All usual disclaimers apply.
Mr. Musashibo and Hikaru didn't arrive home until the sun had set. They lived about an hour away from the Kusanagi shrine, but they had to stop by the hardware store to pick up some new tools. They lived in a small shore town whose biggest attraction was the wharf that housed the coast guard and the ship yard. In the area there were more boats than cars. Mr. Musashibo's father was a fisherman by trade and he followed in his footsteps. At least for part of the year. The other year he did his usual contracting business.
Mr. Musashibo and Hikaru entered their small home, taking off their dirty work boots at the door before entering.
"We're home," Mr. Musashibo called as they entered.
"Welcome back," replied Mrs. Musashibo, who was busy laying out dishes to prepare dinner. Yumiko Musashibo was middle aged but she aged very well. Her dark hair was tied up in a bun usually and she had a soft kind face that rarely frowned.
She was a nurse at the hospital in town and was one of the first of the doctors and nurses Hikaru remembered seeing as he lay in that hospital bed, helpless and scared, not understanding anything that was being told to him. When he finally understood that they wanted to know if he had a name, he quite understood that he didn't have one. Mrs. Musashibo gave him the name "Hikaru", referring to the brightness of his face and eyes, as she told him. When it became obvious that the hospital could not hold him much longer, even while the investigation into his identity was still going on, she pulled him to Mr. Musashibo who begrudgingly gave him a job as an assistant. Then Mrs. Musashibo offered Hikaru to stay at their place for a few weeks. As Hikaru was ready to leave, she insisted that he stay for another month. And then another. It was quite plain, that although Mr. Musashibo loathed the idea, that Hikaru was going to live with them. Even for Mr. Musashibo it was hard to just kick a young boy with nowhere to go out in the street. So the decision was astoundingly clear.
As the two males of the household filed in, Mr. Musashibo told Hikaru, "Go upstairs and clean yourself up for dinner."
"Yessir," Hikaru said before greeting Mrs. Musashibo and ascending the narrow stairs to the second floor. After he did so, the older man drew closer to his wife with a smile on his face.
"How was Hikaru at the shrine today?" she asked, still busying herself with pan searing beef strips.
"He was clumsy as usual, but he was adequate," Mr. Musashibo said noncommittally. "But I caught him staring at the daughter of the shrine owner."
Mrs. Musashibo raised an eyebrow, smiling a little, "Oh really?"
Her husband laughed, "Yes, I'm sure of it. He's going to be a handful."
"I can't say I blame him," Mrs. Musashibo replied. "It's not very often he meets a girl his age. There aren't a lot of his peers around here."
"I'm not too concerned. He's not the type to catcall or anything, unlike the other hooligans I have to work with."
She laughed and turned to her husband, pulling his beard, "Wash your face, dinner's almost ready."
Mrs. Musashibo laid out the dinner on the small dining table and almost on cue Hikaru descended the stairs and placed himself on the table quietly. Mrs. Musashibo poured him a large glass of milk and laid the carton next to the glass. The few things that was known about Hikaru early on is that he loved meat and drank a lot of pasteurized milk. Mrs. Musashibo got a few strange looks at the store whenever she bought several cartons of milk at once. At this point the local grocers laughed, knowing who it was for.
Mr. Musashibo eyed the young man angrily. "Get that thing off your head," he pulled the black beanie off the boy's head revealing his shoulder length long blond hair, "It's not polite at the dinner table."
Hikaru ran a hand over his bothersome hair. When Mrs. Musashibo first saw Hikaru, he had long blond hair and was rather slim, but fit. After working several months with her husband, he grew bigger and fitter, possibly in part for his large appetite of meat and milk. His hair was still a bother to him. It wasn't helpful during hot days at work, and whenever he worked around town it drew unneeded attention from the housewives who certainly didn't mind seeing a fit young man with long flowing blond hair working in their yards and fixing their plumbing. It was the one thing Mr. Musashibo didn't mind. The frequent calls for "young Hikaru" to paint a fence that was already painted or to fix a sink that didn't need fixing meant money.
