All Rights and reserves of High School DxD is owned by Ichiei Ishibumi, Fujimi Shobo, Yen Press, Dragon Magazine and Licensed by TNK, Sunrise and Madman Entertainment.

All Rights, Ownership and use of Intellectual property belongs to all various forms of entertainment and media including and not exclusive to; Companies of Comics, Manga, Video Games, Movie, Broadcasting and Many Others. All other Intellectual Property that does not belong to any company is considered CC or Creative Common, Mythology, Legends, Folklore and various others.

This is an inspired work of Fiction.

This is a 'Meta aware' Fic.


Chapter 2: What kind of backstory is this?!


"Issei! Breakfast is ready!"

Said boy was still sleeping on his bed when the shout bled through the floor and he grumbled half asleep, turning himself to the side.

"Issei! Issei, we need to talk to you!"

"Vi-chan, could you up and wake our son up for breakfast?"

The shouting continued while Issei stretched himself, scratching his chest and turning again to the otherside of the bed. What was that? Who were his parents talking to? Was it just his imagination?

"That boy didn't even set up that clock of his."

"Honey, are we sure we should-"

Thumps reverberated along the floor and the stairs as it got closer. Issei rubbed his bleary eyes, a yawn threatening to come out when a weird and bouncy feeling hit his back. His eyes went wide awake before the force smacked him roughly out of bed. He tried to stop himself but instead he hit his face on the floor with a thud. His forehead ached.

"Oi. Shitty Master," A feminine voice that Issei couldn't recognize filled his ears and quick as a storm he got up to look at the…

[Viser Lv.1]
[Challenger's Partner]

She was beautiful. It looked like Viser only had an oversized shirt to cover her herself but the cloth was straining at the seams…! Issei shook his head multiple times to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. "M-M-monster Girl…."

Viser stared at him with a raised brow, a furious look on her face, "Ha?"

Nope, still real. Issei thought. He wiped what was probably drool coming from his mouth, closing it with a quiet smack. As he got up, Issei was able to really give the monster girl(?) a one over. The biggest thing was that Viser didn't have the whole 'half animal half human' thing anymore. She had the classic two arms and two legs but there was more to it. Viser was super tall, taller than him as his eyesight only got to her collar bone and boy, her breasts were huge! She has an hourglass figure! Toned abs the bled through the cloth! Her butt and thighs were-

"Shitty Master, if you're done gawking get downstairs." A pointed glare was added for extra effect, and were her eyes glowing?

Issei coughed into his fist as he turned, moving over to his drawers. "Just let me get some clothes on."

"Tsk," Viser clicked her tongue, an object moved between her and the doorframe while he got a new shirt out to put on.

"Is that a tail?" Issei quickly asked, moving his arms through the sleeves. Before she could respond he quickly asked more questions, his voice slowly raising with each word. "Wait, wait. Last night wasn't a dream? They know you're here?!"

When Viser didn't say anything while he was pulling up a fresh pair of pants, Issei turned to see the monster girl stare at him with an unreadable expression. Neither said a word as Issei finished up.

"You actually have no idea do you?"

"Of course I don't! I wasn't lying last night!" Issei rebuked, walking closer. "And I still can't explain this! They already know don't they?!"

"And this is why you're a stupid master," Viser said with a blank face which earned a metaphoric stab to the heart. Her mismatch of unblinking red-pink and ice blue stared at him through slitted eyes unnerved him. Her face had a complete glow up added with the grey hair that darkened to black framing her face with a pair of metallic horns which added to her height for another fifteen centimeters. Were those a pair of tiger ears on top of her head too?! Issei was just about to say something when a big fluffy weight pushed his back to walk down the steps.

"H-hey!"

"There's something your parents wanted to tell you first." She said and Issei left it at that.

"What are you using to push me?"

"My hand, obviously."

He turned around to make sure and it was true. Both her arms from the fingertips to the area that was covered by the sleeves were fur. Instead of hands they were basically giant paws that were big enough to grab his entire face if she wanted to. It looked like a lot of the monster side of Viser from the warehouse stayed since even her legs down to her toes were basically the kind he saw from her beast form. "You look… different."

