Chapter 1
(Kyoto)
"Issei Hyoudou…." A man dressed in suit and tie with slicked back hair and a pair of thick rimmed glasses that cast a glare which covered his eyes, sat a large wooden desk with his hands folded out in front of his face as he glared across the desk.
Sitting in front of him was a young man with spiky brown hair and dark green eyes,wearing a white high school jacket over a red hoodie, he sat with his feet up against the large imposing desk with an smuggly annoyed expression plastered on his face as he refused to make eye contact with the glasses wearing man.
"Issei, do you know why I brought you here today?" The well dressed man growled.
"Yeah, but I bet you're gonna tell me anyway." Issei quipped back with a roll of his eyes.
"Listen Issei, we hoped our academy would be able to provide you with the proper… attitude adjustment but unfortunately you've been here six months already and you haven't joined any clubs, made any real friends of note and today, the first day of your second year you got into another fight, that's three since you transferred in last year." The counselor continued in a very passive aggressive tone.
"This one wasn't really much of a fight, more like just a punch and then a lot of crying and bleeding from the mouth." Issei added, now looking out the window.
"We overlooked the first two incidents because of your exceptional grades and of course because of your grandfather but considering your, ahem! Extensive history of violent tendencies we've determined this is a problem beyond our capacity of solving." The counselor sat his hands down flat on the desk signalling he'd finished his speech.
"Awh, that's alright. Instead maybe you guys can focus on the problem of seniors groping freshman in the hallways, maybe then less of them will get punched in the face." Issei commented on getting the counselors' seemingly stoic expression to crack ever slightly which made the young man smirk.
"You know Issei, the response from a well adjusted student in that situation would've been to alert a teacher, not to put the other student into the hospital with a shattered jaw." The counselor tried his best to keep his cool but Issei almost could see the anger radiating off of him and this only served to delight the young troublemaker.
"Oh, come on. I hit him once! Dude had like five inches on me and it only took one punch. Even the losers back at my old school could take two or three REAL swings before dropping. C'mon, let's cut to the chase. You and I both know where this is going, so get it over with." Issei finally sat up and made eye contact with the counselor, shooting him an intense look that made the grown man nervous.
"W-well, yes. Being that we as a school have determined this issue unsolvable, we have know choice but to expel you. Please mmff…." The counselor was interrupted as Issei threw his school jacket onto the man's face.
"Oh no, it's so sad… whatever shall I do…." Issei said unsencerly as he buried his hands into his hoodie jacket and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He then began to make his way towards the door but what couldn't have been more than a hundred meter walk felt like a marathon as the judgemental eyes of his classmates began barring down on him.
"So that's the guy, dude just got expelled and he doesn't even care."
"Wow, scary…."
"Not saying the upperclassmen should've gotten away with it but he shouldn't have been sent to the hospital."
"He's like some kind of monster…."
"More like a demon…."
"Yeah! Why don't you try saying that shit to my face!" Issei roared out loud quickly clearing the hallway. "Fuck this school crap….." He growled as he pushed open the front door to the school and waiting for him was a long black limousine with the back seat window rolled down with a furious looking old man waiting for him. "Oh, shit…."
(Later)
An awkward silence had filled the limo for a good chunk of the ride as the oldman exuded an imposing aura of fury that even intimidated Issei to the point of silence. He sported an imposing physical physique despite his advanced age, the old man wore a dark grey kimono that was left open and exposed his rippling pectorals and he wore his grey hair up in a bun. He sat silently with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "Issei….. If you're waiting for a lecture don't bother at this point you've heard it so many times there's no new way for me to spin it. It's been seven years almost to the day since I took you in after your parents passing and in those seven years it's been ten schools, 32 fights, 25 kids sent to the hospital and not a single sign that you're willing to change this violent behavior."
'No point in a lecture huh? Well here it comes, guess you just can't help yourself old timer.' Issei thought to himself, still too afraid to say anything out loud.
