Chapter 3 Window

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh

Tsuyosa and Kouyuu:

Oh, I'm so sorry that you don't like my story, but the pairing was stated in the summary. If you disagree with this pairing so strongly, why did you bother to read this story in the first place? Do you go around looking for stories that you know you'll hate? That's kind of sad . . . Anyway, I don't feel bad about your review, because I have plenty of loyal readers who enjoy my work, and because they like this story, I'm going to continue 'Trapped!' despite your . . . less than pleasant suggestion that I delete it.

-Lover of Seto Kaiba

Malik sighed with discontent and looked around. Serenity was still sitting on the opposite side of the room, her eyes closed. She hadn't moved a muscle since their argument, and he began to wonder if she'd fallen asleep. Looking up, he shook his head sadly. There was a window right above him, but it was too high up to reach. Beams stretched above his head, and he would be able to reach the window if he were to stand on it, but they, too, were high above his head.

Everywhere he looked, dust had settled. There was some on the walls, on the door, and an extra thick layer on the floor. He absently took his finger and wrote out a phrase in Egyptian, but the dust that he stirred up in the air caused him to sneeze.

"Bless you." Serenity murmured automatically, her eyes still closed. He looked over at her. She was turned to the side, her head resting against the wall. She looked so ill at ease...so...upset.

He shrugged and looked up. What did he care? He upset plenty of people, why should this be any different? She was, after all, just a girl. He could care less about her...

Suddenly, it dawned on him, and he stood up. "Serenity!"

"What?"

"Look! A window!"

"Yeah, I know. But don't get any bright ideas. It's far too high up."

"Well," He stood up. "Let's see. Get up." Serenity held back the retort she wanted to say and rose to her feet. "Uh-hu." He said, nodding. "I think you can reach it . . . if you stand on my shoulders."

"...you're kidding right?" She said, looking up. "Please tell me you're kidding. I can't stand on your shoulders!"

"Of course you can. I'm strong. Sure, you might be a little stocky-"

"I'm not stocky." She said, offended.

"Prove it then." He said, grinning and taking his leather jacket off. She hesitated.

"Isn't there another way?" She asked, staying rooted to her spot. He shrugged.

"Sure, if you want to try lifting me up. Is that what you want? I didn't think so." he said when she shook her head. "Now, come on," he walked to her. "I promise I won't let you fall."

Giving in, she nodded. He was right, after all. This could be their ticket out of there. "Okay." She sighed. "How are we going to go about it?"

"You'll need to brace yourself against the wall." He said, standing next to her. She prepared herself, but when she felt his hands on her waist, she stiffened.

"Don't worry, I won't drop you." He said, lifting her up. "Good thing she's so light..." He thought to himself as he picked her up with ease. "Now, do you think you can climb onto my shoulders? Brace yourself against the wall." She did as he said, and somehow managed to force herself onto his shoulders. "Okay, good so far...now, can you reach that beam?"

"Um . . . " She lifted her arms up from the wall and nearly lost her balance, but managed to grab the wooden bar above her head. "Yes, I have it."

"Good, now pull yourself up." He said. She didn't argue, mostly because she felt extremely uncomfortable with his hands on her legs. So, she pulled herself up, suddenly wishing she had taken gymnastics when she had the chance. She swung her leg over and pulled herself up to the sitting position on the bar. Malik watched her from the ground, amazed that a girl as tiny as she could be so strong.

"Good!" He called. "Now, just stand up and walk across to the window."

"M-Malik?" She said, looking down at him. Waaay down at him. "It's too high..."

"Didn't I promise that I wouldn't let your fall?" He asked. "Don't worry, I'll walk underneath you. If you fall, I promise I'll catch you."

"...Promise?"

"I promise." he said, his eyes never leaving hers. And for some bizarre reason, she trusted him. Being as careful as she could, she pulled herself up and stood, using the wall behind her for support. For a second, she thought she was going to fall, but she regained her balance and stood up straight.

