Not the Face [Marik]

[marik]

Marik let out a quiet sigh. Things had been hard for him, and things had been hard for Shana and Aruraumon. "Well, if you two pick things up again, your friendship will heal." Marik said, trying to be encouraging. They might have been having rough times, but Aruraumon had been very caring for her and had stuck around through thick and thin. There was no doubt they could recover with a little work.

Marik hadn't been carrying her for pity. Just to be of help as she was clearly hurt. Nonetheless, he didn't protest when she pulled away and began walking on her own. He wasn't entirely certain she was strong enough to walk on her own, but knowing Shana, she was just toughing the pain out. He simply nodded and made no move to protest against it. They had reached to the residential area anyways and they would reach Shana's home soon, so she wouldn't have to hobbling around for too long now.

[Shana Hitoehi]

The best thing about this whole ordeal was that the boys hadn't hit her in any place where bruises, scars, or any other marks would be visible. Though they had done this to protect their own hides, it helped Shana as well because she didn't want her mom to find out anyway. This way she would be able to hide it and just tough it out. She didn't want her mother to know that she had gotten in yet another fight.

"Yeah, hopefully," Shana said. It wasn't like the two of them weren't friends or anything. She and Aruraumon would be friends forever, that much was decided when they became partners, and Shana intended to make sure that such a bond would never die.

Shana suddenly stopped in her steps at these thoughts of Aruraumon. It had jogged her memory and helped her to remember something rather important. Her digivice! Shana frantically began to feel behind her back. She knew her backpack wasn't there, but her optimism was making her hope that she was just too sore to feel her backpack, but that wasn't the case.

"The boys took my backpack! My Digivice was in there!"

[marik]

Marik stopped dead when Shana suddenly said that the boys took her backpack. Now, if it were just the backpack he would have insisted she forget about it in favor of going hom and getting some rest. However, her digivice... That was way too important to lose. Darn it. He thought. He had rushed Shana's rescue too much and he hadn't even thought about her backpack. They were so close, Shana's house was within sight. But now they had to venture back into the slums again.

"We need to go back for it." He said, though taking a glance at Shana's house again. "Though since we are here, you should get Aruraumon. If we end up facing them again, she could be of help, even if it is just increasing our numbers." Marik suggested. Its not like hiding her would be too much of a problem. Throw a hooded coat over her and she could pass for a short human.

[Shana Hitoehi]

Going back for her backpack sounded like a splendid idea, but it wasn't that easy. They had a much bigger problem then that. Shana crossed her arms and turned around facing the direction from which they had just come. She wouldn't say it out loud, but there were a number of reasons she didn't feel as though she was ready to face them again, one of which was how sore she was.

"Marik-kun, but I don't know where they could have gone," she explained to him. Regardless of whether or not they had gone home, she knew nothing of their whereabouts. Even if they had gone home, she didn't know where any of them lived. That was certainly a problem.

Still, Shana was ready to do whatever she could go get her digivice back, so even if it seemed hopeless that they find it, she was willing to try. She quickly turned around once again and headed to the direction of her home, but after her sudden turn, she became incredibly dizzy almost instantly, and after that, she lost her balance and began to fall forward, losing consciousness.

[marik]

"Well, maybe they are still around the alley, or perhaps they maybe they dropped the bag." Marik said optimistically. However, when she started looking dizzy and began to fall forward, Marik instantly reached out and caught her. "Shana..." He muttered. Whatever happened, Shana wasn't in any condition to go. Well, hopefully he'd be able to pick up Aruraumon and she could help him recover Shana's backpack.

Hoisting her onto his back, he carried Shana the rest of the way to her house. He knocked on the door, but got no answer this time. Her mother must have left since he had came here previously. He tried turning the door knob, and thankfully it had been left unlocked. He then took Shana up to her room and entered. He immediately laid Shana on her bed, before looking around the room. "Aruraumon?"

