DISCLAIMER: DxD doesn't belong to me. All th rights to Ichiei Ishibumi and its respective magazines.
"Your documents say… Second-year student of Kuoh academy… Age: 17… Going on a lone field trip… And your name is… Shion Shirogane?"
"Y-Yeah. I know it's a girly name, specially how it is written, but still…"
"I'm sorry, Shion, but it seems that your passport has been refused. The payment does not compute in the system; therefore, we cannot allow you to board the train."
It has been over a few hours since Shion Shirogane heard those fatidic words, but it took him this much for reality to finally set in. His passport to a trip all the way to Hokkaido has been denied, and so his last romantic voyage before his second year of high school, when schedules would become tighter, and time would become scarce. He doesn't dread the future, nor the challenges that come with it, but to be denied one last moment of freedom was a bit… Cruel, to say the least.
In moments like that, the young high schooler did what he always does in those situations: Took a second to breathe, lower his head and let all the negative feelings go away with the sigh out of his system. Nothing he can do now, might as well pick his things up, cancel his reservations in some hotels and inns and return home to spend the rest of his holydays idly before first period of his second year. Still, being denied romance was such a letdown…
"Yes, dad. My passport was denied in the last moment. Something about not being paid on schedule. You know what might've caused this?" And now, phone on hear, adjusting his glasses as he walks around the train station, Shion decides that the best course of action was to call his father and not only announce his dead-on-arrival trip but also the cause of it and maybe get some explanations. The young one hears a tired hum by the other side of the line.
'Oh… Shit. Your mother must've forgot to pay for your credit card or something. I knew she would be busy for a while, but to cost you that trip… I'm sorry for that, Shion.' The voice of his father seemed tired and full of regret, making the young feel even worst.
"It's fine, it's fine. Just… Come pick me up at the station and maybe I'll decide of what to do before school. Can't be too hard." Adjusting his glasses again, Shion sighed and tried to draw a smile despite knowing his father wouldn't see. His tone was poorly disguised, but at least he didn't want him to feel bad. Another tired hum, and a dreadful warning.
'Hmmm… Yeah. Since I wasn't expecting you to come back so soon, I kinda left the car for some repairment since it was making a weird sound, and it won't be done until tomorrow. I'm really sorry about that, son.' And another nervous smile spreads on Shion's lips with that news, today surely wasn't his day, maybe if he wasn't so shocked for that refused passport, he could've called his father sooner and be done with that wave of karma. Alas, no such thing as too much bad luck. 'Tell you what: Go ask for an taxi or an uber and ask him to pay when you're back. I got some money on my wallet, and it probably won't cost much.'
"I… Guess." The young sighs, scratching his cheek in thoughts. It's not like that he has a schedule now that his trip was literally dead-on arrival, so maybe waiting wouldn't hurt. With a final goodbye and apologize, they hang up and Shion decided to cut to the chase before something bad could happen and call for a ride back home…
Only to face a black screen as he opened the app. Facing the bespectacled, black-haired reflection on the darkened screen, Shion could wonder when was the last time he charged it, no answer coming from the unspoken question. Maybe the shock of his broken dream trip affected him more than he anticipated. He did bring a charger for the trip, but it was so deep into layers of clothes, other electronics and gadgets and books for the trips, it'd take a while for him to find.
And to make matters worse, he feels a cold drip fall onto him. And another, and then another, and finally he almost drowns on the sudden rain above his head. Not just any rain, but almost like a typhoon. Downpours are not uncommon during this time of the year, but to be caught off guard and so suddenly, mayhap fate was to get him today. Another lowered head, another heavy sigh to let all the negative feelings out, and the youngster picked his luggage and decided to head back inside the station, charge his phone to call for a ride and be done for the day. A bit sad, a bit crestfallen, but nothing to get raved over. There is always tomorrow, and it's not like things could get any worse, right?
Right?
Wrong.
The chances of someone dying by flying briefcase are low, but never zero you see.
