Friday, October 18, 2019, 6:55 A.M.
“Well then, as requested, let's begin... the second stage of the Mystery of the Ambush.”
After making the declaration, Yuki looked around at everyone in the hallway. Even Motegi, who was the one to introduce the idea, looked so shocked that he forgot he was in pain.
“You don't mean you've figured out who's the Visitor?”
Seeing Saijou's eyes about to pop out, Yuki gave a small nod.
“I think I can explain everything, including everything the Visitor has done since the evening of the day before yesterday, and how it killed Producer Kikyo.”
Yanagawa looked a bit skeptical.
“But how could anyone here in the multipurpose area have dunit? It ain't possible!”
“Certainly, no one could have gotten past Tara's keen eyes and through the hallway. So, the answer is simple... the Visitor wasn't one of the people in the multipurpose area. It was somewhere else.”
“But the only one outside o' here was Tara, and yer the one who said that the Visitor never had a chance to nab him!”
Yuki flinched at Yanagawa's fierce rejection.
She was right. Yuki had checked Tara's weight before taking her on the walk. Afterwards, Tara had been with either Yuki or Saijou at all times during the walk, and then he'd remained in the multipurpose area with the whole group until he was assigned as the guard.
Saijou opened his mouth.
“Besides, last night, Tara never stepped away from the frosted glass, did he? Even if we assume Tara was the Visitor, the needle, the murder weapon, can only extend 50 centimeters. I don't think there's any way he could have killed Producer Kikyo inside the room.”
“You're right. I don't know if you've thought of this already, but... the Visitor's mimicry would be broken if it deformed its body in an impossible way. So it couldn't have stretched its body towards the small room. In other words, it's impossible for Tara to have killed Producer Kikyo as well.”
“Then whodunit? Who's the Visitor?”
Yanagawa was clearly fed up with waiting. But Yuki avoided the question.
“Yesterday, the Visitor burned a body we believe to have been Director Unno's. I think the best starting point for our deductions would be to ask ourselves why it did that.”
Yanagawa groaned in frustration. Mikumo gave a more understanding nod.
“I found that odd as well. I thought it might have been attempting to cast more suspicion on Professor Motegi, who had no alibi, but I don't think it would have gone to the trouble only for that reason.”
“You're right. The truth is... the reason the Visitor burned that body was to trick us into thinking it belonged to Director Unno.”
Nobody looked convinced. Saijou spoke on behalf of everyone.
“No, wait, you were the one who said it, Ryuuzen. There were only three bodies on the island at that point. Under the circumstances, the only body that could have been used as a replacement was the one with its skin removed. That body was right next to Director Unno's, and I don't see what point there would have been in swapping them.”
“You're right... but that reasoning is built on a false premise.”
“So there was another body on the island!”
Saijou looked completely flabbergasted. Yuki gave a bitter smile.
“It isn't quite that simple. I'll explain who that body was later, so... for now, just let me explain, and trust that there was an additional body on the island for use in the swap.”
Everyone seemed reluctant to accept his claim, but they let him continue. Mikumo spoke.
“Even if we allow for that assumption, the question still remains. What did the Visitor hope to accomplish by swapping Director Unno's body for someone else's? And what happened to the real Director Unno's body?”
“Since it had to go to the trouble of preparing another body, the real Director Unno's body must have either 'not existed' at that time, or 'existed in a state that we couldn't be allowed to see'. In reality, the answer is both of those.”
Motegi and Mikumo both started. It looked like they'd both realized what he meant.
Yuki kept going.
“I'll skip ahead to the end. Director Unno's body had been stripped of its skin and flesh.”
“You mean the Visitor was mimicking Director Unno?”
Shigaraki nearly screamed the question.
“...As we were returning from keeping watch over the gravel path, Mr. Saijou, Producer Kikyo, and I saw a skinless body. At the time, we assumed it belonged to either Mr. Motegi or one of the four people who'd remained at the former community center.”
