Gold. His Sacred Gear, the one that forced him into using elements only related to it, was linked to gold. How… unique.
It was the evening-a day after his assassination attempt-and Adam Suzuki was practicing his newfound magic and Sacred Gear in the very same warehouse that he nearly died in. Was it truly the smartest thing to do?
No.
Was it something he was doing anyways because there wasn't another abandoned warehouse for miles?
Yes.
So, he had little choice. Sure, he could try practicing in the woods of the nearby park, but… it was a park. Anyone was allowed to walk wherever they wanted there, and if his luck continued as it was, someone would see him training. So, the smartest move would be to go back to the same warehouse, no matter how much he didn't want to.
Looking around, Adam wasn't surprised that the place was cleaned up. Whether it was through devil magic, the familiars, or just some old fashion cleaning, the warehouse looked exactly like it was before his fight with the Stray. Abandoned, dusty, unkempt…
Bloodless.
Without thinking, he walked over to where he killed the stray. The ground was sealed up and there wasn't a drop of blood on the ground, but Adam could almost still see her, laying there. Her eyes were closed, almost as if she was sleeping. Her hands were limp and to the side, as if she was laying there just to sleep.
Her head was caved in. Dead.
He blinked, and she was gone.
The writer focused on the area for a little while longer, almost tempting her to show up again, but when nothing happened he nodded, closed his eyes, and began to focus on himself.
His priority at the moment was his Sacred Gear. According to Gremory, last night he unlocked it while fighting the familiars, so he should've been able to access. However, for some reason it eluded him. Before he knew it, ten minutes had passed and he was still standing in the middle of the warehouse like a loon. He wasn't discouraged (If anything, he expected it.), yet he vividly remembered Issei summoning his Sacred Gear immediately after he was told about it. What was Adam forgetting?
"Let's see…" He began, reaching into his memory. "Issei was stabbed by the fallen angel, the male. Dohanseek?" Flashes of the incident went through his head. "Then, he wakes up with Rias in his own bed. After that, they head to school and head to the club room. Right?" God, he should've written down everything he remembered the second he realized what world he was in. "...Gotta write everything I remember the second I get home." He sighed. "And I'm mumbling again."
Alright, shut up. The pervert was given an explanation about the Supernatural, the club was revealed to be devils, and then Rias (Was it Rias?) gives an explanation about Sacred Gears. To activate it was to… to…
…
Hm. He forgot.
…
With that revelation, Adam decided to do the smart thing and retire for the night. Rather than throwing himself against a wall or blindly guess what required activating his Sacred Gear, he would simply go home and do some research. Plus, he needed to write everything he remembered. The longer he took, the more he would forget.
As he walked home, Adam hoped it wouldn't take too long. In the best case scenario, his reliable source of information would have information regarding Sacred Gears. Pfft, right, like that was going to happen. He sighed. "Let's get started then."
"Hey what's going on everyone, it's your boy, SpaceyWiz! Today we have a very special video! Why? Because I'm going to teach YOU how to awaken your very own Sacred Gear!"
Once more, SpaceyWiz-Adam's only reliable source of information-had saved him. "I should send him a donation or something," he muttered. Seriously, was everything just available on DeviTube? Furthermore, did SpaceyWiz just… know everything? Looking through his videos, the guy had a five year old channel filled to the brim with videos regarding the supernatural (Adam saved the playlist labeled '[Insert Location] Explained for Magicians!' for research at a later date.), and each one only had a couple hundred views at most.
Adam blinked, then shook his head. Long story short, SpaceyWiz gave a helping hand to Adam once more, and that was all that mattered.
Moving back to the original topic, Adam found the solution to his Sacred Gear summoning problem. He felt incredibly stupid realizing the solution: Sacred Gears responded to the user's desires and will. So, all he really had to do was just… demand it to come out.
"And here I was, looking deep within myself for a foreign power like some idiot." The writer grumbled. "Of course that's how Sacred Gears work: they're literally molded into the soul of each user. Looking for something that stood out was counterproductive, because my Gear was always apart of me, since the very moment I was born." In this world, anyways. What a rookie mistake.
He shut off his computer and walked to the center of the room. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and muttered, "Alright, Sacred Gear, come on out. I need you."
…
He opened his eyes. Nothing.
He looked around his room, trying to see if his Gear was out of sight. Left, right, up, down, and all around he looked, but nope. No Sacred Gear. Once more, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
In…
Out.
"No more messing around. Sacred Gear, I need you. Show yourself!" God he sounded like a loser. Pushing that thought aside, he opened his eyes once more and took another cursory glance around.
Still nothing.
…
This was fine. This was merely a set back. Adam knew he could do it, he knew he could summon his Gear, it just took practice. Or something. He shut his eyes and took a took another breath-this one sounding more like a groan than anything-and yelled out, "Sacred Gear, I summon thee! Appear before my gaze!"
Adam cringed. He almost didn't want to open his eyes after that one, to be honest. 'I summon thee? Appear before my gaze?!' He sounded ridiculous! Still, he popped one of his eyes open and glanced at his surroundings, and just like before, only his room was there to greet him.
This was fine.
This was most definitely fine.
If anything, he asked for this! It was cliché for the main character to immediately gain access to their iconic weapon, and by failing to summon his Sacred Gear, Adam was subverting the audiences' expectations once more! Truly, this was exactly what he was looking for! Failing to activate his Sacred Gear was something never done before!
A part of him was admittedly entertained by the conundrum he found himself in, but the majority of him was simply frustrated at the lack of progress. He wasn't missing anything, he knew that much. To summon a Sacred Gear, the user must actively will it into existence through their desires. Was his desire not strong enough? It was true that he didn't really want the Gear, but he needed it to survive. Then, once he grows strong enough, he'll finally be able to get back to finding inspiration and writing his story.
