Chapter 4

"Alright, let's go find the Number 9 Door," Nona announces, as they reach the Central Staircase on B Deck.

Keiichi is grateful that he is no longer in that Cargo Room with the cards that remind him of his father's possible truth. Prosopagnosia . . .

But does it really have anything to do with why he and the rest of the players have been roped into this game?

"Wait . . . what's behind Door 1?" Akane wonders, as she looks up to A Deck. "I'd like to look up there if we have the time."

So, as the others look for Door 9, Light and Aya show Akane through Door 1; though, this time, Keiichi stays back. He doesn't feel the need to follow them. After all, this door as already been explored, so it doesn't apply to his father's orders, right? He sits at the bottom of the steps of the grand staircase, waiting for them return.

After 20 minutes, he hears voices above him and he stands up to see that they're back, but on the other side of A Deck. It seems that they just exited from a different door then.

"Hey!" Keiichi is startled by a familiar voice's shout from beside him - he didn't realize that Ryota has also returned from hunting for the next door. Ryota is looking up at the A deck as well, calling out to Akane, Aya, and Light. "Come on, hurry, we found the number 9 door!" he shouts.

When they gather together, he takes them all down to where they exited from the Cargo Hold. Damn, if Keiichi had known that the door was right down the hallway, he would have explored it earlier – but Fumio also suggested to check in with the others before going any further, too.

They enter a room that looks like a Chapel. Aoi, Rikona, Fumio, and Nona have been standing in the room, waiting for them. They all gather around, and Light deduces that there are two number 9 doors to accommodate for two teams to go through. As he and Keiichi discuss how to divide the group of people, Keiichi feels hopeful.

This is it. The exit lies just ahead of these two doors.

.

They're running again.

Running and running and running.

It is all a maze. An awful, awful maze.

After running out of the strange, dark room with the pipes – which Keiichi took to call the Study in his head, since it is messy and cluttered like his father's study back in his mansion – they burst into the Library. As the fifth bell tolls, Aoi immediately sprints for the door with the Uranus card reader, and within seconds, he has the door open, beckoning Akane, Aya, and Rikona to get out as he stays behind, only waiting for the last person to enter the hallway before he joins.

Now, Keiichi leads everyone down the long corridor, panting as he runs. His hand digs into his pocket and curls around the Neptune key, upon reaching the next door. He puts the key into the keyhole, and lets out a sigh of relief as he hears the click of the lock.

To the group's surprise, when they enter the hallway, they run into the others. Everyone stands around for a moment, happy to be reunited, but Light and Aoi urge everyone to begin running again, as time is of the essence. So they continue making their way down the long-winded hallway, and then enter another strange hallway. There are a few warning signs around this new hallway, which alarms Keiichi.

There's a door in the area that can be opened with a lever, so, with nowhere else they can go, Aoi immediately grabs ahold of said lever and yanks it down. The door slides open with a loud, elongated screech, and everyone makes their way into a large room with an upside-down funnel-shaped roof.

And they see another number 9 door.

Nona gasps. "There's only one number 9 door!"

"If there's only one door, then only five of us can escape," Rikona whispers sadly.

Keiichi's breath hitches when he realizes he can't think of any more options. "W-What are we going to do!?"

"There aren't any other doors!?" Fumio cries.

If Keiichi thinks this is the peak of the terror everyone is feeling, then he is absolutely wrong, because as soon as he opens his mouth to say something more, the doors of the large room slide shut – the same metallic screech causes him to wince.

"Warning," a voice announces. It's similar to the kind of announcements made in shopping centers and airports. "Warning. Emergency incineration command has been acknowledged. Automatic incineration will take place in . . . 18 minutes. Please evacuate the incinerator immediately.

"Repeat . . . Emergency incineration command has been acknowledged."

Keiichi's eyes bug out of their sockets. Incineration? Evacuate? What the hell is going on!? "What?!"

"What's happening?!" This time, Ryota is shouting.

Akane turns to Aoi and tugs on his arm. "What did that thing say?!"

"That didn't sound good!" Nona says in reply, her eyes on the number 9 door.

Aoi swallows hard before answering. "I think it means this room is gonna burn . . . "

"Burn . . . ?"

Aoi continues speaking. "The plaque on the door says incinerator. And that voice said that the incineration is about to start . . . And incinerate means to burn . . ."

"Nooooooo!" Akane shrieks.

"Help meeeee!"

Panic and terror sweeps through everyone, as they begin to scream and cry. Keiichi feels tears build in his eyes and his throat tighten. Is this the end?

He looks to Light and Aoi, their leaders thus far, for some hope, but Aoi grabs on to his sister and hugs her tightly, eyes filled with despair, while Light looks down, his face crestfallen and hopeless as well.

Rikona grabs onto Keiichi and cries on his shoulder, but Keiichi is too terrified of his impending death to be surprised. His hands are shaking, his palms are sweaty, and his cheeks are now stained with tears that he's been trying to hold back for so long. He thinks about his sister, and hopes that she got out alive and safely. He thinks about his mother, and wonders if she knows he's missing and not at home with his father right now. But then again, if his mother ever finds out that they are here, doing such things, she would go mad, Keiichi is sure. He thinks about his father, and wonders what sick pleasure he is receiving in having them participate in this death game.

A loud clanking sound breaks Keiichi out of his thoughts, and causes everyone to become silent.

Up on the wall, one of the air ducts has been knocked down, to reveal a huge, bear of a man popping his face out of it.

"Don't worry, kids!" he cries out, when he sees everyone huddle together closely in fear. "I'm not your enemy! I'm one'a the good guys! I'm a detective. I'm here to rescue you."

.

Right after the detective leaves, with a promise to come back and save them, Light immediately turns to Keiichi.

"Rikona, Aya, Fumio, Ryota, and Keiichi, you five are to go through the door," he orders, his voice hard.

"W-What?"

"We're not leaving without you guys," Keiichi answers back, his voice full of conviction.

Light shakes his head. "That detective won't be able to save us all at once, and we can't risk having someone left behind. That's why you five should go ahead. I've added up your bracelet values and the digital root should come out to 9. We will come with the detective." He speaks in a low, quick rasp, and Keiichi realizes that he, too, has realized that their 9 hours are almost up. "Now go!"

He tries again to speak, "But – "

"Incineration will begin in 10 minutes."

Aya whimpers softly at the announcement.

Light shakes his head. "Go! Verify! Quickly!"

And so they quickly run to the large, metal door of the incinerator, placing their palms on the RED to verify their numbers. The five of them dash out of the incinerator when the door opens.

Before the door closes, Keiichi gives Light and the others a lasting look. As the nine seconds come to an end, the door closes, but not before Keiichi hears Akane shout, "See you soon." It makes him crack a smile of relief, but then Rikona shakes his shoulder to put his hand on the DEAD that is near the door.

After that, they run again. This time, they run up the spiraling, endless stairwell that is near the door.

But, in their haste to reach the top of the stairs, only Keiichi realizes that the digital root of their numbers does not add up to 9.