He had an interesting start with Tadashi because they talked on the network, then he learned about Hiro's dead brother, then he met Tadashi in person and realized who he is. Wow, awkward. But Ken's long since moved on from viewing Tadashi with just that understanding -- he's not just "Hiro's brother" now, but a very important friend to Ken, too. His empathy with Hiro's situation is just the whipped cream and cherry, although no true sundae is complete without them. Tadashi's a member of one of Ken's two 'home's here in the imPort towns, and he's a big piece of the world he's started to build around himself again. He has no idea what a real brother is like, at least not in the sense of knowing what it's like to have one, but he knows Tadashi is a really good one for Hiro and he's cemented himself as a really important person to him. He likes that he's kind. He likes that he's inclusive. And he's so touched that Tadashi's letting him come along on this roadtrip.
Ken's pretty protective of Tadashi, but in an indirect way. He's really protective of anybody he likes, but Tadashi especially is because Ken cannot bear to stand aside if Hiro might lose his family again. That pain is the worst, and Ken's terrified of Hiro having to go through it again and that grows more and more every day that he sees them because how do you go through that a second time? He tries to quash it as much as he can but if he lets his guard down he's sure he'll start projecting onto the two of them and he really, really wants to avoid that, just as much as he tries to ignore how envious he is. He's happy that Tadashi can be here for his brother but every time he sees them together, he misses his mother more. He's aware of that feeling but not of how deep it runs, and it's the sort of emotion where if the right buttons are pressed enough times it'll take form like a Shadow and claw its way out of him.
There's no real danger of that though and Ken is genuinely happy for Tadashi to get this chance! He doesn't intend to bring it up (directly) ever that he knows about his death. He assumes that if Tadashi knows he knows, then that's that. If Tadashi doesn't, then it doesn't matter? His decision to do what he can to support the brothers is his own and it won't be swayed by anything, and if he's ever in the vicinity when Tadashi's in a pinch there will definitely be a small spear-swinging child coming down to protect him no matter what risk it puts his own life in. It's what it means now to be someone Ken likes, and Tadashi with his gentle nature and big smiles and friendly hugs is definitely on that list. Ken's lost his world once before, and he's convinced that he's destined to lose it again when the time to leave this world comes, since Jaime told him that there's no discovered way yet for anybody to bring things from this world back to their own. And he hates that, because it sucks that he'll have to lose everything again? So he's been trying to ignore the hell out of that so instead he's going to heed Magicman's advice and cut down (practically) anything that could chip at his world while he's in this one, and like I said, Tadashi is a big, big piece of this.
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He had an interesting start with Tadashi because they talked on the network, then he learned about Hiro's dead brother, then he met Tadashi in person and realized who he is. Wow, awkward. But Ken's long since moved on from viewing Tadashi with just that understanding -- he's not just "Hiro's brother" now, but a very important friend to Ken, too. His empathy with Hiro's situation is just the whipped cream and cherry, although no true sundae is complete without them. Tadashi's a member of one of Ken's two 'home's here in the imPort towns, and he's a big piece of the world he's started to build around himself again. He has no idea what a real brother is like, at least not in the sense of knowing what it's like to have one, but he knows Tadashi is a really good one for Hiro and he's cemented himself as a really important person to him. He likes that he's kind. He likes that he's inclusive. And he's so touched that Tadashi's letting him come along on this roadtrip.
Ken's pretty protective of Tadashi, but in an indirect way. He's really protective of anybody he likes, but Tadashi especially is because Ken cannot bear to stand aside if Hiro might lose his family again. That pain is the worst, and Ken's terrified of Hiro having to go through it again and that grows more and more every day that he sees them because how do you go through that a second time? He tries to quash it as much as he can but if he lets his guard down he's sure he'll start projecting onto the two of them and he really, really wants to avoid that, just as much as he tries to ignore how envious he is. He's happy that Tadashi can be here for his brother but every time he sees them together, he misses his mother more. He's aware of that feeling but not of how deep it runs, and it's the sort of emotion where if the right buttons are pressed enough times it'll take form like a Shadow and claw its way out of him.
There's no real danger of that though and Ken is genuinely happy for Tadashi to get this chance! He doesn't intend to bring it up (directly) ever that he knows about his death. He assumes that if Tadashi knows he knows, then that's that. If Tadashi doesn't, then it doesn't matter? His decision to do what he can to support the brothers is his own and it won't be swayed by anything, and if he's ever in the vicinity when Tadashi's in a pinch there will definitely be a small spear-swinging child coming down to protect him no matter what risk it puts his own life in. It's what it means now to be someone Ken likes, and Tadashi with his gentle nature and big smiles and friendly hugs is definitely on that list. Ken's lost his world once before, and he's convinced that he's destined to lose it again when the time to leave this world comes, since Jaime told him that there's no discovered way yet for anybody to bring things from this world back to their own. And he hates that, because it sucks that he'll have to lose everything again? So he's been trying to ignore the hell out of that so instead he's going to heed Magicman's advice and cut down (practically) anything that could chip at his world while he's in this one, and like I said, Tadashi is a big, big piece of this.