Firstly, wow. I mean when I started writing this I never expected to get such a massive amount of interest. I mean an archive with less than 200 or so stories where the highest reviewed story is under 400 reviews… I was not expecting my story to be this popular based on the numbers. I don't know if you like the story, me, a bit of both, or if I am just one really lucky person but honestly thank you for all the support. 19 reviews 70 favourites and 85 followers for the first chapter of a story is staggering in most archives, but in this one… as I said wow. Thank you all very much it makes my writing time during mid twilight hours (thanks to Karlos1234ify for helping me figure this out after a long string of strange PMs) all the more motivating since I know so many people are looking forward to my next chapter.
Now despite what any of you may think Issei isn't going to get along with the gang as well as he does in canon. My Issei is different from Canon Issei and that should be obvious by the end of this chapter but you will also see canon Issei is still there.
Lastly before we get to the chapter I had a thought during my usual writing time of around 4 in the morning, is everyone in the DxD world Christian? I mean Great Red is a biblical dragon. There are many references to angels, devils and fallen angels. The bible is openly and continually referenced. The saints/angels from the bible are brought up a fair bit along with the fallen angels. In any case I was just curious and would be happy to hear your thoughts.
Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the High School DxD anime/manga/light novel all I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
'Ddraig talking and Sacred Gear sounds'
"Ddraig thinking"
*expression*
Flashback
Chapter 2 – The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
'Ugh what happened?' Groaned Raynare as she woke up.
A quick look around showed her a strange environment, white walls, couches and a T.V together with a kitchen nearby. A hallway leading to more rooms, windows, one of which showed the sun was just starting to rise and a front door painted an off yellow colour.
'Where the hell am I?' Shouted Raynare in confusion.
'Man do you have to be so loud, some of us have school today.' Muttered a strangely familiar voice.
Issei entered from the hallway rubbing his right eye clad in only a pair of black shorts.
'You!' Shouted Raynare before jumping of the couch and attempting to make a light spear only to notice she couldn't.
'Yeah *yawn* me, now stop trying to kill me and quiet down, it is still too early for me.' Said Issei sleepily before muttering about people not letting him sleep past sunrise.
Raynare was momentarily stunned unsure what to make of the situation. A bewildered expression made itself home on her face, someone she had tried to, no someone she pierced through the heart yesterday was brushing her off and she still had no idea where she was.
'Where am I?' Asked Raynare sourly.
'My house obviously, my parents aren't home now as they are on vacation, so it is just you and me here.' Said Issei in a voice that was slowly becoming more alert and less sleepy.
Raynare opened her mouth then closed it. She couldn't fathom what the hell was going on.
'Uh… huh?' Was all Raynare could stutter out.
Issei sighed deeply before downing a glass of milk before walking over to her and offering her some orange juice which she eyed warily.
'Relax I'm not trying to poison you, besides you were the one who tried to kill me last night or did you forget?' Joked Issei.
'Ok what the hell happened I demand an explanation!' Shouted Raynare angrily before Issei levelled a cold, icy glare at her.
'You will sit down and listen, you will not demand anything from me, and thirdly you are not to interrupt me. I am showing you kindness here and if you continue showing such hostility in my house, I can make things very uncomfortable for you, got it?' Asked Issei coldly.
Raynare nodded slightly and sat down, surprised at the abrupt change in demeanour and if she was being honest with herself, a little turned on.
Issei moved to stand in front of her and offered her the juice again which she hesitantly accepted before taking a small sip.
'There was that so hard?' Asked Issei rhetorically before moving to sit opposite her on another couch.
Raynare set the glass down on the small coffee table between them before Issei started to speak.
'Now I understand you will have questions, but you will not interrupt, save them for when I finish.' Said Issei firmly getting a small dumbfounded nod from Raynare.
'Now firstly, you are a fallen angel who tried to kill me yesterday and failed. I am sure you know why you tried; no doubt due to this.' Said Issei before making his gauntlet appear which disappeared after a few seconds.
