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

"And? What do you want to talk about?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Laito held down his fedora and swaggered over. His other hand was buried in a side-pocket. When he leaned forward, nose inches from my own, I outwardly frowned. Inwardly...

'Ah meh gerd! Too close! Too close-'

I coughed and said, "I'm not hard of hearing, so you don't need to lean this close."

"Eh? But what if my voice is stolen by the wind? Then, you wouldn't hear me," Laito pouted. He was playing along, but I wondered, 'For how long?'

"We can text if it's necessary," I said seriously. No ulterior motives at all. Nope. None-

He leaned back. "Is this your way of asking for my number?"

I was affronted. What was with that 'your' way? Even if it's true... "What? You've never been propositioned by a woman before?"

Laito blinked. He didn't bother to turn away before succumbing to laughter. I couldn't help but feel he was laughing at me. Embarrassment warmed my cheeks, but I stubbornly sealed my lips and looked at him earnestly.

"Hah," he laughed breathily. It was completely different from his perverse chuckles.

"If you wanted me, you could've just said so," he crooned.

Then, his voice gained a slight edge, and he asked, "So why did you approach the Little Bitch?"

I raised a questioning brow and posed a question of my own. "What? Am I not allowed to befriend a cute girl? And why do you call her that? It's quite rude."

There was no chance I was going to talk about the Gamer System. I can say I'm a Vampire, sure, but so is he. Talking about how my life is like- is a simulation would be a whole other level of crazy.

Laito simply 'hm'-ed and curled his lips up in a lazy smile.

"Is it? But I think it suits the Little Bitch quite well... She's just food for us, after all," he stated as if it was obvious.

"I guess that's true," I mused. While I had no dirty-talk fetish of my own, I suppose it's different for others. "Are you paying her for it, at least?"

Give some blood in return for a fat stack of cash. Shoot, that sounds like a steal to me. It's not like I don't already excrete blood on a monthly basis (at least, when I was human). And the fact that I'm doing it willingly? At least, whoever I'm feeding won't go crazy from thirst and drain some ignorant stranger on the streets.

"Does room and board count?" Laito said, seemingly wondering to himself.

I mentally debated. "If she's otherwise homeless."

"What about her parents?"

Yui mentioned that her father went abroad for work. She looked absolutely crushed by the fact which was a rather dramatic reaction... Was "going abroad for work" Japan's version of "going to buy milk"?

Laito shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? I certainly haven't heard from them."

He smiled through it all. It was rather disconcerting.

'Maybe I can ask a summon later.' It was something worth doing.

"Well, if that's all you wanted to know about Yui, how about that number?" I visibly perked up and looked at him expectantly.

He giggled. Giggled!

"Nuh-uh," Laito shook his head, wiggled his fingers, and cooed at me before disappearing.

He ran away...

"Hey! That's my line!"

I stomped my feet childishly for the sake of appearances before I, too, disappeared from the rooftop.

Soaking in the bathtub with vanilla-scented bubbles was always a pleasure. The scented oil made my skin glow with a lively sheen under the delicate illumination from the scalloped sconces. There was an unerring sensation of playing house, and I didn't mind if I played forever.

'Ain't everyday you experience luxury like this,' I thought.

Having a stack of cash at my fingertips made me giddy. I should probably exercise some restraint. Is this what winning the lottery feels like?

When I leeched the last degree of warmth from the bath, I turned on the shower to rinse off the oil.

"Alrighty, let's start," I declared to bolster some courage.

The bathwater swirled leisurely and in blissful ignorance.

I grabbed the basket of materials I prepared beforehand. In it, there was a little, spotted gecko cocooned in newspaper, moss and scissors, and a scoop of dirt.

"Please don't wake up. Please don't wake up," I chanted.

First I shredded the moss with a pair of scissors and dumped in that and the dirt. Using the scissors, I swirled around until the bathwater was utterly ruined. I had tears in my eyes. Then, I grabbed the gecko.

...

... ...

... ... ...

I stared at its pink, little tummy blankly.

"Fuck," I said eloquently.

Apparently, that was all it took to wake the stupid little lizard that was stupid enough to be caught by humans. It looked at me with two large, round eyes. Then it opened its little mouth wide and stuck its tongue at me. It did this twice.

I sighed.

Placing it back into the basket, I muttered, "You're lucky I anticipated this."

I nudged the little fella to stay in the basket, as I removed a plastic-wrapped package the size of a pinky from under the newspaper.

It was a frozen mouse.

While the effects of the summoned creature would be much weaker than a live lizard, it should serve my purpose.

'I didn't just ruin my bathtub for nothing...'

Not even unwrapping the thing, I tossed it into the tub.

"Old with age, lost with time, the things that grew, the things that died."

I chanted the words until the bathwater darkened. It was murky and eerie. The smell of swamp musk perforated the bathroom.

'I hope this place has good ventilation.'

[Casualties detected: sense of smell.]

'This stupid System...'

The little gecko buddy didn't show any negative reaction. It just kneaded its little nubs against the newspaper.

"You called?"

From the muck, a literal swamp monster rose its mossy head. It was like a small hill grew from the tub.

"Uh, yes." I cleared my throat. "I wanted to ask-"

"Zzz-phew...Zzz-phew..."

Everything twitched.

[Summoning check, fail.]

"Mother-bleep!"

Life is difficult. Let's not talk about it, but I need justification for my near month-long absence.