Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or it's characters.

Ch.1 Welcome to Kuoh

"Dad please wake up!"

A scared ten year old boy said to his dying father; the last words his father would hear as he shook and convulsed on the floor. He was having a seizure. After fumbling to call 119, a team of emergency medical professionals came in to attempt to treat Ed on the spot. When the seizure ended, they did what they could and placed him back into the ambulance for hospital treatment.

"Hey, what's your name?", one of the paramedics said.

"J-Jou"

"Would you like to come with us or do you have somewhere you can stay?"

Current day

"Jou wake up!"

His eyes jutted open. Despite sleeping in on a soft comfy bed, he felt like he was made of stone. Jou willed himself out of bed with tired muscles and headed for the bathroom. He walked past Asagi's bathroom while she was getting ready. She was a relatively tall woman; about 5'7 in height. She had dark blue hair and held bright golden eyes. Already had her white dress shirt and black business skirt on, she was ready for work.

"Good morning Jou!" A red flush coated her cheeks as Jou walked past her, naked.

"Morning mom". Jou yawned as he entered the bathroom down the hall; it was more spacious than the one Asagi was in. After getting ready for school, Jou said his goodbyes.

"Wait!"

"Hm?"

"Take this." Asagi handed Jou three 10k yen bills.

"Thanks", Jou said as he started to walk to school.

"Hurry up and open that shit!"

"Shut the fuck up! You want someone to come!"

"Yeah, if I gave a shit."

Three delinquents surrounded a vending machine.

Kicking and prying the front.

"Oi get the crowbar."

One of the delinquents ran off into a red convertible. Popped the trunk and grabbed the crowbar before slamming the trunk.

"You should put it back."

"Huh?" The three of them looked over to the newcomer. The kid had jet black spiky hair and noticeable dark skin. He had a school uniform that came from Kuoh academy.

"Fuck off!" One of them said.

"Sure, after I get what I want."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" One of the delinquents walked up to the kid, snorted, and spit a loogie on his shirt. With a satisfied smug look on the delinquent's face, he followed up with, "Hurry up and go to class you little shi—." He never got to finish his sentence as the school kid punched the loogie spitter in the face, breaking his nose in the process. He clutched his nose as he laid on the floor. With two thugs left, the guy with the crow bar walked up to the school kid.

"Dumbshit, now I need to fuck you up"

"Don't try to swing that crowbar at me. You'll only hurt yourself."

"Shut the fuck up you snot-nosed bitch!" With rage filling up his chest, his mind going numb, and his adrenaline pumping, he couldn't let some little kid get away with it. He had a reputation to uphold; this shithead deserved to die. The crowbar wielding thug took a massive swing at the kid.

"If only you'd stop mid swing , then you'd be alright", the kid thought to himself. The crowbar stopped inches away from his face. Then the school kid low-kicked the thug slightly. The thug moved a few inches to the right of his swing. Then the crowbar went in the opposite direction of its flight path and struck the thug in the face. Right in the middle; all of the force the thug used in his swing went right back at him. His forehead cracked, nose broken, top and bottom teeth smashed, and gums cut. The thug fell down to the floor and started to bleed furiously from the mouth. After that, the school kid walked up to the remaining thug. Who was snug between the vending machine and wall like a safe haven; a delusion.

"W-what's your name?"

"Jou. Jou Johari"

"Jou, I'm not like those guys. I just wanted to eat. Ya know?"

"Eat somewhere else." The leg shaking thug ran as fast as he could. There was no way he was going to get his face fucked up like his friends. Especially after witnessing everything.

Jou walked up to the vending machine. He inserted 10,000 yen into the machine and picked out a katsu sandwich. Then the machine spit out the bill and he took it; keeping the full amount. Jou opened the package. There was a cute postcard with a pig on it. He stuffed it into his back pocket while taking a bite. One bite of the sandwich reminded Jou of a time he doesn't know; a nice nostalgic feeling.

Kuoh Academy; formerly an all-girls school now turned co-ed. It was a prestigious school that sported the high school and college curriculum. One of the top schools in the nation, a graduate here could definitely land almost any job they want. What the school advertising doesn't say is that underneath the pristine bed, lies a pile dirty clothes.

