Corporate Prince

Chapter 9 Hot Chocolate

                "Ana, you can't be serious! He's using you." Hikari stared down at her as she put on her shoes. "He flat out said it to my face. Come on, Ana, you're smarter than this."

Ana stood up to double check her outfit in the mirror. It may be a fake date, but it was her first, so she might as well enjoy it.

"Thanks for the insult, Onii-san. Also, I already told you I don't care what he said to you." Ana straightened her shirt.

"If he's blackmailing you, then we can take care of it. You don't need to go out with him. Do you even like him?" Her brother panicked as she double checked her purse.

"I don't dislike him," Ana said this statement truthfully. Kaiba Seto was annoying and an ass, but he'd done nothing extremely mean to her to make her hate him. Even his version of blackmailing had been subpar and after she'd calmed down, she realized she could just ignore him if she wanted. Something about the way he'd acted at the party prior to the incident concerned her. At most, she felt sorry for him.

"I'm going to be late, if that's all—"

"I'll tell mom and dad," her brother threatened.

"Mom would be overjoyed and dad would be ok with it if I said so. Now if that's all—"

"I'll tell grandpa," his voice wavered.

Ana paused at this threat. If her grandfather knew she was seeing someone, then he would want to meet him. If grandpa said he didn't approve of Seto, that would be the end of it.

"If you do that, I'll never speak to you again," Ana growled and left, slamming the door in her brother's horrified face.

Stupid Onii-san, if you'd just agreed to the project in the first place, I wouldn't be doing this. Ana shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her. Crap, I forgot to look at the weather... Well, I'm not going back for a coat now. I can deal with it for a bit. Ana made her way to the bus stop and rode the bus to the local park. Seto had said to meet him there. It didn't take her long to find him standing next to the fountain wearing a long black coat and holding a large black duffle bag.

"What, you're not going to kill me and stuff my body into that bag are you?" Ana joked.

Seto's brow furrowed. "What would that accomplish?"

Ugh, learn sarcasm already. "Where are we going?"

He pointed to a staircase at the back of the park.

"But that leads up the mountain." Ana shivered; she was questioning her own judgement by telling him to plan the date.

"I know. Let's go." He didn't give her a chance to protest and headed for the stairs.

What, no! There's a perfectly good coffee shop right over there! He was already out of earshot, so she followed. They climbed the stairs in silence. Ana's shoulders shook from the cold as they climbed. The only consolation was that the forest trees blocked the wind. She looked down at her open-toed sandals and wished she'd worn warmer shoes.

"How much further?" Ana's teeth chattered.

Seto turned around to her and frowned. Setting the duffle down, he stripped off his coat and tossed it to her.

"Don't be a baby, it's only fifty-three degrees. It's not much further," he huffed and grabbed his bag before continuing up the steps.