AN: Thematically Appropriate:

Self Deception - Fight Fire With Gasoline | Official video

NO CHILL! (High School DxD - Human SI Chapter 1)

"Hey, Murayama, we're kinda heading to Dojima High this way, aren't we?" The Kendo Club Captain was asked by her best friend and Vice-Captain, Katase.

"Yeah," Murayama Hajime smiled. "I'm picking up my brother. Just these few days to make sure he can go and come home without any problems."

"Eh? Kenji is now well enough to attend?" Katase Tonka said with a happy expression, glad that her friend's brother was now healthy enough to leave the house.

"Yep, I'm kinda worried on how he'll manage with other kids, but my parents are glad that he can finally go for long walks on his own." Murayama nodded as she explained.

"Are his grade still fine?" Katase asked in concern.

"Yeah, some stuff he just still can't figure out, but he's been getting a 78% average in everything thus far. Mom and dad hope that him finally being able to go to school will help raise that."

The two talked a bit more before they finally reached the high school to see Murayama's brother heading to the gate. Murayama and Katase internally winced as they saw how he walked.

The boy moved with a slow steady pace. His every step seem heavy, like he was exuding effort with every action, be it moving his feet, his arms, carrying his bag on his shoulders, or even breathing.

"Ah... Big sister." Kenji's smile brightened the two girls' moods. "You came to pick me up? You didn't have to, you know?" He said, looking glad to see her.

Murayama felt a bit guilty on the inside as she remembered the times when her brother would get sick. He had this aura of despair and depression around him, even though he himself was always smiling and cheerful. She hated how she used to not be able to stay around him, before she forced herself to just power through it for his sake. She didn't want him to think his older sister hated him. Even if she was only older by a year.

She still remembered when her parents used to tell her about, how when Kenji was born he was such a happy child, he was laughing from the moment he could make a sound.

Thankfully now, he wasn't as ill, and had this refreshing aura around him, that she couldn't help but hug him every morning.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm going to come get you. Mom would have thrown a fit if both of us didn't get back home together." Murayama playfully scolded.

"It's good to see you out and about, Kenji." Katase said with a wide smile, as she went and walked next to her friend's brother.

Murayama resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Katase crush on Kenji was obvious, but it seemed her brother was oblivious as always.

"Ah, Kenji, there you are-Ah, w-who are you?" A girl that looked to be Kenji's classmate, raced up to him before stopping at seeing the two kendo girls.

"Ah, Sanaka, did you need something?" Kenji calmly asked. "These are my sister and her friend, Murayama and Katase."

"Um, nice to meet you, I'm Sanaka Ai." The girl, Ai said with a small bow.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Sanaka, what did you need my brother for?" Murayama said pointedly. She had a feeling this would happen when he brother went to school. She'd have to warn him about girls wanting to take advantage of him.

And as the Kendo Club Captain suspected, the girl Sanaka wanted to invite Kenji to the flower arrangement club, likely to spend more time with him, and try to smooch with him.

Murayama put a stop to that right away, by citing Kenji's health and ending the conversation, by telling Kenji about their mom waiting for them.

Kenji politely rejected Sanaka's invitation, and walked with Murayama and Katase back home, each person talking about their day and time in their school.

"Hey, Kenji, do you think you'll be able to get into Kuoh Academy next year? The school is turning Co-Ed, you know." Katase said with cheerful hope.

"Ah, I don't know about that." Kenji said bashfully. "I hear you need to get really high in the entrance exam to make it. And the exams there are brutal."

"W-Well, I mean, they're not that bad." Murayama tried to encourage him. "I'll help you study as much as you need. I know those tests inside and out!"

"Didn't you only get in on a sports recommendation?" Kenji asked in confusion.

"T-That is that and this is this!" Murayama cried out blushing, making her treacherous friend laugh at her fumble.

"It's fine, really. I'm satisfied at Dojima." Kenji said with a small smile.

"We'll do our best to get you into Kuoh." Katase said energetically.

The three normal teens walked, talked and laughed as they went on merry way, unburdened by the world they lived in.

All but one.

The world was cruel and unfair.

