It was cool that evening on the Kuoh Academy grounds. Ordinarily it'd be a nice day for an afterhours walk… but not for one male student. His name is Shinji Gremory, one of two children born to Issei and Rias Gremory. His elder twin brother is Ginji Gremory, who bears long flowing crimson hair that's a trademark of the bloodline. Shinji does not have this notable trait in favor of shorter brown hair like his father. Despite this fact, he is notoriously mistaken for Ginji… and often attacked.
Today's near-death experience, Shinji was on his way home from hanging out with the D&D Club when he was confronted by a woman in a black hooded cloak. She didn't even announce herself or say anything, she flat out rushed him and ran her arm through his chest like wet tissue paper. It'd have been instantly fatal if she'd stabbed just a few inches to the left. She removed her arm letting him fall backward coughing up blood.
"This is what the so-called 'All Powerful Ginji Gremory' has to offer? I have to admit that I'm disappointed." she scoffed looking at her blood-covered arm.
Out of nowhere she felt odd, and then her body split in half revealing Ginji behind her looking oh so very displeased. Ginji is possibly the one person who despises it more than Shinji when people confuse them. With Ginji was a slim and fit female student with silver hair reaching just below her buttocks wielding a katana at the left side of her hip.
"Yuri, use a Phoenix Phial on him. I refuse to see mother cry if he were to die, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if his death were my fault." he ordered, and Yuri hurried to him pulling out a phial from her bag as he gasped for air.
This particular bottle had a total of ten Phoenix Tears inside, meaning that it has x10 the healing power compared to just one, or you can use a tear dropper to get ten uses out of it. Yuri dropped three tears onto his wound making it smoke as if being burned making Shinji cry out in pain as his injury healed at an accelerated pace. He lost consciousness immediately after forcing Yuri carry him back to the Gremory Manor. Immediately upon entering the front doors a line of maids on the left and a line of butlers on right bowed greeting them.
"Can I drop this heavy lard now, master?" Yuri asked.
"He'll catch a cold if he sleeps on the floor, and that won't do at all. Mother would be especially cross if she found out as well. Let's put him to bed in his room." Ginji ordered, and up the stairs at the far left end of the foyer they went.
They went up to the third floor, where the first four children born have rooms along with their own bathrooms and laundry rooms. The sixth door down the left side was Shinji's room. Ginji opened the door and saw three sleeping lumps on Shinji's bed. They could only be their triplet little sisters Ami, Yumi, and Kurumi. These Nekomata kittens were born to Koneko and are currently four years old. Ami wears pink pajamas and is the youngest. Yumi wears green pajamas and is the middle sister. Lastly, Kurumi wears blue pajamas and is the oldest. All three were curled in cat position, likely waiting for Shinji to come home so they could play with him. Of the Gremory children the triplets were closest with Shinji, but mostly because he spoils them a bit more than the others do.
They immediately sprang awake when Ginji moved the covers so Yuri could put Shinji under them. They began sniffing and licking Ginji and Yuri affectionately, their signature greeting. They're soft spoken like their mother Koneko, but are far more playful. They inherited a little of her Rook strength too, because if they aren't careful they can accidentally barrel over the grownups. On numerous occasions they've accidentally run over Asia in their races through the manor's many hallways.
It's a good thing they have a habit of running around barefoot.
"Can I trust you girls to stand guard over him? He's had a rough day." Ginji asked, and the three saluted him.
He left the room and the tired kittens curled up on Shinji. In usual formation when they sneak in, Ami lay on his right arm, Yumi lay on his left, and Kurumi lay on his forelegs. The rest of the day went by, and when Shinji awoke it was all like a bad dream. He had his natural reaction to the triplets sleeping on top of him, gather them up and set them aside so he can get up. He made his way to the first floor kitchen where Akeno was cooking for Sasori, the youngest of Issei's children at just two and a half years old. He had black hair like his mother, Akeno, but appearance-wise took after Issei. He was wearing his usual wolf pajamas.
"Good morning Shinji. You had us worried when you wouldn't wake up. Even Ginji was starting to break character." Akeno smiled.
