So save your breath, I will not hear.

I think I made it very clear.

Toshiko had always had eyes like a hawk. She immediately saw the lack of a band on her daughter's hand, the slight wrinkle to her shirt that had never been there before. She saw the tiny smile Sora tried to hide and, when Sora passed close enough, Toshiko definitely saw the kiss bruise on the side of her neck. Never one to fantasize or daydream about what may have happened, Toshiko pulled her daughter aside and demanded, "What happened to you?"

Sora nibbled her lip, knowing most of the lipstick was gone. She had been late coming home due to getting "distracted" by Yutaka when they had to part ways. They had gotten lost in each others lips, Sora finally feeling safe in a man's arms and Yutaka finally feeling like he was getting one over on Matt. She hadn't even thought to come up with why she was late, and she hadn't even realized Yutaka had left a hickey on her (something she wouldn't discover until that night when she showered). But when she looked into her mother's face, she found she didn't really care. It could have been due to feeling vindicated by Matt's now certain guilt, or just the elation of finding someone who truly cared about her.

"I apologize, Mother," Sora said with a polite bow. "But I really must be getting ready for bed. I have a long day tomorrow."

Had Toshiko been anyone else, she would have sputtered with rage as her daughter ignored her question and turned away. She would have grabbed Sora and demanded the answers had she not been a woman of pride and grace. Instead, she stilled her tongue and watched the young woman go to her room, closing the door behind her sternly.

Sora held a hand to her cheek, blushing furiously in the safety of her room. She smiled warmly, falling into her bed and wrapping the sheet around herself without bothering to undress first. She'd never felt so happy in her life before, not since Biyomon had left her. She wondered, for a moment, what it would have been like if Yutaka had approached her when they were teens. Would she have spent her life happy with him, not living in constant fear for herself and her children?

She could hear her mother's footsteps pause just outside her door, but before the elder Takenouchi could intrude, Sora's cell phone began ringing. The redhead snatched it up quickly, knowing her mother was far too polite to interrupt a private conversation.

"Hello?"

"Sora, I'm not calling too late, am I?"

"Oh, TK." Sora sat up, still wrapped in her sheets. "I was worried – you didn't show up today."

TK made an irritated noise. "I decided that I wasn't going to be part of his lies anymore."

"His lies?" Sora blinked. "About..." The children?

"About Mom." There was the sound of a door shutting. TK must have locked himself in his office like he usually did whenever Matt came up. "He insists that Mom touched him – he has everyone convinced of it, too."

"Wait, you mean Nancy never did any of those things?" So that meant Matt was a monster all on his own.

"Of course not." TK snorted. "My mother was a wonderful woman, not some kind of... freak like he is. He's lied about her and he's lied to you, too."

"To me?" Sora swallowed hard. She knew now that he had done those terrible things to Hanako, what else did this poor abused brother know?

"Of course. You think he just decided to leave you all on his own?" There was a low growl. "I had an interesting chat with Aiko before the funeral. Apparently, my brother was with Joe for longer than we knew. For months before Mom's funeral. And if I know anything about fagots, he's the one that put the idea in Matt's head to leave you."

"But Joe wouldn't do that," Sora whispered. Joe had always been her friend, always supported her...

"Think about it," TK pressed. "Did Matt ever even look at anyone else before he ended up with that rat bastard? Men or women?"

Sora worried at her bottom lip. TK was right, after all. Their whole marriage, Matt had never let on that he was gay. He'd only ever looked at her from that first night – hell, they had two kids together, didn't that prove he was straight? And then that night, the night he came back from the bar...

Tsukuyomi had been the first to talk about it. A tall man had brought their father home. He'd taken Matt to their bedroom and closed the door. It was possible that Joe had... seduced her husband. Convinced Matt that he was gay and to leave her. She'd always seen that look in Joe's eyes whenever he looked at Matt, always known there was something between them ever since they were kids.

Had Joe even convinced Matt to shoot himself? The gun hadn't gone off until she'd said his name.

