The vast dining room of the Kawahara mansion felt cavernous, the silence amplifying the rhythmic tick of an unseen grandfather clock.
Sirius sat alone at the polished mahogany table, a single, ornate chair pulled out for him, making the emptiness around him even more pronounced.
No servants bustled about, no soft footsteps echoed from the kitchen.
The memories confirmed it: the pressure from the extended family, the whispers about his parents' death and the inheritance, had driven them all away.
He was truly, utterly alone.
A heavy sigh escaped him.
The initial shock of his reincarnation had given way to a chilling, pragmatic fear.
He was in the world of High School DxD. A world where 'normal human' was synonymous with 'walking target practice' for supernatural entities.
He pulled a fresh notebook and a pen from his school bag, spreading them across the gleaming tabletop.
It was time to organize the chaos in his mind.
He began to jot down everything he could recall, a frantic scramble to solidify the lore that was now his terrifying reality.
DxD Lore: Angels, Fallen Angels, Devils. Four Great Satans. Heaven, Underworld, Grigori.
He scribbled names, factions, and key events.
Rias Gremory, Sona Sitri, Hyoudou Issei, Asia Argento, Kiba, Koneko, Akeno.
He tried to recall timelines, plot points, the introduction of Sacred Gears, the various supernatural conflicts.
Sacred Gears: Boosted Gear, Twilight Healing, Blade, Forbidden Balor View...
Based on his earlier glimpse at Kuoh Academy, and the presence of Issei and Rias, it seemed he was at the very beginning of the main plot.
The thought sent a fresh wave of anxiety through him.
This was before Issei got his Boosted Gear, before the major conflicts truly kicked off.
He had a small window, but a window nonetheless.
His pen hovered over the page, then he wrote: Objective: Gain Power. Avoid Death.
Below that, he brainstormed.
The most obvious path for a human in this world, especially one at Kuoh, was to become a devil.
"Pawn of either Sona Sitri or Rias Gremory," he murmured to himself.
"At least a low-class devil has a strength stronger than a human. And a peerage offers protection."
It was a calculated decision, a desperate bid for survival.
He leaned back in his chair, a new thought sparking.
In so many transmigration and reincarnation stories, the protagonist always had a cheat.
A system. A status screen. An inventory.
"System?" he whispered, almost experimentally.
Nothing.
"Status?" he tried, a little louder.
Still nothing.
"Open inventory?" He even tried a few more absurd ones,
"Game menu? Cheat activated? Power up?"
...…
Silence.
The only response was the distant hum of the mansion's electricity and the faint, mocking tick of the clock.
Sirius sighed, a long, drawn-out exhalation.
"Looks like I need to impress those two to at least be reincarnated as a devil," he muttered, rubbing his temples.
No easy cheat. Just the terrifying reality of a world he knew too much about, and a body that was still frustratingly, utterly human.
His stomach rumbled, a sharp reminder of his earlier missed lunch. He pushed away from the table.
"Right, dinner. Something simple."
He walked into the spacious kitchen, flicked on the light, and opened the large, modern refrigerator.
It was utterly, depressingly empty.
A few forgotten condiments, a half-empty bottle of water, and nothing else.
The servants, in their hasty departure, had clearly not restocked.
He glanced out the window.
The last vestiges of twilight were fading, replaced by the deep, inky blackness of night. Shadows stretched long and menacing.
The thought of venturing out for food, even to a nearby convenience store, filled him with a primal dread.
Not with stray devils potentially lurking.
Sirius closed the fridge with a soft click.
He gave up.
He endured the gnawing hunger, a new kind of discomfort in this unfamiliar life.
He simply went to bed, hoping sleep would come quickly and that he'd wake up to a less terrifying reality.
***************
A week passed, but his attempts to make contact with Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory always failed.
He considered mentioning their true nature, hinting at the supernatural world, but halted.
That would only make him suspicious, mark him as an anomaly.
