1.
To quote Motomiya Daisuke on Christmas Eve in the western calendar of 2006, "growing up is like taking cold medicine. The sooner you do it, the more you deal with it, and the worst it tastes."
… Okay, so it wasn't the best analogy, but it was still kind of accurate right?
Ken was certainly going to believe it.
"I really need a better sense of direction."
"You need a lot of things, Ken."
Ken made a face at his phone, at Daisuke's face on his phone. "Really?"
"Sorry." Daisuke didn't sound like he meant it, which was fair. "You find it yet?"
"I've found the mall."
Daisuke grumbled something about how lucky Ken was to work in a mall. Ken didn't believe that. It was Nakano Broadway after all, and everyone whispered about it. Even the people who probably shouldn't. But he knew the rumors: disappearances, malfunctioning technology, even monsters that made descriptions of vicious digimon sound friendly in comparison. And now he was going to work here with… Kuremi Kyoko.
"This will be a good experience," he decided to say.
"Only if I get to work at the Chinese place there!" Daisuke sounded positively gleeful at the thought.
Ken tried not to laugh. "Thanks for looking out for me."
"Course. What are friends for?"
Ken decided not to answer that and just keep looking around. Daisuke wasn't there to exact the revenge he would want to give, so it just wasn't worth it.
A/N: Time to start posting prize fics. One at a time, hooray. This one is for Tomoe Mami, who requested Arata/Ken. And now that the relationship tags are here, I can do so. So, here goes!
Challenges: Contest Prize, Mega Prompts Quote Prompt 234., Advent 2016 Day 25, and Valentine's Advent 2016 day 9. interseason minific masterclass 10.