Rating: T
Chapter Warnings: Mentions of death, general creepiness and supernatural themes
"I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that remains."
–Anne Frank
He hated it. His concentration had begun to waver around supper time, he noted, as his eyes skimmed over the same line of text for five minutes straight. It was a act very unlike his normal, focused demeanor. His inability to concentrate annoyed him greatly, so sighing quietly, Seto Kaiba slammed shut the cover of his book, The Conscious Universe: the Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena. His hand subconsciously touched the locket around his neck as he picked up his bag and stood to leave the small study in his department's administrative centre, which had been set up for its Master and Doctorate students. The space was empty besides for him.
Glancing at the office workers and other Graduate students milling about in the larger office, Seto hoped to sneak out the psychology department's side door and escape the place for the day. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his apartment and take a well deserved nap. Taking a catnap was also very unlike him, but the tall young man groaned as he thought of the mountain of dissertation work waiting for him later in the evening. Seto suddenly regretted letting the progression of his dissertation paper crawl to a stop that late into the semester. The work had been difficult and tiring but he only had himself to blame. Nevertheless he was annoyed.
In a quiet, discreet manner, Seto tried to sneak out of the office unnoticed. He was almost out when a door across the hallway opened, revealing Isis Ishtar, the headmistress of the psychology department. The professor glanced over and caught Seto in his escape attempt. The student cringed as his mentor called his name, leading him to walk over to her reluctantly. Seto's icy blue eyes aimed a barely masked glare at his professor, but Miss Ishtar took no notice of her student's glower. The two headed into the headmistress' private office and Seto fell in step behind the older woman, wondering what she wanted to talk about on such short notice. The pair stepped into Isis' tidy bureau and the professor waved for her mentee to sit down in the one seat facing her desk. Instead, Seto remained standing and crossed his arms before asking,
"Why am I here, Professor? I have stuff to do at home." The young man tried to keep the aggravation in his tone to a minimum, but he was impatient to leave. His professor frowned but otherwise ignored her student's clear annoyance, long past used to Kaiba's constant off-putting attitude. The woman sat back in her chair and calmly replied,
"I believe I've received an urgent case and I want you to investigate it." Seto scowled immediately and straightened his back, miffed.
"I can't take on a case. I'm too busy with my thesis-" The teacher waved dismissively and pulled out a series of papers, which Seto recognized as his last sorry excuse of a work progress report. He tried not to cringe as Isis scoffed lightly and motioned to the papers on her desk.
"I believe we are both aware that you have made no progress in your work recently," the Egyptian woman said, her flawless Japanese always so formal. "So, to change your thoughts, I want you to work on this case."
- "I'm not taking it. Whatever the person is claiming, it's probably false. We both know it. I won't waste my time, Professor." Seto answered and stared determinately at his mentor as the latter shook her head.
- "You will. I think this case will be beneficial to your work, which has been slacking," the woman insisted.
Silently fuming, Seto stepped forward, as Isis mirrored him and placed her hand on her desk, her dark blue eyes severe.
"I won't do it. Period," the student stated coolly.
"Seto Kaiba," the professor warned, her usual polite tone wavering with impatience, "You may be one of my brightest students and a valuable asset to this team, but I have grown tired of your attitude lately. I have tried to be patient, but whatever issues you might be struggling with right now are to be put aside. I will put you on a month-long leave from your dissertation work. I want you to go back on the field and investigate this case. Maybe it will put your beliefs in prospective." Seto seethed, wanting badly to lash out at Isis, but not daring for fear of losing his place in the department's thesis program and parapsychology unit permanently. Turning his head away, he begrudgingly gave in to his professor's request, not truly in the mood to continue resisting. Seto stood up slowly, his gaze arctic cold as he mechanically bowed his head and glared at his professor before turning to leave the office. The older woman heaved a disappointed sigh at her mentee's manner as the door slammed behind him.
