Chapter 1: hearts and minds

For as long as recorded history, long have the inhabitants of the heavens, earth, and underworld believe that they knew the full scope of reality, that there was nothing beyond their three worlds. They never entertained the thought. After all, if even the mightiest of those they called gods could not see anything else, then surely, there was nothing else. Yet if only they knew, of the realm of endless possibilities that laid hidden, layered along the reality they knew. How could they, when this other realm was composed entirely of data, a concept beyond any of them until the invention of the first computer? Yes, this digital world has long existed, unseen, yet intrinsically connected to earth since time immemorial. Now the world of humanity lives in an age of information, of data, and with each passing day, more people will become aware of the digital world, and soon, a new age will begin that will see the meeting of digital and the supernatural, a clash of worlds. And it will begin in earnest, when a young man, on what would seem like another day in an uneventful life, meets a devil and an imp….

Morning, Kuoh town

"Watch out Dumbass!"

That was the only warning Issei Hyoudou heard before he felt a blow to the top of his skull. Falling to his knees, he looked up to an unexpected sight of what appeared to be a brat in some kind of devil costume standing in front of him, laughing at him, only for him to stop and loop up with a scowl. Looking up behind him, Issei saw what the brat was looking at, as there in the overpass was two police officers leaning out and pointing their fingers at the brat, a curious look in their eyes as one of them was apparently covered in trash while the other had several thumbtacks stuck in his face.

"There's the little shit! Get him!"

Grimacing, the brat ran into a nearby alley, the officers soon following behind. After getting his bearings and picking up his school bag which he dropped, he found that the officers were walking out from the alley, a frustrated look on their faces. Not long after, a young man with black hair around his age walked out, wearing the Kuoh Academy uniform, although instead of the school jacket, he was wearing a neon green track jacket.

He comes over to Issei and helps him get up, handing him back his phone that he dropped. "Well those officers are definitely having a bad start to their day. I swear they were literally steaming as they told me why." He realizes that Issei doesn't recognize him. "Oh, my bad. I'm Kanji Inazuma. I just transferred to your school. Didn't expect to meet anyone from school on the way to my first day however." He extends his hand out to issei.

"Huh, well it's nice to meet you Kanji," he shakes his hand. "So what was that about?"

Kanji scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, apparently they had managed to buy some really good bread from this store that only sells it on Monday mornings, only for that kid they were chasing to steal it right from their hands, and leading them on a hell of a chase. Unfortunately for them, he gave them the slip just now."

"Huh, that's too bad. I wouldn't have minded giving him a piece of my mind too considering he used my head to soften his fall." He rubs the top of his head. "Well I wish we could chat more, but gotta get to class. Maybe we'll see each other later though! Issei gives Kanji a wave and continues on his way.

As soon as issei is out of sight, Kanji goes back into the alley and opens up a dumpster lid, as the topic of their discussion hops out, visibly annoyed as he dusts off filth from himself. "You're lucky I was here to bail you out, Impmon. You keep causing trouble though, and I'll have no choice but to drag you back to the digital world."

Impmon can only snort at the warning. "I didn't ask for your help, nor do I need it!" He walks out of the alley and looks towards the direction Issei went. "You don't have to worry about me causing any more trouble. I just needed something to eat while I was looking for what I needed, and I think I just found it." He walks towards the direction, a confident smile on his face.

Kanji sighs, before taking out a device from his pocket, as a voice comes from it. "So do you think we should report this to the alliance? He closes his eyes and contemplates for a few moments. "No, not yet. We need to figure out what Impmon is after, and how it involves Issei."

Later that day in the afternoon, Kuoh academy

"Oooooh, we've really got a nice selection to ogle at here today boys!"

Issei and his friends, Matsuda and Motohama were grinning to their ears as they used the peephole they found to peep into the kendo club girls changing room. The only issue is that they had to take turns, and every time Matsuda and Motohama wanted to take their turn, they'd tap his head. That normally wouldn't be an issue, but they kept tapping on the very spot where the strange brat he encountered had landed on his head.

