Couple things. First off, this story is a prelude to an upcoming story I will be writing, although that will be very different in tone. As such, this story won't be too terribly long, but its got a few more chapters to go. I'd say this will probably be the shortest chapter. Happy reading!

Takuya made it over the threshold of his door and immediately went over to his still unmade bed and buried his face in the pillow. He stayed in that position for what seemed like hours, until he finally got sick of laying down. He looked at his alarm clock.

9:25. Huh. He thought. This is going to be a long day. Not willing to waste the day moping, he got up and slowly shambled over to the only closet in his apartment and opened the door. Inside he pulled out a blue electric guitar and an amp and plugged them in. He sat down in an old wooden chair and began to play a mournful piece, the intro to Metallica's Battery. Whenever he was depressed he turned to his guitar, and he had a lot to be depressed about.

Around two years after his journey to the Digital World his parents came to him with devastating news, that they were getting a divorce. They found that they had differences that they just could not set aside and so they felt that there was no other option. It was agreed that each parent would get one of the two children. His father took Shinya, Takuya's little brother, and Takuya's mother took him. Though he tried to hide it and put on a brave face, these developments crushed him. Now he didn't have a dad around most of the time and he hardly ever saw his little brother. Then the next year his birthday came around and his father managed to show up. It was that birthday that his father gave him the guitar he was now playing. At first, Takuya didn't really like the guitar. It symbolized to him how his family was broken apart. But after a while he found something that would help him fill the whole: heavy metal. The anger and energy appealed to him, it was a useful vent for his angst. And with this came an interest in the guitar. He quickly learned to play, not just as a way to find relief, but also as a way to hopefully someday impress Zoe.

She's the only thing that can fill this hole. He mentally reminded himself. After the divorce, he was no longer sure of many things, but he was sure that he loved her.

He reached the end of the melodic intro and immediately started the aggressive thrash riff that formed the base of the rest of the song. He liked the power and speed of it. He wasn't actually sure how Zoe would react to him playing such a song, and he felt that surely it wasn't her kind of music . In fact, he had thoroughly convinced himself that he wasn't nearly good enough to show her a song, despite being quite good from just about anyone's standards.

He was nearly three-fourths through the song when he was interrupted by his cellphone ringing. With just a hint of annoyance, he carefully put down his guitar and delved into his pocket and pulled it out.

"Hello?" he answered .

"Takuya? Its me, mom." the voice replied.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Takuya asked

" Yes, honey, isn't it okay that I occasionally want to check up on my boy? I don't have to have an emergency to call you do I?" She replied.

"No, I only meant-" he began to say.

"Really, I'm actually worried about you" she cut in.

" Why mom? I'm fine." he lied.

"You never call anymore. Its been over three weeks. And you haven't even responded to any of my texts."

"S-sorry mom. I've just been... preoccupied lately" It wasn't exactly a lie. Also, he hadn't even realized that he'd missed those text and he never even thought about calling her..

"Takuya, is something wrong? Is it about not being in college? " She pressed on.

"I'm fine mom. Perfectly fine." It was starting to sound even less convincing as he became more and more flustered

"I texted Zoe. She says she's a bit worried about you too." At these words Takuya felt his blood begin to freeze.

" Y-You texted Zoe?" he said, almost stunned. "Why would you do that?"

" I know that when you were back here at home, she was the one you hung out with the most. And since you live in the same area now, I figured you probably still did."

"Ahh, where did you even get her number! She probably thinks I'm totally screwed up now!"

"She cares about you Takuya, and so do I. And I now for a fact that you care about her. Even if you won't talk to me, won't you please talk to her?" This too caused Takuya to pause. Was he that obvious? He hadn't told his mom of any feelings he might have for Zoe, but she seemed to know. Did Zoe also know?

" Al-alright mom. I'll do that."

" Okay, I'm going to hang up now, but if you ever feel the need to talk, please call me. I love you."

"I love you too mom, bye."

"Bye sweetie." And with that, she hung up.

Takuya sat for a while in deep thought, pondering what, if any, course of action he should take. His musings were interrupted when his phone notified him of a text message. He pulled it out again and looked at his in-box. It was from Zoe.

Takuya quickly opened up the message, and it read "Hey Takuya, sorry we left you like that. I guess I was still tired and not thinking. I'm free tonight if you want to hang."

Takuya gulped, and then began to type in a reply "Yeah, I'm up for 9:30 if thats okay with you. I've got something to tell you." and with that he sent the message. He then proceeded to pick up his guitar and nervously began to play. It was going to be a long wait.