But instead she quietly left her bedroom, walked down to the bottom of the stairs, and pricked up her ears. It was a small house, so even though the door to the living room was closed, she could still just make out what they were saying.

‘There seems to be some trouble among the girls,’ she heard her teacher say.

‘It’s not an argument, is how Kokoro put it,’ her mother said. Kokoro felt a stab of pain in her heart. The voices grew louder, then quieter, like waves ebbing and flowing.

Wasn’t Ms Kitajima supposed to come with you today?’ she heard her mother say.

‘Um, no,’ Mr Ida said. ‘I came alone. Since this is an issue in our school.’ Kokoro remembered Ms Kitajima, and the teabags she’d brought her.

We can use those teabags at our castle Christmas party, she thought, and everyone can taste them.

Ms Kitajima might have told Mr Ida something. Wanting to cooperate with the school, she might have looked into what had happened in April.

You’re battling every single day, aren’t you?

Remembering her voice, Kokoro longed to see her again. She gently closed her eyes. Then she heard her teacher’s voice; it sounded as if he were making excuses: ‘You see, Sanada has her own … She’s a cheerful, very responsible student.’

‘What did you say?’ Her mother’s voice grew sharper, and emotional for the first time. Kokoro wanted to plug her ears.

She slipped back upstairs to her bedroom. The mirror was shining.

The rainbow light that opened the entrance to the castle was so gentle. Kokoro touched the glowing surface softly with her fingers.

Help, she thought.

Help me.

Someone – help me.

A WHILE PASSED BEFORE SHE was called downstairs.

The faces of both her mother and Mr Ida had reddened since earlier, and when Kokoro joined them, they tensed up even more. The atmosphere was so heavy it was as if the very colour of the air had changed.

‘Kokoro,’ her teacher said. ‘Would you be willing to meet Sanada to talk through what happened?’

When she heard his words, she felt she couldn’t breathe. Her heart began to pound in its cage.

She stared mutely at her teacher.

‘She’s the kind of girl that people often misunderstand, and I’m sure there were things that hurt you, Kokoro. But I talked to Sanada and she’s concerned about you. She regrets it.’

‘I totally doubt that,’ a voice said. It was Kokoro’s heightened voice, trembling.

Mr Ida stared at her in astonishment. Kokoro shook her head.

‘If she regrets anything, it’s that you might have been annoyed with her. There’s no way she’s worried about me. She’s just afraid no one will like what she’s done.’

Kokoro got this all out in a rush. She never imagined she’d say so much. She could tell how it unsettled Mr Ida.