AN: Boom! Surprise update. Since I got some questions regarding updates, I'll just put the answer here. Updates will hopefully be every weekend, providing that something doesn't happen where I won't be able to do it. The same thing could be said for the other way around. If I have some extra free time, I'll probably be updating it earlier than usual. Also, I won't be posting any harem results. You'll just have to wait and see. With that said, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Answers to Guest Reviews:
Ragna: In short, yes. It's possible.
And also, thank you to everybody else for their reviews.
Disclaimer: This is a fanmade parody. Highschool DxD is originally written by Ichiei Ishibumi. I take absolutely no credit for the series.
I sighed.
This was absolutely not how I expected my life as a Devil to be going. I could still remember Ddraig's roaring laughter when I first heard about this job.
Honestly, it's almost disappointing.
The moment I was turned into a Devil, I started preparing myself for future battles. My Dimensional Vault was almost within reach. A few more days and then I'll have complete access to it. I've also started a bit of training on the side whenever I have free time.
However, the thing is, nothing's happened yet. There still is the Fallen Angel business that Buchou said that it'll resolve itself in time, but other than that, I've just been throwing out leaflets to people around town. Apparently all the newly reincarnated Devils had to do this kind of grunt work until further notice.
That's exactly the kind of work I've been doing this past week. Riding all over town when school ends to hand out these sheets with summoning circles on them to little green blips on a radar that shows potential candidates that would summon Devils. I wonder how they even managed to make this thing. Never have I heard of something that can detect the amount of greed a person has, in fact, I've never even come across anything that can truly detect anything like that in my travels.
And so, with random thoughts keeping my mind occupied, I rode through the city in the dead of night, handing out leaflets to the greedy citizens.
I was heading to the club room again after school. It had become somewhat of a ritual for me ever since I joined, not like I had much of a choice. Apparently, I had to come today, as Buchou had something important to tell me. Regarding what? I have no idea.
Just as I was about to open the door, I heard a voice mention my name from inside.
"Buchou. - lying - Saya - necessary?"
That sounded like Akeno. I pressed my ear to the door in order hear what she was saying better.
"Yes. I believe that it was necessary. Her heart is pure and kind. If she were to find out that we let her die in order to reincarnate her, she would have rejected us."
There was a brief pause in the conversation. What were they saying? They let me die?
"Also, she's trying to hide something from us. She knows something that we don't know. Don't you think her reaction to finding out about the existence of Angels, Devils, and Fallen was far too tame? Any regular person would have reacted more strongly. She definitely isn't religious from what we have observed, so she shouldn't have any prior knowledge and beliefs of the subject, and yet, it seems like she does. Don't you think that's strange, Akeno?"
They were watching me as well. For quite a while even. They could've stepped in at any time. but they just watched me make a fool of myself. Again. This was happening again. Just like before, people have taken advantage of me. And I let it happen. How could I have been so stupid?! I knew better than to take things at face value. And yet, why? Why does this keep happening?
I took a deep breath to calm myself down. No. Getting angry at myself wouldn't do any good. It won't accomplish anything.
For now, I have no choice but the play the role of an obedient underling. Becoming a Stray is out of the question.
I took another breath, and knocked on the door before entering.
"Good afternoon, Buchou, Akeno," I greeted them as naturally as I could.
The two third years looked like they were playing chess when they were talking to each other.
Buchou nodded and smiled in my direction. It almost seemed like the conversation about me just now didn't happen.
"Good afternoon, Saya. It's good to see that you're here."
"Ara, good afternoon."
Both Buchou and Akeno stood up. The former made her way towards me while the latter started cleaning up the chess set.
"Well done with your work so far, Saya. I think that you'll be glad to know that you're getting a promotion today."
"Thank you. I-" Wait, did she just say promotion?
I looked up at her with hope in my eyes, almost forgetting my anger for a moment. "Does that mean I won't have to hand out those leaflets anymore?"
She nodded with a small smile on her face.
"That's right. You'll start doing contracts like the rest of us now."
Finally! Although it was good training for my legs, delivering those slips of paper everywhere was incredibly boring.
"Since this will be the first time, you won't be doing anything too hard. Since Yuumi is double-booked, you'll take one of her contracts. Do you remember the details of what a contract entails?"
"Yes. I just need to fulfill the client's wish as long as it is within reason. If it isn't, I can barter with them until it becomes something I am capable of. When it's done, I take something from them as payment, whether it be monetary, or an item worth equal value."
Buchou smiled proudly and patted my head.
"Good. A perfect explanation. I expected nothing less from you."
Ah... this feeling of being praised like this... Sara...
The image of the golden haired immortal briefly flashed before my eyes.