"Ouch! I keep telling you guys to stop doing that! The swelling may have gone down but it still stings!"

His two friends gave him an apologetic look, embarrassed that they had done it again. They quickly checked the peephole to see if anyone had heard them, and fortunately, none of the beauties had managed to hear Issei's outburst.

"You know Issei, I still find it hard to believe that you got tangled up in that mess, and even met that new transfer student Kanji Inamuza."

Hearing Motohama mention that name, Matsuda couldn't help but clench his fists and teeth out of anger and jealousy.

"Why did another pretty boy have to join the school?! Now we have to deal with both him and Yuto having girls fawning over them, and if the rumors are true, he's gonna be joining the Kendo club to boot!"

Motohama could only sigh at Matsuda's outburst, and quickly adjusted his glasses.

"You say that as if we'd have a shot with any of the beauties of this school now even if they weren't here. The whole reason we all chose to attend Kuoh academy was so we could have a chance at getting girls since until recently it was a girl's only academy, but here we are, in the spring semester of our second year, and haven't even so much as touched a boob."

While the two of them were arguing, Issei's gaze wandered over to a nearby dormitory, and for a moment, noticed a red haired beauty looking in his direction from a second floor window before she quickly disappeared back inside. Suddenly Motohama was right in front of him, startling issei.

"Rias Gremory, third year, her measurements are B99, W58, and H90 cm!"

Matsuda put his arm over Motohama's shoulder, a happy grin on his face. "That's our "Perverted glasses" in action! A single glance and you managed to accurately get her measurements down to the t!"

Motohama couldn't help but smile confidently at the compliment. "What can I say, my observation skills are top notch. Even that high tech phone Issei got couldn't hope to compete."

Issei took his phone out, a touch screen model that had been recently released, and not something he'd normally be able to afford. "gotta admit I'm still surprised to win this in a raffle last week. I'm still trying to figure out what else it can do."

They couldn't help but look at his shiny new phone with envy, although Motohama quickly calmed down to get his own say in. "Well, it's not like you're the only one who got one. They held that raffle to help promote all the stuff they've been bringing into town. I even saw one of those holographic signboards on the way here. And let me tell you, the curves on the hologram were so realistic. Honestly it's a bit much, but I'm not gonna complain, even if you're the one of us to get a new phone. All we got were some mousepads, and not even the good kind with boobs on them."

Just then they heard girls screaming, and quickly scrambled to the peephole to see what was happening, with Issei managing to get to the peephole first, and found that the girls were in a panic as one of their club members rushed in. "Some, some pervert took off with our underwear!"

That's when Issei felt something soft fall on his head, and when he felt for what it was that fell on him, quickly finding it to be a pair of panties. Soon bras and panties had fallen on both him and his two friends. He looked up to find the source, and saw that same beat from earlier now standing on the roof, dumping the underwear out of a basket onto them. He proceeded to blow a raspberry before letting the basket fall on them, obscuring the perverted trio's sight and they began to panic.

"Hahahahaha, you dumb idiots make it so easy!"

By the time they managed to get the basket off them, Issei found that the brat was nowhere in sight. More worryingly, they found the girls of the kendo club standing over them, all of them glaring daggers at the trio.

"Wait, I swear we didn't steal them, they just got dumped on top of us! We were only peeping!" That was all that he managed to get out before the trio suffered the wrath of the kendo club.

Occult research clubhouse

Rías Gremory returned to her seat at the table after managing to see a certain young man who caught her attention as of late. A strange thing, after all, considering she was a straight A 3rd year student that was regarded as among the top beauties of the school, yet a well known pervert had caught her attention. Yet here she was, pondering over him, contemplating on whether it'd be worthwhile to involve him in her personal matters. She was brought out of her musings when her best friend and vice president of the occult research club, Akeno Himejima, entered the room carrying some tea.

"You were watching him again today, Rías?"

Rias took a cup offered to her by Akeno and took a tentative sip."You know me too well. I can sense something from him, some quite powerful."

"Hmm, are you considering recruiting him?"

