Odaiba Memorial Day- 20 Years Later

Chapter Three- Ken

Sometimes he wished he hadn’t gotten involved with it. But by the time all was said and done, Ken was well-endowed in the group. By the time the fifth anniversary reunion rolled around, Ken was no different from any of the other digi-destined. And that suited him just fine. Like the others, he had friends, and built a particularly special bond with Davis and Izzy. The biggest bond, however, was with Yolei. While still recovering from the emotional scars of his status as Digimon Emperor, things just started clicking with himself and Yolei. It was more Yolei’s work than anyone else, but when all was said and done, Ken and Yolei were officially recognized as an "item." As the years went by, not all of the "items" among the digi-destined remained lasted. Sora and Matt’s break up was particularly depressing, and almost led to TK and Kari parting ways. But they held together, as did Ken and Yolei.

As much as Ken and Yolei were considered a couple, in college, they were more known for being part of a trio. Izzy attended the same school as them and the three were never seen more than five feet from each other. They did everything together. Parties, socials, banquets, hacking, homework, hacking, extracurriculars… and maybe some hacking on the side. And not too many were surprised when Ken and Izzy teamed up to form 2KI Incorporated. In fact, the biggest question on everyone’s mind was why Yolei wasn’t part of the title, to which Yolei would simply shrug and say "My initials are ‘YI,’ it would be too out of place!"

The beginnings were so promising for the three. They had a good reputation, a good work ethic, and were great people to get along with. But as Ken looked at his current surroundings ten years later, one couldn’t help but ask what happened.


Nobody could have predicted what triggered the end. It was around May. Things were still fantastic, and Ken had awoken at around 9:00 on a quiet Saturday morning. His apartment was small, but had everything Ken really needed. It also was well equipped to handle a certain overnight visitor on occasion. This day happened to be one of those occasions. Ken walked out into the combination kitchen/dining room/foyer and saw Yolei cooking breakfast. Or rather, occupying herself with some framed pictures on the opposite wall as breakfast cooked itself in Ken’s microwave. Yolei diverted her attention from the pictures enough to greet Ken.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah… how long have you been up?"

"15 minutes. Hope I didn’t wake you."

"No, that’s okay." Ken smiled a bit, simply taking in the situation. At the time, Ken could have proclaimed himself the luckiest guy in the world. The business was merely the tip of the iceberg. His gloomy past was behind him, he had a wonderful friend, and he had Yolei. They had been together for about six years, and their love flourished. Ken was afraid a marriage proposal would disrupt the balance between the trio of techies, but after seeing the look on Kari’s face when TK proposed (or rather- when she regained consciousness after TK proposed), Ken made up his mind that he would pop the question later that night at a party Izzy was hosting. Regardless of when or where, Ken felt that no proposal would be complete without Izzy alongside them.

Ken greeted Yolei with a kiss to the neck as she continued to look at the pictures, all pictures of the trio at various events. Most were from parties, but a few were of groundbreaking ceremonies, business deals, and somewhat formal affairs. These were the ones Yolei were staring at the most.

"What are you looking at?"

"These pictures." Ken knew that already, and through some sort of telepathy that two lovers such as Ken and Yolei shared, Yolei sensed that she needed to be more specific. "We look so happy in them."

"That’s probably because we are happy."

"Well we are… but look at Izzy in all of those."

"He’s smiling."

"Yeah, but look at who’s he’s with in all of them."

Ken had never really considered romance to be an issue in the triumvirate. When Izzy was around, Ken and Yolei were just friends, and all three acted pretty equally around each other. Only when they were alone did Ken and Yolei become more intimate. But those formal pictures did have an odd pattern. It seemed that with every one of them, Ken and Yolei were standing in some sort of "public couple" pose- arms around shoulders, arms around arms, hands held. Izzy meanwhile, was either alone or with some other woman that never remained in Ken’s memory long enough to recall. And every time Izzy was with another woman, it was a different woman. And the only one Ken recognized was Davis’s sister Jun, who held a meaningful and trusting relationship with Izzy for about one afternoon (they had a lunch break, they did some stuff, and by 4:00 couldn’t stand each other). Even though Ken and Yolei never rubbed in their romance, Ken couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him.

"He’s still looking for that special someone. I feel kinda sorry for him." Apparently Yolei felt the same. Ken smiled again at the concept of their thoughts being synchronized, when the microwave buzzed, signaling that Yolei needed to return to her "cooking breakfast."

