I am not a Hero nor a Villain

Chapter I

So, I am back with this story once more, I am sorry for how long this has taken, but I felt that this story needed a serious rewrite. Don't expect this to be the same as it was, in fact it will be very different. Mikoto will remain the arrogant asshole, that doesn't really view the people around him as real. As someone pointed out, I didn't really showcase this well and kind of just threw it in without any mention of it prior. Well, as you will see this chapter, it is a very prevalent thing for Mikoto from the very beginning.

Furthermore, I will no longer be doing a sort of multiverse story thing, instead imagine a world where every anime, manga and manhwa is combined into one. Which reminds me, if you have any suggestions for manga/manhwa/anime that you would like, please let me know and I'll consider them. I can't promise that they will all appear, but I will try and fit as many as possible into one.

PLEASE READ THIS VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Now, last time round I wrote this story, I had to keep reminding people that when I first started writing this fic, Mikoto only knew up to the Kokabiel Arc and even then, it was only a very vague understanding of what had happened. This is the same for this story, I made it clear in the chapter, but I just want to repeat it here so there's no confusion.

Mikoto knows very little about DxD, next to nothing in fact. Therefore, when Mikoto says something about DxD, its more of him guessing rather than an actual statement of fact. I myself know stuff about DxD, I've had to do research on it for this story. But Mikoto doesn't, that's how I started writing this story and I wanted to carry on with that idea.

Either way, let's get on with the show.

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon/God/Dragon Speech."

'Demon/God/Dragon Thought.'

"Other Speech Variants."

My old life was not exciting. It was not an outstanding tale of me forever striving to become the best of the best. It was not a story of one man living his life selflessly in service of some great cause. Nor was it the story of someone forever striving to change the world. Nope, I was a very selfish and lazy person.

I came from an average family with a comfortable and cosy lifestyle. I was an all-round average guy myself. Average looks, average smarts, average everything and I had whole load of problems, the main one being I got bored easily. I can't tell you how many times I quit a job simply because I got bored of working there. It led to me not having the best of lives and being estranged from my family.

Anime and games were my safe haven.

After a long, boring day at work I would always put in a game – Mass Effect, Halo, Call of Duty, etc. – and then play it while having one of the many anime series I had watched repeatedly, playing in the background.

It was a pretty normal, if not sad life I lived so imagine my surprise when I woke up the next day. Not in my twenty-three-year-old body, but in the body of a baby in a hospital room.

"Oh look, Gorou-kun." Blearily looking around the bright room, my eyes landed on that of a middle-aged woman with slightly aged features that would have once formed that of a very beautiful young woman. "Miko-chan he's awake."

The fuck? I know that the '-chan' suffix is usually used for female characters in most anime, so I better not be a girl. No offence to any girls out there, but I ain't got the temperament to deal with going through life once more and also dealing with all the drama that comes with being a girl. I'd much rather go through all the drama that comes with being a boy again because at least I know what to expect.

"I know, he's got your eyes." Oh, thank God, I could laugh. Wait, no I actually am? That's weird. "And look, so is Issei-kun, it seems both our boys are awake now." Huh, I'm sure that name sounds familiar? I just can't quite put my finger on it.

"Hello, Issei-chan, Miko-chan. Welcome to the Hyoudou family." The woman, my new mother apparently cooed down at us, smiling brightly as my new father smiled at us three. God, this is getting weird.

Wait, Hyoudou.

I tried to crane my neck as much as I could, but failed miserably. The cocoon of cloth that they had wrapped me in pretty much ensured that I was going to be either staring at the back of my eyelids, Gorou – fuck call him dad that is just too weird at the moment – or whatever her names is, don't even know her name just yet.

"Oh, Miko-chan, do you want to see your twin brother?" The woman cooed down at me and seriously, is this how adults treat babies because no wonder their such whiny little shits. I'm feeling like crying and kicking up a fuss because God damn that is annoying.

But thankfully, the woman did turn me to face the other baby and I finally landed my eyes on my new brother - dont really know what to think about that - but I didn't know what to really expect. It's not like the baby looks anything like Issei Hyoudou from the anime because he's a fucking baby! God I am stupid.

"Miko-chan, this is your brother, Issei Hyoudou." Oh, fuck me. I'm in the fucking DxD universe, I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry equally hysterically because I'm going to die. Simple as that. Seriously, it may be a Harem anime filled with some of the busiest and beautiful anime girls, but whereas most anime has only two, maybe three God-tier characters, this show has hundreds. Seriously, it caters to every pantheon and therefore, every God and Goddess is a part of this show and that's not including the Satan's and the Dragons.

I am so fucked.

One of the first things I started doing after being brought home with my family was trying to crawl. Walking was completely out of my league at this moment, but I knew that I needed to build up some strength in my legs. I did not want to be carried around anymore, it was demeaning.

