I was planning for this to be an alternate version of Eastern Exorcist but somehow the premise changed again into something very different. Shidou Haruka now doesn't possess any legendary weapon or something of that level or any sacred gear. He's a freaking, bona-fide human with no powerful weapon or extra equipment. Damn, he gets weaker with each version. Well, this doesn't mean that I'm abandoning the Eastern Exorcist. This is an alternate story and has no relation to that one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD

File 1: Shidou Haruka

The boy grits his teeth in frustration as he look up at his match opponent. Those yellow eyes looking down on him as if mocking him really gets on his nerves.

But she had won their match… yet again for the third time. And those eyes hidden beneath locks of blue hair doesn't even feel content. It is as if she finds it natural for her to win against him and that more than anything else annoys him.

He knew he is faster, he knew he is more skilled even if not by much when compared to her. But there is one decisive reason why he had never won against her. And that reason is now leveled on his neck.

It is a large blue broadsword with golden edge that anybody from the church would recognize, the Holy Sword Durandal. That sword is the reason why he had never managed to win against her.

Once the match was settled, she removed the sword from his neck and walk away. But before she walked too far, she turn back to him one last time and said.

"There's no point in challenging me again. You who do not have a sacred gear or chosen by a holy sword. There's no point. This is the difference between us."

She said to him. The boy look down on the ground dejected and frustrated. That's their difference. She is special, he is not. She is blessed, he was not. This is the difference between someone who was chosen by a holy sword and him, someone who has nothing to rely on other than his own ability.

"Onii-sama."

His sister tried to reach out to him, to comfort him. But he slapped her hand away as he stood up from the ground while dusting himself as he walk away.

"The difference huh…"

He muttered to himself.

"Then I shall prove it. That someone without a sacred gear or a legendary weapon can be strong."

On that day, after his third defeat to the Durandal wielder, Shidou Haruka swear that he will surpass them, those people who possess power freely given to them.

-Present day-

A young teen with chestnut hair and green eyes wearing a suit stood in a corner drinking wine as he try to keep himself inconspicuous among the many party guests. He watched as all the guests mingle around socializing as is the norm in a fancy party such as this. He sighs as he look down on the glass containing red wine that he has been drinking although he's not considered an adult yet in his home country but it's not like it matters.

[Executor-san, have you found the target yet?]

Shidou Haruka heard the voice of a young girl coming from his earpiece, calling him with his codename while in the field. Instead of voicing his answer though, he simply thought it like in telepathy.

'Not yet. He will probably appear when the party goes in full swing. I did notice several other vampires though, around two dozens of them.'

Haruka replied to the girl on the other side of the magical communicator, one of the good Professor's invention that makes discreet communication much easier between them without showing sign of using magic although it is a rather complicated piece of work.

Shidou Haruka is on a mission from the church. His job is to infiltrate a mansion in a small town in Italy where disappearance had been reported. The mansion appeared around seven months ago and since then there had been cases of people disappearing. Should he find anything wrong with the mansion, his directive is to eliminate the cause of the disappearance, meaning kill the perpetrator. In this case, he had identify them as vampires.

[Vampires? Then those disappearances meant that…]

There's no need for the girl to say anything else. Haruka already know what happened to them just by identifying his target as a vampire. They have all been drained dry of blood, becoming nothing more than livestock for the vampires.

'It's the most likely outcome.'

There's no more answer from the other side. The girl is probably feeling rather down right now so Haruka decide to end transmission for the moment.

'Don't worry, I'll deal with them. Just sit back and relax and I'll report back when everything's done. See you back in Vatican, Holy Maiden.'

[Alright, Executor-san]

After the girl's reply, the transmission ended and Haruka return to observing the party once again. The vampires are still around, the guests are still socializing, it looks like he will have to wait for a while so he decided to join the guests. He then talked to several humans, making sure not to get close to any of the vampires. He even flirted with a few of the younger female guests, which there are a lot of, just to keep up appearance.

As he went around the party hall mingling with the guests like normal, he kept observing everything around him while avoiding the vampires' attention. He's quite good at it which is why he's the one sent in the first place although he prefer direct confrontation rather than this.

Haruka checked his watch. It's almost time for the host to appear. Now what to do? There are several scenarios he could think of which could either end this mission cleanly or make everything a big mess that will make his report much more a hassle to write. Obviously, he'd prefer if he doesn't have to write a long report so he will need to think which course of action would be easier on him.

