Title: Show Me Your Words
Category: Digimon
Pairing: Ami/Arata
Summary: Two first meetings. The words didn't change on her wrist. The first meeting, repressed by machinery, Second meeting involved them in something bigger than they could ever image. She told him the first meeting, but didn't tell him the second time. He gets curious and now it is a matter of life and death
Author's Note: This is a Soulmark AU where the first word(s) you hear your soulmate say. I've changed a few things. For starters; the word(s) may or may not be directed towards their soulmate. Second is that when the soulmates get older, the writing on their skin changes to match their soulmates current handwriting. Third is that the words can change on their wrists if the first soulmate match doesn't work out. Lastly, I don't know if Nagichi Disorder exists, if it does that I did not know when I created this story.
Disclaimer: I do not owe any rights to the Digimon franchise
~~Story Begins~~~~EDEN Beta Test: Eight Years Ago~~
Ami Aiba was happily talking to one of her new friends, Nokia Shiramine. Nokia was explaining all that Ami missed on the first day of the beta test.
"Weren't you scared?" Nokia asked. "I mean having your plane delayed due to weather? And all of those strangers?"
"Not at all! Mom and Dad like to joke that I was born on a plane since they both travel and I travel with them! I don't think I've stayed in Japan for a week!" Ami said. "I've traveled in a plane by myself too!"
"Why?" Nokia asked. Another child logged in and placed a finger to his mouth to signal to stay quiet. "Why wasn't you afraid? I mean I totally would be -"
The boy walked up behind Nokia and said, "Boo!"
Ami's eyes widen as the word this boy said the word that was written on her wrist. She knows what the word means, she learned about it in the famed city of love as her parents had their second honeymoon. It's still fresh in her mind considering they just had returned from the mentioned second honeymoon.
Nokia got done freaking out and scolded the boy while two more children logged in, one girl, one boy. The girl ignored Nokia and looked at Ami, "You must be Ami."
"Yep!" Ami said. She waited for a reaction from the boy Nokia was scolding but he just looked bored.
"You have a lot to learn," the boy who looked like the girl said.
Introductions were made and they all had a blast but Ami was trying to figure out how to approach Arata about it. She's heard 'boo' before but never with someone around her own age.
Lucky for her, she didn't have too. Arata had approached her but unluckily for her, he approached her alone. She was waiting with him for his parents to come pick him up before she went on her way.
"Aiba, is it?" he asked.
She nodded. "Ami, preferably. Sanada, right? Like Nobuyuki and Yukimura?"
"Who?" Arata asked.
"Famous samurais, never mind," Ami said. She was already getting tease and there wasn't no reason to add more fuel to the fire.
"Why is my handwriting on your wrist?" Arata asked. "Did you stalk me or something?"
"What? Wait? No, I just met you. It's the first word that you'll hear your soulmate say in their handwriting."
"So, you have a bad case of the cooties, or whatever. It's creepy so can you like cover it up? It's really creepy."
"Yeah, no problem," she said as her heart dropped like a ton of bricks falling from a plane in midair.
When Arata walked away to get inside his parents vehicle who just pulled up and they drove away, Ami looked at her wrist. A small check mark appeared next to the word on her wrist. She had met her soulmate and he's clueless over how bad this hurts. As soon as she saw her dad, she ran to him and cried into his chest. She's going to have share the same fate as her brother. She wanted to forget this day, a day that so many people remember.
She was led to believe that the day you met your soulmate was supposed to be a big day filled with happiness, not with a heavy heart.
The next day, she did forget.
~~Present Day: Three Months Ago~~
Ami Aiba, now seventeen, was listening to Nokia yell at her for being late and for leaving her unprotected.
"Boo!" a man said with a hood over his face.
Nokia shrieked and used Ami as a shield, pushing her towards the man. Ami wasn't expecting it, considering she was reeling in the fact that he said the word that had changed the way it was wrote out over the years and that all of this seemed familiar to her.
Due to the shove, Ami lost her balance and started to fall forward until she was stopped by the man reaching out to stop her fall. She didn't notice that when he helped her stand up straight, his left wrist had pressed down on her own left wrist as he spoke. "You must be AI BA."
"Yep," Ami said trying to shake off the feeling of his grey eyes staring straight at her with strong intensity that this wasn't the first time she experienced it. "My name is Ami."
