Author's note: The original manga ended really abruptly, so I'm going to try to write what I think could've happened. If there are any mysteries or plot points that you think still need to be answered, please let me know. It will help me.


Previously:

"The guarantee?" Yuna said.

"Yes, only you can do it. You're the only one who has the same feelings as I do," Yoshimi said darkly. They were the only ones who were left absolutely alone, so devastated that it affected their sanity. He opened the door in front of them. "Let me introduce you..." Yuna found herself looking at table full of various nationalities. There even appeared to be an American general there. "They're helping me with my 'Eden Project'. I've gathered members from all over the world.'

"Huh?" Yuna said. There was a familiar face mixed in. She recognized Fukui Ayako by sight and wondered what she was doing there. 'Eden project?'

"Please sit down. I've already prepared your seat," Yoshimi said. He took his place at the head of the table. "Now then, ladies and gentlemen… let's continue the discussion, where we left off yesterday!"


Chapter 29: Eden Project


It's already been five years since I met you..." Yoshimi said to Yuna, lying in his medical bed in his mansion, hooked up to an IV and a machine that monitored his vital signs.

"The lord has already absolved you of all sin. He loves thee still," the priest beside his bed said, performing the last rights on Yoshimi.

"Starting today, you'll be supervisor in place of me," Yoshimi continued to address Yuna. "I remember those promises that we exchanged long ago… Achieving the 'project'… the mission of those of us who remain…" He reached out a shaky hand to hold hers. "Right, Yuna-kun?"

"Yes..." Yuna said, determined. She placed her hand over her heart as if making a pledge. "Absolutely..."

"Hyoudou… I'm depending on you to be Yuna-kun's supporter," Yoshimi said.

"Yes! With all that I have," the same man who had come to bring her to the Isurugi mansion five years ago pledged with a bow.

"Hmm… That's good..." Yoshimi said. "Now then… I'm going to go where Miina is..." He closed his eyes, and his vitals flatlined. He had a peaceful expression on his face. The doctor checked to make sure he was really gone.

"Time of death is… 8:48PM," the doctor said, checking his watch.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Amen," the priest said, finishing the last rites.

—∞—

"How was he, at the end?" Ayako asked Yuna when Yuna returned to work later that day. Over the years, Ayako and Yuna had developed a sort of friendship.

"Peaceful. He's with his granddaughter again, after all," Yuna said. "How are things on your end?"

"No trouble yet. It helps that we're keeping everything a secret," Ayako said. She was in charge of security for the project.

"And what about personally? Is your husband still in denial?" Yuna asked.

"Yes… He still insists that our daughter is alive somewhere..." Ayako said, clenching her fists. "I guess he just can't accept it… The two of them used to be inseparable. But he knows how important this is to me."

"We'll keep working in their memory… together," Yuna said.

—∞—

Ten years later, in the Isurugi building in Tokyo, on the top floor, a young man was in a hurry.

"G-Good morning!" he said, flashing his ID card at a security officer. He jammed the card into the reader by the door and slid it down, unlocking the door. "Good morning!" he greeted his superior.

"You're ten minutes late, Sakuraba-kun!" his superior said.

"I-I'm sorry Yanagi-san!" Sakuraba said.

"You've just transferred from the international office and you haven't gotten over your jet lag but be more reliable!" Yanagi said, typing away at his computer. He stopped for a moment to turn in his chair and face Sakuraba. "This is the Isurugi group's most important section, after all. Have some self-awareness."

"Y-Yes," Sakuraba said.

"Also, Sengoku-san is strict. You'd get the axe right away," Yanagi said, making the universal sign for getting your neck cut.

"R-Right..." Sakuraba said nervously. "Um… The boss is in there…?" Sakuraba asked, looking at the door to Yuna's office.

"Yeah, but unless you have important business with her, it's best to stay out of her way," Yanagi said. "Anyway, she's been closed up in that room since yesterday."

"Huuuh? She pulled an all-nighter again? Will she be okay? She's always like that these days..." Sakuraba said.

"Well, that's understandable. This ten-year-old project is finally officially starting!" Yanagi said, grinning.

"The 'Eden Project', right?" Sakuraba said excitedly. "It's a project just like a dream! But how are they going to create such an unbelievable island…?"

