Chapter 70:

Love Confused

It was all supposed to be a joke. Seto had tried and tried to get the lullaby that his dad used to sing to fit the theme, but it didn't seem like a love song. No matter how he'd reworked it, the song was always sad to him. After he'd said cheesy things in the music room to Ana and embarrassed himself, he gave up. He decided to sing a heart pumping love song at the end, mostly to rile up Ana. The band had been all for it. The concert had gone on without a hitch. He'd been a little shocked to find out that Mokuba didn't remember their father's lullaby or the fact that he was a singer, but when he'd calmed down, he realized Mokuba had barely been four when the car crash had happened.

Seto had never been more thankful that he was wearing a helmet and that people couldn't see his face when he sang. It wasn't singing the lullaby that made him tear up, but the realization on his little brother's face. "Ah, so he does remember," went through Seto's mind at the time. After bringing many people to tears, he'd turned to the band members, and they started the upbeat, cheesy love song. The look of horror on Ana's face made him smirk, but as he sang the song, that feeling that had been gnawing at him for weeks surfaced loud and clear. Halfway through the song, his hands started to sweat, and his heart was pounding faster than the music. For a moment, he thought he was dying, until he glanced over at Ana again. Even though she was wearing a mask , he could see how red in the face she was. She'd looked so cute in the outfit he'd had her forced to wear for the event.

Haha, she's adorable. I love her. The fleeting thought nearly caused him to stop the performance. Love. His brain was nearly frozen. If he hadn't been a natural born performer, he might have just frozen during the song. He stopped trying to think and finished out the song. When he was done, and glanced over to the side of the stage again, he saw Ana run off. Where is she going? Why is she running away? Is she mad? His heart was racing a mile a minute. What the hell is wrong with me? The band members performed their final bows and vacated the stage. They were the last performers for the day. The class swarmed the band and were super pumped up.

Arata held up a video camera and grinned at Seto. "I got it all. Want me to send it to you?"

Seto wasn't really paying attention. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm not going to delete—wait, really?" Arata looked at him, surprised.

Seto was glad he was still wearing the helmet because he was sure he looked dazed right now. "Yeah, whatever."

Arata stared at him blankly, then grinned. "Alright."

The class eventually cleaned up and vacated the stage. Seto stood backstage and off to the side. He waited for everyone to leave.

Arata paused at the door and looked back at him. "Are you coming?"

"In a bit."

The redhead looked concerned but left him be. Seto finally raised the helmet and rubbed his eyes. I love her? Really? What does that even mean? No, he knew what it meant now. It wasn't just that he found her attractive or that he liked her personality. Even when she embarrassed him or pissed him off, this feeling would still be there. If she needed him, he'd be there, even if there was nothing in it for him. Even if they'd fought or disagreed, he would not leave. He'd heard someone say before the ultimate love was dying for someone, but that's not how he felt. To live for someone, even through all the hardships. That was harder. Right now, he felt like he could do that for Ana.

He heard the curtain rustling, and he looked up to see Ana peaking in. "Ana?"

She jumped and turned to him. Her eyes were wide. "Oh, you surprised me. What are you doing back here?" She walked over to him. An overwhelming desire to kiss her consumed him. When she got close to him, he reached out to her and quickly pulled her close. "W-what are you-?"

He pulled her mask down and kissed her deeply. Oh, I forgot to ask permission. Ana shoved him away and looked at him, panicked.

"What are you doing? We're at school!" She looked annoyed. Why is she so cute? He wanted to kiss her, and he wanted her to kiss him back. Reaching forward, he gently ran his fingers along her cheek. Her reaction was funny and adorable as her cheeks turned red. She didn't pull away from his touch, but looked very shocked. Leaning forward, he put his face closed to hers, his eyes were half closed as he looked at her mouth.

"Can I?"

She tensed at his question and looked a little panicked. Her eyes flickered to the side. "Uh, um…."

"No one's here." He confirmed, reading her mind. For a moment, he thought she was going to push him away again, but she didn't. "I'll take that as a yes."

He kissed her again. This time, she kissed him back. His lips and face felt hot. More. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. He felt her tense up against him. Ah, soft. Even though she was toned from her workouts, she was still soft and warm in his arms. He wanted to envelop her. More. He opened his mouth slightly, and she responded in kind. He slid his tongue into her mouth. It was even better than before. She didn't push him away as the tips of their tongues wrestled. He still didn't feel like it was enough. More. His hands slowly worked his way down her back—she pulled out of his grasp and shoved him away. Both their breathing was heavy, her entire face was bright red, and her lips were still wet from the kiss.

"Se-Seto." Ana's voice was shaky.

He was disappointed. It wasn't enough. He tried to touch her face again, but she grabbed his hand with both of hers.

She gave him a very awkward and panicked smile. "Seto, you need to calm down."

"What?" He asked confused. "What the hell does that mean?"

She let go of his hand and tugged at her shirt. Instead of answering his question, she glanced toward his pants, then looked away quickly. Her mouth was tight, and her cheeks were bright red. Confused, he looked down at his pants and froze. He'd gotten way too excited.