"Sports didn't work, private school didn't work and even an all boys boarding school didn't work. The counselors want nothing to do with you, the therapists and psychiatrists can't fix you because they don't know what's wrong with you and now even your grades aren't enough to help you. There's not a public high school left in kyoto that will take on someone with your record." The oldman continued to lecture as his eyes remained shut and his arms remained crossed.
"So what? We're back to private schools…" Issei muttered very softly knowing that he was on as thin of ice as you could imagine even so much as speaking.
"No…" Issei's grandfather's eyes finally opened his eyes as he answered. "I"ve determined that the big city environment is not healthy for you, so I'm sending you to school in a mountain town called Kuoh."
"WHAT!" Issei stood up in the car and roared back at his grandfather but the old man shot Issei a quick but deadly look that immediately made the boy go silent and fall back into his chair.
"This school only recently went from being all girls to coed so the female population far outways the male so the likelihood of you getting into fights should be minimized in this situation but should you prove still willing to lash out I'll give you this one, final warning. Issei this will be your very last chance, if you're unable to complete your high school education at Kuoh, you'll end up doing so over seas." Issei's grandfather said in a tone that shook the young delinquent to his core. "Do you understand me Issei?"
The young man wanted nothing more to argue back at his grandfather, to tell him this sort of treatment was unfair but he knew that there was no argument he could make that would sway the oldman so as they pulled into the driveway of the massive mansion estate Issei had called home up until now the emerald eyed boy gave in to his grandfather's demands. "Yes sir….."
"Great, go pack your stuff you start tomorrow…" Issei's grandfather exited the limo without another sound leaving Issei to sink into his seat.
"Great…. Can't wait….." Issei said to no one in particular as he lied still and motionless, letting this development sink in.
(Next day, kuoh academy)
"Haaahhh….." Issei sighed as he stood and watched as a handful of students poured in through the front door of a large Victorian style white school building with dark wooden roofs. "Man this whole place looks ancient… bet the students out here still use god damn flip phones." Issei complained to himself. He had ditched his old red hoodie and now rocked the full Kuoh uniform, an open black blazer over an open white dress shirt and a red T-shirt along with a pair of black pants. "Whatever, fuck this…." He muttered as he slowly, reluctantly shuffled his way to the door.
Immediately upon entering the school rumors and mutterings from other students began to attack the new students ears.
"So that's the new kid huh? I think he's in second year."
"I hear he's from Kyoto, why would he wanna transfer out here?"
"Look at his eyes, that's pretty strange right?"
"He's kinda cute."
"I don't know I'm getting a real thug vibe from him."
"You think that's why he transferred, he's some kind of thug?"
While they appeared to be trying their best to be discreet with their muttering, Issei could hear every word and every comment chipped away at his already short temper. "Shut it!" WHAM! Issei slammed his fist into a wall hard enough to chip some of the paint and in doing so silenced nearly every mouth in the school, Issei turned back to his frightened classmates and shot them a terrifying glare that nearly wet the pants of the entire building. "If you have something to say to me! Say it to my face!" Issei roared before marching away and the mutterings continued.
"Woah…"
"Scary…"
(Later)
"Alright everyone, we have a new student joining us today please treat him well." A faceless teacher signalled for Issei's introduction and the spiky haired boy made his entrance.
Issei slowly marched his way up to the chalkboard and quickly scribbled his name down in a hurry. "Issei Hyoudou…." He spat out his name as quickly as he could before marching his way towards an empty seat on the window side of the classroom, meanwhile frightened looks and quick inaudible whispers began to bombard Issei from his classmates. "First impressions are killer…" Issei said to himself before burying his head into his arms at his new desk.
"Next order of business we're going to need someone to show Issei here around. So who'd like to volunteer." The faceless teacher imposed prompting a few small shrieks and for the female classrooms to quickly lean away from the frightening transfer students. "Looks like the girls are a little shy today. Matsuda, Motohama would you two be willing to show our new student around campus?"
"U-US!" The two young men, one with a shaved head and thick eyebrows and the other with long hair and a pair of goggles that hid his eyes with a permanent glare, immediately stood up shocked upon being called out from their classmates. They both slowly turned around to get a look at the new student who was already shooting the two of them a frightening glare as he continued to rest his head on his arms.