He cocked his head at her and Ami felt like he was sizing her up. She felt very uncomfortable.
"Jeez, Arata," Nokia said breaking the tension that she didn't notice. "That is not how you introduce someone." She stood in between them as she continued talking.
The three of them would not believe the events that were about to unfold before them. Events that will star them as the main heroes.
~~Present Day: Current Day~~
The reunited group of five friends was sitting at one of the Kamishiro Enterprises meeting rooms that was reserved strictly for them. It was a small meeting room, a blue round table sat in the middle of the room while the five friends sat on the comfortable leather chairs around the table. There was bean bag chairs in the corner of the room near the back.
They were supposed to be working on homework, a study group set-up, but Ami has never worked on her homework during these times. It's not that she doesn't have homework, it's mostly just because she gets the homework done after school. She does it while she waits for Ryota and Sakura to get done with their after-school activities.
"This dictionary sucks," Nokia said sliding her book across the table, stopping in front of Arata and Yuuko. "I can't find the word for my friend in spanish."
"Male or female?" Ami asked looking at Nokia who was sitting beside her.
"Does it matter?" Yuuko asked moving her hair behind her ear.
"In some languages, yes," Ami said. "My friend in spanish is 'mi amigo' and 'mi amiga'. You wouldn't use 'mi amigo' to say I was your friend because 'amigo' refers to a he. You would use 'mi amiga'."
Arata pushed the book back to Nokia. "I thought you was going to drop out of spanish."
"I want too, so bad, but if I want to go to Span, I have to know their language. According to my parents, at least," Nokia said with a defeated sigh. She looked over to see what Ami was working on and nearly ruined what Ami was writing. "OMG! Ami, you have beautiful writing skills!"
"You mean handwriting or penmanship," Yuugo said as he sat in between his twin sister and Arata. "I do agree that your handwriting it quite beautiful. You also write so gracefully, so fluently."
Arata stares intensely at Ami, both times they met, she said the word that was written beautifully on his covered wrist that only got more beautiful as years passed. He just wished the word that was written on his wrist was more than a simple 'yep'.
"Oh, what are you writing? Is it a love letter?" Nokia asked moving the notebook away from the other red hair.
"Give it back, Nokia," Ami said trying to get her notebook back. She couldn't let Arata see it, not after what he said to her when they first met. He hasn't approached her about it yet, and she surely isn't going to reopen old wounds.
"Let's see what this says," Nokia said looking at the first line.
"If you dare read a word out loud," Ami said standing up, "I will pull on your pigtails and drag you out of the room."
It sounded like a threat and while usually her threats were empty, just harmless banter between the two, Nokia saw the pain in Ami's eyes.
"Is Takumi your soul mate?" Nokia asked giving Ami the notebook. "Did he reject you?"
Ami grabbed her notebook, closed it, and headed for the door, "No, Nokia. Takumi is my older brother. I got to go." Ami left without even saying goodbye like she usually does.
"That isn't like her to get mad, plus I thought she was an only child," Yuugo said.
"She did," Nokia said in confusion.
Arata looked down at his homework, he was still close to her, but why did it feel like she sometimes avoided him.
Ami took her glove off as soon as her apartment door shut behind her. Arata has never seen her handwriting and Nokia almost ruined all the effort and measures Ami took to make sure that he would never see it. She refuses to let him see her handwriting.
She looked at her wrist where the one word that haunts her is written out. She won't let him see her handwriting nor will she let him her wrist. It is what he requested after all.
She doesn't want the tears, the loneliness, the heartbreak to happen again. Especially since she's a nobody compared to the closet otaku. She ran her other hand over the carefully. She thought she could handle being a close friend, but some days, it was too much. Too much knowing that he rejected her and that he still doesn't even acknowledge that he rejected. Some Days, the pain was just too great to even leave her apartment.
However, all that prepariations, the effort into making sure Arata never saw her handwriting or the words on her wrist crashed down one night. The sad thing was that she was the one who made one careless mistake in a fit of anger.
"What the hell did you just throw at me?" Arata asked as he felt something flew by his face.
"My glove," Ami said within the darkness. "If it hit you, sorry."
"It barely missed me," he said listening to the rustle of something being moved around in the darkness. He looked in the general direction, but couldn't see her even through his eyesight is adjusting to the darkness. "I thought the glove was attached to you."
