Hello, Vinzelles here. I have yet to figure out how this site works so please bear with me as I try to at least make this story look less messy. So, this is "A Path to Freedom", my original-but-kinda-not story based on HS:DXD. I have to reiterate the warnings you, the readers, have seen on the preview, and add a few that didn't make it to the "front page" so to speak. I feel I have the responsibility to at least tell you all what kind of story you're dealing with, so here we go:
1. This story is OC-centric. No Issei, anywhere. Ever. So don't ask for him. I might add the Boosted Gear somewhere down the line, but if I do it won't be related to the protagonist in any way whatsoever.
2. Most of the main cast will not appear, mostly because they piss me off. I've kept some, but I have yet to decide the roles for some of them. The first arc has already been written, and the second has been started as of the moment I'm writing this.
3. I have decided to blatantly steal characters from other various places, the only half-original thing will be occasionally their names if they don't fit this universe. They will be explained as they are introduced in the cliffnotes at the end of the chapter they appear in, and I'm gonna say it right now, I own nothing aside from my OC, and shall give credit where credit is due. Expect original arcs or micro-arcs alongside the usual ones as the story progresses. I might also throw in references to other shows if I feel like it, and will of course highlight them accordingly and explain them at the bottom.
4. English is not my native language. I'm Italian. I have a very good English but I'm still prone to mistakes even after having people I know and trust proofread the chapters and even after doing it myself multiple times. So be patient and if you happen to find any don't hesitate to tell me, once I figure this stuff out I'll definitely look into them.
5. Rating is M for language and blood, but don't expect lemons, since I just started writing and I have no idea of how to write one of those. For this same reason, don't expect experienced writer level quality from this fic either, especially when it comes to character descriptions; it is a flaw I'll try to correct eventually.
6. Updates will be probably weekly as time goes on, but with some luck I might be able to shorten the delay a bit, and for the time being they'll come out fairly often so that I can quickly learn how the site works. It all depends on how fast I get used to this, fundamentally.
...Phew, I think I've said enough for now. I'll see you at the bottom. Please review, any criticism is welcome as long as it is constructive. And don't chew on me too hard, k? :)
Enjoy.
Chapter 1 - Prologue
Kuoh Academy.
A fairly average school in Japan, with average students, average teachers and average classrooms. And yet, it's in this school that the occult lurks, far from the human eye. The city in which this academy resides is in fact supervisioned by those creatures commonly referred to as "devils". These creatures have successfully hidden themselves among humans, especially thanks to their physionomy that is, strangely enough, so similar to that of a human, and they tend to keep watch over the unawares in order to protect them from the truth of this ugly world full of hatred, opportunism and discrimination; to protect them from other races (or even Devils themselves sometimes) who might be willing to take advantage of them in some way. Due to their lifespan being incredibly large, they are even able to disguise themselves as the above mentioned average students more often than not, thanks to their almost-eternally young body, and they create exclusive circles in order to carry out their duties without any interference.
Kamakura Orochi was completely oblivious to these facts as he walked back home after a normal day of school alongside one of his classmates and only friend, one Nishijima Unryuu. Orochi was a fairly normal boy, despite his background which almost nobody was privy of. He was in fact an orphan, officially speaking, and as such had to live for a long while with several other children in a single building with adults watching over him. Well, "watching" was kind of an exaggeration in his case, since he had been in his fair amount of fights with other kids, with nobody trying to stop these altercations to his displeasure. He knew why the fights had happened but the reasons behind those abusive actions truly baffled him even as a child.
Apparently he had appeared out of nowhere, standing in front of the orphanage with just a piece of paper in his hand, with his name written on it, his dirty clothes on his form, coagulated blood on his temple and no recollection of how he got there in the first place, until one of the gardeners noticed his presence. As far as the other kids were concerned, he was considered as a literal ghost, both in appearance, as evident from his snow white hair and red eyes, and behaviour as well since he never tried to get along with other people. He never felt the need, it wasn't worth the effort, he felt. He always refused to force his presence, aware of his so called 'popularity' and the silly reasoning behind it. He had never done anything about it, it was pointless, they were children, and deep down he knew that as long as their fear was radicated in their hearts, nothing good would come out of talking to them. He had left them alone, so that he could be left alone himself, as he tried to come to terms with where he was and why he was there.
