Disclaimer - Yeah... I don't own anything at all.

This chapter switches from Matt's point of view to third person so don't get confused. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through this story. I don't have a lot of free time any more so bear with me even if the chapters only get updated every so often. Thank you for reading I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Sora found her self unable to stop thinking about Matt the entire day. It seemed like no matter what she did everything turned back into a thought of him. She was beginning to get more than a little annoyed.

"I need to do something to distract myself," Sora said as she grabbed her running shoes, "Going for a jog should do just the trick."

Matt had left her house about an hour earlier and she had pretty much blown Mimi off for their lunch date. She really wasn't in the mood to sit and listen to Mimi try and pry about something that wasn't happening. She also prayed in the back of her head that Tai didn't find out about Matt staying at her place. He was normally a calm person but something like that would definitely set him off.

Sora parked her car in the parking lot next to the 8 mile trail that ran through Odaiba Park. Since it was Sunday there were a bunch of families there either involved in a sporting event or simply just bringing their children to play. Not many people used the running trail except for bikers so she'd pretty much have the road to herself.

She began doing a couple of stretches and then turned on her iPod and began jogging down the trail. The weather was perfect for jogging; not too hot and not too cold and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Luckily, the trail was mostly covered by trees so the sun wouldn't be scorching down on her as it continued to rise.

She noticed about four miles into the woods that the trail was exceptionally vacant today. She hadn't seen a single person since she'd left her car. Although the park was usually a safe place she started to become a little nervous being by herself. Usually she had Tai with her and rarely ever came jogging alone.

She stopped and began searching her pockets, "Shit… forgot my phone," she muttered to herself. She then shook it off and began running again.

Once she managed to be in the deepest part of the words she heard some muffled sounds in the distance over her headphones. A squirrel. She assumed and pushed the thought aside. That was until she happened to come up upon what the sound was.

Sora stopped dead in her tracks as she watched two large men beat the living crap out of a defenseless guy lying on the ground. She was in horror and knew she should turn around but was so shocked she couldn't look away. The two suddenly stopped and turned toward her.

"Looks like we've got company," one of them said to the other.

"Help me!" The guy on the ground shouted only to be kicked again in the ribs.

The two men left the bleeding guy on the ground and began walking toward Sora. As they got closer she recognized them in a second. Matt used to associate with them a while back. They were drug dealers, she remembered.

Sora began quickly backing up and was ready to run when one of them said: "That's the chick we saw bailing Ishida out of the pen last night."

"Oh, yeah! I remember now!" The other replied.

"Tell that son of a bitch his friend owes me money!"

Sora stood there speechless. Her mind was screaming at her to run away as fast as she could but something told her not to turn her back to these men. For all she knew they could have guns. Now that their focus was distracted, the guy they were beating to death had gotten up and run off. They didn't even notice.

They began walking faster now and were quickly closing the distance between them and her.

"Stay away from me!" Sora shouted as she backed up.

"Hey now don't be scared. Ishida was a smart kid picking someone like you. You're a real catch," one of them replied back.

One of them reached for her and she smacked his hand away, "Don't touch me!"

"We won't hurt you, we promise," he said reaching again.

The next couple of seconds seemed like a complete blur to Sora. The guys quickly dashed at her but were soon drawn back when a person driving a motorcycle almost ran them over. They backed off and smirked stupidly as the motorcycle guy got off his bike and charged them.

"Get on the bike," the guy shouted at Sora and she did as she was told without question.

"You just made a big mistake," he said to the two men before getting back on the bike and squealing away leaving the two men dumbfounded.

Sora knew exactly who her savior was even though she couldn't see his face. In a way she was relieved that someone had come to save her but she also questioned how he knew she was there. She didn't know what would have happened if he hadn't shown up but she shivered just thinking about it.

When they finally arrived back at her car she hopped off the motorcycle and watched him get off as well.

"How did you know where I was, Matt?" Sora questioned immediately.

"The guy they were handling called me," Matt replied.

"You mean the guy they were kicked the crap out of? How did he know who I was?"

"He didn't. He heard the two jerk-offs mention my name so he associated you with me and called me as soon as he got away."