 

"Let’s see… how about Matt? Matt Ishida." Yolei smiled at Izzy as he pondered in thought for a second. He immediately smiled back at Yolei and Ken, the three taking the bus to a business meeting. Izzy’s party would be later that night.

"I’m shit… tada!" Yolei and Ken started laughing as Izzy was unanimously declared the winner of that round of anagrams- a game where they rearranged letters of a person’s name to spell something. Whoever described that person best won. Hey- when you’re stuck in traffic on a crowded bus, it’s survival of the fittest.

"It’s just a good thing he can’t hear us." Ken said, with a smile.

"I’m sure he doesn’t mind. Somebody told me he’s dating Mimi now."

"So he’s either in a state of mindless bliss, or too exhausted to notice."

"Okay Izzy… Sora Takenouchi." Yolei was back to the game.

"Not her again… I’ve been tormented night and day with it… ‘Tai’s ho’ is in there, but what else do you got?"

"Well, she got married…" Ken started, then quickly looked up, "Tareshi a con, Kou?"

"Point Ichijouji!" Yolei appeared very impressed at her flame. Izzy smiled and applauded politely.

Sure they were poking fun of their friends, but it was all in good humor. Well, not necessarily humorous, but it kept them entertained during rather boring times. And it was good. 2KI did well, and was earning a fantastic reputation. It wouldn’t be long before it was a top business in the industry. And Ken was just glad to be part of it all. There were times in his past when he didn’t think this was ever going to come to pass. Times when depression was the only answer. Times when simply being alive were too much to bear. From the company’s inception in September, Ken, Yolei, and Izzy were there to help make it great.

Before his untimely death, Izzy’s father had a healthy sum of money built up in preparation for retirement. Although Mr. Izumi was "forced into early retirement" due to the accident, he made sure ahead of time that his young son would receive the money in the event Mr. Izumi was unable to use it himself. The only catch- Izzy couldn’t claim it until he was eighteen. It was already a healthy sum, and interest made it only healthier, so when Izzy did turn eighteen, he had more money than an eighteen year-old should safely have. A lot of the money was used to cover start-up costs for 2KI, but Izzy still had enough left over to get his own small house. The lesson of the day- math professors don’t just teach interest- they apply it to real life and score big!

However it was obtained, The 3 I’s agreed that any and all parties, for any reason, would be hosted by Izzy. It was more towards the Ichijouji and Inoue side that agreed, but Izumi didn’t mind. Izzy’s parties will never go down in history as the most spectacular, most populated, or the most rowdy, but they had company, music and alcohol- all any party really needs. Mostly good friends of the three were in attendance, along with a few clients they were trying to butter up for business reasons. Ken had the ring in his pocket, but was visibly nervous. He found a spot to sit down with Izzy as others enjoyed the party.

"I’ll tell you one thing Izzy, I have a lot more respect for TK now."

"Why’s that?"

Izzy regretted taking a sip of beer when Ken pulled out the ring, as it prompted an immediate spit take. Afterwards though, Izzy smiled.

"Why am I surprised? I was wondering when you were going to do it." Izzy took another sip, this time successfully getting it down.

"I don’t know. I guess I’m a bit nervous."

"Who wouldn’t be? Just go for it, you know what she’s going to say. She’s a great girl, you should consider yourself lucky."

It was about then that Yolei stumbled into Ken’s lap. Although she hadn’t had an outrageous number of drinks, she did have enough to distort the mind somewhat. Yolei was never one to hold her liquor.

"’sup Ken?" Yolei smirked up at him, forcing Ken to let out a quiet laugh.

"Not much. You okay?"

"Sure… never been better… hey Izzy-hon you gonna finish that?" Yolei was looking directly at Izzy’s can of beer, catching Izzy completely off-guard.

"Um… yes?":

"Oh durnit, guess I’ll have to go get another one myself." Yolei stood up, and began over to the drinks table.

"Just don’t go overboard, okay? You know what happened last time." Ken said.

"It’s fine, I know what I can take." With that Yolei continued. Ken and Izzy just looked at each other, before Izzy let out a chuckle.

"That was… interesting. Right, Izzy-hon?" Ken smiled.

"Yeah… I think you’d better wait before…" Izzy pointed to the ring.

"Right. It’s fine, gives me more time to think about what to say." Izzy nodded, then watched as Yolei started on another round.

