AN: PLot? What is That? How aboiut….more fillelr :)) this tiem with lesbeans ! and a tol angry spooper,,

You know that "Kaiba is a workaholic who lives on coffee and never takes care of himself" trope? Well I took it to the fucking extreme. That said, dying from overworking is actually pretty common in Japan. It's called karōshi and it literally translates to "overwork death". The death is usually because of a heart attack or stroke brought on by stress or starvation.

The man glanced up from his computer when he heard his office door open, his fingers never slowing as they punched in the information, the only sound in the room being the click and clack of computer keys. His blue eyes were rimmed with red and bloodshot from lack of sleep, dark under eye circles framing them under his long, neat bangs. "What." It wasn't a question. It was a demand.

A younger man with long, shaggy black hair stepped into the room, his eyebrows stitched together in concern. "It's almost five in the morning, Seto. Have you even been to bed?"

"No." He didn't have time to sleep. There was too much work to be done, and he was the only one who could do it.

"Seto…"

"I'm busy, Mokuba."

The vision hit Isis like a slap to the face, and she stumbled as the scene played behind her eyelids. She felt Mai's hand on her shoulder, steadying her, and as she blinked at the intensity of her visualization she saw Mai's face come into view.

"Whoa, honey, you alright?"

Isis nodded, the vision drifting away as she straightened up and brushed her hair out of her face. "Yes, yes, I'm alright." The vision had surprised her, but it wasn't something she was unfamiliar with. She recognized the scene from the dreams she'd been having. A man in a dark office, on his computer, shrugging off the concerns of his friends and family. This had been the first time his face had been visible, as well as the first time where she could make out what the two were saying. She had to get home. Her summons was on its way.

"Are you sure?" Mai's hand went from her shoulder to the small of her back as if she expected Isis to stumble again. Isis smiled at her friend's concern, but waved it off.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just got a migraine suddenly."

Mai tsk'ed and shook her head, the movement capturing Isis' attention for a moment as her long, blonde curls bounced around her face. "You work too hard, Isis. Seriously, when's the last time you took a day off?"

"Can't remember." She chuckled softly, the sound being cut off with a gasp as her vision continued.

"Seto, please. You haven't taken a break in a week. When's the last time you even stopped to eat something?" Mokuba was at his brother's side, looking as though he wanted to grab the computer away from him and smash it against the wall, just so Seto would look at him when he was talking.

"I've eaten," came Seto's half-there response. He usually had perfect posture, but now sat hunched over his desk, weariness making his body heavy.

"Coffee and yogurt don't count. Come on, Seto, please. Just take one day off."

"No."

The vision was more intense than the last. She could feel echoes of Mokuba's anger and worry, and had seen the shadows under Seto's eyes more clearly, noticed the hollowness of his cheeks and the thinness of his fingers. His eyes, though focused so intently on his computer screen, looked cloudy and so far away.

She didn't stumble this time, but she did hold her head, feeling a little overwhelmed after two visions in a row.

Mai put an arm around her waist and lead her towards her car. "Here, let me drive you home. You're in no condition to get behind the wheel."

"Thank you." Isis agreed; if she were to drive herself home she'd end up crashing, for it was a fairly long drive and she knew she'd be having more visions on the way. She allowed Mai to help her into the seat, playing up her "migraine" a little so her friend wouldn't get suspicious. Once they were buckled up and on the road, she was hit with another vision.

The doors slammed open. Both Seto and Mokuba jumped, Seto's hands finally leaving his keyboard as he instinctively reached for the gun in his bottom drawer. After seeing who it was he let his hands stray back to the keyboard, a little ruffled but otherwise unmoved by the invasion.

"What the hell are you doin' to yourself, Kaiba?" A hand hit the back of his laptop and forced it closed. Seto jerked his hands away before they were pinched by the lid, glaring up at the idiot who disturbed his work.

"I don't remember calling for the dogs. What are you doing here?"

"Haha, very funny. Answer the damn question."

Seto looked away from the intruder, leaning back in his chair, having forgotten how soft it was after so many hours of leaning over his desk. His eyelids felt heavy, weighed down by sleep deprivation and general fatigue. He let them close for a moment, gathering his thoughts. His brain was full of numbers and codes and he breathed deep, almost drifting off then and there.

He snapped out of his daze and turned his glare back on Jounouchi. "Answer my question first."

"I called him, Seto," Mokuba spoke up. He grabbed his brother's arm. "I wanted him to talk to you, since you won't listen to me. You can't keep going like this. You're killing yourself!"

"I am not." He shook Mokuba's hand off and reopened his laptop. Jounouchi slammed it shut again. His eyes found Jounouchi's face again, glaring at the other man, his tone dark when he spoke. "You're lucky my programs save automatically, otherwise I'd throw you out the window for costing me hours of coding."

"Pull yourself together Kaiba! Is your business really worth your fucking life? You really wanna die and leave Mokuba alone?"

Kaiba scoffed at the very idea. "I'm not going to die. Stop being so dramatic, and kindly leave my office."

"No."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed at Jounouchi and he stood up, much faster than he should have. The world spun around him and his vision went black for a moment. Fighting the dizziness, he walked around his desk and grabbed Jounouchi by the collar. "Then I'll throw you out myse-"

A sudden pain in his chest cut his sentence short. He clutched his chest with his free hand, balling the fabric and wincing as the feeling spread up his neck and down his arm. He couldn't breathe. He was vaguely aware of Jounouchi's arms around him and Mokuba shouting, but then the world went black.

Isis opened her eyes with a gasp, grasping at the front of her shirt as if it had been her heart that stopped instead of Seto's. There for a moment, she had felt everything Seto had, and she marveled at how intense these visions were compared to some of the others.

"Isis?"

