5

Luck is no substitute for hard work, but I wouldn't turn away a lucky break just for spite. There are several quotes from famous people about luck, and most of them are about how hard work trumps luck or how you make your own luck. I find some of these rather hypocritical, honestly. Oftentimes these people are rather famous for some innocuous circumstance granting them the opportunity to be successful. Someone's paperwork being delayed. A competitor suffering a setback. An unexpected windfall that gave them the resources to complete their revolutionary work. Still, if they admit that luck played a role in their success, they wouldn't be able to pat themselves on the back as self-made men.

Instead, they extol the virtues of hard work and insist that they got down in the mud and tore success from the very earth, and even God himself could not deny them. As though any who fail just didn't want it enough. Meanwhile, every day some people work themselves to death trying to get that one thing that has always eluded them. Success.

Don't get it twisted; hard work is absolutely critical for most forms of success. Even luck and natural talent will only take you so far, but the same can also be said of 'hard work.' I've met many hard workers, and I've met many lucky people in my previous existence. Sometimes those traits overlap, and those are the truly successful people. So, remember to work hard, and if Lady Luck smiles on you, say thanks and make the most of the opportunity.

That said, I sit on my bed and think about how to wake my sacred gear up. I recall from the Testament of Sister New Devil fan page that Jin drank the blood of the dragon Fafnir, Siegfried style, which probably affected his bloodline. A bloodline that passed on to me. After all, I have three unknown bloodlines, and I can account for two of them from Basara's mothers, Sapphire and Raphealine. That third should be whatever Jin got from Fafnir.

I confer with Wise Man, and I'm pretty certain that with the dragon blood in the equation that I can directly wake up the Boosted Gear with some heavy meditation and a little bit of luck. In that regard, I create a new ability to help boost my luck a little more.

[Lady Luck's Smirk (B)

This ability increases the probability of good luck happening to the user. A lesser version of Lady Luck's Smile.]

[LP Remaining: 500]

'Ugh. that took a chunk out of me. I need to advance this plot to get to the Master-Servant Contract portion. At least then, I'll be able to increase my LP more freely.'

I fold my legs into the lotus position and try the movie version of meditation—deep breath and focus on my goal. I need power. Something strong... like a dragon. Hold that image and focus on it intensely. Find that power in the deep dark recesses of the mind and soul. Don't let it go until what I need wakes up. Come on, Ddraig, get your scaly ass up and moving. Time to go to work.

I feel a slight growl in my soul. There he is. 'Zzzz.'

'Is he snoring? Wake up, you lizard!'

"Issei!" And like that, my concentration is disturbed. I open my eyes just as Mio pops her head in my door with one hand over her eyes, though it looks like her fingers are askew enough to let her look through them. "You better not be doing anything perverted, or I'll kill you a hundred times."

Seriously, girl? "Now, why would I do anything perverted without company?"

"Oh," she says, dropping her hand with a pout of disappointment. Maria must be rubbing off on her, or else she remembered yesterday and the bathroom incident. Her cheeks flush as she realizes both what I said and her own disappointment. I'm sure this is somehow my fault.

She stomps her foot angrily, but before she can go off on me in some tsundere tantrum, I interrupt her. "Did you need something?"

"Huh?" She stops and realizes that she actually came here for a reason. "Oh, yeah. Your dad wants us to pick up some groceries from the store."

Oh, yeah, I remember this scene. Some hooligans try to have their way with Mio, and Basara ambushes them with a thing of pepper before they take off on his bike. I didn't like that scene, not because it was contrived and cliche as fuck, no. I don't like it because that was not a bicycle built for two. That thing looked as uncomfortable as hell, and they just scoot down the street like they're on a pleasure ride. My balls ache just thinking about it.

"Alright, let me throw on some different pants, and I'll be right down." She nods and walks out.

I look down at my left hand. "That was your wake-up call. We've got shit to do."

I quickly change and head downstairs. My left hand is warm, and I can feel a smirk slowly form on my lips. Almost there. Just one push should do it. Let's see if someone is dumb enough to give me that push.

.

.

.

"Are you sure you don't want to take the bike?" Mio asks.

