Chapter Twenty Three

Anna slept well that night, it was one of the most peaceful nights she has had in a long time. She woke up with a smile.

She was in a really good mood the next morning, not cursing at the alarm, not minding Efya's words.

Efya of course didn't stop her taunting but Anna didn't feel down like she usually did.

She felt eased, the only thing that left her unsettled was the fact that her mother was with that man. She recalled when her sister had been warning her about their father's ruthlessness, she wondered if her mother would be okay being with him. She planned to ask Nathan to give her the full details today about why he sent their mother to that man, she knew from his expression that he felt guilty but he didn't look like he did it for nothing.

After getting ready, she left to go and meet Jason as usual although, now that she knew Dylan was here she was sure she won't be able to focus one bit.

"Some one is in a good mood this morning..." Jason teased as he stared at the girl's smile, he looked at her unusually bright face and he choked on his saliva. The new look was a shocking sight to him.

"You...you cut your hair!!!"

Anna scratched her ear "Do you have to be so loud?"

Jason scoffed at the girl "You are so disrespectful, I'm older than you !" He pointed at her face.

Anna caught his finger and bent it backwards

"Ow! Ow!" Jason pulled his finger out of her grasp and looked at her like she was a demon from hell.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Anna laughs "Don't overreact…it was just your finger"

Jason scoffs and blows on his already red finger.

"Can we start now?" Anna reached for the hurt finger again.

Jason nodded before pulling his finger away as quick as he could. He stared at his innocent finger and glared at Anna.

"I'm going to punish you for hurting your teacher today" he said with an sly smile. He would increase her training and then maybe bend her finger too.

"You're not allowed to do that" Dylan said as he walked over to them, he stared at Anna's bright face. She was smiling and he didn't know why it made him so happy to see her this way.

"Good morning Dylan" Anna said smiling, she couldn't help it. He looked extremely attractive today.

'What are you thinking Anna?!!'

"How are you Anna?, did you sleep well?" Dylan asked patting her head, he realized that it had become a habit any time he saw her. He couldn't help but pat her head. It was like a brotherly gesture but Anna saw it as so much more.

Anna nodded, Dylan began to think of making brother Mu stay longer.

He found out about their relationship yesterday and he was quite surprised about it. Anna didn't mention anything about her birth mom to him but should she?...they weren't that close. After meeting Nathan yesterday, her mood seemed to have improved significantly, it made him happy as well.

That feeling did leave him unsettled, she was the first female he could touch in years. Was he perhaps developing feelings for her?...

Dylan's eyes turned cold as that thought crossed his mind. Never!, that will never happen.

"I was only coming to check on you, I'm going to go now. I have things to do" with that said he turned around and walked away.

Anna didn't notice the change in his expression and just waved at him smiling, she loved the fact that he thought of her enough to come check on her, although she would hate to admit it…he was really giving her hope that they would work.

"Be careful, your drool might hit the ground" Jason teased, Anna quickly wiped her mouth but soon realized she wasn't drooling at all. She glared at Jason before complaining again "Can we start now?"

Jason smirked before nodding, he loved teasing this girl so much.

.....

"You must not show any of your weaknesses to your enemies, Mason!" Mason who was currently on the ground ,holding his broken rib looked up at his devil of a teacher.

"Get up!" Dylan yelled. Mason struggled to stand as he rushed to attack Dylan like he had been doing since training started, everyone watched in horror as Dylan hit Mason and sent him back to ground with another kick to his ribs.

"Ah!" Mason groaned

"Shut up!" Dylan said angrily

"I said don't show your weaknesses to your opponents, get up!"

Although Dylan's training was normally ruthless, everyone could tell that he was in a really bad mood. His eyes were narrowed, he looked angry and he got irritated easily. Whenever he was like this, they knew not to cross him but even if they did nothing they would still suffer it like they were now.

"I...I yield, I give up!" Mason said with his eyes closed, at this rate he might just end up dying for real, this was the only solution for him to save himself.

"Useless! " Dylan sneered, "Who's next?"

Everyone's head dropped down, no one could face Dylan when he was in a bad mood, that was the same as asking for death.

"Me" Li Chen raised his hands lazily, of course he noticed Dylan was in a bad mood but he just had to ask.

He threw a punch but it was caught, he threw another one but Dylan caught his fist and flipped him.

Li Chen landed on the ground with a thud, he didn't change the expression on his face neither did he groan in pain.

Dylan was satisfied with his reaction, his eyes scanned the crowd making sure everyone saw it but then.....he saw her.

Anna was there looking at Li Chen on the floor with surprise in her eyes.

'Why does she have to be here at this time'

Dylan groaned in frustration, what was wrong with him? He couldn't bring himself to inflict pain on anyone when she was around…he didn't want her see that side of him, he wanted that gaze she always used to look at him to stay the same.

"Lets stop here for today" Dylan said before walking away.

Everyone stared at him dumbfounded, even Li Chen who was on the floor was surprised.

He was acting so unpredictable today, first he beat at least three of the best students in base to a pulp and now he's walking away earlier than usual.

"What's up with him?" Su Chen asked his brother who was busy staring in another direction, his cheeks red.

"Uh.....what's with you?" Su Chen turned to the direction his brother was staring at.

"Hey! Little Anna! dolly Anna!, here! here!" Su Chen yelled loudly making everyone's attention turn to Anna.

Anna who was just watching people train suddenly heard her name. She got annoyed immediately, she told that guy to stop calling her a doll!

she forced a smile as she glared secretly at him.

Su Chen stared at his brother's red face and laughed "Why don't you just tell the girl how you feel?" he said in a low voice only the both of them could hear.

"Because she doesn't feel the same way" Li Chen replied, he didn't bother to hide his feelings from his brother anymore.

"How can you be so sure?" Su Chen asked again before pointing at the girl who was coming closer to them, she wasn't smiling at Su Chen but his brother next to him.

Li Chen's heart skipped a beat, could he have been wrong?

Actually, Anna wanted to show Su Chen how annoyed she was with him so she decided to smile at his brother and ignore him instead.

So this was all a big misunderstanding but.....none of them knew that.

"Li Chen" Anna had called out. She walked over to his side and gave him a hug while sending a few discreet glares his brother's way. Su Chen rolled his eyes but still laughed when he saw his brother's stiff expression, a reaction to the hug Anna just gave him.

"Good morning" Anna was still waiting for a response but Li Chen was tongue tied as he looked at her, his cheeks soon began to heat up, he felt embarrassed.