Chapter Thirteen: The Quarrel of Suicide
Before Ed knew it, three months passed, and he now sat in the window seat on a plane next to a fuming Tio. He recalled what had happened in the months that had quickly went by: he went to the park with Al and Winry to watch another one of Gash and Naomi's duels, which seemed to be held every other day. He watched one of Megumi's concerts with Kiyomaro, Gash, and Tio. He, Tio, and Winry went to Al's house to play. Ed lay in one of the beanbag chairs in the treehouse, sleeping. He trained with Megumi, learning more judo and aikido moves. Megumi had said that he was getting stronger and that he would be stronger than her soon, which made Ed eager to learn more. She also told Ed that he was becoming a better cook, but Ed still thought that he would never be near Megumi's level. He packed with Tio and Megumi for their trip to New York. Ed had looked up what the weather was going to be like, and, since it was going to be hot, they packed summer clothes. Luckily, Megumi was on her one month summer break, so school wasn't an issue. She had also taken off from work beforehand.
Ed and Tio had gotten into an argument about who would sit in the window seat on the way to the plane. Megumi suggested that one of them sit in the window seat on the way there and then the other on the way back. However, Ed and Tio couldn't come to an agreement of who was going to sit in the window seat on the way to New York. The argument went on until they boarded the plane. Ed and Tio both saw an empty three-seater in the middle of the plane at the same time and stared at it for a while, then at each other. The passengers watched with enjoyment as they raced to the seat, pushing each other on the way there. Ed tripped Tio, and she grabbed a seat to pull herself back up. She caught up to Ed and reached out to strangle him, but Ed grabbed her hand and thrust her back. Megumi caught her by her shoulders. She pushed off of Megumi and continued to run. But it was too late; Ed was already sitting in the window seat, sticking his tongue out swaggeringly. Megumi held Tio back from attacking Ed and promised her that she could sit in the window seat on the way back.
Now Ed sat, staring out the window, bored. It was a twelve hour nonstop flight, and Ed hadn't brought anything to keep himself entertained. He had only brought his alchemy supplies, and he couldn't experiment onboard. He didn't have anything to talk about, and, even if he did, he didn't want to talk to Megumi since Tio was between them, and he couldn't talk to Tio because she was still angry.
Two hours passed. Tio's head rested on Megumi's shoulder as she slept. Megumi read a teen magazine while Ed looked through the alchemy book.
Three hours passed. Tio was now awake, eating potato chips given to her by a flight attendant, not angry anymore.
Ed managed to make himself fall asleep. After he woke up, he asked Megumi much longer the flight was. She checked her watch and then thought for a moment.
"Four hours," she finally said.
Ed fell back asleep.
"Ed-kun."
"Huh…?"
"We're here."
"Mmm…" Ed stirred and then sat up. He saw that Tio and Megumi were both holding bags. People behind them were shuffling off. He stood on the seat, got his bag from the compartment above, and followed the two girls off the plane.
Ed looked around the huge airport as he, Tio, and Megumi made their way towards an exit to go to the hotel and put their bags away: there were people everywhere, and they were all taller than him, except the kids around Tio's age. There were coffee shops, doughnut shops, people giving away flyers, homeless people shaking jars with change inside and people passing by them, dropping nickels and dimes into the jars.
They were now walking outside. Ed hardly had room between Megumi and a large man beside him. There were people everywhere, an endless amount of traffic, and never-ending honking.
Ed's head began to pound. "Wouldn't it be better to just catch a cab?"
"Oh, I just remembered," Megumi said. "We forgot to exchange the yen for U.S. dollars at the airport, so we can't."
Ed looked behind him. There were too many people to turn around and go back.
"We might as well go drop our things off at the hotel, anyway, since we're heading there," Megumi continued. "We should ask for directions to the nearest bank using that book you have, too."
A man in a red and blue costume swung above them to the right. People started to cheer, and some started to boo. Ed, Tio, and Megumi looked at the incognito man swing. The masked man held on to something invisible.
A small boy next to Tio pointed at the disguised man and said, "Hey, Mommy, look! It's Spidey-Man!"
Ed, Tio, and Megumi watched the anonymous person leap from whatever he was holding on to and attach himself to a building. He briefly waved and then swung off the building, disappearing behind another, taller building.
Ed couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at Tio and Megumi. The girls were still staring at the building in disbelief. He looked at the crowd moving around them.
