Once upon a time, I was naïve and 'totally normal'.

What about now?

I was shrewd and bitter and wanted to die properly.

When you've experienced millions of years of pain and death that repeats itself, you can't help but ignore the ignorant mortals and reject all of your emotions. No one would want to suffer the way I am, after all, as I've been stuck in an infinite loop that once started on a fateful day in my yard. Ever since then, the weeks that I start at have been ticking backwards until I see the older version of myself kneeling in front of me.

"If you're totally normal and a good boy, everything will turn out alright in the future!" Every single time I 'woke up' he said that, no matter what I did or said. I insulted him, I physically hurt him, I ignored him and I ran away.

Every. Single. Time.

Those words would echo in my mind as I tried to figure what was happening. There was a way to end the infinite cycle, right? I knew that there was. If there wasn't, I wouldn't have found the knowledge and wisdom that was generous enough to guide me through my troubles.

I thought I would've felt nothing after the first few cycles, but I was dead wrong. I felt everything, every single time. I would sigh and brush those emotions away and remind myself that they shouldn't affect me, even though my mental reminders were useless.

A raven-haired girl entered my peripheral vision and I sighed.

"Leave me be, fallen angel Raynare. If you come any closer, I'll kill you." I felt a warm energy touch the skin of my neck before it was dispelled. I glanced at the girl and grit my teeth. She wouldn't leave me alone, even though I destroyed her 'spear of light' without moving a muscle.

Yes, I had taught myself magic with many failures, and I did die many times while figuring it out.

A gentle warmth gathered in my hand when I turned to see the fallen angel in all of her glory. I grunt in dissatisfaction as she wasn't the Yuuma I remembered and clenched my fist as tight as I could, fire coating Yuuma's body instantly.

She screamed in pain, thrashed about as her flesh melted, and fell to the concrete path of the bridge, writhing in pain as her screams died down. She went limp, her skin having disappeared entirely, leaving a charred corpse that crumbled into ash.

I sighed and used my arms to support my body against the railing, peering over the side of the bridge. Cars were speeding past and I contemplated my options, knowing that I'm going to die in two weeks regardless of the actions I would make in the future.

I stood on the edge of the railing with my eyes held shut.

The wind was nice and cool in the setting sun.

My hair was tussled by the invisible force.

I felt a smile slip onto my face.

Maybe I'd be freed from my eternal pain?

I sighed as I sat up in my bed, having died last night to Yuuma's 'spear of light'. I did it on purpose, finding that I had far more opportunities to succeed if I was resurrected as a devil…but I wasn't feeling as if it would accomplish anything in this particular run-through of the timeline.

I rose an eyebrow as I saw a naked Rias Gremory curled up on my bed.

"Well, that's different." I muttered to myself, noting the difference in what I called the 'Event Line'. Every single time I had been revived, Rias was nowhere to be found and only revealed her status as a devil if I was stabbed by Dohnaseek, the second fallen angel that attacks me, or if I kill the poor guy.

This was different, though.

I shrugged my shoulders and lazily dressed myself in a pair of jeans and a black shirt, noticing a pile of neatly folded clothes that were certainly Rias'. I contemplated if I should wake the red-head up and decided to follow through with it, gently shaking her by the shoulder.

She unfurled her body, revealing everything to me, before she rolled over and groaned. I threw a curtain open and winced as the sudden exposure to sunlight hurt my eyes. Rias groaned again and somehow rolled off of the bed, yelping as her self-inflicted injuries jolted her mind into a fully conscious state.

Rias stared up at me as she rubbed the back of her head, "I can see everything, you know." Rias giggled and pushed herself to her feet, her breasts bouncing about. I didn't blush or react in any way that would suggest I was a pervert; I maintained eye contact and retrieved Rias' clothing for her.

She thanked me, dropped the pile of clothes on my bed and stretched her arms above her head, yawning rather loudly, "I'm guessing you don't care that I'm seeing your naked body." Rias shook her head, held her arms behind her back and looked around my room.

"I was kind of expecting more of a reaction because you're a healthy teenager, but you've maintained your composure the whole time." I grunted, shrugged my shoulders and glanced at Rias' breasts for the first time in this run-through, sighing as they look the exact same as the other run-throughs. Why would they look any different, anyway? I've always left my first encounters with Rias to the whole Yuuma thing.

A lightbulb went off in my head.

