Serene Forest, Storming Mind

Kisa finally slowed to a halt in the middle of a large grove of trees. She'd never been in a forest...and she wasn't exactly sure how she got here....she'd just kept driving....blocking any thought from her mind until she'd stopped, removed her helmet, then run to a tree and slumped against it.

She replayed the small argument in her mind....his face haunting her memories now. She'd never seen him like that. Never. She so badly wanted to undo what had been done.....but it was impossible. Now she'd have to deal with it. Easier said than done......

A lone tear streamed down her face. Now what?

A young woman walked through the forest slowly, at her own pace. Her gown flowed behind her slowly, almost as if she were an ethereal spirit of the forest. Her emerald eyes carried strength, and her body movement showed finesse. Her hair moved slowly behind her in this windless forest, only wisps and breezes blowing by occasionally to cool the forest bottom under the canopy. Her face held a blank look, though if one saw her they could swear that she was smiling. In her hair was a flower, known as an amaryllis. Normal people weren't able to see it, though. A spirit. A duel spirit. Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis.

The near-spiritual-looking being had sensed someone else in the forest as she'd walked. The silent hum of machinery halting to a stop and what appeared to be another woman, crying against a tree. The blond woman had a curious look on her face now, wondering what the problem was. Could this blue-haired woman have possibly stranded herself in this forest? This was a question that she'd posed to herself, but had pushed aside a bit for the sake of what her intentions were with a lot of women. She'd approached the girl with a gentle smile on her face, hiding devious intent.

"Hello there~ Is something the matter, hon? You look like you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble and are in need of assistance."

Kisa barely heard the footsteps as the visitor came closer to her location, and by the time she moved to look at the owner of those footsteps, the woman was already in front of her. Apparently she looked like she was in need of assistance...because the woman was offering assistance. Kisa looked up at the woman and shook her head. "No, I'm perfectly fine, thank you." That was a lie...but Kisa wasn't going to let her own emotions show to some complete stranger right now. "I'm not stranded here or anything, if that's what you're thinking."

She drew her legs in and hugged them, resting her chin on her knees. The woman was beautiful....and Kisa sensed a strange attitude, but she couldn't place her finger on what that attitude was or where it might originate from. Nothing dark....just strange. Kisa wasn't really in the mood for shadows, so it was good that she didn't sense any darkness. She relaxed somewhat, finally letting her eyes fall to look at the ground in between her and the new woman. She was upset with herself for having snapped at Lumis like that....but also still upset that he couldn't be happy for her. She was upset that he wanted to fight FOR her and not WITH her. She didn't need a knight in shining armor ALL the time. She knew he loved her, but she hated that he never wanted her to fight her own battles. Besides....she had had fun kicking that guy's ass! AND she'd won! Why couldn't Lumis see that?

Her eyes darted to the woman, finding the stranger still watching her. "What are you looking at? Can I help you with anything?" she growled softly.

Haruna could sense this girl's hostility. Perhaps it wasn't anything that Haruna could help with physically. This girl seemed to be having emotional problems and this wasn't anything like PMS. Perhaps something happened in the family or something happened with friends. Or maybe a lover. But Haruna didn't want to think that this lovely lady was already taken, no matter whether or not that was realistic. In any case, she didn't want Haruna to be involved, but Haruna wanted to be helpful. She'd knelt down in front of the girl and sighed lightly.

"I just live in this part of the forest, so I figured that perhaps I could make friends with a visitor."

This was somewhat a lie since she didn't quite live in the cabin that she had here, only simply came in whenever she needed peace and quiet. She also had to come in every 3 days or so to relax and make sure dust didn't gather around the place. At the very least, however, she would have liked to have company in the cabin where she went to relax. She'd lifted her hand up to Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis out of her hair and offered it to the blue-haired maiden.

"Just looking to help another in distress. But if you aren't in distress, I could just go now. Or you could talk about the real problem underneath that tough exterior. What'll it be?"

