Rising Rays of the New Century: Tale of the Japanese Empire

Sora: The Far Reaches of Universe

A ferry southeast of Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture

Hoshikazu, sensing that Haru was in danger, went down to the lower deck. There, he found a lifeboat to be used in case of emergency.

"Let's borrow this!"

Hoshikazu removed the chain that secured the lifeboat, which slid off the ship and floated in the sea. Without hesitation, Hoshikazu jumped toward the lifeboat.

"We have to save Haru-san!"

"Right behind you!"

Kodai also jumped in following him. Hoshikazu, meanwhile, was igniting the boat's outboard motor. Amakawa, who remained on the ship, leaned his upper body over the railing and called out to the two boys in the boat.

"I'm going to go tell the teacher and captain about this! You two, be careful!"

"...Yeah, I'm counting on you!"

Hoshikazu nodded. Immediately after, Amakawa ran to the bridge. Then, Hoshikazu opened the throttle of the motor to the fullest and hurried to Haru's location with Kodai.

Haru was electrocuted and unable to move on the sea. A suspicious-looking submarine slowly approached her. The hatch opened and men in plain uniforms emerged from inside.

"You got her good."

"Yeah."

Yuan Baikai and Jin Lianglian stood on top of the submarine and looked down at Haru floating on the sea surface with cold eyes. Haru, though unable to move, glared back at them. Later, their men came out of the submarine hurriedly. In their hands was a rope.

"Take her immediately! As soon as we bring in the fish and retrieve the unmanned subs, we will return to Ningbo."

"Sir!"

The men pulled the rope that connected to the net that was entangled in Haru's tail. Haru was about to be dragged into the darkness, unable to put up much of a fight.

"Ahh... no! ...NOOO!!"

Tears welled up in the corners of Haru's eyes as she struggled desperately. The fear of not knowing where she would be taken deprived her of calm thoughts.

"Tch! Not only you're half-fish, you're also half-Japanese! Hold still!"

The agents holding the ropes mercilessly pulled her unwilling form closer as they mocked Haru. When she turned around, the ominous hands were only a few meters away from dragging her into the darkness. But then she heard the sound of a boat engine coming from somewhere. The crewmen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a lifeboat approaching at a very high speed.

"Haru-san!!"

"...Akira!?"

From the lifeboat came a voice shouting Haru's name. Haru found Hoshikazu standing on the boat, a look of joy and relief on his face. Behind him, Kodai is at the helm of the motor.

"This is our only chance! Get to it while we can!"

"Yeah!"

Hoshikazu leaned forward from the left side of the boat and, turning sideways against the sea surface, approached Haru. Kodai gripped the rudder with his right hand and grabbed Hoshikazu's waist belt with his free left hand to keep him from falling overboard.

"...Haru!"

"...Akira!"

Hoshikazu spread his arms out to their fullest. Haru also extended her arm frantically toward Hoshikazu, who was approaching her. Then, just as their lifeboat passed by the submarine, Haru and Hoshikazu were parallel to each other.