August 2003 - Second Memorial
Hey! Inoue Miyako here!
It's summer break, so I've mostly been spending time hanging out with my friends. This isn't to say we're not busy, though! There are lots of crazy things happening in the Digital World, and more and more Chosen Children are popping up each day. Izumi-senpai's going left and right trying to get them help as soon as possible, so it's tough.
Still, we're doing well! Everyone's always working hard, so it's reassuring. We are the Chosen Children, after all – there aren't a lot of things that can get in our way for long!
I guess that's it. Bye for now!
"Taichi-senpai!"
Daisuke waved cheerily, leading Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari behind him. Taichi greeted them, in turn having Yamato, Sora, and Jou with him.
"Eh? Isn't Mimi-oneesama coming?" said Miyako.
"It's still an awkward time in America, but she'll be here in a minute," said Sora.
"Ken's not here yet, either," said Daisuke. "Honestly, he's always late…"
As if on cue, Mimi and Ken came in running from different directions, apologizing in their own ways – Mimi casually and cheerfully brushing it off in her bubbly manner and Ken apologizing for causing them to wait.
"Well, well. Is everyone here? We'll get going, then," said Taichi.
They started to walk through a path of trees, following Taichi's lead. Taichi was following the path rather confidently, with all the other trailing behind.
"Taichi, where are we going?" asked Yamato.
"You'll see, you'll see!"
They continued walking after a fashion until they reached a clearing in the forest. Taichi grinned and sat down cross-legged right in the middle of it.
"We're here!"
"Eh?" Daisuke started inspecting the area around him. "What's so special about this place?"
Taichi grinned with the smile that he always gave when he was very, very proud with himself. "This is a place where something amazing happened four years ago…"
"Oh! I remember!" said Jou.
Before he could continue and explain what exactly he had just remembered, a crowd of Digimon ran towards them – Agumon and the others, running towards the group to greet them.
The older Chosen Children embraced their partners, and the younger ones took some time to enjoy the scene before Daisuke managed to ask "…so, Taichi-san…what's the important part of this place?"
Taichi laughed and gave his cheerful smile again, and Agumon answered for him.
"This is where Taichi and I first met!"
If it hadn't been for the significance of the location, it would have been easy to miss. It was simply a small clearing in the forest, nothing too special – yet there was a sort of heaviness in the air.
Four years prior, in 1999...four years prior, Agumon, then a Koromon, had met Taichi for the first time. Seven Digimon had met their seven human partners, creating a bond that could never be broken.
"So this is where it all started, huh…" Daisuke looked around. "That must have been quite a shock for Taichi-san, falling out of the sky like that, only to see something like that…"
"Come to think of it, I think it'd be more accurate to say that Miyako-san found me rather than me finding Miyako-san," said Hawkmon.
"Hm, I suppose you're right," said Miyako. Indeed, over a year ago, she'd journeyed to that temple with Iori, Sora, and Koushirou. Yet somehow, such a place like that felt so…grandiose compared to this humble clearing in the middle of the forest.
They quickly set up picnic there and ate, with the senior Chosen Children and their Digimon waxing nostalgic about things. Miyako watched and listened with interest, but there was something nagging at her...
"You need to stop thinking that way, Miyako-chan."
"Eh?"
Mimi came up from behind Miyako and giggled. "You were thinking something silly like how impressive-sounding we are, right?"
"I…something like that."
"It's written all over your face." She came close to Miyako and whispered. "Look at Ichijouji-kun."
Miyako looked at Ken and Daisuke, who were listening to some story Taichi was telling about food and camping out near an unstable cliffside. Ken was completely and utterly all ears – ah, yes, he wasn't able to learn about this last year, for obvious reasons – while Daisuke threw in a comment once in a while about how cool Taichi was.
"He looks pretty interested, don't you think? Yet it's been a little under a year since we became friends with him and we still don't know a lot about him. And to be honest, I still think there's something I'd like to know." She winked. "So…would you be interested in telling me about your little adventures from last year?"
"M-me? But I don't think it's all that interesting compared to…"
"And I told you, you need to stop thinking that way. You and everyone here ended up saving the Digital World and our world in the end after all, didn't we? So we're all the same, we're all Chosen Children."
"I would be interested in what you have to tell us, too, Miyako-kun," said Koushirou.
Miyako paused nervously for a moment, but eventually started with a random story about how she and Daisuke had accidentally caused some damage to a Punimon village. Soon after, Daisuke chimed in with his take on the story, and before long it was the six of them telling their long-winded anecdotes to the others.
And that was when Miyako realized that she really did have a story to tell, after all.