NMHA Ch. 1 - Taking the Moon (Or was it the sun?)
Lunarunn Bael was, for all intents and purposes, a normal person. Until they weren't.
Luna liked to think that they were intelligent, if absentminded. Insightful, if indolent. Polite, if distant from most.
Luna also had a loving family, a mother and father who - while not perfect - did everything in their power to ensure Luna grew up to be a responsible, kind-hearted adult.
Luna was a college student, who seemed intent on doing the bare minimum to pass, happy to whittle the days away reading and watching videos.
All in all, a normal person, with an admittedly privileged life compared to many.
Though it should also be mentioned that Luna wasn't a Luna at all.
Luna was a Sol.
Unlike Luna, Sol was very much a guy, with all the differences that entailed.
And also unlike Luna, Sol had no connection to the supernatural at all, save an idle fascination with the topic.
Who could blame Sol, really? There is something fascinating about the way one can imagine the world around them, being influenced by beings far beyond the capabilities of a single individual. Wings of light, flame-filled plains of the afterlife, the end of the world... all of these things bore an explanation to questions without answer.
Indeed, one could argue that it was the pursuit of the answer to such questions that sparked one's intellect, and their philosophical drive. It certainly did Sol's.
Yet, at the end of the day, such mythos and ideas were simply that; memes carried throughout time, from civilization past to civilization today, to ruminate upon and build from.
Answers that man may not ever know, like 'what happens after death', may simply be just that.
Indeed, that was what Sol thought, even if he did receive some level of intellectual fulfillment as well as existential panic in pondering these big questions. He always did have a head for philosophy and psychology, after all.
The body is the vessel of the mind is the vessel of the soul.
That was the idea that Sol believed in. Ultimately, one could not function without the other, which couldn't operate without the third.
Plus, there was that thing called sapience that set humans far beyond the intellectual capacity of most creatures.
So did souls exist?
In Sol's perspective, they did, though it certainly was difficult to explain.
Was it that spark of individuality, the lingering idea that he was something more than the others around him, that made him believe so staunchly in the existence of the spirit? Or was that idea simply a notion of superbia, of arrogance?
It was these questions that had Sol lost in thought. So lost, in fact, that on his way back home for break, he may have not been paying attention to the road as he was crossing... at least until he heard the honking of a horn.
Eyes growing wide, Sol spun his head to the direction of the sound, where an unmarked white truck was speeding toward him. Far too fast to dodge. Far too late to react. Far too short a time left to so much as see the driver of Sol's demise.
In those final moments, his mind sped up; the world slowing down. Thoughts blurred faster than he had ever thought possible, and even in that moment before Sol's life was prematurely tossed to the wind, he was able to think one more thing.
As if a roar of defiance, a desperate attempt to get one last word in before Sol was to be separated from the mortal coil.
Yet, there was also one more thing about Sol.
'...Is that what I think it is?'
He also watched anime.
Then he felt his body giving way to the truck, and everything went black.
If the body were the vessel of the mind, which is the vessel of the soul, what would happen if one were to be wrenched from the others?
Would the soul simply leave to whatever comes next, abandoning the mind which shuts down? One could argue that, yes, that was exactly what happens, but then one must also discuss, what is it that makes an individual an individual? Is it the mind, the chemicals that make the brain operate in a certain function? Is it the body, the actions that affect the world around that person? Or is it the soul, the spirit of the person, the memories that become etched into the very fabric of that person's individuality?
It is impossible to tell, at this point in time. That does not mean that theories and stories about the possibilities do not exist. However, this story isn't about Sol or his physical self Sol's time on the Earth he knew was over the moment he got hit, after all.
But what would happen if the remaining one to two-thirds of the individual known as Sol were, at that point in time, transported elsewhere? If he were to, for instance, find himself in another world?
Cliche? Most certainly.
Probable? Absolutely not.
Possible? Who knows?
The body is the vessel of the mind is the vessel of the soul.
If the body of one person is mangled beyond repair, and the mind of another is lacking something to drive it, the soul already having moved on, then wouldn't it make sense that the soul of one whose death came too early to inhabit the body of another whose soul had already passed?