"It will be created using cutting-edge oceanic civil engineering technology. Look here," Yanagi said, bringing it up on his monitor. "First, they'll put in a stone wall underwater with a leveling machine and smooth out the bottom. We'll create the foundation of the island. Piled up above that foundation will be a newly developed, durable concrete block. It blocks the edge of the ocean. And the interior and soil will be filled up with waste and create the land."

"They're going to create an artificial island that's 400km in every direction? The pacific ocean, where the depth is 4000 meters… that's a big boom close to Guam!" Sakuraba said.

"By doing this process over and over gain, the island will grow bigger," Yanagi said.

"Huh, that's some large-scale construction," Sakuraba said. "But really, to do something like this—"

"Ah, that's right. In this project, there's America, not to mention England, Russia, and China. The governments from superpowers all over the world, armies, and private companies are involved in it," Yanagi said.

"It certainly is a group with lots of different super-powered nations," Sakuraba said.

"Yeah, it's the first huge attempt by man to fill 4,000 meters of deep sea. Along with that, there's a lot of new technology that's been produced that's incomplete," Yanagi said. "Concrete that's hardened with salt. Iron that doesn't rust… Sophisticated machinery for the deep sea… Also, it's been said that due to the effects of global warming, the sea level will rise one meter before the end of this century. That means any country would kill for the technology to fill it up. Th-The problem is 'money'."

"Huh?" Sakuraba said.

"It would take an astronomical amount of money… Look!" Yanagi said, bringing up the total on the screen.

"Whoa! 6… 6,000 trillion yen? That's several decades worth of America's national budget..." Sakuraba said, feeling faint.

"Yeah. And that's the current calculation. It's probably going to keep increasing," Yanagi said.

"I guess they haggled over it..." Sakuraba said, holding his head.

"Huh?" Yanagi said.

"I heard it from one of our international coworkers. Our boss's heroic story..." Sakuraba said. "Last year, the president that America elected, it seems that he was opposed to the project. Then Sengoku-san marched into the White House herself… After intimidating the president for an hour, the two of them glared at each other for hours. And even the president finally gave her the 'go' sign." Sakuraba paled and sweated nervously just thinking about it, as did Yanagi.

"That was a disaster… Even the president..." Yanagi said. "That's just like our boss."

"Yeah, If it's Sengoku-san, they don't stand a chance, no matter who they are," Sakuraba said. "Around the age of forty, she re-enrolled in a top-notch university in America… In just five years, she had finished studying architecture, chemistry, and various other disciplines… She's dealt with top people in America, Russia, and the Pentagon. She's an iron woman who has managed this entire project through almost entirely her own effort. Oh, that's right, Sempai. Why is it that we have to keep our job secret from our families?" He handed over the memory stick with all of the data he had collected to Yanagi.

"Idiot, we're operating with such insane amounts of money. Isn't confidentiality the right thing to do?" Yanagi said. "Did you know? It seems like we have to keep it a secret from our families until America's CA quits being on staff. But, since it seems suspicious, the current divorce rate is at sixty percent or something..."

"Huuuuuh!? Oh, come on! I'm a newlywed!" Sakuraba said.

"Oh, yeah, did you know? Sengoku-san's son is the reason she originally took on this job..." Yanagi said.

"Huh..." Sakuraba said.

"For her son that died in a plane crash, she'll do anything—" Yanagi said.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat to interrupt him.

"!" Yanagi gasped. "H-Hyoudou-san! All right, work, work!" he said, immediately doing his best to look super busy.

"..." Hyoudou continued on his way to the supervisor's office and knocked twice on the door.

"Yes, come in," Yuna said.

"Excuse me," Hyoudou said, opening the door and entering. Yuna was typing away at her computer. She had the same photo of herself and Akira sitting on her desk that was later found by him in the 'building'.

"Did you stay up all night again, Sengoku-san?" Hyoudou asked. "If you overdo it, it won't be long before you collapse."

"I don't have much time… I have to hurry..." Yuna said without pausing. "Anyway, is there something you need? Hyoudou..."

"It's the research that the Yamanashi facility has been hard at work on… Just now, their living organism experiment was a success," Hyoudou said. That got Yuna's attention.

"Then, we're getting close," she said.

"Yes," Hyoudou said. "It was Isurugi senior's dearest wish. The revival of extinct animals… according to theory, it's now a possibility. And through this research, seven new enzymes and two proteins have been discovered. Now, fundraising from the military and pharmaceutical companies is possible. And it's expected that the Eden Project will move forward in a major way."