"She’s in good position to make a complete fool of herself." Ken observed.

"Yeah… I’ll get the camera!!" Izzy smiled then rushed upstairs.

 

As the night progressed, Ken made certain that Yolei didn’t have too many more drinks, and kept an eye on her just to be safe. But towards the end of the party, Ken did lose track of her, wishing farewell to a possible investor. After he left, it was just the three I’s in the house, although Yolei was still nowhere in sight. She fortunately wasn’t at the drinks table, so Ken was slightly relieved, but still- where was that girl?

"Yolei? Where’d you go? Come on, I’ll take you home. Yolei?" Nothing.

After thoroughly searching the first floor, Ken headed upstairs. He opened the door to the master bedroom, and couldn’t believe his eyes. Yolei and Izzy, standing in what appeared to be a passionate kiss. It was certainly a sight, especially since it appeared to be Yolei that brought it on in her current drunken state.

Ken was obviously taken aback, but the real question was what he was supposed to do about it. There was the obvious angry emotion that developed, the obvious sad emotion that came about- but what else was there? Yolei wasn’t quite herself; she had too much to drink, and these are the kind of side effects to be expected. Ken sighed, forced a half-smile, and coughed to signal their attention. Izzy was definitely startled, and arguably awaken by it, and broke off the kiss and stood back, obviously prepared to take the defensive. Fortunately, Ken’s semi-smile comforted him a little, and Izzy turned around to catch his breath. Yolei meanwhile… was still drunk. Ken walked up to Yolei, and help up four fingers.

"Yolei? You okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Yolei smiled.

"Three… your thumb doesn’t count." Yolei laughed very heartily at the joke, giving the same indication of intoxication level that a wrong answer would have yielded.

"Why don’t you go downstairs and wait for me. I’ll take you home."

"Sure! Sounds good!" Yolei proceeded downstairs as Izzy tried to stop hyperventilating. He slowly turned to Ken, who lost the phony smile as quickly as he had painted it on.

"Ken, I’m sorry… she just kind of…"

"I know. It’s okay. I just, um…" Ken was obviously at a loss for words.

"Want to forget about this whole thing and say it never happened?"

"I think that would be for the best."

Izzy sighed again. His hands were shaking a lot, and it was clear that he was somehow affected by the incident. Still, the best thing would be to put it behind them, and Izzy and Ken both headed downstairs to check on Yolei. Unfortunately, Yolei had fallen asleep on the couch, putting a slight damper on the plans.

"Hm… wanna try carrying her home?"

"I don’t know. Would it be a problem if she just stayed there?

"No. No trouble at all. We don’t have work tomorrow."

"Okay. Thanks. I’ll stop by tomorrow morning, she’s bound to have a nasty hangover."

Izzy smiled, as Ken kissed the sleeping beauty on the cheek.

"See you then."

"Yeah… sorry about what happened." Izzy tried smiling, but Ken had a little better luck faking it.

"I’ve already forgotten about it." Ken said as he walked out.

Yeah, right, like I’m going to forget about something like this. I don’t care if she was drunk, she was lip wrestling with my best friend. If she really was out of it, it’s certainly forgivable, but Izzy didn’t look like he did anything to stop it. I don’t want to point fingers, but Izzy looked like he was enjoying it. Is he so desperate for love that he’ll take advantage of Yolei in that state? The most troubling question is how far he would have gone with her if I hadn’t walked in on them.

 

The next day, Ken made good on his promise and visited Izzy and Yolei. Yolei also made good on Ken’s promise and had a nasty hangover. She was still on the same couch when Ken arrived, although much worse for the wear. Ken greeted her with a swift kiss, and Yolei greeted him with a sickly moan; Izzy responded with a stifled chuckle.

"How’s she been?"

"About like that. I consider myself lucky she hasn’t thrown up- I just had that couch re-upholstered."

"Oh… is that you Ken? I think next time I shouldn’t let myself get carried away." Yolei moaned rather than stated.

"Yeah. But it’s okay. Everybody makes mistakes. Just lie down and take it easy. Izzy and I are both here if you need us."

"Thanks guys. I think I’ll do that." Yolei promptly fell back asleep. Ken turned to Izzy and smiled.

"She’ll be fine."

"Oh yeah. No doubt about it."

