Author's Note: I have changed the summary for this story as of this chapter. I didn't like the original summary because I'm just terrible with coming up with generalizations. I'm not entirely satisfied with the one I just imposed as well. I feel as if this story is too slice of life to be specifically condensed.
Kisara observed the fantastical view outside of KaibaCorp's first-class helicopter as she held a glass of champagne in her hand. Her tongue continually felt unnatural as it lapped against the thousand-dollar liquid. She had immediately felt overwhelmed when the flight attendant informed her of the costs of the champagne. A part of her body wanted to discard such an unnecessarily expensive beverage, perhaps because she felt so alienated in the lush world of her newfound career.
It all felt so surreal, nearly uncomfortable, but not a sense of discomfort bold enough to scare her away to have her likeness displayed across all of Japan. She swirled her champagne flute, staring intently at the bubbles. She never intended to land an opportunity as a model, much less a successful one, but if it meant escaping her strenuous hours at Duke's cafe and earning a better paycheck for her family, then she absolutely had the initiative to perform her job skillfully.
Miss Amano, please prepare your seatbelt for landing.
Wide-eyed at how personal the pilot addressed her through the intercom, she followed his orders. The fact that she was the only passenger, aside from the pilot and one flight attendant, still astounded her. The luxurious interior decorated in whites, creams, and golds screamed money, screamed at her for being a stranger. She transfixed her eyes outside the window, towards the sinking horizon. The pressure coupled with the plane's descension excited her. It felt like centuries since she had the opportunity to vacation. However, a part of her desperately wished she had company.
One day, I'll earn enough to have these vacations with my family. One day…Her head trailed with warm thoughts of bringing her siblings and father. If only she could extend her free ticket to them.
The plane smoothly landed. Once Kisara stepped out, she gasped at the sheer beauty of the island that Indonesia had to offer. Lush, verdant nature and an air of openness beckoned its visitors to simply smile, and that was exactly what Kisara did. Her eyes got smaller as her grin grew, and her heart grew light at the prospect of her weekend getaway. Oh how blessed she was to be granted this vacation after years of nonstop dead-end jobs and sleepless nights. The workaholic in her could be temporarily be put to rest.
"...And this will be your villa for the weekend. Make sure to always hold your key in order to unlock the gates. There will be a 24-hour butler on call to meet your every need. I hope you enjoy your stay at the Mulia."
Kisara could barely hear the words of her leaving guide as her mind and body were enraptured by the pure luxuries the hotel had to offer her. She wasn't just granted a room but a villa. She took deep breaths of the fresh, tropical air and closed her eyes, believing it to be all a dream. The atmosphere was a simple yet astounding display of saturated colors. The greens of the leaves, the ceruleans of the sky, the jades of the ocean, the diversity of flowers were all so foreign to her. She couldn't remember ever touching sand beneath her feet.
She made way toward the entrance of her villa, growing excited at each step. An audible gasp escaped her throat as soon as one foot traipsed inside the impressive interior of the living room. It was decorated in soft beiges and pea greens, accented by the strong woods of the furniture. Two sofas surrounded a coffee table and vertically paralleled a giant flat screen TV. The living room was attached to a kitchen that seemed to have the most current versions of kitchenware. She walked through the spacious living area, still in awe, and eventually crashed into the comfortable fluffiness of one of the couches. She gleefully smiled and reached for her phone to immediately update her family. As soon as her hand touched her phone, she felt loneliness loom over her high spirits. As wonderfully big the villa was, she couldn't help but feel like it was nothing if she was the only occupant. A lump in her throat started to form at the thought of her family, and how much she wished she could spend time with them here. She pressed her dad's contact number and started dialing. The monotonous ringing was the only sound in the vacancies of the quiet paradise...at least, for a couple of seconds.
After about two iterations of the dial tone, Kisara faintly heard a cracking of a door in the distance. Her head and body immediately made a 180 degree shift towards the entrance of an unassuming figure.
Fog faintly breathed out the room the person was coming from, making his identity a bit blurry. Both hands held a white towel that was vigorously scrubbing his head, further concealing his face. He kept walking toward the couch Kisara was situated on, and as the distance shortened between them shortened, the fog lifted. The figure stopped and pulled the towel back up against his head, clearly showing his face.
