"Murakami, we have a problem," Makashima said without preamble.

"When don’t we," Masaki sighed. And it was true, the people who had chosen to fight against Chronos always seemed to be on the wrong end of Murphy’s Law. "What is it this time?"

"You know as well as I do that we need to leave this place as quickly as possible," Makashima said calmly. "Are you sure that the only way out is through Takeshiro village?"

Masaki knew why Makashima was asking that particular question. Their first and last trip through Takeshiro village had been a complete fiasco, involving the discovery that Sho had lost his ability to Bio-Boost, a running battle between them and several teams of Zoanoids, and the slaughter of said Zoanoids by Guyver III. It was only later that they found out that Agito had been forced into revealing his identity in front of Dr. Balkus and several other Zoanoids.

Sho had gone on to regain his abilities as Guyver I, but only after Aptom had nearly killed Mizuki in front of him. All of this was running through Masaki’s mind as he tried to think of some other way that they would all be able to escape this place without having to go through Chronos’ deathtrap again. In the end though, Masaki was forced to concede the point.

"No. I’ve been through this area in the past. The only way out of this valley is through Takeshiro."

Makashima sighed, looking only mildly annoyed. "Yes, I thought that might be the case. Leave it to Chronos to set up a perfect trap," he sounded rueful. "We should start preparing to evacuate this place as soon as possible."

"I know," Masaki said, nodding.

"I’ll inform the others," Makashima said over his shoulder as he walked away. "By the way Murakami, where’s your son?"

"I don’t want to talk about it," Masaki said flatly as he turned and headed for his room. He didn’t see what else Makashima did, since his back was now turned toward the Dark Guyver, but Masaki could hear his retreating footsteps.

The empty hallway helped Masaki not to think about the things he didn’t want to remember, and focusing on another task helped as well. Once he stood in front of the door to ‘his’ room, Masaki remembered that he had been carrying the stuffed tiger Kaji the entire time that he had been conversing with Makashima. A weary almost-chuckle forced its way out of his throat, both for the fact that he had forgotten about the toy almost completely, and for the fact that Makashima hadn’t made a single comment about it.

Cradling the stuffed toy for a moment the way he would have cradled his son, Masaki opened the door to his room and looked around for anything in there that was his. The only items that he had brought in with him, though, were the containers for the extra ammunition that his Zoanoid Buster took. The case for the Zoanoid Buster itself was just visible along with the others under the bed.

xXxXx

Sho was just starting to gather up the very few possessions that he had been able to bring to the remote cabin where they had been staying for the last two weeks. His mind wasn’t really on the task at hand, though. Instead Sho was thinking about how quickly the world could change, without even the slightest bit of warning. Sho was pretty sure that it wasn’t that long ago that he had been just a normal student, but at times it could feel like all that was a lifetime ago.

As Sho carried the few pieces of clothing that were all that he had managed to bring with him, Sho wondered for a moment whether or not he wanted to bring the Chronos jumpsuit that Agito had stolen for him to wear. On the one hand, it was a tangible reminder of the failed mission to rescue his father; but on the other hand it was also a very useful disguise. Who knew, there might even come a time that they had to infiltrate Chronos again.

In the end, Sho decided to keep the jumpsuit and helmet that Agito had given him, at least until it became obvious that he didn’t need them anymore. Rolling the jumpsuit into a small bundle, Sho stuffed it into the helmet and tucked the helmet itself under his arm. Leaving the room where he had been staying, Sho only hoped that they would be able to escape this time. As pretty as this valley was, it still held too many bad memories for Sho to ever really be comfortable staying.

Leaving the room, Sho passed Mizuki in the hallway. Mizuki had also collected the few clothes that she had been able to bring with her. Fewer now, after Aptom had destroyed the outfit she had previously been wearing. In fact, the clothes Mizuki was wearing now had been borrowed from Shizu.

"Hi Mizuki, how are you feeling?"

"I’m fine, Sho. How are you doing? Last night wasn’t easy on either of us," Mizuki said.

"I’m all right, I guess. Still getting used to things," Sho hung his head. "I guess things are going to start up again. I heard we’re going to try to get out through Takeshiro again."

"Yeah," Mizuki sighed. "I heard that, too. I hope we make it out this time. I don’t think any of us could really stand another day in this cabin."

"Yeah," Sho nodded. "And that’s assuming that none of the Zoanoids find us. We aren’t safe here anymore."

"I wonder if we’ll ever really be safe anywhere," Mizuki sighed, looking down at the wood floor of the cabin.

"Don’t worry, Mizuki," Sho said, putting his hand on her shoulder and rubbing gently. "I can transform into the Guyver again, I’ll protect you. I promise."

"Thank you, Sho," Mizuki said, smiling up at him. Sho hugged her.

The two of them had been walking as they talked, and now they were standing just inside the living room. The other members of their rebel group were all gathering in there at this time, Sho and Mizuki were nearly the last to arrive, followed only by Tetsuro, who had been making absolutely sure that nothing of theirs was left behind.

"Hey, Sho. I was just going to start looking for you and Mizuki. Thanks for saving me some trouble," Tetsuro smiled lightly, showing that he was only kidding.

"I’m glad I could help you like that then, Tetsuro," Sho smiled, going along with the joke. I don’t like to be a burden, Sho tried to conceal the thoughts that ran through his mind then, not wanting Tetsuro to see how troubled he still was.

It seemed like all he could do was cause pain and suffering to the people who were unfortunate enough to care about him. Whether it was as the Guyver, killing Zoanoids who were once just normal, innocent people; or as Sho Fukamachi, the fugitive from Chronos who had dragged his two best friends into a battle against people who would kill them all without a single thought. Tetsuro and Mizuki were really too good to be friends with someone like him.

But Tetsuro wouldn’t understand his reasoning if Sho tried to explain it, and Mizuki… well it was kind of nice to have Mizuki around. So, Sho resolved that he would just try as hard as he could to protect the both of them, no matter what it cost him in the end. With that decision made, it was that much easier to help the others to gather up all of their meager supplies and take them out to Onuma’s car.

Things were mostly silent during the packing process, and Sho couldn’t help but notice how Mr. Murakami was staying just a little bit apart from the rest of the group, trying to avoid even being touched by one of the others. Sho could understand why Mr. Murakami didn’t want to get too close to the others, since he himself was trying to avoid coming too close to anyone else without being too obvious about doing so.

There was just something about the loss of a family member that isolated you from other people and made you want to be alone, or at least that was how Sho saw it. It was far worse, of course, when you ended up killing that family member with your own hands. It might not have been something that Sho had had control over at the time, but it had still been his hand that had opened the Mega-Smasher and fired it.

Looking over at Mr. Murakami again, Sho tried to convey his sympathy to the older man without any words. But, as they all climbed into the car and Shizu started the engine, Sho couldn’t help wondering if he had been successful at all. There was a slight jolt as the car started moving, and Sho leaned back in his seat and gazed out the window at the quickly passing scenery.

He felt it when Mizuki put her hand on his shoulder, and Sho put his hand over hers and gently rubbed her fingers. I really hope we make it out this time, somehow, Sho thought to himself.

xXxXx

Commander Gyou, after checking up on the status of his two little pet projects, was feeling a little bit at loose ends. He was currently in the cafeteria, enjoying a large submarine sandwich. He was very glad that the people who provided the meals in this place had at least had the foresight to provide something other than Japanese cuisine. It wasn’t that Gyou was opposed to trying new things, but a steady diet of that kind of food could get rather boring.