ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Part 4: Johan Republic | Memory of Eternal Night

Riyoshi will be the main star of this.

- Bokutotsu Zen'u

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2023 (8 years ago)

A certain place in Tokyo

Downpouring rain was pounding against the concrete, covering the Tokyo metropolitan area with rainfall so heavy that even the sound of cars passing by was blocked out. People were heading home at a brisk pace, their umbrellas flapping in the wind. Tokyo Bay is swelling, and the surface of the sea is almost touching the land. A heavy rain and flood warning and a wave warning had been issued, but two men and a girl were found in an abandoned warehouse in the bay port area, which should have been empty.

'...No! Stop!!'

The girl, whose mouth was sealed shut and unable to speak, had her face scrunched up in horror. Although she was tied up and unable to move, she was crawling on the floor, desperately trying to escape from something. She looked at the two men, their eyes bloodshot.

"It's your father's fault... your father who couldn't come up with the money!"

"But I can't just kill you like this, so I'm going to have some fun before I drown you in the sea... and I'm going to have some fun with you, too, for your father fired me!"

"...Hng!?"

Witnessing the vile expressions on the faces of the two men, the girl trembled with increasing fear. Finally, one of the men grabbed the girl by the chest and put all his strength into ripping the cutter shirt she was wearing.

".........!!"

"!!?"

She woke up with an inarticulate scream. Opening her eyes wide, she saw a white painted ceiling with cold sweat pouring from her body.

"Hah, hah, hah...!"

She raised her upper body from the bed and looked around, gasping for breath. Her breathing was erratic, and her heart was beating so strongly that she could hardly believe she had just woken up from sleep. But around her, the cabin is just the same as it was last night.

"...A dream?"

She sighed heavily, relieved to realize that the scene she had just witnessed was a dream. Then, wiping the sweat from her forehead, she reached for the smartphone she had placed by her bedside. The time displayed on the screen was 06:34 local time, a little early to wake up, but not so early that she wanted to fall asleep twice. She then moved the blankets out of the way, got up from the bed, and went to the sink to wash her face, which was covered in a cold sweat. After washing her face, she awoke completely and recalled the memory of the dream she had just had.

'Why... now...?'

She is holding her head in her right hand, staring at herself in the mirror of the washbasin. For Riyoshi, today was to be the worst day of her life.

. . .

May 30, 2031

Off the coast of Seve, capital of the Johan Republic

The Seal Trump, a container freighter of the Japanese-owned company Shosen Santen carrying the four people, arrived at the port of Seve on this day, the largest in the world except for Japan. The Japanese vessel proceeded amidst vessels from numerous countries.