Royal blue eyes were revealed along with his rather grim yet personable facial features. Peaks of his hazelnut brown hair poked out the towel. Kisara's eyes extended into saucers and her mouth dropped as her mind finally confirmed who the hell the man in front of her was. Her eyes traveled downwards, taking note of his faintly moist, polished skin. That very skin had shades that defined an impressive six-pack, but her eyes didn't stop indulging there. They kept heading south, to a feature that she never in a millennia would dream of seeing. As soon as her eyes landed there, the towel was slapped right into her face.
"AMANO, WHAT THE FUCK?!" An enraged howl bellowed from the deliriously embarrassed Seto Kaiba as he instantly retreated to the privacies of the bathroom.
"Kisara? Are you okay? Who was that? IS SOMEONE TRYING TO YELL AT MY BABY?!" Her father's voice frantically shouted out through the phone."
"I'll call you back later, dad…" her voice faintly replied as she hung up. She was in for a long string of missed calls. The heat of her face tripled in temperature as the towel clung to her face at each passing second. She could smell rosehip and orange whiffs coming off from the towel, slowly pulling it away from her face. A good part of her was horrified at the thought of where he wiped this particular towel on. Her eyes shot up as Kaiba once again emerged from the restroom, towel wrapped around his waist. His wet hair was slicked back, giving more clearance to the scarlet that overwhelmed his face. At this point, both faces were in a competition of most embarrassed.
"Why the hell did you keep looking down…" Kaiba's voice was a dead calm, a tranquility that was veiled with vexation.
"It was just...natural," Kisara meekly responded, unable to answer any better. If anything, she suspected no answer could satisfy the current situation.
"So if you were the one naked, it'd be natural for me to oggle at your body for ten straight seconds?"
"N-no!" she felt herself ready to stutter over her words. She suddenly couldn't form her words into plausible sentences. Kaiba started getting closer to the couch, and with each passing step, her mind was further discombobulated. He bent down to her face, inching ever so closely until his nose was only two inches from her's.
"Going by your explanation…" his hot, minty breath warmed her already scorching face a couple degrees higher, "It would also be natural that you strip right now and offer me a good show. I'm feeling a little...unsatisfied by my end of the deal."
Kisara was ultimately at a lost of words, simultaneously embarrassed and disgusted by his suggestion. The combination of orange and rosehip from his close proximity began to suffocate her lungs. The bewilderment that arose in her soft blue eyes amused Kaiba. A good minute passed before Kaiba confidently stood up.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue and continued looking down on her, "I'm not serious, but that's what you get for looking at my goods."
Kisara retorted, "There wasn't much to glance at."
Kaiba smirked and took the towel held languidly by Kisara and started walking to one of the villa's bedrooms while replying back, "Other women beg to differ. After I get dressed, we're going to figure out what the hell is happening."
At the shutting of his door, Kisara threw herself across the couch, burying her head into the comforts of the pillow. Her screams were muffled and her frustrations silenced. As much as she desperately wished that she shared her vacation with someone else, she had hoped it be anybody other than the obnoxious and nauseating CEO, but she had to take what she got.
Kaiba scoffed as he shut the door behind him. He rushed to get a fresh pair of clothes from his unpacked suitcase, a flurry of thoughts racing in his head as he carried on. In actuality, he was duly mortified that he had been caught off-guard in such an exposed state, and he had the urge to lash out at the white-haired woman. He had a feeling yelling at Kisara would only cause a screamfest, as he already experienced first-hand her argumentative nature, and he had no intention to spend his vacation yelling. After dressing himself in a casual white t-shirt and khaki shorts, he burst into the living room. He found the woman perched upon one of the kitchen island stools, chatting on the phone with who he assumed to be her father.
Her eyes flickered up in notice of Kaiba's presence. She hurriedly spoke, "I have to clear some matters right now, I promise I'll call you tonight." She turned off her phone and turned to the CEO, who decided to take a seat on a stool two seats from her. She silently chuckled to herself at the way he kept his distance.
"This villa has been reserved underneath the Kaiba name every year. I don't understand how you got your hands on it," Kaiba coolly said as he faced Kisara's direction.
She cocked her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows as she replied, "Weren't you the one who released the raffle?"
"What raffle?"
