Aki must live near Careo and the shopping district by the station. Careo was where Kokoro was heading the day she had her panic attack. This was the most happening area around, so it somehow made sense that Aki, with her dyed hair and outlandish outfits, went to the elementary school there. Had Aki gone to the video arcade in Careo as well?

Aki looked puzzled, so Kokoro went on.

‘I’m thinking maybe you bought Fuka’s birthday napkins from one of the shops there?’

She was about to tell her how she’d thought of looking for the same napkins when Aki shook her head.

‘I bought those napkins at Marumido in the shopping centre,’ she said. ‘The hairclips, too.’

Kokoro had never heard of that shop. But Subaru exclaimed, ‘Marumido! Wow, now that’s a real local shop. You must really live in the neighbourhood to know it. Weird, but I’m so glad to hear that. So where do you usually hang out, Aki-chan? The McDonald’s near the station?’

‘I go there sometimes, yeah.’

Kokoro lived nearby, but it had been a while since she’d been to the shops near the station. They’d built a McDonald’s?

‘So there’s a McDonald’s there now,’ murmured Fuka.

Kokoro was a little relieved. She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t cottoned on.

HANG OUT MEANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT when Subaru, with his wild hair and forced laid-back air, said it. It meant being up to no good.

‘So what do you want to do?’ Masamune asked, glancing at the wall clock in the Game Room. ‘It’s almost five. If we’re going to call the Wolf Queen, we’d better do it now. Shall we?’

‘Call her.’ They spoke virtually in unison.

Masamune raised his face to the ceiling. ‘Wolf Queen!’

‘Did you call?’

As ever, she casually flickered into being.

THE WOLF QUEEN WORE A different dress today, with a puffy hem, like an antique doll. How many outfits did she actually have?

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ It was Fuka who asked. Aki, looking uncomfortable in her uniform, hugged her arms to her chest.

‘Tell you what?’ the Wolf Queen said.

‘Why didn’t you tell us we’re all students at the same junior high?’ Masamune said.

‘You didn’t ask,’ said the Wolf Queen icily. ‘All you Little Red Riding Hoods had to do was start talking to each other. And then you’d know immediately you were all from the same school. It took you far too long to find out.’

She let out a long breath.

‘Perhaps you people are all too self-conscious.’

‘Don’t be stupid!’ Masamune grimaced, and was getting to his feet with a hard look on his face when Ureshino called, ‘Don’t do it!’ and stood in his way. ‘She’s just a little girl,’ he said. ‘Don’t do it.’