I awoke to the smell of something cooking. I found myself lying in a small bed, with the blankets pulled over me. I was still in the clothes I was wearing, a simple black shirt and some white athletic shorts. Though I noticed I wasn't wearing my shoes.

As the sun shone through the blinds, I found my headache come back with a vengeance, and the chalk-like texture of my mouth made itself more apparent. I groaned under my breath and turned to look out at the room I was in. It was small, with little decor or furniture, for that matter. The bed was comfortable, if a little small for me, and I found myself enjoying the softness for a few more moments, before remembering what happened before I passed out. Immediately, I tensed, before allowing myself to relax.

"I haven't been restrained or tied up or anything, so I'm probably okay. Guess I better go see what kind of shit I got myself into." With that, I slipped out of the blankets and walked to the door. When I opened it, I was treated to the view of a woman with long black hair standing in front of a stove. From the scent wafting in the air, she was making eggs and bacon, which surprised me.

"So, you're finally awake, nya." The woman said, before turning around to look at me. "Oh christ, I hope she doesn't say 'nya' after ever sentence or I am going to lose my shit." I thought to myself, before taking a moment to observe the woman who had maybe-kidnapped me.

The first thing I noticed was her eyes, golden yellow, practically shining with mischief. She wore a smirk on her admittedly beautiful face, and her voice was far more sensual than it needed to be. She was on the smaller side, only coming up to my nose in height. What wasn't small, however, was her chest. Those things looked as big as my fucking head. If I wasn't sure I was talking to Kuroka before, or even that I was stuck in an anime, well, that was certainly no longer in question.

"Holy fuck, senjutsu is bullshit. How does she not have back pain like god damn!" I thought, desperately trying to keep eye contact with the ridiculously busty woman, who was wearing sweatpants and a gray cutoff shirt that could not hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. "So, why the American breakfast?" I asked, trying to distract her and myself. "I'm pretty sure we aren't in the U.S. right now, so what gives?"

She saw through my admittedly terrible attempt to change the subject and conveniently decided to stretch her arms over her head, accentuating her already ridiculous bust. "You speak English, nya." She said with a very knowing smirk. "The accent was pretty obvious as well."

"...Do I know you or something?" I asked the woman, still trying to keep up appearances.

"Oh, we met last night." She replied, a mischievous look in her eyes. "My name is Kuroka, and you were very good with those hands of yours, nya."

I pretended to think for a moment, before settling on a slightly confused look. "Wait, were you that cat?" The smirk Kuroka had grew larger, so I looked away and facepalmed. "And you understood me perfectly." I said, only to groan a bit as she chuckled at me.

"Oh damn it, come onnnn." I said dejectedly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, also, um, what the fuck?" I shook my head for a second, to try and clear my thoughts. "Sorry, I'm not exactly at the top of my game at the moment, do you have some water? I have a killer headache and I feel like my tongue is gonna turn to dust."

Kuroka paused and pointed to the table in the room over. There was a glass of water already there, where I assumed my seat was. I sat down and took a sip, careful not to drink too much. Almost immediately, I felt the headache start to lessen, and like I could finally speak properly.

"So Kuroka, not to sound ungrateful or anything, but.." I looked up at her, showing some of the fear I was hiding since I met her. "Are you gonna kill me or something?" I asked softly.

In that instant, her face changed. Kuroka lost the smirk, replaced by a small frown, and I could have sworn I saw a hint of concern in her eyes. "I made you food, nya." She said in a mock pout. "And you think I'm gonna kill you?" She wagged her finger at me. "That's quite rude, nya!"

"I expected this from Serafall, not her." I thought to myself. "I can't remember her acting like this in the anime, then again I've never seen her in casual clothes either."

"Fair enough, though in my defense I'm still reeling from last night." I remarked, keeping my tone as neutral as possible. "Probably still in shock, actually, which is why I'm not currently losing my shit."

"I was wondering why you were taking everything in stride so easily." Kuroka responded, walking over with a plate of food. She set it down and sat across from me. "But I guess after the night you had, it makes sense. It wasn't the worst introduction to the supernatural that I've heard of, but it was far from the best, nya." She picked up a glass of milk (when did that get there?) and took a small sip, still wearing that smirk.