Yuki paused for a moment, then took a breath and made the announcement.
“In reality, that skinned corpse was the real Director Unno.”
Saijou let out a roar.
“So then the body we found embedded in that bush WASN'T the real Director Unno?”
“Correct. It was the Visitor. After all, Visitors are skilled at pretending to be wounded. It would have been easy for it to mimic Director Unno and pretend to have a chest wound. We thought we'd confirmed that Director Unno was dead, and his killer was the black cat. So the Visitor could be confident that we wouldn't re-examine Director Unno's body.”
Yanagawa frowned, still not quite convinced.
“But at that time, the Visitor was still mimicking that black cat. So don't that mean the Director Unno body we saw at the time was the real thing? ...Visitors can't put on the skin or inside bits of a dead body, right? Even if it avoided Doc Motegi an' ran back to Director Unno's corpse, it couldn't have changed into him.”
Yuki looked somewhere far away as he shook his head.
“No. When we saw Director Unno lying in that bush... he wasn't dead.”
“Huh?”
“Visitor inject the people they want to mimic with poison. I believe that Director Unno was put into a state of suspended animation by the poison, reducing his vital activity to almost nothing.”
In Eiko's notes, she'd written that “even if the animal is sporting a fatal wound, their vital activity will be reduced to almost nothing, placing them in a state of suspended animation.” Although Unno had been stabbed in the heart, he still fit the conditions.
Yuki continued.
“At the time, I took Director Unno's pulse and didn't feel anything. But since he was obviously suffering a fatal wound, I took my finger away after less than five seconds.”
Mikumo's face was contorted, her voice grave.
“Could it be that, since the real Director Unno was in a state of suspended animation, his pulse was so slow and weak that you didn't notice it?”
“I'm afraid that's the case.”
“Hold on, I still don't understand. What exactly did the Visitor do the day before yesterday?”
To answer Saijou, Yuki took a deep breath and explained.
“It was around 4:00 P.M. the day before yesterday when the black cat ran away from us. The black cat feinted running to the Divine Land and doubled back to the main island. Mr. Saijou, Producer Kikyo, and I fell for it and were stranded for about twelve hours.”
“...Whereas I avoided being deceived and pursued the Visitor on the main island, only to be ambushed and gifted a cut across my Achilles tendon for my efforts.”
Motegi said that in a low, rambling tone. His fever was getting worse and Yuki could hear him breathing. He also appeared to be suffering a chill, so Mikumo brought over a sleeping bag and draped it across his knees as a makeshift blanket.
Yuki continued.
“Mr. Motegi was unconscious for twelve hours after the Visitor attacked him. But that seems too long for the injury he was given... It's possible the Visitor injected him with poison as well in order to delay him.”
“If'n it had Doc Motegi on the floor right then and there, why didn't it steal his body?”
Yanagawa interrupted with another question.
“I think the Visitor thought it would be to its advantage to create a suspicious figure who was alone for a long time. And in fact, we did suspect Mr. Motegi of being the Visitor.”
She couldn't find a way to refute that. Yuki resumed his story.
“So, the Visitor was able to escape its pursuers and returned to the area beneath the pandanus tree. Then it grabbed the transceiver... and started the process of mimicking Director Unno, who was still in a state of suspended animation.”
The Visitor must have been deep in the forest when it shed its black cat disguise. Since most of the main island was covered in a dense forest of subtropical plants, it could have anticipated that the humans would only be able to search the areas near the roads and buildings.
“After about fifteen minutes, the Visitor finished mimicking Director Unno. For the sake of simplicity, let's call the Visitor in the form of Director Unno 'Fake Unno'.”
Having made the decision for the sake of convenience, Yuki continued.
