AN {

Whattup fam!

Yeah, it's been a while, my bad. I didn't even finish reading the HSDxD LN's yet. YET. I will soon, hopefully.

For those of you who have supported me through all this, thank you so much! We broke through 500 favorites and 600 followers recently, and I couldn't be happier that people are enjoying my work! Or crying over it, either way works I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, I've decided to include questions from PM's and Reviews at the bottom AN (PM's will be anonymous), so if you asked me a question I might answer it down there. I do this because around 20+ people have asked me the same question: "Will Asia be coming back?"

To which, the reply, for now, will always be: :)

By the way, I updated my name again (apparently someone wanted my name really, really badly) so I just changed it to the way you pronounce, letter by letter, my nickname, "anj" – ayyenjay. With that, I've also changed my account picture to a drawing I made.

Oh, and since I was in Photoshop anyways, I also updated the cover art of this fic! Check it out, it's pretty lit.

Anyways, enjoy!

}


Narrator
Emphasis
SPECIAL

"Talking"
'Thinking' – either thinking silently or talking to inner beings (such as Ddraig/Zecrow)

"Ddraig Talking Audibly" – Ddraig appears on Issei's left arm and center orb glows
'Ddraig Thinking' – either silently or talking to Issei/Zecrow mentally
[SOUND_HERE] – sounds from Boosted Gear

"Zecrow Talking Audibly" – Zecrow appears on Issei's right arm and center orb glows
'Zecrow Thinking' – either silently or talking to Issei/Ddraig mentally
[SOUND_HERE] – sounds from Gravity Gauntlet

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X. Cain and Abel


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"Issei… motherfucking… Hyoudou…"

Raynare's voice cracked through the evening air. Her cold voice made the night seem colder than it did in winter. She stood there, in front of the door to her 'house' with her arms crossed. Issei gulped as a shiver crawled down his spine. He had never thought that he'd be afraid of Raynare's Yuuma form. He realized that he froze and continued to walk towards their door – towards her – all the while looking away and scratching the back of his head.

"H-Hey, Ray-Ra-" he began.

But of course, he didn't finish.

He was prepared for it, or so he thought. He had known that she'd be mad, enough to at least punch him or kick him. Or both. He knew that the moment he got home, this'd happen. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'it's nothing I can't take, it's just a punch or a slap or-'

Her lips finally rested on his, latching onto his lower lip with hers. Issei was surprised – after all, he had expected her to be mad… who wouldn't, after that greeting? But why is she kissing him now? He looked at her face, and surprisingly it had tears gathering in their corners. He stared on, mesmerized at how cute she was right now. Then one of the tears flowed down her cheek and landed on their lips. He could feel the salty taste interrupt the sweetness coming from her mouth… man, she was good at kissing. 'Well, she is a fallen angel, after all,' he thought.

Eventually Raynare parted from him, panting slightly. Issei understood, though. She had come onto him with such passion, that he was almost suffocated. For some reason, she was especially clingy in those few moments, almost as if she wasn't the same person. If it were any other time, she would've definitely punched him by now, at the very least. Once, she beat him half to death for leaving her alone in a mall as a prank – 'Never again,' he thought as he shuddered from remembering. But that aside, Issei was really surprised that she hadn't hit him yet. Maybe something's wrong? Is she sick?

"Yo Ray-Ray are you oka-" he began.

But of course, he didn't finish.

Raynare, in a split second, transformed into her true form and threw a gutter punch into his stomach. After he bent over in pain, she grabbed him by the collar and threw him behind her, onto the steps of his house. He tried to stand up, but she immediately grabbed him again and threw him into the house. She closed the door behind her and stepped onto Issei's back.

Now pinned, Issei was still grunting from pain as Raynare performed a scissor kick to his ribs, exerting just enough force to make it bruise but not enough to break anything. This caused Issei to face up again, but he didn't even have enough time to react as she grabbed him by the collar and threw him against a wall. Issei struggled to keep his legs under his feet, using the wall that was now at his back to support himself, but Raynare summoned a light spear and used it to pin his shirt against the wall, narrowly missing Issei's neck.