"How long was I out?" Shinji asked.
"Three weeks, give or take." Akeno answered.
"That long?!" Shinji exclaimed in shock.
"Kidding, you've only been unconscious for two days. You're such an easy target, Shinji." Akeno giggled.
"That's not funny, Aunt Akeno… the student council would have my head if I missed too many days." Shinji sighed sinking to his knees.
"How come you don't call each of us mom? We're a collective family after all… it sort of hurts my feelings." Akeno asked pouting.
"It's so I don't get confused. Us kids share the same dad, but our moms are different so I refer to the moms that aren't my biological one as my aunts." Shinji explained.
"It's a logical solution." Koneko spoke as she entered the room.
"You look well-rested this morning." Akeno smiled.
"I didn't have my oldest trying to make me teach her to fight last night." Koneko nodded.
"Where is everyone anyway?" Shinji asked them.
"Issei and Rias went to the underworld to discuss Ginji's awakening to the Gremory family's powers and you… being you. Xenovia and Asia took Yuuto and Jasper shopping to get new clothes for your siblings." Akeno answered.
"Excuse me for not inheriting the Gremory family's power. I need to get to school or the student council will get on my case again. Let 'em know I'm okay when they get back." Shinji sighed.
"You aren't gonna stay home big bwuther?" Sasori asked.
"Nah. My grades will drop more if I miss any more days - then the student council will really be riding my ass." Shinji smiled in response.
"Summer is right around the corner, Sasori. He'll be able to play with you all day every day, just like last year." Akeno smiled.
Shinji hurried to the bus stop to catch a ride to the school gates. A lot went through his head on that ride. Once again he'd been confused for his brother when it's common knowledge that their hair sets them apart.
"Shinjiiiiiiiiiii!" a girl's voice cried.
He opened his eyes to a face full of double D breasts as he got tackled to the ground by a girl student with long flowing golden hair. This is the daughter of Raphael, Aoi Angelus. Ever since they met in third grade she's had a very powerful bond with him since even though he was a demon he chose to be her friend.
"I was so worried! You didn't come to school for two whole days and I heard you'd been hurt in a terrible accident!" Aoi cried smothering him with her breasts.
"Get off me, I can't breathe you Amazon!" Shinji cried struggling to get free.
"Oh! Sorry." Aoi giggled tapping her head with her knuckles as Shinji plugged his nosebleed.
"Aoi, we've talked about tackling me out of the blue like that…" Shinji sighed.
"Technically it was a crossbody press maneuver, not a tackle." Aoi corrected him.
"I count it as tackling. I also believe we had an agreement that you wouldn't do that, especially when you have a skirt on." Shinji scolded while gently karate chopping her forehead making her chuckle guiltily.
"I had my singlet on underneath so it's fine, nobody got any panty shots from me." Aoi smiled reassuringly.
"Not my point. You smothered me in broad daylight." Shinji explained with a stern expression.
"Oops!" Aoi exclaimed while blushing as the class bell rang.
"WE'RE LATE!" both exclaimed in horror.
The day went by lightning fast to Shinji's surprise. Aoi then had him watch her girls' wrestling team practice. Just as always, Aoi was eager to seek praise from him when she did well. It was almost like a puppy after successfully fetching the ball its master threw. Shinji waited patiently for her to fetch her uniform after practice was over.
"So why did you have me watch your practice today?" Shinji asked.
"I always do better with the object of my affections watching me. It's like a x10 booster to all stats! It'll be x20 when my husband is watching me perform!" Aoi cheered raising her arms in the air.
"You know why we'd never be allowed to marry, Aoi." Shinji sighed.
"Why not? Angels and devils are at peace now." Aoi asked him.
"That doesn't mean that the marriage conventions let alone the rules of marriage are the same." Shinji answered.
"We could marry here in the human realm. The conventions are simple and easy to obey." Aoi tried to persuade him.
"Both Heaven and Hell would object. We're both from prestigious bloodlines on top of it. There'd be way too many variables preventing it from working including radicals and warmongers." Shinji sighed.
