"Why are there two of the same drawing...?" Segawa asked, looking at the drawing she had found in the lighthouse and the one Isurugi Miina had in her sketchbook. "What's this..." She was disconcerted.
"What is it?" Torako asked, moving to have a look for herself. "... Where did you get that torn one from?"
"The 'lighthouse'! It was in that room we explored. Isn't it weird?" Segawa said. "R-Right, Yarai should..."
"Yarai isn't back yet..." Matsumoto said.
"! Ah, right. He's still resting somewhere..." Segawa said. "..." She stared at the drawings. 'What's with this drawing...'
They decided to take the drawings to Akira and the others to see what they thought of it.
"What's the meaning... of this..." Akira said, looking at the two drawings side by side.
"The stains on the one Segawa-san found show it's pretty old," Torako said. "And it was found in the same room as those computers that seemed to be around fifty years old."
"I agree, it looks pretty old," Mariya said, examining the one Segawa had found.
"Is it a copy...?" Akira asked.
"Nah, the lines are scratchy, so that's not it," Mariya said. "Both were drawn with a pencil..."
"Show me," the vice president said.
"Eh, Vice-prez?" Akira said, but they handed both the sketchbook and the scrap of a drawing over to her.
"Look... at the edge of this drawing," she said, drawing their attention to a side of the scrap that had a very uniform tear with what appeared to have been square holes on the edge. She held it next to the binding of the sketchbook. "This is from the sketchbook binding."
"I see, it's the same..." Akira said.
"Wait a minute..." the vice president said when she noticed something else.
"What...?" Akira asked.
"Hey, when you hold it against the fire... the lines seem to be off a bit...?" the vice president said. "This second drawing looks pretty similar, but it's different..."
"B-But isn't it too similar? It's totally Miina's art..." Yamato said. "But Miina was never at the 'lighthouse', right? Then why..."
"Segawa... Fukui..." Mariya said.
"Eh?" Segawa said.
"Yes?" Torako said.
"You said this piece was found at the 'lighthouse', right. Can you tell me more about that tower?" Mariya asked.
"Sure... but why?" Segawa asked.
"It might give us a hint..." Mariya said. "To solve the mystery behind this drawing."
"Mhm, let's see... the 'lighthouse' was a rather strange tower..." Segawa said, holding her chin. "It was built at the coast and looked like a lighthouse. I think it was about 15m high. There was only one entrance, which was closed by a robust iron fence. Inside there were a lot of rooms along the wall. It had six floors and every one was built the same..."
"Well, not every one..." Torako said. "Judging by the placement of the doors, some rooms seemed to be larger than others, but I think what really stood out was that there was no elevator."
"Yes, normally you would have an elevator in such a building, right? But that tower didn't have one," Segawa said. "There was only a staircase."
"A tower with only a staircase, huh... That sure is weird," Mariya said. "Okay! Anything more you noticed?"
"Eh?" Segawa said.
"You're wondering if there's a meaning in the design, right?" Torako said.
"Right," Mariya said. "The towers on this island have a rather particular form and design. So there might also be a meaning to why there was only a staircase."
"Ah... you can't rule that out," Matsumoto said. "Sensei said that."
"Kurusu-sensei did...?" Mariya said.
"I think you're both right..." Torako said. "Because, come to think of it... it was a spiral stair case..."
"So?" Segawa said.
"Ah! We found an ID card in the lighthouse," Matsumoto said. "It had only written the name and affiliation on it."
" 'Spiral'," Torako said. "And Sensei thought that this was somehow related to the stairs, because of their shape... This is just a thought, but... considering what you found in the 'pyramid'... could it represent DNA?"
"!" Mariya said. "That's... probably it..."
"Eh? Really?" Akira asked.
"Spiral... originally it refers to 'coiling'..." Mariya said. "It think Fukui's right."
"S-So it's DNA...?" Akira asked.
"Yeah, as you all already know, all the animals here are probably manmade... Basically, they were created with DNA manipulation," Mariya said. "And like Fukui mentioned, the place to control the DNA and create the extinct animals is the 'pyramid'!" Then that 'lighthouse' should have a special something, too. It's pretty much certain that it was a facility related to the extinct animals. From what you said, the 'lighthouse' is by far smaller than the 'pyramid'. A facility that doesn't need big instruments... It might be that the 'lighthouse' served as the brain—"
"B-Brain...?" Akira asked.