"Yes..." Yuna said, smiling. "Hyoudou, these are…?"

"They're top secret," Hyoudou said. "They weren't even given to the other staff members, since they're not good at keeping things private..."

"Our colleagues pain my heart a little… It can't be helped. It's better to be safe than sorry. Once something like this goes public, it's possible the project will be shut down," Yuna said, standing up and looking out the window with her back turned to him. Hyoudou noticed some papers on her desk. They were architectural diagrams with notes.

"..." He picked them up and looked at them. "These are the four towers that are to be built on the island. The pyramid-shaped one is the 'Factory'. It'll be thirty floors underground. It'll be the island's central place for creating the extinct animals. And the 'Spiral'. This is where the extinct animal designs will be laid out. The third is the 'Monument M'. It's a tomb for the promise that the Isurugi elder made with Miina-sama. Lastly, this is the residential area for the island's staff. It's nickname is the 'School'. Sengoku-san… For what reason was it necessary to have the residential area look like this?" he asked, putting the papers back on the desk. This 'School'… I know that it was your son's school..."

"..." Yuna continued to stare out the window.

"Several years after the plane accident… they closed that school, you know. It was because all of the first year students had disappeared. It's understandable that the entrance application would rapidly decrease. But… the construction of a 'tower' like this… wasn't Isurugi Senior's plan!" Hyoudou said. "Besides, orders have been given for it to be changed so that the island's vegetation can be eaten by humans… It's not something that could derail the project in a big way, but… aren't you using a little too much of your own judgement? Why? Just what is something like that for—"

"… If you don't have any more business, please go back," Yuna said, still staring out the window.

"… Excuse me," Hyoudou said, bowing and then leaving. Once the door had shut behind him again, Yuna turned.

"..." She looked at the picture of herself and her son. "What is it for…? That should be obvious. Right, Ayako-san?"

—∞—

A helicopter flew over part of the pacific ocean. Inside were two old ladies and the young man piloting the machine.

"Right now, the coordinates are 16-79 and 148-35. We're almost there," the pilot informed his passengers, who were looking out the windows.

"I can see it," one old woman said. "Come, it's over here," she told her companion. The other old woman turned to look, too. "That's Riaka Island."

"It's gotten big over the decades… It seems like it'll take another hundred years..." the pilot said. "At any rate, a manmade island in a place like this was all right even with America," the pilot said, landing on the island.

"..." the two women stared out of the window for a moment before opening the door.

"Please be careful!" the pilot warned them. "The primary construction just finished so the ground is still soft..."

"We understand!" one of the old women said, stepping out first. The other old woman followed.

"Finally… we're here… They're sleeping underneath here..." the first old woman said, looking at the picture of Akira and his mother. The second old lady stood there silently with tears in her eyes, looking at a picture of Torako and her two parents. "Forty years have passed… but… please wait a little longer, Akira..." The first old woman was Yuna, and the second was Ayako.

"Just wait, Tora… We're making you an Eden..." Ayako said, hugging the picture. Her husband had developed a heart condition and passed away. To the end, he had always continued to believe that Torako was alive somewhere. But it was just her now, and she was more determined than ever to help Yuna.

—∞—

'The second stage of construction is coming along nicely. The island is quickly getting bigger," a young woman said, holding the bouquet of unusual flowers that she had brought with her to the hospital. The monitor for the patient's vital signs beeped softly in the background. "These bloomed from the trees planted upon completion of the first stage… the first flowers from Raika Island. What do you think, Yuna..."

"What a nice smell..." Yuna said, lying on her hospital bed. The same picture of herself and Akira was on the bedside table.

"Also, the production of extinct animals… modeled after the pictures… It's possible now, as well. Just the rough forms, though… They still can' be considered complete. I wonder when the day that they wander the island will come. Raika Island will become… the Garden of Eden..."

"… Thank you. I leave everything to you… Sengoku Frey," Yuna said, smiling again.

"… Is it all right if I ask, Mom? Why did you adopt me… Why am I your successor…?" Frey asked.

"… Because you're the same as me. Because you understand… just what it means to lose someone," Yuna said. "Only someone like you can carry on this project."

"… Mom… please let me ask just one more thing," Freya said. "I've heard that this 'Eden Project'… was started by Isurugi Yoshimi, who died decades ago, as a memorial to his granddaughter… Why… were you able to sacrifice your own life to this extent for someone else?"