Thinking about it for a moment, Rias set the tea cup on the table before looking towards the window. "Maybe. Though, we should consider our next move carefully. By the way Akeno, have you checked in on the egg? Any signs of it hatching?"

Remembering the strange object Rias had found a few days prior, Akeno shook her head. "I did, but it hasn't given any indication of movement. Rias, I need to ask again, are you really sure it's a dragon egg? It seems highly unlikely."

Rias recalled again the night she had found the egg. She was on her way home later than usual after helping clean up a mess that had occurred in the clubhouse when she saw it. A crimson comet in the sky, soaring across the sky, hurtling towards the earth, impacting off in the distance in the forest. Of all the things she expected to find, an egg was not one of them. "I'm confident in my judgment. What other creature could possibly hatch from an egg that didn't even have a single scratch on it? Regardless, we should head to our next class, it's almost time after all." With that said, the both of them left the room, not realizing the guest that had been eavesdropping.

Unbeknownst to them, Impmon had been sitting above the window, listening to every word of their conversation. "Well it looks like I'm not the only one who's got an eye on that idiot. Still, I can't say I'm not curious about the mention of an egg. Maybe I ought to check it out for myself. His mind made up, he waited to see the pair leave the building, before jumping into the window.

Impmon began searching around the second floor, making sure not to make any sounds in case there was anyone else. After a few rooms, and swiping a few snacks that had been left out, he found a locked door, his gut telling him this was it. Conjuring a small but powerful flame to melt the door knob, he managed to open it.

Inside he found what appeared to be a terrarium, filled with branches and leaves with a lamp above it, and inside it was what he was looking for. A red egg the size of a human's head with a black symbol on it, he instantly knew what it was. "Heh, that broad ain't got a clue what she's got. Then again, what comes out could still be a dragon in a way. That symbol on it though, it's oddly familiar." Before he could examine it more closely, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and dashed out of the room to quickly find a young girl with white hair staring right at him.

"I thought I heard something! What are you doing here?!" Not wanting to take his chances, Impmon thought fast, and threw a fireball at a glass display next to the girl. The flying shards of glass didn't do much to harm her besides a few cuts, but it bought him enough time to escape the clubhouse.

Aftering getting a good distance away, Impmon sat down on a tree branch to catch his breath and consider what he learned. "They've definitely sensed whatever power that idiot has inside of him. Guess that complicates things, but I'm sure as hell not letting anyone poach him. That power of his could be my ticket back to the top!"

Just as Rias and Akeno did not realize he was eavesdropping on their conversation, however, Impmon never realized that someone was also observing him, as a tiny green device hidden in his scarf continues to transmit his every word to the one who placed it…..

Later that afternoon, in front of the school gate

Issei was still feeling sore from the beating he and his friends got from the kendo club. Not helping that he couldn't find that brat either. Not even his friends believed him when he told them it was him who threw the basket on them! All he wanted to do now was go home and fall asleep, hoping he'd wake up feeling better. That is, if he wasn't stopped by a girl at the school gate. By her uniform, she didn't seem to be attending Kuoh.

"Um, hello… Can I have a moment of your time?"

Issei of course couldn't resist the shy request of hers, and practically forgot how sore he felt. "Sure, I don't know mind."

The girl was visibly nervous, and it took her a few moments before she found her words. "Are you seeing anyone right now?"

Now this was a question Issei didn't expect to hear. Should he get his hopes up though? "Now? No…"

"I'm Yuuma Amano, and, um….. please go out with me!"

To say that Issei was stunned would be an understatement. At best, he thought she was going to ask him for directions, and at worst, get called a pervert for what happened with the kendo club. Instead, this cutie of a girl was asking him out!

"Wait, you want to go out with me? Are you sure you have the right person?! This isn't some kind of prank, right?"

"Yes, I'm sure! I've liked you for quite a while now Issei, seeing you pass by in town several times, I found you to be quite handsome, and I was hoping we could go on a date sometime, like next Sunday?"

