This is rewrite of chapter 1. I recommend you read it, even if you did it before already, since it has some plot points and dialouge changed.

Eberus

Chapter 1: Do you remember?

This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Just a moment ago the girl that asked him out for a date turned into a sexy dominatrix with black wings on her back, asking for him to die. And the day – in his eyes – was going perfectly fine! But he had to admit, this wasn't too bad. At least in hell he would be able to say that he had his killer strip for him before death. It can't be often a death like that happens, right!?

'Huh… This feels oddly familiar… The idea of dying…' As he had those thoughts flow into his head, he could see the spear slowly flying towards him. Like, REALLY slowly. It was almost like watching a movie in constant slow-mo, except you could interact with it and move at your own pace. Was this how super-fast characters fee—

"JUST MOVE, YOU DUMBASS!"

His body immediately reacted as he rolled away from the weapon, letting it hit the ground metre away from where he stood. His date, Amano Yuuma, blinked lightly and looked to where the boy jumped, smirking. "Oh~ I seem to have underestimated you, Issei-kun~ Don't worry…" Another spear of light materialised in her hand. "It won't happen again."

"Okay, this will go nowhere. Let me take the wheel." Suddenly feeling light, Issei fell hard into the small poodle of water behind him, making it splash and somehow dodging the spear once more.

Thinking that he passed out of fear, Yuuma, or rather Raynare, flew to the ground and decided to finish him off up close. But as she was two steps away from the boy, he rose like a corpse from the cheesy 60's zombie movies, a chilly smirk appearing on his face. She also noticed that it started to rain, almost as if the splash caused it.

Looking at her, only two words escaped his mouth before Raynare was forced to jump away from the sudden amount of killing intent she felt flooding from this seemingly normal pervert.

"Kurai Kiri.*"

After he spoke, black energy covered his entire party. It initially resembled some form of misty aura before it started taking physical form.

There, instead of the highschooler, stood a knight clad in ebony dark armour. It looked like plate armour, but the plates seemed to bend with every move of his body to allow the most flexibility, almost rivialing the human muscles themselves. On the chestplate was an engraving of what seemed to be a western dragon's head. His helmet's visor was in the Armet style with a slightly elongated muzzle. The eye openings seemed to be leading to an endless void.

That is until his eyes lit up. And the light appearing in them was cold silver.

Without another word, Issei, or whatever was inside Issei at the moment, unsheathed a sword that was hanging at the left side of his belt. It was a beautiful longsword with a handle and guard made out of platinum-looking material, with the handle itself being wrapped in deep crimson cloth. The blade of the sword looked to be made out of pure obsidian crystal and seemed to be sharp enough to cut through a sheet of steel with a child swinging it.

But what was the most threatening was the aura emitting from the boy. It was something comparable, in the fallen angel's eyes, to Kokabiel or Baraqiel going all out, something she only felt once from the latter.

But because of her fearful musing, she barely managed to dodge his slash by a hair, which he managed to nick from her. Trying to gain advantage over him, Raynare flew into the sky, but almost immediately any confidence that managed to gather in the milliseconds she flew just disappeared when Issei jumped into the air towards her, flying like a bullet.

Having no time to react, the woman got struck across her back, leaving a big wound across it, which thankfully for her felt shallow. Nevertheless, she screamed in pain and, seeing that she couldn't win, immediately started to run away. Seeing her flee, Issei made no effort to chase after her and just landed on the ground.

The armour dispersed and Issei stretched his limbs. But his eyes, instead of his warm, chestnut brown, held cold silver. He looked around with a hum, smiling. "I would love to get a better warm up, since we've been resting for a few years, but I guess my time will soon be up." 'Issei' looked into the water poodle, seeing his 'reflection' sleeping soundly. "Hope you'll get your strength back soon, Issei."

With that, the boy disappeared towards his home. And with him gone, the rain stopped.

Sona sighed deeply as she knocked on the door of the Hyoudou family's household. Yesterday, Rias laid down unfortunate news on her: the fallen angels managed to go through with the plan of killing Issei Hyoudou. Apparently, the flier that was supposed to be used by the boy to summon Rias in his moment of death was destroyed at the time of his death. And Rias' familiar couldn't find his body anywhere.

Feeling guilty for not being able to help him, Rias hoped that her childhood friend could relay the fact to his family. After that it would be publicly announced.

However, what brought surprise to the young heiress of Sitri Clan was who opened the door for her: Issei Hyoudou himself. The boy was wearing a fresh uniform while his hair seemed to be still wet from a morning shower. So what happened in the park if he's still here? Did they decide not to kill him? That the Gear isn't worth it? Or maybe he-

"Souna-kaichou? What are you doing here? D-did I do something wrong?" Said boy brought her out of her own mind, looking at her with a mix of confusion and worry – probably about himself.

Keeping her cool, Sona shook her head. "No. I was just passing by and I was wondering if you were ready for school, Issei Hyoudou."

That was very suspicious. Firstly, Sona never came this way, as far as Issei knew. From his legitimate source, he knew that her house was on the other side of the town, so her 'passing by' was such a big stretch that all of the tentacle porn he watched was more believable than this.

Also, since when did the council president come by and see if the students are preparing for school? Something was definitely wrong. "I told you, you dumbass. She's not to be trusted. Nor is anyone else from the Council OR from the Occult Research Club." Oh, it's that thing again. Was Issei slowly getting insane?

As much as he wanted to deny it, he remembered clearly what happened yesterday. From his date turning into a dark feathered angle, her trying to pierce him with a spear made out of light to his reflection talking to him and taking over him.

Then came the memory – less vivid than the previous ones – of him becoming some kind of knight and actually fighting back.

But this morning, after he woke up and thought it was all some kind of dream, his reflection spoke once more. And this time he clearly saw the silver eyes staring into his own.

"What's with this wimpy look, Issei? Look alive or the sharks will eat ya." The reflection laughed loudly, though no echo was heard despite the small space of his bathroom making it all the more plausible.

Issei was truly terrified by that, but didn't make a sound at first. For some reason, despite… THIS happening to him for the first time in his life, he felt very nostalgic hearing the distorted voice. "W-what a-are y-y-you?" Issei finally stuttered out, getting an eye roll from the reflection.

"I could be cliché and say that 'I am thou, Thou art I' and stuff like that, but fuck that noise! I'm your reflection and I'm here to keep your sorry ass alive!" Issei flinched lightly when the reflection hit the mirror on its side so hard that it shook, ready to fall off. Thankfully nothing of that sort happened, making the boy sigh in relief that he wouldn't have to explain things to his parents. "Now, let's talk business."

It wasn't a long talk, since the reflection didn't know much outside of the fact that Issei isn't a normal human and that, apparently, his memories aren't as true as one would lead him to think.

"I don't know why, but from the moment your lady friend left you to five years ago, all of your memories are… off. I can't explain it too well, but your life as a pervert wasn't real. At least until five years ago, where your memories seem real."

"Wait, lady friend? Who are you talking about?"

"The Irina chick, you numbhead!"

So Rin's a girl, was what Issei thought afterwards, before his train of thoughts moved back to the topic of his memories. If that's true and on that 'memorable' day he didn't meet the perverted old man, who did he really meet?

Now back to the present, Issei decided to just play along with the girl in front of him and nodded with a smile. "I actually was about to walk to school. Would… would you mind going with me, Souna-kaichou?" He could hear an audible smack on the face, suspecting his reflection face-palming. But he couldn't be sure, since the nearest surface that could project a reflection was right behind him in the form of a mirror and turning out of nowhere for no reason at all would definitely be weird and make him seem like an insane person. Which at this point wasn't far from the truth, as far as Issei was concerned.

After a moment of consideration, Sona nodded. That way she would be able to probe him about yesterday to see what possibly happened. "Sure, Hyoudou-san. Though I hope you have no perverted actions in mind."

Issei blushed in embarrassment and immediately shook his head in denial. To be honest with himself, that kind of thought never came to him while asking her about that. He honestly just thought it would be a nice change of pace. And he might find out what his reflection meant by not trusting her.

Few minutes later, everyone could see Issei Hyoudou, the local king of all perverts, walking alongside Souna Shitori, who's known to be extremely strict and hateful towards indecent people. To say every student heading for their academy was surprised was an understatement.

Issei himself was a bit shocked after his mind finally wrapped itself around who exactly was walking next to him. Six in rank regarding beauty, Sona was mostly adored by people not thanks to her face or body, but because of how untouchable and mysterious she was to most. Issei wasn't really a fan of her himself, but he still thought she would be a nice addition to his harem. But now… now he felt really nervous. And not because she was beautiful or her eyes were piercing him. No, it was because of her presence.

In the past, whenever she was punishing him and his pals for their shenanigans, he never felt it no matter what, but now… He could feel the imposing and dominating her aura was… 'Wait, aura? Since when I can feel those, actually? And how do I know it's those?' Immediately he glanced at the nearby window, where his reflection was grinning in his direction. More questions for later...

"Issei Hyoudou, what do you plan on doing after you graduate from high school?" Normally Issei would answer immediately, that is create a harem and become a Harem King, but after finding out there was more to this world than he knew, his values would need to be re-evaluated.

