I took a moment to catch my breath against a large tree, throwing a glance behind me. "It doesn't look like I've been followed," I thought to myself. "But I should keep moving, just in case. Catch some sleep and find my way back in the morning."

I started to move again, only to stop as another thought crossed my mind. "Wait, there's probably nothing out here, just more woods." I thought to myself. "If I keep walking and get lost I'm actually screwed, which means..."

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Fuck."

I spun around and started walking back the way I came, slowly so I could pay more attention to my surroundings, and so I could take a moment to try and grasp my situation.

Highschool DXD. On the outside, a decent ecchi shonen anime with a classic, if much funnier idiotic protagonist and his pseudo-harem. A pretty goofy show with the occasional sad moment and a healthy serving of badassery. It was a fun show that managed to have a decent dub, made better by the sheer ridiculousness of the story. And as an idea, it had incredible potential.

It was also a straight-up death world.

I mean, the first episode is literally the death of the main character, and they don't hesitate to just have people die by the dozens in larger battles. Despite the goofy nature of the anime, I was very well aware that if I didn't do something drastic, there was a very good chance that I would end up like one of those grunts, slaughtered for dramatic effect.

Not to mention the fact that the average human sat at the bottom of the ladder in terms of power and was pretty much the bottom bitch of anything supernatural, even if they didn't know it. And, as far as I was concerned, there was no way I was going to stay out of the supernatural world, especially after running into Issei Hyoudou and almost meeting Rias fucking Gremory.

That was another thing.

"There's absolutely no way Rias didn't notice me." I realized. I paused for a second to look around me again. "I guess I must not be worth her time then. I guess I am just a human, right?"

From what I understood of Rias, if I had some sort of special ability she would have sent someone after me, at least to talk to me or something. She was desperate because of her engagement to the Phenex. "Then again, Issei did just die and she probably needed to heal him. I should expect something to go to shit soon anyways, that seems like just my luck."

I kept walking back the way I came, constantly throwing glances over my shoulder, growing more and more paranoid with every step.

It's a human instinct to project dangers in an unknown environment, which is why people, especially children will see shapes moving in the dark. That instinct was going on overdrive as I was walking back through the woods, and the straight-up murder scene I has just witnessed didn't help matters any. While I wanted to sit down and truly process where I was, I couldn't consider myself safe enough to stop for a long period of time. That and I was seeing shit around me and just really wanted to get into some light.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I kept walking back to the park. It was probably stupid, to return to the place where someone was just murdered, but I had no other reference point besides that. I could find my way around from there, if I got lucky. If not, I was probably gonna die, so I didn't exactly have a choice.

Despite the panicked haze covering my mind, I found myself wondering something as I made the slow trek back.

"Wait, am I a normal human? I was effectively Isekai'd, so surely I've gotta have something special?" As I walked, I tried to both think of things I could use to my advantage, and what potential leg-up on the rest of the world I could have.

"Part-dragon? No, there's no way Rias would let me go if she sensed that, and she would definitely be able to."

"Maybe half-youkai, get some Senjutsu stuff like Bikou? He was pretty strong, but I'm not sure Senjutsu is gonna take me as far as I'll need to go. Unless I go full Naruto, that is."

"No, if I had youkai blood that strong then Rias would definitely send someone after me, or Koneko would lose her shit. Also, again, strong peerage member, so not that."

As I started to see the park through the trees, I slowed down, eventually coming to a stop a dozen feet from the tree line. I had a direction, and more importantly, I had light, so I wasn't seeing shit out of the corner of my eyes anymore. I took a seat on the dirt, and leaned against a tree as one more realization struck me.

"If there is anything I would have that's gonna give me an edge on the world, it would have to be a Sacred Gear. It's the only thing with the potential to keep up with the cast, which I will probably have to do."

I grinned for a moment, but that grin was dashed away as I had another thought. "But Rias would have noticed, right? So either she didn't think it was worth the effort, in which case it must be a weak-ass sacred gear, or I just don't have one at all."

I leaned my head back against the tree, confused, and more that a little worried. "No, surely that can't be right? I can't just be some guy thrown into DxD without any powers. Maybe I have that Holy Sword affinity that Xenovia has. Yeah, something that isn't as easily sensed." But as I tried to rationalize abilities Rias could have missed, I kept coming to the same devastating conclusion.

