Corporate Prince

Chapter 23: The Incident

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains some mature themes, violence and some suggestions of rape.

Chapter 23:

The Incident

"Ana, you cut your hair!" Sanae exclaimed as Ana walked into the classroom.

She grinned at her friend and ran her fingers through her shoulder length hair. She felt so much lighter. "Do you like it?"

Sanae seemed conflicted. "I do, but you had such long pretty hair."

"Ha, what does it matter if my hair is long or short? This is way easier to take care of?" Ana sat down and stared out the window. The snow was melting, and the trees were budding. It had been over four months since Kaiba had returned to Domino city. Life had returned to normal, though unlike before she didn't have to practice insane hours. When she'd told her family that she'd "broken up" with Amin-chan, she'd received mixed reactions. Hikari had grinned like an idiot, her father and mother's brows furrowed, her sister had smirked, but oddly enough her grandfather had raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. Thankfully, he hadn't brought up the subject of finding her a new fiancé either. She still hadn't told her family she wanted to be a teacher. When she'd told Sanae that they "broke up" her friend had gotten mad, but quickly decided that if Amin-chan wasn't man enough to admit that his feelings for her were real, then he didn't deserve her. Ana tried multiple times to remind her that their relationship had been contractual to no avail. Sanae was convinced that Kaiba was a cold-hearted jerk who'd broken her heart. I didn't even feel that way about him, so there's no need to get so defensive.

Ana focused on class and when lunchtime came, she felt her phone vibrate. It was Hikari. She went out into the hall to answer it.

"What's up?" Ana asked, curious why he was calling.

"Hey, Ana... I was wondering if you'd like to do something this weekend, just the two of us? It's been a while since we've hung out." Hikari sounded depressed.

Ana sighed. "We see each other every day."

"Yeah, but I haven't gotten to hang out with my little sister in ages! Do you not want to?"

She could almost hear him pouting. "Fine. We can go to that arcade we used to go to?"

"Sounds good." Hikari's voice was chipper. "You won't be able to beat me though. I've gotten better since last time."

"Suuure. We'll see about that." Ana laughed before she hung up and went back to her lunch.

"What was that about?" Sanae asked as she came back in.

Ana shrugged as she took her seat. "Hikari wanted to hang out."

Her friend sighed, seeming to understand. "He's such a doting brother."

Ana couldn't deny this. She finished up her lunch and went to math tutoring. A senior had taken Kaiba's place as her and Arata's tutor. The guy was an ok teacher, but Amin-chan's explanations had been easier to understand. She quietly did her work. The Senior with dark brown eyes and hair, named Genji, kept giving her glances throughout the tutoring. When they finished up, Arata practically ran for freedom.

"S-Sakurai-san, can I talk to you for a moment?" Genji fidgeted nervously.

"What's up?" Ana glanced at the time. She had afternoon practice today and needed to head home soon.