“Thus, Fake Unno and the 'unidentified skinned body' of Director Unno were left by the pandanus tree. First, the Visitor moved Director Unno's body to the side of the road, where it would be easy to see. ...There were two more things it did afterwards. One, it vandalized the cemetery and set it on fire. And two, it stabbed President Koga.”
Everyone seemed to be listening intently now. Yuki was beginning to feel lightheaded, so he took a deep breath before resuming his explanation.
“The time when it burned the cemetery must have been after it intercepted our conversation about the code via transceiver, so it must have been after 10:00 P.M. the day before yesterday.”
When it heard about the code, Fake Unno must have panicked. It would have been desperate to prevent the material containing information on how to kill it from falling into human hands.
“Fake Unno tore the cemetery apart trying to find the hiding place indicated by the code, but it failed. After searching several wrong places, it went so far as to set the entire cemetery on fire.”
Mikumo, looking deep in thought, spoke up.
“We noticed the fire at 4:00 A.M. yesterday. Did it finishing searching the cemetery immediately before then?”
There was no way Yuki could know that, so he decided to keep his answer vague.
“It's possible that it visited the cemetery searching for the notes several times, but I think I can explain why it chose to start the fire at 4:00.”
“There was a reason?”
“Because it was running out of time before the three of us who'd crossed into the Divine Land returned. It knew that as soon as it was light out, we'd go to the cemetery and investigate. That's why it made a last desperate attempt to burn the materials before we found them.”
“But in the end, Fake Unno failed.”
Yuki nodded at Mikumo.
“We were lucky that the hiding place was far enough from the gravestones... Aside from searching the cemetery, Fake Unno must have also been monitoring the former community center.”
The very thought made Shigaraki shudder.
“Man, that's creepy. You mean Fake Unno was right outside the multipurpose area watching us? It was probably right outside the window, watching Ms. Mikumo, Ms. Yanagawa and I eat.”
It was possible. It might have been lurking right outside the window, listening to their conversations. Thinking about how much danger they'd been in while he was at the Divine Land sent a chill down Yuki's spine.
“Fortunately, Fake Unno decided not to attack Shigaraki and the others, who spent most of their time together. Instead, it set its sights on Mr. Koga, who was alone in the small room.”
Koga, who had gotten drunk on white wine, must have looked like easy prey for the Visitor.
“Koga must have unbolted the back door himself. It's possible that he woke up in the middle of the night and went out for some fresh air, then forgot to bolt the door behind him when he returned due to his being drunk.”
“So it was just bad luck that Mr. President had to die, huh...”
Despite Koga's unpleasant behavior, Yanagawa still sounded sad.
“...Yes, it was. The unbolted back door created a situation where Fake Unno could break into the former community center just by picking the lock.”
After breaking into the former community center, the Visitor had a clear path to Koga's room. It could then stab him in his sleep, draining his blood and stealing his memories and knowledge.
“Since Mr. Koga must have been stabbed after Shigaraki left the room... It would have had to be after 10:00 P.M. the day before yesterday and before 5:30 A.M. yesterday, when the body was found.”
Yanagawa folded her arms and gave a steady nod.
“It'd make more sense to say it was prolly before the fire broke out in the cemetery 'round 4:00, wouldn't it? It shoulda been able to guess we'd go check on the cemetery soon as we saw the fire, and good odds was we'd 'a seen Mr. President's body then.”
“That makes sense... Most likely, the first thing Fake Unno did after setting fire to the cemetery was run back to the pandanus tree and pretend to be the real Director Unno's murdered corpse.”
“So when the three of us returned from the Divine Land, we found the skinned body and were tricked into believing there was a second victim.”
Saijou spoke in a voice that sounded as though the soul had been stolen from his body.
“But in actuality, that was the real Director Unno, having been stripped of his flesh. We were completely fooled... When we checked on 'Director Unno's corpse', we saw the Visitor in disguise, which only solidified our misconception.”
It may have just been that Yuki was being gloomy enough for both of them, but Saijou gave a strained smile.
