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.

Ana scowled at the back of his head, but put on his coat and relaxed. It was lined with fleece and warmed her up, but her feet were still freezing. She hiked up the coat since it was too long for her and held it while she climbed. Worst date ever. I shouldn't have let him pick. Finally reaching the top, Ana found a clearing encircled by trees. She turned and looked at the changing colors surrounding her. It was breathtakingly vibrant. She felt like she'd stepped into another world. Too bad her toes were falling off.

"What are we doing up here?" She turned to Seto and her stomach dropped when she saw him laying out a blanket big enough for ten people under a tree. "We're… not having the date here, are we?"

He looked up at her confused and nodded. Ana watched him in horror as he pulled a picnic basket from the duffle. A picnic on a day like this? I really shouldn't have let him pick… Should I just go home? But if I do, Onii-san will question why I came back so soon. Ana walked over, took her sandals off and squatted on the blanket. His coat made a small tent around her feet, blocking out the chill. She watched him set up the food on different plates, sandwiches, fruits and cookies. Sighing, she observed him wondering why he thought a picnic had been a good idea.

"Amin-chan, you can't be serious…" she trailed off when he pulled out a tiny portable heater, set it next to her and turned it on.

Bewildered, she watched him pull out a small hot plate where he set up a pot and melted chocolate in it. Taking out a small bottle of milk, he added it to his concoction. Hot chocolate? Ana's toes were warming up next to the heater, and she finally sat down, relaxing. Oh, this might not be so bad. There was more in his bag of tricks. Next, he pulled out a wool blanket and handed it to her.

"I want my coat back." His face was flushed from the cold. He'd only been wearing a T-shirt underneath. Ana sighed but returned it to him. Wrapping up in the blanket she shivered, she'd just gotten warm in the coat. Slowly, the blanket warmed up. It kept warming up. She felt a weird cord inside the blanket and found the end of it coming out the side. An electric blanket? Seto had plugged it up to a portable charger. Oh, no wonder it's so warm. He handed her the sandwiches. She took one and bit into it. Egg salad. Yum… Did he make these? When the hot chocolate finished, he poured her a cup and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Gratefully she took a sip and looked around at the colorful trees.

It was a secluded and private area. Of course it would be, it's too cold to take a stroll! If anything, this was a memorable, unique first date. He quietly munched on his food, not saying a word. Done with her sandwich and fruit, she picked up the small intensely decorated cookies. Pretty. Did he buy these? She took a bite and found that they tasted just as good as they looked. Taking out her phone, she snapped a picture of one that had a small butterfly on it. Full, warm and content, she was getting sleepy. Seto held out a fluffy pillow to her while scanning over his tablet.

"Wait, are you working right now?" Ana took the pillow, confused why he'd brought this.

"Yes, it's school work due tomorrow. I need to do homework sometimes." He leaned on his hand and typed with the other, looking bored.

"That's not what I meant. You're doing work on a date?" Ana's feeling of contentment was waning.

Seto looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you expecting me to do?"

Ana's eye twitched. "Usually when you go on a picnic, it's to socialize and talk."

He made a face. "Why do we need to talk? We have nothing in common. This is just for show and no one's even around. You're always saying I'm interrupting your nap time, so take a nap while I finish my homework."

"You brought all this so I could nap on our date and you could do homework?" Ana squeezed the pillow. It was tempting to lie down.

"You said you hate the cold." Seto took a sip of chocolate.

"What? When did I say that to you?"

He didn't look up at her. "You didn't. You said it to that girl that sits by you in class."

Ana thought about that. It was true she complained to Sanae during breaks about it. "You were listening?"

"Not quite. I was working, but I can pick up the conversations going on around me and recall that information later if it becomes relevant." He took another sip of his drink.

"Woah… that's really creepy."

Seto shot her a glare. "You can either sleep, play on your phone or sit there in silence. I don't care."

Ana considered this. I guess I should have figured this wouldn't turn out like a typical date.

"You know this was all really sweet and well planned until you told me to take a nap. Where did you even get the idea for this?" she asked.

"I googled it. A picnic was in the top suggestions. Then I asked at a local shop for a good spot, an older man recommended it. I checked the weather, and it seemed like it would be cold so… what?"

Ana realized her mouth was hanging open. She quickly closed it. "You put in a lot of effort… You know dinner and a movie would have work just fine, right?"

"Eh?" He looked at her shocked like he hadn't even considered that. Turning back to his tablet, he continued to work an annoyed look on his face.

Ana sighed. Guess I'll take a nap. She set the pillow down and laid on it. Sooo, sooooft. A thought crossed her mind, and she looked up at Seto. He was engrossed in his work. "You're not going to do something to me while I sleep, are you? Like take pictures of me again?"

"Why would I need to do that? You're already helping me."

"True…"Ana laid her head back down and breathed slowly, listening to the sound of the wind rustling the leaves. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Someone shook her, and she slapped the person's hand away.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled.

"I gave you five more minutes fifteen minutes ago. Wake up, Sakurai-san."

"I don't want to get up." She snuggled into her pillow. "It's the weekend, Onii-san leave me alone."

"I'm not your brother. Wake up Sakurai-san, it's getting late."

"No," she grumbled and buckled in. Someone picked her up and tossed her into the air. "AH!"

Her eyes flew open, and she found herself hanging over someone's shoulder. What's going on? Her brother wasn't this strong! Or this tall. T-the grounds so far away! The person jostled her again.

"AH!" She didn't like this strange manhandling and slapped the back of whoever had hoisted her onto his or her shoulder.

"You awake yet?" Seto asked.

"P-put me down, Amin-chan!"

Seto set her back on her feet and smirked at her. She snapped and punched him in the gut. He bent over with an "oaf" and clutched his stomach.

"What is your problem? Why are you so ridiculously strong for a girl?" Seto took a deep breath and stood back up rubbing his stomach.

"What's your problem? Why did you toss me over your shoulder like a rag doll?" Ana steamed.

"You wouldn't wake up and the sun's about to set. I considered rolling you down the hill or pouring the rest of the hot chocolate on you, but I thought that might make your brother question what you'd been doing." Seto rolled his eyes.

"You would have pushed me down the hill if it hadn't seemed like abused to my brother?" Ana gritted her teeth.

He chuckled. "Maybe."

"Congrats, you've crossed into being a sadistic asshole."

"Who said I wasn't already there?" Seto crossed his arms and gave her a crooked half smile.

Ana snatched up her bag too annoyed to even speak and stomped down the steps leaving him to clean up by himself. Freakin' Amin-chan! This pretend dating might be more of a pain in the ass than I thought.