Diabolik Lovers: Daddy Edition

Chapter 19

...What? What did she just say?

None of the young adults in the room knew what to say. They didn’t know whether to believe her or admit her in a psychiatric ward. A virgin, managing to become pregnant with no s****l intercourse?

Bullshit. Laito is the first to come to his conclusion. He interrupts the silence with an deep rumbling chuckle that escalates to a loud, hearty laugh that bounces off the walls with the remarkable sound. You expect him, Sakamaki Laito, out of everyone in this room, to believe such a tale that was clearly stolen from scripture.

“What are you telling us, Ryoko-San? That you’re the Virgin Mary? That Ema is God in human flesh?”

“Laito-Kun!” Yui scolds, but is ignored as Laito leans in closer to the already uncomfortable woman and invades her personal space unapologetically.

“Forgive me, but I’m having a hard time believing such a tall tale. If you thought we were a religious household because of the cross that happens to be hanging around Little Mama’s neck, you thought wrong.”

“Laito-Kun that’s enough.” Yui says with more edge in her voice. Laito simply glances at the eighteen-year-old girl, but the cold glare he receives is enough to get him to ease back, away from the woman, and shut his mouth. Yui nods in thanks and turns her attention back to Ryoko.

“Please continue.” Yui urges on the older woman.

Ryoko clears her throat once again and twiddles her thumbs as her fingers grip at her black pencil skirt.

“I was frightened. I couldn’t take care of a child, I wasn’t ready. I was just beginning to build a life for myself and I thought that some freak of nature would ruin me at that stage.”

Yui’s left eye twitches. The brothers notice. Ryoko does not as she continues to keep speaking.

“But after taking some time to establish my own life build a home for myself, I realized the mistake I made. I had my success, but no one to share it with. I thought about coming back for her sooner, but my own self doubts held me back.” Ryoko explains, but continues on.

“Please, I know that you probably think I’m some heartless woman whose lost her mind, but I implore you to let me see my daughter.”

Another twitch.

All is quiet and Ryoko is only willing to look at the young woman before her. She expects her to yell, or maybe even laugh. No one, not even her family believes her story and it’s probably the same for these people. The thought makes her hang her head.

“Serinuma-San,” Ryoko looks up, “I believe you.”

Ryoko gazes deeply into the eyes of Yui but she doesn’t see anything false hidden behind them.

“However,” Yui continues, “you say we think of you as a ‘heartless woman whose lost her mind’?” Yui mocks.

“No, we think of you as a selfish woman who gave us the opportunity to care for and love a wonderful little girl,” Yui states matter-of-factly as her gaze hardens on the woman in front of her, “and now you say you want her back? Impossible.”

Yui ends the conversation and heads in the direction of her daughter’s room, not wanting to say anymore or even look in the direction of Serinuma Ryoko.

The brothers only look on at Yui’s retreating form, marveling at her distancing figure before turning their attention back to the blonde woman.

Before the triplets can pounce, Reiji grabs their attention.

“Since it is late, Serinuma-San you may stay the night. It’ll be troublesome if you got into some kind of accident on your back.” Reiji states. “Our servant will show you to your room.”

The triplets along with the rest of the brothers glare at the second son, knowing this was a silent way of telling them to behave, at least for now. Ryoko could only widen her eyes in shock, “N-No, I possibly couldn’t do such a thing. The hospitality you’ve shown me is already more than enough, I couldn’t intrude on your family.” Serinuma tries to decline politely, is silenced with a harsh, ice-cold glare from the dark haired Sakamaki.

“You already are.” His voice falls low in a menacing and disdainful tone.

Ryoko instantly shuts her mouth feeling quiet awkward knowing that she isn’t welcomed in the slightest. Yet she knew that arguing at this point would get her nowhere, so she nods dumbly and follows a bland looking butler up to her guest bedroom. She thanks the gentleman but is only rewarded with silence and a blank look.

Once she is left to her own devices, she whips out a phone from her purse and looks around the room in fear of the Sakamakis pulling the same stunt they did just minutes before. After making sure the coast is clear, Serinuma takes out a small black flip phone and rapidly types in a number.

“Yes, it’s me. I’m at the Sakamaki Estate. Yes, I’m sure they have her. No, I haven’t seen her. I know. I’ll try my best to get custody but it seems as if it’ll be hard. Yes sir. I know sir. She is the vessel you’ve been looking for. Goodbye.”

The blonde quickly ends the call and moves to set down her things before turning around to head towards the en suite.