"I-I'm not from a prestigious family…" Aoi lied trying to hide it on her face.
"Daughter of Raphael? On top of wielding the Heavenly Sword 'Ratatoskr'?" Shinji brought up making guilt arrows stab her.
"S-Shut up…" Aoi told him starting to well up.
"Aoi, it isn't that I'm not flattered or interested; it's that there are too many things in the way. I don't mind being friends, but due to the way things are in devil and angel society it just isn't possible. At least not right now." Shinji explained to her as gently as he could.
"I… understand…" Aoi sniffled sprouting her wings to fly off.
"I've never seen a more absent-minded angel… and it hurts not being able to return her feelings, but it's the truth. Otherwise I'd have been all over her a year ago when she confessed." Shinji thought to himself as he sighed heavily starting his walk home.
In Hell, an Elder Conference was being held to discuss the future of Shinji and Ginji Gremory. In attendance were many bigwig devils including Issei and Rias. Near the middle of the meeting Ginji had to be escorted out. He waited for it to end with fury in his eyes. It was a quarter to eight when Rias and Issei finally came out.
"Ginji… some cruel things were said in there about Shinji…" Rias spoke trying to console him.
"Tch… 'but your actions were unacceptable'... I know. I just can't stand it when they say you should excommunicate him to promote strong bloodlines. Who do those geezers think they are…?" Ginji growled clenching his fists.
"Your father and I were equally offended when they suggested it. We both know I would never do that as well. I love both of you equally, and frankly I believe it's good that twins have defining differences. Your crimson hair, for one, makes it quite easy to distinguish you from Shinji." Rias smiled attempting to calm him down soothingly stroking his hair.
"The fact Shinji that doesn't even have the ability to warp…?" Shinji brought up.
"Ginji, you're letting them get under your skin." Rias sighed with a sympathetic smile.
"Those old guys don't know Shinji like we do." Issei assured him.
"Let's just go home… he's probably awake by now anyway." Ginji scoffed putting his hands in his pockets.
Back in the human world, Shinji was studying for the upcoming exams. His concentration was broken as a foreign object smashed through his window nearly spooking him out of his skin. When he regained his composure he saw the object was a rock with a note attached.
"What is this, an anime?" Shinji questioned as he read it.
The contents of the letter spoke of Aoi's feelings. It wasn't like her to do something like this. His expression changed from confused to horrified when he reached the end of the letter.
"She wouldn't?!" Shinji exclaimed dropping it to run as fast as he could to get his shoes on and take off into the woods.
"Aoi, don't you dare! All you'll accomplish is falling from grace! Don't do that to yourself!" Shinji thought to himself in a panic.
He reached a clearing and narrowly dodged the swing of an aquamarine sword bearing a black and red hilt with a dive roll to the left. Standing there was Aoi, but something was definitely wrong. Her face was flushed and her breathing was somewhat erotic while bearing the mark of psychosis.
"A-Aoi…? Are you okay…?" Shinji asked her readying to dodge again at a moment's notice.
"I don't have to commit suicide and be reborn to be with you… no… I just have to kill you and make you reincarnate as an angel… we'll be together then…" Aoi giggled staring intently at him.
"SHE'S SNAPPED!" Shinji thought to himself in horror.
"Aoi, listen… you and I both know it doesn't work that way… a-an I know it probably breaks your heart, but…" Shinji tried to reason.
"Enough talk! Die for our love, Shinji Gremory!" Aoi laughed charging to swing, but he dodged causing a tree to get cut in two falling over.
"That's a hell of an edge!" Shinji thought in a panic staring at the stump left behind.
"Try as you might, I'll hit you eventually… and then we'll be together… forever!" Aoi laughed charging to swing more.
"More like my blood will be on your hands…" Shinji cursed under his breath.
"It's gotta be that sword! It's corrupting her mind with bullshit logic! I don't have the strength to get it away from her though… damn it… again with this shit…" Shinji thought to himself as he continued dodging.
Shinji's movements began to increase in speed as his thoughts became more grim. Again he's helpless to do anything. Again he's against the wall. This time it's someone he knows and cares about too.
