I don't own High School DxD. Ichiei Ishibumi does.

To call the past few days of Shin's life hectic was an understatement. The understatement of the century, no, the epoch. The boy was once again alone in his family's pub. Issei had called multiple sick days to get used to the fact that he was a Devil.

"I can't believe the Gremory girl successfully seduced Issei into her peerage," Vivi said, wiping the glass.

"She didn't seduce Issei. She just took advantage of his perversion and told him what he wanted," Shin said, sitting at the bar. Ran lay sleeping in his lap. He smiled as he stroked her soft fur.

"Still, that's some great marketing. We should do that here with the pub," Vivi said.

"No. Besides, you and I knew that Issei's dream was to have a harem. Rias-senpai provided him with the opportunity to grope all of the tits he wants," Shin said.

"When you say it like that, Issei comes off as a pervert with no redeemable qualities," Vivi said.

"He's not though. I just think Issei's being hormonal. Irina leaving just made it worse. After all, she was the only girl who was willing to be his friend back when we were kids. And back then, Ise wasn't even a pervert. Ise just needs to find what he wants and if he finds it through Senpai's peerage, then I'll be there to support him," he said.

"Aww, you're a good friend. I'd be surprised to see if you two weren't brothers." Vivi floated the glasses back into place.

"Hmm." Shin smiled and looked at the photo that had been taken a few years. It was before Kuoh, before Devils, before everything. "Even if Issei is a Devil, I'll work hard to make sure we could have good old days like before."

"Wishful thinking," Vivi said.

"Yeah but nothing's impossible. Especially since your best friend is a devil and your entire family is filled with Contractors," Shin said.

"Which brings me to my next point. Let's up your training. You've been slacking for a while and I think we need to bring you back up to par. You struggled with the Fallen back there," she said.

"Yeah, I did get rusty. Normally, I'd be able to fight them off with a bit of effort but it took a lot just to defend against two," Shin said, clenching his fist.

"We'll do it after you finish wiping the counters," Vivi said.

Shin groaned and grabbed a cleaning rag.

There were woods outside of Kuoh. Going into them, especially this late at night was asking to get murdered. Shin had seen many documentaries where people hiked in the woods, only to run into something that either got them killed or finding a dead body. Shin sighed as he pushed some bushes out of the way. Ran padded along behind him while Vivi floated next to him.

This was a place Shin had gone to multiple times to avoid being noticed. It was far from his senpais' senses and perfect for training his powers. Guided by nothing but the pale light of the moon, Shin stopped at a clearing.

The clearing had shown clear signs of activity. Fallen trees, cuts on boulders, a formerly molten crater that was filled with water, and a worn table with a grill next to it. It was his sister's idea to have their dad install one since the two used this place a lot to train.

Shin stretched, getting his muscles loose. He did a few warm-up exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups. Following that, Shin shadow-fought for a few minutes before stopping.

"I'm not as rusty as I thought," he said, clenching his fist. Shin poured ki into his hand and punched a nearby tree, shaking it violently. "Not bad."

"Time to continue. Make your pistols again." Vivi sat in the air, placing her hands on her chin.

Shin nodded and held his hands out. Water materialized from nothing, creating a blue glow before condensing. The water flickered and glitched. After a few seconds, two pistols of different designs were in Shin's hand.

Despite both pistols being black, the one in Shin's left hand had red lines decorating its barrel, all the way to its hammer. The one in Shin's right hand had blue lines running along its body.

"3 seconds. Your fastest recreation time was 0.075 seconds. You have gotten rusty. Do you even remember how our magic works?" Vivi asked.

Shin nodded. "The magic you taught me appears to be water magic but it isn't. This is a magic that allows me to reconstruct weapons and objects from memory. The 'use it once and I'll never forget it' type of power," Shin said. He created a glass, then a spoon, then a fork, and finally a remote. Each replication was made faster and faster.

"It seems you're getting back into your groove with this," Vivi said.

"Yeah. But, it's hard to replicate faster. It's been a while since I've had to use this outside of making stuff," Shin said. He twirled one of his pistols and fired. A red energy bullet flew from the barrel and punched through the entire tree and through several trees before stopping.

"I told you multiple times that we're not replicating these objects. We're recreating them by-"

"Yeah yeah, violating the laws of physics, blah blah." Shin dispelled the guns and everything else he replicated.

"Oi, don't be rude. I'm just saying that calling this power a copy machine is kind of insulting," Vivi said.

"It's kinda what it is. What should we do? Issei's probably still out doing contracts," Shin said.

