Prologue

The red-haired girl didn’t know where she was born. But by the age of two or three, she knew exactly who she was.

“I’m me.”

In others, she knew that she was none other than herself.

That’s why, perhaps, it took a liking to her. The thing came out of nowhere, fusing itself to a human, changing them forever, and taking no responsibility at all. It had no form. It couldn’t be observed. Its existence couldn’t even be proven. But it had the same mind as a person. No, perhaps you could say a mind was all it had.

Before the girl turned 4, she’d encountered it. As she moved homes from a relative’s house, to an orphanage, to another orphanage, she’d started to talk to someone. She’d talk to an empty corner of the room, and then laugh at an answer that nobody could hear.

Everyone around her saw it, but they all told themselves it was just a girl playing with an imaginary friend, which was common at her age. But she was talking to something that she could see quite clearly.

“Who are you?”

“I’m nobody. But I’m about to be you.”

“Huh? But I’m me.”

“That’s also right.”

“Hmm... Then nothing changes, I guess? Or does that mean there’s more of me?”

“That’s right. You’ll become part of me.”

“I will? Then I won’t be lonely anymore, will I?”

“That’s not correct. I’m afraid you’ll still be alone.”

“Why? Aren’t you my friend?”

“I’m going to become you. Not your friend. It’s a very sad thing, but you’re going to be alone for eternity. You’ll go far away, and nobody will ever understand you.”

“I don’t want that. I don’t!”

“The decision has already been made. You’re very special. More special than a four-leaf clover in a clover field, or a boy calico cat.”

“I’m that special?! I never knew why I was alone, or why I always have to go live in different places, or why the grown-ups always bow to me, or sometimes make fun of me, but it’s because I’m special, isn’t it...? But I don’t want to be lonely.”

“You’ll always be lonely, but don’t worry. You’ll at least have one friend. When you’re in trouble, just go ahead and cry. If you do, someone will save you.”

“I just need to cry?”

“That’s right. That’s how the world works.”

That was the first conversation they had. After that, the red-haired girl began to live with it, talk to it, and let it guide her life. She still went from one orphanage to another, but if she did what the voice told her, she never really had many problems.

When she grew up, she eventually forgot it even existed. Maybe that was just a sign that it had completely become one with her. Yet every now and then, without warning, the voice would tell her to do something, and she’d do it.

That was what happened the day she saw a certain boy. It was a young boy with a strangely grown-up face, and when she saw him, she suddenly decided to cry. She cried and cried, and then he gave her a hairpiece.

That was when the red-haired girl, Keena Soga, figured it all out. Why was her life like this? Why did she have to go from one orphanage to another? Why was she special? Why was she born? All the doubts went away in an instant.

She tried to tell the boy how she felt, but realized that she couldn’t get the words out right. Before she could figure out what to say, the boy said something that indicated he understood her feelings, and then left. But Keena realized that this meeting was fate.

Of course, once she’d put on the hairpiece, she totally forgot everything that had just happened.