"Hey, we'd better go," Ed said, tugging at both Tio and Megumi's sleeves. "We're holding up the crowd."
The girls started to walk. Tio kept staring at the building, mouth agape, as she walked.
After walking monotonously, the crowd and cars started to slow down. Ed, Tio, and Megumi began hearing worried and scared shouts.
"He's gonna jump!"
"Can anyone go up there and stop him?!"
"Damn! The door's locked! We can't get in!"
"Where's Spider-Man when you need him?"
The crowd finally came to a stop. A few hurrying businesspeople pushed their way through. Cars were stopping on the side and in the middle of the road. People were getting out of their cars, hurrying to the scene. People rushed towards the area from all directions. Some people were talking on their cell phones, trying to get the police. Ed, Tio, and Megumi looked up at the broad-shouldered, shadowy man standing at the top on the edge of the building, staring at the crowd below him.
Megumi took out her camera. She looked through the lens and zoomed in on him. He was a young, muscular, handsome man with black spiky hair and dark brown eyes.
"Let me see!" Tio said anxiously, holding her hands out. Megumi gave the camera to her. After studying the man for a moment, she handed the camera to Ed. Ed looked at the man for a long time. Then, he finally recognized him as the clerk from the alchemy shop he frequently went to. Ed gravely gave the camera back to Megumi, continuing to stare at the clerk.
Tio and Megumi stared at Ed, worried. His eyes were big, as if surprised and troubled.
"Are you okay, Ed-kun?" Megumi asked.
Ed nodded. He had to stop him. Not only was he worried about the clerk, but he was also worried about what had happened to the alchemy shop in the short time they had been gone. Without the alchemy shop, he would eventually run out of alchemy supplies, and it would become very difficult to study alchemy.
Ed didn't want Tio and Megumi to worry themselves to death if it was someone they knew. He decided to stop the man from jumping on his own.
Megumi stared up at the man on the rooftop. She was hoping that the police would come soon. Tio thought similarly to Megumi.
"We have to do something," Tio said. "There has to be something we can do."
Megumi shook her head. "We don't have a way of getting on top of the building, and we don't speak English."
They stared at the rooftop for another moment. The man stared down at the edge of the rooftop, preparing himself for the jump.
Tio looked beside herself. Ed's spot had been replaced with an old woman. "Hey, Megumi, where's Ed?"
Megumi looked next to Tio. Ed had disappeared.
Ed had managed to push his way through the crowd. He was now deep in an alley where no one could see him, alchemizing a rope to get onto the roof. Alchemy supplies were spread out everywhere from hurried searching through his bag. When he was done alchemizing the rope, he stuffed everything back into his bag and then threw the rope towards the rooftop of the building. The hook of the rope dug itself into the rooftop. Ed slung his bag on his shoulder and began to climb.
He arrived at the top. He tossed his bag onto the rooftop and then pulled himself on using the rope.
The clerk heard the noise of the bag being dropped and turned around. He stared at Ed for a few seconds and then said, "You're that boy that comes to the alchemy shop all the time with that other boy... What're you doing all the way in the U.S.?"
"Vacation," Ed replied, taking out supplies needed for a bungee jump. "You're jumping, huh?"
The man nodded and then returned his gaze to the ground. People were wondering what was going on and if someone else had gone on the rooftop. "I'm didn't come here for nothing."
"You came all the way to the U.S. just to jump down a building?" Ed asked as he clapped his hands and began alchemizing the bungee ropes.
"Yeah." The clerk turned around and watched Ed alchemize the ropes.
"You could've just gone to Tokyo for that." Ed took the finished ropes and hooked them on the opposite side where no one would see him.
"New York has higher buildings than Tokyo, and the police force over here is terrible, since Spider-Man does most of the work for them."
Before Ed had a chance to ask who Spider-Man was, the clerk continued. "You're going to stop me, aren't you?"
"What did you think I came up here for? I need the alchemy shop, and I don't want to see a person go splat on the ground." Ed paused. "By the way, what happened to the shop? Everything was just fine when I left."
"Actually, it wasn't 'just fine.' I was losing money. Even with you and that other boy-"
"I'm Ed, and the 'other boy' is Al."
"—coming there almost every day and buying alchemy supplies, it wasn't enough. Not enough to make a living off of, anyway."
"So you had to close the shop?"
The clerk nodded. "I literally don't have anything left." He turned around and looked down again.
