Note: In case anyone reading this is familiar with the old version, yes I did revamp this story. I was not content with the way the story came out as ideas were just tossed around left and right. Also the earlier writing was an amateurish mess. Thank you all for the support- End.

To sum up someone's life within something as simple as two syllables at first seems to be a disservice. But sometimes the smallest words hold the most untapped power. How long or complex a piece of language is has no true influence on the strength it holds. Think about it for a second. Words like love and war seem to leave a lasting impression every time they are thrown around. But such a word was unnecessary to describe his life. No. At least for the last few days, the only thing that could describe it is hollow. A hollow and monotonous start to the school year. A hollow confession. Oh and most of all, the hollowness in his stomach. He reached down for the gaping hole and ended up only drenching his hand in the heavy crimson mixture. With his hand now comfortably in his line of sight, red streaks flew across the orange sky, as his blood trickled down, landing near him. They say your life flashes before your eyes as you die. But the kid didn't have the luxury of witnessing every event. No. All he could think of was the previous day.

Ear piercing and grating waves of sound struck his ear in an absolutely merciless onslaught. His phone vibrated furiously on the desk, to the point of nearly falling off. "You know something." His voice echoed softly in the empty room. "Fuck. Waking up." He groaned and pushed himself off of the bed, with rather weak desire. Admittedly, the only problem he had with the morning was actually leaving the comfort of his own bed. Getting ready for school, by putting on his dark blazer with a basic white shirt underneath. "Bye Mom, bye Dad." He chuckled a little, waving at a photo. That was before the bright and unapologetic sun pierced his eyes and practically blinded him. "It's too hot to have this shit buttoned." His eyes shut to form a protective shield. Before long, they did the exact same thing but for the artificial and weak light in the classroom.

"Akiyama! It's the first day. Wake up." A rather annoyed voice called to the relaxed teenager.

Naegi raised his head to meet the dumbfounded eyes of his homeroom teacher. "We're just going over the syllabus. There is no point for me to be awake."

"Aside from a little thing called respect?"

"Oh, well I'm sorry Mr. Yagami." The brown eyed boy smirked. "Respectful enough?" Instead of meeting those eyes however, he met the top of his shaggy black hair. School rushed by as he slept through all his classes. Usually he walked alone, but for the past few days he has had a bit of company. It wasn't the kind of company where they come up and greet him, joke around or anything like that. No, this person hid their presence as much as possible. Tired of acting like he didn't notice her, Naegi turned around on a bridge, seeing a brown haired boy pass right by him. Behind him was a girl with flowing black hair down to her hips. She shyly approached him, maintaining eye contact.

"So this is really embarrassing but… are you Naegi?" His eyes darted around, landing on what appeared to be green hair that quickly disappeared.

"Uh. Yeah. What is this?"

"Don't you mean, who are you?" She says with a small smile and a heart gripping blush. "Well, I'm Yuma. I was just wondering if. Well if you would want to go out tomorrow?"

"Are you kidding me?" His eyes narrowed as he gazed at her. "This is supposed to be a joke right?"

She clutched her chest gently and turned her face to the side. "Oh… um. Yeah it's a joke. My friends put me up to it, sorry." She turned on her heel, hiding her face from him.

As he watched the only human that even tried to approach him walk away with a hurt look, he couldn't help but raise his voice. "Wait, stop." She doesn't even turn. "It wasn't a joke was it?" Her hair flowed side to side.

"Not really. But it's fine. You just me-"

"Where do you want to go?"

She turned just slow enough to let him see her lips return to a neutral position. "Um. How about we meet at the subway station and see where that takes us?"

"Sounds great. See you at 10." His lips curved up a tad bit before he walked home.

The next day he practically jumped out of bed. He prepared as quickly as he could, putting a light gray dress shirt on. "Okay so how does a date go?" His face dropped in the mirror and suddenly he began breathing heavier. "Shit, shit shit. What am I supposed to do? What's okay and what isn't? It'll be fine. Just be yourself. Wait what if she doesn't like yourself? What made her like you in the first place?" Lost in a maze of deprecating thoughts, time passed with absolutely no warning. "Huh… it's 9:45." His eyes blinked rapidly in hope that the time would magically wind back a good 30 minutes. Without even locking his door, he burst out, accidentally running into many people. It seemed as though one of them slipped something into his pocket but he was thinking too frantically to even notice it. Soon enough, the sound of people meandering about, mindlessly conversing hit his ear. She worryingly looked around before spotting him.

