The Book Girl's Life

My life has not been one of shame. However, it has been full of lies, goodbyes, and books. Ever since I was little, I’ve only been able to taste books. My parents and I figured that it was probably a psychological problem, since my doctor always said I was healthy physically. However, we never went to see a psychologist, as we were afraid that he’d tell people about my condition. So, all my life, I’ve munched happily on books. This isn’t to say that I haven’t eaten catfish or normal food, as I’ve eaten a few sweets with friends, and my aunt, who seems to be unaware of the truth, always serves up delicious-looking dinners.

	My father was a book-editor, and my mother wrote for book magazines, so I guess my love of books comes from them. Mom used to write all sorts of stories for me to eat, and she always told me that book girls had braids. It’s why I still have them.  However, they both died in a car crash about two years ago, so I’ve been living with my aunt and her son, Ryuto. I don’t think my aunt likes me, as she rarely talks to me, avoids me whenever she can, and gives me cold looks. I guess she’s annoyed that she has to take care of me so suddenly. While Ryuto is always causing trouble with his three-timing, he’s pretty nice, and he always manages to grab good books for me to eat. He, other than Konoha Inoue, is the only person alive back home who knows that I eat books.

	As for my friends, right now I’m friends with two girls named Nanase and Chia and a boy named Konoha. While Nanase is a little cold to strangers, she warms up to people if you give her time, and she’s really nice once you get to know her. She helps out at the school library, and since I know the place like the back of my hand, I help her out when she can’t find something. Chia..I just met Chia recently, and while she seems like a sweet, adorable girl, the truth is much more painful. She’s a female version of Oba Yozo through and through. If you don’t know who that is, please read No Longer Human. That’ll explain everything.

	As for Konoha..I first heard of him after my parents died. I was gathering my fathers things from his office when I overheard some judges going over a story called Similar to The Sky. This was Konoha’s story, but he wrote it under the pen name of Miu Inoue. His story was going to be disqualified, but I managed to talk the judges into accepting it, and he was published. Oddly enough, the story was popular, and it got adapted into a comic series, a television show, and a film. However, what was even odder was the fact that Konoha never wrote another story, no matter how hard his editors begged and pleaded.  Similar to The Sky was like a delicious cake with thick, pink icing, topped with tropical fruits. It held so much joy and enthusiasm that it was hard to imagine Konoha not writing another novel.

	But he didn’t, and to this day, I’m still not sure what made him hate writing so much. Eventually, by an odd coincidence, Konoha and I met in school. He was a second year, and I was a third. I didn’t tell him what I knew about his past, and he has no idea I was ever involved..but I let him see that I am a book eater, and I dragged him into my book club-we’re still the only two members-and forced him to write stories for me. In hindsight, this was pretty rude of me, but at the time, I was trying to cheer him up and make him like writing again. While he did give me some poorly written stories, I think he regained his love of writing a little. I really wish he’d stop calling me a goblin though.

	I do need to apologize to him though. Before I came to the tower, I forced him to ghostwrite some love letters for Chia. However, that led us both into a murder mystery, and while we were able to solve it, I think it poured some salt on whatever wounds he’s carrying.