"Why were they beating him?"

"He probably couldn't come up with the money they wanted. I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm just glad I got there when I did. They could have…" Matt stopped and pushed his eyebrows together in anger, "What the hell were you thinking going into the woods by yourself?"

Sora was taken back by his sudden shift in attitude toward her, "Excuse me? How the hell was I supposed to know that a public trail would be the hot spot of two gang bangers?"

"You shouldn't be going into the woods by yourself it's not safe."

"It's a public park, Matt. I shouldn't have to fear walking in a public place."

Matt rolled his eyes and gave a distressed laugh, "Sora, they could have killed you. You have no idea what they are capable of."

"I didn't do anything. I was just minding my own business and happened to run into them."

"Do you really think they care about that? Those two are some of the biggest drug dealers in Tokyo. They could have killed you and not given two shits. Or had their way with you and then killed you."

"But I-"

"You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You saw something you shouldn't have."

"So what does that mean?"

"I'm hoping they'll just leave it alone but I may have sparked their anger even more by showing up like I did."

"Are you saying they're going to track me down or something?"

"No, but it wouldn't hurt if you had someone with you at all times."

"Great, Matt. Just great! I decide to go for an innocent morning jog and end up running into two guys who probably want me dead now!"

"I didn't say that."

"This is stupid. I'm going home."

"You probably shouldn't be alone today."

"So I'll call Tai."

"I think it would be better if I hung out with you."

"Why do you even care?"

Matt stopped and shook his head, "Why would you even ask that?"

"Do you care?"

"Of course I care!"

"Why?"

"Listen, just because we aren't together any more it doesn't mean I don't care what happens to you. I fear for you every single day, Sora. You're mixed up in this stupid situation now because of me."

"It could have happened to anyone."

"But it didn't, Sora. It happened to you."

She stared at him and didn't know what to say. He was right, she knew it, and she just didn't want to admit it.

"Please just let me stay with you for a little while until this whole thing blows over," Matt said.

"Fine. Meet me at my apartment," Sora said and got into her car.

Sora slid into the driver's seat of her car and quickly locked the doors. She watched as Matt drove off and then punched the steering wheel. Her head fell to the steering wheel and she broke down and cried. She'd been so angry before that she'd forgotten how upset she really was. She pulled herself together after a couple of minutes and started the car. If she took too long Matt would've come back to find her and she didn't want him to see her like this.

Sora found Matt waiting by her front door smoking a cigarette. She rolled her eyes, grabbed it from between his lips and threw it on the ground. He growled at her in protest.

"There is no drinking or smoking at my place got it?" Sora said laying down the law.

"No drinking? I saw beer in your fridge you're a liar," Matt said only to receive a glare.

"It's Tai's," Sora lied.

"Sure it is."

The two walked into the apartment and Sora threw her stuff down onto the kitchen table. Matt made himself at home and plopped down on the couch. He put his feet up on the coffee table and turned on the TV.

"Don't get too comfortable," Sora said pulling a beer out of the fridge, "This is a temporary situation."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied watching her take a seat next to him, "What the hell? No drinking, huh?"

"It's my place I can do anything I want."

"Can I have one?"

"Whatever."

Matt hopped off the couch and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He sat back down on the couch and flipped through the channels to find something decent on. He came across MTV and they were playing one of his bands music videos.

"Can I be honest?" Sora said suddenly.

"What's up?" Matt wondered.

"This music video is so lame."

Matt laughed, "Why do you say that?"

"Death of a Virgin? Honestly? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know it's just something I wrote a long time ago. People seem to like it so whatever."

"Have you ever considered going solo?"

"Solo?"

"Yeah!"

"It's never crossed my mind actually. To tell you the truth the band wasn't planning on coming out with any more albums anyways. There's too much shit going on in our lives right now. We were planning on announcing our farewell tour next week. I don't really think people would miss us regardless."

"That's a pretty big decision. The band has been your life since we were like sixteen."

"Well, we all have to grow up eventually don't we? I knew from the beginning this band thing wasn't going to be forever. I've had my fun but it's time to move on now."

"Well, good for you. So what happens now? I mean, didn't your friends get arrested too?"

