The sun was shining brightly in the deep blue sky above a peaceful meadow with beautiful green trees and luscious green grass. A sudden gust of wind surfaced as a swirling golden vortex opened out of nowhere and out of it stepped a new Issei Hyoudou.
He let out a sigh before taking in his blissful surroundings.
"So this is where we start anew eh Ddraig?" he commented aloud to his partner.
(Indeed) was all the dragon responded with though his tone sounded more upbeat than ever before.
Issei nodded before thinking of his next move, a certain blond came to mind but he had no idea where she was now after he killed Riser and honestly he wouldn't blame her for attacking him the moment she saw him again.
Deciding it would be best to simply distance himself from the devils especially the ORC until the heat from the rating game incident died off, he made his way to the nearest train station and took a ticket on a whim to Kyoto, he'd never been and thought it'd be nice to see the sights for a bit until he established a permanent base and searched for Asia.
Back in Kuoh
Rias Gremory was slumped over her desk wearing fine looking spectacles enveloped in paperwork that she was halfheartedly attempting to complete but the task was far from finished.
She sighed for what seemed the hundredth time that hour and gently removed her glasses, placing them down onto the desk beside her.
Her loyal queen Akeno Himejima gently placed a steaming cup of fresh herbal tea in front of her stressed king and offered a sympathetic gaze.
"Thank you Akeno" Rias thanked the person she arguably relied upon the most with a slight sigh as she took the tea cup and slowly sipped at the warm liquid.
"You're still thinking about him aren't you?" Akeno questioned her best friend already knowing the answer.
Rias simply nodded slowly allowing a brief expression of sadness wash over her face before continuing to drink.
"I know you thought of him fondly Rias but the fact remains that he drove Asia away and killed a high ranking devil, he's a criminal of one of our highest rankings, surely you see the resemblance between this and another case involving one of your members?" Akeno reminded her king.
Rias' face fell at the recollection of the aforementioned case, it had taken months to solve even the simplest issues stemming from it and that possibly hadn't even scratched the surface.
"I know I just... I can't help it" she confessed defeated.
Akeno gave a sigh before steeling herself to say what she didn't know in her heart to be true but knew right now it was needed.
"Rias, don't you think it's disrespectful to her if you simply ignore what Issei did and pine after him for days to come?" she asked sharply earning some surprise from her king.
"A-Akeno how could you even suggest that? I did my best for her and this is completely different!" she shouted indignantly.
"I suggest it because while it's true you did the best you could for her, it doesn't change the fact that Issei Hyoudou is a murderer just like that black cat and to do anything but seek justice for his actions during the rating game as you did for her back then would be nothing short of insulting" Akeno pressed harshly.
Truthfully she felt some degree of righteousness to her words however that was her own opinion, apparently one the rest of the ORC did not share, nevertheless the words she said here would determine her king's attitude on the matter for the foreseeable future and right now they needed a leader of justice not a murder sympathiser.
Rias couldn't believe the words coming out of her queen's mouth, she'd known her for years and never before had she been so passionate about a subject other than her own heritage which still to this day haunted her.
However as strongly as she'd felt for the boy before the rating game her queen was right, Issei's actions could not be excused nor go unpunished and as the boy's former king the responsibility fell to her to ensure he was brought to justice.
"Y-you're right Akeno, please give me a moment alone, I must contact my brother to inform him of my decision" Rias requested and Akeno complied leaving the room.
What she hadn't expected was to bump into two familiar faces in the form of a confused Kiba and rather upset Koneko seemingly having heard everything.
"I don't understand Akeno, why would you go so far to convince Rias into hunting Issei down, he was our friend" Kiba questioned the vice president.
"Because right now she's grieving, it's obvious that she loved the boy, we all did. However as I said to her, that doesn't change the fact that he drove Asia away from us and murdered a high ranking devil, asshole or not Riser carried weight and now that's all on her shoulders since Issei was her pawn. The best thing she can do right now is wipe away these feelings and bring the boy to justice for the sake of not only our race but the peace between all three" Akeno explained to the two.
"I don't understand, why you needed to bring her up though" Koneko bitterly commented to which Akeno's expression softened as she knelt in front of the white haired teen.
"I'm sorry Koneko, i'm afraid it was the only relevant comparison I could think of that would encourage Rias to act, I assure you I take no pleasure in reminding us all of that situation and this is what is best for Rias and the club" Akeno apologised and ensured the two before walking down the stairs and out the front doors.
Kiba and Koneko merely looked at each other, not entirely convinced...
Several Hours Later, Kyoto
The large train slowly ground to a halt outside the busy station, as the doors opened a familiar white haired teen stepped out onto the crowded platform.
He let out a sigh of relief and had a good stretch after being cooped up inside his seat for the last few hours before walking through the station and into the city which was in full swing at this time of year with everybody enjoying the warm weather.
