So, yeah, this is a thing.
I admit, I never thought I'd write something for DxD, a self-insert no less, but I, for some reason that is beyond my comprehension, could not get this idea out of my head.
So yeah, this is a self-insert (If that hasn't scared off at least half of you than I guess it isn't as hated as I thought) so most, if not all of the choices, actions, and thoughts of the MC would be mine if placed in this situation. Yes, this does include the flaws, so I'm fucked, basically.
This fic will follow canon closely until at least The Summit arc, where it will actually diverge quite a bit, so if you can stomach seeing the same situations from a different perspective until then, you have my respect.
Special Thanks to Rosenkreutz for reading this chapter before anyone else, and for providing an amazing ego boost.
Sorry if the chapter is a bit boring. It is only the beginning, and I'm terrible at beginnings.
Without further ado, let's get on with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School DxD.
"Regular Speech"
Thoughts
"LOUD SHOUTING"
[Sacred Gear talking out loud]
[Sacred Gear talking to wielder]
PAIN.
UNGODLY PAIN.
ALL THOSE BODIES, ALL THE BLOOD, ALL THE HATRED RELEASED.
MY WORLD WAS TORN ASUNDER, FIRE AND BRIMSTONE ARE ALL THAT REMAIN.
"OOOOOOHHH FUCK SHIT FUCK!"
I eloquently shouted those words as I flew 20 feet into the air, seemingly from out of nowhere, and proceeded to fall like a particular fleshy brick down to the earth. I slammed into the ground, heard a sickening cracking noise, and then proceeded to roll down a steep grassy hill onto a sidewalk.
To say I was in pain was putting it mildly. I was in agony.
My body felt like it was covered in burns, and from what I could see of myself my clothes were in tatters, they could only in the loosest of descriptions be called rags. My right arm, my good arm, felt like it was having a chronic migraine. I think I landed on it after flying 20 feet into the fucking air which may have had something to do with it.
When I felt my shoulder, which was the source of that migraine-like pain, I felt a lump on the top. I probably dislocated it… Joy.
Grunting in pain, trying hard to not shout and curse my lungs out, I used my left arm to prop myself up on the sidewalk. It was nighttime, from what I could see. I couldn't tell how late it was, but I could still see a faint light in the distance, so it probably wasn't that late…
Wait, more importantly, what in the name of all that is fucking holy just happened!? The last thing I remember was going to sleep after my last day of summer vacation, and the next thing I know, I'm 20 feet in the god-damned air, falling towards the cold, unforgiving ground! How in the name of fuck did I get here!? Did a wormhole suddenly open up beneath me and teleport me halfway across the world? Is this a strangely elaborate dream that actually makes me feel pain? Am I dead!? Only God knows the answers to these questions, and since I'm an atheist I'm not inclined to try and ask.
I tried, tried, to get up, but I almost immediately fell back to the ground. My legs felt like they were on fire. I'm not exaggerating or anything, I actually looked down and saw that they were covered in burns, second-degree if the blisters were anything to go on. They still worked though, so I eventually was able to get up and stand on my own with the help of a nearby streetlamp. I leaned on it and took deep breaths, trying not to have a fucking panic attack, and to steadily calm my jackhammering heart. Easier said than done. The immense amount of pain I was in definitely didn't help my distressed and wandering mind. Even though I exaggerate, the fact that I was suddenly here, on the outskirts of a town that I don't recognize in the slightest, was actually really freaking me out.
I was, after several minutes of breathing in and out slowly, able to stop myself from having a heart attack. Unfortunately, this also made the pain more prevalent. Like I said, dislocated shoulder and burns all over. I could safely say that this is the most damaged my body has been at any one time.
I looked around, trying to find something I can recognize, or read, at least. Some directions would help-
Is that sign written in fucking kanji…?
I froze as I saw it, my mind barely even comprehending the sight of the sign nearby. I actually wavered and almost lost grip of the streetlamp and fell on my ass. Okay, that is very strange. Either whoever made that sign was a weeaboo, or that falling into a wormhole and teleporting to the other side of the planet in my sleep theory was actually more valid than I ever thought.
"…Where the hell am I…?" I mumbled unintentionally. Could you really blame me? So far, it's been a pretty bad da – er, night.
It took me another several minutes, but I was eventually able to stand up on my own, and even walk, with a noticeable limp. It had gotten darker, but the streetlamps were on, so I could at least see where I was generally going. I took a street deeper into this… town? I didn't really know if I could call it that, but I went deeper into it nonetheless.
