Chapter Text
Hello.
When this won the poll, it was quite the pleasant surprise. I’ve had details mapped out for a while, but never thought I'd actually be able to put it together properly.
For those who want to know, yes Gorou will be replacing Yamashita, the original secondary protagonist of Kengan Ashura. For those who haven’t, I highly highly recommend you read Kengan Ashura as well as Kengan Omega. Heck, just read all of Sandro’s works. They are connected and its fun to see those connections.
Also, for the parts that have the narration bracket {}, I highly recommend you read those parts with serious dramatic flair. It makes it much better. If you don’t get what I mean, watch an episode or two of Kengan Ashura and you’ll get it.
I do not own the Kengan Franchise or High School DXD.
“Talking”
‘Thinking’
[Ddraig talking out loud]
[Telepathic Communication]
Announcer/MC
{Special Narration/Explanation} READ WITH SERIOUS DRAMATIC FLAIR
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Kengan Association
It was late at night as Gorou Hyoudou made his way home. It was another long day at work and dealing with superiors that were younger than him but also arrogant always tended to leave him exhausted.
“Brat sits on his ass all day and complains about my work.” He grumbled as he checked his watch. “Can’t wait to get home and just relax. Probably too late to sit down for dinner with the family, but Miki will at least have food ready for me. Hope I get there before she falls asleep.”
As he looked away from his watch, his eyes caught sight of something happening. He didn’t know why he looked down that alleyway, something...maybe fate, compelled him to look, and when he did, he saw two men in hoods squaring off against one another. He first got a good look at the larger one, standing roughly six feet tall and muscular to the point that his clothes were bulging. What's more, his hands were covered in scars, a testament to possibly many fights he had been in before.
As for the giant’s opponent, he was a different story. He was smaller, a whole head shorter than the larger man and appeared to be younger. Gorou couldn’t get a proper range for his age, but he placed it around mid to late twenties give or take. But it didn’t take a scientist for Gorou to see how outmatched he was against the larger man by sheer mass alone. Gorou didn’t know what to do, he wanted to RUN to avoid this...but some force was compelling him to stay and watch, no matter how violent and messy it gets.
The larger man questions the smaller one's sanity, stating it was clear that he was much bigger and much stronger than he was and experienced as a member of the Yakuza, but the young man didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Far from it, he saw this as a challenge, goading the larger man on by telling him it was PAINFULLY obvious he was a Yakuza. As for being stronger than him, he said, “Why don’t you quit talking shit and come at me you tub of lard?” Word for word. The fact that he had the balls to say that to someone twice his size shocked Gorou, but the taunt did its job as the giant was now fully ready to fight. Ripping off his shirt, it revealed his bulk in full as well as a very detailed Deva King tattoo on his back.
The fight began when the Giant threw the scraps of his clothes to blind his smaller challenger and opened with a barrage of powerful punches. The smaller man for the most part dodged each blow with surprising ease but when the large man threw a stronger punch Gorou thought it threw him off balance, but that was actually a feint as the Giant stepped down on a left over bottle, shattering it and kicking the fragments at the smaller man. The fragments didn’t cause any substantial damage, a few cuts at most, but it did leave him open for a powerful front kick which he dodged by a few inches. Good thing too as the foot embedded itself in the concrete wall creating a large spiderweb crack! Gorou couldn’t believe his eyes!
‘HE KICKED A HOLE IN CONCRETE!’ He screamed in his head. But the smaller man wasn’t worried, in fact he made a joke about not wanting to be on the “business end” of that attack.
Gorou thought he was insane. He knew in anime and such that the "Small Hero” would beat the “Giant Monster” but this wasn’t fantasy, this was reality! Size and Strength are the deciding factors in a fight PERIOD! At least that’s what he believed. The smaller man rushed forward avoiding an attack from the giant and hit him with a straight jab. To Gorou’s shock, the blow broke the Giant’s nose causing it to bleed! Enraged the Giant charged this time, but the smaller man slammed him with a kick across the face, the blow echoed as the man was brought to his knee.
“You still don’t get it do you...” the smaller man started before flashing him a vicious smile. “Just muscles aren’t enough!” He finished.