"How about spending your last minutes alive bungee jumping?" Ed pointed to the two bungee ropes lying on the opposite side of the building.
"You're going to make me go bungee jumping so I'll get too scared to jump on my own, right?"
Ed stared at the clerk. The clerk had seen right through his plan. Then, Ed saw the clerk's right foot slide off the building.
There were confused shouts coming from the crowd, such as, "Is someone else up there?", "Who's that guy talking to?", and "Where did the lightning come from?" Megumi and Tio continued to focus on the man on the building.
"He's talking to someone, Megumi," Tio said. "And those lightning strikes… Alchemy…?"
Megumi nodded, not taking her eyes off the rooftop.
Two police cars parked beside each other on the side of the road. Two policemen hurried out of each. One was short, another medium-sized, the other with a small build, and one tall and skinny.
"Is there any way to get up there?" the tall policeman asked.
"If there was, some of us woulda been up there by now!" a young man in front of the policemen snapped.
A news truck parked behind the police car. A female reporter got out, accompanied by a cameraman. The cameraman focused in the on the reporter.
"We're here live in front of an unknown building on Ann Street in New York City," she reported. "A young man, who can be no older than thirty, is standing on the edge, about to jump."
The cameraman pointed his camera at the man on the rooftop.
"It looks like no one can go up there and stop him," the reporter continued. A woman from the crowd came up to the reporter and whispered in her ear. "…I've just been told that the police are trying to hook a rope into the building to stop the man. We'll try to get up closer to see if they're successful or not. They're also setting up a trampoline. I've also just been told that there could be someone else on the building as well. We currently don't know if that someone else is contemplating suicide as well. Jeff, can you zoom in, please?"
The cameraman zoomed in on the building.
"…I don't know what you can see up there. The viewers can see it, but..."
"T-The man is stepping off the building…and…and…" The cameraman watched in horror as the man leaned forward and fell. The shouts from the crowd got louder.
"Is the trampoline done?"
"Can somebody catch him?!"
Mothers covered their children's eyes as the falling man got closer to the ground. Then, there were confused shouts as he bounced back up onto the building when he was halfway to the ground.
"W-What…?"
"Did the police do that, or was it Spider-Man?"
"I…think there was an elastic rope or something tied to his leg."
"…Was he faking us out by going bungee jumping?"
They all saw a young boy step at the edge of the building, giving his hand the clerk and helping him up.
"Ed-kun…" Megumi said softly.
Ed pulled one of the bungee ropes out of the ground as the clerk stepped off the building. He hooked it closer to the clerk and lassoed the clerk's ankle, pulling it so it wouldn't loosen and slip off the clerk's foot. The clerk leaned forward and fell. Ed put his foot on the hook to make sure it stay put as the clerk went further down.
The clerk was pulled up and landed on his back on the edge of the rooftop. He sat up and shook from the experience of falling. Ed went over to him and extended his hand. The man stared at it for a moment, and then took it, using it to pull himself up.
"Are you gonna try to jump again?" Ed asked.
The man shook his head.
"Good. You'll be able to get your life back together. Just get another job." Ed untied the rope from the clerk's ankle and then pulled out both hooks from the ropes.
Meanwhile, Tio and Megumi continued to stare at the building. People around them did so as well to see if the man was going to try to jump again. However, over half of the crowd had moved on since the suicidal attempt was a fake. The reporter was still reporting what had happened, and the police were still, unsuccessfully, trying to hook their rope into the rooftop. The trampoline was still set up just in case Ed or the clerk fell.
"Well, there's only one way to confirm that's Ed," Tio said. Then, she shouted, "There's a square-headed pipsqueak on the roof!"
Ed's red, angry face appeared over the edge of the rooftop. "Who's that square dot on the face of the ear-" His left foot slipped off the building. The clerk tried to grab his ankle, but it was too late; Ed had already begun his fall.
"Ed-kun!" Megumi yelled.
People began gathering in front of the building again with worried cries.
"Now the other guy—a kid—is falling down!"
"Wow! That kid just spoke another language!"
"Spider-Man! Damn it, where the hell is that spider?!"
"Stop relying on Spider-Man! He's been gone the whole damn time!"
"Is that kid bungee jumping, too?"
Ed fell on something semi-soft before he hit the ground. He looked at costumed hands that held him. He looked in the face of the masked man that had somehow attached himself to the building before. He attached himself to the building Ed had fallen from, stopping their fall.
