The Last of the Guests Arrive

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

As James said earlier, he had bought a truly immense number of steaks for the just in case scenario of him and Mizore sealing the deal on their pacts. So, James spent quite a bit of the next hour and a half just grilling steaks while Rias and Sona took turns feeding him while he was cooking.

About halfway through the mealtime, which lasted for two and a half hours after the group arrived on the rooftop of the mansion, Flora arrived with her hair and nails looking absolutely fabulous. On top of that, with her voluptuous figure, extremely low-cut off the shoulder top, swaying hips wrapped in a pair of tight stretch jeans, and the catwalk she performed on her way from the elevator to where James was chatting with Cu Chulainn, Dante, Yuuto, Issei, and Tatsuya, she succeeded in drawing most, if not all, of the eyes on the roof toward herself.

"James~, I'm here~!" Flora called out as she made her way toward James.

Naturally, Flora's voice drew the attention of the five young men. However, unlike the other four, Issei lost control of himself, as usual.

"Holy shit, her boobs look... Ahh~~~!" Issei began to say, before he screamed as he was sent flying away.

*Splash!*

Due to Issei's usual antics, James flung his hand at issei reflexively, resulting in a backhand that sent Issei flying into the pool.

"*Whistle* Now that's what you call a bitch slap." Dante said with a grin.

"Is he always like that?" Tatsuya asked with a slight frown.

"He is." Cu Chulainn replied. "Issei is... unique in that regard."

"But you don't need to worry about Miyuki's safety." James replied as he watched Flora, more specifically the way her hips swayed back and forth. "He doesn't have the balls to do more than look and comment about what he sees."

"I see." Tatsuya replied. However, his wariness had yet to decrease.

"Oh, and if he goes too far in your opinion, feel free to beat the hell outta him." James added. "As long as he doesn't die or end up crippled, it's always open season on Issei."

"I'll keep that in mind." Tatsuya said while considering exactly how far he could go when punishing Issei.

A moment later, Flora finally arrived in front of James. Immediately after arriving, she wrapped her arms around James' neck and gave him a passionate kiss. Then, she took a step back and made a twirl on the spot.

"So, how do I look?" Flora asked with a smile.

"Stunning." James replied with a smile of his own. Then, he nodded, giving off a feeling that he had just received enlightenment before he continued. "I can understand why you showed up so late. Perfection takes time."

Flora's smile broadened after hearing James' compliment. Then, she wrapped her arms around James left arm and looked at the unfamiliar face, Tatsuya.

"I noticed a few new faces on my way over here, mind introducing me?" Flora asked with a smile.

"Sure." James replied with a smile and a shrug. "First, this is Shiba Tatsuya, one of my pact contractors."

"It's nice to meet you, Shiba..." Flora said, maintaining her smile.

"You can call me, Tatsuya." Tatsuya replied with a nod. "Since my sister is here as well, it would be inconvenient distinguishing who you're referring to."

"Okay then, it's nice to meet you, Tatsuya." Flora said.

"And this is Flora Nanadan, one of my [Rooks], another one of the hand-to-hand fighters in my peerage, and one of my girlfriends."

"it's a pleasure." Tatsuya said with a slight bow.

"The pleasure is mine." Flora replied.

After that, James separated from the group of young men. Then, he introduced Flora to all the people whose introductions she was not present for earlier in the day. First making his way over to Irene, who was chatting in a group with Leona, Scathach, and Evangeline. Naturally, after introducing Flora to his second contractor, he also introduced Evangeline.

"Oh my, James." Evangeline said with a slight slur. "You have quite the luck with the ladies, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I do." James replied with his arm wrapped around Flora's waist. Then, he whispered to his mother. "Her speech is slurring, how much has she had?"

"She's still nursing her first drink." Leona whispered in response.

"Hey! What are you two whispering about!?" Evangeline shouted indignantly.

"Oh, I was just telling mom that I think your blue eyes are quite fetching." James replied with a smile. Then, as if he were embarrassed, he began scratching his head. "But it was embarrassing to say it out loud."