Holding the spear in her right hand, she was about to punch him with her left but stopped midway. Every inch of her body wanted to punch him – hell, maybe even two – but she stopped. A pain pierced her heart. A deep, prickly pressure that was building up in her chest. She looked at his face, expecting a look of disgust, hate, or anger… anything that looked even slightly hostile.

But instead, he was looking at her with one of admiration.

His eyes were soft and warm, and his eyebrows were drooping to the side. Not a single wrinkle of anger, nothing. His mouth was edging upwards on both sides, creating an unbelievably handsome smile. That was, until his lips suddenly parted as he coughed up blood, quite violently as he did so. But right after he finished, he smiled again. He didn't even push her away, he didn't wipe the blood. No, instead, he let it flow down to his shirt, leaving a crimson trail down his chin.

His expression suddenly changed to one of concern, and he tilted his head slightly, which made his cheek come into contact with the light spear, burning his skin slightly and causing him to wince. She wanted to laugh, but instead of laughter coming out, her throat tightened and it came out as a sob. Her eyes widened, and she felt something wet crawl down her cheek.

Ah.

"Ray…" he finally spoke, "you shouldn't cry. It ruins that pretty face of yours."

Raynare couldn't respond, but instead hung her head low. Why was he so nice? Even after she beat him up and hit him selfishly… no, why was she even doing this? He had probably just gone through something really hard, based on the reactions of everyone back at the ORC. The fact that he stayed and had a private conversation with a Maou and that gay blonde guy – he was gay, right? He looked gay… But back to the point, Raynare felt another pain strike her chest. Another tear flowed down from her eye, as she smiled slightly. 'How pathetic of me, to fall for this guy,' she thought to herself.

But Issei was still concerned. "Uhm… I'm sorry, for leaving you like that. I'm sure you were worried for me, so for that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone like that, I should've told you, and I should really depend on you more… that's what you wanna hear, right? I'm so-" he frantically apologized.

But of course, he didn't finish.

"Baka," was all Raynare muttered before she planted her lips on his once more.

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Issei and Raynare spent the next few minutes kissing and embracing each other passionately at the doorway, until Issei's parents came home and interrupted them. After that, they went up to his room, but they had no intentions of going as far as intercourse. Issei sat at the head of the bead, and Raynare sat near him.

"What happened, Issei?"

"…What do you mean?"

Raynare sighed. She didn't want to bring it up, but she had to. "Asia…?"

"Ah."

"I-Issei?"

"Asia was… killed because of me."

"…"

"I tried to save her. I wanted to. I knew what was going to happen and what needed to be done. But I just…"

Raynare could only hold Issei's hand as he continued.

"I wanted to do it my own way, you know? I was too greedy… I wanted the best of both timelines, where I was with you and Asia, together we would be living here happily…"

"…"

"I was a coward, too. I was too scared to do anything that might change how things became last time. I just wish… I should've asked for your help. Or anyone's… this would've been so much simpler."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because… because…"

"…because?"

"Because in a weird fucking way, I wanted to save her alone, and be her hero all by myself."

"…"

"I wanted her to look at me and smile… and say that if it weren't for me, she wouldn't be alive. You know how good it feels to be told that you made a difference in the world? That you were a hero? Shit! I just want to make a difference! I thought I finally could, with this new power…"

"Issei… there's no harm in asking for help…"

"I did… a little too late. They… they didn't even help her! They did nothing! THEY WATCHED HER DIE!"

"C-Calm down…"

"ASK FOR HELP?! THEY SHAT ON ANY HOPE I HAD OF SAVING ASIA! IT'S THEIR FAULT! THEIRS!"

"Issei, you're scaring me…." Raynare whimpered.

