AN: Okay to be perfectly honest as much as I wanted to write a full chapter here, I decided that literally anything I would normally put after the otherwise half of a chapter seen here would cause too much of a mood whiplash with the events prior. With that, I decided it was for the best that this chapter was considered finished halfway through my usual word count and decided that the character focus on Ken was more than enough to make up for it.

So without spoiling anything else any further, let us begin.

Digimon Re: Adventure Chapter 10.5:

To every other person in the world it was merely a shocking blow but nothing they couldn't adjust to; to have Digimon suddenly within their lives was one thing and one thing alone, and eventually coexistence is slowly being achieved. 15 long years of it have been farmed between the two kinds, presumably long enough to where peace could be achieved, even despite the current state of the Digital World.

15 years; what a man like Ichijouji Ken wouldn't give for information that predates even that.

"I hide so much in my mind at times. I often wonder to myself; is anybody ready for the information I hold so dear to myself? For if the future is inevitably foretold, and my past interaction with this monster is nothing more than a foregone conclusion, I realize that, after all of these years, I may not have a choice at all." Ken rambles to himself, in a very soft, gentle tone, although sounding as though he's being harsh to himself alone as he does.

Ken gets up out of bed in a darkness filled bedroom; he has a bunk bed, a very large portion of it being on the bottom, and a smaller bed atop the one he rested on lays in his sight. A slumbering form of some kind could be made out in the darkness, but Ken isn't too certain how to react. In the bottom bed, sleeping at peace with herself, is his girlfriend, Inoue Miyako.

Ken, walking back over to the bed, moves to kneel down by the side of the bed, as he moves a hand to, very carefully and very gently at that, brush a strand of hair out of Miyako's face.

"I try so hard to please you whenever I can… I often wonder to myself, am I indeed who you wish to stay with til death do we part? I worry constantly, too often at that, that being with me will only endanger you further." Ken says, quietly speaking as he rambles to himself about his girlfriend, as he moves to stand up, and walk over towards a water container, much like one would see in public with paper cups and everything, as Ken moves quietly to get himself a small drink.

Pouring himself a cup of water to drink, he moves to take a small sip of it, before setting it on his desk near his bed. As he does, he notices the water left inside the cup vibrating, as Ken looks off towards the side and sees his Digivice, a black and silver colored one, vibrating as someone is trying to call him right now. Ken, sighing all the while, grabs his Digivice, and moves to leave the room so he doesn't disturb Miyako.

A move he made a little too late; Miyako slowly has been stirring as she could've sworn she heard Ken speak, yet alone the fact he moved out of bed earlier than that. Miyako tries to rouse herself awake more to check on Ken, knowing what has been troubling him as of late.

Ken, meanwhile, is in another room, holding a vial of Black Digitron in his hand, as Ken gazes upon it as his mental state tries to process what exactly to consider this substance's meaning to him.

"Is it the past that ultimately serves as the driving force of the present and future? Are our choices even our own anymore, once we realize what we've done in the past? Lashing out at Takeru like that a few days ago, that was uncalled for, it truly was." Ken speaks, as he turns to face a mirror in the room he's in, all the while the dimly lit room is making things hard to see for Ken. Ken, approaching the mirror, with the vial in hand, moves to hold his left hand up to cover the left side of his face.

"Tell me, truly, what is it you honestly think is in store for us both when it comes to this vial in our hand?" Ken asks to his reflection in the mirror, as his gaze is fixated on his own as he begins to wait for a response.

Why he tries to wait for a response is anyone's guess; he simply gazes with an intense intrigue into his own reflection, just to see what would ultimately make himself tick. Ken observes himself still, even as Miyako moves to approach from the hallway, although keeping distant in the shadows to avoid disturbing Ken.

"Go on, tell me; what have I ever done to you to deserve this insanity within myself?" Ken speaks to himself in the mirror, but still nothing out of the ordinary happens. Ken, carefully holding the vial of Black Digitron in hand, as his hand slowly begins to tremble, continues to gaze at himself in the mirror.

