/ Alice – Past /
Alice had been living alone for as long as she could remember. Not completely alone— but it always felt that way. The house was quiet. Too quiet. To Alice, she always had nightmares, some monster coming to kill her, kidnap her,...
Her father was rarely home. He always lived in ネットカフェ (netto kafe). And when he was, his eyes never lingered long enough to feel real. Like he was scared of something about her. Alice always asked herself, "Am I a monster?"...
So she learned early how to lock doors, how to move silently, how to disappear in plain sight. To protect herself from the creepy boys always wearing weird expressions.
There was a time she tried to trust someone. A boy. He smiled gently, spoke kindly, stood between her and the world like a shield.
At least… that's what she thought. But behind that smile, something was wrong. She didn't understand it at first.
Only later did she see clearly, the way his eyes lingered too long, the way he always demanded her attention, the way he never really looked at her… as a person. That "friendship" slowly twisted into fear.
From that day on, Alice closed her heart. She stayed in her room. Door locked. Always. No friends. No connection. Just silence.
And that voice. A quiet whisper buried deep inside her mind.
"It's not over yet.""Someone will come.""Just wait… a little longer."
She didn't know why she believed it. But that voice… was the only thing that kept her alive.
So she endured. The fear. The loneliness. The feeling of being watched.
Because somewhere, deep inside, she clung to one fragile truth: her "hero" would come, right?