Issei was brought out of his rage by the sight of Raynare tearing up, cupping his hand with both of hers and placing it on her chest. He looked at the mirror in his room and saw that his eyes had changed into…

"I-I'm sorry," Issei said as he hung his head, reverting to normal.

"It's fine, Issei… I want to know, too."

"She died… thinking that I was her hero… when I was the one that let her die. I know it. If I had done something sooner, we wouldn't have had to rely on those fucking devils… but I didn't. I shouldn't blame them… I know that. But it just hurts me and angers me that even when I explained everything…"

"I'm sorry, Issei. I should have tried to reach out to you. I could feel you struggling but I was too proud to ask you. I wanted you to come to me… to depend on me. I didn't want to come off as needy or desperate, or clingy. I'm sor-"

Issei kissed her once more, briefly.

"It's not your fault, Ray…" he said with a smile.

"I-Is there anything we can do?"

"Haha…"

"Issei?"

"Of course there is… there has to be…"

"…"

"Right?"

Raynare hugged Issei until he fell asleep, crying into her shoulders as his tears started to fall and wouldn't stop. The moonlight shone through his window and lit up every tear as it rolled down his face and onto Raynare.

One was hurting, the other guilty. Both were broken.

"I love you… know that I'll always be here for you… even when you do stupid shit like this," Raynare muttered into Issei's chest.

Issei smiled at the comment. 'Yup, this is why I love this girl,' he thought.

"I love you too," was all he could reply before both fell asleep.

.


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As expected, Rias and her peerage were left no choice but to engage Riser and his peerage in a Rating Game. Rias and company spent a few weeks preparing and training in the mountains, doing anything they could to get ready. They made strategies, planned attacks, everything.

But somehow Issei knew for sure that they would lose.

The odds were against them, even in the last timeline. Riser had many tricks up his sleeve that were both dirty and unexpected. His peerage outnumbered Rias' and had more experience with Rating Games.

Issei couldn't care less about that, though. Because right now, he's facing his greatest enemy…

"…and from there, we transpose all terms of x to the left side, and all constants to the right side. Now simplify both sides of the equation, and solve for x by removing the coefficient and…"

Algebra.

'God… why didn't you give me super intelligence or something!' Issei thought.

School went by normally, with the only difference being the absence of Rias and her peerage. Issei was struggling with his studies, and he had no one to help him because Raynare was busy with kendo.

Yes, she joined the kendo club.

Issei protested at first, saying she didn't need to, but Raynare insisted that she needed to train harder to protect him. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of her trying to protect him, but he appreciated her feelings and didn't argue any more.

Matsuda and Motohama are acting as if Issei was never their friend, with them ignoring him and all his attempts to talk to them. Issei sometimes catches them glancing at him with suspicion in their eyes, but he could never figure out why.

Murayama and Katase from the kendo club with Raynare have, unsurprisingly, continued to brand Issei a pervert, which Issei never found the initiative to prove otherwise.

Aika also attends class with Issei, but she is a perverted introvert that nobody talks to. Issei can't help but feel a slight pain in his chest when he sees Aika all alone, with the absence of Asia.

Raynare was also transferred to a different class because Sona felt she was too volatile and unstable to be placed in the same room as Issei, much to Raynare's annoyance. But when Sona mentioned her reasons, Tsubaki couldn't help but giggle and look away, causing Sona to blush.

"Oh Sona, you're just jea-" Tsubaki tried to say, but was interrupted by a swift punch to her stomach, causing her face to turn blue and fall to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Sona coldly said, "Tsubaki seems to have caught a fever. If you'll excuse us," she said while dragging Tsubaki away.

Issei could only pray for Tsubaki's soul.

Although Tsubaki and Issei are on friendly terms after seeing Sona hold him in such high regards, Saji and the rest of her peerage were hostile. They still disapproved of Issei and were confused as to why Sona considers him an ally… and Saji is even more infuriated by Sona's obvious crush on him.

