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.
"...Ha!"
After the lifeboat passed by, Haru's figure disappeared from the agents' sight. Hoshikazu held Haru tightly with both arms. The man holding the rope around Haru's tail was pulled by the lifeboat and fell into the sea.
"Hnggg!"
Kodai pulled up Hoshikazu's waist belt, with all his might using his left hand. With that, Hoshikazu succeeded in pulling Haru up onto the boat.
*cough, cough!*
Haru coughed lightly as she slammed onto the boat. However, she quickly raised her upper body and embraced Hoshikazu, who was lying on the boat.
"Akira... aaaaahhh!"
"Haru-san..."
Haru cried loudly at being rescued in the nick of time. Her arms and body were shaking as she hugged Hoshikazu.
"I was so scared! I thought I would never see you all again! Thank you...!" *sob*
Haru's tears streamed down as she lamented the danger that had suddenly come over her. Hoshikazu gently stroked her head to calm her down.
"Alright... let's just keep going back to the ship!"
Kodai turned the steering and set course for the ferry. After successfully retrieving Haru, there was no need to linger. The warlord army's agents, who had been deprived of Haru, looked at the escaping lifeboat with distraught eyes.
"Damn it! Get after it now! Get that fish back!"
"Sir!"
The warlord operatives quickly retreated into the submarine. Immediately after, the submarine moved after the lifeboat piloted by Kodai.
"Gah! They're chasing us!"
"We have the speed advantage! They won't catch us to the ferry!"
Kodai piloted the boat in a straight line back to the ship. They cannot let another abduction tragedy occur in Japan. With this determination and resolve, Hoshikazu and Kodai continued their escape.
"...!"
Haru squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that the crisis would pass. The lifeboat, escaping at full speed, was rapidly pulling away from the pursuing submarine.
"Dammit...! Launch the missiles!"
"...Yes, sir!"
Frustrated, Yuan Baikai ordered his men to launch the missiles. The agent who received the order took out a portable missile that was loaded on the submarine and revealed his upper body through the sub's hatch. Hoshikazu and Kodai were shocked to see him.
"Missile!?"
"It's a Chinese-made missile from the previous century! That's a dangerous-looking tube!"
The agent took out a portable missile similar to the Hóng Yīng and Qian Wei missiles. The man looked through the scope at the lifeboat's outboard engine and put his finger on the trigger.
"It's one or the other... Hoshikazu, take over piloting!"
"What are you doing!?"
Kodai took his hand off the rudder to be replaced by Hoshikazu and pulled out a small box that was equipped in the lifeboat. Inside the box were a single pistol and two large bullets. Kodai hastily loaded the pistol. Immediately after that, a missile was fired at the lifeboat.
"They really shot at us!"
"...Gah!!"
Kodai fired the gun at about the same time. The bullet emitted from the muzzle of the gun was glowing brightly and emitting heat. What Kodai took out was a flare gun used by those who escaped in lifeboats to send out distress signals to the surrounding vessels.
BOOOOOM!
"!?"
The missile veered off course toward the direction from which the signal flare was fired and hit the sea. The man who fired the missile was wide-eyed in shock.
"This is an old century technology... but is this also a cheap copy? To think a signal flare can fool it."
China's munitions industry was severely decimated by the East Asia War, which took place from 2022 to 2024. Furthermore, China's military technology had been severely set back as new military development was restricted by the United Nations and the United States. Now, in mainland China, where numerous warlords and ethnic groups are roaming around, deteriorating copies of military equipment used in the 20th and early 21st centuries are being distributed in an unregulated manner.
"...Shit! One more shot!"
The agent received another missile from inside the hatch and aimed it at the lifeboat. Immediately after that, however, a powerful column of water hit the submarine.
"...N-no way!?"
Yuan Baikai and Jin Lianglian's faces turned blue at once. The other agents, including the man who fired the missile, also began to tremble as they saw the "devil" approaching from across the sea. Hoshikazu and Kodai, on the other hand, looked on with relief. Fluttering the glorious rising sun flag, it came closer and closer. And then, above the sea, a rumbling warning sound and a voice could be heard.
"This is the Japan Coast Guard. We are here to inform you of your ship. You are in violation of the territorial waters of Japan, even though you have not been duly authorized to enter the port. Stop the vessel immediately and surrender! If you show any signs of resistance, you will be terminated!"
It was the Fukurō, a Washi-class unmanned coastal defense frigate patrolling Japanese waters. The Fukurō cut through the sea and approached the submarine.
"Crash dive! We're escaping into the sea!"
