Greetings, Constant Readers, and welcome to my newest story! This is going to be my second story for High School DxD, and I'm pleased to say that this one is going to be much more in my usual style, meaning no harems (sorry if that disappoints anyone, but to be quite honest, writing The Hyoudou Brothers is quite difficult for me because of the whole harem thing). My OC will be paired with Akeno only. Take it or leave it.
I've been back and edited this since I wrote it, and it's now in the first person from Tai's point of view. I've been doing this to all my stories, so it shouldn't be a problem.
With that out of the way, this isn't going to be your typical human-becomes-a-Devil-alongside-Issei story; I've already done that with The Hyoudou Brothers. My character in this story is going to remain very much human throughout, though he will be in the possession of a Longinus Sacred Gear – Incinerate Anthem, to be exact. I like fire, I'm a bit of a pyromaniac, though not to the extreme.
His backstory will be revealed later in the story (we're talking the somewhere in the Riser Arc), as I don't like rushing into that sort of thing. I hope you guys can enjoy this.
Oh, and another thing: While when I originally started this I was going to be basing it on the animé, I've now changed my mind and decided to go off the light novels simply because I feel it's a better idea. That being said, I will still be cutting this into separate stories, simply because it helps me to keep things organised. There'll probably be three or four story arcs in each one, maybe more depending on what I want to write.
Now, there were originally going to be crossover elements in here, and there still are, but it's going to be done a different way. You see, while I was originally going to do this as a semi-crossover with Supernatural (which is still happening, just not in this story), I thought of a better idea for this one, one that will allow me to implement crossover elements from series that you wouldn't have expected to go well together with DxD. I won't spoil anything, but suffice to say that some serious shit will be going down in this story's future.
That's basically all I've got to say, so I welcome you all to A Wielder of Purple Flames!
Let's begin.
A Pervert's Sacred Gear
I sighed to myself in boredom as I leaned against one of the outside walls of Kuoh Academy. I had my hands stuffed in my pockets as I kept my eyes on three very particular individuals.
Go on, peak in on the girls' changing room again, I fucking dare you, I thought to myself menacingly.
The group of students I was keeping my eyes on were known around school as the Perverted Trio. The group consisted of Matsuda, an almost bald student with abnormally large ears; Motohama, a student with box TV glasses who was said to be able to calculate a girl's "measurements" just by looking at them; and Issei Hyoudou, the only member of the group I had any particular interest in.
My name is Taisho Kurkawa, by the way. My friends call me Tai.
Issei Hyoudou was seventeen years old – the same age as myself – and a second year at Kuoh Academy. His hair was short and brown and unkempt, and he had light brown eyes to match. He wore the Kuoh Academy boys' uniform, which consisted of a white dress-shirt with a black ribbon on the collar, a black blazer with white accents, matching black trousers, and a pair of brown dress shoes – Issei kept the dress-shirt open, and wore a red T-shirt underneath. He was of particular interest to me because I could sense something within Issei that none of the other students could (none of the human students, anyway): a Sacred Gear.
But it wasn't just a Sacred Gear. No; that would have made things much too simple. Issei Hyoudou, one of the least popular and most perverted students in the whole school, was in possession of a Longinus Sacred Gear. I, through much experience, could sense the damn thing … but which one it was, I did not know.
It was the fact that Issei had a Longinus that made me not only take an interest in him, but also grow rather concerned for him. Sacred Gear possessors were always important; anyone who had any degree of real power in the world likely had one, as did most of the important historical figures throughout the countless centuries humanity had ruled the Earth. But most Sacred Gears were insignificant in the grand scheme of things; it was the Sacred Gears with real power that drew attention, the Sacred Gears that could turn the tide in a battle, the ones that could actually be considered a threat to the enemies of the possessor. The Longinus Sacred Gears were the most powerful of these, and their wielders tended to get … noticed.
And not in the most pleasant of ways, as I well knew.
The three perverts seemed to catch sight of me – though they didn't appear to notice that I was watching them – and began to look angry, chatting amongst themselves and making aggressive arm movements. I knew I wasn't a bad looking guy – I was considered quite handsome, as a matter of fact – and the Perverted Trio, due to their inability to get girlfriends based on how perverted they were, were known to take personal offence to anybody who was considered more handsome than they were. But as much as they hated me, I knew there was one person they hated much more than me or anyone else …
"Aaaah!" the unmistakable cry of the creatures known as "fangirls" rang through the air.
