Chapter 58:

Annoyances

Seto made sure to take the same flight as Ana back to Nozomu City, so that she couldn't pull another disappearing act on him. He'd been afraid that her family had found out about her going off grid, but since her brother didn't say anything, Seto assumed he was safe. The rest of summer break was normal. He spent time with Ana and worked until it was time for the second semester to start. The day before school started back, though, Seto found something weighing on his mind. He was sitting in his apartment, staring at his laptop while remembering Ana's warning to not mess with the little hacking prick. However, he was feeling more annoyed by him the longer he mulled over it. Seto was debating on whether to get back at the guy when he got a phone call. He picked up his cell phone and was confused when he saw the ID was labeled as "Hacking Genius."

Realizing there was only one person who could mess with his phone, he answered, ready for a fight. "What do you want, you little prick?"

The guy on the other end just laughed. "Nice to finally meet you too, Kaiba Seto. I'm Mizuki Chimon."

"I figured. If you hacked my phone just to give yourself a stupid ID name, then you really must want to have another battle." Seto's fingers were itching as he reached for his laptop.

"Whoa there. I gave myself an ID so you'd pick up. I didn't do anything else. I actually called to make a trade."

Seto's eyes narrowed. "A trade? What could you possibly have that I'd want?"

"Pictures of Ana-chan."

Rage burned through him at this. "What?"

"Calm down. I don't mean naughty pictures. I have some pictures of her childhood and of some embarrassing things that she did. Nothing scandalous." Chimon chuckled. "You're the kind of guy who doesn't stop getting back at someone without incentive. I know you're just itching to hack into my family's accounts. This is my compromise. I have some physical photos of her that I can give you as a piece offering."

Seto paused. Embarrassing pictures of Ana. He had to admit that he was a little interested in seeing them, but if Ana found out that he'd acquired them, would he make her mad?

"Oh, and if you're having any moral issues about the idea, which I find funny, just to let you know Ana keeps a folder of pictures of you. Like when you drooled on her leg."

"Deal." Seto agreed. If she's keeping embarrassing pictures of me, then I can do the same. It's kind of cute that she's stockpiling blackmail… Wait, she's stockpiling it against me. Is that really cute? He mulled over the thought for a split second. Nope, still cute. "Send them to me."

"You should get them in the mail in a couple days." Chimon hung up.

Seto leaned back and smiled evilly. He was excited to see the photos.

The next day, he woke up, made breakfast, and headed for Ana's house to pick her up. She looked sleepy when she came out the door. Seto paused as he looked at her in her school uniform. He'd never paid much attention before, but since he hadn't seen her in it in a few weeks, it felt kind of new. Her white short-sleeved blouse with a black ribbon and pleated black skirt that fell just above her knee was rather adorable. He watched her as they walked.

She sighed and looked up at him. "You're staring, Amin-chan. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing much. Just rethinking my stance on school uniforms." He looked away, trying to imagine what she would look like in other types. It's kind of hard to imagine. I wonder if I could get her to try on others.

"Riiight." Ana glanced down at his backside, then quickly looked away.

Seto caught that. "Did you just check out my ass?"

"I have no idea what you're referring to." Ana ignored him.

She's kidding, right? She definitely checked out my ass… Didn't she? Seto realized lately he wasn't always sure if she was flirting or not. Ever since their conversation about consent, he'd tried to be more communicative, but sometimes he had a hard time reading her. I'm supposed to get better at this the longer I know her. Not worse. Why do I feel odd and uneasy?

Ana looked up at him and sighed. "Yes, Seto. I was checking out your ass. I was just teasing you."

"Ah." His brow furrowed in concern. Ugh. I don't want to, but maybe I really should see a counselor about how to understand her better. He glanced down at her and smiled mischievously. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. "Do you like what you see?"

Ana's cheeks turned pink, and her mouth tightened. Instead of answering, she sped up, trying to leave him behind. Seto looked after her, baffled. Why? I was just trying to return her flirting. Did I come on too strong? Ugh. I do want to get closer to her physically, but where do I draw the line? Seto caught up to her easily. Ana didn't look at him as they walked. She seemed nervous and concerned. Internally, he was trying not to get pissed. She started it. When they got to school, they walked in silence to the classroom, and they took their normal seats. He'd calmed down some with the walk. There's a guide for kissing. Is there a guide for understanding girls? Then again, when have I ever cared what people think? I should just do what I want. Their conversation about consent and how she'd said she'd hate him if he locked her up came to mind. Frick'. Why does this feel more complicated the longer I know her?

