Welcome to Gaia! ::

Isn't it funny how one drunk driver can change someone's life so completely and utterly...? Isn't it funny how that same drunk driver can just kill someone and drive away, as if nothing had happened...? Isn't it funny how people say wine is the blood of Christ, and then proceed to drink it...?
When you're drunk on wine, you're drunk on life. Life, energy, blood... would you like to drink some?

Plot:

Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Mokuba were two orphaned brothers. Their mother died giving birth to Mokuba, but that was okay, because even just the three of them were a happy family. But then... their father died in a car accident. Supposedly killed in a hit-and-run, the police had managed to find the driver through the damage that her own vehicle had acquired. The woman they found had been drunk, several empty bottles of wine sprawled in the back of her vehicle. She was arrested, and that was that.

Oh, if only things were that simple. The woman may have payed for her crimes, but Seto and Mokuba were forced into an orphanage, their lives forever changed.

Now, thirteen years later, the two brothers live alone together, in a large manor owned by Seto himself. Are they happy? No. But are they well off? You better believe they are.

Kaiba Seto is CEO of Kaiba Corporation, a gaming company meant to make lives better for children. He inherited this company from his deceased stepfather, Kaiba Gouzaburo. Seto and Mokuba rarely concern themselves with the tragedies of their pasts anymore, as they are too busy with work and school. They know their lives should've been completely different, but that is not what happened. And so now Seto is making sure to make the most of his and his brother's lives.

However, strange things seem to be happening lately... there are notes, and supernatural occurrences, and warnings, haunting the two Kaiba brothers... and it all seems to revolve around their long-dead parents and... Jounouchi Katsuya?

Note:

This RP is private. Only JuokasKurvas and myself are permitted to post in here. However, you are free to read along if you so wish.

The story takes place approximately one year after Atem left for the afterlife, so he and Yami no Bakura no longer exist in this world. The story begins during the summer vacation after Yuugi and the gang's last year of high school, on the twenty-first of April, only two days after Honda turned nineteen. All of them graduated, and are now enjoying their last summer together before they split up. Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda are going to attend a community college together, Anzu will move to New York to study dance, and Bakura and Otogi are each going to separate universities in Tokyo. Kaiba will continue running Kaiba Corporation, as it is not necessary for him to attend college.

Characters:

Kaiba Seto: JuokasKurvas (currently age 18; turns 19 on Oct. 25)

Jounouchi Katsuya: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 18; turns 19 on Jan. 25)

Kaiba Mokuba: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 13; turns 14 on Jul. 7)

Kawai Shizuka: JuokasKurvas (currently age 15; birthday unknown)

Mutou Yuugi: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 18; turns 19 on Jun. 4)

Honda Hiroto: JuokasKurvas (currently age 19; turns 20 on Apr. 19)

Mazaki Anzu: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 18; turns 19 on Aug. 18 )

Bakura Ryou: JuokasKurvas (currently age 18; turns 19 on Sep. 2)

Otogi Ryuuji: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 18; turns 19 on Feb. 28 )

Mutou Sugoroku: JuokasKurvas (currently age 73; birthday unknown)

Kawai Kaoru: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (age/birthday unknown)

Jounouchi Tetsuo: JuokasKurvas (age/birthday unknown)

Malik Ishtar: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 17; turns 18 on Dec. 23)

Rishid Ishtar: JuokasKurvas (currently age 26; birthday unknown)

Isis Ishtar: Kitsune Ketz Kwineight (currently age 22; turns 23 Apr. 5)

Kujaku Mai: JuokasKurvas (currently age 25; turns 26 Nov. 20)

Shikigami: JuokasKurvas (spirit)

Information:

Domon Tenchi: A contact of Isis'. He is an expert in all things occult and supernatural, especially those of Japanese origin. He is a short, angry albino man, and enjoys messing with people.

Futata Sen: A contact of Isis'. She is a Shinto Priestess. Unlike most priestesses, who are there to take care of shrines and commercialization, she is one of the rare women who has some knowledge of true Shintoism and rituals, and is proficient to some degree in magic. Her shrine is in Domino City.

