Chapter 61:

Minami

Seto looked very surprised when Ana said she'd trust him. Well, I guess I could push to find out, but there's probably a reason grandpa has been hiding it from me. It sounds like he's been keeping it from the rest of the family, too. I don't know if he let Seto in on it because he trusts him or because he felt he had no choice, but Seto agreed to it, meaning there was something in it for him. I certainly trust Seto will do what's best for him and hopefully in this case, me. I'm going to go with ignorance is bliss, at least for now.

"Really?" Seto asked, sounding very confused. "Just like that?"

Ana smiled at him. "What? Are you expecting me to keep asking even after you asked me to trust you?"

"Yes! I am." Seto threw his hands up in the air. "Why would you just trust me? What's in it for you?"

Ana frowned at him. "Amin-chan, you said it would make you miserable if you told me."

"Well, duh, but why would you just trust me?" Seto looked beyond confused. "You don't know the context, so how do you know trusting me would benefit you?"

"I trust you to do what makes you the happiest. And you said it would also make me miserable to know right now. I don't think you're lying since it seems like you have less to lose than I do." Ana tried to explain.

"Yeah, but really? Why would you just trust me?"

She paused. He's having a really hard time with this. She asked him a question. "Seto, if I asked you to just trust me, would you?"

Seto paused and looked contemplative. He mulled over her question. "I… don't know."

Well, that makes sense. We haven't been dating long.

"How about this? You've saved my life once and have been helping me out a lot lately. Let's just say that you've built up goodwill, so for now, I'm going to trust you. That doesn't mean I might not push to know later. I'm just going to focus on what I can for now."

He gave her a half frown. It seemed he still didn't believe her, but he said, "Alright."

Seto stood up and stretched. Ana also rose, feeling super tired. Ugh. I need a ten-hour nap.

"Well, I don't have training… So, do you want to do something?" She asked, but was also leaning towards going to take a nap.

"I can't. I have to go hire another assistant." Seto grumbled, annoyed.

Ana wanted to ask why he'd done so, but she got the feeling it had something to do with his and grandpa's deal. She decided not to press it.

"Alright, then I'll see you at school tomorrow?" She could feel her eyes drooping.

"Yeah."

Ana showed Seto out and said goodbye before she went up to her room. When she got there, she found Aiko pacing in front of her door.

"Aiko?" Ana asked, confused what her sister wanted.

Aiko stopped pacing and frowned. Her voice came out low. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Ana nodded and invited her sister in. She'd never been very close with Aiko, but it's not like she disliked her sister. About three years back, they'd talked more often, but suddenly Aiko had become more distant from her. Ana had just chalked it up to Aiko being extremely dedicated to studying to get into college. Ana sat down on her bed, but Aiko stood with her arms crossed over her stomach.

"Ana did… did something happen in the Dojo with grandpa?" Aiko wasn't looking at her as she asked.

"Something happened, but I'm not fully sure what. He talked with Kaiba-san about something." Ana didn't see a need to hide it. "Why?"

"Kaiba-san and grandpa?" Aiko looked thoughtful, then shook her head. "It's nothing, grandpa just apologized for… It's nothing."

"He apologized to me too." Ana commented casually. She wondered what her grandpa had apologized to Aiko for.

Aiko looked up at her, surprised. "He did? For what?"

"Well… for." Ana took a breath. It's fine. I can say it now. "For what happened with him."

Aiko seemed to understand what she meant even without her saying Ren's name. "Ah."

They stood there in awkward silence until Ana remembered her promise to Hoyhi.

"Oh, um, is there a day you'd like off? I can take over your chores." Ana offered and Aiko looked at her perplex.

"Why?" Her sisters' eyes narrowed.

Ana sighed. She wasn't going to hide it. "I made a deal with Hoyhi-san. He wanted to hang out with you and asked me to take on your chores since you were so busy."

Her sister's brow furrowed deeply. "That's…"

Ana didn't know why her sister was hesitating. After talking with the "real" Hoyhi, she didn't think he was all that bad. He bathes into much yellow for me, but he's not a bad person.

"He seemed too genuinely like you." Ana offered, but Aiko's look became even more conflicted. She was getting annoyed. "Oh, for pete sake. No one said you have to marry the guy. He just wants to hang out. If you don't like him, then turn him down."

"It's not that I don't like Jordan…" Aiko trailed off.

Jordan? Really? They're both using each other's first name. She totally likes him!

"I don't know what's bothering you, but stringing him along isn't fair to him."

Aiko's mouth tightened, then she took a deep breath. "You're right. I suppose it's not. This Thursday, I don't have any classes. Can you take care of my chores then? I… need to tell him something."