His story.
He hadn't been writing that much in the past couple weeks, had he? That was a problem. He glanced over to his desk, where his notebooks rested. He walked over and grabbed his favorite one, his inspiration notebook. He flipped it open and smiled, admiring the notes he had compiled over the last 15 years of his life. People, places, concepts, clichés, and everything else he discovered was documented in it.
Still, a problem was presented. The notebook reminded him; he needed to write down everything he remembered about DxD. Every second passed was another memory rotting away, and if Adam continued to rely only on his memory, then he might forget about the story entirely. He still had two whole years to get through before canon even started, so it would be smartest to write down everything he could.
However, if he did, he would be giving up precious training time. Every single word written was a moment he wasn't trying to summon his Sacred Gear, another moment without any sort of way to combat the supernatural.
Besides, what if someone found his writings? As much as it hurt to admit, his home wasn't a safe place anymore. Any sort of devil, angel, or yokai could simply wander in and search the room for whatever they wanted if they wished. Hell, he was probably being monitored right now!
A quick glance out the window confirmed that he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary-just his front yard, which contained a single tree and his lawn-but he still shut the blinds just in case. Who knew what was watching?
He closed the blinds. Did he know he was being watched? She thought she was pretty sneaky, hiding in the trees, but had he somehow seen her? Aw man, and she dressed up in green and everything! She sighed and dropped out of the tree, landing on her feet perfectly. Looking back at the Suzuki household and it's surroundings to make sure no one saw her, she quickly ran away, eager to be out of sight. She couldn't see him, not yet!
As she ran back to her house, she began to giggle. Ah, how long had it been since they had last seen each other? He's gonna be blown away! She giggled once more.
"It's been too long! I can't wait!"
In the end, he decided to write everything he remembered about DxD. From Issei's fight with Raynare all the way to him fighting Rias in the Dimensional Gap. Why the hell were they fighting each other in the Dimension Gap? He honestly had no clue. It happened though, so he wrote it down.
Unfortunately, his memory was spotty. He remembered almost everything of Season 1 and 2, with the whole Phoenix (Phenex?) problem and Kokabiel trying to start another Great War by killing Rias and Sona, but to be honest? Season 3 was extremely lacking. Probably because it was when Adam began to rapidly lose interest in the show, but if he knew where he was going, he definitely would've paid more attention.
All he remembered about Season 3 was Asia getting kidnapped by a devil named… Diodora Astathoth? Asatoth? Whatever. Some devil that had a fetish for nuns or something. Issei and crew goes to save her, she "dies," Issei goes crazy, and then… something? He's pretty sure Rias saves him, but then she gets sent to the Dimensional Gap and Issei goes to fight her? Yeah, he had no idea. He was missing some details, he knew that. Like, how did Asia get kidnapped again? How did Diodora even get close to the girl? What was Issei doing this entire time? Wasn't there some kind of devil gathering happening while all of this went down?
He had a ton of questions, but to be honest? He wasn't particularly hung up about the future. The future he knew was inevitably going to be changed. Just by existing, Adam had already altered the timeline. Also, he really just didn't want to think about time travel/time shenanigans. Only a very few amount of stories had ever managed to tell a satisfying story that included time travel, and Adam knew he wasn't going to be one of them for a long time.
Like, seriously, think about it! No matter what way it's presented, time travel messes up so many things! First, nearly every single version of time travel sucks! Let's say time worked as a line, and the past affects the future. If someone changed the past, the present gets changed in one way or another. Logically speaking, that would mean that by going into the past to change something, that causes the event to happen! Like preventing a loved one from dying by a car, but the traveler ends up getting said loved one killed in the car accident! That's just a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Even worse are the stories with branching or different timelines though. The whole point of traveling back in time is to fix a problem and save the timeline the main character is from! If the branching theory is the proposed version though, that just makes the main character a prick! They're abandoning an entire timeline just so that they could live in a better, more ideal world! They're not "fixing" anything, they're just running away! The original timeline still exists, the MC just ran away to a different timeline! Nothing in the original timeline changes! Then the creator has the gall to parade the idea that the main character "saved their timeline" in the reader's face, and it's just the worst! Oh, how righteous of you to throw away everything you held dear to change a single event! How kind and noble of you to abandon everyone in the previous timeline!
Not.
The only good time travel theory is one where the main character resets the entire timeline, essentially erasing the present, and goes back to the past. Turning the past into the present, essentially. It's a type of story that has the main character throw everything they knew and loved away. Just to fix a mistake from their past, they technically end an entire world. Great creators would go through the effort of showing everything the main character sacrificed for the opportunity to fix that one single mistake, that one moment. The audience would be shown what the protagonist was giving up and why they were doing it. Friends, family, lovers... All of them gone forever, for one chance to fix their past. One moment to make things right.
"Like any sane person would take that deal," he muttered. Great, now his bad mood just plummeted even more. Why was he even thinking about this again?
Adam shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. To get back on track, he didn't get a wink of sleep the night before due to writing everything he remembered about DxD. By the time he finished, it was already morning and his mother was calling him for breakfast and because of it, he was in a bad mood. Now he was on his way to school, shambling like a zombie due to extreme sleep deprivation. His mother commented on it, but he simply said that he didn't sleep well and that it wasn't anything to worry about. Technically, he was right. He didn't sleep well because he didn't sleep at all.
He sighed. Internally, he hoped school was gonna be quick and easy today.
Adam almost scoffed at that thought. It was going to be a long day and he knew it.
He must've looked as bad as he felt, since every single person he came across on his way to the classroom steered clear and avoided eye contact with him. Well, that was fine by him. He really didn't want to get bothered anyways, so the minute he sat down in his chair, he slammed his head onto his desk, eyes already closed. Within moments, he was drifting off into dreamland and when he woke up, he would-!
