MOM!

Uh! What's the time?

Where's my phone?

Where am I? What's with the beeping sound?!

Wait! Why am I in the hospital?

"Hina! Hina!"

"Mom?!"

What's wrong with her? Why...Why is she embracing me suddenly? Ugh! You're suffocating me...

"W...What's wrong?"

"My dear child, I...I was worried about you so much. I'm happy you're alright. I thought I lost you!"

Ahh, that's right! I passed out. Wait, I was with Nao! Where is he?

"Stop it! Nothing happened! I'm fine! Don't make a fuss!"

"Uwah! You're so insensitive to your mother's feelings."

"Alright! I get it."

Ugh! This mother of mine...

Kyouko Satori!

My mother! And one of the leading business tycoons in Japan, and the mastermind behind the Satori Group. This exchange may not look like it, but she's a serious and pretty dangerous woman, and one you should having anything to do with her at any cost. But most importantly, don't be against her. You'll be digging your own grave.

I'm Hina Satori, an only child. I was 5'6, which was considered tall for a girl, and I had a good body, like the ones they show in anime, of a female lead. A proper girl, and with long blonde hair, often mistaken for a gaijin(foreigner). I do play sports every now and then. I was everything to my mother. She's the same to me. We both are pretty much each other's lifeline. If you're wondering about my father, he's dead! At least to us, that's how it is! Why? I don't remember much of the details, as I was more or less still an infant, but basically, from what I know, he broke the heart of the woman who devoted her life to him, only to cheat on with another woman, and left his newborn daughter. The last I heard of him was that he has a family of his own now! No, he had a family before us. My mother was basically a concubine to him, and I was a mistake.

That's how it's portrayed to the world. And that's a reality I was forced to live in. Every Parents-Teachers meeting, I would be the sore thumb that would stick out, because I didn't have a dad to care about me, and a mother who was working hard, irrespective of what slurs the world threw upon her. I would always be asked,

"Hey, where are your parents?"

"I heard your mom's always working!"

"Where's your dad?"

"I heard he left you both."

"Oh, how sad!"

This was my middle school life basically, and it was a recurring theme. I wasn't a weak and timid girl back then, but I carefully chose my words and spoke less, which gave them that impression to run their mouth however they wanted.

I was pretty much a loner, irrespective of whether it was forced upon me or by choice. I used to be stuck up in my room, reading whatever books were at home. At first, the kanji was tough. I was decently good at Katakana, but Kanji was a bit too much for my understanding. So, in the meantime, I started cooking in order to kill some time, and as it progressed, I started cooking meals for both of us.

In simple words, the bonds between us were like Kyouko and Honda Tohru from fruits basket, while my mother was the equivalent of Chitoge's mother(Nisekoi) on her own. I don't watch anime much, but when I do, it's more likely to be shoujo style. This is who I was.

But everything changed when I was at the latter end of my second year of middle school. My mom's hard work bore the rewards as she made a huge fortune, and now, all of a sudden I was the daughter of a wealthy woman. This sudden switch brought a drastic change to my school life. Every single one who mocked me till now got wind of my situation and didn't know what to do!

Some people tried to kiss my foot, to get on good terms with me, while some were hesitant about it. But irrespective of whatever they did to please me, I was indifferent to the changing atmosphere. But not everyone appreciated this. Some saw this arrogance, with the newly acquired status and power, and they started speaking out whatever they felt like about me. That was nothing new. So I didn't even bother. And they couldn't tolerate it anymore! And that's when I was introduced to the harsh reality of humans! Since they couldn't do anything about me, they crossed the line and targeted my mom.

It was during the P.E period. We had it together with 2-C, while I was in 2-B!

"There's no way she earned that much sincerely. Something's fishy!"

"Yeah, she must have done something illegal!"

"Hey, are you getting a new dad! Haha!"

Most of the boys and girls chuckled and laughed at this point. I wanted to shout and make them stop it, but my voice wouldn't come out! Huh, why am I crying! No, my mother's not like that! Stop it! Stop! I wanted to run away. Runaway as fast as I could from this cruel world. It was a cold world. A grey world to me. But then, he showed up out of nowhere.

"Oi!"

A football went flying into the face of the ringleader and hit him hard, so much so he had a nosebleed. The enthusiastic crowd suddenly came to a standstill. In that sea of grey, a vibrant mix of colors shined the brightest! He stood out, and it was too captivating for me to watch.

"Why you, Nao?!"

"If you don't have a better job than preying on someone weak, instead of protecting them, then just go away."

"What's wrong? We're just stating the facts!"

"Facts? About what?"

Looks like he didn't know about what was going on.

One of them filled in the details about the matter. I felt anxious. I didn't want him also to hate me, but I knew it was going to happen.

"Ahh, is that so?"

He leered at me with a mischievous smile. I was right. This is a cruel world! Tears started rolling out!

"You're right..."

Stop it, please!

"Her mother couldn't have amassed such amount so easily. That means only one thing..."

No, anything but that. My mother is innocent! Please! Don't tarnish her!

"Her father is dead, and she received a handsome paycheck in the form of insurance, and she built everything upon it, isn't that right?"

Huh? Wait, what just happened? What did he just say? I don't understand it!

"Isn't that right? Hina?"

He just called me by my name. He leered at me. Why am I getting scared? My body is reacting all of a sudden! I've never felt such a scary presence before.

"Y...Yes!"

That's right! I couldn't explain it till now, every time I had to hold back about my mom, and my scoundrel of a father, that all I did was just cover up for him, in a way. Who was I protecting? Pathetic! Till now, I stuck out like a sore thumb for my looks, being the odd one out, then why none of my parents showed up, and now how I ended up with such money. But all of them had one thing in common. It was the root cause of the problem. And that was my father. That's right...

I walked up to this fellow and turned my body towards everyone as if I was center-stage in a drama, and took in a deep breath, and spoke with a voice that was calm, and clear...

"THAT'S RIGHT! MY FATHER IS DEAD!"