The following evening, a Saturday, Seto headed back to the university campus to retrieve the details of his assignment from his inbox in the Psychology department's main office, as instructed in the email sent by Professor Ishtar the night before. He let out a low hiss as he read that he would have to stay with the subject, who was also a student of Domino University, in his home to study the alleged paranormal occurrences on the property over several days. As Seto headed back to his motorcycle and started the engine, bringing the machine to life, he thought over the list of the student's complaints in Isis' report. The person's name was Yuugi Mutou, age twenty, and a freshman in the graphics and game design department. The young man had alleged several instances of unexplained events in the house where he lived alone, dating back specifically to the day after his late grandfather had passed away, two months before. There had been footfall in the hallways when no one else had been in the residence. This Yuugi character had also heard voices at night time, again when he was the only one in the home. The subject of his report lastly complained of vivid nightmares since the death of his grandfather. Sounded like a typical boring case of a 'haunted' house.
Seto sped to a small suburban neighborhood located just on the outskirts of Domino City, where his subject lived according to the address in the report. The tall man tried not to scoff as he thought of the unknown man's claims. He wondered if the allegations made by this Yuugi fellow were not just occurrences imagined in his mourning of his recently deceased relative; maybe he hoped for a sign from his late grandfather. If that was not the case, Seto thought, perhaps the kid had some deeply rooted psychological issues he needed professional help for. The psychology student wondered if the reason his professor had sent him on this investigation was to find evidence for his thesis work. As Seto questioned the link between mental health and beliefs in paranormal phenomena, this case could be perfect for him. Though, he hadn't handled a case of alleged paranormal activity for the university's parapsychology unit in months and Seto felt rusty in his skills.
After several long minutes of driving, Seto pulled up to a small, traditional Japanese style home in a quiet area situated halfway between the city and the countryside outside Domino. There were other houses around but they were spaced further apart then in the city. The young man navigated his motorcycle to park in the cramped entrance before the house's main gate. Seto got off the bike, grabbed his bag, and made his way passed the gate to the main door. Glancing around with his observant gaze, Seto noted that the home was old but well maintained. It was built of light wood and was very homely in appearance. A frown found its way to his lips at that thought and Seto moved to press the doorbell. He dreaded being there already and the meeting would not be over fast enough for his taste. Seto closed his eyes and recalled the last investigation assigned to him several months before, which turned out to be a waste of his and the parapsychology unit's time. The subject of case had been an old lady with noisy neighbors who she had believed were actually ghosts haunting her. Also, her supposed ability to communicate with the dead ended up being her simply speaking to her pet cat... Seto scowled a bit at the memory. Cases like that were the reason he worked so hard to disprove paranormal phenomena, because it was so foolish of people to believe in something that couldn't rationally exist or were merely the symptoms of a mental illness. The parapsychology unit itself investigated cases of alleged psychic powers, clairvoyance, telepathy and more, as well as the occasional reporting of a ghost haunting; so far the team had yet to face a genuine case. Science had disproven and dismantled numerous reported accounts of demonic possession, haunting, clairvoyance, psychic abilities, etc. They were all bogus claims. In particular, Seto bite his cheek at the idea of proclaimed psychics; it hit too close to home for him. It made bitter memories surface in his mind and his chest clenched, but he hurriedly pushed the thoughts aside.
Suddenly, the large wooden door before Seto opened to reveal his subject. The game design student, named Yuugi, stood dressed in a simple black t-shirt and dark jeans, a wide leather choker around his slim neck. The boy, who was at least a head shorter then Seto, glanced up at his guest and the taller man noted with a slight eye roll that his subject sported an outrageous style of spiked, tri-coloured hair; there was blond, red and black in his tall locks. The kid looked like some Japanese rock star and he was ridiculous. Seto chuckled and Yuugi, now pouting, crossed his arms and stared begrudgingly at the person before him.
"What's so funny?" He must be sick, Seto noted, as Yuugi' voice sounded unnaturally raspy. The taller of the two boys scoffed and smirked before he replied,
"Your hair's absurd, you know."