"Sure. I'll do that." Ana agreed. Her sister let out a small sad sigh, then left Ana alone. She laid down on her bed and curled up with her pillow. What a ridiculously long first day of school.

The next day, Ana got ready as usual and headed outside to wait for Seto. When he showed up, Ana noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He grumbled under his breath nonstop. They walked this way for a while until Ana couldn't take it anymore.

"Amin-chan, what's got you so worked up?" Ana was wondering if he was regretting what happened yesterday.

"Interviewing people sucks!" He yelled loudly as he glared at the open air in front of them. "If I have to hear about one more person "working well with others" and "being a team player" I'm going to throw up."

Ana held back her laughter. "So, you've started looking for a new assistant already? Don't you normally look at resumes before interviewing?"

"I don't have time to do that shit. Inu-san went over the resumes and then I interviewed the candidates over video call, but all of them suck!" Seto looked ready to punch someone.

"Uh… good luck." Ana gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm. His mouth tightened, he was obviously annoyed by her pat. "Oh, while I'm remembering Thursday I have to go straight home."

Seto raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. "That works out, I guess. I have an appointment Thursday afternoon."

Ana asked, curious, "An appointment? For work?"

He glanced away from her and didn't meet her eyes. That just makes me even more curious. She waited a few seconds until she realized he wasn't going to tell her.

"Alright, well I guess that works out… When are you going to start training with grandpa and me?" Ana asked and Seto immediately glowered.

"Next week. I have to hire this assistant first." He grumbled.

Ana reached over and took his hand. He looked down at her, surprised. "Well, I'm looking forward to spending more time with you."

His ears turned pink at this comment, and he looked away from her. Hehe. Sometimes Amin-chan's cute. Ana let go of his hand as they got to school and Seto made a displease face but said nothing. When they got to their classroom, Ana noticed Sanae standing down the hallway talking to the pink-haired boy named Aoba. He was wearing glasses again. Glasses really don't suit his face. Why doesn't he just wear contacts all the time? They were talking and Ana could tell that her friend was being polite, but she seemed very uncomfortable. Oh? Has she finally realized it?

"Amin-chan, head on in. I need to go rescue Sanae."

"Rescue her?" Seto gave her a funny look.

Ana sighed. She didn't feel like explaining and headed over to her friend. Seto thankfully went into the classroom.

"Sanae! There you are." Ana latched onto her friend's arm, interrupting the conversation. "Oh, hi Asao-kun. Did I interrupt?"

Asao tensed up and looked away from them. "Oh, um, hi Sakurai-san. No, I was just about to head to class."

He turned and left them alone in the hallway. Ana grinned at her friend, who was looking even more uncomfortable.

"What were you talking about?" Ana's smiled widened.

Sanae groaned. "He was just saying hi and asking me how my dad's doing?"

"How is he doing?"

"A lot better." Sanae looked at Ana, who was still grinning. "Don't give me that look, Ana."

"He likes you," Ana said bluntly.

Sanae sighed loudly. "He's a freshmen. I'm going to graduate this year and I have no interest in dating. I don't like younger guys."

"Hmm, so you finally figured out he likes you." She lightly poked her friend's cheek.

She slapped Ana's hand away, annoyed. "He keeps talking to me every chance he gets and is super fidgety every time we talk."

"Do you want me to scare him away?" Ana asked, still grinning at her friend.

"No. He was nice enough to give me a ride to the hospital when my dad was in the wreck, and he hasn't been obnoxious or followed me around. He seems nice. I'm just not interested. If he asks me out, then I'll turn him down." Sanae looked tired.

While he doesn't seem to be a nuisance, I wonder if I should still hint to him that he doesn't have a chance? Sanae's got a lot on her plate right now.

"So, how are you and Kaiba-san doing?" Her friend turned the conversation back on her.

Ana paused as she remembered all the awkward and emotion wrenching things that had happened just yesterday.

"Uh, we're doing ok, I guess. He's going to be training with grandpa and me from now on." Ana admitted.

Sanae's eyes widened. "What why?"

"I don't know, but… I told my grandpa my career plans. He didn't approve of them right away, but after he talked with Amin-chan, he did. So, I'm assuming they made some sort of deal." Ana rubbed her forehead, feeling tired.

"How did he do that?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. It seemed like keeping me in the dark is part of the deal."

Her friend frowned at her. "And you're ok with that?"

Ana paused and bit her lip. "It makes me uneasy, but for now I'm going to trust that Amin-chan isn't telling me for a good reason."

