Chapter 66:

Seto's Social Lesson

Why is she looking at me like that? He didn't like the sense of foreboding he was getting as Ana smiled at him, obvious rage in her eyes. I just did what the stupid therapist told me to and was direct. She's obviously been distracted about something all day. This is the most direct I can be.

"You think I have a stick up my ass?" Ana's voice was filled with venom.

"Yes?" Seto was confused why she was repeating him.

"What makes you think that?" Ana's eyes narrowed.

"What? Because you've been annoyingly quiet today," Seto said the first thing that came to mind. He found it annoying when people beat around the bush.

Ana, however, seemed angrier. "I just had something on my mind."

"What?" Seto asked.

"It's none of your business." She snapped.

This made him angrier. "None of my business? I asked, didn't I?"

"And?" Ana glared at him. "Just because you asked doesn't mean I have to tell you anything."

This pissed him off more. "How am I supposed to fix anything if you don't tell me?"

"Who said anything needs fixed?" Ana's voice rose a little.

"Well, apparently it does since you've been acting like you've got a stick up your ass all day." He did not like her raising her voice at him.

Ana grew quiet. She smiled harshly, packed her stuff up in her bag, and headed for the door.

Seto panicked. "Where are you going? You haven't told me what's wrong with you, yet."

Ana glared at him. "I'm going home, and I don't have to tell you everything that goes through my mind."

Before he could stop her, she stormed out of his apartment and left. Seto sat there, confused. What just happened? Pissed off, he decided to work. I asked like the stupid therapist said. I was direct. What just happened? Why did she get angry? Seto couldn't sleep that night. In the morning, he went to pick up Ana as usual. When she didn't come out right away, he rang the bell and Hikari answered.

"What are you doing here?" Hikari looked confused.

Seto was taken aback by his idiocy. "I'm here to pick up Ana. What else would I be doing here?"

"She already left for school." Hikari smirked. "Is she avoiding you? Did you two get into a fight? She came home pretty mad last night."

Seto was taken aback. Fight? Did we have a fight? Hikari burst into laughter and slammed the door in his face. Seto stood there in between anger and panic. Did we really fight? Is Ana avoiding me? The thought hurt, and he didn't like it at all. That stupid therapist! Instead of going to school, Seto headed for the therapist's office. He burst in, startling the receptionist. He slammed open the door to the meeting room despite the receptionists protesting. Namura was with another client. They both looked at him, surprised.

"Your advice sucks!" Seto shouted at her.

Namura took a deep breath and turned to her other client, ignoring Seto. "It seems we need to wrap up a couple minutes early today. We'll have a longer session next time."

"Don't ignore me!" Seto snapped. "This is all your fault."

She continued to ignore him and escorted the confused client out of the room. When she came back, she walked over to a drink bar and made herself some tea. Seto was even more pissed that she was acting so nonchalant.

"I said this is your fault!" He repeated.

Namura turned to him, her gaze hard. Seto was never intimidated, but something about her look threw him off.

"I heard. Now, sit down." There was no room for negotiation. Seto should have been pissed that she was ordering him to do anything, but he got the feeling he should listen. Annoyed, he sat down and crossed his arms. Namura sat a crossed from him. "Never, burst into one of my client meetings again or I'll have you escorted off the property in cuffs."

Seto looked at her, taken aback. She was threatening him. Him! Kaiba Seto. Before he could make a retort, she continued.

"Now, tell me what happened."

He glared at her. "I did as you said and was direct with my girlfriend when she'd been extra quiet all day, but she got pissed at me and didn't tell me what was wrong. Now she's avoiding me. This is all your fault."

Namura sighed. "What specifically did you ask her?"

"I asked what stick she had up her ass." Seto didn't know why this mattered, but Namura's look of "Are you frickin' serious" made him realize she thought it mattered. "What? You told me to be direct. That was the most direct way I could think of to ask what her problem was."

"Yes, direct. I didn't tell you to insult her. No one wants to tell someone what's wrong after they've been insulted." Namura pinched the bridge of her nose. "When I meant direct, I meant to ask, 'what's wrong' or 'Is something bothering you'. I didn't realize that direct to you meant… I guess I'm going to have to teach you appropriate word phrases. But seriously, what made you think that was ok? What if she'd asked you why you were being an ass?"

"I'd think it was normal! Her nickname for me basically means asshole!" Seto threw up his hands in exasperation.

Namura looked surprised, then sighed. "I see. What is her nickname for you?"

"Amin-chan." Seto explained before she asked, "It means A minus in Assery. She came up with the first day we met."

