Diabolik Lovers, and canon plot based panfandom RP.
Raven
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Eri
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Ogo
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STAFFER NAME
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Karl Heinz and his wives, and Richter are not available for application by the gen public. They will be written by admins or admin upon request. Any and all outside of the boys will be up for interaction for personal plot advancement upon request.
Lunch time! The bell chimed to signal the beginning of the midday (midnight?) break, and Jen got swept up in the flow of students heading toward the cafeteria. She stopped in for a bit of chilled milk tea, but otherwise, her plans mostly included heating up the food her mother had sent with her (tonight's meal consisted of a relatively mild pork curry, brown rice, a fresh mango, and a slice of homemade rum cake) and then finding a place to settle down away from the crowd - preferably, outside, since it was supposed to be pleasantly warm out and the moon was waxing.
Cheer practice was supposed to start this week; Jen still sometimes turned over that strange call in her head (why did Kou need to know if she'd slept with Ruki? Why didn't he use his own phone? etc.) but as time distanced her from that odd day, she thought on it a tad less.
...wait. The dhampir noticed a certain head of thick black hair, coiffed, on a nearly six foot frame. Granted, this description wasn't totally unique in Ryoutei, but something about that gait was the tipoff. Could it be...? Jen already knew that she and Ruki, that guy she'd met twice at bars (under slightly differing circumstances), attended the same academy; but this was the first time she'd seen him (or at least, had a reason to notice him).
She didn't know what came over her, but on a whim, Jen picked up her pace a bit, and called after him, "Ruki?"
With that, she broke into a brief jog to catch up to the vampire, so that she could make eye contact (and make sure she was really talking to who she thought she was). Sure enough, the profile was similar, the facial features, his almond-shaped gray eyes, the near-permanently serious resting expression... it had to be him. Jen smiled a little, her pace slightly ahead of him, "Fancy seeing you here, stranger~ guess we were bound to run into each other here at some point. How ya been?"
[attr="class","textieno"]Class has been dismissed, the time is set for lunch, and all of the students have dashed out of their classroom, leaving Ruki the last person to leave as usual. All the better, it’s less people to deal with instead of being pushed around, like being trampled by a herd of livestock. Ruki could honestly care less about food right now, he’s more than likely just going to get whatever seems appetizing and eat somewhere, quiet.[break][break]
He clenched on to his book, tightly and close. That book has been a part of his life, and to lose it would be...well, tragic. The amount of times he has read it, the importance it has been to him. Then he remembers that remark Kou made about him reading only that book, and nothing else. That day was something; having to punish Kou for not only teasing him, but also for that phone call incident. How embarrassing; to be humiliated on the phone while he asked for it back in the background of that call.[break][break]
Oh, did Kou get punished for it, badly. Ruki didn’t even notice Azusa witnessing, and listening to it going on, and on.[break][break]
To distract himself from thinking about his younger brother, he chose to read his book and opening it to a few pages ahead. Since he’s read multiple times, any point could be a good starting set. However, little did he know he wasn’t going to read it for long when a certain yet, familiar voice called out to him in the middle of the hallways.[break][break]
Are you serious?[break][break]
He continued to read on ahead, ignoring that girl he happens to always meet at any bar. Pay no attention to her, she’ll go away. Wrong. That’s not the case; she didn’t disappear, she caught up to him in a jog, and began a conversation with him. Oh great. It did come to mind that he did say he attends here, but that’s only because he had forgotten about her being a transfer student here, and also jumping to the assumption that she’s a college student. What a big mistake he made that night, no huge.[break][break]
"Fancy seeing you here, stranger~ guess we were bound to run into each other here at some point. How ya been?"[break][break]
Must she say that? Seriously? Admittedly, she’s not wrong about that; it’s very much inevitable that they were going to see each other in Ryoutei, some time. It just so happens to be today. Doesn’t Ruki have the greatest luck, ever? [break][break]
He closed his book, knowing that she’s not going away. After being around her two times, it’s coming to terms that if he dares on trying to say something like “go away” or “leave me alone”, it’s not going to happen. Well the first time they saw each other, she had no choice; she works at that bar, but less talking would’ve been nice. Second time, different bar but she ended up getting buzzed up and what happens? Long talk.[break][break]
Admittedly, the conversation that day was interesting, until she decided to bring up one question that he couldn’t bring himself to answer. It’s too personal on his part. Still, he did promise himself to not see her, again. It’s not going to happen. The vampire is starting to believe that it’s not going to happen, unless someone messes up. Hopefully that’ll be the case, but with Jen here, she seems at all not the type to mess up on her part. She’s rather smart, and knows what she’s doing.[break][break]
“Long story short; I’m fine.” He answered, with some bitterness in his voice. “I suppose you want to talk more, is that it?”