Of course, my actions earned quite a bit of praise from the people that were parents of this body, my body now I supposed. Issei himself, the idiot that he was tried to copy me and much like myself, failed miserably. Our bodies, namely our legs and arms just didn't possess the strength at this point in time to learn to crawl. And so, begrudgingly I decided to call it quits and give myself a little time in which to allow my body to grow a little more.

Instead, I started to spend my time thinking on what I knew of this universe. My knowledge was limited purely to the that Fallen Angel, what's his name with the ten wings? Cock something? Is it? Ah who gives a shit. That Fallen Angel arc with the Holy Swords was the extent of my knowledge and only to the beginning.

Why you might ask? Well, that's simple, what little patience I had with Issei as a main character snapped. He is fucking annoying to watch and the sad thing is, he has the makings to be a great side character. Someone that starts off weak but gradually grows stronger while providing comic relief through the stupidity of his actions all the while acting as a support to the protagonist. But Issei Hyoudou by no means should have been a main character and eventually, I just gave up. My horniness could only fuel my desire to watch the show so much before I gave up entirely.

However, if I had known that I would be reborn into DxD I would have not only paid attention to every little detail of the anime - I mostly skimmed through it so that I could see the fan-service/soft porn that is the anime - and even read the Manga. Hell, I would have read up on all the Mythology in the world just to prepare myself better.

But what was done was done.

Mistakes were made and there was nothing I could do to change that. All I could do now was look to the future and the first thing I was going to do was try and unlock my magic. Then I'd start training my ass off not only with magic but also build up the strength of my body and fighting skills. I wanted to be as strong as possible by the time the whole Rias/Riser wedding disaster comes around. Though I think that what I'll do is just fuck with canon long before that. It's not like I had any prior knowledge with which to stick to as a guideline, so in a way I was free to make whatever decisions I wanted without any consequences that could affect the knowledge I had.

So, silver linings. Hey, I don't always have to be a glass half empty guy, I can mix things up a little bit and be the glass half full guy as well.

Even so, there was no denying that I had next to no progress at all in unlocking my magic. I tried meditation, I even tried the whole Dragon Ball Z screams that sounded and looked like they were trying to force a particularly difficult shit out. And there was nothing I received from that except a full nappy courtesy of the latter.

So yeah, thanks Toriyama.

But with no magic and no ability to move on my own, my progress to the top of the world was not looking good. Come on Mikoto, be the glass half full guy, not the glass half empty.

Glass half full.

Glass half full.

Glass half empty.

I could scream in rage as I collapsed onto my cot with a huff. One year, one fucking year and nothing, this was plain ridiculous. Like what the fuck is going on, am I deficient, is there something wrong with me. Do I not have magic? That thought was a chilling one. Magic was a serious aspect of fighting in DxD and sure there were freaks of nature out there like Rock Lee from Naruto that didn't need Chakra to be strong.

But a lazy guy like me, training like that was just too much effort. Besides, I wanted magic, I wanted to throw around city busting and even planet busting attacks while looking cool as fuck. Yet with each passing day in which I tried and failed to unlock my magic I began to realise that maybe I wouldn't have a choice. There was no way I could just not live in DxD and not get a harem.

And there was certainly no way I could just let Issei be in danger. To be honest, I don't know when it started but I actually started to find the little bugger kind of adorable. Plus, it was nice having a little minion that followed you around constantly which is exactly what Issei did to me.

Though it was hard to believe that he was actually real, hell it was hard to believe that any of this was real. All of these characters were anime character, people that were made up and not real. Yet here I was, in a world that I once believed was just fantasy. Every morning I expected to wake up back in my old raggedy bed in my shitty apartment only to find that I was still in the body of a baby.

Is it hypocritical of me to view Issei as someone to protect but Gorou and Miki as someone to use? I don't really know; I hadn't exactly had the best relationship with my younger siblings in my old life so maybe I was simply projecting upon Issei? Who knows?

Speaking of which, the door to mine and Issei's shared room opened and in stepped Miki, a smile on our face. Beside me, Issei began happily giggling, arms raised in order to be picked up at the sight of his mother. "How are my birthday boys, are you ready?" She cooed and purely for the sake of not attracting the wrong kind of attention, copied Issei.

I had already earned a bit of a reputation from Gorou and Miki as being a 'genius.' The fact that I was crawling after a month and began to walk at six months had earned me that title.

It had not been a quick progress and I had fallen over on many occasions in my attempts. But I persevered and strengthened the muscles of my legs till I was capable of it. Then I said my first word at age four months, though it was more of a splutter of saliva that vaguely resembled the word, "mama." But it still earned me great praise and showers of affection that I suffered through.