The maximum human speed was 10.44 meters per second.

The strongest human punch only carried 4000 units of newton.

The highest human jump is 2.45 meters.

No matter what power or strength one would wish to seek, there will always be unbreakable limitation.

Limitation of biology. And even through the breakthroughs of technology, there are still the limitations of physics.

No. What use is technology when the human body itself is the limit.

And yet we are cursed with limitless imagination.

Myth, legends, stories, fiction, novel manga, anime, all of it,all of it was a testament of humanity's want to break free of it's limits.

Yet, from the moment I was 6 years old, and tried to jump over a glass table, wanting to fly, only to crash through it and break it, requiring my mom to take me to the doctor, I understood.

Humans could not fly. Humans will never achieve extraordinary powers.

So I stopped trying. The only solace I had was in anime. In stories of what if, and what could have been.

If I had one wish in the whole would, it would be to break free of human limitation.

But since I can not have that, I'd wish to be reborn in an anime world.

And that...

That wish has been granted.

16 Years Before Canon

"It's a boy!" A voice called out.

I opened my eyes taking in the artificial light. I looked around me, feeling like my neck was too small to actually look around. But I didn't need to, I saw two faces my mother and father.

They were so happy.

"Your name is Hajime Kenji, so nice to meet you, dear." My mother said.

I was making sounds just to train myself to speak earlier, just in case I need to, and take in the world around.

However, even one thing came up that made the world come to a halt.

Since I could read Japanese my eyes locked onto the doctor's name tag and I just froze.

Hibiki Jinka. Obstetrician Specialist. Kuoh General Hospital.

The doctor was talking about something or other, while my parents looked happy and relieved about everything going well with my delivery, and my mother doing okay, but I wasn't focused on any of that.

Kuoh General.

Kuoh.

As in Kuoh Town.

As in Japan in the setting of High School DxD.

I laughed, surprising the doctor and my parents at the happy sound escaping me, but making them smile in empathy nonetheless.

However I wasn't focused on them.

I was reborn in an anime world.

I was reborn in the best anime starting point I could have gotten.

There are those that would lament being reborn in what they call a Death World.

Weaklings. How pathetic.

Do you know what Anime Death World truly are? Fucking Perfect Training Grounds.

I couldn't stop crying in joy for days.

My wish had been granted.

And so I took a deep breath, and began my training.

First step? Master Total Concentration Breathing.

In DxD the only know Magic System that's talked about in detail is Human Magic. Which relies on mathematic calculations apparently. So I needed to work on that till I worked out how to actually do magic.

So the first thing I did at three years old once I managed Constant Total Concentration, was start doing math equations in my head. Simple addition and subtraction, just taking things one step at a time.

Of course I didn't keep to only mental exercises. I'm a three year old, it's expected for me to a hellion. So I became one.

I ran around the house, causing mischief whenever I could. I ran circles around my mom till I tired her out. I needed the cardio after all.

When no one was looking, I would lift the couch chair to work my muscles.

A year later I moved on to the actual couch.

Of course all that training was followed by deep meditation, (pretending to be asleep, so my parents could rest. Or fuck. I wasn't judging, they should enjoy their youth).

However simple exercises weren't doing it. I needed something more.

And so I worked on trying to master the Rokushiki. Because if I'm in anime world, then of fucking course I'll learn how to do that.

Besides it was easy to visualize. Kick the ground ten times in a second for super speed. Do the same to 'kick the air'. Or to make air slicing waves with your legs.

Surprisingly, Tekkai and Kami-e turned out to be the easiest to learn. When you can breath correctly, taking in oxygen for maximum efficiency, you can sense your muscles and then learn how to flex and relax each and every one of them.

Then with the ability to control my body's muscles, I focused on flex my leg muscles just right to increase my kicking speed, and then kept doing just that till I could kick the ground ten times in a single second.

But of course, kicking wasn't the only training I was doing.

It occurred to me that if I could make ten kicks in a second, why not a punch?

Hercules from Fate/Stay Night, had an entire fighting style relating to attacking a hundred times in an instance.

Why not reach that as a goal?

How fast would I be if I could kick the ground one hundred times in a second?

