Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own either Kenji nor Highschool DxD. The only thing that could maybe be called mine is the absolutely asinine idea of mixing those two together.

Prologue:

Fist Kid enters the Fray

Cliffs, sand and rock, as far as the eye could see. The place was Shicong, Northern China. Through passing dry and frigid winds, the only things breaking the regions' monotone shades of brown and grew were shallow rivers below... and the two young men fighting near a precipice.

"Say your prayers, Kenji!", the taller of the two, dressed in a black shirt and pants, bellowed in bloodthirsty excitement, an euphoric smile escaped as his lunging punch neared the shorter boy's pain filled face. Kenji, the short young man currently fighting a losing battle, felt the freezing chill of death almost grip his mind in a paralyzing choke, he by all means should have already given up. He was exhausted, bruised and with several broken ribs - common sense dictated that there should be no way to turn this fight around anymore.

However, his opponent had mad a mistake. That lunging punch had an opening. He couldn't fight for much longer, but he could still survive if he just managed to execute a countermove.

Time seemed to slow down as the huge amounts of adrenaline pumping though Kenji's blood excited his fighting spirit. At the same time, his long and arduous journey though China had sharpened his mind, and eagle-like concentration filled his gaze, calculating every deadly inch of his enemy's strike as it got closer to finishing his life.

Kenji's eyes widened as he took a sharp and audible breath.

"YAAAH!", Kenji shouted with all his might, and in a flash he stepped sideways slightly and raised his leg vigorously. His aim was the taller man's nose.

CRACK

"Geh?!", the taller martial artist grunted in shock as he fell backwards onto his butt after Kenji's kick connected to his face. He clutched his bleeding nose, shock filled his expression.

After all, how could this be? A high kick? At this point in time? Out of all possible countermoves, the boy had taken the highest possible gamble. Firstly, there was the fact that he was in no shape to attempt such a taxing move without risking botching it, or worse, aggravating his injuries. And even then...

"Grh!" Kenji then clutched his side in agony, that high kick had stretched his body more than what his broken ribs could handle. He probably wouldn't be able to execute another one of those again.

Tony caught on to Kenji's degraded state immediately, however, he noticed his own body tremble, thick tears ran down his face, which also puffed up, and he was sure that he would be vomiting his previous meal not long from now. A concussion followed by several cuts near his eyes and a broken nose. A bad combination if he had ever seen one.

Quite frankly, he was also in no position to withstand being hit again.

Yes, both of them understood that they were in no position to continue fighting. And so, Kenji tried resorting to reason one more time.

"...Tony, there's nothing to gain from us fighting. Let's just end it."

A torrent of emotions exploded inside Tony's heart after hearing those words. Frustration, anger, disappointment and many others molded together into one, in spite of that the visible expression of those feelings never reached the taller man's face, who maintained a solemn and calm expression.

'He's too calm', Kenji though.

Tony stared at Kenji for a couple more moments, his breath was shallow - knew he was also close to defeat.

Indeed, he had no intention of losing his life here.

"You're right. I understand.", the taller man said. At the same time, his other hand moved to his back pocket.

Kenji released a breath he had not realized he was holding.

"Thank yo-", Kenji barely had the time to let his mind rest before Tony suddenly moved his arm.

A knife flew towards Kenji's body, but the boy barely managed to dodge it.

"Tsk!"

The short martial artist looked on with shock, fear and betrayal as Tony Tan pulled another knife from his pocket and assumed a stance. For all the evil and violence Tony had done, this was the first time he had resorted to this level of dirty tactics.

He had never before lowered himself to this level of thuggish.

'You... you...!"

Something clogged Kenji's throat, his pride as a martial artist flared up, his previous relief turned into anger, and among the thousand things he wanted to shout, one question stood out over the others.

"TONY! ARE YOU EVEN STILL A MARTIAL ARTIST?!"

In response, Tony's face contorted in anger, vitriol spilling through his eyes.

"Shut up! The only thing I care about is killing you!"

'Why...? How...? After doing everything you did, you still?!'

Kenji's jaw trembled, his teeth grit together and blood rushed to his face.

"If that's so, then I'll have no mercy!", Kenji matched Tony's blood lust with some of his own.

With quick footwork, Kenji dashed to Tony's space. This bold move shocked the taller martial artist and gave an opportunity to Kenji.

'Shit, how can he still move so fast?!', Tony though as the moved his knife arm in hopes of finishing his enemy before he could attempt anything.

"Hah!", Tony slashed at Kenji's chest. The blade drew blood but the wound was shallow. Still, it would leave a scar.

"YAH!" Kenji viciously applied his best move, the Heart Piercing Elbow, onto Tony's chest.

