His name? Kyousuke Minamoto.

And for the first 13 years of his life, he was just a normal boy living in the town of Kuoh. He had normal friends, normal hobbies and was just about average in every conceivable notion.

He did well in school, but it was nothing mindblowing. His parents worked middle-class jobs and he lived in a middle-class home.

All this changed when at the age of 13, he rescued a girl from a mugger. But not without injury. The man had plunged his dagger into his chest, barely missing his heart.

He thought it was ironic. He had never really been particularly brave or heroic. He never imagined himself being some kind of great hero that saved everyone. But, as most people say, the greatest heroes act without thinking.

He was going to die. But he was oddly okay with it. He was at peace. Sure, he knew his family would be sad. He knew his friends would miss him and he knew that he'd never be able to accomplish his dream of being a historian.

But that girl was safe. So it was okay, right?

As the light began to fade from his steel gray eyes, he noticed the girl from before standing over him.

He couldn't really decipher what she looked like, but she seemed to be wearing glasses.

Before the last vestiges of consciousness left him, he swore he heard her say something.

Something along the lines of - "You self-righteous idiot." - but he couldn't be sure.

Oh well. No use worrying about it now.

Sona Sitri was cursing herself something fierce. She had decided to take a walk to get some space from her peerage. It wasn't that she hated their company, far from it. But between her student council work and devil work, sometimes it became all too much and she desired some time to herself.

Which led her to this alleyway where a man tried to mug her. She wasn't scared. He was a powerless human. A simple memory altering spell would fix this in an instant.

But Sona Sitri made a mistake.

She failed to consider something.

A human's stupidity.

It all happened in an instant.

A young boy yelled and then a blur slammed into the mugger.

There was a scuffle. The boy was stabbed and the mugger ran off.

And she was left there with a dying wannabe hero.

Let it be known that despite her cold exterior, Sona was not heartless. She was not someone who looked down on humans, despite how irritated she could get at them.

"You self-righteous idiot," she murmured as she stood over her 'savior.' She couldn't blame him. He didn't know who or what she was. And in a way, she admired the boy. She knew nothing about him. Which meant that he was no one notable. And yet, this nondescript average boy gave his life to save a complete stranger. He didn't hesitate. And even now he was dying with little regret.

She'd be lying if she didn't feel touched.

What to do?

She bit her lip. She wanted to save him. She owed it to him. But he had nothing to give her peerage. Nothing valuable.

At that thought, she felt sick to her stomach.

Was she really only looking for people who were 'useful' to her? What the hell was wrong with her?

No, she'd bring this boy into her peerage, useful or not. With his courage, he'd make a good Pawn and could be trained to make use of that heroic nature of his.

She took out a black pawn piece and set it on his chest. It was rejected.

Her eyes widened.

What?

She tried two pawn pieces. Rejected. Three. Rejected. Four. Rejected. Seven. Rejected.

She was panicking now. What if he had some hidden potential that made him too strong for her to bring back? She hadn't sensed anything but.

She only had one other piece on her.

Her second and last Rook piece.

She placed it on his chest and hoped that it would work. She didn't want him to die.

To her relief, he didn't reject the piece. And though she'd never admit this to anyone. She was glad to have someone like this in her peerage.

Now she just had to figure out what Sacred Gear he was hiding. She didn't want him to become a target. At least, not before he could defend himself.

To his surprise, he woke up. Dead people weren't supposed to wake up. "What? Where?"

"It's good to see you're awake," came a girl's voice.

His eyes widened as he noticed the petite black haired girl sitting at the foot of his bed. Her expression was neutral, but he couldn't feel any hostilities coming from her.

"I am Sona Sitri, a devil," she said softly. "And you Kyousuke Minamoto are a Reincarnated Devil and the newest Rook in my peerage."

He choked on air, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"Did you say that you're a devil? And that I'm . . . a devil too?"

She nodded. "I understand that you may be angry, as you were made into one without your consent. But it was the only way I could save your life. After all," a small smile painted her lips, '' I did have to pay you back for saving me."

Maybe it was because he was delirious, but she sure was pretty. He had never been a man who loved big boobs or huge butts. So long as a girl was pretty and kind, he had no issues. And Sona was currently checking both of those boxes really hard.

Oh right, he had to respond. Because that's how conversations worked.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole devils being real thing," I mused as I shifted my gaze to the ceiling, "I mean. Who would have thought? Devils. Next thing you'll tell me is that werewolves are real."

"They are," she replied flatly, her expression betraying no lie.

"Oh. Well. That's something I guess. So the supernatural really is a thing. Kinda neat."

He wasn't a nerd, but he did enjoy a good fantasy novel now and again. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard. Beat being dead, that was for sure.

"So, what now?"

"Now? Now you get ready to graduate. Kuoh Academy became co-ed last year and that's where you'll be going. I'm the president of the Student Council there and it's sort of a front for my peerage."

He nodded at her words. Made sense. Can't exactly go around broadcasting that you were a spawn of satan. Well, you could, but that never ended well.

"Before I just roll with it like a tumbleweed, mind giving me a rundown? Like, what devils do, what enemies there are, because obviously there'll be enemies since devils aren't exactly patron saints. And most importantly, who I should respect because there's definitely a hierarchy here. You did call me a Rook after all."

She smiled. "For someone with average grades, you certainly are quite perceptive."

He chuckled. "Well, when you want to be a Historian, you tend to become a glutton for facts."

She laughed lightly in response. "True indeed. Now then, the first thing you need to know is . . . "