High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

Human World, Japan, Kuoh, Alaverus Estate.

After dropping Flora off in front of her house, James returned home. Once he entered the house, he announced his presence.

"I'm home!" he shouted as he walked into the house after removing his shoes at the door. "What's for dinner?"

"Welcome back, James!"

Upon hearing that voice, James braced himself with his arms spread. A moment later, James caught the light purple-haired blur that rushed into his arms.

"Hey, Mizore." James said with a smile while patting Mizore's head. "How was your day?"

Snuggling into James' arms, Mizore responded. "Everything was fine. No intruders from the north side."

"That's good to hear." James said as he and Mizore made their way toward the living room. When they entered, James greeted everyone present. "Hey Mom. Hey, Moka. What's good, Lancer? Oh, Sona and Tsubaki are here, too."

As he greeted everyone, James hugged, patted, and fist bumped Leona, Moka, and Cu Chulainn, respectively. As he finished the rounds, James flopped down on the couch between Moka and Sona. It would seem that was the spot Mizore occupied before she rushed off to greet James. Seeing as she had lost her seat, Mizore was at a loss for a moment. Then her eyes lit up. Shortly afterward, she flopped down on James' lap, with a satisfied smile on her face.

Seeing Mizore's actions and her satisfied smile, Sona and Moka were staring at her with jealousy in their gazes. Leona on the other hand had mischief in hers. While Cu Chulainn was engaged in conversation with Tsubaki. Though he could not help but send a gloating smile in James' direction. James of course paid Cu Chulainn no mind, outwardly. Though James was thinking of a way to make Cu Chulainn suffer without drawing attention to himself later.

"So, we met the daughter of the new neighbors at school today." James said as he looked at his mother.

"Oh, you should be nice to her." Leona said, ignoring James' glare. "Flora is a sweet girl."

"Huh?" Sona and Tsubaki exclaimed in unison.

"Are you saying that the new family that moved in are the Nanadans?" Sona asked incredulously.

"Yeah, that's right?" Leona said, then asked with confusion. "Is there a problem?"

"Well, she wanted to join James' club." Sona said while biting her lower lip.

"I thought she would." Leona replied nonchalantly.

"I don't know why you couldn't have told us about her when you went to meet the family." James said in a tone filled with complaints.

"Huh? What's the problem?" Leona asked with confusion in her tone.

"In her introduction, she said her two favorite things in the world are boys and martial arts." Tsubaki said while adjusting her glasses. "I would assume Sona, Miss Rias, and Akeno are feeling quite a bit of pressure."

"Why?" Cu Chulainn asked, not understanding the issue. "Is she pretty?"

This question earned him a glare from Tsubaki before she looked away and refused to speak to him. Not understanding why Tsubaki was suddenly angry with him, Cu Chulainn looked around the room for help. Unfortunately, no one was interested in fixing his understanding of what he should and should not say around a girl who likes him.

"Very." Leona did, however, feel that it was okay to answer the question Cu Chulainn had asked. "In fact, I'd say she's gorgeous."

With that, even Mizore and Moka started to feel the pressure. Moka even took advanteage of the situation and turned so she could hug James tightly. This of course ganed her a couple of glares from Sona and Moka. And, of course, this situation gained a chuckle from Leona. Meanwhile, James could only sigh.

"The reason you didn't tell us about Nanadan transferring to our school was just so you could see the situation devolve into something like this, right?" James asked with his eyes narrowed.

"Mhmm!" Leona replied with a huge smile on her face. "That's right."

Familiar with Leona's antics, everyone present, except Cu Chulainn who was still trying to figure out what he did to make Tsubaki angry, sighed.

"I don't even know why I expected something else." Sona said while massaging her temples.

At that moment, a bat tapped on one of the living room's windows. Moka then got up and opened the window. The bat without entering the house began screeching. At the same time, Moka nodded her head in understanding. Once the bat was finished, it flew away from the window.

Everyone remained silent while Moka was conversing with the bat. Once she was done, James asked the question.

"what's the matter, Moka?"

According to my bats, there's a group of fairly strong people coming toward the city from the east." Moka reported.

"*Sigh* I just got home from school." James said as he picked up Mizore and stood from his seat. Placing Mizore in the spot he just rose from, James spoke again. "Well, I'll go check who's coming. Be back soon."

James then Flash Stepped away, leaving everyone else seated in the living room. Minutes later, James was on the eastern outskirts of Kuoh, fully equipped. In the distance, he could see a number of humanoid silhouettes. Unfortunately, they were too far away for James to sense their auras. As they approached, James noticed that they were all youkai. When they drew close enough, James shouted.

"Please, I would ask you to halt." James raised his voice in a respectful tone. "This is the town of Kuoh, the Territory currently under the administration of Lady Rias Gremory and Lady Sona Sitri. I would ask that you state your reason for intruding without notice."