"Gh-!", the sickening noise of ribs breaking and the grunting of his opponent helplessly stumbling backwards snapped Kenji out of his glee.

'Shit! He's going to fall down the cliff', the young martial artist panicked as soon as he saw where Tony's stumbling was taking him: one of the deep chasms that formed the broken landscape.

"~! Tony!", Kenji shouted in horror as Tony's body suddenly went limb, his consciousness finally giving out from the pain.

And like a puppet with it's strings cut, it lifelessly fell down towards the deep below.

Ding Ding Ding

We're arriving at... Kuoh Town.

His shout of horror faded away slowly, like smoke in a gust of wind, replaced by the relaxing sounds of a train riding it's tracks and a woman's voice announcing the town in the next arrival point. Brown and gray dirt were replaced by a silver cabin with red leather seats.

Confused, the young man stretched his muscles slightly and looked though the window to his side, it seems they were now exiting the rural areas and are finally arriving at the urban ones.

"...Just a dream.", Goh Kenji, 18 years old and Chinese martial arts extraordinaire said as he tried not to yawn, the long train ride had sure made a number on the two of them.

Speaking of which...

In the same cabin, slouched against his seat and looking like he had not slept in years, was a short man (really short, shorter than Kenji even though he already was a fully gown adult) wearing a white shirt and brown pants.

Sigh...

Kenji frowned as he poked the man with his finger.

"Grmnnn... What? Kenji? What is it?", the short man grumbled as he looked at Kenji with that half-dead stare and fed up expression.

"Su, you really should've slept earlier. You look like you're about to drop dead any minute!", the young man said, exasperated at the older gentleman with a mustache and black pageboy hair.

"Huh? Hey, is that how you should be referring to your current master? It's not my fault I'm slow to get used to the timezone difference." Su Yu-Chang, Chinese Mantis Kung Fu master and Kenji's temporary instructor and caretaker responded. He tried to sound imposing, but he had little energy in his voice. The bags under his eyes didn't help his case either.

Kenji held another mental sigh.

'But you've had over a week to adapt...', Kenji replied in his mind, choosing not to bug the man too much.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know we'll be arriving soon. We should be heading front right about now.", Kenji said in Mandarin, pointing to their bags tucked in the storage compartment.

Su held a hand over his mouth and yawned, then eyes followed Kenji's finger and slowly made their way to the bags. The young man followed suit.

"Still, I didn't expect you to be the kind of kid that would be barred from most high schools due to delinquent behavior! The Union had to pull quite a few strings in order to find you a nice place to finish your education! Being suspended for an indefinite amount of time from what is supposedly a school for problem children must have requited quite a great feat!" Su Yu-Chang must have though the idea of Kenji as a delinquent to be extremely hilarious, as that managed to pull enough energy out of his sleep deprived self to have a hearty laugh. By now both held their bags in their hands and were making their way towards the train exit.

Annoyed at the accusation, but at the same time resigned, Kenji responded nonchalantly, but his words exhaled a distinct feeling of being fed up with the situation.

"It was not my fault. Tony Tan and his gang invaded the school out of their own accord, what else could I do but fight?"

Su Yu-Chang whistled in mock admiration and smiled.

"Wow- You mean you had a gang fight inside the school? Man that's really some high level stuff! Ahahahaha~!", Su only seemed to find the situation even more hilarious and laughed loudly enough to attract a few stares from the other passengers nearby.

"Shhhh!", Kenji desperately tried to silence Su before he bothered any more passengers, but it was no use. Su was never really the kind of guy that bothered much with keeping appearances - he'd rather do things his way more than anything else.

Then, his laughter started to die down and he adopted a more contemplative expression while cupping his chin.

"Right, I heard that guy had always been quite a handful... It must have been really tough for you, as young as you were, to already have a nemesis whiling to end your life...", the short master glanced at Kenji's expression briefly.

"But then again, you probably won't have to worry about him again. Hahaha!", Su continued as he patted Kenji on the back.

The young boy's face darkened at the implied message behind what Su Yu-Chang said.

The exit chose that moment to open it's doors and let the passengers finally set foot on their destination.

Kenji looked down as both men got out of the train and into the station, a few moments passed in silence as they looked for a taxi.

"Su, you know I don't like talking about that."

The short master sighed through his nose in a mixture of acceptance and annoyance, then faced Kenji.

"Look, I know that before the whole China debacle you rarely ever had to fight for your life, but that's just how these situations go. In a life or death situation your priority should be surviving, not ensuring that your opponent does. It may be harsh, but you'll have to get over it eventually."

"...I know..."