"I was useless back then when my friend needed me too… damn it… why is it whenever I need to be strong I'm always such a weakling?!" Shinji cursed in his head as he shed a tear causing everything to freeze turning black and white.
"Huh…? What just happened…?" Shinji asked looking around him.
"You are sick of not being able to help the ones you love… you despise yourself for not inheriting your sibling's innate devil powers… you believe that you are somehow human when everyone else is devil…" a grown woman's voice spoke startling Shinji.
"Who are you?! Where are you…?" Shinji asked looking around in confusion.
"Shall I show you why your powers remain under lock and key…? Shall I just give you a taste of what you're truly capable of…?" the voice spoke in a tone that was strikingly seductive to Shinji's ears.
"What do you mean? Make some sense…" Shinji demanded.
"You are clearly not human… you're certainly no angel… you don't fit being a devil either… not a fallen angel… what does that leave…?" the voice spoke.
"I said make sense damn it!" Shinji roared trying to keep his mind from her seductive words.
"Look at your right arm… and know the meaning of your pathetic abilities! The REAL you!" the voice roared.
All it took was a glance to unnerve him. A white and black gauntlet that was dragonic in nature had attached to his arm. In the back of the hand was a gem that resembled space with the blackness and scattering of white specks within it. The sight of the glove instilled both fear and wonder into his very soul.
"This alone should tell you what you are… what WE are…" the voice spoke, and he gave in to the lust of her words.
"Why didn't… anyone say anything…?" Shinji whimpered welling up a bit.
"The answer is easy. They feared our potential. Now to give you a taste of OUR power… Balance Breaker!" the woman's voice spoke making the gem glow red.
The gauntlet then expanded into full body armor with a dragon motif. Shinji's thoughts all became clouded by extreme emotion. He couldn't think straight at all. He didn't have a clue what his body was doing either.
In reality Shinji was swiftly dodging Aoi's swings. She was visibly frustrated now. She charged holy energy into the weapon and swung sending an energy blade flying at him.
"WE WILL CONSUMMATE OUR LOVE!" Aoi screamed as the wave made an explosion kicking up a big dust cloud.
Aoi had a grin on her face, but it vanished in seconds. Balance Break Shinji leapt through the cloud opening the jaws of his helm and bit Aoi's sword in half with ease. She was mortified by the cold, black, lifeless eyes staring at her from the inside of the helmet.
"Now, to show you the extent of your power! The power of the Stardust Flame Dragon!" the woman's voice roared.
Shinji then unleashed a powerful dragon roar making Aoi cover her ears from having a front row seat to it. When Aoi opened her eyes, Shinji's tail reflected in her eyes seconds before it pierced her gut exiting her back. Aoi puked a very unhealthy amount of blood as light arrows struck Shinji making him roar loudly as the arrows bounce off like rubber. Above them were several angels and an archangel with long red hair dressed in seraphic robes and armor wielding a spear.
"Pa… pa…" was all Aoi could get out before losing consciousness.
"Aoi! Get away from her you monster!" Raphael roared signaling the angels to continue firing.
Shinji's tail then retracted as he let out another roar sprouting massive jet black wings that sparkled like space. He firmly planted his feet folding his wings around himself, and then quickly unfolded them sending sparkling black spikes skewering some of the angels.
"We need backup, this is no ordinary dragon we're fighting!" Raphael ordered.
"Balance Breaker!" Issei's voice cried seconds before he flew by the archangel tackling Shinji making him roar kicking him off backflipping to regain his balance.
"What is this thing Ddraig? It looks like you if you had a great rack and a new paint job." Issei asked.
"Ophis said she'd snap eventually… so this too was an eventuality. That is Shinji, believe it or not… it seems that the seal Ophis placed on him has finally given in to the weight of his power." Ddraig answered.
"Ophis said that?!" Issei exclaimed.
Shinji unleashed another roar and began charging a strange kind of space energy within his mouth forming a sphere. He then unleashed it at Issei, who easily dodged. Shinji used that moment to leap and tackle Issei throwing rapid punches and kicks roaring at him more.
