The moment I opened my eyes, it felt like my skull cracked open from the inside.
Memories did not trickle in. They crashed into me.
The Kure Style first. Not just techniques, but repetition. The feeling of knuckles splitting against bone. The precise angles of joint breaks. The countless hours of sparring inside a compound that reeked of blood and iron. My body remembered movements before I consciously did.
Then the Niko Style. Flowing redirection. Breathing control. The weight shifts that turned defense into offense. Indestructible. Water Kata. Flame Kata. Techniques layered over instinct.
Formless followed, heavier than the rest. Adaptation without pattern. The experience of Kanoh Agito. The cold detachment. The evolution mid fight. And beneath it all, the Kodoku ritual. Isolation. Brutality. Survival sharpened into something merciless.
I sucked in a breath as the final pieces locked into place.
Assassinations. Missions. Silent contracts carried out without hesitation.
This body had lived.
The Kure clan existed here. Not hidden in myth, but operating in the shadows of this world. And I was not just a member.
I was Raian's twin brother.
Seventeen years old.
Currently in a house in Kyoto, purchased with money earned through completed missions. Close enough to the clan compound to remain connected, far enough to operate independently.
More memories surfaced. Encounters with low class devils. Stray devils hunted in the night. Brief exchanges with exorcists who pretended not to see too much. Occasional work requested by supernatural factions that preferred to keep their hands clean.
The world of High School DxD was real.
And I was already part of its undercurrent.
I slowly sat up, feeling the difference immediately.
Power coiled in my muscles like something alive. My heartbeat was steady. Controlled. Dense with potential.
Magic pulsed faintly beneath my skin.
It was not overwhelming. Not the kind of monstrous reserve that would make the higher tier devils wary at a glance. Reserves equal to the entry level of Mid-Class. But it was there. Refined. Responsive. Enough to reinforce strikes, enhance movement, or fuel techniques when needed. With my compatibility, I could already tell it would not resist me. It flowed naturally, like it had always belonged in this body.
And then there was Removal.
One hundred percent.
I did not need to test it to know. The awareness was instinctual. Every muscle fiber in my body felt like it was waiting for permission. Like a locked gate ready to burst open. The Kure blood ran clean and complete. No instability. No ceiling below Raian's.
Speaking of him.
Memories of my twin surfaced. His aggression. His grin. The constant competition between us. We were different, but cut from the same violent cloth.
Another thread of memory surfaced. The West Yokai faction. The Kure clan maintained a surprisingly stable relationship with them. Professional. Mutually beneficial. There had been contracts, cooperative operations, information exchanges.
And an important detail.
Their leader had no children.
Which meant Yasaka's situation had not yet unfolded. Kuoh Academy's supernatural chaos was still years away. Eight at minimum before the main story would begin.
I exhaled slowly.
Eight years.
Plenty of time to grow stronger. To build influence. To prepare.
A slow grin spread across my face.
The plan was simple.
Get stronger.
Not just stronger on paper. Not just techniques and theory. I needed refinement. Control. Experience. Real fights against opponents who could actually push me.
The fastest way to grow had always been the same.
Train like hell.
Break my limits. Push my body past comfort. Master the Niko Style until it flowed without thought. Refine the Kure techniques until they were lethal with minimal movement. Temper Formless until adaptation became instinct instead of reaction.
And fight.
Not street trash. Not weak stray devils. I needed opponents who could hurt me. Yokai elites. Battle-hardened exorcists. Devils with pride. Maybe even spar seriously with Raian.
The healing factor would let me survive what should kill me.
The UI state would awaken under pressure.
Removal at one hundred percent would give me bursts of overwhelming force.
All of it meant nothing without conflict.
I stood up fully and rolled my shoulders, feeling the dense weight of this body.
Yeah.
For the next eight years, I was going to sharpen myself into something terrifying.
And I was going to enjoy every second of it.
.....
After a long shower to clear my head and settle the storm of memories, I got dressed and headed for the clan compound.
Kyoto's air felt different now. Sharper. More alive. Or maybe that was just me.
The Kure barrier shimmered faintly as I stepped through it, the familiar pressure brushing against my skin before recognizing my presence and letting me pass. The atmosphere inside shifted immediately. Quiet. Controlled. Dangerous.
I made my way toward the house Raian used most often and slid the door open without knocking.
"Yo, Raian. You home?" I called out.
Footsteps padded lightly across the courtyard.
Fusui stepped into view, calm as always. Our younger sister moved with the same quiet confidence that all Kure carried, though her path leaned more toward precision than brute force.
"Raiden," she said evenly. "Raian isn't here. He went to train at Reiichi's place."
Of course he did.
"Oh. Thanks for telling me, Fusui." I walked over and casually ruffled her hair. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"
She gave me a flat look, clearly unimpressed with the hair ruffling, though she did not pull away.
"You're one to talk," she replied calmly. "Weren't you supposed to be handling a contract this week?"
Fair point.
