Chapter 15

Preparation Date

Ana walked into the university's lab and found Hikari at his usual table. "Onii-san."

He looked up and his face lit up when he saw her, but it fell when he saw Seto behind her. Grumbling, he got up and walked over to them.

"What's this about. I thought he was only coming on Mondays and the weekends. I sent the progress report already. We're on track—"

"I need your help." Ana interrupted him.

Hikari looked at her then back to Seto then back at her. The color drained from his face. "Oh, no. Please tell me you're not pregnant—"

Ana kicked his shin, Hikari let out a yelp and bounced on one leg while rubbing it. "I'm not pregnant. We haven't even held hands."

His eyes lit up. "You haven't? Really, I figured this thing would have done something considering the comment he made about your legs."

"That's—Wait, what comment?" Ana turned to Seto, feeling annoyed. "What did you say about my legs?"

Seto shrugged. "You told me to act shallow. All I said was that you had nice legs, if I remember correctly."

"Oh, well, that's true." Ana turned back to her brother and found him looking at them confused.

He asked, "What do you mean act—I knew it! You've been playing me all along. Both of you. That's it. I'm canceling the project."

Hikari turned and stormed over to his computer, steam practically emitting from his ears. I figured as much; he doesn't know yet, does he?

"Grandpa has picked out my fiancé and plans on having me meet him this weekend!" Ana shouted and Hikari froze. He turned to her his eyes wide filled with confusion.

"What? What do you mean? I didn't hear about this. When did this happen?" Hikari walked back over to her.

"You've been busy and spending the last few nights here. He decided yesterday." Ana held back the tears, Seto remained quiet while they talked. "Please, Onii-san, will you listen to me?"

Hikari looked troubled, but finally nodded and sighed. "I'm listening."

Ana explained the best she could. She had to admit about the blackmail, which pissed him off, but he kept quiet while she explained the rest of the plan. She told him everything minus what would happen if Seto didn't complete the project.

"Ok, firstly what does he get out of this?" Hikari looked at Seto distrustfully.

"I can't tell you that," she admitted.

Hikari's eyes flashed angrily. "Then why should I trust him?"

"You don't have to trust him, but can you at least trust me?"

"After you tricked me?" He huffed.

Ana growled. "I only tricked you because you were being petty and wouldn't listen. Both you and grandpa have that in common."

The comment must have stung deep because his eyes turned to the floor and his bottom lip pulled in. She sighed and regretted saying it.

"I'm sorry, but please, will you help me? I don't want to marry some stranger. I want to be a teacher," she pleaded. Hikari didn't seem the least bit surprised by her statement. He sighed, but nodded. Squealing, she hugged him. "Great, now… we just have to do something about Amin-chan."

"Amin-chan? You nicknamed him!" Hikari glared at Seto, who just rolled his eyes.

Seto corrected his misunderstanding, "Don't get so excited. It's actually an insult."

Hikari thought about it and grinned. "Oh, then should I also call you Am—"

"Don't you ever call me that." Seto's eyes grew dark and Hikari took a step back.

Ana pinched her brother in the side. "Only I get to insult Amin-chan like that. Find a different way to insult him."

Hikari didn't seem pleased, and strangely Seto seemed satisfied with this outcome. He hasn't taken a liking to the nickname, has he? Surely not…. Hikari gave in, then looked Seto over.

"Well, he's got the physique that grandpa would like. I still can't believe that grandpa picked out your fiancé before Aiko's." Hikari rubbed his hands over his face.

"Physique?" Seto looked confused.

Ana turned to him and explained, "I told you before about how the heir of my family is chosen, right? Well, the heir doesn't have to come directly from our blood line. Meaning, you have to be well built and healthy to inherit because you have to be able to perform the secret techniques."

Hikari looked sick to his stomach. "On that note. Ana go outside, and Kaiba-san you're going to have to strip."

"WHAT!" Seto took a step back and looked to her panicked.

"Unfortunately, he's being serious. All the males interviewed for potential matches go through a physical examination…" Ana turned away and headed to the door, Seto grabbed her arm before she could leave.

"Now wait a second. Is this necessary?" Seto growled.

She looked at him apologetically but nodded. He released her.