"Are you okay?"Malik called. She nodded and began trying to cross. She couldn't look down to see if Malik was keeping his promise, but she had to trust that he was.

One foot in front of the other, she slowly made her way. At one point, she almost lost her balance, but caught herself and continued, although she was a little shaken up

At about 1/3 of the way across, she noticed the boards had begun to creak. She tried ignoring it, but the further out she got, the louder it became.

"Um...Malik?" She asked, stopping and standing still.

"Don't worry, Serenity, I'm right here. Just keep moving." She heard him say.

"Are the boards supposed to be creaking?"

"I don't know. Just keep moving." he called up to her. She slowly took another step. Creeeeeeak

It happened about half way across. There was a massive cracking sound, and suddenly she was falling. Falling! Oh, God, she was going to hit the ground! Her mind was too stunned to brace for the impact, but she didn't need to.Suddenly, she stopped, and was staring straight into Malik's face. (Big group of Malik fangirls: Sigh...)

"...You caught me..." She whispered, her arms wrapped around his neck for support.

"I promised I would..." He whispered back. Brown met lavender as their eyes locked. He had really nice eyes...why hadn't she noticed it before?

Then, without so much as a word of warning, Malik dropped her to the floor. She landed with a thud and stared up at him, confused.

"What did you do that for?!" She cried. He quickly turned away, but no quick enough for Serenity to miss is face contort into a grimace of pain. She got to her feet and looked around. The beam she had tried to cross had cracked down the middle, and they were surrounded by chunks of wood and splinters.

"Malik, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine . . . " He muttered. "Just a . . . scratch . . . " He tried sounding tough, but a groan of pain escaped his lips.

"Let me see." She whispered. He nodded and faced her. Serenity gasped and felt like she was going to faint. His shirt, which had once been white, was now stained deep, dark red on the left shoulder. Where it was torn, she could see a large gash on his arm right where his upper muscle was.

"Oh...Malik..." She whispered. "That's...that's terrible. Here, let me help..." She walked up to him and looked at his injured arm. A sharp piece of wood, about as long and wide as her hand, was jabbed into his arm. She swallowed and took hold of it. "This...is going to hurt." She whispered and pulled it out, wincing.

"Holy shit!" He cried,. Serenity tossed aside the wood.

"Take your shirt off." She commanded. A raised eyebrow was his response. "Now." She added. "We need to clean the wound. Do you have any water?"

"There's a bottle in the bag." He mumbled as he used his good arm to pull the shirt over his head and around his injured shoulder. Serenity dug around in the grocery bag until she found a bottle of water. She then took Malik's already torn shirt and ripped it.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Malik, hold still." She said, pouring water onto the torn piece of clothing and dabbing it on his wound. It was still bleeding, but when it was cleaned she was relieved to find that it wasn't as deep as she had originally thought. She wiped most of the blood away, as much as she could, and tied another piece of his shirt to the wounded part of his arm. As she was doing this, Malik spoke.

"Serenity..." He said, looking at the young girl who was dressing his wound. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you're injured. Now, stop moving around."

"Yeah, but why are you helping me?" He pried. She looked into his eyes, searching for a reason as to why he would ask such a question. Why wouldn't she help him?

"Because . . . you . . . you kept your promise. And you got hurt because of it. I couldn't not help you." (I know, I know! Double negative. So sue me!) She finished with the wrapping and checked it out. "It should hold for a while." She went around to the other side of him to see the back of it, but stopped when she saw the markings down his back...the scars.

They were some sort of message, carved in an intricate pattern down his back. She was mesmerized by them, and, as if under some sort of spell, she lifted her finger and traced one of the designs. Malik shuddered and pulled away suddenly. "Don't!" he shouted, getting to his feet. He pulled on his jacket and stayed turned away from her, his arms crossed.

"Malik, what's-"

"Just . . . don't . . ."

A/N: Ooh! How evil am I? I bet you thought they were going to kiss there for a second, didn't ya? Hahahaha! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. See ya next update!