Su scratched his head and closed his eyes; looks like he may have gone a little too far bringing up that subject this soon. Still, he adopted a serious expression and gave further advice, the young student needed to hear this eventually, whether he liked it or not.

"Look, I'm not saying you need to do it right now. But what I want you to know is that it'll happen with time, however, first, you need to try and let go of it first instead of hanging onto the guilt."

Kenji then locked eyes with his master.

"You say it like it's from personal experience."

Su Yu-Chang does not shy away from the eye contact and responds with deathly seriousness.

"It is... Now..."

Su then suddenly slapped Kenji on the back. It wasn't really that hard, but Su's rock hard hands made even light taps like this feel similar to being hit by a baseball bat.

"Ow!", Kenji cringed in pain and started rubbing his back in an attempt to get the blood flow going, and hopefully easing the aching mark it had probably left on his body.

"Hehehehe~ feeling better now?", Sun asked cheekily.

Kenji glared at Su.

"Was that really necessary?", the young man asked with a bit of a grumble to his tone.

Su put his hands on his hips and grinned.

"Oh it was! Now Mr Grumpy, it's time for you to find us a taxi that will take us to our apartment! I can't speak Japanese very well, remember?"

Kenji sighed. The thing is, he had a feeling that with Su here, this wouldn't be the last time he'd be doing this.

Some time later, at an arcade...

Kenji mindlessly clicked the buttons on a fighting game machine, the resulting sounds resounded through the room, joined by numerous other 'Clack Clacks' as nearby players enjoyed their own games. Kenji couldn't help but feel drawn to the nostalgia of arcade games, so as soon as he spotted an arcade area while walking down the plaza, the emotional part of him demanded that he spend some time there.

He wasn't fully engrossed into it though, it was hard to try and forget last year's events, even during moments like these. In fact, maybe it was because he was more relaxed right now that those memories came flooding back with full strength.

He knew in his heart that he would never forget the China odyssey, but that fact that it kept troubling him even now was certainly unpleasant. How long would it take for him to come to terms with it?

The young man tried to turn his mind to recent events.

Not long after they arrived at their new apartment block, Su Yu-Chang barely waited for Kenji to unpack their things and went straight to bed.

"I'll be fine here by myself. You should go explore the town, Kenji! Just make sure not to get into trouble... but I guess that's quite difficult for you, hehehe...", was what he said.

Was he really that tired? He can't have been that exhausted if he was capable of continually joking around like he usually did.

It was at times like these that the young man doubted the Union's choice of caretaker. He admired Su Yu-Chang, he really did! He was probably one of the best martial artists of today, and a knowledgeable teacher to boot! As a martial artist, Kenji felt blessed to be able to train under him.

However, the man could also have a lazy streak a mile wide and be a bit of a slob when in came to housekeeping - Kenji doubted he would be of that much help when it came to cleaning and organizing things. Short man did know how to cook though, so that was something.

To be fair, the young man had already proven his resourcefulness and independence to the Union a long time ago, so maybe they thought Kenji could handle those particular activities on his own?

Either way, Su Yu-Chang should be here mostly to give continuation to his training in Taiwan, so Kenji should expect him to provide at least that. After all, that was the promise and the price the Union had asked of him in exchange for their help: 'To reach the pinnacle of martial arts and then pass it on to worthy disciples'.

Besides, after everything the Union had done for him, how could he refuse their wish that Su come along? Even though things might become very exhausting, he was already neck deep when it came to being indebted to them, so he didn't really feel it in him to deny their request, especially when they were going out of their way to help him once more.

As to what they were helping him with... Well, let's just say that Kenji's penchant for getting into trouble of the fighting kind had already been there long before he had gone to China. This had led him to being expelled from one of the most prestigious schools in the country and sent to a school for problem children and violent delinquents... and then being suspended indefinitely from that one as well when Tony and his gang invaded the school looking for a fight.

Japanese culture, ever the stickler for social harmony, guaranteed that, with these kinds of past deeds, it would be quite hard for Kenji to be accepted into any school. The young man had pretty much given up on finishing higher education before the Union offered to throw a little bit of their weight around and persuade some people to enroll him in their school.

His parents, especially his mother, had practically jumped with joy at those news. Kenji's mom had always been the type that highly valued education and stable jobs, so it was no wonder that she practically guilt tripped her son into accepting that proposal as soon as Kenji brought it up at family dinner.

Not that he was complaining, after all, they even got Su to accompany him so that he'd have a trainer to help him improve his martial skills as well.

'Still, is it really ok to just leave Su alone there for a bit? His Japanese is shaky at best and I doubt many people know how to speak Mandarin here, he'd probably have a hard time communicating with locals.', Kenji wondered sheepishly, starting to regret the decision to simply let Su be.

