The park was a silent, blood-soaked mess under the cold eye of the moon.
Rias Gremory, co-owner of the Kuoh Town territory, came to a halt after her teleport, eyes wide as she looked down at the Stray Devil she wasn't expecting already dead.
"...Huh?" Akeno said, echoing what they were all thinking.
On the ground was the Stray Devil, its disgusting face contorted in a rictus of pain as blood leaked from multiple wounds. A rusted, bent signpost protruded from its chest, the entry wound a savage tear.
Kiba, at the front, took a cautious step forward.
"It's…" He shook his head, steadying himself. "The kill is messy at best. Defensive wounds on the forearms, and the final blow is obviously here. This was a fight born of desperation, one which this one somehow lost."
Akeno floated a delicate hand to her cheek, a smile on her lips that didn't reach her violet eyes. "To take on a Stray with a street sign? How fierce~"
Refocusing just as Kiba did, Rias snapped to attention.
"Akeno, fly up and see if you can find out who did this," she ordered as her hand came up and landed on her Rook's shoulder. "Koneko, can you sense anything?"
Koneko closed her eyes, taking a slow, deep breath through her nose, then another, her head tilting slightly.
"Blood and sweat, obviously," she stated, her voice a soft monotone as she pointed in a direction. "But also ink. Ink and… iron. He was injured. Went that way."
"He?" Rias prompted.
Koneko took another sniff, her brow furrowing the tiniest fraction. "The scent is… familiar. From school. I've seen him at the gym sometimes."
A ripple of surprise went through the group.
"There's an unknown in our school?" Rias' eyes widened.
A mundane student, even a tough one, surviving a Stray Devil was unthinkable. Killing one was unprecedented. It had to be someone involved with the supernatural… someone who hadn't presented themself to them.
"So you know him, then?" Akeno asked as she landed gracefully once more. She shook her head at Rias, indicating that whoever had done this was nowhere close.
Koneko shook her head slowly. "Don't know him personally. He's an upperclassman. Second year. Tall. Dark skin. Carries a heavy smell like… old paper. Ink. And the iron from working out. He doesn't have many, if any friends. Very quiet."
Kiba, who had been listening quietly, straightened up. "That description… I believe I know who it is."
All eyes turned to the blonde Knight.
"His name is Kousei Inoue," Kiba said, tone thoughtful. "We spoke once last year, in the library."
"Oh?" Akeno leaned in a little, curiosity engaged. "Tall, dark, and rugged made that much of an impression on you that you remembered a single conversation?"
Kiba's smile was a little sheepish. "It was a very… odd conversation, to be fair. He very openly told me he was in search of proof of the supernatural. Of magic, specifically."
A collective, subtle shift moved through the group.
"He just… randomly brought that up?" Rias murmured, her confusion clear.
"I asked him what he was writing in his book, and it led to… that," Kiba confirmed with a shrug. "He was rather intense about it. As if he was only looking for evidence of the supernatural because he knew it existed, somehow."
A mundane human actively seeking out the supernatural wasn't that rare.
But one who somehow managed to kill a low-class Stray Devil with a signpost was definitely something that raised eyebrows.
'Maybe he has a Sacred Gear?' Rias theorized internally. 'A human with a supernatural ability trying to find proof that he's not the only one…?'
"That's… interesting," Rias said instead of voicing her thoughts. "Did he say what he would do if he ever found his 'proof'?"
Kiba winced. "If I remember correctly, his exact words were, 'If I ever get proof of the supernatural world, I won't scream it from the rooftops… But there will be signs.'"
A heavy silence descended, broken only by the distant whisper of the wind through the shattered trees.
Akeno was the one to finally break it, her gaze drifting back to the eviscerated Stray Devil, the crude signpost still lodged in its chest. Her voice was a hushed, amused murmur.
"Well… I'd say this qualifies as one hell of a sign."
-=[DxD]=-
The stench of blood was palpable.
Kousei sat cross-legged on the floor, shirtless but wrapped in bandages. The adrenaline was gone, leaving behind an irritating ache and the emptiness of fatigue.
But the sound of that monster's giggling echoing in his mind kept him up.
'I was lucky. One wrong move. One misstep… and that would've been it.'
His magic had saved his life, but it had been a beacon that drew that thing to him. His incomplete Shu had worked, but what if that thing had normal senses? If it had even a little better natural senses, he would've died.
He couldn't afford to coast on the basic form of his power. He needed something more.
His grimoire materialized in the air before him, falling open to the entry on the Four Principles. His eyes locked onto the final line, only visible to him.
