The Death We Seek

Conequences Glow Brighter in the Dark [Chapter 1]

Eyelids swaying, Issei stood. Then fell. Then stood again, mentally empty.

He had used most of his focus recasting High-God-Class barrier magic.  His parents were sleeping peacefully on the sofa, having felt the weak pull on their own meagre reserves. The atmosphere had almost returned to its normal concentration, but the lingering effects could be felt by him, even contained within the barrier. It had an extremely strong presence of holy energy, stronger than what he felt during Michael and Metatron's last moments. To the devils, it would be worse than putrid.

He wouldn't have to worry about that though, since he wanted to rest. That pestering fucking beam of sunlight piercing his eyelids through his kitchen window refused to cease.

'Should I just destroy the Sun? No, that'd kill Lady Amaterasu and kill my fire. And all life on Earth, I guess. Ugh, fine.'

Raising his hand to shield himself from the unrelenting onslaught on his corneas, he slowly opened his eyes to glance at the calendar adorning the wall.

September 4th, 2016. Three years before he had died. He had very limited time to get as strong as possible and prevent the machine uprising. It was also-

"8:44" read the digital clock to his right. He was sprawled out atop his family's kitchen workspace. If it was September 4th, it would be the day he started his first year at Kuoh Academy. If it was 8:44....

Issei had sixteen minutes to get dressed and make a thirty minute journey.

Without magic.

His brain was slamming bricks against its confines, each swaying step felt like a vicious strike from Hercules to his poor human skull.

He began crawling up the stairs, eyes closed. Found his uniform through clenched teeth and eyelids, wiped some toothpaste over his still clenched teeth with his finger before falling down the same stairs he had struggled with.

His shoulder felt funny.

Eh.

Issei had the route memorised, without mentioning his greater-than-superhuman senses. Although those were still recovering from his previous behaviours. With a wicked headache, he walked calmly.

As in, he sprinted as fast as his pitiful human legs would carry his sad lump of flesh called a body. No doubt people were staring.

After a long hard fight against his own will to live, Issei didn't bother staring up at the gates closing behind him, having fallen over for what must've been the fiftieth time on his journey. Someone was talking to him, but he was going to kill that someone if he had to listen to them for one more minute.

Walking through the filled corridors of Kuoh Academy, Issei glared at everyone staring at him. Well, glanced at them, but with his current mental state it was akin to a rabid dog looking to kill a small animal.

Slumping in a taken chair, he slammed his head onto the desk with as much grace as a jackhammer trying to soothe a baby's cries.

Taken. As in, he had sat on some poor girl's lap and abused her desk with his forehead.

"Uhh, excu-"
"If anyone talks to me, I'm going to throw their eyeless carcass through that window."

From Hakiko Moriyama's perspective, he was getting his class ready for introductions as it was their first day of their first year. He was. Then the door ripped open and a brown haired hooligan covered in dirt, clothing rips, bleeding cuts and—

Was that a dislocated shoulder? And did he just sit on the lap of a fellow student? The poor girl looked mortified, and all the other students were being extremely discreet about their blatant staring. Then, with a loud crack of bone against wood, any whispering was silenced.