"Well, you're quite a charmer. Professor Ishtar was right." The shorter man sighed at his houseguest and Seto only stared nonchalantly in return. Now that he had a closer view of his host, Seto realized that besides the stupid hair, Yuugi Mutou was quite handsome. His gentle face made him look younger than his twenty years and he wasn't very tall or strongly built, but his eyes were his most striking feature. They were a deep shade of lavender and sparkled like amethyst gems, capturing Seto's undivided attention for whatever reason. Yuugi's gaze held Seto's just the same and it set a fluttering sensation in the taller boy's chest. He hadn't meant to stare at the other man awkwardly, and Yuugi was first to break the eye contact. The shorter boy he bowed his spiky head of hair. Seto didn't return the gesture, simply turning his gaze away from the involuntarily intense staring match. He could have sworn Yuugi had shuddered under his stare. The paranormal investigator cleared his throat, dropping the subject, and finally spoke up, his seriousness returning,
"I'm Seto Kaiba, a Graduate student with the parapsychology unit of Domino University. Professor Ishtar sent me to investigate the paranormal activity you've reported." Seto was brisk and formal, though it hurt his pride with the heat of a thousand suns every time he gave the same speech. He hated to have things be so formal, as they only wasted time in his opinion; the university and Professor Ishtar insisted on the formalities, especially when dealing with a topic as sensitive as the link between the occult and the human psyche. Case subjects could be particular about that type of stuff. The young man before him stared at him for several moments, large violet eyes searching, as if in a deep evaluation of Seto's character. It caused the latter to glower slightly in return. Yuugi stared at him for a moment longer before his lips lifted into a genuine, relieved smile that made the taller boy blink in confusion, his frustration momentarily forgotten.
The freshman student bowed and signaled for his guest to step inside. "I'm so glad you're here and it's great to meet you formally. Professor Ishtar told me you would be the one investigating my case. I'm Yuugi Mutou, first year in Graphic and Game Design-" Yuugi was cut off as Seto groaned in annoyance.
"Drop the formalities," the blue-eyed man hissed and stepped inside the cozy home, his gaze staring icily at the other boy. "I'm not here for pleasantries, Mutou. I'm here to do my job because I have to. I hate the idea that I even have to stay here in the first place." Yuugi flinched at his words and frowned, seemingly deflated by the investigator's attitude. Somewhere deep inside Seto, he felt an ache. He almost regretted treating his subject badly during their very first meeting. The graduate student was just so frustrated with his current predicament. Seto had never wanted to return to investigating any of many cases the parapsychology unit received on a daily basis. As one of the only groups examining alleged cases of paranormal or psychic activity in Central Japan, the team of ten graduate students was always overwhelmed with work. Seto was angry at the thought of wasting his time debunking people's cases of made up "paranormal" phenomena. They were always proven to be fabricated, usually for attention, or the occurrences were easily explained away by simple science. That was why Seto had become so intrigued by the flourishing science of parapsychology; he had wanted to prove that ghosts, demons, psychics and the lot were nonsense. Believing in the occult only hurt people and kept them from facing reality, a fact that hit too close to Seto's heart.
He blinked away his irritation and took a step back from the other student standing close to him. Yuugi hadn't noticed as he looked back at Seto, his eyes shining in curiosity, before he led him to a guest bedroom on the second floor of the house. The taller of the two men glanced around the old home as he padded his way up the staircase. The house seemed relatively clean, considering its only occupant was a young bachelor. Seto noted several rooms as he stepped onto the second storey of the house with Yuugi, which consisted of an office or study, a small bathroom and three bedrooms. Yuugi, who had been quiet since their exchange at the front door, led him to the smallest of the three sleeping quarters and opened the door.
"This is your room. You can use it while you're staying here, so I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the living room downstairs beside the entrance if you need me." Yuugi said gently, glancing up at Seto with an unreadable expression before the shorter man stepped aside and shuffled away hurriedly. Seto stood there as his case subject left, unexpectedly feeling like a jerk for treating the other man so coldly. The fleeting sense of guilt surprised the psychology student, as it had been a long time since any of his actions gave him cause for regret. Seto wasn't a sociopath, but he rarely cared for what other people thought or felt. It had been years since a similar feeling gripped him. Scolding a bit at the unwelcomed emotion, Seto dropped his large bag beside the neatly arranged futon by the window and left the room to search for Yuugi with an audio recorder and notepad in hand. He didn't want to give into the tiny part of him wanting to apologize to his host, so he pushed the thought to the side. Might as well start working then, the young man concluded reluctantly.