“There's no reason to blame yourself. It's not like we possibly could have realized anything was strange about it at the time.”
“No, I should have realized something was wrong right away... There was no reason the Visitor would have left the corpse of its current guise where we could see it. That could only cause it problems.”
“Huh? How would it do that?”
“If it wanted to mimic one of us, it should have grabbed the person quietly and dragged them off into the forest to dispose of their remains. Then we wouldn't have even realized that there was an impostor among us.”
“I see, you're right.”
“Despite that, it deliberately showed us evidence that it was mimicking a human in order to mislead us about the number of casualties... We immediately assumed that the Visitor would try to blend in with the survivors to escape the island. As a result, we never even suspected the possibility that it was mimicking a corpse.”
Mikumo shook her head with a dissatisfied look on her face.
“So... was the reason it chose to mimic a corpse because it gave the Visitor greater freedom of movement?”
“Yes. That was our blind spot.”
Yanagawa, who had been looking down and thinking for a while now, suddenly spoke up.
“Y'all say that, but far as I reckon, Director Unno bein' the Visitor doesn't change squat! The bossman's body was over 50 cm from the window, so there ain't no way Fake Unno coulda reached him through the window with the needle... We still don't know how he was killed.”
Shigaraki followed up, sounding exhausted.
“Plus you still haven't explained where the additional body used for the swap came from. Whose body did the Visitor burn?”
Yuki forced a smile as the two stared at him suspiciously.
“I'll explain both of those things later.”
“Seriously?”
“Seems there are still some doubts... But I think anyone whose heard my theory so far can guess who the Visitor was disguised as when it killed Producer Kikyo.”
Yanagawa and Shigaraki exchanged a look, confirming that neither of them understood what Yuki was saying. Mikumo spoke in their place.
“You mean to say it was impersonating another corpse.”
Yuki grinned.
“That's exactly what I mean.”
“I knew it... It's President Koga's body, isn't it?”
Everyone except Yuki, Mikumo, and the still feverish Motegi went pale and turned to the door to Koga's room. “Koga's body” should have been lying there as they spoke.
They looked ready to charge that room at any moment, but Yuki didn't think that would be a good idea and hurriedly talked them down.
“Please, calm down. I don't know if the Visitor can hear us or not, but as long as we keep an eye on the doors of the two small rooms, there shouldn't be any way to escape.”
“But what'll we do if it jumps out and charges us?”
Shigaraki's eyes kept darting to the door.
“There are six of us and one of it. It must realize what a bad idea that would be. ...Well, let's finish the explanation for now.”
“That's assumin' your explanation is even worth a dang.”
Yanagawa was still full of doubts. Meanwhile, Saijou, who had been looking troubled for a while now, spoke.
“Ms. Yanagawa's right, Ryuuzen, your deduction doesn't make sense. When we checked at around 6:00 yesterday morning, the Visitor was outside, playing the role of Unno's dead body. At the same time, Ms. Mikumo and the others found President Koga's body in the former community center, right?”
“That's right. At that time, the body in that room was... the real Mr. Koga.”
“Hm? If I remember correctly, Ms. Mikumo and the others were all together in President Koga's room until we joined them, and I don't think anyone left the room for a while afterwards.”
“Right, when we went to check the lock on the back door, Ms. Yanagawa and Shigaraki stayed behind in the room.”
Yuki looked so cool and confident that Saijou found himself automatically lowering his questioning voice.
“Right afterwards, we all split up and searched the building for suspicious animals or objects, right? And we confirmed that the Visitor definitely wasn't inside the building?”
“Of course, it wasn't inside the building at that point.”
“But that can't be! …From then onward, the front and back doors were both kept bolted except when someone was using them, and there was always someone left inside the building. The Visitor never had a chance to get inside. Which means it never had a chance to impersonate President Koga!”
Everyone voiced support of his argument, raising a racket that Yuki struggled to contain.