Seto pulled out his cell phone and messaged Mokuba: What's the name of your counselor?

Mokuba: Nii-san, I really like my counselor. Please leave him alone.

Seto paused and blinked a few times until he realized why his little brother was asking him to leave the man alone.

Seto: I'm not going to do anything to him!

Mokuba: Really? I like him a lot. The nightmares have gone away after talking to him.

Seto: I'm glad. Now what is his name?

Mokuba: You promise you won't mess with him or fire him?

Seto groaned, then answered: Promise. Name?

Mokuba: Takahashi Moriko.

Seto quickly told Inu-san to set up a meeting with the man. Inu at first told him that would be hard since the man was based in Domino City, until Seto told him to just fly the man to Nozomu City. Inu quickly got back to him and said they had an appointment set for Thursday afternoon at a local office that was a sister office to Takahashi's branch. Seto put down his phone and sighed. He looked at Ana's sleeping head and frowned.

"That was awesome!"

Seto groaned when he heard Arata's annoying voice. Oh frick'. I had almost forgotten he even existed. Stupid knock-off Yugi. He looked up and found Arata, his fiery hair bouncing wildly as he practically sprinted to Seto's desk. He recoiled as a group of guys followed Arata. They were all giving Seto the same excited look.

"Dude! You were awesome. You punched that guy right in the face on live tv." Arata's eyes were sparkling with glee.

Seto was so taken aback by this sudden praise that all he could do was stare open-mouthed. Ana slowly lifted her head from her desk and looked back at them.

She yawned. "What's going on?"

Arata explained. "We were talking about the tournament."

A dark blue-haired boy with a face full of freckles spoke up next. "Kaiba-san was so cool. First, he beat that one noob in a single turn—"

Another guy with chin length silver hair and silver eyes interrupted. "Then he punched that one kidnaper in the face."

Arata jumped back in. "Then you left your brother to humiliate Wheeler while you went on a date. All of it was super cool."

Seto had stopped working. His brain was trying to figure out why these dweebs were talking to him, let alone praising him. What do they want? What are they trying to get from me? People only praised him to butter him up for something or if they were genuine fans. His classmates had never been fans.

Arata turned back to him, getting even more excited. "Seriously, dude. You were so cool."

"I am always cool. Why are you getting so excited about something that happened weeks ago?" Seto glared at the group of guys, who seemed surprised.

Arata frowned. "Weeks ago? It just hit online two hours ago. It even said that Sakurai-san was the one who took out the kidnapers. Which is super badass."

Ana tensed and looked at Seto, concerned. Ana's involvement was heavily guarded. Frick'.

Seto grabbed his phone and messaged Inu: There's a leak. Find it.

Inu: Way ahead of you.

Seto turned back to the group, who flinched at his icy gaze. "So, what the frick' are you trying to get out of me right now?"

Arata looked rather taken aback. "What? We all just thought it was cool how you easily took the guy down."

Ana lightly poked his arm and looked over at her, feeling tense. "Amin-chan. They don't want anything."

His mouth tightened, but he didn't have time to respond as the bell rang. The group of guys looked concerned as they took their seats and started class. Seto furiously worked away on his tablet, as usual. Inu sent him a message in an hour that the leak had been contained and that all posts relating to the event had been erased. When the lunch bell rang, Seto headed for his usual spot. He was walking through the hallway when he realized someone was following him.

"What do you want?" Seto turned around to face Arata.

He looked a little anxious. "Well, I wanted to say sorry about this morning. You seemed to take it the wrong way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" His eyes narrowed angrily. He was already pissed about the leak.

"You seemed to think that we were trying to get something from you. They seriously just thought you were cool." Arata explained.

"Bullshit. The only people who try to stroke my ego want something." Seto growled.

Arata's eyes opened wide before he burst out laughing. "We weren't trying to butter you up. We were just excited. Has anyone ever told you that you have some serious trust issues?"

