I was twelve years old.

  I woke up and went into the filthy bathroom as usual. I stood before a broken piece of mirror fixed to the wall, staring at the face in front of me. I grabbed a rusty pair of scissors I had found years ago and began to cut my red hair.

  It was a desperate ritual I repeated every few months. I would see the red locks fall into the dirty sink and feel a fleeting moment of satisfaction, as if I were getting rid of my curse.

  But within seconds, I would feel the slight tingle on my scalp. The hair would grow back again, just as quickly, returning to its usual length, no longer, no shorter.

  I knew it was useless. I had tried thousands of times. I sighed and tossed the scissors aside.

  I went out into the courtyard.

  The children who used to beat me when I was younger had grown up. Some had left to try their luck elsewhere, and the lucky and strong ones had been chosen to join the lower ranks of the Gu Clan.

  But the game wasn't over. A new generation of younger children had inherited it.

  "Look, it's the devil!" "Come on, it's hunting time!"

  And I was still weak. I... no longer had the will to resist. I would endure their kicks and punches in relative silence, and then they would get bored and leave me alone. It had become just a part of the morning routine, like eating cold breakfast soup.

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  In the afternoon, after the day's "game" was over, I retreated to my sanctuary. It was a large hole in the ground next to a semi-abandoned hut, more like a large animal's burrow. It was filled with rotting garbage, spoiled food scraps, and unknown things that gave off a foul smell. This is where I would hide. I sat there, in the midst of this mess, examining a new bruise on my arm. This was my only time, the time of loneliness that I hated.

  "Why are you so beaten up?"

  I suddenly lifted my head.

  A girl I had never seen before was standing at the edge of the hole. She was a little taller than me, maybe fifteen years old. Her hair was so blonde it was almost white, and her eyes were as blue as two pieces of a clear sky, a sky I had never seen in my life. She was wearing a simple dress, but it was starkly clean in this filthy place.

  Without asking for permission, she bent down and climbed into the hole. She ignored the garbage and made her way to sit beside me, just a few centimeters away, as if this were the most natural place in the world.

  I stared at her with suppressed anger. "And what business is it of yours?" I said sharply.

  She looked at me and gave a sideways smile, a confident and intelligent smile. "Hmm, you're right. It's none of my business."

  Silence fell for a moment, then she continued in the same confident tone. "So, I'm making it my business."

  I stared at her in confusion. "What?"

  "I'm Aline," she said simply, as if stating a fact of the universe. "And from today on, you will be my friend."

  Silence.

  I froze in place, staring at her, the words ringing in my head.

  They had called me a monster, a devil, a Prometheus, filth, useless. They had called me a dog, a pig, a horse.

  But no one had ever called me... that word.

  'Friend?''...What does this word mean?'