"Really?" Sanae didn't seem convinced. "Well, I hope nothing bad comes of it. We should get to class."

Ana agreed, and they went into class. Class passed pretty slowly until finally the first break bell rang. Ana went to grab a drink from the vending machine. When she made it to the machines, she saw Asao talking with a couple of other freshmen. The other guys left first.

"See you later, Minami-san," one guy said before they headed out.

Asao turned back to the vending machine, looking at the drinks. Minami? It finally clicked why he looked so familiar. The pink hair and his face structure when he didn't have glasses on made him look just like the Minami girl that Ana had gotten suspended for messing with her. Heat built up in her face and her muscles tightened. She stormed over to the machines just as Asao turned around. He looked surprised.

"H-hello, Sakurai-san." He seemed a little nervous at her sudden appearance.

Ana smiled viciously. "Hello, Minami-san."

He almost dropped his can of soda. "Uh, um, I…."

"Tell me, are you related to the Minami who was suspended?" Ana's voice was dangerously low.

He flinched and seemed to shrink under her gaze. "T-That's my twin sister."

Ana lost it and grabbed his collar. She slammed him up against the vending machine. He dropped his drink. The can slammed into the ground, then rolled away.

"I thought it was odd that you never gave your family name. What are you planning to do to my friend?" Ana growled deeply.

He looked terrified and panicked. "What? I'm not going to do anything."

"It's obvious you like her," he blushed at this, "But do you like her or are you trying to get revenge for your sister in a roundabout way by hurting my friend?"

"What? No! My sister deserved her punishment. I've wanted to apologize to you for that, but I couldn't find a good time—"

Ana didn't believe him. She'd had one too many people hurt Sanae to get back at her family to believe him. "Leave my friend alone. She doesn't like you and never will."

His lips trembled at her statement, and he bowed his head, defeated. Ana released him and stormed away without getting a drink. She could hear some sniffling behind her, but she didn't turn back around. She was too mad. Returning to the classroom, she sat there fuming the rest of the time. Sanae tried to ask her during break what was wrong, but Ana just said she was feeling off and left it at that. Seto was also giving her a look from his peripheral, but she ignored him. When Ana left with Seto at the end of the day, she felt even worse. She'd been dwelling on it all day and wished she'd punched Asao in the face as well. When they were far enough away that it was only them, Ana couldn't hold it back anymore, and let out a very loud, angry scream.

Seto froze and looked at her, completely baffled. "What the heck was that?"

"Nothing, I'm good now." Ana felt a little better.

"Bull shit. Ana, what the heck?" Seto pushed. He looked at her, beyond perplexed.

She decided to vent and just tell him. "Apparently, Asao-kun—the guy Sanae was talking to this morning—his last name is Minami, and he's the other Minami's twin brother. I don't know what his game is, but he's been trying to get closer to Sanae and it pisses me off."

Seto stared at her blankly. "That's the reason you let out a caveman like scream?"

"I've had a lot of people try to use Sanae to get to my family." Ana glared at him for his description of her frustration. "Of course, I'm pissed. For all I know, he could be trying to use Sanae."

Seto let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. "He's not going to do anything."

Ana's temper flared again. "What makes you say that?"

"Because he would have already revealed that he covered the hospital bill for her father and used it against her if he was going to do anything."

Ana paused, soaking in what he said. "What? How do you know that? Wait, how could he even afford that?"

"You said you were going to save your friend this morning. I thought he might be a threat, so I had Inu-san investigate him. He's a model and apparently his career is doing well." Seto explained.

"He paid for it?" Ana felt the blood drain from her face. That was a while ago. He hasn't used it to get closer to her. Is he actually a good person?

Seto pulled out his phone and handed it over to her. She found the file that Inu-san had put together on Minami Asao. As Ana read it over, she felt the guilt sinking in. He had a spotless career and, unlike his sister, didn't try anything dirty to increase his success. Apparently, he'd paid for the medical bills out of his own pocket and had insisted that the payment be anonymous. Ana was more impressed with the file than anything else. There was even a video of Asao's sister trying to get back into the agency and of him telling her that she got what she deserved. Frick'. The guilt was setting in as she realized Asao was actually a decent guy. Ana handed the phone back over.

"You know you could have just asked your little hacking prick to look into him instead of assuming." Seto sighed and put his phone back in his pocket.

Ana shook her head. "I really don't like using Chimon-kun for stuff like this."

"Did it make you feel better to know?" Seto raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… I'm surprised that you aren't that upset though considering they're siblings." Ana frowned at him.