Watching this Gorou seemed to see the Giant shrink before his eyes, or rather he saw the smaller man was growing! The sight of the smaller man's counterattack had shown Gorou that the difference in their strength was now reversed. The Giant not wanting to be talked down to or mocked by someone insignificant to him charged again throwing a powerful right punch. But the Smaller one sidestepped it, and with one powerful twist, dislocated the elbow and shoulder joint in one fluid motion; the Giants' arm now bent in an unnatural direction.
“Soooo how was your trip to snap city” he said with a toothy savage grin
Down an arm and his pride taking a massive blow, the Giant tried to attack...big mistake. Like a scene out of an Anime, the Giant was peppered with a barrage of powerful kicks. Each blow made his body jolt in different directions. The Giant, now too injured began to fall forward unconscious...only for the smaller man to nail him in the jaw with one last kick to face, knocking out a few teeth and causing the Deva to fall flat on his back out cold.
Gorou stood in pure shock at the sight before him. He had no idea how to react. Even the responsible adult part of his brain, which normally would have told him to dial for help, was silent. The smaller man put his hood over his head and began walking away. Fear gripped Gorou’s heart momentarily, sacred that he might be “silenced” about what he just saw. Yet....it was as if he wasn’t even there. The victorious fighter just walked right past him.
That could have been the end of it. Yet, Gorou’s instincts drove him to do something no rational man would do.
He called out to grab the young man’s attention. “PLEASE TELL ME YOUR NAME!” the man stopped his stride and turned towards him. Gorou only now realized he spoke without thinking. But seeing that fight, he had nothing but the utmost respect for this young man, and the idea of not knowing him was somehow unbearable.
“Ohma Tokita, that’s my name. What’s yours?” He asked back. It took Gorou a moment to find his voice again, but he managed to respond. “G-Gorou, Gorou Hyoudou!” He shouted back. There was a palpable silence between the fighter and the Salary man for a few minutes before he spoke again.
“Gorou Hyoudou huh? Got it. So...you wanna fight too?” The now named Ohma Tokita asked. The question caught Gorou off guard, and he thought it was a joke. But this Ohma, his expression and tone of voice...he was serious. He really wanted to know if Gorou, a skinny man old enough to be his father, wanted to fight. He could feel the fighter’s intensity, as if he was ready to throw hands in an instant.
“N-no.” Gorou managed to say, though it took everything he had to do so. The fear that this answer would upset Ohma flashed in his mind, now scared that the fighter would act out. Yet instead, the younger man just sighed.
“No fight huh.” He said, actually somehow sounding disappointed as he turned back and walked off, soon becoming one with the unknowing crowd.
For a moment, Gorou just stood there. Perhaps he was worried that Ohma was still nearby and would ambush him. Perhaps he was too scared to move. But whatever it was, it didn’t last long. He found himself breathing properly, and the moment he had enough oxygen, he started to run. Completely forgetting the knocked-out yakuza in the alley, Gorou Hyoudou ran like he had never run before. His destination...
-----Hyoudou Household about an Hour Later-----
Issei Hyoudou, 8th grade middle school student and only son of Gorou and Miki Hyoudou, was lounging on the downstairs couch channel surfing. He and his mother had already finished dinner and wrapped up his father’s food so he could warm it up when he got home. His mom was busy with something or other in the kitchen, so Issei decided to kill a bit of time downstairs in case his dad returned before he went to bed since the family simply preferred saying good night to each other when possible. Which happened sooner than expected as suddenly, and violently, the front door of the house was swung open revealing a sweaty and panting Gorou.
“Dad? What the heck is wrong with you? Why do you look like you just ran a marathon?” Issei asked, but he didn’t get a response. He was able to get a look at his dad’s expression, one that seemed to be insanely focused on something, and it didn’t seem like he had heard Issei at all. In fact, he had carelessly dropped his briefcase on the floor and was quickly getting close to Miki.
‘Wait a sec.’ Issei thought for a moment. ‘He’s not about to-’
“Is everything ok dear?” Miki asked. “Did something hap-”
Her question was cut off as Gorou grabbed her by the shoulder, pulled her in, and started making out with her. HARD.
“Dang it!” Issei cried out, slapping his face in both embarrassment and an attempt to block it from sight. Especially since Miki was clearly shocked for a second before wrapping her arms around her husband and kissing him back with just as intense ferocity if not more. He then scooped her up bridal style and carried her to the room. Knowing full well what was about to happen, Issei rushed towards the TV opening the cabinet bellow he pulled out a pair of noise canceling headphones and grabbed the loudest movie he could find, settling on “Rocky IV”.
