Diabolik Lovers: Shattered Masks

01 ; red haired devil

psa: the reader in ayato's route is a lot more sadistic - more so than when it comes to the others, so beware of that.

You fall asleep with your head in your arms, awaking to the abrupt feeling of being watched.

Someone emerges from behind you the moment you rise to your feet, nose tucked on the column of your neck like a revenous bloodhound. You reign in the urge to shiver, resignation swirling at the back of your throat like bile.

"Tch, you're boring," Ayato tugs at your shoulder to spin your around, leaving indents on the skin there. It takes everything inside you not to flinch. "It wouldn't kill you to be a little more receptive, you know? You're lucky that Yours Truly is feeling generous."

With that, he lifts you over his shoulder like you weigh nothing, cold hands clamping down on the back of your thighs as though he's expecting you to put up some sort of fight. You remain stiff in his hold, biting down on your lip to stifle your aggravation.

It's not like you have the strength to pry the jackass off.

Before you can gather your train of thought, the world smears out of focus before your eyes, melting into inconhere. Puzzled, you close your eyes, holding in your breath as wait for the disorientation to pass.

The smell of chlorine forces a winded exhale from your lungs, and you open your eyes to an indoor swimming pool a few steps away from you. You squint at the neckline of your shirt, feeling internally relieved.

It's a good thing you're not wearing anything you wouldn't want to get wet.

Ayato drops you abruptly, and you collapse onto the tiled floor before you can catch yourself. The impact causes your joints to ache, but you scramble to your feet as quickly as you can manage, head held high.

"Now, give Yours Truly a drink," He smirks, eyeing you like a snake looking down on a bird with a broken wing. You're disturbed enough that you take a step back, despite how much the action digs at your pride.

Yours Truly could die of dehydration for all you care, is what you want to spit out. Instead, you settle for something a little more polite. "Did you have to bring me all the way here to ask me that?"

Ayato doesn't reply to your query, narrowing his eyes like he can't quite believe that you're questioning his logic. He yanks you forwards with questionably cold hands, fingers dancing around your throat like he's going to choke you into submission.

"Shut up and give me your blood," He snaps instead, biting down on your neck without another word. The gasp that escapes you is impossible to clamp down, and you close your eyes on instinct, cursing inside your head.

It hurts - you didn't expect anything less, but you're honestly stunned by just how much it hurts. He's drawing blood from you, and the action is as painful as having your veins severed by the tip of a blade.

By the time he finally pulls away, licking over his blood-stained gums with a look of satisfaction, you are clutching at his arms with the last of your strength. You can't tell if you look as light-headed as you feel, legs buckling underneath you and threatening to collapse.

"Let it be known that your life is completely at the mercy of Yours Truly," Ayato goads, smiling like he thinks he's proven something to you. You glare back passively, jaw ticking as you try to suppress your anger.

Suddenly, the prospect of pushing your self-preservation aside and kneeing this red haired demon in the groin doesn't seem so bad.

Just as you think Ayato couldn't do anything that could piss you off more, his hand slams down your chest with incomprehensible speed. Your feet cave, and you find yourself tipping into the pool before you even get the chance to close your eyes.

How predictable.

The curse that falls from your lips is muffled completely by the collision of your body against the water, and you aren't quite sure if you feel grateful or aggravated by that fact.

You sink to the very bottom without any form of resistence, watching as red streaks enfulge the water around you. Your swimming skills are subpar at best, but you're sure that you could kick your way back to the surface if you tried hard enough.

But you don't. It's calm down here - possibly the calmest place in this entire mansion - and the worst that can happen to you is that you is that you end up passing out. You know for a fact that they won't let you die; it's far too soon for that.

"Now, tell me I'm the best out of all my brothers," You can barely make out what Ayato is saying from the surface, but what you manage to hear come out of his mouth causes your eyebrow to arch. It sounds strangely like he's begging for your validation, as odd as it seems. "Tell me I'm better than anyone. And submit to the fact that you belong to me exclusively."

You can't make out his features, but his vivid red hair is impossible to miss as he towers over you. You stare up at him apprehensively, wondering if he'll be the one to pull you out of the water whenever you loose consciousness.

Reigning in a sigh, you close your eyes, ignoring the prominent urge to paddle to the surface as best you can. It makes sense as to why he bought you here - he's trying to shake your resolve, and what better way than to do it than by drowning you?

Mouth twisted into an incredulous smile, you wait for your consciousness to seep out of your grasp, exhaling once it finally does.

LINE BREAK.

When you open your eyes again, you're no longer underwater. You're laying on something soft, something like a couch, with a towel sprawled across your torso. You rise to your feet after a few moments of contemplation - soaked, bleeding, yet oddly at peace.

It wasn't that bad. Ayato's bite, the drowning - it was uncomfortable, yes, but you could bear it. In reality, you had been expecting so much worse. That is enough to give you a little bit of hope, even with your blood-stains at the base of your throat.

You stagger through the hallway as quickly as you can, clinging to the idea that there's something remotely human inside the monster that wounded you so badly. Ayato reminds you faintly of a child, and children are easy to influence.

You're going to make the best out of this bad situation, and if that means tearing Ayato apart, then so be it. You'll press into every one of his weaknesses, until he has no choice but to break in ways he didn't know he was capable of.

You're going to hurt him badly. And what's more, you're going to enjoy doing it - perhaps even more than he enjoyed hurting you.

▬▬▬▬▬

am i proud of this? i don't even know. i genuinely don't know if i like this chapter or not...

also, there's no choice for this chapter, since i have ayato's route sketched out a lot already. regardless, hope you enjoyed this chapter :)