IN THE GRAND FOYER, THE seven mirrors were each cracked and falling apart. But they had at least been moved back to their original line-up and nailed to the wall. The Wolf Queen had evidently prepared them for their return.
‘I had so much fun,’ Fuka said, as if speaking for them all. Fuka seldom said what she thought, and Kokoro was happily surprised. She felt exactly the same way.
‘Yeah,’ she smiled.
‘It was only while I was here that I began to feel normal.’ Fuka gazed at the group. Behind her round glasses, her eyes looked soft, but also a little sad. ‘I thought I could never be like everyone else. I was just a loser. So it made me so happy when you guys made friends with me, like you would with anyone.’
Kokoro smiled at her candour.
Ureshino spoke up. ‘But isn’t that strange?’ Everyone looked a little alarmed, wondering what he was about to say. He sounded indignant. ‘Fuka, you’re not ordinary at all. You’re so kind, and so together – you’re far from ordinary.’
‘That isn’t what I meant – though I’m really happy to hear that, Ureshino.’
‘But it’s true, isn’t it? Ureshino’s right.’ This from Rion. ‘Whether you’re ordinary or not. It doesn’t matter. You’re a good person, Fuka, and so I wanted to be your friend – that’s all there is to it.’
It was Fuka’s turn to gasp. ‘Am I wrong?’ Rion asked.
‘No,’ Fuka replied in a small voice, shaking her head. ‘Thank you,’ she added.
‘Now that you mention it,’ Subaru said, looking over at Masamune. ‘Masamune, you sometimes called Rion a dish. What does it mean? You said it behind his back so I thought it must be bad? We’re out of here soon, so could you tell me now?’
‘What?’ Masamune said, looking irritably at Subaru, and then at Rion.
‘Eh?’ Rion said. ‘What’s that all about? Behind my back? That’s freakin’ creepy.’
‘Oh, so it is something bad, is it?’
‘I wasn’t saying anything bad. It’s just not the kind of thing you say to someone’s face.’
Back in 1985, in Subaru’s world, maybe dish wasn’t a word anyone used much. For Kokoro, this was vocabulary used by the younger set. It would sound a little weird, for instance, if her parents said it. So that’s how their miscommunication came about.
‘You used that word too, Kokoro, didn’t you?’ Subaru asked her. ‘You said Rion’s a dish.’
‘What?!’ she exclaimed. Her ears grew hot. ‘I never said that!’
She really didn’t remember, but became so flustered that she broke into a sweat.
‘Whoa, that’s creepy,’ said Rion with a huge smile.
‘Let’s all tell each other our full names before we say goodbye,’ Subaru suggested. ‘If we see our full names in each of our worlds, it might trigger a memory. My name’s Subaru Nagahisa. Subaru is the constellation; naga and hisa are the characters meaning “long” and “a long while”.’
‘My name’s Akiko Inoue. Inoue’s a common name,’ Aki said, ‘but the aki in Akiko is the character for “crystal”, and ko is just the word for “child”.’ She shook her head, and turned to them. ‘Honestly, I didn’t want to share last names at the start because my mother had just remarried and my last name had changed. And I didn’t want to tell you my new last name.’
‘I’m Rion Mizumori. Mizumori means “protecting water” and I told you before that Rion is the ri in rika – science – with the character for sound, on.’
‘I’m Fuka Hasegawa. Fuka’s written with the characters for “wind” and “song”.’
‘I’m Kokoro Anzai. Kokoro’s written in hiragana, not Chinese characters,’ Kokoro said.
‘You all know my name. Haruka Ureshino. Haruka is the character meaning “distant”. Ureshino is written with the characters meaning “happy” and “field”.’
Masamune had remained quiet throughout. Frowning for some reason, he said, ‘Aasu Masamune.’
‘What?!’
They stared at him. They hadn’t quite heard properly, and pricked up their ears.
Masamune’s face turned bright red.
‘Aasu Masamune. The aa means “blue” and the su means “clear water”.’