Beep Beep Beep...

YOU WIN!

The martial savant's mind flow was broken by the beeping sounds and colorful flashing lights of the gaming machine.

"Well, that was easy... let's see what my score is.", the took a glance at the leader board, smiling after seeing his nickname "KNJ" hit the top 5.

"Heh, I guess I still got it... Hmmm?", his time being prideful was short lived - soon his attention was turned to the same ruckus the people around him were watching.

"I-I-I'm sorry, but it wasn't me! P-please believe me!", a brown haired teenager exclaimed in fear, his hands raised up in a panic.

"Hah, yeah right! There's no use lying you harasser! You three perverts are known around these parts! You think I'd rather believe your bullshit than my own sister?!" a taller young man with black hair and a fit body shouted in anger, his hands swinging about, gesticulating his rage.

Next to the arcade's entrance, a heated shouting match had started between two guys. Well, more like the taller, more fit one was shouting and insulting the smaller, more skinny one, who was quaking in fear.

This is a situation Kenji was quite used to seeing, so it didn't take long for him to notice the signs of escalation.

'Hmmm, red face, closed fists, imposing body language... Yeah, this'll probably escalate, and it's going to be an ugly ordeal for the shorter dude.', was Kenji's cold analysis of the situation. The shorter guy didn't look like he knew how to fight either, there's no way he would come out fine if a fight went down.

Kenji's own fist closed tightly, he really shouldn't do it.

'Come on, run away...', Kenji prayed under his breath.

"Eeeeeek! Please! It's wasn't me! It was probably Matsuda or Motohama!", by this point,the teenager's legs were shaking, it seems like he was stuck in place.

'Damn it, he freezed...', Kenji opened and closed in hands continuous motions, this was getting to his nerves. He looked around and saw that the rest of the people in the arcade were unlikely to go and try to help the poor sod.

Whatever he might have or haven't done, it was no reason to beat some defenseless person in public. As hypocritical as it might seem coming from him, Kenji believed that solving problems with your fists should be the last resource, especially if it involved using your might against someone that had none of it.

There might be only one way to avoid the poor sod from getting beaten up.

'You know, I really shouldn't be doing this. I've just arrived in this new city, enrolled into a school, and I'm already thinking of potentially getting into a fight. What if I get expelled again? Will I need to change schools yet again if I do this?", despite these intrusive thoughts, Kenji walked closer to the two.

"Well, those two aren't here, are they? Then I guess I'll have to settle for just beating you up!", the young man had finally shouted enough. He closed his fist and swung it towards the brown haired teenager.

"E-Eeeeeeeeeek!", the teenager, for his part, crossed his arms in front of his face, terrified of what was to come.

*Catch*

"Huh?", much to Issei's amazement, the pain he had been expecting never arrived. Instead, as he opened his eyes, he was met with the rather comical image of a teenager much shorter than him holding the much taller young man's fist with ease.

No, in fact, it looked like the guy was feeling pain from having his arm caught in the shorter teenager's vice-like grip.

"Hey...", Kenji turned to look at Issei.

"H-huh?", Issei couldn't help but respond with a baffled and confused look.

"Let's run!", Kenji quickly responded.

"Whu-?"

Kenji quickly but softly sweeped the taller man's leg with the simplest and safest Mantis Kung Fu leg sweeping technique so as to not cause much damage beyond making him fall.

"Agh!", as expected, the taller man, though relatively fit, had no experience in martial arts and fell very easily.

Taking this as his cue, Kenji grabbed Issei's hand and bolted out of the arcade area and intro the plaza. Issei could barely accompany Kenji's pace and almost stumbled several times.

"H-hey!", though his shock, confusion and exhaustion, Issei managed to get a few words out as he was pulled along.

"What is it?", Kenji asked calmly.

"W-who are you?!"

"Ah, right. Sorry for being rude. My name's Goh Kenji, nice to meet you."

Author's Notes:

Here I am, KungFuNerd3334. There are too few Kenji fics out there, and by too few I mean a single one in written Indonesian, and since it is one of my most favorite manga of all time, I decided to rectify that myself. As to why it is a crossover with DxD of all things... I'm not sure I can give a better answer besides "It seems like a fun idea, so why not?".

Since Kenji is a relatively unknown manga, I'll try to be careful and properly give backstory and show the events of the original manga when needed, so that you won't necessarily need to have read the original to understand what is going on. I do recommend you read the original manga though, in spite of the fact that it might not be everyone's cup of tea, it's one of my favorites for a reason.

Obvious AU from Kenji's side since the manga technically does not have magical aspects in it (some of the martial arts and techniques in there are basically magic though).