After a moment of thinking, he decided to answer truthfully, starting with a soft sigh. "I… I don't know. Until yesterday, I would say something lewd, but…" He couldn't tell her what happened yesterday because either she'd call him crazy or, if his reflection's suspicions are true, she could possibly use that info against him somehow. So he had to tell her a half-truth. "Yesterday I went on a date and… And I got dumped." The memory of what really happened brought real pain onto his face.

Pain that wasn't missed by the Student Council president. Seeing this, she couldn't believe she actually felt for the pervert. So, if the fallen ones decided to leave him alone for whatever reason, does that mean they planted false memories in his mind? Or is he just that good of an actor? Either way, she decided to play along with it. "Do you wish to tell me more about this?"

"Jackpot! The dumbass bought it!" The reflection pumped triumphantly with a grin. "Try not to screw it up and just say you can't right now or something."

Issei held back his eyes from rolling as he shook his head. "No.. I would rather not relive that evening…" Sona nodded and both of them reached the school entrance, where everyone started talking about why they were walking next to each other.

Deciding not to ruin her own school image, she turned to Issei with a more strict expression. "So I hope you understand why you should start focusing more on your school work, Hyoudou-san." Seeing where she was going, Issei stood up straight and saluted.

"Hai, Souna-kaichou!" She nodded and started walking off inside while Issei's friends ran up to him, asking him about why he talked with her and about his date. So people's memories of 'Amano Yuuma' haven't been erased. It was an obvious move, considering it was easier to change memories of one person instead of memories of everyone.

Entering the school building, Sona met her childhood friend, who was looking at the brown haired boy in shock. "I-Issei-san? B-but how?"

"I'm guessing that they didn't want to kill him, but instead tried to… I'm not sure yet, but most probably get some information about his Sacred Gear."

Rias frowned at that. "That doesn't explain the blood we found in the park…"

Sona nodded and sighed softly, thinking about it. That indeed was the plothole in the narrative. But at the same time, the blood was moving towards the church where they suspected the angels to hide. So… is it possible that Issei managed to hurt his attacker and is simply withdrawing information? Or…

No, it's impossible for a normal human to win against a fallen angel, even if they unlocked their Sacred Gear during the fight. And she could feel that his wasn't even unlocked. So what really happened there?

At the end of his classes, Issei was slowly gathering his stuff from the desk, thinking about small things he found out today.

Most of the day went by quietly, the thing in his reflection not speaking a word. At first Issei thought it didn't have anything to say. But later he took out his phone secretly out of boredom. That's when he found out that he couldn't talk to his reflection without anything that could reflect his image. Who would've thought?

Also, his reflection couldn't hear his thoughts, so for the most part he couldn't speak with it, since he'd just be labelled as a crazy person. But even then he could feel how it facepalmed whenever he was thinking something stupid.

Looking up, he saw his two best friends: the glasses-wearing, female body measuring Motohoma and the ever bald, always into Lolis Matsuda. "Yo, Issei! We know you're bummed out about yesterday, so we got something that'd cheer you up!" The most athletic of the three exclaimed and started digging through his bag. After a second he pulled out a box with very indecent images on it.

Without saying a word, Issei knew that his friends were proposing a porn night. But he wasn't in the mood for that. He needed time to find out what really was going on in the world. "Thanks guys, but I can't do it today… I'm just not in the mood." Everyone listening in on them gasped, surprised to hear that one of the greatest perverts in school was passing on porn.

His friends also showed surprise, about to try to talk him into this, but by the time they got out of the shock, he was already gone.

"Now that's a surprise. Are you sure you aren't going to go with them?" Issei shook his head when he knew no one was watching, silently walking out of the school grounds. To communicate with his reflection, he decided to hold his phone up and, to make it look less suspicious, he turned the screen on from time to time, as if checking time.

Not knowing what else to do, he started walking around town and thinking about what he really is. Because he's definitely not a normal human with what he did to Yuuma yesterday. Him… transforming like that. It was almost like something from a tokusatsu show. Like Riaon or whatever it was called.

He looked at his left hand and it's open palm, feeling really nervous. "I must be going crazy, right?" He muttered as he sat on the edge of the fountain near which he almost died yesterday. He actually didn't notice he was heading there until he looked around. "What happened wasn't real…"

Suddenly, the sky turned dark and Issei could feel some kind of dark presence near him, confirmed when he heard the deep, rough voice."Oh believe me, it was." Looking towards the source of said voice, he saw a man in his late 30's wearing a fedora and a coat, a smirk present on his face. "And I can confirm it if you want."

Issei got on his feet and started backing away, but he knew he couldn't escape when wings appeared on the man's backout of nowhere. "Raynare may be our leader, but she's obviously not meant for assassinations. I will have to correct her mistakes." A light spear appeared in his hand, but unlike Yuuma's, his was blue and constructed more for close quarter combat.

Something that was confirmed when, instead of throwing it, he charged at Issei with a battle-hungry grin. When he was about to swing, Issei rolled under his arm, surprising Dohnaseek that he actually was able to react fast enough. Most humans wouldn't be able to even move a muscle before he already skewered them.

Issei, however, was crapping his pants. What was he supposed to do now!? He couldn't fight him! He didn't have any weapo—'The armour!'

"I know what you're thinking and let me tell you – don't waste your energy on this small fry. Use just the sword." Issei whipped his head to the fountain water, where his reflection was letting out a sigh. "Just will it out through thought." Issei nodded quickly and stepped backwards to dodge one of Dohnaseek's swings.

"Stop staring into the water like some egotistic brat and just DIE!" Another swing tried to find its way into its target, but the spear was stopped by the sword Raynare told others and managed to make the deep cut in her back. "So she wasn't lying, huh?"

He hadn't time to be in stupor as the teenager immediately went into the offensive, slashing away at the Dohnaseek. Much to the surprise of them both, the swings weren't random or sloppily executed. They all went for the vital points of his opponent and no opening was left for him to use as a counter. That shocked Issei the most, who was sure he never held any kind of weapon in his hand.

But he couldn't complain about it. They were going at it for two minutes already, Dohnaseek constantly dodging the attacks. But he made a mistake. Being forced under a tree with no room to dodge, the fallen decided to finally block the blow, confident his weapon would withstand the blow. 'He's just a kid. I was able to block the attacks of Kokabiel-sama. Such pipsqueak won't do shi—' But immediately he ate his unspoken words when the blade didn't simply break through his block. It slashed through his weapon like it was butter, reaching his side. With quick thinking, Dohnaseek kicked the boy away, minimising the damage. But he still had a centimetre deep cut in his left side.

Both panted lightly for different reasons. While in the angel's case it was because of the surprising wound, Issei was getting a little warned out. "And with the armour it would've been ten times worse… We'll have to train your endurance."

"You're pretty good, kiddo. Though how do you know how to fight? As far as we know, you have no background in swordsmanship." He got a shrug of shoulders as a response. "Well… nevertheless, I had enough for today. I'm not risking my life in a futile fight. I'm Dohnaseek, Issei Hyoudou, and the one who tried to kill you yesterday was Raynare."

Issei frowned lightly as he took a more defensive position – one more thing he didn't know on any level except the instinctual – and took a deep breath. "And you're telling me this, because…?"

"Because it's a polite thing to do. Now…" His wings flapped as he rose into the sky. "Until next time, boy." And with that the man disappeared.

It took another three minutes for Issei to calm himself, the sword disappearing from his hand, alongside the sheath that was hanging on the back of his belt. When reality sunk into his mind and his body started fully responding again, the boy fell on his knees, tears in eyes. "What…" His head snapped upwards as he cursed to the skies. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?"

For the next five days Issei wasn't present in school. He excused himself with a bad stomach ache. He needed some time to think about everything that happened to him in the last two days. Two evenings and two different people tried to kill him.

And both times he managed to hurt them. Badly. Despite them trying to murder him, he couldn't help but feel guilty and a little sick whenever he closed his eyes, remembering the image of the wounds he inflicted on them, the blood splashing all over the ground and the sickening smell of the red liquid.

During the time he spent at home, his reflection was both very helpful with dealing with all of the mental scars he got while also insulting him with every chance he got. His entire role in Issei's recovery could've been summed up with: "Yes, it's not easy to kill or even hurt people, but we both know it won't end on just those two. So you either man up and protect yourself by hurting them or you'll be a pathetic coward and let yourself be killed. So suck it up!" While at first it didn't help at all, in fact it made things worse during the first day, he took the words to heart, slowly calming his mind and heart. Though it still scared him a little that he made peace with it so quickly.

But he still knew by the end of it that it was either that or death in this new world. 'I can't hesitate or I'll die… I can't hesitate or I'll die…' He kept repeating the mantra in his mind, not paying attention to his surroundings.

Because of that, he didn't notice a European girl tripping and falling right on top of him with a cute "Kya!" When Issei finally noticed what happened, he and the girl both blushed at how close their faces were. She quickly scrambled off of him and started gathering her stuff that fell out of the briefcase.

Without muttering a word, Issei helped her collect her belongings, which consisted mainly of clothing. For that reason he halted when he picked up a pair of white panties. His grin grew for a solid second before he calmed himself down, handing everything he collected to her. "Here you go, miss." He spoke with a smile.