"Whose fault is that?" Viser's response was to no one in particular.

Whatever he did to her saved her mind, but it also preserved whatever was supernatural as well. It was just more... compact. Viser clicked her tongue, finishing right when they got to the dining room. "We'll talk later, shitty master."

That wasn't very nice, Issei thought. Then again… it was kinda shitty to just get dropped into the whole 'you just survived a supernatural encounter and your enemy is on speaking terms with you and they found out you actually had no idea what was going on' ordeal.

[Gorou Hyoudou Lv. 10]

[Miki Hyoudou Lv. 9]

Issei was greeted with the forms of his parents sitting in the dining room. They both looked a bit conflicted when they met eye contact but his mother waved for him to sit down and he did so. The normal breakfast items laid in front of him. Issei noticed a fourth set of dishes set beside him while his mother spoke. "Viser-chan~ Sit, sit! You must be hungry."

"That's unnecess-" Her refusal was ignored since Issei's mother practically forced her to take a seat. He was glad that the supernatural didn't shout or resist when she sat before his mother. Their meal was pretty unremarkable as long as he ignored the fact that Viser was really close to him, considering her size and how awkward she was with holding any kind of dish. Even her chopsticks were tiny in her massive paws. Crumbs dropped or sprayed all over her arms and clothes when she ate. Viser struggled to eat and the uncertain looks radiating from his parents were a big indicator, Issei was getting very confused.

"Could someone tell me what's going on?" He tried not to raise his voice but it came out a bit strained. Viser to his side set her bowl down and nodded. No longer willing to work with her utensils.

"Right. You two wanted to tell your son something."

He quickly raised a hand. "Woah, wait. You aren't… surprised?"

His parents looked at each other before he emphasized, "I mean, she's not… She's supernatural!"

"That's very rude Issei," His father waved his finger at him like he was causing the problem. His mother giggled a bit behind her hand while Issei growled.

"That's not what I mean."

A soft thud hit the table bounced the dishes a bit. Viser narrowed her eyes at the entire household, responding. "Now that your ice breaker is said and done. It's about time you tell him what you need to tell him."

"Tell me what?" He asked, looking at everyone in the house. It was obvious he was out of the loop.

"Well…" Issei's father started with a pained expression on his face, making the stress marks along his eyes and the gaunt cheeks darken. He motioned to grasp his wife's hand.

His mother began with a story that was long before he was born. Suffice it to say; Issei wasn't their first attempt at having a child, in fact he was their third attempt. His mother had suffered two miscarriages before him and they started to lose hope in ever having a family. They never wanted to tell him any of this and intended to keep their secret to the grave.

"We were always deathly afraid for you when we found out that you started to grow." His mother said. "We never thought about having parties or shouting for joy since many times before…"

"We did everything we could to make sure you were safe and healthy but there was always a nagging fear that you might've never made it." God, his mom started to cry and then his dad took the reins. Issei looked down at the wood grains of the table before tightening his fists to stop them from shaking, looking up.

"We didn't know what would happen and we didn't have a single way to help you so we did what few things we could. We doubled our visits to shrines, buddhist temples and even to any of the churches in hopes that one of our prayers would be answered." He swallowed thickly and his parents clutched their hands together, tighter than before. "We had no idea if any of them were listening but that was all we could do."

"But then you were born. Such a shining bundle of life that grasped my finger so tightly when I held you." His mother finished with a watery smile. "Ever since we had you, never dared to try again. You were a blessing that we never wanted to take for granted."

Issei took a very shaky breath. His mouth was dry, he was filled with so many emotions and he couldn't process it all. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Issei?"

"Damn it. Why didn't you tell me?" He said, mentally punching himself in the face. Stupid, stupid, stupid! "Here I'm running around like an idiot, acting like the NEET. Buying porn, messing around with games and you two are just okay with it?"