I slumped down in my chair, but not before taking a bite of the eggs that were on my plate. "Okay, so that wasn't a hallucination or something, good to know." I looked at Kuroka again, trying not to look below her collarbone. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to explain what the hell I saw last night, would you?"

Kuroka leaned back in her chair, the mischievous spark becoming a more calculating gaze. "And what exactly did you see last night, nya? I found you walking through the park, but I was there to look for someone already." She locked eyes with me, and though she looked relaxed I could feel the slightest bit of that pressure I felt from the fallen the night prior.

"Is this what the people back home call Killing Intent?" I thought to myself, before collecting my thoughts and responding. "I was in the woods, and I came to that park, where I saw this guy get killed by a woman with black wings." Kuroka shifted again, looking more focused on my story. I felt the pressure increase in return, and actually had to try not to stutter when I spoke. "After she flew away, I started walking to the guy, but then there was a red light coming from him, so I ran back into the woods." She kept looking at me, an inscrutable expression on her face.

I swallowed, feeling a drop of sweat condense on my forehead. "After I ran for a bit, I realized I had no idea where I was going, so I turned and I walked back. I got back to the park, and I assume that's when you saw me?"

Kuroka nodded, and asked a question, "What did her wings look like? The woman who flew away."

I sat back and pretended to think. "She had black wings, like a bird, and I think she left feathers as she flew away, though they were gone by the time I got back." I paused for a moment. "Along with the body and the blood, now that I think about it." Seeing her inquisitive look, I elaborated. "Dude got impaled on what looked like a spear of light, I could see the pool of blood from the tree line. But the park was untouched when I got back."

She nodded again. "Makes sense, Gremory would clean up a mess like that." I perked up at the name, still trying to act like I was some clueless guy. "Gremory?" I repeated. "Who is that? A friend of yours?" Kuroka's eyes darkened a bit. "Not exactly," she said calmly. "She's taking care of someone I care very deeply about."

I took note of that look of hers, but I decided to press on. "I see. So, would you care to explain what's up with magic and winged people apparently existing?" Kuroka looked at me again, and her face lightened slightly. The smirk came back, and she said "Oh, so basically every myth ever is real, Gremory is a Devil and the woman you saw last night was a Fallen Angel." She sat back for a second, probably waiting for me to freak out at the info.

"Oh, that makes sense." I replied without a moment's hesitation, causing her to pout again. "Jeez, at least look surprised..." She complained, frowning at me. "Most people freak out at information like that, nya."

I took a moment to deadpan at her. "Yeah, and you were obviously expecting that, which is why I didn't. Also it does make sense, at least the fallen angel thing." I took another sip of water and a bite of the eggs I was given. "Eggs are pretty good by the way, thanks for breakfast." She chuckled at me, amused by something.

"Oh, its a bit past noon actually, so more like lunch, nya." She said light-heartedly. "You were so tired after our intense petting session." She smirked at me again, which actually managed to make me blush a bit as I realized what I had done.

"Damn it, I didn't even think about that little implication." I grumbled at her. "Now I feel weird, that's messed up." She laughed, and I took the chance to ask a question. "So, what are you, then, a shapeshifter?

She stopped laughing and smirked at me, though it felt slightly forced. "Something like that, nya."

"Got it, touchy subject, forget I asked." I backed up immediately, not wanting to piss off the very deadly catgirl. "So..." I asked, trying to change the subject. "What was up with that Gremory chick last night? And what's up with the Devils and the Fallen Angels? I assume there's regular angels too, then?

Kuroka smiled a bit more, so I guess I said something right. "That's right, nya. The three main factions of the supernatural world, and they are kind of in the middle of a cold war right now. Most people don't want to start a war, cause pretty much everybody will die, but tensions are still pretty high."

"Mutually assured destruction, gotcha." I replied, since I knew this already. "But what was Gremory doing with that guy last night? How does that play into everything?"

Kuroka chucked again, taking another sip of milk. "Well, some Devils, the high class ones, can basically turn beings of other races into Devils themselves. The high class then have these transformed beings serve under them in a small group known as a peerage. These Devils, Reincarnated Devils, are basically under the high class Devil's control, and have to do pretty much whatever they say."