"You all keep to yourself and have never approached me like that before. What else am I supposed to think?" Seto snapped. He was annoyed that this conversation was taking up his lunch time.

Arata looked at him, baffled for a moment, until he grinned widely. "Dude, you have a major stick up your ass and glare at anyone that even gets within ten feet of you—minus Sakurai-san. Of course, they haven't tried to talk to you much before."

"Why the heck would I want to hang out with a bunch of dweebs?" Seto could feel his eye twitching.

"Have you even tried hanging out with anyone besides Sakurai-san? You came to the events with us, but you were kind of tunnel visioned on your girlfriend."

"Hell will freeze over before I willingly hang out with you or any of your kind." Seto was about to turn around and walk away when he noticed the look of pity on Arata's face. "What!"

"You don't have any friends, do you? That's sad." Arata clenched his fist, looking determined. "Don't worry, we'll get you some friends before the year's out."

"I don't need friends!" He shouted at him. "You are five times worse than Yugi!"

Arata didn't even seem phased. Seto's insult seemed to pump him up even more and he turned around with his fist in the air. "Operation get Kaiba-san friends start!"

Seto lost it. He chucked his lunch to the side and tackled the redhead to the ground. Arata wasn't a pushover, though. He fought back.

"You will not stop the operation!" He shouted loudly. The classroom doors opened and students looked out at them, tussling in the hallway.

"Mind your own business!" Seto tried to head lock him, but the guy was slippery and slithered out of his grasp.

Arata laughed manically. "Never!"

A few male teachers quickly came out of the classrooms and pulled them apart. It took two teachers to restrain Seto and only one to hold Arata.

"Just admit it. You want friends!" Arata shouted.

Seto's face burned with embarrassment. He broke out of the teachers' hold and punched Arata hard in the face. The teachers quickly grappled him and pulled him back. Arata's nose was bleeding and Seto's knuckle was already bruising from the hit. The teachers were doing their best, but Seto was raging mad.

"Seto!"

He looked up and found Ana standing in the hallway with Sanae. Ana was looking at him, scared. He didn't want to see her looking at him that way. He broke from the teachers' hold and turned around, walking away. Not looking back, he left the school grounds. He walked and walked. His hands balled into fists at his side. Soon he ended up at the park where they'd done the test of courage. It was empty since it was the middle of the day except for an old man sitting on a bench feeding some pigeons. I didn't start it. He was being annoying first! The look on Ana's face creeped back into his mind. She was scared. Of me. Crap, what if he tells her I started it?

"Kaiba-san." His temper flared as he turned around. Arata had followed him. His nose wasn't bleeding anymore, but it was swollen.

Seto's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You little shit. Why the frick' won't you leave me alone?"

"Because I'm ultra-annoying and revel in it. Plus, I want to be your friend." Seto raised his fist, readying to punch him again, but Arata quickly guarded. "Wait, I'm not kidding!"

Seto pulled back, his fist glaring at him. "Why? What do you gain from it?"

Arata put his hand on his hips and looked smug. "I get to brag that I'm Kaiba Seto's friend."

He gave the redhead a disgusted look and Arata cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well, honestly, I think you'd be fun to hang out with. You get into so much trouble and have some seriously crazy ass adventures. I do also respect you for burning my old home down. Plus, you never judged me for collecting blackmail." Arata snapped his fingers and grinned.

"Am I supposed to judge you for that?" Seto didn't understand what was wrong with collecting blackmail. That just seemed like a matter of course.

Arata made a face at him. "Uh… You don't really understand normal people, do you?"

"Is there a reason for me to understand, you dweebs?" Seto crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Well, Sakurai-san is a pretty normal person minus her family situation. Don't you want to understand her?" Arata asked, sounding concerned.

Seto gritted his teeth. "I hate you so much."

"Because I hit the nail on the head?" Arata chuckled and quickly guarded his face as Seto raised his fist. "Let's make a deal!"

He lowered his fist. "What deal?"

Arata peeked out from behind his arms, then grinned. "I'll help you understand normal people better and you let me be your friend and hang out with you sometimes."

"That isn't a deal. I don't need your help." Seto wanted to whack this guy with something hard. If only I had my briefcase.

