An Awakening DXD Part 1

Ten years ago, the world-ending monster known as the Trihexa was finally defeated. Peace returned, hard-earned, fragile, but real. For most, this new era of calm was something they truly deserved after the brutal war they had fought to save their world.

But not everyone found peace. For one woman, the victory had come at a terrible price, she had almost lost the person most precious to her, the one who had sacrificed everything to end the chaos.

Ten long years passed.

Ten years of waiting, hoping, and clinging to a fading dream. She had spent those years wondering what she should do… what she could do.

For a decade, she waited patiently for the one who was no longer by her side for her beloved boyfriend, the Sekiryuutei.

Many told her she was wasting her life. Some said she was delusional, that she was slowly destroying herself by holding on to a ghost. Even her friends, those she had once trusted, had turned their backs, calling her stubborn faith a relic of the past. They told her that believing he would one day wake up was pointless, that she was clinging to a miracle that would never come.

Their words hurt. Their betrayal cut deep. But she never gave up. She refused to let go of the promise she had made, even if everyone else had already forgotten theirs.

And then in one ordinary day, the miracle she had been waiting for finally came.

—--------------------

Rias sat in a quiet hospital room, reading aloud from a book beside a young man with short brown hair who lay motionless in his bed. She always read to him, it made her feel less alone. Maybe, she believed, it would reach him somehow.

But then, something extraordinary happened.

The silence shattered as the boy suddenly shouted, his voice trembling with urgency.

“Where are the others?! What if that beast hurt them?! I don’t want to think that monster laid a hand on Rias, or else—!”

She froze, wide-eyed. Her heart skipped a beat.

“...!!!”

Her breath caught in her throat. It couldn’t be—after all this time…

The brown-haired boy, her beloved, had finally opened his eyes.

—------------------------------

“Ah… where… Where am I…? Rias…?”

Without thinking, she threw herself onto the bed and wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as she could as if letting go would make him vanish again. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

He blinked, still dazed, unable to understand what was happening, while she sobbed in disbelief. To her, this moment was nothing short of divine, a miracle she had prayed for every single day of those long, lonely years.

Her beloved had finally returned to her.

But deep down, she knew this miracle carried pain. Sooner or later, she would have to tell him everything and some truths would break his heart.

—----------------------

“It’s not that bad, Rias…?” Issei tried to lighten the mood, but his voice faltered when she whispered:

“Ten years of being unconscious isn’t much for you. Many said you would never wake up… that it would be better to let you go. But here you are—alive.”

His blood ran cold. “T–Ten years…?! I’ve been asleep that long?!”

The look in her eyes told him it wasn’t a joke.

“Wait! Where are the others?! I couldn’t have just left them alone all this time!”

His thoughts spiraled. ‘Asia, Akeno, Xenovia, Irina… Had they all given up? Had they cried for him again?’

He couldn’t bear it. He had promised himself that none of them would ever shed tears for him again.

“Buchou! The others—where are they?!”

She looked down, unable to meet his gaze. “They… they believe you’re dead,” she whispered. “They’ve already moved on. I’m sorry…”

Issei’s heart shattered. “W–What…?”

His hands trembled. The pain in his chest was unbearable. He had done everything for them, for their happiness. He had fought, bled, and died so that they could smile.

And yet… they had forgotten him.

The tears came before he could stop them. His face fell and his thoughts spiraled down. He knows that he was being selfish. If it had truly been ten years, then they had all the right to move on. He wouldn’t want them to be living in misery and would rather they be happy. But still this hurt.

“Don’t think about them anymore,” Rias said softly, reaching to touch his cheek. “Look at me. I’m here. I waited for you. I never stopped believing.”

He smiled faintly, though his eyes were full of sorrow. “Yeah… I know, Rias. Thank you. But I still feel like… like I’m just nobody. Maybe the only reason they stayed with me was because I supported them. It makes me think that maybe I never really mattered.”

Rias quickly wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close as if she could drive the pain away through sheer warmth alone.

Then, a deep, familiar voice echoed around them—one they both recognized instantly.

[Do you really think you’re worthless, despite everything you’ve accomplished, Partner?]

They froze. Their eyes darted to Issei’s left hand.

“That voice… Ddraig?”

[It’s amusing, really. You still think those were the only women capable of loving you for who you are, Partner? You fail to see that beside you stands someone who cared for you more deeply than anyone else.]

“Eh…?” Issei blinked in surprise as his friend’s voice reverberated within the room. For a moment, the weight on his heart lifted. Then, unable to hold back a small laugh, he rubbed his eyes.

“Hahaha… you’re right. Thank you, Ddraig.”

And before Rias could react, Issei leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

It was a sudden, gentle kiss, filled with gratitude rather than desire, yet carrying all the emotion he’d held back for ten long years. Rias’s eyes widened in shock, but soon softened as tears welled in them again.

When he finally pulled back, Issei whispered softly. “Thank you… for never giving up on me.”

Rias couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face as she held him even tighter. “Welcome back, Issei.”

For the first time in a decade, both of them felt whole again.

But then.

Issei and Rias barely had time to process before a massive glowing circle appeared under them. A surge of energy filled the room, pulling them in.

“W–Wait—what’s happening?!”

Neither had a chance to react. The force was overwhelming, the light blinding.

And in the next instant they were gone.

Swallowed by light, carried away to a new and unknown world.