The girl looked at him in confusion, not understanding his words, but understood that he was giving her clothes back to her. "Thank you very much, mister." She spoke in fluent English, making Issei realise that she didn't speak Japanese.

With a sheepish smile, he started examining her looks. Flawless creamy skin, emerald green eyes and bright blonde hair told him that she was one innocent lass. While her bust and bottom size wasn't anything to write home about – though the robes could've hid her full size – the whole nun getup made her all the more charming.

Finally done with it all, Issei shook his head with a smile. "It's alright, miss. My name is Issei Hyoudou. What's your name?" His English wasn't perfect, but a B+ was more than enough in his opinion.

"Oh, it's so rude of me not to introduce myself! I'm Asia Argento! It's a pleasure to meet you, mister Hyoudou!" The girl bowed deeply with a soft smile. Issei felt a little embarrassed because of that, not used to people his age acting so formal in his direction.

So, to calm himself and the situation, he just chuckled sheepishly. "I-Issei is fine, Argento-san." She looked up at him and nodded with a smile.

"Okay! B-but please, call me Asia…" The pervert nodded, making the nun happier because of that. "T-Thank you! Now… Could you please help me find a way to a church, mister Issei?" Issei had to think for a solid second what a 'church' was. He really wasn't that good when he thought about it.

When he finally remembered the meaning of that word, he smiled and nodded quickly. "Yes. Would you like me to take you there?" Asia blushed softly for whatever reason and nodded.

And with that, both of them started walking towards the only church Issei could think of in this town. But as they walked, both of them were chit chatting, at least as much as Issei's language abilities allowed him to, he couldn't help but wonder why she was going there. The church was abandoned about ten years ago, sometime before Irina-chan moved out to England – something that also gave Issei a reason to actually study English in the first place, out of a ridiculous fear that if he met Irina again, she wouldn't be able to speak Japanese anymore. Maybe she was here to renovate it? But if she was, then why no one else was here to help her find her way?

This was weird for Issei, making him immediately suspect that the angel people were behind this somehow. But almost as quickly he discarded the thought away. Someone so gentle and pure couldn't be part of such a vile group.

That was confirmed to him when the girl helped a young boy who fell from a ladder on the playground. Almost immediately Asia rushed to the boy's side, bringing the third time when Issei witnessed something he would normally never face in his previous life. Two beautiful rings appeared on both of her hands before green light covered them and the boy's bruised ankle.

It took less than five seconds for the boy's bruise to completely disappear. And apparently the pain stopped too as the boy's tears stopped to fall and he actually smiled when he saw that he no longer had a bruise. The boy thanked her in Japanese, making Asia a bit confused on what exactly he was saying, but she still smiled.

Things, however, almost went south when his mother came by. After hearing from the boy how she managed to heal his bruise, she took her son away while giving looks of disgust to Asia. Issei was about to give a piece of mind to the woman before the girl stopped him, saying it's fine and that she's used to it.

This didn't sit well with the teen, but the woman was already gone, so he couldn't do anything about it. The rest of their walk went by quietly. He didn't ask her about what that light was because he knew from her look before that it was a sore subject.

Twenty minutes after the boy incident, the two reached the bottom of the stone stairs heading towards the church. "Well, this is it! Thank you so much, mister Issei!" Issei chuckled sheepishly and nodded. "Would you like to go up with me for some tea?"

Issei was about to agree to her proposition, but a sudden dark feeling overtook him. He looked up at the church, which was the source of said feeling and shivered mentally. It was like what he felt from his attackers, but far heavier. Almost like there was a multitude of said angels. Deciding it's too risky to go straight into the lion's den, he smiled softly towards Asia and shook his head. "N-no, thank you. I have some stuff I got to do…" She nodded sadly, but smiled once more and proposed that maybe some other time.

After a minute, when Asia was far away up the stairs, Issei took off running towards the town, hoping none of those crows managed to catch a glimpse of him. "This isn't my week! This isn't my goddamn week!" He whined with a scared expression as he sped between the crowds of people.

That same day, in the late evening, Issei was walking home after he spent the entire afternoon in a café, trying to calm himself down. He broke down again after something bad happened. 'I'm so goddamn weak!' He lamented in his mind, kicking pebbles as he walked down the street.

In the meanwhile, his reflection was nagging him that he should finally start those endurance exercises if he wanted to survive. But Issei wasn't in the mood to listen to… himself, so he put on his earphones and started listening to some music. It helped him relax and reflect on his possible choice.

He could try and beat his opponents on their own turf and learn what they want from him, but he didn't know how many of them are there in this church, IF they are in the church and not anywhere else. Or he could play defensively and wait for another one to attack him so that he could capture them and get some information that way. But it would be harder to break their morale if he simply beat one at the time instead of attacking everyone at once.

Before he could question why the thoughts of interrogation came so easily to him, his musing was halted when he noticed that a certain house had its door left ajar. Something that was indeed suspicious because no normal person would leave an entrance door open at such an hour unless they were rich and had bodyguards standing there.

"Shit… I should calm down and call the police…" Issei muttered to himself, but felt as he started approaching the door. Panic came over him, unable to stop himself. He knew it wasn't his reflection controlling him, but at the same time it was not his choice to do this. His reflection chuckled dryly as if to say 'You won't guess what it is.'

Taking a deep breath, Issei gave in and stepped inside, looking around. No light was on anywhere except the room on the right of the hall he was in. And leading to it was a thin trail of a certain red liquid. 'Fuck!'

Gulping softly, Issei started walking faster in the direction of the blood trail and peeked into the room, only to have his blood freeze in fear.

There hung a bloody body, or at least something that once resembled a body, all cut up and mutilated. Intestines were hanging from the person's stomach, that was hastily cut open. Some kind of cloth was hanging from the open mouth, probably used to gag and muffle the screams that came out of them during the torturous death.

"Come on! Stop jumping around, you shitty devil!" Issei almost jumped in place when he heard a voice that sounded like something ripped right off some horror anime. Looking to the left, he could see a man not too much older than him – probably four years or so – in a long, blue coat, grey pants and wielding a gun and something that could only be described as a short lightsaber. Not even seeing his face and the look in his eyes, Issei was more than sure that he was the source of that mad voice.

However the person facing the freak was the one that surprised him far more. It was no other than the mascot of the Kuoh Academy, Koneko Toujou. And she was staring right at him with wide eyes. "Issei-senpai…?"

And the psycho noticed immediately, turning towards the boy with a sickening grin. "Issei? So you're the boy that managed to beat both RayRay and the fedora?! REALLY!?"

Issei frowned, ignoring the confused look of the albino girl. "Maybe? And you are?"

"Freed Sellzen! Your local exorcist! I banish the evil, kill the shitty devils and!" The man danced around, still keeping a muzzle pointed at the young girl. But as he was finishing his little prance, he bowed deeply. "Punish sinners. Like this man!" His sword pointed at the corpse hanging on the wall.

Issei didn't avert his eyes from the crazy guy in front of him, his sword materialising by his side. That surprised the little girl even more and intrigued the psycho. "Confirmed psychopath, murderer and you aim a gun at a defenseless girl… You're already dead and you don't even know it."

The man laughed, in a manner matching his obvious insanity, taking aim off his initial target. "Defenceless!? Do you even know what that whelp is!?" Koneko tried to escape the man's reach, but was stopped when he fired a bullet, hitting the wall right next to her head. "This is a devil, a being that steals souls and gives shitty things for it! You really want to save someone like that!?" Issei's head unconsciously snapped towards the girl, who just looked away, confirming what the man said.

"Devil, huh? Should've guessed so… Well, at least we know who's been keeping tabs on us. We'll deal with them after we take care of those annoying crows!" Issei ignored his reflection, who appeared in blood, as there was no other place it could, and unsheathed his sword.

"Koneko… Get out of here. We'll talk later."

"Issei-sen—" She didn't have to answer as the exorcist was aiming for her head, ready to shoot her down.

But Issei was moving the moment he finished his sentence, hitting the man with the hilt of his weapon. The force behind the hit was enough for Freed to drop his aim from Koneko. "NOW!" Hesitating for a moment, Toujou finally decided to retreat for now and call her master for reinforcements.

When Koneko was out of the room, Issei jumped back, just in time to dodge a slash from Freed. "GODDAMNIT! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Immediately, shots came from Issei's opponent. He was about to dodge when his arm moved on its own and deflected the bullets with his sword. "THE FUCK!?" More bullets flew, all deflected as Issei once more dashed at his opponent.

When the last bullet in the magazine was, like others, ineffective, Issei was already arm's reach away from the priest. And he decided not to waste his chance. Immediately he slashed vertically, cutting through the man's gun. And fingers. "What? That's all? Don't make me la—" But it wasn't visible until seconds later, when the weapon fell to the ground, falling apart, with all of his fingers. It took around five seconds for Freed's brain to fully comprehend what happened. But when it did, he yelled like possessed. "FUUUUUUUUUCK!"

