Diabolik Lovers: Recovery

Chapter 38: Opportunity

"Azusa, would you keep me company?" I ask, only just barely disguising the sadness in my voice.

As if picking up on it anyway, he gravitates close.

"Yes... Miyako... Perhaps we should... do an activity?"

"Such as?"

"I was thinking... foraging... perhaps...?"

"Foraging?" I echo curiously.

An opportunity for escape?

"In the nearby forest... I want to find... food to complement... Yuma's garden."

"Do you know what to look for? I'm sufficient with forageables. In a survival situation, if you're tracking demon prey that's travelling through the wilderness, you may be out there for days to weeks on end following a trail."

"Demon prey?" Azusa echoes curiously.

"Yes," I confirm as he leads me to my room. Efficiently, and as Azusa's back is politely turned, I don a wide-brimmed hat, a long sleeve shirt, many-pocketed trousers, and walking shoes. The outfit is to deter the biting bugs from getting at my skin, but also warm enough to keep me insulated through the night. Should there be an opportunity to run, I'd be well-equipped with proper attire. "I was trained – the daughter of a demon hunter."

"Oh... that's rather... intimidating... is that why... you are sufficient in... weapons training?"

"Exactly."

He leads me out of the mansion and into the nearby copes of trees. Almost immediately the sunlight turns dappled and filtered green through the leaves.

"Do you forage often?" I ask of Azusa and he nods.

"I enjoy... the fiddlehead greens..."

"I'm fonder of the mushroom varieties," I admit, looking about through the trees for signs of direction. Perhaps a forest path? Even a deer trail would do. Perhaps signs of infrastructure – can I see a cell phone tower through the trees?

Something catches my attention immediately. It's a quick disturbance of air – the teleportation of someone from the spot just behind the oak tree we'd just passed.

"Azusa, does anyone come out to these woods?"

"No, these woods are safe," he insists, watching my examination of our surroundings.

Ah...

Looking him over, I notice what I've missed before; he's attentive to every motion of my body, every flick of my gaze.

He's taken me out here to see what I'll do. They've set me out here to see if I'll run...

"You're sure there's no Vibora in the bushes or Adler hiding in the trees?"

"Eh?"

"Right, you guys are turned vampires – you might not know about all that stuff. Ah, here some mushrooms – they look to be Shiitake."

"Oh... yes..." Azusa notes, hefting the basket from his shoulder and proffering it as I pluck the fungi from the soft earth beneath the tree.

"There looks to be a copse of bamboo just to the West of here," I point, "We can find some shoots."

"You're not nervous... about those things... you mentioned?"

"The Vibora and Adler?"

"Those."

"Well, I hear some things rustling in the underbrush," you say with mock hesitancy, "But I don't think they're anything to worry about; definitely not a threat. I was joking about the other demons, honestly."