"Nuh, uh. No way bro!" The highly animated Matsuda quickly and violently shook his head in refusal. "This dude is clearly some kind of psycho or something if that glare doesn't kill ya I guarantee he has something that will."
"I concur." The more analytical Motohama replied. "It'd be one thing if he was crazy and a super hot girl but what is there to achieve helping out some other dude." The two odd boys continued their strange conversation as Issei once again buried his face once again, until they were saved by the school broadcast system.
"Issei Hyoudou to the student council office! Issei Hyoudu to the student council office immediately!" The voice over announcement repeated, getting Issei to lift his head up from his arms.
"Huh, already…. Usually I can make it at least a day before being called out of class." Issei mumbled to himself as he stood up and began to head towards the door.
"Uh wait! Do you need someone too.." The teacher was interrupted by a dismissive wave of Issei's hand.
"No need, these places are all the same anyway. I can find my way around." Issei declared before slamming the classroom door shut behind him.
Issei took a few steps down the empty hallways before a repressed feeling of dread overcame him. "Man! What did I do this time!" He roared out loud getting some of the surrounding classrooms to notice but no one was brave enough to go out and try to quiet him. 'What the hell, I didn't even do anything. Don't tell me I'm getting crap for what happened this morning, damn hick town. If they give grandpa a call the first day of school I'm fucked, it doesn't matter that nothing even happened.' "Ugh! This place sucks!" Issei roared once more, angrily burying his hands into his jacket pockets and continued his trek to the student council room.
The frustrated Issei continued his trek towards the student council room, negative thoughts storming in his head the entire march, that was until another presence emerged in the delinquent's hallway. A presence that seemed to make the hallway smell sweeter and brighten things up a bit more. A girl, a senior with marvelous crimson red hair, sapphire blue eyes, perfect proportions and an absolutely beautiful face that turned the grumbling Issei silent, though his mind continued to run. 'Woah, who the hell is this?'
'She some kind of foreign student? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Whatever's going on, she's stunning….' Issei's mind quickly became overwhelmed with thoughts of this beautiful upperclassmen to the extent that he didn't even realize he'd be staring at the girl with his signature scowl for some time at this point. The scarlet haired beauty responded with quick but potent smile that melted away Issei's sour expression replacing it with a dumb looking confused face.
Issei watched as his upperclassmen walked away without so much as saying a word only further confusing the 2nd year student. "Who was that?..."
(Later, student council office)
"Welcome, Issei Hyoudou." Another upperclassmen, a bespectacled girl with a slim figure, short black hair and violet purple eyes dressed in the Kuoh Girl's uniform sat alone at a very large desk with a single empty chair in front of it. "Please have a seat."
"Uh sure…." Issei answered awkwardly as something about the dimly lit student council room and more specifically the small upperclassman who seemed to be in charge that made the violent teen feel uneasy. As soon as he exited the threshold entered the room the door was immediately shut behind him SLAM! "Woah!" The already unnerved Issei shrieked as he turned to see a shapely young woman also sporting black hair and glasses standing only a few inches behind him.
"Tsubaki, please don't frighten young Mr Hyoudou." The student council president instructed and the tall dark haired girl backed away to the corner of the room, leaving Issei upset by the comment. Issei marched over and took his seat in a standoffish manner and he moved to put his feet up against the desk but before he could he received a warning. "Please don't place your feet on my desk."
The student council hissed in a manner that immediately sapped all the confidence from the boy and he carefully, cautiously placed both feet firmly on the ground in front of him. "Y-Yeah… Ok…." Issei muttered back extremely softly, for whatever reason he felt unable to meet her gaze.
"Issei Hyoudou, I'm the student council president Sona Sitri." The short haired girl finally introduced herself but at this point it was far from what you'd consider a warm welcome.
"Sitri huh? That name doesn't sound very japanese so where….." Issei was quickly silenced as he was shot a death glare that swiftly ended his speaking.
