Chapter 24

Chapter 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the Astra Lost in Space manga. It is the sixth chapter of the Arispade Arc and, in the compiled volumes, the sixth chapter of the third volume.

Synopsis
With the tsunami racing toward them, the crew panics; leaving the blanket and dishes from their picnic on the ground they all race for the gangway onto the Astra, all except for Aries, Luca, and Ulgar. The latter two are the closest to the wave, and the farthest from the ship; Aries is much closer. Turning around as he runs, Charce realizes Aries is frozen in place, staring at the wave, he forcefully turns her around, breaking her focus, and runs with her onto the ship. Standing at the base of the gangway, Kanata yells at Luca and Ulgar, who turn and begin running toward the ship as well. The wave catches up to them just as they reach Kanata; Ulgar tries to push Luca into Kanata's arms, but the wave pulls both Luca and Ulgar back into the water, where they are quickly swept out of sight. Horrified by their disappearance, Kanata stumbles back into the ship as it lifts out of the water and uses his comm to order Zack to search for them.

As Zack lowers the ship, to just above the surface of the water, Charce begins thinking aloud about the tsunami, connecting it with the earthquake and reasoning that Arispade is tectonically active, with its frequent earthquakes causing tsunamis on such a regular basis that land-based animals were never able to evolve. His theory explains why the only animals living on the planet are water- and flight-based, and stuns the crew. Kanata reminds Zack that the sun is setting, and failing to find Luca and Ulgar before the light is gone is the same as leaving them for dead.

Surfacing, Luca manages to grab a tree as he passes it and holds onto it, fighting against the current to stay in place. As he tries to catch his breath, he sees Ulgar being swept toward him; as they approach each other, they each cry out the other's name, reaching out for and grabbing each other by the arm. Luca tries striking up a witty conversation, but the arm gripping the branch suddenly starts to give out, leading Ulgar to tell Luca to let him go, a suggestion Luca refuses, as he is not so embittered by his experiences as to be willing to abandon a friend to die. Using the word "friend" draws another outburst of aggression from Ulgar, who is immediately shut up by a matching outburst from Luca; he tells Ulgar he has had enough of his posturing and acting like a loner, and orders him to shut up and hold on to him.

Ulgar reminds Luca of Kanata's story about the death of his teacher, citing Kanata's being physically drained as the reason he was unable to save him. Stating that he has no intention of being the reason someone else dies or being a burden to anyone, he lets go of Luca's hand and lets the current carry him away as Luca, horrified, screams his name. Looking up out of the water as he is swept off, Ulgar is shocked to see Kanata falling out of the sky; he lands on top of him, wrapping his arms around Ulgar as they sink into the water. Zack the begins reeling in the tether clipped to his belt, lifting them out of the water and up toward the Astra floating above them.

Kanata yells to Luca, asking if he can wait for them to come to get him, and Luca, with both his arms now wrapped around the branch, yells back that he can; to himself, Luca expresses a desire to watch Ulgar's rescue. One of Kanata's hands slips, leaving Ulgar hanging by only his left hand, and Ulgar again tells Kanata to drop him and save himself. Remembering his teacher, Kanata reminds Ulgar that he will never allow someone he cares about to die and that he has spent many years doing weight training, similar to Ulgar's years of training to shoot with an air pistol. With a scream of exertion, Kanata hoists Ulgar back up to him and wraps his arms around him securely. As he thanks Ulgar for hanging on, Luca, still watching from the water and satisfied by the outcome, softly reaffirms Kanata's attractiveness to himself and smiles.