Chapter 2

Okay, let's do a quick recap, in this supposedly final moment of my life. I scored a deal with the prettiest high school girl in Kuoh, got glared at by the people, adapted myself to act as a boyfriend in public, got glared at by the people, got asked out by a girl, and tried to help her overcome rejection, got glared by the people. But the girl suddenly became a woman(?) with wings who wanted to kill me (now where are the people when I need them?!).

Now I don't think women normally turn into monsters if a guy rejects them but this one did and oh, I even did the finger check so don't try to convince me this is a dream.

In short words, I am ... (fill in the blanks with the appropriate word).

...

The streets were empty. The sky was changing colour and a black-winged creature was chasing me.

I have no idea what happened to the people around here but there is no way these empty streets are natural. Could it be an alternate reality?

Now don't assume I am calmly assessing the situation; I am honestly freaked out here (as I should be).

"HAHAHA! RUN! RUN!" the maniac was screaming as she circled above me.

The winged Amano-san was following my sprint with ease. She was gliding in the air towards me as if swooping down to pick her prey (which, in this vast world had to be me).

My despair reached its peak when I saw how fast she was reacting to my change in direction, and speed and how I used obstacles. I was panting for breath; the adrenaline was getting to me.

But alas, she suddenly flew over and then towards me from the front. Before I could move out of the way she grabbed me by the neck and flew off.

"KEUKH!"

I tried to yank her hand off. Even kicked and trashed trying to shake her off. Her physical strength was monstrous.

She was loving every bit of my reaction.

"Yes, yes~! I can feel your throat struggling in my hand! This is the best <3!"< p>

She screamed happily.

Fucking psycho bitch!

My vision was blurring and saliva kept running down my chin.

"OH! I forgot to tell you why you are being killed! Silly me~ Tehee!"

She giggled cutely. I wanted to say, 'Look into the mirror before you even say fricking Tehee!', but not exactly in the position to do that.

"My name is Raynare by the way," she said excitedly even though I didn't ask her, "you are the brother of that damn Red Dragon Emperor, Hyoudou Izo, who had caused an annoying amount of trouble for our boss before. Oh sorry, you are not part of the supernatural so you wouldn't get it! My bad, Hahahaha!"

Red Dragon Emperor? Supernatural? How is Izo...?

So many questions popped into my head.

What is going on? How is Izo involved in all this? Also, why does he have that cool name?

Supernatural? As in the mythology and stuff?

...

Everything seems to be fading.

Ah, I must be getting close to passing out. I will probably die by her hands.

What a horrible way to die. Without even really understanding why I am being killed...

Even worse, at the hands of a perverted creature who isn't letting me go even when I am tapping her hands in defeat.

I felt overwhelmed with emotions...

...

Wait... Right now...

Me? Showing emotions...? I can feel my anger toward this creature.

Fear and intimidation are also surfacing, but they're quickly drowning in this overwhelming sea of rage.

...

"By the way! Killing you won't change anything~ It is just my revenge on your brother. Even though you are his brother, I was ordered not to waste my time on you..."

Her tone became cold as she tightened her grip, completely blocking the air entry in my neck.

"The brother of the Red Dragon Emperor is a weak human with a sleeping sacred gear therefore I am supposed to ignore him? I think not."

Her tone changed back into cheerful.

"That's why I was careful not to use my light spears to kill, you see?~ Though I used it on your bag in anger. But as long as I finish you off quietly, those obnoxious devil princesses will never know!"

Sleeping sacred gear?... Devil princesses?

...

Devils... come to think of it, Rin was always interested in mythology. Man, was the last time I laughed with him? 

I must be near dead since I keep having flashbacks. Not much interesting either. A single good friend, an almost orphan-like life...

...

An image of a tall building with huge letters saying KSS came to my mind.

Ah, yeah there was also KSS too.

...

... what was KSS, again?

"Oh right~ You don't have a single clue about what I am saying, right? Damn, that makes me a bit sad..."

She shook me.

"You heard that?! You have to take responsibility for making me sad!" she cried.

She switched her grip to my collar by lightly tossing me up quickly.