Seeing James' display, Leona, Scathach, and Flora smile wryly. At the same time, Irene was surprised at how convincing James' act was. Evangeline, on the other hand, was smiling like a fool. Living in the Tepes Faction for most of her life, she was very rarely complimented sincerely by those male supremacists. On top of that, James' appearance of being bashful pushed all the right buttons for her. However, if she weren't under the influence, she would have realized that James was simply faking the bashful act.

'I'd better be careful around this boy.' Irene thought to herself as she watched James naturally flirt with Evangeline. 'If I'm not careful, I might end up in his bed like so many of the girls here.'

"Based on your expression, I would hazard a guess that you fear ending up in his bed as well." Scathach said, breaking Irene from her thoughts.

"And you aren't?" Irene asked with curiosity.

"It is far too late for me to be worrying about that." Scathach replied with a smile.

"Why would someone with a status like yours give herself to such a young man?" Irene asked.

"First, I have trained all of my disciples in the ways of sex over the years." Scathach replied. "Well, other than this generation's Setanta."

Hearing that, Irene opened her eyes wide. How many heroes had Scathach trained over the centuries? For someone with her status to have laid with so many younger men. At the same time, she understood why she chose to do so. How many heroes throughout history have lost their lives in honey traps?

"The second reason I choose to be with James is much simpler." Scathach said, regaining Irene's attention. "He granted my greatest wish and freed me from the Land of Shadows."

With that statement, Irene's knowledge of Scathach's situation surfaced in her mind.

'That's right, she was bound by a geass with the Celtic pantheon to serve as the gatekeeper to the Land of Shadows for as long as she lived.' Irene thought with a frown. 'On top of that, she was cursed with immortality shortly after agreeing to the geass. I would probably fall for the man who could free me from that suffering, as well.'

While Scathach and Irene continued their conversation, James and Flora excused themselves, not before James suffered a bit of sexual harassment from a drunk Evangeline. After leaving the group of women, James made the rounds with Flora and introduced her to the rest of the mansion's new arrivals.

Eventually, the grill party on the roof ended. When it did, Tatsuya approached James with Miyuki in tow.

"Yo, Tatsuya, Miyuki." James said with a wave. "I hope you enjoyed the food."

"Yes, it was spectacular." Miyuki replied with a smile.

"It was good." Tatsuya also replied. "However, I think we have some business to attend to."

"*Sigh* I didn't realize you were in such a hurry to catch an ass whoopin'." James said in a tired tone. "Well, whatever. I'll get my master to referee the match."

"That's fine by me." Tatsuya said with a nod.

"Wait, are the two of you going to fight?" Miyuki asked, having not heard about this earlier. "Why?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Miyuki." James said with a smile. "We're actually only going to spar. It would seem that your brother has never met anyone on his level in terms of martial arts, so we're going to have a little match to compare notes."

When James explained it like that, Miyuki had nothing to say. However, she still had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

'What is this I'm feeling?' Miyuki thought to herself. 'It's only a spar, so it's not like Onii-Sama will get hurt. Even so, I don't like this. But why?'

Without giving Miyuki more time to think, James and Tatsuya made their way over to scathach and asked her to officiate their spar. Naturally, Scathach agreed at once.

"I have no problem with it." Scathach said. "However, my pact contractor should be here shortly. If you can wait for a short time, I will officiate your match."

Hearing that, the boys fell silent for a moment. Then, James turned to Tatsuya.

"Well, it's up to you, man." James said with a shrug. "Whether we do it tonight or on another day, it's fine with me. I live here, after all. But if you need to get back home, I understand as well."

To that, Tatsuya stopped to think for a moment. As they had taken the train to get to James' home, it would take them some time to return home. However, before he could sink too deep into his thoughts, James did something to catch his attention.

*Clap!*

"I almost forgot." James said with an embarrassed smile. "I can teleport you back to your home in Tokyo, if you're comfortable with that. You would just have to give me the coordinates so I can integrate them into my teleportation circle."

Although that was a good idea, Tatsuya's cautiuos nature made him reject that idea immediately. Though, he did not say it aloud. Instead, he tried to think of other ways that he could make use of James teleportation magic.

'What if I had him teleport us near our home?' Tatsuya thought. 'That way we could still get home at a decent hour. On top of that, he wouldn't know exactly where we live.'