"You made it!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh yeah. Sorry. There was a lot of traffic… on the sidewalk." His eyes dazed for a bit there. "And nothing else."

"Let's go. Come on." She dragged him by his arm into the train. They emerged at a plaza-like area full of people but most importantly, stores. Footsteps bombarded them as if a stampede was approaching. To avoid the torrent of tourists, they hid themselves in an ice cream shop.

"Glad we avoided all of" He shuttered. "That." Camera flashes rivaled the unforgiving rays of the sun. He turned to see her eyeing all of the different flavors. With a slight smile, he walked over and paid for the two of them. They ate in the store out of fear that the heat would destroy the fragile treat. From there the two of them walked along carefully. She occasionally hid behind his arm, enticing an embarrassed glance from him before he avoided all eye contact. Time sped by fast and soon enough, the sun was setting. His mind raced as she suggested they go to a small fountain with a ton of privacy. Perfect darkness hid his bright cheeks as she dragged him up there.

"Naegi. I really enjoyed myself today." She smiled at him again, causing his heart to skip a beat. With a rather large smile, she placed her hands on his chest. "Your heart is moving so fast. Why don't you answer me?"

"Uh- I. I did too, Yuma."

"But…" She dug her head deep into his chest before turning and walking a few steps. With a now deeper and more serious tone she spoke. "I have orders." Her clothes went up in flames, being replaced with much darker ones. Though the revealing outfit isn't what caught his eye. No, it was the pitch black feathers on her wings. The only color that could even approach something so dark was that of her heart. A flash was all he saw before a spear hit him in the stomach, disintegrating on contact. The skin around the wound bubbled and sent blood spraying everywhere. His eyes widened and he fell to the ground. Interrupted breaths mixed in with screams. The wound opened itself more as he strained and moved around. He could feel every individual muscle tearing with his movements but the more pain there was, the more he was enticed to move. "Mmm. That's such a great look. Your eyes keep looking around, you want it to be a dream." She quivered slightly. Those shy eyes were no more, her true character bled through them. Malice was all that were in them, aside from a bit of pleasure. "Please don't hate me Naegi." She cackled as she mimicked her softer voice.

"You sick… bitch." Even the small words, 3 syllables, strained him beyond belief.

"Now, now. There is absolutely no need to talk to me like that." A flash of black and gold overtook his hand for less than a second. Those same spears from earlier pierced him repeatedly, leaving him to be a bubbly mess. "I'd also rather not have humans close in on us. So I'll just leave you here. Bye, my love." She exaggerated her last word before disappearing.

Being near death, time becomes warped. One can reminisce on their life. Every second felt like an eternity. "Can I at least see them again if I die?" He wondered and dragged his battered hand up. Blood landed on his face, trickling down in place of the tears he had no energy for. "No dammit. I don't want to die. I can't. I… everyone says this. Don't they?" He chuckled and shut his eyes, unable to view the vicious glow tearing through his pocket. Crimson streaks flooded his mind in slow motion, and it felt as though he shut his eyes for the last time and would never see the light of day ever again.

Morning eventually does come however, as does a rebirth. Many people say that coming back from the brink of death can alter exactly how someone lives their life, whether they like it or not. Naegi's eyes fluttered open to see his bedroom ceiling. No pearly gates. No angels singing. Not even a cloud in sight. Truthfully, relief washed over him like the gentle light bathed the person next to him. Wait, next to him?

He nearly fell out of bed, seeing himself in boxers and a girl in front of him, fast asleep. The covers tangled and yanked off of her, revealing her entire body. On instinct, that flash of black and gold appeared, revealing a pair of gloves.. "You can put your gear away now." She chuckled.

"That's a charming way to say d-" He paused then looked down at his hands. Sleek black gloves with golden dragon heads on the back of them were now on his hands. He pulled at the dark bottoms of them as she sat down on his bed. "You… um. You gonna put clothes on?" He asked.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Healing really only works well with skin to skin contact and you required a lot of that." She whispered the next part. "Well that and clothes are chains that only get tangled when you want to have a nice rest."

