♠ ♦ Alice in Borderland ♣ ♥

44

At the corner of the street I stand reluctantly, looking at the zeppelin with the giant poker card with the jack of hearts on it.

I have to say that a psychology business isn't exactly my dream for a game of hearts, but that zeppelin from the king of spades is coming awfully close. My head usually works better than my stamina, so I decide to bet my chances higher on this game than if I had to run from that maniac.

Just before the entrance the three of us stop to look at the screen that hangs above the doorway, but soon Soran and I find each other. 'That's...' I start. 'Keji,' Soran and I say at the same time, to which we frown at each other. 'He's been in a coma for five months now,' I say, surprised. 'Is it really him?' Soran and I look at the screen again, on which the boy who has been with us for a school year has appeared. 'Dear players,' he says in a recorded video, 'I am the jack of hearts. Welcome to my game.' Yes, it really is him. How did he end up here? What's he doing in Borderland? And why haven't we seen him here before? 'I like to invite the players who are ready to confront themselves to my practice to go on the road to healing together. Please note: only when you are really open to reflecting deeply on yourself will you find salvation.'

"1/8" appears in the top left corner, which probably means eight players can join and one is now in. Is that Keji?

'What will we be doing?' Yuki asks, fixing his gaze on something behind us. I don't have to look back to find out what he's looking at; the king of spades seems to have come awfully close. 'Let's step inside,' Soran says firmly. 'Sosuke said the jack of hearts would help us if we would tell him we'd finished his game.' His attitude changes to a sudden uncertainty. 'Hopefully this world hasn't changed Keji too much.'

I look at the screen again, where the cutscene with Keji on it starts playing again. Everything about him looks different from how we know him, but we have no choice. That maniac is getting closer and we want answers. 'Let's go,' I say, and the three of us step inside. When we pass the translucent red laser beams, I feel calm and restless at the same time. We're once again safe from that maniac, but who says that the fate we're about to experience is any better? We continue our way through the corridors in silence, to which we arrive at a kind of living room. In front of the entrance is a table with seven phones on it and none other than Keji is standing behind it.

'Welcome,' he says with a friendly smile. I awkwardly approach and look at him. 'Kairi,' he says with the same intonation in his voice, 'how nice to see you, this time even in real life.' I don't know what he meant by that, but I decide to give him a friendly nod in return. 'Keji,' I say then, to which he looks at Soran and gives him a short nod. 'I don't think I know you yet,' he says, looking at Yuki, who examines him suspiciously. 'Yuki, right?' Now Yuki looks even more suspicious. The two boys have never met and yet Keji knows his name. 'How do you know my name?' he asks, to which Keji shakes his head with a smile. 'The questions will come up later,' he says kindly. He nods at the phones. 'Register yourself and make yourself comfortable. You can use the hygiene facilities and relax in the lounge. The game will begin when we're complete.' Sounds like that could take a long time. The boys pick up their phones without saying anything and want to walk on, but I'm unable to.

'We're from Sosuke's game,' I tell Keji, why I don't really know. 'I know,' he says with a smile. 'I expected this to be the path you'd walk.' Okay? 'Make yourself comfortable,' he continues, 'because it may take a while before the game starts.'

We enter the living room and hear the doors close behind us. A curtain slides in front, so we can't look at Keji anymore. 'What the fuck,' Yuki mumbles, looking suspiciously at the curtains. 'That guy is very... hazy.' Soran and I look at each other. 'I don't remember him being like that,' he mumbles, 'but... maybe no one knew what he was really like.' I look at the curtains and think about that for a moment. Soran is right: no one knew who Keji really was, because no one bothered to find out. I felt like I was getting to know him pretty well before he went into a coma and never regained consciousness. And now he's here. Could it be a link?