As he turns around to get in the train station, the young high schooler feels something heavy, hard, destructive struck the back of his head, the weight of it by its exaggerated velocity enough to make him just feel his skull getting obliterated by the unknown assaulter. Blood, so much blood splatters everywhere, his senses going awry and then finally shutting down as his body spasms and twitches as he hits the floor with a loud BAM!, but not as loud as the titanium briefcase that landed right next to him, also tainted with blood and maybe a bit of cerebrospinal fluid, the obvious perpetrator of his current predicament.
Gasps, cries of horror, faints, Shion observed as everything unfolds around him, yet his body wouldn't respond, only get colder and slower. From his uncovered eye, the Kuoh student tried his best to catch the events around his moribund body, and only saw an approaching man in a suit, worry plastered all over his face as he approached the fallen lad…
"Oh God, oh God, what have I done?! My hands just slipped because of the rain, but to think it'd end up like this…!" The man kneels besides Shion, his face contorted into a regretful, teary grimace as his hands tremble, his eyes water and his nose run loose. As careful and slowly as possible, the man in the suit comes closer while extending his hands in a comforting manner… Only to miss Shion and instead reach for the bloodied briefcase, not noticing the young to the point he didn't even react when the silver case again hit his head. Reaching for a handkerchief to clean the red stains on and then examining it, the man then beamed a smile. "Oh, thank goodness it didn't break! My boss would've killed me if anything were to happen to it! I'm so lucky~!"
And then, without a second glance, the man stood up to walked away, still smiling and laughing…
…
Well, wasn't that kinda cruel?
It seemed that was it for Shion Shirogane. His body won't respond, getting colder and colder; his spasms finally stop and are replaced by a numbing, uncomfortable shiver that dies as soon as it runs all over his spine; and both his mind and vision becomes blurrier and darker with each passing second, the warm blood erupting from his head to form a crimson puddle on the pristine marble not bothering him anymore. He could already see the light, the cold, bright light at the end of the darkness, and as the last vestige of life flickers from his blue eyes, he wonders what his come life has come to.
A traumatic childhood filled with loss, grief and rage; only to be drowned and killed by regrets and pain, vowing to never engage anymore, deciding a calm, slow life as a normal human. A distant yet kind father, a haughty yet caring mother and a cute baby sister, not many but valuable friends, a normal youth filled with idle dreams and serene existence, filled with wishes, regrets and memories.
There were good moments and bad moments, but his life was good, his life was nice, and to think it would end it like that… It sucked, but what can he do? Only wait as the cold embrace of death reaches for and takes him to the afterlife, where he knows other of his loved ones are waiting for him…
It seemed that was it for Shion Shirogane, a young lad like any other barring some qualities. Everything was turning dark, cold, and lonely, so lonely.
The last things he saw were black sandals, bare legs and… Light blue.
Not a bad last sight, not at all.
…
…
"… -llo…?"
…
"Hel-…?"
…
"H-Hey, are… Listening to…?"
…
"Hello~? Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead. Sleep might be the best medicine, as they say, but I'd be really pleased if you just. Wake. Up."
"Hmmm~… Huh?" Shion now faces darkness, but unlike before, it is not as suffocating nor violent as before. In fact, it was a light and soothing darkness, as if he just so happened to fall asleep, slowly waking up in the most pleasant way if not by the feminine voice apparently calling for him from the void.
Careful and slowly, the young one opens his eyelids to face the sudden yet harmless light, and once he gets accustomed by it, he can only hope to face what just happened and maybe a brand-new day… However, what he faced instead were bright, golden orbs directly aimed at him, small black bangs lightly brushing against his own forehead and quite a feminine smell, an overwhelming scent, perfume by gallons, and lastly, a smile, a toothy grin, brighter than the faint light surrounding them, inviting and cute, yet, somehow, ominous and eerie.
A good way to wake up? Probably…
"Whoa!" And the scare made the young man retreat in a rather violent way, only not falling on his behind because something soft blocked his backwards path, as he soon noticed that he was sitting in a rather large couch, a crimson, leathered one at that. A giggle and he turn forward to see the owner of those golden orbs and black bangs.