"Onii-Sama, it's okay if you'd like to have your spar this evening." Miyuki said, cutting into the conversation. "Getting home a little later than usual once won't kill us, after all."

"*Sigh* If you say so, Miyuki." Tatsuya said. Then, he turned his attention back to James. "In that case, we'll stay, and you and I will have our spar."

"Sure." James replied with a smile. "Then, once Master's contractor arrives, we'll get started."

"Sounds good to me." Tatsuya responded.

Scathach's contractor, Genkai arrived not long after James and Tatsuya made their arrangements. And like he had for the past two times; James was the one to answer the door. And when he did, he saw a pair, a young man and an elderly woman.

First the elderly, who James assumed to be Genkai, had wavy shoulder-length, light pink hair and brown eyes. Though she should have been at least seventy years old, she did not look a day over fifty. On her head, she wore a purple cap with the kanji for maji on its front. On her short and slim frame, she wore a traditional martial arts attire with predominately red and white as their color scheme. She also held a lit cigarette in her hand.

Next to the elderly woman stood a young man who appeared to be in middle school. His jet-black hair was slicked back and had a slightly green shine to it. On his athletically built body, he wore a white T-shirt with a red jacket over it, as well as a pair of blue jeans and white sneakers.

"Good evening." James said with a smile. "If I'm not mistaken, you must be Master Genkai. And I would assume this is your apprentice."

"Hmm... A Brat with manners." Genkai replied before taking a drag from her cigarette. "It looks like you could stand to learn a thing or two from him, eh, dimwit?"

"Shut up you old hag." The young man replied in a huff.

"And you do nothing but prove her point when you respond like that." James said with a wry smile.

"No one asked you." The young man grumbled.

"Stop pouting like a bitch." Genkai said, as she smacked the young man on his head. "Introduce yourself, already."

"Nah, I'm good." The young man replied without hesitation.

"Then, you can wait out here while Master Genkai and my master hash out the terms of their pact." James said, deciding that this kid was not worth his time.

"Like you could stop me if I decided to come in." The young man said in an arrogant tone.

Hearing that, James opened his eyes wide in surprise. Then, he stared at Genkai with a look that screamed: "Is this kid serious?" In response to James' gaze, Genkai simply sighed. Then, she took another drag of her cigarette. After that, she looked at her apprentice and spoke.

"If you're stupid enough to try and barge in, be my guest." Genkai said. "At least I won't have to teaching a dimwit like you."

"We'll see about..." Genkai's apprentice began to speak in an arrogant tone once again. However, his words came to an abrupt stop once he felt a blade pressed against his throat.

"Listen, Kid." James said in a solemn tone. "Your Master wouldn't challenge me like that, and she's an untold amount stronger than you are. Before you can read someone's strength accurately, it would be better for you to keep your head down. Otherwise, you might lose it."

After he finished speaking, James removed his sword from the young man's neck. Then, he sheathed it in a fluid motion. After that, he sent his swords back to his storage.

"Now, let's try this again." James said with a smile. "What's your name, Kid?"

"Tch! It's Urameshi Yusuke." Yusuke said with a frown on his face.

"See, that wasn't so hard." James said as he patted Yusuke on the head. "Now that we got that out of the way, why don't the two of you come inside."

"Don't mind if I do." Genkai replied as she walked straight through the door. However, before she could react, her cigarette disappeared from her hand. When she looked for it, she found James holding it just as he used his demonic energy to incinerate it.

"Sorry, Master Genkai."James replied to the angry gaze he received from Genkai. "But Mom doesn't like the smell of cigarette smoke. And I'm way more afraid of her than I am of you."

"*Sigh* I get it." Genkai replied, shooting a glare at Yusuke who was chuckling at her misfortune. "Let's just get this meeting over with."

"Sure." James said with a smile. "But I really have to ask. Do you really intend to have Master help with his training?"

"That was the plan." Genkai replied as she began changing her shoes.

"Then, all I can say is don't give up." James said as he shifted his attention to Yusuke.

"What the hell does that mean?" Yusuke asked aggressively.

However, James did not answer. Instead, he waited until they changed their shoes into slippers and led them into the house.