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Shizuka began to nod but Seto interrupted. "Right, like your tiny sister is going to be able to help me anywhere," he snorted derisively. He moved himself into a sitting position, wincing at the dull ache on the side of his skull.

"I don't have to lift you Kaiba, if you feel you can walk yourself I'll just let you lean on me, I can do that," Shizuka asserted, nodding vigorously.

"And if I don't feel I can walk on my own?" Seto answered back snarkily.

"Umm," Shizuka murmured unsure how she'd manage to carry the tall man, looking at her brother for an answer.

Seto rolled his eyes, before Jounouchi could either lecture him for being difficult or attempt to actually come up with a solution in which the petite girl would manage to carry a man almost a foot taller than her, he said "I can walk myself, I'm fine, shaken but fine. Why are you staying behind though anyhow Jounouchi? I don't think anything can be done for either the craft or its pilot." His tone softened toward the end of his statement, and he finally allowed himself to glance back at the unfortunate man. He had counted on the fact that whatever supernatural force might be after them had thus far chosen to not seriously harm - well, at least not kill - any of them thus far would make hopping in a helicopter not complete suicide. A ghost or whatever this was could just have as easily murdered Jounouchi and himself with the contents of Seto's own bedroom. The one thing he hadn't considered was that this spirit would have no qualms leveling innocent bystanders. He should have just flown himself, he thought with regret starring down at his lap.

"Jounouchi you moron he's not still alive, he's pierced through the chest. That's not a puncture that's a complete removal of his heart and probably a few other major organs. You shouldn't touch him anyhow this probably constitutes a crime scene, even if we know we aren't responsible this incident is going to be investigated the hell out of. I mean I have a sick feeling that we might be the only witnesses to the freak storm that brought the helicopter down. I'd suggest until we can find out if there is a report of a storm we might want to think of a different cover story, unless you were looking to live up to your neighborhood's reputation and add a bit of prison time to your sheet," Seto ranted, exasperated at the blond's absolutely naive train of thought. "And furthermore," he continued before Jounouchi could argue or mount a defense, "the helicopter was brought down in an electrical storm. The reason we crashed is the entire electrical system was fried, and yes, the radio system in my chopper does require a functional power source in order to operate. So if you are capable of constructing a battery out of spare wire then by means go ahead and mess with that. If not our odds are probably better to get out of the helicopter and try either your sister or my cellular devices. I don't think we need to worry about the helicopter bursting into flames, pretty sure we aren't in an action movie with unrealistic mechanical displays. Any fire would probably be the result of our friendly magical spirit attempting to screw with us. If you really care about preserving Saito's body for burial the kindest thing you could do would probably be to get away from it. The longer we - as in all three of us - stay in here the more likely something is to happen to the wreckage." Seto finally ended his spiel and awaited rebuttal.

"Yes, because law enforcement often tries to rationalize the logic of murder. Murderers are always sane logical people who are very practical in what they are doing. All that matters is that the circumstances are probably going to be suspicious if only we saw that storm. We'll have no way to naturally explain what happened, the way the equipment was fried does not look like an accident. Sure suicide could be a plausible theory barring the fact that Saito had no plans to fly anytime in the near future, but without being able to question the deceased and lacking any reasonable motive behind such a horrific suicide plan with passengers they are going to question us. Even if they can't pin anything on us it's just common damn sense not to touch or move a dead body. If he was living or in anyway able to be resuscitated that would be one thing. Although even then given his injuries moving him would probably kill him. First rule of impalement, do not remove the object. As the object is the helicopter he couldn't have been moved from here anyhow. Not that there is any point to this anyhow, other than pointing out that you are wrong. Not that that ever needs pointing out stupid mutt," Seto ranted again, leaning against the side of the helicopter he'd finally stepped out of. He had actually been doing pretty well at refraining from heavily insulting Jounouchi's intelligence lately, and especially of avoiding any sort of derogatory dog comments. However he was absolutely plagued by anger at the moment and he couldn't say why. He could try and blame possession again, but he remembered what that felt like and this wasn't it. This was most likely guilt, and anger with himself, even if the situation really wasn't within his control. His pilot was dead and he couldn't control that, he couldn't fix or buy his way out of that. It wasn't fair to Jounouchi to just lash out at him because he couldn't as easily yell at himself, but Seto couldn't help himself. Nor could he bring himself to either admit to his current mental state or apologize. So he waited for Jounouchi to bait him further, waited for further justification that his current behavior was warranted. That he wasn't being illogical and emotional. Feeling the grief and self-blame was bad enough, he couldn't handle acknowledging that he felt such things. Cold robotic b*****d that he supposedly was, according to Jounouchi anyhow.

Seto watch Shizuka wander a few feet away from the wreckage after agreeing to make the call. Turning back to her brother Seto said, "I'm fine, even if I wasn't it's not like you are exactly a qualified medic. Still the point is moot, because I'm fine."

- - -

"...the lightning hit the helicopter and knocked out the power," Shizuka was explaining when she was interrupted by the operator. "Yes lightning storm," she repeated, wondering if Kaiba might be right and they might be the only people to have witnessed that storm. They needed help, and they wouldn't get it if emergency services wrote her off as a child playing a prank. She hesitated for a few moments, trying to decide if she should work to convince the woman that they did indeed run into a storm or just make up whatever was necessary to get help out here as quickly as possible. The helicopter was destroyed, Kaiba was injured, the pilot was dead and somewhere her mother was in critical condition. Maybe the truth needed to be a concern for later.