"Oh, God," Sora whispered. It all made too much sense now. "I... I can't believe it..."

"I never wanted to hurt you," TK told her softly. "But I figured you needed to hear the truth."

"No, TK, you... You've always been wonderful to me. I appreciate it." Again, the presence of her mother could be felt on the other side of her door, and Sora sighed. She would have to account for her tardiness and makeup somehow. "I'll see you soon."

She clicked off the phone and set it on the side table, feeling her brief bout of courage and self-confidence completely drained away with a single call. With a shuddering breath, Sora wiped the tears from her eyes. There was no way she could confront her mother as emotional as she was right now, but she had no other choice. Living under Toshiko's roof and rule, there was nothing she could do on her own.

Joe forced himself to eat another spoonful of his cereal. His stomach was churning, aching horribly, and he hadn't been able to sleep the night before. He dropped his spoon in the bowl, milk splashing over the edge and onto a half-finished puzzle, the third one laid out across the table.

"Aiko," he called, trying to keep his voice calm, "come clean these up."

"No," the boy pouted. Aiko had opened another puzzle and was slowly putting the pieces together on the coffee table in the living room. He didn't even have to look at the box, each piece etched into his mid as to where they would go and who would place them. There was a pile growing beside him of all the edge pieces that Matt always put together. "Yamapapa needs to come home and help me finish them. He promised."

"Yes, well," Joe tried to word it carefully, to not upset his son. "He won't be coming home for a long time." If at all, his traitorous mind added.

"If I keep working on them, he'll come home faster," Aiko said, his childish logic a comfort. After all, the boy figured, if he put any of them away, that was just acknowledging that Matt wasn't coming home. Just like when Detective Ichijouji had him take his things from Nana's house, that was acknowledging that his mother wasn't coming home either. He took a piece of sky and recognized it as the one Matt had laughed at. Quickly, he set it in the pile.

Joe bit his tongue, sighing deeply. He wondered if this was something Aiko would have to go back to therapy for. The twelve year old had been doing so good lately, the nightmares about Tomaru all but gone by now. He glanced at his watch and announced, "We'll talk about this when we come home, Aiko. It's time to go to the courthouse."

Aiko carefully pushed the puzzle to the middle of the table so that it wouldn't fall apart. He knew that when he came home, he would need the space to start on the panda puzzle sitting on the shelf.

Joe ushered his son into the car, making sure he put the seat belt on correctly. The drive wasn't long, but neither had been having much luck with taking care of themselves over the past few days. Aiko was still pouting, crossing his arms like Matt had taught him when they were convincing Joe to upgrade his cable subscription, and the father was worriedly nibbling his bottom lip enough to make it bleed. Not too much longer, Joe tried to tell himself. Surely Gabriel didn't have too many witnesses left and then Cody would undo all her damage, including that rape kit.

Because it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Joe refused to let it be real. Because that meant that Matt had hurt his child, that he had become the monster he thought he had been back in the Digital World...

The drive was silent, Aiko throwing a fit whenever Joe tried to turn on the radio. They arrived quickly. The metal detector went off on Joe, like it did every time, and Aiko sighed irritably. The young child was convinced that every second not spent in court was just another wasted moment, as though if they weren't there it was held directly against Matt. He shuffled his feet and wriggled like Jaciru did before a soccer match, almost running down the hallway to the elevator the moment Joe was through security.

Even the other people on the lift, Joe was certain, could feel the tension between father and son. He tired to place a reassuring hand on Aiko's shoulder, but the boy shrugged him off roughly. Aiko tried to remember how Jaciru always got her way with Tai and Izzy, but he usually spent more time with Nakayama whenever he visited the couple during his father's double shifts.

The doors dinged open, and Aiko hurried off the elevator, listening to Joe apologize for his son's rude behavior. For a moment, Aiko felt guilt gnawing at his chest. He didn't want to be impolite to the poor strangers trying to get to their own trials. He looked to his feet and scuffed his shoe against the polished tile. He just really wanted to get back to his blonde father's side, and support him in this "witch hunt" as Tai had mumbled with an apology to Joe.