That's something I can improve upon in the next run-though.

"Well, for now, I have some things to discuss with you about what happened last night. Oh, feel free to stare at my body as much as you want, by the way. I know you won't do anything the both of us will regret."

That's the first time I've heard my devil master say that line.

Oh well. I've gotten permission, so I may as well indulge in the carnal desires of a human while I still can.

It was my first year at Kuoh Academy.

On the first day, I made an effort to approach Rias when Akeno, her personal shadow, wasn't around. I found her in the corridor outside my classroom after school, staring down at the track field as several students participated in their club activities.

I leaned on the window next to Rias and glanced at her, my arms crossed, "The name's Issei Hyoudou." Rias glanced at me with shock present on her face. She furrowed her brows, sighed and continued to stare out the window, the glass reflecting her face.

"I didn't notice you sneak up on me! Oh, my name's Rias Gremory, by the way." I glanced at the devil once more.

"Everyone knows that, I think. People seem to have a strange obsession with you and Akeno Himejima, after all, so it wouldn't surprise you to know that I already knew your name." Rias giggled and smiled, one of her hands pressed up against the fragile glass.

"I didn't think the first years would already know about me." I grunted as I found the humour in Rias' words and sighed.

"Words travel faster than you think, you know." Rias' arm dropped to her side as she turned to face me. I pushed myself off of the wall and window and shoved my hands into my pockets, meeting Rias' kind expression with an apathetic rendition of her own.

"I know, I know. It feels good to have people fawn over you, though, even if you don't know why they do such a thing." A smile slipped onto my face.

"You'll find the answer soon enough, Rias. Anyway, you wouldn't mind if I was bold enough to ask you for your number, would you?" Rias giggled as I pulled my flip phone out of my pocket.

"Asking a girl for her number on your first encounter? Are you trying to ask me out on a date?" My smile widened, but I shook my head with a chuckle.

"No, I was hoping we could be friends." Rias rose an eyebrow and hummed in thought, scanning my body from head to toe before she grinned.

"Of course we can!"

I felt as if the ending was going to be different this time.

/\

As Rias held my mangled body in her arms, a grin formed on my face as my remaining hand shot her a shaky thumbs up. A tear dropped onto my soon-to-be corpse as the devil's tears finally broke her emotional barrier.

I shakily sighed as I caressed her face with my left arm, having lost the other one in the fight with my enemy, "There's no need to cry, you know." I spoke softly as the physical pain was too much to bear. It made sense, after all. Anyone who didn't feel pain after losing an arm and the lower half of their body, as well as a giant chunk of their stomach, was a monster that didn't deserve to live.

I'm surprised I've stayed alive for as long as I have, anyway, as I've been struggling to move for the past five minutes. My body had been discovered under the rubble just a minute ago and the blood loss should have definitely killed me by now.

I couldn't stand to see my new best friend cry the way she is, though, and I wanted to die more than I ever have, "You're going to die, Issei! I have every right to cry!" Rias had sobbed and gripped my bloodied shirt as her cries progressively became louder. I grit my teeth as my arm dropped to my side, limp.

I was fading fast, and Rias knew that as well as I did. Anyone with a brain knew that there was no way I could be saved, "But I'll see you soon, yeah? Just…don't forget me…okay?" My vision was becoming darker as the seconds passed and my ability to hear was becoming worse.

"I'll never forget you, Issei…never…because I love you…" I was put into shock in my last moments in this run-through as those are words that Rias should never say to me. I'm not the person anyone should love as I've become an apathetic, sarcastic and cynical bastard that knows that everything they do is all for naught.

I'm going to die, though, so I should accept Rias' love for what is before I see my future self in front of me like I always do, the same words leaving his mouth every time.

There was no way to change it, either.

"So, what am I expecting this time 'round?" I couldn't help but ask myself that as I sat in the middle of a park, having exposed my genius to my parents and the world. My knowledge was tested, I graduated high school at the age of six, and I had nothing to do all day.

For the next ten years I sat around doing nothing, even though many opportunities and offers appeared. My parents weren't disappointed in my choices as I was just a kid, but they were a little bummed about the loss of potential riches.

It didn't matter anyway. It was my…let's see…my one hundred and fifty-two thousandth, seven hundred and third run-through, and the ending has never changed. Every single time, I die from the same person in the same location, but for generally different reasons.

I gave up a while ago, anyway.

