DxD : kuoh’s Hidden Star

Issei didn't see anyone outside of their houses on his way to the park, but that much was normal within a residential area. The problem was that you would see a car pass by the park occasionally on weekdays. People heading to and from work, or to the store, or elsewhere.

But he didn't see any cars today. He didn't even hear anyone. It was like he was the only person left on earth...

As Issei was walking home, he noticed something.

—A smell.

A pungent, and unfamiliar smell. An unpleasant smell.

But he could not pinpoint where it was originating from. Almost like it was all around him. It made him feel uneasy. He decided to walk a bit more quickly towards his home.

His home….wasn't this far, was it...?

For some reason, even though he was walking down the right path, it seemed like he should've already reached the exit of the large park…. It was a longer walk than expected...

He felt incredibly uneasy. He felt like his instincts were trying to warn him of something.

Something behind him? But there was nothing there.

No, maybe it was something that was "all around" him. He certainly felt like that was the case. As if he was locked in some never-ending dome.

"Haah... Hah…"

Issei's breathing became ragged.

What's going on? He wasn't tired. He was walking a bit quickly, but definitely not enough to warrant him being out of breath. The reason was simple.

He was afraid.

He doesn't know what it is that he fears, but he can feel it.

It's right next to him. It's over him. It's all around him. In this "dome" of a world. A world that never ends. A place he can't escape.

Just as he was feeling paranoid, the sky began to curve. It looked as if the evening sky was now visibly a ceiling. The path he was going down began curving upwards as well. Almost like he was peering over a hilltop that was gradually rising before. He could only think one thing.

—It was like a dome.

Issei started running. It wasn't a full on sprint, but nevertheless, the boy was making his way quickly down the path.

He was right. The ground below him was curved upward. The more he ran, the more he would just see more of the same concrete rolling over the top. It was as if the path was endless. As if the world was contained within some sort of fisheye lens.

He then felt something approaching him from behind. Yet when he glanced back, he saw nothing.

No, something was still there. The feeling of something, he can't get rid of it. What should he do?

As if answering his call, something 'indistinct' answered.

Not a voice, but more like a 'physical' response. It was like something was trying to speak to him, but subconsciously. Something that existed inside of him, but that could not be heard.

And yet, despite not having a voice, he knew perfectly what its message was:

(Run, you fool.)

[—?!]

The boy was in a full sprint. He was running with everything he had.

He could feel it. "It" was behind him. Something was chasing him. It was closing in. It was right behind him. He could feel its presence with every fiber of his being.

He didn't want to see it. He wanted to keep his eyes shut. He didn't want to see the same path stretch further and further. He simply kept his eyes closed out of fear, and sprinted.

It was there. It was going to touch him. It was mere inches away. It was reaching out towards him. It's going to touch him.

And only one last feeling was surging through his body—

—DEATH.

BAM!

Issei suddenly tripped and tumbled over, falling onto his back.

…

The next thing Issei knew, he was looking up at the sky. It was no longer the same, odd color from before, it just seemed like your average evening sky. It wasn't in any bizarre shape like a dome either, it was just his regular perception of a sky...

...And most of all, that "feeling" from before was gone…

Issei picked his upper body up to look around.

He wasn't in the park anymore, from the looks of it. In fact, the park was now behind him. Somehow, it was almost 30 meters away, hardly even in sight for him... Had he really ran that far? But he was just in the park, wasn't he..?

At that moment, he remembered: he tripped over something. Issei looked down to whatever caused him to lose his footing before.

—It was the corpse of a small dog.

"Ah!"

He couldn't help but squeal. After what he had been through, he was already paranoid enough, but now there was suddenly a dead puppy in front of him. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the dog had been crushed by something.

"Oh.. You must've been run over, huh, wan-chan…."

Despite seeing the corpse of an animal, Issei calmed down quite a bit. As weird as it must've been to admit, the puppy corpse must have given him a sense of reality after the surreal, nightmarish event he was experiencing earlier.

Out of an underlying fear, he resolved himself to "forget" about what happened earlier to the best of his ability.

Meanwhile, the poor dog was laying there, lifeless. Its death was most certainly instantaneous. Issei assumed that it must have been a truck or some other type of vehicle. It appeared to have its midsection completely crushed. It must have been a vehicle. After all, nothing else could have done something like that...

Issei stood up straight, despite the subtle weakness he felt in his legs.

Despite the misfortune for the puppy, Issei couldn't help but think "oh well." After all, there wasn't anything he could do for it now. The poor thing was long gone. The best he could do was tell a neighbor or an adult. He was in the suburban area now so that was the wisest choice.

Issei walked over to the nearest house without a fence and knocked.