"The place were they developed the extinct animals," Mariya said.
"The development... of the extinct animals...?" the president said.
"Yeah, they were creating a new life," Mariya said. "There must have been a special division for that development. I assume the development of the extinct animals was a top secret even on this island. Far away from the pyramid, which had biological hazard."
"Top secret?" Akira said. "That's why the iron fence..."
'If that's the case... and that drawing was found there... was it drawn after that animal was created... or could it have been a concept drawing that they modeled the animal on...?' Torako wondered, holding her chin. 'But then, why is it so uncannily similar to Miina-chan's drawings...?'
"Hey, wait! That doesn't matter right now!!" Segawa said boldly, feeling that the conversation had gotten off topic.
"Segawa-san!?" Akira said.
"Even if we know that the 'lighthouse' developed the animals, what was a similar drawing to this girl's doing there?" Segawa asked, bending over to get in Isurugi Miina's face. "Hey, do you know anything!? About this island!! If you do, tell us!!"
"..." Isurugi Miina just stared up at her.
"Hey, don't play..." Segawa started to yell, when someone unexpectedly grabbed her boobs from behind. "!? Kyaaaa! W-Where are you touching me? Hey!" she yelled, swing around trying to shake her molester off. It was no good. The other Miina was clinging tightly to her.
"Give it a rest already," Miina said. "Did you forget? She has amnesia."
"That's right, Segawa," Airi said.
"I told you she barely remembers anything," Akira said.
"B-But—" Segawa said.
"Okay, okay. You've made your point. You can let go now," Torako told Miina.
"Hmm. Are you sure?" Miina asked.
"Yes! I'm sure!" Segawa said, flustered. After a moment, Miina finally let go of her.
"..." Akira looked at Isurugi Miina. 'Isurugi Miina... a mysterious girl. But she's related to this island after all...?'
"..." Oomori was also watching her. 'There's no way I can say it in front of everyone. That the 'antenna' might be Miina's grave... It would just confuse everyone. What should I do...'
"The key is the last tower after all," Mariya said, bring out the map.
"Eh?" Akira said.
"Did you forget? The map shows another tower," Mariya said, showing it to the others. "Let's say the 'lighthouse' is the development center. The 'pyramid' is the factory for the extinct animals and the 'antenna' is a monument... Then the last one, the 'building', has a large possibility of being living quarters like Yarai and Fukui said! If people were living there, there should be traces left... We might find out something..."
"...!" Akira and the others said.
"... Yeah. Maybe someone still lives there," Yamato said.
"..." Torako doubted that, given the neglected state of the other towers, but she kept her pessimism to herself.
"Okay, let's go," the president said. "When we go to the last tower... we should find out something...!" Akira's face was set. He was determined to find answers.
"..." Nishikiori sat quietly tied up to the tree, while Kokonoe dozed off.
"Guh... Oomori-san got really big breasts..." Kokonoe mumbled in his sleep with his head hanging down so his chin was resting against his chest.
"Nishikiori-san. Nishikiori-san..." someone whispered. Nishikiori looked and saw two of his followers were kneeling just behind him.
"Kubo-kun and Saitou..." Nishikiori said.
"Let's take this chance and escape together," Kubo said as they started working on the ropes.
"The others are useless now. They're too scared... Let's go by ourselves," Saitou said. "We can get some women and..."
"No need to..." Nishikiori said.
"Eh?" Saitou said.
"N-" Kubo said.
"Nishikiori-san...?" Saitou said. They were confused.
"Kuku. Don't misunderstand. I'm just saying we should pretend to listen to them for now..." Nishikiori said with a devious grin. "They're still... missing out on the 'essential' thing... Fufufu... You don't know what might happen. And it's pretty likely I'll get to rule them again. At such a time..."
All the girls were bathing together under a blue sky. Takahashi helped Kirino wash her back since one of her arms was still injured.
"So we're finally departing tomorrow... after we investigate the 'building' we only have to head for Japan...!" Rion said, smiling. "It sure took a while. I wonder how much time has passed. It's coming to an end now...! Hey, hey! What will you do when we're back in Japan?"