After a little while of walking I could definitely say that I was not in the city I live in. This place was strange. The architecture was recognizable, but at the same time different. I didn't bother looking at the signs, I was too scared to.
Eventually I was able to find another living, breathing human being. He was just walking on the street directly opposite of me, his hands in his pockets. I approached him. Normally I wouldn't do that, not in the city I lived in anyway, but I was getting desperate. I was frightened, alone, and I had no idea where the hell I was (Although I was getting an idea of where I was, I really, really, didn't want to rule out the chance that this could still be an extremely vivid dream), so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and approach the stranger.
I walked up to him, tried to make my limp, and noticeably ragdoll and pain-filled right arm hidden, and asked him a question.
"Hey, can I ask where I-" I began, but I stopped when he turned around. He spoke words I didn't understand.
He-he's… he's speaking Japanese, isn't he?
Strangely, when his eyes met mine, his went wide with confusion and… fear? Okay, I know I'm not a looker, but that's just rude… Maybe it's because I'm an 'ahem' foreigner? Or maybe I just didn't hide my limp and burns well… not like I could hide the burns I suppose. He quickly looked away, and sped-walk across the road and dashed around the corner, like he had seen some sort of ghost. As I watched him, I saw another sign. I couldn't avoid looking at it because it was literally right next to where he had gone to. I couldn't read the sign because it was in kanji(?), which only put more damning evidence to where I am, but the romaji, however, I recognized.
…
…
…
…
…
No… No, you can't be serious. No, no, no, no. NO! This is all some big joke, right!? RIGHT!? That's… I've gone mad. Obviously, I've gone mad. That's the only explanation for me seeing the town High School DxD takes place in. I've gone mad, yes, that's the only explanation that makes even remote sense…
Unfortunately, my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, nor could I convince myself that I was mad no matter how many times I told myself that I was. It was there, clear as day.
Kuoh.
2 Hours of panicking, cursing, crying, praying, etc. later…
Calm down, calm down, you've only inexplicably found yourself in the literal epicenter of most of the events of a fictional story you read. There's no reason to panic…
Oh, who am I kidding? This is the perfect reason to panic.
Not only did I 'wake up' in a place that I don't recognize, in a town that I thought was purely fictional, but I was able to find a broken mirror in an alleyway, and let me tell you, I do not look pretty. My green eyes were surrounded by dark circles, like I had been awake for days, my dirty blond hair was disheveled, and flecked with pieces of dirt and-
Is that blood!?
Yeah, I can definitely see why that guy I tried talking to would speed-walk/run away from me now. Hell, I'd run away from me if I saw me in the streets. I looked like a drug-addled homeless man who'd gotten into one-too-many fights and was wandering the streets looking for his next shot of heroine.
I may be exaggerating a bit, but that's not the issue right now, isn't it?
Okay, so I'm apparently in Kuoh, the town High School DxD mostly takes place in, at least in the first 5 volumes. Unless there is a town called Kuoh actually in Japan, then I guess it's safe to assume I've been inexplicably transported to another universe where the events of DxD canon take place.
Christ, that doesn't even sound good when thinking about it. This is pure madness…
Okay, let's just assume that I have been teleported to another world, the DxDverse I'm gonna call it now because fuck you. Then that means I'm in the place with all those-
Wait, what part of canon am I currently in? The beginning? The end? Right in the middle? Really, this is more complicated than it must be. Thanks brain, you do so much for me.
Okay, so I'm going to assume I'm in the beginning, if not before Issei is killed by Raynare disguised as Yuuma, then not too long after-
Wait, could this be an Alternate Universe!? One where Issei is an OP god-like being with the ability to mold time, space, and creation with his mind!? One where he never met Raynare!? One where Issei doesn't even exist at all!?
Fuck it! I'm just going to assume that I'm in the DxDverse, towards the beginning, with canon events proceeding as 'planned'. It's a lot more simple than sitting on this curb, with my head down, thinking myself to death!
Okay, back on track, I'm in High School DxD, having been teleported here in my sleep, I think at least, and I'm currently a heavily injured Human being with nothing to his name except the literal rags on his back and legs in a world with beings who can kill me with a slight glare, and their siblings are currently in town. Well, at least if it's the beginning of canon or before, then I'm probably not in mortal danger. Not yet.