I turned my attention toward the commotion. Speak of the Devil, I thought, then laughed at how appropriate a thought that was given the circumstances. The male student who was currently being approached by three of his fangirls had short blonde hair, grey eyes, and Caucasian skin. He had a handsome, youthful face, with a mole just beneath his left eye. He was slim, and he wore the Kuoh Academy uniform in the formal way it was meant to be worn. This was the school "prince," Kiba Yuuto.
If the Perverted Trio were angry about my presence, they were positively raging at Kiba's. It may have had something to do with the fact that Kiba was currently surrounded by a group of relatively cute girls who were asking him to hang out with them, but they would have reacted negatively to his presence either way. Kiba gave the girls a polite smile, which had them positively melting, and said something that made them deflate a little, then he walked away toward the Old School Building which had once been a part of the main school, but was no longer in use other than as the headquarters of the Occult Research Club.
I found myself grinning involuntarily. Those Devils didn't put much of an effort into hiding themselves, did they? I thought. Then I turned my attention back to the Perverted Trio and noticed them sneaking off somewhere. After a brief moment of thought, I knew exactly where they were going. Oh, for fuck sake. I ground my teeth in irritation, then walked over to the sport building – which the Perverted Trio had sneaked behind – and went in. I walked until I found the girls' changing room, and I knocked on the door.
After a few moments, one of the kendo team's captains – Murayama – opened the door, blushed lightly upon seeing me, and fixed me with a scrutinising gaze shortly afterwards. "What?" she asked, slightly aggressively.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," I said, "but you might want to check for any holes in the wall. I'm afraid Issei, Matsuda and Motohama were just sneaking around behind the building."
Murayama's eyes sharpened considerably, and she scowled. "Thank you for the warning," she said, before closing the door again.
I shrugged at the abrupt end of the conversation, and began to walk out of the building. I got out just in time to see Matsuda and Motohama running for their lives; shortly after this, I heard the tell-tale sounds of wood hitting flesh, along with screams of pain that I easily recognised as belonging to Issei Hyoudou. I guess the girls took the back exit of the building, I thought. I sighed to myself. Hyoudou seemed, by all accounts, to be a good guy, but this problem he had with perversion was dragging him down massively. It didn't help that he had a powerful Sacred Gear, meaning he would be, sooner or later, dragged into the world of the supernatural whether he liked it or not.
Come to think of it, I wonder if Rias has noticed his Sacred Gear …? Upon the thought entering my mind, I changed course once again, this time heading toward the Old School Building. If Rias Gremory – the head of the Occult Research Club and master of the Devils who made up said club – had indeed noticed that Hyoudou was in possession of a Longinus, then she would doubtlessly be seeking to recruit him as one of her servants. The more likely scenario, however, was that she could sense his Sacred Gear but was unable to tell that it was a Longinus; the only reason I myself knew was because I had been specifically trained to sense Longinus Sacred Gears, training that not many people, even in the supernatural world, were given.
I entered the Old School Building and walked through rather casually, already knowing exactly where I was going. I caught sight of my reflection in the windows as I walked through the hallways. I was pale, tall, and skinny. My hair was brown, mid-length, and tangled, unkempt to the point where it became a style all its own. My eyes were a deep, unusual purple colour, and they seemed to shine like jewels in the light of the sun. I wore the Kuoh Academy boys' uniform loosely; it hung baggy on my lanky form.
I found a set of stairs, walked up them, walked to the end of a hall, and came upon a door that had strange, demonic-looking symbols all over it. I knocked in a bit of a light rhythm and waited.
"Come in," said a feminine voice from inside.
As I entered the ORC clubroom, the first thing I took in was the sound of the shower, meaning that Rias was currently indisposed. The second thing I noticed was that there was only one other person in the room, and it wasn't Kiba, so I thought it safe to assume he had already left on a contract. The room was covered in occult symbols on the wall, ceiling, and even the floor; there was a desk on one side of the room, and in the centre there was a coffee table surrounded by two sofas and an armchair.
The only person in the room upon my entering was an eighteen year old girl named Akeno Himejima, well known around school for being one of the Two Great Ladies, alongside Rias Gremory herself. She had smooth, lightly tanned skin, and long, flowing black hair that was tied in a ponytail that reached her knees; the ponytail was tied using an orange ribbon. Her eyes, a lovely shade of violet, only served to highlight her already beautiful facial features. She had an incredibly voluptuous figure, with many students – myself included, admittedly – thinking that she had the biggest breasts of any girl in the school. She wore the typical Kuoh Academy girls' uniform: A white dress-shirt with a black ribbon, a black corset with matching shoulder cape, a dark red, incredibly short skirt with white highlights, and a pair of brown dress-shoes. She made herself slightly unique, however, by wearing a pair of knee-length black stockings.
