Maybe Aki was just putting up a brave front. Could she really say that as long as she had her wish, she didn’t care?

Ureshino piped up. ‘In fact, I might really go for it and get hold of the key first. Then I’d break it, or hide it. I might actually try to block you, Aki-chan.’

Aki turned a bright red, and glared.

‘Sorry.’ Ureshino looked down, and no one spoke.

A silence descended on them, even more stifling than if someone had been angrily shouting. Finally Aki spoke up.

‘Fine. Do whatever you want.’

And with that she departed from the room.

The group were left to look at each other blankly. The unspoken message: it was time to go.

‘I wonder what Aki’s wish is.’ This from Subaru, who’d not spoken up till now. It didn’t sound like he was seeking anyone’s opinion, merely voicing his own thoughts. ‘Well, I suppose it’s each to their own,’ he murmured, and smiled. ‘But still, the Wolf Queen’s so mischievous. I mean – why tell us that now, at this late stage? Or perhaps she was waiting for this to happen?’

‘Waiting?’ Kokoro asked. He’s always got such an unusual take on things, she thought.

‘Yeah,’ Subaru replied. ‘Maybe she was waiting for us to get to know each other first. Waiting until the moment when we don’t care about our wish any more. Maybe she never intended to grant anyone’s wish anyway. Perhaps there isn’t even a key at all.’

‘I can see that,’ Masamune muttered.

‘True, no?’ Subaru said.

‘Nah,’ Rion shook his head. ‘I think the Wolf Queen does mean to grant one of us a wish. I don’t think she’s doing all this out of spite. She could be testing us, though. To see if we’ll go for the wish in full knowledge of the consequences. No matter what we decide, I think she’ll go along with it. I have the feeling she wasn’t lying when she said she’d simply forgotten to tell us earlier.’

Kokoro got the faint sense the Wolf Queen was still listening in on their conversation.

‘What do you think, Fuka?’

‘Me?’

Fuka turned around to face them. She had an odd expression. ‘I’d been thinking that even when we return to the real world, I’d still keep in touch with you all.’

‘Eh?’

‘Till now, I’d always thought if we tell each other who we are and where we live, we could carry on seeing each other. So I didn’t find it all that upsetting.’

‘Oh.’

Kokoro understood what Fuka meant, since she’d sort of been thinking the same way. She couldn’t imagine never seeing them again.

Fuka’s real world took on an even heavier weight.