"Oh…." Seto's ears felt warm as he looked away from her while taking deep breaths. "Uh, um. You should go back to the classroom. I'll be there in a bit."

Ana nodded her head quickly and practically ran away. It stung a little that she'd basically bolted. He let out a deep sigh and took a few minutes to bring himself down. When he was finally calm, he put his hand over his eyes and sighed. What the hell was I about to do? Ugh, don't be a dolt. He knew exactly what he was about to do. He was going to fill up her ass and maybe more if she hadn't stopped him. The stupid sex position book popped into his head, and he quickly smacked both his cheeks. I thought liking someone turned you into a dolt, but loving someone is way worse. No wonder dad was such a dork when it came to mom. Seto paused at the thought. He'd been thinking about his parents more and more lately. The memories didn't hold any value. That's what he'd always told himself. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and headed back to his classroom.

Before he reached the classroom, Seto found Inu was out in the hallway by himself. Seto frowned at this. "Where's Mokuba?"

"Sir, you might… He's in here." Inu pointed to an empty classroom. "Can you talk to him?"

Seto frowned but entered the classroom. The guard was standing to the side, looking panicked. Mokuba was sitting in a chair with his head hung and crying silently.

Seto looked at the guard. "Get out."

The guard didn't argue and quickly left him alone with his little brother. Seto hesitated. He'd never see Mokuba so distressed. Normally, Mokuba comforted him, not the other way around. How do I? Oh, what am I saying? He knew exactly how. It was something his father had done for him when he'd come home from school after having a fight with another kid. Maybe these memories really aren't as useless as I thought. Seto kneeled on one knee to look at his brother at the same eye level.

"What's wrong?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

"I… That song. Dad used to sing it. Not Gozaburo, but dad dad. Didn't he? I remembered. How could I forget that? No wonder you looked hurt. I'm sorry…." Mokuba sniffled as the tears and snot dripped down his face. His hands were clenched into fists and pushed against his legs.

"Are you crying because you forgot or because you think you hurt me for forgetting?" Seto resisted sighing.

"I…. both." Mokuba sniffled.

"You were little. You were barely four when they passed. I'm not surprised you don't remember."

"Tha-that's not the point!" Mokuba looked up at him. His face was soaked. "All this time you were suffering alone, and I just went about like everything was fine. I… I…."

"Suffering? Pfff haha!" Seto couldn't help but laugh. Mokuba looked hurt. Seto smiled gently and put his hand on his little brother's head. Mokuba looked surprised. "Mokuba… Those memories hurt. Their painful. That's why I never talked about them, but they do not make me suffer. I… tried to suppress them because I thought those memories weren't useful, but I suppose they have their uses."

Mokuba bowed his head again, and Seto stroked his little brother's hair. Seto remembered how his father's hand had felt against his head. It had been large, warm, and comforting.

"Nii-san… You're being weird." Mokuba had stopped crying and was looking embarrassed.

Yeah, this isn't really my character. I'm just copying dad. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No." Mokuba pouted and Seto tried not to laugh. "Will you… Will you tell me about them sometime? Dad… and Mom?"

"I…" Seto paused in his head rubbing. To tell Mokuba about them would mean dredging up more painful memories.

"You don't have to." Mokuba looked disappointed.

Seto bit his lip and put his hand down. They remained still for a moment, and then he took a breath. "You look like mom."

Mokuba looked up at him, surprised. "I do?"

"Do you remember their faces?" Seto felt his heart squeezing a little.

Mokuba shook his head. "Not really. The memories are really blurry. What… What was mom like?"

"A jerk," Seto answered bluntly and Mokuba looked at him, shocked. Seto laughed. "She would hide all the cookies from me and not share them. She was exceptionally good at games and would rub it in your face when she won…. She was loud. Very loud. You were throwing a tantrum one day, and she lost it. She screamed so loudly that I heard it from outside. I thought someone was attacking the house. When I went inside, I found you both taking turns screaming at the top of your lungs, trying to outdo one another. Honestly, mom was weird."

Mokuba looked shock for a moment, then started laughing. "She sounds a bit like you."

Seto's face grew warm. "I just said she was weird!"

"But you also said she was good at games and would rub it in your face if she won." Mokuba grinned, and Seto grimaced. He couldn't deny that he was similar in that regard. "What was dad like?"

Seto paused and bit his lip. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Not now. I'll… give me some time."

Mokuba looked disappointed but smiled. "Ok. Um…. Would you pat my head again?"

"No."

Mokuba looked disappointed. Seto gently reached forward and pulled him into a hug. The kid's eyes widened at this, and Seto felt embarrassed.

"Dad always did this after I calmed down." Seto mumbled. Mokuba hugged him back.

Mokuba chuckled. "Was mom as socially awkward as you too?"

"Don't push it." Seto growled. After a few more moments, Seto release Mokuba. "You got snot on my outfit."