Jen wasn't sure if she should be surprised by such bluntness or not; though, she wasn't exactly complaining about it - Ruki spoke straight to the point, which made things a lot less complicated, and really made him easy to talk to despite his rather frigid demeanor.
She maintained her half-cocked smile, and having caught up with him, held both pace and eye contact by walking backwards, "I mean, I probably wouldn't flag you down like this otherwise, so yeah, you could say I'd like to talk with you more."
The dhampir glanced behind her to make sure she wouldn't run into anything (or anyone) then continued, "I was actually going to ask if you wouldn't mind joining me for lunch? I was planning to sit outside..." she glanced to his hands, he only appeared to have a book with him (one apparently quite old and, as some bibliophiles might say, well-loved, though still in fairly good shape) and not much else, "and if you're hungry, I've got enough to share."
She couldn't be sure of Ruki's economic situation; he didn't exactly go into detail about it, and she didn't ask. He couldn't have been terribly poor (or, in her ignorance, his parents might have a decent amount of income) if he was able to not only attend but look fairly put-together... so why didn't he have food with him? Jen hoped she wasn't interrupting anything, like his studies or a meeting or something; once in a while she'd been guilty of neglecting to get food because she had her mind on a project at hand, so it was entirely possible that Ruki was the same way.
[attr="class","textieno"]He’s right; she wanted to talk him more, again. How can anyone not figure that one out?[break][break]
As he thought before, he’s not going to be able to get rid of her, so easily. Not a chance. Which meant...yes, having to oblige to the it. Reluctantly, in addition. Still, he doesn’t know what it is that’s making her want to talk to him more. He’s given a lot of negativity towards her, in which surprisingly, hasn’t made her scurry off, yet. Unlike most people, she’s still sticking around. Why is that? Is she that optimistic for a change, or is she trying to prove something that many people have tried to and failed? Is it still that equal exchange topic? If so, what’s the next plan and how is she going to pull it off and “impress” him?[break][break]
She’s inviting him to eat outside. Outside is actually a good spot to eat, especially when wanting to avoid such a noisy crowd of people in the cafeteria. He isn’t exactly all that hungry, and only planned to get something that may seem good. Guess that’s not going to be the situation for today.[break][break]
It took Jen a moment to finish off her sentence, resulting in Ruki to take a glance at her to see what’s catching her attention; He saw her eyes focusing on the book that he always carries with him. When she finally finished the sentence, he moved his arm that holds the book to his side. At least she’s not asking about what he’s reading. It’s none of her business, anyway.[break][break]
Should he reject or accept the offer? The outcomes of each choice are rather different; rejection would possibly lead to an argument because of his reasoning of eating food that’s from someone that he labels lower than him. He knew exactly how that went down, no thanks to the texting incident, and the slight talk about the equal stuff at the lounge. Accepting it means, having to stick with her for a while. Being around her; something he wasn’t hoping for. Lose, lose situation. He’s not going to argue with her, he’s been having enough of arguments for these past few times already. It’s getting too repetitive.[break][break]
He’s never going to say this at all, but it does surprise him that she hasn’t stand down or left him alone. The fact she still wants to talk more with him, it’s catching his attention. Due to his pride, he’ll never admit that. Still, he’s curious,[break][break]
“Since it’s somewhere quiet, I’ll accept your offer.” Saying that somewhat gave him an odd feeling, it’s so unusual it even sounds weird coming out from someone so arrogant, like him. To accept an offering of lunch from some person he’s just met, it’s very rare.[break][break]
Thank goodness no one’s around to see this, especially a certain idol of a brother.
To be honest, Jen had braced herself for a rejection, considering that he'd seemed rather lukewarm - at best - about her trying to get to know him, but to her surprise, he accepted.
Her face lit up with a far wider smile, as she acknowledged his response, "Awesome! Well, I guess next we should settle where we want to go outside: would you prefer the roof, or ground level? Personally," she brushed a lock of hair out of her eye, "I prefer the rooftop, but I'm not that picky."
Jen was still a bit curious about that book; generally in her experience, bookworms tended to be glad to share what it was they were so engrossed in, but she couldn't be sure with him. He reacted to certain questions more fervently than would be expected, and telling by how close he held it to him... maybe it was something private. A journal? Who knows?
"Do you have any food of your own with you?" She supposed that question would have come up eventually, "Again, not that I mind sharing, but it is something of a curiosity."