"Yes, just down to your underwear though and if you come any wear near me, I'll break your nose," Hikari threatened.

Ana waited outside. She rocked back and forth on her feet. I wonder if this will really work? Hikari opened the door. He looked dejected for some reason.

"He'll… pass," her brother confirmed.

When she came back in, she saw the humiliated look on Seto's face. What happened? Should I have mentioned this before? But I was afraid he'd say no…

"I'll get him up to speed on our family's etiquette before this weekend. But…" Hikari seemed pained to say it. "You'll need to get him up to speed on, well, you."

Ana chuckled. "Right. Come on, Amin-chan."

She left and sensed Seto following her. She slowed down to let him catch up. His eyes were burning fire and his fists were clenched tightly as he seethed silently. She felt a twinge of guilt.

Stopping in her tracks, she looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I thought you might refuse if I told you beforehand."

Seto spun around and bent down to her level, looking her right in the eyes. "Until this is over, don't you ever leave anything like that to the last minute. Do we understand one another?"

"I got it, but it wasn't that bad was it? Hikari wasn't going to do anything to you…" Ana notice the anger and humiliation mixed on his face. "I understand. I'm sorry."

He turned and walked away, Ana caught up and peaked up at him. The anger and humiliation were still ever present. She stopped on the sidewalk and took a deep breath.

"Amin… Kaiba-san," she called to him softly. "I'm sorry."

He stopped in his tracks, his back to her. "You already apologized."

"I'm apologizing in advance… Why was that so humiliating for you? Did it have anything to do with what we talked about before?"

His shoulders tensed, but only for a moment before slumping. "No."

"Then… Why?" She sensed there was a horrible reason behind it.

He turned to her his eyes blank. "Does it matter?"

"I… No, I'm sorry for asking." Ana looked at the ground, feeling awful.

"Chi-san."

She flinched. I guess I deserve that a bit.

"Chi-san… Chi-san, Chi-san, Chi-san, Chi-san—"

"Ok!" Ana snapped and looked up at him. He was smirking at her, but it seemed more like he was teasing her than anything else. She took a deep breath. "Anyway, we need to get you up to speed."

"On what?" Seto raised an eyebrow at her.

"Me. You can't really expect grandpa or my family to believe we're dating if we know nothing about each other, right?"

The look on his face told her all she needed to know. This might be harder than I thought.

"Ok, Amin-chan, I know that sounds horrendous, but it's going to have to happen if we're going to fool them. So follow me." Ana walked around him and led the way.

Let's see.. What's a private enough place we won't be interrupted? A café is too exposed. Ah, that's it. Ana made her way to the karaoke place they'd gone to with their classmates. Seto didn't seem pleased when he saw it. Then again, anger might just be his general disposition. After she paid for them and they were shown to a semi-dark private room, she sat down on the couch and picked up the menu, wondering if she should get a drink.

"Why did you pick this place?" Seto glared at the microphone on the table.

Ana shrugged. "I was too tired to sing last time, and I thought it might be fun."

"I'm leaving." He stood up, threatening to go.

"Sit down, Amin-chan. It's dark, private, and no one can listen in on our conversation." Ana's eyes stopped on a tasty-looking parfait, but sighed. She'd spent most of her money on the room and didn't have enough for it. "You seemed adamant against this place last time too, why is that?"

"There's no point in singing. It's a waste of time." His eyes were cynical as he glared at the microphone.

Ana teased him. "Why is that? Do you have beef with a musician?"

"Two of them." He closed his eyes and let out a long, loud breath through his nostrils.

Doesn't seem like he wants to talk about this anymore.

"Right, let's see… Oh! Let's try this. I'm Sakurai Ana, age 16, blood type O positive, my birthday's November 12th, so I'm a Scorpio. My favorite food is anything sweet, and my favorite color is yellow." Ana finished her spill and then held out her hand to him, expecting him to go.

"You've got to be kidding me?" Seto leaned back in his seat.

"Amin-chan, it's your turn to introduce yourself."

He didn't seem pleased. "Do those things matter?"

"Usually people who are your friends know the answer to some of those questions. And you're supposed to be my boyfriend. So, you should at least know my birthday and likes and dislikes. If you're not going to answer then we've already failed and I'm going to have to look for a different way to solve this without you." Ana carefully folded her hands in her lap and glared at him. "I thought both our futures were on the line here, so take this seriously."

