It was just an hour past sunset when he heard the sounds of someone moving around in the apartment that woke him from a light doze. Sitting up in his futon as the covers fell into his lap, Sho looked over at Ryan to see if the younger boy had been awakened by the noise. As it turned out, though, he was still sleeping. Tetsuro was, too, and Sho found it kind of odd to be the only one in the room who was awake. Agito was gone, so that made it obvious who was making the noise. Sho even thought he knew what all the clamor was about—Agito had to be getting ready for the transports to arrive. Like Ryan, he had also wondered where they were all going to stay after they left this apartment. Agito had as much as said that they were going to be leaving Japan, and since Chronos seemed to be stronger in Japan than anywhere else, that was probably a good idea.
Still, he would kind of miss this place. Despite everything that had happened to him here, all the horrors that Chronos had inflicted on him, this was still his home. The place where he had been born and the place where he had grown up. In spite of it all, Sho knew he would be homesick when they left.
Gently shaking Ryan, since the younger boy had taken the spot closest to him when they had all gone to sleep, he was forced to duck as Ryan swatted at him. Knowing how it had always felt when he had been forced to get up in spite of his preference for sleeping in late, Sho didn't begrudge Ryan the attempt to make him go away. Still, Agito wasn't likely to appreciate them being late.
+Ryan, you have to get up now. Agito's getting ready for all of us to leave. I don't think he'll be very happy if he has to wake you up.+
+King Bastard can be as annoyed with me as he likes,+ Ryan responded flippantly.
+It's no skin off my back. Still, if you wanted me up, all you had to do was ask.+
Ryan's eyes, dulled to a grayish color by the lack of light, stared back at him from the younger boy's smiling face. A few seconds later, Ryan had rolled on his back and started stretching.
+So, we're finally moving out, huh?+ Ryan asked, sighing as he presumably worked the kinks out of his body; he'd said he wasn't used to futons, and after seeing his bed, Sho was inclined to believe him.
+I'm fairly sure. I heard Agito up and moving around, so I think he might be getting ready for his people to come.+
+All right, then,+ Ryan said, sighing. +I guess we should get ready ourselves,+ he chuckled. +It's a good thing I didn't sleep in the nude tonight.+
He flipped the covers back and rolled to his feet before Sho could think of anything to say in response—not that he could really respond to something like that. Ryan seemed to like saying things that couldn't be responded to.
He could hear Ryan speaking in English, and he recognized Tetsuro's name, though the younger boy seemed to pronounce it differently than he was used to. Once all three of them were up, they started to dress. The sounds of fabric sliding around, and muffled muttering from Ryan about something, were the only things Sho could hear. Until Tetsuro started chuckling, at least.
"What's so funny, Tetsuro?"
"Ryan was just complaining a bit," he said. "Something about a curse on all left socks."
Sho had to laugh at that one. That was another thing that Ryan had always seemed to like doing: making people laugh. He'd never really known anyone like the younger Guyver; nothing seemed to be able to get to him for very long.
When Tetsuro had told him about telling Ryan the story of how they had all gotten involved with Chronos in the first place, he'd been glad to hear it. Ryan was someone who had become something of a friend to him, and he didn't want to have any secrets from his friends. He also wanted the younger boy to know what kind of things he would have to deal with, now that he had obviously chosen to side with them. He still felt sorry for Ryan, since he had obviously been happy with his life before he had found the Guyver. And having to leave his father behind like that… Sho sighed; he honestly didn't know how Ryan could deal with that.
Leaving their room once all three of them were finished dressing, he found that Agito was waiting for them next to a small stack of wrapped bentos.
"Are we going to be leaving soon, Agito?"
"Yes," Agito said with a sharp nod. "Shizu just wanted to make sure that we all had something to eat before we left."
"That's nice of her," he said, sitting down on the floor next to Ryan. "How are we all going to be traveling?" he asked, remembering that Ryan had brought the subject up. He was curious about it too.
"By van. They're going to be arriving here in forty-five minutes, so I would suggest you take the time to eat," he turned and said something in English to Ryan. Sho could pretty much guess what it was.
+Ryan, are you enjoying the food?+ he asked.
+Yeah, just don't tell me what's in it,+ the younger boy chuckled softly. +I think we'll both be happier that way.+
Sho found himself chuckling at that, too.
They finished the rest of the meal in silence, and when Shizu brought Mizuki and Natsuki into the main room to eat with them, and Mr. Jackson and Mr. Hayami settled down to eat themselves, Sho felt content. He might not have known exactly where they were all going, but he was glad to be able to travel with his friends.