"We're not here to talk about me Mr Hyoudou. Do you know why I called you out here today?" Issei didn't answer even though he knew full well what she must've been referring to. "You have a reputation for being an extremely violent individual and on your first day here you may not have broken any rules but you already managed to create quite the stir on your first day. I'd like to confirm whether or not you're a threat to the sanctity of my school."
This comment immediately cracked Issei up. "Pfft…. Hahahahahahaha…." He laughed in the student council president causing her sour expression to intensify. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…. It's just, 'Oh the sanctity of my school.'... Pfft….' Issei continued his mockery. "I'm sorry but isn't your job to like make sure the art club doesn't exceed their $20 budget buying paint? This is just usually a speech the guidance counselor gives or maybe even the principal…. Ha hah hahh…" Issei rubbed laughter tears from his eyes before Sona reached out and grabbed him by the T Shirt, pulling him in and forcing him to lock eyes before.
"I don't care who you are, where you come from or what sort of reputation you have. Nobody makes light of my student council! You understand?" The short haired girl explained very seriously getting the frightened Issei to respond with a slow nervous nod. "Just to you know, during the day I'M in charge of this school and I'M responsible for everyone in it, meaning if you do end up causing trouble you'll have to deal with me."
"Look!" Issei spoke up, managing to free himself from the president's grip before standing up to leave. "I'm not here to cause any trouble, I'm here cause I have nowhere else to go." He answered on his way to the door, stopping just before exiting to get one last bit of info off his tongue. "Oh, and just FYI. You may be a big deal around here President but if I were you or anyone else I'd think twice about trying to pick a fight with me too." He said accompanied by a stare that was completely void of arrogance, replaced by pure seriousness before SLAM! The door was quickly and ferociously slammed behind Issei on his way out.
"President…" Tsubaki, who had remained quietly in the corner this whole time, spoke up once again. "Did you sense that as well?"
"Yes…" Sona put her hands together in front of her as if she was analyzing something. "I'm not exactly sure who or what he is exactly but I don't think he knows either. Regardless, it may be smart to heed his warning, he definitely has the potential to be dangerous."
"Well then pardon my saying so president." Tsubaki continued. "Before he finds out exactly what he can do wouldn't it be a good idea for us to-"
"No!" Sona interrupted, quickly silencing Tsubaki. "He may be strong but he also comes off as a real jerk. He's definitely not student council material."
"I understand, should I inform Lady Rias that he's fair game then?" Tsubaki replied with a nod.
"Sure why not. He seems like something she'd be into anyway." Sona agreed, still in her thinking position.
(Later)
DING! DONG! The school bell rang out signaling the end of the day and all the students not currently involved in any clubs began their treks home and among them was Issei, still filled with angst from the earlier encounter. "Fuuuuuck this place!" Issei exclaimed out loud, prompting unease looks from the other students that had the poor luck to be standing next to him. 'I'll tell you, something about this place is just off… Makes me feel weird somehow… I don't care how many hot foreigners they have here. I do not like this place.'
Eventual Issei got to the point where he was far enough from his school that he was walking alone at least that was the case until he came bridge over a small creek and standing at the highest point of that bridge overlooking the water was a young girl with a well proportioned figure, long black hair and violet red eyes. She was wearing a school uniform but not the one for Kuph Academy and the second Issei stepped foot on the bridge her attention was immediately focused on Issei.
"Oh, are you Issei Hyoudou?" The dark haired girl said with a friendly smile as she elegantly brushed her flowing hair out of her face.
'Here we go, another school, another Gold Digger after Grandpa's money. Luckily I've discovered a full proof way to deal with this type of interaction.' Issei steadied his expression and kept walking, refusing to make eye contact with the beautiful young girl. "Yep…" He finally answered as he passed the girl.
"Uhhhh…" The dark haired girl was immediately thrown off by Issei's attitude but she quickly managed to refocus herself. "Well my name is Yuuma Amano and I…"
"Really?" Issei interrupted. "You probably should go tell someone who give a fuck…"
This proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back as Yuuma was unable to recover from Issei's violently cold indifference. "Wha?… I…. huh?..." She muttered as Issei kept walking, leaving her alone on the bridge.