"Don't you look chipper today?" Rias asked as she sat down, audibly amused.
He knew something like this was going to happen. He lifted his head a little to glare at the redhead. "What do you want now, Gremory?" He spat, zero warmth in his voice.
She had a sly smile on her face, extremely entertained at Adam's misery. "Oh, nothing. It's not everyday you see someone of your caliber acting like a drunk old man about to crash."
He groaned and let his head fall back onto the desk. "I'm not playing your game today, Gremory. Go bug Himejima or something and let me sleep."
He heard Akeno huff. "I'm right here you know?" He heard her stand up and walk behind him. Suddenly, he felt two large somethings squish onto his back. "What if I want to help Rias tease you, Adam-kun~?" He felt her hot breath tickle his ear, obviously trying to get a rise out of him.
Right as he opened his mouth to say something, a couple of his classmates came in. "-and you haven't seen him since?"
Attention caught, Adam glanced over and saw one of them looking visibly depressed while the other one, her friend obviously, was hovering over her.
The depressed girl, the one with long blue hair, shook her head. "Nothing. We tried calling him, we searched all through the town, and we've asked every single person at his school, but they haven't seen him since yesterday."
Her friend gave a frown. "Do you think he ran away? I mean, what if he was being bullied or something?"
Blue Hair shook her head once more. "I doubt it. He was happy where he was. He finally made a couple good friends, his grades were good, and he's been more outgoing." The two finally sat down, and Blue Hair put her hands over her face, hiding the tears she began to shed. "I… I just want my Itsuki back. He's a brat, but I love him. I want him home."
A younger brother had gone missing for no rhyme or reason? That was a kidnapping at best, a stray devil attack at worst. He turned his gaze towards the two devils and raised an eyebrow. Rias responded with a smile. "What is it Adam?"
Voice low, he muttered, "Are you gonna do something about that? Sounds like another stray could be in town."
The red head giggled, obviously amused. "Really? You're concerned about someone else?"
He glowered. "I'm worried that I'll be next."
That killed her mood. In an instant her smile turned to a small frown. "I see."
He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "So? Are you going to go after it?"
She shrugged. "I mean, I could? But if it turns out it isn't a stray devil, then I would be wasting my peerages' time." Her gaze switched over to Blue Hair, who was crying at her desk. "It's a shame, yes, but until I get confirmation that a stray devil is in our territory, I refuse to do anything unnecessary. We could be fulfilling plenty of contracts during the time we would be searching for the missing person." She turned back to Adam, not a single ounce of guilt in her gaze. "It's a shame, but we're simply too busy to go on a wild goose chase. It's highly likely that it's a simple kidnapping and the child will become a slave to someone somewhere in the world. It's a shame, but if the police can't fix it, then what could I do?"
Without another word, Adam stood up and walked over to Blue Hair, catching the attention of the entire class. The two girls realized the class was quiet, and when they looked up they saw Adam standing over them, heavy bags under his eyes, looking down on them. "What does he look like?"
Blue Hair was visibly confused, a lost look on her face as tears were falling. "Huh?"
Adam patiently explained, "I overheard your conversation, about your missing brother?" He asked. When she nodded, he continued. "While I'm not gonna go to any dangerous spots, I wouldn't mind walking around my neighborhood and places I usually go to keep an eye out for him," the teen easily lied. "So what does he look like?"
She was surprised, if the open mouth and wide eyes meant anything, but she quickly shook her shock away and began, "Um, Itsuki, he's… he has hair like mine, but silver eyes like mom. He's a little on the short side, and he always wears his favorite pair of red shoes."
He nodded. "Where did you last see him?"
She looked away and muttered, "He was last seen walking home from his school, Wakai Junior High. One of his friends mentioned that Itsuki found something cool, but…"
"But he never said where it was," he predicted.
She gave a depressed sigh. "Right. And now… he's gone." More tears began to form, and in an instant she began to sob once more. Her friend put her hand on Blue's shoulder as a sign of comfort.
Receiving the information he needed, Adam nodded. He was about to walk away when a thought entered his mind; Wouldn't this be a great moment to boost his popularity? And if he did, wouldn't that make it harder for Sona to off him? While he wasn't aware how exactly mind-altering magic worked, it made sense that a stronger memory was harder to forget, right? So, if he boosted his reputation and made everyone more aware of him, wouldn't he be making it harder for Sona to do anything suspicious to him during school hours?
Maybe.
Of course, he would be getting more attention than he ever wanted, but if a fan club was needed to keep his life, then he wouldn't complain.
Without further hesitation, Adam placed his hand on Blue Hair's shoulder and gave a squeeze. "Hey," he started, voice as soft as possible, "don't worry. I'm sure he'll come back, and when he does, he'll be fine."
She audibly sniffed and looked up, tears pouring out. "Y-y-you r-really think s-so?"
He gave a smile. "Of course I do. Then, you can give him the punishment he deserves for worrying you and your family, and he'll never even think about going outside ever again."
She gave a watery laugh. "Y-yeah, you're right. I-I'll give him a good smack!"
He gave a soft chuckle. "Of course you will. Just have faith and don't give up. Everything will be alright."
She wiped her tears away and gave a large smile, obviously forced. "You… you're right! We'll find him! And when we do, I'll kill him myself for making my family worry so much!"
He nodded. "Very good."
He turned to walked away, but before he could even take a step, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "T-thank you, Adam-kun. I really needed that." Blue Hair said, her voice light and warm.
He turned his head back and gave a small nod. "Of course." Without further ado, he peeled the girl off of him and left the classroom. The minute the door behind him closed, the smile slid off his face and in it's stead was a small glower.