The remainder of the day was awfully quiet. Ken didn’t do all that much other than watch Yolei and Izzy, who wasn’t doing much either, mostly going through financial reports for the business. Every so often Ken or Izzy would attempt to begin a conversation regarding the business, or the industry as a whole, but neither were in a mood for it, and the uncomfortable silence would resume once more. Ken in particular sat mired in thought, remembering the scene from the previous night. Every piece of evidence led him to believe that it was just the negative affects of alcohol responsible for the situation. But why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?

 

"Is that Vodka? Because I’m really not all that thirsty right now." Yolei had improved quite a bit, but was definitely not 100%.

"Actually, Yolei, it’s 7-Up." Izzy retorted, placing the drink on the carpet next to the couch. He smiled up at Yolei for just a second. Nothing suspicious, nothing suggestive. Just a smile. Still, it forced Ken to stand up.

"Izzy… can we talk for a second?" Ken said, very calmly. Neither Ken nor Izzy were all that emotional, and usually weren’t ones to let their feelings get the best of them.

"Sure Ken." Izzy replied, and the two headed into the kitchen.

 

Ken looked like he had a headache as he stood in the kitchen, his back to Izzy.

"Something wrong?" Izzy said, very politely, and very plainly.

"Yolei kissed you." Ken said, very calmly. Izzy unsuccessfully tried holding back a laugh.

"Is that funny?" Ken was now bordering stern rather than calm. Izzy made his best effort at developing a straight face.

"Well, I know it seems serious, but still- if you don’t have a sense of humor about it, it’s just going to keep being a touchy topic. And it isn’t, we should be laughing at something like this!" Ken was not convinced.

"Sorry if I don’t find the humor in the fact that my best friend was kissed by somebody I’m going to ask to marry."

"Ken, she was…"

"I know. She was out of it. I shouldn’t be blaming her for what happened." Izzy smiled again, relaxed that Ken was calming down somewhat.

"But I know you weren’t that sloshed." Ken turned around accusingly at Izzy, catching Izzy completely off guard, and sending him on the defensive.

"Wha… what do you mean? She was the one that…"

"And what did you do to stop her?" Izzy stopped after hearing this, and just took a minute to stare at Ken, while taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Well… what was I supposed to do?"

"For starters- stop kissing her."

"Ken, do we have to talk about this…?" Izzy was quite nervous, and felt like he was under an interrogation. Given Ken’s attitude about the situation, Izzy wasn’t too far off.

"I need to get this out now. If I don’t, it’ll just keep bugging me. I just need to know one thing." Ken seemed to inch closer, and looked Izzy in the face, "Did you enjoy it?"

Izzy was immediately taken aback, and glanced aside, trying to avoid the question.

"Well…"

"I have to know, Izzy. Just be honest. That’s all I ask."

Ken turned around for a second, as Izzy got out of his chair, trying to stay calm.

"Alright. I enjoyed it. I’ll confess. Happy now?" Ken remained silent, his back still to Izzy.

"That wasn’t how you were supposed to answer. Now I don’t know what to think." With that, Ken walked back to his chair in the living room. Izzy followed.

"What was I supposed to say Ken? That I’d rather be kissed by a lizard than kissed by a beautiful woman?"

Ken remained silent, trying to put everything together. Izzy followed, and sat down in another chair. To the unaided eye, Yolei was sleeping. But to those who were paying attention, it was clear that she was merely resting her eyes, and that she could hear everything.

"Ken, let’s face it- Yolei’s a wonderful girl. And I can’t spend countless years as her friend without developing some sort of fondness for her. So when she comes in and kisses me… I guess I got caught up in the moment. I’m sorry if I’m too human."

"Izzy, she’s m…"

"She’s yours. I know that. And you should be damn happy about that too. I like Yolei just as much as you do, but if she’s that much in love with you, I’m not going to get in the way of it."

"It’s too late to be all noble, okay?" Ken stood up abruptly. Izzy remained seated, but still concerned.

"What are you saying?"

"I’m saying… I’m saying… I’m just really angry at all this." Ken walked back into the kitchen. Izzy stood up, and was about to follow, when Yolei finally decided to make her presence known.

"Izzy, just leave him." This caught Izzy off guard. "He’ll be fine, just give him a minute to get through this." Izzy sat back down again.

Ken sat in the kitchen again, simply pondering the situation. He didn’t get much pondering done, as the sounds of Yolei and Izzy were audible from the other room. It was clear Yolei was trying to lower her voice, but it wasn’t lowered enough, as Ken could still hear everything.