“Wait, please, just let me finish... As we've established, the Visitor in the from of Fake Unno can't have entered the building. But if it resumed its true form, which can fit through any gap of at least 5 cm, that would be a different story.”
Mikumo's eyebrows raised as though she'd finally lost patience with him.
“Don't talk nonsense! The doors were both bolted and the windows all have lattices. It's impossible anything could have gotten in, even if it was a Visitor's true form.”
“It is possible... because we brought it in ourselves.”
“What?”
“You saw it, didn't you Ms. Mikumo? When we returned from the cemetery, we brought the generator and the gasoline containers inside. That was when we brought in the Visitor.”
Shigaraki, the one who had brought the generator, looked horrified.
“Where? Where was the Visitor?”
“The generator has four wheels, which means there's a small gap underneath its main body. The Visitor was hiding in there, waiting for us to bring the generator inside.”
“Oh my God... It was me. I'm the one who brought the Visitor inside...”
Hearing Shigaraki mutter in shock and dismay, Yuki felt deep regret and lowered his head. There was no reason to blame Shigaraki for the deaths of Koga or Kikyo.
Mikumo immediately cut in.
“But even if it was underneath the generator, there's no way it could have predicted we would take it inside. Generators are usually kept outdoors, aren't they?”
“No, this was different.”
“Eh?”
“Because the Visitor started a fire in the cemetery. Once we saw fire, it was only a matter of time until we realized that it was dangerous to leave the gasoline outside, and we'd have to bring it and the generator indoors... I don't know if the Visitor had thought that far ahead when it started the fire, but our actions were predictable enough.”
That quieted the last of the group's objections. Yuki was able to continue his story uninterrupted.
“After showing us 'Director Unno's body', the Visitor went into the forest and reverted to its true form. Then it waited for an opportunity to hide under the generator. We returned from the cemetery around 10:30 A.M., so it must have been in position before then.”
After placing the generator in Koga's room, Yuki and the others had all gathered in the multipurpose area to discuss Eiko's notes.
“It wound up that none of us left the multipurpose area until we took Tara out for a walk around 12:30 P.M. That left the Visitor with two hours of free movement in the rest of the building.”
Mikumo couldn't hold back a sigh.
“So that's when it mimicked President Koga, then?”
“Yes, exactly. Mr. Koga must have been placed in a state of suspended animation by the Visitor's poison, just like Director Unno... the Visitor attacked Mr. Koga and mimicked him.
“Impersonating a corpse again!”
Saijou spoke in a low voice.
“The mimicry took 15 minutes. Afterwards, the Fake Koga carried the real Mr. Koga, now another skinned corpse, out of the building. It dropped him by the pandanus tree and set the whole bush on fire... That is the burned body we mistook for Director Unno.”
Yanagawa pressed a finger between her eyebrows, as though she had a headache.
“I guess two hours would be enough time to do all that, but... Sorry, this is a lot to try an' wrangle all at once. My head's spinnin'.”
Yuki took an oil-based marker and one of the proposal sheets and drew a simple chart on the back (see Figure 2)
“To put it simply, it went like this... at 12:30, when we left to walk Tara, the Visitor was in Mr. Koga's room pretending to be his corpse, and the real Mr. Koga's body was burned and lying in the bush.”
Shigaraki stared at the picture and gave a weak utterance.
“If the Visitor had gotten into President Koga's room, then doesn't that mean all our efforts last night were pointless?”
It did. The two small rooms shared a door, so the Visitor could have killed Kikyo without stepping into the hallway. That means Tara and the small camera in the hallway never saw it.
Yuki, feeling exhausted himself, continued his explanation.
“Last night Producer Kikyo holed himself up in the small room and fell asleep. Fake Koga, the Visitor, must have noticed him from the next room. It jumped at the chance and stabbed Producer Kikyo in the chest, then destroyed the monitor and recording device.”