“Thank you, America, for your loud action movies.” Issei said putting the disk in the DVD player. He didn’t know how long he had to wait this out, but he wasn’t going upstairs till it was over. Even if he could block out the sound, the vibrations were another story. He was happy his parents loved each other a lot, but this was ridiculous.
“Every day I question how I’m an only child at this point.” He mutters out loud, more to try to cover up the noises that he could still hear, like their bedroom door slamming open then shut.
{Gorou Hyoudou, 45 years old. He is a serious, married man with one son. The man who in the prime of his life never drunk, gambled or paid for sеx (not that he would ever need to). And while it could be said that he and his wife often made love, this was something different. This was something primal, needy, fueled by pure base instinct and not passion or love. This driving force was... the instinct of self-preservation. Exposed to an extremely murderous atmosphere that he'd never experienced, his instinct immediately sensed the great danger of life. Feeling cornered, he chose instinctively to preserve the species as soon as possible. Therefore, he ended up being engaged in reproductive activities. However, he never knew what caused him to do it. Though in a way, the fact that he ran with all his might beyond anything he has done before just to be with his mate could be seen as a sign of just how close they are.}
{None knew this better than their son Issei Hyoudou. The passion his parents shared cost him many many sleepless nights to the point he saved up allowance normally spent on frivolous items just to get his hands on the best sound cancelling headphones money could buy.}
Issei was too scared to even check to see if it was safe to go upstairs, so he got himself comfortable on the couch. Besides, it wasn’t the first time.
-----Nogi Publishing the following afternoon-----
Gorou was tired, no scratch that he was EXHAUSTED, and this wasn’t even from his workload! He and his wife's passionate romance had lasted to four in the morning, leaving him with only three hours of rest before going to work! Now don’t get him wrong, he wasn’t complaining, who would? But he wasn’t as young as he used to be so pulling their previous all-night love making sessions was a little harder for him, especially on work nights, not to mention he had run all the way home before the real action. Doesn’t help that his asshole superior wouldn’t shut the hell up, but then again, he was used to tuning him out. After all, given the night he had, NOTHING could ruin his good mood.
“Hyoudou you-!”
“Sorry to interrupt.” The new voice got Gorou’s attention and made him stand up. He recognized it but was still surprised to see the company president there. He was a rather portly man, bald save for the hair still on the sides of his head and a small moustache. His appearance made the supervisor bite his tongue as he entered “Ass-kissing mode”.
“B-boss if you needed me, you could have called me to your office instead of coming all the way here!” The younger supervisor said, obviously panicked as he tried to straighten himself and the desk up. After all he had to look like he was doing SOMETHING otherwise he could lose his position.
“No not with you.” the president said before looking at Gorou “Hyoudou, there's someone who wants to have a word with you in private, so I need you to go see him at once” he said. Though both Gorou and his supervisor looked confused. Someone wanted to see him, a standard worker.
“Uh Boss, who is this ‘Someone’? Who are you talking about?” Gorou asked genuinely, confused about who would want to see him. What happened next didn’t help his nerves as the president began to shake and sweat profusely.
“Hyoudou...what did you do!?” the president said with a look of absolute terror. The words he spoke made Gorou sweat in a confused panic. Especially when he arrived at his destination.
Nogi Group Headquarters. As the name suggests, this was the place that Nogi publishing, Gorou’s workplace for decades, answered to. The meeting place wasn’t just in this building. It was in the most important room there. The CEO office. There sat the man who called for Gorou personally.
Hideki Nogi. An esteemed looking man wearing a very fine and very expensive looking suit. He has black hair that is slicked back and face that while wrinkled had an expression that held YEARS of experience behind it.
“Thank you for coming in.” He said, his voice firm and strong with only a bit of graveliness from aging.
“No no, not at all.” Gorou managed to say as he stood in front of the CEO’s desk, unable to hide his sweats of nervousness.
‘The CEO of the entire Nogi Group, summoning a small-time employee like me from a small office...’ his thoughts rambled. ‘What the fuck is happening!’
