The soft and warm air woke Riamu up. His eyes blinked for a moment at the bright blue sky. There were only a handful of pristine white fluffy clouds.
Riamu moved his fingers and clenched the soft material around them. It was sand. He glanced at the waving palm tree to his right. Seagulls squawked and mewed somewhere.
He sat and looked around. There were people further inland on the beach. He stood up and walked.
“What is happening here?” mumbled the teenager.
These were military personnel. Soldiers with the typical khaki tunic uniforms and sen-bou field caps, officers in dark green or white with matching service hats and swords on the side. They were chatting before suddenly looking at Riamu.
He froze in discomfort. He gulped before realizing that they were looking at the ocean behind him. Riamu turned around just in time before the blinding flash of light engulfed the sky.
Riamu fell on the sand. Tremors and strong winds caught him. He could hear his own heartbeats.
On the horizon, the gigantic ball of fire grew into a humungous pillar. Riamu knew what that was.
The speakers gave a speech. “The world has changed. Most people would think that there is only one option with it: adapt or die. Today, we have proven that there is another option. We don’t simply adapt.”
Riamu’s mouth began to follow. “We instead evolve on par with the world.”
The speaker towers continued. “With this weapon, the Japanese Empire and its Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere no longer need to shy away from striking a balance with the German Reich as an equal superpower!”
Riamu’s breaths were getting shorter. Something was not right. He didn’t notice the serpentine shapes rising to disturb the atomic mushroom cloud. He did notice the seawater that started to flood his hands.
The ocean was approaching. Riamu glanced back at the officers who continued their discussions and mutual toasts seemingly unimpeded by the changing environment. He looked at the waves again and the strange movements in them.
Then the tsunami released its hidden hitchhiker as the head of a massive sea dragon attacked. It chomped at Riamu’s entire leg, making him scream in pain. He tried to claw the sand, but the monster pulled him into the water.
As the beach was replaced by the watery vortices, Riamu’s clawing hands felt and grabbed something. Without further thinking, he used it to stab the dragon’s eye. He let go of the object when realizing that it was the katar dagger.
The dragon’s other eye gave him a piercing glance. It opened its mouth again, this time swallowing Riamu whole.
Riamu woke up again gasping. He tried to inhale as much air as possible. Considering his nightmare of being dragged into the ocean, it was understandable.
“You got me worried for a moment there,” said the soft voice across the tatami room. It was Kanon who reclined sitting against one of the big cabinets. To her right was the tokonoma alcove where a sword was displayed.
“Where am I?” Riamu looked around him. It was a typical Japanese room with sliding doors and paper screens. “Am I at your place?”
Kanon snorted as she approached him and knelt. “You wish. You’re at our secret lair. You’re at the home of the Hydraheads.”
Riamu’s eyebrows rose. “Looks pretty normal to me.”
“Well, Rao adapted the place to be more familiar to humans. Specifically, to a bunch of high school teenagers from Hiroshima-2,” replied Kanon with a shrug. “Can you get up?”
“I’m fine, thank―” Everyone heard the growling sound from Riamu’s stomach. “That’s embarrassing.”
Kanon giggled before standing up. “There’s a katsu sandwich in the cabinet. I’ll wait outside once you’re ready.”
Kanon left and allowed Riamu to explore. First and foremost, he was wearing a compression shirt instead of the gakuran uniform. He smelled the fabric. It was definitely his shirt from yesterday based on the leftover sweaty scent. Riamu didn’t want to know how he changed clothes during the unconscious period.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
He was definitely in a house. Not his, but quite as comfortable. Few things felt more familiar though, like the wavy kris blade of the sword and the hanging scroll painting that depicted Mount Bromo and the surrounding sea of sands.
The sandwich in the cabinet seemed too fancy, but he’d take anything at the moment.
Riamu was wiping the mayonnaise with his shirt when he stepped out of the house. Just then, he realized his vicinity’s grandeur. His place was one of few simple villas separated by simple cobblestone pathways and cherry blossom trees. There were intertwining canals with small stone bridges.