"… I wonder when it started…" Yuna said. "Like I was seeing a dream… a very strange dream..."

"A strange dream…?" Freya asked.

"… Yes. A dream… of my son and his friends..." Yuna said, smiling her brightest smile yet. "Of everyone living… on the Raika Island that I created. Akira and Rion-chan and Ayako's daughter, Tora-chan… and all of their classmates. Everyone joining together and having adventures… Harrowing but thrilling adventures… Ayako saw it, too… I promised her when she passed last year, that I would make certain that we made it for them…"

"Everyone alive… huh… That's a wonderful dream," Freya said, touched.

"A wonderful dream indeed, Freya. And what's strange is that, even though they were such miscreants, in my dream they grew to become splendid people," Yuna said.

"… So, for the sake of that dream…?" Freya asked.

"Yes… I… Wanted to create a place where he belonged," Yuna said. Tears leaked from her eyes. "… It really was… a wonderful… dream..." Her head rolled to the side as if she had fallen asleep. A moment later, her vitals flatlined. The doctor and a nurse came into the room, and the doctor checked on Yuna.

"… She's passed away..." the doctor said.

'… Yuna… I have accepted this heart of yours. I will also create a place where your son belongs,' Freya thought with tears in her eyes, looking at the picture of a younger Yuna and Akira. 'I hope… that somehow… God will hear your prayer.'

—∞—

Far in the future, Akira and his group were inside the 'School', confronting the horrible revelation that not only did the world think they were dead, but even if they could get back to Japan, their homes and the people they knew might be gone. They couldn't be sure how far into the future they had traveled, but it had to be at least over fifty years going by the state of the buildings on the island. Akira and Rion were crying and clinging to each other. The president held Yuki while she cried, crying himself. Everyone was either crying or still too shocked for tears. Watching her classmates and thinking about her parents, Torako started to cry, too. She'd had her suspicions, but she had been hoping she might still be wrong. Time travel… How does something like that even happen? Why them? What were her parents thinking when their plane disappeared? Were they devastated? The thought broke her heart.

"..." Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she started trembling. 'Are they even still alive…?' Yarai had been standing there in silence, trying to find something to refute the terrible truth. But when he noticed Torako was crying, he moved closer to her and held her. Torako leaned against him for support, holding onto him. The first sob escaped her lips, and she broke down, feeling safe enough to do so in his arms. "She's blamed herself… I just know it…! My mom... told me to go on this trip… she won't… forgive herself for that…!" And her dad… if he ever woke up, it would be to a world she wasn't in. They had always been so close. She knew what it felt like to lose him to that coma… Would it be just as horrible for him to lose her? No, it was probably worse, unless he could somehow sense that she was still alive. She hoped he could. They had a special bond. Whenever she was lost or in trouble, he was always the first to find her.

Eventually, Akira got a grip on himself and remembered that the others were still waiting for them outside.

"… C-Come on… We have to get up," Akira said, forcing himself to stand as he helped Rion up. Enough time had passed that she could move now, with help.

"… Why…?" the vice president said.

"What's the point…!?" Miyauchi asked.

"Everyone… Everyone is still waiting on us," Akira said. "They're waiting for us to come back. I don't know how or why this happened, but… We still have precious friends that we need to help and protect. We still need to get off of this island!" He spoke with a contagious determination. One by one, they dried their eyes and stood up again. Some of them didn't look entirely convinced, but they moved forward anyway.

'He's right… We can't cry forever,' Torako thought. "Sorry I got your shirt wet..." she apologized to Yarai.

"Don't worry about it," he said, holding her hand in his as he took the lead. It surprised Torako that he would do that.

'I did cry really hard… I must have worried him...' Torako thought, but she smiled a little through her sadness. Her hand felt warm in his. But none of them were looking forward to having to share the bad news with their friends, so they went slowly at a reluctant pace. As Rei slowly absorbed the shock, she remembered something important.

"How are we going to get Tooru out from behind that rubble?" Rei asked, making Akira freeze. Everyone looked at him, and they could see the truth in his face.

"I'm sorry, Rei-san..." Akira said, tightening his grip on Rion. "Tooru-san… Tooru-san didn't want you know until..."

"Kn-Know what?" Rei asked warily, not liking the look in his eyes or the tone in his voice.

"Tooru-san… was actually fatally wounded..." Akira said.

"!?" everyone gasped in alarm.

"W-We have to save him!!" Rei said, starting to run, but Akira reached out and grabbed her with the arm that wasn't supporting Rion.