Thoughts of rebellion swarmed into her head as the woman insisted on digging into Kisa's problems, but Kisa forced them back. No sense in being rude here....no point in trying to hide what had already been seen. She looked beside her and saw Destiny Hero Dasher watching her. He nodded once, silently. Kisa sighed. "My husband and I had somewhat of a first quarrel. I blame myself for reacting so defensively....i just don't understand why he can't be happy for my victory and quit trying to be so protective of me...." She looked up at the woman, seeing her offer a hand of assistance, and she took it, pulling herself up to her feet. She dusted off her yellow/black jumpsuit and leaned against the tree, wondering what she was thinking to be spilling the beans to this stranger. "My name is Kisa, by the way."

"A marital problem, hm? You seem like a strong independent girl. You've probably gone through a lot of your life on your own, haven't you? I don't have any marriage advice since I'm single, but it's at least natural to think that being married is different from being single. Can't say that I'm terribly different from you, though."

Haruna disliked that the woman was married, but some things couldn't be helped. She couldn't let her libido get in the way of someone else' relationship and in the way of a possible friendship. The other thing that caught Haruna's attention was Dasher who was standing right next to Kisa. She wasn't just any woman, from what it seemed. Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis seemed to respond to this, growing a bit in Haruna's hair, roots traveling down her neck carefully. It seemed that her precious flower was excited.

"By the way, you're that famous archaeologist, right? The one who found ruins in Egypt? Granted, there were many who have, but you're distinguished among them. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kisa. I don't know if you've heard of me yourself, but I'm Haruna. Haruna Shizuoka."

The chances of Kisa not having heard of her were slim to none, since she'd have to have been living under a rock or in some other dimension (hurr hurr~) to not know that Haruna was the CEO of Kaiba Corp. Hopefully, she'd know. Everytime Haruna met someone who didn't know of her work or her modeling career, she'd felt a little offended.

Kisa smiled softly, a little elated that someone had actually heard of her and her work. "I am....though i've gone through hell and back again because of what i found down there...nevertheless....the discover was huge, that is for sure." As the woman introduced herself, Kisa began to remember the news on tv a while ago.

"I remember you." A hint of annoyance touched her voice, but she did not let it grow. "You replaced Seto Kaiba as CEO of KaibaCorp." She had idolized Kaiba while she was growing up, from the age of 12 when she saw her first televised duel between Seto and Yugi. For years she had strived to be just like him in every way....so much that while even in school, she had gained the nickname "Lady Kaiba." She fought like him and had his attitude. Then word spread that Haruna Shizuoka had taken over the company, seemingly out of nowhere. Kisa had been heartbroken, but by that time, she'd already developed her own style of playing, and her attitude had grown to become one of her own. She was still called Lady Kaiba....but she had turned into Kisa. She supposed she should thank Miss Shizuoka for taking down Kaiba, and ultimately destroying any obsession she'd had for him. In truth, it had helped her grow up. Then, of course, she'd met Lumis, and her softer side ended up showing alot more. After that, she'd fallen in love with archaeology, and had devoted her life to finding the secrets that lay hidden in the earth. She hadn't really kept track of KaibaCorp, but she'd heard of its success....and then she remembered something she hadn't really heard about until recently. "How's your company faring against that new rival? I hear Yaritz Inc. is giving you a run for your money." She tried not to smile...but she couldn't help it. It was something like her way of saying 'how dare you take over kaibacorp and destroy my hopes as a child.'

Haruna could sense the annoyance in the other girl's voice and wasn't sure if she should have been flattered or offended. This girl didn't seem to like the fact that Seto stepped down and gave Haruna the job. To be honest, Haruna wasn't expecting to get it. After all, he'd chosen her based upon her merits as a secretary, so of course she wouldn't have expected to inherit the company.

"Meh. 'Replaced' sounds so negative. I'd like to think of it as him 'passing it down' to me. After all, I was only his secretary for awhile. Well. A couple of years, actually.