“Conflict.” Nogi’s voice brought Gorou out of his runaway train of thought. “What would you say is the best way to resolve conflict.” The question confused the salaryman for a moment, before a realization hit him, and he began to sweat more.
“Is this because of that one guy I punched for making a pass at my wife a few weeks ago? Don't tell me he was a Nogi executive!” He panicked. Normally Gorou would not act violently, but he miiiight have had a few drinks and the nature of the comments was rather...infuriating to his addled mind at the time. The CEO’s eyebrows came up with amusement.
“No, such a small thing would not call for a meeting such as this. Though I would say any executive who causes a ruckus over something like that would not have long in my company.” He replied with a grin. “Yet, this demonstrates you have an understanding of the most basic and effective way to end conflict.”
“Violence.” He stated emphatically.
“Violence?” Gorou asked. It started a train of thought that he could not stop himself from rambling out loud. “I mean maybe, but it depends on the people don’t you think? Spouses definitely shouldn’t be fighting like that. Maybe some counseling or space to think or maybe they really need to-” he managed to catch himself before he went too explicit in front of his ultimate superior, blushing a bit at the thoughts he suppressed. “But I guess if it’s between strangers or unrelated people, a few fists could be thrown if only to get the blood pumping to the brain.”
“You’re not wrong.” Nogi chuckled, and Gorou had a feeling he knew exactly was he was about to say earlier. “Arbitration, Negotiation, Persuasion, these are certainly modern means of settling conflict. Yet to this day, Violence is still the greatest means of settling conflicts. And our company is no exception to that universal truth.” He said, standing up and looking out the window.
“Sir please tell me our company doesn’t hire goons to ‘Rough up’ the competition. Because if that’s the case I will leave here and now. Paycheck or no paycheck I cannot be part of a company that does that’ Gorou declared. This would have made him look very brave...if his knees weren't rattling in fear. When Nogi started to chuckle, he thought it was because of his obvious fear.
Nothing like that. Besides, what you’re thinking of is nothing but chaotic violence. What I speak of is regulated violence. Chaotic random violence does nothing but breed chaos. And there was indeed a time where such chaos was everywhere.” He picked up a fresh cigar and his secretary, who Gorou only noticed for the first time due to his earlier nervousness, lit it for him. There was a pause as Nogi took the first deep breath, a silence that no one interrupted. Then the CEO finally spoke.
{In Shotoku Year 5 (1715), in the darker recesses of the nation of Japan, there were bloody conflicts between various merchants who all desired the status of Shogunate Purveyor (the highest rank among all merchant purveyors). With the merchants willing to go to any lengths to achieve this status, the increasingly violent conflicts spiraled out of control, taking many innocent lives with it. Finally, sick of all the bloodshed, the 7th Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ietsugu intervened; summoning all the merchants at the heart of the quarrel.}
{Ietsugu gave a simple order: settle their conflicts by "battling it out fair and square". The declaration was naïve and idealistic. While fitting for a 5-year-old, this was still the Shogun of Japan. Yet, it moved their hearts of the merchants who had been led by greed.}
{In accordance with the Shogun's command, the merchants formed a guild and, whenever a dispute arose, they would establish a venue of competition through the guild with the results of the competition being indisputable. Conflicts were settled in a simple 1-on-1 fist fight between combatants hired by opposing merchants. As such, merchants entrusted their desires to the fists of fighters.}
Nogi sat back down and took another puff of his cigar after that unbelievable history lesson. Gorou was still trying to process the story while the secretary showed no reaction.
“Interesting history lesson sir but uh...what does that have to do with conflicts of today?” He asked.
“Because this is no mere folk tale.” Nogi replied with smoke leaving his mouth. “This traditional method of competition continues to the merchants of this modern era.” The dead serious look on his face kept Gorou from questioning his words. “Even after the Tokugawa Shogunate fell, this method of competition remained unbroken. In order to settle their conflicts...they would entrust their desires to the fist of fighters.”
THE KENGAN MATCHES
Nogi said those words with such impact, such reverence, Gorou could not help but repeat them in his mind and acknowledge that is must exist. Even within his own mind, those words seemed to echo with some sort of importance. Nogi took another deep breath of his cigar, then gestured to his secretary.
