This fanfiction is a stand-alone sequel to my previous JSRF fanfiction, Architects of the Rebellion. No original characters appear, but most existing characters have been given proper first names for the purposes of realism.

I hope you enjoy reading Tokyo Rose. All comments are appreciated.

Chapter 1 – Roots

Corn boarded the crowded subway train with his laptop bag firmly pressed against his chest. He rushed to sit down with his bag on his lap before the train took off towards its next stop. After adjusting his glasses, he stared out the window across from him as the city buildings blurred against the evening sky.

His commute to and from work gave him some time to stop and think about things, and the topic he most often reflected on was his life. He rather enjoyed his job: it paid well and it was something that he generally enjoyed doing. Still, the daily grind gradually wore down on him over the course of each week. Even though he'd been employed for a few years now, it was something that he hadn't completely gotten used to. Sometimes he wished that he had no commitments to attend to and could just spend his days at leisure like he used to, but that wasn't possible now that he was an adult. No, those days were long gone—perhaps for the better.

It had been ten years since Rokkaku Gouji, Tokyo's controversial former mayor, stepped down. During his tenure, the city's economy and freedoms slowly eroded due to his corrupt and tyrannical practices. Tokyo's status had steadily improved over the years since his resignation, but progress was much slower than most people had hoped. It didn't bother Corn as much as it used to though, now that he had a well-paying job and comfortable life.

Corn…

Now that was a name he hadn't gone by in years, not since his old inline skating street gang, the GGs, disbanded just a year after Gouji's resignation. Corn was the nickname he went by back when the gang was still together. The memory of it suddenly came back to him. The gang separated so gradually that nobody noticed it was happening until it was too late. One by one, members pursued their own independence until it was suddenly just a gang of two—the same members that it had begun with. Once it shrunk to that point, both members knew that it was time to put an end to the gang. A few years later though, those same two members began a different kind of union.

The GGs weren't the only inline skating gang on the streets of Tokyo back then. Those troublemaking gangs were all called Rudies by the people of Tokyo, likely due to the spraying of graffiti over public property being one of their favourite hobbies. Rudie gangs began to spring up as acts of defiance against Rokkaku Gouji's terrible governance a few years after he first took power, and due to their combined efforts were able to force him to resign and disappear from the political world. Ever since then, Rudies slowly disappeared from the streets. Perhaps they felt that acts of defiance were no longer necessary with a much improved government, or maybe they had simply gotten older and no longer cared about the Rudie lifestyle.

Over the years since the GGs' disbandment, Corn lost touch with most of his old friends. He didn't know why he let it happened, especially in the age of social media when keeping in touch was as easy as sending a friend request. Sometimes he'd wonder if it were too late to reconnect with his old friends. How many of them had moved on and no longer wanted anything to do with him? How many of them would let out an annoyed groan upon seeing his name show up in their social media notifications? Come to think of it, how many of them even knew his real name?

Making friends wasn't an easy task for Corn anymore. Despite knowing many people with similar interests as him at his workplace—one of them a former member of the GGs—he never hung out with any of them outside of work hours. Back when he was the leader of the GGs he'd welcome new members with open arms, but the years he spent studying in university made him more introverted. Now, despite knowing people at work who he'd gotten along well with, he was too shy to take the next step and attempt a proper friendship with them. It was likely his lack of friends that was causing him to have a bored attitude towards his life. There was only one person who he could call a close friend of his, and although he always enjoyed their company, for him they weren't enough. He hoped that one day he'd find the courage to either reconnect with his old friends or get closer to his colleagues at work.

A woman's voice came over the train's intercom and snapped Corn out of his daydreaming.

"Next stop, Shibuya Station."

Corn pulled his phone out of his pocket to quickly glance at the local news before the train arrived at his stop. He scrolled through a list of articles until he found one about the local government's plans for improving the city's infrastructure. He immediately recalled hearing years ago of talks to demolish many old and unused buildings, including the abandoned hotel and courtyard—colloquially known as the Garage—that he and the GGs all lived in. Thankfully, nothing came of those plans the last he had heard of them. He'd hoped that they were scrapped, but he didn't know for sure. He was the one who discovered the forgotten hotel grounds and turned it into their home, and he'd hate to see it demolished.

Before he could read further into the article, he felt the train slowly come to a stop. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and stood up from his seat, his laptop bag strapped over his shoulder. Once the train doors opened, a flood of passengers exited through them. Corn stepped off the train and walked along the station platform. He was tired after his long day of work and couldn't wait to get home. Looking around at the other people in the station, he knew he wasn't the only one.

Someone caught Corn's eye as he walked along the platform. A man, looking to be around his age with short red hair and a thin beard, was sitting down alone on a bench with his eyes glued to his phone. A backpack laid on the ground next to him. Corn approached the man and paused to get a closer look at him.

Is that…

"Beat?" Corn said aloud to the man sitting down.

The man looked up from his phone and at Corn. His eyes lit up in surprise once he recognized the man standing before him.

"Corn?" he exclaimed as he stood up from his seat. "Holy shit, dude! How've you been?"