They did not respond to the call. Jin Lianglian gave the order to escape into the sea, and the agents under his command began to scurry. And the submarine that had been chasing the lifeboat fled into the sea as fast as they could see. The frigate Fukurō, however, launched a new attack, determined not to let them escape. Six short torpedoes were fired from the tubes located on both sides of the ship. The torpedoes sliced through the water, swiftly and silently approaching the submarine.
BO-BO-BO-BOOM!!
Just a few seconds later, a continuous spray of water rose from the sea. The submarine sent from Ningbo was quickly sunk.
"Hit confirmed on the enemy submarine, returning to patrol duty..."
The drone frigate, having eliminated the intruder, returned to its normal mission. Hoshikazu, Kodai, and Haru watched the ship for a while.
Ferry Deck
After safely rescuing Haru and pulling her out of the lifeboat, Hoshikazu and Kodai were forced to sit upright on the ship's deck. The instructor glared at them with a demonic aura on him. Behind the instructor is Amakawa, with a large bump on his head.
"IDIOTS!! What in the world were you thinking!? Be grateful the Coast Guard arrived on time, but one wrong move and you would have been dead!!"
"W-we are truly sorry!!"
The instructor roared angrily. At that moment, the two students rubbed their foreheads against the deck and got down on their knees in a spectacular display. The other students surrounded them and laughed.
On the side of the deck, Haru, who had been pulled onto the ship like them, was being treated for her injuries by a school nurse from the Aerospace Academy. Her home, the Mermaid Village, has been informed of the situation via the Imperial Coast Guard, and adult mermaids are said to be coming from the village in droves to pick up Haru.
"........."
The instructor's scolding still continued. Each time his angry voice flew, Hoshikazu and Kodai freaked out. Haru looked at them and grinned. She was glad that Hoshikazu and his friend had risked their lives to save her.
Soon after, the instructor's thunder subsided and Hoshikazu and Kodai are finally dismissed. As the two were slumping after being lambasted so hard, Haru approached them in her wheelchair.
"Akira, Sorata, and Renji... thank you so much."
"...!"
Haru expressed her gratitude once again. Hearing her words, the three looked at each other and smiled shyly.
About an hour later, the ferry stopped at sea and a group of people from the Mermaid Village arrived to pick them up. The group consisted of the village chief, Ryoko, and other strong men from the village, as well as Haru's mother, Mizuki. The instructors and students of the Aerospace Academy saluted on the deck. Ryoko, a shark mermaid with a particularly large physique, looked particularly intimidating to them.
"I am Ryoko Shanishiki, the chief of the Mermaid Village. Thank you for protecting our family."
Ryoko politely expressed her gratitude as they saluted her on the deck. Then Haru appeared in front of Ryoko and the others, being pushed in a wheelchair by a female student.
"Haru!"
"...Mom!"
Mizuki burst into tears, as the tension in her heart had been broken by the sight of her daughter. Haru also got up from her wheelchair and jumped from the deck toward her mother. After landing in the water with a big splash, Haru hugged Mizuki tightly. Mizuki gently patted her head to make sure her daughter was okay.
"You're safe... you're safe! I'm so glad you're okay...!"
"...Mom... Mooooomm!"
Haru was also relieved to see her mother and cried. The students and the villagers watched the mother and daughter in silence.
"...Then we are leaving. Let's go, Mizuki."
"Yes."
At Ryoko's urging, Mizuki took Haru's hand. She bowed to the students and instructors lined up on the deck, then pulled Haru's hand and began to swim with the other mermaids to the Mermaid Village. Hoshikazu and the others looked at their backs with a sense of loneliness.
"...!"
In the middle of the swim, Haru quickly let go of her mother's hand, turned around, and approached the ship again. With a startled Mizuki at her back, Haru exclaimed to Hoshikazu and the others standing on the deck.
"Akira! Make your promise come true someday!"
"!"
Haru remembered the promise Hoshikazu had made to her. He ran to the deck railing, leaned over, and shouted loudly as she had done.
"...OF COURSE!"
Hoshikazu was choked with tears, as did Haru. Then they both opened their mouths at the same time.
"Someday, we'll meet again on the ocean of stars... in the far reaches of the universe!"
That became their parting words. Later, from the deck of the ferry, the students saw off the dwellers of the sea who were returning to the Mermaid Village. Hoshikazu, Kodai, and Amakawa all kept in mind the promise they had made to Haru. Their eyes were shining with the light burning in the setting sun.
Later, the sunken submarine is recovered by the Imperial Navy, and from its parts and the remains of its operatives, it becomes clear that they were sent by the Sun Warlord Army based in Ningbo. It was also revealed that, in addition to the agents who died with the submarine, there were several other agents hiding in Japan, who were later secured by the Public Security Bureau.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day
Aerospace Academy Student Dormitory, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Yokosuka.