Jou walked in the school's halls, headed to class. He debated on whether he should actually attend or ditch class. Ultimately, he decided to attend because he would probably get kicked out otherwise. He sat down in the middle seat. As the teacher came in, she noticed his presence.

"Nice of you to actually make it for once Mr. Johari."

"I could say the same to you or will you be announcing another substitute for the upcoming week?" Ms. Adachi frowned at his statement. "That Jerk," she thought. How dare he make such comments after being gone for a week. "If I give the class a pop quiz, he's sure to fail while everyone else gets a decent score. Then I can justify taking off a few points and maybe a few pegs while I'm at it". Ms. Adachi smiled to herself at the thought. She wanted to wipe off that smug smile off Jou's face and see him beg for extra credit.

As Jou sat in his chair, he noticed something was off. He felt a dark energy lurking, slithering to his classroom. It was pulsating, walking at 3.5 miles per hour. That's the speed of an average person walking.The aura bounced with a specific rhythm; it was fast, tight, and consistent. A person's aura normally directly reflects a person's movement because it hugs the body. Of course there are exceptions; generally speaking if a person isn't repressing their aura, then it will hug the body like an outline. Given this information, Jou deduced that this dark aura belonged to someone with purpose, and importance. Probably a female student because most of those positions in the school were held by women. After all, Kuoh was an all female school. Before he was finished thinking, the door opened. A young woman entered and handed a note to the teacher. She had straight black hair that came down to her knees and wore blue glasses. At that moment, Jou knew she was the source of that dark aura.

"What's a cute girl doing with that dark of an aura", he thought.

She then walked over to Jou's desk. Her eyes scanning the boy in front of her. "Attractive but wasteful", she thought. "Why would Kaichou waste her time personally meeting these good-for-nothings".

"Jou-kun. Would you please follow me to the student council room?" He nodded and stood up to follow her.

After a few seconds of walking, Tsubaki and Jou made it to the student council room. As he walked in, he saw various people doing paperwork and computer work on the side. It was a low lit room; with the morning shine bursting in through the windows as the main source of light. Of course, there was one woman sitting in the center.

"Hello. My name is Sonua Shitori. Please have a seat." Jou did as he was told and sat in the chair in front or her. Sonua took a look at the file on her desk. "Jou Johari. Age 17. Second year. Lives with Asagi Egawa; adoptive parent. Not currently enrolled in any clubs or sports. No extra-curricular activities to speak of." Sonua then looked at Jou's green eyes. "Can you see the picture this file paints for you Jou? You look like a delinquent."

"Well, I'm not. This just seems like far-fetched conjecture. Even if you tried to build a case against me to the school staff, they wouldn't have enough information to take official action." Jou crossed his hands and seated them on his lap, and crossed one leg over the other.

"I'll get straight to the point then. You had perfect grades in all of your classes in your first year. Right now, your grades are bad."

"I'm passing in all my classes. What do you mean Kaichou?"

"Jou, it's not enough to simply have passing grades. In Kuoh, we strive for excellence; the heavens so to speak. We have a reputation to uphold after all." In truth, Sona had multiple purposes for bringing Jou to the student council room. She only said one side of it to see his reaction. She wanted to separate wheat from chaff and figure out if Jou was like every other male in this school. She crossed her fingers together while her thumbs were in front of her lips and her elbows perched on the desk. "Then there's the situation with you consistently being inconsistent in your attendance."

This was bad for Jou. He shifted slightly in his seat. There was no way he could tell the truth. What he was doing and where were questions he would rather not have answered. "Sonua right? Look I'm just playing the long game with my school career here at Kuoh. 4D chess as they say. Playing at all different angles. It might seem like I'm losing now, but I'm actually winning."

Sonua raised an eyebrow. "Chess?" Jou noticed this; he paid attention to every movement she made. She had a positive spike in her behavior. He piqued her interest.

