Aether

Chapter Five

Hikaru's Pov

It wasn't until later that it had calmed down for the night. Yes, it was late already, but it was probably about midnight when everyone finally had gone to bed. Well, except me and Sora at least. He had to lend me some of his clothes to use as pjs for the night seeing as well...ahem, I'm older now. It felt weird to be wearing someone else's clothes, but it was better than sleeping in the ninja gi that now fit me very well. Sora looked over at me from his bed and grinned at me. "So are you sure you didn't form a crush on green bean?" He asked, trying to draw out a blush from me. He almost got it, but I ignored it to the best I could and stood up. "Just go to bed, Sora...I'm going to get some air." I told him, earning a eye roll as he shrugged his shoulders, laying down on his bed. "Fine, but don't stay up too much longer, it's late and we still have to get you and Lloyd some clothes in the morning. Sensei did say we could take a few hours at least off to get you guys settled again."

I nodded and stepped out of our room, heading to the deck as I felt the cool breeze. I hugged my arms as I walked over to the railing and hummed as I looked around, not seeing anyone. A sigh escaped my lips as I sat down, sticking my legs through the rails as I looked at the city below us, it just feels so weird to be older...I'm glad Sensei is going to give us a small break to get adjusted to them- maybe we could control our powers better now? "You're still up?" I heard a voice ask me, causing me to turn towards them to see Lloyd. He was in the same boat as me, wearing the other ninjas' clothes to try to find something to wear for the night. I hummed and nodded as I turned back to the sight in front of me. "A little anxious if I'm being honest." I admitted, hearing footsteps until he sat down beside me. I looked over at him and watched as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "It's okay. We can get through this together." He told me with a smile, shaking my shoulder slightly as if to amplify what he said. I laughed and nodded as he did that, setting my head on his shoulder, earning a "Thank you." from me.

He nodded and set his head on mine. "Well thank you...for uh- holding my hand earlier I mean. I just...wanted some comfort I guess with the new change in events...something to ground me I guess. Holding your hand reminded me that everything is going to be okay." He told me, causing me to lift my head up to look at him. "Of course, greenie. And if I'm being honest..it helped me as well, because I know we can get through this together." I told him, earning a grin from him. He pulled me into a headlock and gave me a noogie, watching as I struggled to get out of his grip. "Lloyd! Stop it!" I laughed, soon being able to shove him off. He laughed as well and stood up, pulling me up with him. I gave him a look and raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, let's go reread some Stafarer before we go to bed!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up at the mention of his favorite comic. I giggled and nodded. "Alright, alright, fine. But if we oversleep and get in trouble, I blame you." I told him, only to receive a grin.

And that's exactly what we did. We ran back to his room- which he was lucky to have one all to himself. He made me sit on his bed as he pulled out a stack of his comics, setting it on his bedside table. I stared at the stack in shock, watching as he grabbed one and sat down beside me, having the lamp on the bedside table on as well. He angled it so it would shine right over the one who sat closest to it, meaning we'd have to huddle up to be able to read it together. He shrugged it off as he laid down on the bed, signaling for me to get closer to him so we could read. First Spinjitzu Master, help me- don't tell me I'm falling for him. I laid down beside him and ended up settling my left hand on his chest, the other reaching out to hold the other side of the comic. We had silently agreed that he'd hold one side and I'd hold the other to ensure we were both able to read it and could always tell the other when to not move on to the next page- or if needed- go back to the previous one.