As bothersome as it was, whenever he cut his hair, it grew back very quickly. At one point he cut it off completely leaving only a shaved head, but by the end of the week his hair reached below his ears. So on most days he just kept his hair under the hat to hide his locks. He even grew a beard to hide his youthful face, but still with hat and facial hair he got attention.
Hikaru murmured his apologies and went about eating silently.
"So Hikaru," Mrs. Musashibo began, "How was work today?"
Mr. Musashibo's brow furrowed hoping his wife would spare Hikaru the embarrassment of being caught looking at a girl.
"It was okay."
"Just okay?"
Hikaru nodded, "A routine inspection—"
"He did a good job with that," Mr. Musashibo complimented. "He could be a fine contractor yet."
"Thank you, Mr. Musashibo," Hikaru said, smiling a little. He certainly seemed a little tired and as always caught in his thoughts. Mrs. Musashibo didn't let that bother her. She assumed it was to be expected of a growing boy caught in his peculiar situation.
Dinner was as usual with the Musashibo's chatting away like the married couple they were and Hikaru largely remained silent, not sure it was right to be a part of their conversation. As welcoming Mrs. Musashibo was, he always felt like an intruder in their lives. Mr. Musashibo spoke excitedly of his work trip tomorrow. He hadn't been out sailing for a while now and relished the idea of doing so with an actual crew.
When dinner was finished, Hikaru helped Mrs. Musashibo wash the dishes while Mr. Musashibo turned on the TV to watch baseball. At some point, Mrs. Musashibo assured Hikaru that she had the dishes under control and told him to relax. As he sat on the chair caddy-corner to Mr. Musashibo to watch the baseball game with him in silence, the bearded older man turned to look and said sternly, "Nuh-uh. You're going to bed early. You need your rest for shipping off tomorrow, especially since you haven't been sleeping well lately."
Hikaru glanced at the man blankly.
"Go on, go to bed and make sure to take some of those sleep aids as well."
Hikaru nodded, feeling like he did something wrong. As he stepped up the stairs, Mrs. Musashibo wished him goodnight.
Watch the skies…
There's something up there. Watching.
But below. Deep below they hide.
Keep your eyes up. Watch the skies.
He was blinded by a flash of silver, pressure penetrating his chest.
Hikaru violently awoke in the middle of the night. Deep into the night as the house seemed to be dark. He rolled on his stomach glancing out his one window at the darkened sea, the pounding of thunder in his ears.
The roaring of voices.
He stepped out of bed drawn silently to the window. Thunder was roaring nonstop. It wasn't supposed to rain was it? He opened the window, gazing up at the dark sky.
But the sky was open, dark clouds covering flashes, a rainbow of colors swirling menacingly. Figures and creatures were silhouetted against the clouds clashing and swirling, flames and ice spurting. Hikaru's heart beat as an inhuman cry split the sky.
He gasped, awakened once again. It was still dark. He rolled on his stomach and stared out his window. The skies were clear. Empty.
A dream again.
Hikaru sighed rolling on his back, feeling helpless from his own subconscious. He breathed silently, trying desperately to fall back asleep. The more he consciously tried to fall asleep, the less relief he got.
Eventually, thankfully, after hours of tossing and turning, he drifted uncomfortably to the realm of dreamless sleep.
At around 5 a.m., just as the sun was starting to rise, Mrs. Musashibo knocked on Hikaru's door.
"Hikaru. It's time to wake up."
There was no response so she opened the door slightly and peered inside, "Hikaru?"
The boy was asleep, fully dressed with his hat, sweatshirt and jeans. He probably got up in the middle of night and dressed himself but fell asleep waiting for the others to awaken.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to her husband who reached over to softly close the door.
"Let him sleep," he said gently. "He's had a rough couple of days. I'll let him sit this one out."