It was confirmed, Rias was incompetent. 'If the police can't fix it, then what can I do?' Didn't she own the entire town with Sona? Couldn't she just hire more competent officers? Weed out the corruption? Or at the very least have a peerage member or two search for the stray while the rest do the contracts? Was multi-tasking really that hard?!
What an inconsistent person. She went out of her way to save someone like him, but the minute a child was in danger, she decided to sit back and do nothing? How cruel of her to be so apathetic towards a child's life.
Then again, he wasn't searching for the stray out of the kindness of his heart either. Truthfully, he wanted to test out his Sacred Gear and Gold magic, and stray devil hunting was the perfect solution to the problem he had.
What a limitation. Gold only? Sure, it was a unique element and it allowed Adam to become a unique character in his own sense, but what kind of person would choose gold as a weapon over almost any other element? Or even further, any other metal? Uranium was so much cooler.
An American with an americium Sacred Gear would be extremely entertaining. They wouldn't lean completely into the American stereotype, but they would carry a few preferences, like guns being their favorite weapon or their favorite colors being red and blue. Before he even realized it, he was writing down the character in his notebook.
He blinked. Where was this train of thought going again? Oh, right, gold. Oh well, what could he do about it? He certainly wasn't extracting it, as his life would be lost, so he really had no other option then to accept it and build it's power. He was born with it after all, it was a part of him.
Adam sighed. Wasn't this what he was asking for? A unique and fresh take on a series he disliked? Why was he so upset about it? Maybe he just liked complaining?
Oh well. He had all day to hunt this stray, and if little kid Itsuki was alive by the time Adam finds him, then that's even better. (For his reputation.) He goes in, kills the devil, saves the kid, and he's regarded as a hero!
Probably.
He wasn't normally this flippant, but the lack of sleep was really starting to hit him. He needed a quick pick-me-up first, then it's stray hunting time.
Adam Suzuki once more confused Sona. Not even ten minutes after school had started, rumors began to flow through the school body that the man had comforted a distressed classmate and stormed out of school to find the missing relative of said classmate.
What was he planning, and why? Why did Suzuki react so strongly to a missing human? Did he know them? Were they important to him in some way? Or did he somehow relate to the situation, and his humanity shined through this moment?
As she stared at another form on her desk, Sona felt a headache approaching. "Tsubaki," she started. When the vice-president stood at attention, she continued, "Find and follow Adam Suzuki. If you believe something substantial happens, report back to me immediately. Make sure you don't get caught."
Her queen nodded. "Yes President!" In a blink, she stormed out of the student council room, a tiny pep in her step belying her eagerness.
Her determination should've assured Sona, but instead the Sitri heiress sighed. "To think a human would gain the affection of a devil…" It appeared that Tsubaki had her eye on Suzuki, and not in the way Sona anticipated. How in the world had Adam managed to seduce her queen with a single meeting?
"I know you're hear, stray. Come on out and don't make this difficult," Adam growled. He was standing in the middle of an abandoned arcade, the sun having already set a few hours ago.
"Aw, and here I thought I was sneaky!" He heard the sound of something crawling, a million tiny feet hitting the ground, and the teen looked up. On the ceiling was another stray, a young looking man-no older than seventeen-with short black hair, ruby red eyes, a toned upper body…
And a centipede-like lower body.
"Oh well. I guess some things just don't work out!" The stray laughed, a smile on his face.
…Looking back on it, it would've been a good idea to have taken a quick nap or something. Once Adam stormed out of the school, he bought five energy drinks and jumped from abandoned location to abandoned location the entire day, occasionally guzzling down a BlueBull. Hell, as he searched the first abandoned location-a supermarket-Adam realized he had no way of sensing magic or ill intent or any of those 'Hey there's someone here!' abilities.
Instead, Adam would go from room to room, shout out "I know you're here!" and wait for ten minutes. If nothing came out, the room was empty. In theory, because stray devils were probably stupid, they wouldn't know whether he actually sensed them or not and would come out, believing they were actually found.
Hopefully no one saw him do that.
Rias was probably aware of it though, given how she always had eyes on him. Plus, he'd been doing it all day. He started his hunt right after leaving the school's premise in the morning.
It was eight at night now.
He sighed, watching the stray as it slowly crawled it's way towards the author. "Where's the boy, stray?"
The man gave a throaty chuckle. "Aw, you mean poor little Itsuki? He's in the manager's office, nice and asleep." He licked his lips, as if Adam was a delicious piece of meat.
Adam narrowed his gaze. "Really? I find that hard to believe. I thought you animals consumed whatever unfortunate soul right away?"
The stray shook his head and wagged a finger at the author, as if treating the teen like a child. "Silly little magician, don't you know? A stray always lets their prey ferment in their fear! They're a lot tastier that way, and it makes us stronger too!"
He blinked. "Wait, really?" Before the stray could answer, Adam continued. "Well, I suppose it makes sense. Just like Sacred Gears, magic is powered by the soul, right? And stray devils are, by nature, a devil gone haywire. By consuming something with high negativity, does that give the stray a bigger boost in it's power?"
The centipede, visibly impressed, nodded. "Wow. Uh, yeah, that's right. And-"
"And because devils were originally born from sin," Adam continued, cutting the devil off, "sinful activities are also the best type of energy for them. Like a succubus having sex!"
"Huh," the stray started, "you're pretty smart, aren'tcha?"
Adam mentally patted himself on the back. "Well, it's simply connecting the dots." There was a moment of silence before an idea hatched in Adam's mind. "Say, would you mind answering a couple questions for me?"
The stray blinked. "Wait, you serious? Aren't you gonna try and kill me or something? I thought you were looking for the kid?"
He shrugged. "Well, yeah, I can't say I'm not planning on killing you, but I have a few questions that I'd like to answer, and you seem sane compared to the last stray I fought. So, how about we ask each other a few questions, and then once we get all of our answers, we fight to the death? Whoever wins not only gets stronger, but also has more information!"