The courtyard breeze shifted slightly, carrying the faint scent of iron from somewhere deeper in the compound.
It felt good to be back.
"Well, Fusui," I said casually, pulling my hand back from her hair, "the contract was just some corrupt police captain. Do you really think that would take me more than a couple of days?"
She watched me for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she turned and followed me toward the kitchen.
"You're getting overconfident," she said as we stepped inside. "That's usually when people make mistakes."
I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, twisting the cap off. "Overconfident would be underestimating someone strong. He wasn't."
"That isn't the point."
I took a long drink before answering. "Then what is?"
Fusui leaned lightly against the counter, arms folded. "The clan values efficiency. Not recklessness. Even easy targets can turn complicated if you get careless."
I gave her a sideways glance and smirked. "You worried about me?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm saying that if you died over something trivial, it would be embarrassing for the family."
There it was. The Kure version of concern.
I chuckled softly and leaned back against the counter.
"Relax. I'm not dying that easily."
Not anymore.
"And besides," I continued, leaning against the counter, "I did my homework on the bastard. I cornered him in some random bathroom and destroyed his liver with Depth Charge. Quick. Clean. No noise. I don't rush in like Raian."
Fusui's eyes lingered on me for a moment, studying. Measuring.
Then I shifted the topic. "So why aren't you at school? Mission briefing? Training?"
"I had training with a few senior members this morning," she replied. "It ended early."
That made sense. Fusui specialized in precision work. Long range, controlled breathing, patience. Very different from Raian's explosive style.
"Hm. Alright." I straightened up. "You want to come with me to Reiichi's place? I'm going to grab Raian."
She tilted her head slightly. "What do you need him for?"
I grinned.
"I'm going to train with him. We both have a one hundred percent Release rate. There's no one better to go all out against."
Fusui's gaze sharpened slightly at that.
"You're planning to use full Release?" she asked calmly.
"Eventually," I replied. "If we hold back against each other, what's the point?"
The air in the kitchen felt a little heavier at the thought.
Two Kure with complete Release.
That kind of sparring never stayed light for long.
"Yeah, I'll come," Fusui said calmly. "Might as well be there to patch one of you up."
I laughed softly. "Fair enough. Let's go."
We stepped out of the house and moved through the compound together. The Kure grounds were quiet, but not peaceful. Even in stillness, there was tension in the air. The kind that came from killers living side by side.
A few members glanced our way as we passed. Some nodded. Some smirked. Word traveled fast in a place like this.
Reiichi's house was not far. Larger than most, but still traditional in structure. The faint tremor of impact echoed from somewhere inside, wood creaking under heavy force.
Sounds like they're not holding back.
I knocked on the door.
A moment later it slid open, revealing Aria Kure. Calm eyes. Composed posture. Dangerous in her own quiet way.
"Raiden. Fusui," she greeted evenly. "You're here for Raian?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Fusui said he came to train with Reiichi."
Aria stepped aside slightly, the faintest hint of amusement touching her expression.
"They're in the back."
Another heavy impact shook the frame of the house.
Followed by laughter.
Yeah. That definitely sounded like Raian.
Fusui and I stepped inside and followed the noise toward the back training area.
The air grew heavier with each step.
When we reached the courtyard, the sight waiting for us made my grin widen.
Raian and Reiichi were already going at it in their base forms, neither using Release yet. Even so, every punch they traded cracked through the air like gunfire. The ground beneath their feet was fractured from repeated impacts, dust rising with each exchange.
Raian drove a straight into Reiichi's guard. Reiichi answered with a brutal body shot that forced Raian back half a step.
They were smiling.
Of course they were.
I crossed my arms and leaned casually against one of the wooden pillars.
"If you two keep that pace," I called out, smirking, "I might just jump in."
Raian's head snapped toward me mid exchange, his grin stretching wider when he saw me.
"Well, look who finally showed up," he laughed, rolling his shoulders as Reiichi stepped back slightly. "You done playing assassin?"
The energy in the courtyard shifted instantly.
"Well, unlike you, who can't do anything without turning it into a fight, I can actually finish my jobs cleanly," I shot back.
Raian barked out a laugh, wiping a bit of sweat from his jaw with the back of his hand. "What's the fun in just killing somebody? I like to beat the hell out of them first."
"Yeah, you sadist," I replied with a shake of my head. Then I looked over at Reiichi. "So? You beating his ass or what?"
Reiichi exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as if the exchange had barely warmed him up. "He talks more than he hits."
Raian's grin twitched. "Say that again."
The tension between them sharpened instantly. Not hostile. Just competitive in that uniquely Kure way.
I pushed off the pillar and stepped closer into the courtyard.
"Good," I said, loosening my neck with a slow tilt. "Then let's raise the level a bit."
Raian's eyes lit up.
"There it is," he said. "You finally itching for a real fight?"
I met his gaze evenly, the weight of one hundred percent Release resting quietly beneath my skin.
"Always."