It was a struggle: he only remembered that he felt the need to run away, as far as possible from where he previously was, and somehow ended up in front of an orphanage. They would never find him there, because it would make no sense for them to come there of all places. Aside from that, he actually really needed the relief of not being bothered at all, so he kept himself away from the other kids. The bad popularity he had was welcomed as an effective shield.
Until one day, one of the kids felt braver than usual.
Orochi was sitting under a tree minding his own business as usual when a rolling ball came under his view. He sit there observing it until one of the kids came over to retrieve it, keeping himself at some distance however.
"...Give it back."
Orochi had raised his head at what sounded like an order, his eyes staring at the kid. The poor boy was shaking; no wonder, all that entered the ghost's field of vision was lost forever, or so the kids were thinking. 'Tch, silly rumors...' Orochi often thought when he heard them whisper. After pondering what to do, he decided to stand up and give a simple answer.
"...3 more meters and you can get it yourself. Put some effort into it next time, will you?"
He then kicked the ball forward slightly, as it reached the halfway point between himself and the other kid. He wasn't having any of it however.
"What's wrong with you, ghost? I said give it back."
"I just did. Stop whining and step forward."
That was enough of a provocation for the kid to ignore the ball, run at him in anger and punch him in the stomach. It needs to be understood that Orochi was physically very weak back then, hence why he crumbled immediately to the ground, and was left at the mercy of an angry preschooler. Then two. Then four. From then on he had been constantly bullied and beaten by multiple people, since the kids had realized that there was nothing to be afraid of after all, and seeked some sort of vengeance for making them scared like that.
It didn't last long.
After two weeks of abuse he stopped feeling pain from the blows.
Another two weeks later he wasn't even flinching.
The reward for their efforts in making him pay was absolutely nothing. After a single month, the purpose ceased to exist so they had to go back to when they were ignoring him. They had to, because somehow the ghost had gotten scarier with time. Orochi did notice the sudden weakness of the blows, and did notice a sudden rise of anger whenever they tried to hurt him, but he had a feeling that if he actually retaliated this time, he would become the one in the wrong. And he didn't see a reason to strike back either when the calm returned, considering the fact that for some reason he couldn't fathom he wasn't feeling pain anymore and as such there was no valid reason to raise his own fists, since it was a waste of effort.
It was unbelievable. 'This isn't normal, right?' he thought. He had to be sure. That same night he tried to hold the flame of a candle out of curiosity, and was left with burn marks and tears. As he laid in his bed trying to ignore the pain from his crudely bandaged hand, he decided.
'I don't get it. I don't think I ever will, so... I'll just leave it at that and try to forget about it...'
And forget he did. He had never been interested in normal sports, so he never paid any mind to the fact that his body that was supposed to be weak wasn't as weak anymore. Eventually he became interested in kickboxing and took a few courses when he became old enough, in order to avoid a repeat of what happened in his earliest life. Unavoidably, he got involved in a few more fights in his middle school, mostly to stop other bullies from doing their thing, where once again he realized that he came out with his clothes a lot cleaner than they should have been, and yet didn't pay much mind to it.
Eventually in the last year of middle school he was forced by one of the girls he protected, one of many victims of those bullies, to become friends, much to his chagrin since he just wasn't interested and only intervened because he thought it was the right thing to do. Which leads us to now...
"...Hey, Orochi-kun, want to hang out for a bit today?" Unryuu inquired in a timid voice, her own white hair bouncing in a single braid behind her back.
"Sorry, I'm not in the mood." managed to say Orochi before having to stifle a yawn.
"...But aren't you bored lately? ...You keep whining about it too..."
"Yes, very bored. So bored, in fact, that I don't feel like doing anything."
"Should I be concerned?"
Orochi had to raise an eyebrow at that question. "Not at all, it's none of your business anyway so don't worry about me." he said, adding a dismissive gesture for good measure.
"...at least try to find something to do if you're in such a slump."
"I'm trying, trust me. The best solution would be finding a small part-time job, but juggling myself between that and the school sounds like the kind of pain in the ass I don't wanna deal with, sooo..."
"...So?"
"I'm considering going back to kickboxing."
"Please don't." was Unryuu's immediate answer in a flat tone. "You're fairly strong, but I don't think getting into fights is the right way to get rid of your boredom..."
"I said 'considering', calm down. I need some time to think about alternatives, too."
"And you're going to stay bored until then, and at worst even beyond that point."
Orochi couldn't deny that logic, not in front of the person that knew him best.
"...can't say you're wrong there. I hope it's just a phase."
