2 Chapter 2: The Man In a Boy's Body

Chapter 2: The Man In a Boy's Body

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Perfection. The condition, state, or quality of being free, or as free as possible from all flaws and defects.

Such inoculation is not possible for anyone except God himself.

Very few human beings in history have managed to come close to achieving such "godhood" in a sense, and not in the all-powerful sense, but in terms of not being held down by imperfection.

One such exceedingly rare specimen now exists in Kuoh, Japan.

Issei Hyoudou, son of Miki and Gorou Hyoudou.

At first glance, the boy may not seem like anything special, but that would be a surface-level analysis because it would be wrong.

By age four, Issei accidentally set the world record by solving a 6x6 rubik's cube. Previously, it was 59.74 seconds, but Issei did it in 22 seconds and unintentionally became one of the most famous child prodigies. He didn't even intend to, it was just something he was interested in doing. His parents filmed him, and the clip went viral. Instead of blaming mom and dad, he would later curse the internet for taking away his peaceful life.

By age five, Issei could fluently read, write, and speak in Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, French, Quebecois French, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Russian, Hungarian, German, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Farsi, Hebrew, Swahili, and even tongues deemed cryptic and forgotten such as Aramaic.

His average, run of the mill parents with ordinary genes, were astounded. His IQ was already higher than Einstein, Newton, Socrates, Nietzsche, and Plato combined!

By age eight, he was noticed by foreign universities that wish for him to enroll in their programs and offered him several scholarships, such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and MIT. However, Issei declined to do so, and his parents agreed, wanting him to be able to experience a childhood without growing up too fast.

By age nine, the world famous newly wed couple Nakiri Erina and Yukihira Souma were impressed by his cooking, and their good friend Gordon Ramsay invited Issei onto his shows. He won multiple awards that were meaningless to him, as he was just doing something he felt was necessary to survive, but because he is a kind young man raised with proper manners, he wouldn't refuse Gordon, the only person scarier than his overprotective mother.

So from ages four to nine, he was something of a celebrity for a while before the fanaticism gradually died down when he chose not to study abroad. He was glad it did, not understanding mankind's obsession with what specific individuals as young as him chose to do in life.

His unnatural exponential learning curve could not be scientifically explained. It should not be humanly possible.

However, as only God can be considered perfection, Issei has his deficiencies.

He considers his life a hassle, not wanting to be famous. Why couldn't he just be Issei and live like any other kid? Stupid riajuu scum should just die in a fire.

Then there's the females. By the time he was 11, girls of all ages that are older than him ranging from 14 to mid-40's would flirt with him, making him feel a bit shy and uncomfortable. He knew they'd do it mostly because he's a handsome young lad, but also partially because he has a bright future ahead of him that will mean a lot of money, something that unfortunately attracts many gold-diggers.

Maybe they're attracted to him because of his physical growth too. He was 5 foot 7 inches by the age of 11. At 12, he was 5 foot 9 feet, and by 13, Issei hit 6 foot before leveling out the next year at 6 foot 3 (for now).

There's also an obvious lack of friends other than a brief spark he had with some boy that went by the name of something Shidou (even Issei can be forgetful). So while his IQ is off the charts, his EQ is average at best, and his conversational skills can be awkward for him. It certainly didn't help that the Shidou family had to move away.

Strangely enough, the only things that make him feel truly at peace are the color red and lizards, both of which give him déjà vu for some reason. Those shows and movies he'd watch as a kid, such as documentaries on dinosaurs and The Lord of the Rings, would excite him. Who cares that the Ring Wraiths are evil? The fell beasts they ride are gnarly.

Now, Issei is 15 and about to enter high school. The night before the entrance exam, he obeyed his parents that ordered him to study like any other child, as he winged the test at the last minute and aced it.

Stepping into his new classroom, he spotted his seat in the second to last row by the window.

The teacher introduced herself and left, saying they have the day off before school really begins the next day.

Then, everyone introduced themselves starting with a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, Kiba Yuuto, and two of Issei's seatmates made fools of themselves and instantly destroyed their reputation by earning the nickname of the Perverted Duo.

"Hm?" Something caught Issei's attention. Outside the window, a multi-colored bird was staring him down.

When he blinked, it was gone.

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Elsewhere, two supernatural beings are meeting at a warehouse near the edge of town.

"Did we have to meet all the way out here?" A black-haired man with red eyes and pointy ears frowned. If one were to look at him, they'd assume that he's an elf were it not for his demonic appearance.

"Indeed," A man with bat-like wings and a red tuxedo said. "I carefully chose this spot as it is on the opposite side of where your kind reside."

"So, will the girl target him?"

"Yes. In order to get rid of me permanently, she will attempt to bring him over to her side."

The fallen angel sneered. "An insignificant human, but one you think may bring your betrothed victory."

The devil nodded. "Yes. Terminate him immediately."

Black wings sprouted as the fallen grinned wickedly. "With pleasure."

He took off.

The devil teleported away as well, not noticing a pair of cat ears sticking out of a bush.

A white-haired girl just arrived at the scene and only saw the fallen angel flying away, not the devil.