Mr. Musashibo finished packing his small knapsack of spare clothes and the couple saw each other off at the doorway of their home.
"I'll see you tomorrow night," Mrs. Musashibo said, clutching her robe over her body against the chilly morning air.
"Right," Mr. Musashibo nodded, "While I'm gone, have Hikaru start painting the Tanaka's fence. It'll give him something to do."
His wife nodded and tugged on his beard bringing him closer to give him a quick kiss on the lips.
"Be safe, Ken," she said as he hoisted his knapsack over his shoulder giving her a goodbye wave. Mrs. Musashibo watched as her husband walked down the street towards the docks, going back inside once he almost disappeared from her view.
At the docks Mr. Musashibo was greeted at the boat by the rest of the crew.
"Hey, about time Musashibo," a younger gentleman teased, leaning over the portside of the boat as another younger man busied himself with placing supplies. "What? Wanted a few extra moments to have some 'fun' with Yumiko."
Mr. Musashibo smirked and shook his head as he stepped onboard, "Shut your mouth, Kubokawa."
The man who captained the vessel was a grizzled older man with tattoos on his arms. He was a fisherman and a rumored former whaler. Despite his appearance, he was extremely professional.
"Ready to fix the American Navy's problems again?" he asked Musashibo with a broad smile.
"Hey, I'll never bypass a chance to take money from the U.S government, Tadoka."
The small crew laughed a little. The youngest member, Kubokawa, however looked confused, "You'd think the biggest navy in Japan's seas would have a sufficient repair crew in their military."
"They do," Joziro replied, adjusting his headband as he closed the casing of the engine after making sure it was running sufficiently, "But they don't have an endless list of supplies. We're just taking these gas tanks and metal replacement pieces to them to do whatever they do."
"But there's still gonna be repairs right?" Kubokawa asked looking dejected. He was a boat repairman by trade. It seemed like a waste if he came aboard and didn't get to do his trade job.
Musashibo rolled his eyes still not believing he had to work with young hooligans even on an important job for a foreign military, "You'll get to repair something. I promise."
Joziro crossed his thick exposed arms over his chest, "Hey, Musashibo, isn't your boy coming along?"
Musashibo's eyebrow twitched at Hikaru being referred to as 'his boy', but he didn't correct him otherwise, "No, I let him sleep in. He'll get his due I assure you."
Tadoka stepped out of the steering pit, looking rather impatient, "Are we ready to shove off or what?"
"Aye, sir."
The small vessel headed straight on into the seas. As far as they went there was no indication of a storm or tough seas. The coast guard frequently gave captains of industry vessels reports of weather, current shifts, tides and of the like and everything checked out. The two youngest Joziro and Kubokawa spent the trip playing cards, while Tadoka navigated and Musashibo went back and forth between monitoring radio signals from the coast guard and other ships and staring out at the vast openness of the sea. While his gaze was out at the relatively clear waters, Tadoka radioed the coast guard.
"This is the vessel Iruka. We have reached about 123 fathoms offshore. All clear. Standing by."
After about a second the coast guard replied, "Affirmative, switching radio signals to USS Nathaniel Greene. Radio when you've arrived."
"Confirmed."
Kubokawa laid down his cards and leaned back in his chair, "We're getting pretty far out. We won't run into some Umibozu will we?"
Joziro nearly choked on his laughter, not thinking that Kubokawa was at least a little serious, "You've got to be joking. Don't tell me you believe in that sea spirit crap."
Tadoka defended the younger crew member by shooting back from his steering wheel, "And you don't? Most sailors have those sea myths close to their heart. You don't have to believe in them, Joziro, but at least respect them."
"My dad used to tell me those stories all the time, I guess I always thought of the possibility," Kubokawa explained as he shuffled the cards.
"No need to worry," Tadoka assured. "I made sure I prayed a little extra to the gods today."
