High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

The day after the Dark Tournament was brought to an unexpected end, James, who had been away from home for about a week, stretched in a very refreshing manner after waking up from a good night's sleep in his own bed.

"*Sigh* There's no place like home." James said with a smile as he let his gaze wander over Scathach, Rias, Sona, and Akeno who decided that they wanted to sleep in James' bed last night.

"It is good to have you home, as well." Scathach said, having woken up as soon as James began to stir.

"So, h ow was the battle with Gilgamesh?" James asked, curious to know Scathach's thoughts.

"*Sigh* He was... strong." Scathach said. "He injured me quite severely.

James frowned immediately after hearing what Scathach said. Then, he listened quietly to the rest of Scathach's story. Eventually, when Scathach's retelling of how her battle alongside Cu Chulainn went, the other three girls began to stir as well.

"Good morning, you three." James said with a smile while Rias, Sona, and Akeno came back from the land of dreams.

"Fufufu. Good morning, James." Akeno said, the first to respond, before leaning over Scathach and giving James a peck on the cheek.

"Morning. *Yawn*" Rias was the next to reply, clearly still tired from yesterday's events.

"Good morning." Sona replied, in her usual tone.

With that, the quintet began to chat as they all got out of bed and filed into the bathroom. Then, after taking a shower and getting dressed for a day of school, they made their way down to the living room.

In the living room, they found Chu, who had been drinking all night without sleep, and Jin playing a fighting game while Kurama and Touya sat in a corner reading. Rinku, sprawled out on the floor, was also reading, though he was not reading any classic literature. Instead, he was reading James' first manga, Bleach, with great interest.

"Good morning, Fellas." James said upon entering the room.

"Ah, good morning, *Hiccup* Mate." Chu said in a jovial tone. "These video games things are... *Hiccup* damn it, Jin, I'm trying to talk."

While Chu turned his head to talk to the new arrivals, Jin landed a high damage combo on Chu's character.

"You should never lose your focus during a battle." Jin replied with a grin. "That just proves that I'm the best."

While James smirked at Jin's comment, a somewhat annoyed voice could be heard from the dining room.

"That's a rather bold claim." Leona said, unamused by Jin's claim. "Perhaps you would like to put it to the test after the kids go to school?"

"Ha! I will accept all challengers." Jin declared proudly.

"Well, it's good to see that they're getting along." James replied with a smile, not taking the boasting seriously. Then, he closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again as he continued. "And let's see... Hiei's in the training room. I wonder if he's willing to have that duel we agreed on now."

"I believe he would still be willing." Kurama replied, closing the book he was reading. "Especially since you have no intention of killing him."

"So, he's aware that he's going to become a part of my peerage no matter what then, huh?" James asked with a grin.

"Though he is many things, Hiei is not one to go back on his word." Kurama replied.

"Good." James said with a nod. "If he was, I wouldn't have wanted him in my peerage. Naturally, the same offer extends to you too, Kurama."

"I anticipated as much." Kurama said with a nod. "That is why I decided to remain here for another day instead of returning to Tokyo."

"I see." James nodded. "Well, I'll reincarnate you after I beat up Hiei."

"Hey, what about us?" Jin asked after finishing the match with Chu.

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough open slots in my peerage." James said, causing Chu, Rinku, Jin, and Touya to frown. "But I do know someone who would benefit greatly from your presence in her peerage."

"Is she as strong as you are?" Touya asked curiously.

Shaking his head in response, James could only smile wryly.

"Of course not." James replied. "I am the strongest devil in the Underworld, after all."

"Who are you talking about, then?" Rinku asked, looking up from his manga.

"You met her last night, she's the blonde girl with the drill shaped twin tails." James said, answering the child-like demon's question, causing the four demon's frown to deepen. "Her name is Ravel Phenex. Now, don't look at me like that, she's stronger than the four of you."

Every since Ravel began living with James, she participatedin all of the training sessions the mansion's residents had, finding her power level growing greatly as a result. In fact, not long before Rizevim's attack on the Underworld, she broke through to the ingermediate-level of the ultimate-rank.

While Chu, Rinku and Jin continued to frown, Touya wore a thoughtful expression.

"Well, let's see if she's worthy of having the four of us follow her before we make a decision." Touya said after contemplating for a moment.

After considering Touya's suggestion for a few moments, the other three reluctantly nodded in agreement before putting this conversation to the side for a while. Since the third-year students were the only ones still in the house, deciding not to attend any club activities, they would not be able to meet with Ravel until everyone returned from school, anyway.

Like that, James, Rias, Sona, and Akeno made their way to the dining room and ate breakfast with Tsubaki and Reya before they all left for school. Meanwhile, Leona, after seeing the youths off, returned to the living room to show Jin why he should not make statements about being the best in the heat of the moment.

After an uneventful day of school, with graduation drawing nearer, James and the other third years, that included Flora, returned to the Alaverus Estate, and entered the living room after changing their shoes, just to see Leona, with Zest standing behind her silently, sitting on the sofa, smiling proudly, while Chu and Jin knelt on the floor, wearing forlorn expressions with their heads lowered.

"What did she do to them?" Flora asked, completely unsure of what she was seeing.

"Looks like newb bullying to me." James said while stroking his chin.