"So a glorified slave then, is what you're saying." I said, taking another bite of eggs. "And Devils can bring the dead back like this as well?" I asked.

Kuroka nodded again. "You're pretty quick, nya, though, as you can imagine, most people wouldn't be reincarnated unless they had something special, nya."

"Something special? Care to elaborate on that?" I asked cautiously, careful not to bring up anything that I couldn't know.

"Oh, certain races, such as dragons, would find themselves reincarnated relatively often, due to their innate power." Kuroka explained. "Other times, a member of a species will have something unusual, such as extra physical strength, magical reserves, or in the case of humans, a Sacred Gear."

I made a show of snapping my fingers. "Wait, the Fallen last night said something about those, to the kid. I'm pretty sure that's why she killed him. What are they, exactly, cause he didn't seem to know."

Kuroka didn't seem surprised, which checks out if she had been around Kuoh for a while. "Makes sense, nya. Sacred Gears are literal gifts from God, given to humans so they had a fighting chance against everyone else. Humans aren't exactly strong relative to everybody else, so God created Sacred Gears for them."

"Sick, what can they do?" I asked, since the anime didn't go into a lot of detail on them. Kuroka looked up, seemingly in thought. "Well, it depends on what Gear you have, nya," She said. "Some people get a magic weapon of sorts, which can be kind of strong, but nothing too special. Others, however, have special abilities, a power multiplier, or control over some sort of special magic. Some of these Sacred Gears are powerful enough to kill gods, nya." She said this offhandedly, but looked at me from the corner of her eye, as if expecting me to ask a question.

I asked it, a bit of excitement creeping to my voice. "By any chance, do you know if I have one of those Sacred Gears?"

Kuroka leaned forwards and looked at me again, dead in the eyes. "I'll answer that if you tell me what you were doing in the woods last night."

I paused for a second, confused. "Am I missing something? Does she think I'm some sort of spy or third party?" I cleared my throat. "To be honest, I was hoping someone could help me find out." Seeing the suspicion on her face, I kept talking. "I have no idea how I got here, wherever here is. I remember drinking and partying with a few friends of mine, and then I woke up against a tree. I ran into that Fallen about half an hour afterwards, and you know the rest."

Kuroka took a deep breath, and looked me in the eyes again. I met her gaze, not wavering, and she must have believed me, because she closed her eyes, breathed out and leaned back. "Before I answer, I need to explain something first, nya." I nodded, and she continued. "There exists something outside of this reality, a void of sorts, between and beyond layers of existence. Most just call it the Dimensional Gap."

She took another sip of milk, and kept talking. "Now, since this Gap exists outside of reality, there are very, very few people who can properly sense the Gap and its energies. Most beings would feel it as a 'blank space' for lack of a better word, where they just can't sense anything." Kuroka paused. "Imagine looking at a city, but some blocks are just pitch black, so dark you can't make anything out. That's what sensing the Gap is like. It sticks out, but you still can't tell what's going on, nya."

"Okay..." I said, now present with information I hadn't known. "So what does that have to do with me?" Kuroka looked at me again, with a slight hint of worry on her face.

"The Gap will destroy just about anything it touches, due to its nature, nya." She said softly. "And you had it in you when we first met. By all accounts, you should have died before you even left the forest."

Hearing that little tidbit of information brought my mood down very quickly. I never realized how much impact the words "you should be dead" would have. But I swallowed my fear, and kept myself together. "So why am I still here?" I asked. "I mean, last I checked, I'm just a normal dude, not a devil or an angel or anything like that, so what am I missing?"

Kuroka got very quiet after I asked that question. It felt like the world did the same. It got so silent, my own heartbeat felt loud in my ears. Then she looked up at me. "You have a Sacred Gear, nya, and for reasons I don't understand, the Gap hid it until I found you."

I looked at her, confusion plainly written on my face, but she kept talking. "The Gap was almost like camouflage for your Sacred Gear, but it faded over time while in contact with the world. I'm pretty in tune with nature and its energies, which is why you caught my attention. I could literally see the Gap fade away and the Gear appear. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that it almost looked like your Sacred Gear was given to you on the spot."