Saijou gave a wide nod.
“So the Visitor didn't destroy the recording because it was seen in the hallway, but to hide the fact that it HADN'T been in the hallway!”
“Yes. If it had left that footage behind, it would have been obvious that the culprit was still in one of the two small rooms.”
Motegi interrupted, still sounding out of it.
“I'm afraid I don't understand. If the Visitor still holds the form of the remains of President Koga... what does it plan to do next?”
Yuki had mixed feelings.
Before he was injured, Motegi had thrown out “deductions” left, right, and center. Despite that, he had never made any more sense than he did now that he was barely conscious with sickness. Truly, the man had a rare constitution.
Inspired by him, Yanagawa crossed her arms.
“He's right. If'n it keeps pretendin' to be dead, we won't be bringin' it along on the ride home, that's fer sure!”
She was right.
When the boat arrived, the first thing Yuki and the others would do would be to use the radio to call the police. They didn't know how they'd react, but... since Motegi, an injured man, was with them, the ship would have to immediately leave for T. Port and take him to a hospital.
And Yuki and the other survivors would naturally be among them. However, they wouldn't allow them to bring any corpses.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yuki opened his mouth.
“I can think of several possibilities, but... for the Visitor, the safest option would be to wipe out the lot of us.”
Everyone present turned blue. Yuki continued, voice measured and even.
“Based on our pattern of behavior so far, it should be predictable enough that, after discovering Producer Kikyo's body, we'd eventually group up in the multipurpose area. We always use this room whenever we have long discussions.”
Yanagawa shuddered slightly.
“It's likely enough that'd we stay in here talkin' nonstop until the boat gets here.”
“That would leave the Visitor plenty of time to move around. And... perhaps it's next planning to impersonate Producer Kikyo.”
That made Mikumo raise an eyebrow.
“What makes you think that?”
“Of our group, Producer Kikyo is the one with the most connections. If a mimic is going to mimic someone, it's natural to target the person with the most power. Kikyo, who was stabbed in the chest, may also be in a state of suspended animation.”
They all silently turned to the door of Kikyo's room.
Even if he was in a state of suspended animation, there was nothing they could do for him. The poison might eventually wear off, but then the stab wound in his heart would catch up to him.
“...Instead of attempting to impersonate a single living person, the Visitor deceived us by impersonating a series of dead people.”
Mikumo's voice faded into the ether. Yuki showed her a bitter smile.
“Well, that last impersonation of Producer Kikyo is nothing but my imagination... In any case, it's possible that while we were here talking, the Visitor would slip outside, pour gasoline everywhere, and set the building on fire. Once both entrances were blocked, there would be no way for us to escape.”
Saijou's face warped.
“So it was planning to do that, wipe out everyone who knows about the Visitors, and then board the ship coming to pick us up?”
“Yes. The Visitor would then drink the captain's blood to learn how to pilot the boat... and escape from Kakuriyo Island.”
With that conclusion, Yuki looked down and closed his mouth. There was nothing left to tell. A heavy silence fell over the group.
“Thank you... for uncovering the truth.”
Yuki heard a whisper and turned to Mikumo. For some reason, it looked like she was crying.
With movements that were almost graceful, she opened the door to Koga's room. Beyond it, the thing in the shape of Koga's body still lay. It didn't appear to have moved since the last time Yuki and the others had checked it.
Mikumo let out a huff.
“Are you going to keep pretending? Or... are you afraid to come out because you don't want to fight six-on-one?”
She entered the room as she spoke. Overwhelmed by the determination burning in her eyes, Yuki couldn't move. Everyone else looked the same, even Yanagawa.
She eventually put her hand on the lid of one of the gasoline containers.
“...What are you doing?”
Yanagawa asked, but she didn't reply. She just stared at the Koga-shaped mass in silence.
