Hawks soared above the churning ocean, hundreds of feathers spread out in a search grid pattern that covered nearly five square kilometers.
His eyes, enhanced by years of training, scanned the water below for any sign of wreckage, survivors, bodies—anything.
"Hawks to command," he spoke into his headset. "Sector Seven-Delta clear. No visual contacts. Moving to Seven-Echo."
"Copy that, Hawks. Be advised, weather system moving in from the east. ETA forty minutes."
"Acknowledged."
He banked left, feathers adjusting formation automatically, and continued the search.
Below him, the ocean stretched endlessly.
'... And here I was looking forward to a quiet rest of the day.' Hawks thought as he spared above it all.
It had been nearly two hours since he was informed of the incident from his agency in Kyoto.
His intern, Tsukyuomi, had been left behind abruptly mid lesson as a result.
'I'll have to make it up to him when I return. Still ..'
He ran a hand through his hair at the thought of the summon he received. 'I never expected that villains could get so much bolder in their actions. It hasn't even been a full day since Hosu and they pull this?'
He thought with a grimace.
The wind was picking up, the smell of seawater assaulting him from further north.
'How unfortunate. It's unlikely, but we can only hope the worst hasn't happened yet. 716 people. Just... gone.'
His feathers vibrated slightly—a detection pattern he'd trained them to recognize. Something below the surface. He dove closer.
Just a school of fish, disturbed by his shadow.
Hawks pulled back up, frustration building.
"Hawks to command. Still nothing. How are the other sectors?"
"Negative contacts across all zones. Endeavor's team is covering the northern arc. Ryukyu has the western quadrant. No one's found anything yet."
"What about the Coast Guard?"
"They're deploying deep-water sonar, but the search radius is... it's massive, Hawks. Even with every available resource, we're looking at weeks to cover everything thoroughly."
Hawks gritted his teeth. "These people don't have weeks."
"We know. Just keep searching. We have forty minutes until the weather shuts us down."
He adjusted his flight path, pushing his feathers to maximum spread. The storm clouds on the horizon were getting closer, darker.
'Forty minutes till the weather hits huh? ... Let's hope we find something .... Anything.'
_
[SEA OF JAPAN – 180KM WEST OF MUSTAFU –]
Selkie stood on the bridge of the *Oki Mariner*, binoculars pressed to his seal-like face as his ship cut through increasingly rough waters.
Behind him, Asui Tsuyu stood at attention in her hero costume, her large eyes fixed on the ocean through the bridge windows. She'd been silent since they'd received the emergency summons three hours ago.
"Captain," the ship's navigator called out. "Storm front approaching faster than predicted. We need to turn back in the next twenty minutes or risk getting caught in it."
"Not yet," Selkie shoot his head. "We haven't covered half our assigned sector."
One of his men couldn't help but add.
"Sir, with respect, if we get caught in that storm—"
"I know the risks, Lieutenant." Selkie lowered his binoculars. "But there are 716 people out here somewhere. I'm not abandoning them because of bad weather."
The navigator hesitated, glancing at Tsuyu. "Sir, we have a student aboard. If the weather deteriorates—"
"I'm fine, ribbit," Tsuyu cut in quickly. "I mean ... With all due respect sir, if there's any chance someone's still alive out there..."
Selkie turned to look at her, his expression softening slightly. "Froppy, I need you to understand something."
He looked forward.
"We're not sure what exactly we're out here searching for. The best case scenario is the Train was never out here to begin with and we all go home lighter in our chests. If not, then we're not looking for survivors anymore. At this point, we're looking for bodies. For closure. Can you handle that?"
Tsuyu swallowed. The thought was terrifying to imagine. However, there was no way she would back out, hence she nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Then keep your eyes on the water. Your vision's better than most of the crew's. If you see anything—debris, clothing, anything—you sing out immediately. Understood?"
"Understood, ribbit."
Selkie returned to scanning the water. Around him, crew members did the same, eyes straining against the glare and the growing chop of the waves.
Minutes passed. The wind picked up. The sky darkened.
"Contact!" someone shouted from the bow. "Starboard side, two hundred meters!"
Selkie's head snapped around. "All stop! Asui, with me!"
They rushed to the starboard rail. Through his binoculars, Selkie could see something floating—dark, irregular, bobbing in the waves.
"Launching rescue skiff!" the navigator called.
"Belay that," Selkie said. "I'll retrieve it myself. Faster." He turned to Tsuyu. "Stay here. Watch and learn."
Before she could respond, he dove over the rail, his body streamlining as he hit the water and shot toward the object with powerful strokes.
Tsuyu watched from the rail, her heart pounding.
'Please be alive. Please be someone we can save.'