From her sandaled feet with cute little toes, milky bare legs with a healthy complexion, being censored by a black skirt with red trims and some cute stitches, buttons and ribbons, her exposed navel and stomach courtesy of a rainbow shirt a few inches too short on the bottom, ample breasts hidden in a fluffy white and red jacket, also decorated with buttons and stiches, slender manicured fingers with drawings and different colours, exposed collarbone revealing a cleavage valley, rosy lips in a constant smile, bright golden eyes and black hair filled with ribbons and glitter, pulled in a colourful ponytail dyed in different tones. However, aside from the fact that she was a very pretty, very beautiful, if a bit gaudy, girl probably not that older than him, something else caught his attention in her getup, something that threw him out of the loop and captivated his gaze particularly from anything else described beforehand…
Horns.
She had silver-coloured, smooth, spiralling horns sprouting from the opposite sides of her head, as if from a ram's, hard to ignore aside from the contrast to her pitch-black hair.
The girl apparently caught notice of his stare, and with trembling lips, she reaches a hand to lightly tap them to bring emphasis to their shape.
"Ah, you noticed. Of course, you would. They're real, apropos. No props or anything! Totes awesome, right?" She smiles brightly once again, a smile that can only be described as comforting, or at least trying to be. One, two steps backwards, and once they have a better view of each other, she continues. "But you probably have, like, a bazillion questions about them and who I am, right? Any human would, honestly! Okay then, allow me to…!"
"You're a demon, right?" The girl coughed quite rudely by being interrupted in such a abrupt matter, with Shion dropping quite a metaphorical bomb to her above all else, her surprised expression wordlessly asking how he knew about that. In response, Shion also opens a quiet, cumbersome smile, wondering if that was too much. The young man lifts a finger to contour an inexistent horn around his head, in the same location and shape of her own. "I mean, the horns are a dead giveaway. And, uh, you smell just like a demon, so I can only assume you're one… I think?"
"Mon Dieu, right in the money you are. Bummers, I even brought some biscuits for us to spend some time talking and discussing about it." The young lass pouts and crosses her arms, visibly upset about the current predicament, and all Shion could do was scratch the back of his now-intact head, an apologetic smile to her. In that dimly lighted room, decorated from top to bottom in red and with black furniture spread all over, Shion saw a small plate of biscuits resting on top of a black wooden table, which the demon picked one for herself. After another bite, she picked the porcelain and offered the confectionaries to him. "Oh well, no need to be shy, mon chéri. Pick one, they're homemade."
"Oh. Thanks, I guess." And he complies, picking one and taking a bite out of it. Chocolate chips, not a bad one. A few moments to enjoy the moment, quietness and to gather his thoughts, Shion reached a hand for the afflicted area behind his head and seeing how intact and wholly it felt, plus the fact that he was alive and well, the young lad came for a single conclusion. "So, uh, since I am alive and well, and you seen to want to present me to this new world, I can assume that… You reincarnated me as a demon using your Evil Pieces, correct?"
"Exactement! Sharp, aren't you?" She munches of her dough one more time and uses both her pointer fingers to aim at him with a cheeky expression. One moment, and her expression softens, turning a bit too neutral with half-lid eyes in a rather pensive pout. "A bit too sharp, how odd. My sources said that you were a normal human and had no connections to any supernatural faction. Maybe the archives were incomplete, or the sources were unreliable. Regardless, you seen, like, very knowledgeable about our stuff! Mind talk about it, please?"
"Let's just say that… I have some history with one of your leaders." A cough to disguise the sudden morose and half-assed explanation, something that ached her curiosity, but seeing how hesitant he became, the demon lass decided to wait and let explain himself as much as wanted. She got nothing in return. "I asked and they honoured the deal to leave me alone and let me live a normal life until I graduate and decide what to do with my life. To think I would become a demon regardless, all thanks to an accident…"
"It wasn't my fault~. I sensed that you had a very powerful Sacred Gear, a Longinus at that!, and was about to ask if you wanted to part of my famiglia. To think that man would throw a suitcase on your head… It was, like, totally scary." She waves her hands in a desperate manner seeing how depressed and crestfallen he became to all of that. He wanted a simple, quiet life for the time being, yet a wave of bad luck ended up making him a demon anyway. Life, eh, always finds a way for the better or worse. One minute, and Shion takes a deep breath, swallowing his regrets and doubts, to turn to her with the best smile he could muster at the moment.