I had to fight down a heavy blush upon seeing her, for I was one of the many boys in the school with a crush on Akeno Himejima.
"Afternoon, Akeno," I said, shaking off the bashfulness that would have consumed anyone with less confidence. But I still felt a certain wave of excitement and warmth that I'm sure all people feel when in the room with their crush.
"Hello, Tai," said Akeno. Ironically, I would best describe her voice as the voice of an Angel. While I was not one of them, nor did I spend as much time with them as most people spend with their friends, I was still on good enough terms with them for them to shorten my name if they wanted to. Akeno's face morphed into the smirk I recognised as her signature teasing expression. "Coming up here while I'm all on my own? How devious of you." She released a sweet little laugh, a laugh that was music to my ears.
I could feel heat rising to my cheeks, but I pushed it down. "But you're not alone," I said. I could feel a grin growing on my face. "Judging from the sound of the shower, Rias is very much here."
"But as you say, she's in the shower," said Akeno. "She can't rush out, or she might have an accident. What's a poor, defenceless girl like me to do if she can't get here on time …?"
A chuckle slipped through my lips; Akeno was anything but poor and defenceless. "One can only imagine." Casual flirting was something the two of us did pretty much every time we interacted. It causes quite a stir when we do so in the view of other students of the school, Akeno being the second most popular girl in the whole school and all. While most had convinced themselves that our flirting was just friendly banter, I could never help but wonder, hope, that it meant she liked me in the same way I liked her …
"In all seriousness, though," I said, my grin dropping and my face setting in a serious expression. "I've come here because I've become curious about a specific student. I wondered if Rias had picked up on the same things I have. You know how she gets those 'feelings' and all."
"Who do you want to know about?" Akeno was in full business mode, her hands held together in front of her.
"A student by the name of Issei Hyoudou. You've probably heard of him and his two friends. They make up the infamous Perverted Trio."
Akeno brought a finger to her chin, an expression appearing on her face like she was thinking. "That's interesting," she said. "Rias asked about him a moment before she got into the shower. She said there wasn't any particular reason, but if you're asking, too …"
"It's probably nothing," I lied, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "I just get a funny feeling about him, is all." I looked around a little, trying to find something to draw the conversation away from this subject. My eyes landed on a chess set, where the white pieces were set up so that the red side (taking the place of the traditional black) had lost. "Who won?" I asked, nodding toward the chess set.
"Rias," Akeno told me.
"Ah, makes sense," I said. My eyes widened when I noticed Akeno raising an eyebrow at me, and I realised what I had just implied. "N-not that you're stupid or anything, Akeno, it's just, well, you know …" I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. My face felt like it was on fire. "Rias, being the King, does all the strategy stuff, that's all I meant."
Akeno giggled at me. "You're so cute when you're squirming," she said.
"And you're cute when you tease me for it," I said. I was grinning again. I cleared my throat. "Well, I guess I'll be going now. See you around, Akeno." I made to turn around and leave, but the feel of Akeno's hand resting on my arm stopped me dead. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest at the contact.
"Why don't you stay and have some tea first?" said Akeno. "It'll let us do some catching up."
I made a show of thinking about it for a moment – there was no way in hell I was ever going to say no. "You know, I think I will," I said after a few moments of mock thought. "Only a fool with no taste buds would be able to resist your tea, Akeno."
Akeno laughed. "You flatter me, but thank you anyway. I'll just go make it." She walked off to get the kettle boiling.
I sat down on one of the sofas and waited patiently for the tea to be done. When Akeno arrived with it, I thanked her, and the two of us made polite conversation as we drank the delicious, steaming hot beverage. I was done and gone before Rias even exited her shower. I could have waited in order to tell her about Hyoudou's Longinus, but I thought better of it. The supernatural world was not for the faint of heart; it was full of things that could kill an inexperienced person in a heartbeat. I didn't want to subject anyone to that who didn't need to be. Due to the nature of the Longinus, Hyoudou was inevitably going to become involved in the supernatural world, that was true, but wouldn't it be a kindness to keep him away from it for as long as possible? Some people just weren't built to last in the world of the supernatural, and judging from Hyoudou's habit of being beaten up by the school kendo team on a regular basis, he was one of them. So until Issei proved he could handle himself, or was in danger from the supernatural anyway, I would keep my mouth shut.
I could only hope Rias would forgive me for keeping secrets about a potential servant.
