Genshin & DXD

X

The stars were different. That's the first thing Zhongli as Issei noticed. Different, but not entirely unfamiliar. Even the heavens change, he reminisced, but he already knew that. For even the greatest of gods and demons crumbled apart like sandstone in one's fist, given enough time. The heavens were no different, not that it mattered here, where the word Teyvat held no meaning.

This second life was both a gift and a curse in equal measures. His dream of experience life as a human, free of care or burden. Still, every Mora has two sides, for all that he gained in his wish and two loving parents he lost more still. Not being able to look at Liyue again, unable to see the nation born of his and Guizhong's contract or the people he left behind. But maybe it was better this was; he would not be cursed to see it crumble to the unstoppable ravages of time

He opened his palm, a flare of Adeptus Arts, and her gift was in his palm again. More than three thousand years had passed and he was still no closer to uncovering the final puzzle. Forget about it, she had said. Issei had tied his best to forget about it. To suppress both her and her gift's memory. And it often worked, sometimes for days, sometimes for decades. But then stray thoughts, a nostalgic smell, or a familiar sight would bring her back.

There were no Glaze Lilies here.

…

No. That was not true.

He went downstairs, greeting his mother before going to their house's small garden, a Seed Dispensary tucked under his arm. He selected an empty pot and placed one seed in it.

Issei realized he was holding his breath. His heart was beating erratically. Taking a deep breath, he sighed. Getting so excited over seeds that might not even bloom. He could always grow them in his Adeptus Realm, but plants grown there weren't truly alive and would never bear seeds.

'Was this what it meant to be human?' getting so excited over the smallest of things. 'If so, I will be sure to treasure these memories.'

X

The school was… strange for the lack of a better word. Although Issei was pretty certain that this was partly due to his past behavior alongside the two miscreants. Speaking of them, they had still not stopped glaring into his soul. If looks could kill, he would have long been petrified and shattered. Still, he was getting stranger looks than usual today.

"Is it true?"

Suddenly he was face to face with an overexcited Aika Kiryuu, her glasses shining with an evil light and her smile promising misfit. He considered stopping her, but it was not his job; he was just enjoying retirement.

"Pardon me, Kiryuu-san." He responded, a mask of cool indifference settling over his face. "I fear I don't know what truth you are talking about."

"That you beat the President?" She responded, to which he raised a brow.

Kiryuu's face was flustered, possibly in embarrassment from the small crowd they had attracted. She took a deep breath, looked… towards the sky? Nodded to herself with a *humph* and turned towards Issei again.

"You got more marks than her." She explained simply, which caused the crowd to become silent.

"Oh, that…" Issei trailed off. Nostalgia hit him like a charging sea monster. "I... just have a good memory."

X

Classes had ended, it was time for club activities now. Ignoring the looks he was getting, he turned towards his today's goal, the Kendo Club. He had a long list of people past Issei had wronged, and even if it was not entirely current Issei's mistake, we would rather get punished rather than let a victim not get justice.

Swimming club. Soccer club. Volleyball club. Gymnastics club. The list of clubs on which he had not peaked was smaller than the ones he did. Thought the Kendo club was special. His actions towards them were particularly unruly.

Knocking on the door, he was greeted by Murayama, the captain of the club. Looking at the grave expression on her face, and the other members of the club, he inferred they knew why he was there.

Good. No need for pleasantries. Pride was a vice, one that held you in a tight grip, suffocating, strangling. Pride had a place and purpose, but here it would not help him. Rex Lapis was a creature of pride, born of sacrifices and victories. And he needed this pride to lead his people.

Issei was a high school boy who (in the girl's eyes) had earned no right to it. Bending, and bowing was not the nature of the rock. But he was human now too.

"I am here to humbly beg for forgiveness for my past actions", he said, kneeling on the floor, his head down. "I have had my eyes opened to the error of my ways."

Murayama was smiling now; it was not a nice smile. Katase, the vice-captain of the girl's Kendo team opened her mouth to give her verdict.

"-*Slide*?!"

"I was sent here for one Issei…" Saji of the student council trailed off, greeted by the sight of the female half of the Kendo Club. He gently closed the doors. Issei could hear him sprit away, presumably to the student council room.

"To pick up where we left…" Katase was given a lock that promised him pain and suffering. He needs to learn the full names of his fellow schoolmates. "We have decided to forgive you… provided you have three rounds of Kendo with each of us."

…

That was a lot less extreme than he was expecting.

The first girl was one Kohaku Takano whose name he had never known before today. Amber, just like her eyes. No, now was not the time to think about his old companions.

All his knowledge of Kendo came from watching the few interschool events that were compulsory to attend. But that would be enough for the rules.

In disregard for all common etiquette of Kendo, she charged ahead while he was still in the process of bowing. Their audience cheered. A wild attack, meant to scare, confuse, overwhelm. Against a new, unskilled opponent, it would surely be super effective. But against the unbreakable defense of a mountain… she was just too slow. He was out of practice with swords, but it didn't matter with how his body remembered. With a single movement, a sword extended and she tripped on his weapon, flying out of bounds.

The crowd had been stunned into silence. The first bout of three for the best of five.

Then to repeat it, thirty-one… thirty-two times.

His 'punishment' ended after about seventeen matches. Almost as soon as he scored his first of three hits on Katase, blood from the newly forming blithest that flew from his swing caused some of the girls to scream.

Suddenly, his judgment was ignored in favor to rush him to the school nurse. Wasn't the goal to beat him up? Was helping him heal not counterintuitive?

Issei sighed. Even among mortals, he still didn't understand them.

X

X

Time Erodes All will be getting its thread!