'What you don't know is that I activated this Sacred Gear, a Longinus, the Boosted Gear to be exact nine years ago and as such you stood no chance against me. Before you get indignant, shut it, I don't care for petty inferiority complexes. A fallen angel being taken out in a couple of hits is embarrassing and we will fix that. Now that might sound strange to you but let me fill you in.' Said Issei rapidly in quick succession before walking up to Raynare and reaching towards the centre of her chest.
'You pervert!' Shouted Raynare as she tried to slap him before he grabbed her arm firmly and glared at her.
Raynare closed her eyes fearing she was about to be felt up or raped but was surprised when Issei merely poked his index finger over her heart and sent a burst of energy into her. As she opened her eyes, she saw a small glowing circle rotating over her heart filled with formulas.
'You are bound to me now.' Said Issei before going to sit back on his couch while Raynare absorbed his words.
'B-bound.' Muttered Raynare before looking up at Issei who nodded showing he was finished speaking.
'Yes bound, surely you didn't think I would let you try and kill me and then let you go away freely?' Questioned Issei rhetorically.
'So what, am I your slave or something now?' Asked Raynare angrily with a hint of sadness as her eyes begun to tear up slightly.
'That depends on you.' Said Issei lowly.
'What do you mean; binding me to you makes me your slave?' Retorted Raynare unhappily.
'What I mean is I don't seek to enslave you I was simply eliminating any future issues easily, after all why would I want to kill you when you have something I want.' Said Issei with a grin which Raynare misinterpreted to be a perverted grin.
'S-so what you kept me around just to have your way with me?' Asked Raynare shakily.
'No, sheesh, is that all fallen angels seem to think about, guess that is why you all fell in the first place. No, I want information.' Said Issei in slight frustration.
Raynare tilted her head to the side contemplating the subtle jab at her species before catching on to the second part of what he said.
'Information on what?' Asked Raynare.
'Isn't it obvious? On fallen angels.' Said Issei.
'Wait what did you mean before when you said me being a slave or not depends on me?' Asked Raynare.
'*sigh* Alright I see I need to make things explicitly clear for you to understand. Firstly, you are bound to me but not my slave. If you want, I can treat you like one but that doesn't have to be the case. If you work with me, I will work with you and we can be partners. You give me what I want, and I will make you one of the strongest fallen angels around, and hopefully beat some common sense into you.' Said Issei.
'Common sense?' Asked Raynare in confusion.
'Yes, who stupidly attacks someone who possibly has a very strong Sacred Gear without information? Firstly, you approached me without hiding your energy; quite frankly anyone with some supernatural sensing abilities could have easily picked up on the fact that you are a fallen angel. Secondly you are much too arrogant for your current set of abilities. You take the time to scare the person you are going to kill and then throw an extremely slow light spear at them and then to add insult to injury, gloat.' Reprimanded Issei.
'Hey I pierced your heart, didn't I?' Retorted Raynare.
'I let you.' Deadpanned Issei.
'Why?' Asked Raynare.
'You just flashed me, so I was humouring you for a minute.' Replied Issei nonchalantly.
'I knew you were a pervert!' Shouted Raynare accusingly.
'Firstly, what do you expect I am a seventeen-year-old teenager, so when a girl as sexy as you flashes me what do you want me to do? Look away.' Retorted Issei and getting a small self-satisfied smirk from Raynare.
'Secondly, look at what you are wearing, you can't wear that and call people perverts I mean look at it.' Said Issei causing Raynare to look down at her threadbare leather clothing.
'What I like it?' Huffed Raynare with red cheeks.
'Point being you can't really call me a pervert for looking if, A, you flashed me and B, you wear that normally.' Said Issei.
'Now back to what I was saying… ah yes slow attacks and no common sense. So basically, since you are bound to me I am going to train you because anyone bound to me cannot be that laughably weak or stupid.' Said Issei causing Raynare's head to drop slightly.
'Wait how did you survive a spear to your heart anyway?' Asked Raynare trying to change the subject.