Having successfully avoided Yuuma, Issei continued his walk home, eventually he came across an average sized, two story suburban house that made Issei cringe upon seeing it. "Home sweet home huh?"
CLICK! Issei opened the door and entered the dark and empty house and let out a short sigh before flipping on the light switch. 'I appreciate the old man finding me a place close to campus but he really went overboard with a whole house. I would've preferred an apartment honestly, this much space all to myself makes me feel…. Lonely….' Issei quickly shook off the negative thoughts and tossed his school shirt and jacket to the side before plopping down in a reclining chair. "Maybe it's my punishment for being such a piece of shit all these years, at least he got the place fully furnished."
Issei looked around his empty living room and the lonely feeling from before was beginning to set back in. "So I'm pretty sure I was supposed to do but for whatever reason I can't figure it out…. I guess I could get started on some homework."
(A few hours later)
"We crap…." Issei groaned as he closed his note book shut and stuffed it back in his backpack. "I hate when they let you do homework in advance, now what am I supposed to do the rest of the month…." Issei put his hands behind his head before GRRMBBBLLLEE, his stomach roared at him.
"I can sulk later, time to eat…" Issei decide as he made his way into his kitchen and opened up his fridge to find it empty. "Oh that's right, I was supposed to get groceries…. Shit…"
Issei pulled out a smartphone and checked the time which read "10:19". "Well shit…" He muttered to himself. 'No restaurant worth a damn is gonna be open this late on a weeknight and the grocery stores will be closing too….' Issei thought to himself before something clicked. 'I do think I remembered seeing a convenient store somewhere around here. Not exactly fine dining but I'm hungry enough that a cup or two of instant noodles sounds pretty good right now, plus I could probably pick up something for lunch tomorrow too, plus I could take the opportunity to go on a midnight jog since I didn't exercise this morning.'
(Later)
"Whuh! Whuh! Whuh! Whuh!" Issei, now dressed in his red hoodie along with a pair of athletic pants, panted as he jogged down the empty sidewalk. 'I thought I'd seen a convenient store somewhere around here, don't tell me it was back that other way. Well at least I'm getting a good look at the neighborhood. Man, these suburban normies must think I'm some kind of weirdo, to be fair they're not wrong.'
Issei stopped and jogged in place in front of a traffic light as he waited for the light to change colors before crossing. 'Alright, if I don't see it by the time I reach that next light. I'm turning back around and trying the other way.' Issei decided.
Having the sidewalk to himself he decided to go all out and sprint the 150 meters of sidewalk between the two lights, making sure he tapped his hand against the lightpost before slowing down. "WHOOOOO…." He sighed out loud as he took in a deep breath. 'I think I earned myself a five minute break…'
Issei pulled out his smartphone to pass the time and that's when he noticed a message from grandpa which read "How was your first day?" This message angered Issei, getting him to grit his teeth before he stuffed the phone back in his pocket. 'Yeah right old man, if you really gave a shit then why'd you send me out here to live in this nowhere town by myself!' The angry Issei kicked a pebble on the sidewalk that went flying out of view.
'Damn it, you know why. It's because I've been nothing but a major asshole for as long as anyone can remember.' Issei admitted to himself. 'The oldman took me in when Mom and Dad died and he's done his absolute best to try and put up with it but I just keep pushing him didn't I and now I'm sitting here whining and complaining, acting like it's his fault. I know I'm to blame for all this crap but I can't help it, I just get so angry and my mind is ALWAYS running at a hundred miles an hour, it's like there's this force inside me that's building all the damn time and if I don't let it out I'll fucking exploded!' "AAAHHHH!" Issei cried out before realizing what he was doing. "Did I just roar? Out loud? Ughhh… What the hell is wrong with me!" Issei quickly, violently shook his head. "I gotta get something to eat…"
Issei was just about to take off back the way he came when he noticed a strange object beginning to drift down from above. A six inch long, black, crow-like feather that a curious Issei quickly plucked out of the sky. "What?" Issei slowly looked up to where the feather had fallen from and his eyes quickly went wide.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
(End)