But yeah, I was apparently a genius in this life, though we all know that's a lie. I'm actually a thirty-three-year-old weeb in the body of a one-year-old child. To them it may seem prodigious talent, to me it was just basic things that I wanted to do in order to escape the embarrassment of being a baby.

Picking us both up out of the crib, I made a little fuss and Miki put me down on the ground, though she still made me hold her hand. I tried not to let my displeasure show and while I wasn't capable fully smothering it, Miki was too busy dealing with the fussy Issei who wanted to copy me. This was why I not only tolerated but actually liked him in this life, he kept my parents from noticing when I was showing actions unexpected of baby. Unknowingly sure, but it was still a great help to me.

And with this distraction I was able to plaster on a fake smile on my face and follow Miki into the room where we were greeted with the sight of guest. Family friends and neighbours brought to celebrate mine and Issei's first birthday. And yeah, we live in one of those neighbourhoods were everyone's friends with everyone and practically like one big family.

God I could throw up.

There were a lot of people and I didn't like it.

Namely because it meant I had to keep pretending to be happy because every time one person took their gaze off the group of children I was a part of - not by choice mind you - someone else would look over to us. So, even as I sat here pretending to aimlessly play with the new baby toy I got given as a gift by God knows who, I tried to ignore the finger prodding me in my chubby cheek.

As I did, my gaze flickered around the room and looked at all the people around us.

First the kids.

Well, there was one other kid besides Issei who was around the same age as me. That was a young girl called Irina Shidou who I think was an actual cast member of the High School DxD anime. Not completely certain however, but I'm pretty sure she was also an Exorcist or at the very least, worked for the Church. Her parents were certainly religious so I was pretty confident that was the case.

Next were five girls, all older than myself. The first pair was from the Hayasaki family, belonging to a single father who had lost his wife during childbirth to his first and only legitimate child called Hayasaki Noemi. She was the oldest of us all being ten years old. Her younger siblings were actually adopted and were the same age of seven. Their names, Hayasaki Mio and Yurine.

Didn't know who they were but I suppose they could be members of the later series of High School DxD but I honestly had no clue. I could be wrong and they could just be random people who had no influence on the story and were just here to flesh out the world that I lived in.

It was the same with the next two, five-year-olds Megumi and Ayami Suzumaru. Their mother was the very busty blonde MILF, Arisa Suzumura, a Russian woman whose husband travelled around the world quite a bit. Honestly sounded like a porno in the making there, especially when you looked at Arisa because holy fuck, I would fuck that woman if given the chance.

But yeah, besides a few other miscellaneous and quite frankly, uninteresting characters, that made up mine and Issei's party guests. And I was left here staring at the MILF Arisa while also being poked in the cheek by a very irritating Yurine.

Calm Mikoto, calm. Just breathe and it'll all be over soon.

*Prod*

My eye twitched.

*Prod*Prod*

I didn't want to do this, it's embarrassing and demeaning but I just couldn't take it anymore. So, I used my secret weapon, I cried.

"Are you excited?" Miki asked from her position in the passenger seat as Gorou drive the car down the street. Nodding my head in my best attempt to imitate a young child - using my experiences with Issei and Irina as a basis helped greatly - as I held my Kendo stick in one hand. "It's a shame Issei couldn't come, are you sure he'll be, okay?"

Much like the good husband he was, Gorou out his wife at ease, but I tuned out the sound and instead looked out the window in thought. Now seven years old, thing had progressed quite nicely in my life, sure I still hadn't figured out how to unlock my magic, that one aspect irked me more than anything else. However, after turning two and still no sign of unlocking my magic I had decided to hold off on that and focus on my fitness.

I must have been doing something wrong to have not unlocked magic after all this time, but I also knew that focusing on that alone would lead to more problems. What good would it be to unlock magic if I had completely neglected to train myself in other ways? I had to be prepared in all ways otherwise I would die because as a human, I was weak, simple as that.

Actually, calling me weak was an understatement, I was basically a cripple walking blind, deaf and dumb through the world of DxD with no way to protect myself. So, when I turned four - a controversial decision on Miki's part - decided to join up for numerous clubs all across Kuoh, Martians arts clubs to be exact. Clubs such as Kendo, Judo, Karate, Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, Kenpō, Kyūdō, Boxing, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Aikido and Sambo.

Yeah, I did all of them and I can tell you that for a lazy guy like me, it had been difficult in the beginning. However, Gorou who had paid for all these memberships made sure that I took each and every lesson I could and after a while I started to fall into a routine. Issei who had joined in with only a small number of those gave up after the first month when his membership expired. However, I kept at it, I had no choice if I wanted to become strong.