—[Principle 4: Hatsu (Self Expression)]
Usage: Unknown. Likely will be easier to utilize after testing Water Divination.
"Right," he muttered, his voice rough. "No more putting it off."
To his side sat the items necessary for the task. A clear glass bowl, filled with water. And a fresh leaf from the tree outside his window.
Water Divination, in Hunter x Hunter, was both a training exercise and a test. A simple ritual to reveal the innate nature of one's Nen, or in this case, his magic. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn't.
But he had to at least try.
Placing the leaf on top of the water, he took a deep breath in.
And with a breath out, he opened the door within and let out the precise, controlled flow of Ten. The hazy white aura quietly shimmered to life around him. His hands cupped the bowl gently, just as they did in the show.
For a long moment, nothing happened. Doubt prickled at his mind.
'Perhaps using Nen as a framework wasn't smart. There's nothing to prove that this life force is similar to it on all levels…'
Or, maybe… he just needed to try harder.
With a grunt, he let go of his controlled Ten, his body bursting into a hazy white flame of aura — Ren activated.
He poured his aura into the water, eyes narrowed.
Then, a single, tiny mote of white light detached from his skin and vanished into the water. His eyes widened.
…Then it dissolved into nothing.
'But it did something. I just need to get that to happen again.'
With a furrow of his brows, he grit his teeth, focusing intently. More and more white motes escaped into the clear water, yet they did nothing.
Then, as he stared into it, he saw something.
Each little light was coalescing, swirling together into a singular black dot in the water.
It was like watching a star collapse in reverse. The motes of his bright aura were drawn to a central point, condensing and losing their light. The black dot floated in the water, moving around as if it was more than energy now. As if it had changed into… something a bit more physical.
'If the volume of the water changes, it's Enhancer.' He recalled from the anime. 'The taste was Transmuter. The color is Emitter. And if the leaf moves, that's a Manipulator. Specialist had some random effect, so…'
He stopped flowing his aura, reaching down and poking the water with his finger, tasting it.
'Tastes the same, so…' he thought, staring at the black dot. 'Is that, an impurity, then?'
"Unless I'm seeing things… then that means I'm a Conjurer."
The Nen category for creating real physical objects out of one's aura. But less well-known was the fact that it wasn't limited to just that. It could even be used for things like creating pocket dimensions or affixing laws to specific areas.
A thrill shot through him as he confirmed that Hatsu's… were real.
But now there was a bigger problem.
"Conjuration is the Nen category with the biggest need for visualization. Whatever Hatsu I create needs to be something I'm deeply connected to, such that I can visualize each and every nook and cranny of it."
Even before that, however, he needed to train.
And the best way, at least according to Gon and Killua's first Nen teacher, is to simply keep doing the Water Divination, slowly making the effect more prominent.
Or, in other words, he needed to use Ren until this water looked like sewage.
He stared at the bowl. The single black fleck still floated in the nearly pristine water.
The image of the monster's melted face superimposed itself over his reflection in the water. The memory of its claws shredding the air beside his throat was like a cold hand on his spine.
'No time like the present.' He grimly acknowledged.
With a sharp exhale, he centered himself. Hands back on the bowl.
"Ren."
-=[DxD]=-
The buzz of the classroom was a dull hum of background noise. He sat at a desk in the back with Aika, as she picked listlessly at her lunch.
If it weren't for the miraculous properties of his aura, he would've stayed home.
The worst of his injuries were now healed, and at this rate he would be fully healed in a day or two.
Logically, if his aura could enhance every part of him, then it could also enhance his natural healing. And to add to that, it enhanced the efficiency of it, too.
Meaning he could heal faster than he had any right to, and with an efficiency so great he only needed a hearty breakfast instead of days worth of food.
Now, however, he was sitting in the noisy classroom, watching Aika's face as she processed the story he'd just whispered to her over lunch.
She was silent for a while.
A long while.
There was none of the mischief or warmth in her wide eyes. She was just staring intensely at him, face pale.
"You… fought a monster," she finally said, "with a street sign."
"It was a signpost. We were in the park," he corrected quietly, keeping his eyes on the mostly-untouched food between them.
"Don't you dare joke right now, Kousei," she hissed, leaning in. Her eyes were shimmering with a fear he rarely saw. "You could've died. You almost did die!" She said in a hushed whisper.
"I'm… healing. Fast. Keeping Ten active speeds things up. Should be fine by tomorrow if I focus on recovery," he offered, a weak attempt at reassurance.