Selkie reached the object, grabbed it, held it up.
Even from the ship, Tsuyu could see what it was.
A life jacket. Empty.
Her shoulders slumped.
Selkie swam back, climbed aboard, water streaming from his fur. He held the life jacket out to one of the crew.
"Log it. Check for serial numbers."
"Yes, sir." The crew member examined it. "Serial number doesn't match standard issue from Yamanote Line cars. This wasn't from the train."
Asui didn't know whether to be regretful that they had no clues to the train, or happy that they didn't.
Selkie let out a breath. He looked out at the endless ocean, then up at the storm clouds.
"How long until that hits?"
"Fifteen minutes, sir. Maybe less."
"Then we've got fifteen minutes." He turned to the bridge crew. "Full ahead. Continue the search pattern until I give the order to turn back."
"Sir—"
"That's an order."
The *Oki Mariner* surged forward, cutting through the increasingly rough seas.
Tsuyu stood at the rail, her large eyes scanning the water, searching for something—anything—that might be a person instead of just debris.
But the ocean remained empty.
Beside her, Selkie put a hand on her shoulder. "This is part of the job too, Froppy. Sometimes we search and we don't find what we're hoping for. But we search anyway. Because giving up means accepting they're gone. And we never accept that until there's absolutely no other choice."
"Ribbit," Tsuyu acknowledged, her voice thick. "How long do we keep searching?"
"Until the weather makes it impossible. Then we come back tomorrow and search again."
_
[AERIAL SEARCH – COASTAL REGIONS – 4:15 PM]
Ryukyu flew low over the coastline in her dragon form, her massive wings generating downdrafts that rippled the water below.
Behind her, three of her agency's sidekicks flew in formation, each covering a different altitude and search pattern.
"Ryukyu to coordinaton center," she spoke into her headset, her voice carrying over the wind. "Coastal sectors twelve through eighteen complete. No debris or survivors spotted."
"Understood. Proceed to sectors nineteen through twenty-two, then return to base. Weather's deteriorating fast."
"Copy that."
She banked right, following the rocky coastline. Below, fishing villages dotted the shore.
'If anyone made it to shore, someone would have seen them by now. Called it in. This far into the search, silence means...'
She didn't finish the thought.
"Ryukyu-san!" one of her sidekicks called. "I've got something! Small island, uninhabited. There's... it looks like disturbed sand on the beach!"
Ryukyu descended immediately, landing on the rocky shore.
The "disturbed sand" was just that—drag marks, like something heavy had been pulled up the beach. But the marks were old, weathered. Days, maybe weeks.
"Driftwood," one of her sidekicks said, pointing to a large log further up the beach. "Probably washed up during the last storm and someone dragged it higher."
Ryukyu nodded, frustration building. "Mark it as searched and move on."
As she took off again, the first drops of rain began to fall.
_
[TOKYO – HPSC HEADQUARTERS – 6:00 PM]
Inside the war room, the atmosphere was far from peaceful. A holographic map of the Pacific was partitioned into hundreds of red zones.
"The Coast Guard has committed forty vessels. The JSDF has authorized three satellite sweeps," an analyst reported to the HPSC Chairwoman. "But there's no result so far. The satellite sweeps aren't picking anything up. Thermal imaging has come out empty. Worse, a storm is approaching. All dispatched hero units are being forced to retreat."
"We might be overreacting. How bold can these villains be to drown so many people?"
"Said villains just attacked Hosu less than twenty four hours ago."
"This is bad. Two villain attacks at such scale in less than a day."
"The boldest move isn't the drowning,"
The HPSC Chairwoman didn't look up from the data tablets spread across her desk.
"It's the scale of the abduction. To pluck eight train cars .. that is a declaration of war. If we find nothing, the public's faith in the 'Safety' part of our name vanishes by morning."
"Ma'am," the analyst continued, tapping a screen to bring up a live feed of the darkening Pacific. "The radar clutter from the storm is now at 85%. Satellite Radar can no longer distinguish between debris and five-meter swells. We are effectively blind."
Many sighed.
"That calls it."
The search operation was officially a failure. Now the more troublesome problem needed to be dealt with.
"We need to prepare an official statement."
"Isn't this a bit too soon? What should we even tell them?"
"I agree. Perhaps new information will be brought to light in the following hours."
"We don't have that time." the Chairwoman replied, her eyes fixed on the map. "The public is starting to notice the transit delays. We can't keep the Yamanote Line's absence a secret for more than another hour. Draft the statement. Focus on the 'Unprecedented Villain Attack.' Do not, under any circumstances, mention the U.A. student or the targeted nature of the strike. We cannot let the public think the League can pluck specific citizens out of thin air."
__
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