CHAPTER ONE

pov- Victor Minami

I hear pitter patters of scrambling feet up above me. Must be Miku, I think. suddenly my ears blast with an echoing tumble and crash. I try to stumble off of the couch, but my aching bones are so excruciating to move. I crawl up the stairway in a hurry, avoiding putting my weight onto any broken bones. As I make my way around the corner I see three large pieces of ceramic. It was mama's favorite vase, shattered on the wooden floor panels.

"i- I'm sorry Vic! It was an accident!" she falls backwards against the wall. my fingers tremble in fear and the tears in my eyes make my vision blurry. The world doesn't look so sad when you can't see anymore.

"Dad's gonna kill me!" she covers her face in despair. I lean closer to her a put my limp hand on her shoulder. she looks up at me and the tears have run down my cheeks, making my vision clear again. I give her a subtle smile to let her know that I'll take the blame for it.

"No! Not again! I'm gonna protect you this time!" Miku shifts her arms around me. I'm older than her, I can handle it... i know she won't give up now, though. when she has something on her mind she never let's it go. That doesn't mean I'm just gonna let him hurt my baby sister either. I pull out my notepad and pen to scribble down my thoughts.

"pack our clothes and some food, we're leaving." she reads it with a puzzled look on her face and then runs off. Meanwhile I spend my time working up the strength to stand on my bad knee. Miku quickly came back with all of her things and scrambled back down to me. She had her favorite dolly that mama gave her too of course.

"Where are we going Victor?" she puts on the backpack and pulls me up off the ground.

I take her hand and we leave in a rush, before dad gets home. The click of the door unlocking is such an unusual sound. The light outside has dimmed down and its pitch black... I wonder what the sun is like. it must be brighter than the basement, I assume. Me and Miku walk through the streets of Japan, clutching onto our things. We don't live in much of a populated area, I guess, so we didn't have to tip toe around corners to avoid other people. We strolled through the empty roads for hours on end, until we felt far away enough to be safe. My knee was killing me and my limp was getting worse. I slouched over one a wooden bench gesturing Miku to come sit next to me. She nudged her cheek into my shoulder and gave me a hug. I closed my eyes just for a second... I didn't wanna sleep yet, until we found a safer resting place. It was cold and my navy hoodie wasn't seeming to help with the shivers anymore. I lightly draped it over Miku's shoulders... she quickly fell asleep soon after. We were sat right beside a local convenience store, which is the only thing I've seen that's still open within the past two hours. Miku rested on my lap for fifteen minutes or so and I decided to take myself inside, out of the cold. I had left her asleep on the bench, since I hadn't seen anybody outside in awhile. Listening to the ding dong of the glass door, I stepped inside. With only a few cents in my pockets, it wasn't enough to buy anything. I wanted to get Miku something to cheer her up so I figured maybe I could shoplift something small. My eyes scanned the candy bar section and I looked over all the people in the store. There was a little girl around twelve years old and a boy around the same age. They didn't seem to know each other, but they both had pins from their local school. Where were their parents? a few high schoolers roamed the isles too. A flashy boy... probably a freshman. he wore a brightly colored suit and dress shoes. the cashier... a man in his late twenties with thin glasses and some duct tape holding them together. Last was a boy and a girl around my age... they seemed to know each other.

"Fag! What's your retarded ass doing here?"

"None of your business, Akari." he snaps back harshly. I don't like people like that. Using slurs left and right, putting people down to pull themselves back up. I pick up a snickers bar and throw it at her to get her to shut up. as the candy is in mid air suddenly see a startling bright light. I thought I had gone blind for a second. Next thing I knew I woke up surrounded by trees. The sun is shining through the branches and it hurts my eyes... what is this? the woods?