Haruna remembered those years as being part of the harder years of her life. Mountains upon mountains of paperwork, fetching things, running errands, the works. That was pretty much the job of being Seto Kaiba's secretary was about. He was quiet, but he was also strong. Much stronger than a lot of other people Haruna herself had met. Mokuba, being Seto's brother, could have inherited the company from Seto, but there was the argument that he wasn't old enough and that he lacked leadership skills. Which was odd, because Haruna also lacked leadership skills. It could have been said that she made up for that in physical and emotional appeal though, giving her a natural charisma. This had, of course, amused her.

She'd been broken out of her thoughts as she was stirred by the mention of Yaritz Incorporated by Kisa. Haruna shivered from the thought. They were healthy competition that Kaiba Corporation had lacked for years, but their CEO was... Well, Haruna was annoyed with him. Acting all high and mighty with his sophistication. Haruna sometimes wanted to punch the guy.

"No, no. Not a run for our money, I assure you. Healthy competition at best. It's been awhile since Kaiba Corp. has had any good adversaries. But enough about that. Care to join me in my cabin for some tea?"

Kisa smiled and shook her head. Haruna was keeping herself well composed, something Kisa hadn't really expected. "Tea sounds good right about now, actually....I would love to join you." She waited to follow Haruna. She'd never realized that Kaiba actually had a secretary...and the notion of giving the secretary the CEO position seemed kinda....odd. But it was apparent that Haruna didn't want to talk about it much, so Kisa decided to leave it be, gaining control of her own emotions.

Her thoughts drifted back to Lumis as she followed Haruna to the cabin. How mad was he right about now? Had Wiz delivered the message for her? Was he even home? She hoped he was ok....or at least calm...She really didn't want to come home and have another argument....

As Haruna led Kisa into her cabin, she'd opened up the cabinet and looked upon her collection of teas. She'd had this cabin built when she first started working as CEO of Kaiba Corp. It was her place to get away from all of the hard work that came with becoming the CEO. She'd looked through her different teas and decided to pick milk tea for herself, turning to Kisa and motioning with her hand for Kisa to sit down on one of the couches in front of the coffee table.

"What sort of tea would you like? I've got all kinds, so just ask for one type and I'll prepare it in a jiffy."

She'd already started on boiling the water as she'd taken a seat next to Kisa and seemed to be getting comfortable with a soft smile as she'd leaned back in her couch and upon her hand, leaning on her elbow against one of the available arm rests.

"Y'know, the forest is usually an escape for people to come to so that they can think about their problems and try and figure out ways to resolve them. I know that you and your husband have been in a quarrel, but let's hear the details. And if you don't want to talk about that, tell me about your husband. I'm curious to see who landed it lucky with you~"

Kisa smiled. "I'll take some apple cinnamon tea if you have it." She sat back in her chair and crossed her legs, getting comfortable. Now was the time to relax, get everything off her chest, and get everything into perspective. Perhaps even make a new friend here, if she hadn't already.

"Well, the quarrel started with a surprise challenge. We were invited to the Pro-Duel, given some of the best seats in the house. At the very end of the tournament, the champion had challenged me to a duel...calling me out in front of everyone. I never back down from a challenge, and so I went. The game ended up in a Shadow Duel, and I emerged victorious." Kisa sighed and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's kinda when everything started to go downhill. Lumis, my husband, was very upset when i got back to our box suite. He was mad because i had gone off without consulting him...I had just recklessly went into danger."

She paused, making sure Haruna was following her so far. "I suppose at this point i should mention that I've had my run-ins with Shadow Duelists in the past...so much so that i'd even been controlled by the shadow realm at one point in time. Lumis saved me from that....and so I can understand his frustration. But, I had just won a duel...overcome the top Pro-Champion. I don't understand why he could not have been even a little happy for me." She shook her head. "He yelled at me....and I should have just let it go. But i didn't...i couldn't....I had to fight back. And so I yelled back....and he stormed off in anger. That's when i took my bike and rode off....we've never had a fight in the years that we've known each other...I don't really know how to react to it. I feel I am at fault..."

Kisa looked at Haruna. "He's not a bad guy at all....I love him to death. I just don't see why he had to bite my head off." She shook her head slightly. "It all seems so silly now that i'm voicing everything..."

