1 Wishes and Arrival

"...Highschool DxD (AU). This is the world you'll be reincarnating to," the same wooden expression, with facial movements more like a robot's than an actual living being's, told me after the overly long process.

Frowning, I narrowed my eyes, "Really? Highschool DxD?" I asked and despite the question being rhetorical, the Angel opposite me nodded, "Goddammit," I groaned, bringing up a hand to my face as I rubbed at my eyes.

Highschool DxD. A world of Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils, Dragons, literal Gods of various different Pantheons and an itinerary of other supernatural races. When you really look at it - with a level-headed outlook and an objective view that isn't clouded by 'B-but the women in it a-are hot!' - you quickly realize it's a pretty dark place.

Hell, the whole plot can pretty much be followed back to a singular war. A war so big, in fact, that it pushed each of the three factions near extinction. That' what stopped the war - nobody won it, they just ran out of actual soldiers to use.

Without that war, which led to that much death, Evil Pieces would've never been developed, Issei would've just died after Raynare carved him up with a light spear, and Rias would've been married to that fried chicken dude. Not to mention a list a mile long of all the things that would be different and changed.

So, when an anime's plotline is really only made possible because of a war that killed an unimaginable amount of people spurred on technological development, no matter how much harem-comedy vibes they try and fill the show up with, it really couldn't be any further from the truth. If you experienced that world outside of Issei's shoes and without the utter plot armor falling out of that dude's ass, it'd be an absolute hellscape to live in.

And I was going there. Fucking hell.

I was brought out of my mental complaining by the Angel opposite me and their emotionless face moving - they were speaking to me, the monotonous tone of their voice threatening to put me to sleep. Like it had been for the entire time I'd been here.

"...Sir, did you hear what I said?" they asked and, without giving me time to reply, continued on, "I asked if you're ready to proceed with your wishes or if you have any questions."

I was about to say I was ready but then I realized something, "Wait up--Yeah, I have a question. What did you mean by AU? Explain what that exactly means," I asked, my expression threatening to cloud even further. Why? Because knowing my luck it meant something bad.

"Of course, sir," the Angel replied with a dead expression, "AU being attached to a world's reality means that there will be slight changes. Characters from other forms of media added, genders switched for certain characters, certain laws being added--such things as those. But none of the changes will be so big as to class as an amalgam. Every added character will conform to their current reality without bringing their old one with them. For example, someone from a different show will use the power system of Highschool DxD instead of their original show."

Not as bad as I thought it'd be...but still, this could throw me some real fucking curveballs, huh? Whatever. Regardless of what I thought, the Angel continued.

"So, is that all, sir? Or are you ready to give your wishes?"

"I'm ready," I said, leaving out the snarky 'I've been ready for the past twenty minutes', before continuing when the Angel gestured for me to do so, "Give me a few moments to gather my thoughts," I gave a petty reply, knowing whatever time I made them wait wouldn't effect them at all but would significantly bolster my mood no matter how ineffective it was.

Thinking about the world I was going to, and what I'd thought about earlier, I quickly decided on my first wish but I decided to ask how many I had first, "How many wishes will I get and what are the limits?"

"You will get four wishes. There are no limits but a limitation will be placed on you after all your wishes are made and the power they give you is taken into account."

...So I can't wish for omnipotence because the limitation will probably be something like 'You can only use your omnipotence for five minutes with a cooldown of a full twenty four hours' or something just as severe. A smart system, if they want to stop people from being too strong for certain worlds. The question is why they want that.

"Fine," I nodded, swiping a hand through my hair as I continued, "My first wish is that I go into this new world as Issei Hyoudou. Not as a clone or a copy of him, but I fully take his place in the plot for 'Highschool DxD'."

Easy way to explain this wish: Plot armor. And if not for that, I'll get the Boosted Gear. Besides, it was either this or wiping him from existence because there can only be one protagonist. At least this way I can say he lives on through me or whatever. I get the moral high ground.

The Angel's dull blue eyes turn white for a few seconds before it nods, "This is acceptable. Rank C wish grantable."

Ignoring the weird sentence, I continued with my wishes, "Secondly, I want the Hero Clan's bloodline from 'The Testament Of Sister New Devil' and to have it as strong as possible."

...Pretty simple reasoning here: I don't wanna be a Devil which means I need to have options to be a strong human. The Boosted Gear is a start but it's not nearly enough on it's own.