'Well due to… the circumstances behind how I activated this thing I gained a type of regeneration ability. All you need to know is that I can survive most kinds of attacks.' Said Issei.
"Well as long as I still have my head." Thought Issei internally before he looked at his watch.
'Oh one thing can you change back to your other form by any chance?' Asked Issei.
'Why is this form too much for you?' Teased Raynare.
'No but do you really want to go to school in that form.' Replied Issei as he quickly disappeared into the hallway and went to his room before bringing back a bunch of clothes, some of which he threw near Raynare.
'School?' Asked Raynare in confusion.
'Yeah and if we don't get moving soon, we are going to be late.' Said Issei as he started putting his clothes on.
'We?' Asked Raynare still not following.
'Yes, we now hurry up I'll explain on the way.' Said Issei before leaving to head back into his room again leaving a confused fallen angel.
-line break-
Raynare changed back into her 'Yuuma form' and arrived at school with Issei.
'Got it?' Asked Issei having explained the situation of devils being largely in charge of the school and how she shouldn't do anything stupid.
'Yeah sure I guess.' Muttered Raynare clad in the normal girls uniform with the only unique feature about it being her wearing thigh-high socks in a manner similar of the leather boots her true form wore.
'Now I'm pretty sure you will be in my class so just come with me and act normal. You know, not like a fallen angel trying to kill people.' Supplied Issei helpfully.
Raynare bristled slightly at the repeated jabs to her intelligence before giving a small sigh and realising she had done some stupid things.
As they arrived at class the teacher took notice of Raynare and looked as though she expected a new student.
'Class we have a new student who just transferred here recently so show her your manners. Would you like to introduce yourself?' Asked the middle-aged teacher kindly as Issei went to his seat and sat down.
'Uh yes, nice to meet you all my name is Yuuma Amano and I am currently living with Issei, please take care of me.' Said Raynare to which multiple gasps sounded and one slap to the forehead.
'Unbelievable.' Muttered Issei at the manner Raynare had introduced herself, knowing the sure to be stupid reactions of most of the school were going to wear him down.
-line break-
'Issei how could you not tell us you were living with a girl.' Shouted Matsuda.
'Yes you sneaky bastard Issei.' Chimed in Motohama. They were outside in a small grassy area with a few trees nearby Issei was sitting near the edge of a small ledge with a tree near it while Matsuda and Motohama were standing in front of him.
'Here is your juice Issei.' Said Raynare chirpily as she walked up to Issei and handed him an orange juice box.
'She even acts like your girlfriend.' Said Motohama in anguish.
'Why, just why?' Muttered Issei which Raynare overheard.
'Not so stupid now am I?' Whispered Raynare in her true voice instead of her 'Yuuma voice' she had been using since arriving at school as she crouched down near Issei.
Issei sat up straight and took the juice box from her and started drinking from it with a sour face.
'Why don't you guys go peep or something, isn't it your usual activity at this time?' Asked Issei sourly silencing both of his friends.
Motohama looked at Matsuda, glasses gleaming.
'See you later Issei.' Said the two as they quickly ran off getting Issei to chuckle.
'What's so funny?' Asked Raynare in her normal voice since it was only her and Issei around the immediate area.
Issei rested his back on a nearby tree and patted the area next to him for Raynare to sit, which she did after some over-the-top dramatic pleading from Issei which made her laugh a little.
'Well normally they peep and then they run away while I let the Kendo club girls vent their frustration at their perverseness by sparring with them.' Said Issei.
'But they went alone.' Said Raynare before they started to hear two guys scream like little girls.
'Exactly.' Said Issei with a dark chuckle.
'Want some of the juice?' Offered Issei.
Raynare looked at him strangely before accepting the offer and drinking some of the orange juice before giving it back to him.
'You are really weird you know that.' Stated Raynare.
'Oh how so?' Asked Issei in confusion before offering the juice back to Raynare which she refused.
'I mean you say I am bound to you and get all cold and serious and then you just switch into happy mode. Also, for someone who is bound to you, unwillingly, you are being exceedingly nice to me. Lastly you just tricked your supposed friends, into getting beat up by multiple kendo sticks and laughed about it.' Said Raynare in a manner-of-fact tone.