Issei didn't give him any chances. Another slash and his palm was open, making the upper half of it hang like ripped off skin. "You don't deserve mercy from me…" He raised his sword, ready to pierce the man's chest, when…

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!" He heard a familiar voice scream behind him. Looking at the entrance, he saw Asia, yelling in a mix of shock, fear and disgust as her eyes were glued to the corpse.

Freed, taking this chance, slashed Issei's cheek and jumped up to the blondie. "Asia-chan~! Please heal me~!"

But the girl wasn't responding to his request. Instead, she had a question on her mind. "F-Father S-S-Sellzen… W-what's that?" She pointed at the body, her hand shaking terribly.

"That? Beautiful, isn't it~? That's what happens to the sinners making deals with devils!" Issei growled loudly and thrusted the tip of his sword at the priest, who barely dodged his attack. "And here we have another sinner to punish~!"

Asia slowly turned her head left to meet Issei's gaze, who now looked at her in worry. "Asia…? What are you doing here?" The blonde looked at his sword in fear.

"Oh~? Do you know each other? Now, if that isn't a coincidence of a century~ Two sinners that helped a devil, now looking at each other from opposite sides of conflict~" But obviously Sellzen wouldn't shut up, making Issei once again shift into anger. This distraction caused him not to notice his reflection frowning in worry.

"Asia, stay away from that psycho!" He spoke, but Freed already moved behind Asia, holding a sword against her neck.

"Ah, ah, ah~ Don't move or else I'll be forced to end our cute Asia-chan's sweet little life~" Issei looked at him with fury, hands shaking, ready to choke the man in front of him. Threatening to kill someone as innocent as Asia… That was unforgivable!

But thankfully, before he could do anything highly risky, someone came to the rescue. A fist hit the back of Freed's head, making him lose a grip on his sword and letting Asia escape from his clutches.

Issei's eyes widened when in the entrance he saw the entirety of the Occult Research Club. And they seemed just as surprised to see him wielding a sword. "Issei Hyoudou!?" Rias Gremory, club president, sent the boy a questioning look, which he ignored, instead focusing on his enemy, who was currently slowly rising from the ground.

"OWOWOW! That hurt, you know!?" He growled and took something out of his pocket before throwing it on the ground. There was a huge flash with a bang, leaving everyone dazed.

After Issei's eyes readjusted to the light around him, he saw that the psycho was gone. And with him Asia. "No… No, no, no!" He immediately headed for the exit, but was stopped by Akeno Himejima, vice-president. "Let me go! I need to go save Asia!"

"No, Issei. You need to explain a few things to us." Rias nodded towards Akeno, who started a teleportation spell. Issei tried to break out and run after Asia and the crazy Freed, but another hand stopped him from doing so, this one holding him tight in his spot. When he looked at who it was, he saw the petite Koneko keeping a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Let me G—" And with that scream, Issei and the entirety of ORC disappeared in a bright light.

"—OOOOOOOO!" When Issei opened up his eyes, he noticed that they were no longer in the living room of the exorcist's victim, but rather in a nice looking room with antique furniture, candles and few paintings, that made it all the more obvious where they were.

Akeno and Koneko let go of Issei, who immediately jumped away from them, sword ready to attack. "Issei, please calm down! We mean you no harm!" Rias spoke, slowly taking a step forward.

"Why should I believe you!? Recently, I was attacked by two people with wings, wielding spears made of freakin' light!" He growled, getting into a defensive position. "Then, days later, I am forced to fight a fucked up priest and immediately I found out that apparently, and sorry if I'm wrong, you're all goddamn DEVILS! So sorry if I'm not going to immediately trust you."

Rias sighed deeply and nodded. "I understand and I'm sorry for all that has happened to you recently. We will gladly explain everything to you." Issei shook his head and started taking steps towards the exit.

"Right now I don't need an explanation. I need to save my friend. Then we can talk!" He was about to exit the room, when he felt movement behind him. He turned to try and push the person away, but stopped when he saw Himejima standing there with a concerned look.

"Issei-kun, do you plan on going there in your state? You seem completely exhausted." His eyes widened when he realised that he indeed was short on breath. Now that the adrenaline died down, he could feel his muscles aching from the amount of stress he had put them in. But his hand was still holding tightly onto his sword. "You should rest. I could make you some tea."

When Issei looked at them all, he felt no negative intent from them. No malice, hatred or anything like that. They genuinely wanted to just talk to him. But his reflection wasn't as positive about that as Issei himself was. "They are trying to fool you. Don't believe them. You cannot trust them." It was part of him, so it must've showed what he thought somewhere deeply inside. But right now, he couldn't help but let his sword disappear in a dark mist. "Idiot, fooled by smiles and big tits."

"F-fine… But when I'll rest up, I'm immediately going to that stupid church." He slowly walked towards the nearby couch and sat down, looking at them with unsure eyes. After a minute of silence, Issei was given a cup of tea by Akeno, which he accepted. "T-Thank you…"

Rias, who moved to her seat, looked at the young boy sipping on his tea softly. "So… How about we start by introducing ourselves? My name is Rias Gremory, I'm a third year at Kuoh Academy's High School Division, club president of Occultist Research Club, heiress of Gremory Clan and King of my peerage."

Next one to speak was Akeno, who after handing everyone their tea stood next to her King. "I am Akeno Himejima, third year like Rias, vice-president of our club and Queen of Rias's peerage." Afterwards, Yuuto approached Issei and extended his hand for a shake. Under normal circumstances Issei would just push his hand away under the pretext of 'not bonding with disgusting pretty boys', but when he was in the middle of unsure territory, he had to establish he didn't plan on fighting a battle he would lose in his current state.

So he took his hand and shook it softly. Prince Charming had a strong grip, that was certain. "Yuuto Kiba, second year and Knight of Rias-san's peerage."

"Koneko Toujou. First year. Rook." Issei looked at the last person of the group, the petite underclasmate of his, who was casually nibbling on a chocolate bar.

When they all introduced themselves, rather shortly, he noted, it was his turn to say something about himself. Taking a soft breath in, he set his half empty cup of tea and glanced at everyone with an unsure look. "I'm… Issei Hyoudou. Second year of high school, member of the Perverted Trio… And I have no idea what the hell I am…" He squeezed his left fist softly to keep his unstable emotions in check. "Until recently, I was unaware of the other side of the world, living a simple life of a pervert… But then I was attacked by a person with black wings who I can only guess is named Raynare, from what the other one said…" They all watched him in interest as he started talking about himself.

"Another one?" Spoke Rias, interested in what he said. "Can you elaborate on that."

Feeling like he screwed himself on that one, Issei decided to explain the few events that pushed him deeper and deeper into the mess he found himself in, leaving out his reflection and the armour. This would allow him to have an ace in case they turned on him. He couldn't be sure of them. They WERE devils, after all. He also skipped Asia's power, because again, devils.

After he was done with his rather brief explanation, silence overtook them all for a second or two as all present were thinking over all the new information they had obtained. "That… is quite explanatory. Though I am surprised that you managed to wound a fallen angel just after obtaining a Sacred Gear."

Issei's eyelids clapped softly, confused at the unfamiliar terms she used. "Fallen angel? Sacred Gear? What's that?" Giving a momentary glance at his reflection in the tea, he could see that it wasn't confused at all… Something to talk about later.

Rias, realising that he had no one to explain jack diddly crap to him about the supernatural, sighed lightly before a kind smile appeared on her face. "Guess there are a few things I should explain to you, right?"

And that's when the second part of their talk started. Rias started explaining concepts like the Three Factions, Sacred Gears and such. She got into great details regarding the Great War before going into the fragile political state between everyone in the new state of the world. She also touched gently upon the reincarnation system in devil society, why it was created and its benefits, hoping to convince her kouhai into joining her peerage. She also didn't omit the possibility of him creating a harem if he became one of them.

But here laid the problem: Had she approached him just after his first attack and chosen her words right, she might've been able to convince him easily with what she proposed. But now, after facing a few life threatening situations, seeing how bad it is for him despite him being just a human and meeting someone who he couldn't help but prioritise over his selfish desires, it would be a Sisyphean work to try and get him to become her literal Pawn.

But at the moment she still focused on something completely different. "So, mind showing us your sword?"

Unsure what to do, Issei looked down to his tea, hoping to get advice from his reflection. "Sure, go for it. Not like they'll get much from it." The grin on its face told Issei this was going to be interesting at the very least.

Finishing his cup, Issei willed out his sword and unsheathed it, showing it to them. First to examine it up close was Yuuto, the one who was the most familiar with swords of any kind. But he was both very surprised and intrigued by the black blade. "I've never seen a weapon like that in my life, nor have I heard of anything similar to it. What is it called?"

Issei looked at the blade itself, about to voice his lack of knowledge. But for a split second he felt a sharp brain in his temple regions as his mind seemed to recognize it. "It… doesn't have a name." Yuuto frowned at that, but let it go.

"Alright then… mind letting me hold it?" Shrugging softly, Issei handed it slowly to the blond boy, who grasped it firmly. But the moment Issei let go of the blade, it went straight to the ground with Kiba himself, getting most of the blade stuck in the ground. "W-What? It's suddenly so heavy!" Fruitlessly, Yuuto tried to pull the weapon up. After a few seconds of trying he gave up, panting softly. "K-Koneko-san? A little help?"

