A Lot to Think About

After the female assassin left, James made the decision to send everyone home. Contrary to that, in a huff Rias ordered Akeno to teleport them back to the female dormitory. As Reya was still currently living there as well, she was also teleported with them. With Rias, Akeno, and Reya going home on their own, James decided to use a teleportation circle as well.

"Jealousy can really be an ugly emotion." Sona said shortly after Rias and the other two were teleported away.

Although James agreed with what Sona said, he had more important things to worry about.

'Damn, I really wasn't ready to have this conversation with Flora yet, but... It is what it is, I guess.'

"Flora, like Rias and the other two, we're going back to the neighborhood with a teleportation circle." James said, addressing the only one in the group unfamiliar with the supernatural side of the world. "So, don't panic when you feel a floating sensation, okay?"

Still in disbelief at all the things she just witnessed, Flora nodded, more out of reflex than anything else. On another note, she now understood why there were things that she was left out of the loop about. Before she could sink any further into her thoughts, she noticed a magic circle similar to the one that surrounded Rias, Akeno, and Reya. Once it began rising from the ground, she felt the weightlessness James warned her about a moment ago. And a moment later, She and the rest of the group were standing at the place in her neighborhood where she met up with them only a few hours ago.

"You girls go on ahead, I'll walk flora home and explain some things to her." James said once the teleportation was complete.

"Okay, see you at home." Mizore said, waving her hand in James' direction.

"Come home soon, Onii-San." Kunou said while trying to keep her eyes open.

James nodded at the girls then gestured to Flora.

"Are you ready?" James asked.

Once again, Flora simply nodded.

With that, the two groups separated. While walking with Flora, James was trying to organize his thoughts. While getting his words in order, he glanced at Flora from the corner of his eye. She had a very uncertain look on her face while she walked in silence with her head lowered. Seeing her like this, he decided to just jump into the conversation and fly along by the seat of his pants.

"To address the elephant in the room." James said to begin the explanation as his steps came to a stop.

Hering James start to speak, Flora also stopped. As she had taken a few steps after James came to a stop, she also turned around to face him. Standing under a streetlight, the confusion and fear from the situation she had just faced was clearly visible.

"*Sigh* I guess the most important thing you should know about everyone we went out with earlier is... None of us are human." James said somberly.

With that, Flora's eyes opened wide, and her mouth hung open slightly.

"None of you?" She asked.

"Nope." James replied.

"Like, at all?" Flora asked again.

"Well..." James stopped to think for a moment then continued. "Technically, there is some human in there. I'm half human."

Flora remained silent, then she face palmed. After that she decided to move on.

"What about the little girl?" Flora asked, desperation starting to appear on her face. "Her name is Kunou, right?"

"That's right." James replied with a nod. "To answer your first question. No, she's not human, either."

"So, if none of you are human, then what are you?" Flora asked.

"Well, let's see." James said, then paused to think for a moment before continuing. "Like I said before, I'm a half-devil..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Flora interrupted. "Devil? I know the members of the club call you the devil during training but that's not what I meant."

"Haha." James chuckled at Flora's interjection. Then went on to explain. "I always felt the irony when they called me that. I always wondered how they would react if they found out the truth. I'm pretty sure they would be making the same face as you are. But I meant that in a more literal sense. Like, the devils you read about in biblical texts."

With James' words, Flora stopped for a moment to feel her face with her hands. After checking what her facial expression was, she realized that it must have been quite the sight.

"Anyway, like I was saying, I'm a half-devil." James said, picking up right where he left off. "Rias and Sona are devils. Devil nobility, actually. Akeno, Tsubaki, Mizore, Lancer, Moka, and Reya are reincarnated devils. That still makes them devils, though. Oh, since you've met her, my mom is a reincarnated devil, too. And finally, Kunou is a youkai, a nine-tailed fox, to be precise."

"You're serious, aren't you?" Flora asked, still having trouble believing what James had to say.

"Dead serious." James said solemnly.

"Why are you living here among humans?" Flora asked after a moment of thought.

"Well, that's a little more complicated." James said while stroking his chin.

"Whenever you do that, you look like an old man." Flora said subconsciously.

Rolling his eyes at Flora's statement, James explained why the group was here.

"Let's see, Rias and Sona are here to govern the supernatural side of this town. They were sent here to gain experience in governing a territory, since they are both the heiresses to their noble houses. Akeno is a member of Rias peerage; and Tsubaki and Reya are part of Sona's peerage. Um... then there's me. I was assigned to guard the two princesses, then there's Mizore, Lancer, and Moka. They're members of my peerage. And the adorable little fox has been entrusted to my care. As you saw tonight, there are some pretty nasty people after her for some political shit."

"Peerage? What does it mean that they are part of a peerage?" Flora asked in confusion.

To answer that question, James explained everything about the [Evil Piece] system, Peerages, and the [Rating Games]. When his explanation came to an end, he gave Flora a little while to absorb the information.

