My name is Hikari Shinkawa Lestia.

My parents had named me after the character "Light" in Japanese because they had birthed me in Japan, and wanted me to become as bright as the light. My name is slightly weird due to having two first names, with the other being an English one.

This is because my mother was a Japanese while my Father was an American.

They had settled in Japan after 5 years meeting each other during a joint business trip. 

They both had leadership roles in their jobs; one being a Lab Supervisor of a very important oil production company and the other at the top of financial management of a big conglomerate.

It was pretty much hereditary, the ability to work with others was also passed down to me due to my environment. 

My racial diversity was pretty uncommon in this day and age, but that just made me stand out more in class which I gladly appreciated.

I liked the company of my friends. It wasn't as if I hated that I was mostly alone at home every day due to the nature of my parents' job, I just craved the interaction between other people. I loved to talk to different people about different things!

Was I a social butterfly? Probably? But that's just in my nature. I was like the light, and it is natural that people are drawn to beautiful things. I don't look down on people that way, and it's really interesting to meet so many people like this. 

There was nothing wrong with my life, smooth sailing and sufficient. In fact, you could say that I led a very good life, albeit slightly restricted at times. But I know my parents just wanted the best for me. I attended piano lessons, violin lessons, English lessons, and everything that raised my upbringing, knowledge and culture. 

I had everything I wanted. But as with any other child growing up, I began to crave for the attention of my parents as they become busier and busier due to the economic downfall in recent years. The already small amount of time they had for me had extinguished at the slightest mention of work.

...

That was when everything went downhill.

I want to skip class.

I began to play truant in class, and it soon escalated to me not going to school at all for extended periods of time.

But hanging out with my fellow delinquent female friends did not scratch my itch too much.

...I want a boyfriend.

And then, I began to look up fashion magazines. In order to doll myself up, I spent most of the monthly allowance on provocative wear and prowled the night streets with it.

Eventually, I caught the attention of one of my classmates. 

His name was Kaiki Harashima. A true delinquent.

He had chanced upon me in that get-up, and threatened me to become her girlfriend or he'd expose what I was doing every night to the school.

It was a sorry excuse of a man for me to get involved with... His reasons for controlling me with some sort of evidence wasn't even solid at all, but I went ahead with it anyway.

It doesn't matter who it was, as long as they kept me company, and looked at me only.

While the original intent was to get my parents to look at me, I was also refreshed by the pleasures of compensated dating. Of course, I did not intend to reach the point of sex. The men were just there to keep me company, that's all. I was introduced to the world of adults at the early age of 16. 

It didn't stop with just Kaiki, I played around with various other men who were much older than me. But it never escalated beyond an occasional handjob.

My parents would occasionally come home to reprimand me, but aside from that, it was nothing much. I felt even more isolated from the cold treatment they gave me whenever they came home. The pocket money always remained on the table every month, unchanged.

They would never mete out any punishment for me besides telling me off a little.

Thus I continued. I escalated the acts.

I knew it was bordering the boundaries of underaged sex, but females had the priority in this world. If things spiralled out of control, I could always play the victim card and I'd be safe from any legal issues that would otherwise bind a male committing such an act.

In the process, I had even gotten some chump change from the men I hung out with too. Emptying the wallets of these pathetic men gave me a sense of superiority.

I couldn't possibly get caught, that was what I firmly believed.

I became more and more like what the Japanese men like to call, a gyaru.

"You fucking foreigner slut, how dare you cheat on me?!" 

One day, Kaiki found out about my 'affair' and called me out on it. 

We met in an abandoned building to talk.

Thinking back, that was probably a red flag in the first place...

"Huuuhhh? Why'd you think you're the only boyfriend I have? You're too conceited~"

"You bitch...! ...Hehehe... hehehehehehe..."

"?! W-why are you laughing like that... there's nothing you can do... I won't stop doing what I'm doing."

"Hahahaha, true! I can't do anything, ... but. It's not just me."

"?!"

From within the shadows of the building, a few familar faces appeared.

T-Those are...!

"Y-You guys! Why are you guys here?!"

"I called them over, see. To call out your sorry ...cheating ass!"

As Kaiki exclaimed, he lunged forward and restrained me.

"L-let go! Let go of me! I'm going to call the cops!"

"With what, little miss?"

A man who was involved with my compensated dating, Nato Erisawa, fished out the smartphone from my branded handbag and threw it onto the ground.

"Don't you dare, you fucker!!!"

With a stomp, my only lifeline was destroyed.

"Oops."

"You- Mnngghh!!! Mnngngnghhh!!!"

Another man who wore an old-fashioned pair of glasses and had a centre parting on his forehead, Oruto Hanekawa, covered my mouth with a damp cloth.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Geez, I can't believe you're a slut that'd cheat so easily for money... I guess all that's left to do before I break ties with a loose woman like you, ...is to enjoy your exquisite body thoroughly~"

The men all appeared to look victimized, but in reality, they all wore the same look on their faces as the chloroform on the fabric began to take effect.

