There were rooms specifically for opening untamed Doors.
They were nestled in the heart of the facility, on the lowest floor—cubicle-style rooms, each a little courtyard with a shaft all the way to the roof.
Hisako stared at the clouds high above, trying to calm her nerves. Nanae was staring at the center of the room, and Eiji was in the doorway. Kohaku was exploring the facility—they'd mentioned something about finding the climbing wall without using a map.
Nanae took a deep breath; Hisako and Eiji prepared themselves, standing alert.
Her hand reached out, and they tensed.
And stared.
For a long moment, then another.
Nanae closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. No Door.
She lowered her hand and slowly seated herself carefully on her knees. As she stared into the center of the room, breathing even and controlled, Hisako realized she was meditating.
Hisako met Eiji's eyes. Calm but somewhat concerned. They waited longer, then Nanae stood up sharply, a hard glint in her eyes, and her face pressed blank.
"Is everything okay?" Eiji asked gently.
Nanae's lips went thin and pale for a moment. "It won't open," she finally admitted.
"Is that normal?" Hisako asked cautiously.
"It means I'm still…" She took a deep breath. "Not ready," she grit out. "I'm the problem."
"No," Hisako said. "Don't say that. You're trying. It's just not working yet. If you're not ready, you're not ready."
"I'm ready!" Nanae hissed. "Something else in me is not."
"Just give it time," Eiji soothed. "Isn't that what this place is for? Reset and re-center, and then you'll try again, and again, until it works out."
"I shouldn't—" Nanae snapped her teeth together. She clenched her fists and took another deep breath. Her face softened. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you."
"We know that, Nanae," Hisako said.
"I'm frustrated because I'm ready, but I'm apparently not ready."
"We understand," Eiji said. "And when you're ready, and you're ready, we'll also be ready."
"Do you want to cool off in the gym?" Hisako offered. "If you're up to it, I'd like to learn some of those moves you pulled yesterday."
Nanae paused in thought. "Actually, would you be interested in joining Kohaku? Honestly, they probably haven't realized the climbing wall is in another facility, so they may still be wandering, and wandering sounds nice. Something… informal, and then climbing."
"I've never gone climbing for fun before. Heights worry me a little," Eiji thought aloud.
"You did a lot of climbing around in Vice Captain Strömberg's Door," Hisako chuckled, shooting a text to Kohaku asking where they'd ended up.
Eiji glanced at her pointedly. "Yeah. The fear is recent like that."
Nanae laughed at them, then pointed at Hisako. "Did you try to use your power on him?"
"She tried to jump with me! I thought I was gonna die!" Eiji cried. "Climbing that cathedral wall was nothing compared to that!"
"Aw, I learned my lesson," Hisako said, waving her phone around. "You don't have to let that mistake ruin your climbing experience."
"Yeah, she can toss people a lot better now," Nanae said. "You should let her boost you with Toraichi sometime."
"Maybe not," Eiji muttered. "Maybe in case of emergencies."
"That's good enough for me," Hisako said.
They chatted as they walked, trying to avoid the subject of Doors and Doorkeeping, and focusing on everyday life, of which Eiji had the most stories. Since Kohaku hadn't answered her text, they wandered the entire main hotel.
"I really do have to introduce you to my sister," Eiji sighed. "She's been trying out some new game in her free time—she's thinking about competing in it professionally on the side."
"You're into video games, Hisako?" Nanae asked.
"Yeah, I can't believe I haven't mentioned that yet. It used to be the only thing I did in my free time, but now I barely have the time to sit at my desk," she replied.
"Some of my younger cousins have suggested tactical simulation games for leadership training," Nanae said. "Is there any merit to that?"
"The way my sister acts about her games, I'd say so," Eiji chuckled.
"I don't really play any hardcore military simulation games, but I know some people who do—they're scary-smart on their feet. A lot of resource management and planning goes into it. I don't know how well it transfers to real life, but, honestly, a lot of my video game experience helps me."
"Really?" Nanae asked.
Eiji blinked curiously. "Yeah, how do you mean that?"
Hisako waved her arm around. "Well, weapon range and use most of all, and I think about things like 'guard' and weak spots, stamina, combos—all that stuff.
"Each person has a different attack pattern, like bosses, you know? They play different roles on different teams, with different specialties and weaknesses. People can use the same weapon in different ways, and they stand and move differently. It's all about figuring people out and beating their puzzle, like the puzzle-bosses in games."
Eiji hummed thoughtfully and looked at Nanae. "And how do you think about fighting?"
"I learn my opponent too; same thoughts, different words and goals. I look more at fighting styles—traditionally trained Doorkeepers inherit fighting styles from their instructors and teammates. I can switch to a style they're vulnerable to."
"A traditionally trained way of breaking down fighting, and a more… practical view," Eiji thought aloud. "I've been getting some combat theory lessons, but it's been more about team versus team tactics. My current strategy is to survive long enough to heal my teammates."
"I appreciate that strategy," Hisako chuckled. "Maybe your sister can teach you with some of her games."
"If I have to play her fancy war games, you two do too."
"It sounds like a good learning experience," Nanae said. "And a good idea for bonding."
"Sounds like you get to tell your sister you want to play, and you're bringing friends," Hisako teased.
Eiji offered a nervous smile. "At least I'm not going to suffer through the tutorial alone."
"Suffer? How bad is it?" Nanae asked.
"It's long and complex. It takes hours. She wanted me to do it in one sitting, but after three hours, I quit," Eiji sighed.
Nanae glanced at Hisako with concern. "Three?"
"That's not even halfway through, depending on what game she plays. The serious mil-sim players can have month-long campaigns."