Issei had to use all his willpower not to jump in joy, and didn't waste any time on pouncing on this chance to get a girlfriend. "Yeah I'd love to! We can meet up after school!"

Yuuma flashed him a cute smile. "Thank you issei! I hope we'll have a good time!" With that said, she gave him her contact information before leaving school.

"Man you're really a gullible little idiot! Do humans like you always lose any common sense when you see a pretty girl give you a sweet smile and say some nice words? Ha!"

Surprised by the voice, Issei looked around, recognizing that voice and laughter as being from the source of his troubles for the day. He finally found said source when he looked up and saw that brat sitting on a nearby tree.

He points his finger in the brat's direction. "YOU! Why are you here! All you've done is be a pain in my ass, and now you're making fun of me just cause I got confessed! What would a brat like you even know?!"

"Well for starters, the name's Impmon, nor am I a brat!" Impmon jumped down from the tree to land in front of Issei. "And trust me, I have enough experience to know when something's too good to be true."

Issei couldn't help but glare daggers at him. "As if you'd have any experience with anything! What even are you?!"

Impmon couldn't help but laugh at issei's cluelessness, confidently crossing his arms. "What am I? I'm a digimon obviously, but I'm not just any digimon! I'm what some would call a demon lord! And I'm here to strike a deal with you!"

Issei couldn't help but sweat drop at impmon's claim, because no matter how he looked at him, he was nothing but a weak looking little gremlin. "Yeah, and I'm the prime minister of Japan."

Impmon was at his wits end, and began thrashing about in a fit of anger. "Hey I'm serious here! With me, you can go from a nobody who'll accomplish nothing to….." he suddenly stops thrashing about as he realizes he doesn't know what he'd offer Issei, though he quickly shrugs it off. "Okay I don't know what you could do with my help, but it's definitely more than what you'd ever do on your own! So what do you say?" He extends his hand out to shake hands on the offer, confident Issei would accept.

To his surprise however, Issei swats his hand away. "Yeah, how about you screw off. I don't want whatever it is you're offering, nor do I like what you said about me. I was in a good mood and you just had to ruin it." Having said that, issei turned around and left, hoping he'd get home before it got too dark. As soon as he was out of sight, Impmon heard footsteps behind him. Turning around he found himself once again in the presence of the tamer he encountered earlier.

"So I'm guessing your pitch didn't go so well huh. Maybe if you tried approaching him as a friend, you might have been receptive." He takes out his phone and types a message on it, reporting what he saw to his superiors. "Still, if it's a tamer you're after, you just need to remember to behave. You already caused enough trouble by stealing the girls' underwear and breaking and entering into a clubhouse."

Impmon was very quick to pull on his lower eyelid and stick his tongue out at Kanji. "Oh shut it with your preaching! I can do whatever I want whenever I want! And for your information, I'm not here to make friends, not that I'd want any! As soon as I get what I want, I'm heading right back to the digital world!" Indignant as always, he went to follow Issei home, intent on getting his cooperation.

Kanji could only sigh, clearly not enjoying how Impmon was making things harder for both of them. His phone vibrated in his pocket, surely a text from his contact in the alliance wanting an update on the situation, so he took his phone out and began typing.

Kowloon: Managed to resolve the situation?

Inazuma: no, not yet. Impmon seems intent on having a certain Issei Hyouodo be his partner, though he refuses to elaborate.

Kowloon: I see. For now, I suggest you continue observing them. Is there anything else?

Inazuma: Actually there is. I picked up on some chatter from some other students while using the but I planted on Impmon, and I suspect there's a supernatural faction here, though no clue which one.

Kowloon: Hmm, proceed with caution then. We've yet to make any proper contact with the supernatural world, we'd rather not start with a hostile encounter. Either way I'll inform the council. Take care, Inazuma.

