Where am I? Who am I? What am I?
These were the thoughts of nothing but a small flickering red flame, floating around in empty nothingness, hearing small but barely audible noises from where it was.
The red flame began to flicker almost like it's diminishing, as it continued to float around the empty abyss.
The flame kept wandering this seemingly endless abyss as it floated about in one direction to another as both began to swirl around each other, creating a vortex of radiant silver and baleful crimson lights, forming something but then it vanished into nothing as a body remained in its place.
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Time: A few minutes earlier | Location: Hospital
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The screams and howls echoed in the almost sterile room, a nurse in front of her and a man at her side trying to help as Best as he could as the woman's grip dug into his skin.
"Miki, come on push! Think of our baby boy" assured the man, paying no mind to his bleeding hand as He frequently glances at the nurse delivering the child and back at the woman in worry.
Despite the nurse instructing her to breathe, it took mimi hours until her final push brought the baby into the world. After the medical team dried the baby and cut its cord, they finally handed it to the mother.
"My baby boy, my precious baby" Miki whispered, happily cradling her child against her arms letting out happy tears.
Her husband smiled happily and reached out but Miki slapped his hand "I popped this baby out of me, I'm holding him for a while" she hissed at her husband who only chuckled in response.
"My adorable Issei–"
"Our adorable Issei" her husband corrected but Miki shot him a glare as he reluctantly shuts up.
The child opened his eyes, looking at his mother strangely, not crying or screaming like a child does as the doctors did some check up on Issei and everything was fine with the baby.
Though Miki found it weird that the baby wasn't crying and had rings of red around his irises, she couldn't care less; she was holding her baby in her own arms and would let her husband get his turn for a few days.
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Year: 1995 | Issei Age: 6 months | Home
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"Come to mama issei, come on~!" his mother said in a childish tone to see her baby boy come to her as she saw her child, stood up, waddling towards her on his own two legs, "Gorou! Issei took his first few steps!"
Gorou, who was reading the newspaper dropped it and saw his son, his pride and joy walking over with a soft smile as he grabbed a camera and took a picture of their child walking, feeling proud and surprised he could walk so early in his life.
What issei does next only surprises the married couple even further.
"Ma…" Issei began to say his first words as well as his mother looked like she was about to faint on the spot "Mama… pawpaw… wufv… oo" Issei said without a problem, making his mother faint from happiness and shock.
Gorou checks on his wife, chuckling as he sees she's fine before picking up his son. He got a good look at his baby boy, ever since he was born, Gorou noticed how cat-like his eyes were, but he saw it as a genetic mutation from reading headlines about kids born with traits different from their parents at times.
Issei looked at his dad curiously, wondering why he was picked up and reached over to his mother to pick him up instead, much to the dad's jealousy that his son was on his way to be a big mama's boy growing up.
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Year: 2004 | Issei: Age 5 | Kindergarten
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Issei sat near a corner as he watched the other kids play, using building blocks, giggling, laughing, and enjoying themselves. Whilst he felt like an outcast, out of place as he was oddly mature on the contrary of his age would imply. Issei was smart and almost impossibly so, and its due to this intelligence he couldn't truly interact with other kids and instead remained by himself; as none his age ever resonated with him on any level beyond casual greetings, not even with The "smart" kids adults arrange playdates for him.
The boy was studying by himself when at the other side of the classroom, a boy with a small ponytail had a somewhat infectious aura about him that drew others towards him, with a joyous smile lighting up the room.
When the chestnut haired boy noticed Issei by himself reading a complex book, he strode over and grabbed his book.
"Why aren't you playing with the rest of us?" he asked, to which Issei reached for his book but the boy made sure to not give back the book and soon after, an idea popped up as he started sprinting away.
Issei stood up and stopped the book thief easily, much to the shock of the latter for how easily Issei caught up to him, as he barely got far and it looked like he only power-walked to get him.
The boy pouted, annoyed that he couldn't play with him yet intrigued on how his speed, he went to grab the book again and was powerless against the iron grip on the book.