"Damn it… I can't use Ascalon on him… I don't think I'd ever forgive myself. There has to be another way..." Issei groaned as he kept blocking.
"We need to calm him down. Usually he'd calm down on his own, but there's someone keeping that from happening. Given Shinji's current power rating, I'd say they would need to be nearby." Ddraig instructed.
Issei had to force himself to knock Shinji through some trees so he could look around. He had to knock Shinji back a few times to keep looking.
"I don't see anyone… maybe I can use Shinji's anger to our advantage… by making him blast the one causing his rage." Issei schemed.
Shinji unleashed a roar of pure anger as he recovered again. He literally stabbed his feet into the ground like anchors and began charging up a large sphere of the energy he'd been using. This time he unleashed it as a powerful beam attack. Issei dodged and cunningly made him drag the stream after him causing untold destruction of the forest.
"You're sure this will work? He'll catch us eventually." Ddraig asked.
"No clue, but we won't know until we try all directions." Issei answered as he made a full circle around.
"That takes care of the cardinal directions, which leaves one direction… so now it will be a game of outrunning him." Ddraig pointed out.
"Here goes." Issei spoke taking a deep breath as he took to the air making Shinji unleash a new beam chasing up after him.
"It's quickly starting to gain." Ddraig informed him.
"There! I see someone!" Issei exclaimed pointing out a woman wearing a black cloak chanting the contents of a red tome.
"His beam is gaining on us… please hurry…" Ddraig urged him.
"Almost… there…" Issei spoke in a cold sweat.
"It's nipping our tail, Issei! Roll! Roll!" Ddraig exclaimed.
"Now!" Issei cried suddenly rolling out of the chase causing his tail to get scorched a bit as the blast strikes the robed woman making her scream in agony as black electricity sparked all over her body ripping her clothing up showing traces of golden hair and her fallen angel wings.
"Direct hit!" Issei cheered as she fell to the ground with horrendous bloody injuries.
"She was so focused on maintaining the spell she didn't even notice us coming at her… and got fried as a result… but how on earth did she survive that blast?" Ddraig questioned as Issei landed returning to normal examining her.
"Yeah… he's my son all right." Issei sighed.
"The blast did severely injure her… but it also revealed her unmentionables. He is definitely yours." Draig snickered.
"We need to check on him." Issei told him standing to look toward Shinji.
Shinji was frozen in place with his feet firmly implanted into the ground looking skyward. His armor began cracking slowly, and then grew to quickly crack all over. The armor then shattered like glass revealing Shinji with horribly bloody injuries all over himself bearing a small version of the gauntlet on his arm. He pulled his feet from the ground with glazed eyes before promptly losing consciousness.
"As I thought… and Inherited Gear." Draig sighed.
"A what?" Issei asked.
"I'll explain at the manor. Right now we need to treat his wounds.
The angels took Aoi away allowing Issei to take Shinji home. When Shinji regained consciousness his Nekomata sisters jumped on him licking his face. He saw in his dressing mirror that he was covered in bandages, which he found odd as Aunt Asia could heal most injuries.
"You three snuck in again…? Ow… why am I aching all over…?" Shinji questioned.
"You tell me. Ddraig refused to say anything until you awakened. A full week this time…" Ginji sighed setting up a wheelchair by Shinji's bed.
"You're kidding right? The student council is going to kill me…" Shinji groaned.
"Sadly, as much as I wish I were… everyone has been worried sick since dad brought you home covered in injuries. Asia tried to heal you, but had minimal effect. So we bandaged you up the best we can and pray you heal with little scarring." Ginji explained.
"Aoi… how's Aoi?" Shinji asked in panicked realization.
"In critical condition. They had to take her back to Heaven for treatment. Everyone's hoping this doesn't cause tension between Heaven and Hell, because as Raphael recalls… you transformed into white and black dragon armor and stabbed her with your tail." Ginji answered helping Shinji to sit up.
"I don't remember much… a voice said something… and the rest is a blur. I can't recall it…" Shinji sighed.
"I need to confirm it for myself." Ophis spoke as she entered the room.