Unryuu had a distant look in her eyes all of a sudden, but Orochi didn't notice.
"...I hope so too. But since you need a distraction right now, I should be able to help."
"Hm?" mumbled Orochi, curiosity etched in his tone.
"I recieved this little pamphlet from a lady today in front of the school." Unryuu whipped out a small piece of paper before showing it to her friend. A pentagram was printed on it, there were even an address and a QR code for a site of some kind. "I've been told that if you ever feel the need to ask for help but can't vocalize the thought you simply need to hold onto this paper and wish intensely for something, and soon enough it'll truly appear!"
Orochi was mildly annoyed at that statement, but not because of its overall silliness. "Nishijima, I can't help but think you made a jab at my personality just now!"
"Whatever are you talking about?" said Unryuu with a wide smile, seemingly unaware of her companion's anger.
"...Whatever, I'll take it if it makes you feel happy." He wasn't going to use it, but he also wasn't going to risk throwing it away just yet. Unryuu had her ways of knowing what he did or didn't do, he knew from experience.
"I hear it also works online as long as you use a QR code reader and input a password in the specified site. So go and try it, okay? And don't you dare look at something else while you're at the PC..." Unryuu added, a sudden menacing aura enveloping her.
"...Just what kind of opinion do you have of me..." Orochi took the paper and muttered, not missing the hidden meaning of Unryuu's last statement. He also had to struggle to keep his eyes on her face rather than her... more than prominent assets, given what she had just implied.
"See you tomorrow..." Unryuu said those parting words as she went her way, smiling slightly as her aura disappeared.
There were several things that Orochi failed to understand, and Unryuu's strange smiles were one of them. He was never able to figure out the meaning behind them, but since they weren't a big deal he never thought too long about it. What was more important was deciding what to do with his life in that moment.
Thinking about it was harder than he initially believed, so even that thought process was abandoned within minutes. He eventually reached his house, which was really nothing special since it was provided by the orphanage. That facility was destined to those who had grown enough to be able to live a life on their own but weren't old enough to rent their own place or have a full-time job for that matter. He shared the building with a few others but he never bothered to connect with them so it was like they didn't exist. It suited him fine, he didn't need more people forcing their way into his life and since it was a pretty big building, he was allowed to have a fairly decent living place in terms of size. Having finally reached home, Orochi didn't waste time in taking off his Kuoh uniform and changing into casual clothes, a simple orange shirt, blue jeans and a black jacket.
The evening was predictably uneventful, so Orochi, unwilling to go to sleep just yet, decided eventually to put his shoes back on and have an early night stroll around the neighborhood. He threw a single glance at the paper Unryuu gave him hours earlier. "Hmph, sorry but superstitions are not my thing, Nishijima." he said aloud while going out the door.
During the stroll he found himself at a nearby park, the fountain still working despite the time. He wandered over, and looked at himself in the reflection.
"...What should I do?"
He suddenly heard a shout. "Hey, you over there!".
Orochi blinked and turned around, noticing an unfamiliar black haired young girl looking at him twenty meters away.
"Yes, you! I need a huge favor, do you mind helping me out?"
Hey there. Welcome to the bottom.
Let's start with Orochi Kamakura. As far as appearances go, you can use Adelheid Bernstein from the KOF series for reference, but with different hair color (you could say it's pretty much the Omega version from MUGEN, maybe with less muscle). He is otherwise completely original.
Next, Unryuu Nishijima. This is Unryuu from Kancolle, Nishijima is a surname I added for convenience's sake. Physical appearance is the same, but I don't know about the behaviour, nor the tendencies. I'll have to use this approach towards some of the characters not belonging to DXD in this fic, since I know nothing about them personality-wise, and I simply picked them because I liked their appearance.
Does this make me superficial? Probably, but let me tell you, I'm kind of biased towards a certain franchise I really, REALLY like, and the characters coming from that place will be multiple and undoubtedly better described.
I know, I shouldn't be partial as a writer, but I'll always prefer honesty when it comes to creating a fic. If I don't like a character for petty reasons, and as such decide to not have him/her show up in the fic, I'll say it without fear. This is what I believe.
I've foreshadowed events that will be explained later on, such as Orochi's life before the orphanage. I don't know how much later on, but eventually we'll get there. I hope. XD
That's about all I have to say for now. As I told you, the readers, before, at least for the first arc, I plan to upload fairly frequently in order to find a pace I'm comfortable with.
See you soon! Ciao!