Feeling extremely disoriented, I was raped while half awake.

----------------------------------------

"U...uuuu...uuuuu...."

I silently weeped when I got back home, covered in various viscous liquids.

In the end, the men had taken some photos as hostage so I could not tell anyone about it.

But my parents were perceptive when they came home one time.

They noticed the marks left on me when the men had grabbed me and pulled me around violently.

Seeing that, they were quick to action. Having ties with the police, they quickly questioned me and arrested the culprits, while erasing the photos.

I never saw Kaiki in school ever since that day. 

My parents were no longer as vocal as before, as they began to pity me.

But I didn't need pity, I wanted love. I wanted them to keep me safe. I wanted them to stay with me... I didn't want... things to end like this...

My mental well-being wasn't that easily damaged, but this incident had definitely shaken me. I stopped dressing up and going out at night. I returned to who I was before, but the people around me did not.

"Hey hey, did you hear? Two girls from the Toyama Prefecture died around here recently~"

"Yeah of course, it was all over the news. Apparently, a truck had sped past them during midnight. The driver kept claiming he was innocent though, something like he didn't realize what he was doing at that time. What's that lame excuse L O L!"

"Yeah if he killed someone, just own it man. That's like, totally not cool dude."

"Then there's the other one... that one right?"

"Yeah that one."

"I can't believe someone like her is in our class..."

"She has definitely fallen, just look at what she wore the recent months. She's obviously looking for the D."

"Just thinking about it makes me mad, I think she even wanted to steal my boyfriend away! He kept staring at her in class..."

"What a slut..."

"I second that..."

"..."

It was obvious that my classmates no longer want to interact with me, making my personality become even more aloof than before.

My lively personality was no more.

This was when things began to change in my body.

I began to experience nausea, random shaking, dizziness, sweating for no good reason, and extreme stress whenever I wasn't talking to someone or had no one around me.

At home where my parents did not usually stay in, the symptoms became even stronger.

Worried, I went to get myself a diagnosis at the hospital, and it turned out that I had contracted a mental illness called Eremophobia.

It was a specific phobia that had isolation as its trigger; a morbid fear of being alone. Sometimes, even when I was around people, it would still act up. It turned out that it would also take effect when I felt like I was being ignored or unloved.

It was a mental illness born from many of my anxiety issues, and I had become mentally broken before I knew it.

Nevertheless, my parents did nothing to console me. Although they became a little more gentle with me, nothing really changed much.

They did, however, cover the hospital fees for my diagnosis when they heard about it.

...I began to wonder if they even cared about me at all after I'd been born...

----------------------------------------

Another 2 years passed, and I was 18. 

I had become the errand girl for many of my classmates. That was the only worth they gave to me, to someone who was already defiled as a student.

Even so, I looked forward to school. Because I could talk to people, even if they were condescending.

Even if they had nothing to talk to me about...

And there was someone who caught my eye.

In the past, I might have been in the league of that boy, but now it was but a mere fleeting dream of mine...

He was the basketball captain of our school's Basketball Club. Being a prodigy at a very young age, he had brought our school to fame for racking up competition medals and trophies one after another.

His name was Kains Amagiri. A very handsome boy who had a fanclub in school. 

He was a half-foreigner, just like me. He had wavy golden brown hair and sharp blue eyes. He had a high nose bridge, which accentuated his smart and collective look with his angular chin.

As handsome as he may be, that was not the reason why he had caught my interest.

Neither was Kains's background of being a half-foreigner. 

Kains had took notice of my presence half a month ago. Since then, he began to talk to me often under the stares of other students. As he was in different class, he would find time during lunch breaks and after school to do so, often ignoring the prejudice and rumors around me.

I'd heard one of Kains's friend warn him at some point that he would be shunned as well if he stuck too close to me, but he told that friend off very angrily.

That made me feel a little warm inside, it made me feel like I had someone I could confide in finally.

 With Kains as the barrier, bullying targeted towards me slowly stopped. They did not want to aggravate Kains, who was top of the 'foodchain'. Such was the life of a student in this school.

They would still do discreet bullying, but it was way better when it started.

I felt like my condition was getting better. Kains didn't mind what I was like before too...

If it's this person... then I...

----------------------------------------

One day, after class...

I was chatting happily with Kains about what we would do after this, with the same girls around us giving me a very jealous and angry stare before leaving.

There were also a few leftover students who had not went home yet. They were the usual bunch of people who talked about games and some who were still sleeping in class even after the bell has gone off.

"I can't take this anymore, I'm leaving. Sachi, Hana, let's go!"

Acting as the leader, the three girls left their seats quickly and opened the front door of the classroom.

"Eh? Teach'? Why are you still here? Did you forget to hand us something? Haha~ Too bad, I'll be taking my leave first and leave it tomorrow~ Well then~ Ciao~ ...?"

