Chapter 71:

The Perfect Present

Ana spent most of Sunday in a daze. When did Seto get so bold? She'd blush every time she thought about the small make out scene behind the curtains. I'm going crazy! This would repeat over and over in her head. Her Sunday slipped by in this manner. On Monday, when Seto came to pick her up, she was already worn out. When she saw him, she felt unusually shy.

"Good morning." Ana tried her best to hide her feelings. This is ridiculous. We already talked and set boundaries. There's no need to feel this way.

Seto looked up from his phone and smiled at her softly. "Good morning."

Ana's brain felt like it shut down for a second. She quickly turned and headed to school. Seto took her hand without a word and Ana almost pulled away. No! Don't be weird about this. We hold hands all the time. Deep breaths, Ana.

Despite her solidifying her mental fortitude, the rest of the day, she still felt uneasy. Studying at his apartment was even worse. Sleep at night was impossible, and training was sucking the life out of her. This continued for a week and a half. When she woke up on Wednesday, she felt like she was going to die of exhaustion. Ugh, I'm so tired. Ana slowly made her way downstairs and was surprised to find Rina in the kitchen. She still wasn't used to her aunt freely coming and going.

"Good morning, Ana-chan and happy birthday." Rina smiled at her and handed her a package.

Ana paused, then looked at the calendar. It was indeed November 12th. "Oh, it is my birthday, isn't it?"

Rina sighed and shook her head. Ana went to open her present, but Rina's hand shot out, stopping her. She bent down and whispered in Ana's ear. "Open that when you're alone."

Ana eyed her aunt suspiciously but went to put the package up in her room. Hikari greeted her on the way out of her room and gave her a small present, too. Aiko said nothing to her, but a gift bag ended up outside her door that she suspected was from her. Ana expected her mother, father, and grandpa would give her something after school. Ana finished getting ready and quickly headed outside to see Seto.

He gave her that unnerving gentle smile she'd seen on his face for the last week and a half. "Happy Birthday."

Ana remembered her crappy present that she'd given him on his and tried not to cringe. "Thanks. I'd forgotten it was until I woke up this morning."

"Does that mean you're getting old?" Seto teased.

Ana rolled her eyes at him. "If I'm old, then you're ancient."

Seto glared at her, then pulled something out of his bag and handed it to her. It was a small black box that fit in her palm. Ana's breathing stopped for a moment when she thought it looked like a jewelry box, but she quickly realized it was metal and had small buttons on it. She almost breathed a loud sigh of relief.

"What's this?" Ana turned the box over in her hand.

"Your birthday present. I made it." He smirked at her.

Ana sighed and shook her head at him. "Did you really have to make it a competition?"

Seto crossed his arms and smiled. "There's no competition. My present is perfect."

Ana held up the tiny box a little higher and raised an eyebrow at it. "Perfect? What does it even do?"

"Press the button in the middle."

Ana pressed the button and something white popped out of the box. The white thing inflated and encased the box. It grew to the size of a bed pillow. It was incredibly soft and when she squeezed it. She felt how fluffy it was.

"Is this a portable pillow?" Ana stared at the pillow in her arms.

"Yup, the small button makes a small pillow, the medium this size, and the large button makes a body pillow. To turn it back to normal, just pull this blue string that's sticking out of the corner." Seto pointed to a single blue strand that Ana hadn't noticed before.

She squeezed the pillow, testing it out. "How did you get an inflatable pillow to feel like a real feather down pillow?"

Seto grinned. "I'm a genius."

Ana's eyes narrowed at the pillow and mumbled, "I hate it."

Seto's smile disappeared, and he looked confused. "What?"

"I hate how perfect it is. Now my gift to you seems even crappier." Ana frowned and Seto seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, that's what you meant." He smiled again, though he looked a little less certain this time.

They headed on to school while Ana played with the pillow box and tried out the different sized pillows. When it inflated to the body size pillow, a person across the street gave her a funny look. She decided to put it away and stowed the box in her bag.

"Thank you for the present. I really do like it." She still felt guilty about his present, though. "I feel like I need to get you something else to make up for how crappy yours was."

Seto grinned, and there was an evil gleam in his eye. "If you're that worried about it, I have something you could do for me."

Ana felt her stomach clench, and she looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

"Let me dress you up."

Ana stopped and gave him a very odd look. "What?"

"Let me pick out outfits and you wear them." Seto reiterated.

"Oh… Uh, I'll think about it." Ana quickly hurried away to school before Seto could suggest anything else.

Sanae and her friends surprised her with a few small gifts and a cake. The classroom sang happy birthday to her, which was incredibly embarrassing. She had a fun day, but for a birthday, the most memorable thing was Seto's gift. When she got home after school, they had a family dinner for her, and her parents and grandfather gave her a present. At the end of the day, Ana slunk off to her room feeling tired. She saw Rina's present that she'd left on her desk.

"Oh, yeah." Ana opened it and stared blankly at the cover. She let out a squeak and quickly threw the erotica novel into a drawer. "Rina! What the hell."

Ana wanted to call her aunt and complain to her, but decided against it. Instead, she took out Seto's pillow and tested it out. It really was very comfy. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

The day after Ana's birthday was normal. She went to school, then headed to Rina's since Seto had some sort of appointment on Thursdays. The kids were excited to see her as always. A little boy walked up to her and pulled on her pant leg.

"Is scary man ever coming back?" The kid asked with hopeful eyes.

Ana tried not to laugh at the nickname. "Maybe soon."

The kid looked excited and ran away to tell his friends.

"You really should bring him around." Rina came over grinning.

Ana, however, wasn't in the mood. "Auntie, what was with your present?"

Rina grinned at her. "Well, it doesn't hurt to educate yourself on these matters early. I even chose a book that shows you a healthy relationship."

"That's-that's not the point!" Ana blushed deeply. "I don't need to know about those things yet."

Rina raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? Has he not shown an interest in being closer?"

Ana paused and felt her ears get warm.

Rina grinned at her and teased. "You might want to consider reading it. You never know, he might get bored with the way things are and seek pleasure elsewhere."

Ana glared at her and went back to playing with the kids. When it was time for her to leave, she got a message from her mother asking her to make a detour and pick something up for her. Ana agreed and went to pick up her mother's package. As she was about to get on the bus, she noticed Seto down the street. He was talking with a pretty, older woman and smiling. Huh? Rina's teasing comment popped into her head as she saw Seto. She couldn't tell what they were talking about, but he smiled that gentle smile that he gave her in the morning. Eventually, the woman went back into the building. Seto seemed to sense someone was watching him, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw her. He walked over to her, looking confused.

"Ana? What are you doing here?" His eyes fell on the package in her hands.

She was clutching it tightly, and her voice was a little shaky. "Seto, who was that?"

Hey everyone. Sorry I didn't post last week. I wasn't feeling well. And yesterday I kind of had a breakdown at work, so I wasn't in the mood to post. I'm on vacation for the next few days. Hopefully to get some much-needed rest.

This is off topic. I'm working on my next novel. Sometime in March I'm going to have beta readers test it. A beta reader is just a test reader who reads the novel and points out anything they found confusing or any plot holes they saw. Would anyone be interested in beta reading for me? If so message me. Thanks!