So, in the end, Issei was alone in the classroom. This went on for about two days before Issei just couldn't stand it anymore. 'I was given a second chance, not going to waste it by being alone,' he thought as he gathered up his courage and approached Matsuda and Motohama.

M&M were talking under the tree near the ORC building, like old times. Seeing Issei approach them, they turned their heads away and gave him the cold shoulder.

Issei has been in this situation multiple times now, but this time, he came prepared. He whipped something out of his bag and threw it on the ground between M&M.

An ero DVD.

Seeing the cover, Matsuda's pupils dilated. "OH MY GO-" he screamed, "THE LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY COPY OF ASA AKIRA'S BRAZZER'S PORTFOLIO!"

Motohama immediately spun around and was shocked. He slowly raised his trembling hand to take off his glasses. "Holy mother of God…" he muttered, "COMPLETE WITH THE TWO WALLPAPERS AND WALLET PICTURE?!"

"The one and only!" Issei exclaimed with joy.

Matsuda and Motohama continued to grovel over the DVD before slowly turning towards Issei. Their faces contorted back to cold and suspicious stares and were judging Issei, to which Issei responded by scratching the back of his head.

"Look… I don't know what I did, but please give me a chance to apologize! I'm sorry for offending you in any way and I hope you take this as a peace offering!" Issei said, bowing. "You don't know how much I've missed you guys, and I just want us to be friends again, talk again, watch eros, peak at the kendo club, anything!" he shouted with tears falling from his eyes.

M&M were his cherished comrades back in the day and he wished that they would stay that way.

After half a minute, Issei looked up and saw M&M both crying like babies, hands on the DVD. In one loud sob, all three hugged each other and raised the DVD in the air, shouting "LONG LIVE THE PERVERTED TRIO!"

Everyone who saw them were disgusted to their very core.

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'Zecrow.'

'Yes, dear?'

'Can I..?'

'Hmm… I think I can handle it. Sure, go ahead!'

'Thank you!'

And with that, Issei brought M&M home to tell them all about his adventures. He wasn't sure of how they would react, so he warmed them up first… by watching the ero DVD, of course. Once Raynare got home, she helped Issei in explaining it all, and even Ddraig and Zecrow appeared to help.

M&M weren't as surprised as Issei thought they would be. "We already knew about the whole Fallen Angel thing with that chick you got there," Matsuda explained as he pointed towards Raynare, "but not this whole Devil supernatural shit. Damn brosef, you've been through all of that and all we could do was treat you like shit… sorry dude."

Motohama nodded and added, "Yeah, I'm sorry as well. But we did our best to research to at least try to understand what happened. But we avoided that stuff once that weird guy appeared."

Issei's brow twitched. "Weird guy…?"

"Yeah, some fag in a dress was crying in the park. He looked at us and told us to stay away. Turns out he was scratching the hell outta his face, looked like a complete mess of a human being…" Matsuda said.

"Except he wasn't," Motohama continued, "he had these weird bat-like wings coming out of his back and had, like, this weird miasma permeating from him. He kept crying out, 'ASIA! ASIA! MY DEAR, DEAR ASIA!' or some shit like that."

Issei immediately stood, his face shaded black by his hair. Everyone in the room were a little shocked and afraid by his sudden appearance, especially after hearing about his power. He ran for the nearest window and jumped out.

[MIRROR IMAGE]

His body was engulfed in mist. Soon after, he landed on the roof as four of his clones scattered to different areas.

'Partner, are you sure about this?' Ddraig inquired.

'Whoever that guy is, he knows Asia. He might know how to save her.'

'…but still, we don't even know who this guy is.'

Issei thought for a moment. 'Yeah, but there's an old geezer who would know!' he said as he opened a tear in space and crossed through it.

~ a few moments later ~

"Yes, a young devil did step into this area, I felt it two days ago," Azazel explained. "I know where he is, but I can't distinguish his identity… seems his aura is too chaotic."

