Wow, I'm really happy about all of the positive reception Diabolik Lovers: Justine is getting. You guys keep me motivated to continue writing, and it has helped me get back into writing. Thank you all so much!

Dinner the night following Justine's "incident" was very awkward. Justine refused to look or even speak to her father out of shame, and Akira was just trying to think of a way to get her to talk to him. They sat at the table in an uncomfortable silence, eating the dinner that Akira had prepared. He was the one who did all of the cooking in their household. After all, the kitchen was Justine's least favourite place in any sort of building. Besides, she was sure she could probably manage to burn cereal if she tried to cook.

When they were about halfway through their meals, Akira broke the heavy silence in the dining room.

"I called the school and told them you weren't feeling well. You can stay at home for the next few days, until you feel better." He said, silently pleading for Justine to even look at him. She slowly nodded her head to confirm that she heard what he had said. The school probably had a lot of broken glass to clean up, and she would feel better if she had a few days off to cool down. However, this news did not get her to look or speak to her father, who was growing increasingly concerned with her demeanour.

"Look, Justine, it's fine. You just… lost control that one time. Everything will be alright. I'm sure that by the time you get back to school people will have forgotten all about it." He told her reassuringly, reaching across the table to pull her hand into his in an effort to comfort her. Justine still did not look to him, but he did hear her silently mutter,

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry Akira…" A tear slid down her face, and Akira could feel his heart break a bit. He got up from his chair and went over to her, placing his arms around his daughter. Akira was basically the only person that Justine was comfortable with touching her, so she gave no negative reaction to his embrace. She simply sat there, too ashamed to make eye contact with him. Her shoulders began to shake, and Akira could feel her tears staining his shirt. He only held her tighter as she cried.

"I'm trying… I'm trying so hard… I'm so, so sorry Akira…" She said, her voice wracked with sobs.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, cherie. We'll get through this, alright? I promise." He said in a way that was both reassuring and loving. Justine nodded her head against his chest, resolving to try even harder to control her problem.

Justine lay in bed under her covers, attempting to fall asleep. Sleep never came easy to her, however. Sometimes she would lay in her bed, tossing and turning for hours until daybreak. There were times when she did not want to fall asleep, knowing that her dreams would distort and warp themselves into horrific night terrors. Her sleep would rarely ever be peaceful, but she simply accepted her situation for what it was. It couldn't be helped, after all. And besides, she had been getting better in the years she spent living with Akira. Appointments with her psychiatrist, the occasional group therapy, and the medication had definitely helped her deal with her issues. Akira always stressed that she was safe, that what had happened was all in the past, and that he was there for her. She hated to think about what her life would have been like, how things would have turned out if he had not been there. When she snapped out of her thoughts, she could feel the tips of her fingers in her mouth as she realized that she was gnawing on her nails again. She quickly pulled her hand away from her teeth and even smacked the top of the offending hand, as if to punish herself.

Justine soon realized that sleep would most likely allude her that night, and so she decided to get some fresh air. She was feeling very out of sorts, and the brisk night air might do her some good. Climbing out of her bed, she put on her lime green bathrobe over her pajamas and silently opened her bedroom door. She crept through the darkness quietly, making sure to not make any noise in fear of waking up her father. He'd had a long day of work and needed his rest, she reasoned to herself. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he would probably freak out at the idea of her sneaking out of the house in the dead of night. Nope, not at all.

Silently tip toeing down the stairs, she unlocked the back door and stepped outside into the cool night air, instantly beginning to feel at peace. She could hear the crickets sing as she began her trek to one of her favourite places, a small park that was nearby her house. Her home was rather isolated, with her nearest neighbours being quite far away. Justine liked this immensely, since she could be truly by herself with no one else around. There was no one who could judge her, no one to give her false pity. It was just her, and that was just the way she liked it.

She made her way to the small, empty park, the path illuminated by the streets lights that dotted her way. She sat down at her usual spot, a wooden bench made cold by the chilly night air. Justine looked up to the night sky and smiled to herself. She had always admired the stars and constellations, which gave the otherwise ominous night sky something beautiful to look at. A dark, blank, endless sky would not be at all interesting to look at, she reasoned. Of course, she knew that in reality, stars were nothing more than giant masses of plasma that will eventually go supernova and die. Earth's sun is a star, after all. But the fact that she knew exactly what they were never really bothered Justine, for it did not make them any less lovely. She was always puzzled by people who valued something mysterious and beautiful less when they found an explanation for them. If anything, she thought, it should make them even more of a marvel. However, Justine knew that her way of thinking was a bit off from most people's, so what did she know?