The girl just nodded her head and rose from her seat, walking up to the hilt before pulling on the weapon softly. But it wouldn't budge even an inch. Trying again, this time with more strength, it came to everyone's attention this weapon wasn't an ordinary one. But at the same time, it wasn't a Sacred Gear either, from what Rias could note, since she could feel the boy's Gear in his lower left arm.

Issei was the most surprised of them all, not expecting the devils, who he could feel were a bit stronger physically than him, unable to even make the sword budge. When he glanced at his reflection, the sheer amount of shits and giggles from it was amusing to Issei to a certain degree. Breaking his stare from the mirror, Issei approached the hilt. "Is it really that heavy…?" He asked, pulling out the sword just fine, without any problems. "Huh…"

Sheathing his sword and letting it disappear, Issei sat back down on his seat, looking at everyone, unsure what to say now. Rias, thankfully or not, broke the silence. "Well, that was… something…" Everyone nodded in agreement, unable to find anything that could describe this weird happening better. "But nevertheless, I would like to extend to you a certain proposition."

Issei looked up at Rias as she placed in front of her all of the chest pieces she hadn't used. "I would like you to join my peerage. Outside of everything I already said about reincarnation, you will also gain full protection from my Clan and there will be a lot of chances for you to increase your power."

"But in exchange you lose your freedom, you have to answer to her and their leaders, you're weak to light and holy stuff AND most of the world power will hate you for what you are." Retorted his reflection, giving some valid points regarding all the negatives coming with him reincarnating. "Is it really worth it?"

After a few seconds of thinking, Issei asked a question about the single thing that was lurking in his mind all this time. "And what about Asia? Will I be able to save her after I'm reincarnated?" Rias flinched ever so gently, confirming his suspicions. For political reasons, she wouldn't let him save the first person he felt was his real friend. Even Matsuda and Motohoma weren't making him feel like that. Sighing softly, he raised himself from the couch once more. "I'm sorry then, but I'll say no. I need to save her no matter what. And I won't let anyone hold me back, got that?"

With no clear answer, Issei turned away before leaving the room, as well as the building. While his body was now quite refreshed, which surprised Issei greatly, his mind still needed some rest, so he decided to take some quick rest before storming the church.

Unfortunately, the 'quick rest' turned into a few hour long sleep. But after getting up, eating a quick breakfast and washing himself, he rushed as quickly as possible in the direction of the church.

"Don't worry, she's too valuable for them to kill her outright. Even if she'd be in danger, they would still hold her, preparing defences and such. You have time, dumbass." His reflection tried to calm the boy down in its own, weird way, but Issei had none of it. He was set on saving the girl as soon as it was possible.

"Mister Issei." But fate had it that the girl he was so quick to help was actually right in front of him right now, unharmed and with no one around her.

Many negative emotions overtook him as he approached her. Fear, suspicion, confusion. But all of them were pushed to the side for a moment as he simply pulled her in for a soft embrace. "Asia! You're safe…"

The young nun blushed softly as she slowly returned the hug with a bit of embarrassment. "Y-yes… I escaped miss Raynare today because… because… I couldn't take this anymore!" Tears started to fall down her cheeks as the girl thrusted her head in the crook of the boy's neck, letting her emotions out.

The shocked boy, very confused on what to do in such a situation, just brushed Asia's hair softly, sitting down with her on a bench. After a minute the girl calmed down and explained about her life story, how she was taken in by an Italian church as an infant, how she gained prestige as a Holy Maiden, which she herself never truly wanted, and how she was excommunicated for unknowingly healing a devil.

After that she was taken under protection by the leader of the fallen angels and, months later, was sent to Kuoh for reasons unknown to her. There she met Issei and most of the story went by as he knew it, that is until yesterday, right after returning to the abandoned church with the psycho, when she found out her true purpose of coming here.

"I… They want to take away my Sacred Gear, ripping it out of my soul…" The way she spoke about their goal sounded like…

"I-Is it going to kill you if they do that?" She nodded very slowly as tears started forming in her eyes once more. Strong resolve burned inside of Issei, for the first time witnessing the cruelty of the supernatural world from the third perspective. He rose from where he sat and placed a hand on Asia's shoulder. "I won't let that happen! I would sooner let them take my arm than allow them to hurt my friend!"

Asia blinked lightly and blushed ever so softly at the implication. "Y-you think I'm your friend?"

Issei grinned goofily, for the first time since he got into this mess, and nodded hastily. "Definitely. Is it okay with you?" The blondie nodded and hugged Issei, this time making the boy flustered.

"Yes! I always wanted to have a friend! Thank you so much, mister Issei!" He smiled softly and nodded, before taking her hand softly.

That's how their free day started. Issei first took Asia to a small fast food restaurant as both were a bit hungry at that moment. It was really cute when Issei was teaching her how to eat a hotdog, only to see her cute reaction at how tasty it was. Afterwards they went to an arcade, where Asia decimated the boy in many games. And at the end of it, Issei won her a small plushie in a crane game, which she said she'd treasure for her whole life.

Afterwards, they bought some ice creams and went window shopping for an hour or two. By the time they were resting on a bench near a big fountain it was slowly getting darker as the sun was moving behind the horizon. "That was really fun, mister Issei!" Asia exclaimed as she leaned her head against the boy's shoulder, making them blush ever so softly. If random pedestrians were walking by and they had no idea who Hyoudou was, they'd call them the most precious pair there ever was.

"Yea, it definitely was. Let's repeat it soon, alright?" But here laid the problem that his reflection more than eagerly pointed out: There were no pedestrians!

Slow clapping echoed around the two as Raynare herself slowly descended near them, this time wearing a long blue dress. "That was truly precious, you two! Watching you go on that date of yours was a highlight of my week so far!" She then extended her hand towards the girl. "Too bad you have to leave now, Asia-chan."

Said girl immediately hid behind Issei, hoping not to face the woman who, despite treating her right, said straight into her face she needed to die for their cause. "N-no! I don't want to die! Please!"

Issei, seeing both the woman that pushed him into this whole ordeal, as well as feeling the fear seeping out of Asia, summoned his sword and stood guard between the two. "Raynare… Don't you dare try taking Asia away."

Raynare looked at Issei with a bit of fear, but she quickly killed it to replace it with a gentle smile. "Issei, please… You must understand that I do not take pleasure in what I'm doing. Not at all." An angry snort escaped the boy's nostrils as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Then the whole 'seductive killer' demeanour you had when you were about to kill me? What was that?" He spoke, ready to charge at her, but he noticed that the woman that just landed in front of him made no attempt in summoning a weapon. She even hid her wings away, making herself completely defenceless and with no easy way to escape him. He could strike her down then and there. Just a simple slash through her neck or a thrust into her heart. So why… 'Why can't I attack her!?'

Raynare kissed his cheek softly, immediately breaking him out of his furious stupor and causing both him and Asia to back away. "It was a ruse. something to make this chore a little bit sweeter for you… Similar to the magical stripping. It was done to make your last moments that much less painful."

"Oh thou kind and merciful lady." Issei rolled his eyes and tightened his grip on the hilt. "What will make you leave us both alone? What can I do to let her live!?"

Raynare sighed sadly and shook her head. "Nothing, I'm truly sorry. But… If you let her come with us, I guarantee we will never meet again. You'll never have to see me again. What do you say about it?" Issei was about to decline, wanting nothing more than to turn the fallen into a shishkebab for even thinking he'd abandon his friend to save himself. But he was stopped dead in his tracks when Asia slowly moved from behind his back and towards Raynare.

"A-Asia?"

"Will you really let mister Issei live if I come with you?" Raynare nodded and the young nun took her hand, crying softly. "I'm sorry mister Issei… P-please… Just forget about me…" Were her final words before both disappeared, leaving behind a single black feather.

Issei stood there, speechless, unable to process fully what she just did. She willingly went to her own funeral to let him live. He knew she was a kind person, but… this was the first time he met ANYONE who'd even consider doing something like that, let alone turn the thought into action. Everyone else, either through actions or words, made it clear that they were out only for themselves, not anyone else. Once it all sunk it, he fell on his knees, sword now firmly resting in the stone pavement beside him.

"Hurts losing someone, huh?" Of course, his reflection decided to speak up after everything cooled down. Its tone of voice did not sound mocking, like usual, but rather sympathetic. "What are you going to do? She gave you a chance to escape this, get a break and live a more stable life. You can just go home and, as she said it, forget about her. So, what will it be?"

There was a bit of silence between the two before Issei's left leg rose, now making him stay in the kneeling position. "What do you think…?" Soft whispers escaped his lips as his hand rested once more on the sword's hilt.

"Huh? What did you say, chicken?" His reflection riled him up with a smirk.

Issei instantly rose to his feet, ripping the sword out of the ground. "WHAT DO YOU FUCKING THINK!?" His rage-filled scream echoed throughout the empty park. His feet started taking Issei in the direction of the church at a speed most people wouldn't suspect from a teenage boy carrying a heavy-looking sword.

From the bushes came out the young devil rook, using a small magic circle to contact her master. "Hyoudou-senpai left for the church… Should we follow him?" After a second of silence she got confirmation from her King and she turned to Yuuto, who was sitting in the same bush, motioning for him to follow.

