Charlotte's parents moved to the states during college and fell in love with America. They married and decided to stay. Charlotte was born in Seattle and given an American name. She was raised with MTV, McDonald's and The Simpsons. She had no accent and spoke no Japanese. So when her parents changed their minds and decided to return to Japan, Charlotte was furious. What did Japan have that Seattle didn't? But she was dragged along anyway.
The moment she got off the plane, she felt her differences. She didn't understand anyone. She didn't dress like anyone. It didn't matter if she looked like them. Her parents moved in with her father's mother. She had grown ill and didn't have long. Charlotte's father was her only child. As much as Charlotte wanted to by sympathetic, she couldn't. Stuck in a uniform, stuck in a land full of strangers, stuck in a culture not her own, she just wanted out.
One afternoon, her parents were out. It was just Charlotte and her grandmother in the house. Charlotte was nestled in a bean bag chair, watching cartoons, eating a bowl of cereal. She had poured enough sugar to stop an elephant's heart to make it palatable. Cereal wasn't a big thing in Japan and normally used as an ice cream topping.
Her grandmother shouted at her in Japanese. Charlotte understood a few words but refused to respond. She shouted again. Charlotte shoved her knit hat over her ears and gritted her teeth. She wanted nothing to do with her. It was her fault she was here. Her door opened and Charlotte turned, "Jiji, leave me alone!" But it wasn't her grandmother. There were several men dressed in black. Before she could speak, they were on her.
She woke up tied to a chair in a room full of strangers. Oddly, she felt a sense of guilt. The last thing she did was yell at her grandmother. And now... now what? Was she dead? She saw a woman claiming to be a doctor with a rod. She was burning numbers into their arms. In her panic, she barely took in what the doctor had said. Instead she struggled against her bonds. As she came closer, her heart fluttered in mad hysteria. She began screaming as the numbers burned into her arms.