It was the very next day that I decided it would be wise to tell Rias about Issei's Longinus. The thing that happened on that morning was strange in and of itself, but for me and anyone else who was supernaturally inclined, it was particularly suspicious. On that morning, much to the horror of his two perverted friends, Issei Hyoudou came to school … with a girlfriend.
But she wasn't human. After observing the happy couple for barely a few minutes, I could tell that this "Yuuma Amano" was a Fallen Angel.
Fallen Angels don't just turn up out of the blue and decided to date humans, I thought, narrowing my eyes at the scene of Hyoudou using his new girlfriend to taunt Matsuda and Motohama. Fallen Angels may be known for their sinful nature, with the lust and the greed and all that shit, but they normally just do what they're there to do and then leave. If this one's sticking around, then it's for one reason and one reason only: The Sacred Gear.
But what would a random Fallen Angel want with a high school boy's Sacred Gear? It may have been a Longinus, but there would have been more warning that someone was going to make a move if somebody was actively after it; hell, they'd have just kidnapped him if they wanted it that badly. There was something else going on here …
I hear their leader has a bit of a Sacred Gear fetish, I thought to myself, trying to come up with answers to all these questions. But … I think if he wanted to study it that badly, he'd have come and done it himself. What, then? Are they tracking down Sacred Gear users for something? That was a scary thought, especially since the Angels, Fallen Angels, and the Devils had been at each other's throats for a few thousand years at least. But … No, I thought again. There aren't nearly enough war mongers among the Fallen Angels for that to be what's happening; the peace they have at the moment may be pretty shaky, but it's still peace, and I don't think anyone wants to be on the side that ignites a second War of the Three Factions. So, what does that leave me with …?
I stood there, a hand under my chin, considering the possibilities for what the Fallen Angel might be here for. Then my eyes widened as one final possibility entered my mind.
What if … what if it's a rogue Fallen Angel group? There's only one of them here, but it would have to be a group, you'd have to be an idiot to make moves like this on your own. It makes some form of sense: A group of Fallen Angels come into town with a plan, but they spot an unknown Sacred Gear user, and they don't know whether he'll be a threat to their plans or not – because let's face it, the odds are that they don't recognise it as a Longinus just yet – so they send one of their own in to observe. But … I can't know this for sure … Rias should know if there have been Fallen Angels moving in her territory. If there are and she hasn't done anything, it's probably because they haven't shown any open hostility just yet, so that'd explain why they've been left to go about their business.
Well, then, it was settled. I would go to the ORC clubroom before school starts and ask Rias about Fallen Angel activity in the area. There was always still a chance that this was just a random Fallen Angel who got her kicks from screwing with humans, but … if this was a group of rogues, I would tell Rias about Hyoudou's Longinus. Hyoudou would be unexpectedly brought into the supernatural world, that's true, but he would be a lot more protected if the Devils were the ones to make a move on him first.
That in mind, I pushed myself off of the wall I'd been leaning on and began to walk toward the Old School Building. Two visits in two days, I thought to myself with a bit of a grin. God, sooner or later I'll be living here. I laughed lightly as I entered the building.
I got to the door, just as I had the day before, and knocked. I knew I was welcome, but it was always polite to give some way of announcing your presence when entering a room somebody else occupied.
"Come in," came a voice, feminine, but a different voice from Akeno's.
I went in.
They were all in there that morning. There was Kiba and Akeno, but the other two members of the ORC were in there, too, both of them young women.
One of them was a fifteen year old first year girl by the name of Koneko Toujou. She, like the other members of the club, was quite popular in her own right, being referred to as the "school mascot" due to her small frame and stoic nature. She had Caucasian skin, snow white hair, and a pair of hazel eyes. There was a black cat-shaped hair clip on either side of her hair. She wore the standard Kuoh Academy girls' uniform, sans the shoulder cape. As mentioned, she was rather small for her age, barely coming up to about five feet tall.
The other girl was the King of the castle herself, Rias Gremory of the Gremory family of Devils. True to form, she was indeed fitted to being the most popular girl in school. She was a beautiful eighteen year old girl with flawless, practically white Caucasian skin. Her most distinguishing feature was her long, crimson red hair that flowed all the way down to her thighs. Her eyes were a blue-green colour. Her figure was buxom and provocative, though it was argued – by myself and others – that Akeno had the bigger "assets" of the two. Rias was the other half of the Two Great Ladies. She had the appearance of a model student, wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform to perfection.
