Story: HHL DxD

Ever have an absolutely overwhelming sense of deja vu? That's not unusual. What is unusual is sharing the same feeling with someone else that you don't generally get on with. At all. No, that's not the only unusual thing. There was also the feeling of fundamental wrongness with the world that was eating at him. And he could tell was eating at her as well.

"The Occult Research Club..." Issei muttered. "I need to speak to Rias, immediately."

The two of them were walking through the school grounds, trying to gather their thoughts. Ignore the fact that they were occasionally checking out each other's butts, the two of them hate each other. Really. Honestly and truly. Their personalities completely clashed, but by god did they want to ruin each other in bed. You've seen relationships like this before, I'm sure, where there's not much there but an immense amount of mutual sexual desire.

"You're just saying that because you want to get in between the biggest tits in the school," Aika huffed. "Sorry pal, you're part of my harem, don't' go trying to recruit girls without my permission."

"You're part of my harem actually," Issei corrected, and the two of them glowered at one another.

"Fine, whatever!" Aika threw her hands up into the air. "You figure this nonsense out on your own! I don't have time for this bullshit."

Issei glowered at her as she walked away, but as mad as he was at her, all he could think about was how good the sex was going to be later on. When they argued they fucked like... Like...? Like what? When did they last have sex? More to the point, when did they first have sex? It felt less like he was remembering a fact and more like he was simply recounting a fact. Reciting something he'd been told was definitely true, rather than bringing back something he'd experienced.

"Excuse me," a voice said. It was sweet like honey, but for some reason it was sending chills down his spine. "You're Issei Hyoudou from Kuoh Academy. Or am I mistaken...?"

He turned around and saw an extremely beautiful girl standing there in a school uniform - but she was also absolutely terrifying. Issei stepped back out of reflex, as his mind's eye replaced her automatically. That kind smile, those gentle eyes, replaced with a cruel smirk and mocking gaze. Her ordinary uniform transformed into some sort of leather bound fetish gear that covered damn near nothing at all.

And wings. Big, huge crowlike wings. Inhuman wings, which radiated power that was either divine nor infernal, more like something in between, and -  Issei didn’t say a word. He just ran.

Something primal surged up inside him the moment their eyes met. Not fear—terror. The kind that comes with the absolute certainty of death. Not theoretical death. Not someday, maybe. But now. Here. Right in front of him. He remembered a pain in his chest. He remembered his blood flowing out. He remembered... He remembered Rias Gremory standing over him. He remembered, and - 

And there was no longer any doubt in his mind here, he had to get to Rias, right here, right now!

======

Well that's annoying. Hrmph! Here she was, having put up a lot of effort to get herself nice and ready for him, and he bolts at the first chance. Raynare was quite annoyed. How dare he! Hrmph!

She could have reached out to grab him anyway. It wouldn't be hard to catch up with a mere human. Look, he even stumbled while running! It would've taken seconds - and drawn a lot of attention right onto her. Like a great big bullseye painted on her back. She was confident (wrong, but confidence often is) that she could take care of Rias Gremory if it came down to a fight - but then she'd be picking a fight on Rias's territory. By herself. That was not a smart thing to do.

Rias Gremory might be a pampered little devil princess, but she was still a Gremory. Powerful. Territorial. And surrounded by loyal followers who didn’t need facts to come swinging. Including her big brother, who was kind of an enormous deal. Even Raynare wasn't stupid enough to think she could dance with him by herself. Or with a thousand copies of herself.

This chance might have snuck her by, but there would be others. She'd be able to investigate what sort of Sacred Gear that boy had, if it was the last thing she -

"Hey, you there! The slut with the raven hair!"

There was a glasses wearing girl standing opposite her. Hands on her hips. Unimpressive body. Unkempt hair. An ordinary human. Like a slug trying to pick a fight against a sun.

"What was that about?" she demanded. "Issei Hyoudou is part of my harem, and fo that matter, him running away scared from a slut like you is extremely out of character! Wanna tell me what that was about?"

Raynare put on her very best smile. It was something she did actually do very well, you know. Arrogance or not. She could definitely seem like a perfectly innocent and cute girl. Gets under your guard the first time you meet her.

"Certainly, miss...?" Raynare asked. "What was your name again..?"

Come on, strange glasses wearing girl. Come closer, let Raynare take herself a fun little hostage for use later on. Someone she could use to bring Issei to her, if he was so insistent upon running away...

=====

Issei had never been in the ORC building before, but the moment he crossed the threshold and got in through the front door, his feet automatically carried him the rest of the way. All the way to the main room, where... He was't surprised at all by literally anything in the room. Not the furnishings, not the decorations, not the shower in the middle of he room, not even the red headed girl standing under the hot water, her beautiful naked body absolutely not even remotely a mystery to him at all.

It was as if he knew it better than he knew the back of his own hand. Alight, granted, he did not know the back of his hand that well. I mean, who goes around studying the backs of their own hand to get nice and familiar with the details? That's really weird. What isn't weird is getting familiar with that body.