"Aiko, please," Joe began. He wanted to let his son know that he wasn't mad at him, just upset at this whole thing. He put his hand on his knees to lower himself to the boy's level and smiled as sweetly as his nerves would allow. "Look, I just wanted to..."

"Excuse me, Dr.," came the venomous voice he used to be familiar with. Joe looked up at Sora, seeing the new wave of anger and judgment in her eyes. "But you're in the way."

Joe sighed and stood, watching as Aiko quickly abandoned him to sit between Izzy and Tai in the front row. "Sora, please, just... stop this whole mess. Can't we go back to the way things used to be?"

"No." Sora shook her head and clutched at her shoulders. Joe could see the pale line of flesh on her hand where her wedding band used to sit. "Yamato has to pay for what he did – you saw the rape kit!"

"We didn't see anything," Joe insisted. "Just because Gabriel said his DNA was in it doesn't mean a thing!"

Sora fumed. "So you're willing to put up with a child molester for, what? A quick lay?" She pointed accusingly. "TK told me everything about you – don't think you can just... take my husband from me!"

"What are you talking about now?"

"You, you... homewrecker!" Joe blinked as Sora sneered. "But whatever, it doesn't matter now. Soon, Yamato will be put away where he deserves and my children will finally be safe!"

Joe frowned after Sora as she stormed into the courtroom, seating herself next to Yolie. The purple haired woman quickly offered Sora a tissue and Joe almost felt bad when he saw her wipe away a tear. But then he saw Matt sitting at his desk, head lowered into his hands, shoulders hunched. There was nothing left to Sora, Joe figured, but a spurned woman who was making up her own lies to get back at a man who had never loved her in the first place. The doctor hurried into the room right before Judge Catherine did, taking his place behind Matt and next to Tai. Izzy looked at Aiko and then at Joe with questions brimming in his eyes, but Joe shook his head. He would explain everything he could later, if Aiko was still mad at him.

Gabriel was at her table and she smiled when she was told to call her witness. A tall redheaded man, all his piercings removed except for the two at the bottoms of his ears to leave his face pale and plain. Brown eyes seethed with rage as he looked at Matt, and there was anger in his voice as he introduced himself on the prosecutor's command.

"Hamasaki, Yutaka."

"How do you know Yamato Ishida?" Gabriel asked, looking over her nails before meeting Yutaka's eyes. Oh, how she loved those vindictive eyes. After learning about him from Sora, he was her absolute star witness. She couldn't be happier to add fuel to the fire she had started under Matt's feet. Her last case was going to go out with a bang! Just like Matt wished his life would.

"We were in a middle school band, the Teen-Age Wolves," Yutaka muttered, barely audible enough for the court reporter and the jury, but good enough. He slacked back in the chair. This entire thing was such a CHORE.

"What kind of bandmate was he?"

"Shitty," Yutaka blurted, used to complaining about the man to his new bandmates. He blushed as the judge eyed him, still irritated from Mimi's testimony the previous day. "N-Not ideal," he reiterated with a shrug. "He drank a lot. He popped pills and sh- stuff, too. He was always..." Yutaka growled to himself, remembering how hard he worked and how hard Matt worked to screw it all up. "Late or didn't show up at all and when he was there all he did was complain that his band wasn't going how he wanted."

"He eventually left the band because of that, right?" Gabriel's gaze flickered to Matt, watching the blonde seethe and knowing the jury would see it too.

"Yeah," Yutaka snorted.

"What was your last performance together like?"

Yutaka chuckled. The entire thing was so ridiculous it amused him. "He, he was so trashed. You wouldn't believe it. He thought he was some kinda rock star and smashed a flippin' sweet Mustang Red Fender, along with part of the stage. He left in the middle of the damn thing; didn't even finish it. I paid for the damages because he disappeared!"