"Eventually, our sun will explode, and then Earth will be uninhabitable… What then? I mean, that won't happen for literally billions of years, and by then I'm sure that we'll have mastered interstellar travel, so we should be alright. Maybe we'll have colonized Mars by then, or discovered entire other galaxies. But we will not be able to live on Earth anymore. It would be a frozen barren wasteland where nothing can grow and thrive, a shadow of its former self…" Justine said to herself. Since she was alone most of the time, she had a habit of talking to herself. While she certainly did not think that talking to yourself was a obvious sign of some sort of mental illness, it would only be worrying if she heard someone respond, she made sure to only do it when she was certain that no one was around. But since she was by herself about 75% if the time, she did often talk to herself. She then realized that her mind had once again made a drastic change in topic.

"Hmm… Should I be worried that I somehow went from admiring the stars to thinking about the end of all life on Earth? Maybe… I should probably bring that up the next time I see Dr. Sohma." She told herself, making a mental note to tell her psychiatrist about her apparent morbid fascination with the end of the world.

With this, Justine decided to just sit quietly and not allow her mind to wander like that for the rest of the night. She knew that she had to keep her thoughts in check, since they seemed to go wherever they pleased most of the time. She was fine, just as long as she did not start thinking about them and what they tried to do. That was a time in her life that Justine would like to never have to think about ever again, thank you very much.

By the time five minutes had passed, she was in a nearly Zen-like state of mind, completely at peace. She may have even dozed off to sleep on the park bench (which probably would have led to her catching something…) if it were not for that annoyingly familiar voice speak from behind her,

"You don't look very sick to me, Darling." Justine shot up from the bench to look at Laito Sakamaki, standing there looking like his usual cocky self. Justine inwardly groaned, briefly wondering how he knew where to find her. Not many people came to visit this park, especially at night, given how isolated it was. In fact, many people did not even know it existed. So how on earth had he found it and known when she would be there?

"What do you want?" she said with a mixture of dread and irritation. He didn't look at all deterred by her hostile demeanour as he simply walking towards her from behind the bench. Justin took several steps back in an effort to put some distance between them. This smirking rich boy was honestly the last person she wanted to see at that moment.

"I was just concerned. When I learned you had called in sick, I decided to check up on you, but you look perfectly healthy to me." He said, seeming to take delight in her discomfort.

"Why? You don't know me; we're not friends. Go away." She said in a firm, even tempered tone of voice. Justine would normally not be so blatantly rude to people, but he just seemed to ooze ill intent, so she decided to make an exception. His face turned into a mocking imitation of a hurt expression, as if he wanted her to know that he was not at all put off by her unfriendliness.

"I came all this way to see you, and you won't even let me enjoy your company? You're so cruel, Darling~…" He said in a voice that was clearly not trying very hard to pretend to be sad. Justine, of course did not buy it for a second, still trying to figure out what he wanted. Did he really still want to torment her for seeing him and Mrs. Namikawa together? Or perhaps he was just bored; he seemed like the type who thought that everyone around him was made for his amusement.

"I'm cruel? Well good then, if you think I'm so awful, then you can just go away and leave me alone." His look of hurt disappeared and was replace with an expression that Justine couldn't quite read. He showed no obvious emotion, not even anger, as if he was internally trying to figure out how to respond. He decided on a clearly fake pout.

"You're not being very fun tonight, Darling. Why would you want me to leave when I just found you?" He stated. Justine had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. So, he really did think that pestering her was a game, did he? Well, she was not going to play into his whims.

"Well, it just so happens that I wasn't put on this planet just to entertain you. If it's "fun" you want, go somewhere else. You won't find it here." She said to him harshly, her tone of voice even and absolute. However, her words seemed to hold no sway because as quickly as it had vanished, his sly, crooked smile was back. She really did not trust those eyes of his, she decided. They were too sharp, too acidic in both colour and vibe, as if he was a sadistic cat playing with a helpless, tiny mouse.

"Your words are so biting, Darling. You must really hate me, right? Do you hate me? Do I make you angry?" He spoke, his cheeks beginning to blush, becoming way too excited for Justine's taste. She decided to simply end the bizarre exchange right then and there. She turned her back to him and began to walk away. Not back to her house, of course. Justine was not stupid, and she definitely did not want this freak to know where she lived. Before she could take even ten steps, however, she felt his arms wrap themselves around her shoulder and waist, effectively keeping her in place against his strangely cold body. Justine's steely demeanour was shattered as he once again made physical contact with her.

If, for whatever reason, you wanted to make Justine want to rip your head off with her bare hands, all really you had to do was touch her. Her father knew it, her psychiatrist knew it, Justine did not like to be touched. So, when Laito blatantly ignored her obvious discomfort not once, but twice, her complete distain for the fedora wearing rich boy went through the roof.