"Healing?" He asked as the crimson haired stranger began slipping not just any outfit on. No, this was the uniform for his school. The lovely sapphires dangling in the middle of her head shot a glance at him as her lips curved upwards. Messy bangs flooded her face which she quickly moved with an exhale.

"Yeah. Healing. You did take… umm… let's just say"

"A fuck ton of spears?"

"Yeah..."

"So either that really happened. Or I'm still dreaming and you're just a freaky part of this dream. In which case…" He approached the bed and looked under it. "Nope. No demons crawling out from there so it can't be a dream. Or at least not any dream I usually have. I'm sorry, am I not letting you talk? I'm really bad at this and haven't had much experience. Also like. I'm still not fully sure that this isn't a dream if it is then I shouldn't shy away from telling you how b-. But then if it is then that makes things awkward and I really shouldn't finish that sentence."

"Guess we got ourselves a weird one this time…" She sighed and commanded his attention afterwards. "Listen. I'm Rias Gremory. Whether you choose to believe it or not, what happened a few nights ago did happen and you are going to continue to be in danger."

"No that can't be. Yuma… she."

"Raynare's her real name. Pretty annoying fallen angel if you ask me."

"So her growing wings and trying to kill me?"

"Yes. It's all real."

"Got it. Look, I like your offer and all. But I really don't have much to live for. If anything it would just make my life easier if you had left me there."

"That wasn't what you said when you were near that fountain."

"Yeah well people's opinions change. It's not an irregular thing. Maybe it was just my flight or fight reaction deciding that I wanted to get revenge. But now I can see that thinking that way is useless. Not that I'm not thankful for what you did."

"People will die. She's after something and will do anything to get it. Are you willing to let that weigh you down?"

"You said they would hunt me down right? Then, it seems like I don't have much time to let it weigh me down. You saw what she did to me. There's no way I can stop her."

"Oh yeah, she surprise attacked you while you didn't even know about your gear, big deal." She explained sassily.

"What the hell is this gear anyway?"

"You see those special little gloves on your hands right now? That's a sacred gear. Think of it as a special little item within your body that allows you to do things. Everyone manifests their power differently, some people can make swords. Others heal and yours lets your hand to hand combat increase."

"What makes me so special?"

"Nothing really." His eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Calm down, see. No one really knows why gears choose to manifest in people, but the signs start at an early age." She rested her head gently on her knee and stared right at him. "Your gear holds one of the heavenly dragons in it. Fafnir, the golden emperor. He manifested inside of you and we could really use you on the demon side."

"Wh-?" The sound of liquid pouring into a cup came from the other side of the door. The door opened and a man walked in with a cup of orange juice and a hand in his pants. Or at least he looked like a grown man, having to squat to fit in the doorway.

"So you really haven't convinced him yet? Damn Rias. That's crazy." He exaggerated the word crazy. "We're waging war against Heaven, you in or out?"

"Where do I sign up?" Naegi stared at the red head, ignoring the man with the long brown hair.

"Got problems with Him, Naegi?" Admittedly, hearing his name in a positive light was odd and gave him goosebumps.

"Nope. I made up my mind as soon as you said other people could be in danger. I just wanted to test to see how you would get me to join you." He smirked and stood up proudly.

"First… you die."

In a high pitched yet muffled voice, Naegi spoke. "I mean yeah I guess that makes sense, I already have experience with that and well. I should really let her explain this."

"No you don't have to die… Hanzo." She said in a frustrated tone. "You're going to have to absorb a chess piece."

"That doesn't sound too har-"

"Your body might reject them and it might kill ya." Hanzo waved then disappeared through a magical circle.

"He tends to joke around at the worst of times. There's only a slight chance of that." Once again, that smile appeared on her lips. Cleverly distracting him from the fact that she tossed eight pawns into his chest.

On command, his body began to ooze sweat with absolutely no restraint. He fell to his knees and grabbed his throat, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Damn! It feels like literally everything in my body is being stabbed. My cells are trying to kill me." He failed at trying to throw up before she rolled her eyes. "No? Don't like that joke?"

"I was worried about you, idiot." She, once again, gave him a playful smile before walking halfway through the school. "See you in the Occult Research Club. Oh, join that by the way." She waved then all of her atoms disappeared from the room.