"I think we should-"

It was the second time that Vivi was interrupted within five minutes and it annoyed her to no end. She grumbled as she motioned for Shin to answer his phone. He sighed as he pulled his phone out and answered the call.

"Yeah?"

"Shin, it's me, Issei. Are you at Hatch Potch?" Issei asked.

"No, I'm out right now," he said.

"In the middle of the night?"

"Nevermind that. Do you want to meet up there?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Issei said. "Buchou is calling for both of us and wants you there."

Wants me there? Shin thought. He looked to Vivi, who shrugged. So much for keeping him out of danger. "I'll be there in a couple of minutes so just hang tight. I need to pick up a few things from the convenience store."

"Haaah! I'm glad the sale didn't end this late at night," Shin said, walking out with a bag of eggs.

"You're right, Master. We did get lucky."

"You being in your human form while wearing that outfit made me look really weird back there," Shin said, giving the girl next to him a deadpan.

Ran was an inugami. Inugami were a species of Youkai that took the form of a dog. Like their other Youkai brethren, Inugami had two forms: A dog form and a human form. Most of the time, Ran remained in her dog form. It was something she preferred. But whenever the situation called for it, Ran took her human form. Now was such a time that Ran deemed her human form be appropriate to serve her master.

Ran's human form was a young girl, about the same age as Shin. Ran was shorter than he was, reaching only to his shoulder. She wore a pitch-black kimono with red embroidery around her sleeves. Decorating her kimono were white frills that gave off the appearance of a maid outfit. Her eyes were similar to her dog form's. Her left eye was red and her right eye was yellow.

"What would you do if Issei saw you? He'll think I have a secret girlfriend," Shin said.

"Master, if it makes you comfortable, I'll shift to my dog form when we get closer to Hatch Potch," Ran said, walking next to Shin.

"Ara, ara. Shin-chan and… Inugami-san?"

The two turned around to see Akeno, walking out of the store with a bag of groceries in her right hand.

"Himejima-senpai," Shin said.

"Ara, please call me Akeno. We'll be seeing each other from now on so we might as well refer to each other comfortably," Akeno said, smiling.

"..." Ran got in front of her master, holding her free arm out. Her eyes glowed ominously as she stared at Akeno.

"Ran. She's not here to hurt us," Shin said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But…"

"Ran."

Ran sighed and stepped aside, keeping her eyes on Akeno.

"I didn't know that you were in the store as well, Hime… Akeno-senpai," Shin said, walking down the street.

"You know the idiot I have to look after right?" Akeno asked.

"Y- You call Gremory-senpai an idiot?" Shin asked.

"Sometimes. Besides, it takes a glorified babysitter to know a glorified babysitter," Akeno said, smiling at her.

"Ughh, don't even get me started. Ise is a great friend and I'll always be there for him but sometimes he can be very… dumb," Shin said.

"I feel you. I feel as if Rias-sama's brain is smooth from time to time," Akeno said, giggling.

"In what way? Senpai's scores are one of the highest in the entire school." Shin had a confused look on his face.

"It's not that. It's that Rias is unable to understand how normal people feel from time to time. Like with your friend, Ise-san. Despite reincarnating him, she waited an entire day to go to him as if she expected him to seek her out himself. It was… a rather foolish move in my opinion," Akeno said.

"Huh." The two walked silently down the street with Ran glaring daggers into the back of Akeno's head.

"Looks like everyone is there. Ran, turn back into your dog form. I'll hold the rest of the groceries from here on," Shin said, stopping a distance away.

Akeno stopped and turned around. She waited for them as Ran returned to her Shiba Inu form and the two caught up with her.

"Does Ise-san not know that you know magic?" Akeno asked.

"It's not something I like to advertise. I'm trying to think of a way to ease Issei into it. My family's been doing this for generations. My grandparents could use magic, my parents could use magic, and me and my sister can use magic. But recently, my parents decided to limit our exposure to this life," Shin said. "Obviously, that's not happening now."

He smiled at Ran, who rubbed her head against his pant leg.

Akeno remained silent as they approached the pub. Rias stood there next to Issei, her arms crossed and tapping her foot. Koneko ate some snacks while Kiba just waved politely.

"Nice pub," Rias said.

"Thanks. My family worked hard on this pub," Shin said.

"You got Ran with you!" Issei squatted and held his arms out. Ran barked and ran towards Issei, jumping into his arms.