She glanced towards Mai, who was leaning close to her with a frown. "Oh, good, you're back," Mai said with a sigh. "I guess you passed out there for a second. I was about to run you to the hospital."

"Oh." Isis scanned her surroundings, seeing Mai had parked her car just in front of Isis' driveway. Her vision had lasted all the way home? No wonder Mai had thought she'd passed out. "No need for that, Mai," she said, shaking her head as she turned back to her friend. She offered a smile. "All I need is a nap and some ibuprofen."

"Yeah… And if you don't take the day off tomorrow I'm coming here and personally calling in for you. Then I'll tie you to your bed so you have no choice but to be lazy and stay in bed all day."

Isis giggled at the threat, nodding. "Okay, okay. I promise to take tomorrow off." The irony of her promising to take a break from work so soon after her vision of Seto refusing to do the same was not lost on her. After hugging Mai and covertly slipping some money for gas in the cup holder she hurried into the house. Amir was still at work and Rishid had probably just left, but she knew Malik was home from work by now. She found him in the kitchen and gave him a quick greeting before heading up the stairs to the attic. Half way up she had to stop and grip the railing as she had another vision –this time of Seto in a hospital bed, breathing tubes down his throat and heart rate monitors silent, a small group of people standing around him with wet cheeks while his brother cried into his unmoving chest.

She wasted no time grabbing her summons and tearing open the envelope. She sat, read the rules as she had hundreds of times before, and closed her eyes as per habit. "I, Isis Ishtar, sacred guardian of the deceased, accept this spirit."

When she opened her eyes she didn't see her ghost right away, so she opted to read his information in his absence.

Case: #19-006-72

Name: Seto Kaiba

Current status: Access denied

Cause of death: Heart attack. Proceeded to work past the point of exhaustion despite the concerns of his family, friends, and employees, and refused to take care of himself though he realized his body was failing him. Survived on caffeine, quick meals, and power naps for several months until his heart gave out. He passed away at the hospital.

Requirements for passing: Apologizing to family and friends for not listening to their concerns.

Case #19-015-03: Seto Kaiba; Denied entry to selected afterlife due to lingering hostile feelings and antipathy between he and his friend/partner and/or leaving his younger brother alone. Client and said still-living friend continuously fought over simple, every day things until client passed. Brother was the only family client had and is despondent at being left alone. Requirements for passing include apologizing to both parties for the separate grievances he set on them.

Allotted time: One month.

Isis was a fast reader, but she was only half way through his information when Seto appeared. She saw him standing by the arm chair to her side out of the corner of her eye, but didn't greet him until she'd finished her reading.

Setting down the papers, she smiled in his direction. "Hello, Kaiba."

Kaiba's eyes flicked over to her, narrowed and angry though the rest of his face remained blank and expressionless. He grunted a simple acknowledgement before looking away.

Isis didn't let the lack of polite greeting get to her, for she was quite used to rude and standoffish spirits by now. She just smiled in reply to his gruffness.

"Would you like to sit?" she asked, motioning to the chair he stood beside. He looked at it for a moment, considering it, then took the offered seat. Isis noticed some of his body sank through into the cushions, but didn't point it out as he straightened up and fixed his position so he floated just above the chair. The anger in his eyes seemed to shift to frustration and back in the blink of an eye.

After a moment of silence, it became apparent that Kaiba would not be the one to break the ice. He was hardly even looking at her, and didn't seem at all in the mood to talk.

"My name is Isis Ishtar," she told him, and his eyes flicked back to her before moving away again, piercing the wall to her left. "I'm a medium. My family is responsible for helping ghosts like you pass on."

Kaiba flinched at the word "ghost". It was subtle, but Isis was observant and easily picked up on the slight movement. "You…you were aware you were dead already, right?"

After a short silence, Kaiba nodded. "Yes. I…" He seemed reluctant to continue, folding his hands together and squeezing his palms together. "I'm still…processing all of this. I didn't believe in any of this stuff when I was…when I was alive. Gods and spirits and whatnot. So to find myself not only dead, but also a ghost incapable of moving on is..." He shook his head, not sure how to continue.

"I understand." When Kaiba narrowed his eyes at her, she elaborated; "Well, maybe I can't understand from your perspective, but I can surely empathize. I've helped several ghosts who were in similar situations and were feeling similar things to you. It's not an easy thing to be faced with so suddenly." She offered him a sympathetic smile, which he just frowned at in return. "We were given a month deadline, so you can take as much time as you need to get used to everything."

"What happens after a month?"

"If I haven't helped you by then, you'll be reassigned to a different medium."

Kaiba nodded, looking thoughtful. "Is there a way back?"

"Back to what?"

"Back to life."

Isis nodded. "No… It's probably been a few days since you passed away, and your body wouldn't be in good enough condition for your spirit to reattach itself. That is assuming your body wasn't cremated."

"There has to be some way. I have unfinished business to attend to."

"I'm sorry, but short of reincarnation and necromancy there's no way for you to return to life. Unfortunately you weren't in line to be reincarnated; otherwise you'd have already been reborn." She leaned closer to him, drawing his attention so he could see the serious look in her eyes. "You're here with me because of your unfinished business. I'm here to help you with the things you left unresolved in life. That's my whole purpose."

Kaiba stared at her for a moment before scowling, making a sound somewhere between a scoff and a sigh. "You can't possibly help me."

Isis just laughed. He stared at her, confused by the sound. "I've helped dozens of spirits more stubborn and with harder requirements to fill than you. I can assure you, I know what I'm doing, and I will be able to help."

Again Kaiba scowled, this time at being called stubborn. Then he sighed and relaxed, his expression softening as he looked away from her. "I'll let you know when I'm done processing everything."

Isis nodded. "Take as much time as you need."

AN: plot officially picks back up next chapter. Get hyped!