"I want to eat sweets!" Takahashi said, raising her hand.
"Shopping~~~" Shigeno said.
"I want to go to a live concert," the vice president said, looking very determined.
"I'll do karate! I got stronger here! I might beat my master now," Miyauchi said.
"I'm thinking of making a blog about this island," Yuki said.
"Ah, that's great. You'll be rich if it becomes a book," Kashiwagi said. "Ahaha." Torako smiled as she thought about the first thing she was going to do.
'When I get home... I'll hug my mom... and maybe, just maybe my dad will be wake...' she thought, daring to hope.
"... It's obvious what we'll do first," Rion said.
"... Yeah," the other girls agreed.
"We get home, open the door, and say... 'Mom, Dad, I'm home..." Rion said. Everyone smiled softly thinking about their homes and their parents.
"C'mon, don't get all silent now," Miyauchi said. "What if the worst case happens, and we can't get home? Guess we have to marry someone and make some kids."
"M-Marry?" Airi said, blushing.
"Well, guess Sengoku would make a good catch," Miyauchi said, striking a sexy pose.
'Huh!? Why Akira-kun!?' Rion wondered with a vein throbbing on her face.
"Yeah. Considering the others..." Tokiwa said.
'Eh!?' Rion thought, looking at her.
"They're all too plain. No choice," Tokiwa concluded.
'Huh!?' Rion thought. 'Wh-What!? What's going on... D-Don't tell me...' She looked warily at the other girls.
"..." Yuki was blushing while imagining herself as a couple with Akira. They were both wearing animal skins. He held a spear, and she held their baby.
"!?" Rion said.
"..." Mami was checking her breast size and blushing.
"!?" Rion said.
"..." Kashiwagi also seemed to be imagining something.
"...!? Kashiwagi, you..." Rion said with a sense of doom. Her face flushed red. "Wh-What the—you girls!"
'Fufuh. They're all still kids,' Oomori thought. 'Sengoku is all charmed by my big breasts. I pity the other girls...' She smiled while holding her massive melons.
"But it's troubling how energetic boys his are age are.♥" Rei said. She held her breast and started moaning. "K-Kanako, I can't anymore.♥"
"U-Umm, what are you doing on your own, Rei-san..." Oomori said. Torako's cheeks flushed a little as she thought of someone else.
'I wonder if Yarai would... Ah, but he might have feelings for Sensei...' Torako thought, wilting a little bit at the thought, especially when she compared her own body with their teacher's.
"..." Segawa was staring at her, looking mildly appalled. "Hey... you... Aren't your breasts slightly bigger?" she asked Torako.
"Eh?" Torako said, surprised.
"Ah! She's right!" Matsumoto said, looking closer.
"It's just a little bit, but they are bigger! And you seem slightly curvier, too!" Shigeno added.
"R-Really!?" Torako said hopefully.
'She's still growing... D-Don't tell me.. She's a later bloomer!?' Segawa thought, alarmed. 'No way! Does this mean she has a chance of turning into a beauty!? Ah, but if I get Yarai before that happens... Ah, but he seems to have feelings for Sensei... Right! My real enemy is probably Sensei!'
Later that day, everyone got ready to for their excursion to the last tower and gathered together. Yarai was carrying Kurusu-sensei again.
"Are you okay, Sensei?" Akira asked.
"Yes, I'm all fine now... except the embarrassment," Kurusu said, smiling and blushing.
"Hahaha," Akira laughed and smiled, too.
"Y-Yarai-kun, I'm fine. Let me down..." Kurusu-sensei said.
"Stay still or your wounds will open again," Yarai told her.
"He's right, Sensei. Under normal circumstances, you should be in bed at a hospital. Don't strain yourself," Torako said.
"Nishikiori! Walk properly!" Kokonoe said, keeping a firm grip on the rope the fake doctor was tied up with.
"... Okay, let's go!" Akira said.
"Why don't you go already?" Rion asked shortly, in a bad mood.
"Eh!?" Akira said, wondering what was wrong. "Wh-What's up, Rion? You seem to be in a bad mood." he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"... Don't touch me, playboy—" she yelled at him.
