Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD, I only own my OC
The world was black.
He couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, it was almost akin to the sensations he experienced when he was reborn. Except the only feeling he could receive was a cold wind, he could feel nothing else, even the cold beat of his heart was gone, falling away to the emptiness around him.
Then, the blackness was pierced.
A golden light, one that radiated a very familiar warmth. It was one filled with love and care, one that he felt countless times before. He could see it already, her smile. He could see the beams turning into her golden hair. Her green eyes took shape in the shine. Her face and creamy skin forming into her ever present gentle smile that hid her true sadness beneath. Her arms were held open, the white dress she wore billowing in a nonexistent breeze.
"Live." She spoke, her voice a song of the greatest of melodies. "Live for yourself, be who you want to be."
He felt tears burn at the corners of his eyes. A feeling of desperation surged within him as she began to fade away. He ran forward, sprinting to catch up to her. Despair surging through him as his mother vanished.
"Mom! MOM!"
His voice was met with silence as he continued to run in an attempt to find her. Once he reached the light, however, the world seemed to explode. The darkness fading away to reveal a world filled with an endless amount of swords. Some appeared pristine and newly forged, while others were cracked and worn from use. The world was barren, only filled with a desert hill and enormous gears that turned even though they were isolated in the sky, which was bathed in a series of scarlet and oranges, painting the world in an eternal dawn. The sky itself seemed to reflect off the blades, making seem as though they were lit aflame.
His body shuddered as he felt something run through his arm.
"I am the ***** of ********"
He looked down in shock, a long silvertip of a sword protruded from his palm. Several more shudders ran through his body as he felt something pierce his back.
"Steel is my ******* and ***** is ********"
He collapsed as blood fell onto the ground, staining it a bright crimson color.
"I have ******* nearly ***************"
He screamed out as the swords continued to protrude from every inch of flesh on his body. Blood continuing to fall as shudders constantly ran through his body with every sword.
"Unknown to ************* nor ******** to *********"
He felt his mind begin to fragment himself; the only feeling he received was the continuous swords piercing his flesh. But through it all, the agony, he heard a single voice.
"Live."
-XXXX-
Yukiyo bolted up, panting heavily. Sweat covered his body. His eyes were wide as they cast frantically around to discover that he was back in his room. His breathing slowed, racing heart calming to a slow pace.
Yukiyo sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. It wasn't the first time he'd had a dream like that, they had become increasingly common over the last few months. Making quite a few sleepless nights. It always started with an empty world and the figure of his deceased mother in a white dress. When he tried to catch her, the world exploded and he would end up in that hill filled with swords. His body would convulse and blades would pop up from every inch of his skin. It never hurt, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. It'd end with his mother telling him to live while he died on the ground.
He sighed again as he looked around the room that Shuri had lent him for his stay at the shrine. It was rather spartan, only possessing a dresser with clothes and a few pictures on top and a bed in the corner by a window where he currently slept. Well, not just him.
His eyes drifted down and he smiled at the young girl that slept alongside him. It had been two years since Shuri had invited him to the shrine. He and Akeno had grown rather close during that time and she started to sleep with him after learning that he had nightmares of either the death of his mother, or the world of swords he just witnessed. He of course, didn't want to tell her that it wasn't working, as he knew that Akeno always had the best intentions. His smile grew as he rested a hand on her shoulder and ran his thumb across it a few times.
Yukiyo ran a hand through his hair, his thoughts beginning to drift back to the events that occurred over the past two years. Baraqiel had started to teach him how to fight, and even showing Akeno a few tricks to defend herself. They were rather young to start training, but Akeno was determined to learn what she could, as was Yukiyo. Unfortunately, he couldn't cast any spells that had even a trace of elemental magic.
His eyes closed as he thought back to when he first convinced Baraqiel to teach him how to fight.
Flashback.
Yukiyo sighed as he looked out the doorway to a small garden. It had been two months and Shuri had somehow managed to convince him to stay for a while. Baraqiel had been hesitant, but he gradually came to accept the green-eyed boy that had come into their household.