"Nah. Two people, one bike. It's like an accident waiting to happen. I'd rather carry both you and the groceries than take the bike."

"Hah! I think you'd get exhausted if you did that."

"Meh. I'm in pretty good shape." One might even say, superhuman shape. " I can pretty much go all night but, if you're worried about the long walk, we could always take the bus."

"No, I'd like to look around a little. We've already been in Kuoh a few days, and I feel like I haven't seen any of it yet."

"Really? Well, then I know a spot. It's got a great view of the city. It's a little out of the way, but if you want, I'd like to show you."

Mio stares at me a moment and then smiles. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

"Issei?" a woman's voice comes from behind me. I see Mio frown a little as I turn to see who it is. My memories cycle, and I recognize her. I smile; this should be interesting.

"Hello, Rei. I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?" I'm playing it a little stiff, but there is information I'm not sure of yet. How close to her story is this world going to play it. If she's here and her story is part of this world, then it'll probably be much worse than I imagine.

"Why do you care?" she asks. "You completely ditched me."

I frowned. "Is that the way you see it, Rei? I promise, I never meant for it to feel like that."

"Well, where were you then?"

"After it happened, I tried to stop by, but your father said you weren't seeing anyone. Then during the summer, I went with my father for one of his photoshoots. When I got back, you had started dating Hisashi. I didn't want to be the third wheel, so I kept my distance. Once school started, we never really saw each other. Honestly, I thought you were avoiding me."

"What-no. That's not- I don't believe you."

"Ask your dad and Hisashi. I always ask them how you are doing. Hisashi is getting annoyed at me. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm trying to steal you from him."

"Pfft. Well, obviously not. You've already replaced me, it seems," she says, looking at Mio.

I frown. That's pretty hypocritical of her, considering she replaced me in just a couple of months. I get she was in a bad place, and we had never solidified our relationship as anything more than friends, but she is with someone else, am I supposed to pine away for her or something? Why am I getting upset now? It wasn't even me in the first place. Not really. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't introduce you. Rei Miyamoto, this is Mio Naruse, my sister. Mio, this is an old friend of mine, Rei."

"What? You don't have a sister!" Rei shouts.

"My father is remarrying, so technically, Mio is my stepsister... or will be."

Rei turns a bright red like she's about to explode but suddenly deflates, and a weary melancholy settles over her. Is she getting the whole picture now? Issei never abandoned her. I never abandoned her. She made a decision because she was mad and couldn't retaliate against the person who wronged her. So, she targeted someone else, and now she is regretting it. "I'm sorry," she whispers. "It was nice to meet you, Mio; I have to be going."

I see a tear on her cheek as she turns and runs back into her house across the street. It looks like I have more than just Issei and Basara in me. If this will be a zombie apocalypse in a DxD type world, I can almost guarantee they won't be normal zombies. This could turn into absolute shit real quick.

"Issei? Was that your girlfriend?" Mio asks.

"What? No. She's just a friend," I say, but inside I know I won't leave it at that. Hisashi is not a bad guy, but she's not in love with him. That scene just now proved it.

"Her reaction seemed a little extreme for just a friend."

I smile at her. "There is no known medicine for regret."

.

.

.

"I don't believe you!" Mio exclaims. "There is no way you are going to make me believe that you were shy."

She'd believe me even less if she knew about my harem goal. "No, it's true. I had several female friends, but I never built up the courage to ask any of them out."

"So, what changed?"

"You assume it has."

She shakes her head vehemently. "No, it has. If you were shy, Maria would have eaten you alive by now."

"Ha! Well, I suppose you're right," I say. I'm quiet for a moment. "Do you remember what I told you about Rei's reaction before?"

She nods. "Well, it's like that. I already have too many regrets, and I don't want any more. So, protect the people I care about, be with the people I love, and live life to the best of my abilities; those are my goals. Whether I succeed or not, as long as I try, I should be able to minimize my regrets."

"Only minimize?"

"Well, it's impossible to have no regrets. I try to keep the regrets small and to gain as few as possible." The Basara in me has a shit ton of them, while the Issei has little idea of the concept other than as it relates to not seeing boobs. This is before he meets Rias and, in particular, Asia, and the trauma he endured during her introduction, subsequent death, and resurrection, after all. As for the Takashi side... I'm sure Rei is one of them.