It's ten minutes until midnight which is when the host will make an appearance. He spied from the corner of his vision that the vampires are starting to move. Some exited the room, some stood guard. He checked each vampires' position and calculating how fast he can get to each of them to find the perfect spot to react should things get bad. He can't go trigger happy with his gun in a hall filled with human guests after all so he will need to take them out with knives.

It was then from the corner of his eyes, he saw something interesting. A young girl with bright red hair and blue eyes wearing a party gown (obviously) appear to try to discreetly leave the party hall. He raised an eyebrow at this. Why is one of the party guest leaving at such a time? Is she someone helping the vampires?

Seeing the suspicious movement, Haruka decided to follow the girl, his training making it much easier for him to leave unnoticed even under the watchful eyes of the vampires. After all, sneaking around is his specialty.

He saw her sneaking around the mansion looking around as if searching for something. A thief perhaps? Should he apprehend her? Haruka considered as he kept his distance from the girl. If she's a thief, it's not really his problem since apprehending criminals is not really his job. He would do it if it's a normal human home though but letting her steal from a vampire doesn't sound so bad.

The girl walked through the corridors like she knew the place. There's a chance that she's a courtesan hired by a vampire. She is quite a beauty after all and other than the pleasure of blood, vampires also sometimes indulge in the pleasure of flesh. Then he saw her entering one of the rooms. He slowly approach the room she snuck into until he heard a familiar sound.

Of course she has to be the one other possible person Haruka just thought of. An assassin.

BANG BANG

The loud sound of gunshots echoed throughout the mansion as he hurriedly entered the room and there he saw the girl whose dress is now stained in blood standing over the corpse of his target, looking down on the vampire with dispassionate eyes while pointing what appears to be an ornate rifle with a blade attached to its underside at what once was a hunter of humans.

The girl immediately realized that someone was there with her and she aimed at Haruka and pull the trigger. Haruka immediately flex his hand and three sword hilts slid down from his sleeve and to his hands. He held them between his fingers and activated the blades, parrying the girl's bullet with them.

"Well… this is awkward."

Haruka said, looking at the corpse while the girl kept her rifle pointed at him. She narrowed her eyes and switch her rifle into something akin to a sword mode. So her weapon is a transforming weapon. Haruka had never seen that before. From her stance alone, Haruka knew that she knows her way with a sword.

"You… you're not one of them. What are you doing here?"

The girl asked, no, demanded.

"Ahh well, you see…"

Haruka was about to explain himself when they heard screaming and lots of footsteps approaching from the hall. He turn his head for a moment and peek out from the door and saw the vampires rushing to where he is. He turn back to the girl and was about to say something when she saw her shot the window and jumped out.

"…well, there she goes. Damn, how will I deal with this?"

Haruka grumbled. He then called the command center to report about the complication with the mission.

'Uhh, Holy Maiden, I have bad news to report.'

[Yes Executor-san? Bad news? Ohh Lord, did… did the vampires eat everyone in the party?!]

The Holy Maiden questioned, almost panicking.

'Nope. Well, we have a complication. Apparently there's an assassin after the target's life. She managed to get to him before me and killed the target. Unfortunately, she's not really subtle when killing and now I'm left to deal with the rest. Can I ask you to call the 'local authorities'? I believe the guests are currently panicking. I'll finish this as fast as possible before they police arrive.'

[A-ahh, yes, Executor-san. I will immediately contact the 'local authority'. Please be careful.]

'Thanks Holy Maiden. Executor out.'

When the transmission ended, Haruka calmly walk out of the room with blades at the ready. Not only on his right hand but he had also took out the blades in his left sleeve and set them on his left hand. With his six blades set between his knuckles, he faced the group of vampires looking almost exasperated due to the situation.

"An exorcist. He must be the one who's jeopardizing everything. Kill him!"

One of the vampires ordered. Haruka breathe and before the vampires could muster their power, He had thrown his six blades and pierced their hearts, killing six instantly with the holy weapon. These vampires are not very powerful. He knew he will not take long in dealing with them.

He drew a gun and aimed it at them. After unlocking the safety, he started shooting. The sound of his gun is loud and the speed of his bullet is faster than normal. Three bullets found their way to one skull each. Each bullet is specially made and blessed to deal maximum holy damage possible. It is stronger than a normal exorcist gun and a well-placed shot could kill even high-class devils in one shot.

