To Be Sincere and Kind "Ken!" I turned to see Yolei running to catch up with me. I stopped in my tracks and waited until she reached my side. "Hi. You're a morning person, aren't you?" I couldn't help but note she looked pretty tired. It was Monday morning, two days since I the soccer match and my earlier attempt to meld into the Digidestineds' circle of friends. I hadn't seen any of them since last Saturday. I spent most of Sunday just hanging around the apartment with Leafmon or my parents. "I guess," I said with a slight shrug. I never had trouble getting up for school, but I had spent so much time lying down lately that I ranked pretty high on the lazy scale. "Lucky," she remarked. "I'm running late. Normally I walk to school with T.K. and Cody, but I overslept today. Gotta go!" With that, she took off at a run in the direction of the public junior high. I continued walking towards my own school. What had just happened was a bit bizarre. She was late for school, yet she stopped for no other reason than to just say hello. At school I was able to focus on the work I was assigned. It was fairly simple--review mostly. The semester exams are next week and naturally, everyone has to be prepared. School is actually a very good place for me to spend time at. I can become absorbed in what I'm doing and forget, at least for a few hours, what I had done in the past. School was probably the easiest thing in my life in the real world to get readjusted to. Home had changed drastically. My parents were so sure that my 'disappearance' a few months back had something to do with them, or how I was raised. It did, probably, but that didn't mean I wanted them to be different people. I was the only one who had to become a different person. And then there was the Digidestined. We went from enemies, to allies and now trying to be friends. They've accepted me, they might even be used to me, but that still doesn't change the fact that I don't really know how to act, what to say, what they expect of me. Or if they even expect anything at all. I've never been a productive member of a group before. It's always been just me, or Leafmon and I, but not anymore. Like last week, after the soccer game, when Davis was acting all buddy-buddy, or when Yolei and Poromon choose to eat with me instead of the others, or when I started making excuses about Matt and Tai. I was becoming part of a group and I didn't really know what that meant. And it wasn't like there was some textbook on how to be a good friend that I could study. The private school I attend dismisses the students earlier than the school most of the Digidestined go to, so when I left that afternoon I didn't see any of them around. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved, or happy, or wait for someone or what. On one hand, I was always nervous when I was with them, so being alone constituted being relieved or maybe a little happy. On the other hand, a good friend should want to spend time with his friends, even if he doesn't really feel like doing anything. I eventually wandered to the soccer field we were all at last weekend. No games were going on yet, so I rented a ball and did a few drills, in my school uniform and all. I think I may have been acting like a normal kid. It was kind of nice, really. I don't think I've been a normal kid since before my brother died. After a while, I noticed Cody was looking at me through the fence around the field. He still doesn't like me. He puts up with me for the sake of the others, and he probably knows that I'm not going to kill him in his sleep or anything, but he still doesn't like me. I don't blame him; I don't like me, either. I probably should have said hello, or something, like a friend, but I don't think Cody is the right person to reach out to. Maybe I'll try to really talk to someone who doesn't scowl at me when no one's looking. After a few minutes, I noticed Cody left. He probably had homework to do anyway. About half an hour later, I was returning the soccer ball I had rented when I heard some familiar voices. Sure enough, Davis, T.K., Kari and Yolei were walking home from school together. If memory serves correct, my school gets out first, then Cody's, then the junior high, which Cody was still too young to attend. He'll probably start going there next year. I decided not to go over there. They could use some Ken-free time. Just to be on the safe side, when I left the field, I used another exit. Hopefully, they wouldn't see me and start the whole our-new-best-friend routine. I figured I might as well go home. On the way, I remembered that the desk lamp in my room was running low on batteries and decided to stop into a store to buy a new pack. Nice, normal things to do. I went in the nearest convenience store and found the right kind of batteries pretty quickly. As I was paying, Yolei walked into the store as well. "Hi, Ken," she said brightly. "What brings you here?" I gestured to the batteries. "My dad owns this place," she said finally, trying to make conversation. She leaned over and dropped her bookbag over the counter for safekeeping. "Wanna do something? I don't have any homework today, but the others do." Seeing her made me feel bad about leaving on Saturday all over again. "All right," I said putting the batteries and my change in my pocket. The lamp could wait. "So, what do you want to do?" I shrugged. She left the store and I followed her. We walked down the city street with her talking to fill the silence. I don't remember most of what she was saying; I was listening to her voice more than her words, and the alien experience of someone just chattering at me. Most people assume I'm the no-nonsense type, and only talk to me when it's pertaining to something important. But when there is no topic, I don't mind getting off-topic. It's just rare for me to have no defined subject. "You're being really quiet," Yolei pointed out after a while. "Are you okay?" I looked at her. We had both been looking at the road in front of us, but now we were looking each other in the eye. "Not really," I said, honestly. "Penny for your thoughts," she said, jabbing me playfully with her elbow. "Why do you want to know my thoughts?" I asked. "Cause you're my friend." "Why am I you're friend?" "What's with all the questions?" she huffed. "It's what I was thinking, now where's that penny?" I guess I was getting more comfortable with Yolei, making really stupid, half-hearted attempts at lame jokes, like I used to do with Wormmon when I was in a really good mood. "Do I have to have a reason to be friends with you?" she asked, depositing a penny in my hand. "Yes." "Well, I guess maybe because you don't have a lot of friends, and the people who don't have a lot of friends are the ones who need them the most." "So you hang out with me because you think I need someone to hang out with?" "Ken, the best kinds of friends are the ones you need." I was silent. That never occurred to me. "I gotta go home. I didn't tell anyone I was going out," Yolei said. "Look, Ken, if you ever need someone, well, a human someone, to talk to, you can talk to me, okay?" I nodded. Yolei grinned, clapped a hand on each of my shoulders and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. Before I knew it, it was the second time that day I'd watched her run away from me. "Ken, where have you been?" Leafmon asked when I got home. "I went to the soccer field after school and then was with Yolei." "Good for you, Ken! But remember, you have exams coming up! Time to study!" I laughed and changed the batteries in my desk clock. Flicking it on, I settled down with textbook and smiled at the open pages staring back at me.