I tried not to let the panic show on my face when she said that. "There's no way I could tell her, right? It would make sense though, I had to pass through something to arrive in this world. And the Sacred Gear would have been given to me basically last night."

I needed to know more about whatever I could do. "Kuroka, is there anything you can tell me about this Sacred Gear?" I pleaded. "What it can do, how strong it is, any kind of details at all? Does it remind you of any one you've met or heard of before?

Kuroka smirked again, clearly amused at the upstart human asking too many questions. I shut up after that, content to let her talk and NOT kill me. "It seems decently strong, around the border of a High-Class Sacred Gear, and from what little I can sense, it seems to be some sort of general amplifier for your body, including your mind, nya. Which is another strange thing. Usually, State-Change Sacred Gears enhance one aspect of the wielder, such as the Twice Critical doubling one's physical abilities, like strength, speed, et cetera." she explained to me.

"This isn't the case for me?" I asked, now having eaten all of my eggs. Kuroka nodded. "Exactly, nya. Your Gear seems to enhance everything about you, it's power is so intertwined with your soul that it's practically merged with your physical form. It also seems to be active, even now, though I imagine you aren't aware of it. It seems to have some sort of passive effect, though what that is, I have no idea, nya."

"It's very strange." She continued. "Just about every Sacred Gear with multiple abilities is a Longinus, one of those god-killing Gears. But a power like that would be very obvious to someone like me, nya. Especially after sensing your aura as much as I have."

"So it's weird and we don't know what it can do." I said, feeling another little itch in the back of my mind, like I was missing something again. Kuroka frowned slightly at me. "This stuff isn't exactly simple, nya." She said, slightly annoyed. "You should be happy I'm even telling you all of this."

"You're right, I apologize." I said softly. "I'm very glad I have such an ability, so thank you for letting me know, Kuroka."

Kuroka chuckled again. "Don't thank me too soon. Now that I can sense it, so will others, including Gremory and her peerage, nya. They may come to recruit you as well."

"I've been meaning to ask about that." I said. "Why did she wait for the kid to die instead of just asking him to join her?" She probably could have intervened, right?"

Kuroka laughed out loud when I said that. "Oh, that's easy. One hell of a story too." She said, still chuckling. "See, Gremory, or Rias Gremory, as she is known, is engaged, to another high-class Devil by the name of Riser Phenex, a prominent young devil who is known for being something of a manwhore. Naturally, Gremory didn't like that, and has been trying to break off the engagement."

"Okay, so does she need a bigger peerage to do it?" I asked. Kuroka nodded, drinking from her milk glass (that had somehow refilled itself, magic is bullshit) "Kind of, nya. In order for Gremory to break the engagement, she needs to defeat the Phenex and his own peerage in what's called a Rating Game, basically just a fight until either one of them are defeated. The problem is the Phenex has the powers of an actual phoenix, so regeneration, fire magic, the whole package."

"Are we talking, like, enhanced healing regen, or, like, remove an arm and its back instantly?" I asked. "The latter, it's why he hasn't lost a Rating Game he hasn't purposely surrendered in." Kuroka replied.

"So, what, Gremory is building her peerage with new Devils for the fight, instead of training?" I wondered. "That seems dumb, does she not have a special power herself?"

Kuroka laughed again, clearly enjoying a chance to poke fun at Rias. "Oh, that's the funny part." She said, trying to keep her composure. "She has the power to destroy literally anything, including other magic and even souls." Kuroka then started to laugh again, but I just facepalmed, though this time it wasn't forced.

"You gotta be kidding me, right? This Gremory chick can fuck up souls and she's afraid of this guy? No wonder she's gambling on new Devils instead of training herself, she's a fucking idiot!" I said, allowing myself to speak more freely.

"I know, nya!" Kuroka said. "All that power, and she just does nothing with it."

I frown to myself. "Do I even want to meet her then? I don't want to get in the middle of whatever she has going on. Fuck that noise."