A surge of energy starting at his chest burst through him. "That's weird. Energy when I wake up. So this is the power of human interaction." He laid down and began trying to do push-ups, ending up falling flat on his face. "The power of human interaction is bullshit… Demon boosts, now that's something I can get behind." His eyes shut and he once again summoned the gloves from memory. Focusing all of his energy into his hands, he took a deep breath. His body lifted itself up, eventually reaching a completely vertical state. "Now to try and…" His body felt immensely heavy as he bent his elbows to try and lower himself. Real sweat began to trickle down his face. "One." He practically grunted before once again collapsing. "That's way better than I can normally do so I'll take it." His eyes met his clock before a shaky smile climbed its way onto his face. "Mr. Yagami's gonna be pissed. Wait, I'm a demon now. I can probably control him or something." After he casually went through his usual morning routine, 1 hour later than it would usually take place, he took a leisurely stroll into his homeroom, arriving right at the end of it.

"So what's your excuse today? Didn't find it useful to come on the second day?"

"Nope." He stared right into the teacher's eyes, willing him to forget all about his absence. He whispered afterwards. "Wait shit. I didn't ask how to use any of my demon powers." His voice slightly raised. "Can I get a signup for a club?"

"What are you interested in?"

"Shit shit, ugh memory not now. Um. Cult?"

"Occult Research?"

"That one?"

"Don't sound too confident."

"It's been a long couple of days okay. Forgive me for not remembering what definitely totally happened on Friday." His eyes formed an immovable thousand yard stare that even the sound of the bell couldn't break.

"Aren't you going to go to class?"

"Oh yeah. My favorite." He turned around after his last block and walked straight to the research club. He knocked gently on the club door. Timidly standing there, he admittedly didn't look too imposing, especially compared to the giant that opened the door.

"He's here!" Hanzo screamed before walking back to the kitchen where the sound of popping oil originated.

"My my." She had a hand suggestively close to her lips, her fingertip barely touching it. "So this is the newbie. Looks like a screamer."

"Umm." The high pitched voice returned. "Help?" He squealed slightly.

A spatula appeared out of the doorway of the kitchen. "Akeno, come here." All he saw was her long black hair turning around and going into the kitchen. "Dammit, that's the 3rd recruit you've almost killed this week. You need to chill. How are we supposed to fight Him if you keep killing all of our soldiers?"

"Help." He awkwardly scooted onto the couch and looked off.

"Naegi is that you?" Relief drenched him in a wonderful feeling as he heard her calming voice to contrast the violent actions of the other two.

"Yeah it's me. I uh, clearly finished your request." He chuckled awkwardly before staring off into the kitchen. Purple eyes, belonging to the sadistic girl, stared right into the window of his soul.

"Maybe there is still time to escape."

"Nope. From here on out, you are my pawn."

"That's a lovely way of addressing people."

"No, I mean literal pawn. As in that's the piece you represent. See demons are split up into different categories depending on what they are meant to do. A knight, like Hanzo over there can deal a lot of damage in a short burst but may need a bit of support and proper set up before doing so. A queen like Akeno, well she's basically a right hand to me. She can command forces as well as attack using extremely strong magic."

"So what's my role?"

"You're a pawn. Meaning that you stay close and protect me at all costs. If you get to the enemy base you can rank yourself up to the level of either a knight, rook, bishop or queen."

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "So what's the point of the other pieces?"

"You can't take their roles at all times. So they help balance out the fighting field." She chewed on her thumb, right where a slight mark was. "Or at least that's the idea, don't exactly have a full board yet. But for now, don't worry about combat. You will have to start by filling out contracts like the rest of us."

"So how many souls do I have to collect and what do I use to get them?"

"Umm. We don't collect souls." She laughed behind a hand. "We just fill out the requests and then the sheet collects the necessary amount of magic. Notice how it disappeared after you used it?"

"No because I was dying and I didn't have my pants on me afterwards."

"Forgot about that detail." She sighed then lit a magic circle under him. "This will let you teleport to your client's house. Tell them that you are from the Gremory house and fulfill their request. Some will be strange, it's fine."

A red not too far from that of her hair and his blood gently covered his face as he began to teleport away. Anticipation flooded through his entire body.