"That's right; chess. I'm no master, but I've been playing for a few years." Sona shifted her gaze to the chess set instantly when Jou spoke. Following her eyes, he confirmed that she was an avid fan of chess. He was almost there. He just needed to get Sonua to do one more thing. "You seem like a decent match; maybe you'll last a few minutes."

Sinus's eye twitched at that statement. "Decent? Who does this kid think he's talking to? Doesn't he realize that he challenged me, Sona Sitri, a prodigy to a chess match? Might as well lather himself with honey and jump into a beehive because he's playing my game."

Sona's heart rate jacked up at the thought of playing chess again. She's been busy with paperwork to play against Rias. And on the days she wasn't busy, Rias was scouting out potential pawns. There was one she kept talking about. Doesn't matter right now. Sonua looked Jou dead in the eyes.

"You think you can beat me in chess? Fine. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant, we all learn some time, but let's make things interesting. If I win you must take tutoring lessons and not miss a single minute of class. If—."

"If I win, my grades and attendance conveniently slip out of the school records", Jou said calmly.

"Tsubaki!" Sona's queen came over and set up the board. "I'll take black."

Jou looked at his red piece. It was unusual to play red vs black. Something about these pieces had an otherworldly glow to them. Doesn't matter really; he had a bet to win.

Jou looked at the board. He had the first move with the intention of developing his place on the board. Jou started by moving a pawn at D4 in an effort to control the center. Sonua placed her knight at 6F to counter. Unbothered, Jou placed another pawn at 4C. Sonua took another glance at Jou. "Okay, so he's not some loser talking shit." She moved a pawn at 5E. Then Jou moved his knight at 3C. "What the hell? Why isn't he moving his pieces twice?" She moved her bishop to cover her pawn at 5E.

After a few moves, Jou got a pawn close to Sonua's bishop and took it. The first capture of the game. Sonua decided to shift her strategy by moving her other bishop and castling early. Jou moved his bishop and knight. Begrudgingly, Sonua took one of Jou's pawns. It was too close to her territory. She didn't care though; it was just a pawn. After three moves, Jou castled as well. Sonua paid careful attention to Jou's moves.

"He must be trying to mirror my tactics. Taking control of the center, and castling in the early game." She looked at Jou with determined intent to win. What she saw was him with a satisfied smile. As if he knew he was going to win. "Smug bastard", she thought.

Jou moved his queen to 4A so his rooks were free to catch any piece that went to go for the king. Sonua immediately placed her bishop at 6C to intercept the queen and bait Jou. Instead Jou moved his queen behind a pawn at 4D; it was completely protected. Her pawn was right next to his queen and her knight was diagonal to his queen too. This wasn't good;she was mentally preparing herself to lose that knight. Instead, Jou's knight from 3C claimed her pawn resting next to her queen. Sonua debated the situation in her head.

"If I take his pawn with my bishop, then he'll take it with his queen."

She was losing control over the middle fast. Maybe she should move around it. After placing a pawn at 61, Jou took Sonua's knight with his own. Immediately, she claimed Jou's Knight with her pawn. She felt a small sense of relief; she could still win this.

Jou claimed her bishop with his pawn at 6C. Sonua knew it was going to happen; she was more interested in using her knight to claim his queen. Jou took it with his other Bishop before that happened.

"Tsk. It's like he knows what I'm doing before I do it! Any of these moves would have worked against Tsubaki and even Rias. Is he some kind of a mind reader?" Sonua pondered at that thought.

After Sonua claimed a pawn from Jou, he moved his queen to 4H. Sonua started to get aggressive; she moved her pawn forward and then her rook. With Jou only moving his bishop. Jou then moved his knight at 4F. Sonua thought he was going after her rook at 6G. Instead he moved his knight at 5H, diagonal to her rook. She was bewildered. Why didn't Jou take her rook?

A few moves later, Jou had his bishop at 4E and Sonua's queen at 7E; ready to claim it. Jou used his bishop to snatch her rook at 6G. This was insane. There was no way some random 2nd year was going to beat her at her own game. It didn't make any sense. Sonua closed her eyes for a second and remembered the second reason why she brought Jou here. She didn't want to believe it, but Rias' claims might hold some water. Of course, Sonua wanted to verify for herself.