"Hello, Taisho," Rias greeted me upon my entry into the room. She was a little more formal with me than the others were, always calling me by my full first name. Despite her formal attitude, however, she smiled at me as kindly as she would smile at others. "It's nice to be able to see you today. I could hear you and Akeno flirting even over the sound of the shower."
"My, my, Tai," Akeno said with a blatantly false look of curiosity. "Visiting two days in a row, that's not like you. Did you just come to see little old me …?"
I smirked. "Maybe." Then my smirk was gone and my eyes were on Rias. "Rias, I need to ask you something. Please don't ask why; I'll tell you if what I'm thinking turns out to be right, but otherwise it's irrelevant."
Rias frowned a little, then asked, "What would you like to know?"
"Has there been any unexplained or suspicious Fallen Angel activity in the area?" I asked.
Rias' frown deepened, and she raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Yes, now that you mention it," she said. "There's a small group of them operating somewhere in town – the abandoned church, we think, but we're not sure – but they haven't been acting hostile, so we haven't really bothered with them. We've just been keeping an eye out in case they do try anything."
"I think they might be," I said. It was like someone had dropped a bowling ball in my stomach; I had to tell them now. "Do you know of a student called Issei Hyoudou?"
"… Isn't that the pervert you got me to follow yesterday, Rias?" asked Koneko in a dull, monotone voice that had just a hint of curiosity in it.
I looked at her. "You followed him?" She nodded. I looked back at Rias. "So you sensed the Sacred Gear, too, then?"
"I did," Rias said, nodding. "I only got a weak power signature from it, though, but I had Koneko follow him out of curiosity. I wanted to see if she could get a good sense on exactly what it was."
"… The power reading on it is higher than it initially seems," said Koneko.
"It's a Longinus," I said, much to the surprise and confusion of the others. "I don't know which one it is, but it's definitely a Longinus." They looked at me doubtfully. "Come on, guys, I've told you about my training, you know I wouldn't mistake something like this. And this morning Hyoudou walked in with a Fallen Angel hanging off his arm. Trust me, some serious shit is going down."
There was silence.
"I think it's worth looking into." Akeno was the first to speak up. That added onto my confidence a little.
"Yeah," said Kiba. "If Tai's right, Hyoudou could be a valuable person to have on the Peerage."
"… He may be a pervert, but he might be useful," Koneko said reluctantly.
Rias' frown held for a moment, then she chuckled softly as she stared at the lot of us around the room. She looked directly at me. "Oh, how I sometimes wish you'd accepted the offer to join my Peerage," she said. "Your Sacred Gear and your powers of persuasion are both things to be in awe of."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "It was nice of you to offer, but I don't think the servant life will fit me like it fits some others," I said.
Rias chuckled again. "Indeed." She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "All right. We'll keep an eye on this Issei Hyoudou. I hope you're right about him, Taisho. His Sacred Gear may not be quite as week as it first appears, but it still doesn't feel Longinus level."
"Trust me," I said. "I'm not making a mistake. Some of them have been known to take a weaker form at first, but become a Longinus when a certain emotional breakthrough is reached. I once heard of a wielder of Incinerate Anthem who originally thought they had Flame Shake."
"Well, all right, I'll trust your judgement," said Rias. "I'm still curious as to the details of your training, though. You've demonstrated it, but you have never gone into detail."
"And I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you," I said, the small smile on my face fading away completely. "Good day." I turned around to leave.
"You should come and visit more often," said the lovely voice of Akeno, stopping me in my tracks. "It's nice having you here."
I found myself smirking again. "Well, if you're here every day, I just might have to show up every day," I said. I knew full well that she would be there practically every day of the week, but this was the first time one of them had suggested that I come back more often … and the fact that it was coming from Akeno made me have to fight down a rather heavy blush. "I can never get enough of your beautiful face."
Akeno held a hand up to her face and laughed with false bashfulness. "Tai, stop it, people might talk if you keep saying things like that," she said.
"People do little else," I said with a final grin. "I'll see you guys later."
Then I left.
My week was relatively peaceful after that. I spent all of my remaining mornings with the ORC – having decided that I could do with some social interaction (it had nothing to do with the fact that Akeno was there; nope, nothing at all) – and even a few of my afternoons. Looking back on it, I realised that if I hadn't passed my eyes over Hyoudou that one day after school, I wouldn't have known about the Longinus, and I wouldn't have gone up to the ORC clubroom to talk about it, and I wouldn't have decided to visit more often.
It would seem I had something to thank Issei Hyoudou for, even if the perverted boy wouldn't have a clue what he was being thanked for.