Seto headed downstairs in search of the living space. As Yuugi said, he found the living room beside the entrance. He stepped into the decently sized room, spotting Yuugi sitting cross-legged on the floor at a rectangular table, his purple eyes gazing absently at a laptop's screen before him as he typed away. Seto stood silently in the doorway and observed the other man more carefully. His posture was relaxed, but his shoulders slumped in a discouraged fashion. His lips titled downwards into a pout and his eyes held a look of dejection and anxiety. For a reason, Seto thought that Yuugi was the kind of person who should never look sad, as it was a truly depressing sight to behold. He wanted to see the man smile, like he had when Seto first arrived. Giving a slight grimace, the older of the two pushed his bizarre thoughts aside and cleared his throat.
From his spot on the floor, Yuugi was jolted from his reverie and glanced up at Seto. The shorter boy gave a smile, albeit warily, and stood up.
"Sorry, you surprised me," he said. "I was trying to finish my work for my coding class. I love it, but it's long memorizing all of the codes..." He gave a small, sweet laugh that was lost in the tense air clinging between the two students. Seto looked back at him, his expression mostly stoic as his host nervously fiddled with a silver chain hidden under his t-shirt. He decided to take pity on the other man and lifted the audio recorder and notepad in his hands, his voice cool as he explained,
"I would like to take a tour of the house. I need you to follow me and describe all of the instances of activity you've experienced in each room. I would like descriptions of the events, time and dates if possible." Seto watched carefully as Yuugi nodded his agreement and the former pressed the recording button on the audio device in his hand. He stated the time, date and location, for the sake of recordkeeping, before turning to Yuugi and motioning him to start. The younger man looked around the living room. The space was tidy and furnished sparingly with bamboo mats on the floor, the small table Yuugi had previously sat at, a television and entertainment center off to the side, a plain sofa and an open sliding door leading to what seemed like the kitchen. The game design student hugged his arms to himself and looked at Seto.
"Well," Yuugi started hesitantly, his voice raspy and laced with discomfort, "I hear weird noises outside this room if I'm in here late at night... Sometimes, its footsteps, but I once heard a voice speaking. I couldn't tell what it was saying, as it wasn't speaking in Japanese." A frown marred his soft, attractive face and Seto had to look away, keeping his tone impassive as he stated,
"Well, it was most likely just a person lurking outside on the property to startle you. It's the most logical explanation," The older man rationalized, but his host shook his spiky head of hair, frowning some more.
- "But why would a person do that? There hasn't been an instance of crime in this area for over twenty years. Wouldn't there be a more efficient way of scaring me then sneaking around outside my house at night?" Yuugi was not convinced by Seto's explanation, which annoyed the latter; he was the expert after all.
"Beside," he continued, "I checked outside every time that the noises occurred and there were no footprints in the soil." Seto glared slightly and wrote down some notes before motioning the other boy to continue the tour. Yuugi, who observed him inquisitively, lead the investigator around his home as he patiently pointed out the different areas of paranormal activity. The events he described were much the same as those in the living room; footsteps, voices, occasional displacement of items for no reason. Seto said nothing or made any remarks, only noting every incident in his notepad. In his mind though, the young man wanted to ridicule Yuugi. There were rational explanations to all of the activity he had witnessed, but it seemed that he truly believed it to be of paranormal origins. Seto couldn't help but scoff at the idea.
They finished the tour in front of Yuugi's bedroom, where the shorter boy gave identical complaints as before. As Seto watched, Yuugi glanced around the hallway, purple eyes attempting to recall every detail correctly, when they landed on a previously unacknowledged room, situated beside his bedroom. Seto blinked as the colour in his fellow student's face drained slightly and his eyes widened in something akin to dread. Tilting his head in a mix of curiosity and worry, the taller boy stared at the door to the unmarked room.
"What's in that space?" Seto asked quietly, his icy gaze moving back to Yuugi as the latter stood unmoving beside him. The shorter boy's attention remained fixated on the wooden door and he gave no reply, which led his houseguest to snap impatiently,
"Mutou, I'm talking to you. What is that room?" Yuugi blinked, waking from his stupor, and turned to the other man, his eyes hesitant as he answered,
"It's my grandfather's old bedroom..." He explained softly. His face held anxiety, but his gentle features were also darkened with sadness. The question prodded a sore topic for the younger man, Seto realized, as he remembered that the elder Mutou had passed away only two months before, according to the information he found in Professor Ishtar's report. He instinctively bit the inside of his cheek; Yuugi's grief was obvious and it stirred emotions in Seto's own heart that he badly needed and wanted to stay buried. Taking in a deep breath, Seto instead asked with a tone of seeming indifference,
"Has there been any 'paranormal' activity in that room since his death?"