"Well, Akira will be in there for a while. Unless someone can come up with the huge sum of money to get him out he's not going anywhere. Yutaka and Takashi will probably be out within the week. Their bonds were the same as mine and I'm sure they'll find someone to get them out."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Well, I guess I'll just move on with my life. Those guys are my best friends but they're also the reason I have gotten into so much trouble over the past couple years. Maybe a break from them for a little while would be a good thing. Who knows maybe I'll go back to school or something. It's probably a long shot but you never know."

"Schools probably your best bet. Hey, you should apply to Tokyo U. It's a really great school."

"Ah, if I were to go anywhere it would be Kyoto."

"Why Kyoto?"

"There's a really good science program there and that's what I would want to do. You know, engineering or astronomy or something."

"I didn't know you were still into that kind of stuff. I mean, I remember back when we were dating you mentioned doing that a couple of times but I never really believed you."

"Everyone has their own passions. Being a science dork is mine."

Sora laughed. As much as she hated to admit it she was having a good time with Matt. It finally felt comfortable being around him again. Her phone began buzzing in her pocket and quickly interrupted her thoughts.

The caller I.D. flashed Mimi's name and she rolled her eyes, "Excuse me for a minute I have to take this."

Sora walked into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She went into her bathroom and shut that door too just to give some hearing distance between her and Matt.

"Since you don't want to go to lunch with me I've decided to come to your place and make you lunch instead," Mimi said before Sora even said hello.

"Mimi I-"

"No, no don't try to stop me I've made up my mind and I'm coming over. I'll see you in ten."

The phone clicked off and Sora stood there dumbfounded. She was going to have to get rid of Matt or she'd have a lot of explaining to do.

"I have a situation," Sora said as she reentered the living room.

"You're kicking me out aren't you?" Matt said with a sarcastic pout.

"Mimi's on her way over and I haven't exactly told her that you're here. Well no I take that back; I didn't have time to tell her you were here. She wouldn't let me speak."

"Say no more. She'll be with you so I think you'll be fine. Just don't go anywhere. Stay in your apartment if you can. I'll come back when she leaves."

"Well, you don't have to leave. I do have a spare bedroom you can stay in there until she leaves."

Matt laughed, "It's cool I have some things I need to take care of anyways."

"Thank you for understanding."

"It's cool. I'll be back later."

Matt walked to the door and swung it open only to come face to face with Mimi. Mimi stared at him questionably. Matt just smirked stupidly and pushed past her walking away quickly.

"Um, Sora? Is there something you want to tell me?" Mimi said walking into the apartment.

"Hmm?" Sora said as if she had no idea what she was talking about.

"Why the hell was Matt here? I thought you said he left early this morning."

"He did… but then he came back."

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

"Oh, I think I can keep up."

Sora sighed and gave in. She knew there was no lie that could get her out of this one so she decided to explain to Mimi exactly what happened. Mimi turned out to be surprisingly accepting of the story.

"You're not in danger are you? Those two crazy guys aren't going to come after you are they?" Mimi questioned immediately.

"Matt doesn't think so but he doesn't want to take any chances so that's why he thinks it's best if he sticks around for a couple days," Sora replied.

"So you're going to let him stay here?"

"I haven't decided yet. Nothing's going to happen if that's what you're thinking."

"Sure it's not. That's what you said the last two times."

"I'm serious, Mimi. We are just friends that's it."

Mimi laughed, "It's not possible to be just friends with an ex."

"Don't push it, Meems."

"Okay, okay. Tai doesn't know does he?"

"Hell no! I'm hoping he doesn't find out."

"I think you underestimate Tai a little too much. As much as he despises Matt I don't think he'd ever truly get angry with you because of him. He knows what Matt used to mean to you and he's never had a problem with it before. I think you should tell him before this goes any further. He'll be more pissed off if you don't tell him and he finds out from someone else."

"Why do you always have to be right?"

"I just know what's best for you."

"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome. So now that everything's out in the open can we go out to lunch now?"

"Yeah, I guess. I am really hungry."

"Me too so let's get going!"

To be continued…

Please review!