Welcome to the second installment in Tales From Odaiba! I deeply reccomend reading this story entirely AFTER I finish Hikeru, since it is set in the future, after Hikeru. It is going to be kind of dark at times, so be wary. Anyway, leave recommendations n the comments.

Of course he's late… Meiko muttered to herself, irritated. Matt was always late. He thought it was cool, but, at least to Meiko, it stressed her patience beyond its limits. At that moment, Matt entered the Prince & Princess restaurant on the coast of Odaiba. He looked as if he had just escaped a murder attempt by his closet. That is, he looked messy and unclean.

"Finally! I've been waiting for hours!" Meiko said, dryly. She had, in fact, only been waiting for the past ten minutes, but she wanted to stress to Matt not to arrive late again, as this was a matter of great importance to both of them. Matt pulled out the script.

"High time you pulled the script out. We have got to study our lines, after all. We both have pivotal roles in this play, so we must study." Meiko stressed (she was stressed, and so took her stress out on her castmate and good friend).

"Two questions, princess. One, why are you so mad? The play's not for seven months! And, two, why couldn't we have just gone to your house or something? Is this a date?"

"That was three questions. I'm mad, because you kept me waiting, and you never keep a lady waiting. We can't study at my house for two reasons. One, you know my parents would assume you're my boyfriend, and bother us both with endless questions. Two, we're kinda… going through stuff, and can't have people over," Meiko said monotonically.

"Damn. That sucks. Wait… you never answered my third question," Matt observed.

"Let's get studying," Meiko said, dismissing his comment. "End of discussion." And so they studied, and so they ate. And so they finished with both tasks. The pair hung out for a while at Matt's house after studying, but eventually got bored of conversation.

"Hey, Matt?" Meiko asked.

"Y-yeah?" Matt responded tiredly.

"Wanna play, like, cards or something?" Meiko questioned.

"Nah. I would play cards with ya, but my brother took them." Matt chuckled.

"Why?" Meiko asked.

"I dunno. He took the cards six months ago, too… that time it was for his girlfriend... he's been taking them every six months on a pattern. It's weird." Matt noted.

"We should do something. How about a game?" Meiko pondered.

"We've got a pretty big collection of games, board and video both."

"I'll pick board games. What games does your family own?"

"Well, we've got a sugoroku board, chess, et cetera…" Matt trailed off, listing the board games his family owned, which was quite a lot.

"Wait. You own a sugoroku board?! I own one! I love that game! I know it's actually incredibly old, but it's still so good! Can we play that, please?" Meiko gushed.

"Uhh… sure. I don't really play it that much, so I suck at it. You're probably gonna win," Matt joked. And true to what he said, he lost by a very large margin. "You know what you're doin', huh?"

"I suppose. I have been playing it more frequently as of recently," Meiko said. Just then, Matt's dad walked into the room.

"I hope I'm not disturbing anything, Matt, but someone's at the door, and he seems to know you, and…" He trailed off.

"Oh, yeah, that must be my dad," Meiko said. And with that, she exited the room, picking up the script and her belongings.

"So, Matt… who's the lucky lady?" Mr. Ishida asked.

"Meiko. She isn't my girlfriend, dad. Just a close friend that happens to be female," Matt said stiffly.

"You said the same thing about Sora, and look what happened," Matt's dad replied.

"Yeah, well, uh…" Matt was at a loss. "It's… it's just different, okay? Now, get out! I gotta do homework and study for the play and all that crap! Please, goodbye!" Mr. Ishida, taken aback by his son's outburst, decided to leave the topic well alone, and not bring up Sora around him. It was a good idea, seeing as how Matt's breakup with Sora was a thing neither parties involved wanted to remember. But, as his father had mentioned Sora and him, he had no choice but to remember that terrible, terrible day.

Six Months Ago - Munch's Burger Shack, Odaiba, Japan

"Man, it's sure been a while since we've been here," Matt chuckled.

"It sure has," Sora replied. "The last time we were here, Izzy and Joe came late and didn't get any food."

"Yeah, and then that random guy we hitchhiked with basically knocked Izzy off that bridge," Matt remembered.

"Not my brightest moment," Sora laughed.

"Number four!" the cashier yelled. Matt got up and got their food. Number four, huh… Matt dismissed the thought, and walked back to the table.