But the most breathtaking part of the location is what Riamu could see above. Everything is in a huge spherical chamber supported by pillars in the shape of dragons. There was a strange glowing symbol that mimicked the morning sun’s warmth. Riamu’s jaw dropped. “What... What is this? An alien zen resort or something?”
Kanon chuckled as she walked with him. “More or less, the place is inside Rao’s command ship. This is basically her command center.”
“Ship?” asked Riamu confused. “You mean, that kind of ship? Like the ones the Germans used to colonize Venus and Mars?”
Kanon shrugged again. “Well, perhaps more advanced than those. You’ll understand once you meet him.”
Riamu stopped his walk. “Wait, wait, why am I here exactly?”
“Do you remember what happened before you got knocked out?”
“I was....” Riamu closed both of his eyes and thought hard to remember. “There was a fight and....”
“A fight with who?”
“Durgasaur, he’s a monster.” Riamu saw Kanon nod. He continued. “And you guys were superheroes who fought it.”
“Go on.” Kanon took a step closer toward her friend, prompting Riamu to take a step back. “Anything else?”
“I... I was one of you. I was one of the Hydrahead that night.”
Kanon took Riamu’s hands. “That’s right, Riamu-kun. You were, you are. We still need you on our team.”
Riamu was in doubt. He looked at their hands, each finger and all. Then, he backed down. “I... I can’t do this. I’m not ready.”
Kanon frowned. “Ready?”
“Why do you think I agreed to move to Hiroshima-2 with my uncle? There’s only Rie after my parents are now gone. I need to protect her.”
“We―”
Riamu cut right in. “Look, all of you are more experienced in doing this superhero business. Not me, I’m just a boy from Kyanbera. I’m not even that good in sports.”
“Let him go, Kanon-chan,” said another feminine voice behind them. It was Naniwa who approached while pinching her tanned cheeks. “He’d made up his mind.”
Kanon wanted to protest, but she canceled it. In a defeated tone, she said, “Understood. Riamu-kun, you can take your stuff from the second house.”
Naniwa put her hands in her neon green hoodie’s stomach pocket. “I’ll help you take the stuff, Rei-chan.”
Riamu waved his hand. “No, I can―”
“I insist.”
Riamu entered one of the Japanese houses. He was instantly got startled when opening the living room’s slide door. There, in the middle of the tatami floor was a large artifact in the shape of a seven-headed orochi. On its lap was another teenager sitting in a meditating position.
The intrigued Riamu approached and tried to touch him. Alas, there was a strange liquid membrane that protected the sleeping boy. “Who―”
“He’s healing just like you before. Say hello to Jintsu, Kanon’s brother,” said Naniwa indifferently.
“That’s... the Zennyo Hydrahead?”
“Yeah, he joined the team later. Kanon rejected him for quite some time since she worried about his safety as a Hydrahead, but he was persistent like his Hydra Spirit.” The tomboyish girl grumbled. “Now, it has chosen you.”
Riamu flinched. “There must be a mistake here. He threw his thing at me. There was no ‘choosing the right one’ there.”
Naniwa gave a cynical chuckle. “There are no accidents when it comes to the Spirits, Rei-chan.”
Riamu shook his head. “I have never permitted to use that nickname.”
“Who cares? You’re leaving anyway.”
Riamu observed her friend for a moment before, “You’re upset too, aren’t you?”
“It was understandable. But in my personal opinion, you’re just being a pussy.”
Riamu frowned. His note sharpened. “Excuse me?”
“How long do you think until the monsters get your sister if the Hydraheads lost?” Naniwa got out of the room after that question.
Riamu bit his lips. He clenched his fists while looking at the passive Jintsu inside the healing artifact. He cursed before getting his wet clothes and bag from inside the cabinet.
He went out the door and found the black Hydrahead already waiting. Without saying anything, the female warrior touched him in the chest and the world seemed to disperse into a storm of colorful fragments.
There was a thump and Riamu arrived at a room that he was familiar with. There was a photo of him and Rie on the study desk. “Home sweet home...,” mumbled the teenager before puking on the floor.