Kisara turned her phone on and found the email detailing the vacation and slid her phone across to Kaiba. He caught the device and peered at the screen. The email it came from was a verified corporate address, but he couldn't for the life of him remember issuing the notice. The only other person who had access to the villa was none other than Mokuba.
Mokuba.
Kaiba's eyes dimmed in betrayal. His little brother had insisted he couldn't come this year because there was a pertinent party of his friend's to attend over the weekend. Mokuba must have given his rights to the room through the raffle. But why? It made zero sense that he wouldn't tell Kaiba. If anything, it was a violation of Kaiba's privacy and the other person's.
"I have an idea of what's going on," Kaiba bitterly remarked as he started calling Mokuba's number. Kisara slid off her chair and approached Kaiba's. She could feel the man's eyes following her movement, probably questioning why she had decided to be so close to him. She situated herself on the stool right next to his and retrieved her phone, pulling back a strand of her hair behind her ear. She had every intention to make him uncomfortable like the way he made her feel. Frankly she did see the guy naked, but it was accidental and had no ill intention.
Kaiba noticed her jaw-line, the way it was delicate but had the daintiest of an edge as she pulled back her hair behind her ear. He also noticed what appeared to be a decent sized pearl on her ear and wondered if her boyfriend had bought it for her or if a jewelry company had decided to sponsor her. A part of him wanted to believe the latter. No way in hell did he pay the PR department a luxurious salary.
"Yesssss?" Mokuba's voice erupted from the phone, set with a mischievous tone.
"Mokuba, did you give out access to our Mulia villa through a raffle?" Kaiba calmly asked. He didn't have the heart to yell at his own blood.
"Yuh-huh, is she hot?"
"Antarctica," Kaiba passively responded as he shot daggers at the woman seated right next to him.
Kisara snorted as she overheard Mokuba's question and Kaiba's answer. She took no offense and gave a wink and one of her sugar-coated smiles as she placed her head on her hand. He rolled his eyes and averted his gaze despite feeling his stomach stir in reaction to her unnervingly endearing act.
"Impossible, some office guys and I made sure that all the single women we forwarded that email to were at least a 9 out of 10! We even made a scoreboard!"
"Well she's neither attractive or taken, so your plan has been foiled."
"Kisara Amano isn't single? Who is she with?"
Kaiba felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to find Kisara's face turn pale and her index finger was raised to her mouth.
"Nevermind her boyfriend's identity, but Mokuba, please don't mention who she is to your office friends, or if they already know, don't say she's taken."
"I understand, Seto," Mokuba audibly voiced his remorse, "Sorry. I just wanted you to give you a chance...you know. I figured a woman during some time off would change your way of looking at a relationship."
"Thank you for your efforts, Mokuba, but you have to let these things run naturally."
"If I let things run naturally, you'll be in your coffin at this point," Mokuba chortled amusingly.
"If you pray hard enough for me, maybe I'll find love with a fish here. Plenty of fish out there in the sea," Kaiba sarcastically replied, recognizing a laughing Kisara in his peripheral view.
"Haha, good one. Well, have a good vacation, Seto, and I hope your roommate does too. Say sorry to her for me!"
"Of course. Good-bye, Mokuba," Kaiba hung up and turned to face a smiling Kisara. He narrowed his eyes and snapped, "Just what are you so smiley about?"
She laughed before replying, "It's cute how much you love your brother. I've only heard you talk down to others, but with him you hold back."
"And that entertains you why? Yes, I take care of my brother and treat him well, is that not what a responsible older brother does?" He refused to take in her compliment and preferred to slap it back in her face.
She only shook her head as she changed the subject, "How do you know that I'm in a relationship? I've been trying to keep it on the low."
"If you call making out with Hamada in front of a restaurant as "on the low," then I must be Sherlock," Kaiba brazenly asserted.
"Oh…" Kisara blinked and held her hands to her cheeks as she felt them heat up, "I see. Reo and I have agreed to keep our relationship silent on both ends for the sake of both of our careers. I appreciate that you held back with your brother, really."
"It's no problem."
"So!" Kisara clapped her hands in one loud smack, causing Kaiba to shiver a little at the unexpected impact. She asked, "What shall we do now that we're stuck together?"
