You may be asking… Why do this after 2 years? Because it was bugging me. That's why. I had so many ideas for this story, and the poor execution on my part just made me stray away from this one.

So let's do it again, and do it better this time. I'd like to think i've improved since the first chapters were posted. I'm sure some of you disagree.

DxD discord link

[ discord. gg/ xEApPAS ] Take out the spaces.

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to Diabolos Dragon 2.0

BEGIN!

It had been a long time since he'd set foot in the town he'd once lived. So long, that his memory only helped him get from the station to the park.

Kuoh had been an up and coming town, when he lived here as a kid, or at least that's how he remembered it. The amount of construction at the time had made for some interesting days with the only friend he'd had at the time.

The two of them had gotten into trouble quite a few times, playing in the houses still being built, or the commercial areas being renovated.

Back before he knew the truth of the world in which they lived, Issei Hyoudou had wondered how some of those places seemed to pop up overnight.

Playing hero with Irina, and fighting all the bad guys inside abandoned looking buildings, were some of his most innocent and cherished memories.

'Innocent… They were mostly innocent anyway.'

There was that time that Irina had played the damsel in distress, and surprised him with a kiss after he'd saved her from the evil devil.

If memory served, the place from that day was just across the street. Passed the trees that had been planted since then, Issei could see the 3 story house. Those large windows covering almost floor to ceiling on the second level had been empty at the time, and now it looked to be some kind of office.

[Why did you feel the need to travel as these normal humans do?]

The voice of his friend and partner echoed inside of his mind, getting Issei to stop thinking of the past.

'It's been a long time since i've taken a train, or ridden on a bus. Don't wanna lose touch with my roots, y'know?'

With the direction that his life had gone, Issei enjoyed the moments where he could just pretend to be like anyone else walking the street.

[I do not.]

Issei sighed, not surprised by the dragons inability to understand his point of view.

'Right, sometimes I forget you just flew everywhere.'

Sweeping his eyes over the park, Issei saw how time had treated the area. It was obvious that the money was being placed in areas that would bring more people to move here.

Houses, shops, newly paved roads and sidewalks, meanwhile the park was starting to show signs of neglect. The metal bars of the swing set showing rust on the bolts, on the parts where the paint had already peeled off.

It was a shame really, because the park would be a bonus for a family with a young child. He could attest to that.

[As should you. Flying is the best form of travel. Being able to spot prey or opponents from above gives you a key advantage, in both surprise and position.]

Issei decided to ignore Ddraig, as something deemed more important came into view.

One the other side of the street, were three girls. Their presence wasn't what caught his attention. Since it was early enough in the morning, Issei knew that he would see at least a few students.

Two of them being pretty attractive wasn't it either. The pink haired one had a pair of legs that looked damn near perfect, and the way her skirt fluttered and bounced told him that her ass was likely something out of this world.

The brunette had better curves and bigger chest, but she was not sporting the kind of ass that caused men to walk into light poles.

It was the third one, the one with the lowest eye candy rating, that had his attention. The girl with the braided pig-tails had the stench of a devil coming from her.

His nose was too damn sensitive sometimes, but in this case he was thankful for it.

'Am I in a devils territory right now?'

His eyes followed them, as they walked, taking in the rest of their appearance.

It was obvious that the three attended the same school, because of the matching uniforms.

'I have to be.' He thought.

Those magenta skirts were hardly long enough to even be considered mid thigh. Then there were those corsets, that just so happened to button themselves right under the girls breasts, giving them a more pronounced appearance. And the two attractive ones had on that shoulder cape, which just so happened to come down and basically from the girls chest.

Yes, he was most definitely in the territory of a devil. And they had to be in charge of whatever school these girls went to.

[Stop looking you nitwit! We both know what will happen once you return. The less she has to suspect, the easier it will be to try and escape that woman's wrath!]

Issei pulled his eyes away, like a child being scolded and told to keep his eyes forward.

'But… The girl over there has a devil scent on her. I was just being cautious.'

He didn't want to get dragged into yet another issue with a devil. The one thing he was here for, was enough at the moment.

'Plus, I doubt she'll know-'

[She always knows! If I didn't know better, i'd think that she could see into your mind! Why she would want to delve into that gutter you call a brain, I have yet to figure out.]

Issei raise a hand to say something in response, but after giving it a moment of thought, he had to agree with Ddraig.