"Let me go! Get off of me!" She spat at him as she struggled to free herself from his grip. It was useless of course, he was still as freakishly strong as before. He chuckled at her feeble attempts to get away from him.

"You respond so violently to my touch. Your defiance is simply too adorable~. I wonder, how you will react if I touch you somewhere more sensitive…?" He whispered to her as he undid her bathrobe and placed his cold hand right on her abdomen. Justine flinched violently at his violation of her personal space. While Justine had known he was a notorious pervert, she did not think that all of the unsavoury rumours going around Ryoutei about him where true. Well, he had definitely just proven her wrong.

"Get off! Get off! Get off! Get off!" Justine screamed in a panic, still trying in vain to get herself out of his vice grip. She heard could feel Laito shiver in pleasure against her, seeming to truly get off on her fighting against him.

"Ah~. What a lovely body you have, Darling. Why would you want to hide it underneath this ugly robe?" He moaned, one hand making its way up to her chest while the other began to roam down towards her legs.

There was only so much Justine could take, especially when she was already entering a state of utter panic. Just like before, something inside of her just snapped, and she felt her self-control shatter.

"Get off of me! Get the fuck away!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Instantly, Laito was blown away from her by some unseen force, slamming him into a tree over 5 meters away. He made impact with a groan that oddly sounded both pained and pleasured. He slumped down the trunk of the tree as Justine fell to her knees, still in a state of shock. She took several deep, laboured breaths, before she reluctantly turned to look behind her, almost wondering if he was even still alive. She saw him slumped against the tree, completely immobile, which lead her to assuming that he was at the very least unconscious. She was proven wrong, however, when she began to hear his chuckling once again. He proceeded to stand up and brushed himself off, acting as if nothing had happened and he hadn't been thrown against a tree by an invisible force. Picking his hat up from the ground and putting it back on, he looked down at her with a knowing smirk.

"Well now, I was already pretty sure that you caused the lights in the hallway to burst, but I like to be certain about these kinds of things." He said to her, Justine still kneeling on the ground as she began to realize what he had just done. Of course, he had planned all of this to happen! She had fallen right into his trap and reacted exactly the way he had wanted her to. She would have to hit herself later for being so stupid. He casually walked forward until he was right in front of her before he knelt down to eye level with her.

"You should know, I was only planning on playing with you for a few days. After that, I would have left you to your silly little life. But now that I know about your special talent, there's no way I can let you go now. I can't wait see learn more about you, Darling~." He purred, right before he leaned his head towards her, and a shiver nearly went down her spine as she felt cold lips plant a kiss on her forehead. After he pulled away, he stood up and casually walked down the path opposite of the bench until he was out of sight.

Justine still sat there in silence for a few moments, her brain trying to process what had just happened. Her eye were wide with shock, her mouth quickly opening and closing as though she wanted to say something, but no words left her lips, and the colour had drained from her face.

"He… He knows… Oh mon Dieu…" she finally managed to whisper, almost not believing the words coming from her own mouth. The idea of anyone, especially someone like Laito Sakamaki, knowing her deepest, darkest secret practically made her want to vomit. Ever since she was nine years old, she had been working tirelessly to make sure no one ever found out about what she could do. She always went straight home after school, she never stood out, she never made any friends…

Anything to ensure that her secret stayed a secret.

Justine got back on her feet, holding onto the bench's iron armrest for stability. The chilling night air made the metal cold to the touch, though Justine was in such a state of shock that she could barely feel anything. She proceeded to sit back down on the bench, curling herself into a ball and wrapping her green robe around her body to give her some sense of security.

She… they… they needed to leave! She and Akira, they needed to get as far away from this city and that green-eyed bastard as possible! There was no way she could go back to school with him knowing about what she could do! Justine could feel herself begin to hyperventilate, her teeth going to town on her nails, and panicked tears beginning to well up in her blue-gray eyes.

"B-But… Akira…" Justine murmured to herself, a moment of clarity piercing through her haze of anxiety.

Akira…

He was working so hard at his job in order to pay for her to go to Ryoutei Academy. He would always have a warm smile on his face when he would pick her up from school. He would personally make her lunches since she could not be in the kitchen. He paid for her therapy and medications…

Everything he did was for her, she realized. Especially back then, when he had put his own life at risk for her…

He had rearranged his entire life to be with her.

It was that thought that strengthened Justine's resolve. There was no way she could just tell him that they needed to pack up their lives and move to God knows where just because she messed up and was not careful. She was not going to be that selfish, not after everything he had done for her all of these years.

Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, she felt a lone tear escape her left eye and roll down her cheek. She was slow to wipe it off of her face, too preoccupied with her own thoughts.

No matter what, she was going to have to figure out how to get out of this mess.

She and Akira had come too far to let it all go to hell.

I hope you all liked the 3rd chapter! Have a good day.