Kuroka seemed to remember something then. "Oh, there's another Devil who runs the town here, by the name of Sona Sitri, I think. She's much smarter, from what I understand, and she could probably assist you as well, nya. However, she's tricky, and may try to get you to do something you don't like."

"Are these two devils allies?" I asked her. She nodded calmly. "They both go to that Kuoh Academy you're so interested in. Sitri is the president of the Student council, and Gremory is the President of the Occult Research Club. Your best chance is meeting them there, nya." Kuroka then paused, as if realizing something. "Actually, who were you looking for at the Academy, nya? You said you didn't know where you were, so how do you even know about the Academy in the first place?"

I stilled, realizing I didn't have an answer. "Oh shit, if she gets suspicious of me I'm completely fucked." I thought to myself, starting to panic. I could feel my heartbeat quickening as I tried to come up with a reason for knowing something I definitely should not know. "FUCK, what do I do, what do I DO?" I thought frantically. I could see Kuroka's eyes shadow over, so I just blurted the first thing that came to mind. To double down on the unknowing human act.

"I... I have no idea." I said quietly, causing Kuroka to pause slightly. I could feel myself tearing up, whether in frustration or fear, I didn't know, but I kept talking. "All I know is that there's a way for me to get help at Kuoh Academy. I don't know how I know it, but I do. Maybe it's the Sacred Gear, maybe it's due to this Gap thingy, or maybe it's got something to do with the fact that I can't remember my own fucking name!" I got louder and louder until I was almost shouting at Kuroka. In hindsight, not a smart move but I was pretty sure I was about to die.

Kuroka got very quiet at that. "You don't remember your own name?" she whispered. I stopped at that, realizing that I had, in fact, forgotten my own name. "Y-yeah." I replied, blinking away the tears that had welled up in my eyes. "I have no idea what my name is. Actually, I don't remember a lot of things, now that I think about it."

Kuroka looked at me again, and I took it as a cue to elaborate. "I know I'm from the U.S." I said slowly. "But I don't know what town, or state, or anything. I know I had parents, but I can't remember their names, or even what they looked like. I-" My voice cracked, once I had truly realized what I lost. "I can't remember my little brother's name."

I looked at Kuroka, more tears welling back up. I was just a step from breaking down properly, but I needed to know. "What the hell happened to me?" I whispered. In a moment, she was by my side, hugging me. It caught me off guard, so much so that I stopped crying altogether. Kuroka smelled nice, but faint, like cherry blossoms, and reminded me of my cat back home, who's name I had also forgotten. I lost myself in the hug for a moment, so much so that I didn't even register the absolutely massive chest pressing into my side. Though when I did finally notice, I pushed her away gently.

I wiped my eyes, catching my breath and gathering my thoughts before finally speaking. "Damn, I promise I'm not usually like this." I said light-heartedly. "No, it's alright." Kuroka responded, an uncharacteristically soft smile on her face. "You're in a pretty rough spot, even by my standards." She then walked back to her side of the table and sat down, prompting me to look over at her.

"So, you really can't remember them?" She inquired, a worried look on her face. "Names and appearances, yes." I said softly. "But I do remember that they were very kind, to just about everyone, and they were phenomenal parents themselves." I had a small smile as I recounted what I knew to Kuroka. "My little brother was a total goof, but pretty smart in his own right, even if it took him a while to figure that out." I took a breath, and looked up. "I wonder if they even know that I'm missing yet."

Kuroka looked a bit somber at that, so I decided to change the subject.

"So, something messed with my memories and gave me instructions to go find someone in the Academy." I said loudly, trying to shift the mood. "You think I should listen to it? From what you've told me, I imagine this has to be one or even both of the Devils. I don't feel like becoming a slave, so how should I approach this?" Kuroka pondered this for a moment, while I tried to figure out if any of my "foreknowledge" was messed with during my trip through the Dimensional Gap.