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In the window of the Occult Research Club building, Rias Gremory stared down at the brown-haired boy that sat by a tree and waved at her with a polite, shy smile.

She spoke with her servant behind her, "So you saw a fallen angel with your own eyes, huh."

"Yes, president." Koneko nods. "Your information is correct. They're here on your territory and are planning something. The number of sightings is increasing as our wards have been detecting more of them day by day."

"Hm..." Her focus on the boy never wavered, even as he got up and left the school grounds.

She didn't miss how someone was following him. Her senses alarmed her of this person's identity.

"Koneko, go follow that boy whenever he isn't at school."

"Yes, President."

The other two club members gave her curious looks but didn't question her command.

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Issei sighed. It's been a couple weeks since school started, and he wasn't able to make a single friend. As a matter of fact, everyone gave him weird looks, some filled with fear, others bordering hate.

'Did I do something wrong?'

"E-Excuse me? Are you Issei Hyoudou?"

Stopping in the middle of the overpass, he turned his head to see a beautiful girl with long black hair and magenta eyes.

"Yes?" He responded.

For some reason, ever since he was young and many older girls and women would flirt with him, he developed a distrust for most females except for his own mother.

However, he could at least hear this one out.

"Not to sound weird, but I've seen you pass by here a lot. I thought you are cute, so... Wanna go out on a date?" She tilts her head innocently.

His eyes widen while his arm throbs in pain, but he ignores it. 'This could be my chance to get over my distrust of the opposite sex!'

"Uh, sure! By the way, I didn't get your name, miss...?"

"Amano! Yuuma Amano. Nice to meet you!" She bounced happily. "Let's meet up here. How about this Saturday?"

"Sounds good." He waved her off.

A pit formed in his stomach. 'She couldn't have an ulterior motive, right?'

She frowned as she disappeared from his sight. 'He actually is pretty cute for a human. It's too bad he has to die.'

Neither of them noticed a certain nekoshou that took a picture of them together.

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"He's come in contact with a fallen angel, President."

"I see. Thank you, Koneko. This is perfect."

"Rias?" Akeno questions.

"She's likely going to kill him. If we let it play out, it might just be the perfect storm I need."

"The boy must die?"

"Yes." The red-head grins, all too eager.

While the other two are fine with this, the only one who was disturbed by her mentality is her knight.

However, once again, he doesn't say anything.

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The date went as good as a first date could go. She brought him clothes, he spoon-fed her a sundae, the usual.

But then, they took a walk in the park, and Issei felt brave enough to do something as lewd as holding hands with her.

On the outside, Yuuma pretended to be embarrassed, but deep down, the tsundere side of her was aghast. 'I was beginning to enjoy this date and was considering not killing you, but touching me like this?! I'll end you real soon, you... You pervert!'

His arm throbbed again, making him wince in pain briefly.

They arrived in the park as she skipped ahead of him a little. "The sun is setting. It's very beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes..." He finally let his guard down, to which her façade almost broke with sinister laughter.

She slowly walked towards and placed her hands on his chest, startling him. "I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

Koneko, who was watching this, sent a telepathic message to Rias, telling her to come to her location immediately.

"Will you die for me?"

"Yes."

"Why? We just met."

"I've never had a friend before, much less a girlfriend. In such relationships, people value loyalty over anything else, right? So you'd have my eternal loyalty." Issei gives her an innocent grin, making her heart throb in pain.

Frankly, his instant answer shocked her, but she remembered that she's here to kill him, not enjoy his company.

Shaking her head and trying not to get emotionally attached, she transformed into her true self, hovering in the air while giving him a hard look as if looking at something as uninteresting as an ant, or at least she tried to.

Warning bells went off in his head.

["DODGE!"]

He had no idea where that voice came from, but he did what it said and instinctually barrel rolled to the left just as something sizzling hot whizzed passed his head. It was a pink spear of light.

'So magic is real? I'm not surprised, but why is she trying to kill me?!'

Infuriated, Issei had a feeling he couldn't run away, so he instead attempted to charge her.

Raynare scowls and dive bombs, successfully tackling him, pinning him down as he thrashes around in rage.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!" He shouts.

"Shut up and listen to me! Please don't make this any harder than it already is!" She pleaded desperately. Seeing his trust in her break was too much for her.

He stopped thrashing around and instead glared up at her.

"You have something dangerous inside you. My task was-"

Before she could explain, a blue light spear suddenly stabbed into him in the lower torso, shocking them both and making Raynare gasp as she looked up to see where it came from.

A nephilim with black hair tied into a ponytail.

"Fufu. President sent me as a last resort in case you failed, little fallen."

Fearing for her life as she senses the Gremory Queen's immense power, Raynare teleports away, gritting her teeth.

'I'm sorry, Issei.'

"Ara ara! You're dying!" Akeno licks her lips, turned on by the sight of his blood.

He coughs up blood. "No *cough* shit. You're the one that got me."

The last thing he saw was the same redhead from school walking up to him with eight pawns in her grip.

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To Be Continued

Chapter length- 2,136 words

Don't worry, Issei won't stay a devil for long at all given what just happened. :)

Next chapter is where the training Ddraig gave Issei before he was born will come into play.