The stray nodded, an impressed look on his face. "And because we're both fighting to the death, it doesn't matter what we reveal since one of us will be dead anyways."
Adam snapped his fingers. "Exactly right!" Without hesitation, he grabbed a nearby chair, whipped out his notebook, and sat down. "So, is that a deal?"
The stray pondered for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, what the hell? Why not? Sure!" He dropped from the ceiling and landed in front of the author and curled his centipede-bottom into itself. "So, what do you want to know?"
Tsubaki had seen a lot in her life that many would consider odd. The Shinra Clan itself was considered odd to the normal man, as many believed the supernatural didn't exist. Her Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice, was considered weird by her clans' standard. Turning into a devil to leave said clan could also be considered quite odd. She could go on, but essentially, Shinra Tsubaki had seen some weird things.
"Wait, you're telling me it's easier to lure humans by just wearing some old clothes?! No magic needed?!"
"Well, a lot of normal humans, kids especially, are curious creatures. So if they see something that peaks their interest, they're going to investigate. You can further instigate them by saying how cool or interesting something is. Does that make sense?"
"Wow, when you say it like that, yeah it does! Thanks!"
Seeing a human and stray devil talk like they were best friends was certainly a new one. To rewind a bit, Tsubaki was given orders by her master to keep an eye on Adam in case he got himself into trouble. All day, she followed him going from abandoned location to abandoned location, watching him from a distance. (She wouldn't admit it, but it was incredibly amusing watching him call out only to find nothing in every single room he went into.)
Inevitably, he came across a stray. Luckily, the stray he was looking for. However, much to her confused surprise, instead of immediately fighting, the two somehow came to an accord and began swapping information.
"Alright, my turn. I know that people in the supernatural can sense magic and such, so is it possible for me to do the same? Like, sensing auras and magic pools and such?" Adam asked, pen ready to write.
The stray (Who introduced himself as Touya Stalls, a half-vampire of all things!) gave a look of surprise. "Oh man, you must be really new huh? Well…" The stray put his hand out, and in his palm an orb of darkness began to form. "Everyone, from the weakest human to the strongest god, has mana. So if you actively place some of your mana around your eyes, you'll get what I call Mana Vision. Once you do that, then you'll be able to see magic and stuff. It's how I knew you were a magician, you're covered in a lot more mana compared to the normal human. Try looking for my magic, it should be dark and cracked, since I'm a stray. Like a broken jewel or something."
"...I see. I see! It's almost like infrared sight! Incredible! Touya, you have helped me quite a bit!" With eyes that were slightly brighter than usual, Adam focused on the orb of darkness in the stray's hand with a look of fascination. "You can actively see the mana changing into your element… Fascinating!" His pen flew across the pages of his notebook. "This is great! Thank you very much, my temporary friend!"
The two of them talked for about an hour, trading information and even an occasional story. For that single hour, there wasn't any hostility or anger, just two people on different sides enjoying themselves. Tsubaki wouldn't have believed it if it wasn't happening in front of her very eyes. If these two could get along so fast, then… could she and her clan…?
"Can I ask you something personal, Touya?" Tsubaki blinked and returned to the present. Peeking at Adam, the man had a curious look on his face.
The stray raised an eyebrow and leaned further into his pile of centipede legs. "I mean, sure? Why not?"
"Why are you a stray?" At that, Touya shut his mouth. "I mean," Adam continued, "you seem like a decent person. What caused you to run away from your master?" Tsubaki perked up a little. Indeed, why would anyone ever try…?
After a few moments, Touya asked, "If I answer this, could you answer a personal question of my own?" When he saw Adam nod, the stray gave a heavy sigh. "I… I'm the pawn of a son of the Vassagos, one of the 72 Pillars. They're known for their spirit summoning and their ability to predict the future. You with me?" Seeing Adam nod, he continued. "You know what else they're known for?" After seeing Adam shake his head, the stray continued.
"Turning their servants mad." After a beat of silence, he explained, "The ability to see the future isn't as nice as one would think. Depending on what you're looking for, there could be thousands, if not millions of different futures. The Vassagos are experts at picking out the most probable future, but the rest of us?" He looked away, seeing something that Adam couldn't. "It turns us mad. And they love it." Tsubaki noticed that the stray was clenching his hand, hard enough that it drew blood. "Those shits would walk up to us servants-whenever they wanted-and would cast a future sight spell. Nine times out of ten, we wouldn't be able to process any of it and have a mental shut down, from our minds getting overloaded." He gave a weary sigh and sank deeper into his pile of legs. "Do you know how painful it is to have thousands, if not millions of different events happening all in an instant? It's agony, pure unadulterated agony." He clutched his hands tight. "And they crave it. It's their favorite past time. Turning us slaves into maddened psychos and then executing us if we don't die from an overload."
"So, I decided to run away. If… If I go crazy anyways, I'd rather go crazy on my terms. I'd rather waste away, out here where they can't hurt me, then spend another second being tormented by those sick bastards." He turned towards Adam, a pained look on his face. "Then, before I knew it, I changed. From hunting and cooking small animals to big ones. Then I stopped cooking them. Then… I started hunting humans. People. Then...children."
Adam tilted his head a little and asked, "Do you regret it?"
An immediate response. "No." For a while, the two sat across from each other, just basking in the silence and each other's presence. Eventually though, Touya spoke up. "Mind answering me?"
Adam sighed. "I already said I would. Shoot."
"Why are you talking to me?" When Adam didn't immediately respond, Touya elaborated. "I mean… I'm a monster. A killer. I've… I've killed and eaten more than a dozen different humans, over half of them… children. So why are you here, talking to me? Aren't you afraid? Apprehensive?" Tsubaki's eyes widen when she saw tears beginning to fall. "I don't… I don't deserve this. I don't deserve to act normal after… after everything I've done. So why…?"