"We can go visit the bridge, if you want to," Matt said. "It's kinda been abandoned since the whole thing a few years ago. They're still reconstructing it."

"Wouldn't that be really unsafe?" Sora pondered aloud.

"Nah. It isn't as bad as it seems. The only thing is that we might fall into the water, but even then, it isn't that bad. The water under the bridge is shallow, so if we fall, we'll just get a little wet." Matt replied energetically. Sora agreed, as long as she stayed dry. So, they finished their food, and walked to the bridge, memories of their previous experience in mind, and found a spot to sit.

"So… how's TK?" Sora asked.

"My little brother's okay. I think he's gotta crush on Kari," Matt replied.

"You think?" Sora asked. "They've been friends for a really long time, and he's, what, fifteen now? It just makes sense he'd have feelings for Kari!"

"I guess you're right," Matt said. "Now I just gotta wait for him to come home, grinning like the biggest goddamn idiot in the world. Then I'll know." As he said that, he leaned back, and the floor shifted beneath them, loosening. Sora let out a yelp, and jumped back - onto some loose boards. She lost her balance for a second, and slipped, but regained it before falling into the water far, far below.

"That was… terrifying," Sora said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it won't happen again," Matt chided, leaning back. This time, he leaned too far, and fell, luckily, he managed to grab hold of a bar before falling down, into the semi-shallow water. "Sora? Could ya help me out here?" Matt shouted. But there was no response, he tried to hold on as long as he could, but ran out of energy, and fell. Far, far down, into the shallow water. And then, he hit concrete.

He immediately screamed. Loudly and profanely, cursing everyone and everything around him. Especially Sora. For letting him fall; for abandoning him in his time of need. He then calmed himself down, and looked around him at his surroundings. He was in the water, alright. But it was running red with blood that was most likely his own, He tried to take a step, and fell flat on his face in the water, and choked on his blood, screaming. I'm gonna die here, Matt thought, horrified. I gotta turn myself over and BREATHE. His arms weren't in the best shape, but, with some effort, he forced himself to flip over. He screamed in pain again, staring at his ankle. It was visibly crushed and rolled, and the bone had been shattered. He screamed for the longest time. He then pulled himself out of the water, bleeding and cursing. I have to get to the hospital or I'm gonna die. That thought repeated in Matt's head. Out of instinct, he screamed for Sora. Nobody came to help. I gotta get myself out of this situation, then. Nobody to rely on here. He dragged himself up three steps with the use of his arms, and looked at his other foot. It wasn't much better. It was covered in blood, and there were bruises everywhere on the top of his foot. Somewhere during the fall, his shoes must have fallen off. Damn. I probably got knocked out by the hit, and my shoes must have fallen off. Matt decided that he would wear socks with shoes from forever onward. Wait. How much did those shoes cost again? He racked his brain in silence, watching his ankle twitch sporadically, and screaming every time the protruding bone cut his skin. He dragged himself onward, leaving a trail of blood, roaring for help constantly. Finally, someone showed up. It was Sora.

"Jesus fucking christ, what happened?" Sora yelled.

"You let me fall, you asshole!" Matt yelled raggedly.

"I - i-i… I couldn't have gotten you from there!" Sora retorted.

"There must have been some sort of pole or some shit you could have used to help me!" Matt screamed

"T-t-there wasn't anything! I swear!" Sora pleaded.

"Bull. Shit. Get the hell away from me," Matt spat.

"But you're gonna die if you keep going like this!" Sora cried.

"Better than having to deal with you," Matt said, venom and rage in his voice. "GOODBYE!" Sora backed up, staying at a safe distance from Matt. Now, to not die, Matt thought. Someone inside one of the restaurants had heard the argument, and ran outside; staring at Matt's body on the ground, staid, but still breathing, although very haggardly. The person who had seen him just barely conscious called 119, and requested an ambulance to come immediately. After the ambulance showed up, the man and Sora helped Matt into the ambulance, and the pair rode in back with Matt, who had to be put under a very strong tranquilizer to keep from falling unconscious.

Yep! Yeah! Unnecessarily dark and brutal! Don't worry, I had to get this awful chapter out. And don't worry, the ankle injury suffered was not gratuitous. It serves a major purpose down the line in this story.