By the time Issei started running up the church hill, the sun was almost completely gone from the sky. Heavy breathing came from the boy as he kept charging upwards. At this point every second counted for him. He couldn't be too late or else the girl would die.

As he was about to kick the door open, sounds of footsteps quickly approaching him made him halt and turn towards the source of it with his weapon ready. But what greeted him wasn't another fallen angel or any kind of unknown enemy, but rather two devils, Kiba Yuuto and Toujou Koneko. "Issei-san, wait up!"

Issei sighed deeply and shook his head. "If you're here to stop me, then it's kind of too late." Yuuto shook his head and approached Issei with some sort of letter.

"Here, read this." He spoke, handing the boy the piece of paper. Intrigued by it, he started reading with his eyes.

'Rias Gremory,

We have examined your reports and we agree to your request. The fallen angels found in your territory have stepped over their boundaries in relation to the truce set by the three great powers and, with the blessing of the governor general of the Grigori, have been labelled as a rogue element, allowing for your free choice in dealing with the problem. However, it was requested by Azazel that they were to be kept alive to allow him to punish them on his own terms. But, if a third party were involved or they were to commit suicide, casualities are acceptable.

Your benevolent leaders,

Sirzechs Lucifer and Serafall Leviathan'

Issei's eyes widened as he read the letter thoroughly. It basically said that they could engage the angels, BUT they had to keep them alive. Unless a third party… "Am I considered a third party?"

Kiba nodded with a smile as Issei handed the letter back. "Yes. We cannot finish them off, however… you're a different story." Issei wasn't sure whether that brought him relief or more worries.

But still, at least now he wouldn't go in alone. "Thanks. Now… let's get it over with." The other two nodded and Issei kicked open the front door. At first, silence greeted them as they stepped inside. But it wasn't long until bullets rained at the trio. Yuuto and Koneko jumped back to dodge the incoming barrage, but Issei firmly stood his ground, deflecting the projectiles much to other's surprise.

When it calmed down, out of the shadows came none other than the silver-haired freak, Freed Sellzen. "What do we hav- YOUUUUUUU!" Immediately after recognizing the one who cut his fingers off, some kind of fury awoke inside of the deranged priest. "YOU MOTHERFUCKER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!"

"I'm here for Asia. Where is she?" Issei raised his weapon, ready for the possible attack. He didn't wait long as the bastard exorcist charged madly at him, ready to swing his sword. Before it came, Issei also quickly noted that his fingers that he cut off were now back in place, only small scars visible in the place they were severed.

Going for a quick finish, Issei moved under the light blade and moved his blade through his opponent's shoulder, separating his arm from the rest of his body. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" The priest screamed, holding what was left of his shoulder, before the boy kicked his face, shutting him up.

The devils looked at Issei with wide eyes, not expecting the balde to be sharp enough to cut through someone's body so cleanly. Nor for Issei to be motivated enough to actually go through with it. "Issei…"

Said boy shook his head and sighed lightly. "Not now. We need to figure out where they're hi...ding…" He slowly looked at the altar where he could see a bit of light escaping from under it. Sheathing his sword, he went to push it, slowly making it move away to show a passage down into the ground. "Can you two take care of this lune before following me? I don't want him miraculously surviving this." Getting no answer from them, Issei ventured down at full speed, time still essential.

"Issei, try jumping down." His reflection spoke from his sword, making its owner look at it in confusion. "Just trust me. And when I tell you, thrust your sword at the wall to slow yourself down."

After a moment of consideration, Issei stopped for a second, crouching down a little, before using all of his leg power to thrust his whole body downstairs.

What followed was a human cannonball flying at a head-ripping speed towards its destination. After what felt like eternity, Issei finally heard the yell to halt his descent, thrusting his sword into the wall in the way his blade was halting him with its flat side. But it still took a solid second for him to slow down to a reasonable speed.

When finally on the ground, Issei assessed the situation. And it didn't look bright.

A sea of exorcists were now looking at him with wide eyes, weapons held casually in their hands or hanging on their clothing. Up in the distance, on a giganting altar with a huge cross in the middle, he could spot Asia and Raynare, equally shocked.

"M… MISTER ISSEI!" Asia yelled once she recognized the head of brown hair. Said boy stood up straight, looking at the two with a determined look.

"Asia… I CAME FOR YOU, ASIA!"

"Issei, why did you come here?!" Raynare finally asked, shocked to see the boy again before her. "You could've just left us! You had no reason to come here!"

The teen's growl was audible even up at the altar as he took a step forward, making the exorcists finally prepare their weapons. "Do you think I'm some kind of monster to leave my friend to die just so I can save myself!?" His grip on his weapon was so tight that the sound of the clothing tensing was clear to those near him.

Asia teared up softly, feeling both relief and fear. She couldn't believe that Issei was more than ready to fight hundreds of trained exorcists just to save her, but at the same time she didn't want him to throw away his life so easily. "Mister Issei…"

Raynare, meanwhile, stared at the boy with a small smile. While she was mad that he came to stop the ceremony, she couldn't help but to also feel some sort of relief herself that he did. 'Thank you, Issei… I really didn't want to go through with this.' She thought, but shook her head. She had a mission, even if she hated it. She put on a steel mask to keep her true thoughts away from others. "EVERYONE, ATTACK!"

They didn't need to hear it from her twice as they charged at the boy. But, before they could touch him, someone blocked swords of the enemies closest to him. Once the sparks disappeared, Issei could see Yuuto, blocking the exorcists from striking him down. "Go on, Issei-kun. We'll take them on."

"Who let you call me so casually?" The boy spoke jokingly with a chuckle, ducking as a body flew over his head.

Koneko shook her head and threw another enemy into the group standing between them and the altar. "Go." Was all she said and all Issei needed to move forward.

More exorcists moved at the running boy, but they were quickly cut down by his sword. Those were the first people he actually killed. Not injured, left with severe wounds. He actually killed them. But it didn't affect him as much as he thought it would, or maybe the adrenaline was keeping him from fully realising what he had done. But either way, he kept pushing forward, dead set on saving the nun he befriended.

At least thirty ex-priests layed dead behind him once he ran up the stairs. After reaching the top, he faced Raynare, who was holding Asia tightly in her arm. "Issei-kun… why? Why did you come here? If you were to just take my offer, I…"

"You what?"

Raynare hesitated with her words before letting Asia go. "I would've done something I know I would regret…" She spoke, her voice trembling. "But I had no choice! I was ordered to dispose of you and take Asia's Twilight Healing! I hesitated… But in the end, orders are orders! And now…"

"Now you're considered a fugitive, a rogue." Her eyes widened as he walked in her direction and took Asia away from her, seeing as she was too shocked to resist him. "Was it really worth it, blindly listening to orders, when even your own leader wants to kill you?"

Picking Asia up, he hastily ran back to the entrance, going over the unconscious or dead bodies of the exorcists that were defeated.

Raynare held her fists so tight that she drew blood from her palms, tears of anguish and sorrow going down her cheeks. So in the end, it was all a sham. Kokabiel tricked them into doing his dirty work, only to abandon them… She knew that something was up when the orders came from him instead of Azazel himself, but didn't dare to question it. After all, he could erase her and her friends without even trying…

'No use dwelling on it…' She ultimately thought, looking at the stairs. Issei and Asia were nowhere to be seen. Neither were the devils, but they did not matter anymore. 'If I am going to die, I will at least die fighting! And… Maybe I'll be able to give others a chance to escape…' She thought before wiping her tears and spreading her wings, taking flight out from the underground.

Once they were back up in the main part of the church, Issei let Asia down on the ground, panting from how fast he was running. She thanked him with a smile as she sat on one of the benches. "Mister Issei… why did you come back?"

Her question was met with a poke to her forehead. When she looked up, she saw a big smile plastered onto his face. "Because you're my friend. Also… you're the nicest, most wholesome person I have ever seen." He ruffled her hair softly, making her blush in embarrassment. "And how could I ever let anything happen to someone so cute?"

Their happy little moment was stopped when Raynare finally reached them, her face betraying her anger. "ISSEI!"

Named boy drew his sword out and started blocking the incoming barrage of spears flying towards both of them. It was a surprising speed, especially since before she could barely dodge his attacks. "This isn't just rage. I can hear sorrow and desperation." His reflection commented before tensing up softly. "I hear more clapping of wings. Better brace for a hard fight, Issei."

Cursing silently, he watched as three more fallen angels landed behind Raynare. He recognized one of them as the fedora guy who got his back cut by him, Dohnaseek. "Raynare! What is going on!? We were almost captured by the Gremory princess and her queen!" When the man saw Issei, his eyes widened. "What is this kid doing here!?"

The other two looked at Issei in confusion, before something seemed to click in the brain of the taller woman. "Wait, is this the boy that kicked your ass, Dohnaseek?!"

Dohnaseek seemed to grumble something under his breath in anger, while the shorter one laughed in amusement. "Holy shit! Really!? That pipsqueak beat both you and Raynare!? That's fucking priceless!"