"How Annoying…" he uttered.
Hearing this, the boy felt his feelings hurt from the words yet also felt a challenge from the fire lit inside him; he must find a way to become friends with this stoic kid, no matter the cost.
"I am not annoying~! My name is Irina Shidou~ Iri~na! Shi~dou" Irina sounded out, pouting, she stared at him and got a bit too close past his personal space, yet was fascinated about the boy's cat-like eyes, yet within those eyes he saw boredom? Why was he bored? Maybe he could do something to cure that boredom?
"Hey, hey, hey tell me your name" Irina shook the boy, and wanted to annoy him, just to hear him say his name, which he didn't making the boy groan, dropping the book, from the shaking annoyed at his antics and continued to read, with Irina poking at his cheek "What are you reading~ is it some cool story, c'mon tell me, c'mon~"
Issei stayed quiet, reading his book with Irina poking her head to check what he was reading, which he couldn't understand what Issei was reading much to the annoyance of Issei "tell me, tell me! what does it say" Issei was enjoying seeing the boy get annoyed but wouldn't outright say it
Issei looked at Irina and back at the book, then back at the book, noticing how close he had gotten, but didn't question it too much, much smelt something off about him
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Year: 2008 | Issei: Age 9 | Park
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In the park a girl was dragging a boy with her everywhere, as the girl smiled happily holding the boy's hand. The girl had Chestnut hair, the same beautiful hazelnut eyes, and that smile that lit up the room. She was wearing male clothing, as the girl stood up at a decent height for her age, but the boy towered her in height by 10 CM
the boy she was dragging had feline-like eyes, brown hair that he grew out to his nape due to a suggestion of a friend, he was wearing a gray shirt, black shorts and soft shoes for his size, his hand dwarfing the girl's hand but enjoyed holding his hand as He did as well.
"Ise-chan~ did your parents agree for a sleepover? please say yes" The girl gave puppy dog eyes to the boy who stared at her with a stoic look
"Yes" He replied simply as she was used to him replying with one or two words, and occasionally full of sentences "They… did… Irina"
Irina jumped in excitement seeing her bestie and childhood friend say they did "Yay~" she hugged him tightly as he didn't reciprocate it as she brought her hands to make him hug her
He allowed it to happen as he wrapped his arms around her with her help, Issei did have a question going through his head, wondering why Irina cross-dressed but he mentally and reluctantly shrugged it off, not concerned.
Irina continued to drag Issei around the park as she saw her parents, the father's chatting like old time friends, laughing, and joking around with each other, the mother's giggling and gossiping as usual.
Miki and Irina's mother Luna were chatting, till they saw their children holding hands and walking together towards them "They'd make for a good couple" Miki mused to Luna who giggled and agreed
As the day went the two kids played, we'll Irina did, dragging Issei along with her, enjoying the time with him.
The day goes on, with Irina playing with Issei, enjoying the time she has with him and every second seeing his stoic face that made her heart flutter, causing it to skip a beat, everytime she held his hand, she felt a flutter in her stomach.
Irina didn't hate those feelings in her stomach or heart, she enjoyed it, enjoyed meeting him till now, but a somber expression came across her face, which she tried to hide from Issei, who noticed but wouldn't say anything yet internally he wanted to ask what's wrong.
The day went by as both kids were in Irina's room, which had some girlie element yet boyish feel to it, as the moon lit up the room with the room where the two friends laid in bed together.
Irina looked at Issei in the eyes, staring with longing, love, and other emotions in her eyes he couldn't sense or know yet he didn't pull away as her lips inched closer
BEEP BEEP BEEP
A much older Issei woke up, slamming his hand on the alarm clock, annoyed. "Irina…." he mumbled, reaching to touch his lips and a faint pink hue colored his cheeks but instantly went down, he grabbed his glasses that didn't have lenses.