They had been slightly surprised when he asked Baraqiel to teach him how to fight. He merely reiterated that the Fallen wasn't human and he knew how to fight, unfortunately he hadn't managed to convince the stern Cadre. Any time he asked resulted in refusal, it was causing Yukiyo no small amount of frustration, as it seemed that Baraqiel was looking down on him for being a child. Yukiyo felt a scowl come on at that thought, he quickly dismissed it, but the feeling of frustration was still present.
He growled before pushing himself off the wall and stalking outside. The frustration at Baraqiel's refusals drove him down the steps and off the hill. He growled again as he walked along the streets of Kuoh with no particular destination in mind. Perhaps it was because of that wandering that he felt a hand grab his throat and drag him into an empty alley.
"So you're the rat that the traitor took in?"
Yukiyo struggled to breathe as the man's grip on his throat tightened. The boy felt the air leave his lungs as he was slammed against the wall of the alley that the man had dragged him into.
"Heh, you truly are a pathetic boy huh?" The man asked with his face concealed save for a savage grin on his face. Yukiyo's eyes widened when he noticed a gleam of sharpened metal rest against the small part of his neck that was left exposed.
Then he felt something jolt deep within his soul, the man in front of him faded and Yukiyo was standing in front of several individuals. The knife in his hands was covered in blood and Yukiyo felt a smirk tug at his lips, which then shifted into a wild grin as he charged, his knife gleaming as it tore into the flesh of his targets, painting the ground and air a darkened red and staining his clothes.
'Blood.' His wild grin seemed to stretch further as the knife in his hands hummed from satisfaction. 'Blood.' Every swing slit a throat or a wrist, every thrust pierced an eye or a lung. 'Blood, blood, bloodbloodbloodbloodbloodBLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!BLOOD!'
Yukiyo gasped as another jolt ran through his body and he was back to where he was, against a wall with a serial killer holding his throat.
"Sorry, kiddo, but my wallet needs you to die, have fun in hell kid!"
Yukiyo snarled, which only seemed to amuse the man further.
"Defiant are we? We'll see how brave you are when you come face to face with the Devil!"
Yukiyo clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as the knife pressed harder against his throat, then a squelch of pierced flesh followed by a thump was heard and the knife vanished from his neck. Yukiyo collapsed to the ground, hands around his neck as he coughed. He didn't need to look up to see who had saved him; after all, he memorized Baraqiel's presence.
As he opened his eyes, Yukiyo had to hold back bile rising in his throat. Resting on the ground was a severed arm, cut cleanly at the bicep with a steady stream of blood coming out of the end. Yukiyo noticed a gleam of metal nearby but winced away as he glimpsed a small girl with her throat slit.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Yukiyo looked up to see the back of the source of his frustration standing between him and his would-be killer. The serial killer clutched his shoulder as blood flowed out of the stump that was formerly the man's left arm. He didn't need to see the Fallen's face to tell that he was furious.
"Did those greedy bastards go so far as to hire someone such as yourself?" Baraqiel asked, tone laced with venom and spite. "Tell this to your masters, if this boy, or my daughter, come to any harm due to them. Then they will lose more than just an arm." Suddenly, Yukiyo felt as if he had been impaled.
The serial killer's eyes were wide, and justifiably so. Yukiyo felt as though death itself were surrounding the Cadre. He was frozen, it felt as though a hundred, no, a thousand blades were held against his skin, and even the slightest twitch would kill him. His mouth dried and he couldn't even swallow his own saliva. Was this…killer intent?
The serial killer took several steps back, before he sprinted away. No doubt to escape the roaring waves of death that was Baraqiel.
"Are you unharmed, little avenger?"
Yukiyo barely mustered the strength to look up at him, he shuddered, the feeling of thousands of blades readying to pierce his skin was still slightly present. He looked up at Baraqiel, barely managing to meet those violet orbs. He shuddered again before schooling his expression, managing to meet his gaze while wanting nothing else but to look away.
"Teach me." Was all he said, Baraqiel raised an eyebrow before smirking.
"You still want to fight, even though you've witnessed the risk of death?" Yukiyo nodded, "Why?"
It wasn't a refusal, merely an inquiry. To be honest, Yukiyo wasn't entirely sure why himself. He wasn't sure if it were to protect Shuri and Akeno, or to avenge the death of his mother.
Yukiyo looked down and pondered it for several seconds before pushing himself to his feet. "There is something, must do, put past to rest."
