40A25K4

3 & 2

"3 days until we die."

Aiko stared at the photos in her hands with disbelief, Kiya leaning on her shoulder to look at them as well.

"What the heck is this?"

Junichi shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know what's going on, or who took those pictures. We... we tried going back after bringing the camera back yesterday, but..."

Kiya lifted her head from Aiya's shoulder and grabbed her arm gently, as if to ground herself. "...but?"

I looked at her. My mind was still foggy, disbelief still flooding my mind. "It was gone."

Aiya glared at me. "What was gone?"

"The room. Or, at least, the door."

"What? Doors and rooms don't just... disappear."

Junichi narrowed his eyes at her. "Except it did. As much as I'd like to deny that it disappeared, not accepting reality isn't gonna help us at all. It's gone, and we need to figure out how it disappeared."

Aiya stared down Junichi for a few seconds before sighing and leaning towards Kiya. "I guess you're right about most of that. But what's finding the room gonna do for us? Remember, we still only have about 3 days left."

I quietly nodded. She was right, we had only 3 days left. We needed to find ways to get out of here.

"2 days until we die."

I was searching the underground tunnel I'd found some days ago again. There had to be something.

I was with Kiya this time, which was not quite as comfortable as I was with Junichi, but we had to get through this regardless.

Besides, I could tell that she probably would have preferred to be with Aiko right then.

It wasn't like we weren't friends. We got along really well, it was just that I preferred Junichi and she preferred Aiko.

I had to wonder how Junichi and Aiko were doing, searching the above ground together. I knew they didn't get along well, and there's no way that would turn out well, especially since Aiko had said earlier that she would be driving the two of them.

"Hikari?"

I turned to Kiya, who'd stopped abruptly. "Yeah? What's wrong?"

"Is that the symbol you were looking for?"

I looked ahead. The same symbol that had been on that door and all those computers was there at the end of the tunnel.

I could have sworn this tunnel was much longer the last time I'd been here with Junichi.

...hold on.

"Just a second, Kiya."

She gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher and nodded briskly, backing up. I stepped forward and attempted to press my hand against the end of the tunnel.

My hand went through the wall.