'That just means I adapt to situations as I need to. Nothing wrong with that.' Said Issei happily.
'Uh-huh like how you adapted to me saying I live with you.' Teased Raynare getting a playful glare from Issei.
'I knew you did that on purpose.' Issei muttered sourly.
'I don't know what you are talking about; I am just a fallen angel without any common sense.' Said Raynare in a mocking manner.
'Ok point taken; you aren't a complete idiot.' Said Issei getting a smile and nod from Raynare before she fully processed his words.
'Hey I'm not an idiot!' Retorted Raynare heatedly making Issei laugh.
'Whatever.' Said Issei apathetically irritating Raynare on purpose.
'Issei-senpai.' Said a quiet, monotone girl. She was a petite girl, around fifteen years of age with white hair and hazel eyes. At the front, her hair had two long bangs going past her shoulders and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back had a short bob cut. She also wore a black cat-shaped hair clip on both sides of her hair along with the standard Kuoh Academy school uniform for girls minus the shoulder cape.
'Koneko right?' Inquired Issei getting a nod from the girl.
'Yes, please come to the old school building after school. You are expected to come as well.' Said Koneko gesturing to Raynare with a nod before turning on her heel and leaving.
As they watched her silently walk away Issei gave a deep sigh.
'Well at least I have something to do now after school. Seriously if you weren't just doing it to eventually try to kill me, I wouldn't mind going on more dates with you.' Said a bored Issei who closed his eyes and shuffled down, so his head was now at the base of the tree as he proceeded to take a small nap.
'It isn't like I didn't enjoy the date you know.' Whispered Raynare with a small blush and slightly wistful smile as she looked at the bracelet Issei got her.
-line break-
After the rest of the classes for the day concluded Issei and Raynare bid goodbye to two beaten and bruised boys in the form of Motohama and Matsuda, who after months of peeping finally got the stuffing beat out of them, and walked across the academy to the old school building.
'Now remember this is a devil stronghold so try not to do anything too dangerous, if you get in trouble though don't worry I'll protect you but don't start anything, okay?' Stated Issei getting a small nod from Raynare.
Eventually they reached the only room which contained the energy of a person in it and knocked on the door.
'Come in.' Said a feminine voice to which Issei responded by opening the door and stepping inside with Raynare right behind him.
The interior consisted of a wood-panelled room with Victorian-style coaches and chairs along the walls. One side was set up to be able to be used as a bath, something Issei found very strange, as well as a large magic circle on the floor.
'Welcome, President Rias, will be here shortly.' Said Akeno with a smile and bow while her eyes remained shut.
Issei looked around and saw Koneko eating biscuits while sitting on one of the couches while a handsome blond haired boy walked over to him from the window.
'Pleased to meet you Issei, I am Kiba Yuuto but you know that since we are in the same year level.' Said Kiba politely.
Issei definitely knew Kiba since he was quite frankly one of the most popular boys in the school due to his good looks and polite demeanour.
'And you would be…' Asked Kiba while looking at Raynare with a slightly strained smile.
'I suppose you can call me Raynare now, but during class times please refer to me as Yuuma Amano.' Said Raynare not detecting the slight hostility Kiba was giving off.
"Need to train her awareness too it seems." Thought Issei as Raynare didn't seem to detect the small amount of malice coming off Kiba, nor the slightly larger amount of malice coming off Akeno.
Unknowingly Issei himself started to release a bit of malice due to being in a room filled with devils causing his fingers to twitch slightly.
'So sorry to keep you waiting but I had just finished taking a shower.' Said Rias as she entered the room from a side door, unknowingly diffusing the tension that was starting to build up.
'That is ok although I would appreciate knowing why you wanted me to join this club in exchange for me summoning you. Thank you for seeing to Raynare's enrolment by the way.' Said Issei giving a slight bow in thanks.