Shikigami: The spirit that is haunting our heroes. Spirits that are conjured by Ommyouji and used to do their dirty work. They require a blood sacrifice within the proper ceremony to be summoned and put to work.

Ommyoudou: A Japanese occult practice stemming from Chinese roots. Their practitioners are Ommyouji, who come to be either through years of training or through a strong Ommyoudou heritage. They are the only ones capable of summoning and commanding Shikigami.

Kaiba Seto sat in his office, exhausted, in spite of the fact it wasn't even dark out yet. However, considering he had been here since 5:30am, and had only left the office the day before at 2am, it wasn't too surprising. He hadn't even used that three and a half hour gap to sleep, merely to grab a quick shower and a meal. Refueled on about 4 espresso shots, he had barricaded himself back into his office, guilty that he was ignoring repeated calls from Mokuba.

His brother was understandably angry, he usually didn't go days without seeing him, but lately work was the monopoly of his time. Not that it needed to be, business was better than ever, and Seto could easily have taken time off if he so desired. Yet he felt almost a compulsion to stay in his office, bury himself in work. Hide in work. For reasons he couldn't explain he had been rather unnerved lately, and the lack of explanation is what truly drove him up the wall. It's not like he put much store in magical dealings, mystical heebie-jeebies, despite all evidence to the contrary he'd encountered in his life.

Not wanting to think about any of it, Seto had immersed himself in a new project, a possible exciting development for his company. In work he would hide himself until he found some logical resolution for his feelings, or until Mokuba showed up to physically drag him out of the office. Whichever came first, though hopefully it would be the former.

((not sure what you want to do with formatting, colors per character, etc etc. Let me know what you think, and I'll delete this note and then just implement that.

And yes, my Kaiba drinks coffee, he doesn't like it though if that makes you happy - he just NEEDS it razz ))

It had been dark for several hours now, and Seto could barely sort out the screen in front of him. He had finally accepted one of Mokuba's calls, in which he'd promised to try and come home an hour ago. Feeling a stab of guilt Seto rose and strolled out his office, walking swiftly and quietly down the deserted hall to the elevator. He really only had to crunch a few more numbers, save his program, and organize the notes for his meetings tomorrow. Should only take an hour or two and then he could go home. He'd still be rather late, but not so much so that it would be unreasonable to acknowledge the fact that Mokuba was awake, if just for a few minutes. And he'd eat breakfast at home in the morning, catch up on as much of his brother's life as he could before his first meeting. Try and make plans that would not involve a briefcase. However, there was no way he'd be doing any of that at his current level of coherency. And as much as he rather loathed the stuff, it was time for another coffee, one last shot of caffeine to get him through the rest of the night.

Stepping out of the building and into the cool night breeze, he reached into his pocket for his cell. He had only just selected the number of his nighttime driver when the miniature contraption died on him. Just great, he muttered, he really must be out of his element to allow such an important lifeline to decay. Unable to do anything about it now, and not wanting to take the time to reenter the building, Seto made his way on foot to the coffee shop around the corner. Maybe the fresh air and exercise would be good for him, finally clear the clutter from his mind.

((No formatting it is then, I'm fine with that as well as notes strewn about razz . And yay rp!!))

Sitting at a booth near the register, Seto twirled a stirrer between his thumb and forefinger, staring at the brown liquid in front of him. Deciding that he could use more of a reprieve than a quick walk would give, he had decided to drink his brew in the shop. He'd even ordered some sickeningly sweet pastry type deal. Taking a sip from his mug he gave a slight shudder, the taste was wretched. The place had been out of milk, and it's not as if they could just run to the grocery store and pick up more at such a late hour. Not wanting to even try the creamer, and suffering enough of a sugar overdose from the baked good, he simply decided to drink it black.

Perhaps this whole outing had been a bad idea, he should have just pushed through his paperwork and gone home as quickly as possible. In addition to choking on a bitter blend, he also felt more vulnerable out in the open. It made it harder to ignore the creepy feelings, to pretend everything was normal. As if all that weren't enough, the familiar blond vision currently entering the door was enough to make him regret all decisions concerning this evening. He didn't have the energy for a confrontation, or even to pretend to be civil for once. He lowered his gaze back to the table, hoping he'd at least just be ignored, though when was fate ever that kind to a Kaiba?

