Title: Marked Ones
Category: Digimon/Death Mark/Shiin
Rating: M
Pairing: Ami/Arata
Summary: Ami finds out the secret that Arata has kept from them on the same day that she gathers her courage to let him know how strong her feelings for him are. Arata tries to clean up the mess, but when Ami vanishes without a trace, he sets off to find her. The big question is when did he get this mark to appear on his arm?
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Digimon or to Shiin/Death Mark.
Author's Note: Death Mark is such a good visual novel horror game. I am obsessed with it so why not take one of my very top OTP and combine it with this game.
~~Story Begins~~
Chapter 1 - The Birth of the Mark
She was too late.
Ami was too late. He already had someone in his heart and future. Someone who he wanted to spend the rest of his days with. She was too late and it wasn't because she waited too long. It wasn't because of her trying to find the right moment.
On the exact same day Ami got released from the hospital after being restored back to her body, she flirted with him. She used so much subtext, but he noticed none of it. So, she took desperate measures and went to Nokia for advice.
Nokia was the last person to ever ask advice for on any problem. He was too dense to notice any of her flirtings. Ami had studied all of her mother's romantic movies and he still didn't notice all the cliche lines she had used with him. Nokia's advice was to tell him bluntly about her feelings. If he hadn't caught on now over Ami's feelings than he will never catch on unless she tells him in Kyoko's straightforward nature.
Ami never knew Arata was this cruel.
~~DigiMark~~
Arata was furious, not at Ami, but at himself and the female that was hanging off of his arm. He just knows Ami was finally going to tell him something important and he hopes that whatever it was, it would explain her current odd behavior that she shows only around him.
He had hoped that they'll be friends for the rest of their lives (and he wouldn't complain if they would be more than just friends in the future) and that they'll keep making memories together. He doesn't understand as to why she kept asking if he wanted to make a different set of memories with her when he already has. A select few of the people in Tokyo knew about Digimon.
"Aratakins," the female said. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"What do you think?" Arata said as he glared at the female.
He'll explain everything to Ami later, but he needs to deal with this female now.
"Listen to me and you had better listen closely because this is the last time I will explain this to you before I get the police involved," Arata said. The words came out through gritted teeth as he freed his arm from her grasp.
"Why are you using that serious tone with me, Aratakins?" she said.
"Stop calling me Aratakins, you have never been allowed to call me Arata. We are no longer engaged. Once my mother passed away, my father called off on our arranged marriage."
"But, but, we've been engaged since we were born," she said. "We love each other."
"The engagement is off and you want to know why? My father never liked the idea of an arranged marriage. Also, I provided enough proof to my father and mother before she passed away that you and your family were trying to get our money. I showed them with pictures of your boyfriend and you along with the phone conversations the two of you shared. You broke the agreement," Arata said.
He took a couple of steps in the direction that Ami went in. "Come near me again and I'll have you arrested for stalking and harassment," he said.
~~DigiMark~~
"You're engaged and you are just now telling us this?" Yuuko said. "Was we even going to get the wedding invitations?"
"WAS engaged," Arata said. "My father broke it off once he had enough proof that she violated the terms of engagement."
"You are incredibly lucky that you called because I really want to punch you over this holographic screen," Nokia said.
The anger that is rolling off her personality isn't being blocked by the holographic screen and Arata has his back pressed against the door just to make sure Nokia can't come crashing in and giving him a beating.
"This informations happens to be announced after your ex-betrothed tells Ami that you are engaged to her. Moments before Ami had planned to tell you that she loves you?" Yuugo said.
"Are you thinking that Ami's plan was sabotaged?" Yuuko said.
"Good chance or Ami's good luck has finally run out," Yuuko said.
"Wait! Ami has feelings for me?" Arata said.
It was evident to the three in the phone call that his voice and his face showed that he was truly surprised.