"Man Izzy, I’ve done some stupid stuff in my life, but this…"

"Yolei, we all know you were out of it. Ken is taking this way too far, but if there’s one thing he is doing right, it’s that he’s not blaming you for it."

"That’s the problem. I mean, I wasn’t that drunk."

"What do you mean? Don’t you remember what you did?"

"I know exactly what I did. I know it was stupid, but you deserved it."

"I deserved… what are you talking about?"

"Izzy, I don’t think you give yourself enough credit for how great a guy you are. And it’s just so sad to see you lonely. Call me crazy, but if anybody deserves to get lucky during a party, it should be you. Just consider it a little present, okay?"

Having heard all this, the situation became a lot worse for Ken. It was so much easier to blame Izzy for what happened, but now Yolei was responsible as well. The silence which followed, however, was almost unbearable, until Yolei’s voice picked up again.

"Izzy, what’s wrong?"

"It’s just that… Yolei I don’t know what to say. I’m… I’m flattered."

"Yeah well… just don’t tell Ken, okay? I’m sure he’d get a bit upset."

"I can’t say I blame him. If he can win the heart of somebody as wonderful as you, he would probably do anything not to let go."

"Izzy…" By now, Yolei was borderline flirtatious, and Ken was borderline disgusted, "Thanks."

What’s going on here? It’s like these two are suddenly falling for each other… but Yolei’s mine. We love each other. I was planning on proposing for Pete’s sake! I can’t take much more of this.

Ken stormed back into the living room and immediately announced that he had heard everything. Izzy received his share of the interrogation, now it was Yolei’s turn.

"So you knew what you were doing when you kissed him?" Ken couldn’t be any more serious, but Yolei was still attempting to take the scene in good humor. And although this was definitely not the most dramatic situation imaginable, it was not something to take lightly.

"Yeah, and I know it’s something stupid, and if I knew you were going to get this uptight about it, I wouldn’t have done it. If it makes you feel better, I’m sorry." Yolei’s upbeat tone worked against her this time, as the apology didn’t sound as heartfelt as Ken was demanding.

"Yolei, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously."

"Why should I? I got drunk and did something stupid. It’s not like I slept with him." It was a good thing Ken wasn’t looking at Izzy, whose cheeks turned bright red at the statement, and turned his head in embarrassment.

"What if I hadn’t walked in there? What if you just would have kept going? You already did one stupid thing, what if you just decided to keep going with it?"

"Ken," this time Izzy was trying to reason with him, "Don’t even start with the ‘what ifs.’ You know as well as I do that I wouldn’t let her go that far."

"Wouldn’t you? You said yourself you were attracted to her."

"Yes, but still, I am perfectly capable of restraining myself. All three of us have something good going on, especially you and Yolei. The last thing I want to do is to end this." With Izzy having defended himself well enough, Ken shifted attention back to Yolei.

"Fine, we’ll leave it up to Yolei."

"What?" Izzy was confused and surprised at this.

"Yolei, I have to know right now- is it me or Izzy?"

"Ken, what are you talking about?" Yolei was as confused as Izzy.

"I want you to choose between me and Izzy."

"That’s stupid, Ken. This isn’t a compe…"

"I don’t care if it is stupid! I just need to know. I don’t care if it’s the easiest decision you’ve made in your life, just give me a straight answer!" Ken was practically fuming at this point, and Yolei, still trying to get Ken to calm down, said something which was probably just as stupid as kissing Izzy in the first place.

"Well if you’re going to go into Digimon Emperor mode about something as stupid as this, I’ll pick Izzy." With that Yolei turned around, thinking that she just made the bold move that put him on the defensive and salvaged the relationship. She couldn’t be farther off.

Ken glanced once at Izzy, who was simply in shock. Izzy met Ken’s eyes and quickly diverted them away.

"Fine then. Have it your way." And with that, Ken walked out on Yolei and Izzy. Yolei turned back around and tried to call Ken back, but it was to no avail.

As he walked out on his two partners, Ken took one last glance through the window. Yolei was crying, naturally, and Izzy took a couple steps forward, trying to figure out how to comfort her. But Yolei again took things into her own hands and buried herself in Izzy’s chest for comfort. And as Izzy received her, he took a couple seconds to deal with the shock, but his next move was the nail in the coffin. From that outside window, Ken could have sworn that Izzy cracked a very small, but very significant, smile.


