Prologue

I thought I'd never be the same, but the world soon went back to normal, and after awhile, so did I. Life became what it was before I met Guilmon. Kazu and Kenta still tell bad jokes only they thought funny, and Asagi-sensei still gives too much homework. Sometimes, I take the long way home, and visit Guilmon's shed to see if he's there. I don't know why I bother: he never is.

It's also a shame that we're all drifting apart. I don't see so much of Kazu and Kenta these days. We used to play Battle Cards all the time, but now the card game seems so lame, after real digibattles. Ruki lives east of the railroad station, and goes to a different school, so I haven't seen her since the digimon left. Jen's gone back to being the loner gamer, techno-nerd. He was always doing things on his own, preferring to play on-line rather than in person. He never did join us for Battle Cards. He'd rather study Kenpo with Cho-sensei. Juri sometimes stops by the bakery, running errands for her mother, but we don't talk about digimon much. She lost her interest in Battle Cards too, and her desire to become the next Digimon Queen.

Most times I'm OK, but one thing bothers me more than anything else: a promise I made to a friend – a promise I don't think I can keep.