Ishida Yamato stared down the hallway as the head of brunette
hair went through the double doors. He sighed and turned, heading
towards his locker. He was eager to get the books that he would need
that night, and just get out of there. Together, the eight of them had
saved the digital world from countless evils-- well, maybe Koushiro
had counted --and then returned home, leaving their best friends
behind, the ones who knew them better than anyone else. Yamato
recounted the events of their last day in the digital world as he
slowly went through the books, trying to decide if he needed it or
not, trusting his memory to keep better track of assignments than a
piece of paper could.
     The gateway between worlds would close when the eclipse ended
and if they wished to return to their own world, they had to leave
then. The eight chosen ones had had time to say their goodbyes, except
for Mimi, and return home. Why didn't we take our digimon back with
us?!? cursed Yamato silently as he slammed his locker shut. Several
passer-bys gave him a strange look before carrying on with their
previous conversation. He sighed again and started walking. Despite
their time together, the eight chosen ones had, for the most part,
drifted apart since that summer. Hikari and Takeru were the only ones
who were still friends. But even they, it seemed, were moving on to
new friends as they grew older. Mimi attended an expensive private
school, and went to the mall with her rich friends. Koushiro was so
busy with his job repairing computers that he no longer had time to
socialize with anyone. Jyou was just as pressed for time, trying to
live up to his parents' expectations of his grades. Sora attended a
different high school than everyone else did, and partied with her
soccer teammates, which of course, didn't include Taichi. But Taichi
also hung out with his soccer friends, saying hi to Yamato, Jyou, and
Koushiro once a blue moon.
     Yamato suddenly remembered that he needed his chemistry book to
study the periodic table, and turned around quickly to return to his
locker. It had been several years since the digital world and so much
had changed. Every night, Yamato fell asleep wishing that things could
be the way they once were. He wished they could be fighting for their
lives in the digital world again. He wished he and Taichi could fight
side-by-side, and sometimes against each other, once again. Now,
everyone had gone their separate ways and had their new friends.
Yamato didn't. He didn't need new friends. He didn't need any friends,
actually. He was perfectly content to be all by himself. Nobody to
worry about, to cause him problems...
     He popped his locker open again, pulling out the chemistry book
and stuffing it in his bag. Who was he kidding? He needed Gabumon.
Gabumon was the one person, well, digimon, he could trust more than
anyone else, who would never betray or hurt him. He needed his best
friend again. He needed Gabumon. He needed somebody to talk about...
     No! He shook his head, forcing the thought out. He continued to
walk home, letting his mind drift from subject to subject as he
walked, in an attempt to keep the brunette beauty out of his-
     Carbon is six! Oxygen is eight! Hydrogen is one! Helium is two!
The capital of Austria is Vienna! The capital of Berlin is Germany!
No, the capital of Germany is Berlin! Yeah, that's right! Berlin is a
city! Germany is a country! Japan is a country! Brazil is a country!
Canada is a country! Ahead, outside the convenience store, was Taichi
talking to Rei-san and Akito-san. Taichi hadn't seen him yet, so
Yamato pulled the chemistry book out and began staring intently at the
periodic table. Don't look at him. You don't see him. You're studying.
Keep walking. Am I past yet? No, don't look to find out. Keep walking.
After a few minutes, then check. Oxygen, helium, beryllium, baron? Oh
a smudge... Boron.
     Yamato let out a loud grunt as he was tackled sideways onto the
ground. His chemistry book went tumbling into the street, run over by
several cars. As a wind gust hit, a page covering electron orbits went
shooting behind Yamato. He looked up.
     "Are you okay? Yama...to?"
     "What happened?"
     "You almost walked into traffic!"
     "I... Um..." Yamato began to turn red.
     "I said hi to you, but I guess you didn't hear me, 'cause you
kept walking. You were about to get hit by a car, and you seemed to be
walking pretty fast, and I tried to stop you. Sorry about the book."
     "Oh, it's no- Hi."
     Taichi laughed suddenly as Yamato stared at him with a confused
look. "You hit your head?"
     "No, I'm fine... Arigatou. Domo arigatou... You saved my life."
He saved his life. He would be dead right now if it weren't for
Taichi. The boy had saved him.
     "Just be more careful, okay?"
     "Yeah... I will..." Yamato smiled as he stood up and brushed
himself off. "I don't know how to thank you for saving my life, but
the next chance I get, I'll save yours."
     "You better," Taichi smiled.
     "Well, I'll see you around," Yamato said as he waved and ran off.
----------
     Maybe I should call him, so I can hear his voice... But what am I
gonna say? "Thanks for saving my life! I just wanted to thank you
again!" Yeah, right... But he saved my life... I mean, that's so
romantic... Now I gotta buy another chemistry book. Oh well. It was
worth it; Tai-kun tackled me! No, he was just saving my life. Any
decent person would have done the same thing...
