Thinking they could all share it, she had taken an apple back with her – her mother had insisted that she peel apples herself – and put it in her tote bag, together with a small fruit knife, the blade wrapped in foil to keep it safe.

As she passed through the mirror and emerged into the castle, the mirror beside hers was also shining. It was Fuka. She was going in the opposite direction, on her way home.

‘Oh,’ Kokoro said, and Fuka, her palm already inside the mirror, turned around, her face expressionless.

‘Ah – he-hello there.’

‘Hi.’

Her face was blank but her voice still had that smooth, sparkling quality to it. Within seconds, Fuka had turned to face the mirror, slipped inside, and vanished.

Back in the Game Room, Kokoro noticed that Ureshino had arrived, just as Subaru had said.

He was engrossed in a video game, and hunkered down just where Kokoro liked to sit. The TV had seemed pretty big, but with Ureshino now seated in front of it, it seemed to have shrunk. He was that bulky.

Yesterday when she’d been in the Game Room with Masamune, he had more or less ignored her. But today, when Ureshino spotted her, he looked up immediately.

‘Ah … Let’s see, so you are … Kokoro?’

‘Yes, it’s Kokoro-chan,’ said Subaru.

Ureshino had already fudged any chan or san suffix, so Subaru had stepped in to help.

‘Kokoro – chan,’ Ureshino said, a little modestly, and gave her a look. ‘I didn’t think you’d be coming.’

‘She started dropping in yesterday,’ Masamune said. ‘She’s pretty smart at video games.’

‘Good to see you again, Ureshino-kun,’ Kokoro said.

Since there were only a handful of them, Kokoro found her words more easily than she ever had at school.

‘Good to see you too. So now I have one more rival for the key,’ he said casually. Kokoro tensed up. Not another pain in the neck is what he seemed to be saying, in a roundabout manner.

The way he was so concerned about food that first day, she thought, and there I was thinking he was so cute and cuddly.

As Kokoro sat down in front of the TV, Ureshino, controller in hand, seemed nervous about whether anybody else was going to join them.

Picking up on it instantly, Subaru said, ‘If you’re expecting Aki-chan, I doubt she’s going to turn up.’

Ureshino sat up straight, while Subaru continued. ‘She was here this morning, but she’s probably in her room at the moment.’

‘Oh.’ Ureshino’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

‘That’s dumb,’ Masamune muttered. He let go of the controller, a rare move for him, and looked over at Kokoro with a grin. ‘Do you know what Ureshino’s wish is?’

Kokoro shrugged.

By wish, he must mean what Ureshino was hoping the Wishing Room would make come true. But I just got here, so how would I know? she thought.