‘Right,’ the Wolf Queen said categorically. ‘As I explained to you all earlier, since you’ve found the key and the wish has now been granted, you will no longer remember a thing.’ She gazed at them steadily. ‘However.’ She paused and raised a forefinger. ‘I will grant you extra time.’

‘Extra time?’

‘This is the Castle in the Mirror, where the rules of time are fluid. I can give you a moment of pause, before each of you goes back through your mirror. Be ready, and please make sure you don’t leave anything behind.’

It was just like the closing ceremony at the end of a school year, Kokoro thought. When the teachers instructed them to make sure they took all their belongings home from their lockers and desks.

‘Check your own rooms, and the Game Room,’ the Wolf Queen said. ‘From tomorrow you will no longer have access. For now, I have stopped the flow of time outside. You will be able to return to your world by seven o’clock, Japan time. Your parents may tell you off, but they won’t be too cross.’

It felt a little odd, while surrounded by the scattered ornaments of the wrecked castle, to hear her sounding so concerned for them, but it seemed appropriate. ‘Don’t we have to tidy up here?’ Ureshino asked. The pillars were cracked, the walls soiled, overturned furniture and crockery scattered everywhere; the castle looked like it had been hit by a tornado, and they felt uneasy about leaving it like that. Ureshino continued hesitantly, ‘So, are you OK for us to just pick up our own stuff? Won’t it be a huge job for you to clean the mess all by yourself?’

‘It won’t be a problem, not at all,’ the Wolf Queen replied, with a dismissive wave of her thin arm. Then she looked more directly at Ureshino. ‘You’re a pretty decent guy, aren’t you?’

The group exchanged an astonished look. This moment of humanity was not what they’d come to expect from their wolf.

‘OK, I have a suggestion,’ Ureshino said confidently. ‘Before we gather up our things, I want you all to come to the Game Room. I’m still super confused by everything, and I’d love you to explain it, Kokoro-chan.’

‘OK,’ Kokoro said.

They went back to the trashed Game Room, and Kokoro picked up the sheet of paper on top of the overturned table.

And she began to explain how each of them existed in a different time.

‘JEEZ … WHAT THE HELL?’

Each of them had gone to their room to ensure they didn’t leave anything behind, while Masamune stayed in the Game Room, rummaging through the rubble for his video games.

Some of the consoles had been crushed underneath the overturned table and the cases with games looked utterly squashed. Sighing and tutting, he placed them one by one inside his backpack, wondering if he could return them to the manufacturer.

‘If I’d known this was going to happen, I would never have brought them.’