Mokuba rubbed at his puffy eyes and stuck his tongue out at him. Once Mokuba was finally calm, they exited the room. Inu looked at Seto's outfit and pulled out a handkerchief and some quick stain remover. He got the snot off for him. Always a good, prepared assistant. Mokuba decided to head home and left, so Seto finally went back to the classroom. When he got there, he found the class celebrating a job well done. They were excitedly talking about the ending ceremony. Apparently, Seto had missed it when he'd gone to see Mokuba. Not that he really cared.

"Seto-kun!" Arata ran up to him with a big goofy grin on his face. "Where were you? We won! We got first place."

"Wait." Seto paused. "This was a competition?"

Arata looked at him, perplexed. "What? Yeah. Didn't you know that?"

"Hell no." Seto grumbled. "I would have put in more effort if I'd known that."

Arata looked at him, stunned. "Well, now we know how to get you to participate in things."

"You didn't know that all you had to do to get him to help was tell him it was a game?" Ana walked up to them with Umiko, Jerico, and Sanae trailing behind them. Ana gave him a teasing grin.

Well, at least she's not avoiding me after the incident behind stage. Seto glanced at Umiko and remembered what he'd said earlier.

"Oh, right." He pulled out a business card. He always kept some on him, and handed one to Umiko. "Contact my secretary after you graduate, and we'll hire you as a designer."

The room grew quiet. Umiko looked at the card confused, then chuckled.

"Why are you laughing?" Seto's brow furrowed.

Umiko frowned at him. "Wasn't that a joke?"

"Why the hell would I joke about hiring someone?" Seto felt irritated.

Umiko paused, then looked at the card, then looked back at him. She turned to Ana. "Is he serious?"

Ana raised an eyebrow at Seto, then shrugged. "Looks like it."

Umiko looked at Seto with wide eyes. "Doesn't Kaiba Corp. require their employees to have a degree?"

"Yes, but you can just intern while getting your degree." Seto shrugged.

Umiko's eyes narrowed. "Can you get me into Domino University's design program, even if my grades are only average?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course, I can. My company funds most of the university." Seto rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"Does Kaiba Corp. give out scholarships to their interns?" Umiko's questioning didn't stop.

"Yes, just submit pictures of what you made for this festival and that should be enough to qualify you." Seto was tiring of the questioning.

Umiko beamed and turned to Jerico, who seemed extremely excited.

"What was that about?" Seto frowned and Arata chuckled while patting him on the arm.

Arata grinned at him. "Umiko-san has wanted to go to design school at Domino university for a while now, but she didn't think she'd be able to get in. Who knew you could be such a nice guy?"

"I'm not being nice. I'm recruiting talent. It's all business." Seto shook off Arata's hand. Ana was smiling softly at her friend, who was still over the moon. His heart skipped a beat at her look.

The class hung around for a few minutes. Some of them decided to go out to eat to celebrate. Seto expected Ana to say she wanted to go, but she told her friends that she was tired and wanted to go home. After they changed back into regular clothes, Seto walked her home. The sun had already set. They walked in silence for a moment.

"So, Amin-chan. What was that about?" Ana asked quietly.

"What? Offering the job?" Seto thought it was pretty obvious what it was about. "I was serious when I said I was considering hiring her."

Ana sighed, stopped, and turned to him. He could see that her cheeks were pink even in the dim lighting. "No. Behind the stage. Why were you being so handsy?"

"Huh?" Seto's face grew warm. "Wha-What?"

"Handsy means—"

"I know what handsy means!" Seto snapped. Well, I know what it means now. Stupid sex position book. He had been trying to learn more terms, so that he could communicate with Ana better, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. "I was not being handsy."

Ana crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Were you or were you not about to feel up my ass if I hadn't pushed you away?"

Seto unintentionally made a strange noise. "I… Fine. I guess I was about to be handsy."

Ana looked away, her ears pink. Why the frick is she so cute? I guess I really am in love. Should I tell her that? He remembered Ana saying in the music room that she didn't love him. His heart stung, and he felt sick.

"Why?" Ana looked back at him and frowned.

He grumbled. "I wanted to."

Ana's frown deepened. I guess we never really had that discussion about boundaries like my therapist said we should.

"Ana, what parts of you are you ok with me touching?" Seto ask bluntly.

She blushed. "I… My face?"

"Why did that sound like a question?" Seto pouted at her reaction.

She looked away from him and fidgeted. "I don't think I want to be that intimate, yet."

"Ok. Then tell me what you feel ok with."

"Kissing, some hugging, holding hands." Ana glanced up at him nervously.

He smiled awkwardly. "Ok. Good to know."

Seto resisted letting out a defeated sigh. Haha. Ugh, I really want to do more… Whatever. I guess I'll focus on getting her to fall in love with me first. They continued walking. Seto took her hand, and she blushed a little. Frick! Stop being so cute. I'll get you to say that you love me too. I swear it!

Author Note:

70 chapters! I never would have figured I'd be writing on this for so long, but here I am. Thank you to all my followers and a special thank you to these people below for reviewing my story the most and always cheering me on. A lot of you have been following my story for years now. Look forward to more to come!

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