There was a beat of silence, then Adam responded, "You simply had answers to my questions, truth be told."
Touya blinked, looking as confused as Tsubaki felt. "What?" What did Adam mean by that?
The author shrugged. "I was simply curious about getting more information. You seemed sane enough, so I figured I could squeeze you dry for any info." There was a moment of silence before Adam started again. "I suppose I was also curious about your side of the story, so to say. You see, I'm an aspiring author. I look for inspiration everywhere. So when we talked and you didn't immediately try to kill me, I realized that I could hold an actual conversation with you, so I simply had to try. And now, here we are." Another beat passed before Adam spoke again. "However, as the hour progressed, I do believe my intentions have changed a little. I suppose I simply wanted to give you a chance to talk, at least near the end. A chance to be heard." Slowly, Adam stood up and walked towards the stray. He then placed a hand on the stray's shoulder, a pitying look on his face. "You've had it rough, haven't you? All alone?"
For a moment all seemed still, with Touya staring at Adam with eyes wide. Then, as if that single action seemed to open up the floodgates, tears began to drop and the stray fell onto Adam, wailing like a child. "It… It was so hard…! I… I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't want to, I… I didn't mean to do… anything like this! I just want to be free! I don't want to go crazy! I want to stay sane! I want things to go back to the way they were! I didn't want to be a devil!"
"I want my mom to give me a hug and tell me everything will be alright!"
"I want my old vampire friends back!"
"I want… I want…!"
"I want to go home!"
Adam rubbed his back, his face completely blank. "Me too buddy, me too." For a while, they stayed like that. The stray clung to Adam's shoulder, sobbing like a child would in the arms of their mother. As time passed, he slowly quieted down. Before Tsubaki knew it, the stray was unconscious. As gently as he could, Adam laid the stray down on the ground.
For a couple minutes, she watched as Adam stared down at the stray that cried himself to sleep, an unreadable look on his face. Then, like a robot given a new directive, Adam suddenly crouched over the stray, put his hands around his neck, and started squeezing. Slowly, Tsubaki watched in shock as the stray's breathing slowly came to a stop, and even then, Adam continued squeezing for another ten solid minutes.
After that, Adam placed his head over the strays' chest and waited for a few moments before sighing and standing back up. "What a shame," he muttered. Without wasting another moment, the teen turned around and walked deeper into the arcade, most likely to find the missing boy. The moment she confirmed he wasn't nearby, she darted over to the body for a quick analysis, and sure enough, the stray was dead.
Adam had strangled a stray devil to death in it's sleep. Was it out of pity?
Even before she became a devil, Tsubaki was raised to fear and hate strays. She was told that they were mindless monsters that gave into power, the scum of the world that would give everything up, including their sanity, for their own selfish desires. For all her life, she had been taught to kill a stray on sight, no questions asked, and during the few months she lived here, she did that without hesitation. But now…?
Looking down at the body, at the peaceful face Touya was making, Tsubaki couldn't help but feel the same pity Adam had showed.
Was exterminating stray devils without hesitation truly the best way? Were they truly mindless monsters? Were they something...more?
How many poor souls did she kill without even thinking of their circumstances?
She blinked and shook her head. No, now wasn't the time for self reflection. She needed to report back to Sona. Recalling Sona's demand, she gave Touya one last glance. Adam had killed a stray devil with his bare hands, not a single ounce of magic used. That counted as something substantial, right?
Tsubaki quickly headed for the exit.
While Adam had without a doubt received the information he was looking for, it was still a shame the stray had passed out after bawling its' eyes out. As he looked at the corpse of Touya, Adam couldn't help but wish that he actually fought the monster. That way, he would've been able to test himself in a more controlled environment. "What a shame," he muttered. He just couldn't help but take advantage though. Why pointlessly risk your life fighting something you could've killed earlier? That was how almost every single clichéd villain died.
He really struggled deciding whether or not the kill the stray while it was asleep, but his desire to survive eventually overpowered his desire to grow stronger. He could find some other way to finally summon his Sacred Gear. Plus, if he was honest with himself, he really didn't realize how stupid an idea fighting a stray without a weapon really was until he was face to face with Touya. (He really sleep, he was going to get himself killed at this rate.)
At least the boy was still alive. Adam turned around and saw the managers' office the stray had talked about and walked over to it, passing rows of abandoned arcade games and chairs. He stopped and looked at a broken pinball machine. Could he take one of them for himself? Maybe sell a few cabinets online after fixing them? He'd make some decent cash from it, right? Hm, something to think about another time. At the moment though, he needed to recover the boy.
He resumed his walk and quickly made his way to the office. He grabbed the handle and flung it open, and sure enough, there was a little boy-probably twelve-unconscious and wrapped up in some kind of webbing. Adam grimaced at the sight. Slowly, he reached forward and grabbed a handful of the webbing and nearly gagged when he did. Oh god, it was so slimy…
Swallowing the bile that was rising in his throat, the author began to tear at the webbing. After a couple of minutes, he finally managed to peel the last of it off the boy. After wiping his hands on a nearby desk to rid of the webbing entirely, Adam then began to lightly slap the kid awake. "Hey." He slapped. "Hey." And again. "Hey kid, wake up."
After about three dozen slaps to the face, Itsuki began to stir. "...Huh?"
"Hey kid," Adam started, "you awake?"
The child opened his eyes and blinked a couple times, as if just waking up from an afternoon nap. "Uh, what? Where…?"
"You were kidnapped, remember?" The author reminded with a raised eyebrow.
At that, the kid's eyes shot right open and fell out of his chair. "Ah! That's right! He was… he was all gross and stuff! He… he was…!"