I was broken out of my reminiscence when Buchou led me into the magic circle in the center of the room. From what she had told me, the magic circle is actually the Gremory family crest. All the members of her peerage, as well as the other Devils in her family bear the crest on their body to signify that they are a part of the clan.
A light started to emit from the circle as Buchou spoke up again. "Hold out your palm, Saya."
I lifted up my arm and did as I was told. I watched as Buchou started to draw the crest on my hand with her finger.
"With this, you'll be able to use the magic circle in this room to transport yourself to a client. Once the contract is done, you'll be teleported back here.
That is definitely more useful than the teleport pills. But then again, they have saved my life countless times when I needed them.
"Alright. Akeno, is it ready?"
"Yes, Buchou."
I glanced towards Akeno and noticed that she was the one preparing the magic circle for me.
"Step into the center of the circle whenever you're ready, Saya."
I nodded and took a deep breath before stepping inside.
The last thing I saw and heard was Buchou and Akeno waving to me with wishes of good luck.
The familiar rush of dizziness faded away as I opened my eyes.
Looking around the place I arrived at, I found that it looked to be some sort of dressing room.
There were all sorts of fantasy setting costumes displayed all over the place. Things you'd see in RPGs like Large Overgrown Fire-breathing Lizard's Quest and the like.
Sets of armor that had more openings than a slice of Swiss cheese (who in the world leaves one of their arms completely open while covering only their other one with a single piece of metal on the shoulder?), hugely overdecorated ball gowns, and the generic suits of armor for the grunts.
As I was staring at the variety of costumes, I failed to notice the other presence in the room until they started speaking.
"Oh. You're not Yuumi."
I started and whipped around to see who was talking to me.
What I saw was a woman in somewhere in her twenties. Her black hair was done up in a small ponytail that reached just past her neck.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry ma'am, but Yuumi is currently busy with another contract right now so I came to take her place."
The woman frowned at this. "Oh dear. This isn't good. We needed a prince character."
"If I may ask, what is your wish?"
"Ah, right. Well, we're putting on a play right now, but one of our actor's got injured on stage and our backup is busy with other work so we need a replacement. Yuumi had always helped us out whenever something like this happened in the past and we've always called on her because her improv skills were so good."
That's definitely bad. There's no way I can play a male role, much less a prince, with my physique and voice.
"What's the play about? I might be able to improvise if I know the general idea of the story."
The woman nodded. "Right. It's about a princess who gets engaged to a prince from a foreign kingdom but she ends up falling in love with her bodyguard instead she she elopes with him. They spend a while running from both the princess' kingdom and the princes' kingdom but they finally end up getting caught. That's where we left off."
Yes. Ok. I think I can work with this.
"Do you think you can get bodyguard the play the part of the prince? I have an idea."
After about a half hour, the necessary preparations were complete. Luckily, the bodyguard was wearing a helmet and never had any lines for the entire duration of the play so I could easily take his place with minimal changes. Apparently it was decided that he would take off his helmet at the very end when his duty to his princess had been fulfilled.
So here I was now, standing in a clunky suit of armor that gave quite a few inches to my height so I could pass off as the bodyguard. The man who was playing the part earlier was now standing in front of me with a rapier drawn, dressed in some regal clothes with a long, flowing cloak and a small crown. The princess was sitting on the ground behind me and we were all surrounded by a group of knights.
The general idea I had was to change the script so that the bodyguard and the prince would have a duel to the death and the bodyguard would win. What happened during, and after that, will all have to be improvised. No sweat.
I inhaled deeply and held it while drawing the large broadsword on my back. I would've definitely broken my back if this thing was real.
I exhaled and charged with the sword held high above my head before I brought it down slow enough so that the prince could react and dodge in time.
Once he had jumped clear of the swing, he started thrusting forward with the rapier. It was nowhere near as fast as I was used to, but the armor made it harder to move.
After the first couple of thrusts, I gave up completely on trying to dodge and parry, but instead opted to just keep charging the man until the time was right. I had to make sure that the fight didn't end too soon or drag out for too long.
Swing. Recover. Charge. Swing. Recover. Charge. This repeated for few minutes until I decided that it was enough.
I charged once again with my sword held close to the wooden stage. Right before I could bring my sword up and swing though, the prince thrust his rapier forward and pierced through the visor of the helmet. The entire audience (actors included) gasped as I froze on the spot. The rapier had just about missed my head. It was a good thing that it was five times too big or else that might have gone into my eye. Guess I have my luck for that.
I completed the swing and slashed the prince across his chest, making him stumble back with a shocked expression before he remembered that he had a job to do. And so, the prince dropped 'dead' and I stood there with the rapier still stuck in the helmet.
Turning around, I made my way back towards the princess and took off the helmet, letting my hair flow down the back of my armor.