"Eh!?" Akira said, startled.
"Who cares about you! Just become big daddy or whatever—" Rion ranted.
"Eh? Eh?" Akira said, sweating nervously, totally confused.
"I don't care anymore!!" Rion yelled. She started off without him.
"Hey, wait! I said wait, Rion—" Akira called, trying to catch up with her.
Overcoming various trials, they still had hope. That was until they saw that tower.
Several days later, they were all resting during their journey to the fourth tower.
"Aw, my legs are so tied," Koyomi said.
"We have been walking for four days after leaving the pyramid," the girl sitting next to her, Miki, said, drinking some water.
"Are we going to get there soon?" Kairi asked.
"But we can't see the 'building' yet..." Takahashi said.
While everyone else chatted with each other during their break, Mutou was examining Kurusu-sensei in an area that had a little more privacy. Yarai sat with his back to them while Torako kept an eye on their teacher and the doctor, not because she thought he would do anything untoward, but so that she could see the state of Kurusu-sensei's wound for herself. She wanted to be sure she would recognize a problem if she saw one.
"Mhm..." Mutou said, taking a very close look at the stitched-up cut he had made in Kurusu-sensei's body while she held her shirt up. He was washing the area while he was at it.
"H-How is my wound, Doctor Mutou..." Kurusu-sensei asked.
"Mhm, the wound didn't open up again. It looks good," Mutou said. "The swelling is gone, too, so there's no fear for an infection either. Seems like you still have a bit of a fever though. Does it hurt anywhere?"
"A bit," Kurusu-sensei said.
"Mhm... I would say it's looking good," Mutou said. "But we can't be certain yet. Please don't overdo it."
"Y-Yes," Kurusu-sensei said. "..." she pulled her shirt back down and sat up. "Uhm, Doctor..."
"Mh? What?" Mutou asked.
"I guess... it's going to leave a scar mark after all...?" Kurusu-sensei asked.
"Don't worry. Plastic surgery works wonders these days," Mutou said with a reassuring smile. "When we're back in Japan, it can be covered up." Kurusu-sensei still looked a little worried.
"Relax, Sensei," Torako said. "Even with a scar, you still have a better body than I do...!" Although it really pained her to admit it. "!?" she said when a pair of large hands suddenly grabbed her under her arms and lifted her onto her feet. She looked up and saw Yarai looking down at her.
"Don't be so negative about yourself," he told her.
"..." Torako could feel herself blushing as she stared up at him. He was looking her directly in the eye, and he wasn't letting go. "..." With a red face, Torako nodded in response to his statement. Yarai smiled at her then finally let go.
"..." Kurusu-sensei watched them, looking slightly taken aback.
"Ready, Sensei?" Yarai asked, scooping Kurusu-sensei up to carry her again.
"Y-Yes," Kurusu-sensei said.
'Wh-What just happened...?' Torako wondered, watching Yarai. She was feeling a little confused, but Yarai was acting as if nothing had happened. Segawa, who had come with Shigeno and Matsumoto to check on them, looked at Torako with suspicious eyes, frowning. She didn't like the way Yarai had looked at Torako or how long he had held onto her.
"Okay, time to go on!" Akira called. "Is everyone ready?"
"Yeah!!" everyone responded.
They continued on their journey.
"Hey, Akira-kun," Rion said.
"Mh?" Akira said, looking back at her.
"It's a bit late to ask, but did we really need to go with everyone?" Rion asked. "Couldn't we have left half at the 'pyramid'? Such a big group is slowing us down..."
"It's better as a group," Akira said.
"Eh?" Rion said.
"Sure, we don't need everyone to investigate the 'building'... but I have something else in mind for them," Akira said.
"Something else...?" Rion asked.
"A boat!" Akira said. "I'll have them build a boat!"
"... A boat?" Rion asked.
"While we wait for Sensei's wound to heal, we decided that it would be good to build a big boat," Akira said. He had decided it with Mariya, Yarai, and Kokonoe. "But a boat for eighty people will be impossible, so we need to build a few boats. And since that will take quite a while, we came up with the idea to start building them while we investigate the 'building'."
"Mhm. I see. Then we can head to Japan immediately after the investigation is done," Rion said.