Baraqiel's smirk faded, recognizing the look in the little avenger's eyes. "Hate is a double-edged sword, little avenger. It will grant you strength and resolve, but it can also force you to forget what truly matters. If you truly want to become strong, then you must promise not only to me, but to those that you hope to avenge that you'll never lose yourself to your hate."
Yukiyo looked down again, bangs shadowing his forest green eyes. Before he looked up, eyes comparable to steel of the sharpest sword. He nodded, confirming his promise.
"Yuki-kun!"
Yukiyo groaned, Baraqiel smirked; the figure of one Himejima Akeno ran around the corner, before throwing herself and latching onto Yukiyo. "I was so worried! Tou-chan said you left because you were angry! I thought that the mean people would hurt you!"
Yukiyo raised an eyebrow, "Mean people?"
Akeno nodded, "Tou-chan and Kaa-chan say that the mean people will hurt me and Yuki-kun if we go out by ourselves! I thought the mean people would hurt you when Kaa-chan said you left!"
Yukiyo's eyes widened when he felt wetness on his shirt, Akeno was crying? Was she really that worried? Yukiyo didn't truly know how to react, so he wrapped his arms around her and began stroking her back. This was something that his mother used to do with him when he was upset.
He looked up at Baraqiel who was standing in front of them with a small smile, as if to encourage Yukiyo to continue his ministrations.
Flashback end.
It had been a few days after that when Baraqiel had started teaching him how to fight, Akeno had found out about it and demanded to join. Yukiyo didn't see a problem, but it took a lot of convincing to get Baraqiel to finally accept.
It turned out that magic was a lot more complicated than the DxD universe had let on. In fact, it was a lot like a combination of the Magic system from Fairy Tale and the Magecraft system from Fate/Stay Night. Yukiyo didn't understand it fully, but Baraqiel described it as "utilizing the flow of one's internal world", Shuri later clarified by explaining that mages used their spiritual energy, better known as prana and channeled it down a set number of magic circuits, which was like a spiritual nervous system to channel and control that prana. Prana, as a spiritual force, needed to be externalized and this was possible through four "vents" on the body, two on the wrists, and two on the ankles.
Yukiyo had an abundant amount of magic circuits for a human, 54 circuits specifically, and Akeno had easily double that amount, sitting at 108 circuits. Yukiyo attributed it to being the fact that Akeno's mother was an Onmiyoji and her father was a Cadre class Fallen Angel. Each person also wielded an "Elemental affinity", a concept which often gave them strength in casting a certain field of magic.
There were commonly four elements, fire, water, wind, and earth. But there were combinations of certain elements, such as Baraqiel's and Akeno's elemental affinity, lightning, a combination of the fire and wind elements. There were also various other concepts as elements, such as "obliteration".
At any rate, the process of casting spells functioned by externalizing Prana through the vents located on the wrists The individuals then altered the prana via an incantation unique to the spell that they wanted to cast which stabilized and changed it to suit the mental requirement of the user.
For example, Yukiyo utilized the incantation "Trace on" when spellcasting, as it was an aria that allowed him to perform his spells to the best of his ability. Plus he felt a strange attachment to those words. For phantasmal species, this process differed, as they constantly emitted and produced Prana and were capable of channeling and moulding it to suit their needs on an instinctive level, this allowed the to alter prana to create spells according to their own imaginations. Often times, they utilized incantations to strengthen a spell, such as Rias shouting "Extinguish Star!" Or Akeno with "Thunder! Resound!" Different schools of spellcasting also required different amounts of prana and it was required to channel Prana into physical objects to perform certain spells. These most often being teleportation and summoning circles used by devils, but they can also be transmutation circles utilized by Alchemists or paper talismans used by onmiyoji. There were also cases of people forgoing an aria for spells that they'd used for quite a long time and as such know how to mold the prana through sheer experience. There were also spells that could only be activated through use of an aria.
Yukiyo sighed when he remembered the first time he tried to use an elemental spell. It hadn't worked, not at all.
Shuri had been trying to teach him how to use onmiyojutsu by using paper talismans as mediums to generate fire. When that failed, he was given wind ones, earth ones after that, and finally, water ones. None of them worked, he couldn't produce a spark, breeze, pebble, or drop with the talismans. Shuri later revealed that she was aware of western magics when she taught him how to perform an elementally neutral spell, reinforcement. That was probably the only thing he was good at.