As his words fell, James placed his right hand on the hilt of Ochiru Sakura and flared his demonic energy to put pressure on the surroundings. Feeling the pressure James released, the group of Youkai stopped at what they felt was a safe distance. After the group of visitors came to a stop, James lowered the pressure he was releasing. Noticing that, the most powerful of the youkai stepped forward to speak.

"Young man, I assure you we have come with no ill intentions." The leader of the youkai said.

"Please excuse me if I find that hard to believe." James said as he gestured at the group of youkai. "Eight advanced-level, high-rank beings and an intermediate-level, ultimate-rank being. That's quite the line up to bring into another's territory without notifying them beforehand... Wait, why is there a low-rank with you as well?"

'This is gonna be a pain in the ass, I can feel the headache these guys brought with them.' James thought to himself after feeling that weak aura the leader was trying to hide with his own.

'This boy's senses are quite sharp.' The leader thought to himself when James discovered the one whom these youkai were protecting.

Before James could begin questioning them without restraint, The youkai leader opened his mouth.

"Excuse me, before we continue, may I ask who you are?" the youkai leader asked.

"My apologies." James apologized for his rudeness then introduced himself. "I am James Alaverus. I have been assigned as the guardian of both Lady Gremory and Lady Sitri. And you are?"

Bowing politely, the youkai leader also introduced himself. "You may refer to me simply as Karasuma. I have come to deliver a message penned by the leader of the Kyoto youkai, Yasaka-Hime, herself. As it addressed to the Ladies Gremory and Sitri, I would ask to meet them."

"If you would be willing to wait, I believe I could arrange a meeting for you within an hour." James said after giving the matter some consideration. "If you are fine with those arrangements, I would ask that you follow me."

"Very well." The youkai leader nodded and agreed.

Without hesitation, James Flash Stepped toward the southern edge of the town. Making sure not to leave the visual range of the youkai group, James repeatedly used the Flash Step to reach Dante's shop, Devil May Cry. He, of course, contacted Dante and Lady before he arrived. He needed them to be ready to receive the guests.

After arriving at Devil May Cry and introducing the youkai to Dante and Lady, James left in the direction of the Kuoh Academy girls' dormitory. Along the way, he called Rias. As he explained the situation to Rias, he could hear her and Akeno preparing for his arrival. When James arrived at the dorm, Rias and Akeno were already outside waiting. James then used a teleportation circle to bring them back to the Alaverus Estate.

When James, Rias, and Akeno arrived, James once again explained the situation, which prompted Sona and Tsubaki to rush across the street to their own home to prepare to meet the youkai visitors. Once they were ready, forty-seven minutes had passed since James left Devil May Cry. Which meant, James kept his word of having the youkai meet the administrators of the town within an hour.

Moments later, James, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Tsubaki were standing outside Devil May Cry with a teleportation circle fading around them. James then took the lead and made his way to the door. Looking back to make sure everyone was ready; James opened the door when he received confirmation from the four ladies. He then ushered them into the shop's lobby. Once Rias and Sona took their seats across from the youkai with Akeno and Tsubaki standing behind their respective [Kings], James took his place with Dante and Lady in their capacity as guards.

"Good evening, gentleman." Rias said, starting the conversation. "I am Rias Gremory, heiress of the House of Gremory."

"And I am Sona Sitri, heiress to the House of Sitri." Sona continued the introductions.

"It is an honor." Karasuma said while bowing politely. "You may refer to me as Karasuma."

Karasuma then unfastened a strap that wrapped around his chest and lowered the bundle on his back to the floor. He then proceeded to unwrap the bundle. What was revealed was a ten- or eleven-year-old pretty, little, blond girl with bright golden eyes, a pair of fox ears on top of her head, and nine fluffy fox tails waving stiffly behind her.

"And allow me to introduce Kunou, the daughter of Yasaka-Hime." Karasuma said after freeing Kunou from the bundle.

Kunou on the other hand, looked as if she was not aware of what was going on. All she did was curiously observe the people present in the room.

'Oh shit.' James exclaimed internally. 'The headache these guys brought with them is even worse than I thought it would be. I can only imagine the trouble that will follow them here. *Sigh* But we can't let anything happen to the little girl, either.'

After introducing Kunou, Karasuma produced an envelope from his chest. He then lowered himself and held it out respectfully. James then stepped forward and accepted the envelope. After inspecting it for anything dangerous, he handed it to Sona. Sona then opened the envelope and removed its contents, which was a handwritten letter. She then unfolded the letter and read it. After reading the entire letter, she sighed deeply, then handed the letter to Rias. Receiving the letter, Rias also read it and sighed afterward. After a moment of tense silence, Rias and Sona spoke simultaneously.

"Before we agree to anything, we'll have to report the situation to our superiors."