Then again, if I'm just a normal human, then there is no reason for anything to happen to me. Unless…
Do I have a Sacred Gear?
When I first read DxD, I thought Sacred Gears were cool as hell. Having one would be kickass. Even if it wouldn't make a lot of sense now that I think about it…
But then I remembered what usually happened to Sacred Gear holders, especially the more powerful ones, and suddenly it seemed slightly less badass than before. Sure, Issei didn't turn out all that bad, considering his circumstances after the last volume I read, but the rest haven't really led very good lives. Just ask Vali or Tobio or Rosenkreutz's son, I'm sure they'd agree with me.
Well, let's go over what I know so far, or what I have deduced in my fustercluck of a mind.
Once again, In DxDverse, towards beginning of canon, with nothing to my name.
I'm so boned.
On the one hand. Ecchi series, with plenty of… incentive to be powerful. On the other, high chance of horrible pain, death, and heartbreak. And here I am, in the middle, just a single unremarkable human suddenly transported to a different world filled with gods, demons, angels, and worse.
Yeah, I'm very, very boned.
Of course, I could forcefully insert myself into canon events. It would definitely be an… experience. I'll admit, if I had a choice, I would choose to join Rias' peerage. It would be a good chance to get stronger in a world where only the strong survive. Then again if this was an alternate universe… then that could mean her personality was completely different from what has been shown. I'm not one of those pretentious bastards who bash characters because I don't like them for whatever reason or try to make their actions seem worse than they are because I'm a know-it-all, but I have to consider that possibility, don't I? That this isn't the DxDverse that I know…
Besides, her peerage is the only one I know how to get in contact to directly in this world.
Or I could just run.
It wouldn't be difficult. I could just leave this place and never come back. I wouldn't have to go through any of this… I could find a job in a different town, away from here…
Oh wait, I don't speak any Japanese. Fuck.
This contemplation session is getting me nowhere. I shook my head, dispelling my confusing whirlwind of thoughts. It took some effort, but I stood up, wincing as I jolted my dislocated, swelling shoulder.
One of the reasons I knew I was in the DxDverse, or at least some version of it, was the piece of paper plastered to the wall behind me. It had the red Gremory symbol in the middle, which left little doubt to who it belonged to.
I have come to a decision. If I can make it out of the town without getting killed, then I will toss the flyer away. I have no reason to believe that I will be killed. unless I'm attacked by something for no reason or a homeless person believes, in their deluded mind, that I have some money with which they can buy booze with and accidentally kill me, then I should be fine. Besides, let's be real, I probably don't have a Sacred Gear, so there'd be no reason for anything supernatural to try and kill me, and also no reason to resurrect me. I could maybe find someone who'd be willing to teach me Japanese, so that I can get a job and live a somewhat normal life on these islands. Though that is a longshot…
However, if I am murdered, or killed in any way, I'll use the flyer with the last of my thoughts to hopefully save my own life. Not foolproof, considering I probably don't have a Sacred Gear, I doubt Rias would ever want to revive someone like me. I'm not even particularly suited for any role that the Evil Pieces provide. Maybe a Rook?
Whatever, if it happens, then I'll gladly(?) accept my new place in this world.
Jesus, what the hell am I doing?
I tore the flyer off the wall, and walked down the street, looking for a way out of the city.
I hope no one was watching me.
Several hours later...
Okay, so I almost made it out of Kuoh, and I was just about to throw away this damned flyer. I have nothing to my name in this god-forsaken universe except the cloth strips barely keeping me covered and my life/soul, and I doubt a devil would want to deal with someone like that.
My honest emotions? Relief and disappointment. Relief because I won't have to go through the pain of death (Even if it's not worse than the pain I felt in my arm and all over my body), and disappointment because… well…
Would it be kind of stupid of me to say that I kinda wished that I would have this whole awesome story that I'm a part of? My life hasn't been a very eventful one. It wasn't bad just… kinda dull. I know I'm stupid for thinking/slightly wishing for my life to spiral out of control like that (Not that it hasn't already.), but give me a break, it's been a long night, and I'm just about to throw away my only chance to have an entertaining life filled with awesome battles, adventure, beautiful women and… friendship and…
Damn my cowardice.