((So is the demon a character or just something we can both play with whenever or...how is that going to work?))

And you do that hw thing! Gnite!!))

Seto sighed, of course the big mouthed blond couldn't just order his own cup of sludge and be on his way. Glancing up, trying to appear as if he'd only just noticed the other man enter the store, he adopted his infamous mock sneer. Well, he tried. It probably came out more like a sleepy grimace. Another downfall to his current lifestyle, he couldn't even intimidate in a normal fashion.

"Well if it isn't my favorite mutt wandering around looking lost and confused, is there something I can help you with?" Seto taunted, not with his usual vigor, but the words were mean enough nonetheless. He considered continuing further, take complete control of the conversation before the flush of anger he detected on the others face was able to manifest into a verbal assault. At that moment a powerful chill ran up his spine, forcing any trace of color from his already pale visage and knocking the breath out of him. He placed his palms on the tabletop, focusing intently on the pattern etched into the dark wood. The room spun a little, and he desperately willed away the dizzy spell, hoping to recover himself before Jounouchi was able to latch onto his sudden weakened state.

The force drifting in the corner of the room felt a thrill of delight at the sight before him. Stalking the blond had thus far been kind of boring, as he'd yet to discern any perceptible attachments through which to bring about the poor boy's ruin. Yet taking note of the man he'd just bumped into brought a new level of excitement to the game. Little Seto, all grown up, and rather wealthy from the the look of his threads. Devastating that family had been one of the most invigorating deals he'd ever made. He was only sorry not to have been able to play with the offspring more before being locked away again. Yet the death of the parents had sealed the bargain, and away he was sent.

Now he was back out, with a new mission, although no rules of the game would disallow him a bit of side fun while he carried his task out. In fact, if fate were to be kind, he could perhaps make his job and his own pleasure one and the same.

He shivered with delight again to see the effect his mere presence had on the lean brunette. Those who resist the spectral realm generally felt it's effects the hardest. Reigning in his own dark strength for now, he set back to watch his two victims converse, what a wonderful awakening this was turning out to be.

((haha, that is exactly what I was thinking of doing, so yea, mostly making sure it was ok with you before I did that))

"I'm fine," he answered, without any of his usual snap. Truthfully he was far from it, the room was spinning less, and breath was slowly returning. But he was more unnerved than ever before, absolutely terrified to be prey to something unknown. Moreover, angry to be vulnerable in front of anyone, much less the one standing before him. Noticing the stares he was getting, and deciding neither coffee nor pastry appealed to him anymore, he rose shakily to his feet, placing one hand on the table to account for his still failing equilibrium. Taking long strides towards the door, he was only inches from freedom when his knees buckled. Sinking to the floor, blood pounding in his ears, Seto choked on the scream that wouldn't come to fruition. What the hell is happening to me, he thought, struggling not to panic as he imagined the floor shaking beneath him.

Pulling back once Seto was on his knees, the unseen spirit hoovered near the door. There had been no actual intention to interfere so soon, however he wasn't quite ready to allow his two playthings to part ways. He needed this to be more than a quickly forgotten chance meeting, and if that would require a force of Jounouchi's altruistic hand - after a slight break of Kaiba's stubbornly defiant nature - so be it.

((Haha, aww thanks, you made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I most definitely needed that tonight ^_^. And this will probably be one of the few threads I update right now, though I did want to hit a few. The power went out AGAIN tonight, 9 - 10:30, I am SO pissed, especially as my favorite show was new again after a month (Supernatural) and it comes on at 9. I just finished watching it online, thank the powers that be that I could find a decent version uploaded right after it aired, but still, I am so pissed at the power company. It went out at 6:45 too, though that time it was only for a minute))

Wonderful, Seto thought as he felt a rough hand on his shoulder, could things get anymore perfect? He was one act away from winning an award for worst sibling of the century, on his hands and knees in a filthy public establishment, suffering physical ailments prompted by imaginary causes, and to top it all off, he was now at the mercy of a person he could barely stand. He tried to scrounge up the words that would make Jounouchi walk away, regardless of that pathetic sympathy he seemed to have in spades. He focused all his will power on summoning just one well placed expletive, one unforgivable insult that would have the man walking out the door, and hopefully out of his life for good.