Yes, the Hercules Shooting Style is meant for weapons, but how can I learn to do that, if I can't punch 100 times a second?

I grinned at the thought, I couldn't wait.

I was seven by the time I mastered Rokushiki. Rokuogan still escaped me, but I'll get it eventually.

I sadly hadn't mastered the Hercules Shooting Style either. I could only reach 70 punches or kicks in a second. I know, I'm disappointed in myself too.

But more than even if my physical training was going as expected, my magical training wasn't going as well. I had no bases to build off of.

Through daily meditations, I could finally sense...energy. In my body and maybe my surroundings, but it was very faint. I could sense more in the local park, or some of the rural areas my parents would take me and my sister during summer vacation.

So I can't sense energy in modern city because there's less life energy?

Useless. Useless. Useless!

Humans are all around me. That is life energy right there! Whatever supernatual lesson the world was trying to tell me, take your nature supremacy bullshit and shove it!

Maybe I'm not sensing life energy but plant life? No, I needed something more.

Something to give me a stepping stone to start off of.

And for those who prepare and seek it, luck shall grant them an opportunity.

"Kenji, don't go to that shrine alright, there's suppose to be some evil spirit sealed there." Little Murayama once told me, while we were visiting some local shrine, while we were on vacation in Kyoto.

Evil spirit? Most kids would just be scared. A rational adult would just chuckle at the superstition.

Me? I grinned. Finally, a chance to improve my training.

"Foolish child, to think you would release me without a thought. But for giving me such a fine vessel, I shall be merciful and-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up for a moment." I said back.

I hide in a cave, deep in a forest that I ran a bit to reach from the shrine.

There were some people, either onmyouji or tengu since this is Kyoto and the place for the West Youkai Faction-even if this is still the normal human side of the place-running about when I removed the talisman on some urn.

As expected their was some fox-looking aura thing, I'm guess the evil spirit, and it jumped into my body the moment it was released.

"You dare! Why I will-"

I stopped paying attention to the cliche villain.

"Cliche!?"

Now that I was finally in some quiet place, without someone for doing something irresponsible or whatever (or try to slay me to slay the evil spirit or something equally annoying), I could focus.

"Whatever foolish attempt you make, you can't exorcise-"

Now that I could feel the malevolent energy of the evil curse going through me, I could also feel what is not it. I focused on the feeling of the energy inside me, and pulled at it.

"What? How quaint-Wait."

Using my breathing and my control over my body, I started doing my normal katas, while pulling on that inner power.

"I-It's worthless whatever it is you're doing."

I could feel the energy of the evil spirit pushing against me.

"I will burn your soul for your arrogance, child!"

I felt my body heat up, weaken, and feel like the worst cold possible. It felt like dying all over again.

I couldn't stop grinning. Perfect.

"W-What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Now I could feel my efforts against something. That I was actually pushing against something.

I studied the anatomy in detail behind my parents back, so I knew which muscle groups to train. How the body moves, how muscles break down, how food broken for energy. I knew how the blood flowed and how the electric pulsing went through my nerves.

I always knew how to fill my body with normal energy, when I Breathed.

But now I added my inner energy, my Ki into the mix.

A white-ish aura began enflame around me. A purple-reddish energy fighting against it.

"No! No! STOP!"

Or rather my Touki.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed.

I have broken through.

Hundred punches.

BOOM!

The cave shook.

Hundred kicks.

CRACK!

The cave started to shake and fall around me. I dashed through the cave system still I reached a pond nearby.

Water is purifying, right?

"What? The Sacred Pool of Inari? Why is it here!? What is this stupid luck! Don't you dare touch it, or not just me, but since you're now connected to me, both our souls will be-"

I jumped into the pool.

The evil spirit screamed and I laughed.

Oh yeah, I felt pain beyond belief as the energy (I'm guessing holy? or divine?) within the pool started purifying the spirit, but also me.

No. I wanted the purify the spirit on my own, I just wanted to learn how to now fight against it, not just resist it.

I could feel the pool's energy as it was trying to burn the evil spirit and everything connected to it, meaning me.