- "I..." Yuugi licked his lips nervously, which caught the psychology student's eye. "I haven't been able to go in there since he passed away." He sniffled gently and turned his face away, hiding it from Seto's view. "I finally talked myself into doing it about three days ago. I was going to clean and begin packing his stuff that night, but when I was-" Yuugi bit his lip and stopped mid-sentence. Seto blinked and gave the other student a pointed look.
"When you started...?" The paranormal investigator prompted cautiously, which earned a grimace from his subject. The latter bowed his head and closed his eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it." Yuugi replied quietly, his face giving away his internal pain. Seto's brows furrowed angrily and he stepped instinctively closer to the shorter boy before him, the former lifting his head up to stare at him worriedly. Staring down at Yuugi, Seto warned in a low, dark tone,
"I swear, if you're wasting my time with this nonsense, I'm just going to leave now. You can't be straight-forward with me and it makes me wonder if what you're claiming has any truth to it."
- "I'm not making any of this up!" Yuugi said back, his violet eyes giving away his growing annoyance for the man in front of him, "I just wonder if I should even tell you when you don't seem to believe in the paranormal anyway."
Seto narrowed his eyes and stepped even closer to Yuugi, a rant hanging on the tip of his tongue, but he suddenly stopped. He looked down at the shorter man, noticing the lack of distance between them. A lump settled in his throat and Seto moved his gaze upwards, locking it with Yuugi's. A long moment of loaded silence passed between them. The air was stiff with something unsaid. Like their first encounter downstairs, Yuugi moved first and parted his lips to say something, but Seto stopped his train of thought by stepping back. It broke the spell over the both of them and the taller man took the opportunity.
"I have all of the information I need for now. I'm heading to bed." He didn't know what to say or do, so he turned away, leaving no room for questions as he entered his assigned bedroom, closing the door firmly behind him. He hadn't glanced at Yuugi's face, but he could only imagine his expression.
Sighing, Seto sat down on the small room's futon and started undressing slowly, his mind clouded with fatigue from the last few hours' events. It was late at night, almost 22:00 and he didn't want to deal with Yuugi or his problems anymore. Instead, he changed into a t-shirt and long sleep pants before lying back on his makeshift bed. Closing his eyes tiredly, he touched the locket resting on his chest. Within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.
Seto loathed the nights when that particular nightmare would come to haunt him in his sleep. It always left him with a sense of powerlessness, dread and overwhelming despair. When he awoke, he would be sweating, gasping for air or even crying; it was Seto at his weakest. He hated himself for it. The dream was no different tonight. The young man stood before a freshly dug grave site, in the center of a desolate, familiar cemetery. Seto knew what scene would come next as he looked down at the too-small dark wood casket lying open before him. He couldn't see its contents, but his heart sank in his figurative stomach; he knew what awaited him if he looked into the casket. His mind shouted for him to stay back, to run away from the scene, but he couldn't. His dream-state body moved forward, approaching the wooden box. Seto felt his breath catch in his throat and he choked as he stared at the battered body of a child lying in wake. The child was smaller and younger than him and dressed in clean clothes, his long black hair arranged to strategically hide the bruising on his face. He seemed peaceful and Seto wished he could fool himself into believing that, if he hadn't known the cause of the boy's death. The older boy took a step back and gasped for air in fear as the little child in the casket abruptly sat up. He stared at Seto, his dark eyes reproachful.
"Why didn't you save me? Why didn't you come and find me? Why did you let me die, Seto?" The child asked. His voice was eerie and distant as he held Seto with an accusatory glare. The latter crumbled to the grass beneath his feet and cried in pain as the memories flooded his mind, tormenting him.
"I'm sorry! I couldn't save you, but I tried so hard. If only we hadn't listened to her, you would still be alive! Mokuba!"