Bright grins appeared on both of their faces as they reached out and firmly shook hands. Beat was one of Corn's closest friends and the third person to ever join the GGs. Despite that, even they drifted apart over the years. They were still immediately recognizable to each other though.

"I've been good," Corn answered. "Man, it's been so long!"

"I know. How is this the first time we've seen each other in years? We should've kept in touch."

"Yeah, I haven't kept in touch with most of the other GGs, either." Was it a coincidence that he had been thinking of his old friends mere moments before serendipitously crossing paths with one of them?

"Same," Beat replied. "I haven't seen most of them since the gang broke up. What have you been up to since then?"

"Well, I went to university and got a degree in computer science. After that, I got a job as a software developer."

Beat was impressed. "Damn. You making good money?"

Corn chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that. What about you?"

"You've accomplished a hell of a lot more than me, I'll tell you that right off the bat. You remember my girlfriend, Kat?"

"The Rapid 99 girl? Of course." Almost all Rudies went by nicknames instead of their real names, but Kat was one of the few that used her real name around those close to her. Once she and Beat began dating, the other GGs got to know her by her real name as well. "Is she still in a band?"

"Yeah, but two of her bandmates left to go to school so the band was missing a drummer and bass player. I learned to play drums and joined the band, and Riko learned to play bass on top of being the main vocalist. Oh, Riko is Cube's real name. You remember Cube, right?"

"Yeah." Cube and the members of Rapid 99 used to be a rock band before becoming Rudies, but Cube left the band to lead a Rudie gang called Poison Jam. After a nasty confrontation between the two that also involved the GGs, Cube left Poison Jam and eventually reunited with her former band. "How's the band doing, by the way?"

"Great. We're pretty popular in Tokyo's underground music scene. Our albums sell well and we've played at a few major clubs."

That explained why Corn hadn't kept up to date with their band: he never went clubbing. "It must be cool being in a band," he remarked.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome," Beat said with a smirk. "I actually just came back from a meeting with our record label. That's why I'm taking the subway today. I usually bike around or get Riko to drive me somewhere. We all live over in Chuo."

"Oh, really? I take the subway all the time so I was wondering why today was the first time I've seen you here. I live just a few blocks from this station. I actually walk home from here."

"Must be an easy commute then."

"Easy but boring."

Beat looked up at the clock hanging in the station. "Hey, my train's gonna be here soon. We should totally hang out sometime this week though, whenever we're both free."

"Yeah, that'd be great," Corn replied. "What's your number?"

They both pulled out their phones and exchanged numbers. Beat put his phone away and grabbed his backpack off of the ground.

"Cool. I'll text ya later, then. See ya, Corn." Beat waved as he began walking away.

Corn suddenly realized how ridiculous his old nickname sounded. "Ugh, don't call me by that stupid nickname anymore. I don't know what I was thinking when I came up with it. My real name is Kon; call me that."

Beat turned back around. "Oh, yeah. I don't know why that completely slipped my mind. So your name's Kon? It's gonna be hard getting used to calling you that, so pardon me if I make a few mistakes."

"Why?" Kon asked him. "Because it's an uncommon name?"

"No, because I'm so used to calling you Corn!"

Kon chuckled. "True. It's gonna be hard to unlearn what we've known each other as for ten years."

"Exactly, but we might as well start now. My real name's Aaron."

Aaron and Kon both looked towards the subway tracks just as a train arrived and slowly crawled to a stop.

"That's my ride," Aaron said. "Later."

"See ya, Aaron."

They both waved goodbye to each other as Aaron walked towards and boarded the subway train. Kon stood and watched as the train departed the station. He couldn't believe it; he had just reunited with one of his closest friends from ten years ago. This was the miracle he needed to reinvigorate his mundane life.

Kon turned around and left the underground station. Once outside, the brisk autumn weather gave him a small chill. He zipped up his coat and began walking towards his home.

The roads were bustling with traffic as rush hour was in full swing. Kon kept to himself as he walked along the crowded sidewalks for a few blocks until he reached the more scenic side streets. The foot traffic was much calmer on those streets which allowed Kon to get lost in his thoughts again.

He took in the peacefulness of his surroundings. Despite being in the middle of the city, there was a decent amount of foliage from trees and potted plants along the road. The changing autumn weather turned many of the leaves on the trees a vibrant orange. Two kids, still in their school uniforms, were kicking a ball around to each other. It took him back to the stress-free days when he would spend all of his time relaxing and having fun—the days when he was a Rudie.

Although he had fond memories of those halcyon days, it had been ages since he last put on a pair of skates and even longer since he last visited the Garage. He was an adult now; he shouldn't be dwelling on the past. And yet, every once in a while, he found himself thinking about his young days as a Rudie. What was it that kept reminding him of his past? Perhaps it was the feeling that something was missing from his life—something that he once had.

Before he knew it, Kon had arrived at his house. He walked through the iron gate that greeted him to his home and closed it behind him. After that, he opened the front door and stepped inside, kicking off his shoes and placing his laptop bag on a table to his side. As he put his coat in the closet by the entrance, he shouted out to someone else in the house.