So Sol became a reflection of himself, casting a different face to the world around him... much like the moon casts a reflection of the sun on the world below.
So day turns to night, the sun to the moon, Sol to Luna.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
Blue-green eyes opened to the sound of slow beeps, and like most people who find themselves awakening without any memory of getting into what could only be a hospital room, began looking around. White, plain ceiling met with sky-blue walls which in turn met with tiled floor. Shifting eyes to the sound of the beeping, an EKG with what was almost certainly a heart rate pulsing across the screen.
'...Did I survive? That truck was going at least fifty...'
Then again, the person who now held the memories of Sol vividly remembered hearing about people surviving events of similar impact, be it tornadoes or drunk drivers. So it was certainly possible.
They didn't hurt though. At all. Which was strange; they were sure they'd feel horrible after getting plastered by a speeding vehicle, or half-incapable of thought by being drugged to the gills.
So what was going on?
"Beep. Beep. Beep."
As the owner of those blue-green eyes rose to a sitting position, they blinked in confusion. That brown hair, were they in a coma for it to have grown that long?
The left arm rose to run fingers through the hair, and met something... soft, in the chest region. It almost felt like a... pillow. But... it felt like the pillow was pulling at them a little bit from the chest?
Something didn't compute.
Slowly, those blue-green eyes turned downward, gazing down at what they were slowly realizing was their... female... body?
"Beep, Beep, Beep."
Something didn't compute.
Another hand rose to touch. It felt surprisingly good.
Another went below to do the same.
Eyes widened.
"..."
"Beep beep beep beep beep beep-"
Pupils dilated.
"...aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"
It was at that moment, that the soul once known as Sol realized the world no longer made any sense.
Loedrick and Thelastia Bael were Middle-class Devils; an offshoot of the primary Bael family thanks to Thelastia's bloodline. Lacking in the heritage that presented the Power of Destruction, they largely went unnoticed in the grand scheme of the day-to-day politics, and lived a comfortable life in the Underworld city of Lilith.
They had one daughter, by the name of Lunarunn Bael. She was a quiet sort, and never gave her parents much issue as far as arguments go. Though she had a passion for studying magical theory that sometimes led her to risky experiments.
This wasn't the first time she was hospitalized as a result, but seeing the ardent fervor she held for her magical studies made it all but impossible for her parents to bar her from what seemed to be the only hobby that lit her eyes up with passion.
How heartrending it was for them, then, to one day receive word from one of Luna's friends that she'd been caught in an accident, and have to rush to the hospital to face...
"Are you sure about this, doctor?"
Thelastia leaned into her husband as he spoke, tears pooling in her eyes as the two parents internalized the grim news.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Bael." the medical practitioner wrung his hands, shaking his head slowly from side to side. As much as he wished it otherwise, he couldn't save everyone, and telling parents that their children weren't going to it... there was never a time it wasn't difficult. "I contacted a neurologist, had Lunarunn undergo an MRI, and following that had a healer diagnose her. Whatever magic she was experimenting with, it's left her brain-dead. The, the lights are on, but nobody's home. Barring a miracle on the same level as those performed by the Holy Son... I don't think your daughter is ever going to wake up."
The tears started streaming down Thelastia's face at the confirmation, and her voice was but a whisper. "My baby... my baby girl's..."
She choked up now, prompting Loedrick to pull Thelastia into an embrace.
His voice had been all too flat, expression stony as he let Thelastia cry for them both.
He would be there for her, and drown his own grief later.
The prognosis from two weeks prior devastated the family from Bael's distant branch, Loedrick and Thelastia holing themselves up in their home for those long, hollow weeks. But they knew that they had to move on eventually, and were prepared to return to the life they had before... minus one, anyway.
Still, despite the fact that Luna was all but dead, they chose to visit. She was their daughter, no matter what happened, and as long as she was breathing it was only right to be by her side.
As much as they could be, anyway.
The bereaved couple found their way to the hospital, having cleared their respective schedules to visit their daughter. Thankfully, as well-off as they were the two could afford this with little trouble, and soon entered the reception hall, approaching the woman at the desk.
