DIABOLIK LOVERS: The Blacker the Better

01. Bad Blood

(Main Reader POV)

Although I'm sure it has nothing to do with the role of the student council's secretary, I volunteered for the role three years ago on accident. On the one hand it had secured my position on the council for three years undisputed, and that looked pretty terrific on my college applications and interviews.

But as I wrestle the unruly [H/C] frizz I call hair in a bun and trade my indoor polished shoes with my scuffed, outdoor sneakers, I feel the weight of the extra papers and notebooks in my school bag.

I adjust the strap of my messenger over my shoulder and shake away the anxiety creeping around the corner of the emptied entrance hall. It's long past the time I should be in school, but along with the late-running council meeting and being assigned to clean up our classroom for the night, I ended up leaving later than usual.

With a sigh, I cling to the weak confidence in my weary bones and push towards the double-door exit of Ryoutei Academy, leaving the gothic building behind for the night. The bus stop is empty and I wait awhile for it to trundle around the corner.

Like the stop, the bus is nearly cleared of passengers. Most sane people are all asleep on a weekday, waiting for the sun to rise and another work day to begin. Going to school atop a secluded valley doesn't help either; the nearest town being a twenty-minute drive away. From there I had to walk another ten minutes to reach my family's small, traditional-styled home.

I'm not heading home just yet though. Pulling the string notifying the bus driver of my stop, I hop off after another few stops, looking both ways before crossing the road. We've come down the valley only to have climbed another valley—the forests in these parts as thick and fearsome as they were around the Academy.

At least I won't get lost this time.

I laugh nervously, recalling my little skirmish through the woods. In the end I was found by the very boys I'd been avoiding.

"Not going to happen again though," I murmur, hoping the affirmation is enough. I've been doing that a lot ever since I picked up a bunch of New Years' resolution-type self-help guides. "It's going to be a quick delivery. I'll be home before I know it."

I don't sound so sure.

Jumping in place, I dart my gaze back at a snapping branch and then the rustling of leaves from a particularly strong gust. I shudder, hugging my coat closer. It's barely the first days of spring and winter still flavored the air. My breath puffed out in little swirls of white-gray.

I give my head a quick shake, keeping my feet straight on my path, my eyes scouring the ground for sneaky branches. The sooner I got there, the sooner I could be rid of my task. Still as soon as I see the clearing opening up ahead of me, I move a little quicker on the forest path.

Bursting through, I came to an abrupt stop at the sight, the relief whooshing away and a fear-mingled curiosity flowering helter-skelter.

"Huh." I take in the two boys first; the red-head and the brunette have traded in their school uniforms for more comfortable wear, indicative of their styles.

Laito Sakamaki is practically draped over the girl standing in front of Ayato Sakamaki, her path blocked by the maniac smile of the vicious second-year bully.

As a third year who had thus far spent more time the last semester and a half worrying about college preparations, I continued to be aware of the shenanigans of the Sakamaki brothers, namely Ayato and Laito, but they were the more active of the brothers.

A week didn't seem to pass without someone mentioning their names.

And if I thought really hard, I'm sure they were mentioned even more than that.