Kaiba smugly smiled as he rose up from his chair, "We aren't doing anything. We can share the same living space, but we will not be sharing vacations. You have your own bedroom. Unpack, go swim, buy yourself some tacky souvenirs, do whatever. Don't mind me, and I won't mind you."
Kisara watched her roommate fade away into his bedroom, feeling a bit disappointed that her only companion on this vacation, the only chance of her feeling less lonely, was a little bit of an asshole. Her eyes landed on her travel suitcases.
Well...I can start exploring my bedroom.
Kaiba threw on his aviators with one hand and used his other to lace around the cold glass of his beer bottle. He had just gotten back from lunch and decided to treat himself to some booze and a relaxed time at the beach. He leaned back comfortably in his wooden beach chair, basking in the sun and killing time. He occasionally had these little retreats for himself and Mokuba throughout the year, but they never lasted more than a weekend. To say he looked forward to them was an understatement. When he was younger, he never imagined taking a vacation, but even the invincible Seto Kaiba had to acknowledge that he wasn't 100% machine. The coolness of the beer and the heat of the tropical weather made for a good ass moment. He spent about twenty minutes just sipping his beer and relaxing until he eventually got up and made his way towards a surf shop.
Pulling back his aviators, he squinted and pointed towards a plain blue surfboard to rent. With surfboard tucked underneath his left arm, he walked purposefully towards the ocean. It was nearly unimaginable that Kaiba possessed such a skill such as surfing, but being the rich man he was, he'd had more than one opportunity to learn how to surf throughout his many vacations. He was just about to dip a toe into the waters until someone shouted his name.
"KAIBA!"
Ah, fuck me, he thought. He could easily recognize whose voice it was at this point. Looking to his right, he tried his hardest to look annoyed. Maybe if he appeared mean enough, she'd just leave. Unfortunately, the ever so present Kisara Amano was still running towards him. She had on a white one piece, and the back of his mind was relieved she had decided to dress so modestly for the beach. Still, the bathing suit hugged her curves a little too well, accentuating her hourglass figure. Her hair was held back in a ponytail, looking a little slick, and her skin had that wet glaze to it, indicating she had recently swam. She looked like those girls in generic beach advertisements, running across the line of the shore.
"What do you want?" He snapped as soon as she stopped in front him, "Did you not listen to what I said this morning?"
"Wow, you're in great shape for a nerd," she ignored his question and purposefully scouted his torso, "I forgot to mention that at the villa. It's surprising you have time to work out."
"I'm sure your boyfriend would love to hear you drool over another man," Kaiba snidely pointed out. However, a tiny part of him was elated she had noticed his physique.
Kisara shook her head as she crossed her arms before replying, "Just because I find a dog cute, it doesn't mean I want to fuck it."
"Did you just call me...a dog?" Kaiba could only think of the times he put down Joey Wheeler as a mutt. To be referred to as a dog by Kisara, even a cute and toned one, was beneath him.
"I'm just using an analogy," Kisara laughed as she released her arms from her crossed position, "Please don't take any offense to that." Her gaze landed on the surfboard in Kaiba's arm, leading her to ask him, "Are you going to surf?"
"No, I'm going to go chuck this up a shark's ass - of course I'm going to surf, great observation," Kaiba's unparalleled sarcasm only made Kisara's smile bigger. Her positive reactions always crept underneath his skin.
"Wow, I'd love to surf. Looks so fun, but I've never learned."
Kaiba sighed as he noticed how long they had been chatting. All he wanted to do was shred some waves and eventually relax in the villa's sauna pool. He propped up his surfboard and pushed it onto Kisara, who looked surprised as she caught the board.
"It's easy. Paddle, balance, ride. Figure it out yourself and leave me alone," he promptly said and immediately turned back to grab himself yet another surfboard.
"Thank you!" was her waning response as he furthered.
Kaiba was enjoying himself on his surfboard, not only because the waves were decent, but because he was relishing the sight of Kisara clumsily falling off her surfboard and getting back on with unwavered and pitiful confidence. He could only give props to her persistent efforts. As much as he wanted to mock her in the open, he didn't want to give her an opportunity to converse with him, so he returned to his sport. The glide of the waves, the laps of water brushing against him, and the sun sizzling against his skin in combination helped lift his concerns. As every blue wave was conquered by his board, a large worry evaded his mind. The waves weren't abnormally large and he certainly wasn't a pro, but it was a fantastical getaway from the rest of the world. What felt like a blissful century came crashing when he retreated onto land, disdained by the feeling of the grits of sand piercing his feet. He set his board down and raised his hand above his eyes, scouring the sight of the ocean for a sign of her. She should have been able to at least stand up on her board. His eyes squinted as he felt his heart start racing from her absence. In the vast view of the ocean, he couldn't identify a woman with white hair. However, his gaze was able to settle upon what was her board.