His head fell, realizing that he was going to be put through another round of 20 questions, when he got back.

"Dammit."

[Yes, good to see you recognize what you've brought upon us…yet again.]

There was a moment of silence between the two of them, before Ddraig addressed the thing that had caused Issei to look over there in the first place.

[That girl, the scent is not strong enough for her to be a devil. She must have summoned one.]

Starting his walk down the street, towards the shop he was supposed to go to, Issei kept his eyes directly on his path to avoid anymore problems.

Because of how preoccupied he was, with both Ddraig and his thoughts, he missed two things.

Just as he was about to turn down the street that would lead him to the more commercial area of the town, the brunette of the school girl trio had turned and caught sight of him, watching him intently as he disappeared from her view.

The other, was the blonde young man with grey eyes that had been coming from the opposite direction the girls were heading.

In attempting to keep his promise, Issei had started a chain of events that would drag him into the very thing he'd been trying to avoid for the last 3 years.

-LineBreak-

As he pushed one of the double doors open, a relaxed smile came to the face of Rias' knight. Their clubroom was his favorite place in Kuoh Academy, especially when the sun was in just the right position for its rays to come directly through the window.

Most of the decor and furniture was at least partially of heavy timber. The chairs, desk, coffee table, and frames along the walls, all of it gave a more welcoming feel than the modern metals and plastics.

"Good morning everyone." Kiba walked towards his usual spot on one of the maroon couch.

Sitting at the large desk in the back, going over the number of contracts her servants had completed in the past month, Rias Gremory looked up to greet him.

"Good morning Yuuto, did you get enough rest last night? I see that your client kept you later than normal." The Heiress to the Gremory family was a striking young woman.

Her hair was long and lustrous, thick crimson locks flowing down her back, and that one bundle atop her head standing up and sloping forward as it always did, no matter how much she tried to tame it.

Aquamarine eyes of such clarity, that both men and women had often stopped just to admire. With the soft features of her face, it was no wonder that she was almost considered royalty by many in the underworld.

"Nothing to worry about Buchou. I am rested and ready for anything you require."

With a smile, Rias nodded and turned back to her paperwork.

Reaching for the book he had left on the coffee table, Kiba was almost struck by the wrapper being held out to him. Pulling back a little, he saw that the rook of their group, Koneko, was offering him a protein bar.

He took it with a nod, and though she didn't make any outward gestures, they had all learned to see the small things that told of what Koneko was trying to convey.

"Tea before classes begin anyone?" From the room to the side, a small kitchenette, came the queen of the peerage and vice president of the club.

Another beauty, and heralded among the school as the ideal depiction of a Japanese beauty. Akeno Himejima was a 3rd year student, along with Rias. The two of them were regarded as the most beautiful in Kuoh Academy. Long black hair held in a ponytail with an orange ribbon, and violet eyes.

When Kiba took the offered drink, he turned to his king.

"Buchou, I saw someone this morning, and i'm not sure what to make of it."

Lifting the tray from Rias' desk, Akeno turned to offer one to Koneko.

"Ara ara, has someone finally caught your eye? Here I thought the noble knight was waiting to rescue the damsel."

Kiba would have found more humor in her jab, had the person in question not been quite obviously male. For a moment, he thought about saying nothing, to avoid the potential for questions of his sexuality.

But this was not something that should be ignored, no matter the personal headache it may cause.

While Rias smiled at the joke her queen implemented, her attention quickly returned to Kiba.

"And who was this person?"

Koneko denied the tea, going back to her favored stack of candy, and Akeno moved to stand behind Rias at the desk.

"I'm not sure, i've never seen him before. He wasn't wearing a school uniform of any kind. For a brief second, I felt some sort of power from him, a sacred gear perhaps. Aika Kiryuu was talking with some others, and he turned towards her. He seemed to know that something was different about her. He paid no attention to the others."

Rias' eyes narrowed, understanding what he was getting at. This unknown person, he was somehow affiliated with the supernatural. This was something she would have to talk to Sona about, but her friend would normally tell her, if someone new was coming around.

"Did he say or do anything?"

"Nothing, he merely watched as she walked by. Then he started walking towards the shopping district."

So there was a potential unannounced sacred gear user in her territory. This situation could prove to be either very beneficial for her, or the start of a problem. Until she had more information, what side that landed on was anyones guess.

"Can you describe him, both looks and what you thought you felt?"