“Well, well, well, it seems as if the Little Slut was holding back more information than she led on.” A melodic voice hums. Ryoko stops in her tracks and turns back to the bed only to see a certain fedora-wearing young man perched on the queen sized mattress. In his hand is the very same phone she used to talk to her superiors. She quickly saw how fast her situation was looking more grim by the second, but had no words to say, absolutely nothing to say to justify that phone call.

“Why are you- how did you even get in here?” Is the only thing that she could muster.

Laito chuckles. His shoulders begin to quake at the rumbling in his chest and the rapid intakes of air to accommodate his lungs. “My, my Little Slut, I wouldn’t worry about minor details like that. I would worry more about yourself,” Laito suddenly stops laughing and the gleam in his radiant green eyes begin to show a royally sadistic glint that sends a cold chill running down the spine of the woman in question; Laito stands and saunters his way over to effectively trap the woman between his towering form and the wall before leaning his face dangerously close to her own, “and I’d choose your next set of words carefully if I were you, because they might be your last.” The young male with short auburn locks smirks, not caring if his fang stuck out or not.

But Serinuma caught on fairly quickly, the white, prominent canine stuck out like a sore thumb in that moment and the sun-kissed blonde woman could only pale at the sight of it as she begins to stammer, “V-Vampire.”

...

“Hi Mommy!” Ema greets the eighteen-year-old mother that enters the child’s bedroom. From ceiling to floor, the room is covered in pink, frills, and all kinds of wonderful soft and adorable things. However, when greeted by her sweet child it felt as if a fist took hold of Yui’s heart and gave it the most painful squeeze. Her smile wasn’t as bright as it normally would since the pain in the young woman’s chest made it hard to be completely genuine, and Ema, call it intuition or not, could tell that something was bothering her maternal figure.

“Why do you look so sad, Mommy?”

Yui couldn’t take it anymore. She could only hope that Ema would learn to understand what it is she’s about to do.

“That’s what I want to tell you, Ema. Come here.” Yui beckons with a wave of her hand to call the little girl over. Once she drew close enough, Yui crouches down to her daughter’s height and looks into the bright, hopeful baby blue eyes that she’s come to know so well and love with all her heart. Yet, these eyes look exactly the same as the woman who is truly her mother. What on earth is she supposed to do? Who is she to deprive her daughter the right of knowing where she came from? Why should she be the one keeping her daughter away from her biological mother? She had no right. None.

Yui’s heart slowly develops a crack, and another, and another, and another to the point of shattering the pieces.

“E-Ema,” Yui begins, “there’s something I need to tell you baby girl.”

Ema could only tilt her head. What could have made her mother so upset?

“Ema, you know Mommy loves you, but I... I’m not your mother.”

Huh? What is she talking about? How can Mommy not be Mommy? Little Ema is beyond confused but for some reason she felt as if she needed to cry the more she thought about it. If Mommy isn’t her Mommy, then who is? She doesn’t want another! She loves the young woman whose been taking care of her for as long as she could remember. Yui saw the conflicted expression paint her daughter’s face, and it only caused her more pain knowing she would have to explain.

“Listen to me, please, I found you when you were just a baby. There is a woman downstairs who is your real mommy and she’s here to take you back.” Yui somehow tells her daughter even though her voice threatened to crack and release a sob.

“...No.”

Yui looks back in shock at her young child.

“No! You’re my mommy! I don’t want another! I want to stay with you and Daddy! Don’t let her take me!” The young girl cries loudly while tugging on her trusty stuffed Bunny in her hand as she attempts to wipe her overflowing tears with the other. The sight wanted to make Yui cry along with her child, but she holds strong and quickly embraces her adoptive child.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Ema. Please forgive me.”

In that moment she could only bring Ema closer, holding her tighter; she could only do what a mother would do.

...

After awhile, Ema cried herself to sleep that evening. It was a heartbreaking experience for both mother and child, but Yui could only sigh as she tucks in the toddler in her large bed. Getting some rest tonight would do her some good.

She leaves her daughter’s bedroom, making sure to leave the door ajar so that the light from the hallway would pour into the dark room. After leaving the scene, she makes her way to her own room but unexpectedly she is stopped on her journey to her bed.

“Is something wrong, Kanato-Kun?”

In the middle of the hallway, and effectively cutting off Yui’s route, stood the violet haired vampire. A frown adorns his small pale lips as he hugs Teddy close to his torso.

“You’re not actually going to hand Ema over to that woman, are you, Yui-San? Teddy and I don’t want that!” Kanato grits out. Yui witnesses as the young vampiric male tightens his hold on Teddy and understands his pain, but needs to make her intentions clear.

