This scene would normally be considered a prologue.
Please be aware that it contains a typical death scene from a previous life and descriptions of blood. Those who are sensitive to such content should skip it or read with caution.
TN: The above are comments by the author, we’re obviously not gonna skip the chapter.
My stomach is hot.
Even when I press down with my hand, the blood wouldn’t stop.
This is a back alley, and it’s the dead of night.
Rescue is hopeless.
… It seems like I’m going to die here.
Come to think of it, my life was pretty pathetic.
I goofed off at a low-ranked liberal arts college, so naturally, I failed to get a job.
It was my own fault, but the thought that no one needed me made me want to scream.
In the end, I became a part-time worker, and this happened on my way home from my shift.
My kind parents, who didn’t change their attitude even when I failed to find employment, received as much financial support as I could manage, but with my income, it wasn’t much.
They had said to me, “It’s okay to come back home,” hadn’t they?
–A flood of regret and feelings of guilt come over me.
It’s too late to regret it now. Damn it.
The guy I met in this back alley was a skinny man who looked to be around thirty years old.
Thinking about it now, he had murky eyes that looked like they weren’t focused on anything.
As we passed by each other, he stabbed a knife into my stomach.
He laughed maniacally as he did it again and again, and again.
He must have been one of those random attackers.
Having lost a lot of blood, I couldn’t resist the fading strength, and closed my eyes.
In the darkness where I couldn’t see anything but for some reason, I was still conscious.
I can even remember my name clearly.
–Where is this place?
–Is this the afterlife?
While my sense of my body was faint, I saw a small flame in the distance.
–What’s that?
Since it’s better than just drifting in the darkness, I head towards it.
As I walk through the darkness, along with a feeling of being pulled by a strong current, an intense drowsiness comes over me.
Strangely, I felt certain that if I fell asleep now, I would never wake up again.
–No! No! I don’t want to disappear yet!
I desperately head towards the flame.
–Damn it, it’s far!
I felt like letting go of consciousness countless times, but I managed to reach it.
The flame was weak.
Intuitively, I felt like it would be okay to touch it, so I gently cupped it in my hands.
What I felt was not a burning heat, but warmth.
The flame’s emotions flowed into me.
It was sad that its father had died.
It was sad that its mother had died.
And… it wanted to disappear as well.
Having died without ever being needed by anyone, I wanted to get the attention of this mysterious flame even a little, so I ended up saying something big.
“Then I’ll protect you. I can’t be a replacement for your mother, but maybe I can be a replacement for your father.”
I know.
This is a selfish thing to say.
I’m just desperately trying to get something now that I couldn’t get before I died.
Even so—
The flame flickered.
Emotions flowed into me again.
–I’m happy, thank you, it said.
But then the flame starts to shrink.
It looks like it’s about to disappear.
“Hey! Stay with me!”
Before it completely vanished, the flame moved towards my chest and was then sucked in.
“…Huh?”
My voice of confusion disappeared into the darkness in the next instant, along with the feeling of being pulled by a great force.
It’s bright.
I’m relieved to still be conscious.
As I slowly open my eyes, I see an elderly man with a surprised look on his face.
He’s a dapper-looking old man with slicked-back black hair and a mustache.
Huh?
Is he a foreigner?
The old man lets out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, you’ve come to! Your pulse was weak, I thought you were a goner! It’s a blessing in disguise that the child was saved…”
I can understand the words… but I don’t understand what’s going on.
The man introduced himself as Tim.
I was reborn into the body of a girl around one year old? Apparently.
I later learned that by the time he arrived, my parents had already passed away.
I heard that my mother had died while protecting “this body.”
Sixteen years have passed since I was rescued by gramps.
Since I was saved when I was approximately one year old, I will be seventeen this year.
I still think about it from time to time.
I wonder if the flame I saw in that darkness was the original owner of this body.
Is the flame that was sucked into my chest still conscious?
There is no answer even if I think about it.
I haven’t felt that sensation of emotions flowing in, like the one in the darkness, since then.
Perhaps most of it has melted into me.
I feel a little lonely.
“Hey, Katie! Could you come here for a minute!”
Oh, the grandpa in the garden is calling me.
I have to switch gears.
If I keep thinking of myself as “me” in my head, I’ll slip up.
I, I, I…
Okay.
“Yes, Grandpa, I’m coming!”
This body is a new life that was given to me by that flame.
Since our souls, or whatever they were, have merged together, I must live with all my might in order to fulfill the promise I made to protect it.
“I” headed towards the garden where the old man was waiting.