"Ah, I see the problem. Ok, so let's say she asked, 'Amin-chan, why do you have a stick up your ass,' how would you interpret that?"

Seto frowned at her. "Wouldn't she just be asking me what's wrong or why I was in a bad mood?"

"Ok… Let's say she didn't use your nickname and asked, 'why are you being an asshole' how would you interpret that?"

"What? She's obviously picking a fight—oh, shit." Seto finally realized how Ana took his inquiry into what was wrong yesterday.

Namura sighed. "You know, for someone so smart, you're kind of socially dumb."

Seto glared at her. "You're insulting me? I'm a client."

"Yes, indeed, you are. An impromptu client that I will be charging extra for this unplanned session." Namura smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Seto grimaced. "Well, it was your fault for not being specific."

She sighed again loudly, irritating him more. "You're going to have to learn proper phrases for social interactions unless you want to keep having these communication issues."

"Why the frick should I?" Seto didn't think it was necessary to learn these phrases. He knew all the business ones he needed. "I don't want to learn polite phrases. They're fake and I hate fake."

Namura lightly touched her head and shook it before looking at him again. "Kaiba-san, you hurt your girlfriend."

Seto froze. I hurt Ana? That hadn't been his intention at all. Of course, he knew he'd said it like his normal asshole self, but he figured she'd realized he was just asking her what was wrong.

"Do you want to keep hurting her?"

"No!"

"Then put in the effort to learn to communicate properly!" Namura snapped at him, and Seto couldn't refute her words.

Seto grumbled. "I was just following your advice."

"I did not tell you to insult your girlfriend. I told you to be open and direct with her, but now I know direct means being an asshole to you. I'll remember that next time."

Seto could feel himself shrinking a little. He shouldn't feel overpowered, but it was true that he'd been a bit more of an ass to Ana than usual when he asked.

"Last time you told me, you normally tell her that you can't read minds. Why did you choose this phrasing this time instead?" Namura probed him.

Seto shrugged. "It felt more direct."

"More direct than 'What's wrong'?"

Seto looked away from her, unable to answer. She sighed. "Did something happen to make you irritated at her for it to come out that way?"

"What? No, I..." Seto realized he had been pretty frustrated because he'd been baited with the kiss and left out to dry. "Oh, maybe..."

"Well, you think on that." Namura rubbed her eyes, looking extra tired. "Tell me, how are you going to fix this misunderstanding."

"How should I know?" Seto snapped, annoyed at her question.

"You need to show remorse." This made him smirk, but Namura quickly said again, "You hurt her."

The guilt hit him again. He frowned at her comment.

"Oh good. You do feel remorse. Then show that and apologize to her, then explain in not assholish terms what you were really trying to ask."

Seto did not like being told what to do, but he like Ana avoiding him even less. "She avoided me this morning. If she's going to avoid me, how am I supposed to apologize?"

"Ask to talk to her politely." Namura rolled her eyes at his disgusted look. "Say please. You like this girl, right?"

"Yes!"

"Then swallow your damn pride and admit you were in the wrong. Which you were." Namura glanced at the clock. "Now, I have another appointment. The next time you barge in on my other clients, I'll have you banned, and you can find another therapist."

Seto's eyes widened. "You're threatening me?"

"Oh please, don't even try the whole 'I'll tear your business down shit'. Do you know how many egotistical maniacs I deal with on the daily? If you want my help, you'll need to follow the rules and be respectful. Kind of like you should be doing with your girlfriend. Now get out." Namura, much to his surprise, shooed him out and called in the next client. Before she closed the door, she said, "I'll see you at our scheduled appointment. Now go apologize to your girlfriend and if she still doesn't want to tell you what was on her mind, don't get angry at her."

She shut the door in his face. The receptionist looked at him and sighed. Why are so many women sighing at me today? He stormed out and headed to school. It was long passed second period. He came right in as the third class was starting. He ignored the stares and glanced over at Ana. She looked at him for only a split second before going back to her work. Crap. She really is ignoring me. Since the teacher for the third class came in and started class, Seto had no choice but to take his seat. He could feel Arata staring at him. Seto didn't glance his way. Instead, he painfully pretended to work through third period, but honestly, he couldn't focus. When the bell for lunch finally rang, he nearly breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived. Ana stood up and looked at Sanae.

"Do you want to eat in the cafeteria?" She smiled at her friend, not even glancing Seto's way.

Sanae returned her smile. "Sure."

They both got up and left the room. No! I'm not waiting until the end of the day to sort this out. Seto stood up and went after them. Arata gave him a thumbs up and mouthed "good luck". Seto just growled at him. He caught up with Ana and Sanae right before they made it into the cafeteria.