“Kanato-Kun, that woman is Ema’s mother, her real one. They should be together, it’s only fair.”

“Is it fair to you? To us? She’s our daughter! We fed, clothed, changed, and loved her unconditionally! Not that woman who just shows up after deciding on a whim that she suddenly wants her child back!” Kanato argues feeling this anger rise. Nonetheless, Yui shakes her head.

“It’s only right, Kanato.” Yui states, even more dejected than she was earlier. She tries to walk pass the fourth Sakamaki son but is grabbed by her arm which disables her to continue. Kanato simply stares at the young woman before opening his mouth to speak again

“You won’t say that it’s right once you know the truth.” Are his words. Yui looks at the young man quizzically. What does he mean by that?

“What are you talking about, Kanato-Kun? What truth?” Yui asks a bit skeptical.

“Come with me. I’ll show you.”

...

Kanato leads Yui down to the dungeon. They appear before the others with Yui holding on to Kanato, still not used to being transported in that manner. All of the other vampiric brothers stood around waiting as Yui untangles herself from their sibling and watches as she steps forward after a lump on the floor catches her eye.

“What do you think you’re doing? Why is she down here? What did you all do?” Yui questions them sternly, slightly convinced that they already killed the poor woman. She waits patiently with a mild glare as Laito is the first to speak.

“I found the Little Slut talking on the phone. The conversation sounded sketchy so I... interrogated her. That’s when the others got involved.” The always trendy vampire explains to the young high school girl.

“Is she dead?” Yui asks for confirmation.

“No. She passed out before she said anything useful.” Reiji fills in, “It seems our existence as vampires came more as a fright to her.”

Yui nods, “What was she talking about on the phone?”

“From the number last dialed on her phone, it was a government number. What we can theorize is that our guest here only came back to turn Ema over to the elites, and I suppose it has something to do with Ema’s unknown origin.” Reiji states while adjusting his glasses to fit perfectly on his face. After he finishes, Yui remains silent to process the information that is told to her. Once she allows Reiji’s words sink in, she felt herself grow completely numb and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees.

She doesn’t realize it but her body is moving closer and closer to Serinuma’s unconscious body.

“Hey, Pancake, just what are you gonna do, huh?” Ayato asks with skepticism.

Yui doesn’t bother to answer.

A pale, slender yet firm hand grips at the collar of Ryoko’s business shirt.

Slap!

The dungeon was dead silent as the Sakamaki brothers looked on in shock and disbelief. Komori Yui continues to mercilessly slap the white smooth cheeks of Serinuma Ryoko not caring about the audience she has. She needs this pathetic woman to wake up, and she needs to wake up now.

After another blow to the cheek the woman starts to open her eyes, slightly sobbing in pain once she realizes that she is still in this fear-inducing hell hole known as the Sakamaki Manor. Ryoko feels the sting of her now blaring red cheeks and cries once more in agony. Why is this happening to her?

Yui raises her hand to strike the woman again, causing Ryoko to flinch back in fear.

“Are you awake now?” Yui asks rhetorically.

“Yes!”

“Good. Now you will answer my questions.” Yui tells the woman, not giving her room to argue. Ryoko’s eyes dart from Yui to her six vampiric lovers. They all smirk at the sight of unhindered, delectable fear but Yui grips at the blonde’s chin and forces her to look directly into the dark lifeless spiral of her dull pink eyes. With her other hand, she whips out Subaru’s knife and holds the blade dangerously close to Ryoko’s throat.

“Don’t look at them. They are not of your concern. You will tell me everything you know about Ema. Tell me why you’re really here!” Yui spits out the words that a were deadly poison on her tongue. When Serinuma doesn’t answer right away, Yui drags the blade up from her neck to her chin in a long, jagged line. The cool metal sent chills down Ryoko’s spine, and soon she lets out a whimper as it digs into her soft flesh back down at the base of her neck. Yui glares into the eyes of Ryoko as the red ooze flows from the incision.

“Or would you rather they continue their own interrogation?” Yui asks blandly, knowing very well the woman would comply with her demands.

Quickly, Ryoko shakes her head unable to form proper words.

“I thought so. Tell me, why are you truly here?” Yui inquires again while twisting and turning the knife in her fingers.

“E-Everything I’ve told you so far has been the truth! Ema is a child I had conceived without having s****l relations with anyone! After that, I was scared I thought it was a freak accident so I left her to be someone else’s problem. But then, someone contacted me saying that the baby I had was crucial in some major discovery!”

“What discovery?” Yui pries further.