And it wasn't as hard as I expected, for someone lazy like me it was a bit of a troublesome situation for sure, but physically it wasn't all the demanding. Considering my age, it was mostly just teaching me the basics of self-defence and all about making things fun to ensure that kids would return for the next session and continue to be monthly members. Doing brutal training would be counter-productive to that. Even so, if you looked at some of the kids who joined those clubs, well it was just sad and pathetic to watch.

They could hardly even throw a punch without falling on their ass. So, when I, someone who had been training my body since I was a baby and having the mental age of a thirty-three-year-old plus a four-year-old making me thirty-seven gave me the distinct advantage over others.

I didn't have a natural talent for fighting, that was far from the truth. But thanks to my actual age I was capable of understanding instructions and able to move my body much easier than any other kid. So, while I knew the truth of my 'prodigious talent' to others I was a genius. It was why I was here, no seven years old and heading to a Kendo tournament. I had already fought in a few tournaments for Karate, Boxing, Muay Thai and Sampo, winning each and every single fight I was in. Again, a kind of unfair advantage considering I was basically an adult beating up little kids, but this was the only time it was legal and it was fun.

Winning, I liked that feeling.

I liked it a lot.

Thats why I was heading to a Kendo tournament now as well, I wanted to accumulate as much experience as possible which was one of the reasons, I was doing this. Another reason I was doing it was because I remembered that Kiba helped out with the Kendo club at Kuoh Academy, by being this huge Kendo expert I could do the same and gain a possible in with Rias.

Say what you want about her being useless, she's hot and that's all that mattered to me.

But above all else, the reason I was doing this was because I enjoyed winning, I liked the fame and glory I got from it. True I wasn't really a well-known name outside of Kuoh, but I liked it all the same. I had never really liked a protagonist that disguised themselves as another person. To me, I didn't like people claiming my achievements for their own, even if that other person was me. Just a little pet peeve of mine and who I was, I was a prideful guy and I recognised that fact.

So here we were, heading out and I was going to win this one as well.

Saechōrō Busujima looked down at the proceedings below with a healthy dose of interest. The tournament he was a part of was the national Japanese Junior Championship. It wasn't a huge crowd, mostly fighters and their families, maybe a few family friends as well along with a few older martial artists that had come to watch the young talent.

There wasn't much to see from most of the fighters of course, they were young and some looked like they were still learning the proper stances. However, this event would no doubt prove to be valuable experience for their future in Kendo should they choose to pursue it.

Yet the only thing that made the people stay was the match currently taking place right now. The two fighters that had made short work of all fighters they had come across with skill that many didn't possess many years their senior. Yet these two fighters of seven years fought with such ease ending their ten minutes bouts within the first five minutes by scoring two clean Ippons. Now they were witnessing these two fighters going at it and Saechōrō was one such man.

Clad in the Bōgu, the two fighters faced off against one another, one clasped with a red cloth to their back and the other white. Shinai resting against one another as they circled their opponent before engaging in a short clash with neither coming out the determined victory, the judge's ruling it as no Ippon scored.

Five minutes had already passed and neither fighter had scored a single point.

Again and again, they circled, Shinai's clashing before the two fighters broke apart. Time ticked by and it seemed like it would never end, like this bout would end with no clear victor, but that was when the fighter with the white cloth scored an Ippon. A clean precise strike that struck the Do. Yet as Saechōrō watched the fight proceed he frowned, leaning back into his chair as the fight was eventually called to an end.

Out of the two fighters, his granddaughter, Saeko Busujima was declared the victory having emerged victorious over the rising martial arts star, Mikoto Hyoudou. Yet despite this victory, Saechōrō was not pleased.

His granddaughter dedicated all her time to training in the art of Kendo, yet struggled against an opponent who dedicated himself to dozens of different martial arts. If that wasn't talent Saechōrō didn't know what was. And as Mikoto and Saeko bowed to one another, the former heading to where his parents and Sensei comforted him on his loss, Saechōrō picked up on the frown on his face.

There was a fire there, a burning desire to be the best. Perhaps Mikoto didn't know it yet, but there was definitely something within him that craved more and as he looked towards his granddaughter, Saechōrō saw the same burning desire reflected within her eyes. Despite her victory, Saeko had recognised the same thing he had, if Mikoto had dedicated his time purely to Kendo then she would have lost. That was something she would not allow and Saechōrō smirked.

'I suppose a change of scenery might be good for us both.' He thought to himself, rising out of his seat and heading down to wait for his granddaughter outside. 'Mikoto is a talent I can't allow to slip through my fingers, not when he could make the Busujima more powerful. The world is changing and a storm is brewing and like always, we will be ready.'