More gasps could be heard from the audience as I revealed myself.
I cast the helmet to the side and held my hand out to the princess on the ground. She hesitated to grab it at first, but she eventually did and I pulled her up onto her feet.
"I apologize, princess, for keeping my true identity hidden from you for so long. The truth is, I fell in love with you ever since we first met, but I just could not bring myself to tell you. I will understand if you will hate me now for the coward that I am."
The princess vehemently shook her head with tears brimming at the corners of her eyes. "Oh Victor, I could never bring myself to hate you no matter what. My love for you is unrivaled in all the world. No mere words can describe just how much I love you."
"Princess..." I gently cupped her face in my armored hands and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "My real name is Victoria. I would be honored if you were to call me that."
"Victoria..."
"Princess."
The distance between us grew to nothing as we drew each other into an embrace. Her arms wrapped around my back as she nestled herself into my armor while my arms wrapped around her waist and I rested my head on hers.
It honestly didn't seem like much, but the audience sounded like they enjoyed it if the roaring applause was of any indication once the curtains had fully closed.
I opened my eyes and found myself back at the clubroom. After the success of the play, I completed the contract and collected my payment. The woman in charge, Miss Yukino, even said that she might just get both Yuumi and I to act in any future plays she might have. All-in-all, I felt that it was a pretty good first success.
I scanned the clubroom and found that everybody was here now. Koneko was in her favorite seat eating sweat as usual, Yuumi appeared to be doing homework, Akeno was pouring tea for everyone, and Buchou was reading through a sheet of paper.
"Welcome back, Saya. How did the contract go?" Akeno asked me while handing me a cup of tea.
I accepted the cup and blew on the tea before taking a small sip of it. "Thank you, Akeno, and it went quite well for my first time I think. Also, your tea is delicious as always."
"Ufufu. Thank you."
Buchou cleared her throat and stood up from her seat. "You certainly did do a good job, Saya. The contracter had all sorts of good things to say about you in the comments. Come here, I'll give you a reward for a job well done."
I nodded and did I was told, only to find myself get patted on the head again.
"Wh-wha-? Buchou. Why?"
"Because you seemed to enjoy it earlier, of course. Don't forget, I always treat my peerage as if they were my own family. You are no exception to that."
I don't know why I did what I did next. My mind must had finally snapped after all of my emotional stress.
I forcefully pushed Buchou away from me and shouted, "Then why?!"
Everyone in the club room looked at me with blatant shock at my sudden outburst. I had remained polite and friendly, if a little distant, with everyone I interacted with until now so my hostility must have been completely unexpected.
"Eh? Why what?"
"Why did you lie to me?!"
"Lie? Saya, what are you talking about?"
"You let me die. Hell, I bet you even watched me die. You could've stepped in at any point to save me, and yet you didn't. Did and you really want my Sacred Gear that much? Here you are, being so kind to me, acting as if I was so incredibly precious to you, and yet when I was still human, you couldn't care less about me. You never once approached me to just chat. Is this your way of atoning for what you did? Maybe you were just planning to kill me yourself and blame it on the Fallen if they couldn't-"
A hot pain coursed through my face as my head sharply turned at the force of the slap. I could feel tears begin to well up, and I felt like breaking down. No. I won't show any weakness to these people. I forcefully bit back my tears as I glared up at Rias, who was staring at her own hand as if it had just moved on its own.
"Whatever. I don't care any more. This whole world can burn up and die for all I care." With those final words, I strode out of the clubroom. When I thought that I was far enough from them, I ran.
I ran, and ran, and ran.
I didn't stop for anything.
I just kept running.
Never looking behind.
I couldn't anyways.
My eyes were blinded by the tears that were now freely streaming down my face.
My mind was in a haze, drowning out any words that Ddraig was saying to try to comfort me.
When I finally stopped, I found that I had made it all the way to the park where I died.
I couldn't hold it back anymore.
I sank to the ground and cried.
I screamed, and cursed everything that ever was.
I cursed the old man for manipulating me and giving me his power so he could finally die.
I cursed the immortal king for manipulating me into thinking that I was a hero.
I cursed the self-sacrificial Demon Lord for manipulating me into killing her so many times.
Time slipped away from as I sat there crying in front of the fountain. Even when I finally ran out of tears, I didn't move. No. It was more like I couldn't. I had lost all the strength in my body.
What was the meaning of my existence?
Why am I always the one that has to suffer?
All I wanted right now was for somebody to come kill me right now. Someone that would kill me for good.
I was broken out of my thoughts when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind and the familiar sight of crimson hair filled my vision.
"What are you doing here?"
I tried to say it with as much venom as I could, but I only managed to barely choke it out pitifully.
"Why wouldn't I be here?"