When it was discovered that Yukiyo couldn't use elemental spells at all, Baraqiel had taken to teaching him more traditional ways of fighting, i.e. swordsmanship. He was improving, but he still couldn't land a hit on Baraqiel
Shuri however, had delved deeper into western magics and discovered another spell called Gradation Air, the process of making something out of thin air. Yukiyo nearly laughed when he discovered he was no good at that technique either. Everything he tried to make was hollow and lacked any real sustenance.
Since then he'd dedicated most of his time to practicing reinforcement. While he wasn't the greatest,it was at least a spell he could use as opposed to his hollow projections. But it had been a long road, even with his 54 circuits and insane reserves of prana, he was considered a third-rate magician at best. This was mostly due to a lack of sleep with his dreams about swor-.
Yukiyo's thoughts stopped as realization dawned on him, inability to perform elemental magic, proficiency in reinforcement, ability to use gradation air, and dreams about swords. He swung his feet off the side of his bed and pushed himself off. Walking over to the far side of the room as not to disturb Akeno.
He sat down, legs crossed, both hands held in front of him, palms facing down. The image of a gun appeared in his mind, his finger itching for the trigger. Alongside that, an image of a pair of black and white blades appeared in his mind. Eyes closed, he breathed, and pulled the trigger.
"Trace, on."
Prana flowed down his 54 circuits like a waterfall. It pooled and warped in his open palms. The prana began to solidify for a brief instant before it warped and fluctuated taking random shapes and movements. Yukiyo clenched his teeth as he tried to solidify what prana he could; eyes shut tighter as light began to build up around him. Words came to his mind without warning and flowed involuntarily out of his mouth.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Instantly the prana in his hands solidified and took shape. It made a pair of chinese falchions that appeared exactly the same save for coloration, the one in his left was black, with a faint red hexagonal pattern running along its length. The one in his right hand was purely white.
Yukiyo panted, that projection had taken a lot out of him, even for his massive reserves. Maybe he overdid it with the amount of prana he used.
"Yuki-kun?"
Yukiyo turned around and met Akeno's wide eyes, he smirked. "Looks like I've discovered my calling, eh Akeno?"
-XXXX-
Yukiyo smirked as he walked alongside Akeno, his hands in his pockets as they moved through the park. It had been six months since he discovered his true abilities. He'd been improving in swordsmanship ever since then. Except this day was special beyond belief.
He had done it; he had managed to land a hit on Baraqiel.
To celebrate, Akeno had convinced Shuri to get ice cream from a convenience store nearby. Akeno likely wanted to use it as an excuse to eat ice cream; he on the other hand was truly starting to improve. Not to mention he finally figured out how to reinforce his body to improve its physical capabilities.
He'd also figured out how much prana it required to trace weapons, it commonly increased when the weapon was more famous, he could also trace any bladed weapon he'd seen both in this life, and his previous one. With weapons like Caliburn requiring a lot of prana, and Kanshou and Bakuya requiring less, as they were lesser-known weapons.
All of that aside, it was mainly due to bodily reinforcement and use of Archer's "suicidal" fighting style of leaving deliberate openings to take out opponents stronger than him. It took Baraqiel only a few seconds to discover, but the effect had been present. He finally managed to hit the man, after two years and eight months of blood sweat and tears.
Yukiyo was jolted from his thoughts from a strange noise, it sounded like a scream, one that Yukiyo responded to. He turned, eyes locking onto a blue-eyed young girl with bright silver hair being dragged into an alleyway a knifepoint.
He could hear several voices from the busy streets to call the police, but Yukiyo tuned all of that out. The girl...she looked a lot like… No that was impossible, this was an entirely different world after all. Then again, it didn't matter who she resembled, all that mattered was that she was in danger, and he wouldn't turn a blind eye to that.
He reinforced his body and charged, intent on saving the young girl. He heard Akeno scream his name, but that didn't matter right now. He sprinted down the alleyway and came face to face with a man, his hair was dyed blond, and he wore an open jacket with torn jeans. The girl he was holding had silver hair and already had slight nicks from the knife.
Yukiyo scowled as the man took notice of him.
