Diabolik Lovers: The Girl Behind the Petals

Chapter 14

~Episode 9~

Rini walked aimlessly down the paths of her Garden, watching the roses flutter in the wind. It would've been beautiful had she cared enough to appreciate it. At that moment all that was going through her mind was how horrible the night had been so far.

She'd just gotten back from school, the classes surprisingly not being the worst part about her night. No, that had been the drive to and from school... Subaru had refused to even look at her the entire way, ignoring her every time she tried to catch his eye. She hadn't sat beside him in the car, instead choosing to sit between Laito and Shu which earned many confused and concerned glances from the others...

When they'd arrived at school he'd left the group before she even got a chance to hug him like she usually would. She cringed at the thought of it, and at the memory of the Triplets glaring at him as they noticed her heartbroken gaze. They'd all given her extra-long hugs that day which she supposed was nice.

Not only that but school itself hadn't been nearly as bad as it usually was so that was good. Akari hadn't been in school so the rest of her group had all left her alone pretty much. Plus she'd gotten to spend some more time with Jun, which was fun.

Walking to class together had become a daily thing for them now, they met outside the building- just by the door- and then walked up to class together. Neither had to wait for very long usually, considering a lot of the time they got to school around the same time.

It was nice to have a friend to talk to now. They didn't talk too much out of class which was sad but he was usually being bombarded by a horde of girls who made it their jobs to follow him around everywhere so she understood. Still, she found those girls ridiculous, even if she was starting to see why so many people liked him.

Another good thing about Jun was that he always knew when something was wrong and he was always willing to hug her if she was upset. She liked hugging him, it made her feel safe. It was different from Subaru's hugs though. Yes, both made her feel safe and yes, both made her feel happier. But it was still different. She wasn't sure if it was a good different or a bad different though...

She hadn't told him what had happened between her and Subaru, even though he'd pestered her about it endlessly in class. She'd just told him that she'd had an argument with someone and that it wasn't important because she was totally fine. A lie, yes. But a necessary one. If Subaru- or any of her brothers for that matter- found out that she was confiding about family issues to Jun they'd kill her.

She cringed at the thought, shaking her head to rid it from her mind.

"Chipmunk? What are you doing out here?" Shu asked suddenly, making Rini jump.

"Hey, Shu-Shu... I'm just walking around the garden. Why, am I not allowed to?" She asked, peering up at him as he leaned against a nearby tree.

"Course you are, even if you weren't I wouldn't stop you. I was just wondering if this walk of yours had something to do with why you sat next to me and Laito in the car instead of Subaru," He stared at her expectantly, either waiting for her to say whether he was correct or to tell him what had happened between them.

She'd do no such thing.

"No... I just wanted to walk. I love it out here, it's pretty! What are you doing out here anyways? You never really come out here..." She asked, quickly changing the subject.

He huffed a laugh, instantly catching the switch. Thankfully he didn't comment and actually answered her question.

"I was sleeping over there-" he pointed to the nearby stone structure, "- when Yui interrupted me. She had questions that I wasn't bothered to answer so I left her with Richter."