I was able to put a shell around my soul, as much as I could, but the pool's energy was too strong and too dense.

Hah, as if that's enough to stop me, but I thankful for the lesson.

I jumped out of the pool on the other side, after a quick swim.

"T-That...We made it. Listen, even if we're out, we will both still be erased by the pool's effect. The only solution, is for us to join-"

I closed my eyes, focusing on my Touki. I stabilized my breathing instantly to use Recovery Breath at much heighted speed and effect, thanks to accessing Touki.

The spirit was saying something or other in surprise and joy that was turning gleeful, but I was done with this teaching aid.

I gathered the Touki into myself, shaping it like the sacred pool energy was doing, and started circulating and pushing it against the evil spirit, like a chisel in the shape of a spinning wheel.

"NO! NO! IMPOSSIBLE! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

The spirit was proving to be an excellent tutorial boss. I could stop how happy I felt that I was putting in this much effort. I could feel the evil spirit shrink and break down bit by bit, and I made sure to go even after the flakes.

After all, you can't to that pitiful cliche of the evil spirit returning after dying once, because some bits were left behind. I have no need for an evil inner power either. All inner power is my power.

"BY A CHILD! BY A CHILD! I, THE ANCIENT NINE-TALES-"

"Thanks for the lesson, Mr. Tutorial Boss." I said with a smile.

"No, if it comes to this, when I will simply break this vessel. To hell with being captured again! I will not be beaten by some insane brat!"

I was genuinely happy to have met this evil spirit. Then I felt the energy of this place, the positivity and love, and I just took it in and added it to my joy. I felt my inner energy reserves skyrocketed that even the evil spirit was screaming in shock.

Neat. So this is Senjutsu.

"Adios."

And with another Breath, I exploded my Touki aura inwards and then outwards, and the evil spirit cried out and it was blown away like a bad fart.

In fact, it did smell like a fart.

"Ew."

I took another soak in the pool, this time, it only felt electric against my skin, rather than acid, and left.

I sneaked in by blending with the shadows, and with fixing my breathing like I always did, when I wanted to hide from my parents to return to our hotel room.

There was a lot of buzz with some tengu running around, and-Oh! There's the kitsunes. So cute. And wow, look at the Fox MILF.

Shame that I couldn't stay and admire Yasaka some more, but I don't want my parents or Murayama to wake up and not find me there. Bullshitting where I was would be a pain.

Touki seemed to work well in just enhancing anything that I wanted to do, be it moving, or hiding, or anything physical.

Not only that, but I could sense this, not evil, but ill energy in the atmosphere. Huh, so that's negativity of the world. The evil spirit felt like a higher concentration of it.

Wait.

When the evil spirit started attacking me from within, my body felt hot, tired and heavy. Like a curse!

My eyes widened at the revelation.

Could I use those curses to act as gravity and resistance on my body?

The world better not run out of negative energy till I reach my goal.

To surpass God.

No, I'm not talking about power level of some other bullshit.

I'm not talking about gods in that ridiculous Top Ten Strongest Beings list.

I'm talking about the OG.

The one that when people say The God, they instantly know who is being talked about.

'But the God of the Bible is dead', some people would say.

Foolish. So utterly foolish.

That being was able to match Ddraig, Albion, seal Trihexa and kill the Four Original Satans all at once.

He died? So what, as if death is really all that much of a barrier to overcome for being of that level.

No, something like that? A god that could seal ancient powerful creatures and make them into weapons? The mastermind that in one move, ended all the threats to the world and humanity, while ensuring a peace enforced by a masquerade that other races held up, while humanity advanced in peace, and grew in strength?

We have a magic system based on math! Once we hit Digital AI Spirits Waifus and Husbandos, that bond with us and work on the calculations for us, we'll be as gods!

So what is the goal one must take if they want to be powerful? To surpass God. The God.

Naturally, that's the only goal worth striving for.

Sadly, other races will try and get in my way or recruit me.

Get on my level scrubs.

Now, it was time to continue the Grind.

And when I'm ready?

Show me your best, World of DxD!

AN: SI is inspired by Cid. Yes, the one you guessed.