'That is quite alright, in fact, it wasn't hard to do at all. Please sit.' Said Rias offhandedly while nodding to Akeno who poured both of their guests some green tea.
'While I do appreciate it, I would like to know why you wanted both of us to be here.' Said Issei.
'Well I asked for you to bring the fallen angel along because she is bound to you and didn't think it wise to leave her unattended.' Said Rias getting Raynare to mutter that she had a name.
'As for why you are here that is very simple. You are an unknown in my territory and it is my job to ensure you are not a threat to my peerage or any other supernatural beings at this school in addition to any humans.' Said Rias matter-of-factly.
Issei gave a dark chuckle which confused everyone in the room.
'Oh, what is so funny?' Asked Rias snappily.
'I just find it funny that you said it is your duty to protect humans. Forgive me but that isn't what I've experienced as far as devils go.' Said Issei before taking a sip of the tea absentmindedly noticing it tasted very good.
'What experience have you had with devils, aside from my peerage and I?' Asked Rias in a strained tone of voice.
'Oh nothing too bad just the fact that two devils tried to kill me and use my friend for ransom when we were eight. This tea is quite good.' Said Issei adding in his compliment in-between a sip.
The group and Raynare were momentarily taken aback at this with Rias being the first to recover.
'I can assure you that devils don't generally do that, they must have been strays.' Said Rias.
'I figured as much after a bit of research, but the fact remains that I don't trust devils. Any devil. If one or two strays can do something like that, or rather tried to, then surely there are some devils out there who agree with such ruthless tactics.' Said Issei setting down his cup having finished the tea before standing up.
'Wait where are you going?' Asked Rias.
'Home, being around you four for too long has brought back some unpleasant memories… if you still need to ask me something, do so now.' Said Issei as he walked towards the door.
'Are you going to be a threat to us or our interests? Also, what happened to those two strays?' Asked Rias.
'I will stay out of your business if you stay out of mine. I may not like any of you, but I can live happily near you as long as I don't need to be with you four too often. As for those strays, I punched a hole in their guts with an energy blast and they slowly bled to death and died. Let's go Raynare.' Said Issei as he left with Raynare quietly following.
As the door closed the four devils were silent for a while before Kiba addressed his king.
'I guess that was not how you were expecting things to go down.' Stated Kiba.
'He won't trust us easily.' Stated Koneko.
'Seems your plan to get him on our side is almost impossible, if anything he will side with the angels or fallen angels over us.' Said Akeno.
Rias just stared at the door, not having anything to say.
-line break-
After arriving home Issei told Raynare he would have dinner ready in a short while. Raynare just sat on the couch still in the form of her alias.
'Um if you don't mind me asking if you hate devils so much for attacking you and your friend when you were a kid do you hate all fallen angels as well since I attacked you?' Asked Raynare reluctantly.
'No.' Replied Issei curtly.
'Why not?' Asked Raynare in confusion.
'You attacked me alone, and while you may have used underhanded tactics you didn't do anything as bad as trying to steal a little girl ignorant of the supernatural world or try to kill a little boy who was just trying to save his only friend. I was fully aware of who and what you were when you approached me.' Said Issei.
'Why did you agree to meet with those devils then if you hate them so much? Why even summon them in the first place?' Asked Raynare trying to understand Issei's actions.
'Well it was the easiest way to allow you to go to the same school as me discreetly, as for why I met with them I get that not all devils are like those two but it doesn't mean I want to be friends with them. It was a necessary evil as this is their territory after all.' Said Issei.
The two ate in silence after which Issei washed the dishes before sitting down next to Raynare on the couch.
'Now there is one thing I still don't quite fully understand.' Said Issei getting Raynare to turn and face him.
'You said I was a threat to you, who ordered you to kill me?' Asked Issei.
'Well I wasn't ordered to kill you exactly I was supposed to watch you to make sure your Sacred Gear didn't suddenly activate which could be dangerous to us, so I decided to take you out.' Said Raynare.
Issei nodded thoughtfully before speaking.
