Rejet owns the Diabolik Lovers (abbr. DiaLovs) franchise.

Kabuki-cho's streets were sleepy in the daytime. I imagined its nightlife must be spectacular, if the reviews online are to be trusted. At the moment, I wandered the streets and marked in my phone any place that caught my fancy. None of them were open, many strictly operated from 'noon to midnight, but I was pleased with my finds.

The sun was swiftly rising to the center of the sky, and I could no longer ignore my biological call of drowsiness.

Somewhat reluctantly, I ducked into an alleyway.

[Perception check, fail.]

'Who-?'

I opened my eyes and nearly screamed.

"Ara, what a coincidence, Miss Tuna," Laito greeted.

"Tuna?" I mouthed before scowling. "It was clearly a salmon!"

Wait a moment, that's not the point! I straightened my back, feeling a faint flush of embarrassment warming my cheeks. Stupid dead-alive Vampire biology...

"Nfufu~," smug piece of- "You're not denying it, then? Mou... That's no fun at all."

I grumbled under my breath. "How'd I run into you again?"

"Sa... Who knows?" Laito shrugged.

Somewhere, somehow, from the shallow depths of my dollar-store heart, I felt that this wasn't so much of a coincidence as it was an intentional... Intentional what?

'There's so many odd people around lately... Is there a secret story-plot I'm not privy to but involved in?'

It's a common feature in 'isekai' novels, or whatever the heck this clusterfuck classified as. First Vampires, then Vampire Hunters, and a strange aphrodisiac. What's next, werewolves?

"Do you like cats?" I asked suddenly.

Laito's eyes went wide, and his grip on his fedora slackened. "Huh? What are you saying all of a sudden?"

[Charisma check, fail.] Oh shush, you.

"Just trying to make conversation. Or do you prefer talking about school work?" My social anxiety was making itself known. And with it, I start to think about everything else that felt weird. Was my skirt too short? The school uniform doesn't allow girls to wear pants though...

'I'll wear stockings next time.'

"-Oi. Oi! Are you listening?"

Ah, shoot!

"I, eh, uh, g-got to go. See you at school, bye!"

I teleported away. I already did it once; what's another time, right?

"Roar!"

Thunk!

"Ow..." I fell off my bed, landing painfully on my bum. When I opened my eyes, "Ah!"

Mariah Carey had nothing on my vocal cords.

Right outside my window, a giant mother-trucking Godzilla had its giant maw open. 'All those teeth...!'

Squinting through the sudden flare of light, I saw a bunch of technology and gear inside the Godzilla's mouth. My shoulders slumped, and I fell back against the bed. All the adrenaline left me weak and boneless. I stared up at the ceiling.

'Right. I returned to the hotel, did my homework, and fell asleep.'

Since I was fairly high up in the hotel, whenever that giant Godzilla statue roared, I heard it loud and clear. It scared the pants off me the first time (that fake-girlfriend lucked out, honestly) and made me repeatedly consider asking for another room.

Ring-ring. Ring-ring.

My phone alarm went off, and I checked the time. "Crap, it's already noon?"

I tossed it somewhere on the bed and hurried to the restroom for a quick shower. Or, so it was supposed to go.

Somewhere along the line of baring myself to the cold, seeing the steam fog up my reflection, and feeling the warm droplets roll off my skin, I stayed a little longer than intended. A little ways from the lonely shower-head, where water swirled down a small drain in the tiled floor, the unused bathtub looked enticing.

'I really shouldn't,' I debated. 'But now, I know the way to school. So it'd be fine to teleport,' and my mind was made up.

When the tub was filled, I plopped in gracelessly. It really did feel like a hug. An all-encompassing hug that lacked the reality of any cold spots- well, except my face.

I dunked my head under.

'Can Vampires drown?'

The warm water washed away the cold uncertainty. For a moment, I felt suspended in time. Neither I nor the water dared to move. Of course, that was just my perception. I estimated that more than a few minutes had passed, yet there was no burn in my lungs; no desperate urge to inhale; nothing.

I stood from the bath, water rolling off the planes of my cooling skin, and searched for my reflection in the water.

It was a small reassurance to see it there.

All the same, I quickly dried and dressed myself and fled the festering thoughts.

OMAKE

...All the same, I quickly dried and dressed myself and fled the festering thoughts.

[Skill Created: Denial (Amateur) Lv. 1]

Everything grounded to a halt.

"I have a therapist, now?!"

Much whizzed through my head. For the moment, I stamped down the embers of indignancy and embraced curiosity instead.

"Let's see..." What other skills are there?

I looked back at the restroom and gulped. One more step. Just one more step and I'd be back into the dewy, tiled room. I tossed myself in and locked the door behind me.

"Right," I said, squinting at my fogged reflection. "Uh, how are you today?"

"..."

I laughed nervously. "What was I thinking? Of course there would-"

"What's so funny?"

I froze, blinked, and screamed.

"Ah!"

The word count on this is utter crap, I know, but Christmas is coming and I'm taking a break. Still might update sporadically though since my mind doesn't understand the meaning of 'schedule'.