I snorted. "Because you abandoned me before."
"That," Rias paused and sighed. "I... I honestly regret what I did to you. I knew it was wrong in the first place, but I couldn't help myself. Yes. You were right. I just wanted your power for myself, but as we gradually got to know each other over the past week, I just kept regretting my decision more and more. After seeing the kind of person you are, I realized that you didn't deserve this."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No. Of course not, and I don't expect you to forgive me either."
"Why..?"
"Because you are a part of our family."
"Why do you make it so hard for me to hate you..?"
"I'm not trying to stop you from hating me."
I could feel her slowly stroking my head now.
"I know I might not be able to get you to like me ever again, but just know that everyone here will treat you kindly. You are one of us now, even if I forced it on you. Remember that."
Craning my neck back and looking past Rias - no - Buchou's shoulder, I could see the rest of the Occult Research Club nodding at those words.
I nodded, and I felt some strength return to me.
"Ok."
Buchou smiled. That smile. The smile that promised love. The same one that she had showed me when she welcomed me. It exuded kindness, and yet, there was a hint of regret tinged in her eyes.
She let me go and stood up while offering me her hand.
Before taking her hand, I quickly wiped my face with my sleeves. When I had fully stood up, I wobbled unsteadily as Buchou moved to support me.
"Sorry," I apologized. "I must look like a complete mess right now."
Buchou just shook her head and smiled.
"Don't worry. You'll always look beautiful no matter what. After all, you are my cute little servant."
My face heated up at that compliment while Ddraig chuckled.
[Looks like you're not the only smooth talker here, huh?]
"Shut up, Ddraig. I don't need your comments right now."
[Right. Just glad to see you're alright. You needed to get all that emotional baggage off of you. If you held it in for any longer, you would've completely lost it. Although I don't really like the girl for lying to you like that, I can appreciate that she actually feels bad about it.]
This familiar feeling of tightening in my chest. Even though I promised myself I wouldn't ever fall again, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad this time.
AN: A bit more about Saya is revealed, but clearly not enough. But yeah, I took some liberties here with the story as you can probably tell. Also, super crappy fight scene that will hopefully satiate the action hungry people reading this. And a bit of quick drama as well to spice it up a little. Apologies in any missed mistakes. I try to read through everything and correct them, but it is kind of hard to catch everything.
-Stat Sheet-
Master: Rias Gremory
Evil Piece: Pawn (x8)
Name: Saya 'Hyoudou'
Sex: Female
Height: 5'5" (167 cm)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Parameters:
Strength: D (E-)
Endurance: D+ (E-)
Agility: B (E-)
Magic: E- (N/A)
Luck: A++
Note: The states in brackets indicate current training status.
Skills:
Magic Resistance: E (N/A) - Somewhat reduced magic damage.
Battle Continuation: A (N/A) - Makes it possible to fight even with deadly wounds and stay alive unless a decisive fatal blow is received.
Charisma: C- (N/A) - Slightly boosts the morale and abilities of nearby allies.
Collector: EX (N/A) - Hoarded an uncountable number of rare goods.
Disengage: B (N/A) - The ability to safely break away from combat.
Eye of the Mind (True): C+ (N/A) - Heightened capacity for observation, refined through experience.
Pioneer of the Stars: EX - An unique skill given to heroes who became turning points in history. All difficult voyages and challenges which are considered 'impossible' are turned into 'events that can be realized'.
Note: The states in brackets indicate current training status.
Abilities:
Boosted Gear: EX - A Sacred Gear that holds the ancient dragon Ddraig. It has the ability to double the user's strength every ten seconds as long as the user's body can handle the strain.
Dimensional Vault: EX (N/A) - A collection of all the items (weapons, artifacts, armor, accessories, medicine, etc.) Saya has collected during her journeys. Can hold an unlimited number of items. Currently sealed.
Reincarnate: EX - When Saya dies in a world, her soul is forcibly rejected from her body into the Dimensional Rift where she may then reincarnate herself in the same world or a different one. Currently sealed.
Mold Reality: EX (N/A) - The ability to bend everything in reality to her will. The changes made will always have a side effect of the world trying to balance the change. However, if reality is altered too much, the world Saya used it on will collapse and implode. Currently sealed.
Dash: EX (N/A) - A 1.25x speed boost to Saya's movement speed. Will last indefinitely until she cancels it or attacks something.
Jump: EX (N/A) - A super jump of sorts that will let her clear even a mountain. She is completely vulnerable during and after the jump.
Adventure's Insight: EX (N/A) - The ability to sense areas of civilization, dungeons, and treasure. It has a max range of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles)
Note: Skills will be unlocked not based on training, but on Saya's motivations and emotions during battle. The unlock conditions on abilities vary.