"DOHNASEEK! KALAWARNER! MITTELT! SHUT UP AND HELP ME HERE!" Issei used the moment of distraction Raynare experienced, kicking her away from him and getting both himself and Asia away from them.

But it was a short advantage, as the others drew spears of light and began an offensive. Dohnaseek and Kalawarner were the vanguards, keeping the heat on Issei, forcing him into a defencive position, while Mittelt threw occasionally in his general direction to keep him from trying to flank the others.

After a few moments, the four of them circled around the teens, confidence written all over their faces. "Got you kids. Just give up!"

And once again, Issei was forced onto the defensive. But this time he couldn't block all of them at once, especially since he also had to protect Asia from harm. This caused him to suffer quite a few wounds. His side was pierced by one of the spears, his arms were cut all over and he also had some bruises on his chest.

When they finally stopped attacking, Asia immediately hurried to heal Issei up. "Issei, just give up. We can go on for much longer! Besides, at this point we have nothing to lose!"

"Raynare, what do you mea-"

"They abandoned us, Kalawarner! Kokabiel set us up and now we're fugitives!" Tears fell down Raynare's cheeks as she summoned a spear. The others looked at her in worry, but said nothing, preparing their own weapons.

Issei looked at them and pushed Asia gently behind him, raising his sword. "Okay, that's enough playtime. Time to end this!" Issei's eyes widened as a blood-hungry smile appeared on his reflection's face. "Come on! You know what I'm talking about! We'll kill them! Just call for me! Call for my body to encase you!"

Issei started to slowly understand what it was talking about as he relaxed his stance. His opponents at first took it as a sign of defeat, but immediately knew it wasn't that as a cold, confident smile appeared on the boy's face. And then, two words escaped his mouth. The words that Raynare heard during their first date. And it caused her blood to run cold.

"Kurai Kiri."

Immediately Asia backed away from him as dark mist covered the boy's body, obscuring everyone's view of him. Most were surprised when they saw it, including the devils that were watching from shadows, ready to jump in to help them. But Raynare, who tasted his strength, started backing away slowly.

After a moment Issei moved his sword to the left before slashing the air, making the mist disperse away from his body. As it did, anything in the metre long diameter from him seemed to decompose. His helm slowly rose, looking at his opponents with silver lights for eyes. "I am Ebony Knight… Eberus."

"Eberus, huh? That's a stupid name! And that's with Dohnase–" Mittelt could not finish her laughter before realising that her enemy was now right in front of her at a nose's distance. Having no time to react, she was forced to take the knee kick into her abdomen, which caused her to throw up and fall to the ground, temporarily putting her out of the fight.

"Mittelt!" Kalawarner looked at her sister in fear and concern before glaring viciously at her attacker. "How dare you hurt my little sister!?" She yelled and summoned her spear, which had yellow colour and was shaped more like a javelin. Weird that she at first took it to a melee distance, but it did not matter.

When it left her hand, the javelin flew in Issei's direction at a high speed, but was easily dodged by the boy, who sidestepped from the spear's way before heading in the blue haired woman's direction. Quickly summoning another spear, she tried to slow him down, but a hit from his blade's flat side into her spine paralyzed her body for the next few minutes.

The next one in line was Dohnaseek, who thanks to his previous fight with the teen knew that he was completely outclassed if the armour enchanted his physical abilities even further - as it seems to do - was visibly shaken. But he still couldn't abandon his comrades. His honour wouldn't allow him. "Come at me, kid!" But that bravado was short-lived as the knight simply pierced his knee, causing it to shatter and leave the war veteran to fall to the floor, unable to keep up his balance.

That left Raynare as the last one standing. Seeing her coworkers and only friends she ever had fall so easily to the recently normal child infuriated her. This was unthinkable. 'But I deserved it…' Some parts of her mind whispered into her ear such a thought as she readied her weapon. "Come at me, Issei. Let's end this!"

No words left the boy as he approached his first date. Letting her have the first strike, he blocked her overhead swing, sidestepping when she tried to kick him. Her moves were sloppy, unfocused. Thrust was parried, but not countered. She didn't care anymore. She probably thought he would kill them all now, get his revenge and go on with his life.

'She has no one left… Is it really right to kill her?' 'Right or wrong does not matter right now! She is your enemy and leaving her alive is a danger.' 'Look at her! She doesn't even try anymore! Do you really think she will be able to kill either of us?' 'Whether or not she can doesn't matter. Will you spare anyone with a soppy story and teary eyes!?' 'Of course not! But–' 'No buts! End it now or else you will regret it in the future! You cannot trust those supernaturals like that! They will try to backstab you at the first chance they get! So stop hesitating and just KILL HER!'

"ENOUGH!" Issei grabbed Raynare's shoulder roughly, cracking it a little, and forced her onto her knees, putting a sword to her throat. "WE'RE ENDING THIS HERE!"

Raynare winced in pain, holding her shoulder on instinct. Her eyes closed tightly, waiting for her death. Five seconds. Ten seconds… Nothing happened. Her eyes slowly parted open and her head slowly titled back to look at the one who had her life in his palm.

Her eyes widened when she saw his hand that held his sword was now shaking violently. The armour slowly started to dispel in a puff of dark smoke, revealing Issei's unsure face. "What are you waiting for!? You want to kill me right!? Just do it!" She yelled, tears once more escaping her beautiful violet eyes. "I have nothing left… We all lost everything because of my stupid naivety…"

Issei's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword as he watched the woman he considered the biggest evil, the one that had nothing but darkness in her eyes, crying her eyes out right in front of him, ready to throw away her life in hopes of repaying for her sins. "Asia…" The blonde nun approached him from behind. "What should I do?"

"I-Issei-sa-"

"She's hurt both of us… You have as much right to decide on what to do as I do…" The young girl looked between her saviour and her executioner before kneeling down next to the woman with raven hair.

"Miss Raynare… Do you regret what you have done?"

"Wha-" Raynare was speechless at the question the nun asked her. It was so simple, yet… It made her question everything she has done in recent days and whether she'd fix it if she had a chance or not. All because the girl, who she was going to end just a few minutes ago, asked her this question. "I… I… I do… I-I really do… I'm sorry Asia… I'm sorry Issei… I-I'm truly sorry…"

Soft sobs escaped her as she stained her gorgeous dress with tears. She wanted to say more, try to excuse herself and look for their forgiveness, but she didn't need to as she felt a pair of delicate arms wrap themselves around her body. Through the hazy eyes she could see the warm smile of the innocent teen girl. "Then I forgive you." Those four words caused Raynare to finally smile and return the embrace, feeling at peace.

Sudden gasp pulled the two out of their moment. Everyone watched as Issei raised his sword, seemingly ready to strike the woman down. "Mister Isse-" But the thought was short-lived as he then spinned it around to hold it backwards and sheathed it on the back of his belt.

"I-Issei-ku-"

"SHUT UP!" Raynare flinched at how loudly and angrily he shouted at her. "Just because Asia forgave you, doesn't mean I did. I'm still furious about it, beyond all belief, but… I… I just can't hate you…" He gritted his teeth and sat on a nearby bench. "Let Asia heal you all and do whatever you want… As long as you don't kill innocents, that is."

He sighed deeply as he looked in the direction of the church's entrance, signalling that he knew that the devils were there. Now that everything settled down, Rias felt it was appropriate to walk out of her hiding with a smile. "That was touching in its own way, but unfortunately, they still need to answer for their crimes."

Everyone who wasn't a devil looked at her with wide eyes. That is when Issei remembered the letter he got to read. He looked at Raynare, who already had her cracked shoulder, only to see her with a soft smile as she rose from her kneeling position. "I'll… take the punishment, but please, excuse the others. They are my subordinates!"

"Oh no, Raynare." Said woman jumped lightly as Dohnaseek patted her back rather roughly, thankfully not on the side that her cracked shoulder was. "We all agreed to this and we all will take the punishment."

"But-!"

"No buts, Raynare. We're together in this till the end. Or did you forget what we all promised?" Kalawarner smiled lightly as she walked next to the two after Asia healed her paralysis. On her back laid Mittelt, who had already recovered from the knee kick she suffered.

"Yeah! We promised we'd get on top or rot together! And I won't let you get into more shit alone!" The blondie exclaimed with a laugh, holding onto her sister's neck tightly, much to the bluenette's discomfort.

Raynare stayed silent for a few moments before nodding and approaching the Gremory heiress. "We would like to be taken into custody." The redhead nodded and teleported herself, her Queen and the four of them to the Underworld.

But not before giving some last words to the teen sitting on the bench. "We'll speak tomorrow, Issei-kun." Once she was gone, it was only him, Asia and the other two devils, who seemed to be also gathering to leave.

"As Buchou said, we will all talk tomorrow. See you then, Issei-kun." Yuuto smiled softly and followed after the albino girl, who didn't have anything to say.

"Yeah, yeah, pretty boy. And… thanks for the help." The blonde devil waved as a reply before leaving the scene. Once that happened, Issei turned towards Asia, who was standing by him for a few minutes now. "Let's go, Asia."

"Where, mister Issei?" Nun looked at her first and only friend in confusion.

That same boy rose from his seat and gave her a big smile. "Home."