"But… Anyway, I'm your servant now, right? Your slave?" He says, still holding a hollow, morose smile, making the demon girl smile while scratching the back of her head.
"You can say that. The implications behind that don't sound all that positive, but I assure you, I'm not gonna, like, work you to death nor force you to do things you don't want to." The demon girl explains, picking another biscuit for herself and taking a bite. "Honestly, I was going to ask you to join me and just walk away if you refused. That accident was truly unfortunate, since it feels like cheating. C'est la vie."
"Hm." Shion nods.
"Do you, like, have any problem with that, mon chéri?" She blinks.
"Not really. I mean, being Japanese, I was going to be set to work as an idle employee in a company that doesn't care nor acknowledge my existence and wants nothing from me aside my workforce or abilities if I didn't have this overpower Sacred Gear of mine. Being a demon servant or a possible wage slave, makes no difference." The young man shrugs and laughs a very pitiful sigh for his possible grim, unexciting future. At least he would work under a cute demon girl, so that was a plus in his eyes. Hearing that, the dark-haired demon girl smiles brightly, clapping her hands. "I have only one request, though: Please, I would rather not fight as much as possible. I know my Sacred Gear is said to be very powerful, but I… I don't like violence."
"Fantastique! I was so afraid you were going to refuse or something! I'm glad for your cooperation!" She exclaims. "And don't worry. Being honest with you, I didn't want to recruit you because I wanted you to fight for me, even with that Longinus of yours."
"Is… Is that so?" His lips twitch in disbelief. Why, did he hear her correctly? Despite his powerful ability, his Longinus, she had no interest in making him fight? His memories were a bit hazy since he had no interest in becoming one, but he heard from Ajuka that demons had this little contests known as Rating Games in which Kings would compete against each other using their Famiglias to gain status and fame, not unlike the Olympics but, uh, a bit less civil considering their violent methods. She had no interest in those? How come? Then why resurrect him in the first place? "Then, uh, why?"
"Because… You have a Longinus!" She explains with a finger pointed at him, another wink and a cheeky grin. "An Artifact of deicide, a world-ending gadget of God! There are only a handful of them, and regardless of your intentions with them, they're always bound to gather great attention from all factions, if not all! And by making you my servant, all the attention naturally also turns to me, your King. And is important, no, pivotal, essential even, if not crucial, for my dream to come true that I gather the most attention from all factions and supernatural teams, not just the Underworld!"
Those descriptive words mean the same thing, thought Shion, but let us not mind that for now.
"So, you want me to be your frontman with my Longinus." He declares, and she nods in agreement. I mean, he was glad that he wasn't going to need to be violent or harm anyone, and apparently, he didn't need to even use his Sacred Gear if she is concerned. However, that is indeed odd, especially considering her intentions, which were still nebulous. "That's fine by me, all things considered. But if you don't mind, what is that dream you speak of, that you need that much attention to achieve?"
"Hohohoh! I'm glad you asked!" She twirls in place, and after one spin, the demon girl makes a pose, a hand on the hip, another doing a v-sign and then a wink at her, a cheeky grin with tongue sticking out. "I, Éclair Paimon, heiress of the Paimon clan of demons, dream to, one day, assist humanity in becoming equals to the supernatural and then form a new Faction: The human faction!"
"…"
"…"
There was a pause.
"Uh… Hm." Coughs Shion. "I… Hmm, well, I… Hm… Pardon?"