It wasn't long before both Baels trudged off to the room in which their daughter no longer merely rested.
Their 'daughter', on the other hand, was currently undergoing an internal crisis, made external by the rapid dilation and expansion of her pupil and the rapid heartbeat displayed upon the EKG.
'What the fuck? No, how the fuck- no, why the fuck- what the- I- I have no idea, what am I doing with tits? What am I doing without a *dick*? Why am I still alive after being hit by a fucking truck at 50-plus? AND WHY DO I HAVE TITS?!'
It could have happened to anyone. Many would have celebrated the change, in fact.
He was not one of them. Quite the contrast, in fact.
He was a someone who drew great aesthetic and sexual delight from the curves of a fine young woman. Someone who only bore the slightest interest in the male body, and even that was under extremely specific conditions.
On one hand, there was a part of him that was eager to explore new territory, but that part was completely shut out by the shock.
He couldn't blame himself though: any person would have their mental state undoubtedly rattled at the prospect of one day waking up in a form no longer their own.
"...Daughter...?"
Thankfully, before the low keening whine that was currently escaping those full lips could erupt into what was a full scream, it was cut off by the door opening as a man and woman, both with a timeless sort of youth to them, stepped into the room. A doctor came in as well, clearly just as surprised by the girl being awake as the parents that came to visit her.
The world froze for but a moment, until the doctor's pen clattered against the ground.
Then the world moved again, the two parents surging forth to wrap their arms around their daughter, who simply had a nonplussed expression that only grew more shocked when she heard the next words;
"Luna! You're awake!"
But these weren't 'her' parents.
'...Uh oh.'
And here laid the classic isekai problem of waking up in a body that wasn't yours. How in the world was 'she' to explain that she wasn't their daughter anymore? Or rather, how was she supposed to hide the fact that she wasn't?
Thankfully, it seemed like her panic was perfectly acceptable to said parents, even if said panic was for the wrong reasons. Even so, 'her' mind raced as a more immediate problem reared its head.
First off, 'she' needed information. Knowing what happened would be important in figuring out whether to break the news or to keep 'her' identity secret.
'She' wasn't sure they'd take too kindly to knowing their 'daughter' wasn't the same person anymore.
"W-wha- M-mom? Dad?" 'Luna' stammered out, and felt the embrace tighten momentarily, as if trying to comfort her. "W-what happened? Why am I bedridden in the hospital?"
"We will explain in a moment," the man in the room spoke softly, both confirming that they were in fact her parents and incidentally giving her time to think. His voice was tight. "Just... give us a minute to have this, alright?"
'Luna' could only nod at that. It sounded like 'she' had been on death's door or something of the sort, judging by the way they burst in and took her into a hug so tightly.
"So... what did happen?" The young 'woman' asked.
Several minutes 'she' allowed 'her' parents to hold 'her' in relative silence, the quiet broken by the sniffles from 'her' mother, who was clearly overwhelmed with joy. By now Loedrick and Thelastia had taken the two seats in the room to side by 'Luna's' bed, and the doctor had left after doing a couple quick examinations. 'She' glanced between the two, brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to fish for information.
"There was an accident," the father replied, voice turning grave. "You were working with some dangerous magics, and it backfired horribly. We thought... we thought you'd never wake up."
That confirmed that magic existed. Internally, 'Luna' sighed with relief. Even if 'she' had woken up as the wrong gender, at the very least 'she' had options as to how to explain - or explain away - a complete blank as to 'her' old life.
"Then, does that mean I'm in... a hospice right now?"
That got a shake of 'her' mother's head. "We were going to, if you hadn't woken up by next week. But..." Thelastia broke into a bright, beaming smile. "Imagine our joy when we saw that our daughter, she'd just come back from the dead!"
'Luna' smiled back in turn, shakily. "I'm... sorry to have worried you both. Was... was it really that close? I feel fine, great even."
Loedrick leaned back and crossed his arms, nodding once. "It was worse than that. You'd fallen into a vegetative state, according to the doctors. Not even comatose, you were just... gone. Your body was still alive and well, but you needed to be fed, watered, the works."