Musashibo kept his mouth shut. He never really believed whole-heartedly in gods or spirits. On some level he thought they were there, but just distant, letting mankind get into whatever trouble they desired. Tadoka however was deeply religious, both a Buddhist and Shinto believer, though he was rather "born again" in certain respects.
They kept reaching further out, the land completely disappearing by now but there was no sign of the carrier. To make things even more upsetting they could see dark clouds in the sky ahead.
Tadoka checked his coordinates, "It should be around here."
At this point Joziro and Kubakawa turned their whole attention to the skyline ahead, trying to see if they could spot a carrier. U.S. carriers were some of the largest ships of the world, it shouldn't be hard to spot, but they were at the coordinate location and there was none.
Kubakawa took out some binoculars and gazed at the open sea, looking around for something. Anything.
"I'm taking her further out," Tadoka said, chugging the boat ahead.
The seas were wide open. Nothing around them. A scary thing more often than not. Even a seasoned sailor like Musashibo got a little unnerved at floating with nothing else around.
"Hey look," Joziro pointed slightly to the left of the direction the boat was facing. There underneath the dark clouds was a mass of a ship. It certainly looked like the carrier they were looking for. Relief flooded Musashibo's chest and Tadoka switched the frequency of the radio.
"I'll hail them," he said and drew the receiver to his mouth. "This is Iruka hailing USS Nathaniel Greene. Please copy."
There was only static as a response. Tadoka put down the receiver and accelerated towards the ship. The huge ship was just drifting, but to Musashibo felt like the ship was oddly…silent.
Tadoka hailed again, "This is Iruka hailing USS Nathaniel Greene. Do you read?"
Still static. "USS Nathaniel Greene, I repeat, do you read?"
Static again. Tadoka's aged and confused eyes turned to Musashibo and it was then they knew. Something wasn't right. Were they alerted to their coming? They had to be.
Kubakawa leaned out the side of the boat to get a better look as Tadoka shifted to head straight towards the ship. Eventually instead of going on straight, the navigator decided to try circling it at a distance in hopes to get a message from the carrier. Hails to the carrier were still being made with no response.
"We're circling the starboard side," Tadoka said, gazes of the crew still on the bow of the carrier. The ship was indeed large that even at a distance it was hard to get a good quick view as Tadoka circled.
But then Musashibo noticed something. Small shafts of black smoke. His mouth was slack as they got a view of the starboard seeing fully that one of the largest crafts in the seas…was missing a half.
The stern half was gone completely and left a floating mass.
"What…in gods' name…" Joziro gasped in horrified awe, seeing the interior of the ship exposed and the twisted gnarled metal mass where the half was cut off. Small gas fires were still lit where the chunk of damage was.
Fumbling with his binoculars Kubakawa took a closer look gaining all he could. He swallowed, seeing a couple of bodies strewn about the wreckage and bobbing in the water.
"You think it was an explosion?" Musashibo asked believing that something tragic like that may have caused a split in the ship and the other half could have sunken to the bottom of the sea. But that didn't make sense. Surely a distress call would've been made and if one half fell so should the other.
"It's like…" Kubakawa paused taking a deep breath. "It's like something bit it in half."
Before anyone could smash his theory the sky suddenly grew dark with grey black clouds and everything seemed colorless. The water seemed a deathly black.
"Send a distress signal," Musashibo suggested urgently to Tadoka who was so stunned by the wreckage that he didn't think to try to call the coast guard. He picked up the receiver and hurriedly called the coast guard.
"Coast guard station, this is Iruka. We are issuing a distress call—"
He couldn't finish his call as all of the sudden the lights of the boat and everything electronic shut off completely.
"What the hell?" Tadoka complained but not sooner had those words come out of his lips that the whole sea seemed to rock violently, like an earthquake erupted in the water. Waves billowed higher as the once steady seas grew unsteady.
The boat jerked and Kubakawa lost his balance and was sent into the dark writhing waters.