There was absolutely nothing that I could have that Rias wouldn't have been able to sense, unless it wasn't strong enough to be of note. Any sacred gear strong enough to actually be relevant would have caught her attention, same goes for a bloodline or some sort of natural gift, like large magic reserves. Which meant that I basically had nothing.

"What if she just decided to wait, and try to recruit me later?" I thought, but even that didn't seem right in my mind. Rias Gremory, especially at the beginning, was a prideful girl with a far too large opinion of herself and her position in Kuoh, which I was most definitely in now.

"If she thought I was strong, or at least had the potential to be, she would have confronted me." I thought to myself. "She isn't the type to let that go, and she definitely thinks she can order me around, so there's no reason for her to have ignored me... unless I'm just some guy in this world."

Of everything I knew about the world of DxD, one of the things I was most confident on was Riser Phenex being engaged to Rias Gremory, and that she felt she needed new members of her peerage to even the odds and maybe find someone strong enough to carry her lazy ass. It was probably why she let Issei die, so he couldn't say no, despite Issei being practically powered by his perversion and Rias having literal supernatural beauty.

"Honestly," I thought to myself. "Rias could probably ask him to jump out a window and he'd do it with a goofy smile. Instead, she just gave him PTSD and literally let him die. Idiot."

It was probably the stress starting to kick in, but I couldn't stop myself from venting at the girl who has the power to literally destroy anything, even something metaphysical like souls, and yet panics about a dude with fire bird powers.

"She said in canon that his body was the only 'immortal' thing about him, so why couldn't she just focus on attacking his soul or something? This should be an easy win for her if she just trained for a year or something, didn't she know about this for a while now? Instead, she just decided to hope that a random guy was the key to winning a fight that she could probably do by herself if she got off her ass and tried."

I banged my fist on the dirt in frustration. "And she just got Issei, so not only was she right, she should also be covered." I paused for a moment. "But she doesn't know that yet. She should still be desperate for new peerage members."

"Which means I have nothing she wants." I slumped down against the tree even more as I started to accept the possibility that I didn't have a way to fight. I wouldn't have enjoyed being a glorified slave of a child two years younger than me, but at least I would have the protection of the main characters.

"How am I supposed to be strong enough to fight in this world?" I pondered dejectedly. "I only have... knowledge... wait a fucking second!"

I sat up straighter, the fragments of an idea formulating in my mind. "Gremory has a crazy-ass peerage with some stupidly high potential for bullshit. They may not be smart enough to exploit that, but I am." I paused for a moment. "At least, I think I am. I can at least think outside the box when it comes to superpower bullshit, which may be what they need."

I smile flickered on my face, as I realized that there was a way I could survive. "If I help them train, to beat the Phenex, surely they'd also see me as an ally. And if that happens, then I have a much better chance of living with them at my back."

I stood up slowly, feeling a small rush of hope flow through me. "And if they really couldn't figure out tricks for training, even with all the tools they have, then maybe Rias missed something with me! She probably knew I was there, but maybe she didn't get a good read on my energy, or whatever it is that she senses in people."

"Actually," I thought to myself. "If she was able to immediately sense that Issei had a Sacred Gear, wouldn't she have just tried to reach out to him earlier? He went to Kuoh Academy for a whole year before dying today, there's no way Rias would have waited so long to recruit him, she can't be that dumb."

I blinked as another idea made itself known. "Sona would have made a move anyways, regardless of Rias' situation, which would have also pushed her to make a move anyways. So there has to be some amount of time spent sensing for supernatural abilities, at least at their level."

"So I might actually have a chance." The smile was replaced by a look of determination, as I took a step out of the forest, a set goal in mind. "Someway, somehow, I need to get her attention, do something she can't ignore. I need to meet her."

But as I was walking, I realized I made a slight oversight.

"How the hell am I supposed to find Kuoh Academy in the middle of the night when I can't even speak Japanese?"

My answer arrived sooner that I expected.

"Mrow?" I stopped cold, and my heart skipped a beat. Slowly I turned around, and looked into the golden eyes of a small black cat.

I stared at the cat for a few seconds, then put on a smile and crouched down, holding my hand out, slightly closed. "Hey there, kitty cat." I said, trying to hide the panic I was feeling. "You want some scritches?"