He groaned, but gave in. "Kaiba Seto, age 16, blood type A, my birthday's October 25th, My favorite food is Filet Mignon with Foie Gras Sauce. I like white."

"Not blue?" Ana smirked.

He scowled at her. "I like white."

She thought about his answers. "Well, I guess that makes sense since you used to wear that loud white coat in your tournaments."

"That coat is awesome. For someone who doesn't like duel monsters, why have you seen my tournaments?" Seto smirked at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Not by choice. One teacher I had was a duel monster fanatic, so he forced us to watch it during some of his class… That teacher was later fired for not doing his job… Your birthday's October 25? That also makes you a Scorpio. No wonder we don't get along."

"Zodiac signs don't have any logical sense behind them." Seto snapped. "Is that all I needed to know? Couldn't you have just emailed me that?"

"No, I couldn't have. There are things you think about or learn by talking to someone in person. What else to you like and dislike?" Ana questioned him.

He didn't seem happy about more questioning, but didn't argue this time. "I hate Oden."

"That's random. Never would have figured that. Let's see… I don't like sea urchin. The popping taste of it freaks me out." Ana shivered at the thought. "Favorite song."

Seto frowned at her. "It doesn't have a name."

"What? What's it sound like? Who's it by?" She asked curiously.

His eyes dropped to the table. He crossed his arms and legs. "No one you would have heard of. It was never a published song."

She chewed on her lip as they lapsed into awkward silence. Picking up the pad and microphone, she picked out a slow and sweet song that she'd always liked. It started playing, and she sang along with it. Seto was frowning at her the entire time, but she ignored him since it had been a while since she'd gotten to sing. When she was finished, she grinned at him, but he was rubbing his ears.

"You're pitchy."

Ana tossed him the mic, and he caught it before it hit his face. "Then you sing if you think you can do better. I bet you suck."

That did the trick. He swiped the pad from her and picked out a song. When it started playing, she regretted her decision because he'd picked one with a hard-vocal range. This is going to be painful to listen to. She braced herself, but when he started singing to her surprise, she found he had a clear and powerful voice. When it was time for the high notes, he didn't miss a beat and sung them perfectly. When he finished, he smirked at her like he'd won something.

"If you're such a good singer, why didn't you sing when we went with everyone before?" Ana felt like he'd duped her. It wasn't fair that he was handsome, rich and an excellent singer. If he wasn't such an Amin-chan, he'd be super popular.

Seto didn't answer and put down the microphone. Instead, he picked up the menu and looked over it. After a bit, he picked up the phone on the wall and ordered some tea and a parfait. She was jealous when she heard his order and wondered if she at least had enough for a drink left. The order came quickly, and the server left the hot tea and parfait on the table. Seto picked up the tea and sipped on it.

"Why did you want something cold when you hate the cold?" He asked her.

"What are you talking about?"

He pointed to the parfait.

"I told you I like sweet stuff, but I didn't bring enough money to order it. You don't have to rub everything in." Ana frowned at the jewel like layers in the clear glass.

Sliding the parfait glass in front of her, he smirked.

"Stop being such and Amin-chan!" Ana's stomach growled at her.

Seto leaned back into his seat and sipped on the tea. "If you don't want it, then that's on you."

She looked at him baffled. "Didn't you order this just to mess with me?"

"I ordered it for you, since you seemed to be drooling over it, but if you don't want it, toss it."

Her hand went over her mouth, and she gasped loudly. "Wait, is this a ten percent moment where you're being nice? Really?"

Seto glared at her and went to swipe the glass, but she was quicker and picked it up, guarding it close to her. She took the spoon and took a bit of the richness.

"Greif. You're going to get fat."

Ana swallowed and shot him an annoyed look. Well, the ten percent lasted all of ten seconds. That must be a new record.

"Don't you have to be home soon?" Seto looked at the time.

"I can still squeak by with another hour. My family probably still thinks I'm at tutoring. Which I guess I am since I'm tutoring you on me." Ana pointed the spoon at him and laughed when he gave her a disgusted look. "Alright, what's next…?"