Lost and Found | Jujutsu Kaisen Insert

Chapter 3: Unfortunate Encounter

"What was that?!"

I knew the answer to that question but I really wish I was wrong. Remember that weird, ugly-looking creature I saw in the last chapter? Yeah? Well just half an hour after I last saw it, said ugly-looking creature decided to say hi.

What I meant by "saying hi" though is it kept ramming itself onto the surface of the boat, rocking it back an fort and making it hard not to stumble on the ground every time we tried to stand up again.

"Some of you, secure the stocks! The rest will check the situation on deck!"

We could hear the captain's commands through the speakers while he operated with the helm, struggling to keep the boat steady. We followed his orders and split our group in two, the cowardly newbies didn't hesitate to volunteer for the "safe" task, and Isamu (Hayato had to force him to stay inside where he will be safe) will look after the fish. The rest, including me, stayed on deck to see what was wrong.

Like the rest of the members with me, we looked over the side of the boat to investigate, when I did, I saw it again. Once again, it crashed its body onto the boat, I managed to hold onto the railing to keep myself from stumbling back, but I lost sight of it when I looked at the water again.

It must've swam under the boat, I worriedly thought.

"Is it a reef?!" I heard one of the old crew members yell out from behind me.

I heard Hayato answer as he climbed out from below the deck, "I don't think so, if it is, we wouldn't be continuously hit like this." then I noticed he was holding harpoons in both hands. "Here," he says before handing us the harpoons, "we might need it."

I accepted the harpoon he offered to me and prepared to fight, it's odd, in the prior times I encountered the creature, it never approached us until now. Maybe something provoked it, or it only noticed us just now.

Our attacker continued to slam itself on the boat, horrifyingly enough, the vessel is starting to rock too far to the side. At this point, I don't care why that thing is attacking us, I just want to do something to stop it. If I don't do anything, we're all as good as dead since I'm the only person unlucky enough to be able to see it. What can everybody else do against something they can't see?

How am I supposed to stop it?!

I tried my best not to panic and began to think of a solution, maybe if I trap it with the nets, we'll have enough time to get away, or maybe kill it.

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted when we we're hit again, this time to my horror, I saw one of the crew members fall off the side of the boat then into the water.

"Shinobu-kun!!!" Everyone yelled in unison.

Everyone including me started to panic, but I can't afford to lose one of my comrades, so I pulled myself together and tried to think rationally. I grabbed a flotation device then looked over where Shinobu fell, when I saw him on the surface of the water, I tied the floatie on the railing then threw it as close to him as possible.

"Grab on!" I yelled, desperately hoping it's enough to save him. There's still that monster out there, who knows what it'll do to him!!

Suddenly, just when Shinobu grabbed the floatie, he instantly submerged under the water, as if he was pulled down. Then, everything started to look blurry, panic hitting me like a truck on full speed, the frantic noises my comrades were muffled, as if I'm drowning in despair. But then I snapped, I didn't give myself a second to think and just moved and took a deep breath. For a moment, I heard Hayato yelling my name, then the next thing I knew, I was in the water.

Then I looked, dashing my eyes all over the dark abyss searching for any signs of Shinobu, hoping that I'm not too late. I strained my eyes to see in the water, then I spotted him, and what's holding onto his motionless body. The multiple hands of the mysterious monster was gripping him and slowly pulling him deeper into the water. 

It's size was not what I expected, from the surface, I estimated it's the size of a kayak, but seeing it under the water, it stretches for about 20 feet long, its width getting thicker and thicker as I looked lower, almost the shape of a messed up pyramid. Hands protruding on the surface of its blue-ish purple body.

Without hesitation, I swam towards the creature. Once I got close enough, I was able to grab my comrade's arm and tried to pull him up, but the monster's grip on him only got tighter. So I took the dagger strapped on my leg then slashed one of the hands of the monster, then I stabbed another, and another, trying my best not to accidentally injure the person I'm trying to save.

I was able to loosen its grip, but more hands just grabbed him, then to my surprise, one hand also grabbed my foot. I tried my best not to panic and worked my way into freeing him while making sure I don't get pulled down as well. My lungs began to demand for air, and my arms and legs felt sore from all of the slashing and kicking. The never ending amount of hands are beginning to drain me.

Will I be able to save both of us? Am I strong enough? Or have I doomed us both?

Those thoughts were the only thing left on my mind, wishfully thinking the last one won't the case.

"It stopped!"

"Do you see them?!"

"Damn it, Hiro-chan!.. Why would you do that?!"

"Is everyone here okay?"

"Captain! Hiroshi, she jumped!"

"She went after Shinobu, we couldn't stop her...."

"No sign of them... Where are they?!"

"We're here." I reply with a weak voice, still gasping for air while trying to steady myself and the person beside me.

Almost all of them yelled our names in unison before running towards us, with both signs of relief and distress, especially the older guys. Just when Hayato approached, he started scolding me for jumping after Shinobu without rational thought, so did a few others. Meanwhile, little Isamu tightly wrapped his arms around my waist, crying his eyes out, I felt Shinobu's weight lighten then I saw two other guys placing his arms on their shoulders.

Their yappering is honestly the last thing I need at the moment, considering I was in a life and death situation a few moments ago, and my entire body feels like jell-o. But I couldn't help but laugh it all off to lighten the mood.

"Quit being like overprotective parents, you guys. It doesn't suit you all well." I chuckled, my voice still slightly raspy. Then out of the blue, Hayato bopped my forehead and let out a little laugh.

"You almost died and you still make jokes. You're unbelievable." he teases with a chuckle.

I looked around and saw that even the guys from below deck were up here too, and all of them looked unharmed. I only just noticed that Shinobu was awake when he spoke.

"T- thank you... Hi-- Hiroshi-san." I could tell he was weakened because I could barely hear his voice. I gave him a smile as a response.

"Welcome back you two." I looked up to see the captain approaching us holding blankets in both hands. The others stepped aside as he wrapped the blankets around both of us. "We better check both of you for injuries...." I couldn't hear what captain said next.

Relief and security filled my very being, all I could think about right now is lying down. Everything around me became blurry and muffled.

"Aya-chan? Are you okay?"

THUD

That was the last thing I heard before I let exhaustion overcome me.

TO BE CONTINUED