Minutes pass in what seem like an eternity for Ken, as well as the observing Miyako. Ken honestly can't decide as to whether he's wasting his time with whatever he hopes to accomplish; he had behaved very inconsistent over the past few days, and he believes something with his psyche was the root of the problem. Still, though, nothing out of the ordinary happens with his reflection in the mirror, as Ken's eyes narrow a bit in hostility as he grits his teeth.

"Very well, you leave me with no other choice… I will get you to talk, one way or another." Ken speaks to himself in the mirror, as Ken moves into the cabinet beside himself to look for something inside, before eventually finding what he's looking for. Miyako stares in shock as she witnesses Ken pull out a pocket knife. Thrusting open the blade just before his neck, just barely avoiding cutting himself the process, as he holds the knife, dull side facing his throat, as he stares intensively into his reflection, as if expecting a response to finally occur now that his own life is in imminent danger from himself.

'Ken what lengths are you willing to go for this?!' Miyako thinks to herself; she can't bring herself to move right now, lest she risks Ken hurting himself with the knife by her startling him. Ken unflinchingly glares at his own reflection, getting tired very quickly of his reflection not responding to him.

"I know you're in there, you twisted son of a bitch; you will talk!" Ken begins to raise his voice, all the while moving to raise the knife above his head and pointing the tip towards the mirror.

"YOU WILL ANSWER ME THIS INSTANT!" Ken shouts, as he thrusts the knife, and indirectly, his entire hand clear through the mirror. The sound of glass shattering echoes across the room as though thunder had struck at that very moment, as Ken's eyes are too intense in a glare at the now broken reflection of himself still visible in the mirror. Ken, initially struggling to get his hand free, moves to yank his hand out of the mirror, his entire left hand bleeding with the numerous cuts caused by breaking the mirror.

Ken's eyes soften, though, as he continues to see in the mirror that nothing in his reflection is changing or responding to him. Whatever he is seeing right now, though, is not what Miyako is seeing regarding her boyfriend.

Ken's eyes are glazed over from the intense feeling of the situation he's getting, even as his expression softens a bit; Ken can't tell if he's seeing things or not, but his mind finally ticks on something he sees in the mirror. In the mirror he sees himself, with a smug, sadistic look of satisfaction on his face, but he can no longer tell if this is the response he's wanted, or if the mirror's shattered remnants are only playing on his immense paranoia right now.

"I can't tell if that's actually you, and yet I can feel as though I see you smirking at my pain. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"…" Miyako is quiet, too quiet for her own good, all the while she watches helplessly as Ken is going through a bit of a breakdown right now. Even as Ken begins to soften in his gaze, he can't bring himself to be anywhere near as polite to himself in the mirror.

Instead, what Miyako hears at least, is Ken's own voice in reality being what sounds like who is smirking at his own pain, and not Ken's own reflection as to how Ken himself sees it. Ken's vision begins to blur, all the while Ken's left hand continues to bleed onto the floor.

Finally, Miyako moves to try and make herself known in the room, but as Ken moves to look at her, his vision has blurred immensely. At this point, everything he sees becomes a blank, as he winds up passing out on the floor; a considerable amount of blood had leaked from his hand, and it continues to do so, with Miyako grabbing her phone and calling for backup.

"Jou! It's urgent! I need you over here ASAP!"

AN: This chapter is partially meant to clear up some confusion to be had with Ken's characterization as seen in prior chapters; one time he was at Takeru's throat over what happened to GrandisKuwagamon, who is implied to be Wormmon's Ultimate form here (bonus points if you catch the reference with the form choice), and another time not very long ago he was perfectly normal and timid because Miyako wears the pants in the relationship between the two. The characterization is intentional for both cases, I just never elaborated exactly *why* that characterization exists in such jarring contrasts with each other until now.