Rion was thrilled with the assorted chocolates Kokoro had brought. ‘I haven’t seen these in a long time,’ he said. ‘I used to eat them a lot when I was back in Japan.’

Kokoro had made tea from the teabags Ms Kitajima had given her, and she poured out a cup for each of them from her thermos. Aki and Fuka oohed and ahhed at the strawberry tea flavour and its delicious aroma.

‘It’s so good,’ they said, which made her glad.

‘I’d like to have it again one day,’ Fuka added.

When Kokoro told her she’d got the tea from Ms Kitajima, Fuka said, ‘Perhaps I should go there, too. To that Free School you went to, Kokoro. I’d like to meet Ms Kitajima.’

Fuka had, at some point, also dropped the chan when she addressed Kokoro.

‘OK,’ said Kokoro. ‘I’m sure she’d love to meet you.’

‘ACTUALLY – I’D LIKE YOUR advice on something.’

Masamune had begun a serious conversation around four o’clock, an hour before the castle was due to close.

He was speaking to all of them while they relaxed, chatting. The Wolf Queen had departed at some point, taking her slice of cake and the unopened present from Rion.

Advice on something – that sounded a touch formal from Masamune.

‘What?’ said Aki.

Masamune stood up in the centre of the group. The rest were sitting on the floor or lying down, hands behind their head.

He held his right elbow tightly with his other hand. Kokoro noticed how hard he was gripping it. Masamune didn’t usually do tension.

‘Advice?’

They seemed doubtful.

‘I was wondering … if you all … just one day … if you could, during the third semester … school …’ Masamune went on.

His voice sounded painfully husky, and he was avoiding their eyes. He broke off and looked up at them.

‘Could you come to school? Just for one day. One day would be enough.’

A chorus of gasps.

Masamune gripped his elbow harder.

‘My … parents told me … to think about … going to a different school … starting in the third semester.’

A pain shot through Kokoro. She remembered her mother, in the food court at Careo, asking her, Do you want to change schools?

It was because the second semester had finished, Kokoro thought.

Kokoro’s situation was a bit different. But this might not be the first time the idea had been discussed in Masamune’s house, as his parents had been criticizing public school teachers for quite a while.

‘I’ve always dodged the idea, but now things are getting real. My dad said that during the winter break he was going to put my name down for a private junior high.’

‘So you’d start in a different school for the third semester?’ Fuka asked. Masamune nodded.