"I dream of, one day, make the human race on this blue star achieve enough recognition to be part of the bigger picture of the supernatural." And the demon girl, Éclair, starts to oh so dreamy twirl in place, stars and sparkles in her eyes as she humoured herself explaining her dream, her objective, to her newest piece. "Humanity is a race which is always seen as the lesser class by the supernatural. The original Three Factions, the Hindu, the Shinto, even the fae and the Youkai all look down on the inhabitants of this plane. However, time and time again, humans have proven themselves to be worthy of great actions, feats and revolutions, for the better or worse! The human potential, as they always say, is infinite, ever-changing and evolutionary, which contrasts to the stagnant state of all the other mythologies and factions! I want to gather enough attention and influence to make people hear my plans and realize that humans are not unworthy, nor cattle or simply tools for their creeds! While also helping humanity reach their full potential and become equals to devils, angels and even Gods! I want to create a new faction and make everyone, regardless of their origins, see one and each other in the eye, and together, create a bright future not just for the Underworld, Heavens and Earth, but for everyone! That is… My dream!"
"…"
"…?"
Another pause.
"I… Uh, I see." That was all Shion could muster to say. Truth be told, he was still ignorant about the ways of the humans and their relationship with the supernatural, but it was an unspoken rule that the former was not supposed to be aware of latter, considering that the factions and the myths behind them needed human faith and prayers to properly function, and chaos would reign without that small but crucial component in a system that has been unchanged since the dawn of man. Sure, he knew the demon heiress would reveal everything off the bat, but still, was she aware of the consequences and ramifications behind her ambitions? Shion lifts a hand. "Hmm… Paimon-san?"
"You can call me Éclair, mon chéri!" She exclaims, and taking a deep breath to get used to calling someone by their first name, the now demon lad continues.
"Right. So, uh, Éclair-san…" He coughs a bit. Wow, first-name basis was harder than he imagined. It feels weird. "Your dream is indeed noble and altruistic, no doubt about it… But, uh, say, wouldn't that tamper, if not downright break, the power balance between the factions? Gods and the other factions need prayers and faith of followers to properly function, and without that, well, I think things could turn ugly real fast. Not dissing your objectives, but, yeah, that sounds downright dangerous."
"And that is exactly what I want to change!" She comes closer to almost touch foreheads with him, golden eyes shining brighter than ever, to the point they seemed supernatural, and, in the end, they were. "Humans are so essential to the balance of the universe, of all the myths and factions, yet treated as nothing but lower-class beings! I want to change that; I want to show that we (the supernatural) need humans as much as they need us! The beings that control the earth, the heavens, the seas and the afterlife, cooperating with their source of power and influencing each other, looking at each other in the eye, to a bright future where we hold hands to carve higher grounds together! And then, once the last star is reached, we shall claim the universe as ours, and create UTOPIA!"
UTOPIA!
UTOPIA!
UTOPIA!
UTOPIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
"…"
"…?"
Another pause. Shion was, again, overwhelmed by this demon girl's aura. She was too much, way too much for him and his feeble, naturally idle mind.
But it wasn't a bad idea, nor a bad dream. Not at all.
Not at all.
"Hm… Okay. I guess I can work to that." He chuckles while opening a trembling, overwhelmed smile. In response, Éclair turn back to him with the brightest expression, and practically jumped in excitement, as if she was ready to explode. For her, he was yet another valuable ally to achieve her dream, and that was, like, super awesome!
"Fantastique! I love that! Thank you for that… Uh…" In the middle of her explosion of energy, she froze in place and then turned to him, spreading a nervous smile. He was taken back since it seemed that all joy and excitement vanished from her being, but after a while, he realized what the black-haired demon girl wanted to point. "Hmmm… Pardon my rudeness but, like… I don't think I caught your name."
"Oh, right." Shion sighed, adjusted his glasses and turned his own blue orbs to her. "I am second-year student of Kuoh academy, and now your servant I guess, and my name is Shion Shirogane. I'll be in your care for now on, I suppose."
"Shion… Shirogane. Hm, this name does ring a bell, but I can't remember why. Oh well, what matters is that I have now a Longinus-user in my Famiglia, so becoming the center of attention will be a piece of cake! Even more so than the Gremory or Sitri heiresses…" She smiles with a nonchalant chuckle and shrug, a blasé pose if Shion ever saw one. He heard her say some names in a whisper, but considering it was to herself, he paid no mind, it was probably not important. A blink, and Shion was taken back as how fast she moved to close to him. Éclair smiles, and he does the same nervously. "Then, I'll be on your care, mon Chéri Shion. Let us achieve Utopia together."
