Kizuna (Bonds)

Disclaimer: I do not own Diabolik Lovers. I only own my OC and the plot.

Chapter 2

2 Years Later

It was evening as a seven year old Akari in her school uniform sat on the grass in the corner of a playground with her head between her knees. She seemed depressed. Her long, curly red hair which was blonde at the tips was tied into two pigtails which hung down her shoulders and stopped at her midriff. She wasn't making any noise but her torso was shaking uncontrollably. She was so occupied with sobbing that she failed to notice someone walk towards her. She only looked up when she heard a young man clear his throat. Her pale face was flushed as she was embarrassed that someone had found her in this pathetic state. Her pink eyes were almost red from all that crying. She also had a small bruise on the corner of her forehead. Her brows knitted together when she looked at the stranger. He had messy brownish red hair with blonde tips. Since he was wearing sunglasses, which she didn't know why he was wearing them at such an hour, she couldn't see his eyes. He had pale skin, sort of like hers, and had a small smile playing on his lips. He was wearing a black jacket with a grey t-shirt underneath and a red scarf around his neck. He had done on black pants with red and black sneakers. He looked like a high school student.

Akari pouted and asked rather angrily, "Do you need something, Mr.?" The young man seemed a little taken aback be her tone. He frowned a little before saying, "Hey I just wanted to ask that why a little girl like you, was moping in the corner of a playground at this time of the hour? No need to bite." The girl looked away and said harshly, "Well, it's none of you concern, so mind your beeswax." The boy rolled his eyes and walked away before muttering frustrated, "Tch, brats these days are so annoying!"

The young girl felt bad for treating the stranger like that. It wasn't his fault that she was feeling angry yet she took out all her frustration on him. That wasn't right. So before the teenager had gone ahead, Akari called out to him, "Umm, wait, Mr.!" He stopped and turned around a little to hear what the girl had to say. The redheaded girl looked down and bit her bottom lip tensely and said hesitatingly, "Well…I shouldn't have talked to you like that earlier. I...I'm sorry."

The young man stared at her curiously until he noticed a bruise on the corner of her forehead. He walked towards her and crouched down on the ground so that he was the same level as her and asked lowly, "Hey, brat, how did you get bruised?" Akari looked up confusedly until she realized what he was talking about. Her dainty, little hand immediately shot up to her forehead where she got hurt and rubbed it slightly. She winced in pain as it still hurt. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it and frowned. When the stranger saw that she wasn't going to reply, he said in a gentler voice, "Well, it doesn't matter but you should get home and put ice on it or something. That should make you feel better." He got up and stuck out his hand towards her. She looked confused for a moment before she took it and got up herself. A second later she gasped and pulled back her hand. The redheaded teenager raised an eyebrow at her action. Akari blinked and explained, "Sorry, it's just that your hand was so cold." The boy just said "Oh" and turned around to walk away a second time though this time, Akari didn't stop him. She really wanted to know his name but her mother had told her not to get too friendly with strangers.

Akari stood up and picked up her school bag and slung it over her shoulders. She stood still for a moment as she watched the boy go further and completely disappear from her range of view before she too left the playground and started walking in the direction of her house. The reason she was crying was that at school, she had simply been minding her own business when a boy from her class, Sousuke, decided to annoy her. At first, she ignored him but when he started to hit her, she retaliated back with a hard punch. The redhead was more physically capable than most children. Seeing Sousuke in pain gave her a little satisfaction but it made her feel guilty as well. Unfortunately, the teacher entered the classroom at the exact same time and though that it was Akari who was bullying Sousuke and not the other way around. The teacher didn't listen even when the girl tried to explain the situation to her and so, in the end, Akari got detention while Sousuke got off easily with an apology from the redhead. This was how she got that bruise. The girl clenched her teeth together in frustration. It wasn't like it was the first time this kind of thing happened. All the teachers hate her because she doesn't work hard enough while the students love to make fun of her. It was always the same. That's why she didn't have any friends. The only person she could trust was her mother.

The young redhead was so pre-occupied with her thoughts that she didn't notice that she had reached home. Akari chuckled at herself. She rung the bell and waited for her mother to answer the door. She should be at home right now since she came back from work around this time.

Soon, Yui came and answered the door so her daughter could come in. She was very worried since it was pretty late for Akari to come back from school. She hoped her daughter was alright.

Akari came in looking tired and dropped her bag on the chair. She looked at her mother and grinned and said, "Tadaima, Ka-chan!" to which Yui replied, "Okaerinasai, Musume-chan." However her gentle voice changed to a more worried one when she asked, "Why did you come so late today? I was really worried." The redhead rubbed her head shyly before answering, "Well, I kinda got into a fight which led to a detention. Sorry." Yui sighed and shook her head. This wasn't the first time Akari had gotten detention. Her teachers always said the same to her whenever she went to Akari's Parent Teacher Conference; 'Akari can do better if she didn't waste her time pranking and fighting.'

"Anyways, go and wash yourself up and then come back in to the kitchen to get lunch, alright?"Yui said and Akari nodded but before she could go to her room, her mother noticed the bruise and said, "Oh my! Akari, did you get hurt during the fight?" Akari muttered, "Yeah. Can you give me some ice to put on it?" as she remembered the stranger's advice.

The blonde nodded and immediately got an ice pack out of the freezer. She sat on the chair at the kitchen table and beckoned her daughter to come forward. Akari sat beside her mother on another chair who leaned forward to press the ice pack against the bump that was now formed on the young girl's forehead. At first, the redhead winced slightly but didn't do anything to stop her mother. After rubbing for a while, Yui put the ice pack away and asked softly, "Well, does it feel better now?" Akari nodded and got up to leave before muttering, "Thank you, Ka-chan." She then went to her room.

By the time she had taken a bath, eaten her lunch, done her homework as much as she could, did some drawing and then finally going to bed at night, Akari had forgotten completely about the redheaded young man. She didn't even mention him to her mother. Before she fell completely asleep though, she thought she saw a pair of green eyes outside her window looking straight at her but since it was so dark outside, she couldn't be sure since she didn't technically see anyone. She brushed it off and went into a deep slumber, not noticing the figure that was crouching by her window and looking at her fondly. Slowly, he whispered to himself, "Good night, Akari."

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