Chapter 63:

Festival Prep

Ana woke up Monday morning feeling tired. Seto had been busy over the weekend with work, so she hadn't seen him. Even Friday, he'd run off after he dropped her off. Though he had kept texting her. Is he just really good at writing multiple things at once or was he procrastinating? Ana got dressed and went outside. Seto was already waiting for her. He was working on his phone.

"Good morning. Grandpa wanted me to ask if you could start training with us today?" Ana looked up sleepily. It was cold for early October and that just made her sleepier. Seto put his phone away, and they started walking.

"Yeah. I finally got a second assistant. I was finishing up the transfer process this weekend," he grumbled.

"You don't sound happy about it."

"The assistant I hired is that hacking pricks girlfriend." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh? Wait, what? Chimon-kun has a girlfriend? Since when?" Ana was shocked.

Seto shrugged. "He said they'd been together five years. I found that odd since she's in her early thirties."

"Why is that what seems odd to you?" Ana didn't find the age odd.

"Aren't they kind of far apart in age?"

Ana frowned at him. "Um, Amin-chan, how old do you think Chimon-kun is?"

"I don't know. Nineteen at most?" He shrugged.

"He's twenty-seven."

Seto stopped walking. "Huh?!"

Ana laughed at his reaction. She kept walking and Seto followed, but grumbled the whole way there. When they got to school and home room started, Arata went up to the front of the classroom.

"Alright everyone, the beginning of the next month is our last and final school festival. Today we're going to decide on a theme. Any ideas?"

Ah, the final fall festival. I guess I really will be graduating soon. Seto went back to Domino City right before the last one. It would be pretty funny to get him to participate in this one.

The classroom started shouting out ideas while Arata wrote them on the board.

"Haunted house!"

"Maid cafe!"

"Play!

It was all the usual stuff. One guy threw his hand up and shouted, "Duel monster themed concert!"

"Oh, that sounds fun. We could set up stage and everything."

"Yeah, the band could wear duel monsters themed costumes."

Arata tried to get them to move on, but they wouldn't. He clapped his hands and drew their attention. "A concert is a big production, but let's go ahead and discuss it for a second. Can anyone play instruments?"

"I play drums!"

"Guitar!"

"Kazoo!"

"What, a kazoo doesn't work for a band."

The discussion went on for a bit while Arata wrote down who could play what.

Arata looked a bit exasperated. "Great. It looks like we have all the necessary instruments. Who can sing?"

The room went quiet. Ana cringed. She'd been to karaoke with most of them and knew that some of them were ok singers but nothing performance worthy. Well, Seto's good, but there's no way in hell he'll agree to that. Ana glanced over her shoulder and found Seto absorbed in his work. Is he even listening?

"Alright, if no one is volunteering, then we're going to go down the row and have each of you sing a piece of your favorite song. I'll start." Arata belted out a song that he sang often at karaoke. He was enthusiastic, but horribly off tune.

Thud. Ana looked back to find Seto had put his head down and was covering his ears. What's up with that?

"Now that I've sufficiently embarrassed myself. Next!" He went down the rows. Some people were too nervous to try. A couple were enthusiastic, but not good enough for a performance. One guy was decent, but he sang a really old song and when Arata asked if he could sing more updated songs, he cringed. They kept going down the rows with no luck.

"Shut up!" Seto snapped right as another guy was about to give it ago. "You all are making my ears bleed."

The class looked at him, shocked that he was even paying attention. A boy with dark black hair and eyes named Juni glared at Seto. It had been his turn to sing.

"What? You think you can do better?" Juni taunted him.

Ana had a sinking feeling and Seto stood up. The room grew silent. Everyone's mouth dropped opened when he sang a quick couple lines of a popular song flawlessly. Ana didn't look at him. She got the feeling this was going to give her a headache.

When he finished, he snapped at Juni. "Now shut up."

Seto took his seat again. Arata looked rather amused. "That was great! Do you want to—"

Seto glared at him. "Not a chance in hell."

The room grew silent. Arata sighed, then shrugged. "Ok, so if we don't have a singer, then the band idea is scratched. Let's think of something else."

The class was less enthusiastic as they discussed it. In the end, no one could come to an agreement. "Alright, well. Think on it tonight and tomorrow we'll take a vote."

Homeroom ended, and their next class started as normal. It was when lunch rolled around and when Seto went off to eat alone as usual that the trouble started. Many of her classmates swarmed her.

"Ana, can you convince Seto to sing so we can do the concert?" Jerico asked, her green eyes alit with fire.