Just when I felt myself teetering on the brink of unconsciousness, the pressure was suddenly released.

I grabbed my neck, gasping for precious oxygen. Relief flooded throughout me in a dizzying rush.

*COUGH* *COUGH*

"UGH! YOU GOT YOUR SPIT ON ME, YOU FILTHY BASTARD!"

She slapped my face with her other hand.

"Well~! You are about to die anyway so I guess I can overlook it once!" she said with a giggle,

"Now! Beg for your life! I want to hear it!"

...

"Coward..."

Her smile vanished. I barely steadied my head and looked her in the eye.

"How cowardly of you all to *cough* gang up on a single human..." I said looking behind her.

"What?"

She looked behind her in panic.

But there was no one there. She turned her head back in anger.

"What are you-"

....

"Ohhh~! This is what a fallen angel looks like!"

8-year-old Issei looked over a book that Rin showed him. Both of them were looking over picture books in Rin's living room.

"All of them are not only beautiful but also strong too," Rin said amusedly.

"Heh~ If they come across me, I will show them!" Issei said with his childish arrogance.

Rin burst out laughing.

"Sure, as if- pfft HAHAHA!"

Issei became red in the face with anger and embarrassment but wasn't ready to give up.

"I can beat them! Look, they are just humans with wings!"

Rin laughed harder at this.

"Hahaha! They aren't as easy as you think, dummy! They are gonna be super strong and fast too! How are you gonna even reach them, stupid Ise?!"

'Ugh, look!"

Issei grabbed a pencil nearby and brought it over to the image.

"I will do it like this! First, make them have their guard down! And then-"

Issei stabbed the image with his pencil.

"Attack them in their eye!"

*STAB*

Raynare's scream echoed through the silent world.

....

In the student council room in Kuoh, Sona Sitiri was hearing details about Rias' move on Hyoudou Issei, her pawn's big brother.

"Interesting," Sona said with a small smile, "So the rumors turned out to be true. Tsubaki, pass me details about Hyoudou Issei."

A girl wearing spectacles passed her the files.

Sona Sitiri quickly scanned through the files, pausing at some areas.

"Other than his middle school grades, nothing stands out," she said absentmindedly, "I thought at least his involvement in the MMA field would be interesting, but he was disqualified in the preliminaries of his debut tournament due to the display of unnecessary violence."

The whole student council was Sona's peerage, which consisted of Sona Sitri as the king (President), Tsubaki Shinra as the queen (Vice president), Momo Hanakai (bishop), Reya Kusaka (bishop), Tomoe Meguri (knight), Tsubasa Yura(rook), Genshirou Saji (pawn x4) and finally...

"What do you think about this situation Izo?"

Hyoudou Izo who was worth three normal and one mutated pawn pieces.

He was a boy who looked robust for his age. He was looking outside the window at the sky hiding his facial expression from the other members.

His hands were clasped confidently behind his back and he excluded a dominating aura. The Red Dragon Emperor and the younger brother of Hyoudou Issei; Hyoudou Izo, the fastest-growing Red Dragon Emperor the world has ever seen.

"I do not have a definite answer, Kaichou," he said, "it could be simply to gain info on me as you assumed last time."

"Any other reasons that come to your mind?" she asked.

Izo remained silent for a moment.

"No," he said with a hint of slight hesitation.

Sona decided not to pry any further.

"Still," Saji said with a worried smile, "He is going to have a hard time at school now. Almost every single human boy in this school wants to beat the hell out of him. I heard even some college students are getting involved. But the sole reason they are not acting is because..."

Saji looked at Izo.

Izo's popularity throughout the academy was not only due to his looks and grades but also because of how ridiculously strong he was. He had even beaten many third-years belonging to Hiro Satoru's gang who came to mess with him when he was still a freshman all alone without using his supernatural physical capabilities.

Surprisingly enough, Hiro Satoru, the top dog of Kuoh Academy, ignored him. This resulted in rumors that Izo was, in fact, the true number-one of Kuoh Academy.

The other peerage members nodded at Saji's words.

"Kaichou," he asked Sona, "Can you please make sure he doesn't get unnecessarily beaten up in school?"

He turned his head to the side and added quickly.