Mikumo tossed the lid in the corner of the room and slowly made her way back to the door. Then her right hand shot up. Before anyone had realized it... she'd taken out an oil lighter. It was the one that had once belong to Director Unno, with the American comic book hero on the side.
Yesterday, Yuki and the others had seen that lighter lying on the ground in the cemetery. So Mikumo had taken it with her...
When Shigaraki saw the lighter, he shouted out in a panic.
“What are you doing, Ms. Mikumo?”
“...You're going to burn that body, aren't you?”
Yuki asked her, and she just nodded.
“Visitors are weak to fire, so if I burn this one before it manages to escape from the room, it will lose its stolen form and collapse... I'll end this here. Everyone, get out of the building.”
Shigaraki was the first to turn and run in the direction of the multipurpose area. The terrifying look on Mikumo's face probably convinced him that she could light the lighter at any moment.
Yuki could tell that Mikumo was serious. She wasn't acting or trying to scare it. She was prepared to sacrifice her life to defeat the Visitor. Just like her grandmother forty-five years ago.
Yuki looked back at Saijou and Yanagawa, who were still in the hall. Beside them was Motegi, still looking dazed.
“Both of you, take Mr. Motegi and go out the front door.”
Saijou lent Motegi his shoulder to help him stand, but he looked at Yuki with concern.
“Ryuuzen...”
“Go. Don't worry, I'm going to talk Ms. Mikumo down.”
Yuki removed his bag. Inside, he could feel Fuwawa thrashing and struggling violently, but he forced himself to ignore her and gave the bag to Saijou.
Saijou took the bag, hesitated a moment, then nodded. He took Motegi and Yanagawa and disappeared into the multipurpose area.
After seeing them off, Yuki turned back to the gasoline containers he could see through the gap in the door.
In total, there were about 20 liters of gasoline in that room. Gasoline vaporizes easily. In the time since Mikumo had removed the lid, the room should have already completely filled with fumes.
Yuki slowly extended his right hand towards her.
“Please give me that lighter. You know how scary gasoline is, don't you? This is dangerous, Ms. Mikumo.”
“I don't care. This was my intention from the start.”
Her words were as blunt as ever, but there was a subtle gentleness in her voice she'd never shown before.
Yuki's voice, meanwhile, was shaking more than he'd expected.
“If you want to kill the Visitor, there are plenty of other ways... Please. Give me the lighter.”
There was one thing Yuki was absolutely certain of. If Mikumo died here, it wouldn't be a noble sacrifice. It would just be an unnecessary death.
Yuki pleaded desperately, but Mikumo wasn't willing to listen.
She never once looked at Yuki. Her eyes were locked immovably on the thing that looked like Koga's body, as though she were afraid looking away would weaken her resolve.
Her fire burned behind her dark, empty eyes.
“It's alright. It's my fault this all happened. If only I'd listened to my father's stories, if only I'd told you all what I knew about the Visitor from the beginning, none of this would have happened.”
“No, Ms. Mikumo, it isn't your fault! The truth is...”
He was prepared to confess everything, that he was the one who'd broken the satellite phone, that the only reason he'd come to this island was for the sake of revenge... But just as he was about to open his mouth, Mikumo showed him a beautiful, vulnerable smile.
“Don't say any more. Thank you, Mr. Ryuuzen.”
“Ms. Mikumo...”
“Please take care of the others. And after the building burns down... find the Visitor's body and throw it into the sea.”
She glanced towards the multipurpose area. She was probably confirming that Motegi and the others had made it out safely.
Yuki took advantage of the opportunity and ran in. Before he could reach Mikumo, she lit the lighter and threw it into the small room.
With a tremendous explosion, a blast of hot air raced past Yuki.
The door to the room must have been blown off. A tremendous, violent sound rang out, and splinters rained around him.
His ears were ringing and his head was screaming with pain, but once the blast had subsided, he forced his eyes open and his head from the ground.