"Rei-san…! Tooru-san… was beyond saving… He said so himself," Akira said regretfully, trembling a little bit as he spoke of it. "By now he's..."

"N… Noooooo!!" Rei screamed, tearing herself free from his grip to run. "Tooru! Tooru! Noooooo!!"

"!!" the others gasped and ran after her.

"Yarai!" Akira said, and Yarai quickly caught up to Rei and stopped her before she could disturb the debris that had buried Tooru. He dragged her back to a safe distance from it as she fought to get to Tooru.

"Noooooo!! Nooooo!! Tooruuuu!!" Rei screamed heartbreakingly with tears steaming down her face. "Tooruuuuuuuuuu!!" They waited for her to calm down enough so that she could be led out of the building. It took a while, but eventually, she exhausted herself, and Yashiro had to help her walk. Finally, they came back out of the building to find that everyone was waiting for them inside the gate.

"Huh? Why is everyone..." Akira said.

"We were attacked, Onii-chan!" Miina said, speaking up, first.

"Eh!?" everyone who had been inside said, startled.

"By what? Where is it?" Miyauchi asked, getting ready to fight.

"It was a paraceratherium!" Miina said.

"A… what?" the vice president said.

"W-What!? One of those showed up here!?" Mariya said, alarmed.

"Huh? You know it, Mariya?" Akira asked.

"It was in the reference book! It's a giant twenty-ton beast, even bigger than the megatherium…" Mariya said.

"That's right… It completely flatted a helicopter. We found what was left of it outside the gate," Kokonoe said.

"A-A helicopter!? H-How did you get rid of it!?" Akira asked.

"We didn't," Kokonoe said. "For some reason, it seemed that it couldn't climb over the wall, and it eventually gave up and left… but not before leaving us with a number of casualties..."

"I see..." Akira said, looking grim. 'Another mystery…' he thought. But with the advanced technology on the island, perhaps it wasn't so strange that they had found a way to keep beasts out of the 'building'.

"What about you?" Kokonoe asked. "What did you…" He trailed off when he saw the expressions on their faces and realized that most of them looked as if they had been crying. "… What is it, Sengoku?" Akira took a breath and stepped forward with Rion.

"… What we have to say… is going to be devastating and difficult to believe… but you have to hear it," Akira said gravely.

—∞—

As with the small group who went inside, by the time Akira finished explaining with some help from the rest of the inside group, everyone was either crying or too shocked to finish fully processing their fate at the moment. Akira gave them time to get some of it out of their system, but then he gave everyone a speech similar to the one he gave in the memorial room.

"… I don't know what this future will hold… but we can make it! We'll face it together," Akira concluded. A few people couldn't be consoled, but the majority of them eventually got up and started moving around again, though many of them worked with tears in their eyes. They carefully went outside the wall and collected what was left of the people who had been smashed to death by the paraceratherium to bury them, started making shelters inside the wall, and prepared food to eat. Mutou was exempt from these duties because he was looking after Isurugi Miina and the rest of the wounded. Her wounds looked terrible, but, fortunately, he said he didn't believe any permanent damage had been done. The same couldn't be said for Nishikiori, who had taken the brunt of the attack. He had died of his wounds before Mutou could treat him. Saitou was the only one who mourned him. Everyone else was mostly relieved to be rid of him. Poor Rei just sat there in the grass, staring into space, until they made her eat something and reminded her that Tooru would want her to survive. As she ate, she regained some energy and started crying again. Torako, Segawa, Matsumoto, and Shigeno helped Yarai build a shelter they could all share. They made Kurusu-sensei take it easy even though she wanted to help, too. Since the sun had already been setting, it took half the night for most of the well-made shelters to be completed. When they had finished their own shelter and finished helping those around them, Yarai's group lied down on the leaf beds they had made for themselves and tried to get some rest. Segawa, Matusmoto, and Shigeno cried themselves to sleep. Kurusu-sensei put on a brave face, but it was obvious she was deeply upset, too. Torako stared up at the ceiling of their hut and counted the veins in the leaves used for the ceiling to avoid thinking about anything else until she drifted off to sleep.

"..." Yarai stared at the ceiling, too. But he wasn't counting veins. He was thinking about the people he had promised to 'save'. When he made that promise, he had thought he was going to bring them home. But 'home' as they knew it didn't exist anymore. Could he still keep his promise?