"Well, sounds like fame went to his head." Gabriel almost laughed as she saw a few of the older men nodding, thinking of their own no-good children. "No more questions for this witness."

Cody straightened his suit and approached Yutaka. He hadn't much interaction at all with him, not even as a child when he approached Matt to learn about his younger brother, but immediately the young Chosen could tell he wasn't worth what he thought he was worth.

"How did the Wolves form in the first place?"

Yutaka's lips twitched. "Yamato's idea."

"Where did you two first meet?"

"We were in detention for missing school." Yutaka shrugged grandly, as though it were commonplace knowledge. "Turns out we both loved to practice music rather than study, heh."

"How did you find the other two band members?"

"We held auditions and found Akira and Takashi."

Cody leaned in, a stern look in his eyes that made Yutaka frown and wonder to himself, just how could this lawyer even think of defending a piece of trash like Matt? "Is it true you kicked Yamato out of the very band he started?"

"Yamato didn't want to be there; everyone knew that. I just gave him an excuse to leave."

"How could you tell he didn't want to be there?"

Yutaka growled and said loudly, "Yamato was never there or late, like I said. He just wanted his own band. He didn't care about us."

"So..." Cody walked back to Matt, motioning to his client. "Yamato made the Wolves and wanted to change the direction and you find him in the wrong for that?"

"The band belonged to everyone," Yutaka snapped. Was Cody accusing him of not caring about the Wolves? "Not just him."

"What did Akira and Takashi want to do?"

"I-" Yutaka began, but Gabriel stood quickly.

"Objection," the lawyer snapped. "Hearsay."

Judge Catherine looked to Cody who quickly reworded his question, "Did you all discuss Yamato's plans for the band?"

The redhead shrugged roughly. He didn't like the way Gabriel was glaring. "We voted. The guys didn't seem to care."

"So..." Cody said, once more approaching him, "Only you wanted him out of the band?"

"They were too embarrassed to say it. I just did what we all wanted." Of course Aika and Takashi had wanted Matt out, they were just too nice to say anything.

"Did you know Yamato later on, in college?" Cody wondered aloud.

Yutaka wrinkled his nose, "Fuh, why?"

"Answer the question, please."

"No way," Yutaka snorted. "I didn't want to."

"Did you know that in that time Yamato was pulling straight As and preparing to be an astronaut, a career that takes dedication and hard work?"

"No." The drummer sneered. Why would he give a shit about any of that?

"So," Cody determined, "you've only seen him at his worst?"

"Your Honor," Gabriel objected quickly, "the witness has no idea how Yamato acted during that time period. Besides, even stoners can get straight As if they want."

"Withdrawn. No more questions," Cody breathed as Judge Catherine nodded her agreement and took a seat next to Matt.

"Do you two still talk?" Gabriel asked casually.

Yutaka grinned wide, "Hell no."

"Did you interact with the Ishida household whatsoever?"

"I've been talking for Sora for awhile, ever since their second kid, Tusmi-whatever. I'm dating her now," he added proudly.

What? Matt felt himself snap out of his near coma. He glowered with rage at the sound of his child's name being mangled, making Cody place a hesitant hand on his shoulder. But Matt ignored his lawyer's sudden unease, still thinking. So, that's what the fucking deal is. What the Hell, Sora? Too chickenshit to tell me? Fuckin' Christ.

Sora's immediate reaction was to feel embarrassed, but she was proud. Yutaka was ten times the man her ex ever was. Even Yolie was congratulating her quietly for the "step up" from Matt.

"Did you see Yamato at all?" Gabriel was asking, pulling Sora from her warm thoughts.

"Occasionally."

"How did you witness him acting around his family?"

"He's the same jerk he's always been. A self-centered, emo, brat."

"Were you aware Yamato was allegedly raped as a child?" It made Gabriel irrationally pleased to be able to announce that, her voice growing louder just to drive the words home.

"What the f...Hell do I care? He's had forty years to deal with it. He should have stopped being a victim and started being a man. Besides, it's not like he was a chick, or anything, so I don't think it should have even mattered that much."