The Busujima Clan, an ancient family that could trace their lineage back to the age of the Samurai. A family who had dedicated their life to the way of the sword, a family well-respected amongst the world of shadows that hide beneath the surface. A family that had been impacted heavily after the death of his son and daughter-in-law, leaving him to raise his granddaughter. And perhaps, as if the stars were aligning, he had found the perfect suitor for his young granddaughter, one who would help strengthen the Busujima Clan.

Folding the last of my clothes, I zipped up my suitcase and dragged it down from it's place on my bed. I struggled a little, despite the copious amounts of exercise I did, I was still only a seven-year-old boy. A human body had limits and I couldn't train to excessively hard from a young age without doing some serious damage to body as I grew up. I did not fancy staying a midget due to a stunted growth caused by excessive training from a young age.

As I dragged my suitcase behind me, I reached the top of the stairs and looked down to where Miki and Gorou were talking to an elderly man I had later learned was called Saechōrō, grandfather of National Junior Kendo Champion, Saeko Busujima. Now that had been a shock for a multitude of reasons.

Most importantly being that she was from an entirely different franchise and left me wondering why she was here. And furthermore, what impact that would have on the little knowledge I had and if there were others? All questions I had no answer to, but something that I had no intention to stop me. This world obviously wasn't purely High School DxD like I had originally believed which meant that even if I had serious prior knowledge to the ongoing of the story - which I didn't, - it wouldn't matter anyway. Saeko's presence alone told me that this wasn't purely just DxD, there was also Highschool of the Dead and who knows what else out there?

It didn't affect me much though; I didn't have much knowledge on DxD anyway and had no intention to stick to a certain series of events anyway. All it provided me was an extra target to claim for myself.

Anyway, currently I was about to set out for a two-week trip to a martial arts convention in Germany. Saechōrō had invited me due to the 'talent' he recognised in me and the fact his granddaughter was apparently being grounded for rebellious behaviour. I didn't know whether to believe that or not, but either way I was looking forward to it. Maybe I could find some mysterious powerful martial artist to take an interest in me and train me as his pupil? Maybe I could learn how to use magic from this sensei?

I was getting excited just thinking about it.

But of course, the adults weren't too thrilled with me going on a trip with a man they had never met before. An understandable concern, but one that unfortunately meant Miki would be joining me and Saechōrō on this trip. Issei was ill and Gorou was here to take care of him while also going to work. Miki, being a housewife was the only one that was able to come with me.

Again, an unfortunate series of events.

"I'm just going to the toilet, okay honey?" Miki told me and I nodded my head, plastering a fake smile upon my face. Giving me a smile back, the woman rose from her seat and made her way down the aisle. As soon as she was out of sight, my smile slipped and I let out a little frown. Honestly, this whole trip was boring, I didn't have a phone, nor did I have access to WiFi. Which left me to play with the crappy toys Miki and Gorou had gotten me over the course of the years.

I just hope this trip turned out to be worth it and not just a massive waste of time.

"How very amusing." Saechōrō noted and my frown deepened and my inattentiveness. I had forgotten that the old man was next to me in my frustration. "Does your okaasan know that you're not the happy boy you pretend to be?"

"What concern of it is yours, old man?" I snapped out frustrated with my lack of foresight. "You gonna tell her?"

"No, like you say, it's no concern of mine how you present yourself to the world. I just wonder if she's noticed that you're quite the, frustrated child. Tell me, why is that?" Saechōrō asked.

"Why would I do that?"

The Busujima patriarch chuckled. "You don't need to, I can already tell why you're frustrated, I've seen the look in the eyes of my young granddaughter and in the mirror on many occasions. It's the look of someone with a craving for power but unable to achieve it." That made my frown lessen, turning to Saechōrō questioningly. "The reason I tell you this, is because I have no intention of taking you the convention in Germany."

"You know that anyone listening could quite easily mistake that for you doing something nefarious with an underaged boy, right?" Then I paused. "You're not actually a pedophile, are you? 'Cos if you are, I'm gonna scream that you touched me."

Yet despite my warning, Saechōrō just laughed. "Even if you did, no one would here you. Tell me, have you ever heard of magic?"

Have I heard of it? What a stupid fucking question. I've heard of it, spent the last few years trying to unlock it only to fail miserably. Course I've fucking heard of it because it's been an endless source of frustration for me. Frustration I take out on my sparring partners, which also happened to be the reason I was moved up into an older age group, besides my 'prodigious talent.'

"I've heard of it. You say you're gonna pull a rabbit out of your hat? Make it turn into a dove? Wave a magic wand and all that nonsense?" Though it was best not reveal that I knew about it, that would raise questions as to how I knew about magic.

Instead, best to treat this like a joke.

"Well, not only that." I'll admit, that I got a slight smile out of me. "I'm more talking mass destruction like crashing this plane for instance."