"You okay?" the masked man asked in English.
Ed, not able to understand what he was saying, stared at him blankly.
"…You're not from around here, are you?"
Ed kept staring at him with confusion and wonder.
"You must be a tourist. No wonder you can't understand me. And I can't speak any other language… Ah, well, can't help that. Better take you down."
The red and blue freak scaled down the building by simply sprinting. Ed was amazed. People on the ground cheered as Ed and the freak came down.
"Where were you, Spider-Man?!"
"You finally decided to come."
"Late as usual, Spider-Man."
"Sorry for not being here earlier," the freak replied to the angry shouts from the crowd. "You wouldn't believe how many crimes I ran into on my way here. Also, I was coming from across the city." He gently touched the ground and put Ed down near the police.
"Thanks," Ed said, "but you have to save the alchemy clerk on top of the building, too."
The freak stared at Ed. "Well, I know that the first word means 'thank you', so you must be Japanese. Since I can't ask why you were up there, even though I can kind of figure out why, I'd better go get the man still on top of the building. He was the one who was actually trying to commit suicide, and you just fell by mistake. That's what it looked like, anyway." He glued himself to the building again and climbed up like a spider.
How does he do that? Ed thought.
"Ed-kun!"
Ed turned around. Megumi and Tio were excusing themselves as they pushed through the crowd that was also moving towards Ed. People stared at the girls, not knowing what they were saying.
Ed went towards them, ignoring the people who were trying to question him. Megumi greeted him with a tight hug. She released herself from him.
Tio crossed her arms. "That was dangerous."
"You were the one who made me fall!" Ed yelled.
"I just shouted. You were the one who fell."
Ed's face became red.
"I'm glad you were trying to stop that man from jumping," Megumi interrupted. "It would've been scary, seeing him fall on the ground."
"You don't remember that guy?" Ed said, his face returning to its normal color. "I know you were only there once or twice, but you guys should've still faintly remembered him. He was the clerk from the alchemy shop."
"Oh, yeah," Tio said. "I remember him."
"I remember, too," Megumi said.
"We should go to the front," Ed suggested. "I think that freak went back up to get the clerk. He shouldn't resist; he was pretty shaken up after bungee jumping."
They pushed their way through the crowd again, ignoring the questions and praises from people. As soon as they got to the front of the building, the red and blue freak landed in front of Ed, Tio, and Megumi. The clerk was tightly attached to the freak on the freak's back. He let himself off.
"Thanks, Spider-Man," the clerk said in English. "That won't happen again, I promise."
The freak nodded in approval. A wave of people and reporters, including the first reporter that had shown up, gathered around them. The reporters poked their microphones in the freak, the clerk, and Ed's faces and began talking over each other. Ed pushed the microphones away, shaking his head while doing so. More police had shown up, trying unsuccessfully to calm the crowd. People were speaking over each other and shoving others aside to get close to Megumi, Tio, Ed, the freak, and the clerk.
"I want my boy to get up close to Spider-Man at least once!"
"My kids adore Spider-Man!"
"I'm going back to Florida soon! I wanna see Spider-Man!"
"Why were you trying to commit suicide?" the first reporter who had shown up in the beginning asked.
"How did it feel to fall?" another reporter inquired.
"Were you surprised when you came straight back up instead of falling on the ground?"
"Why were you also up there?"
"Were you trying to commit suicide as well?"
"What were those lightning strikes?"
"What is your relation to this boy"—the reporter pointed to Ed—"who was the last to fall?"
"How do you do what you do, Spider-Man?" a middle-aged man asked.
"You're my favorite superhero, Spidey-Man," the boy that was beside Tio earlier said.
"One at a time, please!" the freak shouted. "I can't understand a word anyone's saying! And don't try asking the boy! He doesn't speak English!" He addressed Megumi and Tio. "Do you two speak English?"
Megumi and Tio stared at him.
"The two girls don't speak English, either!"
The crowd quieted down a little, but there was still chaos.
"I'd love to help you all get out of here," the freak said, "but I can't with all these people."
"We'd better catch a cab," the clerk said to Megumi, Tio, and Ed in Japanese. "I'm in no mood for answering questions, and I don't want you guys caught up in this, especially since none of you speak English and I caused all this."
A quarter of the crowd, including three reporters, followed them as they tried to get to the street.
"Let us through!" the clerk yelled. Some people, intimidated, backed up and left them alone, but others, including reporters, continued to gang up on them. The clerk pushed some people aside. "No! Stop! No questions, please!"