"This is acceptable. Rank B+ wish grantable."

"Next, I want an identical replica of Yujiro Hanma's bloodline to also be gifted to this soon-to-be body of mine," I impassively noted off my next wish, my brain going through what I should use my last one for. I picked this because Yujiro Hanma is an absolute monster - if I have his bloodline and therefore talent for fighting and martial arts, I'll no doubt be a monster also. It'd also make the no doubt already superhuman physique from the Hero Clan bloodline even more superhuman.

"This is acceptable. Rank B+ wish grantable."

Scratching at my chin a little, I thought my next wish through before I realized something, "For my last wish, I wish for my Hero Clan bloodline and Hanma bloodline to merge perfectly, without issue and without causing any deformities or other such things in my new body."

"This is...acceptable. Rank A+ wish grantable."

...That was totally going to be my limitation, wasn't it? A limitation based around my two bloodlines clashing and impacting my growth speed and/or my talent. Maybe even putting an early ceiling on the amount of strength I could gain. I'm pretty fucking glad I caught that before going and wasting my wish and winding up in Highschool DxD with that type of fucked up limitation.

The Angel, either oblivious or uncaring of my thoughts, went completely still as it's eyes flashed white again, "Limitations...calculating...limitations decided," I felt my heartbeat speed up as it said this, waiting with bated breath for it's continuation, "You will be sent into this newly created Issei Hyoudou at the time the series starts, stopping you from preparing in advance for any of the plot. Enjoy your new life, sir."

Without even giving me a chance to reply, rebuke or otherwise negotiate the limitation placed on me, everything went black and the average-looking, blond, blue-eyed Angel I was sitting across from disappeared from my view.

Or rather, I probably disappeared from theirs. Pretty shitty customer service though, huh? I'd find a way to leave a review one day. One day.

That limitation...is pretty harsh. I was hoping to become an utter monster by the time canon started, which was probably seen by the Angel or whatever it's superior was, which is why my limitation took away my biggest advantage.

This put me at a disadvantage, sure, but with the bloodlines I had, it wasn't as bad as it might seem.

The Hanma Bloodline, Yujiro's to be specific, should give me Accelerated Development. Put together with the good growth speed the Hero Clan Bloodline should give me, I should advance quick enough. If I had to say anything, the merger between the two bloodlines might even make my progress even faster.

At the very least, I should already be strong enough to handle Raynare from the get-go. I refuse to believe that a person with the Hanma blood running through their veins would be a weakling.

Even if Issei hadn't trained, he should still be massively above the regular person.

My thoughts, however, came to an end as memories and experiences assaulted my brain as I found myself in a new body, jolting awake.

The memories went how you'd expect - a normal life except for the fact that Issei was an incredibly odd child. Both physically and mentally. Physically his body was abnormally hard and heavy from the get-go, and mentally because he never once cried. Ever.

He grew up, showing a surprisingly kind demeanor (the original Issei and the Hero Clan shining through and mellowing out the Hanma side a bit, I guess) and above all else, a very athletic person.

Sports, martial arts, anything physical--Issei excelled at it. He had uncanny physical prowess.

He was naturally still a little perverted but due to pride and actually having some respect for himself, Issei kept it to himself. He still wanted a harem, however. That much was incredibly clear to me, as the heir to these new memories and feelings.

Funnily enough, the harem part was actually pretty achievable. Polygamy/harems were legal in these bizarre world - the ratio between men and women was very heavily tilted toward women, with women outnumbering men ten to one. This meant that monogamy wasn't sustainable as for every woman that got married and put one man off-limits, there'd be nine women without partners and not enough men for them. Which led to birth rates dropping.

So, instead of doing a government mandated sperm drive (like a blood drive...but for sperm) that would allow these single or just homosexual women to get pregnant and bolster the world's birth rate...some utter genius decided to push for polygamous relationships that allowed for multiple women to share one man.

This was decades and decades ago, meaning women were well aware of the fact they had to share.

Even still, the fact women outnumber men is still a problem albeit a more minor one. Basically, men are a desirable commodity.

So, Issei's dream could be fulfilled legally in this world. If it weren't for one problem - his natural aura fucking terrifies normal people*. It seems mixing the Hanma Bloodline with the Hero Clan Bloodline put him so far above normal humans on a genetic level that they feel like they're standing across from an Apex Predator when he tries to talk to them.

