Chapter 1 – Mirror Mirror
"Class, your homework assignment for tonight is a three paragraph paper on what makes you special. Is it your smile? Or maybe your friendliness toward others? Perhaps a talent, such as soccer or piano? Think hard. I expect your paper to be sitting on my desk when I walk in tomorrow morning," Ms. Lai said briefly before excusing the class. Slowly, a girl with chin-length black hair stood and made her way to the front of the class room. She wore a blue tank top and a jean skirt that fell to her knees. Her skin was smooth and clear, as though she had never been bruised or scarred in her entire life. She smiled at a few kids as they walked by and they waved in return. "Hotaru?" the teacher suddenly asked, halting the girl in front of her desk. "Yes?" Hotaru stopped and turned her attention to the teacher. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and grinned. "I just…I was just wondering…is there anyone else in your family named Hotaru?" Ms. Lai asked, nervously twisting a strand of hair around her finger.
Hotaru furrowed her brow and stared at Ms. Lai with wide eyes. "I don't think so…at least not that I know of. Why?" Ms. Lai glanced down at the papers on her desk as though they would explain everything. Then she abruptly shook herself and smiled at Hotaru as if nothing had happened. "Oh, just wondering. Hotaru Tomoe is such a pretty name, you know?" she said a bit too cheerfully. "Is something wrong?" Hotaru questioned as her posture became less comfortable and more concerned. "Of course not!" Ms. Lai said with a laugh, "See, one of the secretaries in the office was organizing files, and she claims to have found a 'Hotaru Tomoe' from eleven years back. I mean seriously, eleven years? It must be a prank of some sort. And…well…you know…if not, then isn't it neat that someone else out there has your name!" Ms. Lai was talking too fast and her cheery voice showed Hotaru that it wasn't "neat". Hotaru and Ms. Lai chatted for just a few minutes more about school and such before Hotaru raced to catch up with her bus.
When she got home, Hotaru headed straight to her room. It was decorated in different colors of purple, with stuffed animals lining the walls and little knick-knacks lining the shelves. Usually Hotaru walked into her room in a peaceful mood and took a nap before getting to her homework. But today she had a sick, queasy sort of feeling in her stomach and she knew that she would only toss and turn if she tried to sleep. Something told her that there was more to this whole "Hotaru Tomoe" thing…she just couldn't figure out what. Trying to take her mind off of this troubling subject, she sat down to do her homework. She couldn't think no matter how hard she tried. After spending nearly half an hour trying to solve one math problem, she shoved the chair away from her desk and decided to log on to the computer.
As she waited for the computer to boot up, she thought more about her name and continued to ask herself why her name would be in the school files twice. When the computer finally loaded, she immediately pulled up a window to the Internet and did a search on "Hotaru Tomoe". There were no results. She sighed irritably and left the computer. She didn't feel like doing anything right now. Not until she found out the truth. And she knew the truth was hidden somewhere.
That night around seven o'clock, Hotaru's father arrived home from work. He was a busy man but made sure that he and Hotaru had at least an hour or two to spend together each night. As he entered the front door, Hotaru rushed to him. She hugged him and they exchanged greetings and such before Hotaru explained to him about her name and the school files and how nervous Ms. Lai had been acting. Professor Tomoe was a kind man and slow to anger, but at hearing this, his eyes narrowed and his jaw set. Hotaru noticed this, as she had noticed Ms. Lai's nervousness. "Daddy, what's wrong?" she asked, her stomach tightening again. "Nothing, sweetheart, I'm just bothered that they would worry you with such a silly thing. It's obviously a prank," he explained with a frustrated laugh. But Hotaru wasn't so sure when she went into the kitchen later on to tell him good night and heard him talking in raised voices with the principal.