We were on our way back from the store. Oddly enough, we didn't encounter the delinquents that had harrassed Mio in the original story. Instead, however, I could feel someone watching us as we headed towards the overlook I wanted to show Mio. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a man in a gray overcoat and fedora.

So it's him. Subtlety, thy name is Dohnaseek. Humphrey Bogart called and wants his look back, you anachronistic hack.

The sun hasn't fully set yet, and there are a few people still in this park watching the spectacular view. The city is painted in red and gold.

"Nice view, isn't it?"

"It's pretty," Mio says.

"Told ya. It's really pretty at night, too. Maybe we can all come together next time."

"Yeah," Mio says, her voice shifting to something more wistful and melancholy. "Next time."

I shift gears. That guy is getting closer, and I don't like it. "We're family now. We need to be able to rely on each other. So, I just want you to know," I say slowly. "You can rely on me."

"Cheeky," she says. I sometimes wonder if the dialogue is just stuck a little. "You're too cheeky. We still barely know each other."

"I suppose..."

"But... you felt a little bit like a real big brother just now."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just a little."

"So, can we clear the slate with this morning's mis-"

"No!"

"But, you do understand that 'Youth in an Unmarked Lot' was Maria's."

"Hmph!"

I sigh. "Well, I'll keep working at it. Would you mind holding the bags for a minute? I need to use the bathroom really quick."

"Okay, but hurry up. Maria's going to be worried if we stay out much later."

"No problem. I'll be right back."

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.

.

Leaving Mio at a scenic overlook, I jog over towards the public bathroom, but instead of entering, I circle around to the side of it opposite where the 'man' had set himself up to watch us. As I thought he was focused on Mio. Despite the seal on her bloodlines, she still leaks power like a sieve.

People were starting to exit the park, so I knew I didn't have too much time to make my way around. Dohnaseek, that bad rip-off of a fifties gumshoe, would make his move sooner rather than later. His move is to kill Mio. I doubt he has any greater plan than that. Dohnaseek is just an opportunistic asshole looking to take out any demon or devil that he thinks he can get away with.

I have to assume the others of his group are in the city. If this were the cannon, he'd be working with Raynare and two other Fallen Angels. I can only assume that's still the case, but they don't usually travel together, and I haven't noticed anyone else. I'm not playing with this guy, either way.

I make it to a spot just behind him without alerting him.

"You know, you Fallen Angels are really sloppy," I say, drawing his attention behind him. He spins, conjuring a bright blue spear of light. I've already moved, however. I'm very fast; an S-ranked speed ability is no joke. I leave after-images if I want to. Dohnaseek knows how fast I am, but only because he knows he's dead since the blade of Brynhildr has pierced his chest from the back.

"Sorry about this. I'd normally go for some banter before starting, but I just don't have the time, and you were targeting my new little sister there. That's an offense punishable by... well, you can guess, right?" I twist the blade and yank upward, severing his torso and cutting his heart to pieces while activating my quirk and getting rid of the evidence.

'Well, that was anti-climactic,' a deep voice echoes in my soul.

"It's about time you woke up."

'Oh? You were expecting me?'

"Of course, I was Ddraig, but we can talk more about that later. I have family issues to deal with for now."

I flex my left hand, and a metallic red gauntlet with a green stone embedded in the back of the hand forms over my hand and forearm. "Crap, this thing is even gaudier than I thought. What is with the design aesthetics of gauntlets and these swords? The damn things look like something a chuuni would design. These spikes are going to stab me if I use this. I'm going to have to figure out how to customize this thing. Probably should adjust Brynhildr too. "

'...'

"What? Are you telling me that you'd choose this utterly impractical design if you were building this gauntlet?"

'...'

"I didn't think so; the damn thing barely looks dragon adjacent, never mind like a dragon," I say and shake out my hand, releasing the Boosted Gear back into my soul.

I walk over to Mio with a smile, no sign of the Fallen Angel I just killed except for a single feather floating to the ground.