"Isn't that the-" Rias saw the look on Akeno's face and shut her mouth. Her eyes drifted to Shin, who was smiling at Issei and sighed. He must've wanted to keep this a secret if he already knew. And now, Issei was part of their world. It was only a matter of time before she and everyone else knew what exactly he was. She knew he was human and could use magic.

But where did he learn it? I've never heard of a magician family with the last name Faulkner, Rias thought, placing her hand on her chin.

"Um, so where are we going?" Shin asked.

"Oh, I was thinking of taking you and Issei out on a call. We got a report and we're on call for this town since the other Devil Peerage is busy at the moment," Rias said.

"I'll just drop this inside and we can go. Ise, can you hold these? I need to unlock the doors," Shin said.

Issei nodded and took the bags.

"Where are we going anyway?" Shin asked as he unlocked the door.

"We received a missive from the Arch Duke. We're going on a hunt for a stray."

The place that the Stray had decided to hole up was the most obvious of all places. Either devils watched too many horror movies or this one was actually so smart that it chose the most obvious place because it knew they would look there last. Needless to say, its plan worked. Shin's nose crinkled at the strong scent of iron.

Stray Devils. He had dealt… no, seen his parents deal with them before. His family was well acquainted with the previous Kuoh Devil Administrator. Shin himself had fond memories of her before her untimely demise.

"Issei, Shin, I think this is a good opportunity for you two to see what it's like in a fight," Rias said, walking forward with her hands on her hips.

"Oi, wait! Me and Shin? Fight? Isn't that kind of impossible? Neither of us knows how to fight that well!" Issei protested.

"Really? Shin?" Rias looked surprised.

"Yeah…" Now it was Issei's turn to be confused. Was there something about Shin that he wasn't aware of? His eyebrow scrunched in confusion when Shin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's talk about this later. Just listen to her for now." His voice left no room for argument, leaving Issei to nod his head in agreement.

"For now, I guess you and Shin will sit here and observe a battle between Devils. It'll also let you observe the traits that each piece holds," Rias said.

"Traits?"

"Yes, Devils who become Kings can grant certain traits to the servants they have reincarnated. Please listen. This ties into some of the history of Devils," Rias said.

Shin stood next to Issei as his friend gave Rias his full attention. Akeno walked up to Shin and smiled. He smiled back and listened in, already knowing of this history and then some.

"A long time ago, Devils were in a three-way conflict with Fallen Angels and the Big G Himself," Rias said, taking care not to say God's name. "All three sides had a vast army and fought for nearly an eternity. However, as a result, all three sides incurred massive losses and were forced into a ceasefire that continues to this day."

"Devils were no exception. During the War, Devils commanded legions of dozens to even hundreds of troops and lead them into battle. Devils with peerages had 20 to 30 troops underneath them but due to the war, they lost most of their forces," Kiba continued.

"I heard that a lot of Pure Devils died in the war. And while the White God's side and the Fallen Angels lost a lot of troops, we were still in a cold war with them so we couldn't let our guard down," Akeno continued from there.

"And so, Devils came up with a solution. We created the Evil Pieces," Rias said.

"Jeez. If she keeps explaining it, that thing is gonna get impatient and just… eat her," Vivi commented, staring at the shadow lurking in the warehouse.

"There are two shadows. Not just one," Shin replied, eyeing another corner of the warehouse. "It's not working alone."

"Well, to answer your question," Rias said, catching Shin's attention. "Devils with peerages decided to apply traits from the human game of Chess into their servants. It was also a bit of an insult since most reincarnated devils were humans. But since then, chess became a popular game amongst devils but that's beside the point. Devils who become masters are known as [King]. For the sake of our peerage, the [King] is me." Rias gestured to herself before continuing. "There are five other pieces, each with their own unique traits granted to them by the piece they hold. The five pieces are [Queen], [Knight], [Rook], [Bishop], and [Pawn]. This was a way to solve the solution of being unable to build an army. To give a smaller platoon of devils an enormous boost in power. And so, in the past few hundred years, this system became popular amongst devils."

"Popular how?" Issei asked.

"Well, it's like chess but different. People went around saying that their knight was stronger and started competing against each other. Because of that, a new game was formed where peerages pit their servants against the servants of other peerages. This sport is known as a 'Rating Game'. This game became extremely popular amongst Devils and they even hold tournaments for it. The strength of a piece is tied to their social status and to that of their master's. And so, Devils go around the world, collecting humans of great talent in order to add to their peerage."