The cat looked at my hand for a moment, then took a few steps forward and nuzzled my fingers. Gently, I opened my hand and lightly scratched her behind the ears. "Aww, look at you," I cooed, still trying to process what was happening. "Such a floofy kitty. And those eyes! So pretty."

As I tried my best to act like an oblivious cat-lover, I was screaming internally. "Kuroka, HERE? Right now? Holy fuck I'm dead, I'm so fucking dead! FUCK!" But as I kept petting what had to have been Kuroka, a catgirl with the power to probably glass Kuoh town in its entirety, I couldn't help but feel more calm. Either I was dead or I was just a dude who liked cats, and oddly, it gave me a sense of relief.

"Can I pick you up?" I said to the cat, hoping I was making the right call. She looked at me, and nuzzled my hand again. "I'm gonna take that as a yes." I mumbled, gently picking up the walking fuzzy nuke, and slowly maneuvered her so she was resting in the crook of my arm, belly up.

"Do you want belly rubs?" I asked, still trying to keep up the appearance of an unsuspecting, harmless human. Kuroka stretched out in response. "Okay, imma go sit down now."

I walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, gently scratching the cat's belly all the while. "If it actually is Kuroka, then this is weird as fuck," I thought to myself. "Like, this is a very sentient person here who I'm petting... I don't know how to feel about this."

As I was pondering the implications of petting a person in cat form, an absolutely idiotic idea sprung to mind. "This is going to blow up in my face, but I've gotten this far, and I really don't have much of a choice."

"So..." I said, looking down at the cat. "I don't suppose you know the way to Kuoh Academy, do you?" The cat kept enjoying the belly rubs, though I swore I saw her still for a moment. I kept scratching her stomach, and continued to talk while looking out across the park.

"I mean, you're a cat and probably can't understand me, but I really gotta get to the Academy, there's someone there I need to meet." I looked back down at Kuroka speaking softly. "I saw some pretty scary shit earlier tonight... I think I saw someone get murdered, and I'm hoping they can explain what happened."

At this point, I didn't really care that I was talking to a renowned terrorist and probably the strongest thing in town, I just needed to talk to someone. The realization that I saw someone just die in front of me hit me like a fucking truck, and my eyes couldn't help but burn as the full reality of my situation kicked in.

"And now I'm stuck in this weird place where everybody speaks a different language and I can't call anybody or ask for directions or even order some fucking food!" I was shaking now, a few tears beginning to drip down my cheeks. Instinctively, I held Kuroka closer to me, not caring that she could probably kill me in an instant. I was silent after that, for a few minutes.

I could only wonder if Kuroka believed me.

"I'm all alone now." I finally said. "There's nobody that knows I'm even here, except for you, of course. And probably the woman I need to see." More tears kept streaming down my face, and I hugged the cat in my arms. "Fuck, what am I even supposed to do?"

Kuroka said nothing, of course. But she did start to purr loudly. It surprised me, so much so that I stopped crying, and I looked down at the cat. She just looked up at me, and purred a little louder. I admit, it made me crack a smile. "Sorry about that, it's been a rough night." I said sadly. I looked around the park, and it was still empty. It must have been around midnight, and after all that had transpired, I found myself becoming very sleepy.

I looked back down at the cat. "Just a head's up, I'm probably gonna pass out on this bench soon, so imma let you go now." I said, as I flipped Kuroka right side up and set her down. I leaned back against the bench and closed her eyes, only to hear a small pitter-patter next to me. I cracked open my eyes and saw the cat sitting on the bench next to me. She looked me in the eyes, and nuzzled my leg before curling up next to me.

I cracked a smile at the sight. "Okay, if you want to stay then I'm not gonna stop you." I closed my eyes again, finding a comfortable position on that bench without disturbing the cat next to me. "Thank you." I said softly, before sleep took my exhausted form, and I passed out.


And so another chapter closes. This was actually half of a chapter, but I decided to split them, cause it felt pretty big.

I'm starting to get a sort of plan for what kind of a story this is gonna be, though nothing is set in stone yet.

The SI is gonna be decently emotional, at least for the first few chapters. It's been a few hours at most since he got thrown into DxD, and still needs to realize a few things that will be revealed later.

Anyways, I hope everyone has enjoyed the chapters thus far. Again, very new but hopefully I will get more comfortable with writing like this.

Chapter 3 should come out soon, but don't get too used to this upload speed, I'll be slowing down soon, I imagine.

Dragon out!