I guess it didn't have to be called cowardice, merely me being pragmatic, or as pragmatic as I can be in a situation such as this, but I feel like I would be deluding myself if I put it that way, so…
I'm was at the road out of Kuoh. It took hours to find it. Mostly because I can't read any of the damn signs, or understand what any of the few night-going citizens were saying. I had tried to talk to a few of them before I had made it to this road, but they either sped-walk away from me as soon as I approached them, fear and loathing in their eyes, or we couldn't understand what the other was saying at all and just walked away from each other. The latter I could understand. The former? I know I wasn't the best-looking guy in the world, and the 'clothes' I'm wearing left my unimpressive and burned torso exposed to the world for the most part, but it's kinda rude to just leave a guy standing there trying to ask a question…
Whatever, if something, or someone doesn't try to kill me in the next… say 10 seconds, then I'm hitting the road. I didn't have a plan for when I get out other than to try to find a magnanimous Japanese man who'd be willing to teach an ignorant westerner like me to speak Japanese out of the generosity of his heart. And maybe fix my increasingly painful injured shoulder.
It's not a foolproof plan, I know, but I'd like to see someone else do better.
Please don't take that as a challenge.
I took 1 step forward on the road out. And paused.
Nothing happened.
I took 2 steps forward. Paused.
Still nothing.
I took 3 steps forward. Paused.
And more nothing.
I took 4 ste-
God damnit, I'm stalling, aren't I?
Okay, I'm a fucking idiot, I know it. I'll throw this flyer onto the curb, and I'll run off on that road and never look back. I mean it! If I don't, then I deserve to be killed off with no chance of reincarnation for the amount of stupidity I am showing.
I decided to not crumple up the flyer. For some strange reason I have this delusion that someone might be able to use it if I let it fly in the wind. I looked at it before letting go of it, holding it up so I could get a better look at it in the moonlight. It looked exactly as it does in the anime, only slightly more realistic looking. Its corners were slightly torn, but I'm sure it could still be used-
Damn it, man! You're stalling again! Fucking go or turn back! Stop living in indecision!
Okay, on the count of three I'll let it go.
1…
2…
3…
A loud 'BANG' suddenly rang out from just behind me. Almost instantly I felt the searing pain of something piercing straight through my god damn abdomen holy shit. It felt like I'd just been-
I've been shot…
…By what? And by whom?
"I've gotta admit, it's been immensely entertaining watching you try to go across a road, shitty devil-summoner, but I'm bored now and when I get bored I get in the mood to kill!"
…Remember when I said that death wouldn't be as painful as what I was going through? I take that back, being killed by the bastard behind me is much worse than being killed normally.
I clutched at my chest with my left arm as I let go of the flyer and fell down to the road. I could have propped myself up and stop myself from slamming into it, but with my right shoulder being dislocated like it was, that just wasn't possible.
Shame too. I had a feeling that if I hadn't dislocated my shoulder, I would have been able to try and run away from my immensely gory fate…
So, I slammed onto the road, coughing up blood. Not a pleasant sensation, let me tell you. The pain in my dislocated arm flared up again, and the new pain in my chest only matched it. I'm surprised I didn't fucking pass out. This was easily the most pain I've been in in my entire life!
I turned on my back with my remaining strength in my left arm to try and see if I could get a look at the person who'd shot me, but I had a pretty good idea from what they had said…
Sure enough, there he stood. And with that, any chance that I was simply taken to a different part of my world faded. The person who stood behind me, the one who shot me in the back, was Freed Sellzen. He looked exactly as he did in the anime, only… well, it's hard to explain. Just imagine Freed as a real person and you'd basically see what I was seeing.
Well, I was bleeding out, if the pooling blood around me was any indication, and my brain wasn't exactly working well in the first place, so I accidentally let something slip.
"…Y-you…!" I gurgled.
It was a bit stupid, but he probably wouldn't know that I knew him.
"Ah? You know who I am? Hah! It appears my reputation proceeds me! Did another shitty devil you summon warn you about me, shitty devil-summoner-kun?"
Did this motherfucker just use a god damned Japanese honorific while he's speaking English? Now I have to kill him. That is an abomination to both languages!
Freed had this grin on his face. I didn't pay much mind to it in the anime, but now that it was directed at me, saying it was unnerving would be an understatement. It was the smile of a sadistic madman. Fitting, really.
"Awww, what's wrong, shitty devil-summoner-kun? Did you really think no one would notice the summoning card in your hand? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were asking to be killed by me! Freed Sellzen, a displeasure to meet you!" He babbled on like it was his mission in life, and to be fair, it kinda was.
Wait… the flyer! Where is it!?