"He's gone," the author finished.
Itsuki blinked. "Huh?"
Adam pointed towards himself. "I dealt with him. He had a really big pet centipede to scare you enough to knock you out, so I chased him away."
His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "Really? You chased him away, mister?"
Adam simply nodded. "Your sister came into class today crying. She was really worried about you. I overheard and found this place by coincidence, so I decided to check it out. Sure enough, here you were, some creep guarding the place." Adam ruffled the kids hair. "But don't worry, I chased him away." He turned around and walked out of the managers' office and held the door open. "Now, let's go home."
Itsuki took a moment, but a small smile spread across his face and he nodded. "Right!"
The kid had lead the two them to his house. (If the kid was kidnapped on his way home, Adam would've been extremely annoyed, so he decided to walk him home.) It was a stereotypical Japanese house. Two stories, small yard, the usual. When the two of them reached the front door, Itsuki hesitated. "I… I really made them worry, didn't I? I… I'm a little afraid to even knock-"
*Ding dong!
"Huh?"
Ignoring Itsuki entirely, Adam rang the doorbell. To be honest, he was beyond exhausted and he barely had enough energy to deal with the inevitable storm that was his parents. They had called him on the way to Itsuki's house-asking why the school said he wasn't there during the day-then promptly began to praise/scold him for doing something so dangerous on his own. They were ultimately glad that he had done the right thing, but they were very worried and were probably going to grill him once he was home.
In the words of his mother… "While I'm a little upset that you put yourself in danger, Adam… good work! Now you can finally get a girl!" Her excitement was easily heard over the phone.
"That's my boy! This is just the start of your harem, right? Get more girls so we can have plenty of grandchildren!" His father sounded even more pumped than his mother, sadly.
"Oh, that's right Darling! You hear your father Adam?! Seduce as many girls as you want, we'll take care of you kids!"
"We'll pamper them son!"
"So go crazy!"
"Yeah, make sure you don't use pro-!"
He promptly hung up on them.
The front door opened, and sure enough there was Blue Hair. "Huh…? Adam-kun…?"
Without saying a word, he pushed Itsuki forward. "W-woah!"
Blue Hair blinked, looked at her brother, back to Adam, then at Itsuki once more. "Huh?! I-Itsuki?! Wha-I-You're back?!"
Adam turned around and began to walk away. Right now, after spending all day searching for the kid, he really just wanted to go home and sleep. "Adam-kun, please, wait!" He stopped, but didn't turn around. "I… thank you! Thank you so much! If… If there's anything you need, please tell me! I'll… I'll make this up to you!" He could hear her sniffling. She was probably crying. "Thank you!"
Too tired to talk, he gave a small wave back and resumed his walk home. The last of the caffeine from his last energy drink wore off earlier and he felt that if he stopped he was going to collapse in the middle of the sidewalk. His bed sounded so good to sleep on right now…
It was a weekday, but Adam slept in anyways. When his parents woke him up, he requested to simply stay home. He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was when they easily acquiesced. When he asked why, they responded in their known matter.
"Oh, Adam, you saved a life!" His mother twirled around him, happiness emanating from her. "You're a hero! Of course you can you get a day off, you little rascal!"
"That's right!" His father laughed, a piece of toast in hand. "You did good, son. As long as you don't fall behind on your studies, I don't see why you shouldn't take the day off!"
Truthfully, Adam was just exhausted since he hadn't slept the night before, which was why he didn't want to wake up so early. If his parents thought he wanted to relax after a harrowing encounter though, he wasn't going to argue.
Adam spent a majority of his day off walking around town, soaking in the sights, and looking for anything interesting to write about. It was a nice change of pace, he had to admit. No magic, strays, devils or any other magical-like shenanigans. Just him exploring a town he wasn't familiar with.
There were a few interesting locations he took note of. A red light district, a gigantic park that put the one near Kuoh Academy to shame, a rather trendy-looking mall, and even a water park. Adam had to admit, there was more to Kuoh than he first thought.
Still, all good things must come to an end and Adam was forced to head home once the sun had started to set. He had dinner with his family, reviewed over the notes he took during the day, and fell asleep at around midnight. Overall, it was a good day.
The next day wasn't.
He woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and left his home just fine. Even the walk to the Academy was nice and calm. The morning was off to a great start.
Then he actually entered the school grounds.
Adam didn't think he was over exaggerating if he said every single woman had their eyes on him. From the moment he stepped into the courtyard, the entire place went silent. Everywhere he looked, there were ladies looking back. He felt like an animal at a zoo, being picked apart by their gazes.
As usual though, he ignored them all. He walked all the way to his classroom without giving the women around him a second glance, undeterred by the sudden increase in attention. This was DxD after all, he wouldn't have been surprised if the ladies of his classroom tried to jump him the moment he walked in.
He almost gave a chuckle at the thought. So, without a care in the world, he opened up the door to his classroom. He stepped inside and was greeted by every single girl turning to stare at him. Without pausing, he walked towards his seat-passing by every single onlooker-sat down, whipped out his notebook, and began to write. (Blue Hair girl was absent, he noted.)
The night before enlightened him to a few things, and an idea popped into his head: Why wasn't he using crosses and holy water and such? If he wanted to drive the devils away, he simply needed to wear something holy!
What an oversight! He could've completely passed by the devils by simply saying he believed in God or something, or by wearing a silver cross! How vexing!
It was after second period did the stares start to get on his nerves. Throughout first two periods, all the girls in the classroom simply stared at him. No whispers, no glances, nothing (He noticed that Rias and Akeno weren't present. Had something happened?) at all. Why were they looking at him like that? Was there something on his face? He gave a small sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was getting annoyed, now. "How frustrating."
The class, as one, flinched.
What the hell was going on?