"Y-Yeah. You too." He nods, and in another moment, she did something that left him shocked and wordless: She came forward and lightly peck his cheek, leaving a glossy lipstick mark there. His pale complexion turned bright red, and he was at last of words, backing away in short steps like a Kabuki player, or as if he just stepped on glass shards. Those analogies made no sense, but that's how his mind was running right now. Once he recovered, he saw the smiling face of his newly demon King, and took a sigh.
"Oh. By the way, we should, like, totally exchange contacts. It'll be easier to chat and brainstorm, and we can even call each other in something arises." She pulls out a phone from her jacket, and for a moment, again, Shion was dumbfounded. Wait, demons don't use like runes or bloody scriptures on mirrors, they were modern and trendy to this point? She even had a cute mascot character on the back of her phone, what the hell. Demons sure are getting ahead by a lot. He shakes his head to get rid of those pertinent thoughts and whip out his own device to change contacts. "Trés bien! I guess that's all for now, Shion. This might've taken too much of your time, and for that, I can only say sorry. Sorry for, like, also reincarnate you without permission. Totes lame, but I just couldn't let a Longinus escape, regardless of intentions. So, uh, my bad."
"No problem. I don't think I would want to die like that either." A small grim chuckle from him, and Éclair let out a small spurt of air, apologizing soon after for that rude gaffe. Such a nonchalant reaction to almost dying, she couldn't control herself as much as she wanted. He reached for a biscuit to himself and took a bite. "Then, if you don't mind, I should be going home. My father is probably worried about me being out for so long. I should leave and go home… Wherever this place is."
"Oh, right, right, right! Hey, Rinka! We're done now! If you please!" The demon heiress claps her hands, and from a corner, where rests a ebony black door, comes a new figure: a girl of short, platinum blond hair and red eyes behind professional glasses, wearing what can only be described as a very expensive and decorated suit that couldn't fully hide her developed, mature body, a sharp contrast to the expressive getup the girl next to him was wearing. Shion had only one word to describe her: handsome, very much so, her face and aura rivals that of a classmate of his, Yuto Kiba. A smile, and she approaches the couple in the middle of the room, and once close enough, Éclair lifts a hand for her, as if presenting her to him. "Shion, this is my Bishop and another beloved servant of mine, Fujiwara Rinka. Rinka, this is my new Piece, Shion Shirogane."
"Yo, nice to meet you." The new figure smiles and waves a hello, which Shion were to mimic soon after. She also has an overwhelming aura, but her stance and demeanour seemed harmless enough. Once that was done, Rinka put her hands on her pockets and chuckled at him. "So, a new servant for the famiglia, eh? Since I was before you, that makes you my junior, no? Well then, I hope we can get along, Kouhai-kun."
"Y-Yeah, I hope so too, Rinka-senpai." He nods to be polite, which she dismissed with a handwave and a giggle. One moment, and she flips a card at him, a black one with an emblem in red and her name written.
"My calling card. And I'm not being metaphorical." She smiles as Shion picks said card for himself. "If you want a quick lift, I can pick you up whenever and wherever. So don't hesitate to call, kouhai-kun."
"Rinka's a sacred gear that allows her to manifest this very room on any door that she 'marks' as long as it's not magically or holly protected. It's pretty useful, as expected from my Bishop!" Smiles Éclair, and with a snobbish huff, the girl Rinka tilts her head, getting another nod from Shion. "Well then, I hope that moment was informative, mon chéri Shion. Hope we can get along, and see you soon. À bientôt."
"Yeah, you too."