"Great, then, can you help me find him? You can probably recognize him when you see him, right?" Issei asked.

Azazel smiled cunningly. "Yes, I'm sure I can handle that… for a price!"

Issei frowned.

[BOOSTED GEAR]

Issei grabbed Azazel's crotch using the Boosted Gear, and immediately the gauntlet started flashing green as [BOOST] sounds emanated from it. "I don't have time to play games, Azazel"

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Exiting a tear, Issei and Azazel step onto the ash and ruins of the old church. Skeletons of the deceased mages and Fallen Angels littered the ground.

"He's definitely around here somewhere," Azazel muttered, searching.

"Then let's have a look around," Issei said.

Issei began walking amongst the ash, kicking into the ground here and there to check for any hollow places. Both Issei and Azazel were kicking and pushing debris aside, searching for any clues as to where the mysterious person was.

Suddenly, Issei stepped on something that made a metallic noise. Looking down and picking up the item, he recognized it as Freed Sellzen's exorcist pistol. 'Could be useful, 'he thought as he pocketed it.

They were searching for another minute before Azazel called out to Issei. "There seems to be some sort of magic circle here. It's definitely a summoning circle, but the insignia and emblems are strange… I haven't encountered such inscriptions before."

Issei gave no reply, but eyed the magic circle suspiciously. Summoning the Boosted Gear, he placed it over the magic circle. "Ddraig, can you feel anything across from this?"

"…warmth. No, heat. Lots of it. Growing stronger and stronger…"

Azazel's eyes widened. "Issei, get ba-"

Boom.

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AN {

So, a relatively short chapter, sorry about that.

You can probably guess who the mysterious person is, if you're smart enough.

Also, if you have any knowledge of Bible events, especially in Genesis, you should take a look at the title of this chapter and think. Think hard. If you do, you might be able to guess what happens in the next chapter.

If you haven't noticed, this is supposed to be a character building chapter. I finally reconciled M&M (although a little anti-climactic, but I'm proud of the comedic aspect to it) and laid the works for Issei's future peerage + harem.

See you guys next time!

}

Questions and Answers [Q&A]:

[Q] "don't worry man we all forget shit sometimes. I sometimes forget where I am and my own name :)" – Raskator

[A] Same, fam, same.

[Q] "Why only go back a few months? If he wanted to get strong, he should've went back like a decade. Seems like such a waste." – ObsessivelyObsessiveObsession

[A] Well, the story this is based on – Creator's Gift by Kami of Anime – did just that. I didn't want to completely steal his idea, and I also wanted to avoid unnecessary buildup to the story, which would cause complications (such as, wouldn't Issei be noticed at a younger age by the three factions? What about his parents? What happened between him and Irina?).

[Q] "who cares about asia anyways" – afaf

[A] Like, 70% of the HSDxD community :) don't worry bro I'm with you.

[Q] "Bro ssj3 kyubii gohans story the heart of a dragon is the entire reason I'm reading yours right now" – Brawler883

[A] You know, sidenote, I've always wanted to make a sort of guild with other writers on FanFiction, to collaborate on stories and such… that would be awesome. If ever I try to make that happen, I definitely need big names and people I respect a lot such as SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan, Paynis, or Arrixam in the roster to convince other writers. But at this point I'm just thinking out loud :) because I've only written this one fic that isn't even on the front page, so they would never notice me :( #FeelsBadMan

[Q] "Taking on Riser's whole peerage...oh this is going to be great" – HeroBladeRiyet

[A] Others have asked me, "Did you mean Issei will take Riser's peerage for his own or will he just fight them?" I've thought about this a lot, and I can only promise that certain people from Riser's peerage will be taken by Issei. I doubt all of them are important or strong enough to be important, and building characters is what I take my pride in, so expect only three to five transferees. But, hell yeah, he's gonna fight them.