Prologue

I still remember that night. The first of many to come. How he stole into my room so quietly. I never sensed his presence, but that comes as no surprise. You want to know why? I was just five. I never thought it would happen to me. After all, you don't expect it from a parent. You're always told to watch out for strangers. To watch for men hiding behind trees, dressed in trench coats. The truth of the matter is, you have no idea just what lurks beneath the surface till it's too late. The one I trusted the most was my father. I was closest to him out of everyone in my small family. All those times I was with him, I had no idea what was going to happen till that fateful night. He stole what was mine to keep till the right moment.

"Don't make a sound."

I did as I was told. After all I was supposed to be perfect. The PERFECT CHILD. I had seen firsthand what happened to those who opposed him. My mother, my sister, and now me. I stayed still in that bed and let him do what he wished. The pain was excruciating. I laid still as tears rolled down my face.

"You're a good girl. Yes, the PERFECT CHILD. I tried with your sister and failed. This time however, I will rectify that error," He said as he raped me for the very first time. Afterwards, it was as if it had become normal. A ritual that had to be performed in order for me to become his twisted version of perfection.

There was little doubt in my heart that this monster that I called my father would do exactly as he planned, if given the proper amount of time. No one would suspect a thing. Why would they? He was my father and he meant the world to me. We looked like a normal family, all smiles and hugs on the outside. Yet, behind closed doors there was a different side. A completely different side of us that no one knew anything about.

Hikari. That's my name… unfortunately. I was named by my mother…watashi no haha. She once told me that it meant "light". The light that would overcome the darkness. Yet… in that moment I saw no light. No path I could follow to find an end to that pain. Suffering alone in that darkness for all eternity. It's funny. I used to really hate my mother… I thought that she was protecting a monster. But we all have our demons... and she was no exception. Even I myself had some... but those would develop later on. A twisted reality… but a TRUE ONE. Countless nights passed on in that same fashion.

Until that one day when I met MIZU.