If you want a mysterious ending, don't read the epilogue and make your own conclusions for what happened to Risa and Konno after they escaped the island. But for those of you who want a bit of closure, keep reading.
---Epilogue---
When Risa opened her eyes, she was looking up at an unfamiliar cieling. As her eyes adjusted to the semidarkness and the rest of the room slid into focus, she found herself in a hospital room. Everything was white, and the sterile feeling of it made her feel uneasy.
She was wearing light blue flannel pajamas that didn't feel too different from her own back home, and there was an intraveneous needle taped to the back of her right hand. She was thankful she hadn't been awake for that part of her admittance into the hospital, due to her fear of needles. She looked around for a clock to check the time, but there was none in the room.
On the other side of the room was another bed, and Risa could make out Konno's sleeping form in it. She was in a similiar position as Risa with various tubes running to and from her arm. Risa called out her name softly, but there was no reply.
The door slid quietly open, and Risa closed her eyes again, pretending to be asleep as she heard footsteps enter the room and the door was shut softly behind them.
"Have they woken up yet?" It was Tsunku's voice, and Risa forced her expression to remain impassive so as not to give herself away.
"Not yet. They've been asleep since we brought them in." The other voice was female, but her tone was clipped and businesslike. Risa guessed from her voice that she was somehow involved with the military crew that had taken them off of the island.
She heard Tsunku sigh heavily. "This isn't good. We have two problems now instead of just one."
"You think they'll talk?"
"I have no doubt they will," Tsunku replied. "They've gone through hell in the last two days. They'll want answers."
"The press will get involved, Tsunku-san... I really don't think it's a good idea to let them leave the facility. And you'll have to think of an explanation to why Morning Musume suddenly vanished overnight."
"I know. I'll come up with something... another audition." The footsteps moved toward the other side of the room where Konno's bed was, and Risa opened one eye slightly long enough to see Tsunku and a woman in a sharp business suit standing beside Konno's bed.
"It's too bad they'd never go along with it," Tsunku said sadly. "They would have made a success as a duo. Now that W's gone..." He pulled something out of his pocket and unhooked the tube attached to Konno's arm. Risa watched in growing fear as he handed the woman a syringe, which she attached to the clamp on Konno's arm. "How long will it take?"
The woman slowly began to empty the syringe into the vein on Konno's arm. "Only about a minute. She won't feel a thing."
In her bed, Risa began to panic. Tsunku and the woman had their backs to her as they watched Konno, and for a moment she considered making a run for it. But she was still hooked up to the IV, and her legs felt like rubber from laying down all day long.
Across the room, Konno began to gasp for air. Tsunku and his female friend were instantly at her side again as the woman grabbed an oxygen mask from off of the steel counter on the wall.
"Something's wrong!" he hissed as Konno began to thrash in her bed. "You said it was supposed to be painless!"
The woman looked troubled as she covered Konno's mouth and nose with the mask. "It's supposed to be... but she's waking up. It's trying to shut her body down but she's fighting it!" She pulled the mask away and Konno continued to wheeze. The woman went to replace the mask, but Tsunku caught her wrist and stopped her.
Konno's breathing grew even more faint as her struggling slowly stopped. Unable to stand it anymore, Risa sat up in her bed and screamed for help.
"They're killing her! They're killing her!"
In seconds, they were trying to hold her down and restrain her as she continued to scream. She saw the woman pull out another syringe and her screaming got louder. Tsunku's grip was surprisingly strong as he pinned her arms down.
"I'm sorry, Risa-chan," he said as the needle slid into the vein and the deadly liquid began to course through her body. In seconds she could feel it beginning to take effect, weighing every inch of her down. It was like a big white pillow was pushing down on her face, covering her nose and her mouth as she helplessly gasped for air.
Her lungs started to burn, and spots danced behind her eyelids, but she still tried to fight it, her willpower eventually spiralling into submission as everything went black.
"Time of death, 11:06 PM," Tsunku said, letting go of the small girls limp arms. "Make sure it's recorded that it was because of natural causes."
The woman nodded and started toward the door. "Yes, of course. Shall I call their parents?"
Tsunku shook his head. "I'll do that later. They'll want a plausible explanation."
"And you think you can really give them one?" she asked him skeptically.
Tsunku smirked slightly, holding the door open for her. "I'm sure I'll think of something." The two of them left the room, the door quietly closing behind them.