They stopped in the lobby. Kohaku had scoured the entire main building's athletic facilities and was assuredly in another.
The lobby staffer perked up as soon as they walked in, alarm across his face. "Where is your civilian friend?" he asked urgently.
"What?" Hisako's chest suddenly felt tight.
"Your friend." His hand shot to the phone on his low table, fingers skittering across the old rotary dial. "Your friend isn't with you?"
"No, what's going on?" Nanae asked before Hisako could.
Eiji grabbed Hisako's shoulder, equally grounding and reassuring.
The man picked up the phone and spoke quickly. "Okumura-san, this is the front lobby. Sasaki-sama's party is here—the civilian is not with them."
Nanae stood rigid, lips blanching at the force she pressed them together. Hisako hugged her arms, eyes wide and tracking the staffer's every microexpression.
"Where is your friend?" he asked.
"They went to find the climbing wall, but they were exploring—they said they wouldn't use a map. I-I don't think they took their phone with them; they're not texting back."
"Their goal was the climbing wall, but they didn't know where they were going," the man reported. He nodded, then set the phone back on the receiver. "Kimura-san's Door is open somewhere on the hotel grounds."
Hisako sucked in a sharp breath and looked to the exit. "And you don't know where Kohaku is?"
"Your friend is Okumura-san's main priority. She's already been looking for them."
"What about the Door and Kimura-san?" Hisako asked.
"We don't know where Kimura-san or his Door is, but his walkers have been spotted and reported by other guests across the grounds," the man replied. "The staff are on the lookout, but our priority is helping the Doorkeepers who aren't armed."
"So nobody is actively searching for Kimura-san's Door?" Nanae asked.
Hisako pulled out her Doorkeeper phone and opened up the Door-seeking application, but it pinged uselessly in every direction.
"The concentration of Doorkeepers in the area, so many of them unable to control their Door, makes detecting a particular Door with standard-issue instruments near-impossible," the man advised. "You'll be chasing ghosts if you trust that thing."
"So how do I find Kimura-san's Door?" Hisako asked.
From one of the cabinets on the armoire against the wall of his platform, the man withdrew a clunkier machine similar to the one Koko had used to find Sylvain's Door. Hisako hurried over, crawling on her knees onto the tatami platform, and shouldered it on.
He buckled it onto her and turned it on; she felt the fans hiss against her shoulders and the faint buzz of it come alive. He gave her the hand unit, showing her the little screen and the sensor at the top.
"It's just a souped-up version of the phone app, but it sacrifices multidirectionality for strength."
He pointed it around the room, and she saw a myriad of blips, the closest being Nanae and Eiji. He reached behind her, and she heard a dial click. As he clicked it, the blips cut out.
"Kimura-san's Door is A-Rank," he said. "So I've set it to only display A-Rank Doors."
Hisako's hands went clammy, but she forced herself to hold the unit tight. "A-Rank? Okay."
He paused, glancing at her. "Maybe you should find him before you find his Door."
"Okay," she croaked. She shuffled off the tatami and to the others. "Ready?"
Eiji's face looked as unsure as she felt, but he managed a small smile. "What else is there to do? I'm a little too green to sit around and pretend to be busy," he joked.
"Thank you," Hisako said.
"I won't let you two go alone while Doorwalkers are around, and you're certainly not going into an A-Rank Door alone."
"Sasaki-sama," the staffer called. He opened another part of the armoire—a shallow drawer. "If you'd like, you may select a weapon from storage."
Hisako stared at the armoire—it was old and complex, but not overly extravagant. Simply an antique from long before her time, complete with doors and drawers.
The drawer, however, glowed faintly while it stayed open. Nanae approached and glanced within. Hisako leaned over the tatami to see as well.
There was no bed to the drawer, just a white void, as if—
"Is the cabinet your Door?" she asked, unable to help herself.
He smiled. "No, no. Not my Door. It's Saitou-san's Door."
Nanae reached into the drawer and took out twin sai, flipping them in her hands before nodding and stepping back. "Thank you."
He bowed and turned back, closing the armoire and re-seating himself by the phone. "Good luck. Medical is already on standby."
"We don't need luck," Nanae said, striding toward the front doors.
"We accept luck," Eiji said as he and Hisako followed her.
She pushed open the doors and a gust of icy sea-air hit them. The chill ran through Hisako, leaving her suddenly over-aware of her warmth and comfort within the hotel.
Each step outside made that feeling fade; she welcomed it, letting it harden her and sharpen her mind.
She had an objective and a means of achieving it.
Find Yasu's Door and conquer it, preferably with his help so she wouldn't have to prematurely find out what it felt like to go into an A-Rank Door unprepared.
She took the lead, pointing the radar slowly about. It didn't ping pointed toward the hotel—it pinged out toward the mainland. Only a few of the smaller resort buildings clung to the mountainside in the direction of the little station town.
"This means that Kohaku probably isn't near the Door," Nanae assured her. "The other athletic facilities are on the other side of the mountain."
"Knowing them," Hisako said shakily, staring down at the water below, "their detour included the beach. They thought they had all day to explore."
"That doesn't change anything, Hisako," Nanae said. "We find the Door, we find Kimura-san, and we close the Door."
Hisako chewed on her lip. "O-okay."
"This isn't Kohaku's first time around Doors," Nanae said, voice strong and certain. "They know how to handle themself, just like you."
Hisako swallowed thickly. Kohaku was young, but they weren't inexperienced. Even before all the business with Doors, they explored dangerous places and knew how to operate dangerous equipment.
She took a deep breath and calmed herself, looking back down at the hand unit.
She had her objective, and Kohaku had theirs: survive.
How else would they get to compare all the ice creams at the end of the day?