Ryoko gulps, “The higher-ups believe that Ema is a key to another world. She is the vessel of its creator- of an entire alternate dimension! Some say it’s the work of God, but whatever she is they want to find out. And to get close to her, they found out I was her biological and ordered me to retrieve her for future research and experiments.” The woman with golden locks explains.

Yui glares intensely at Serinuma to the point that her gaze nearly bore holes into the woman’s face.

“Is that everything? If I find out you’re withholding information, I’ll let them find creative ways to draw it out of you.” Yui re-informs the older woman.

Ryoko nods in confirmation, “That’s all I know, I swear! Please don’t kill me!” The woman begs while holding her head down in shame and fear of what would occur next. Her sun blonde hair pools over her shoulders and her light blue eyes begin to fill with salty tears. Please God, she didn’t want to die, not like this.

“...I believe you.” Yui states.

Ryoko looks up in shock. No way. How? Why? It didn’t matter anymore to Ryoko, it was enough that out of everyone, Yui is the only one to believe her.

Yui sees hope rising in the eyes of the older woman, but unlike the hopeful look that would appear in her daughter’s eyes and feeling the need to nurture it, Yui wants to watch it die all over again.

“But, don’t ever show your face around, me, my home, and especially not my daughter.” Yui speaks coldly, not caring if Ryoko still felt hopeful or not. Yui is about to exit when she feels a tug on her ankle.

She looks back at the heaping mess on the floor.

“What do you want now?” She asks a bit annoyed.

“Please, before I leave, please let me see her. Only once is fine.”

“...Five minutes.”

...

They drag Serinuma out from the dungeon. Her clothes were a mess, and her hair looks like a bird’s nest but that didn’t matter. All that matters is the little golden blonde girl with bright blue eyes staring at her from behind another woman’s leg. The woman she calls Mommy. Upon seeing the little girl it broke Ryoko’s heart that she couldn’t have gotten to know the miraculous little human.

After a minute of silence Ryoko clears her throat, “H-Hello Ema, my name is Serinuma Ryoko. It’s nice to finally meet you.” The woman crouches down to be at eye level with her biological daughter to formally introduce herself.

Ema delivers a look of distrust to the woman smiling awkwardly at her, and looks up to the young woman she believes to still be her mother.

Yui looks down with a sad smile, “Ema, this woman is your biological mother. Don’t be rude, okay?” The young seventeen year old instructs her daughter.

Ema looks up in horror, it had to be a lie. But Mommy never lies. The toddler is so confused, she was awoken by Yui and told to follow her to meet the mystery woman downstairs. If Yui says that this weird woman is indeed her mother then it is certainly true. Yet Ema still held her doubts.

Again she turns to the woman and bows slightly, “Nice to meet you.”

“Wow you’re so polite, I’m glad that I get to finally see you after all this time.” Ryoko smiles.

“You mean after you threw me away?” Ema says not knowing how much weight her words truly carry. Yui simply glances at her daughter and waits for a reply that Ryoko is struggling to deliver. In the distance, the brothers are trying to hold back their snickers knowing exactly what their child had said.

Regardless, Serinuma couldn’t even form a coherent sentence when Ema spoke again, “You may be my mother, but you’ll never be my mommy! I don’t want to go with you, I want to stay with Mommy and Daddy!” Ema tells while gripping hard on to the back of Yui’s knee.

“Go away!” Is Ema’s final blow to Ryoko’s heart. But she knows that she deserves every hit. After a few moments of silence, Serinuma offers a weak smile and nods in understanding.

“Yes, I think it is time for me to leave. Thank you for taking care of her.”

Ryoko stands and bows to Yui and the Sakamaki brothers. She knew that she would most likely fail her mission, but at this point she didn’t care. All that matters is that her daughter had something that she couldn’t provide for her: love.

Ryoko leaves the estate, her shoes clicking against the pavement. She wonders if she could call a taxi at this time of night when an expensive looking black car pulls up to the side of her. Serinuma panics, thinking it is her employer and hastily bows with an apology ready at the tip of her tongue as the window rolled down.

“Get in the car, Serinuma-San.”

This voice. She recognized it. The blonde haired woman looks up to see ruby red eyes, porcelain skin, and long flowing platinum blonde hair through the small car window.

“Sakamaki Karlheinz. What—?” However before she could question the politician, Ryoko finds herself being grabbed and stuffed into the backseat of the luxury car with the handsome and powerful man as she is gagged and bounded.

Unease and unadulterated fear boils in the pit of her stomach as he smirks. Showing off a glistening pair of stark white fangs as his eyes glow menacingly while staring at her cowering form in the darkness.

After that night, no one has heard from Serinuma Ryoko again.