Open Doors

Part 9: In Darkness I Shall Fall

Bakura and Malik were walking back. Marik decided to stay clear because he didn't want to go to some reikai prison. It was silent most of the trip. But Bakura was having a one-sided conversation by himself. Malik appreciated that Bakura was talking because it would be going back to that weird silence again.

When they finally reached the temple, Malik sighed in relief. He needed to sleep and not wake up for a week. Malik turned to face Bakura as he mumbled something.

"Great, the pharaoh's here," he heard come from under Bakura's breath. Malik looked up to see Yami standing out in the front leaning against the wall. Yami looked at them both. His eyes went to Malik with a bit of anger shown in there and then trailed over to Bakura with a challenging look. The anger Malik managed to catch. Since he figured the pharaoh wasn't going to give him a warm hello he decided to go around the back of the temple and climbed in the window to the room he was sharing. He slipped into the futon and pulled the blankets over him. Under the covers he curled up halfway. The look in the pharaoh's eyes brought back memories he wished he forgot.

Now Malik was afraid to come out.

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Marik scanned the mind of the object of his 'desires'. He sensed the pharaoh there also. So that meant he had some other obstacle to deal with. But none of it mattered. He would get what he wants. Nothing would stand in his way. The pharaoh is already becoming a major asset.

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Malik shivered. It was cold, dark, and damp. He didn't like it. He saw that he wasn't in the room anymore but a dark place with a long hallway that seemed never ending. This didn't look too good. He stood up and walked. Malik felt threatened. The shadows seemed to want to come out and jump him. He looked behind him and saw nothing. Perhaps he was just being paranoid. And that everything is just a dream. He's just in one weird dream. He would've jumped ten feet had that something that trapped him prevented him from doing that.

"Are you sure it's just a dream?" he heard the very familiar voice that he didn't want to meet or see at all. He just stood there not doing anything. He didn't bother to try and let out because he knew there was nothing he could do. He grimaced at what might happen next.

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Yukina sighed. She was worried. She never saw Malik come out of the room. Last night she heard him crying in his sleep. Though it was a bit softly she heard it and became worried. She went in to check on him but found the futon empty. She walked around the temple to look for him but didn't make it obvious. Yukina turned up empty handed. He wasn't around. She sighed in disappointment and walked back towards the main room. Everyone was there but not Malik.

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Malik was treading dangerous ground. He was walking around the city. He knew it now by the back of his hand. He got out of the temple as soon as he could. He didn't want to deal with questions especially from the pharaoh. Maybe he misinterpreted the pharaoh's look as annoyance instead. But he didn't want to deal with it at all incase he was right. He went off and just decided to blindly walk where he was sure he wasn't safe.

As a matter of face he didn't care anymore.

He sighed.

Who was he kidding? He did care. He cared about everyone he just met. Besides he didn't want the koorime twins hurt because of him. He was sure that Marik knew about his new interest in Yukina. He never noticed it either but he slowly started falling for the ice maiden. But then he kept denying them because he didn't want to hurt her. He was going to go back to his own world. And he didn't want any trouble to deal with.

As Malik walked he found that he ended up in some couple festival. It wasn't a festival actually. It was a place where various couples were out. He sighed and just walked somewhere else where he would be alone. Maybe be hidden from the rest of the world. Live underground again like he did before when he was just a child.

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Marik followed the distressed other. He felt the anger emitting off the pharaoh when Malik came back. Yami blamed Malik for his return. If all goes well then Malik and the rest of the dimensions would be his. It was so unoriginal but who doesn't want the whole world?

He found it so easy impersonating this Marik character. Though he had to act like it but he knew he could benefit out of it. Besides, Malik wasn't that bad looking. He was exotic. Everything should go according to plan.

