A long time ago...
My mother told me two things.
The first was simple:
"Never forget to smile."
The second was even simpler:
"Your father loves you, even if he doesn't show it."
I believed her.
I always believed her.
Because back then, I was just a little girl who wanted nothing more than to hold her dad's hand and hear him say he was proud of me.
But when Mother passed away, only one of those truths stayed with me.
I kept smiling.
And Father… well, Father became everything.
He wasn't a bad man at first.
When he first awakened as a Stream Hunter, he was so happy.
He kept telling me over and over, "C-rank! Your dad is C-rank!"
He bought food that day.
He laughed.
He said we would finally have a better life.
I didn't understand what it meant back then, but I clapped my hands and laughed with him, because his smile was all I needed.
But things changed when I awakened too.
I was only ten.
I still remember the way Father stared at me that day.
