Cursed Inheritance (DxD x COTE)

6) First day of school.

Kiyotaka's point of view.

The surname dropped like a stone into a still lake.

The invisible echo it left in the room was immediate.

Rias narrowed her eyes, confused.

Rias: Ōtsutsukki...? That surname...

Sona whispered, surprised.

Sona: ...It can't be.

Both of them stared at me-but in different ways.

Rias searched for logic.

Sona... seemed to recall something ancient.

Kiyotaka: Is there a problem with my name?

Sona spoke in a low voice, almost reverent.

Sona: That surname belongs to a clan... that was wiped out centuries ago. Or... so we believed.

Her voice became firmer.

Sona: The Ōtsutsukki were demons... but not like the rest. They were said to be the demons closest to the gods.

She looked at me silently.

Sona: And that their bloodline was so pure, so saturated with ancestral divinity, many believed they were direct heirs of Creation itself.

Rias stepped closer, eyeing me more intently, skeptical.

Rias: And you're saying you come from that lineage? There's no proof... Minor clans tend to exaggerate...

Sona raised her hand, interrupting her, pointing at my eyes.

Sona: No... his eyes.

The silence thickened.

Rias slowly turned to me... and then she saw it.

The Rinnegan shimmered faintly beneath the dim office light.

Those unmoving concentric rings in my eyes-proof no document could surpass.

Sona: According to legend, those eyes... always appear in the direct heir of the main bloodline.

She swallowed hard as she spoke.

Sona: They are the symbol of the next leader of the Ōtsutsukki nobility.

And then came what truly worried them.

Sona watched me, more seriously now.

With greater care.

Sona: But also... those eyes carry a dual fate. It's said the bearer of the Rinnegan will walk one of two paths:

- A God of Creation... sent to restore balance to the world...

- Or a God of Destruction, destined to reduce all to nothing.

Rias looked at me warily.

Rias: So... which one are you?

The question was direct, almost defiant.

But I didn't answer.

I simply looked at her, calmly.

Because even now... I didn't know the full answer.

Kiyotaka: Perhaps you'll find out in time.

Sona: Where did you learn to control that power?

Does she think I'll tell her my whole life story?

Sirzechs stepped in before I could speak.

Sirzechs: He's not here to inspire fear. He's here to live among you. And to learn what it means to protect... not to dominate.