There's no way in hell. That woman can't drown on me like this! Kaiba bolted straight into the ocean, panicking as he fought against the crashing waves and headed into the direction of the empty surfboard.
"AMANO! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" He cried out as one hand braced the surfboard and his other arm waded in the near area. The feelings of the crashing waves and the scorching sun were no longer pleasurable as the heat of his body rose in panic. He didn't know why he was so overwhelmed with anxiety at the prospect of losing this woman. In the deep crevices of his heart, in the etches of his back memory, he knew the reason.
"KISARA!" As soon as he articulated her first name, his eyes widened in shock at his mishap. Maybe it was the hysteria that was knocking his senses, but he felt as if it was nearly instinctual to call her that at this time.
"Seto?" A confused voice emerged from behind him, "Are we on a first name basis now?"
Kaiba whirled around to find the woman he was searching for, unscratched and perfectly fine. He scowled at his own wasted effort and shoved the surfing board towards her. She caught the board, still dazed by the happenstance. She watched him head back to shore, leaving her in the entrails of the ocean.
"Wait, Kaiba! Kaiba?!"
As much as she shouted after him, Kaiba couldn't face her. As soon as he got onto shore, he took his own surfboard and walked hurriedly back to the surf shop to return it. From there, he saw Kisara's figure rushing toward him. He scowled and made his way to the villa, speed walking away from her smothering presence. As soon as he stepped onto the villa's private pool, he felt a hand pull on his shoulder. He whacked the hand away and faced his follower.
"What?" his voice was exasperated, clearly emanating his nauseated response to her being, "What is it that you want from me?! I'm sick of you following me around like a lost puppy. This is my time to be alone, and you're annoying the hell out of me!"
"Then why did you look for me?" her voice had the slightest of trembling. He knew that he had just scraped the surface, and he wasn't about to hold back.
"Because…" Kaiba's mind searched all over to find an excuse until it finally landed on one cynical enough to break her, "Because if you drowned on my name, then I'm in for an irritating whirlwind of police investigations and media outbreaks. Remember that you're here on Kaiba money, and the mere instance that you endanger yourself, you stain my name. You've been a huge nuisance since you've arrived, and your little model brain can't just think for once. Don't be fucking stupid, Amano, and be grateful that I've tolerated you at this point."
Once again, he put her down more than he should have. She was just so...numbingly vexatious. He was overwhelmingly contemptible with the way he treated her. In truth, he was uselessly lashing out at her for his own frustrations. He was baffled as to why he started to care for the damn woman, and he didn't want to. He couldn't.
She couldn't look at him directly, not into the eyes of the man who was being overly harsh on her. It seemed like every time she tried to be civil and friendly, he pushed back with twice her force. His words hurt, but she couldn't just cry or something. Arguing with him would only fuel the fire, and she didn't want things to blow up. He wasn't worth the effort.
She completely ignored his gaze and softly complied, "I'm sorry for being an inconvenience...I'll leave you alone." And with that, she walked back towards the beach.
Kaiba simply went for the sauna pool that the villa conveniently had. He soaked himself in the piping hot waters, wishing that they could burn away the guilt that coursed through every part of his body. If only it were so simple. If only she could be so simple.
She didn't return since. Kaiba had just gotten out of the shower, noticing that the time was around midnight. The only sounds that perched on his ears were the sounds of the waves against the night sands, but there was only one sound he had hoped to hear - the sound of the front door click. The rational, logical part of him begged him to just go to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking about the way she easily gave in, or how there were traces of distress on her face. He took his laptop out of his room and sat on one of the couches. He decided to look through his email and eventually conduct business. Doing work made him kill time and forget who he was waiting for.