Kiba thought on that, looking for the right words to convey what it was that had drawn his attention to the young man.

"He appeared about our age, brown shaggy hair and light brown eyes, just a little taller than myself. Khaki pants, black hoodie with a red liner. It didn't look like he was here for a person, if he is, then he doesn't know where to find them."

Rias trusted the judgement of each of her peerage members, but in a case like this, it was better to be safe then sorry.

"Okay, thank you Yuuto. After classes today, lets see if we can find this mystery man. I would like to have this cleared up as soon as possible, especially since we don't know what those fallen are doing here either."

A group of fallen, and an unknown, all showing up within a few days of each other. Rias was not liking what was happening inside of her territory.

From what they had observed, the fallen in question could be dealt with easily enough. But this young man was a wild card she didn't like.

-LineBreak-

Stepping back out onto the street, Issei had finally gotten the items he needed. Tracking them down had been difficult, but now he could breathe a little easier, knowing that years of work wouldn't be lost.

'That guy was weird.'

He knew that people into the whole crystal healing thing could be eccentric, but that man took it to a whole other level. The shop had stunk of incense and weed, and the one working looked like he could hardly understand or follow any of the words coming out of his mouth.

When the strange man wanted to test out some of the "healing techniques" he supposedly knew, Issei had just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

[You were the one that decided to obtain the crystals through normal human means, when you could have gone to several other contacts.]

Ddraig's dry comment held truth, but Issei had been trying to back away from the supernatural as much as possible. Sure, he could obliterate an island with a snap of his fingers, but the end result was hardly worth it in his opinion.

There was always some sort of ulterior motive with them, and he was just sick and tired of it.

[The Sun Goddess would be disappointed to hear that.]

Coming to an intersection, Issei waited for the go ahead on the cross walk.

'Yea I know, but this whole situation could have been prevented if she'd just put her foot down.'

While it would have been nice to avoid some of the hassle that arose because of the actions Amaterasu had taken, he also wasn't sure that he wanted to know how the years would have been without the person he needed to get the crystals for.

That line of thinking was pointless. He had what he needed, which meant it was time to get back to the hotel and get to work. If he was lucky, things would be finished by nightfall.

A bell rung in the direction that he was walking, far enough away that Issei couldn't see the tower, but it was a sound that anyone his age would recognize.

'Was I really in there for that long?'

It was the sound of a school bell, letting everyone within its parameters know, 16that the end of day had come.

[The time trying to find the crystals alone was absurd. I'm certain that you fell asleep at some point during the supposed healing.]

That meant Issei had spent almost 7 hours in the place, and it was later in the afternoon then he initially realized.

'I don't remember falling asleep…' Issei argued weakly.

[Nor do I expect you to, but it happened nonetheless. Now hurry so the hatchling doesn't try to come find us herself.]

The steps Issei took got longer and faster. He couldn't run, because if he damaged his purchase, then he'd have to track down more. It had taken almost 6 months to find these ones.

Stupid gems capable of spiritual transference, break off one little segment and they were useless. That, and he needed the carbon to help take some of the burden off of his own body.

Now that he knew the general time of day, Issei had to redo the estimate in his head. The rate of degeneration would mean that he would have to work for a solid 16 hours straight.

His body was not in a state to handle that kind of work load. She wouldn't be happy about it, but Shuri would have to wait until tomorrow to finally have a body of her own. That was assuming she didn't distract him, like she seemed to like doing.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say the woman was a succubus.

With the wind at his back, a nice crisp breeze accompanied him on his walk back to the only hotel in Kuoh. Issei would have found a location just open a dragon gate, and transport himself that way, but the walk was allowing him a chance to mentally prepare.

The bag in his hand, filled with bubble wrapped crystals, swaying and making crinkling sounds from the wind, was a somewhat sooting sound. It gave him a sense of normalcy that had been absent for too long.

'Ddraig, do you think Shuri will take off afterwards?'

Issei decided to break the silence between him and the spirit of his sacred gear. This had been something on his mind, ever since he found the location of these crystals. Having her in his life, was one of the only things that Issei had been able to count on over the years.

[Only your mate can answer that question partner. Though I find it more likely, that she will somehow get you to go with her, should she follow through with her initial goal.]

Issei wasn't effected by the term applied to Shuri. Ddraig had been calling her his mate for over 2 years. It didn't seem to matter what kind of rebuttal he made.

'She's not my mate, we've been over this.'