"Ana, I need to talk to you," Seto said, but Ana didn't even turn to look at him. Sanae glared at him out of the corner of her eye but didn't address him. "Please."

His mouth felt gritty saying it.

She stopped when he said this and turned to look at him. Her tone was harsh. "What?"

He glanced at her friend, who was hanging around. "I need to talk to you alone."

Ana smiled at him, but it was that same angry smile from yesterday. "If you have something to say, then say it."

Seto nearly snapped at that. Admitting he was wrong was painful enough. It was only because it was Ana that he'd hurt that he was even going to attempt to apologize, but there was no frickin' way he was going to say sorry in front of her friend. For a moment, he debated forcing her away from her friend, but he didn't think that would go well.

"May I talk to you alone, please?" This came out a little strained, but he still managed to say it. It already hurt for her friend to hear him attempting to be polite.

Ana frowned at him, then glanced at Sanae. Her friend finally noticed her look and shrugged.

"I'll see you inside." Sanae left them alone and Ana walked off to a more secluded hallway.

When she turned back to Seto, her eyes narrowed. "What?"

He decided to just get it over with. "I'm sorry."

"For?" Ana crossed her arms and smiled again. She obviously wasn't satisfied with just that.

Seto's mouth twitched. "I'm sorry for being a socially inept asshole."

This got a genuine smile out of her, which she quickly tried to suppress. "And?"

He groaned. "And for asking if you had a stick up your ass."

"Great, now why did you ask me if I did? For someone who always has a stick up his ass, saying I have one up mine seems extremely idiotic." Ana's angry smile hadn't faded.

She didn't say she forgave me. "I misinterpreted some advice. I was… trying to ask you why you'd been quiet all day and if anything was wrong."

Ana looked at him like he was an idiot. "Huh? How does me being quiet make you think I have a stick up my ass?"

"It doesn't. I was just told to be direct when asking you when I thought something was wrong and that was the most direct way I could think of to ask." Seto felt a twinge of guilt. It was weird to feel guilt. Ugh, liking someone makes you annoyingly weak.

Ana didn't seem to like his explanation. "That's the only reason you asked it that way?"

"Well…" He hesitated. "I might have been annoyed."

"At what."

"The kiss you baited me with."

Ana blushed, then scowled at him. "Grandpa showed up. It's not like I could do that in front of him."

"There were plenty of times that we were alone after that. Anyway, what were you thinking about all day yesterday?" Seto was feeling embarrassed. It felt like he was a child whining about not getting what he wanted.

Ana didn't press him more on the kiss, but looked uncomfortable about answering his question. "It wasn't anything important. Nothing was wrong. Let's leave it at that."

Seto's mouth twitched. He remembered Naruma's word about not getting angry with her if she didn't want to tell him. Yet, it still bothered him. It must have shown on his face, because Ana rolled her eyes at him.

"It's really nothing important." She tried to insist.

"Then why can't you tell me?" He hissed.

She glared at him. "Because it's embarrassing, and you'll just laugh at me."

"Well, yeah, I might." Seto grinned at her, and she pinched his arm. "But that just makes me want to know more."

Ana sighed. "I don't feel like telling you."

"I'll work in an extra day this week at the day care if you tell me." He bribed her.

She raised an eyebrow at this. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!"

"I… was thinking I wanted a new nickname."

Seto paused at this. "What? You hate Chi-san that bad?"

"You only use it when you mostly tease me." She grumbled. "I was thinking I wanted one for when you're not teasing me."

He grimaced. "That's what you were thinking about?"

"Yes, and seeing as how you decided to be a major ass yesterday, I feel like you owe me a new one." Ana smiled with a manipulative look in her eyes.

He scoffed at this. "Will you forgive me if I do?"

"Yup."

"Fine. But it's going to take me a bit. I'm not creative." He felt tired and annoyed at the thought.

She chuckled. "I know. Seeing as you could only come up with Chi-san just to tease me about height."

Seto crossed his arms and sighed. Ana was smiling at him, the anger in her eyes was gone. "So, you're not mad anymore?"

She looked surprised. "You apologized and seem to have realized that you were being a dipshit. So, I'm not mad anymore."

"Next time you get mad at me, please don't avoid me. I'd rather you just tell me to my face what I did to piss you off." Seto could feel a headache coming on.

Ana looked thoughtful and her eyes softened. "Ok."

His heart skipped a beat and that weird sensation he'd been feeling came back. OI! Stupid bodily responses. Damn it. Why is liking someone so confusing!