Kenako

Kenako is the het ship between Ken Amada and Kotone Shiomi from the Persona fandom.

Canon
Kotone officially met Ken when Ikutsuki introduced him at the front entrance of Gekkoukan High School on July 18th after 1st Semester Final Exams. Kotone meets Ken again in August after he officially joins S.E.E.S.

Social Links
Ken’s Social Link starts on September 1st if the player has maximum Courage. Ken seems to enjoy Kotone's company. At the end of 1st rank, Ken asks her if he can order a large drink of milk while blushing at Kotone, implying he wants to grow taller than her. On the 2nd rank, Ken felt depressed over his mother’s passing and didn’t have much of an appetite. Kotone can ask him about “What’s popular at his school,” He talks about Featherman R, which cheers him up, but he refuses to admit he watched it and claims he heard it from his school. When Ken gets his appetite back, he asks her if she watches any TV shows. If the player chooses “I like action shows too,” he will be surprised that an adult and a girl are interested in that. On 3rd rank, Ken will happily admit that he enjoys spending time with her. They talk about how much they have in common, like reading manga (if the player chose manga).

On the 4th rank, if Kotone asks if she eats his food, he refuses and starts finishing his meal. When he asks her if she won’t get big and strong if she doesn’t eat right, she responds, “It’s true,” and he starts eating his food. Ken will try to stop Kotone from overeating as he believes if she eats more, he won’t be able to grow taller than her. On 6th rank, Kotone notices something black on his wrist, where he shyly admits he got ink from his calligraphy class. He says it was for homework about writing the name of something he likes, and he only wrote “omelet and fried rice.” When Kotone suggests she can make something for him something, Ken blushes and tells her that she doesn’t have to but keep down. He looks happy. At the end of 6th rank, he realizes he and Kotone are six years apart. He was about to tell her something, but he decided not to. Ken’s Social Link was paused after October 4th. An extra scene is shown where Ken takes Kotone to the same place where Shinjiro saved his life.

On 7th rank, Kotone decides to make Ken an omelet and fried rice for him at the dorm, which makes Ken very happy. He will ask her if she has a boyfriend. There are a few options if the player decides to make one, which makes Ken sad.

Platonic Route
On Rank 7th, Ken will express disappointment and sadness if Kotone admits she has a boyfriend (Shinjiro, Akihiko, or Ryoji). If the player chooses to remain friends, Ken will view her as an older sister figure and an essential friend to him.

Lover Route
However, she chooses,” I don’t have one.” Ken expresses relief, and then he asks if there is anyone she likes. If she admits she likes him, Ken will be angry and believe she teases him because he’s a kid. He tells her if he said he wanted her, would it bother her? If she responds, “Not really, " he will apologize for asking something so weird. He thanks her for the food she made for him.

On the 8th rank, choosing from, remaining friends, or becoming lovers is a significant decision. If she admits she likes him, at first, Ken refuses to believe her since he’s tired of being lied to by adults, but he will finally admit he also has feelings for her. In the second extra scene, Ken tells Kotone to keep their relationship with everyone a secret since if they found out, it would get weird. On the 9th rank, Ken tells her to wait for him, and he’ll try to catch up as fast as he can to get taller and more potent than everybody else. The final rank of his Social Link with Ken is when Kotone invites him to her room. He says he will always be by her side, and never leave her behind. Ken will ask her to swear that she’ll stay with him and that she chooses to let him be there for her.

Dear Girls Comic Anthology
Which non-canon, in the Dear Girls Anthology commissioned by Ichijinsha. In one of the chapters, "I Am in Love with You", Ken secretly has a crush on Femc and wants her to treat him like an adult instead of a kid.

The Weird Masquerade
In Act 2, Kotone meets Ken at the Naganaki Shrine during the Dark Hour after Shinjiro uses Akihiko’s Evoker to summon Castor to defeat Arcana Hierophant. After Yakushimas’ trip, Kotone has no problem with Ken joining S.E.E.S. as she kindly welcomes him. During the summer festival, Kotone is asked by Shinjiro to hold Ken’s hand so he won’t get lost in the crowd. She grabbed his hand until after Shinjiro won a goldfish for Ken. After Shinjiro went comatose, Kotone found Ken in the back alley of Tatsumi Port Island. She comforts Ken, tells him not to waste Shinjiro’s sacrifice, and tells him to live.

Jounrey

 * Ken is an option to go on a date with her at the Movie Festival in August.
 * Ken is an option for a Christmas Eve date if he becomes Kotone’s lover.
 * In the New Plus Game of the PSP version, a non-canon alternative ending sees Kotone die when the player chooses a love interest. Ken is one of the options for this ending, where he promises her he’ll look after her.

Fanon
Kenako is undoubtedly the most taboo fan shipping in the Persona 3 fanbase. The fan shipping has mixed comments about them. Kenako can either be in a brother-sister-like relationship like AkiHam or as lovers. Ken is Kotone's youngest love interest. None of the protagonists, like her counterpart Makoto or Yu and Ren after her, don’t have the option to date someone significantly younger than them. Most of them left either ambiguous, one-sided love, or platonic. Most fans protray grow up mid-teen or teenage Ken still together with Kotone without any consequence of her becoming the Great Seal.

On AO3, Kenako has a total of 52.

Quotes
"P-Please swear to me too. Swear that you'll stay with me... That you choose to let me be there for you... Please swear it, right now..."

- Ken, ask Kotone to stay by his side in Persona 3 Portable

"That's... not what I asked for... But, it's okay. I'm sure that it'll turn out that way, even if you don't swear it to me out loud. ...I'll sure you never have to be alone."

- Ken, to Kotone if she hasn't sworn to him in Persona 3 Portable

"I'm sorry, I... I had forgotten all this time... I forgot about how I fought by your side, about the promise we all made... Even the miracle you performed..."

- Ken, apologizing to Kotone in his ending

"From now on, I'll look after you."

- Ken, Persona 3 Portable

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Kenako is the only relationship to be toned down in the Western version if they become lovers. The text replaced “You spend a long time with Ken” (Japanese version) with “You spend a long time talking with Ken.” (US version)