He tried winning them over, getting close, but given his reputation at school – the gloomy, unapproachable transfer student – he was rejected many times.
Some male students also mocked him, especially for getting close to the school beauty, Rias.
Sirius was currently sitting at a bench, eating a self-made sandwich.
He sighed, remembering the pin numbers of his new bank account, conveniently (and somewhat disturbingly) written in the diary.
At least he wasn't broke.
As he munched his lunch alone, he saw Hyoudou Issei and his two friends.
The two friends seemed to be crying angrily at Issei, accusing him of rejecting and betraying them.
Looks like Hyoudou Issei got a girlfriend, Sirius thought, a flicker of alarm going through him. Girlfriend? Shit, that sadist Fallen Angel!
He had not planned to change the plot much, due to Issei being the protagonist, and just letting him handle everything.
Alarmed by the fast progress of the plot, he moved quickly, gulping down the last of his sandwich.
He pulled out a pen and a fresh sheet from his notebook, hastily drafting a love letter.
At least this will get their attention, he reasoned.
He then placed it in Rias Gremory's locker.
The meeting would be later that afternoon, but someone returned it to him almost immediately.
It was Akeno, Rias's Queen. Akeno, ever polite but firm, said that Rias appreciated the gesture but had no time for such things.
The typical rejection message.
"No other choice," Sirius thought with a serious expression.
He just thanked Akeno for the early warning; at least he didn't need to waste time waiting later.
He drafted another letter, this time addressed to Sona Sitri.
But the same thing happened, with Tsubaki coming to reject his love letter instead of Sona herself.
Sirius just repeated his thanks, a growing sense of frustration bubbling beneath his calm exterior, and went home after school.
**********
Things may not have gone Sirius's way, but it was different for others.
Akeno, usually observant and accustomed to handling countless confessions and love letters for herself and Rias, noticed something peculiar about Sirius's antics.
His eyes, she observed, held a desperate glint, but it wasn't for the love letter itself; it was for something else entirely.
Akeno also curiously peeked at Sirius's reaction.
He didn't even bathe her with a lingering gaze, which was a refreshing change, given how most boys in the school would just stare at her large bust.
"Sirius, huh~" she murmured to herself with a hint of curiosity.
Later, she went to Rias and reported that she had handled the usual love letter cases.
"Oh, thank you, Akeno," Rias said, a soft smile gracing her lips as she looked up from her paperwork in the Occult Research Club room.
"You're always so efficient. Another batch of hopefuls, I presume?"
Akeno chuckled, a low, melodic sound.
"Indeed, President. The usual assortment of heartfelt pleas and... less-than-subtle declarations."
She paused, her smile turning slightly more enigmatic.
"Though, there was one that stood out today."
Rias raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, a hint of amusement in her crimson eyes.
"Oh? Do tell. Was it particularly poetic? Or perhaps a new level of audacity?"
"Neither, really," Akeno replied, leaning a little closer, her voice dropping conspiratorially.
"It was from Kawahara Sirius-kun. The new transfer student. And his eyes... they held a desperation that wasn't quite for love. More like... a plea for something else entirely. And he didn't even look at me the way the others do. Quite refreshing, actually."
Rias's expression shifted, a slight frown touching her brow.
"Sirius-kun? The gloomy one? Interesting. But a plea for what? Protection? A place in the Occult Research Club?"
She paused, then waved a dismissive hand.
"No, no, Akeno. Don't let him distract you with his peculiar charm. It's likely just another attempt to get close, perhaps a more subtle approach than the usual. Mark it down as the usual case."
Akeno's smile remained, a knowing glint in her violet eyes that Rias, focused on her duties, didn't quite catch.
"As you wish, President," she replied, her tone perfectly obedient.
But in her mind, a tiny seed of curiosity about Kawahara Sirius had been planted.
The day ended with Sirius going home, defeated and adjusting his plans.