The sound of their mother crying echoed throughout the house.

The boy and girl covered their ears, tears seeping down their faces as they listened to their father yell and throw things at the door. They could feel it's vibrations and him kicking at it over and over again, trying to break it from it's hinges. They could hear the rattle of the locked door handle as he tried to open it, but to no avail.

"Stop it! STOP!"

Her cries fell on deaf ears as their father continued to beat on the door. It trembled under the constant abuse.

Rin watched the door fearfully as it buckled with the weight of their father trying to break it down to get to them. He looked down at his sister, hugging her close.

He didn't like this at all.

Gou sobbed openly into the dark room, clinging to her older brother.

The older boy pet her hair. He couldn't say it was going to be okay because he didn't know that at all. They had locked the door, but their father looked as though he might be able to break it down. He wasn't a weak man. He had obvious muscles and knew how to use them for good and bad. He had built this house with his own two hands.

Their parent's relationship was a broken one. He blamed it on the kids and how pathetic they were. He didn't like them. He used to. He used to play with them and nurture them. He used to love them. Then he started staying out late and coming home reeking of alcohol. He started grabbing their mother in front of them and squishing her face between his fingers harshly. Once, Rin had walked in on her crying for his father to stop as he pushed her against the counter, fingers digging into her, nails making bruises on her fair skin as he bit her neck, not heeding her at all. When he had noticed the kid he glared and let go of his mother and turned to him, fists balled. His mother would bring shaking fingers to his father's neck, caressing the skin, beckoning him back as she stared at her son with worried eyes, telling him to run away with out words. She couldn't handle this on her own, but she could try and be strong for her children.

He'd run from the room and sink against the wall of the next, listening to her scream at him for being drunk and sob for him to stop being so rough. Rin would decide it was time to leave and hurry back to his and Gou's shared room, hoping not to disturb her from her slumber as he slinked back into his own bed, praying that this would all just end.

It didn't.

Rin can not count the number of times his father would leave in the middle of the night, leaving their mother on the kitchen floor, bloody and bruised most nights from his careless nature. He'd pretend to sleep as his mother opened their door, tears trickling down her face as she whispered that everything was going to be okay and that she loved them. Not to them. To herself.

He hid it at school. He smiled and swam with the other boys. His time was remained constant for a while. Then he started slipping... He didn't go and eat with the other boys at lunchtime. He sat alone on the ledge and really didn't even eat. He stared out at the world beyond, lost in thought. Was his mother okay alone in the house? Was Gou okay? She had started crying herself to sleep and he had sat there, curled up in his blankets, listening to her. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how.

His friends decided to ask him what was wrong. He waved it off, saying he was just fine.

They left it at that.

Their father started targeting Rin.

He started showing up with bruises littering his skin. His coach asked him if he was okay, but he blamed it on falling down while he was running. He never said that he was running away from his own father. Running away from a harsh reality.

His father would finish with their mother and headed straight for Rin. Once in a while he would be sitting with his friends on the porch, talking when his father came out, looking down at him. " Rin has to come inside now." He would say. The boys would sigh and wish him well as they left and Rin would gulp and get up, marching himself inside, his father's hand on his back.

They'd go inside and the Cerise haired boy would look up at his father, eyes dull and dim as he started to shrug off his jacket. The shirt was next and then his pants until he was standing in his undergarments. His father would give a sickly sweet smile as he ran a hand down his small, toned chest. He rubbed the skin before slapping it harshly. Rin bit back a cry, closing his eyes. His father did it again. And again. And again. Until the boy was marred with red, stinging marks that had been hit so many times in different places, didn't even look like hand prints any more. Then his father would cup his face, rubbing a finger over the tears that had fallen, telling him to stop crying and suck it up as he ordered him to get dressed and go to bed. Rin was only so happy to comply, hurriedly getting dressed and running off to his room.

His mother, who had been watching, fell to the floor crying. His father barked at her to get up. She tried to get up, but she couldn't, trapped from the pain she felt.

He walked over and kicked her in the gut. She gasped and cried louder. He spit on her and quickly grabbed his coat, leaving. He'd be back by sunrise, but for now, they were safe.

She sobbed, curling in on herself.

Rin laid against the door, listening to his mother cry. Gou was sleeping calmly, breathing softly.

He started to cry. He couldn't help it. He hated his life. He hated his father. He wanted to die.

Gou stirred in her sleep, rubbing her eyes. She sits up in the dark room, looking around. She spots a dark mop of hair shaking as he cries. The crimson haired female slinks out of the bed, walking over to her brother. When she sets a hand on him and he flinches, she wants to cry."Daddy hit you again..."

He just nods.

She reaches out to hug him, but thinks better of it and just sits next to him on the floor.

They remain like that for a couple of hours, falling asleep like that. The sunlight and the slam of a door wake them. Their father was back. Rin reaches up and locks the door, taking his little sister into his arms and carrying her to his bed, sitting down with her. Their parents are fighting again. His mother screaming that she doesn't have to put up with this and his father just laughing, saying she wouldn't be able to find anyone better. There's a slap that echoes throughout the house and suddenly feet are headed straight for their room. His father tries the handle and is surprised to find it locked.

"Rin Matsuoka you open this door right now!"

He stays silent, holding Gou closer to him. No, he would not get up and do as his father asked. There's a banging and Gou looks up at her brother, tears starting to form in her eyes. She asks in a small voice, "What's going to happen to us?"

Rin just gives a sad smile. "Nothing. He can't hurt us."

"Rin! Rin, open this door! I swear, you worthless piece of shit, when I get my hands on you, you are going to wish that you had never been born!"

Rin just frowns. He already wished that.

The banging continues for a while. With every insult and scream aimed at Rin, the tighter and closer he hugged his little sister. Tears streamed down their faces as the door buckled under his father's weight. It doesn't break down. They remain safe.

Their father leaves, muttering under his breath, slamming the door.

Gou clings to her brother, crying. Rin tries to calm her down when there's a little knock at their door. " Rin, Gou, it's me. Please, let me in." It's their mother.

He hesitantly gets up, opening the door. His mother's face is bruised and her lip is busted and bleeding. She manages a sad smile. The young boy takes her hand, helping her inside before closing the door and locking it again. Gou runs over to her mother, hugging her legs. Their mother smiles, hugging her children close, whispering that it was going to be okay.

Their mother finally got the courage to leave the man that day. She took her children and they left that little town. When their father returned that night, the house was empty. The children's room was packed up and the parent's home had no trace that Rin's mother was ever there.

He never found them.

The man died single and when they received word, their mother tore the letter in half and threw it in the fireplace.

Rin and Gou transferred to a new school. They made friends and Rin went back to swimming. It was nice that the boys Rin had befriended could come inside of the house.

It was nice that Gou's friends could come in and play dress up instead of her just sitting in the room, wanting friends.

The kids were happier.

Their mother never remarried in fear that she'd meet someone like their father, but was just fine with it.

Her children were smiling.

That was all she had ever wanted in life. To see her children smile.

They never had to worry about their father again.