[Shana Hitoehi]

Aruraumon had been worried about Shana, mainly because it was taking her a lot longer to get home than it normally would. Aruraumon knew Shana well, and though she liked to do pranks, she would always come home to get her first. Though as of lately, Shana hadn't even been pulling any pranks. She had always come straight home, so it was very worrysome that school had ended a couple hours ago and she still hadn't made it home.

"Shana!" Aruraumon exclaimed as she ran towards the bed Marik had just placed Shana upon. Aruraumon was worried half to death by Shana's current shape. She had no idea what had happened, but she was only thankful to Marik for having brought Shana home. Still, the poor vegetation digimon was close to tears.

"Mm... Hey, Aruraumon," Shana said, now opening her eyes once again rather slowly. She felt out of it, but she was okay. The dizziness had wore off, but she felt more tired than ever right now. Her body needed rest. That much she knew. Still stubborn, however, Shana didn't want to stay down.

Shana used the strength she had to sit up, now feeling that incredible stinging sensation on her stomach from the soreness. This forced her to cringe. She then looked over at Marik only just now realizing that she was in her room. It didn't take much deduction to figure out how she had gotten here.

"Marik-kun, didn't I tell you... that I don't need to be carried?"

[marik]

Shana was just... so stubborn sometimes. "Well, I am not going to leave you collapsed on the sidewalk." He remarked, scratching the back of his head. He then sighed and nudged her back down when she tried to get up. "Shana, lay down and rest." He insisted. He needed her to be resting. He couldn't be wasting time though. Every second he spent here, their chances of retrieving Shana's backpack shrunk.

He then looked over to Aruraumon with a serious expression. "Listen, Shana had a run in with some bullies in the slums area and her backpack and her digivice was taken. I need your help getting it back." He explained. He then looked to Shana with a sorrowful expression. "I'm sorry Shana, but you need to stay here and rest. We'll be back as soon as we can." He hoped Shana wouldn't argue. They didn't have time for that, and if she did come and she ended up collapsing again... Well, they might as well kiss their chances of finding the backpack and digivice goodbye.

[Shana Hitoehi]

As instructed by Marik, Shana laid back down one more time. She really didn't think that she was going to pass out again and had high suspicions that he was just being overcautious. Nonetheless, she had no intention of letting them leave without her. After all, it was her digivice. It would just be wrong to send other people out there to protect her stuff. She'd prefer she goes or no one goes.

"I'm not staying here while you go to get my stuff!" Shana said rather stubbornly. She just wouldn't stand for it. She couldn't stand for it. She rolled her legs onto the edge of the bed and sat up facing toward Marik. She wore a rather determined look on her face right now.

"Marik. Don't worry about my Digivice, okay? I'll handle this."

[marik]

Of course, hoping Shana wasn't going to argue with him was like hoping the sun didn't come up. Just wasn't going to happen. He sighed heavily. "If you are going, you aren't going without me." He said, dismissing her attempt to get him off the case totally. That wasn't going to happen at all, and he looked just as determined as Shana. "Come on, we're wasting time." He said, turning around and heading for the door. "Come on, no one's home." He said before heading down the hallway to the front door, only stopping once to let Aruraumon get her coat on before leaving, and making a beeline back to the slums.

[Shana Hitoehi]

Shana quickly made her way behind Marik as he headed out the door. Aruraumon had put on a long beige jacket as well as a top hat to help her hide the flower on her head. After all, the flower on her head was one of the quickest give-a-ways that she wasn't human in the first place. Once Aruraumon had sloppily placed the clothes on herself, she followed after Shana.

Marik was actually moving somewhat quickly for Shana in her current state. Still, the girl wouldn't say anything and would just tough her way through it as always. She was quite the bravado after all. Though struggling to keep up with Shana was Aruraumon who was still trying to get the clothes fitted right as they were hanging off of her so loosely.

"Wait up you guys!" Aruraumon cried as she ran as quickly as she could on her stubby little legs following the other two. Shana, on the other hand, had just now caught up to Marik, and reached out for his hand to hold it as they continued running.