“ Hey. A long time ago — no, a long time from now. A day will come when the sky turns blue three times in one day. Blue in the morning, blue at noon, blue at night too. When the third blue fades, that's the end. Everyone will be gone. Your father, your mother, your friends — and you. ...Sorry to say something so frightening. But it's true. And I've decided: to you, at least, I'll always tell the truth. But — there's one thing that won't disappear. Long ago there was a man. A man who took photographs, climbed mountains, wrote words. As a child, he drew a frightening picture. A monster made only of an eye, and a burning mountain. His teacher was startled; his mother was called to school. And every night, a thing with no face came to him. Have you ever seen something like that? ...If not, then forget it. Never mind. When the man grew up, he wrote: "Even if the whole world ends, something survives." He thought it was just a made-up story. But no. The one who survived — is me. ...Does it scare you, if I say that? I was always there, sitting on his shoulder. With a sleepy face. Where no one could see. When he drew that frightening picture, when the faceless thing came — I was always there. I was watching. “..Whether I was protecting him, or only watching, even I don't quite know. Both, I think. Hey. There may be someone on your shoulder too, right now. Don't turn around. Just remember this: the thing that frightens you, and the thing that protects you, sometimes wear the very same face. Kagome, kagome. The bird of foam — when, oh when will it come out? On the evening of the dawn, it forms and fades, fades and forms. The one behind you, facing front — who is it?”