Seto woke from the nightmare with a gasp, his lungs desperately searching for air. He sat up on the futon beneath him, his neck sweaty and his hands going to his face as he remained paralysed by the terror he had just relived; a terror he had experienced frequently since he was thirteen years old. He tried to calm his breathing using one of the many relaxation techniques he learnt in class. After a while, his heart calmed and he was able to stand from his bed. Eight long years of the nightmare's repeated visits and a degree in the understanding of the human mind had never lessened the fear and distress Seto felt afterwards. When he glanced at his Smartphone, the little digital clock indicated it was only 2:00. A quick peek outside the window confirmed the time, as the sky was still midnight blue in colour. Seto watched as tiny raindrops hit the windowsill and sighed. When had it started raining, he wondered. He shouldn't be surprised, as the season of heavy rain quickly approached Central and Southern Japan. The young man didn't mind the rain, usually finding comfort in it, but it only made him feel more morose after his terrorizing dream.
Standing up and quietly exiting the guestroom, Seto padded his way down the unfamiliar steps to the entryway and turned to his right. He needed some water before he tried to go back to sleep to quench his parched throat. He knew he should have just asked the home's owner, Yuugi, before getting anything from the kitchen, but Seto let the idea drop. It was just water after all; he shouldn't wake the younger man for something like that. Instead, he found his way into the kitchen, through the doorway at the end of the living room he spotted earlier in the evening. It was difficult to navigate an unknown space in the dark, but Seto followed the weak moonlight pouring in through the windows. His bare feet made contact with cool tiles and he was in the kitchen. Blue eyes adjusted to the dim light and their owner looked around curiously. Seto nearly jumped in surprise when he spotted a vaguely familiar silhouette in the dark. Yuugi, in a set of blue pajamas and with his hair in disarray, stood before the long countertop lining the back wall. Seto called to him, the other boy's surname like a loud question in the quiet space, but got no answer. Mildly irritated, Seto stepped closer and easily looked over the shorter man's shoulder to whatever he seemed fixated on. It took a moment to recognize the object in the dark, but the taller boy realized it was a butcher's block full of knives. It was such a mundane kitchen item, but as he glanced at Yuugi's face, the way the latter stared so fixedly at it made Seto uneasy.
He waved his hand before Yuugi's face, getting no reaction from him. Frowning, Seto touched his shoulder and shook it gently, calling his name once again,
"Mutou, what are you doing?"
When the shorter boy turned to face him, the houseguest could have sworn he saw a flash of red in those lavender orbs under the faint light provided by a nearby window. It surprised him and the taller man dropped his hand. Yuugi then blinked and looked up at Seto, his gaze its normal lovely purple colour. Shaking his head lightly, Seto pushed his concern to the back of his mind as he stepped away from Yuugi and asked,
"What are you doing down here? It's 2 o'clock in the morning."
- "Is it really?" Yuugi asked, dumbfounded. He looked around the kitchen, apparently confused, before settling back on Seto with worry in his eyes.
"I woke up because I had a nightmare, but I don't know why I'm down here..." Seto didn't reply, only wondering if he should mention the whole incident with the knife block moments ago. Whatever had happened, he decided, would have to be pushed aside. He was tired and wanted to go back to sleep. He didn't want to deal with Yuugi at the moment. As if reading his houseguest's mind, Yuugi piped up from beside him,
"And you, Kaiba? Why are you down here so late?" The shorter boy asked curiously.
- "I was thirsty." Seto replied flatly, making no mention of his own torturous nightmare. It was none of Yuugi's business and the psychology student wasn't exactly lying. He watched his host cringe slightly before he turned to refrigerator, returning with a cold bottle of water, which he handed to Seto.
"I'm sorry. I should have asked you before you went to bed. I'm such a bad host." Yuugi gave an apologetic smile, which tugged at Seto's heart unexpectedly. The feeling made the older boy glower, mostly at himself, and he turned after mumbling thanks under his breath. He quickly headed out of the kitchen. Somewhere in his conscious, Seto realized that he should have made sure Yuugi went back to his bedroom without trouble. The scene he stumbled upon, with the other student staring so intently at the set of knives in the kitchen, disturbed Seto. Something about the whole picture was terribly wrong. The image of Yuugi with red eyes clung to his memory and made him uncomfortable. He must have just imagined things, Seto thought, but he still couldn't shake the haunting picture.
Hello. This is my first long fanfic in several years and only my second Rivalship fic. I tried to keep Kaiba and Yuugi in character, but this is an AU, so some OCCness is to be expected. I've always wanted to write a paranormal based story, so I hope y'all can enjoy it as much as I do.
Reviews are appreciated. Enjoy :)