"H-He's still recovering…" Rias told her as she followed into the room.
"He just woke up actually." Ginji told both of them.
"Lady Ophis?" Shinji questioned as she climbed onto the bed by him.
She took his gauntlet arm making him grimace in pain. She felt his nerves and then pressed making him yelp as the gauntlet materialized. She felt over the space gemstone making a glowing purple sigil appear over it with several cracks all over the glyph. Ophis got a saddened expression looking at it.
"I guess that's sort of good news. Now, my seal is still in-tact… but barely. There's several cracks in it that's causing some of the Stardust Flame Dragon's power to flow into him." Ophis explained.
"The what?" Rias asked nervously.
"Gather everyone, that way everyone will know." Ophis ordered.
Ginji helped Shinji into the wheelchair as the triplets rushed off to alert the household members. It took minutes to get everyone gathered in the living room. Ophis was front and center with Shinji parked right beside her.
"Now, first and foremost… what this specific piece of gear is. This is called an 'Inherited Gear', meaning that he got it from Issei - a wielder of a Boosted Gear. Issei's gear boosts his strength by 2 each time, as an 'inherited' or improved version, Shinji's boosts his strength by 4 each time peaking at double what Issei's would. As Inherited Gears birth more Inherited Gears their effects become stronger and stronger sometimes even gaining secondary effects. Think of it as a snowball effect." Ophis explained to them.
"Is that where all of his powers went?" Issei asked fervently.
"An unexpected side effect of my seal was stunting his growth as a devil. So that's my bad…" Ophis chuckled while bowing apologetically.
"So where did that dragon come from?" Xenovia asked.
"When Issei and Rias consummated, a fragment of Rias's soul took upon the shape of a female dragon to birth a child with Ddraig. I believe he claimed to have 'felt the energy of their love', denying what happened." Ophis answered with a smile.
"Ddraig? That true?" Issei asked giving a stare at his arm.
"I was unaware that was what happened… I believed it to merely be a result of your love-making." Draig nervously answered.
"So that's why I felt like I could breathe fire for a little while… then I found out I was pregnant with Ginji and Shinji." Rias spoke as she pieced it together.
"So, why exactly is this 'Stardust Flame Dragon' such a bitch?" Shinji asked Ophis.
"No social skills due to being sealed up all her life and when I talked with her last she claimed that she wanted to be called the 'Empress of Starlight Dragon'. If she wants a grandiose title like that she's gotta work for it." Ophis giggled.
"Do I have a similar gear?" Ginji asked her.
"No, and that strikes me as odd since you're twins." Ophis answered.
"What will happen when the seal breaks completely?" Asia asked with a concerned look.
"He'll suffer an overflow from the Stardust Flame Dragon's power entering his body. In even the best case scenario, he'll still die from being unable to handle the power instilled within him." Ophis answered with a sad look.
"Isn't there something we can do? There has to be something." Yuuto asked.
"Well… if he had an outlet for his dragon powers… something to regulate its power keeping it from overwhelming him while in use… something like the God Slayer of legend, then maybe." Ophis answered.
"We all know that God Slayer is just an old fairy tale told by devils in the days of the war to give children hope that it would end soon." Rias scoffed.
"You'll find that it's very real, and was used in that war by Sephiroth Satan Gremory III. All of your family berated him for 'outrageous claims of bearing the weapon'… but he really did have the blade of legend. The war would have ended much sooner if they'd believed him, and the way things are now would be vastly different." Ophis grinned seeming to be lecturing almost.
"Where is it then?" Koneko asked.
"Don't know. Only a dragon can find it let alone identify it anyway. As the legend goes, it takes the shape of your soul and only obeys your heart's desires." Ophis shrugged making them comically fall over.
"So, it will always look different to multiple people?" Shinji asked and she booped his nose with her index finger.
"Gold star!" Ophis smiled warmly.
"So, what are we supposed to do until then? Twiddle our thumbs until the seal breaks?" Issei asked on the edge of frustration.
"No, use that thick skull of yours, Issei, We're going to use his dragon to find God Slayer." Ophis giggled.