"Yeah, because everyone is born with gloves on their hands," Ami said.
"Was that sarcasm I just heard?"
Light shrone in front of his eyes blinding him. "No, I was being serious. Of course it was sarcasm." Arata quickly got over the blindness as Ami sat the flickering flashlight on the library desk. She went back under the desk as she tried to find something else. "No, but the glove has a dual purpose. I've had it for ages so sometimes it just becomes too tight."
"I see," Arata said. "I didn't know you have a sarcastic bone in your body."
"Defense mechanism. Ah! Found them!" She placed some batteries on the desk before standing up.
"How did you knew they were there?" Arata asked slowly making his way over as she changed the batteries.
"This isn't the first case I've done with the occult club at their school," Ami said as she gave the flashlight to Arata to hold before heading to the door. "The librarian is one of their biggest sources of ghost stories."
"The door is locked," Arata said reminding her.
"I know." Ami took her digivice goggles off and placed them around her neck. She took two bobby pins out of her hair and sat on her knees. "I don't know about you, but I really don't want to spend the night at school"
"Are you pick locking?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that like a crime?"
"I'm a cyber sleuth, sometimes crimes are our best friend."
"Good point," Arata said as he looked at the shelves keeping the flashlight close so Ami would see what she was doing. He sat it down as he walked further away but still stayed in the light. "Can I ask a personal question?"
"You don't usually converse this much so I'm guessing you can't stand the silence?"
"I used to, but I guess it is a defense mechanism. I can handle silence in the daytime, but not in the dark. Not after becoming an Eater."
"So you're affected by that too? Anyway, go ahead and ask."
"What do you think about soul marks?"
"What do you mean?" she asked. Arata looked over at her, her voice sounded tight, but she was still focusing on the lock.
"Do you think that sometimes they are a mistake? Like how many relationships would have worked if we didn't have them?"
"One of the many misconceptions about soulmarks is that they ruin more relationships, however if the soulmark is a mistake, than the word will change. Humans are adaptable to their climate and whatever is needed in order to survive. Soulmarks are no different in most cases. They aren't permanent but it depends on the people involved and their actions."
"Is that why the handwriting changes?"
"No, the reason as to why the handwriting changes is because the people are getting order, to help determine who the soulmate is," her blue eyes slide over to the corner of the her eyes. "You seem to be awfully interested in this topic."
"I'm mostly just curious. You just seem to be awfully defensive and secretive about your handwriting."
"I have reasons."
"Like?"
"I really don't want to say," she said. Arata narrowed his eyes, her voice was tight.
"It can't be that bad. What? Did you get rejected?" Arata asked walking back to her.
"You should know," she said softly under her breath, the words barely audible.
"Can you repeat that?"
"Yes, Arata. I got rejected. Are you done quizzing me over my soulmark?"
"No, not if it is going to get you mad. Obviously, you have some anger built up over it inside of you. So, when did you get rejected?"
"I believe I don't have to answer you Arata," she said as she heard the click. "Especially since I know this is all one big sick joke."
"Not a joke, wait. Am I friends with him?"
Ami stood up. "No, Arata, you aren't friends with them."
She reached out to turn the door handle but Arata stopped her. "Than what makes you think that I'm playing a joke on you?"
"Because you are the one who rejected me!" Ami yelled pulling her hand away from him. She saw his eyes widen in surprise but she didn't care. She lifted her wrist up to show him 'boo' in his handwriting. "You approached me while we was waiting for your parents and asked me about it. You told me that it was creepy and that I should cover it up. I wouldn't have known except you pointed out that it was your handwriting and you wanted to know if I was stalking you."
She opened the door and ran out of the library and the school. "Why did you have to be so mean, Arata?"
Arata was standing in the library shock. He has no memory of doing that at all. So it wasn't recent so it happened during the beta test, when they were younger. He walked over to pick up her glove. He still has grey spaces in his memory during the time, so it could have happened, but why did he reject her?
Arata wouldn't have his answer until he was on his way to Ami's school to visit Ami who has been avoiding him. He passed by a smaller Kamishiro Enterprise Office and stopped dead in his tracks.
He was having one of those flashbacks like he did when they had their Digimon. He watched the whole scene and flinched. "No wonder she got mad," he said. "I'm not even her and I'm mad at myself! Why did I use the word cooties?" He let out a sigh. "I wouldn't even let her explain."