And that was why on Sunday night, after a day of doing basically nothing, I had a surprisingly strong reaction to a phone call. My phone rang and I answered pretty much instantly, not even taking my eyes off the TV I was watching. "Hello," I said.
"Taisho, it's Rias," said the voice of Rias Gremory. I was surprised; I didn't recall giving her my number … "I've got something to tell you, seeing as you seem so interested in the case of Issei Hyoudou."
I paused the TV where it was. "What is it?" I asked. "What about Hyoudou?"
"Taisho … the Fallen Angel killed him," Rias said, hesitantly.
I stiffened in my seat. "What?" I started to feel angry. Hyoudou may have been a pervert, but he was still, by all accounts, an innocent human being who hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, I had expected the Fallen Angels to attempt to recruit him for his Longinus, but this … My mind failed to comprehend why they had done this to somebody who had no ill intentions toward them, no matter how much power he was unknowingly hiding away.
"Don't worry, though," said Rias. "I had my Familiar give him one of our fliers, just in case. He used it just before he died, so I was able to reincarnate him as one of my servants."
I breathed a sigh of relief. Eternal servitude may not sound great to some, myself included, but the Gremory family were well known for treating their servants as family rather than slaves, so I thought Hyoudou would get along quite well with the situation. "That's good to hear," I said, relieved. "So, what, are you going to explain everything to him tomorrow?"
"I actually think I'll give him a few days to adjust to the changes his body is going to go through before I spring the news on him," said Rias. I was slightly sceptical of this idea. "But I have a favour to ask of you, if I may?"
That piqued my curiosity. "Go on," I said.
"I'd like you to watch over him for that time, if it's not too much of a bother," said Rias. "I'd have one of the others do it, but they all have contracts to fulfil over the next few days, so I can't really spare anyone. It would be really helping us out."
"Say no more," I told her. "I brought him to your attention, so it's partially my responsibility for putting you in this situation. I'll keep an eye on Hyoudou and step in if trouble pops up."
"Thank you."
"Say hi to Akeno for me," I said as I went to hang up the phone.
"Only Akeno?" I had never heard the tone of voice Rias had when she was teasing before, but it was certainly effective if the sudden redness of my face was any indication.
"Er … the others, too, if they're there," I said awkwardly. I forced a small, tense laugh to escape my mouth. "Goodbye." I hung up the phone quickly.
I mentally slapped myself. Oh, sure, I could flirt with Akeno without a problem, but someone teases me about it and I get all flustered! What the fuck was I, twelve years old? Who the hell gets flustered by teasing over the damn phone, anyway!?
I sighed to myself. Great, now I'm getting all worked up … I thought. And it's not even about the right thing. I should probably be more concerned that Hyoudou is now a Devil, and the Fallen Angels' plan is apparently important enough to them that they're willing to kill a potential asset … unless they don't realise it's a Longinus. Rias did say that it didn't feel like a Longinus to her, so maybe it didn't for them, either …? I found myself smirking. Well, then, as unfortunate as it is that Hyoudou's girlfriend ended up killing him, it looks like Rias might now have a trump card on the Peerage. This should be interesting.
It was then that I realised I still had the TV on pause. I unpaused it and watched The X-Files (which was a damn good show, no matter how inaccurate it could be) until late into the night, at which point I went to sleep.
I'm going to really fucking regret agreeing to this, aren't I? I asked myself as I sat in a tree outside of Matsuda's house late at night. It was the day after Hyoudou had died, and his new discomfort in the sun was very easy to see. He had also gone around asking about the girl he had come to school with the week before, but nobody seemed to remember her existing at all. That wasn't a surprise to me, since it was pretty standard procedure for supernatural beings to wipe the memories of those they encountered if they didn't want their presence to be recognised by anyone. By all accounts, Hyoudou had taken dying and then waking up in bed the very next morning surprisingly well.
But then he just had to agree to go to Matsuda's house after school. This would not have been a problem under most circumstances – going to a friend's house after school was a perfectly normal thing to do. It was what the Perverted Trio were doing in that house that made me seriously reconsider my promise to watch over Hyoudou for Rias.
They were watching pornography … as a group … in Matsuda's bedroom … with the lights off …
I sighed from my spot in the tree. Despite my sudden doubts as to the sexual orientation of these three – because who in their right mind watches porn as a group? – I had promised to keep my eye on Hyoudou, and I was not going to break my word because I happened to be uncomfortable with what Hyoudou was doing at the time. I just had to keep reminding myself that it was only for a few days, just until Hyoudou had grown used to all the new feelings enough for Rias to bring up that he was now a Devil, and I would never have to sit outside while the Perverted Trio gushed over people having sex on a screen ever again.