‘Aasu, is that really your name? You’re joking, aren’t you?’
‘I’m not. In 2013 it’s a fairly common name. So why don’t you oddballs from the past just shut up, OK?’
‘Yeah, but aasu is how we Japanese say the English word “earth”, right? So what’s all that about?’ asked Aki, making Masamune sulkily turn away.
Even for Subaru, his best buddy here, this was news. For her part, too, Kokoro was surprised.
Now that she thought about it, when she was inside Masamune’s memories, the Wolf Queen had called him by his full name. And she had thought Masamune was his last name, but she wasn’t able to catch the first name.
‘So Masamune’s your last name, not your first.’
‘Yeah – which is why I didn’t want to tell you. Because I knew you lot would make some smart-arse remark.’
‘Wow, it’s weirder than my name,’ Ureshino said.
Masamune looked even more annoyed. ‘Don’t say it’s weird!’ he exclaimed.
✦ ✦ ✦
THEY WERE STANDING SHOULDER TO shoulder in a line.
The cracked mirrors signalled that this was, indeed, their last journey. According to the Wolf Queen, beyond the castle on the other side, the mirrors were likewise shattered.
‘Aki,’ Kokoro said to Akiko, who was standing beside her.
‘Yes, Kokoro?’ Akiko turned her head sideways to look at her.
‘Give me your hand.’
Aki uncertainly held out her hand. Kokoro clutched it tightly.
She remembered what she’d seen. The ugly reality that was awaiting Aki on the other side of the mirror.
Her mother and stepfather were part of Akiko’s unchangeable reality. Once Kokoro let her small hand go, Akiko would have to return to that world. There was nothing left that Kokoro could do.
‘I’ll be waiting for you in the future,’ she whispered.
Akiko’s eyes widened.
‘I’ll be waiting, in 2006, fourteen years in your future. Come and see me, OK?’
Let her understand.
All she could say were a few words that she wasn’t sure would ever get through to her.
For several moments Akiko stood silently looking at Kokoro, who had turned her gaze forward. Her hand was still in Kokoro’s firm grip.
She nodded. ‘I think I understand.’
She was promising Kokoro she’d come to see her.
‘I was terrified, thinking the wolf was going to eat me. I’m never doing anything so stupid like that, ever again.’
And Akiko broke into a smile.
✦ ✦ ✦
‘PEOPLE, TAKE CARE NOW!’
‘We will!’
‘See you.’
‘Bye.’
‘Goodbye!’
‘Take care!’
‘I hope we can see each other sometime.’
A chorus of voices in a fugue.
Akiko’s voice.
Kokoro.
Fuka.
Masamune.
Ureshino.
Rion.
Subaru.
Their figures merged into the mirrors as they embarked on their final passage.
Back to their own time, to their own reality.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE RAINBOW-COLOURED LIGHT SPILLED INTO a kaleidoscope that bathed the floor of the grand foyer – then vanished.
Only the little girl in the wolf mask was still there.
She checked that the last vestige of glow had disappeared from each of the mirrors before turning slowly away.
Quietly, she drew in a deep breath.
It’s over, she thought in the silence.
After a few moments she heard: ‘Hi, sis.’
The voice made the girl in the Wolf Queen’s mask flinch. She turned towards the direction of the voice, to the mirrors where the glow had recently dissipated. Then she quickly looked away.
Rion Mizumori was standing tall in front of his mirror.
He’d been on his way home, but had turned back.
The Wolf Queen had her back to him. She pretended not to have heard.
But Rion wasn’t about to give up so easily.
‘Mio-chan. Say something.’
‘Go home.’ The Wolf Queen did not turn round. ‘I told you to go back. If you don’t go now, you’ll never be able to get home.’
She felt something would be destroyed if she looked round, so she gritted her teeth and stared at the grandfather clock at the top of the staircase.
Rion had no intention of going back.
‘I had my suspicions from the very first day.’
30 March.
‘The day the castle is due to close is the anniversary of your passing.’