"Yeah, right," Akira said. "..." He glanced back at Nishikiori. 'Though it's still not clear how to handle Nishikori's info... But what happened to him... He's strangely obedient now...' Kubo gave Nishikiori some water. He gulped it down until he'd had his fill.
"Fuah. That's enough," Nishikiori said.
"O-Okay," Kubo said.
"Hey, Kubo-kun," Nishikiori said, getting his attention while Kokonoe was talking to someone else. "Don't take your eyes off her."
"Her?" Kubo asked.
"Yeah," Nishikiori said, looking at Isurugi Miina. "Her... The key I talked about to turn the tables... It seems she has it..."
"Shouldn't it come into view about now?" Akira asked Mariya later.
"Yeah, according to the map, we should reach it by noon..." Mariya said.
"Okay, the last push!" Miyauchi said.
"Finally... Finally, we're getting there...!!" Akira said.
"Yeah... A lot happened..." Mariya said.
"But we made it so far with the help of everyone. Because everyone was there... we overcame all obstacles so far because we kept together," Akira said with a smile.
"It's mutual, right?" Miyauchi said.
"Yeah..." Mariya said. They all thought of everything they had been through up until that point.
"Just a bit more... until the last tower..." Akira said. "The reason why this island isn't on any maps... The reason why extinct animals were created... The reason why no one's here... and what it is that we got dragged into... We might find an answer to all that." They were all determined to make it so.
"Hehe. Now I'm fired up!" Suzuki said, walking quickly without looking where he was going. "Let's find the 'building', all r—!?" He was startled when he suddenly fell. "Uwaaaa!"
"!?" Akira and the others said . "Suzuki!?"
"A bottomless swamp!! Help me—!!" Suzuki cried, on the verge of drowning.
"You can stand here," Akira pointed out. The water only came up to just below his knees.
"Ah..." Suzuki said, sitting up. It was true.
"... Mh?" Akira took a better look at their surroundings. "This is... a river?"
"A river you say!?" Mariya asked.
"What's up, Mariya?" Akira asked.
"Wait a sec..." Mariya said, consulting the map. "I knew it!"
"Eh..." Akira said.
"Look at the map..." Mariya said, showing them.
"!! There's a river beside the tower...!!" Akira said.
"Yeah. The river drawn here... might be this one," Mariya said.
"Then..." Akira said.
"Yeah..." Mariya said.
"W-We're close!!" Akira said, picking up the pace. "This river is shallow! You can walk in it!"
"B-Be careful," Mariya said.
"Yeah," Akira said. They all hurried onward until, at last, they could see some sort of building in the distance.
"!!" they all gasped.
"I-Is that it?" Akira asked. "The 'building'... It's right in front of us!! Let's go!!"
"Yeah," Everyone agreed.
'We found it!!' Akira thought. 'What kind of tower is it—'
They were all running now, eager to get there. They were panting and breathing hard, but they kept going until, at last, they were standing in front of the building.
"!!" they said.
"We... We're finally here..." Akira said.
"Th-This is—" Suzuki said. "This is the last tower." The 'building' was actually several buildings surrounded by a wall, and the main one had lots of small windows in it.
"..." Akira stared at it, surprised. "Wh-What a strange tower... About four floors? Surprisingly low... Seems there are a couple of buildings. It's the first time I've seen something like this."
"Is it built like a complex?" Miyauchi asked.
"Well, if it is residential area..." Mariya said.
"And there's 'wall' around the tower... is it against the animals...?" someone asked. Tokiwa shielded her eyes from the sun and spotted something.
"!" she said. She pointed to a spot in the wall. "Look there... Looks like a gate."
!" Everyone said.
"Okay! We might get in there...!" Akira said, hurrying forward.
CRACK!
"Mh? I stepped on something...?" Akira said, looking down. His eyes widened, and he paled with shock. "!?" It was a human skull. He suddenly realized the ground was littered with the remains of human skeletons. He wasn't the only one.
"Hii!" Rion cried, horrified.
"Wh-What's this...!" Miyauchi exclaimed.
"Bones! Human bones!! There's around one hundred!!" Mariya said.
"B-Be careful!" Akira said. "This isn't... normal!!"