He stood up, stretching his body and looked at himself in the mirror, what looked back at him was a boy no older than 17, he had light brown hair going down to his shoulder, with hair in front of his face, the bangs he had were in front of his forehead going down to his nose, and two bangs extra covering his ear where the glasses were.
Issei had a fit body with some muscles for his legs than other parts of his body, a 4 pack on his belly with decent body fat, not too much muscle, not too fat. His eyes stared back at him, the color and looks of it changed over the years.
His eyes now had changed to a dark green, the brown in his eyes vanished, yet he didn't mind it much, it did surprise him on how his light chocolate eyes changed from its usual color to dark green, the feline slit in his eyes remained. Issei pulled his smartphone out being an IPhone 6, the latest phone he had.
Issei's stoic face remained as he moved his fingers to make himself smile which looked creepy and he stopped. He went to the bathroom with a towel and some clothing as his room had goalkeeper gloves and some Trophies littered with the only picture of him with Irina in childhood.
He came back into the room and grabbed a necklace with a cross on it, as he wasn't overly into anything related to church, he only wore this due to a gift from Irina.
he tied the back of his hair into a lower ponytail, putting his glasses down, he had a blazer that was black with a ting of Grey as it had some white accents, it was a long-sleeved blazer with Ku-Oh High badge on it, he tied a ribbon on it due to dress code, he slips his matching black pants on with blackish white sneakers, tying the necklace around his neck, pocketing his phone, and finally going down the stairs slowly, to be greet his parents.
"Morning, mom, dad" He spoke showing some emotion to his parents, his dad lowering his newspaper with a coffee mug on the desk "Morning champ"
His mother peaked around the corner with an apron on, saying best mother "Morning Sweetie, food will be ready in a bit" Miki spoke to her son smiling, with Issei sitting down in front of his father Gorou.
"So son, when will you get a girlfriend?" His father asked, going to the next page of the newspaper, Issei's eyes widened "And where does this come from?" Issei replied, drinking some coffee
"Me and your mother aren't getting any younger and we want grandbabies, or is your crush on that chestnut haired girl making your heart all tingly?" his father teased his son, who huffed in annoyance, yet didn't deny it.
His mom placed down a plate of Fluffy pancakes with syrup, bacon and a side of juice for her son, "Dear, hush. don't tease our poor boy" She scolded her husband, enjoying the atmosphere of the house that never sullied, making the Hyoudou family enjoy these quiet moments.
Miki glanced at the wall which was with her, Gorou and Issei holding a cup he had young at a young age, Issei playing Goalkeeper as she remembered that day vividly, seeing her son play in sports made her happy and a bit competitive screaming
THAT'S MY BOY STOPPING ALL THOSE GOALS! YOU GO ISE!
She giggled remembering that day, the photo had Issei on his dad's shoulder, his mother on the right side holding her husband's arm as the married couple were smiling happily and Issei's face hadn't change that much even now
Issei finished eating his food, and drinking down the juice "I'm heading off now mother, father. I'll be back at the usual time" He spoke monotonously, his mother hugging and kissing his cheek "K~ do you want me to pass by and drip you food~" She teased always looking to embarrass her son to see a reaction, to which he didn't respond
He had returned the hug, but didn't linger on it, leaving for his school Ku-Oh High, Issei walks down the street taking out his I-pod, putting on headphones and began to listen to music, his taste in music is different from others, as the song he was listening too was Rusted From the Rain,
He may be Japanese, yet he loved music from other countries, so much so that he learned how to speak those languages on his offtime, he continued to make his way to school,
Issei reached the front gate, taking off his headphones, turning off the I-pod. the girls walking around the entrance of the gate spotted him "Kyaaaa~" they all screamed in unison
"The Ice Prince is here!" A girl screamed as they flocked to him like moths to a flame, Issei pushed past them, not enjoying the attention, he held his book in his hand for the class he had today, being Chemistry. he enjoyed the subject, testing out elementals that make the world.