[Oh? How would you describe her then? A female that dominates your attention when she asks for it, who has cooked and cleaned for you, mended wounds both physical and emotional. She is no parental figure to you, not with the way the two of you look at each other.]

As much as he might want to deny it, Issei knew that Ddraig was right about one thing. The looks traded here and there, were nothing platonic. If he hadn't caught her eyeing him in the same way a few times, Issei would have written it off as a one sided attraction.

'She's stuck with me Ddraig, at least until i'm finished tomorrow. After that, she's going to find her daughter, like she's talked about since the beginning.'

He's heard so much about this mystery daughter, that Issei felt like he knew her, at the younger version that Shuri remembered.

There was one big problem with what Shuri wanted to do though. Her memory had holes in it, like a puzzle missing a few pieces, and he had no idea when or if they would ever return.

They were both to blame for that. Shuri had been getting impatient with the long process involved in getting her body back, after she learned that Issei could help her get it back.

She had used his desire for naked women against him, telling him to push more power into the process. The end result was a shattered gem given to him from Amaterasu, specifically to hold Shuri inside it until he was able to reconstruct her.

Something that should have only taken a few months, had turned into nearly 8 years of work that had him constantly in a state of regeneration.

[I've heard of mates often saying that about each other. We will continue this conversation later, you have company.]

Ddraig's voice had been amused at first, before dropping into that same serious tone he was used to, when they were expecting trouble.

Issei refocused on what was in front of him, first noticing the large school towering above everything else around. 3 stories tall, with each seeming to be unnecessarily tall. The clock tower in the center chimed again, and students were still coming out of the gates in a trickle.

In front of him, staring directly at him as they walked across the street, was a group of 6.

They wore the same uniform as the girls Issei had seen that morning, or at least the 5 girls were. White shirt, magenta skirt, black corset and shoulder piece. The sole male among them wore its counterpart, black slacks, white undershirt and a black blazer with white accents.

There was no mistaking them for anything other then devils. This close, Issei didn't need his nose, he could feel the demonic magic swirling in the air.

He should look away, keep to himself and keep walking, pretending that he didn't know that they were quite clearly out to have a "discussion" with him.

[Unbelievable…] Ddraig sighed, watching as his partner got lost in his hormones.

Issei couldn't help that his eyes were bouncing between the 5 young women, like he was trying to memorize every detail for later recollection during his…private hour.

A redhead with such a distinct shade, that he knew he should be able to pinpoint, her chest bouncing left and right with each step she took, trying to hold his attention only to her.

A short white haired girl, whose indifferent look only made her cuter. The taller girl with long black hair flowing like a curtain behind her, glasses failing to hide the mixed color eyes of violet and light brown. Another with dark hair in a bob cut, glasses and violet eyes.

Just as it had been that morning, while his attention had been shifting to each of the girls, there was one that had most of his attention.

For a moment, Issei forgot that he had yet to fulfill his promise, and Shuri had dressed in a school girl uniform to tease him….again. But the differences became apparent after the initial shock.

Her hair may have been the same shade of midnight, but the length was far longer, held up in a ponytail reaching to her knees by an orange ribbon instead of indigo. But this girls bangs even fell in the same exact length and place as Shuri.

Unless Shuri had decided to stuff her bra, and wear violet colored contacts, the similarities between the way each woman looked, only left one option.

Issei had stumbled across the daughter that Shuri had been wanting to search for all this time.

The doppelgänger seemed to be amused by his stare, and a look he knew well came over her face.

There was no mistaking it, but there was still the question of just what Issei would do with this information. What would Shuri do, learning that her daughter had become a devil, living a life of servitude?

They had crossed the street, standing about ten feet away from him, and during his time staring, they had been able to move to block his way down the sidewalk.

The air became still, as a feeling of a small barrier being placed around them met Issei. It was weak, only meant to keep whatever was said, private between the people meant to hear.

"Hello there, I would appreciate it if you would stop staring at my queen." The redhead spoke, one of her brows twitching slightly.

'Hmm, so they aren't even going to try to hide the fact that they're devils? Odd.' Issei thought.

From what he understood, when in the human world, devils tried to be civil and discreet whenever possible.

"Ufufu, I don't mind. This just means the tally is back in my favor." Said queen giggled behind her hand, not at all bothered by the way his eyes had been locked on her.

