Corporate Prince

Chapter 19 Test of Courage

Ana stood with Sanae at the park entrance and waited for everyone to arrive. The sun had set an hour ago, so it was a little chilly, but she'd come prepared and had dressed in a warm coat and long pants. Since there wasn't tutoring today, she'd gone straight home and taken a nap. It had been a long time since she felt rested and awake at night time. It really was nice not having to wake up at four in the morning to train. Well, at least I have Amin-chan and Hikari to thank for that.

"Ana-chan, did you invite him?" Sanae was looking over at the park entrance, dumbfounded.

"What are you talking about?" Ana followed her friend's gaze. Her mouth dropped when Seto strolled into the park as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be there. He stopped short of the group though and leaned against a wall looking bored. Why? Why is he here?

The other student's cast glances at Seto, but he didn't return any of them. Instead, he stood there messing with his phone while they waited. After a while, the rest of the students who said they'd be taking part in the trial showed up. There were even some students from other classes. The students who weren't from their class were extra interested in Seto, though Ana felt their interest was misplaced. Arata stood at the front of the group and held up a box.

"Today we'll be doing a test of courage! Who's brave and who'll run away screaming? There's a shrine at the farthest end of this park. You'll be walking in the dark with just a flashlight to get there. Some say it's haunted. Some say there's a murderer's ghost that stalks this forest at night looking for his next victim." Arata paused, and the students whispered amongst themselves. "We'll be drawing numbers to determine our partner for the test. Once you've partnered up stand to the side and one by one, we'll enter the trail at different times."

Most of the students lined up and got their numbers, Ana walked up with Sanae and drew out a number. Her card read 5 and Sanae's was 8. They weren't partners. Well, that's depressing, I was really looking forward to hanging out with her tonight. Seto was the only one who didn't line up. Arata had to walk the box over to him to get him to draw. To Ana's surprise, he drew one.

"Alright, pair up with the person who has the same number!" Arata waved his paper around. As he passed by Ana, he gave her a sly wink.

What was that about? Ana looked around and most of the pairs had already formed. Sanae ended up paired with Arata.

"Who has five?" She called out. No one seemed to answer, but someone lightly tapped on the top of her head and she looked up at Seto. His face was blank as he held up a paper with the number five on it. Seriously? Wait... Did Arata rig this?

No one else seemed to complain about their partners, though Sanae was giving Seto an annoyed look. I guess I can't say I don't want to pair with him since we're supposed to be fake dating. But seriously, why did he have to come? He's just going to make fun of me when I scream.

"All right then!" Arata shouted. "The pairs will go in order of their numbers they received. Number one, you're first."

Ana stood off to the side with Seto as the first pair of students entered the forest path. They waited five minutes before the next pair left.

"What are you doing here, Amin-chan? This doesn't seem like your thing," Ana whispered so only Seto could hear.

"It's not," he admitted.

"Then why?" She glanced up at him, unable to hide the annoyed look on her face.

He didn't look at her, but his brow furrowed and he seemed almost confused. "That's..."