Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Tell ❯ Fragile Glass ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Okay, here's a question for you: *why* don't I own Yu-gi-oh? Huh? It seems so unfair somehow...

A/N: Wee, I'm so happy! Which is why I'm posting a super-sad chappy! Eh. [sweatdrop] Anyway! I took the ACT yesterday! So now I don't have to think a single thought about standardized tests for months, or at least until I get my score back! [sweatdrop] Argh, argh, the evil, argh... But I refuse to think a single thought about that until after Christmas! Yes, I am slightly insane, I know... Enjoy the chapter! [cackle]

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Chapter Five: Fragile Glass

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{Wednesday, a week later}

Serenity whistled happily, walking down the dark street. She was on her way home from Tea's; Tea had accused her during school of having no time for her friends anymore since she had started going out with Kaiba, and when the older girl threw in a rented movie or two Serenity just couldn't resist. She had gone over for a few hours, called her mom to ask if she could stay a little longer, and was finally on her way home at around ten. She was walking, because Tea lived just a few blocks away.

It was such a beautiful night, she thought, looking up at the glittering stars. They looked like someone had broken a glass pane and it had shattered all over the pitch black sky. So beautiful. They reminded her of something else, too. Since she had been living here she had started to feel like she had as many friends as there were stars in the sky. And if her friends were the stars, she suddenly thought, Seto was the moon...

It was about then that a strong hand reached out and grabbed her wrists behind her back...

Serenity gasped as she was yanked hard against another body, and the blade of a knife was pressed against her neck She screamed, but it was cut off abruptly as the knife pressed harder into her throat, just enough to let out a trickle of blood. She winced, but didn't dare move or try to scream again.

The man holding her breathed, and she smelled alcohol. "Hush gurly," he said, his voice slurred from being so drunk. "You're gonna like dis..."

He dragged her into the ally he had come out of, forcing her to the ground underneath him. `Help me someone!' she thought desperately. He tossed the knife aside and she screamed again, but he slapped her. "Hush!" he said again, angry, and ripped her shirt off. The man kissed her roughly, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood when she resisted, and shoved one of his hands down her pants at the same time...

`Help me; please!' she thought, starting to cry. Through her tears she could make out the moon over head. `Someone... Seto...'

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{An hour later}

"Hello?" Tea asked curiously when she picked up the phone.

"Hi," came the voice of Seto Kaiba, sounding slightly embarrassed. "Um, I called Serenity's house but she wasn't home... She mentioned that she was going over there for a while, so I was wondering if I could talk to her for a bit."

Tea frowned. "She... wasn't home?" she said slowly. "Are you sure you heard right?"

"Yes," Kaiba said curtly.

She bit her lower lip, concerned. "Crap... Okay, listen. She left about an hour ago; she was walking..."

On the other end, Kaiba paled. "She was *walking*?" he demanded. "At this time of night?"

"We're only a few blocks apart, so we thought..." Her voice trailed off. This wasn't exactly the best part of town, after all. "Correction: we didn't think," she amended, deciding not to give Kaiba the chance to do so himself.

"Stay put," he commanded. The strain of trying to stay calm showed plainly in his voice. "It might be dangerous for you to look for her yourself. Give me your address and I'll look for her."

Kaiba didn't even wait for his chauffeur to get ready. He took his own car, driving well above the speed limit the whole way to Tea's house.

Once he got there he slowed down, scanning the streets and getting more worried by the minute...

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The man pulled up his pants, feeling vaguely satisfied in a drunk sort of a way. He glanced down at the battered, unconscious girl lying in the dirt at his feet, and kicked her again for no particular reason before leaving.

He stumbled out of the ally and into the road, barely missing being hit by a very expensive-looking car. "Hey, watch it, mistur!" he shouted, and tripped on a pothole.

The car skidded to a stop, and a tall man got out. He scowled suspiciously at the drunk, and without a word he went down the ally.

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Kaiba stepped into the ally, his eyes taking a moment to get used to the darkness. What he saw once they did made him gasp. There was someone lying, naked, face-down in the trash, and he had a sinking suspicion of who it might be.

He rushed over to her, turning her over and throwing his trench coat on top of her. "Oh God; Serenity," he muttered desperately, shaking her gently in hopes that she would wake up. She didn't, but she was breathing. Feeling uncharacteristically panicky, he dug his cell phone out of one of the coat pockets and called a hospital.

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{Thursday morning to Monday evening}

Serenity's eyes fluttered open, and she stared blearily around at her surroundings. `All white,' she thought sleepily. `Weird...' Then the pain finally registered, and the memories of the night before came flooding back. Tears flowed freely down her face... The nurse watching her noticed and rushed over, but even after she stopped cry she felt weak, sick, empty...

A little while later Kaiba visited her, and for a bit she felt better. He sat next to her in the bed, telling her that everything was going to get better. While he was there, she thought maybe it would. But once he left, the feeling of... of dirtiness... came back. The others visited her too, but she could barely conjure up the energy to talk to them. She was incredibly grateful when the nurse shooed them out.

The doctors told her that she had two fractured ribs and many deep cuts and bad bruises, but she would be fine in time. She didn't really think so, personally. Physically, maybe, but... She just couldn't shake the feeling that she was... was... `A slut,' she thought bitterly. `That's what he called me, wasn't it?'

Kaiba visited her every day, and every time he saw her, the feeling of unease he had grew. He couldn't put a finger on it, but he just felt like something was wrong... very wrong... Finally, on Monday, he asked her about it.

"What's the matter?" he asked bluntly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a rhetorical question?" she finally asked, a ghost of her old grin on her lips for just an instant.

He sighed. "No," he replied. "I think you know what I mean. There's something... else. I don't know how I know, but... I can just tell, somehow, that there's something you aren't telling us. Not your doctors, not your friends, not even me."

She hesitated for just a moment, but the pause was there nonetheless. "No, there's nothing, Seto," she said, and gave him and actual smile.

"You're a terrible liar; do you know that?" Kaiba said, tilting her face up gently so he could look into her eyes. "Please tell me; I want to help if I can."

Her expression darkened, and she looked away. "I'll be fine," she said quietly.

"You don't want help?" he said blankly, frowning.

"No," she said. Suddenly she looked back at him, and he was startled to see that her eyes were brimming with tears. "Do you really want to know?" she demanded.

"Yes," he said softly, hugging her. "Please don't cry..."

"If you want to know, then you must promise me... Promise me that, no matter what, you won't tell *anyone*," she said. Kaiba felt a tiny patch of dampness seeping through his clothes, and realized that she was crying anyway.

He hesitated. `This is bad...' he thought. `I don't like this at all... But I have to know.' "I promise," he said.

The silence seemed to drag on forever. Finally, in such a small voice that he could just hear her, she said, "I want to kill myself."

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A/N: [sigh] Remind me why I re-read this junk? I think I should just have posted it and hoped for the best XD Seriously though, this is, like, the most cliché thing I've ever read... and I wrote it T.T Well, just in case any of you can actually get riled up over a scenario you've read a thousand times before, please don't kill me! XD And, while you're at it, please review? Just cus I posted a bunch of chapters at once doesn't mean I'd think you were weird or anything if you just *happened* to want to review each of them [huge grin]... Only one more chapter to go!