I haven't felt the presence of a Fallen Angel today, I thought to myself. I hope that means they think they finished the job. It would be a massive pain in the ass if they decided to see if he stayed dead …
Barely a moment after I had had that thought, the front door of Matsuda's house opened and Hyoudou stepped out into the street. He seemed a little disoriented, which confused me because Devils are supposed to be stronger at night. Hyoudou began moving through the streets with that same dazed look about him, and I dropped down from my spot in the tree and followed. I was careful to always stay far enough behind that I could easily find cover should Hyoudou turn around, while also making sure that Hyoudou was within my field of vision at all times, though the darkness of the night made that somewhat difficult for me.
Hyoudou suddenly stopped just outside an alleyway, and he appeared to be looking down it, then he looked down at a fist he had made with his hand. Once again he seemed confused, disoriented. I could see that he was muttering to himself, though I could not hear what he was saying. Hyoudou's head suddenly shot up, and he stared intently down the street, right at a mother and her small child. This time, instead of muttering, Hyoudou spoke loud enough that I could just barely make out the words.
"This is insane … how can I hear them from so far away?"
I couldn't hear a word the parent and her child were saying, but that's when it hit me. Ah, this is his first time noticing the acute hearing he has now that he's a Devil, I realised. And the night vision … that's why he seems so confused, the night vision is allowing him to see everything as if it were the middle of a sunny day. I'm actually rather impressed; most people would have had a panic attack by now.
It would seem I had that thought a little too soon, as Hyoudou took off in a run near enough the second my thought process had ended. I took off running after him, but stayed far enough back that Hyoudou never once noticed my presence. It would have been difficult for any other human, keeping up with a Devil running in the dark, but while I may have been human, I was far from ordinary. I kept my pace until Hyoudou began to run into the park, where I sped my pace up but kept amongst the trees. That was good. I could get closer without revealing myself.
Hyoudou stopped running by the fountain, and I stood just behind the treeline, watching curiously. Hyoudou placed one hand on the fountain, almost tenderly.
"This is it …" he said to himself, though I could hear him clearly now. "This is where I took Yuuma on our first date … It was real … it couldn't have been a dream … I remember every single thing about it …" He hung his head solemnly, closing his eyes as he did so.
I felt a large amount of sympathy for Issei Hyoudou in that moment, but I didn't have time to process said feeling as a new presence made itself known a mere fifteen feet away. A Fallen Angel had joined the party.
"Well, this is really unfortunate," said the Fallen Angel in a rough, masculine voice. It was a male Fallen Angel with a long black trenchcoat and a matching fedora. He did not have his wings out, and he didn't seem to know that I was there, but he was staring directly at Hyoudou, who was now looking at the Fallen Angel in fear. "Me running into you, that is." Light began to gather in his palms, signifying that he was trying to create a spear of light.
I didn't even wait for anyone to say anything else. Whereas before there was always a chance that they would have left Hyoudou alone after a period of time, the only reason a Fallen Angel would approach a lone Devil in the middle of the night was to kill them. And I had promised Rias that I would keep an eye on Hyoudou, so …
"I think you should reconsider what you're about to do," I said, stepping out from behind the treeline and standing between Hyoudou and the Fallen Angel, who stopped forming the light in his hand out of surprise. I was looking at the Fallen Angel with a glare. "It's not very polite, sneaking up on people like this. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?"
"Kurkawa!?" Hyoudou exclaimed once he had processed my presence. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Go home, Hyoudou," I ordered him, never once taking my eyes off the Fallen Angel. "Trust me, you don't want to be in the middle of this."
"But what's—"
"Go home now!" I ordered again, cutting him off. He seemed confused, but was clearly too intimidated to ask any of the questions that were sure to be buzzing around in his head by that point. He ran away. I continued to glare at the Fallen Angel, and said, "I'd like to know what you think you're doing, little birdie. This town is owned by Devils, in case you didn't get the memo. Is trying to attack one in the middle of the night really a good idea?"
The Fallen Angel looked curious. "Well, I can see you're not a Devil, so now I'm curious as to why a human such as yourself is so knowledgeable about things like this." He went silent for a moment before stiffening up. "This power level … I know when I'm outmatched, so I'll be bidding you goodnight. Tell the little Devil's master that letting her servants off their leash like that isn't very wise."