The four policemen that had arrived in the beginning came to their aid, trying to keep the crowd away from Tio, Ed, Megumi, and the clerk.
"Thank you!" the clerk said to them.
"You need counseling," the tall policeman said. "Come to our station in a couple of days when everything's died down, and we'll work something out. But for now, try getting home. And if you try committing suicide again, I'm sure Spider-Man will stop you."
"If you don't come to our station," the short policeman began, "we'll find you."
"I will," the clerk said, squeezing through a man and a woman. Megumi, Ed, and Tio followed him closely. Megumi held Tio and Ed's hands firmly.
They finally got to the street. The clerk waved his right hand. Three cabs raced to them. They chose the one closest to them. The clerk sat in the front while Megumi, Tio, and Ed sat in the back.
The clerk told the driver to go to the hotel that Tio, Megumi, and Ed were staying at. After answering the driver's questions, addressed at all of them, but mostly Ed and the clerk, the clerk looked back at them and said, "I'll pay. This is all my fault."
"You don't have to," Megumi said. "We have plenty of money."
"Yeah," Ed said. "You said you were running out of money."
"No, that's okay," the clerk said. "I feel indebted to you, Ed."
"Uh…thanks."
"You all are on vacation, right?"
"Yeah," Ed said while Tio nodded and Megumi said, "Yes."
"I'll translate for you all."
Megumi smiled. "Thank you so much!"
"Thanks!" Tio said.
Ed grinned.
"If it explains things a little more," the clerk continued, "I'm American, so English is my native language."
Now that I think about it, he doesn't look Japanese, Ed thought.
"Since most of the Japanese are into weird things," the clerk went on, "I decided to open the alchemy shop in Japan. I thought I could make a nice living there. Also, I've always wanted to live in Japan."
"Hey, don't stereotype us like that," Ed said.
"I said 'most,' but sorry if I offended any of you. By the way, my name is Jason."
Tio and Megumi briefly introduced themselves.
"Oh, you're that idol," Jason said to Megumi. "I think I've seen you on a couple posters before. I didn't recognize you when you came into my shop with those sunglasses on."
"I'll give you a ticket to one of my concerts one day," Megumi offered. "Anyway, where are you staying, Jason-san?"
"No honorifics, please. I don't like the way they sound with my name, so please call me Jason. Well, since I was planning on dying, I don't have anywhere to stay."
"You can stay with us," Ed proposed.
"No, that's okay; I don't want to ruin your vacation too much. I'll see if I can get a hotel room as well."
They arrived at the hotel. The first thing Ed noticed about it was that it was eighteen stories tall. He stared at it, wishing that he was tall like it. He imagined himself as tall and muscular; he wished for mostly tallness in the near future.
Ed saw Tio reaching for her bag out of the corner of his eye. He quickly snatched it and grinned. Tio smiled as Ed picked his bag up and slid out of the car. Megumi was standing outside the taxi's door, holding her bag. She had seen everything that had happened.
"That was really nice of you," she said.
Ed grinned even more. He suddenly felt weight leave his right hand. He looked at it. Tio's bag was gone, and Jason was holding it.
"Hey, I could've held it myself," Ed said, a little irritated.
"I'm indebted to you," Jason said. "I'll do anything to help you in any way, even if it makes you mad."
They entered the lobby. It was spacious and had a high ceiling. It was a perfect circle with a T.V. in the middle and soft benches surrounding the T.V. Megumi checked in for herself, Tio, and Ed and then gave the room key to Ed. Ed put it in his pocket.
"Go up to room 424 on the fourteenth floor," she said. "I'll stay with Jason and see if he can get a room."
"Okay," Ed said. He went over to Jason, who was talking with the counter worker, and yanked Tio's bag from him. Jason abruptly looked at him and then resumed talking to the counter worker.
"Let's hope he can get a room," Tio said, getting into the elevator in a small hallway not far from the check-in counter.
"Yeah," Ed said, coming in after Tio. He stood in the middle while Tio pushed the button with "14" on it. She hurried to the back of the elevator, gripping the railing. The elevator jerked upwards. The sudden movement made Ed stumble back and hit the wall with his shoulder. He bounced off the wall and almost fell. Tio laughed. Ed threw her bag at her. It hit her in the stomach, and she fell on her back. She immediately lifted the bag and threw it into the wall. She stood up and wrenched her hands.