"Like Pokemon, except Evil Pieces are Pokeballs and humans are Pokemon." Vivi simplified the explanation in her head. To her and Shin, it sounded like an elaborate dog fighting scheme than a plan to save one's race to extinction.

"But don't worry. It'll be a while before we can debut in a Rating Game since I'm not a fully mature devil yet."

"So Kiba and the others haven't…?"

Rias shook her head.

"Your friend asks a lot of questions," Akeno whispered.

"And they're not about boobs this time. I think it's an improvement," Shin replied.

"Hey, Buchou? What traits do I have and what piece am I?" Issei asked.

"Well, you are a-"

"It got bored of waiting," Vivi said.

Shin nodded and his fingers twitched. His eyes widened when he felt Akeno's hand on his shoulder. She sent him a reassuring smile, silently asking him to let them handle it. He sighed and nodded.

"She must be wanting to prove to you that you can rely on her too since you two will see each other more often. That or try to butter up to you so Akane won't turn her into a bat soup," Vivi said.

"Oh? I smell the sweet wonderful delectable taste of… human." An inhuman voice spat out from the shadows. The sound of footsteps echoing across the concrete reached their ears as they all tensed up.

Issei's face lost a few shades as a topless woman appeared from the darkness. Or at least, that was the upper half of her body. Issei took a step back when he saw the lower half appear. The woman's lower half was that of a beast with four legs, each containing extremely sharp claws and a thick serpent for a tail.

"She looks like a Chimera don't you think Vivi?" Shin asked.

"That's the weirdest Chimera I've ever seen in my life," Vivi said.

"Really? In 1,521 years? That's what you think is weird?" Shin asked.

"Stray Devil Vizer. By order of the Arch Duke, we are here to eliminate you," Rias said, stepping forward.

"Arrogant child. I'll rip your body apart and paint the walls red like your hair! Maybe then, I can finally eat that human you've been hiding," Viser said, leaning forward. She opened her mouth, revealing a row of jagged sharp teeth.

"She looks like she needs to brush," Shin said.

"How can you joke right now?" Issei asked.

"Just trying to lighten the mood man," he said.

"Now, let us continue our lecture from earlier. You asked what traits each piece had? Well, let's observe. Yuuto!" Rias commanded.

"Of course." Kiba sprinted past the two towards Viser, gaining more and more speed with each step.

"He's fast." Shin crossed his arms and watched.

"Yeah. Makes you wonder why he isn't doing track," Issei said.

"Let's start off with the [Knight]. [Knights] have increased speeds, allowing them to move really fast."

As if on cue, Kiba all but vanished from Issei's sight as the boy was no longer capable of perceiving him. But to Shin, he could still see Kiba. Compared to Akane, Kiba moved like normal and Shin had a much easier time perceiving him than Issei did. Though, even to Shin, Kiba had a slight blur around him due to the speed at which he moved.

Kiba suddenly appeared above Viser, sword in hand. He unsheathed his sword and slashed Viser across the torso.

"Sacred Gear?" Shin asked.

"Looks like Sword Birth… Did that asshole really try to make a Sacred Gear based on my powers?" Vivi complained.

"I don't think it was intentional. Besides…"

"Shut."

Shin smiled and focused on the fight. "So the midget is up?"

Viser brought her leg down on Koneko.

"Wait, but she's gonna get-" Issei's words died in his mouth when the small girl caught the monster's foot with one hand.

"Let's move on to [Rook]. The [Rook] is a piece that is endowed with immense strength and durability. A Devil like Viser cannot even hope to scratch her, much less harm." Rias looked on proudly.

"Fly." Koneko pushed Viser back and dashed forward, landing a devastating blow to her center. Shin winced slightly when he heard the very audible noise of the stray's bones shattering.

Issei's mouth was open, giving him the impression of a dead fish. He watched as the small girl had practically sent a beast that was possibly five times her height flying across the warehouse.

"And lastly, Akeno."

"Ara, ara, Buchou. What do you think I should do? Shin-chan, any suggestions?" Akeno asked as lightning crackled around her fingertips.

"Me?" he looked at her confused.

"With a sister like that, I'm sure you have some ideas," Akeno said, giggling as she walked towards the downed Devil.

"Akeno is my [Queen], meaning that she has all the traits of a [Knight], [Rook], and [Bishop]. With that, Akeno is the second strongest person in the peerage, behind only me," Rias said.

"Ara ara, it looks like you can still go a few rounds. Let's continue so you can leave me smiling and satisfied," Akeno said, raising her hand into the air. The sky boomed as lightning crashed into the downed Viser. She screamed loudly as thousands of volts coursed through her body.