"Kubakawa!" Musashibo yelled and wasted no time in running to the edge and throwing a life preserver. The younger man surfaced looked ashened and distinctly frightened. He fought as hard as he could against the rough waves feeling as though the large billows only pulled him further away.
Musashibo pulled off his jacket prepared to jump in after him, but Joziro stopped him. The younger man did not want to see two of his fellow workers be at the mercy of the black waters. "Are you insane!" he yelled over the roaring waves and the spray of water that washed over them as the boat sunk and jerked against it.
"I can't leave him out there!" Musashibo roared back his beard now dripping with water. "Go and help Tadoka—"
"Pull me in!" They heard a tired but frantic call. "For gods sakes pull me in now!"
Kubakawa managed to latch onto the safety preserver and the two sailors went about trying to pull him in but the waves kept pulling him away. They were afraid that the rope would snap against the violent jerking. Kubakawa meanwhile was a frantic mess whimpering something unintelligible.
"GODDAMMIT GET ME OUT OF HERE!" he cried aloud.
As soon as Joziro and Musashibo got him close enough to the boat, Kubakawa risked falling in again as he practically leaped on board. He held the hand rail, eyes wide in disbelief, gasping against the beating of his chest the violent rush of water that pour on board, "There's something down there."
"What?"
Musashibo glanced down in the blackness trying to spot whatever Kubakawa may have seen. Was there something? If there was it was…big.
A curdling demonic roar hit the sky crushing the sounds of the waves.
There was no time to collect themselves from the shock as the seas rose up, swallowing what remained of the carrier. Large, round waves taller than sky scrapers flowed through the surface causing the small boat to tilt almost vertically. Everyone grabbed on to something and was left hanging. Except Tadoka who grabbed the steering wheel to prevent from fall, but it snapped off and he slid down his boat frantically trying to grab something to hold on to. Musashibo tried to catch his hand in time but, ultimately, failed.
Crying and screaming Tadoka violently crashed into the end of his boat and bounced into the waters of the unknown.
Whatever giant wave they were on flattened suddenly and the remaining members crashed into the deck violently. Joziro lost his grip and braced himself against the handrail. The tanks of gas however jerked loose from the force and rolled as the boat rocked and the thick metal objects flew down landing on his legs and waist, crushing his spine and legs.
He cried out feeling the snap but then nothing. He hooked his arms in the rails to keep from rolling about as the water became less predictable. Almost as if… something…was thrashing underneath.
Musashibo heard his comrade cry out and seeing Joziro pinned by the tanks he rushed forward and tried to pull the tanks off. Meanwhile, the younger man was crying profusely, scared that he was going to die.
Musashibo turned to Kubakawa who was clinging desperately to the rail at the opposite end, "Help me!"
But the young man didn't move from his rail, scared and clinging on for dear life. Musashibo yelled again, but the boat jerked violently as a wrathful wave hit the side. Kubakawa bounced off his railing from the force and was washed away as the wave engulfed him.
Before anyone could recover from seeing the young boat repairman disappear, a another sky-scraper like wave rose up tilting the boat on its side and the tanks rolled off the now numb Joziro. Musashibo grabbed the handrail finding himself dangling once again, facing the violent black depths below.
Joziro cried out as he lost his grip and began falling, but Musashibo grabbed his hand. He tried to keep his grip on the younger man as long as he could, but everything was drenched, his hands already slippery. He grimaced feeling his grip slipping. He was desperate to keep a firm grip on his junior, telling Joziro to hang on as tightly as he could.
It was then he saw movement. Or he thought he did.
That inhuman curdling screech filled the sea and sky again and Joziro's hand slipped through Musashibo's fingers. He stared on helplessly as the man fell into the sea. He wailed even as the boat flattened, but he swallowed his cry as something large rose from the water looming like a shadow of death over the miniscule boat. To his horror, it wasn't a wave.
It slammed over the small boat and the Iruka was claimed by the sea.
A/N: Read and Review