The dhampir thought about it, then added, "Also, you're not allergic to anything, are you?"
[attr="class","textieno"]Good, they’re on the same page for the subject of seatings.[break][break]
“Rooftop is fine.” He answered. It’s not that he doesn’t like sitting on the grass, it’s just that the rooftop is more of a better area to eat; you get a better view of the area outside of the school. Jen seemed ecstatic about the acceptance, not too excited but the wide grin said it all. How much is he going to regret this decision? Honestly though, it’s better than an argument in the middle of the hallways.[break][break]
Figures she’s going to ask that question. No point in avoiding it, plus, it’s a simple question to answer.[break][break]
“I don’t carry a meal with me to school.” He answered in a calm voice, “I rarely eat around these times.” He’s either having a small meal, or drinking blood out of Yui but even then, he barely even does so at the school.[break][break]
He could’ve commented on that, saying that question is rather dense, but what stopped Ruki from saying that is because Jen doesn’t know that he’s a vampire. When will she discover that fact, who knows? It might be sooner, or possibly later. Only time will tell.[break][break]
“No, I have no allergic problems that could be of worrying. Whatever it is you have there, I will not have a reaction to it.”
Huh... that's a fair point. It's possible he didn't bring any food with him because he simply wasn't a big eater (telling by his lean - though not unhealthy - frame, this was plausible), although Jen still hadn't let go of the previous conversations they'd had: the cold hands, the sudden interest he took when she mentioned the danger inherent in her father's occupation... but she had no way to truly confirm that. Yet.
"Makes sense. I just don't like to see people I know go hungry if I have any say in it, you know?"
Luckily, they didn't need to change directions to head toward the stairs to the rooftop; Jen did like it there, since she could see the city from that vantage point, or the moon and stars, and it sometimes got pleasantly breezy. Though, she also didn't mind ground level - having grown up as something of a tomboy, and - to a slightly lesser extent - a bit of a hippie, she was fond of kicking off her shoes (and socks, when applicable) to feel the grass on her bare feet.
In response to the lack of allergies, she hummed, "Good, good~ I like when I don't have to worry about that sort of stuff. You like spicy food at all?"
Was it just for the fact that there was no alcohol to make the conversation flow easier, that the small talk felt a bit harder than before? Or... did they even really make small talk before? The last in-depth exchange they'd had seemed to get relatively deep, or was starting to, before Jen had accidentally touched on a sensitive topic. It had lingered in her mind since they'd parted, but she also figured it was better to give Ruki some breathing space before contacting him again. She guessed it had been about a week since that encounter, so that was sufficient, right?
Jen reached for the door to the stairs, and as she positioned herself to hold it open for him (who says the guy has to hold it for the girl all the time? Not Jen; it was just common courtesy as far as she was concerned), the question poured forth, "So, I'm guessing Kou is your brother, and I think a couple weeks ago I met another boy with the same last name. Mukami... Azusa, I think I said that right. Is he related to you?"
It was a reasonable question, she couldn't be sure what constituted a common last name in Japan; however, she recalled that Azusa was a bit darker in complexion than either Ruki or Kou, so she figured it might be rude to assume anything.
[attr="class","textieno"]It took him a moment to think about that.[break][break]
“We only spoke to each other about three times, though?” He raised his brow at her. She makes it seem like they know each other long enough for her to care about...ugh, that’s a thought he never think would pop in his mind. He ignored the thought, immediately.[break][break]
Sounds like spicy things might be her favorite kind of foods, like his youngest brother, Azusa. However, their likings to spice might be of different reasons. Azusa has a fascination to spices in a rather...peculiar way.[break][break]
“I don’t mind spicy food,” He gave her his response. He has gotten used it, thanks to Azusa. However, Yuma is a different story when it comes to spicy food. “As long as the food doesn’t taste too strong, it’s fine.” If there’s one thing he can hate about food, it’s if it has a strong taste to it. He hates that and would never eat very strong food. The flavor has to be well balanced.[break][break]
The conversation they were having is rather just small idle chit-chat. Not exactly like the somewhat to almost deep talks that they usually have. It’s probably that there’s no alcohol to drink, or that the atmosphere is different at Ryoutei, comparing to the lounge. No, it’s got to be the alcohol. Jen was a bit more buzzed the last time they had a longer conversation. Ruki, not so much, but that’s because he kept talking more than drinking.[break][break]
How unusual for the female to do the honors of opening the door for the male, and not the other way around. Quite a switch in the roles, but Ruki does have his manners, too. She didn’t have to do that, with all honesty. He gestured her to go first, instead, holding the door open with her. Not sure if it’s the manners, or the pride that got to him for that moment. More than likely the pride.[break][break]
Of course Jen knows Kou, and to confirm that they’re brothers isn’t even bold, it’s just obvious. That phone call situation, it’s easy to say that they’re brothers. Some would probably say that they’re “frenemies” because they look nowhere near alike (obviously, since they’re adopted), but no, they’re definitely brothers. Ruki however, didn’t think that she knew about Azusa. Azusa though, is not as problematic as Kou. Only at some points Azusa can be a bit of a problem, but that’s easy to tolerate.[break][break]
“Affirmative.” He confirmed, “Considering the fact that you were on the phone with him, Kou’s my younger brother. Azusa is the youngest.” He may as well add on to the inclusion of Yuma. Who knows if she knew him, or not. “There are four of us; myself, Kou, Yuma and Azusa.”