Haruna listened to Kisa's story while making sure not to forget about the pot on the stove. She'd let it stew in her mind for awhile before she could really give Kisa an answer about everything. After all, this was something that Haruna had never encoutered before. Someone was actually talking about a relationship problem with her. It was somewhat exciting, but Haruna wasn't sure if she could accurately give Kisa good advice since she herself had been single for so long.

"Well, Kisa, it seems to me like you two have been through a lot. Enough for this Lumis to worry about whether or not thing will happen again. But the way I see it, you need to reaffirm to him your strength. Remind him of how independent you are. Sure, you're a newlywed couple and everything, but you need to try and establish your individual strength a little more than your strength with him. This might sound typical coming from a single lady, but I think you should take some time for yourself. After all, you two haven't separated since you were married, right? At least, not until now."

Haruna thought about her words and nodded in agreement with and approval of herself. She gave a surprisingly good answer. In her head, she'd given herself a pat on the back and smiled to herself. It felt great to be able to help someone~

"In any case, I'm sure he's already forgiven you for something as small as that. If he's as great a guy as you say, then I suppose you've had enough time to separate from him. Meanwhile, I'm not into guys in the first place. Perhaps if there were more men like him from the start, I'd be more... bisexual. But enough about that."

As if on cue, the pot on the stove let out a high-pitched whine. Haruna quickly got up and took the pot off of the stove, grabbing the apple cinnamon tea packets and preparing them in cups, pouring the hot water in and letting it steep for a little while, coming back to Kisa and placing their cups in front of each other, a light, playful smile on her face.

"But enough about the man~ I'm curious to know about you~"

Kisa nodded as she listened to Haruna's advice. It was great advice, and it did make her realize something. If she wanted a smooth marriage, she would have to find some form of common ground with Lumis. She'd thought they'd already done that, but apparently it wasn't enough. She was still trying too much to be independent....she was married....two become one...which means she'd have to start letting him in on some of her decision making.

Just then, the tea finished, and Kisa accepted the steaming cup of apple-cinnamon tea from Haruna. "Thank you." She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the tea. It had been a long time since she'd drank this kind of tea, and it felt good to be doing so again. It was at this point that Haruna inquired about her....and that surprised her a little.

"Well...what exactly do you wish to know?"

"I'm really interested in your style of dueling~ After all, you beat a top Pro~ I was quite well known myself back in the day, though my popularity has diminished quite a bit. As a result, I like to know about other people."

Haruna picked up the tea and blew away some of the steam that floated over the cup, taking in the scent of the apple-cinnamon flavors deeply into her senses. Kisa definitely had a good taste for teas. This piqued Haruna's interest a bit more. This girl was definitely one of good tastes, so why would she have gotten into a fight with a man that she'd picked out herself? Perhaps there was something else... Haruna could, after all, sense the dark aura that surrounded this girl. The Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis at Haruna's head shifted slightly, as if understanding her mistress' feelings.

"But I should probably talk about my own before I ask about yours, huh? My own play style really consists with messing with the opponent's cards and limiting their options. If not that, then I do as much as I can to pressure the opponent into making moves that they'd regret. Now that I think about it, I have some different styles of gameplay."

The Amaryllis on her head seemed to be chuckling a bit, though it didn't make any noise and only shuffled up and down lightly. Haruna smirked a bit as she'd felt Amaryllis' movement on her head and sipped at her tea gracefully, awaiting Kisa's answer.

Kisa smiled as she sipped her tea. It was helping her to relax, her muscles loosening from such a tensed state. At first she had been skeptical of coming here to this woman's house....but it seemed to be exactly what she needed.

Listening to the woman's play style, Kisa was tempted to challenge her to a duel. However, she thought better of it...no sense in relaxing if she was just going to end up tensing up again. Haruna wanted to know her own play style....now that, Kisa was reluctant to give out. Nevertheless, Kisa decided she should give up something in return for learning Haruna's style. "Well, I guess I've been a dragon user all my life. Ever since I was a little girl, I've used dragons...starting out with the smaller ones....then upgrading to bigger, stronger versions. Blue-Eyes White Dragon is my personal favorite and my signature card I suppose. Pegasus himself created a set for me just before I went to the Academy." She was very proud of this fact. How many people could say that Pegasus, the creator of duel monsters (or at least the modern version of it, considering her finds in Egypt told that such games were invented thousands of years ago), had personally created cards for them? "That was during my time of obsession over Seto Kaiba."