"Let's see, so there's Raynare, Riser, Kokabiel, Vali and the Brigade, Loki and co., that bitch Diodora, Shalba and the rest of the Old Satan Faction, and after that, the weird curse thing on Rias." I paused for a moment, trying to remember the other things I had read. "There's Rizevim and his whole squad, like Crom Cruach and the other evil dragons, plus some other devils right? Like Grayfia's brother and the Belial guy, I think? And unleashing the Trihexa is their goal, but if they succeed even a little bit that'll get the attention of ExE and then we're probably fucked. But Rizevim is the real threat here. If he dies before he fucks everything up, we get much more time." As I was trying to formulate a plan, Kuroka spoke up.

"You want to get back to your family, nya? she asked me. When I nodded in return, she continued. "Well, as far as allies go, Gremory and Sitri are a good start. You have much to gain from working alongside them. You'll need to get strong too, nya, and they're more in your league than I am. Plus, I'm not going to stick around here much longer."

I nodded. "I had a feeling you were strong." I said calmly. "And I won't ask about what you're doing. You've helped me more than enough as it is, so you deserve your privacy at the very least. I'll just meet with them and hopefully retain my humanity. Think I could help Gremory with her bird problem?" I asked Kuroka. She shrugged. "Beats me, nya. I'd talk to Sitri, she'd probably help you if it helped Gremory. Those two are close friends after all."

"That sounds like a plan to me." I said, smiling. "I should get started right away then, yeah?" Kuroka thought for a moment, before standing up and walking off into the house. I stood up and put my dishes in the sink, and she returned as I finished cleaning them up. She had a small set of keys in her hand. "Here you go, nya." She said to me. "These are the keys, there should be enough food for a while." I looked at her incredulously. "Hang on, you barely even know me, why the hell would you give me keys to your house?"

Kuroka chuckled. "Well, nya, I can get in without any keys." A small purple magic circle appeared above her hand, as demonstration. "Besides, we both know that if you do something stupid I'll just kill you, nya." She said with a far too cheery look on her face. I deadpanned for a second. "Well, I can't really argue with that logic, so fair enough." "Exactly!" Kuroka responded, still just as cheery. "But also, well, I know what it's like to lose family, and I can tell you care for them greatly, so you can't be that bad, nya." She spoke softly.

I didn't know what to say, actually. I didn't think she'd care when she had Koneko to watch over, but I wasn't about to question her generosity. "I'll take good care of the place while you're gone. I assume bringing people over is a poor idea?" Kuroka nodded. "Nobody actually knows I'm here, nya. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Nobody will know." I promised. "So, now can you point the way to the Academy?"

Kuroka gave me instructions on how to get to the Academy from her house, and then there was only one more thing left to talk about.

"So, what about my Sacred Gear?" I asked Kuroka. She looked at me again, probably inspecting whatever it is she could sense, before responding. "Your Gear seems to be working, but it's also dormant at the same time. Whatever it is, you won't be able to manifest it the easy way, nya."

"Well, I guess I can't be surprised." I said, slightly sad I couldn't just whip out whatever I had right away. "You know how I could do that?"

"The Gear will respond to a desire, that's how they operate, from my understanding." Kuroka explained. "You're gonna need to either train pretty hard, or be in a life-or-death situation. Maybe even both, if you're unlucky." I spent a moment thinking, before an idea crossed my mind. "I think I could get that life-or-death thing settled soon." I said, which prompted a strange look from Kuroka.

"Call it a gut feeling, but if that kid from last night was reincarnated, odds are he's gonna end up back where he got impaled, assuming Gremory didn't fill him in already. But she doesn't strike me as a particularly smart individual, so he'll probably be back at the park. If he's walking solo at night, well, I'm sure someone will be there to take advantage of that." Kuroka nodded in approval. "I wouldn't be surprised if that happens, nya. He probably won't notice you, though you'll need to be careful Gremory doesn't see you as a threat."

"I can keep myself under control, thank you very much." I replied snarkily. Without skipping a beat, Kuroka replied. "I know, you've barely even looked at my tits this whole time." She pouted, before squeezing them together with a small smirk. "Do you not like them, nya?" She asked, the barest hint of sultriness in her voice.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "First of all," I said, opening my eyes. "I try not to stare, it's rude. Secondly..." My voice became monotone as I remembered someone else who I had lost. "I'm taken. Don't remember her name but that's not an excuse." I said woodenly, trying not to let any heat through. I was upset at myself, for forgetting everyone, her especially. "Damn it," I thought angrily. "That's gonna fuck me up for a while, huh?"