This city, once the home port of the United States Forces Japan and the Seventh Fleet, is now the home port of the Fusō, the only flying battleship on Earth, and its majestic appearance has become a new symbol of Yokosuka. The day after the attempted abduction of a demi-human child, Hoshikazu and the other students of the Aerospace Academy had returned to their dormitory in this city, their original residence, from the Tokyo Spaceport where they had been practicing.
"Alright... now!"
In a room in the dormitory, there is the figure of Akira Hoshikazu. He had a piece of paper spread out on his desk, pen in hand, and was beginning to do something.
'Originally, aquatic demi-humans were so rare that such an idea had never occurred to me, but I'm sure there are plenty of ideas out there if I wanted to make one.'
He was thinking of a machine that would allow the aquatic demi-humans, including the mermaids, to fly into outer space. In order to fulfill his promise to Haru, Hoshikazu was quick to take action.
'If it can be immersed in water... if we can we prepare a large water tank...'
"Aah... no!"
Hoshikazu immediately rejected the first idea that came to mind.
'Except for Fusō, which is capable of artificial gravity, the interior of independently developed space vessels is weightless. For humans, magnetic shoes are enough, but water has to be basically sealed in zero gravity space... It would be horrible to leave them in a sealed tank from the time of their departure until their arrival...'
In zero-gravity space, water forms a spherical shape by intermolecular force. However, if it is divided into small pieces, it can get between the instruments and cause malfunctions and failures of the spacecraft. Also, in zero-gravity space, once a liquid sticks to an object, it is difficult to separate, and if it gets on one's face, it can cause drowning.
'Mermaids... like the fishes, their epidermis is more fragile than that of terrestrial organisms because of the lack of keratin. But in the case of mermaids, they can breathe on land, so all they need to do is to keep their lower body submerged in water...'
"Simple, but... how about covering the lower half of the body with a large bag of water? For transportation, we can build a specialized wheelchair. The problem is whether the bag can be sealed or not."
As Hoshikazu sketched out his idea, he pictured Haru coming and going inside the spacecraft in a wheelchair. However, he felt a strong sense of discomfort with the image.
'...No, mermaids are beautiful when they swim. That graceful figure... can't be seen on the ground, but in weightless space, mermaids can basically swim in the air. There is no way not to take advantage of that!'
Hoshikazu again rejected the idea that came to mind. He then rethought his idea and came up with a new one. He continued his trial-and-error process, and before he knew it, dawn was breaking.
After graduating from the Aerospace Academy, Hoshikazu and his friends became involved in the Earth-space transportation industry and devoted themselves to researching and creating an environment that would allow species with limited living environments, including mermaids, to go to space. This would make a tremendous contribution to the accelerated entry of the private sector into the space industry during the Space Frontier Era, which finally arrived, but that is another story.
. . .
Mermaids
A race of people whose upper bodies are human and lower bodies are fish and their descendants migrated to Japan from another world, Terralus, during the 15 years in another world. The mermaid gene is dominant compared to the human. Both male and female mermaids have fine eyebrows and good looks. Their lifespan is equal to that of humans, but they have the ability to breathe underwater and are resistant to water pressure. They cannot spend long periods of time on land, and it is very difficult for them to go on to college or enter normal society.
Because of their graceful and fantastic appearance, counterfeit fishing boats have appeared from the continent to kidnap them for human trafficking purposes, and the Japanese government has built a Mermaid Village on Shirahama Beach to protect them.
Mizuki Shirakaba
Mermaid. 45 years old. A steephead parrotfish mermaid.
Her mother (Haru's grandmother) immigrated to Japan with her parents when she was 5 years old. Her husband is a human and resides in Yokohama, where he works.
Maki Shirakaba
Mermaid. 19 years old. A longfin batfish mermaid.
The eldest daughter of the Shirakaba family. She is concerned about her youngest sister, Haru. She supports her family's finances by working from home.
Gen Shirakaba
Mermaid. 17 years old. A sailfin tuna mermaid.
Second-year high school student. He attends classes at a branch school in his village. He is concerned about Haru's dream.
Satsuki Shirakaba
Mermaid. 15 years old. A fire goby mermaid.
She is in her third year of junior high school. She attends classes at a branch school in her village.
Haru Shirakaba
Mermaid. 14 years old. A damselfish mermaid.
Second-year junior high school student. She yearns for space and frequents the spaceport off Suruga Bay. There, she has developed friendships with students from the Aerospace Academy, including Akira Hoshikazu.
Ryoko Shanishiki
Mermaid. 34 years old. A shark mermaid.
She is the only shark mermaid in the village and the village chief. Her physique is nearly three times that of a normal mermaid or human. She is mainly in charge of communicating with the government and informing them of important matters.