Answering Reviews

Zesturia: Ophis and Great Red can't sense him for now. It's still too low. Don't worry, there will be that moment in next arc.

Fathira : He's hating them alright, but he can't do anything about it. Asuka's wellbeing is tied to the peerage now, so he's trying to be cordial. On some level, he also know that Raynare was manipulating him, so he gives them benefit of doubt.

Ren : Well I hope the next arc will surprise you

PikaMew1288 : Yeah but they don't know that. Outside of when he unleashes his power, he is completely human. There is a reason for this, more will be explained. Also, several dragon-type give the ability to shoot fire out of the mouth.

Issy786 : Please don't say that you are giving me hard-on here.

Chapter 11: How to train your dragon

It was a fine morning for the Kuoh High School Student, the weather wasn't too chilly, too hot or raining. The was no accident or strange phenomenon. Really, even for the "spiritual" students, it was a fine day.

Except for a certain brunette boy and a red-haired girl. They were in the club room, not exactly alone. 'Yuuma Amano' was sitting beside Issei, drinking her tea (which she begrudgingly like). Really these devils were too sophisticated. Rias was doing the same, surrounded from every side by her posse. Koneko beside her eating her chocolate. Kiba stood beside the sofa, his posture completely rigid. Akeno also sat beside Rias, enjoying her tea.

Asuka was at home. Sulking.

"You made her cry," Issei said the red-haired devil, his expression unreadable.

"I tried to tell her everything but she left before I could" Rias explained to the (unknown to her) little dragon that stood before her.

"You don't understand do you?" Issei finally went for the teacup, lightly touching the handle. "I didn't ask for your excuse"

As if on cue, the cup completely shattered, pieces of glasses flying everywhere. It was hardly dangerous for the supernatural creatures. No, what was dangerous was already represented by Issei's visage.

His left eye's iris turned red and the pupil became slit. Something coiled beneath his skin, like snakes shifting every second throughout the whole body. The skin on the fingers he used to touch the cup had been obliterated, revealing red scales underneath. The Whole ORC was already in battle position. Akeno already went to the fallen angel, holding her still, Koneko shield her king, while Kiba disappears from his original position and reappear beside Issei, brandishing his blade near Issei's jugular.

"She is your servant, yes. But she is mine" Issei calmly declared to the devil in front of him, even with Kiba already holding his blade near his neck. "Her blood is mine. And I don't appreciate the fact that she was crying in front of me"

From his peripheral vision, Kiba could see the slightly shattered windows and glasses, the nearest tree to the building dropping their green leaves as if it was autumn. If there was anybody near the area, they would be surprised when they saw small birds falling to the ground, twitching while emptying their stomach and defecating at the same time.

Even the devils, with their powers, couldn't comprehend the being in front of them. One moment he was completely human and then he literally exploded with an aura that didn't befit humans, hell even devils and fallen angels. Even Raynare felt like vomiting from how close she was when Issei flared.

"I-I understand…. Issei-san. I will make s-sure there is no misunderstanding between us from now un..on" the "king" of the peerage couldn't even keeping up her image of authority, completely caught off guard with Issei's anger. They had seen Issei getting enraged, but at the time it was directed to a fallen angel.

Issei's expression softened a bit, his power receded back to his core while his skin regenerated. He nonchalantly pushing away Kiba's sword like it was nothing.

"Good…. Then I suggest you start her training" Issei knew his sister, she was mainly sulking because she couldn't compete or train with the rest of her friends. "She's been saying this crap about becoming Devil Yakuza"

Raynare was not an expert on sacred gear users. But she knew a little from her experience working in Grigori.

There were superpowerful sacred gears, called Longinus, bestowed upon what she deemed to be "unworthy beings", the humans. With those weapons, they grew to become existence rivalling cadre-level Grigori, even gods. However, even then, these humans had to train their body and soul and became powerful beings.

But Issei Hyoudou….. He gained so much power in so little time. When she lost against him, his power jump from a level where he can defeat enhanced humans or low-level stray devils to a height where he wiped the floor with her. Then he, from what she heard, completely dominate the fight against Dohnaseek.

He never trained his body. Not really. Those thugs hardly train his body. How could he become that powerful? What kind of sacred gear allowed him to grow in such small timeframe? Was it a Longinus? Among Longinus, there are two who were dragon based, and Issei's power doesn't really fall in that category aside from the ability shared by most dragons, the fire breath.

Was he non-human after all? No, his mother and father was an ordinary human. He himself was a human, except when he's using his strange power. Perhaps…. Perhaps the Longinus activate the non-human heritage buried deep within?

"Are you eating that or not?" Issei asked the fallen angel, drooling over the uneaten chicken curry his mom made for both of them.

"Ah… yes… I mean no… I mean yes you can eat it" Raynare awkwardly push her meal to the brunette, who shot her a suspicious glare but still proceed to take her portion for himself.