I was content with sitting around all day, doing nothing.

I've done everything I could in the long time I've been alive so there really was nothing I could do. I've seen every scenario possible, I've said everything I could and I've committed every action I could.

The ending was never changing, and it never will change. Only the in-between changes, and even then it contributes nothing to the ending.

It was a true loop of time that begins with the future version of myself ruining every hope I have for a future. He's the one that caused this to happen me and I'm the one that has to suffer, no thanks to a perverted idiotic that is apparently the person I would have become without his interference.

I yawned and scratched my cheek, staring at a television in the dark.

I guess I was content with this run-through.

Nothing bad has happened, after all, and I was going to be killed regardless of what I do.

I stared at the ashes of the building and the puny mortals that had tried to escape my hellfire, their limp corpses still burning to a crisp. The scent of a burning human wasn't exactly pleasant, but it was a small price to pay for a source of entertainment.

I sighed and stared up at the smoke in the night sky, "This isn't fun anymore." I snapped my fingers and felt the warmth of my fire instantly disappear, the ambience of the night immediately replacing the cackles of burning wood.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and sighed once more, walking off into the dark of the night. There was nothing left for me here, anyway. I've burned down the entire city in a fit of boredom, along with everyone in it, and the supernatural was going to be all over me when they find out that I'm not the puny human they thought I was.

I mean, it's not like I dropped a giant fireball on the town.

"We meet at last, Issei Hyoudou…or would you prefer I call you by your alternative title, Human Monster?" I raised an eyebrow at the leader of the fallen angels, Azazel, as the blood of the last Satan dripped off of my short sword. I flicked the blood off of the dull blade with a sigh and cracked my neck with a single hand, stepping over the corpse of a very dead Sirzechs Lucifer.

"That title doesn't sound very enticing, you know. I'd prefer it if you'd call me 'The Undying Dragon'." Azazel grinned in anticipation as I stopped a few feet short of his melee range. I grimaced as a cloud of smoke blocked my vision, the burning buildings of the underworld roaring as my magical flame grew in size.

"A dragon, huh? I wonder why that is!" I titled my head to the side and felt the air around Azazel's fist cut my cheek. I touched the blood with a single hand as I blocked Azazel's strike with the other, the smoke clearing almost instantly.

"Fortunately for you, you're the first one to deal some damage to me. Not even the Four Satans could touch me, you know. Unfortunately, you're going to die soon, even if I go down with you." Azazel grinned as he jumped away from me, nonchalant about our fight.

"You're mighty confident for a mere human, you know…ah, but you killed the Four Satans and the Archangel Michael, so maybe you're telling the truth." I grinned as I leaped towards the fallen angel, my sword piercing the air as I sent a jab at Azazel's stomach. His body twist to the side before he dodged my strike, sending a foot towards me in retaliation.

I stepped to the side and dodged his attack, swinging my sword up in a diagonal arc in response, watching as my enemy spun out of the path of the blade with grace. He jumped into the air and hovered in place as his twelve crow-feathered wings supported his body, several spears of light forming around the ancient being as he crossed his arms.

They rained down upon me, but dodging and deflecting the puny 'weapons' was quite easy. I stepped to the side, raised my sword and deflected a few back towards Azazel as I weaved through the oncoming rain of death.

Azazel veered to the side to dodge the few spears I deflected and stopped the stream of spears he was creating. He knew it wasn't going to work out as I hadn't even sustained a single scratch after thirty whole seconds of the damn things, the ground littered with them, "You're pretty good, human. I'll give you that much. But you're no match for me!"

Azazel fazed out of existence, ash and dust having been kicked up around me. I twisted to the side and dodged a kick from Azazel, grabbing one of his legs with a hand as he continued to fly through the air. I slammed him into the ground with a grunt and swiftly sent my sword in a harsh downwards arc.

Azazel disappeared once more, appearing in front of me with a bleeding skull. He grinned and crossed his arms, "I'm not even trying yet." Azazel disappeared once more and I dodged the fist that was going to connect with my stomach, my knee flying up to counter Azazel's attack.

My knee hit Azazel in the chest as he was bent down to hit my stomach and he coughed up saliva, all air leaving his lungs in an instant. I spat at the ground next to his face as he writhed on the ground in pain, gasping for air in a desperate attempt to stand up and kill me, "Pathetic…truly pathetic. You're the leader of the fallen angels, yet you're so weak and puny…just like the other things I've killed. What could I expect, though? I've lived longer than you could imagine and that means I'm more powerful than you. I haven't even used my Sacred Gear yet."