"*Sigh* This is unbelievable." Flora said once she came out of her thoughts.

"For a normal human, I can imagine it would be." James said with a nod.

"I have another question." Flora said with curiosity.

"Go ahead." James said, gesturing to Flora to ask her question.

"Since you said most of them were reincarnated, what were they before?" Flora asked.

"Hmm." James took a moment to consider. "Well, my mom was human; Mizore was a yuki-onna; Lancer was a human, too; and Moka was a vampire. It's not really my place to tell you about the others, though."

"I would have never guessed." Flora muttered to herself.

"Well, you never suspected they weren't even human." James said with a cheeky grin.

Flora rolled her eyes, and then over the next half an hour she asked James everything she could think of about the supernatural side of the world. After she asked her final question, she froze. She then asked her last question in a nervous tone.

"Since you told me about this, does that mean you'll have to kill me?" Flora asked fearfully.

James froze upon hearing Flora's question. After rebooting for a moment, he broke into uproarious laughter. He spent close to three full minutes laughing. This, of course, left Flora shocked. That then turned to embarrassment. Eventually, James calmed down and spoke again.

"*Pant* Oh, damn. *Pant* That was hilarious. *Pant* I think you've seen too many movies. Old movies. I'm not sure they say that in the newer ones."

Now with a pout on her face, Flora was glaring at James.

"Are you done yet?" Flora said impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm done." James said while waving his hand dismissively. "By the way, your pouting face is pretty cute."

Flora flushed at James off-handed comment. Then she asked another question.

"So, why did you tell me all of this?" Flora asked in order to change the subject.

"To be honest, I've been observing you ever since you joined the MMA club." James said, letting the smile drop from his expression. "And my observations led me to believe that you would make a excellent addition to my peerage."

"What..." Flora was flabbergasted.

"Truthfully, other than the fact that I love MMA, the other reason I started the club was to scout potential members of my peerage." James explained. "Like I told you, a set of [Evil Pieces] has fifteen [Pieces], right? I've only recruited enough members to use six pieces."

"Does that mean Mizore, Lancer, I used to think that was a weird nickname, and Moka took up two pieces each or something?" Flora asked another question in confusion.

"Oh, no that's not it." James denied her speculation. "I have two more members of my peerage you've never met. And one of them took up two [Pieces]."

"I see."

"Well, I can give you a few days to think about your answer." James said.

"My answer to what?" Flora asked with a tilt of her head.

"Whether you'll join my peerage or not." James replied. Then explained further. "I can only give you a few days to consider, unfortunately. If you refuse, or if you take too long, I'll have to erase your memories of everything that happened tonight after we stepped into the isolation barrier."

"Huh? But, why?" flora asked a bit fearfully.

"*Sigh* Because normal humans aren't supposed to know about the supernatural." James explained patiently. "That's a rule that all the supernatural beings try to follow."

Once James finished, he started walking toward Flora's house again. And, of course, Flora followed. After walking in silence for a few minutes, they arrived at Flora's front door. When Flora had pushed the key into the lock, James turned around in preparation to return to his own house.

"Hey, James." Flora said while unlocking the door. "One more thing before you go."

Hearing that, James turned around to see what it was that Flora wanted to say. As soon as he was facing Flora again, he felt an impact against his chest. Immediately after, he felt a pair of thin, yet firm arms wrap around his neck. Next, he felt a pair of soft lips pressed against his own. And when he dropped his jaw in surprise, he felt a tongue dart into his mouth. Even though He was surprised, this was not James' first kiss. Even more than that, He hated to feel like he was being dominated. So, in response, James wrapped his arms around Flora's lower back and began to take control of the kiss. Moving his tongue and forcing Flora's back into her mouth, while his gave pursuit. After using his tongue to explore every inch he could reach for approximately four minutes, James let Flora catch her breath.

After she was able to catch her breath, Flora looked at James reproachfully.

"Why are you so good at that?" Flora asked with discontent in her tone. "You act much gentler at school."

"Well, I've got a lot of experience." James said with a far off look in his eyes.

'Looking at his expression, I'm not sure I should ask for details." Flora thought to herself.

Snapping back to reality, James asked what was on his mind during the first thirty seconds or so of the kiss.

"So, what was that for?" James asked.

"That's simple." Flora replied with a smile. "Even if you have to erase my memory of tonight, I want you to remember tonight."

After that, Flora turned around and opened the front door to her house. Without turning around, she asked one last question.

"If you have to erase my memories, does that mean we'll stop being so close?"

With a big smile, that Flora could not see, James replied.

"Of course not. Whether you know about the supernatural world or not, we'll still be friends."

James then turned around and began his trip home.

"Just friends?" Flora asked over her shoulder.

"Who knows?" James replied without turning around. He then waved goodbye and continued. "Only time will tell."

After walking for a few minutes, James could not help but say to himself.

"So I don't forget tonight, huh?"