(*A/N - I know Yujiro Hanma has a positive effect on some women and they basically get drenched when he comes by but for the most part, it's been shown that both his and Baki's natural aura makes people shake and feel incredibly fearful. This won't be a problem for the MC when he runs into a woman strong enough.)

So, Issei's harem dreams were yet to be fulfilled. Shame as well, because in this reality, the new Issei was an absolute fucking specimen of a man. Tall, muscular, handsome, big dick--he was the full goddamn package. He was also pretty intelligent, picking up topics insanely quickly and becoming adept at most of them if he put his mind to it.

Guess weak women just couldn't tell how good he was, huh?

The guy also knew how to play the piano, violin, could sing and play the guitar - all because he found them 'slightly' interesting. My new talent was, frankly, absurd.

Either way, Issei didn't train much either. His natural talents basically made it unnecessary. He was already incredibly athletic, strong, fast, full of energy no matter what he did and basically beyond all of his peers physically, so why would he train? I could think of a few reasons but that's only because I knew about the darker side to this world. Issei didn't however. For all he knew, he was a part of the 1% in terms of power.

Which, among normal people, he really was. As I'd thought, the combination of bloodlines was a potent one. Even without any training, the body I now called mine was thoroughly superhuman.

Enough to deal with Raynare or survive long enough to call for help from Rias at least.

Breathing deeply, I felt the utter power flooding through my veins as I sat up on the double bed I was currently on. Issei had won a ridiculous amount of martial arts tournaments, getting an equally ridiculous amount of money. Half of which he kept in a savings account and the rest went to his parents, which afforded them a bigger house and bigger rooms. Allowing me to have a very luxurious double bed.

Swinging my legs off the bed, I curled my toes into fists against the soft carpet, the joints in my feet cracking as I stood up, the rest of my joints cracking as I stretched them out. Arms fully stretched upward, I bent forward and easily touched my toes.

Smiling to myself, I began stretching my body, warming it up for the day.

As I'd said before, this body was incredibly muscular. Not Baki-levels of muscular but muscular enough that it was noticeably, no matter the clothing I wore.

Broad shoulders, a strong chest, an eight pack, a relatively narrow waist, long muscular legs, wonderfully defined arms--this entire body was an absolute masterpiece. There were places for improvement but the fact my body was naturally like this was a testament to my genetics. Cracking my neck, I walked out of my room and toward the bathroom - or at least where my memories said the bathroom was.

Luckily they were right and I found myself in a lovely looking room with brilliant white tiles and a rather luxurious looking marble sink and counter. But I wasn't here for that.

I looked into the mirror and saw my face for the first time - well, outside of memories at least.

Unlike the original Issei's brown hair, my hair in this life was a wild dark red, matched by equally red eyes and impeccably sharp eyebrows - the quintessential Hanma eyebrows! Not to mention those stunningly good looks. I was pretty tan as well, my skin being sunkissed and nearly a light brown in color. I didn't look exactly like Yujiro but the effects of the bloodline were definitely there.

Then I realized it. Why I felt like my appearance looked so odd. So...unnatural.

Everything was styled like an actual anime. I looked like a fucking anime character. Everything I'd seen in my room, walking to the bathroom and inside the bathroom itself...it was anime-styled.

...Holy shit.

. . .

I was in a classroom now, many hours after my realization that everything was in an anime-style in terms of appearance. It was a somewhat shocking discovery - to go from everything looking real and regular to everything looking like it was drawn by an artist. A very detail-orientated and talented artist but an artist nonetheless as it was easy to discern the differences to reality.

[...You are sure these memories are correct? I didn't get stuck with another mentally ill human, did I?] A deep voice boomed in my head and I smirked before wiping it off my face before anyone noticed it.

'No, I'm not mentally ill, Ddraig,' I scoffed mentally, 'The memories you see in my head are memories about the events to come. Though I'm unsure of their certainty because of this being an alternate universe version of the original series. Things may be slightly different, I'm not exactly sure on the specifics,' I admitted and gained a disappointed sigh in return.

[B-but...the Boob Dragon? Really...?] the Red Dragon of Domination asked before sighing, knowing the memories were true.

