Mio found the straw hat on a bench beside the river.

Before she could touch it, the hat said, “Sorry.”

Mio jumped back. “For what?”

The hat looked embarrassed, although a hat should not be able to look embarrassed.

“I am not sure yet,” it said. “But I usually cause trouble.”

Her friend Sota arrived with his bicycle. He stared at the hat, then at Mio.

“Did that hat just apologize?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mio said. “It is very polite.”

The hat sighed. A small ticket fell from inside it. The ticket said: Return this hat to the music room before sunset.

“We do not have a music room near the river,” Sota said.

Mio turned the ticket over. A tiny map appeared. It showed a bridge, a bakery, and a door under the old clock tower.

The hat whispered, “Sorry again. The door is sometimes shy.”

They followed the map through town. At the clock tower, Sota knocked on the wall.

Nothing happened.

Mio put the hat on her head. “Excuse us,” she said to the wall.

A door opened at once.

Behind it, a small band of empty instruments began to play.

The hat bowed from Mio’s head. “Thank you,” it said. “I was late for practice.”

Sota listened to the music and laughed. “Next time, I want an apology before homework.”

The hat answered, “Sorry. Even magic cannot help with that.”