"You are like a superhuman," Ryota said as he, Sakura and Keisuke hung around Ami's locker. "Two full-time jobs, full-time student, and you still get the highest grades while spending time with your friends!"
"Ryota, I'm only a cyber sleuth during the summer unless our usual occult club comes in with a case," Ami said shaking her head. "I'm certainly not a superhuman."
"She isn't as lazy as you," Sakura said. "However, Ami, you are looking a little bit pale. You are taking care of yourself, right?"
"Dad placed me on new medicine, it's a side effect so I'll be fine," Ami said. "Go on, you had better hurry to your clubs."
"Right. See you tomorrow," Ryota said.
"Bye you two," Sakura said as she walked away with her boyfriend.
"Keisuke?" Ami asked closing her locker door. It wasn't unusual for him to be quiet but not this quiet.
"Have you been able to keep anything in?" he asked.
"Smoothies, shakes, and malts," she said holding some of her books to her chest.
"Not as bad as Takumi yet."
"No, I think the new medicine is slowing it down."
"Wait for me to finish my club activity, okay?"
"Why?"
"Please Ami. Just wait here at school for me."
"Fine, I'll stay in the lunchroom waiting for you, but you owe me a smoothie!"
"Thank you," Keisuke said before leaving her.
Ami walked to the lunchroom and sat herself down at one of the tables where no one else was sitting. She sat her bag down on the table and placed the books she was carrying on the table.
"Might as well get some of my homework done," she said to herself.
"Can you also print me out a map of your school layout so the next time I'm looking for you, I won't get lost?"
Ami looked up in surprise and saw Arata pulling a chair out and sitting down on it. "You don't go to school here."
"Which is why I need a map. Seriously, how do you even get to class?"
"By walking there. It really isn't that bad. Some instances we may have to run from classroom to classroom, which I have done before, but it really isn't that confusing of a layout. Why are you here?"
"You have been avoiding me so I got tried and came to you."
"I haven't been doing it on purpose. I've been busy,"
"You know, in my defense, you should never take me seriously when I use the word cooties."
"Is that what you came here to talk to me about? Can we please just not talk about it?"
"No, because I have been wanting to talk to you but you've been avoiding me."
"I haven't been avoiding you, I've been busy."
"And sick. She's also been sick," Keisuke said from behind Ami and Arata narrowed his eyes.
"Not really," Ami grumbled as Keisuke sat down next to her. "What happened to your club?"
"Cancelled. No message or anything expect a sign on the door, doesn't bother me any. Didn't feel like going," Keisuke said with a shrug. Keisuke looked at Arata. "Sanada."
"Amazawa," Arata said. "What are you doing here?"
"Helping Ami. How much of the Nagichi Disorder do you know?"
"Nothing, possibly," Ami said. "Do you really need to do this?"
"You won't and someone has too." Keisuke said.
"She's right," Arata said. "I know nothing about it. What is it?"
"It's a soulmark disorder that is mostly incurable. It was named after some samurai's due to their love and that they had found each other. They wanted to do the eternal bond but the lady -"
"Oichi," Ami said interrupting.
"'-yeah, her. Anyway her brother was all like no. So when her husband died, she started to get sick. No one knew why but she wasn't the only one."
"I'm confused," Arata said.
"Just shut up," Ami said to Keisuke. She looked over at Arata. "Nagichi Disorder was unknown during the time of the Sengoku period. It wasn't discovered until the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Sometime between those two periods, the soulmarks started to change to adopt to the times. During the French Revolution and Reign of Terror, one wrong sneeze would label you as a traitor to the people and send you to death, so of course it included the soulmarks. Most people, the soulmates changed because the first soulmate died or the soulmate betrayed them. Few people did not have the luxury, but they were spared from the gulitione."
"They were the ones with this Nagichi Disorder?" Arata asked.
"Correct. They were observed as they slowly started dying. There were different stages that the person went through before dying. In today's population, only 2% of the world have Nagichi Disorder. The only bad thing is that it mostly runs in the family history," Ami said.
"So, what's the point of this conversation?" Arata asked.
"Remember how I said it was mostly incurable?" Keisuke said. Arata nodded. "Ami has it. Speaking of which," he looked over at Ami. "what stage are you in? I'm guessing you are close to being in phase four."