"That's what she said," Shin said, hearing her statement.

Issei guffawed upon hearing the words leave Shin's mouth.

Rias sighed. "Boys… though, Akeno did set herself up for that one."

"She looks like she's having fun just like…" Issei shivered when the thought of Akane came into his mind. It appeared that Shin's mother and sister were of the same hat, considering that they were both like Akeno.

"Akeno is a natural at using her demonic power. She can control elements like lightning, fire, and ice. And also, she is an ultimate sadist," Rias said.

"Just like…"

"Aka-nee."

The two sighed. Well, Shin sighed. Issei shivered slightly out of fear.

"Ara ara ara ara! You can't die yet! I haven't even had my fill yet! The only one who can finish you off is Buchou!" Akeno laughed as she electrocuted Viser.

"Are you sure that she isn't a flight risk, Senpai?" Shin asked.

"No, no. Akeno is only like that to enemies. She's very kind to her friends as I'm sure you've seen right, Shin-kun?" Rias replied.

Shin nodded.

"Are they ever going to notice the other one?" Vivi asked.

"Probably not," he replied.

After a few minutes, Akeno calmed down and stopped, walking over to Shin's side with a flushed face. She nods to Rias, who then walked over to a smoking and scorched Viser.

"Any last words?" she asked.

"Kill meeee…" the monster groaned, wanting the pain to stop. Death was a much better fate than facing these people.

"Then disappear," Rias said, creating a massive red and black orb in her hand. She fired it at Viser, covering her entire body. In an instant, Viser's body disappeared, leaving nothing behind, not even dust.

"Well, that's that. Good work everyone!" Rias smiled at her peerage members.

"Um… Buchou, there's still something I have to ask," Issei said.

"What is i- Shin! Behind you!"

The others turned to defend him. However, Shin moved faster. He had already anticipated that the other stray would try to attack him from behind when the others were distracted.

A flash of watery blue light appeared in his hand, coalescing into one of the guns he had earlier. The gun with the blue highlights. Shin pulled the trigger. A bright blue shot flew from the barrel and impaled the Stray in the head, pinning it to one of the pillars. The stray spasmed as it tried to remove the blue shard that had pierced its brain before falling limp.

"W- What… Shin?" Issei looked at his friend with wide eyes. "You can..."

Shin sighed and turned around. He dispelled the gun.

"You and I need to have a conversation of our own. There are things we need to talk about, regarding everything." A blue light gleamed within Shin's eyes.

"Hmmm… so that's him. The Contractor… or one of them." She smiled. It seems that Rias Gremory had taken it upon herself to educate her new pawn and possibly, even try to get in with the Contractor? Her violet eyes drifted to Akeno. "Lord Baraqiel's daughter is here? Interesting…"

"Sophia." A magic circle appeared in her ear.

"Yes, Lord Azazel?" Sophia said. She sat at the edge of a building roof, observing the battle.

"Have you found Raynare?"

"I have. It'll be a matter of time before I can go in and get it. Should I eliminate her?" Sophia asked.

"It's your call. Personally, I prefer not to deal with this so if you could…" Azazel's voice trailed off.

Sophia closed her eyes. "It will be done, Milord," she said.

"Good and stop with that formality crap." Azazel's voice cut off as the circle disappeared.

"Hmmm, it looks like our interests align then… my fellow Contractor." Sophia smiled as her eyes had a faint pink light glowing within them. With that, Sophia spread her wings and disappeared in a black mist, leaving behind a rapidly decaying concrete in her wake.

Character Profile:

Sophia

A mysterious Fallen Angel hailing from the Grigori. An agent sent by Azazel to clean up the mess Raynare caused.

She is a Contractor like Shin, though her Sponsor has yet to make her appearance or identity know. Despite this, Sophia is proud to be her master's contractor.

Sophia has a very bad habit of walking around with a copious amount of cash in her pocket and throwing it at whoever appeals to her first.

/

Rias Gremory

The Heiress of House Gremory and one of the Four Great Ladies.

She is the ideal woman for men and women within Kuoh and is worshipped by many. However, despite the attention, turmoil hides behind those bewitching azure eyes.

Her heart is closely guarded against those who are not her friends, yet she has taken a risk and began opening her heart to the Red Dragon unwittingly.

Welcome to the end of the chapter. So Issei and Shin are finally going to talk about Shin and the Faulkner Family's past next chapter. I hope that you liked it. Please leave a like and review.