Her king shot a quick glare, before returning toward the person they had just set out to find, when he appeared in front of the school. It was a lucky thing, that Sona and Tsubaki had been near the gates at the time.

Issei gave a sigh, his shoulders slumping forward.

"I should have gone shopping in Dublin." It was too late, to take the advice given to him, about finding the crystals.

Lifting his head, he made eye contact with the apparent leader, who was raising a brow at what he said.

"Sorry, she just reminds me of someone. Am I not supposed to be here or something?"

The girl with the bob cut stepped forward, shifting her glasses, in what was probably meant to be an intimidation tactic, with the way they flashed and hid her iris'. It didn't work, true intimidation came with a sweet smile and sweeter voice, hiding the intentions of retribution later on should an acceptable answer not be given.

"That all depends on you. It is typically ill advised to arrive in a devils territory unannounced or uninvited-" She was interrupted by said uninvited person, who raised his shopping.

"I had no idea any devils were even here, just came to get a bit of shopping done."

Violet eyes narrowed on him.

"Shopping for gems that happen to be radiating energy, the way a tree does after centuries of life. That is not a point in your favor." She was suspicious of him, that much was clear.

As the siblings of two devil kings, Rias and Sona had been under an immense amount of scrutiny throughout their lives. They had teamed up to get this territory, The two heiress' were not about to let some unknown threaten the only chance they had at setting themselves apart from their siblings.

It was obvious what was in the bag, as it had the clear label on it said it was from a holistic establishment. Said shop had stumbled on a gem of such quality from time to time, and they had gotten used to it being a mere coincidence.

"Had I known that I was going to be interrogated, I would have bought the ones triple the price somewhere else."

"The fact remains, that you are here. We would like to know who you are, and which faction you are aligned with. Choose your next words and actions carefully, the Gremory and Sitri clans may be more lenient than others, but threats to our own will be met with force."

And now Issei really wanted to get out of here. The red hair should have been the clue to piece it all together, but he'd been too scatter brained to connect the dots.

'Son of a bitch'

Gremory and Sitri, the families that two of the devil kings came from. Coming back to his hometown had been a bad idea.

"Sona, I don't think we need to resort to threats just yet." Rias turned from her long term friend, back to the young man, whose name they had yet to learn.

"My name is Rias Gremory, Heir to Gremory name. If you would, please tell us who you are, and which faction if any, you align with." He hadn't been bothered before, by the threats, or implications made by Sona.

However, that smile Rias gave him, sent a shiver down his spine.

"And please tell the truth, we'll know if you lie."

The shortest of the group turned, looking up slightly with a confused expression. She shook her head and went back to the matter at hand.

"I'm just a normal guy who wants almost nothing to do with of this supernatural stuff." Issei could feel Ddraig rolling his eyes, not believing the "normal guy" part of his partners statement.

Issei attempted to walk around the group, his only goal to get out of here.

With a nod from Rias and Sona, Kiba and Tsubaki moved quickly to block him.

Issei stopped, when he had the points of a European long sword and a Naginata inches away from his skin. The blonde guy holding the sword and the girl with mixed eyes stood with neutral expressions, the blades held steady.

Issei felt a familiar presence approaching quickly, and knew things had just gotten worse.

The barrier was impacted from the direction that Issei had been walking, a white blur slipping through before it repaired itself.

Two simultaneous grunts came, and Issei found himself looking at white strands of hair.

Leaning to the side, Issei saw that his would be captors had been knocked back, and the rest had wide eyes before readying themselves for a fight.

Satisfied that the prey wasn't about to move, the young woman attached to the white hair turned, giving Issei a smirk.

Standing with the top of her head at his eye level, her blood red eyes told him that she was feeling victorious, the 'I told you I should have gone with you' smirk only added to it.

The devils all gasped, except the two working to get themselves upright.

Sprouting from the girls back, were large white and nearly translucent wings, each one reaching further than her height. There were many winged creatures throughout the supernatural realms, but those with a wing span like that were few and far between.

When they looked at the ridges of the wings a little more closely, the girls species was easily identified, by the scales on them.

"A dragon…." Koneko whispered, the words easily carried through the silence between the groups standing across from each other.

END!

I'm changing some things, from the first time around. Ddraig is around, I've changed some of the stuff with Shuri, and the relationships Issei has with the three factions in general.

Although, some of the things I never got around to writing out, will still make an appearance.

Also, i'm gonna try to keep chapters between 4-5k. We'll see how that works out.