Oooh boy, that was a body. The whisps of steam whirling around her as she scrubbed herself down managed to strategically hide the most fun parts, but his imagination was trivially able to fill in the rest. 

"Enjoying the show?" Rias asked, and only now did he notice that she'd seen him. She put on a seductive pose, just for him, and all of a sudden Issei felt his own temperature rise. Then, she seemed to notice that the steam was partially obstructing his view, and stepped outside, shower off, so she could do a slow turn and really show herself off. "How about now?"

"Really Rias," Akeno tutted, striding into the room with a towel. That is to say, she was holding a perfectly dry towel around her perfectly dry body. "Sneaking a chance to seductively pose for the most perverted boy on campus."

She whipped the towel off herself and wrapped it around Rias, leaving herself fully and completely exposed. The two girls then kissed right there in front of him. Full on, deep tongue, Frenchiest of French kisses. Gosh. All of a sudden Issei forgot why he was here at - 

Rias's wet hair flicked up, and for a moment it reminded him of blood. Oh yes, of course!

"Ah! Can I watch you make out later on?" Issei asked, gently pulling the girls apart. "More specifically in my bed tonight. I need the help of the Occult Research Club!"

The two girls did seem disappointed. Nonetheless, Akeno pulled up a chair for Issei to sit in, and then Rias sat in his lap.

"Alright, very well," she said. Giving him an impromptu lapdance like it was no big deal. "What seems to be the problem?"

Honestly the biggest problem he could think of right now was that this was an entirely new experience for him, and he'd not had it happen every day for the last year. Oh, there was one bigger problem. "That my lap isn't big enough for the two of you and Koneko~"

The name snapped both girls to attention. Gone was the flirtatious air; Rias’s expression tightened with sudden alertness. Akeno tilted her head slightly, all amusement gone from her eyes.

“What was that about Koneko?” Akeno asked, her voice now low and level.

Issei blinked. “Uh… she’s a member of the club, right? You two, Kiba, her... and Gasper, too—”

“Wait,” Rias cut in sharply. She stepped off his lap in a single smooth motion, her long hair trailing behind her like a velvet curtain. “How do you know about Gasper?”

“I… don’t know,” Issei admitted, trying to follow the whiplash in tone. “I just do. It’s like I’ve already lived this. Like I know things I haven’t been told.”

Akeno stepped forward, arms folding across her chest—not flirtatiously this time, but as if shielding herself from something. “What exactly do you mean?”

“I mean,” he said, clutching his forehead, “this whole world feels fake. Or not fake, just—off. Like I woke up today and remembered another version of everything. With the same people, but different choices. Different outcomes. Like I’m living déjà vu on fast-forward.”

He looked up again. “And I know you. Both of you. Way better than I should. Not just names. I know what you’ve been through. Rias, you’re—”

He hesitated, but Rias gave him a small nod, as if inviting the risk.

“You’re engaged,” he said. “To someone you don’t hate, but… you know he won’t make you happy. You’re terrified of a life where you don’t choose for yourself. His name's… Riser?”

The silence that followed felt like it had physical weight. Rias exchanged a look with Akeno. A meaningful, silent conversation passed between them. When Rias spoke again, her voice had changed: it was soft, but utterly serious.

“Describe him.”

“Huh?”

“Riser. Describe him.”

Issei did his best. “Tall. Blonde. Real smug. I think… I think he can regenerate? Like, even when you hurt him, it doesn’t last. And he’s got a whole team of girls who fight for him. A peerage, I guess.”

Now both girls were listening with undivided attention.

“Issei,” Akeno said carefully, “you’re not just spouting names. You’re describing things that are… private. Things known only to high-ranking devils.”

Rias paced a slow circle around the room, her arms crossed, lips pursed in thought. “You shouldn’t know these things,” she said. “Gasper is sealed for a reason. His existence isn’t common knowledge. Even among devils.”

“I know! That’s the whole problem!” Issei stood now, voice rising in desperation. He only now noticed that the word 'devils' didn't surprise him in the slightest. “None of this makes sense! I remember you. I remember fights we haven’t had. Powers I don’t have. And—” He paused, then looked down. “I remember dying.”

That brought Rias to a halt.

Akeno took a sharp breath.

“I remember a girl with black wings. She smiled at me like she loved me, then killed me like she didn’t care.”

He looked up. “And today, I saw her again. Same smile. Same wings. She was waiting for me outside the gate. I didn’t think—I just ran.”

Rias stepped forward, her tone grave now. “Was she wearing another school’s uniform?”

“Yeah. Pale skin, raven hair, really... intimidating aura.”

“Then I fear Aika Kiryuu may be in danger,” Rias said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. “My familiar saw her speaking to a girl matching that description. That was minutes ago.”

Akeno was already moving, crossing to a chest in the corner and retrieving a set of clothing far more suited to battle than seduction. “Raynare,” she muttered. “We’ve heard whispers. But not this close.”

“Issei Hyoudou,” Rias said, turning to face him directly. “You may have stumbled into something far larger than you understand. And you may have done it by remembering a world that no longer exists.”