Heat?
Haru opened his eyes. His expression turned into that of shock and horror. The sky was split open as if the world itself had been torn at the seams. Dark beings that were too horrible for words flew from the tears in the sky while some crawled from the Earth. Haru watched in horror as the Angels, Gods, and humans fought back against these monsters.
An earth-shattering roar caught Haru's attention. A massive dragon with seven heads descended from the clouds. Its jet-black body seemed to suck in all light while everything around it corroded into nothingness. The ground shook as the familiar body of a massive red dragon fell down next to Haru.
"Red?" Haru whispered in shock.
Great Red's body was motionless as the Great Dragon God's eyes became cloudy as he exhaled his last.
"Buchou! Anyone!" Haru yelled as he tried to apply whatever magic he could to help the Great Dragon.
Ha… ru…"
He turned and saw something that would haunt him forever. Rias was pinned to a wall. Impaled by a cross. If Haru was a God-fearing man which he wasn't, he would have called it poetic but now… it gave him nothing but despair and anger. Rias' eyes became cloudy as the arm she tried to reach out to him with fell limp. Blood poured from the cross as he noticed that one of her legs was torn off. Both her wings were on the ground next to him while her right leg was being gnawed on by one of those monsters.
"Y- YOU BASTARDS! DDRAIG! LET'S GO!" Haru yelled as he summoned [Boosted Gear] .
…
" Ddraig?"
Haru glanced down at his left arm to see something that horrified him. The [Boosted Gear] was mangled. Broken beyond recognition. The gems, one blue and one green, were shattered.
Another roar alerted him and Haru turned to see the dragon, all seven of its heads staring at him in sadistic glee, reveling in his despair. Its piercing red eyes sent waves of terror down his spine.
The Dragon reared its heads back and unleashed a torrent of black and red energy at Haru.
Haru's eyes snapped open as he jolted awake, alerting the people next to him. A cold bead of sweat ran down his face as he frantically looked around for whatever the hell he just saw. Haru saw his classmates looking at him strangely, some struggling to hide their laughter. He noticed Kiba giving him a concerned look.
"Mr. Hyoudou, is my class really that boring that you would rather sleep than pay attention?" the teacher asked as her foot tapped impatiently on the wooden floor. Her pale-silver eyes bore into Haru's, causing him to quake in slight fear.
"Err, no Az-ne—I mean Ruby-sensei," Haru said, rubbing the back of his head.
The teacher shook her head and sighed. It was the third day in a row now and the school year just started.
"Just don't let it happen again. Capiche?" the teacher said.
Haru just nodded, not wanting to get into more trouble than he already was.
Ruby went back to lecturing about bees or something. Haru wasn't paying attention. He looked out the window, trying to ignore the insults being sent his way by his classmates.
"Pervert was probably having a wet dream."
He gritted his teeth as he tried to suppress his annoyance. That dream again. The same dream he had been having every damn night! Ever since Trihexa had been defeated and resealed, Satan bless Rossweisse for finding a way to recreate the God of the Bible's seals, Haru had been having… nightmares of a sort. Well, night terrors are a more apt description. It was always the same. Him. The street littered with corpses. Destroyed surroundings. And the Dragon. He didn't know what it was. Ddraig, for all he was worth, tried to help Haru but interpreting dreams was not his forte.
The class went on until the bell rang, signaling that lunch has started. Haru began to pack his stuff back into his bag when he noticed someone standing next to him.
"Haru."
He looked up and saw a blonde man with greyish-blue eyes. He had a mole underneath his left eye. He was known the school over as the " The Prince of Kuoh " and the wet dream of every female in their grade, Yuuto Kiba.
"Kiba," Haru said, greeting him.
Kiba winced a little when he saw how horrible Haru looked. He had bags underneath his eyes and was looking paler than usual. Other than Kiba, only a few people had noticed his condition. Asia, Irina, Ddraig, and his sister were the only ones. His sister tried to help but even with her status as valedictorian, she was no better than Ddraig at trying to find out what his dreams were. Asia suggested seeing a therapist while Irina went into his room every night to calm him down. Sadly, the twin-tailed angel had left for some mission for Michael in Berlin.
"Are you okay? You look worse off than you did yesterday," Kiba asked.
"I'm fine. I just need a nap is all. Let's go. Rias said that she needed to tell us something," Haru said.
"Hey wait! Are you sure we shouldn't tell her or something?" Kiba asked as he jogged to catch up to Haru.
Haru looked down. Rias. She had been gone for a while. He saw less and less of her with each passing day. On top of that, the other girls were always busy now. They always had some sort of excuse which Haru could understand. Xenovia was the current president of the Student Council. Koneko was off training all the time now. Ravel had duties to her house and Rias and Akeno were in college. He just wished that they made some time for him. Even if it was just a little.
