Chapter 50:

Rich Folk's Pleasure

Seto tried not to look at Ana so he could calm down. He started going over duel monster strategies in his head to distract himself. Finally, they arrived, and the driver opened the door to help Ana out first. When Seto followed her, he found her staring up at the tall skyscraper. There was an almost lifeless look in her eyes.

"What?" Seto asked, tilting his head as he looked down at her.

"Nothing. I'm just trying to clear my mind." Ana's lifeless look didn't go away.

Seto sighed and took her hand. He led her up to the sliding glass doors that opened for them and walked over to a fancy gold elevator. An attendant opened the door for them and got in with them.

"Which floor, sir?" The attendant didn't give them any sort of judgmental look. Mostly he just seemed bored out of his mind.

"Twenty-seventh." Seto answered, and the attendant punched it in. The elevator took them to the top floor, where they got off. The 27th floor was entirely a restaurant called Okanemochi. It was the very definition of a high-end restaurant, with crystal chandeliers, black marble floors, and tables covered in a white cloth. On the table were many types of forks and spoons for each type of dish. A maître d' in a black tux approached them and bowed.

"How can I assist you today?" The man asked.

"Reservation under Kaiba," Seto answered, and the man bowed again.

"Right this way, Kaiba-sama." The man led them to a private room with its own little waterfall and a giant glass window overlooking the city. There was a single table in the middle.

Seto pulled out Ana's chair for her. She looked a little surprised, but sat down. The maître d' pulled Seto's chair out for him to sit down, then handed them some menus. The maître d' took a pitcher of water off a side table in a corner and poured them some.

"What would you like to start with to drink?" The maître d' looked at Ana.

"Black tea with sugar." She answered, and the man bowed before turning to Seto.

"Coffee. Black," Seto replied without looking up from the menu.

The maître d' left, and Seto heard Ana chuckle. He looked up at her, confused.

"What?"

She paused and shrugged. "It just seems fitting that you'd like black coffee."

"Why is that?" Seto felt like she was about to tease him.

Ana grinned. "Because you're a bitter person."

"Well, the only sweet thing in my life is you."

They both paused at the cheesy line that had just fallen out of his mouth. Frick' where did that come from? Did I hear that in a movie? Or read it in a book? I feel like someone said that once… Ana's face was bright red and instead of retaliating, she quickly looked at the menu. Seto watched her closely. Did she like that kind of cheesy line? I expected some sort of snarky response. Seto shook his head and looked over the brunch menu. When the maître d' came back, he brought their drinks and took their orders.

Ana ordered first. "I want the strawberry pancakes with whipped cream."

The maître d' turned to Seto. "Caprese Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise."

He bowed, took the menus from them, and left them alone.

"Pancakes?" Seto raised an eyebrow.

Ana pursed her lips. "I wanted pancakes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Not particularly. There were a lot of other options, though. If you're still being weird about the money—"

"I stopped thinking about that the moment I saw where we were going. Actually, I just stopped thinking. Besides, I doubt anything, even pancakes, on Okanemochi's menu are going to be cheap. There's a reason they don't put the price on the menus." Ana put some of the sugar cubes into her tea and sipped it.

Seto sighed and took a sip of his coffee. It was strong and bitter.

"You know for someone who bakes cookies and cakes it's surprising you like bitter coffee." Ana chuckled and then took a sip of her tea.

"Oh, that. I was just stress baking because you were in the hospital and I'd recently come to terms with my feelings for you, but you still thought I was trying to manipulate you."

Ana paused in the middle of her sip, her ears turning pink. She put her cup down and glared at him. "Are you still not trying to manipulate me sometimes?"

"Oh, no. I still am." Seto smirked. She glared at him.

"You could just try asking me for things sometimes. Who knows, I might say yes." She glared at him.

Seto thought about this. "I doubt it. Everything I ask for is something you don't want to do it unless I manipulate you."

Ana raised an eyebrow. "If you asked nicely, I might do it without needing to push back. Do you even know how to ask for something nicely, Amin-chan?"

Seto grimaced and tried to counter. "I've asked nicely sometimes."

"Only after you realize I'm not going to do it if you demand it. Is there something you're wanting from me right now? Why don't you practice asking nicely, that's if you even have the capacity to do it?" Ana sneered at him, mocking him.