----------
     Yamato stepped out of the doorway, staring blankly as the rest of
his class chatted away before departing for the next class. Maybe if
he had been put in the same classes as Taichi, he would have an excuse
to talk to him... "Hey, did you get today's geometry assignment? I
forgot to copy it down."
     But he didn't. Just a bunch of classes with a bunch of people he
didn't know. He knew a few of their names; they'd been in classes for
several months now, after all. But he didn't have anything to say to
them. There were always a few girls in each class that giggled at his
hot looks. The flattery almost made him smile sometimes. Almost. It
was never enough. And it was never Taichi.
     Well now it was. Ahead of Yamato, in the hallway, was Taichi.
This was it. He'd say hi this time. Let him know that the keeper of
friendship wouldn't mind a friend. "Hey, Tai,"
     "Hey, Yamato. You feeling better today?"
     "Dude, what was up with that? You practically walked into a car!"
exclaimed Rei.
     "Were you committing suicide or something?" asked Akito.
     "Nah, he probably can't read the words, 'don't walk!'"
     "I wasn't paying attention," Yamato replied, but they didn't hear
him. He turned around, his cheeks turning red again, and walked off.
     "Yama-chan..." Taichi whispered as the blonde faded into the
crowd.
----------
     They were idiots, so why did he keep hanging out with them?
Taichi thought back to the events in the hallway as he tapped his
pencil against the desk. Sure, Rei and Akito were idiots, but they
were fun idiots. If he needed to talk about something important, he
could always turned to Hikari. Except now. He couldn't talk to Hikari
about... Yamato.
     He had seen Yamato pass by him, but he seemed so... into whatever
he was reading, that Taichi hadn't wanted to embarrass himself by
saying hi to someone who wouldn't hear. But he watched Yamato out of
the corner of his eye. And when he had realized that Yamato wasn't
stopping, he had to stop him from walking into traffic. He had been
afraid that Yamato would be mad about the book, but apparently the
gratitude for having his life saved outweighed the price of a
textbook.
     And today, Yamato had actually come and said hi to him! Then
those idiot friends of his embarrassed Yamato. Taichi had always been
the more forward one; he should have gone after Yamato! But he hadn't.
And instead, he was taking a geometry test. Who cared how many sides a
dodecagon had? A dodecamon, on the other hand... Spinning Geodisc!
That'd be a cool attack... Not as cool as Pepper Breath, Agumon's
attack. Agumon was the only one he could talk to... But the gate was
closed. No way back to the digital world. No way to be with Yama-chan.
No way to live happily ever after. Just soccer for the rest of his
life. Soccer. He could remember when that was the most important thing
to him. Not anymore. Yama-chan...
----------
     Yamato ran to the phone and picked it up quickly, "Hello?"
     "May I speak to Yamato-san, please?"
     "This is him..."
     "Hi, this is Taichi..."
     Tai-kun...
     "H-hi... What's up?"
     "I just wanted to apologize..."
     "F-for what?"
     "My friends. They're idiots. You weren't paying attention and
almost walked into traffic. We all make mistakes."
     "It's okay. I'm not mad. And thank you, again, for saving my
life."
     ...
     ...
     "Listen, I've got homework to do" Yamato began, "so I gotta let
you go, okay?"
     "Yeah, cool."
     -click-
     Yamato leaned against the wall, holding the phone in place on its
cradle, breathing heavily. Tai-kun called him! He wiped his forehead
with the sleeve of his shirt as he realized he was sweating from the
nervousness.
     "And I dissed him..." he whispered. "Baka."
     Yamato grabbed a box of pocky from the shelf and shoved several
sticks of the strawberry-creme-covered sticks into his mouth. He sat
on the sofa, slowly munching the pocky and replaying the conversation
over and over in his head.
     When he was halfway-finished with the box, he picked up the
cordless phone and began to dial. He knew Taichi's number by heart.
Ever since they got back from the digital world the first time, he
never forgot it.
     "Hello?"
     "Taichi?"
     "Yamato?"
     "Yeah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hung up on you like that... I-
I-"
     "It's okay."
     "Thanks." Yamato pulled another stick of pocky out, but it broke,
one half falling on the floor. He leaned over to pick it up. "I know
your number by heart," he blurted out suddenly.
     Silence. Silence on the other end. Baka! Baka! Baka! Be cool,
never take chances!
     "I know yours, too."
     Silence. What should he say?
     "Thanks," he said again. How many times had he said that in the
past twenty-four hours?
     "You wanna hang out sometime?"
     "Sure. There's a new movie I wanted to see..."
     "Friday?" Taichi hadn't even asked what movie.
     "Yeah."
     "See you then?"
     "See you then."
     -click-