Kisa was careful not to divulge her play style, only revealing that she used dragons. In all honesty, her play style had changed over her years of dueling...but her more recent and longest running style was of aggression. Strike swift and hard....no mercy. Sometimes it got her into trouble....but most times it had brought her victory, and she was quite comfortable with her style.

Destiny Hero - Dasher remained at her side, keeping its eyes on Cluster. His arms remained crossed, but he was silent, as per usual. His presence also reminded her of her darker past....and she made a mental note to be careful not to divulge that information as well.

Dragons, huh?

In all of Haruna's encounters with Dragons, they hit hard and fast. It was somewhat hard for Haruna herself to work around that unless she hit them faster and harder. Granted, even that wasn't easy. But probably what intrigued Haruna now was that she noted the presence of Destiny Hero - Dasher next to Kisa. She'd pretended not to notice for now as she'd taken another sip of her tea and she'd placed it down in front of her, crossing her legs and leaning back into the couch.

"Seto Kaiba, hmm...? He had a lot of fangirls. I had to trash most of the fan letters that were sent to him. Sorry if you sent any, by the way. But that was when I was actually on the job and you said 'during the time' so I assume that you're no longer the same obsessive fan. Which is good. I'm glad that I'm not standing under a shadow in front of you."

Haruna had always felt that his shoes were big shoes to fill and, most of the time, she was confident that she was able to fill them properly. However, there were small, wavering doubts from time to time. This wasn't one of those times. But that was for another time. Haruna looked up at the clock and noted the time. It'd been awhile since she'd gone on her walk and met with Kisa, then brought her back. Smiling lightly she'd lifted an eyebrow towards Kisa.

"We should meet again sometime. I'd like to continue talking with you. Meanwhile, are you forgetting something? Like the time, perhaps?"

"I was more than just a fan girl, I think." Kisa seemed thoughtful as she looked back at her life. She really had been obsessed with the guy...and she felt she had more right to be called something more than a fan girl at the very least. "I actually took to mimicking his deck and his play style, as well as some of his attitude. It didn't really win me many friends at school..."

Kisa looked at the time on the clock above them and sighed. She'd been gone for nearly two hours already....and she did need to cook dinner for her husband. "I suppose it is time for me to go. Thank you for your hospitality and kindness...you don't see such things these days...especially involving two complete strangers." Kisa stood and bowed respectfully to her hostess. "I suppose I will be seeing you around. Thanks again."

She ducked out of the cabin and walked to her bike. She straddled it and moved it to the road, then sat, looking at the pavement. She put her helmet on, the visor up. It was time to face the music. Now that her head was clear and her emotions calm, she felt she could face the impending wrath of her beloved. Perhaps she could even curb it if he let her. She leaned forward on the bike and revved it to life, the sound of the engine being a sweet song to her ears. She revved the bike, then lowered the dark visor. "Time to ride!" and with that, she burst down the road in a cloud of dust to see her husband....Lumis.

Haruna watched the girl ride into the forest expanse leading to the city and she couldn't help but smirk. Perhaps that dark aura was more than what she thought. There was worry in her presence. There was also pain. Suffering. Despair. All of this intrigued Haruna to no end as thoughts of her time as "The Virus" surfaced on her thoughts. She wanted to be the "bad guy" for once, but perhaps that time would come soon. After all, she'd helped Kisa with her problem for right now. Something else would trigger that seed in her heart, though. And, for now, Haruna would just have to wait and see when that seed would be sown~

"Perhaps our turn will be soon, Cluster~ Then we'll have fun~"

With that said, Haruna closed the door of her cabin, a soft chuckle leaving her lips as the wooden entrance had been clicked to a close, the forest returning to its supreme silence.