Unfortunately he was having enough trouble willing air into his lungs, much less forcing anything else back out of them. He tried to stand, tried to run away, but all attempts were futile. He heard voices mumbling hospital in the background. That was the last place he wanted to go. Truth be told he had an unnatural aversion to medical facilities, furthermore, Mokuba would chew him out if he were to be called down to one. To discover that his brother was so incapacitated that he had to assent to being hospitalized. How could he work himself so, Mokuba would chastise. Because of course that's what it had to be, eerie mystic forces was just not a plausible explanation for anything concern Kaiba Seto.

No he could not go to a hospital, that was right out, he needed to get back to his office until he could sort himself out. Apparently office was the one word he could murmur, though at the moment Seto wasn't sure if the manner in which he could perhaps end up there wouldn't actually be worse than being carted off to the ICU after all. Not that it mattered, apparently Seto's fate was completely out of his own control for now.

((Of course I had to work, after my 3 something hours of sleep, considering I happily woke up at 5:30 for no reason - at least I got a 6:15am phone call giving me purpose ~_~ - in fact I'm at work now! Oh well, less than 3 hours to go, and hooray for money.

I apologize for any typos or whatever, I'll edit when I get home, ya know, gotta do actual work now ^_~. ICU = Intensive Care Unit, sorry to be throwing more acronyms at you, ones that probably aren't even relevant in Japan anyhow, but I don't know what their ICU is specifically called.))

Oh please kill me now, Seto thought as he felt himself hefted to his feet, a foreign arm wrapped around his waist as his own was thrust over surprisingly broad shoulders. Wasn't sure where these death thoughts were aimed, he couldn't particularly say he'd ever had any sort of faith in either benevolent or vengeful deities. Still, if he was going to try and scrape a bit together, now would be the time. He'd take anything he could get to free himself from this awkward situation.

Unfortunately speech was still beyond him, and thus he allowed the blond nuisance to maneuver him out of the cafe and towards Kaiba Corp, complaining the entire time about how heavy he was and to carry some of his own weight. In spite of being taller, he was pretty sure he couldn't weigh that much more than Jounouchi, though he was forced to keep this offense to himself. In spite of dragging Seto's heavy bulk through the streets, Jounouchi managed to get them to the office in a decent amount of time. Now came the fun part, Kaiba needed to regain enough control over his arms to fish the key card out of his pants pocket. Of course karma, the cruel witch, wasn't about to be that kind to him.

((In spite of my complaints, in a weird way, I kind of like the insomnia. In part because I'm paranoid, and the idea of being anything less than an infrequent and easily disturbed sleeper scares the crap out of me. Sure rest would be nice, but then the zombies might get me, and I cannot allow that stressed .

Ah but typos bug me in roleplays, not as much in other threads but in this - and by typos I mean my typos, I couldn't care less about yours so no worries, haha. I just feel like, hey I wanna be a writer, hey I'm going of to get my MA in friggin English, hey I should write BETTER!! The annoying thing is I caught a ton right after I posted, mostly minor phrasing issues, a missing article, only one spelling error. Still I was going nuts, and because I can't install flash at work I can't edit!! I've been going insane for about two hours now!

Anyhow darn, I was about to spontaneously celebrate the 4th of July in this post, I'm really disappointed to have to give that up ^_~.

I'm sure Japan has an ICU and some sort of junior college system/AA degree - who knows what they call them, but yes, unlike holidays which only concern American patriotism, I know they have these things. And I will shut up and try to contain my essay writing to the actual posts from now on, you gotta know I'll fail but I'll try!! I'll at least try to write shorter commentary than my actual post razz .))