"Yeah," Haru said as they walked down the hall to go buy some melon bread.
"Alright! Remember! Your reports on solutions in dealing with global warming are due at the end of the week. Don't copy! I can tell!" Rozelia Ruby said with a tone of finality that left no room for complaints.
The entire class grumbled under their breaths.
Rozelia Ruby was the substitute teacher for Haru's homeroom class. Rossweisse was preoccupied at the moment. Trihexa had made a small crack in the seal and that alone sent the Supernatural World into hysterics. Rossweisse, as one of the people who worked on the Seal, was recalled into action and sent to the frigid North where Trihexa was being kept in a space-time containment seal outfitted with millions upon millions of seals of both Enochian, Demonic, Nordic, Shinto, Greco-Roman, and Mayan origin.
"You can all go. Except for you Haru. We need to talk," Ruby said as she motioned for Haru to follow her.
Haru gulped audibly as he walked out the door with his stuff and followed Ruby to her office. Once inside, she motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs. Ruby folded her hands and looked at Haru intensely.
"Okay, Haru. What's wrong?" she asked.
"Huh? Nothing's wrong," Haru lied.
"Haru. I was your baby sitter for the better part of five years and I still look after you on occasion so lying to me isn't really a good idea. Not that you could anyway. Now, tell Azrael-nee what's wrong," she said.
Haru sighed. There was no use lying to her. "I haven't been getting sleep," he said plainly.
Ruby arched an eyebrow. Now that she looked at him closely, he looked sleep-deprived if the eyes were any indicator. He also looked… depressed. That was odd. Haru was normally a happy child. Even when his parents constantly compared him to his twin sister.
What's going on Haru? She thought.
"I've been having recurring nightmares. Of a city that's on fire. Everyone I know is dying around me and there's this dragon. It has seven heads and it always kills me before I wake up," Haru said.
"Hmm," Ruby put a hand on her chin as she began to think of all the possibilities. What did that mean?
"Well, from the looks of things I can't tell what your dreams mean but I can ask you a few questions? Haru, are you feeling anxious, possibly hopeless, guilty for no reason? Thoughts of suicide maybe?" Ruby asked.
Haru gave her a bewildered look and shook his head.
"No, I've just been having these dreams," Haru said.
"Have you gone through something traumatic lately?" she asked.
Haru went silent. The Evil Dragon War was pretty traumatic. People that Haru fought alongside either got hurt or died.
"Y- Yes. One of my relatives passed away from a car accident," Haru said, twisting the truth still remembering the fresh death of Masaomi Yaegaki, who he had connected to on a level.
"I see. If I may guess, you might be suffering from minor PTSD that's causing you to have these dreams," Ruby said. "I think you should see a therapist."
"Thanks, Azrael-nee. Asia tells me the same thing but I just needed to get all that off my chest," Haru said.
"It's alright Haru. I do hope you follow our suggestion. We're only looking out for you," Ruby said.
"Well, I better get going. Club activities and all that," Haru said.
"Remember, if you ever need anything, come and talk to me. I'm always here for you, Little Dragon," Ruby said.
Haru pouted and glared at the woman.
"I'm a grown man now Azrael-nee!"
"Of course you are. My apologies. Now go. And remember to do the damn report!" Ruby said.
Haru responded with a "Yeah" and closed the door. She sighed.
Bad dreams huh? If you were still here, what would you do, Onee-sama? Ruby thought to herself as she looked at an old photo of seven children, specifically a white-haired girl that stood behind them smiling brightly. She sighed and went to grade the first paper from the pile on her desk when her day was promptly ruined by what she read.
"HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET THREE AND A HALF PEOPLE AS AN ANSWER DAMNIT!?"
"LEARN TO DO MATH RIGHT YOU LITTLE SHITS!"
Haru chuckled as he heard his former babysitter, now teacher, scream obscenities as she graded papers. He turned the hall to see Kiba standing next to a blonde girl with green eyes waiting for him. The girl's eyes lit up when she saw him.
"Nii-san!" she said, waving. Haru chuckled. This girl was Asia Argento. A former nun turned devil after she was killed from having her sacred gear extracted by a fallen angel who shall remain unnamed. Did he fail to mention that she was Haru's adoptive younger sister?
"Asia," Haru said.
Asia walked up to him and placed a hand on his cheek, her eyes shimmering with worry.
"You're getting worse," she said.
"I'm fine. Azrael-nee told me to go see a therapist," Haru said.
"Well, if Ruby-sensei says that you need to go see someone then we can schedule an appointment in Gremory Territory this weekend," Kiba said.
"Yeah," Haru said.
"Come on. I only came out to get you two," Asia said. "Rias-oneesama and Akeno-oneesama are waiting for us in the club."