"I might." My eyes narrowed. "But we still have a problem, Mr Crow. You see, you just approached an innocent person with the intent to cause harm. I'm afraid I can't stand for that. One of the Devils attacking a Fallen Angel who never got to go through with his attack may cause problems politically, but I, sir, am no Devil, so I doubt this will cause much of an issue. Are we in agreement on that?"
The Fallen Angel clenched his teeth, and there was something that looked very much like fear in his eyes. All of a sudden, a pair of black, feathered wings sprouted from his back, oddly enough not damaging his coat a bit. The Fallen Angel took to the air, leaving a trail of black feathers behind him, in an attempt to leave me behind.
"Oh, I do hate it when they run." I sighed in disappointment. Without even really thinking about it, I raised my arm, which was suddenly engulfed in a large amount of purple fire, though I wasn't bothered by that at all. "Though, I've got to admit, it makes for some damn good target practice."
The dancing purple fire gathered to a point in my hand, then it began to elongate outwards, almost like it was reshaping into something. This was exactly what it was doing, as it formed the rather solid-looking shape of a spear with purple flames dancing their dance of death all along it. I held my arm back, carefully took aim, and flung the spear upward, directly at the Fallen Angel. The spear found its mark, impaling the fleeing Fallen Angel and causing him to practically shriek in pain; these shrieks lasted barely a few seconds before he was silenced, flames sprouting from every orifice in his body, burning him from the inside out.
His body never hit the ground, but his ashes rained down like snow.
I sighed. That was disappointing. I didn't know why I had been expecting a challenge from these Fallen Angels, but for some reason I found it cripplingly disappointing that this one hadn't at least tried to put up a fight. Oh well, I thought. I'd best let Rias know that a Fallen Angel tried to make a move on her newest servant before she even got the chance to explain everything to him. I got my phone out and went to call Rias … but then I realised I had deleted my call history and I hadn't saved her number to my contacts list. Okay, that's fine, I'll just call Akeno and get her to tell Rias. And that's what I did, briefly reflecting that it was probably Akeno who gave Rias my number to begin with.
"Hello, Tai," said Akeno as she answered the phone. "Calling me up late at night now? Getting very attached to me, aren't you?" There was laughter on her end.
"Akeno, I need you to tell Rias something," I said. The laughter stopped. "A Fallen Angel just tried to make a move on the newest member of the Peerage."
"I'm guessing from the word 'tried' that he didn't succeed?"
I grinned. "He's got a burning fever. It's terrible, really." I chuckled and there was more laughter from the other end of the phone.
I could hear Akeno's voice distantly through the phone, meaning she was probably speaking to Rias. "Rias would like to thank you for your help," she said when she got back.
"I'm not just helping her," I said, smirking. "I'm helping the whole Peerage, and you're on the Peerage, and I could never resist helping a lady as beautiful as you, Akeno." I nearly slapped myself in the forehead just from how cheesy that sounded out loud.
"I'll be sure to remember that for the next time I need something," Akeno said with a laugh. "But I'd be sure to give you a reward for your help, of course."
I chuckled. "Oh, I can only imagine what that could be," I said … and blushed a little as certain images came into my mind. I cleared my throat. "Well, as lovely as it is to hear your radiant voice, Akeno, I think I'd best be getting home before any of this one's friends come looking for him. It's not that I'd have trouble taking them on, it's just that I can't be bothered."
"Rias is planning on telling Issei everything tomorrow after school," Akeno told me. "She thought you'd want to be there."
"All right, I will be," I said. "Goodnight." I hung up the phone.
I sighed to myself, briefly noting that I'd been doing an awful lot of that recently. Why do I get the feeling that this isn't over by a long shot? I asked myself. I brushed it off and headed for home, wanting to get some sleep in before I went to school the next day.
How was that? I'll aadmit I'm a little rusty when it comes to writing out High School DxD, but I'd like to think I did okay. I gave Tai Incinerate Anthem because, just for once, I'd like to make my OC something of a badass, whereas I'm normally so worried about them being OP that they come across as wimps. But this is DxD, so pretty much everyone becomes OP after a point.
I appreciate that having Tai and Akeno do so much flirting this early on may make it seem like things are moving too fast, but come on, you guys have seen the series, you know what Akeno is like. That being said, you don't have to worry, they won't be getting together until at least halfway through—we're talking any time after chapter six, really. The flirting is really just there to say, "Yes, they are interested in each other … but Tai isn't really sure if her flirting actually means anything." And let's face it, Akeno is a natural tease, and she's probably happy that someone can apparently give just as good as he gets.
Well, that's about all I can think of to say for now, so I'll just be signing off. I hope to see you all in the next chapter!