"Hey, you'll never guess who I met at the station earlier."

Kon heard the sound of footsteps coming from around the corner of the entryway. Just as he closed the closet door, Gum stepped out from around the corner with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Who?"

"Beat."

"Seriously?" she exclaimed with a surprised expression on her face. "Wow. How is he these days?"

"Pretty good," Kon replied as he stepped away from the house entrance. "You remember that Rapid 99 girl he was dating? They're still together and now he plays drums in their band."

Gum smiled. "That's cool. We should all get together one day and catch up."

"Yeah, we exchanged numbers so we can tell each other when we're both free to hang out. I didn't tell him that we're still together, but I'm sure he'd want to see you again, too. When's the best day for you this week?"

Gum took a sip of her coffee. "I should be done my drawing later today, so any time this week is good for me."

Gum was a freelance artist who worked on commission. Once in a while she would get commissions from companies asking her to do some professional graphic designs for them, but most of her clients were individuals paying her to draw private artwork for them. Without an actual art degree, she was unable to get a full-time job working as a graphic designer, but her hope was that with enough experience under her belt she'd be able to snag a job. As of yet though, she hadn't done any work for a high-profile company and thus lacked an impressive accomplishment to put on her resume.

A few years ago, she legally changed her first name to Gum. Unlike most Rudies who dropped their nicknames, she identified strongly with it and hated using her original name. Other than herself, Kon was the only person who knew her birth name, but he promised not to tell it to anyone else.

Kon pulled out his phone. "Cool, I'll text him." He began tapping out a message to Aaron.

"I'm just glad I'm almost done," Gum remarked. "I got a migraine today out of nowhere and it's killing me."

She walked into the living room where her workstation resided and sat down at her desk with her computer and drawing tablet. After another quick sip from her coffee, she placed the cup to the side and continued her drawing.

Aaron approached the apartment complex that he lived in. The building was three-storeys high, with multiple apartments on each floor and an outdoor staircase leading to the upper levels. He climbed the staircase up to the second floor with keys in hand and unlocked the door to his apartment. In the living room was Kat, laying on the couch and watching TV. She turned her head towards him and greeted him as he stepped inside.

"Hey, babe."

"Hey."

Kat looked almost the same as she did ten years ago. She no longer wore her hair in pigtails—now thinking that the look was too juvenile—but she still regularly dyed it teal. She would also act just as salaciously as she did back then, to the point of wearing racy outfits during concerts. Aaron didn't mind it though; in fact, he enjoyed seeing that side of her.

Aaron closed the door behind him and took off his shoes and backpack, placing them to the side of the entrance. He immediately walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water from the sink. Kat moved her feet off the couch as Aaron walked over and sat down next to her with glass in hand.

"Hey, do you remember Corn?" he asked her.

She paused to recall Corn's identity. "Oh, your old gang leader?"

Aaron placed his glass of water on the coffee table in front of the couch, next to a pack of cigarettes and lighter. "Yeah. I saw him earlier at Shibuya Station. We haven't seen each other in years so it was pretty wild meeting him there out of the blue. I didn't even know that his real name was Kon until he told me."

"Huh. How's he doing these days?"

"A lot better than me. He works at some software company and makes a ton of money. At least, that's what he hinted at. He probably didn't want to give me an exact number so I wouldn't get the urge to try mooching off of him."

Aaron felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

"Speak of the devil, he just texted me. He wants to know when's a good day for us to hang out. He's free every evening this week." Aaron looked at Kat. "You wanna come, too?"

Kat shrugged. "I dunno, wouldn't it be weird if I came?"

"Not really. You used to hang out with us all the time back when we were Rudies."

"Yeah, but things were different back then."

"How was it different? He was your friend, too. Don't you wanna see him again?"

Kat turned her head back towards the TV. "Not really."

Aaron pursed his lips but decided not to argue with her. "Suit yourself." He tapped out a response to Kon on his phone's screen, asking if tomorrow would be a good day for them to hang out. While doing so, he noticed that he entered Corn as his contact name instead of Kon. He wondered if he should correct it, but settled with keeping it the same for now. Once he sent the text, he placed his phone down on the coffee table.

"So," Kat began, "how was the meeting with the label?"

Beat scratched the back of his neck. "It wasn't too bad. They're really pressuring us for another album though."

"I figured they would. We'd better talk to Riko about it."

Aaron's phone vibrated. He picked it up and read the response from Kon to himself.

"Hey, you remember Gum?" he asked Kat. "She and him are still together."

Kat raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "You're surprised by that? We're still together too, you know."

"Yeah, but things between them were… weird for a while."

"What do you mean?"

Aaron regretted bringing it up. "Ah, forget about it. Anyway, we'll all be going out to eat tomorrow at around six. You sure you don't wanna come?"

Kat grabbed the pack of cigarettes and lighter off of the table. "Positive."

She stood up and walked out to the balcony, closing the screen door behind her. Aaron merely groaned and typed out a response back to Kon. After he hit send, he grabbed the TV remote off the couch and changed the channel, kicking his feet up on the table.