Lunch couldn't have come fast enough. Unlike his usual tradition, where he would pull out a cup of noodles and enjoy himself, he instead stood up and left the classroom. He was getting irritated at the amount of attention he was receiving, and he didn't want to ruin the reputation he was building. So, he went to the one spot he knew no one went to: the roof of the school.
In America, accessing the school roof was strictly off limits. It was normally restricted to repairmen and janitors, nothing more. When he found out that some students were able to go up to the roof, he experienced a wave of culture shock that made him stop everything and write.
In this world, in Japan? All he had to do was ask for the keys and an administrator would hand them over and ask for the keys at the end of lunch time. Was this specifically from DxD, an anime world? Or did Japan always allow this? When the thought crossed him in middle school, he dropped everything and began to write, even though he was walking to his classroom at the time.
Where was he going with this again? Oh, right. No one would bother him on the roof. Back to the present, the teen was currently enjoying the cool breeze as he sat near the ledge, watching the rest of the campus as he ate his lunch.
He was relaxed, he realized. Here, away from he noise and the people of this world, Adam could finally sit back and truly think about everything he's been doing. After a quick scan of his surroundings with his Mana Sight
It was nice.
So, away from all the stares, the supernatural, and his own writing, Adam simply ate his lunch and gazed out, over the town. Not a worry in mind.
At least, for now.
The rumors spread like wildfire. Adam Suzuki, the only male accepted into Kuoh Academy, had saved a kid from a kidnapper all on his own. He knocked out the pervert in one hit. He came to school without a single scratch. He found the kid effortlessly. He was simply too incredible.
Indeed, the ladies of his class couldn't even bring up a blush while they looked at him, as they were simply so enamored by him that they could do nothing but stare in pure idolization.
As such, eventually the rumors hit the principle, who then reported to the Gremorys, who then called up… "Rias, I must admit I'm a little disappointed in you."
Her big brother.
She was currently in the Occult Research Room, having a chat with her brother a communication spell. "But Nii-san, the situation was taken care of! And besides, I need to build my power here in Kuoh! How else will people know that I'm here if I don't have any contacts?"
Her brother nodded, conceding to the point. "True, contracts are very important, but it's your duty to serve the populace is equal to your duty to protect it." He titled his head and asked, "Tell me Rias: if the kidnapper turned out to be a normal human, what would you have done?"
She shrugged. "Nothing, I suppose. The police would be able to handle it, no?"
Her brother grimaced a little, obviously not satisfied with the answer. "Rias, Kuoh is your territory, right?" Seeing her nod, he continued. "That means that you must take care of it, as well as the people in it. Including humans."
She tilted her head and stated, "Well of course, but only from the supernatural. Besides, no one important lives in Kuoh, do they?"
Her brother simply shook his head. "That's not what I mean and you know it Rias. You shouldn't ignore problems because it's easier. That makes a bad leader, you know?"
Rias herself was a little confused. She was busy finding contracts and getting her peerage stronger, which would then make foreign threats easier to fight off. Was she doing something wrong? When she asked as much, her brother chuckled, a small smile on his face.
"You know, I used to think the same way. In fact, back when I-" He paused, before a small flash of inspiration shone in his eyes. "Actually, consider this an opportunity to learn!"
"What?"
Her brother nodded. "You've only been on Earth for about a month, yes? Then I won't give you all the answers. Take this as a moment for you to grow all on your own!" Tears began to form in his eyes and his smile quickly fell into an ugly frown. "M-My little sister, g-g-growing up s-so soon…"
She felt her face grow warm in embarrassment. "Nii-san!"
He shook his head, tears now falling. "Sorry Rias, I can't help it! I miss you so much!" He cried while hugging himself.
Ugh, this was why she didn't want to talk to him about this! "I'm hanging up! Goodbye!"
He blinked. "Wait, Ria-!"
And she hung up. She leaned back into her seat and huffed. "Geez, why must he embarrass me so much?!"
"Family problems President?" Rias turned to her left and saw Akeno emerge from the back room, a small tray of tea and snacks prepared, with a smile on her face.
The red head sighed. "You know how he is Akeno, always worrying about me, even when he knows I'm more than capable to handle myself."
Her queen arched a brow. "Oh? I must admit, I heard something different. Wasn't he trying to tell you something about taking care of your territory?"
She shrugged. "Nii-san was warning me about treating the people in my territory right. But we've been doing that! We've been gathering plenty of contracts with the residents here!"
Akeno's smile grew a little. "Oh? And what about your future bishop?"
At that, Rias pouted. "Adam's just being stubborn! Soon enough he'll see the benefits of being a devil, and then he'll be begging to join my peerage!" Akeno didn't comment, but her smile said it all. "I'll get him eventually Akeno, just you wait!" The red head felt her determination come back, fiercer than ever.
Just you wait, Adam Suzuki. Rias Gremory was going to claim what was hers!
AN: Happy Halloween! Well, that's what I originally wanted to write, but I wasn't able to publish this on time.
Life has been pretty hectic, and October has definitely been the toughest month of the year, at least for me. Between a mix of family problems, getting sick, and college, things have really been slowing down. However, I think things have finally settled down, at least for now, so I should be just a little faster!
Here some news: I made a pa tre on! It's really just if you wish to support me in a more… financial way, but I will be, in no way, holding chapters or stories behind any pay wall! You can find my page by typing in "www . Pa tre on TheOneAndOnlyBanana" without the spaces of course. There on my pa tre on, you'll mostly find monthly updates, occasional rant posts, my process on how I make stories, and more! So if any of that seems interesting, come on by!
Finally, I have a question for you guys: is FFN the best website for this? I've seen a few creators lately shifting over to other websites, like AO3, QQ, and such. Should I jump ship too, or should I stay here?
Well, that's about it this time around. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, see ya!