Issei burst into the hospital room like a hurricane, his face lighting up the moment he saw Dean awake.
"Bro! You're finally up! I thought you were gonna sleep forever!" The kid was maybe sixteen, with spiky brown hair and an energy that reminded Dean of anime protagonists he'd watched in his previous life. "The doctors kept saying you were stable, but man, it was scary."
Dean studied his younger brother carefully. There was genuine concern in those eyes, mixed with excitement. The memories told him that their relationship before the accident had been... distant. Issei had been caught up in his own world, discovering his Sacred Gear and the supernatural realm. Dean had been dealing with the typical problems of a high school student, unaware of the hidden world around him.
Now everything had changed.
"I'm fine," Dean said, keeping his voice steady. "Just sore."
"Yeah, well, you got hit by a truck," Issei said, pulling up a chair. "So being sore is pretty reasonable." He paused, then added more quietly, "I'm glad you're okay, though. Really glad."
The sincerity in his voice caught Dean off guard. In his previous life, Dean had been someone who pushed people away, who preferred solitude to connection. But looking at his younger brother now, at the genuine relief on his face, something shifted in his chest. This kid was family. Not just in the memories that had been implanted in him, but in a way that mattered.
"Thanks," Dean said, and meant it.
Over the next few days, as Dean recovered in the hospital, Issei became a regular visitor. He talked about school, about his friends, about things that seemed trivial until Dean realised his younger brother was carefully avoiding certain topics. Sacred Gears. Demons. The supernatural.
On the fourth day, Dean decided to push.
"You're hiding something," he said as Issei was leaving. "Something big."
Issei froze at the door. When he turned back, his expression had shifted from the cheerful mask to something more serious. "How did you know?"
"I didn't. But you just confirmed it." Dean leaned back against his pillows. "And based on the way you keep glancing at your phone like you're expecting someone to call, and the fact that you've got faint burn marks on your left hand that you keep trying to hide, I'm guessing it's something dangerous."
Issei's eyes widened. "You... you really are awake."
"What does that mean?"
His younger brother sank back into the chair, running a hand through his spiky hair. "It means you're not just asking out of politeness. You actually want to know." Issei took a deep breath. "Okay. But you have to promise not to freak out. And maybe... maybe let me explain the whole thing before you say I'm crazy."
Dean listened as Issei told him about Sacred Gears, about devils and angels and fallen angels, about a hidden supernatural world that existed alongside human society. It sounded insane. In his previous life, Dean would have dismissed it as fantasy. But he could feel the truth of it in the memories that weren't quite his own, and there was something in the way Issei spoke that made it impossible to deny.
"So you have one of these Sacred Gears," Dean said when Issei finished.
"Yeah. It's called the Boosted Gear. It lets me double my power every ten seconds." Issei held up his left hand, and Dean could see the faint outline of red scales beneath his skin. "It's awesome, but it also means I'm part of a devil's peerage. I'm basically a servant of a high-class devil named Rias Gremory."
"And you're okay with that?"
"It's not like I had much choice," Issei said with a shrug. "But yeah, I'm okay with it. Rias is... she's important to me. And the others in the peerage, they're my friends."
Dean absorbed this information, his mind already working through the implications. If Issei had a Sacred Gear, then there had to be others like him. And if there were others, then there had to be ways to gain power without one. There had to be.
"I want to learn," Dean said. "About all of this. The magic, the factions, everything."
Issei's expression shifted to concern. "Bro, you just woke up from being hit by a truck. Maybe you should focus on recovery first?"
"I'm serious," Dean said. "If this world exists, if you're part of it, then I need to understand it. I need to be strong enough to protect myself in it."
"You don't have a Sacred Gear," Issei said quietly. "And you won't get one. Sacred Gears are born with people, or they're reincarnated into them. You're not going to suddenly develop one."
"Then I'll find another way," Dean said. The certainty in his voice surprised even himself. "There's always another way. I just have to find it."
Issei studied him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. If anyone can figure out how to get strong without a Sacred Gear, it's you."
Dean didn't ask what he meant by that. The memories provided the answer. In this life, he'd always been the type to find unconventional solutions, to refuse to accept limitations. It was a trait that had annoyed some people and impressed others.
Now it might be the key to his survival in a world of gods and demons.
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