Arata sighed. "You ran away."

"What? When did I—"

"When you saw Sakurai-san looking at you in fear."

Seto flinched, then felt the blood lust rising. "Did you plan that?"

"No, I'm just that annoying. Now my question for you is, was she afraid of you?" Arata asked calmly.

"What? I…" Seto didn't want to admit that she was.

Arata tilted his head. "Was she? How would you know since you ran away with your tail tucked between your legs?"

Seto grabbed Arata's collar and growled. "Say that again, I dare you."

"Well, how are you going to find out what she was scared of?" Arata didn't seem the least bit fazed.

Seto paused and thought about it. I could just ask her. Right? What if it was me, though? Will she be upset? How can I find out?

"The normal thing would be to go to her and ask her. Yet, I can tell that you're debating right now what the proper way to find out is, aren't you?" He grinned at Seto, who released him.

"Frick'." Seto growled.

"I can help you smooth that over. After all, it was just a tussle between friends." Arata grinned and Seto resisted punching him.

"We are never going to be friends." Seto glared at him.

"That's a deal though, right?"

Seto hesitated, but finally nodded. The old man on the bench chuckled, and they looked over at him. The man gave them an odd smile that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Ah, young hot-blooded boys are so nice." He gave them a creepy grin.

Seto and Arata glanced at one another before they both turned for the exit and hightailed it out of there. They were halfway back to school when they stopped to take a breath.

Arata was laughing. "That was creepy as all get outs. What was with that old man?"

Seto was looking back to make sure no one was following them. "Not sure, but him hanging out in a public park where children go to play—"

"I already reported him." Arata held up his phone. "I have a contact in the police station."

"Oh?" Seto found that amusing and possibly useful.

"You totally just thought that might be useful for you, didn't you?" Arata smirked and Seto growled in response. "Anyway, we need to get back to school. I'm sure we are both getting detention for this."

"What the frick' makes you think I'll willingly spend my time in detention?" Seto looked at him like he had lost his mind.

Arata looked thoughtful as he placed a finger on his chin and closed his eyes.

"What?" Seto asked, annoyed.

"Well, I'm debating."

"On what?"

Arata opened his eyes and looked at him seriously. "I was debating on asking you to get me out of detention too or convincing you that detention would be the best way to go."

"Why would I get you out of detention and why would going to detention be good at all? It eats into my work time." Seto crossed his arms, feeling annoyed.

Arata smiled. "Well, I don't want to go to detention either, but if you did go and took your punishment willingly, Sakurai-san might not be as mad."

Seto paused. "Why would she not be as mad?"

"Because you admitted you did something wrong and are rationally taking the punishment." Arata explained.

"How would that help?" Seto didn't see the connection at all.

Arata shrugged. "Sakurai-san is a righteous person, isn't she?"

Seto pondered his question. "So, if I agree I did… wrong and take my punishment, she won't be scared or angry with me?"

"I never said you had to agree that you did wrong, but yeah, girls like a man who can admit their flaws and own up to them. Basically, you're showing her your responsible. Sakurai-san is the type of girl to find that hot."

Seto clenched his teeth. His suggestion had merit, but Seto really didn't want to just take a punishment.

"Or we could totally just run away now. She'll be confused and worried about you starting a fight, but you can always deal with her disappointment in you later."

"Ugh. Fine." Seto headed back to school with Arata following next to him. When they got back, the teachers took them to the dean's office. The dean was sweating bullets as Seto and Arata sat in the seats a crossed from his desk.

"Kaiba-san, Yato-san, our school has a no fighting policy. This is the first time you've both done this though… Do you care to explain what happened?"

Seto nearly lost it and told the man to shove it, but Arata interjected.

"I'd rather not say the details since it's personal, but we were having a heated argument and it got out of hand. We worked it out though and are sorry for making a fuss." Arata explained while smiling.

Seto glanced at Arata, who didn't look at him but kept up his smile.

The dean looked at Seto and cleared his throat. "Is that right, Kaiba-san?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Seto resisted rolling his eyes.