He caught a few stares for the unusual outfit he was wearing and more than one he caught a whiff of his musky scent gathered from not showering for a day or so. He decided the best course of action would be to find somewhere to stay and shower, however that would prove easier said than done given he was flat broke.
He decided that taking a tour of the city and ignoring his problems for now would be the responsible solution. He walked up and down hilly streets looking at all the different shops, restaurants and houses in the labyrinth of pathways, eventually he stopped outside a delicious looking restaurant that looked to be serving mouth watering noodles from the sign out front.
Issei's stomach grumbled.
"Man i'm hungry, I really need to find a way to support myself now i'm on my own outside of Kuoh" Issei thought aloud.
When he'd come to start over Issei knew there was no going back to Kuoh after his actions during the rating game, not for a while at least so he'd had to leave everything he had there as he couldn't risk sneaking in to retrieve it and being sensed by any of the devils or other supernatural beings there, he wasn't that good at concealing his aura yet something they would need to work on.
Just as he was about to investigate the restaurant further he heard a soft sobbing noise coming from the alley next to the joint.
Raising an eyebrow he decided to investigate, heading round the side of the restaurant he came across a small walled in area containing a few rubbish bins and piles of cardboard some having been swept around by wind.
The sobbing grew louder as Issei made his way to the furthest bin from the alley, he opened it up and was shocked to find a human... no this girl was something else, crying inside on top of the bags.
She looked up at Issei with puffy golden eyes fresh with tears that rolled down her cheeks. Issei didn't know why she was in there or what to say to try and cheer her up, but he did know that a rubbish bin wasn't the place to leave an upset little girl.
"H-hey little one, how come you're in here?" he gently asked the crying child.
The child blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her eyes and opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out and it didn't take long for the tears to start again.
Issei gave the child a sympathetic look as his heart hurt for the little one, he decided that they could figure out what to do and how to find her parents after he'd gotten her somewhere warm and safe.
'Might be a challenge considering i'm flat broke and currently homeless but anywhere has gotta be better than leaving her alone in a bin' he concluded before gently picking up the small girl despite her struggling and protests, he quickly placed her down on the ground.
"Can you walk okay?" he asked her worriedly.
She nodded and began walking away down the alley getting all of around 5 steps before collapsing to which Issei rushed over to make sure she hadn't hurt herself anymore.
It was in this assessment of her that he finally took notice of her ragged and torn clothing that was less than modest with how much of it remained but the sight under them was heartbreaking as most of her exposed skin was covered in bruises, scrapes and cuts that all looked fairly recent.
'Probably explains why she was in that bin, must've been hiding from someone' Issei deduced before his thoughts were interrupted.
(Partner get down!) came a roar from his head as Issei dropped to the floor clutching the small girl beneath his body just barely avoiding the slash that seemed to cut between the air above him.
The boy impacted the ground hard making sure he was the first down to ensure the girl had a soft landing, the two rolled over a few times before coming to a stop in the alley just short of the street outside.
The dust settled and Issei opened his eyes to see a boy not too much older than himself, he had black hair that reached his neck and sapphire blue eyes, he was wearing some sort of plain dark blue uniform with brown trimming and around his waist looked to be some sort of robe than was white with blue and black stripes and trimmed a golden colour outline.
His appearance wasn't what had Issei practically frozen with fear however, that was due to the immense holy aura coming from the spear he wieled. It was stronger than anything Issei had come across and when Ddraig chimed in with its name that hadn't helped his nerves.
The True Longinus...
And scene!
Couldn't help ending it with that little dramatic cliffhanger once it came to me haha, sorry for cutting the chapter slightly shorter as a result I promise i'll make it up to you guys with a longer one next time :)
As for the reason it took me this long to get only 1900 words out, well I had writer's block and just didn't know where I wanted to take the story so it took a few weeks off to reassess the situation and map out the next few chapters so hopefully you won't be waiting long for the next part of this fic once i'm done updating my others.
I'll also put it in my profile but while I remember i'll leave it here too, I wanted to announce that I won't be continuing 'A Life Changed' for at least a bit because I want to focus on my other stories and that is the one I have the least idea of what I want to do as of writing this so it's not cancelled but I suppose you could call it a hiatus.
The same could be said for DxD vs Dead as it was simply an idea I wrote out whilst on holiday however I do actually have notes and some idea of where I want to take it so it may not be updated every cycle but when I have a new chapter ready i'll post it.
TLDR: This story, DCBSL rewrite and 'Humans vs Zombies and a Ghoul?' will be the main three I update in that order, when I have a chapter of DxD vs Dead written in my spare time i'll post it and 'A Life Changed' is going on vacation because i've no clue what to do with it xD
Bloody problem child.
Anyway thanks for reading and reviewing and i'll see you next time!