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Malik shivered as he felt the cold air breeze by his skin. He figured it was almost the summer and it was beginning to be warm. Maybe he figured it was one of those weird days that Mother Nature decided to have. He leaned his back against the tree and bent his knees wrapping his arms around them while resting his chin on top of them. It was cold and he didn't have much except for the thin material on him. He was thinking of giving up and going back but then he thought about the pharaoh and just decided not to consider that option.

He lied down on the soft ground of the grass. He was just going to sleep it off and maybe keep warm that way. It usually worked. So he forced himself to sleep making himself vulnerable to the world.

It was then that Mother Nature decided it should rain. Now he was soaking wet and would soon probably die of hypothermia. Not like he cared. He never found anything worth living for, except for Isis and that was it. He was just thinking of ending it all but then maybe Ryou found a way to get home and then he should just live his life like that.

As he thought about it he was thinking of moving to his own place without Isis' knowledge. Or maybe he could hide here. But then he figured the others would just track him down with this thing they call spirit energy. So this was not an option. He drifted off into a cold sleep. He never noticed someone place a coat over him.

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Yukina went around the park. She was looking for Malik, as were the others. When she voiced her concerns they went to look for him despite Bakura and Yami's assurance that he was okay and he just needed some time to himself. Yukina didn't believe it and insisted that they go find him when it started raining. They all complied and decided to do a search.

Yukina made it to a secluded area of the park. It was dark with a little light shining through. She walked a bit before tripping on something big. She figured a log. When she actually felt a good feel she noticed it was a person. She gasped and pulled the coat off a little and it surprised her even more. It was Malik. She looked around and spotted Hiei nearby. She went towards him.

"Nii-chan, I found Malik-kun," she said leading him to where he was. Hiei just stared and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Stupid human. Staying out here where he could get sick," he commented but picked Malik up and began to carry him back. He was light so it was an easy task. He wanted to go faster because he didn't like the cold rain.

"You can move faster nii-chan. I know you don't like the cold rain. I'll catch up to you," Yukina said as if she read his mind. Hiei nodded and dashed off super speed to the temple. Yukina sighed and looked at the sky. Droplets splashed on her face since the umbrella didn't cover all of it. She then began walking back to the temple after a few seconds of thought.

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It was mid afternoon. 'Marik' was going around the temple's outer walls. He was hoping to snatch Malik out from under their grasps. After all Malik was the only one who could defeat him. If Malik were having an emotional problem then he wouldn't be able to.

So if all goes well then everything would belong to him. Besides even if they sensed him all they would be tracing is a shadow. Of course life gives you interruptions and he found one.

Hiei.

The fire demon was sitting in the same tree that over looked the window to the room where his target was. Well it should be easy to subdue him. He shut his eyes focusing on putting the demon to sleep. It was hard because of the jagan imbedded in the forehead. But he got through it fine. In a matter of seconds, Hiei was asleep.

'Marik' made sure that he saw no one else around or sense them. He walked over and looked in the opened window. He quietly stepped in the room making silent steps to not wake up Malik.

Malik, even unconscious, felt a little chill in the room something he was sure he wouldn't like. He forced himself to wake up. His eyes flew open in surprise. Before he could say anything a hand covered his mouth muffling his cries for help. Apparently it was useless since he wasn't that fit to beat against his yami. He wasn't able to before. He struggled fruitlessly. A moment later he was pinned under the other. Now he was afraid.

"Don't try anything stupid. No one would hear you. They're all out. Besides what would happen if they did come here? Wouldn't they just blame you for my return?" Malik stilled as he heard the other say those words. He was right. They might blame him for it but then he'd rather face that than being hurt by his yami. So he struggled even more but then he felt himself lie still. He didn't like this.

"Don't bother resisting pet because no one would be here to get you."

Malik tried to resist the command but couldn't and soon he fell into an unconscious state.

Marik picked up Malik's sleeping form and made it out of the temple. It'd be already too late when the others would find him.

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Kinshin: Yes I said there would be a long, long chapter or two chapters but I couldn't do that. I'm sorry but this chapter was a little bit longer than the last one right? Thank you people for your reviews and visits!

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