The elevator opened, and a husband and wife watched the struggling duo: Tio was trying to strangle Ed, and Ed was running around the elevator, avoiding every one of Tio's attempts by ducking and jumping. He wasn't watching where he was going, however, and tripped over Tio's bag, which was on the elevator floor. Ed fell on his stomach and then rolled to the right to avoid Tio lunging at him. Tio hit the wall headfirst while Ed grabbed her bag and ran out of the elevator. Tio charged after him.
They ran down the hallway. Ed looked at each room he passed, looking for the number "424" engraved in one of the doors.
Tio was slowly catching up. Ed threw her bag at her, and it hit her again in the stomach, sending her flying back. Ed watched Tio run after him again, this time faster than before, the bag slung over her shoulder. She took the bag and pelted it towards him. Ed had no time to dodge, and it hit him in the back. He was sent forward, and he fell. The bag crushed him, but he managed to throw it off using his back and carry it with both hands. He looked at the doors; he was running past room 417. He pegged Tio's bag at Tio one last time, sending her back again.
Ed slid in front of room 424. He took the key out of his pocket and slowly slid it through the slot in the doorknob. A red light flashed. Ed tried the door, but it was locked. He looked down the hallway. Tio was sprinting towards him, the bag being carried with both hands. She was about to throw it at him again. Ed slid the key through the slot multiple times, each faster than the last. A green light flashed each time. He opened the door and went in the room, quickly closing and locking it. Tio slammed into the door, then banged on it and kicked it, infuriated.
"I'm glad you were able to get a room, Jason," Megumi said as she rode up the elevator with Jason beside her.
"Yeah," Jason replied. "Right across from your room, too."
The elevator stopped, and they stepped out of it. They began to walk down the hallway. Not soon after they began to walk, they heard banging and screaming. Megumi started to run, and Jason ran after her.
"Do you know what's going on?" he asked.
"Tio's angry," Megumi answered.
They came to a stop once the enraged Tio came in sight: she was banging on the door with her bag and practically roaring.
"Tio," Megumi said.
Tio instantly stopped her shrieking and dropped the bag. She pointed to the door. "Ed's in there."
Megumi knocked on the door. "Ed-kun, it's me."
The door was immediately opened, revealing Ed's guilty face. Tio, remembering her anger, almost lunged at Ed, but Megumi held out her hand, and Tio stopped.
"So, did Jason get a room?" Ed said.
Megumi moved aside. Ed saw Jason and grinned.
"Where's he staying?" Ed asked.
"I'm right across from you all," Jason answered. "We also went to a nearby bank and exchanged the yen for dollars, but not without some annoyances."
"Great…" Ed's eyes became distant. Tio, Megumi, and Jason stared at him with concern.
"Are you alright, Ed-kun?" Megumi said.
"Yup," Ed said, perking up.
Tio ran into the room past Ed, carrying her bag. "It's big!" she exclaimed, dropping it. "There're three beds and a T.V.!"
"See ya tomorrow, Jason!" Ed said, running in the room and letting his bag slip down his arm and fall.
Megumi smiled. "Good night, Jason-san."
"Bye," Jason said, opening the door to his room. "And it's just 'Jason.'" He went in his room and closed the door.
Megumi went into the room. Tio and Ed were running around, looking in the cabinets, on the desk, and in the bathroom.
It must be especially exciting for Ed-kun, Megumi thought. After all, he probably has never been in a hotel before, and, if he has, it was probably when he was still with his parents.
Tio jumped on the bed in the middle and rolled onto her stomach. She sunk into the mattress. "It's so soft…"
Ed climbed on the bed closest to the window and lay on his back. He immediately closed his eyes began to snore.
"He must've been tired," Tio said.
"Well, after everything we've been through today…" Megumi took a magazine out from her bag, climbed on the available bed, propped up a pillow, and began reading.
He would never be able to have Megumi's job, Tio thought.
"Get up, Ed. I'm ready to go out."
Ed turned over. "You're ready."
"Everyone else is ready, too."
Ed abruptly sat up. Megumi was sitting on Tio's bed, while Tio was in front of him. He threw the covers off himself and went into the bathroom. After a brief period of time, he came out, fully dressed. He went out of the room, flashing a look at Jason, and ran down the hallway towards the elevators. Tio, Megumi, and Jason followed him.
The fact that Ed was exploring a new place made him excited. He ran even faster.