“This is my secretary Kaede Akiyama, she will explain the current issue we need to deal with.” He said, prompting her to step forward, making Gorou focus his attention on her for the first time, including her looks.
She was a young woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with some bangs in front of her serious face lightly covering her brown eyes. She wore a coral-pink blazer with a white shirt that, while fully buttoned, hugged her curves nicely letting Gorou know that she was stacked. That train of thought was interrupted by fear of his wife and the woman herself speaking up.
“Yes sir. Our company is scheduled to compete in the Kegan Matches soon. But we’ve run into an issue. Specifically, our fighter whom we hired has been rendered…unable to compete.” She said, adjusting her glasses.
“What happened?” Gorou asked.
“Apparently, he got into a brawl with someone on the streets and had his right elbow and shoulder disconnected. He’s also suffering from a broken nose and concussion on top of that.” She said listing off the injuries, injuries that sounded VERY familiar to Gorou.
‘Those sound like...no it couldn’t be no way it would be THAT fight.’ He chuckled in his mind. But then his mind started to race, wondering why he had been told all this. Then a thought so crazy entered his head that he would have normally tossed it aside, but with how things have been the base 24 hours, he could not stop himself from asking out loudly
“You--you don’t expect me to fight...do you?”
His words actually startled CEO Nogi. His expression was one of surprises and shock. But also...as if he was seeing something else. It quickly changed to an amused look as he chuckled.
“As amusing as that would be, no you won’t be fighting for us instead.” He said with a smirk. Gorou exhaled a breath he was holding. “In fact, as fate would have it, the one that defeated him was more than willing to take up the vacant position. Kaede, if you would be so kind as to bring him in.” he asked. The Secretary walked to the door and Gorou’s eyes followed her with curiosity. When the door opened, he felt his jaw drop. There standing in the doorway was none other than Ohma Tokita!
“Youuuu!!!!”
“Oh, Gorou Hyoudou.” Ohma said as he sauntered in. Gorou was too stunned to reply.
“Seems you two are already acquainted.” Nogi said with a grin. “Which makes this easier. Gorou Hyoudou, starting today you are Ohma Tokita’s manager.”
“WHAATTTT!!!” Gorou finally shouted out. It was one thing to survive an encounter with this strong man, but now he was being told to look after him for some sort of secret society of the elites!
“Tokita,” Nogi continued unbothered by Gorou’s outburst. “If you need anything just let Gorou here know.”
“No problem.” The younger man grinned patting Gorou on the head. At this point, the father of one had practically passed out on the spot, his soul threatening to leave his body.
A few minutes later, after Gorou and Ohma had left, Kaede served Nogi a cup of coffee, and finally asked the question that had been on her mind this entire time.
“Gorou Hyoudou,” she began. “Why did you not only reveal the existence of the Kengan Matches to him, but even assigned him this important task? There are plenty of other people more qualified to work as a manager.”
“Hmmm.” Nogi grinned as he rested his cigar in the glass ash tray. “Just a whim of sorts~” He said with a laugh. Even seeing Kaede’s stern expression, his own carefree attitude and jovial tone remained. “Relax. There’s nothing to worry about.” At this Kaede could only mentally sigh, accepting that she would not be getting an answer no matter how hard she tried.
Nogi spins his seat till he was facing the window once again. His face now one of amused yet deep contemplations. “Ohma Tokita, these matches will reveal just what kind of man you truly are.”
{While Nogi had his own goals, not even he had any way of knowing the chaos that would happen, or the new fires that would be lit and burn bright in this world.}
Okay.
Yes, Issei is younger than in DxD cannon. That's because this takes place before the DxD events start. Due to Kengan Omega still going, we currently don’t have a solid plan for that part of the story. A large part of it will depend on how that manga ends, and how we want it to tie into the main events of DxD. And yes, there will be several DxD characters showing up in this adventure with a variety of roles.
I will also acknowledge this ahead of time. Yes, Issei is in 8th grade during the Kengan Annihilation tournament. Now this means that you might have something to say about the interactions we have planned with certain female characters. We are being very mindful of how we write things, but rest assured no serious lines will be crossed. Furthermore, not only is this fanfic, but in Kengan itself we have a high school girl running after a grown ass man. By comparison, what we have planned will be much tamer.
That’s it for now. Please Favorite, Follow, and Review. But most of all, thank you for reading!