Few hours after the incident, in the headquarters of fallen angel's main organisation, Grigori, Raynare and her comrades were relaying the whole story to Azazel, governor general of said faction. At first the blonde man was furious with their actions and demanded proper explanation, but once a certain name was mentioned, his expression started to soften, turning into a smirk by the end.

Once they were done, Raynare herself walked out ahead of her group. "And after that we were taken back here… Azazel-sama, I would like to take most of the punishment under condition of the rest of my team remaining in Grigori." The rest gasped with disbelief that she'd still think of something so stupid.

"Raynare, why yo-"

"That won't be necessary, Raynare-chan." The smirking governor leaned into his chair as he glanced at all of them. "After listening to the whole story and seeing that you all truly regret your actions, I am willing to give all of you a second chance." Smiles and sighs of relief echoed softly through the room. "However, letting you get away scot free would be unthinkable. So, as a way of testing your resolve to regain your place in Grigori, I will assign you to a special task that you will all be doing for a set period of time.

Preparations of said tasks will take a few days, so until then you will spend that time in a house arrest in quarters specially prepared in this wing of our headquarters. Are there any objections?" Seeing none, Azazel called guards to escort the four to their separate rooms.

After all of them were gone, the smirking man took a small DvD with a label 'OLD FAVOUR', turning the smirk into a grin.

'Geez, it only worked for five years, huh? Oh well, at least I'll get a solid out of him.'

It has been two days later when Issei was casually sleeping in his class, dead tired thanks to a few things happening in his life after the whole deal in the church.

Firstly, right after returning home - that is properly, since Issei first got him and Asia snuck into his room to change them both into clothes that looked like clothes and not used rags - his parents immediately started their barrage of questions about who the blonde girl was, why was she here and things like that.

Issei thankfully managed to create a rather believable story about Asia being a foreign student who came to Kuoh to study, but she couldn't speak Japanese. For that reason Issei decided to help her. This way he immediately asked his parents whether she could stay with them or not. But as his parents do, they took it a bit farther than he anticipated. After finding out that Asia was actually an orphan, they mindlessly jumped into the idea of adopting the young nun. The girl got extremely flustered and was on the verge of passing out thanks to the Hyoudous' eccentric way of persuasion. Issei himself felt mostly embarrassment and tried to defend the girl from his parents' vicious love. But eventually they got what they wanted and literally the next day Asia Argento became Asia Argento-Hyoudou. How his parents managed to pull that off, he had no idea.

Next came the meeting with Rias' and, out of nowhere, Sona's group. At first the strict council president was surprised to find out that the one to defeat all of the fallen angels sitting in Kuoh's old church was the most notorious pervert of their school, if not town. But once that sunk into the minds of her and her peerage, the regular talks commenced. It was mostly regarding Issei's position in regards to the two groups, which he firmly stated it's neutral, though it is leaning into positive because of what happened the evening before, as well as the impressions he got from them in the first years of his studies in this school.

Of course, after that Rias tried her luck once more with recruiting Issei into her peerage, but once more it ended with a failure.'I'm sorry, but I wish to stay human. It just doesn't feel right to me to change what I am just for power.' Was what he said, gaining more respect from his devil schoolmates.

Last part of their meeting was on the topic of Asia. In this Issei immediately spoke about why she won't be a problem to them, with her being excommunicated and being just a defenceless girl. At first he feared they would have some sort of reasons against her staying in Kuoh, but thankfully there was none. But there WAS a condition: She would have to join Kuoh Academy so that she could be easily monitored. They said that this way they could protect her… Or easily stop her if she did try something suspicious, which was just a sign of their paranoia. But he didn't mind it, since it would allow him to keep her safe as well.

Sona said she would take care of it soon, but wouldn't say when she'd be done. Issei wouldn't expect it to happen until next week. "Alright class, calm down! We have a new student transferring into our class today! She is of foreign origins, so please don't be surprised when she will be speaking English."

Everyone was speaking among themselves about who exactly it was, including two of Issei's friends, while the boy himself raised his head from his desk slowly and robotically, looking at the entrance with a bit of sweat. 'No way… She couldn't have dealt with it so quickly, could she…?'

His suspicions were confirmed when through the entrance walked in the blonde girl, looking as shy as ever. "H-Hello…" She spoke timidly once she stood in front of everyone. Despite her voice being rather quiet, everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the girl. "M-my name is Asia Argento… Hyoudou… It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" She bowed deeply right after her introduction.

Silence swept through the entire class, making everything a bit awkward. But once everything sunk into the minds of everyone present, the gigantic uproar was audible in the entire town.

Immediately everyone was asking both Issei and Asia what the meaning of this was.

"H-Hyoudou!? How are you related to that pervert!?"

"D-Did he do something to you, Asia-chan!?"

"Hyoudou, what is the meaning of this!?"

Thankfully, most of them forgot at that moment that Asia didn't know Japanese, causing the girl to look at everyone in confusion. Issei, who wasn't so blessed, had to immediately beat down any accusation in its roots, not wanting any kind of negative rumour to be spread about the nun.

Finally one of the girls, one of the top kendo fighters, Katase, calmed down enough to speak to Asia in English. "Asia-san, how are you related to Issei Hyoudou?"

"Oh, mister Issei? He's my brother." Once again, silence swept the class.

Issei's friends looked at the boy, who tried to sink into the floor, before Matsuda smashed his palms into his desk. "ISSEI, YOU LUCKY BASTARD! FIRST SOUNA-SENPAI AND NOW THE FOREIGN GIRL!?" After that he flopped onto his seat, crying at the 'unfairness of the universe'.

Motohoma leaned into Issei's ear, having a much different opinion on the situation "Pssst… You'll send me some nude photos of her, right?"

All Issei could do was lament over his fate.'God, why meeeeeee!?'

Hello everyone, Hitsuruga here! I know, I know. I'm overdoing it, but I decided out of nowhere to write the entirety of Raynere Arc into a single chapter. Why? Because I'm a goddamn masochist, that's why!

But honestly, I did that because I always get stuck in stories on either this or the next arc most of the time. So, I decided to write the first three arcs into single chapters, one for each of those. It might take a bit longer than usual, but this way I can keep some form of consistency. Also, if this chapter looks like a hastened mess, then blame my late night mind on that.

Now that this is out of the way, let me make some things clear:

-Issei won't be reincarnated, nor will Asia, Xenovia or Irina. Those four will stay human till the very end;

-Raynere and her team will have a much bigger role in this story. They won't be just plot tools like in the original or harem members like they usually are in my attempts of including them so far;

-Issei doesn't have Boosted Gear. He has a Sacred Gear, mind you. It just isn't Boosted Gear;

-Also, Vali goes through few changes here: Once again, he will be she, she'll be another person in Issei's harem (which will still exist, just different) and, the biggest thing, SHE DOESN'T POSSESS DIVINE DIVINITY! The opposing Gears will belong to different people. That also means Vali's personality will be VASTLY different;

-If someone, SOMEHOW, hasn't figured it out yet, Issei's past is different from what he knows and from what he remembers. It'll be revealed in pieces sooner or later.

Okay, I'm just patting out the word count at this point. If you have any questions regarding this story or some criticism, send me a review.

Jia~Ne!

…

Four years… Time sure flies by. Hey people, Hitsuruga here! And I'm finally back!

Before I get into anything else, I want to tell you the very simple reason why it took me so long to return properly… I lost my fun in writing. While the first half a year was mostly down to my stupidity, then another one due to the tumour in my lower back (saying it here cause I will be deleting the update real quick to replace it with proper chapter 2), everything after that was because I simply felt no joy from writing. I couldn't bother to open the file with chapter 2. And whenever I did open it up, I wrote a sentence or two before closing it for another few months. It was agonising.

But now… I have a thesis to write for my college. And my chronic laziness works in such weird ways that writing a 35 page fanfic chapter and rewriting another one is considered less work than actually doing what I'm meant to do XD

So yeah. I'm back. And changed the name of the story, cause Darkness Reborn is CRINGE. But don't expect much updates for the rest of the month, since again. Thesis. During June, I should be getting more out, but proper updates will only come after my thesis defence, which could very well be at the end of July. But once it happens, they will all come every two weeks. This way I will have time to write a chapter or two and (hopefully) never be left with nothing for you. So yeah… Probably no extra chapters this month, maybe up to 4 chapters in the following two months and then a chapter every two weeks. With MAYBE a bonus chapter if I feel like writing it.

If anyone bothered to re-read this, you may notice I changed some things. Fixed some grammar and meritorical mistakes. But most of all, I changed a few paragraphs during the church scene, as well as most dialogues of the reflection. When I read the shit I wrote, it REALLY clashed with my vision for both it and Raynare. Those who know what I changed will know. If you don't… Well, it's for the better.

Now, when it comes to my other stories… I'm deleting them. Most are really outdated and the few that I WANT to rewrite… Yeah, I'm not touching them till this one is pretty far in. And that will take a year or two. So it's better if I delete them now, so they won't be sitting there.

Regardless, that's pretty much all I have to say here. The second chapter will be uploaded (hopefully) tomorrow or the day after. Until then, stay cool.

Jia~Ne

*Kurai Kiri - Dark Fog