"No Issei, It's not your fault! We're fine with you just being happy!"

"Stupid. I should've paid attention!" He continued, ignoring his parents' arguments. He totally understood why Viser called him a 'shitty master' now. "I barely scraped by the entrance exams for Kuoh when I should've planned ahead for some top level university and go make you two proud. Some son I am!"

Without realizing it something hit Issei to the side, making him fall off his chair. He rubbed his side with a free hand and the three turned to the only person in the room who hadn't spoken since they started. Viser gave him a half-lidded glare. "What's done is done. You can't turn back time and redo your childhood years. Get over it instead of wallowing."

Her words shocked him and he turned to the faces of his parents with a pained frown. "R-right."

"Viser-chan…"

Said woman sighed when his mother started to say something. Viser motioned for Issei to start talking, and he did.

"So… this morning..."

His father nodded. "We woke up to see Viser-chan appear in the hallway ignoring everything around her while she watched you."

"Honestly, we thought she or some being she followed was the one responsible for your successful birth." His mother added.

"That wasn't me." Viser answered. The three looked at her as she continued. "I'm here for a different reason. Your son is a mage."

"A mage?" Issei asked. For real? Middle Earth, Harry Potter and all that?

"Or at least he has the potential to be a mage." Viser explained. "Issei is… a special existence. And it might have something to do with that story from before."

"What do you mean?"

"You're blessed." Viser continued and the visage of a disgusted frown grew on her lips. "Or you're cursed. That's debatable at the moment."

"Viser-chan. C-could you explain it some more for us?" Miki quickly asked in fear for her child.

"There have been many stories in the world about how there were children that were born from 'cursed families.' They were rare and often exaggerated but most of the time humans that were born this way were given gifts by deities." Viser braced herself when she finished. "God."

Issei and his parents waited for her to continue, only for Viser to widen her eyes in some sudden realization. She turned around to look at her surroundings and spoke softly while she stared at her monstrous paws. "...H-how?"

"How what?"

"Nothing." Viser shook her head at the question. It seemed that she wasn't going to explain that tidbit. "There are things called Sacred Gears. Other's call them God's Artifacts."

"Sacred Gears?"

"Yes," Viser nodded. "God… from the Bible created the Sacred Gears as part of a system to enact miracles on Earth. A large number of historical figures that have etched their names into history were most likely possessors of Sacred Gears. They can vary in power and rarity; The more powerful, the more dangerous they are to others and themselves in various ways."

"So you're saying It was so difficult for me to give birth was because of these Sacred Gears?" Miki asked, her voice slowly raising with equal amounts of pain and resentment.

"That, I'm not sure. God never planned for the distribution of Sacred Gears to cause issues from my knowledge." Viser quickly answered. "No one really knows the specifics of the system of Sacred Gears aside from the creator or their oldest and most powerful angels. It's possible that your previous… children were candidates for a sacred gear and they didn't make it for some reason or another. Maybe you were cursed by some other supernatural, karma from a past life or it was simply the demands of fate."

The group was silent as ghosts when Viser went on. They didn't want to truly find out the real reason why and they did their best to throw it under the rug. Gorou asked, pointing to his son. "Does this mean Issei-"

"Issei is special." Viser finished as if that one word could answer everything that was on their minds. "No, he doesn't have a Sacred Gear as far as I know. It's… something else. Something I don't know."

"What do you mean something else?" He asked, raising his hand.

"I mean when you used magic, it was unique. Something I've never seen before. It's never been recorded and if it was; Only the oldest or most powerful of the supernatural would be aware of it. You could even be a one-of-a-kind and no one would know."

Right, of course. Issei thought. Viser was a 'stray' so there was no way she could have all the answers to the questions that he had.

The conversation left a lot for him to digest.

The food was cold by the time they finished, and while Issei was distraught by the fact that he was never told about his very lucky birth he couldn't blame them. For the first time in a long time Issei ran to give the two a tight hug and mentally promised he'd try harder. Viser was right; he was just starting Kuoh in a few weeks so there was plenty of time to change things long as he was willing.