"Wrong, but close," Ami answered. Arata watched as Keisuke said something quietly under which Ami nodded at. Arata doesn't know as to why he looked so angry at Ami.
"Am I missing something?" Arata asked.
"There's five phrases of Nagichi Disorder before it leads to death," Keisuke said. "There's no way to discover someone has Nagichi Disorder unless that person's soulmate rejects them. Unlike others whose soul mark will change upon getting rejected, those with Nagichi Disorder, their soulmark won't change." He looked back at Ami who was looking at the book in the front of her. "When did you enter that phrase?"
"I'm not telling you," Ami said. "Besides, you are the one with the big mouth. Arata would have been clueless over this. So for that, you'll owe me five smoothies."
"So, you was just going to go through this disorder without telling anyone?" Arata asked. "We will just find you dead one day?"
"That was sort of the plan, fly under the radar," Ami said.
"You are an idiot! I mean I thought Nokia was but no, I guess I was wrong! You are a bigger idiot than her," Arata said.
"That could be true," Ami said, "but it is better than having everyone watch me die." She stood up and got her face in front of his. "Then again, maybe it might be best for you to not call me an idiot unless you watched someone close to you die slowly. So excuse me, for trying to save all of you the heartbreak." She grabbed her items and left the two boys.
Keisuke waited until Ami was out of ear shot and when Arata got up to chase after her before he said, "I know you don't trust me as much as I don't trust you, but what we just explained to you is the truth. She wouldn't have told anyone that this. The only reason as to why I know is because I watched Takumi. Ami and I both watched her twin brother die together. He had Nagichi Disorder as well."
Arata stopped in his tracks. "You said it was mostly incurable," Arata said. "So, there is a cure?"
"Look up Eternal Bond. I doubt Ami will tell you," Keisuke said before leaving.
On the weekend, Arata was knocking on Ami's parents house door. A weird number sent the address with a message 'Save her'. Now, just because Amazawa hacked into his digivice to send him those messages, does not mean Arata is going to do it because he said so. No, Arata had every single intention of saving Ami. He did his research and he was going to do the Eternal Bond.
She was the last one to wake up from EDEN Syndrome. Every day that she was still asleep made Arata feel like he was dead. He doesn't know how else to explain it.
His digivice went off with a new message from the unknown number. 'She will fight you. She will tire out easily, but do not give in to her. Please.'
The door opened and Arata looked ahead to see a paler Ami standing there surprised," Arata? What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Came here to actually talk. Hopefully, Amazawa won't interrupt this time."
"You two really don't get along, do you?" Ami said as she stepped out of the way from the door. "Please, come in." Arata stepped inside and looked around the unusually clean place. "Did you want anything to eat or drink?"
"No, thank you," Arata said. "This doesn't look like anybody lives in."
"That tens to be my goal when I'm cleaning," Ami said as she walked up the stairs. "We can talk in my bedroom. It actually looks like someone lives there."
Arata followed her up the stairs and into her bedroom that does look like it has been lived in while still staying clean and it just suits Ami.
She sat on her bed behind the open laptop and the papers. "You can sit down. Sorry for the mess."
"What mess? Dangit, my room looks like a mess compared to this," Arata said sitting on the bed. "I don't think I've seen you in jogging pants before."
"I'm sick, not leaving the house, and doing God knows how many reports. I'm going to stay comfortable," she said as she struck her tongue out at him before getting serious. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"This Nagichi Disorder business." Ami looked at him with a tilted head. "I'm going to be honest, the Nagichi Disorder isn't fair. I mean I was what? Six? Eight? When I rejected you? No child is going to understand the purpose of soulmarks completely. I mean, I used the word 'cooties' for crying out loud! Than the fact that I didn't remember it until I was walking to your school."
"You forgot?"
"Sealed, more like it. Remember, it did happen during the beta test," Arata said. "Not all of my memories came back. So part of it is your fault for not remind me."
"I thought you didn't want to acknowledge it," Ami said.
"Trust me, I would have if I could. I was mostly curious about your soulmark, but that's besides the point. Let me see your left wrist."
"Why?" Ami asked.
"Because I couldn't see it very well last time," Arata said with a shrug. "I mean, how else was I going to read the word?"
"You just said you remembered the memory."
"There are still grey spots." Ami looked hesitant so Arata pulled her glove out of his pocket. "I was going to put the glove back on for you. You said it had a dual purpose."