"You were…" Raynare cut herself off, not confident with her approach, but it attracted Issei's attention just fine.

"What?" Issei lifted his right eyebrow.

"No. Nothing" Raynare slurp her drink loudly.

"Whatever" Issei continue stuffing himself with the curry sauce

The brunette finish the curry in a record time and burp slightly, oh his mother's cooking never disappoint. His face turned stern, making Raynare uncomfortable.

"What?" the fallen angel asked.

"I'm gonna need you to do something for me"

The next day Asuka Hyoudou began her training under Rias Gremory her peerage.

Rias told her one of the perk of being a pawn and just like that, Asuka was hooked once more. It was too easy, for Rias anyway. The truth is much complicated. After all, Issei could see things that Rias missed. The devil's in the details.

The slight tense muscles, the fake smile. Live with her long enough and you'll understand her behaviour. A lot of things were on her mind. Her normal life becoming so messed up, her kendo tournment, the nun, and now her position. Asuka wasn't really that foolish to let go of the fact that a pawn is still a pawn either.

Yet there is nothing Issei can do. He never was the older brother that can provide comfort and warmth. He's a disaster. Wrath incarnate. Not exactly what his sister need right now.

He wasn't going to inform Rias, however. Let the so-called benevolent mistress of devils prove whether she can tell the difference.

So he stepped back and let Rias train his sister, while he train on his own…

At the same place where Rias and co. killed stray devils. He figured that the fallen angels wouldn't dare crossing this place where that crazy woman Rias called her queen hurling lightning bolt without restraint.

Or maybe he's just a moron pretending to be smart, Issei couldn't say. Either way, Raynare thought it was a good idea and agreed.

Speaking of the traitorous fallen angel, she managed to be useful for once, helping him warding the place using magic. The only limitation is that the spell only worked perfectly in both hiding their presence and power at night. Rather inconvenient, but hardly made the spell impractical.

She boasted that the spell wasn't even fallen angel's. It was grecian and supposedly granted by Hecate to her priestess. In any other situation, Issei would disapprove such behavior. However, seeing that the girl is his ally by technicalities, he let her talk, trying to learn about his potential future enemy.

"I learn as best i can under Azazel-sama," she said, who unknown to herself, flash a bitter smile to Issei, before going back to her smug self. Well, as smug as a woman in white toga striking a ridiculous pose with two torch can be.

Even then…. If the conditions were different, Issei might even sympathize with her.

Might.

Issei thought of telling Rias of his comrade's magical talent. Seeing that shocked look of Rias would've delighted him. Knocking her down a peg or two.

But… Now is not the time. Cooperation require trust, and Raynare doing this means an invitation to trust each other, no matter how bizzare it is. Telling Rias will only break that.

The fact that fallen angels acquired foreign power would've worried Rias, he imagined. After all, when the grigori already learning other pantheon's magic and technology, it's even more likely that the fallen angel have mastered the magic and technology of their more direct adversary.

Issei shook his head. His mind was wandering.

Right now he's trying to understand his power, to control it. He couldn't just let emotion, particularly anger, guide him. He already figure out what made it come out, emotion and survival. The problem is how to bring it out at will. At first, he tried throwing some punch and kicks. Unfortunately, although not all that surprising, nothing happened. His power didn't come out. Raynare advised him to meditate.

"I've seen some humans doing it in order to gain control over his sacred gear," raynare told him,

She proceeded to instruct him him on the basics of meditation, while maintaining the barrier.

Cross-legged, hearing his own breath, try to focus.

He's sceptical. Raynare is the last person on this world to be trusted with instructing people how to meditate. But, seeing that he's the newbie in this sacred gear business, he would follow the lesson.

"Imagine the center of your body. Feel the power swelling in it. Focus on it"

"Power swelling my ass. I've felt power swelling from my legs. It's called cramps"

He dodged Raynare's leg at the last second, forgetting that their contract will protect him from that anyway. It made him feel stupid for a second.

"Hah you Moron!" Raynare laughed, proud that she managed to pull of the little prank.

After a moment of bantering, Issei was back to his meditation. After a while, Issei felt it….. The origin of his power.

'Sacred gear…. Huh? Let's see about that'

Issei called forth the power he possessed. Slowly, but surely, red and black aura seeped through his skin, and Issei can feel the slight discomfort from scales forming underneath his skin. Issei hold back the torrent of power from going out of control.

'This is harder than i thought' Issei almost pant from his effort. It's like trying to hold back a tsunami with a door. Issei's brow furrowed and his veins, underneath the scales, bulged up, causing his thin skin to be slightly torn by the scales jutting out. After a while, the energies calms itself within Issei's body, and Issei allowed himself to relax a little.

What he didn't realize is that, even with his best effort, a small fraction of his power still leak out, and his energy is considered potent by Raynare standard.

Thankfully, Raynare wasn't falling that far from her boast, as she was able to prevent the power from leaking outside the barrier.