Two weeks ago.

Sona and Rias were sitting down, looking over the other students during lunch. They saw Jou sitting alone eating what appears to be a Katsu sandwich.

"Thanks for meeting with me, Sona."

"Of course; it's no problem at all. What did you want to discuss?"

Rias looked over to Jou's direction. Her eyes scanning his looks, and posture. "That boy over there. I believe he had magical capacity." This took Sona back; it was sudden.

"Really? How do you know this?" Rias turned to Sona's skeptical face.

"I've received various reports from my queen. Akeno claims to have "felt" his magical presence multiple times."

"Is that all you have to go on? I don't doubt your queen Rias, but Kuoh is a hotspot for magical activity. There are Fallen Angels and Strays rumored to be here."

"That's true," Rias retorted. "However, I've been collecting eye witness accounts."

Rias and Sona took another look at Jou. He dumped his trash and started to leave. The girls stared at his ass as he left.

"You see Sona seven times out of ten, Jou is seen whenever a strange event happens at this school." Jou wasn't hard to spot; he had dark skin so it was pretty easy spotting him in a school with mostly Japanese students and the occasional European transfer.

"Okay so what? Did you come here to tell me to back off of your claim?"

"No Sona, I already said that with my most recent pawn.

Let's just say that this one is fair game."

"So whoever gets to him first then?"

"Let the best devil win."

Sonua placed her queen at 7A in an effort to get away from Jou's pieces. Jou used his queen to take Sonua's pawn at 6F. Sonua panicked; Jou put her in check. His queen had direct access to her King at 8H. With her pawn at 7H, she had no choice but to move the king to 8G. Jou looked at Sonua's face and met her gaze. He didn't notice beforehand, but she had beautiful violet eyes. With a strained and defeated look on her face, he moved his queen to 8H; right where her king used to be.

"Checkmate."

Sonua looked at the board in disbelief. Still thinking how she lost.

"You must've been practicing since you were young."

"Sure."

"Let me ask you one thing? It might seem a little strange but...Can you read minds?"

Jou smirked to himself. "Read minds. Come on Kaichou; that's ridiculous." Jou stood up from his chair and turned to leave.

"Thanks for the game."

He stopped and turned around. "Thanks for the twenty." Jou left the room.

"Twenty?" She must've heard wrong. Maybe it was the headache gained from her post-Mortem pride that was damaged. She knew one thing for certain. Jou Johari was a good liar.

As Jou walked down the hall, he felt a twinge of relief. He had a basic understanding of chess. He was in fact not a chess prodigy that practiced when he was young. Nor was he skillfully above the competitive chess player. He's never competed in his life and the last time he played chess was against his mom, two years ago. So how did he win? Jou smiled at the answer. Jou Johari has the ability to reverse and fast forward time via esoteric magical spells. These spells do not have a magical circle or a pentagon as a sign of activation. Instead transparent green spheres or rectangles appear. Anything within said objects are under the effect of Jou's time manipulation. To beat Sona, Jou placed a half room-sized rectangle. Anything inside will get reversed to whatever state and position they were before the ability was activated. Sona and the chessboard were inside. Jou did indeed lose to Sona at first. Whenever he would make a mistake, or Sonua would beat him in a match, he would learn from his mistakes by analyzing the results as the game was happening. When he was unsatisfied with the results, he reversed her and the game back to the beginning, like hitting a reset button. The pieces went back to their original position as well. Thus, Sonua would not remember all of the times Jou activated his ability because her memories were reversed as well; everything inside the rectangle got reversed. From her perspective, she only experienced one game; the game that she lost. From Jou's perspective, he witnessed multiple short games over and over again. Each game being slightly different. As Sonua would take the same actions repetitively, Jou placed his chess pieces in a way that lead to checkmate, countering and bypassing her moves. Over the course of twenty games, he had a natural feel for her play style; he knew what she was going to do next before she did it.

Jou looked at his chrome watch. It was time he went back to class.

To be continued.

Author's note

If you made it this far, thanks. This story is based off the anime, not the manga or Light Novel. If you have any criticisms, please tell me in the review section.