Nokia was the first one to break the stunned silence with a simple sigh. "You know, you really are a geek if you couldn't tell Ami did have feelings for you," Nokia said.
"I accept the fact that I have pretty much zero people skills," Yuuko said with a nod of her head. "However, I knew Ami was flirting with you. It was quite obvious that she did her homework."
"I hate to say this, but Ami has been flirting with you for months," Yuugo said. "I mean, she did use a bunch of cheesy lines and cliche moments that are repeated throughout a bunch of romantic movies. Now she possibly thinks it is only one-sided when you do return her feelings.
"We are off topic," Arata said and ignored the need to question his best friend over how he knew for a fact that he did have a crush on her. He knows for a fact he never told anyone about it. "The whole entire point of this call is to ask if any of you know where Ami is?"
"Try her apartment," Nokia said. "Personally, if I were to be in her shows right now-"
"Shoes," Yuugo said.
"Shoes, whatever," Nokia said with a roll of her eyes. "I would be in my bedroom brawling my eyes out and cussing you out like nobody's biz."
"That's the problem," Arata said.
"Whatever names she is calling you right now isn't good enough for you handled her heart," Yuuko said. "You know how incredibly soft-hearted she is."
"It's not that," Arata said.
"Homemade food usually calms Yuuko down," Yuugo said. "I would be happy to give you some lessons since Ami has given me some."
Arata shook his head. "Listen. I'm inside her apartment already and -" he said.
"I know I wouldn't let you inside my apartment after that announcement," Yuuko said with crossed arms.
"Listen! Her apartment door was unlocked and her digivice is on her couch. There is no sign of forced entry and no sign of her. It seems like she just vanished without a trace," Arata said.
The atmosphere for the call suddenly turned from anger to panic.
~~DigiMark~~
Ami's eyes were glazed over as she stared into a dark abyss that she had no idea how deep it went. All that her mind was telling her was that the pit is welcoming her and wants it to be her new home.
The dark abyss will keep her protected so she'll never hurt or feel betrayed again.
Ami's foot stepped closer to the edge where half of her show was over the edge. There was a familiar female voice so filled with emotion inside of her mind. The voice was so warm, gentle, comforting, and inviting.
"Good girl…," the voice said as Ami grabbed the bar of the well's pulley system. "Don't worry...I'm here...No need...to worry...Protect you…"
Ami blinked and her blue eyes came into focus.
She saw the dark abyss that looked inviting moments ago, but now it was terrifying. She gasped and removed her hands from the bar as she stepped away from the well. She misjudged the distance and took a step back that caused her to slip off of the well's edge.
She yelped as she fell and landed hard on her bum, the blades of cool grass with early morning dew was absorbed by her grey skirt. She crawled away from the well backward, her eyes never left the well as it felt like it was moving towards her. Her back hit the bark of a tree, the old bark brushing onto her yellow shirt that represented AWA Studios with its logo.
Her breathes were heavy as she tried to focus and calm down so she could take in her surroundings with a calm mind. The night sky made the overbearing trees look creepier than they would in the day. Branches were pointing at the well and some looked like hands that were ready to grab her if she gets too close.
The trees circled around the old well. The bar that she had held was rotten and ready to break the moment it had any type of weight hanging onto it. The rope that should've been around it was gone. The bucket next to the well had a small amount of the rope attached to the handle, the threads seemed to be chewed off and are the reason why it was no longer attached to the well. The bucket didn't have its bottom and it seemed like it had rotten out a long time ago. The stones of the well were faded and old, some of the stones had fallen out of their place.
"Where am I?" Ami asked herself as she finally calmed down. She reached towards her red hair that rests on her shoulders in surprise. Her digivice kept her hair in a small pony...so if her hair was on her shoulder than that mean. "Where's my digivice?"
She grabbed her chest where her heart was at symbolically. It was fine a minute ago, but now it felt like someone had taken a bite out of her skin and that her flesh was being lit on fire.