Easy for you say, dickweed, Matt seethed as Cody called an objection and Catherine quickly agreed. Let's see how you handle being raped. Then, Matt surprised himself for even thinking such a thing. Sora's tactics were just poisoning him. He hoped he could control himself before his turn came to pass. At this rate, his numbness would fade and he would give everyone what they wanted—a raving homicidal shell of a man.

"No more questions, your honor," Gabriel announced and Cody said the same.

Judge Catherine raised her gavel. "Then we'll take a short recess for lunch." Her bailiff approached, reminding her of a prior obligation with her own child. "Ah, correction. We'll have..." she hmm'd as she thought. "Three hours. We'll all meet back at two." The gavel fell and she quickly excused herself.

Yutaka remained in the stand and sneered at Matt as the blonde was lead away in his handcuffs. He would be placed in his cell for those few hours and Yutaka was glad for it. Keep the monster where he deserved to be.

Matt resisted the urge to break away from his bailiffs and strangle the life out of his old drummer. Shouldn't have mattered, his ass! So what, Matt thought, if I'd been a little girl touched by Daddy, you'd've given a shit? Not just tossed me out on my ass when I begged for help?

He was checked in and the bars slammed shut behind him, giving him just enough room to put his wrists through for the handcuffs to come off. The court officers left quickly and Matt looked around at what had become his home for the past few days. A cot chained to the wall, toilet that backed up whenever he had to flush it, and a mattress lumpier than the curry Joe used to make at the Diner.

Matt sat on the floor, the thought of any kind of bed making him shudder and dry-heave, and pulled his knees to his chest. He missed Joe desperately, needing the other man to reassure him. Am I really making a big deal out of this...? he couldn't help but think. He tried to cling to the thought that he was being wronged, that he was innocent, but he could only hear the mocking laughter of the police when his father brought him to the station.

"Damn, I wish I had that boy's luck," one of them was snickering, not caring if the crying six year old heard him. "That Ishida woman is a fox."

"I don't think he came here to complain," another was saying, leering at the woman being questioned. "I think he's here to brag."

Matt dug his fingers into his hair and tugged at the strands, trying to get the pain to distract him. He wished he was a teenager again so he could raid his dad's liquor cabinet. He could get blackout drunk again, block out the voices the way he always had. But the officer watching his cell wouldn't let him. Hell, they wouldn't even let him smoke and the lack of nicotine was driving him insane!

"I've been talking for Sora for awhile, ever since their second kid." Yutaka's words played in Matt's mind again, and he latched onto them.

"Yutaka..." he snarled into his knees. If he could take find his anger, direct it at someone who deserved it... "You son of a bitch, what the hell have you been doing with my wife?"

Since Tsukuyomi was born, Yutaka had admitted. Or, really, before that...

Matt tried to picture his son in his mind. Warm amber eyes, wild red hair, a wonderful way with music. He'd always thought Tsukuyomi had just looked like Sora, but was it possible that she had...? With Yutaka of all people? Matt cursed when he thought, Was this all a ploy by her? To keep me distracted from figuring it out?

The day Sora had come home to announce her pregnancy, that was when she'd gone crazy on him. Was she accusing him of hurting Hanako to cover up her own affair? But why would she carry it on so long, drag him so far down? He tired to think back, to the night they had even made Tsukuyomi, but he couldn't remember anything past his fifth shot of whiskey, being driven to drink after another Hellish visit from Toshiko.

"I'm such an idiot..." Matt growled, thumping his knuckles against the plate in his head. "How the hell could I have never seen it before? Tsuku-chan... isn't even mine..."

Hooray, a special early update for everyone! I wanted to get this one up before tomorrow since I'll be super busy (getting the last details down before my wedding on Saturday~) and I really didn't want to leave you guys with another unannounced break.

And for everyone who's worried about poor Matt and Hanako, don't worry - there's still plenty left for me to do to them - I mean, plenty left to come~