"I see… Well, since this is the first time you two have done this, and it seems like you've been adults and talk it out, we won't suspend you. However, violence is still not allowed, so I'm going to have to give you Saturday detention." The dean paused, waiting for Seto to speak. When he didn't, the dean let out a small sigh. "You can go back to class now."

Seto and Arata headed back to class. They happened to come in during a break time. The classroom became very lively as soon as they entered. Ana stood up and walked over to them, along with a bunch of others.

Ana looked straight at Seto and before anyone could say anything, she asked, "What happened?"

He blinked a few times. The anger in her voice was obvious. He could tell she was waiting for him to explain his behavior.

Arata butted in first, though. "We got into—"

"Shut up Arata-kun, I didn't ask you." Ana didn't take her eyes off Seto.

He was feeling irritated that she was specifically targeting him. "Why are you asking me?"

"Arata-kun can be annoying, but is mostly a pacifist. So, who else would throw the first punch but you?"

Seto wanted to rebuttal, but she was right.

"You can't get into fights at school. You're a lot stronger than most people and could easily kill someone. I don't care if you have the bail money, don't start fights that are going to require lawsuits!" Ana was nearly shouting at him now in front of their classmates. Everyone was holding their breath, waiting for Seto to say something.

Arata threw his hands up in the air. "I'm not that weak! He couldn't have killed me."

"You're pretty weak, I was holding back a lot." Seto admitted. I mean, when I'm really mad, I can break a few bones.

"I take it back. Your girlfriend is not that normal. She was more worried about you going to jail than starting a fight." Arata waved his hands about angrily.

Seto chuckled at his statement.

Ana sighed and crossed her arms. "You really think I don't expect him not to cause trouble at this point?"

"Fair." Arata nodded his head.

Seto ticked his tongue against his teeth.

The silver-haired boy asked Arata, "Are you guys getting suspended?"

"No, but we do have detention." He admitted.

Ana tilted her head, looking confused. "Detention? Just Arata?"

Seto's eyes twitched. "No. We both do."

Ana looked even more surprised. "You didn't fight back against that?"

"I can go back and blackmail the dean right now if you'd prefer that." Seto was getting irritated with the constant attention.

Ana blinked a few times, then she slightly smiled and said, "Huh."

What? What does "Huh" mean?

"Want me to interpret?" Arata leaned over to him.

"Yes! Interpret." Seto snapped, fed up with not fully understanding his girlfriend. He was even more determined now to go to that appointment on Thursday.

"She's amused and pleasantly pleased that you accepted detention." Arata deciphered.

"I didn't say that." Ana blushed.

Seto raised an eyebrow at her. "Was he right?"

Ana pouted and looked away, her ears turning pink. Seto glanced at Arata.

"That's a yes, but she doesn't want to admit it." Arata translated.

Ana turned an angry gaze on Arata. "When did you too get so close?"

Arata puffed up his chest and proudly stated, "We're friends now."

Everyone looked shocked, and Seto's mouth tightened. Ana looked the most amused.

"I hate you." Seto growled at him.

Arata shrugged. "Yup, we're friends."

"I hate you."

Arata turned to him and huffed. "Get over it. We're friends now, and you can't get rid of me. I'm like that rock stuck in your shoe that you can't get out."

Before Seto could threaten to hit him again, the bell rang, and everyone rushed back to their seats. Seto went to his seat as well. After Ana sat down, she turned to him and whispered to him while covering her mouth.

"Are you really friends?" She was smirking at him.

"What do you think?"

She grinned and mouthed, "You're cute."

Seto blushed at the sudden flirtatious compliment. Ana quickly turned around and before he could say anything, the teacher came in. I wasn't expecting that reaction from her at all. Seto glanced over at Arata, who was focusing on the board. Huh? Maybe he's more useful than I thought.

Author's Note: Hey, everyone. You have to looove corporate. They changed their mind midweek and postponed the visit for two weeks from now. I'll try my best to write the chapter in advance, but I must work even more hours now because of the postponement Bleh.

Anyway! We are back in Ana's home city now. I honestly wasn't planning on taking this chapter in this direction, but Arata kind of took over and butted in. Hehe. Seto now has his first "friend". I don't know how long this arc is going to be, but there is still a lot left for Ana and Seto to go through in high school. Till next time! Thanks for reading.