Kisara tried as best as she could to sneak inside. She didn't want to awake a sleeping dragon. After all, she had already poked him a little too much today. As soon as she took her shoes off and caught sight of a figure on the couch who seemed to be ominously illuminated by the blue light of his laptop screen, she yelped incomprehensible words, "Ohhjlgwakjlw," as she nearly tripped over her feet.
Kaiba suddenly noticed her in the corner, a bit spooked himself. He lowered his laptop screen and calmly asked her, "Where have you been?"
"Ah, just touristy stuff. I doubt I'll get any chance to come back to this place, so I made sure to try and squeeze multiple tours and events and stuff," Kisara nervously laughed as she approached the living space. "What about you? You must've done stuff to be up this late too."
She had a red flush on her face, a clear sign that she had consumed alcohol. It appeared that she was at least smart enough to control herself, as she was still conscious.
"Just work stuff," he mirrored her same passive response, to which she noticed. He could've responded better, but he was slightly peeved that she went off by herself drinking. How senseless.
"Well...I'm going to go shower and go to bed. It was nice seeing you one more time before I'm done for the for the night," she waved with the weakest smile he ever saw on her face, "Good night, Kaiba."
"Good night, Amano."
As soon as he heard her start up the shower, he returned back to his bedroom, relieved that she was finally back. He settled into his sheets and looked up at the blank ceiling. He had a feeling that he had an opportunity to reconcile with her, but he had virtually no energy to have some type of heart-to-heart with the woman. That and he didn't have the emotional capacity. He found himself unable to sleep for a while with recurring thoughts of her. It truly was a pain to have her right across from his room, giving him more excuses and more forgiveness when she manifested in his mind. Eventually his eyelids grew heavy and sleep overpowered his consciousness.
But sleep was only in control for approximately two hours until his eyes flickered open. His head throbbed in pain at his sudden awakening. Bright light emanated from the cracks of his bedroom door, indicating that someone was still awake. Worried, he tore his blanket off and made his way into the living room. There, he found the unconscious body of Kisara laid dormant on the couch. He walked over to find something still held in one of her hands. It was a card. He took the card and discovered it was "Monster Reborn."
How fitting, he thought.
He looked over to the coffee table to find a slew of duel monsters cards on the table, all organized in neat little piles according to type. Was she trying to create her own deck? He didn't realize she dueled. The cards she had were all pretty generic, nothing particularly powerful. However, her collection didn't seem to have any consistency to be a proper deck. Also on the table was a light blue notebook laid out in the open. He inspected the journal and realized she had been taking notes on each card. She had the actual care to handwrite color-coded notes regarding certain cards and the mechanics of the game instead of reading and studying it off online. As he scrolled through her notes, he even discovered a page full of Battle City rules.
It looked like she was practicing, training for her future role as Battle City's game host. She must not have had prior knowledge of duel monsters before, so she was trying her best to understand the game in order to fully be a competent facilitator, and she did so even on vacation so late at night. He admired that, admired her dedication to her future job. He took a good look at the sleeping woman, reveling in her features once again. She looked so peaceful in her sleep, as if nothing could wake her up. Although he would never confess, she was bewitching in any aspect. He set down the journal and crossed his arms. What he was about to do was completely uncharacteristic of him, but he owed her that. He laid his arms underneath her sleeping figure and carried her bridal style. She felt just about the same as he carried her the first time, light and unbothered. If anything, she felt a bit lighter. He carefully walked to her bedroom, making sure that her head or feet didn't hit the doorway.
Once he approached her bed, he gently laid her across, making sure that her head was perfectly in place on the pillow. With one arm still holding her shoulders, he freed his other and pulled the blanket over, overlapping her body up until her head.
Perhaps it was his sleep deprivation or guilt or a toxic combination of both that led him to delicately whisper, "I'm sorry."
She clearly didn't hear his words, as she was still dead asleep, and he was essentially relieved that she didn't. Even though it was probably best that she heard him apologize, he wasn't ready to reveal such a weak aspect of himself to her. He gingerly retracted his one arm still underneath her and only then discovered that his arm fell asleep. He left her bedroom, turned off all the lights, and returned to bed, where he was greeted with one of the most tranquil slumbers of his life.
More notes: Thanks for reading! This a first out of a two-parter of their time in paradise, and I'm having fun writing this out. I hope you have fun reading this and future chapters too :) Feedback and any mentions of typos are much appreciated, thank you!