I turned and stared at him, trying to tell whether Saechōrō was joking or not, he wasn't. "Go on." I said, listening intently to what he would say next. This could very well provide me with exactly what I need and perhaps even better, allow me to fake my death and train without scrutinisation.

"Well, I have lost my son and daughter-in-law. My clan, the Busujima clan has taken a significant dent in its power and influence in the world of magic. A talented individual such as yourself is incredibly valuable and I'd like to take you on as my student and make you stronger and in turn, make my clan stronger." So, he was intending to use me, not an unexpected outcome but he was surprisingly honest about his intentions.

I could appreciate that.

"The question remains, what are you willing to do for power?"

It was in that moment I noticed Miki walking towards us, a smile on her face when she saw me looking in her direction. "You said you were going to crash the plane, right?" I asked, turning to him with a firm look. "Power does not come without sacrifice and I'm willing to pay whatever price is necessary for it."

"Even at the cost of your family?" For a moment I hesitated, not for Gorou or for Miki, but for Issei. My words now would forever change his life and despite not being a real person, I quite liked him as he was now. But at the end of the day, I have and always will be a selfish person and, in this world, power was necessary for survival and I wanted to life more than anything in this world. And Issei, if it happened like in canon, would be introduced to the Supernatural world eventually. No doubt making enemies that could possibly target me as a potential hostage for leverage, I refused to let that happen.

I would not be used as leverage, tossed aside when no longer serving any use. I would survive, no matter what the cost, that was who I am.

"Yes."

"In other news, tragedy has struck with the recent crash of the A350-900 airplane flying out of Osaka-Itami when it suffered an unknown accident causing it to crash. All 263 passengers on board tragically lost their lives in the crash. CEO and President of Japanese Airlines, Yuji Akasaka has of yet issued no official statement on what has happened other than to inform the public that he is currently investigating the cause of such an accident."

That news was like a knife through the heart and Gorou's head dropped into his hands, the shock of it all so overwhelming that he had no idea how to respond.

His wife and his son, they were dead.

I was alive bitches!

Now I'll tell you what, free falling through the sky was a rush that I never thought I would ever experience, let alone enjoy. Yet I surprising had, of course I did get massively worried and terrified when we continued to plummet towards the ground without any way to stop himself. Luckily, Saechōrō had come prepared and with a timely slash of his blade, made a burst of wind that struck the ground and rebounded. This burst of wind rushed to meet us and slowed our descent enough that we landed safely.

Well safeish.

And now we were making our way through the forest and towards an unknown location. "So, what exactly will you be teaching me first? How to unlock my magic? Magical theory?" I asked, my eagerness at finally gaining the chance to learn magic beginning to take hold.

Saechōrō shook his head. "No, you will be taking part in atheism first of your tests to come. Tests that will determine whether you are worth the effort and time to reach." That certainly wasn't what I was expecting or wanting to hear. "Fail them, and you'll end up exactly like your okaasan, except no one will find you."

That was slightly ominous and I felt a chill go up my spine.

"Wait, didn't you want me to help restore your clan's prestige after the death of your son and daughter-in-law, surely me dying would be counterproductive to that." I argued and Saechōrō came to a stop, looking down at me.

"All Busujima's undergo these tests. Saeko has already begun and has passed the first test already. If you want to gain power under my tutelage you will need to pass these tests. Do you think I'd teach you the secrets of my clan without you having to do something on order to prove yourself?" I frowned at the admonishment. "You said it best yourself, power comes with a price."

"I thought my price was to make the decision to sacrifice those in the plane?" I shot back and Saechōrō smirked.

"Hardly." He responded. "Whether you could do it or not, that plane was going to crash. Unlike Saeko, I am not your legal guardian and therefore, cannot take you out of the country for years without raising major suspicion. Faking your death was the easiest of solutions."

That final part made my brow raise in questioning. Since when was faking a death an easy solution?

Shaking my head of that thought, I crossed my arms over my chest and continued to follow Saechōrō through the forest. "Fine, so what exactly is this test?" Silence was my answer and my frown deepened. "Okay then, it's a mystery." I couldn't hide the sarcasm in my voice as we continued to make our way until we broke through the foliage, coming upon the sight of mass of people, all martial artists by their getup gathering around a slope leading to a large stone door.

"This is you test, Mikoto Hyoudou." Saechōrō told me. "Your aim is simple, survive until the time is up." All paused in that moment as the huge stone doors opened with a groan revealing pitch blackness.

I didn't even bother asking how long that would be, I doubt I'd get an answer. Or at least a meaningful and helpful one anyway. "Did Saeko go through the same test?"

"She did."

That thought made my fist clench and I stalked towards the group of martial artists beginning to walk down the slope and into the darkness of the man-made cave below. I refused to be beaten by Saeko once more, I'd survive this test no matter what.