Ami nodded and relaxed. She moved her left arm so her wrist was showing her soulmark to him. She saw the smirk appear on his face, but she wasn't fast enough to pull away. Arata had grabbed her wrist with his right and pulled her over the computer and knocked the papers onto the ground as she struggled.
"Arata! Let me go!" Ami yelled as she was pulling onto his lap.
"Naw, I quite like you on my lap," Arata said as he wrapped both hands around her mid-section. He was pushing up his sleeve of his left wrist without her knowing. He wrapped his right arm around her tighter and showed her his left wrist. "This is your handwriting, isn't it?" Ami looked at it but looked away, not wanting to answer. Out of all of their mutual friends, Arata could always tell when she was lying. "Ami."
"Yes, it is, now let me go!"
"I don't think so," Arata said. "Not until you are better. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way. While I wouldn't mind both, I'll prefer the easy way."
"What are y-" Ami said only to be silenced by Arata kissing her deeply and desperately. She was not expecting that to come from Arata and while she truly did love him and thought a moment like this could only happen in her dreams. This was reality, but she knew what he was going to do or attempt to do.
She tried to push him away but with one hand being trapped, her legs not in any position to attack, and his right arm wrapped tightly around her waist pressing her close to him. She couldn't do it. She bit down on his lip which caused him to yelp in surprise, but he didn't let her go. In fact, she thinks his grip on her got tighter.
"Ami, don't fight me," Arata said staring at her with his grey eyes.
"I'm going to fight as much as I can because by doing this -"
"I'll be bonded to you forever, right?" Arata asked. "If it helps any, I think I already am."
"How? I've did everything I could to try and prevent you from ever knowing about my soulmark," Ami said. She quit struggling. That's what stunk about phrase four of Nagichi Disorder, her energy doesn't last as long.
"Remember when we were meeting Nokia up in EDEN at Kowloon? Because she thought it was a PR Event?" Arata asked noticing how quickly she tired out. Something he thought he would never see from his energetic and bright friend.
"Yeah, but how would that have started the Eternal Bond?" Ami asked leaning her head against Arata's shoulder. She will not admit that his shoulder is more comfortable than her favorite pillow. Nope, not happening.
"Remember how you stumbled because Nokia shoved you and I caught you from falling?"
"That was in EDEN through," Ami said. "It shouldn't have been affected."
"That's what I thought but there was a wedding going on in EDEN that day which means that all of the filters that separate cyber space from reality was turned off."
"Even then, most Eternal Bonds aren't successful because they are so sure the handwriting and everything matches," Ami said. "Only 5% of the world's wedding ceremony still performs Eternal Bonds, 95% of them end up in failure due to divorce and cheating, 3% of those perform aren't strong enough to fully support the commitment."
"You are just so full facts, aren't you?" Arata asked with a slight tease.
"Father studies soulmarks, they've lost my brother to this, but they were trying everything to save him," Ami said. "Arata, are you sure about this?"
"Do you want to know something?" Arata asked. Ami looked up at Arata. "Since that day in EDEN, the one that caused us to be reunited, when you said yep," Arata placed his left wrist right on top her hers, aligning their soulmarks together. "I've been hoping that my soulmark leads to you."
~~Five Months Later~~
Ami was typing up case reports at Arata's apartment. She was waiting for him to finish getting ready to go to Kamishiro Enterprise Anniversary celebration of EDEN. Her red hair was done up in a curly bun, white straps rested against her shoulders which led down to a white top part of the dress and a black bottom part. A simple gold chain with a white circular pendant rested around her neck while black beaded bracelets rested on her wrists.
"Ami, tell Amazawa to stop using his second digivice to message me," Arata said as he stepped into the same room as Ami. He was wearing a light blue buttoned up shirt that was tucking into black pants. He looked over at Ami and smiled, "Well, you look beautiful. I feel underdressed compared to you."
"Thank you, but I'm used to going to events like this. You are far from being underdressed," Ami said. "Keisuke only has one digivice."
"As far as you know," Arata said. "He's the only one out of our friends who knows about us doing the Eternal Bond and whole anxiety at night thing."
Ami put her digivice down on the table and stood up showing that the dress stopped at her knees. "Keisuke is as clueless about this whole entire soulmark and Eternal Bond thing. A lot like you so I doubt he knows about our nighttime anxiety."