The legal proceedings to split up 2KI were extremely messy. Neither Izzy nor Ken spoke to each other, at least not through lawyers anyway. Yolei didn’t attend any of the proceedings. Since it was Izzy’s inheritance that provided the bulk of the capital, Ken received little more than some severance pay and a few of the nicer supplies they had around the office. But no stapler could keep Ken and Izzy together. What started out as a fledgling software company between two friends ended up resting in Izzy’s hands. And fate seemed to shine, as the newly renamed Izumi Enterprises continued to take off. Ken followed the company’s stocks for sometime, but disappointed at the extreme success, stopped after a few months. He never did see what happened between Izzy and Yolei, and didn’t really want to know.

As for Ken, he still had a positive reputation in the industry, and as a result never had trouble paying the rent on his apartment. But he was at a loss when it came to companionship. He had a few friends around the office, and they’d go drinking now and then, but Yolei and Izzy were a part of his life that Ken came to realize was not replaceable. And that hole made Ken more depressed as the years went by.

Ken also found himself pondering over the incident that ended it all. For ten years he would ask himself, "whose fault was it?" And he could never come up with an answer. Yolei was obviously overstepping her bounds as a friend, but with alcohol- anything’s possible. Izzy did nothing to stop Yolei, but didn’t think it was doing any harm. Was it his own fault? Did Ken do himself in by acting like a jerk about it? Maybe they were all guilty of something.

Ken had purposely avoided Izzy and Yolei for the last ten years. The invites for TK and Kari’s wedding immediately found its way to the trash bin. There were even years where Ken went out of his way to make sure that the company he worked for didn’t buy software from Izumi Enterprises. But now- a digi-destined reunion was on the horizon? Although Ken hated the concept of seeing Izzy and Yolei, he was dying for some company. He wanted to see Davis, and Kari, and everybody else that in many ways saved his life sixteen years earlier.

So what if I do run into Izzy? I’ve been running from him my whole life, so does that mean I should miss out on seeing Davis and Kari just to avoid seeing Izzy? Frankly, considering how much I want to see the others… it’s not worth it.

Ken sent the RSVP immediately. At least he’d have a few friends there, and nobody that would turn their backs on him or steal his girlfriend. And if Izzy and Yolei do happen to be there- he was just going to have to be ready for them.

Author’s Notes
Did I mention this was a drama? Not a romance, not a comedy- it’s a drama. Although elements of romance and comedy obviously will appear (believe me, being force-fed these situations without an ounce of laughs would be quite hard to swallow), drama wins out over everything else, as was evident in this chapter. And just because he’s the star of the chapter doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the good guy either. It’s not "wrong" to think what happened is Ken’s fault simply because it’s his chapter. Remember that I have to cover both Izzy (chapter 7) and Yolei (chapter 10) later on. Although Izzy in particular has a new situation to deal with, I’ll make sure to get a few of his thoughts regarding what happened here. And you will have to wait to see if Kouyako actually panned out.

Well, although I doubt that the Ken-Yolei-Izzy love triangle is an extremely popular fanfic topic, I think this turned out quite well, especially since this is the first time I’ve actually tried writing Ken or Yolei, save a couple lines in Animation Survivor or Chapter 1. And besides, if you don’t like the concept of a triangle between these three (I always thought they leant more towards a Ken-Yolei-Davis triangle on the show), this is pretty much all you get for it, since Izzy and Yolei have other grounds to cover in their chapters.

Despite the stupidity of the game, "I’m shit- tada!" and "Tareshi a con, Kou?" are legitimate anagrams for Matt Ishida and Sora Takenouchi, although I’m sure if you were wondering, you’ve already checked to make sure. What’s even more impressive is that I had selected Tareshi as the name for Sora’s husband well before this whole anagrams game came up. I’ll explain why he’s named Tareshi when he’s formally introduced in Chapter 6, although those who have read my previous works are probably throwing up right about now.

Anyway, now that Ken’s out of the way- let’s get some more of Matt!
Chapter Four- Matt
Any episode of VH1’s "Behind the Music" will tell you that with every up, there is a down. Matt is no stranger, having his reign at the top of the charts before the J-Pop fad faded like all the others. Now reduced to a normal touring band, Matt and Yamato still have the memories. Of Matt’s large seaside mansion. Of all the interviews and wild gigs. And of course- the girl that seemingly brought Matt success, and abruptly left with it a couple years later.