Subtly shrugging, I gave him a nonchalant answer, 'Don't worry about that. It's a nickname you gained in a timeline that'll never happen. Surely you don't mistake me for that weak pervert, do you?' I asked, a growing annoyance at even being compared to the original Issei - which was kinda weird, seeing as I don't really have a problem with the guy.

If anything, he was actually a pretty stand-up dude. He didn't take advantage of emotionally unstable girls despite them throwing themselves at him, he stuck to his morals and he was perfectly okay with dying for his friends/lovers continued safety.

Yet being compared to him in even the slightest way irked me. Like the very blood in my body hated the comparison.

...Hanma stuff, I presume.

I got the impression that Ddraig shook his head through our connection, [Of course not. From what I see...you're many times stronger than him already. A much better host and partner. But I must ask you; are you completely sure you're a human? I have never, in all my time alive, seen such a unique musculature and bone structure in a human before. Even the very density of your body is quite outlandish.]

'As far as I can tell, yes, I should be completely human. Though I must admit that I'm pushing the borders of what can really be called a perfectly normal human,' I silently chuckled, smiling to myself, 'Alas, it is what it is. Whether I can be classed as a human or rather as a sub-species of human, I'm me. And I'm quite enjoying this new me.'

[You've the pride of a Dragon,] Ddraig hummed before laughing out loud, [Good! It wouldn't do for a humble man to be the next Red Dragon Emperor!] his laughter continued for a few more moments before he calmed down. [What is our next move, partner?] he finally asked after he stopped laughing, curiosity marking his tone.

'Hmm,' I rubbed at my jaw, thinking to myself as I looked out the window of the classroom and across the sports field, 'Making contact with the Devils that rule Kuoh Town is necessary. Before then, however, I need to get stronger. Both physically and magically.'

Ddraig hummed his agreement, as well as send it through our connection, [Agreed. Devils are notoriously cunning at times. Physically strong as you are and with the magical potential you've gained from this Hero bloodline of yours, you would be hard to mind control...but we shouldn't push it. Even if you memories tell you this Rias Gremory wouldn't do such a thing. In your own words, you don't know what has changed with this world.]

'Along that thought process, do you have anyway to help me with the control of the energy inside my body? I know there should be Ki and Mana in me but I can't seem to sense them,' I stretched in my chair, putting my hands behind my head as I leaned back, frowning to myself.

I'd awakened Ddraig easily enough. I sat down, meditated for an hour or two, called out to him excessively and he eventually replied to me.

But with Mana and Ki...I honestly had no clue what I was looking for.

There were times when I felt like I was getting close to...something, but then the fleeting feeling would disappear. It was a frustrating process.

[Yes, I know some control techniques I could teach to you,] Ddraig said, his tone tinged with amusement as he continued, [Don't feel frustrated, partner. Even with the ridiculous talent I feel dwelling in you, finding and controlling your energies would take longer than the one hour you spent on it,] he chuckled, no doubt feeling my annoyance and frustration.

I just rolled my eyes, not deigning to give a reply to the dragon.

As I was thinking of ways to train after school, with the occasional input from Ddraig who still seemed somewhat tired from his no doubt long nap he entered in between hosts, I noticed some movement from the corner of my eye.

In my eagerness to get school over and done with for the day, I ended up getting here much earlier than I wanted to.

Which led to me sitting in class alongside a scant few others who were either asleep or studying.

But someone else entered, and a smell entered my nose that made all my cells feel like they were alight with electricity. For a second I was confused at this amazing smell but then I realized--it was the smell of someone strong. Yujiro mentioned it once or twice, that strong people have a smell and that it's the best smell in the world.

I thought he was just chatting shit, honestly. You know, classic Yujiro Hanma bragging. But no, it was completely real and I was fully experiencing it right now.

I turned to look at the cause and I stopped, somewhat surprised, before smiling wide.

Saeko Busujima. What a lovely surprise.

She looked back at me and smiled also. It seemed she also understood I was strong. At that point, I was glad past Issei had decided to transfer to Kuoh Academy after it started being a co-ed school. If I hadn't...I wouldn't have had a chance to see someone strong so soon.

Just from the way she walked, her purple hair fluttering behind her was enough to tell me she was much, much stronger than her original self.

...I wonder if she knows about Ki? Well, I'm sure I can ask. Right after we fight, anyway.