"Yeah, she's probably happy that there is someone she can beat in the house." Rias said with a smile. "Auntie Leona always loses to James and Master Genkai, after all."

Hearing that, Chu and Jin opened their eyes wide. Then, they looked at Leona with dumbfounded expressions.

"Is that why you beat us so bad?" Jin asked in an incredulous tone.

"Of course not." Leona looked away sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure that you didn't get to arrogant."

Even though she had looked away from everyone in the room, Leona could feel their stares gathering on her. Luckily, two other people entered the room, drawing the attention away from her for the time being.

"Oh, you're back." Venelana said, smiling when she saw the soon to graduate high school students. "How was school today?"

"Nothing special." Sona said, adjusting her glasses. "Considering that finals will start next week, the only thing we're doing is revision."

"I see." Venelana replied with a smile and a nod.

While Venelana approached the group of teenagers, who were still standing at the living room's entrance, the other person who entered the room, Grayfia, began preparing tea.

"Well, since you're home, why don't you relax?" Venelana said, taking James' school bag from him and pulling him toward the sofa Leona was sitting on. At the same time, Rias' eyebrows began to twitch as she watched Venelana hold her fiancé's arm so affectionately.

After making James sit down on the sofa, Venelana handed his bag to Zest, who received it diligently. Then, without hesitation, she sat on James' lap and wrapped her arms around his neck with a pout.

"Mother, what are you doing?" Rias asked, anger clear in her tone as she approached the sofa with a frown on her face.

"Last night, Leona told me something rather interesting." Venelana said, ignoring Rias angry shouting.

Knowing exactly what Venelana was talking about, James looked at his mother with an exasperated expression on his face. To which Leona smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Shaking his head with a sigh, James returned his attention to Venelana.

"You're talking about Irene and Erza, aren't you?" James asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

"That's right." Venelana said while her pout became more pronounced and she pressed herself, her breasts, against James' more tightly.

'Damn, after getting it in with Irene and Erza my opposition to this dropped significantly.' James thought to himself while he enjoyed the feeling of Venelana's breasts pressing against him much more than he did previously. 'Now, I'm starting to have thoughts about being sandwiched between Rias and Auntie Venelana's breasts and how great it would feel.'

"Why is it that Irene and Erza can share you, but I can't share you with Rias?" Venelana asked, whispering into James' ear in the most sensual tone she could.

Immediately, James shivered involuntarily. At the same time, Venelana smiled when she felt James' reaction on her butt and thighs.

Seeing Venelana's smile from the corner of his eyes, James looked away before answering her question.

"Because they were both on board with it." James said, unable to make eye contact with anyone in the room. "Unless Rias is okay with it, I won't agree to it."

The atmosphere in the room froze instantly after James finished giving his answer.

'Shit, did I really just say that?' James asked himself.

"[You sure did, Partner.]" Ddraig replied while doing his best to suppress his laughter.

'Damn it, this isn't going to end well.' James said internally.

"James! Did you just say you want my mother, too!?" Rias shouted.

Before Rias could continue, however, Venelana's smile widened as she jumped off James' lap, grabbed Rias by her hand, and dragged her out of the room.

"Come with me, Rias~." Venelana said in a sing-song tone. "We need to talk about something really~~~ important."

"Mother, let go of me." Rias said, struggling to free herself from Venelana's grasp. "I need to give James a piece of my mind."

"Now, now, that can wait until we have a bit of mother-daughter bonding time." Venelana replied, continuing to drag Rias out of the room. "Then, when we're done, maybe we can have some mother-daughter bonding time in James' room."

While Venelana dragged Rias away, the living room fell silent. Then, everyone looked at James in disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that." James said, covering his face with his hands. "I didn't mean to say it out loud."

As everyone continued to stare at James, Leona was the first to break the silence.

"Well, I guess we won't be seeing Rias for a while." Leona said with a smile.

"*Sigh* Indeed." Sona added. "Auntie Venelana probably won't let her go until she agrees."

The people in the room who knew Venelana well nodded in agreement with Sona's statement. Then, Akeno was the next to speak.

"But look at it on the bright side." Akeno said with a smile while covering her mouth with one of her hands. "She's got a great pair of boobs. Right, James?"

Beginning to nod, James caught himself before glaring at Akeno in annoyance. While Akeno only smiled gracefully in response, she could feel a pair of envy filled eyes zero in on her at the same time. Unfortunately, she could not feel the direction from where the envious glare was coming from. Otherwise, she would have winked at the estate's resident masochist with a sadistic smile on her lips.

"Anyway, is Hiei here?" James asked, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere. "I've got a bet to win."

"He's down in the training room with Kurama." Leona replied with a smile, clearly enjoying the mess James found himself in.

Standing from the sofa, James stretched and started walking toward the elevator.

"Well, I guess I'll fill out my new peerage tonight." James said with a smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen when a demon is reincarnated into a devil."

Hearing that, Sona, as a [King] herself, was also interested in seeing what would happen, even though she had no more pieces left to add a demon to her peerage, so she followed James to the elevator. Naturally, the four demons followed as well. Eventually, the entire room was left empty with everyone curious to see how much a demon would change when they were turned into a devil.