Corporate Prince

Chapter 83:Wandering

Ana woke up feeling refreshed. After getting dressed for the day, she headed over to Seto's room for breakfast. When he answered the door, she paused, noticing the drained look on his face.

"Um, are you alright? You look tired." Ana couldn't help but worry about the dark circles under his eyes.

"Ha. I'm fine," he said, obviously not fine.

She debated on pressing him for an answer as to why but decided against it. They sat down together as the inn hostess brought them breakfast. The traditional Japanese fare was delicious. Ana ate her food happily and noticed Seto was mostly picking at his. She picked up a small clump of rice with her chopsticks and held them out to him teasingly.

"Say ahh," she joked, expecting him to get annoyed at treating him like a kid. Instead, he looked at her quietly, gently grabbed her hand, and put the chopsticks in his mouth. Ana nearly let out a weird sound when he gave her this almost predatory look. He did let her hand go as he chewed on the rice and smirked at her. She glared at him for a moment, then went back to eating, feeling like she was the one who lost the small teasing battle. When they were finished with breakfast, Seto stood up.

"Come on." He held out his hand to her, helping her up.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see." He led her outside of the inn, while holding her hand, and they started walking into town. The town was a resort area with many bridges crisscrossing the river that connected to the hot springs. Seto didn't seem to be heading anywhere in particular.

"Are we wandering right now? With no plan?" Ana teased him, finding this strange, not that she disliked the walk around the town while holding hands.

"Wandering is part of the plan." He just looked at her as if this should have been obvious.

"Wandering usually means there isn't a plan. How does one plan wandering?"

"I plan wandering. Why? Would you rather do something else?" He gave her a slightly concerned look.

"No. This is nice."

He seemed relieved, and they continued their "wandering". Though he called it wandering, Seto did seem to be walking along a certain route as they passed by shops with souvenirs and snacks. One shop was roasting dango, a dumpling rice ball snack on a stick, over a fire. The savory sweet smell made her mouth water. She didn't have to say anything about wanting the dango because Seto went in and bought two sticks without her asking.

He handed her one of the sticks, and she bit into the first gooey sweet ball.

"I'm glad you didn't get the soy sauce one," Ana commented as they munched on their snacks.

"I guessed that you'd prefer the sweet sauce because you like sweets, but do you hate the soy sauce one?" Seto held up his dango stick. It was obviously soy sauce.

"I don't hate it since the dango itself is sweet, but I just don't prefer it. I wouldn't mind a bite though." She smiled at him.

Seto sighed and gave her a bite of his snack. Ana offered her own to him, thinking he'd turn down the overly sweet treat. He did not. Instead, he gently grabbed her hand like at breakfast and looked at her while taking a bite. When he pulled away while still chewing on her snack, she found that her face was warmer than usual.

"Seto...Are you..." She trailed off, not sure how to ask why it felt like he was trying to seduce her. She quickly asked something else, "Are you really tired? Did you not sleep well last night?"

Seto looked at her contemplatively while chewing, then swallowed and smirked. "Maybe a little."

"Um, we can go back to the inn and rest if you want." Ana offered.

Seto didn't look at her as he smiled darkly. "I would rather not."

Ehhh! What is he thinking right now? For some reason, she was afraid to ask. They finished their treat then continued their walk through town. The tension from earlier eased up as they passed by the local shops. A shop selling homemade glass jewelry drew her eye.

"Would you like to look?" Seto noticed her staring.

"No," Ana said flatly.

He frowned at her. "I promise not to buy the whole shop."

"No." She reaffirmed. "You also promised not to buy my extravagant things because this trip already counted as a present, and you lied. You bought me an onsen."

"No, that was like a reward for studying hard to get into Domino University. That didn't have anything to do with this trip." Seto countered.

"This trip is supposed to be a present already. Remember?" Ana's eyes narrowed at him.

He looked away from her and grumbled, "You can get a souvenir as part of the trip."

"I don't believe you when you say you won't go over bored." Ana let go of his hand and crossed her arms, glaring up at him.

He returned her look. "I've got more money than I'll be able to spend in twenty lifetimes. Why can't I buy my girlfriend a present every now and then?"

"You said once a week. This trip is this week's!" Ana reiterated his own words. She could immediately see his mind thinking of loopholes.

He put his fist into his palm as his eyes lit up. "I'll just buy the whole store and give it to you next week."

Ana balked at this and grabbed his arm when he turned toward the stop. "Stop! Amin-chan, why are you like this?"

"This is part of my love language. Just let me buy you a present, or I'll do it. I'll buy the whole store." He threatened.

Ana realized that people were starting to stare at them. Her face turned red in embarrassment as she realized their argument was silly. "Fine. One small souvenir."

She gave up and went into the shop with a very smug Seto. Turning her attention to the store, she looked around at the necklaces with handblown glass pendants. As she looked at the different pendants, some of animals, some of flowers, she found herself feeling uncomfortable. When was the last time I bought a piece of jewelry? Isn't it silly for me to wear any outside of formal events?

Seto leaned over her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "Want me to guess what you're thinking right now?"

She felt her face get warm at the proximity and looked to see if the clerk was watching them. The clerk was currently checking out another guest.

"And what is it I'm thinking?" Ana felt a little annoyed for some reason. Why does it feel like he's really trying to seduce me today?

"Hmm, something along the lines of if you should even consider jewelry since you don't wear it normally."

Ana looked up at him in surprise. She looked back at the necklaces and sighed. "I don't wear jewelry outside of events. Probably best not to get any."

"Why? You'll be going into college. Domino University doesn't have a dress code. You can wear what you want to class now."

She realized that he had a point. She hadn't really worn jewelry outside of events, but her daily life hadn't even allowed it until now. Still, maybe a different souvenir would be better. Maybe some sweets or... Her eyes landed on a small necklace. It was a tiny, blue glass dragon on a black leather string. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands. The dragon didn't necessarily look like the blue-eyes white dragon of Seto's card, but it was still a tiny, blue dragon. She looked up at Seto and found him making a strange face. One of happiness and embarrassment all at the same time. Oh, crap. If I don't pick this now, he'll feel hurt. Turning around toward him, she just smiled and held up the necklace.

"This one," she said, grinning at his look.

He took the necklace from her and bought it. The lady wrapped it up nicely in a paper bag for her. As they left, Seto asked quietly, "Are you going to wear it?"

"Hmm, when the time is right." She teased as she held the bag against her chest. "So, where are we wandering to next?"

He took her hand and started leading the way while grinning. "You'll see."