As the door closed behind me, mutterings filled the cave as we were all plunged into darkness. I came to a stop, feeling a few people continuing to push ahead and nudging into me, considering they were taller, I was almost knocked over on a number of occasions and I struggled to stay on my feet, I'd rather not be trampled underfoot and die here.

But for fuck's sake, how many people were there?

Eventually as the sound of people grew further away, I took a deep breath; lips twisting into a frown and began following after them. I had no intention to be at the front of the group, nor in the middle nor in the back. I wanted to be part of my very own separate group as far away from people as possible.

Here we were, trapped under ground in complete darkness with no idea of how long we would be here for. I had also read enough manga and watched enough anime to know that this wasn't going to be as simple as surviving. As Saechōrō had told me, Saeko had already undergone this test and completed it. I had already lost to her once, I wouldn't lose again.

As I stepped out into an open chamber, I looked around at the fire burning, there was only a few, barely enough to light parts of the room, the rest of it covered in darkness. And surrounding those fires, the various martial artists that had come here were all huddled around them.

But instead of joining them, I instead moved towards a dark corner of the chamber. I had no intention of huddling around the fire, all it would do was blind one's vision. In a place like this and from the way Saechōrō had been speaking, fires like these would be nothing more than traps. Therefore, staying away from them and instead spending my time adjusting to the darkness would be the best decision to make.

The fire would only limit my vision and if they were traps like I suspected, then I needed every advantage I could get.

"Congratulations, you passed the first test and in only one week." Saechōrō praised as I stepped out from the underground cave. All around various older martials artists whose students had entered had gathered around to see who would emerge victorious. Some look disappointed, others angry upon seeing me, a child stepping out. But most looked intrigued and even envious.

"How long did it take Saeko?" This made the Busujima patriarch smirk.

"Three weeks. So, you beat her quite handily." He then placed one hand upon my shoulder and began leading me through the crowd. "Very impressive if I do say so myself, I honestly expected you to take much longer, considering your penchant for laziness."

That made me pause momentarily, quickly keeping up with him when Saechōrō pushed me along. "What do you mean by that?"

"I watched your fights, and after your loss to Saeko, I watched your training sessions at the various dojos you are a part of." Saechōrō explained. "Until you faced Saeko, you fought with a certain level of boredom, as if it were beneath, you and with a great amount of ease. And with your training sessions, you just go through the motions. You have talent, as well as maturity and wisdom beyond your years, it allows you to do things no other child is capable of. But you have no desire to train properly or outside of it."

This made me scoff. "I train hard."

"For you, it may seem that way. But it's hardly difficult training what you do, the only reason you've achieved what you have is because you're smarter than the others. Take that away and you wouldn't be much of a fighter, no better than average." Saechōrō came to a pause before a truck, a man sat in the front seat. "If you actually worked hard, beating Saeko would have been easy."

"I do a number of other martial arts. That's why she won." I argued.

"Even so, if you actually worked hard in all of your martials arts, beating Saeko would have still been easy for you." Saechōrō said. "There's a saying, hard work beat talents, when talent doesn't work hard. It's a simple as that, and you Mikoto, don't work hard like you should."

Saying nothing further upon that, I instead looked at the clothes and food laid out upon the back of the truck and then down at the ones I wore. There were big tears and holes, you could also make out my ribs from the malnutrition caused by the lack of food I had eaten over the course of the week.

"Get changed, I'll be taking you to the second area of your training."

I now knew why the first test had seemed so familiar to me.

It reminded me of the Gu Ritual performed in Kengan Ashura, though slightly different. In this world, martial artists sent their students into the Gu Ritual in order to not only test them, but also enable them to grow.

Now you might be asking, how did I discover this connection? Well, the answer to that is simple, I'm now looking at a second instance of something taken from the Kengan Universe, the Inside. One of numerous sectors of land in dozens of countries all over the world that was used as a dumping ground for criminals of all kinds. Again, there were differences, mainly that in Kengan it was made to appear as if there was only one Inside and that was in Japan. However, apparently in this world this was a government program that was used by many numerous countries.

Criminals that could not be reformed and Death Row inmates were all placed here. Rather than spending resources to keep those inmates on Death Row and to kill them, and rather than waste resources on repeat offenders, they were all dumped here.

Honestly, it was a little fucked up, Saechōrō himself had not shied away from the details. So you may be asking, why was I here? Well, the answer to that is simple. My second test was to conquer the Inside quite literally. When I asked, I was told that this was a special test purely for me, a way to improve my lack of motivation towards exercise.

Didn't I just feel special?

Looking around my surroundings I looked at the prostitutes, gangsters and all the other trash that society had washed their hands of and I just turned my nose up in disgust. This place was a cesspit of piss and shit. And above all else, I had no fucking clue on where to start with my whole conquest of the Inside.