"Is it possible to stop a rabid dog from biting you?" Ana cringed. There's no way that Seto is going to do it. I guess I could use one of the three favors he owes me, but why? There's nothing in it for me.

"It would be amazing to have a concert as our last festival," Umiko said quietly, and everyone agreed.

They kept pressing her, and even Sanae seemed interested in the idea. Ana finally gave in and said she'd ask, but for them not to get their hopes up. That quieted them down, and they finished up lunch. When Seto came back, they stared him down, but he ignored them and took his seat. Class passed by as normal and finally ended. Ana left with Seto as usual, except this time he'd be coming to her house to train with her. On their way there, Ana figured she'd get it over with.

"Amin-chan, for the festival—"

Seto interrupted. "There's no way in hell I'm going to sing."

"Then why did you sing in class earlier?" He opened his mouth, but she stopped him. "That was a rhetorical question. I know you did it just to be an Amin-chan and prove your point, but did you really have to? Everyone bugged me about it."

He rolled his eyes.

"So, no way in hell, huh?" Ana mused. "You must really hate singing."

"I don't hate it. It's just pointless."

"It would make you popular with the school."

He looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "That's pointless."

Ana sighed and thought of something else. "I'd find it hot."

He smirked at her. "You already find me hot."

Ah, whatever. I don't really care if he sings or not. My classmates are going to grumble for a while, but it's not like I can force him.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I guess that's that then. Which is fine by me. Umiko was talking about having everyone dress up as some sort of dual monster or something. That would be super embarrassing—"

"I'll do it."

Ana stopped and looked at him, horrified. "What? Why?"

He grinned. "I'll do it if you dress up like your card."

"You mean that card you made of me? It's not even a real duel monster."

He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a card. Holding it up to her, the color drained from her face. "You got it made into a real card! You nutcase."

"I'll do it, if you dress up." He quickly put the card back in his bag before she could snatch it. "Don't even think about getting rid of the card. There are plenty more where that came from."

Ana growled low in her throat. "What's in it for me?"

He looked perplexed. "I said I'd sing—"

"I don't care if you sing at the concert or not. The class might grumble for a while, but they'd get over it. So, there's nothing in this for me." Ana's eyes narrowed. There's nothing I want enough to agree to wearing that costume.

Seto's brow furrowed as he closed his eyes and pondered quietly. See, there's nothing I want that will entice me to—He opened his eyes and grinned.

"I'll work extra time into your study schedule, so that you can go to the daycare a couple times a week."

Ana choked a little. Frick' I do want that. Seto seemed to realize he'd caught her and doubled down. "I'll also come along with you once a week and play the duel monsters game with the kids again."

She pursed her lips and then whacked him in the back with her bag. He laughed loudly at her reaction. "Does that mean I win?"

"It means I agree, but you do realize you're going to have to wear a costume too, right?" Ana teased him.

Seto shrugged. "I look good in anything."

"Then can I tell them to dress you as a kuriboh?"

He gagged loudly. "Do that and there will be payback."

She chuckled and blushed when he took her hand. "Are you ready for training?"

"No. I'd honestly rather gargle toilet water."

"Well, you could cancel and go do that instead, but then kissing you wouldn't be fun." She joked. He looked down at her and his eyes fell on her lips. She could see his brain working overtime. He's got something on his mind again. Ana stopped just before they reached her house.

"You can kiss me… if you want," she whispered. That was all it took for him to practically smoosh her with a kiss. Ana's ears grew warm. She hadn't expected such a passionate and hungry kiss. He pulled away after a few seconds.

"I'm going to need a few more of those after this session is over." He sighed.

Ana's heart was racing. She teased him. "Maybe if you manage to best me, then I'll give you another."

He looked annoyed and slightly determined. Pff. Amin-chan really is cute sometimes. I might just have to give him the kiss, anyway.

Author here! Hey, everyone. I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who read, follow, and review my story. I've always suffered from anxiety and just kind of delt with it. It got really bad in September. I was having panic attacks at work multiple times a week. My good friend finally convinced me to go talk to a doctor and get on medication. In September I'd pretty much stopped writing novels because I just was too tired and stressed. Some days I didn't even want to write this story but knowing that you all were looking forward to the next chapter helped me keep going. So, I wanted to say thank you. I'm still waiting to see the full effects of the medication, but so far I'm doing much better. Thank you all for sticking with me and I hope you continue to enjoy this story in the future as well. Until next week!