((Sorry it's taken so long for a reply, I've just been so tired lately. I still am but this weekend is going to be nuts and I doubt I'll feel less drained anytime soon.))

"I've been unconscious for several hours over the past few days. I'm pretty sure if I haven't permanently damaged my brain already it's pretty much indestructible. Either way no further exams by petulant children are necessary, put your little band-aid box away," Seto lectured sarcastically, still refusing to look directly at the other man.

((Glad I'm not holding you up. The silly thing is I check this everyday and read it over but after about a few hours - which isn't entirely spent starring of course - I just give up and close the window and plan to come back tomorrow. Sorry you're having hard times, I'm hoping it's more busy/hectic life than personal issues but if it's not and you ever need to rant or something, in a pm if you prefer, I'm always up to listening. You've let me offload on you a few times in the past so definitely up to returning the favor if ever needed.))

Shizuka approached the other two right as her brother appeared to be preparing to storm off. "Umm hey guys, I've got emergency services on the way and they know about the pilot, however I just told them that the electricity in the helicopter went out but we weren't sure how. I got the impression from the operator that Kaiba may be right about our group being the only ones to see the storm, and I didn't want them to decide I was just pulling a prank and not send any help," she explained to her brother, as Kaiba was starring down at his feet and she couldn't make out whether or not he was listening.

- - -

Kaiba Seto's assistant strolled hesitantly into the office of his employer, clearing his throat to obtain the attention of it's current occupant. "Master Kaiba," he addressed the somewhat frazzled looking younger sibling, "we aren't sure of the reason why the residential Kaiba Corp helicopter departed about 45 mintues ago, however all signal was lost from the craft about 15 minutes ago and we cannot get a hold of your brother. The staff we've been in contact with had no idea that he, Jounouchi and a young woman who is said to be Jounouchi's younger sister had even left. However I'm awaiting notice from the head housekeeper who should be better informed. Regardless I thought you should be notified and decide on what course of action should be taken. I of course have every intention of insisting you in anyway that I can."

((Hope things are settling down for you a bit. Definitely understand how you feel not being able to manage stress and anxiety well.))

Seto listened to Shizuka's report, though he gave no visible sign of doing so. He idly fingered the cellphone in his pocket, debating calling his brother. Mokuba probably wouldn't be too thrilled that he left the house, and he felt guilty for not even thinking of his kid brother before leaving. With the helicopter signal lost it was very likely Kaiba Corp would be alerted to some aspect of the situation. Sighing internally he turned the phone off, so familiar with its mechanisms he didn't have to take it out in order to do so. Cruel as it may be to possibly contribute to his brother's worry Seto just didn't feel up to talking to Mokuba at the moment. He had already pissed off and alienated Jounouchi, he didn't need to do the same thing to his brother as well.

- - -

"Yea that sounds good. Did you check over Kaiba, is he alright?" Shizuka asked hesitantly, directing the question at her brother rather than asking the brooding man himself, yet speaking loudly enough to be unquestionably audible to both parties.

- - -

"I sent someone to alert rescue services with the details of the helicopter's last received location right before I came to alert you sir. One of the company helicopters is being prepared on the roof as we speak, if you are prepared we can leave immediately," Ando advised with the youngest Kaiba already making his way out of the office.

((Glad things are getting better under control, hope you're feeling more settled with things soon. Sorry I keep making up random minor characters. I kept trying not to name the assistant because somehow that seemed to make him more solid but it felt ridiculous. Random assistants and doctors and pilots just seem like the easiest way to fetch characters, particularly characters that aren't mine and aren't with mine. Although now that I think about this I have this absurd vision of Honda rushing into Kaiba Corp to fetch Mokuba because of a sudden feeling that something was amiss. xd ))

Kaiba noticeably rolled his eyes but didn't reply. Shizuka frowned, picking up on the tension between the two men and deciding to attempt and check the quiet man over herself. "You really should at least let us take a look at you, you've got a cut on your head that's bleeding," Shizuka began reaching up to gesture toward Kaiba's forehead. Kaiba merely grunted and violently batted her hand away from him. Shizuka attempted to hide the fact that the slap had hurt her rather more than Kaiba probably intended. She didn't want to make things more emotionally trying then they already clearly were.

- - -

"Yes sir," Ando answered, picking up his own pace to keep up with the racing Mokuba. The second he climbed into the helicopter he gave the order to takeoff. After realizing that everyone had been racing around to locate the helicopter rather than contact Kaiba Seto, Ando took out his phone and attempted to call the man himself. He frowned when the call went straight to voice mail. Mokuba quirked an eyebrow he remained as neutral as possible when informing him, "I attempted to call your brother sir, as I don't think anybody has thought to do so. It went straight to voice mail, which could mean it's either off for some reason or they've simply landed outside of signal range." He was careful to use the word landed rather than crashed, and tried not to dwell on the fact that a Kaiba Corp cell should have signal anywhere in the country.

((Sorry for the delayed update, been spending the majority of the last week either at work or skyping the boyfriend who just left for his geology field work a few hours ago, I feel bad I should have made him sleep at least a little but he won't have internet and possibly not even cell reception for 6 weeks so felt possessive. Upside is he isn't driving at least. xd Anyhow should be around more frequently now.))