But honestly… Issei wasn't comfortable in the house after everything that happened. There was so much that he was still processing and he needed fresh air.

"I'm heading out! I… I just need a walk okay!"

While his parents acted slightly different than before, they let him go with a few words. Viser watched him with a raised brow and shook her head when his mom asked if she was going to join. That seemed to work and Viser was quickly dragged out to another part of the house before he closed the door.

Issei took a slow pace while walking the roads around Kuoh and sighed. Everyone he looked at had those nametags and levels above their heads including regular animals. What was he going to do?

"Yo, Issei!"

It must have been midday since the sun was shining straight down on him. Issei didn't even realize he was sitting on a swing set in the old park that he used to frequent when he was still a kid.

[Masuda Lv. 5]

[Motohama Lv. 4]

Issei smiled when his two friends waved at him as they got closer. "Yo."

"Yo de nandaiyo!?" Motohama shouted, fixing his glasses with an angry gleam in his eye. "I thought we were gonna take that new game out for a spin!"

"Yeah man! We planned it and everything!" Masuda added with his bald head gleaming in the sunsight.

Ah right. The games. They were planning on doing a new co-op campaign on one of the pre-orders that just finished downloading. Issei responded apologetically, "Sorry, sorry. A bunch of stuff happened last night."

"Don't tell me…" The bald one gasped with exaggerated abandon. "You got new doujins!"

"No!"

Motohama rubbed his chin with a very sly smirk. "Oh~? What else could possibly stop you from getting on that game you wanted to try? Unless you somehow got a girlfriend at the start of summer break."

"Issei, Issei, Issei." Masuda tsked like he was some older brother in an anime.

"We're all friends here." Motohama added conspiratorially.

"There was none of that! For real!"

"Tsk." The faces of his friend changed into a complete one-eighty.

"Disappointing."

He sighed. There were only a few things that Masuda and Motohama ever got serious over and aside from their games and porn. Masuda with his sports and Motohama with his drawing while he didn't really have anything else. The three of them went over to grab a drink from one of the vending machines before laying on the grass under a set of trees. He sighed again.

"Oi, are you having one of those 'boy's crisis' things or something?" Motohama asked, sharing a look with the bald member of their group.

"The hell Issei? Wanna run a few kilometers to the beach to scream your heart out?" Masuda said, laughing to himself. "Like that'll help."

He huffed. "Nothing like that… Just-"

"Just?"

"Don't leave us in suspense now."

The two boys brought themselves up and waited for him. "Have you ever thought about your futures?"

Masuda and Motohama quickly deflated like balloons, going back to their spots. The question was left unanswered for a few a bit as they looked up at the clouds.

"Not really." Masuda answered softly. They kept staring at the clouds with glazed looks in their eyes as they waited for him to continue. "Sure I'm good at sports and stuff but I know when I met my match."

"Some people are just that good and they get scholarships. Some of them get even better and they might get to nationals or even the pro league. Me? I didn't even get scouted and I had to sit out a few weeks for an injury months before." Masuda shrugged when the other two didn't say anything after. Tired, was all that could be gleaned from his attitude.

"I expected I'd end up like everyone else in Japan. Some small time faceless salaryman we see when we walk along streets in any city."

The trio stayed there in silence for the next few minutes. The ringing from the cicadas slowly bled into the background as they kept looking at the sky.

"Same here."

Just when Issei was going to say something, Motohama followed it up. "Studyings all well and good but it's not like I can instantly make it somewhere 'high class' you know. Tokyo U, Tohoku, Kyoto U, Kyushu… those names keep popping up whenever those asshole teachers are around in school or cram and I'm just sick of it. Sure, I'll aim but what am I, a genius? I wanna be a mangaka damnit, or get into fashion and go to France! My three sizes scouter is perfect for that shit."

The group of boys ended up sighing in unison at the weight pressing down on them for the years to come.

Masuda asked while still staring up, a cloud hovered over their faces. "Oi Issei, what brought this up?"