I looked around frantically. I'd just had it in my hand. It must have fallen out when I was shot.
I saw it a couple of feet away, laying face up on the road. I got back on my stomach to try to get to it. I used my good arm to crawl towards it. The pain was nearly unbearable in my right arm, and the hole in my chest and back left a trail of blood as I tried to crawl towards it. The flyer was my only chance. Either that, or have Freed murder me in a very painful and gory way, which is what I was trying to avoid, but obviously my dumbass couldn't even do that right.
Several very quick, and very soft footsteps came towards me, and before I could react, I felt the heel of a boot dig in the gunshot entry wound on my back, and I let out a groan of pain, trying to stop a scream from erupting from my mouth.
"Uh uh uh! Where do you think you're going, shitty devil-summoner!? It's my job to punish sinners such as yourself. It's my God given right! It's my job as a super-duper awesome exorcist, you know!?" I turned my head back to see his hand holding a cylindrical hilt-looking thing in his other hand. Wait, why is he holding so close to my-
He pressed a button I couldn't see before, and suddenly a blade of light, a lightsaber if you will haha, pierced my shoulder, you know, the one that was already dislocated…
Let's just say a blood-curdling scream was heard across the entire town of Kuoh that night. And that sadistic bastard Freed probably enjoyed every moment of pain that he brought me.
I will remember this in the next life, bastard. I've been known to hold grudges for years.
"KAHAHAHAHA! You squeal like a pig that's had their testicles ripped off! Oh, I'm gonna enjoy playing with you, shitty devil-summoner-kun!" Freed cackled.
If this man speaks in English and uses Japanese honorifics in the same sentence one more god damn time…
Unfortunately, my righteous vengeance for this grievous misuse of language will have to wait another day, if that day ever comes at all. I can feel myself, for lack of a better term, slipping.
Is this what it feels like to die?
If I can't reach that flyer in time, then I guess I'll find out. It is so close now. I don't remember if you have to be in contact with the flyer before you can summon a devil, but I wasn't going to take a chance if it was.
Unfortunately, at that moment, Freed decided that it would be a fun idea to not take out the light blade like a normal person. Instead, he sliced right through my already heavily injured shoulder, almost separating my arm from my god damn body this fucking hurts stopitstopitstopitsopti-
"Huh? Why didn't you make a sound like you did before when I did that, shitty devil-summoner? Are you dead already? If you are, say 'yes'!" I could barely hear him tittering now. "Awwwwwwww, but that would make me sad! Not to mention bored! No! Don't go into the light devil-summoner-kun! It's not your time! We still have to get to know each other better! Noooooooo~!"
I'm going to start crying tears of blood in a moment. That is, if there was any blood left in my body to bleed through my eyes. I'm pretty sure this asshole has pretty much drained me dry.
I was so close to the flyer, it was just in arms reach, so fucking close…
"Hmmmmmmm? What are you trying to do shitty devil-summoner? Trying to call for help? Well, I'm so sorry, but I don't feel like sharing you with anyone else! It's not you, it's all me! Now let me take that summoning card from you, and we can end this night off on a super high note!"
No, no, no, no, no, no please! Please don't let me die here!
"I'll just take that off your hands~"
That's it, I'm dead. The only thing I can hope for is to bleed out before Freed does horrible things to my body. I'm scared. Very, very scared. What will happen to me after I die? Will I just cease to exist? So, so many possibilities, so many of them unexplored in this world…
Freed had reached the flyer, and was beginning to pick it up off the ground, when it began to glow a faint red color.
"Huh!?" Freed jumped back. I couldn't see the look on his face, but I imagine it was a surprised and perplexed expression.
Not only could I not see his face, I can't see much at all. I'm having tunnel-vision right now, which I guess is a pretty good indication that I'm going to die soon. All I could see, was the flyer on the ground, so close, yet so far, faintly glowing a blood red color.
My vision was fading fast, but before I was swallowed by darkness, I see a circular projection – a magical circle – begin to form.
And then I was completely engulfed in darkness, unseeing, unhearing, and unfeeling.
Did you enjoy it? Did you despise it? Let me know.
The chances of joining the ORC are high, just so you know, so if you hate it when that happens, you might as well leave.
Is it overused? Yes. Would I actually do it if in this situation? Also yes. So it's probably happening.
Also, I'm not sure about a harem. I already have a few candidates in mind, but I'm open to suggestions. That looks really bad now that I've typed it out...
So with that out of the way, toodles.