He tilted his head. "They're still two different people. That would be like saying you should be mad at Mokuba when I piss you off. That doesn't make sense."

Ana felt even more guilty now. "Yeah… thanks."

He smirked. "It was pretty funny seeing you lose your shit though."

Ana swung her bag at him, and this time, he dodged. The smirk he gave her was even more annoying. Seto walked her the rest of the way home while Ana stewed on what to do about Asao.

The next day she went to the freshman's classrooms during lunch. It took a few tries, but she finally found Asao. He was sitting and eating with a few of his friends. When Ana walked in, the guys looked up, confused. Asao glanced up, frowned, and then went back to his food. He seemed to be trying to ignore her. Well, yeah, I deserve that, since he hasn't really done anything wrong.

"Minami-san." Ana called to him. He kept ignoring her. She could feel her patience being tried. "I need to talk with you."

"You said everything you needed to yesterday." He grumbled, not meeting her eyes and his friends look confused.

Ana debated on apologizing there, but she needed to talk to him about some things that weren't really anyone else's business.

"Alright, then I guess I'll just go tell Sanae who the anonymous donor—" Asao stood up quickly, his face was bright red, but his lips were pulled taught. Ana stopped talking, turned, and left the classroom. Asao followed her. She took him to a secluded spot under the stairs.

"How did you find out about that?" Asao finally asked. She could see the steam coming out of his ears.

Ana sighed and ignored his question. First, she bowed to him deeply. "I'm sorry about yesterday. It was wrong of me to attack you when you hadn't done anything to my friend."

"Yeah, it was. I didn't deserve that."

The harshness in his tone surprised Ana. She'd only seen him as a fidgety boy around Sanae, but apparently, he had more backbone than that. She didn't wait to be told to rise. It was obvious he would not forgive her, and she still needed to ask him some more intrusive questions.

"The donation—"

"Don't tell her." He snapped, clearly panicked, and asked again, "How did you even find out about that?"

"Hmm, my boyfriend has a bad habit of doing background checks on people." Ana admitted, feeling even more guilty. "Why did you pay for it? Surely it's not just because you like…"

He looked down at the floor, his entire face the same color as his hair.

"Never mind. It seems that's exactly the reason. Then let me ask you this, are you planning on telling her and using it to get her to date you?" Ana asked.

Asao looked very annoyed at this question. "Of course not! If I told her, she'd hate me. Don't you tell her either."

Ana smiled at his response. Asao seemed to think she was teasing him, though.

"There's no reason to rub it in. I know she doesn't like me. I just wanted to help her. Why are you even asking me? Are you just assuming that I'm a jerk like my sister?" Asao crossed his arms and grumbled.

"I did, and I'm sorry about that. I wasn't rubbing it in." Ana sighed before she said, "many people have tried to use Sanae to get to me and some have hurt her. So, I'm a little protective of her when it comes to this sort of thing."

Asao looked surprised at her statement, then frowned. "I'm not going to hurt her."

"I can see that now. So again, I'm sorry." Ana bowed again. This time, Asao didn't make a snide remark. Ana stood back up and saw that he looked a bit embarrassed.

"If it puts your mind at ease, I wasn't planning on asking her out. I could already tell that she doesn't like me. I just wanted to get to spend some time with her before she graduates." He rubbed his hand over his arm.

"I see. Well, I might be able to help with that, but not at my friend's expense. If she doesn't feel comfortable around you, then I won't push it." Ana offered.

Asao's eyebrow rose for a second, then he pouted. "I don't need your help."

Ana smiled a little wider at this. "Alright then. Well… I have one more question. That day you came up to us in the cafeteria. What was that about?"

"I wanted to apologize for my sister, but then I saw who you were sitting with and ran away." Asao admitted. "Though after this, I don't feel like I should be responsible for my sister. I shouldn't have to apologize for her.

"No, you shouldn't. How did you even know Sanae, though?"

"One of my friends is on the swim team and I went to watch the meet. That's when I saw her and thought…" Asao blushed and didn't finish his statement.

Ana grinned at him. "Alright. I need to get back to class. I guess… See you around."

Asao nodded before they both parted ways. Ana headed back to the classroom feeling refreshed. When she got there, she found Sanae eating her lunch with the other girls. Ana sat down with them.

"What were you up to?" Sanae asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just airing the room," Ana answered vaguely. The other girls looked confused, but Sanae seemed to understand.

"You said something without thinking again, didn't you?" Sanae smiled at her, and Ana groaned.

I was hoping I'd grown out of that, but I guess I haven't changed that much. At this rate, these last couple semesters are going to be like a roller coaster ride.