"That's not the point!" she snapped, her voice a sharp whisper that cut through the ambient chatter. A few heads at nearby tables turned briefly before losing interest. She clenched her fists on her knees under the table. "There are things out there that want to kill people! That tried to kill you! And… is this even a coincidence? Seventeen years without a peep, and suddenly one shows up the day after you get magic? What if they're drawn to you?"
He winced. She'd stumbled directly onto the jagged heart of the problem.
"They… might be," he admitted, his voice dropping even lower.
She froze, the color draining completely from her face. "What?"
"The monster was blind. Terrible senses all around, really. When I shut my aura off, it lost me. But when my aura was active…" He let the sentence hang, the implication clear.
Aika's hands came up, pressing against her mouth as if to stifle a gasp. "So they're attracted to you. Like… like a shark smelling blood in the water."
"Yeah," he said, his gaze intense on her. "Which is why…"
"Why, what?"
"You need to be… careful. If they can sense my magic, and I'm around you all the time…"
"Oh, fuck no," she said flatly, her fear hardening into a furious look. She leaned so far across the table their foreheads almost touched. "We're in this together. You don't get to pull that lone, brooding dumbass 'I must protect you by leaving you' crap. That's a shitty trope and you know it. Whatever this is, we figure it out. Together."
He opened his mouth to protest, but paused as she narrowed her eyes further. His best friend in both lives. His anchor. The thought of those claws getting anywhere near him terrified him more than anything.
But the thought of leaving her behind… of her resenting him… that might be even worse.
Swallowing both feelings down, he gave a nod. "Okay," he promised. "Together."
"Good," she let out a huff, tension in her shoulders easing. Pulling back, she lowered her voice even more. "So… what's the plan? Obviously, you need to get stronger, fast. Or find a way to hide your magic better."
"I… was thinking about dropping out. Focus entirely on magic. Training, research…"
"What? No, Kousei, that's stupid," Aika cut in, her brow furrowed. "You said it couldn't sense you with your aura off, right? Then you hide it during the day, act normal, and train like a maniac at night. Simple."
Kousei disagreed.
"Pandora's box is already open, Aika. I can't just pretend to be normal anymore," he murmured, looking out the classroom window. "You know the monster's body?" She nodded, lips pressed to a line. "When I walked past the park this morning, it was gone. The signpost was back in its place. There wasn't any blood, or gore, or any real signs a fight happened."
Her eyes went wide. "So… someone cleaned it up. Professionally. A secret supernatural organization, maybe?"
"Likely one affiliated with the government, I'd assume," Kousei agreed grimly. "So I can't exactly hide away without issue. It's better to just… confront this head on."
The weight of that fact settled between them as they sat quietly.
Just as Aika was about to speak up once more, the classroom door quietly slid open.
Both of them looked up, their serious conversation abruptly shelved. Standing in the doorway was Yuuto Kiba. A second-year student from a different class than them. His blue eyes swept the room, eventually landing on their table.
A faint apologetic smile touched his lips as he walked over, students murmuring as one of the school's most recognizable and well-liked students approached a well-known 'delinquent'.
"Inoue-kun," Kiba began, stopping beside their table. "My apologies for interrupting your lunch."
Kousei raised an eyebrow, expression neutral. "What's up?"
If he ever spoke to him before, it wasn't impactful enough for Kousei to remember. So this was… odd.
"Buchou wished to ask you if you'd meet her in our club building for lunch," Kiba explained, friendly and calm. "I believe she had something to discuss with you."
Kousei blinked. 'Buchou? Is this guy a part of some club, or something?'
He had less than zero interest in school clubs. His immediate, instinctual reaction was a wave of disinterest. Plus, the fact that she didn't have the decency to just come to him was irritating, as he'd have to leave his girlfriend just to talk to some random girl.
He almost said no on the spot.
But then he glanced at Aika. Her eyes were wide, as if she was connecting dots he wasn't seeing.
'Am I… missing something?' He raised an eyebrow at her, and she responded with a tiny nod. 'Must be.'
That sealed it, however. Aika knew how important the magic thing was, so if she deemed this important enough to check out, then it must be related. And he trusted her enough to simply go with the flow.
With a quiet huff, Kousei pushed his chair back and stood, ignoring the protest of his healing wounds.
"Sure," he said. "Lead the way."
-=[DxD]=-
A/N: If anyone has any Hatsu ideas, I'm open to suggestions. I've already thought of his main Hatsu, but its the kind of ability that makes room for other Hatsu to take the spotlight. (Like Kurapika's Emperor Time.)
Kousei's ability 'theme' would be 'Magic', btw. So its pretty versatile what Hatsus he could reasonably make.