'So without knowing that I had already activated my Sacred Gear, you took the initiative to take out a possible future threat?' Asked Issei to which Raynare nodded.
Issei nodded a few more times with his eyes closed before suddenly opening them angrily.
'You idiot!' Issei shouted as he slapped Raynare over the head causing her to whimper from the abrupt hit.
'Do you realise just how difficult you could have made things for your faction?' Asked Issei standing up invading Raynare's personal space.
'W-what do you mean?' Asked Raynare with a dumbfounded expression.
'You planned to kill someone who possessed a powerful Sacred Gear, in the territory of a devil, who had handed out a contract to the holder of said Sacred Gear. Do you get what that means?' Asked Issei patiently to which Raynare slowly shook her head before gasping as Issei groped her breasts.
'Did these things take all the blood from your brain to grow or something?' Asked Issei while internally thinking they were very soft before letting go only to see Raynare with a furious blush which looked quite cute on her seeing as she was in her alternate form.
'If you had succeeded in killing me I had a devil contract with me, being desperate to live I may have summoned her and in exchange for my life become her servant. This would have effectively moved me from potential threat to definite threat as I would now be on the side of the devils, a group which most certainly would not like to see you live. Get it?' Lectured Issei.
Issei paused for a minute seeing what he had said start to sink in.
'Now that that is cleared up change into your other form, we have training to do.' Said Issei.
'What do you mean?' Asked Raynare.
'Did you forget what I said during and after out battle? I am going to train you; no one bound to me can be as weak as you are right now. So, let's go. Here are some old shorts and a shirt I have if you want or you can stay in your normal BDSM clothing I don't really care but either way decide quickly and follow me.' Said Issei as he walked into the hallway and brought back a pile of clothes which he threw near Raynare, before going back into the hallway.
'I am not wearing that; I only wore this uniform because I had to.' Said Raynare looking at the clothes Issei had thrown near her.
She quickly stripped out of her school uniform figuring that tearing two large holes in it wouldn't be the smartest decision before transforming and following after Issei.
Raynare found Issei waiting for her near a door which appeared to lead to a large room. When they went inside Raynare saw it was a small home gym with weights, a bench and a few small medicine balls along with some ankle weights. The floor seemed to be made out of a tough black material which didn't look like it would scratch easily and one of the walls was made out of a bouncy material which also looked quite strong. The room wasn't very large being only ten square metres at the most.
'What is this place?' Asked Raynare.
'Where I work out, you didn't think I was mocking your abilities because I was naturally faster and stronger than you, did you?' Asked Issei.
Raynare looked at Issei and recalled the way his body looked in the morning when he was only clad in shorts and remembered his body did show signs that he worked out very hard.
'So what did you just bring me here so I can stroke your ego?' Teased Raynare to which Issei chuckled weirdly unnerving her.
'I told you we are going to train you didn't I? I meant it. Now first off we'll do some light stretching then some push-ups and a few quick sprints.' Said Issei.
'First off?' Asked Raynare in trepidation.
'Of course that's just the warm-up before we get started with the light exercises. You'll pick up two dumbbells and do two hundred punches each arm, then some lunges and squats after which, maybe five hundred jump-ropes. Then we can get started on evasion training.' Said Issei causing Raynare to rapidly pale.
'What will the evasion training be?' Asked Raynare in trepidation.
'I'll give you a hint, that wall over there is made to absorb high levels of impact and those medicine balls aren't there as decorations.' Said Issei with a wicked grin.
"Help me!" Pleaded Raynare internally before Issei started ordering her around.
-line break-
'So what are we going to do now, Raynare failed and is probably dead?' A short figure asked two others.
The three were all wearing black cloaks with two being around the same height with the third being much shorter.
'The other Sacred Gear wielder is still set to come here so why not just carry out the original plan only instead one of us gets the Sacred Gear?' Suggested the tallest figure.
'Well it sounds good but what about the scared gear holder Raynare was supposed to watch?' Asked the third person.
'Ignore him for now, but if he gets in our way. Kill him.' Said the tall figure.