He walked by two beautiful girls, one with raven hair and the other with blood red hair that flowed with the wind beautifully "Morning Ise-kun~, how is my Kouhai?" The raven haired girl asked the boy who walked past her "So cold~" She spoke sultrily
Issei, who went to his class, felt off about them. What about them made him think they weren't human? What about them just makes them not human? they look human and act human so they have to be human? right? Issei shook his head, no point in pondering.
He sat in the front of the class, close to the chalkboard, due to the teachers thinking his eyesight was terrible, but that was far from the truth.
Issei laid his book out on the table, checking the date today
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Location: Ku-Oh High | Year: 2015 | Time: 9:30
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The class continued till lunch time, Issei's stomach growled in hunger, he stood up, going to the cafeteria, but stopped. The food was disgusting, he knows that, so he went and knocked on the student council president's door "You may enter"
Issei entered "Ah, Hyoudou-Kun, what can I help you with?" A girl with a bob-cut, purple eyes greeted him "I wanted to head out of school grounds for food" Issei answered "Again? Hyoudou-kun, please do remember to bring food from home."
Issei nodded and she waved him off allowing him to leave, to which he did, exiting school grounds to head to his local Ramen restaurant, a simple restaurant run by an elderly couple who greeted the boy and asked Issei for his order to which he ordered the usual.
It was a simple Ramen, the noodles, broth, pieces of beef, soft boiled eggs, some pepper in it, green onion and chopsticks as he did a respectful boy, paying for the food and ate the food with much delight, savoring the taste "Thanks" He spoke to the old couple doing a polite bow and left
Issei returned back to his class on time, he continued his chemistry class and finished it for the day. He finished writing everything in his book, going to his locker, put the book inside and checked his phone to see the time, as it was club hours. He dreaded these hours due to it being mandatory to be in the school, much to his annoyance. He walked to his club being a soccer club, entering the changing room, he wore a plain colored shirt for his team being Blackish blue.
He walked to the soccer room seeing his teammates and 'friends' even if you can call them that greeting him "Yo Issei, my man still stoic as ever" A male said patting him on his back as Issei scowled a bit "Back off" He said with irritation
Issei walked off to the Goalkeeper side sitting down and waited for whenever the opposite team would come to score as he caught the balls easily, his muscles flexing as no matter how hard the opposite team tried, they could not score and when Issei held the ball, the South Wing raised their arm to pass but Issei had a better idea.
He tossed the ball up, juggling it, Issei did one last Juggle as everyone was confused before he did a powerful kick as the ball spun around his foot, the ball shooting past everyone and scored in the opposite net, scoring a point to Issei's team.
"THAT'S NOT EVEN FAIR! HACKS! HE'S NOT EVEN THIS STRONG IN THE FIFA GAME!" A person on the opposite team yelled with anger "HACKS! I CALL HACKS AND BS!" He threw a hissy fit causing everyone to laugh.
Issei looked at everyone, a small smirk forming but vanished, as he was subbed out and left for the day as he attended what was needed too.
He pulled his phone up, checking the time again "Time: 5 PM" He mentally cursed himself as it was late, the sun setting in the distance, with Issei walking down the street to his home,
He passed by a park, he was thirsty and saw a vending machine, he put some Yen into the machine, grabbing the refreshing drink of water, he gulped each one time, the scene around him changing as people seem to stop passing by, Issei didn't mind nor cared enough, he was enjoying his alone time.
Issei continued to walk "Oh? look what the cat dragged in, a sacred gear user~ and a believer in the church~' A voice mocked, Issei looking around not seeing anyone "He might be an Exorcist" Another voice answered "Why didn't that damn Psychopath tell us then!?" A male voice spoke out the loudest and Issei felt a chill run down his spine
He looked up finally to see 2 girls and a man all with black wings, he wore a stoic mask still, but it slightly cracked to show fear 'What… What the hell is that!? IS THAT WINGS!?"
Before Issei could think again 3 spears of light launched at him, his legs stuck in the same spot unable to move, he looked down to see a shadow holding his down
~
Hope you guys enjoyed :3