Sunday, Kuoh town

Impmon was utterly bored. He'd been tailing Issei since Friday after he followed him home, not once letting him realize he was there. He thought up what he was sure would be a surefire plan. He was gonna wait for Issei to go on a date with that broad, and knowing that she must have asked him out with bad intentions, swoop in when she breaks his heart and convince Issei to take up his offer. He didn't think that he'd be so bored waiting for time to pass as he watched him. As much as he wanted to play some pranks, he had to keep a close eye on him and not cause trouble, so he had to stay hiding on the roofs for now.

"Bah, why does his lifestyle have to be so boring?! Playing stupid games or doing that nasty human ritual of his while watching those videos! Ugh!" Although it did give him time to think things over. Those broads in the clubhouse were clearly interested in Issei for some reason, and it clearly was not his looks or something like that. He even saw that white haired girl he ran into at the club house, watching Issei from a distance the previous day, and a strange girl that had given Issei a flyer earlier that had the same energy as that Rias girl. It's like they could sense that immense power he had sensed, but that still didn't explain everything. Regardless, he'd have nothing to worry about if he managed to poach Issei before they could. Now all he needed to do was wait for his chance as he watched the date play out, but it was boring waiting for that broad to arrive.

"At least it was a good laugh when he showed off his new "girlfriend" to those idiot friends. The look on their faces. Course they're probably gonna be laughing their asses off when he gets dumped by her." Lo and behold, the object of Issei's fantasies for the past two days finally arrived, much to Impmon's relief as she walked up to Issei with a skip in her step.
"Issei, hey!" Issei was tempted to pinch himself to see if it was a dream, seeing Yuuma wearing an outfit that made her even cuter. "Oh nice you made it!" Yuuma quickly bowed. "Sorry for making you wait, I had to deal with some things!" He gently took her hand, which made him feel like he had butterflies in his stomach. "I'm just glad you came." He mentally cheered for himself, having always wanted to say that to a girl.

"Blegh! This lovey dovey talk is just so sickening! How committed is this bitch to getting his hopes up?" To his utter annoyance, they were like this the whole time, as they went around having fun. They pretty much went to as many places as they could, eating desserts or playing at the arcade. He even got some trash dumped on him while he was watching them from a trash bin in the arcade. He was sure it would be worth it in the end, but he was really starting to lose his patience. Before he knew it, the sun had set and the two humans had gone to the park, where he guessed Issei would get dumped.

"I sure had fun today Issei." on Yuuma's suggestion, they had gone to the fountain to finish up their date. Issei thought this was a strange choice, but wasn't going to question her considering the amazing time they've had. "Yeah, this was the best date ever!" Issei was on cloud nine. With how things had gone, he was sure this was his chance to make his move, to go the whole way. Yuuma then turned the other way, as if she didn't want to look at him. "Issei…. Can I ask you something? I'd like you to do something to commemorate this special moment?"

"This really is the greatest day in my life! I'm definitely gonna score!" Sure that she was gonna ask him for a kiss, Issei didn't need a moment to consider her request. "Sure, you can ask anything of me!" In that moment, the air became cold, as if any warmth was drained. Yuuma turned around to look at him, but instead of the sweet and innocent face he had been seeing up till now, her face showed nothing but malice and sadism. The words she then spoke sounded completely different then how she did before, as if it was an entirely different person. "Die for me."

Issei couldn't properly process what he was hearing. It surely must have been a mistake, he probably misheard what she just asked of him. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, can you say it again please?" Still wearing an unnerving smile, Yuuma obliged him. "I said I want you to die for me." Having said that, a gust picked up around her as she lifted off the ground as pitch black wings from her back.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. What had started out as a dream come true was now becoming a nightmare. None of this made sense to him. "Well I must admit I had fun today, and things turned out much better than I expected, but in the end I still need to eliminate you. It'd be dangerous for us to let you live. At the very least, I'll allow you to know my true name: Raynare!" She then formed a spear of light as she aimed it at Issei, who was rooted to the spot out of fear and horror. Just as she was about to throw it, a ball of fire hit her in the face, causing her to miss.