"It's not like you to suddenly ask about all this heavy crap."

He decided to not speak and the two didn't push him. Way to go Issei. It wasn't like this was a giant video gam- The two boys beside him were startled by his sudden jump in the grass.

"Holy shit."

"What's gotten into you!?"

"Motohama…" Issei called out before he got himself up to walk a bit away from the two. His voice lowered for dramatic effect. "Masuda…"

He raised a fist to shake in front of them and spoke. "This world is a game!"

"...Nani?" Shadows darkened around Masuda's face. His hands were pocketed into a pose that had him face up into the sky as he looked down.

"Hooh~ Omoshiroi..." Motohama followed up as he posed beside them, the glasses reflected the sunlight so they wouldn't be able to see the deathly serious look in his eyes.

They stayed like that for a while, various kids that walked by with their parents of older siblings giggled aloud while the older ones simply looked away in embarrassment.

"They're weird!"

"The heroes are gonna save the day!"

"Onee-chan! Look! Chuunibyous!"

A blush crept along Issei's neck before they realized what was going on. Motohama and Masuda shuffled awkwardly as they got closer.

"The hell, Issei!"

"First we talk about some downer shit and suddenly we start posing like it's Jojo."

He roughly raised a hand to stop the two from continuing. Issei shiftily looked around in case there were any eavesdroppers; honestly he looked like some sort of criminal if the circumstances were different.

"Before we continue." Issei started making a deathly serious face at his two friends. "I am willing to put my 1st edition Phantasy Star unopened complete with autographs on the line for this."

The severity dawned on them. They waited for him to continue. Issei treasured that retro piece of gaming.

"If the world is a game with only one try and no save states… Are you willing to bet it all join the man's romance?"

That made Masuda raise a brow, Issei was really hamming it up. "You're serious?"

"If we wanna get super technical about it, Life is really just a game." Motohama said. "A shitty game no less, with barely any rules, the system is out of the way and unknown to us, unbalanced as fuck and we messed up on our RNG rolls but a game nonetheless."

"We're just some side characters if that's true though." Masuda pointed out. "There's no way this is some multiplayer game where everyone is a player. We're fucking NPCs."

Issei nodded. "But what if we weren't? What if this is an MMO and no one realized it?"

The conspiratorial tone bled through like an open wound. Issei got crazy. No doubt about it the two friends thought.

"What are you getting at Issei? And why are even talking about something so… ludicrous?"

"Just let me try something," There was so much going on during the time when he woke up till now that he'd almost forgotten about the whole game thing. He hadn't tried anything about using the staples like calling for the menu screen or options so he was going in blind. But if he was right… maybe it could be done with verbal commands and the system was intuitive?

He raised a hand forward at the center of the trio, motioning for them to put their hands on his. "Let's make a party."

[Party System is currently unavailable at this time]
[Initializing Challenger System]

Issei frowned in anger when the messages appeared before him while nothing happened. Things were going to get awkward if nothing showed up and he was starting to look like a real weirdo that never left the chuunibyou phase. Masuda coughed to clear his throat, the sight of three teenagers holding hands like this in a way that was a scene about the 'power of friendship' was going to be super cringeworthy.

"Just wait for it." He urged.

[Finalizing system setup]
[Error]

[Trial Mode Activated]
[Would you like to create a Guild?]

"Yes!"

Instantly the tarnished gold and platinum screen appeared for the group. It spooked Motohama and Masuda out of their judging gaze at him and they fell onto the grass.

"Th-tha-tha-" Masuda studdered with reckless abandon before he covered his mouth to muffle a scream.

Motohama's glasses trembled in his hand, his mouth opening and closing like a dead fish. "Holy shit… holy shit. Holy shitshitshitshitshitshit."

[Please name your new Guild]

"HOLY-" Fast as the wind, Issei covered Motohama's mouth before the teen could scream.

He hissed, "I know! I thought I was dreaming but this is why I didn't log in last night!"


Word Count: 4,075