In the field of pure whiteness, Issei was surrounded in black and red auras, just like what he saw the first time he unleashed his power. Issei guessed this is his imagination or mental world, neither would surprise him. Either way, the visual representation of his power would help him understand his power.

The first thing Issei realized when he inspect his power what that the black and red aura were conjoined in such way, that it was almost impossible to separate it. Almost, because these energies were an opposite, yet different facet of identical things. He couldn't really describe it. But the energies are in a constant cycle of feeding one another.

The dark one, despite the ferocity of its 'movement' (Issei couldn't find better terminology for it), was…. Nothing… Issei didn't know how to describe it. It was as if the energy is the epitome of oblivion. Issei almost feared that the energy will suck him out into the realm of nothingess, until he realized that the energy was under his control. The red one was the opposite, It flowed in a certain direction, calm and gentle, yet inside it, there was unspeakable turbulance, of things going everywhere at once.

At first, Issei was confused by these two energy, but looking deeper, Issei understood. The core these energies are different, but each manifestation somehow match the other's core, which facilitate their melding. Two power. Two energies. Two energies that enhanced each other.

How is this possible? Issei thought. These energies were too unstable to be contained. Hell, He should be lucky it didn't explode inside his body. In fact, Issei doubt that God would create something this unstable and put it inside a human.

That, or God is a jackass and put an equivalent of divine suicide bomb inside his body.

Neither prospect was good for Issei.

At the sections where the two energies met, Issei could see red and black crystals, somehow connected to each other.

Then the white room morphed into dark space and Issei looked around. The black and red crystal was chaining something. After a while, Issei could make out it shape and color.

It was a large red chinese dragon with jet black belly and catfish-like wishkers, curled up like a snake. It had a jet black belly and catfish-like whiskers. It stared at Issei, at first looking bored, then its eyes widened. It opened its jaws, revealing black forked tongue and mass of sharp teeth, scaring Issei a little.

Then it yawned.

What?

It got even more bizarre as the creature flashed a toothy grin and closed eyes, evoking smiling-like expression.

"Who are you?" Issei asked the dragon. The dragon twist its head 180 degrees, which made cracking noises, before going back to normal. Issei guessed it was its form of stretching.

"you..." It parroted Issei, its voice deep and haunting. It seems to be shaking the area only by speaking.

"I asked first"

"I…." again it imitated Issei with its gruff voice.

"Forget it" Issei sighed, hard. This is not going anywhere.

The Dragon open its maw, and in the speed of lightning, its tongue lightly flicked Issei's face. Anger bubbled up inside Issei for a second, but it was quickly replaced by slight annoyance. Issei couldn't really mad at the creature, not with that strange smile of his and the way it shaked its head left and right like a mischivious children.

"My…. dream…. Issei… Hyoudou…."

"What?" Issei musing was cut short by the entity in front of him, who suddenly gained the ability to speak. Was it pranking him? Or did it learned a language in such a short time?

"Dream… not… alone" the creature moved as close as he could with the chains binding him.

"Are you lonely?" Issei inquire, touching the dragon's snout. Somehow he could sympathize with it. He had a random crippling sense of loneliness before, when he was a child. Mostly it came from his dream. Dreams that he never could understand. He was thankful that his family never made him feel alone. Except when the night comes. Where everyone was fast asleep.

The dragon's whisker slowly moved, almost touching Issei's forehead. It stopped just an inch away. It wanted an invitation, Issei instinctively understood.

Issei nodded, albeit hesitantly. The dragon seemingly grinned.

Light englufed both of them.

Issei opened his eyes to a panting Raynare, who was running on fumes. It was almost morning so Raynare had to expend more power to holding up the barrier.

"You slow motherfucker" Raynare panted, lowering the barrier. She lost any strength in her legs and fall down to the floor. "Does it work? You can commune with your sacred gear?"

"Yeah… I suppose..." to demonstrate it, Issei hold out his hand. Like in the club room, his veins move like little snakes, twisting around, and his skin was ripped apart by red-black scales growing beneath his skin. Faint red-black energy coils around his arm, manifesting as Dragon the size of phyton. Before, it would spiral out of control quickly, but Issei finds the energy to be easy to control now. Issei likened it to flicking his wrist. As easy as pulling it out of his body, Issei also finds it easy to allow it to receed within him.

Raynare huffed. To be fair, in normal case Raynare would congratulate him, but she is too tired to care.

"Well, next time you want to take it slowly, you….." Raynare's scold was drown out by Issei's own mind, digesting what had transpired.

Issei only looked at the girl before him without emotion, unsure of what to say.

The dreams, the random memories, finally they made sense to him.

Two dragons fighting

A stone

His parents

Raynare and the Devils were wrong after all. He wasn't some human who possess dragon-type sacred gear.

He was the dragon himself.

Author's note

Woah it's been a while. Sorry about that. Real life and whatnot.