"I had come here expecting for you to reveal yourself to be some cruel bitch, but i didn't expect you to be a cowardly killer too!" Impmon was now standing between her and Issei, his gaze filled with contempt and anger. "I certainly don't like it when a stuck up bitch tries to poach what I'm after!"
Of all the miracles that could happen, Issei did not count on Impmon being one of them. "Impmon! You came to save me!" Impmon turned his head to look at him. "Don't go thinking this makes us buddies or anything. You've just got something I need, and this bitch simply pissed me off by picking on those who can't fight back! Night of fire! He extended his hand out as a circle formed at his feet, where a pitch black ball of flames emerged before launching itself at Yuuma who quickly dodged it.

"Hahaha, not so tough now that you're fighting someone on the same level! Infernal funnel!" He then summoned balls of ice and fire to his hands and began lobbying them at the girl, who began dodging them. "I bet you're regretting your choice now! If you grovel to me, I might decide to let you off with a warning! Hahahaha!... Huh?!"

To his surprise, instead of being scared or begging for mercy, she began to laugh. "As if I'd ever grovel to a weakling like you. You think I didn't know you were there, watching us? I was going to simply ignore you even though my little friends thought it would be better to kill you. It's clear now that I can no longer ignore you now, so I guess I'll oblige their request!" With the snap of her fingers, two demonic figures emerged from the darkness of the night, carried by small devilish wings as their massive maws cackled evilly. "Evilmon, you're free to do whatever you wish, but I want you to leave him barely alive so that he can reflect in his final moments on why he should have minded his own business!"

The two evilmon flew to Impmon, one on each side. Impmon didn't expect to fight another digimon, much less two champion levels. He tried to think of a way to get out of this life, but nothing came to him as the two digimon made their move first. Demon darts! Nightmare shocker! Impmon could do nothing as he was assailed by supersonic waves from one direction, and darts of energy from the other. By the time they stopped, he was bruised and battered, barely able to stand up. Not satisfied, the evilmon then pounced on him and began beating him. When they moved away, Impmon was laying on the floor, utterly defeated as his body began glitching out every few seconds.

"Impmon!" Issei reached out to him, not wanting him to die because of him, but soon Yuuma landed in front of him, wearing a bemused smile. "Now where were we?" Issei stumbled back, sure that his life would end here. As Yuuma raised another spear of light, the evilmon began cackling in glee. Then in an instant, Issei felt it, he felt the excruciating pain as the spear pierced his body, and found himself lying on the ground. Satisfied, Yuuma and her minions disappeared into the night.

Impmon struggled to move his battered body, refusing to accept being beaten. All he could manage was to turn his head and look at Issei as he laid there, dying. "No, it can't end like this, not after everything…" Muttering those words, he slipped into unconsciousness, sure that he would die from his wounds and never wake up.

As issei laid motionless, all he could do was look upon his own blood pooling on the ground. " Red, just like her hair. Rias…. Why is she the only thing I can think of right now? If only I could have touched her orbs…. I don't want to die."

A red magical circle appeared on the ground, as the very girl he was thinking of emerged from it with a pair of black bat-like wings. "You're the one who summoned me, are you not?" She then crouched down and held something to his chest. "Since death is upon you, I will gladly take you in." The object then glowed as it entered his chest, and soon the grievous wound in his stomach was longer there, though Issei was moments away from passing out. "From this moment forward, you will live your life for my sake."

Standing up, She began making preparations to clean up the scene and returning Issei to his home when she heard footsteps behind her. Suspecting it was possibly an enemy, she turned around and readied herself for combat, only to find herself facing Kanji Inazuma, now holding in his arms the strange creature that had been following issei, and another yellow creature at his side.

"Sup Senpai….. I guess we both have a lot of explaining to do."
Author notes

So I hope you all enjoyed this. This is something I have been cooking up for a while now. Got a lot of encouragement and discouragement from many people and friends, and I've done so much to make this work. I've got a lot planned out, especially with the partners and evolutions picked out. Something that should be noted is that the start of this story takes place in 2020. Another thing to know is that this will generally take from lore established by the digimon reference book. While the DxD story will initially proceed as it did at first with a few changes here and there, things will be shaken up more and more as things go on.