He could see fire near the ceiling and in places on the walls, but his vision was clouded by black smoke. A thin layer of smoke was also settling at the floor. ...No wonder his eyes and throat stung.
Yuki tapped Mikumo, who was lying next to him, on the shoulder.
“Are you okay?”
She looked dazed. No, she looked like she was surprised to still be alive.
Yuki had given up on trying to convince Mikumo to let go of the lighter. His priority was escaping with her.
The decision appeared to have paid off. They managed to escape to the multipurpose area before a full-scale explosion rang out, sending crimson flames rising up to begin consuming the building.
Yuki didn't really remember what happened next. Whether he had reflexively thrown himself and Mikumo to the ground, or if he'd just tripped over the bottle rolling around on the floor... Whatever the case, falling to the floor appeared to have saved them both from severe burns.
There weren't any severe burns on the back of Mikumo's clothes, and her hair looked fine. Yuki was relieved to see that. It was possible he'd sustained some burns, but now wasn't the time to stop and check.
“Let's get out of here before the fire spreads.”
Yuki said that, but Mikumo was still in a daze. Yuki had no choice but to drag her towards the light – towards the front entrance.
Luckily for them, the blast had shattered all the windows. The smoke escaped relatively quickly, and fresh air was filling the room.
Soon, the front entrance emerged from the smoke. They saw Saijou, Yanagawa, and Shigaraki.
As the three of them ran forward to help pull Yuki and Mikumo from the building, they heard a strange sound like a detuned violin.
Yuki slowly turned back, and saw something staggering towards them from the direction of the hallway. Its movements were slow, as though it were injured.
They could see it clearly even through the smoke, because the thing was wrapped in orange flame. It was a bit smaller than a cat, but it seemed extremely heavy, its every jump landing with a dull thud on the wooden floor.
With an ear-piercing shriek, the thing's movements slowed more and more, until it finally curled into a perfect sphere that silently rolled towards them. By the time it came to a halt in the front entrance, the flames surrounding it had gone out.
It had a metallic surface with a mysterious sheen. It wasn't quite gold, and it wasn't quite silver.
Yuki and Mikumo exchanged glances. She had finally recovered from her stunned state, but now her eyes were wide with a new shock.
Without question, this was the Visitor, having failed to escape the flames and revealed its true form.
The whole group looked down at a perfect, clear ocean. The waves were still high, but the sea looked to finally be calming down.
They were all holding a hoodie, within which was wrapped the Visitor. The sphere was unusually heavy... just as Eiko's notes had said, it felt to weigh about twenty kilograms.
Motegi, exhausted from the heat, leaned against Saijou, and Fuwawa poked her head out of Yuki's bag. However... Tara wasn't with them. He hadn't been released from the waiting room before the explosion.
Saijou and Yanagawa both showed clear regret that they'd forgotten about Tara in the heat of the moment.
But Yuki had known that was inevitable. Nobody could make calm, level-headed decisions like that while their own lives hung in the balance.
Black smoke continued to rise from the former community center. The scene was still visible from the port. By the time they'd left, the entire building was engulfed in raging flames. It was only a matter of time until the building collapsed.
Of all the equipment they'd brought to the island, all that remained was the generator.
It had been placed directly to the right of the front entrance just before the explosion, and Yanagawa had found the presence of mind to move it when she escaped.
Yuki felt nothing but gratitude to her. That was why he didn't want her to be consumed by her regrets over what had happened to Tara.
The six of them looked at each other, clutching the hoodie containing the Visitor.
There was nothing left to say.
They gave it a few pendulous swings to build momentum before tossing the sphere into the sea. With a light splash, the Visitor sank into the endless blue sea.
Just before the sphere was completely pulled beneath the surface, it let out another shriek. For just a moment, the Visitor had regained consciousness.
But the sphere sank without resistance, eventually rolling across the ocean floor to stop against a rock. ...Silence. A few bubbles rose from the Visitor, but they quickly disappeared.