Their 'daughter' swallowed. Hard. "Just what was I working with that put me in such a state?"
Loedrick and Thelastia shared a look, the latter swallowing as well before speaking. "You mean to say... you don't remember?"
"No, I can't say I do. Not the magic, not the specific spell that went wrong, nothing."
That response was met with silence as the couple met each other's eyes again, countenances darkening significantly from their previously joyful selves.
Did 'Luna' say something wrong? Was the accident that hospitalized their daughter illegal somehow?
'She' swallowed hard, and spoke again, unable to help the concern that seeped into 'her' voice.
That concern wasn't faked, even if the reasoning behind it was different than it should have been.
"Mom? Dad? What did I do?"
That got a twitch from 'her' father, who bared his teeth and shut his eyes in a humorless grimace as he answered. "Soul magic. There was a ritual, and it went wrong in the worst possible way it could. Luna's soul was ripped from her body, according to what the doctors and investigators said."
He reopened his eyes and met her gaze pointedly. "All that was left... was the husk of her physical form."
Oh.
'Oh, shit.'
Well, there went the pretending to be their daughter idea. That wasn't good. 'Her' secret wasn't exactly a secret as Luna had so assumed.
Damn it, she should have thought of that being a possibility once she realized that magic existed here!
Apparently 'Luna' couldn't hide the shock on 'her' face, nor the cold sweat and paling expression, which all but confirmed that their 'daughter' wasn't who they'd initially thought 'she' was. Thelastia looked away with a conflicted expression, cradling her arms beneath her breast as Loedrick stared down the wayward soul with a remarkably imperious glare, hands to his sides as if to lift himself from his seat and storm over to you.
"So tell me, whoever you are... who the fuck are you, and who the fuck do you think you are to impersonate my daughter?"
'Okay... okay... I need a minute, I need a minute.'
Luna recognized she didn't have a minute.
'Breathe in, breathe out, use those lungs beneath those impressive breasts, put hand to face, and...'
"...Could you give me, like, five - no, ten - seconds? I need a moment to scream internally. Or externally. Preferably into my pillow."
Humor tends to defuse situations, right? Judging by the surprised blinks from Thelastia at least, they weren't expecting that.
'Luna' decided to take the sudden silence - save that damnable EKG speeding up again - as an allowance, and turned to grab the pillow laying on the bed and press 'her' face into it, using the cushion to muffle 'her' voice.
"Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuckity, fuck, fucking, fuck. Fuck! FUCK!"
The 'daughter' lowered the pillow to see the nonplussed expressions, the husband with a twitching eye, and smiled sheepishly.
"Heh... Uh... pardon my French?"
A/N:
First order of business here, I understand that isekais, particularly in this fandom, are pretty commonplace, so I figured I'd spice it up a bit. What if a manga clearly tailored for guys (given Ishibumi's penchant for anti-grav boobs on 70-80% of his female characters) had an isekai'd character who falls into the fairer sex? I can see a lot of awkward scenarios arising from that, and potentially humorous ones too as 'Lunarunn' comes to terms with her new gender, though I'm going to try and take a more realistic, slow burn style of focus in that plot point. Particularly in a setting where power is more or less synonymous with respect. A high school friend of mine said that DxD is basically DBZ but with tits, and honestly that's not an inapt comparison. Not My Harem Anime's protagonist though, she'll definitely be the sort with a subtler ability. As hype as DBZ can be, it's usually a lot 'cooler' to finesse something than it is to steamroll it.
The story itself will function much the same way, more delving into the world of the DxDverse, as well as the more behind the scenes sorts of interactions and manipulations.
And hoo boy, with the basically free-reign magical system in DxD, there is a lot that can be done behind the scenes.
After this chapter I won't use quotations for Luna's name or gender anymore as for all intents and purposes (aside perhaps from soul shenanigans) Luna is female.
EDIT: So I went and did some revisions to the chapter. It should ideally flow much better than it had before, though I'll leave it to those who read the chapter prior to determine it for themselves. Hopefully I did a good job!