"..."

"Teach'? You're kinda blocking the door here? ... Aargghhh this is why you're a virgin teach'! it's one after the other. Give it to me already, I'll do it. Can I leave now?"

"..."

"?"

The door was opened only partially, so the three girls could only see their teacher's body partially. 

There was a whirring sound on his right, covered by the door.

"Teach'?"

Sensing something weird, the leader of the girl called Yaiba opened the door fully to see what was that whirring noise that was being made constantly.

Vvrrrr!!!

A... chain...

Before Yaiba could realize what she had just seen, she was sliced apart with a chainsaw.

Vvrrrr!!! Squishsshshshshhshshshshshshshshshshh...

Blood and organs sprayed all over the other two girls.

""Eh?""

Before the other two girls called Sachi and Hana could comprehend the situation, they were sliced apart gruesomely as well.

Our teacher then closed the front door again.

THUD!

This time, the rest of the class took notice of what had transpired. Turning our heads towards the bodies without one, there was a moment of silence.

Then a girl at the back of the class screamed.

"KYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS! TEACHER HATOGAWA?! W-W-W-W-WHUREEGHGHGHGHHHH!!!"

Our teacher went ahead and silenced her throat with the bloodied chainsaw.

 This time, everyone snapped out of it.

The first ones to react were the gamer guys at the back, who had guts splattered all over their faces as they were very close to the girl who was just murdered by our teacher.

"H-Hiiii!!! Don't kill me-Aurhghghghghghghgh!"

 Another one was slain.

Kains and me, along with the other classmates immediately try to run towards the front and back doors, but our teacher immediately sliced another classmate of ours apart.

His movements was too agile for his old age, as if he wasn't the one using the strength at all. We gave up escaping from the doors.

He felt like a demon who was killing without remorse.

Many of our classmates then proceeded to jump out of the window from the 5th floor of the school building to escape.

Our teacher did not budge when he saw them do that.

He continued looking at the rest of us, who were trying to decide on our next move.

Any false movements towards the door would get us killed instantly.

Jumping out of the window won't guarantee your life either, but it was a definite way out since he wasn't getting those who did.

Take his weapon? That was probable, but most of us here were already extremely shocked from such a development. We did not have the courage to go face to face with a lethal weapon, especially since we've seen how our teacher had killed his students without hesitating.

Why would our teacher do such a thing?!

Thinking about how he was feeling right now, I look closely at his face, which was covered by his long unkempt hair.

He was crying, tears running down his face as he continued to mutter something under his breath.

I perked up my ears and realized what he was saying:

"It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me! It's not me!"

I was reminded of a recent news incident.

There was a truck driver who has said the same thing. They had killed people, but they said that it wasn't them who had committed the crime.

...

I began to think deeply, even at a time like this.

Our teacher came to a standstill once no one was running, what was he planning to do by killing all of us?!

"kari... Hika...ri... Hikariii!!!"

I was snapped out of it, as Kains whispered into my ears.

"Listen, I have a plan. But I'm going to need you to trust me okay?"

"?!"

I nodded my head and lowered by back so he could speak more easily into my ear.

"Okay first, I need you t-"

Before he finished his words, he kicked me towards our teacher.

"!!!??!?!!!"

My body was flying towards the buzzing chainsaw, but Kains did not waste even a second looking at me.

He flew towards the door in an attempt to escape.

"Ha...haha!!! I can get through! I can get through like this!!!"

Opening the door quickly, half of his body had reached the outside of the classroom.

But the other wasn't very fortunate.

Kains's body fell down in half, splattering all of his organs all over the floor.

As if realizing that we could escape like that, our teacher made quick work of everyone else.

Screams of agony and despair resounded within the classroom, until only the sound of whirring from the chainsaw was heard.

I was left alone, sitting on the floor dumfoundedly.

Did ... did Kains just try to kill me... to save him...self...?

I couldn't process anything else fully, as I heard the voice of our teacher behind me.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Losing my head like this, I lost my life immediately as well.

----------------------------------------

Nnghh...

My head hurts...

...Head...

Bluergghhh!!!

I vomitted, as I recalled the gruesome and graphic scene that transpired earlier.

Wait... I wasn't ... dead?

Where... am I?

I was in a white place. There were a few people I'd seen moments before my death around me.

They were classmates who were murdered by our teacher. There was a few of the gamer guys that jumped out of the window as well.

They were as equally confused as me, as they looked around their surroundings to get a sense of what was happening.

Just then, a very inorganic voice resounded in this white space.

"Greetings, fellow heroes from another world."

"?!"

From on top of this place, there was a black hole.

And someone came out of it.

To be more accurate, something came out of it.

A gigantic black sarcophagus fell down from the hole in the sky.

There were no vibrations when it landed, as there was nothingness below us. There was no sound from the impact either.

When it had landed, it took 10 seconds for it to speak.

"Welcome, fellow heroes, to the Soul Forest."