Damn it. Why do I like her again? Just then the server came with their dishes. When the server placed the fluffy pancakes with cut strawberries on top, her eyes lit up and she smiled happily. Oh, right. Because she's adorable. When she's being a hardass it's hard to remember that. The server left them alone. Seto watched Ana happily eat her pancakes.

"You know, you can be an ass, too," Seto commented.

Ana paused, looking a little surprised, then grinned at him. "You just now figured that out?"

His face grew warm as his irritation set in. He focused on eating his breakfast.

Ana spoke up first. "Was there something you wanted to ask me for?"

Seto looked up from his food and mulled the question over. "Yes, but the answer is no, so why ask it?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "If you don't ask, then how do you know that?"

He sighed. "Fine, I want you to come to the duel tournament at Kaiba land in a couple weeks."

"No." Ana gave him a tight smile.

His eye twitched as he returned her smile. "See. I told you the answer was no."

"You didn't ask me, Amin-chan. You just stated what you want." Ana glared at him. "Also, you know I don't like dual monsters and I doubt you need me there cheering you on, so why should I? Domino City is a six-hour drive and I'm not going to ride in that jet again."

"I don't need a cheer squad." Seto stared at her blankly. Also, considering the track record, I don't want her watching my duel with Yugi.

"Then why do you want me to go?" Ana asked, confused.

"Because someone told Yugi, who probably told his friends, that I have a girlfriend. I don't want to deal with them." Seto glared at her over his eggs.

"So, you want me as a shield?"

"Correct."

"No."

Seto groaned and watched Ana turn her attention back to her pancakes. She ate them happily. He sighed then bit the inside of his mouth before asking, "Will you please come to the tournament and stop me from murdering Yugi's friends for being butt munches?"

Ana looked up at him, exasperated. "Well, you asked nicely that time, but it doesn't sound very fun."

"Ugh." He placed his head in his hand and groaned. "Will you please come to the tournament, which will only last part of the day, and spend the rest of it with me at Kaiba land?"

Ana clapped her hands, her eyes shining. "You've said please four times today. How does it feel?"

"Awful." He let his hand fall and was about to go back to eating his food.

"Ok, I'll come." Ana smiled, but it was genuine and non-teasing this time.

Seto looked at her, perplexed. "Really? Just like that?"

"It's amazing what happens when you ask nicely. Though, that is still a long trip. I'll have to talk to my family about—"

Seto pulled out his phone and dialed her grandfather. Ana looked at him, confused.

"Hello?" Dai answered.

Seto put it on speaker and asked, "Hey, old man. Can Anna-chan go see a tournament in Domino City in two weeks and spend the night at my house?"

Ana's face turned bright red.

"How are you going to get there?" Was her grandfather's only question.

"Take a plane. A normal one," Seto stated.

"Alright, that's fine." Dai agreed.

Ana stood up so quickly that her chair toppled backwards. She quickly came around the table and tried to grab his phone. Seto hung up and pulled it out of her reach. In her attempt to get the phone she stumbled and fell over top him. He tried to grab her, but ended up toppling out of his chair. They landed in a heap on the ground.

"Ow," Ana said out loud and made a hissing sound.

A server must have been passing by and rushed in. He saw them tangled up on the floor. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine. She tripped and I couldn't catch her," Seto answered as he sat up, while supporting Ana in his lap. She let out a loud hiss of pain. He looked down and noticed that one of her ankles was swelling. Adrenaline kicked in and he lifted her up in his arms while managing to stand at the same time. He let out a sigh.

"Well, the next stop was the hospital anyway since you wanted to check on your friend." Seto grumbled while feeling a little guilty at the same time.

The server held the door open for them and ran to get some ice before they left. The server tied the ice bag to her leg and Seto carried her to the elevator.

"You're a jerk," she whispered.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed again. "I'm sorry."

She peaked up at him and smiled through the pain. "I'm going to watch you duel at the tournament."

"Huh?" He looked at her, confused. "You're still going to come?"

"Yes, I'm going to watch you duel and I'm going to very loudly introduce myself as your girlfriend to anyone we meet." Ana's eyes flashed evilly.

Frick'. What did I just get myself into?

Author's Note: Made it to chapter 50! I honestly didn't expect to make it this far, but everyone's reviews and knowing that people look forward to my story each week keeps me motivated to write even when I'm not feeling like it. I don't know how long this series will end up being, but I'm far from finished. Until next week!