Kuroka cringed, before moving her hands away from her chest. "Sorry, nya." She said morosely. "I didn't realize-" I interrupted her. "It's fine, you couldn't have possibly known." I smiled at her, though it wasn't completely genuine. "We're all good, promise, but I think I'm gonna head out now, get used to the town. Also, umm, what should I do about the whole language barrier issue?"

Kuroka, still a bit uncomfortable, waved her hand and a small necklace appeared. She tossed it to me and I caught it. It was thin, a little band of leather cord with some symbols on it. It glowed slightly as I put it on. "That should cover Japanese, at least, nya." Kuroka said.

"Okay, so I am in Japan, good to know." I said, realizing I never even asked that question.

"Oh yeah, I never mentioned that, did I?" Kuroka said, prior discomfort completely forgotten. "That seemed pretty important, not sure how I forgot that, nya. You just said you were from America, after all."

I chuckled a bit before replying. "Hey, it's all good. Thanks for the gift, Kuroka." She smiled at me, and I turned to walk out the front door nearby, after putting on my shoes.

"Wait." Kuroka said, and I hesitated before opening the door. "I know you forgot your name, nya, but I have to call you something. You can't just walk around without a name."

I thought for a moment, searching my memory, trying to find something I could use as a name, until I remembered something. Something that was either missed or left intentionally by whatever fucked with my head. Something that would act as a permanent reminder of what I was here to do. And who I was fighting to see again.

"It's Kai," I said, opening the front door. "Kai Malek." And I stepped outside, closing the door behind me.


I know I said earlier that this was a half chapter, but the conversation just kept writing itself, so here we are.

I decided to take a different approach to this aspect of the story.

Usually, an OC will either join a peerage as a devil or have living arrangements already in place when they arrive in DxD. This is obviously not the case for Kai, as he was just dumped in the forest with an unknown Sacred Gear and the clothes on his back. Dude was still stuck speaking English, and he has no understanding of any Japanese whatsoever. In other words, he was kinda screwed unless someone else intervened.

I felt that giving Kai a language ability without explanation was a poor idea, same with the living arrangements. And I figured that Kuroka would definitely fuck with people when Koneko isn't around to stalk, curiosity killed the cat and all that.

And as for her generosity? Well, I don't really see Kuroka as an evil or selfish person. She literally sacrificed just about everything for Koneko, and is more of a morally grey character than anything else, initially at least. Chaotic neutral, for all those DnD players out there. It's not completely out of character, especially when it's a mysterious but harmless human with a weird Sacred Gear and a very relatable origin story.

So, Kuroka decided to do something nice. Worst case scenario, she would just mindwipe or kill the dude and leave him in a ditch. She had practically nothing to lose from taking in some random stray (haha, cat pun!)

But also, there needed to be some sort of explanation of the state of the world, lest Kuroka get suspicious and fuck Kai's shit up. To her, Kai was a random human who had been introduced to the supernatural a few hours prior. He can't just know stuff out of the blue, she'd probably think he's a threat and eliminate him. Thus, the exposition.

This had the additional purpose of explaining the Gear, or at least giving a small hint as to what it does, and what it can do. He won't be OP right off the bat, and he will still have other issues that can't be beaten in a fight. He is going to struggle, and he is going to suffer, and he may very well lose even more by the end of this adventure. You'll just have to wait and see. He is gonna have to fight at the level of Issei if he wants to change anything though, so he WILL become a beast eventually.

Also, needed to bring his name into this, along with his motivation. Every protag needs one after all, and I didn't feel like making myself a total edgelord. There will be a sad boi moment or two, but Kai should be good for the time being.

And as for the name, well, that's an inside joke with my brother and I, and that's all I'll say on the matter.

Anyways, that's the third chapter, sorry about all the exposition but it's my best way to explain exactly what is up with my character, on top of all the things listed above. I hope you all enjoyed my attempt at an actual conversation. Though, long talks like this should be rare, this was more for the narrative.

Next chapter should have a bit more action, first fight scene, hell yeah!

Dragon out!