"I don't want him to embarrass me. That's all."

...

"Looks like someone has a sweet spot for his brother," Sona said with a teasing laugh, "I will see what I can do."

Izo said nothing but turned his back once more towards them.

I thought at least his involvement in the MMA field would be interesting...

He gripped his hand a bit more tightly.

Display of unnecessary violence...

....

I landed on my feet. My right hand was drenched in blood; the blood from her left eye.

Due to the extreme pain, Raynare was keeping her distance from the ground, far away from Issei.

I flicked the Swiss Army Knife in my hand.

*Pause*

I know what you guys are thinking but let me explain; A Swiss army knife is not a weapon, I repeat; It is not a weapon.

It is a multi-purpose tool which I always keep in my pocket. It is a tool that can come in handy in situations like these, ok? Whoa, now don't assume I just keep it with me for these types of situations-

The point is; it does not make me whatever the image of a quiet kid you have in your mind.

*Resume*

"YOU DAMN FILTH!"

The enraged Amano charged at me at terrifying speed but this time I dodged towards her blind spot which I created by blinding her left eye.

She crashed into the road making a web-like crack on it.

"I WILL TEAR YOU INTO PIECES!"

Perhaps it was because she was now really angry or because of my previous attack, she wasn't closing the gap normally. She seems to want to get as quickly to me as possible and then away.

...

Think.

This is a once-in-a-million opportunity.

I shifted my head quickly to the right and left while still keeping her within my peripheral vision.

There is an electric post about 7 meters to my left behind on the other side of the road. I am on a footpath near a junction which is a bit further from the footbridge, where I had the fortune to meet this sweet lady. Just behind me, across the road, there are some shops. My only way of escape is to move back. But, her speed just now... it was close to 70 km/hr right?... Considering that it is her max speed.

She turned and faced me. So this must be what a bullfighter feels down in the bullring, huh?

He must feel thrilled to evade death at such a close distance...

Her claws can easily slice my throat... But despite that, selfishly craving for victory in this situation...

...

Victory?... what exactly is victory in this situation?

That was when I came to realize the full gravity of the situation.

There are no referees to say foul or any bell to stop this match.

Win... to win in this situation...

...

I removed my blazer. She fixed her bulging right eye on me and spread her wings.

I have to kill Raynare or whatever her name is...

... *DASH!*

My pupils burned red as she charged at me for the second time. Instead of moving away from her, I did what my instincts were telling me to do.

I charged towards her.

The distance between us is about 24 meters with her speed she is going to reach me in less than 1.5 seconds.

*FWIP*

Raynare's eyes went wide. Issei's blazer, which he just threw towards her, was now blocking her view. She swiped it away in a hurry using her left hand but was unable to prevent her decline in acceleration.

?!

Issei was there again on her blind side. His eyes burned in red color.

He used Raynare's momentum... her swinging motion of her left arm which she used to swipe away the blazer... and the momentum of his dash... He grabbed her arm... and... in one clean motion...

*CLICK* *POP*

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Once again, Raynare's screamed.

This time, however, due to her shoulder becoming dislocated. She crashed into the bookstall on the other side of the road, screaming.

While Issei managed to successfully apply joint manipulation in that short time frame, he was unable to free himself from Raynare's momentum and as a result, crashed into the electric post near the stall, stomach first, and layed there coughing up saliva.

...

I could barely hear anything from shock and adrenaline.

Not yet...

My mind was telling me. I turned over clenching my teeth and turned my eyes towards the store, where she had crashed.

Something told me that it was far from over.

What she did to my bag, surfaced from my memory.

As I was rolling away from harm's way, I saw the bag hit the tree. At first, I thought it was her pure physical strength. But there was something else. Something which was glowing...

Though I used it on your bag in anger...

I ran in the opposite direction from the crashed store and a second later-

*BOOM*

The electric post exploded.

?!

I saw it. This time I saw it.

It was a spear. A goddamn light spear.

Damn it! She is no longer holding back!

I should have known that I couldn't take down such a creature this easily. I rushed into an alley near the footbridge so that she couldn't spot me easily in the open road.