A vampire had managed to get behind him and was about to rip him to shreds with his claws when he drew another similar gun and shot the vampire through the heart. Haruka smirked. They are not a challenge to him. He started shooting at the large group of vampires now gathering in his position.

"Come on, I'm not even trying."

Two vampires managed to get close to him with the usual intention of ripping him to pieces. Haruka managed to dodge by flipping backward and he shot both of them through the skull. He decided that anything fancy would be too much and simply shoot the rest of the vampires with his two guns. He switched his gun from single shot to tri-burst mode. No defense they make could stop the bullets from hitting them. Haruka made a note to thank the Professor for his wonderful customization and the bullets.

Once they're all dead, he put his guns back to their holster and retrieve his swords. He made the blades disappear and put them back into his sleeves with a simple gesture. He look around at the mess he made. Blood, bodies, and holes caused by his bullet littered the hallway.

"…I'm really not looking forward to writing the report."

He said to himself. He then glanced at the window where the girl who made his mission report more complicated escaped from. Just who is she? An assassin paid to kill his target, or maybe someone with a grudge? Either way, she owed him one for making his job harder. Haruka sighs and draw a rune for fire on the floor. All evidence must be disposed off after all.

-Vatican, the day after-

Shidou Haruka is walking down the Exorcist HQ's hall. After the mission that was technically a success despite the complication he met, he really wanted to kick back and relax. Outside interference, especially from an unknown, always made a report much more troublesome to write than it normally is.

Accompanying him is a petite blonde nun in full nun outfit complete with the veil. She is the operator that worked in the group he's a part of and was given the codename Holy Maiden. Her name is Asia Argento. She is a newer member recruited only four months ago. Although her job is mainly to become an operator for the group's missions, the main reason she's recruited is because of her sacred gear that is able to heal any injury, although Haruka suspect that there's something more to her recruitment than just that.

After all, considering the unit they're in, Asia is not really someone who should be with them.

"Next time an outside party interferes, I swear I'll skewer them with my keys."

"Ahaha, Haruka-san, there's no need to go so far."

Currently, Haruka is still grumbling about what happened yesterday and Asia is trying to help him calm down, emphasis on trying because Haruka is still complaining about the ten pages of report he had to write.

Asia was glad that somehow nobody, at least those that are human, were killed in the debacle yesterday. The gunshot ended the party prematurely and while the humans evacuate, the vampires quickly gather together to find the source of the gunshot without caring about the fleeing humans.

Although Haruka is also glad about that, it is not enough to stop him from complaining about the report he had to write. Unknown to Asia though, even if he's complaining about the report, his mind is actually more concerned about the red haired girl who killed his target. He had a feeling that he would meet her again in the near future.

"Ohh well, Asia, let's go grab some lunch."

Haruka suddenly said, surprising Asia. She followed him anyway. As they pass through one of the training ground, Haruka could hear two people sparring. Come to think of it, he had not walked through this corridor for a long time, especially since his induction to the Vatican Special Operation Section two and a half years ago.

He took a peek at the training ground and smiled. Asia noticed him smiling for no reason before walking away with her following him once again. Once he caught up to him, Asia asked him.

"Haruka-san, why did you smile when you saw them sparring? Did you use to know them?"

Asia asked because Haruka had then showed an unusually warm smile that she had never seen before and she had known him for a while. He would not smile like that for no reason at all.

"Heh, nothing, I just thought that… maybe it's time I should challenge her again."

Haruka smiled again as he left the corridor with Asia, leaving behind his sister, Shidou Irina, wielding Excalibur Mimic, sparring against the wielder of Durandal, Xenovia Quarta. It has been six years since he last saw them. It would be fun to see where each of them stands now.

And here's the first chapter! Different from the usual, right? In this version, Haruka and Xenovia are not very close. Haruka is also not stronger than Xenovia when they were young. In fact, Haruka lose to her three times before he decided to go crazy with his training. In this story, he has no sacred gear he could temper with to make him crazy strong or a super powerful sword that could help him fight legendary beings on equal ground. All his weapons and equipment are just special custom equipment, not legendary stuff. How will he fight his enemies now as a human with no sacred gear or legendary weapon? Let's just see how this goes.