To that, Jen simply shrugged, "That's enough for me. As long as we've talked more than once, especially considering the conversation we had? I think it's fair to say that I know you. Granted, I'm not suggesting that we know each other well, but it seems appropriate to call us acquaintances."
He doesn't like strong-tasting food... what does he mean by "strong-tasting"? This was an oddly subjective term to use - not to mention, vague - so her brow furrowed for a moment, "I guess that depends on your definition of strong? It's a pork curry, so it's hardly bland, but I like to think my mother knows what she's doing after all these years. I dunno, maybe after you try it you can tell me."
Though not exactly to her surprise, it did give her pause when Ruki offered to hold the door for her even after she'd taken it upon herself. Jen's first instinct was to meet his eyes, and she held the eye contact for a second or two; her first instinct had been to question it, and her mouth had begun to open... but she lingered for a moment (perhaps a moment longer than she would have liked), and decided against it. Her lips closed again, and she cleared her throat as she took her weight off of the door, "...Thanks."
I mean... I kind of intended for you to go through, but whatever. I won't fight you on it I guess.
As she began to ascend the stairs - with Ruki close behind her - she was partly glad that she'd negotiated permission to wear the men's uniform. Partly, it was because she positively hated the way the women's dress uniform looked on her, but partly because he couldn't look up her skirt (though in fairness, Ruki didn't strike her as that type). Jen then sort of shifted sideways as she walked up, so she could easily glance back at her companion while they talked, "Ah, I haven't met Yuma then. I actually met Azusa at the aquarium - he was such a darling. Kind of shy, though, is he always like that?"
So he had three brothers in total... she couldn't imagine having that many siblings. Jen was, of course, an only child; her parents had tried to conceive again, but for some reason it just never happened, so she got their full attention while growing up... and although she did occasionally get lonely, she wouldn't trade it for the world. Instead, she just got more outgoing and reached out to friends to combat those occasional spells.
"Are any of you blood related to each other? Not that there's anything wrong with being adopted if that's the case - family isn't just blood, after all; I'm just curious since the three of you I have met, look and act nothing alike."
[attr="class","textieno"]To hear that...acquaintances. The sickening feeling began to kick in, and it’s only a matter of time if Jen’s to ever consider each other “friends”. If Ruki has no choice but to label her as an acquaintance, so be it. Might as well keep it that way, for good. There’s no way he would let it go any further than that. Why did he have to respond to many things she always said throughout their past conversations? Terrible act of instincts; a bad habit to just respond whenever he pleases or feels like he should have a say in something.[break][break]
“By strong tastes, I mean dishes that have too much flavor. For example, if people were to put in too much salt, pepper, vinegar, sauces, garlic, spices and other ingredients. If there’s too much of it in a dish, I will not eat it.” He explained. It’s a surprise that alcoholic beverages are in his liking, some at least. If it’s a drink where he can really taste the alcohol, he’s not going to drink it. Flavors have to be well balanced or at least done right.[break][break]
Well then, that’s the first time Jen has ever mentioned about her mother. She never brought her up in the last conversation where she had talked about her father and this “dangerous” secret she so mentioned. Her mother’s probably not a part of it.[break][break]
“So your mother’s the one who made this?” He asked her. Well, he’s a cook himself, and he recently has himself interested in making original recipes. Guess being a food critic won’t be that problematic.[break][break]
Just a slight moment, there was definitely eye contact between the two. Only just for a moment though, it wasn’t like a whole stare in complete awe for the longest time. Jen though, finally moved on ahead, thanking him in return. Whatever that was all about, Ruki ignored it. It did look like she was about to say something to him while locking eyes with him, but she must’ve decided to drop it.[break][break]
Now that she’s in front of him, he did take notice that she’s not really wearing the usual female school uniform. Not that he wanted to see anything, he’s not exactly attracted to her in any way, it’s just that seeing a female wearing the men’s uniform is “rare”? If anything, almost all the girls wore the typical school uniform where they have to wear a skirt. Jen didn’t, and it’s probably because of the gawkers around here. It wouldn’t surprise him if a certain Sakamaki has laid his eyes on her because of her bust. He’s not going to ask her why she’s wearing the men’s uniform, the assumptions that he has on his mind are more than likely the answers.[break][break]