I backed against a wall trying to stabilize my breath. It was like a scene straight from a horror movie where the main character(me) is extremely conscious of the sounds he is making, even his own heartbeats because it is too loud.

If only it wasn't a Swiss army knife but something longer... Well, that would be against the Japanese law to carry around.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

She flew past the alley. She seemed really mad now as she was screaming and scanning the whole area with her single eye and with a glowing spear in her fine hand. Her other arm looked awkwardly straight and lumped to her side. But I was focused on something else...

Her wings.

Those wings are putting me into an even more defensive situation.

How cowardly of you to bring your friends too...

At that time, she looked back hurriedly at my bluff, could it be that there are more of these creatures?

I was ordered not to waste my time on you...

Ordered? Does that mean there is someone even stronger?

I shook my head.

In any case, I can't let her escape. There is only one of us who is going to come out alive from this situation and that is me.

For that to happen...

My eyes locked on her wings.

...

Raynare had never been this enraged in her whole life.

A human. A fucking human whose life she was supposed to be playing with, who hasn't even awakened his sacred gear, took her left eye and left arm. If the word gets out, she would be the laughingstock for the whole supernatural world.

She gripped the light spear tightly. Even if it means disobeying the orders to keep a low profile in this town, she is going to completely eradicate this vermin existence from the face of the Earth.

Now... where is this rat hiding?

"HERE, YOU FOOL!"

She turned around and saw her prey about 100 meters away from her in the middle of the road, directly under the footbridge where she had met him for the first time. The footbridge where they met...

A vein popped up on her forehead.

She was too far to aim properly so she rushed with her top speed towards him to get within range.

"I AM NOT SCARED OF YOUR TOYS BITCH!"

Hyoudou Issei screamed at her, his voice breaking a bit.

"Oh yeah?~ THEN HAVE ONE!"

Raynare threw the spear in anger even though she was out of her range because seeing the bridge was making her angry. She had put on an act and was going to kill him as dramatically and slowly as possible but... at first, it was an unexpected rejection, and even though she managed to improvise and isolate him... he missed out on her transformation scene... Why? Because he was buying FUCKING JUICE?! 

As soon as Issei saw her throw it, he ran away from her sight, using the bridge to hide away from her who was looking at him from above.

*BOOM*

The spear hit the bridge around the center and the central portion collapsed inward and the debris fell heavily on the road. Smoke rose from the debris and there was no sign of Issei.

For a moment Raynare thought he escaped as she hovered over the smoke but-

"AHHHHHHHH MY LEG! MY LEG!"

Issei screamed.

It was coming from the left side of the debris and despite the fact the smoke had barely subsidized she hurried over with an excited face to catch her wounded prey. She could make out a figure sprawled on the ground between the debris. Her grin widened in excitement and relief. She landed on the ground and grabbed the figure.

Her smile vanished. It was Issei's school blazer.

Issei wasn't there on the ground, injured, as he was supposed to be. Her instincts screamed to look above and-

Many things happened at once.

As she looked upward, she instantly took in the view of the stairs of the bridge which were self-supported with the help of beams that hadn't collapsed along with the bridge. Her eyes widened as she realized more than 50% of her vision was covered by a spread palm.

Before she could even react Issei hit her face with his palm and swiped it to left. With a nimble movement, he swung his whole body as soon as he landed and got behind Raynare. He put a lot of pressure and turned her injured shoulder which made her spin around and scream at the top of her lungs as Issei latched onto her wings, his momentum pulling her injured shoulder more. She took flight in panic.

Issei applied pressure on her shoulder and made her whole body bent forward. He balanced himself on top of her for a moment and stabbed her wing joint with his knife.

Raynare screamed in pain. Hearing her scream ignited Issei's eyes even more.

Blood flowed down her waist.

'I have to get away from him!' she thought, 'He perfectly calculated my actions and waited for me to come down so he could climb on top of me?! Humans normally run away if they see a supernatural being, so who in the world, is this bastard?!"

...

