee shop. Instead, the sign read "Levi's Tea Shop" in elegant letters. Underneath read "And Coffee" as if it was an afterthought, begrudgingly put there after some debate.

When they entered it was warm, a quiet chatter meeting their ears. It smelled of dark tea with a gentle hint of coffee, the combination surprisingly pleasant. The walls were paneled with an aesthetically pleasing dark wood, and in the corner of the shop sat an old, beautiful piano.

"Oi! Are you going to order or are you going to stand in the doorway and let all the cold air in?" The man behind the counter said, unamused. He wore a dark green apron tied in a bow around his waist, his hands on his hips. He was short, with black hair that perfectly framed his face, and the girls might have found him attractive had it not been for the intimidating scowl on his face.

They shuffled into the shop, the door closing behind them.

"Michelle," Sarah whispered, tugging on her friend's shirt. "Look."

Across the room next to a window sat none other than Professor Smith, pulling his laptop out of his bag and settling in to work.

"Oh shit!" Michelle practically squealed. She froze and Sarah virtually had to drag her up to the counter before the man, presumably Levi, got tired of them and threw them out.