“I actually met Azusa at the aquarium - he was such a darling. Kind of shy, though, is he always like that?"[break][break]
Oh Azusa, what can Ruki explain about his youngest sibling without bringing out too much details? Especially ones that can creep a person out.[break][break]
“Azusa isn’t one that tends to be really social amongst others. Though if one’s to approach him, he tends to do what he wants to his heart’s content to make the person happy.” He explained to Jen, trying to give her some gist about Azusa, “He can be however faint-hearted, you might have already noticed his slow speech pattern.”[break][break]
This question is somewhat personal but it’s not too personal to where Ruki feels uncomfortable about it. It’s only just asking if they are adopted or not. Besides, the fact that their appearances are nowhere near alike, it’s really obvious.[break][break]
“We were all adopted, growing up together and…” He can’t really say much. The Mukami brothers all knew each other at the orphanage, forming that brotherly bond together and then, he came along saving their lives. Ruki can’t bring that up to her.[break][break]
To be frank, his answer didn't really clarify much on what he meant by strong. Was that to mean that he preferred bland food? "Too much" was again, extremely subjective. Jen decided to just leave that as it was and let the curry speak for itself when the time came, "If it makes any difference, I pour it over a bed of rice before I eat it. That sometimes mitigates sharper notes."
She glanced back at him, and she smiled proudly, puffing herself up a bit, "She sure did! Nothing quite like mama's soul food, no sir."
Jen listened as Ruki explained his youngest brother; she remained quiet so as to take it all in. It certainly fit with what she'd observed of Azusa at the aquarium that day - he was soft-spoken and his speech pattern was unusually slow, with peculiar breaks. If she had to take a guess, she'd think he might be somewhere on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum, but it probably wasn't really appropriate to ask.
Hmm... the truncated manner in which Ruki talked about growing up with his adopted brothers felt unusually abrupt, even given how tight-lipped he seemed in general. Clearly, there was something more going on... or that had gone on, that really made him uncomfortable.
Whatever it is, something in his past must have been horribly traumatic if he's that secretive.
"I see. Do you all live with your parents or something? The ones that adopted you, I mean?" Jen's expression fell into something a bit more somber, to emphasize that she meant no ill will, "Again, if you don't feel comfortable talking about it, just say so and I'll change the subject. Or, you know, feel free to ask me whatever... save that one question, of course."
[attr="class","textieno"]“That’s fine.” It’s still food, it’s not like she’s trying to poison him or anything. He doesn’t believe she’s like that other Sakamaki who happens to be the most mature of them all, but tends to poison others with tea. That family, in general...disgusting.[break][break]
The sound of pride in her voice, proud of her mother’s cooking. She probably loves her mother a lot, as well as her mother to Jen in return, if she’s willing to make her a meal and possibly do whatever else for her. Like there has to be a close connection between her and mother with all that pride. Something he may never understand in his life. Can he envy her for that? He couldn’t be too sure to feel that way.[break][break]
Living with parents? Now that he thinks about it, can he consider that man a parent? He did after all save him and his brothers, giving them a new life and a purpose to live. But is he really much of a father towards them? Ruki couldn’t hate the man and neither could his brothers, they respect him and...they had to fulfill the plan. Forget it, why think about that? It’s the plan that matters most.[break][break]
“My brothers and I all live together. No one else.” Good thing she hasn’t gone any further than that, but it’s almost to the point where it could hit the line between personal and basic.[break][break]
“I would appreciate it if this subject is dropped for now. I do not feel that it is your right and privilege to know about personal things about my familial life.” The last time she asked a question that’s too personal, he had stopped talking to her, making it awkward between the two at the lounge. If she wants to keep acquainted with him, it’s best to start talking about something else instead of his personal life.[break][break]
Then again, letting it happen could end the conversation and he could stop seeing her. No, that’s a bad idea. why get triggered from her asking about something that’s still raw?
