Through Fire and Water

Chapter 24 - Modern Era

This chapter is dedicated to ShyLittleMarshmallow! Happy reading! :)

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Izumi pov:

My heart pounded loud and fast in my ears as I waded through the water. I flinched every time I heard a gunshot and looked at the three others with me to make sure none of them got hit. Of all the possible times to turn up in my time again, it had to be now! And why did I have the feeling that I had returned to the same day of the mission on the Marine Dunes ship? I mean, how was it even possible for me to return to the same day when I had been in the past for close to a year?!

Unless of course, time didn't flow at the same speed or we were just meant to return to the time we were left off at.

I glanced back at Ryuusei, Haji san and Kiyori again. Ryuusei and Haji san looked startled and concerned, unable to make out what exactly was going on besides the fact that I was anxious and we were trying to evade something that could harm us. Kiyori was scared out of her mind and looked close to having a panic attack.

We had to get out of the water and onto dry land before coming up with an escape plan – we were running short of air and we were too open for attacks here. The only problem was that there were people out there with guns waiting for us to surface so they could shoot us. I searched along the deck while squinting my eyes to find a part where there weren't any of the men to see us when we surfaced for air. Thankfully, I did spot one place next to a speed boat that looked unguarded and I motioned to Ryuusei and Haji san to swim toward it. When we were on the other side, hopefully out of the armed men's views, we surfaced and gasped for air. We made sure that we didn't cough and Ryuusei shushed Kiyori who was making a fuss and almost gave away our position. After taking a moment to make sure we weren't seen, we swam to the part of the docks where we there were a lot of crates stacked. We could use them to hide and catch our breath before I assessed the situation and decided how to get out of here alive.

We got out of the water and I guided the three of them through the crates and to a small courtyard of sorts in the middle of several crates. We sat on one knee and caught our breaths while squeezing the excess water out of our clothes and hair. I peeked out from the crates once to see the men with guns running along the edge of the docks to look for me in the water though I could make out that they were planning on using the speed boat to search farther away from the deck and have a few others search the docks in case we managed to get out of the water without being seen. That being said, we didn't have much time to figure out an escape route from here.

"Izumi, what's going on?" Ryuusei asked in a hushed whisper when I sat down next to him.

"We're in my time, Ryuusei. When we fell into the water, I think we fell through the same portal thought which I came to your time." I said and wiped off some water that rolled down the side of my face from my hair.

"What are you talking about?! Who are those men?! What are-mmpghh!" Kiyori yelled but I slapped a hand over her mouth while glaring at her. She was being too loud, dammit!

"If I hear one more word from you, I'm not going to be nice anymore." I hissed and looked at Ryuusei after letting her go. "Sorry but she's really starting to annoy me. We absolutely cannot let those men find us – they're not people we can fight."

"They don't look all that tough, Sweethe-I mean, Your Highness." Haji san said, stuttering at the end when he received a glare from Ryuusei for almost calling me by the nickname he always used when with me. "I think we can take them on....we did just beat more than two dozen soldiers."

"These guys are not like the guys we fought. They carry weapons that we cannot fight against – they're like bows but much smaller with small but fatal-impact ammunition. When they're fired, they move so fast that you'll be hit even before you realize you were being aimed at." I said.