"Well, what do we have here, a little boy trying to play hero eh? Too bad that heroes always arrive too late!"
"TRACE ON!"
Yukiyo reinforced his body to the limit and charged, Kanshou and Bakuya shimmering into his hands. He was moving quickly, but it was abundantly clear that he wouldn't make it. Yukiyo clenched his teeth and in a split second, hurled Kanshou directly at the man. Yukiyo's eyes widened when the blade sank directly into the man's chest. The man's eyes were wide as he let go of the girl and stumbled back. Blood had splattered against the girl he'd been trying to save. Yukiyo fell to his knees, despite witnessing a corpse and a severed arm; he had never done something like this.
He killed him.
Kanshou and Bakuya faded as his mind flashed back to the glimpses of death he'd seen from the serial killer's dagger so long ago. His breathing picked up in pace as he stared down at his hands. It looked like they were covered, stained with a red ink he could never wash out.
His pupils dilated as he began to hyperventilate. Green eyes shimmering as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.
He killed him.
It repeated over and over in his head like a mantra, he killed him, he could see the lifelessness in the man's eyes as he fell to the earth, he killed him. The cold feeling in his chest began to spread as tears fell onto his hands.
He killed him,He killed him,He killed him,He killed him,He killed him,He killed him,HEKILLEDHIMHEKILLEDHIMHEKILLEDHIMHE KILLEDHIMHEKILLEDHIM.
Yukiyo's eyes widened when he felt a gentle pair of arms wrap around him. He looked up to see Shuri, her eyes sad and sympathetic, yet she said nothing. Merely holding him tighter as he collapsed, sobbing into her shoulder.
-XXXX-
Yukiyo stared at his ceiling, thoughts scattered, but he knew that this wouldn't be the last time he'd kill something, it was something he'd accepted. But he didn't think that it'd be...like that.
He looked to the side at hearing his door open. Baraqiel walked in, standing at the bedside where he rested. Yukiyo looked up again with blank eyes.
"Does it get any easier?"
Baraqiel didn't ask what he meant, already knowing. And the answer he gave made sadness grip his throat.
"No." Baraqiel said, it was a short blunt answer before he continued, "The burden of taking a life will forever rest on your consciousness, eating away at you until you inevitably lose yourself to insanity."
Yukiyo closed his eyes as he thought it over, could he really commit to that, to kill? Could he take a life, knowing that he would lose himself later on?
"That is…" Yukiyo looked over to Baraqiel again, "If you let it." Yukiyo was confused, and it probably showed on his face as Baraqiel continued. "Taking a life is never easy, it will always haunt you, the burden will always be present, but it's not one that you must bear alone I do not know who you lost, little avenger, but you have a family, you have Akeno, Shuri and myself. This is one burden that you won't share alone." Baraqiel smiled before ruffling his hair, "Now get some rest, Akeno can't eat all the ice cream alone." Baraqiel stood, turned and began to leave the room, "Oh, and one more thing." Yukiyo looked at Baraqiel just before he left, "While it is true that you took a life this day, take solace in the fact that you saved one."
Yukiyo nodded before looking up at his ceiling again, he raised a hand out before channeling prana down his circuits and tracing Bakuya. The white sword reflected the light. Yukiyo's eyes narrowed as his grip on his sword tightened. It was at this moment that he would promise. He'd never lose himself to the lives he'd taken or the deaths of those he lost. He would never lose himself and he'd become strong enough, not only to avenge the death of his mother, but to protect the family that he'd gained in the process.
Yukiyo smiled before dismissing Bakuya and getting off his bed, getting stronger was fun and all, but that didn't mean that he lost his sweet tooth.
AN: So a bit of a darker chapter compared to the last one, and another one that was centered mostly around backstory. Canon won't start for the next few chapters. Also, this story will be a much more realistic view of DxD and death, did anyone else think that it was partial bullshit that Issei was traumatized into being scared of women, but he wasn't traumatized at all at the fact that Rias killed people with such little regard.
Also, the girl that Yukiyo saved will reappear. And trust me, she's much more than she seems.
EDIT: So I ran through this chapter and put more detail into the magical system. Hopefully this explains what I've been trying to get across. Baraqiel's wording of "utilizing the flow of one's internal world" will be explained later on. Also made a few grammar corrections.
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