Even I didn't think she had enough firepower to make the bridge collapse (I would have died for real had it got me). My best bet was to make her come down by acting myself as bait; by pretending to be hit by the debris which would have flown towards me had the spear landed on the road and I would somehow stealthily climb over her similarly as I just did. If the stairs had collapsed, it would have been almost impossible (thank the good engineer who gave the stairs legs to stand on).

But...

If anybody asks me whether riding a bull or winged Amano is easier. I would say bull any day (though I would prefer not to ride them both).

Why? Well, a bull does not turn 360 degrees over and over in the air (obviously because the bull is a land animal and she is a... she is a?).

Nor do they suddenly turn their back to the ground and slam the rider into the ground hoping he would let go of their wings. Bulls, as far as I know, also don't have a 'shoulder handle' which can be used to change the direction of such falls and thus make the ride take the fall first.

Perhaps it is because the last attack shook her; she is not allowing me to balance on her back like before. Seriously with her injury in the eye, shoulders, and now this one on the back, why isn't she fainting from pain and blood loss? because she is supernatural? or is it because she is simply stubborn, arrogant, and a goddamn cockroach?

But I am surprised... I didn't know I was capable of this level of cruelty (by which I mean, stabbing eyes, dislocating her shoulder and repeatedly stabbing her wing joint).

It is not surprising to me, that I can fight well. Even though I only condition my body a few times per week, it is a mystery as to how... I wonder-

*THROB*

My head stung painfully...

Once again, I saw the building with KSS written on it. But this time there was something more...

I saw a hall that resembled a traditional dojo. There were tens of students in black dojo uniforms in a large hall.

There was an old man on the stage facing away from the students. He was in a seiza position on the stage with a signboard above, 'Kiseki Shinsei no Sentosha' (Miracle rebirth of warrior/combatant(KSS)).

"Lesson#1 Never let your guard down, no matter the situation."

His voice was heavy and powerful.

Suddenly, I realized that I was in the middle of a sea of students wearing a similar black dojo dress as them, and standing next to me was... Izo?

He looked a bit younger...

Wait, I am younger too. I am shorter than before.

Before I could think further the whole class erupted with everyone shouting the same phrase he said:

"NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, NO MATTER THE SITUATION"

As soon as the sound subsidised I looked at the old man who was on the platform once more.

"Hyoudou Issei, why didn't you repeat?"

...

"Eh...?"

Everyone was looking at me.

What is with this guy...? He can say I didn't repeat the phrase in this large pool of noise?!

He turned his head to the side, his eyes piercing mine.

"Could it be that you have forgotten them?"

*WHOOSH*

Issei shifted his head to the side in instinct and a light spear that Raynare had conjured, missed him by a hair's breadth. She had reversed her grip and was trying to impale him from over her shoulder.

"DIE!" she screamed.

She tried it again but this time in a swift motion, Issei stabbed her elbow joint and twisted her wrist with his other hand to make her release the spear. He snatched the spear and turned it around.

"Thanks," Issei said, "I wanted something sharper."

Issei's eyes burned red as he plunged the spear deep into her heart from the back. She could only cry loudly in agony as both of them descended rapidly. It wasn't that high from the ground so Issei jumped off her back and landed on his feet. He was now smeared with blood from head to toe.

Raynare crashed onto the footpath and layed there, motionless.

Issei picked up his blazer and went to check if the foe was still alive while keeping his guard up. But before he could check, she disintegrated into black feathers right before his eyes.

Before he could express his astonishment he felt his head swim. He was suddenly back in the bustling town of Kuoh. The footpath looked fine and the bridge looked intact too. Two school girls who were nearby, screamed when they saw him covered in blood.

Issei instinctively covered his face with his arm and ran.

"What the-"

"Is that blood?!"

"Hey!"

"Stop right there!"

I ran faster than ever before in my life. The blood on my forehead leaked into my eyes. But I didn't pause to wipe it away.

Crimson red. The color crimson-red blurred my sight as a ringing sound filled my ears.

I kept running even though I was totally out of breath.

"HEY! Somebody, stop him!"

I could hear the footsteps catching up to me.

If it catches me everything will be over...

But even in this situation I can't help but smile.

...

I am Hyoudou Issei. 18 years old. A second-year high school student.

My life had been a complete bore until I found the supernatural world.

...

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