Tense, that was the best way to describe the atmosphere of the Inside. It was a tenseness that was never really prevalent within it. After all, despite being a lawless zone, various districts ruled by certain gangs had begun to form and take shape. Gangs that no interest in breaking the peace and in fact, worked together to make themselves richer.

This was perhaps one of the calmer Lawless Sectors in the world, but even by the standards of the worst, civilised cities, it was living Hell. It was one of the reasons he liked to visit this place, it was calm and peaceful while still retaining all of the fun lawlessness. But this tenseness could only mean one thing, there was a war brewing which certainly caught him by surprise.

A peaceful zone like this going to war? That just doesn't happen, especially considering all the people here preferred trade and peace.

Sitting down at a nearby table in the tavern, he indicated for the barkeep to come over. "What's going on?"

"You haven't heard?"

"Only just got back." The barkeep nodded his head in understanding. "Well, about a week ago, this kid turned up. Headed straight for Девять пауков (Nine Spider) and just took over. Tore through dozens of gangsters and then took out their head. A few days later after crushing any rebellion, he just moved onto the next districts, Восемь ястребов (Eight Hawk), Семь Королей Лошадей (Seven King Horse), t-then he started making moves for Десять Демонических Змей (Ten Demon Snake)."

"Has he now?" That made the man smirk. "How very interesting. Tell me, where can I find this boy?"

"He's held out in Девять пауков (Nine Spider) last I heard." Getting up off the seat, the man left and the silence that had reigned over the room was broken by hushed whisperings. The barkeep himself leaned forwards; hands braced against the table in order to catch himself from falling. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he sucked in air in an attempt to calm the rapid beating of his heart.

I have to admit, despite my initial confusion on where to start, taking over three of the districts in the Inside was quite easy. Sure, they were the smallest of the bunch, but together they gave me a much larger territory rivalling some of the others. But I knew that rushing things too much would only put me in danger, I had no time limit to how long I would have to take to conquer the Inside so I would take my time.

Rushing things would certainly give me more time to train, but it could also kill me off. I nearly lost my life a few times during the Gu Ritual and had come closer a dozen more times in my take over the three weakest districts. Plus, it was a common strategy by larger and more established gangs to work together to defeat a smaller, more ambitious gang that was disturbing the status quo.

Which is exactly what I was doing.

No, once I took over the tenth district, then I'd take my time, consolidate my hold before expanding further. It was just good sense, especially considering I had no intention of dying at any point. Rushing things would only put me at greater risk which I did not want.

"B-boss, we've got someone here to see you." One of my thugs stuttered out, head bowed, and I once again had to pat myself on the back for a job well done. To be honest, in my old life I could never have considered killing and beating people within an inch of their life as I have, it just hadn't been who I was. And if I were being even more honest, I doubt if these people were actually real that I'd be capable of it either.

However, that's the thing, they weren't real.

They were figments of someone's imagination and put onto paper. Some of them were just nameless and faceless extras that no one paid to remember. They weren't real and therefore, I felt no quilt, no remorse for any of the acts I did.

All because they weren't people, they were just obstacles, steppingstones on my path to absolute power. And like any obstacle that got in my way, I'd remove them. "And who is it that wishes to speak to me?"

"I have to admit, when I was told that a kid had been the cause of all this fuss, I had honestly expected someone a little older." A loud voice boomed and a moment later, the door was thrown open. As soon as the figure revealed himself, I saw everyone around the room duck their heads, body tremble in fear in a way I had never been able to make them feel.

Instantly I knew that this man was bad news.

"But I have to admit, it takes serious balls and talent to do what you've done." The man was tall, bulging with muscle with a menacing and almost wild like features. He had long blonde hair swept back with big eyes that shone with a certain light, making his slitted pupils more pronounced and menacing. "Tell me, kid, you fancy being my student?"

So here we are, the first chapter fully completed and with it, Mikoto has begun his journey and unfortunately, Miki is dead. However, things are about to get crazy what with the Gu Ritual and the Inside being included in this world. Anyway, down below is a list of the harem members so far:

Irina Shidou - High School DxD.

Arisa Suzumaru - Katainaka ni Totsuidekita Russia Musume to H Shimakuru Ohanashi.

Megumi Suzumaru - Ecchi na Onee-chan ni Shiboraretai.

Ayami Suzumaru - Ecchi na Onee-chan ni Shiboraretai.

Mio Hayasaki - Baku Ane ~Otouto Shibocchau zo!

Noemi Hayasaki - Baku Ane ~Otouto Shibocchau zo!

Yurine Hayasaki - Baku Ane ~Otouto Shibocchau zo!

Saeko Busujima - Highschool of the Dead.

So yeah, a few hentai characters per the request of one very determined reader.