Pain. My first feeling.
Antiseptic. My first smell.
A woman crying and yelling. My first sounds.
"Hrr... arrr."
The first sound I made.
A warm hug, the first touch I received.
"Issei! Oh, Issei! My baby! Why were you stupid enough to run out into the street for a porn mag? A porn mag! When we get home, you're going to therapy. Your obsession with boobs has to stop! Stupid Gojou! Why did you allow this to happen to our own son?"
The result of all these sensations: confusion!
Then the world spun and faded back into the dark.
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"DOCTOR! DOCTOR! My son! My son fainted! HELP HIM!" Akemi Hyoudou said frantically, trying to shake her son back into consciousness.
"MA'AM, please step away from the patient! You may cause further harm to your son!" the scruffy old doctor said, rushing to pull the mother away from her son.
"HONEY!" Gojou Hyoudou said, physically separating his wife from their son. He hugged her, trying to smother the panic out of her.
"Don't worry, we'll get him into the best therapist in Kuoh! I'll burn his porn stash when we get home, and I won't ever let him touch a porn mag again! If all else fails, I know a couple of friends who know some doctors that can solve his lust... permanently." Gojou said with determination, glaring at his stupid son with a steely glint.
"Sniff... really?" Akemi asked, sobbing as she looked up at her husband with hope.
"Yes, really," Gojou said softly, in a calming tone, not once showing a sign of distaste at his previous threat of neutering his own son.
"Mmmh." Akemi relaxed into her husband's embrace—a parent not minding that her son might be her only descendant.
"Ahem," the doctor said, awkwardly scratching his sandpaper beard and trying to get the couple's attention while simultaneously pretending not to have heard their conversation.
"Ah, yes, doctor. How is he?" Gojou asked to ascertain the status of his son.
"Your son suffered minor fractures in both his arms and legs, fractures in his skull, and a concussion. The concussion and trauma to his head are particularly worrying. His MRI showed significant swelling, enough that we can expect he suffered at least some form of brain damage. We won't know how much until your son wakes again," the scraggily dressed doctor said carefully while eyeing Akemi, wary of another episode. He added, "I'm going to ask you to leave the patient for a while, until you both calm down."
"Of course, doctor. I'll be here, nothing like that will happen again!" Gojou said, shielding his wife from the doctor's subtle jab.
Gojou then took his wife by the waist and guided her out of the room, whispering soothing remarks in her ear.
The doctor looked at the bandage-wrapped boy and said, "Son, you are really lucky to be alive. You must have an angel looking after you to survive this," while staring at an x-ray showing severe brain trauma in disbelief.
The old doctor looked up, thinking of going to church again, and slowly waddled out of the room in wonder.
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A sharp pain woke me up, followed by sensations. The coarse bedsheets and smell of antiseptic gave clues to my condition and place. I'm in a hospital—a Japanese one, derived from the speech of those who surrounded me during my previous state of consciousness.
Perhaps I was kidnapped and somehow shipped to Japan.
Or wait... could I have been injured by a Japanese family and then dragged to a Japanese doctor? Yeah, that seems like a more plausible explanation. A very affectionate and hysterical Japanese family injuring me is more believable than a kidnapping incident.
"Hrrrrp."
A sharp pain then assaulted my mind, followed by information originating from an alien source. That information summarily demolished my previous hypothesis about my situation.
As I went over it, a few facts stood out:
I have been transmigrated into the body of one Issei Hyoudou. As such, I will be receiving a basic package on the use of Japanese nomenclature, language, and behaviors. I will be allowed to keep the Sacred Gear meant for the one named Issei Hyoudou.
Then a message, almost certainly from the one responsible for my current situation:
"Know this, mortal! You have died due to your home universe being destroyed as a result of my actions. Your anger and feelings on the matter are meaningless. You are dust, worthless, and your very existence is up for debate. You've been given another chance, with unearned boons, only due to mercy that is not my own. Live or die, prosper or suffer—your fate matters not."
Understanding this, and with a sense of calm brought forth by the sheer strangeness of my situation, I reviewed what I knew.
I was in a new world—not just that, a whole new universe. Laws and beings eldritch to me, unknown. Actually... not unknown. After all, I am in the world of DXD.
The world of busty gods, devils, angels, and dragons.