It might have had something to do with why he’d stopped going to school in the first place.

‘I get it,’ Aki said. She usually had a sarcastic comeback for him, but now she seemed to be speaking for the others.

‘Sorry,’ Masamune said again. ‘I’m really sorry.’

ONCE THEY HAD ACCEPTED THAT they all lived in parallel worlds, it made it easier to spend time together.

Because they’d all given up.

The end of next month – March – would truly be the final farewell.

Time weighed more heavily on them, and Kokoro felt determined to make the most of each remaining day at the castle.

None of them seemed very interested in finding the key any more. Fuka’s wish, that their worlds could all become one, was all very well, but they were still resistant to the idea that their castle memories would be wiped completely.

And as ever, there was no sign of the key.

Still, they could not forget that it was somewhere in the castle.

IT WAS THE LAST DAY of February.

They were hanging out in the Game Room when Aki came in.

‘That reminds me. Those X marks we talked about, I found one in my room too. In the wardrobe.’

‘Really?’ Kokoro said. ‘So, there’s a wardrobe in your room, Aki-chan?’

‘Don’t you have one in yours, Kokoro?’

‘No. Only the desk, bed and bookshelves.’

Fuka only had a piano in her room.

‘Having a wardrobe suits you, Aki, because you’re such a fashion queen,’ Kokoro said.

‘I am?’ Aki said coolly. She didn’t seem especially happy about it.

‘So anyway, what is that X? Does it mean anything? We were told that the key isn’t in one of our rooms, to keep things fair, but I wonder if there are Xs in all the other rooms, too.’

‘I bet we’ll find more if we look. How many have we found now? The one in the fireplace, one under Rion’s bed, one under Fuka’s desk, one in your wardrobe.’

They’d also mentioned one in the kitchen, and one in the bathroom. Kokoro was running through the list when Aki said, ‘You know, it’s OK, isn’t it, if a wish comes true? If someone finds the key, I mean.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I know we talked about not wanting to lose our memories, but if and when the key is found, we could think about what to do then. But in the end, it’s OK for a wish to come true, isn’t it?’

‘Do you mean you found the key?’

Kokoro creased her brow. Had Aki already found it?

Aki laughed. ‘No. I’m just saying. Everyone’s memory might be wiped, but we each still have the right to look for the key. Nobody will blame anyone, right?’