And with that, taking his way to the open exit on the corner, he bids his final goodbye to the two demon girls in the red room, Rinka's so called Sacred Gear, to again find himself in a random corridor of the Train station with his luggage waiting just at the front, the door behind him closing without warning to reveal instead one leading to the janitor's locket. He reaches for the knob to open it again, but instead of the red room, it was just a claustrophobic quarter filled with chemicals and cleaning utensils, a janitor's room as written. What a handy power…
One, two seconds for him to recompose himself, and once he could left from right, Shion reaches for his phone to see an extra contact and to his pocket to pull out Rinka's calling card. There was no mistake or error now, everything that happened was real, and now, he was a demon under the servitude of a demon heiress, Éclair Paimon, whose dream was to reach an Utopia for all the factions, and use his Longinus as a frontman and stepping stone for this dream…
…
Huh, what an odd order of events. But no sweating the stuff he can't change. He was already reincarnated as a demon, a servant of Éclair Paimon, so all he can do now is wait to see what happens from now on.
He did request one of the Demon Lords, Ajuka was his name if he remembers correctly, that he would rather spend the rest of his school years as a normal human before deciding of what to do with the knowledge of his Longinus Sacred Gear, the supernatural, and his relationship with some figureheads in it, but due to some waves of fate, it seems that the decision was set for him regardless of his choices. A bit annoying, but c'est la vie as Éclair would probably say, what can you do?
He should for now just head call for a taxi or uber, head home and worry about the big stuff other day. His father was probably worried about his absent after the downpour from earlier, and he didn't want to further that. Picking his stuff and heading to the main hall of the train station, Shion takes a deep breath…
*ZING!*
"Huh…?"
"Oh…?" A very cold shiver practically licks his whole spine, and he feels a disturbance in the surroundings. A very eerie, strong yet subtle sensation of something that he knew it meant trouble. Turning to the direction he felt that, all he could see was, instead, a classmate of his: brown hair in a godawful cut, bright brown eyes and a lecherous expression now turned surprise, he faced the one and only self-proclaimed Harem King of Kuoh academy Issei Hyoudou. One, two seconds, and they cross sights. "Oh, Shirogane."
"Hey… Hyoudou." He greets back, and then silence settled between the two classmates. He knew Hyoudou, everyone knows Hyoudou and his rather infamous epithet, and the perverted self-proclaimed harem king heard Shion's name by passing, the little rich boy from a rich family but who didn't use such to attract girls, something that bothered the brunette a bit, such a missed opportunity. Despite that, they hold now a neutral stance to each other, and with nothing between them, Shion lifts a hand to greet Issei. "So, uh, good to see you healthy. Uh, are you going on a trip or something? My Credit card got denied, so I'm just gonna head home."
"Oh. Well, that sucks." Issei comments, clearly having no idea how to react with that information, leaving only a neutral reaction, but with a bit of sympathy. "I was just heading to the arcade and meet with the guys. Y'know, spend the rest of the holidays having some fun… Wish it was with a big breasted babe, though."
"I see." Shion nods, seeing Issei now imagine a scenario of him on a date with so-called busty babe in his imagination, a small trace of blood running down his smiling yet somehow crestfallen face. The sensation had ceased completely, and despite sensing something from Hyoudou, he didn't seem to be the dangerous type. Better leave and try to ignore it. "So, see you at school, Hyoudou. Happy break for you and have fun."
"Yeah, you too, I guess." And that were the last words shared between the two before disappearing from each other's sight and presence. Little did they knew it wouldn't be the last time they would cross paths…
But for now, Shion decides to just spend the rest of his holidays at home, living idly before his second year of high school… And his new life as a demon.
And that's a wrap, good job everyone. As for you, my dear reader, thank you for reading up to this point. A small imaginary cookie for you.
But hello, DxD fandom. Hellhound is back from his small hiatus to write some more, this time from the devil side... Or should I say the demon side thanks to the official translations of the novels? I dunno, I feel like it's safer to use them now that more and more people will get accostumated to the new format, so in this fic, Devils will be demons and Peerages will instead become famiglia, per translation. It feels safer, but I know it might feel awkward, so I'll ask: should I keep peerages and devils or just keep the official translations? You decide for next chapter. Ah, but send your answer through PMs instead of reviews, please.
That little poll aside, and that out of the way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I love it to write it,stay safe and I can only say that its good to be back on the writing game. See ya. Hellhound out