Azazel stared up at me in shock before he regained his breath and composure, grabbing my ankle before the world around us turned into another scene entirely.

The hot air of the burning buildings had turned into the icy cold of a burnt down town.

"So you brought me here, huh? What's your intent?" I stared down at Azazel with folded arms, a frown present on my face. Azazel grinned and chuckled, disappearing once more.

"If you can catch me, I'll tell you!" I clicked my tongue in annoyance and shot off in a random direction, finding that I was headed towards the abandoned church, the only building that hadn't been destroyed a couple of months ago.

Azazel was standing in front of the doors of the empty building, his arms crossed, "You found me! Well, as a prize for finding me, I'll tell you what I'm intending to do. I'm obviously trying to kill you." Azazel disappeared once more. This time, though, I wasn't prepared and suffered the consequences of my foolishness.

My feet were swept out from under me as the stone of the church turned into the darkness of the night sky, an elbow rapidly approaching my stomach. I bounced on the hard dirt and coughed up a little blood as I found myself winded, "Oh, who's the powerful one now, Issei?" I grit my teeth as I tried to breath, finding that I was unable to regain my breath.

I felt a familiar red armour cover my body.

"Well, no more playing around, I guess." I had muttered as my Balance Breaker had allowed me to breathe again, for some reason. I cracked my knuckles with a grin and shot off towards Azazel, finding that he had dodged my attack. I crashed through the wooden doors of the church and into the wall on the other side, breaking straight through the dense stone without any issues.

Azazel whistled from behind me, "That's some serious power, Issei." A hand grabbed me by the helmet and threw me back into the building, the walls and several pews breaking under my back. It didn't really hurt, though, as my crimson armour was protecting me, which allowed me to recover mid-air. I hastily raised an arm to block a punch from the fallen angel and countered with an uppercut, grinning as my fist connected with Azazel's chin.

He was sent flying through the roof of the church, flipping about as his wings were unable to stabilise him. I chuckled in satisfaction, digging my heels into the floor as I bent my knees. I used all of my strength to launch myself after Azazel, feeling the air rush past me.

I pulled a fist back and let it hurtle towards my defenceless enemy, my strike sending him further into the air. I disappeared and reappeared above Azazel, a leg raised in preparation for an ax kick. My leg connected with the fallen angel and I flipped once out of grace, disappearing once more.

I hit Azazel again, disappearing and reappearing several times to play tennis by myself with the leader of the Grigori as the ball, a deep satisfaction emerging from the deepest pits of my heart. Eventually, I became bored and grabbed Azazel by the neck, his body broken and barely working, "Will you take back your previous statements, Azazel?"

Azazel chuckled and spat on my helmet, a grin present on his face, "You are a fool. This whole time I had known that I would be unable to beat you, so I was preparing a spell that would instantly kill both of us. It would use up all of my concentration and magic to pull off, so I let you beat me up. Say goodbye to the world, though. You're never going to see it again, and that's what everyone wants." I laughed manically, watching as Azazel's grin morphed into a frown as confusion flooded his face.

"You're the fool, Azazel. I'm not an undying dragon for a reason, you know? You may kill me in this time line, but I'll just come back to life in another! So do it! Kill me!" Azazel shouted in fury as the air around us began to condense, the air heating up as an intense pressure built up around us.

My bones began to crack and contort as I continued to laugh, my insanity finally taking a hold of me, "See you in the next world, Azazel! I hope you don't forget this encounter!"

A giant explosion rocked the skies as Azazel's spell finally took effect.

But I never die.

I've learnt that all too well by now.

It's been a million run-throughs and the ending never changes.

Azazel, the one who had told me of the future, is always the one who kills me near the abandoned church, no matter what I do to change the future.

I don't mind, though.

It just means I'll get to experience this all over again, and I'll make Azazel suffer this time!

I saw that some of you were unsatisfied with the ending. No need to fear, though. This chapter explains the things that happen after Issei's awakening, and it's not very pretty. I hope everyone's satisfied with this, though. I really enjoyed writing this 'final epilogue' kinda thing, even though my writing was subpar and pretty crap. Oh well. It's a proper ending, I guess.

Thanks for reading!