"Than why did he message me telling me to ask you to move in with me?"
They left his apartment and Ami stared at Arata who was locking his door. "Keisuke is not the one sending you messages. He freaked out when Erika asked him to move in with her just to help pay her rent. The way he acted made it seem like she proposed to him and they aren't dating...yet."
"Okay then, who would be sending me these messages? I tried to trace it and message them but nothing."
"Did you try calling the number?"
"Yeah, saying the number is unavailable. I can try again, I guess."
"What's the number?" Ami asked. She stopped moving when he told her. "Arata…"
"Hm? Do you know who it belongs to?"
"Yeah, I have that number memorized. It belongs to Takumi."
"Your brother?" Ami nodded. "Isn't he dead?" Another nod. "How is your -"
Beep.
Arata looked at his digivice and groaned. "What?" Ami asked.
"I hate your dead brother," Arata said showing his digivice to her. "Who sends that to someone?"
"Well, he has good intentions," Ami said with a smile. "Besides, he does have a point. We do need to tell the others that we are practically married."
"Nokia will flip."
"We just let them know gently."
"How?" Arata asked. "How do we let them know that gently?" Another beep from his digivice. "I am not going to do your brother's approach. More importantly, how exactly is your brother messaging me?"
"Yeah, never do Takumi's approach. They don't work. Remember that occult case we did where we got locked into the library?"
"I don't think I could forget that considering I learned something that I forgot," Arata said. "You think that's how?"
"Pretty much sure. Just don't tell the occult club, the president wants to meet the Grim Reaper one time before it is her turn."
"Arata! Ami!" Nokia called out to them as soon as she spotted them. "Sheesh, you guys are slow! C'mon, Ami, there's this really cute boy you need to meet! I already promised a dance with him for you."
"That isn't going to happen," Arata said under his breath. Ami giggled. "It's just one dance, what harm could there be?" she asked.
"Oh, I wouldn't care expect that I have not yet had a dance with you and not everyone knows you are mine," Arata said. They got closer to Nokia and he stared at her. "Nokia, no one is going to dance with Ami expect for me."
"Excuse me? Last I checked you two weren't dating, let alone soulmates," Nokia said.
"We are," Arata said.
"Sort of," Ami said. "Don't mind him. He's meeting my parents for the first time tonight. Besides, we sort of skipped over the whole dating thing."
"How do you skip dating?" Nokia asked. "You are either dating or you're not dating."
"Well, it isn't governmental official, but we are practically married," Ami said.
"You two are married?" Nokia asked.
"Not officially. See, there's this ritual known as Eternal Bond and-"
Nokia interrupted Ami, "you two did the Eternal Bond? You did it successfully?"
"Yes," Arata said.
Nokia took a deep breath. "That's one way to let me know. Do your parents know about this?"
"Mine don't care," Arata said.
"Of course, mine does. Akkino, I have Nagichi Disorder. Arata saved my life," Ami said with a smile. "Besides, I could have blurted out that I was pregnant, say just kidding, and then tell you that we are practically married."
"Thank God for that! I've already had a heart attack today due to walking in on Yuuko and Yuugo's mom and dad," Nokia said walking away.
"Well, that went well," Arata said.
"Of course," Ami said. "It's Nokia. Have fun explaining it to Yuuko and Yuugo."
Arata groaned but slid his arm around her waist, "You'll be there to help me, right?"
"I'm going to try but absolutely no promises," Ami said with a smile. "Remember, my parents are also going to be at one of those important people tables and I have to sit with them away from you and everyone else."
Arata groaned. "No fair."
"You can handle it," she said while laughing "You are the oldest as you like to proclaim, This should be a snap for you."
"You're right. I should be able to do this. I can do this!"
"That's the spirit."
"Let's go get this night done with," Arata said as he released her waist and walked inside with Ami following him.
Takumi watched them, invisible to the human eye. "I wonder when they will have a new adventure approach them. Wait a minute, he never did ask her to move in with him! I am not getting any younger and I want to be an uncle! I wanna be one now!"
Takumi sent a message to Arata. Arata read it and looked at Ami. "Your brother is going to be the death of me."
"Hm? Why?" Arata showed her the message which caused her face to become bright red. "That's why. However, I wouldn't mind it, especially if your face is going to match your hair."
"Shut up," Ami said crossing her arms as Arata laughed.
~~The End~~