Valentine's Day I

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

The next morning, James, along with Mizore, Moka, Flora, Scathach, Shuna, Mio, and Maria, was walking the streets of Kuoh. Like any other day, they headed out early to open the MMA Club for the other members.

"So, how have you been settling in as the new captain and vice-captain, Moka and Mizore?" James asked curiously.

"Well, without you there, things were a bit difficult at first." Moka said with awry smile.

"Yeah, no one thought we were strong enough as girls." Mizore added. "But with a few well place punches and a couple of submission holds, the doubters went pretty quiet, pretty quick."

"More importantly, what are you two doing here?" Moka asked, looking at James and Flora. "You haven't come with us to morning training since you retired from your positions."

In response, Flora giggled. Meanwhile, James wore a helpless smile.

"It's because she wanted to see me suffer." James said, pointing at Flora. "She knows that every girl in the club is going to give me chocolate. And she likes seeing my smile twitch as I smell all that disgusting substance."

"Seeing you suffer is only part of it." Flora said with a smile. "I still find it intriguing that you hate chocolate this much."

Hearing that, Mio and Maria looked at each other with a bit of relief in their expressions.

"It's a good thing Koneko-Chan told us about his hatred for chocolate." Maria said, whispering to Mio.

"Yeah, it would have been awkward, otherwise." Mio replied in a whisper of her own.

"So, when are you gonna give it to him?" Maria asked, continuing to whisper.

"Lunch." Mio replied.

"Good luck!" Maria exclaimed in a whisper before hugging her half-sister.

"Maria, let go of me!" Mio exclaimed, causing the rest of the group to turn back and look at them curiously. "If you don't let go, this instant, I'll kill you a hundred times."

In response, instead of letting go, Maria began to laugh happily. Meanwhile, the rest of the group smiled at the siblings gently before turning around and continuing their walk. A moment later, Mizore approached Moka and Shuna, and whispered into their ears.

"Do you think she's gonna confess today?" Mizore asked.

"I hope so." Moka replied. "Everyone's getting tired of pretending they don't know how she feels. I think even James is about to make a move if she doesn't hurry up."

Peaking at James, Mizore saw him smiling while he chatted with Flora and Scathach. Then, she nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, I just hope nothing gets in the way." Mizore said.

"Stop raising flags." Shuna said.

Immediately afterward, Moka wrapped her knuckles against Mizore's forehead.

"Just wish her the best and mind your business." Moka said with a smile.

"Fine." Mizore said, rubbing the spot where Moka hit her.

A few minutes later, James and the girls arrived at the MMA Hall. Using the key, Moka unlocked the doors, and the rest of the group followed her inside. Then, after changing into their training gear, they all began to do a short workout.

After a few more minutes, the other members of the club began to arrive in the training hall. While the boys acted normally, greeting everyone, with some slight expectations to receive chocolate from Mizore, Moka, Flora, Shuna, Mio, and Maria, they were not surprised or depressed when they did not.

The girls, on the other hand, were surprised to see James in the training hall. As previously mentioned, neither he nor Flora had been attending morning training since they retired from their positions as captain and vice-captain, respectively.

Running off to the locker room, after changing their clothes, they each left the locker room with either a small box or a decorative little bag. Then, with determination burning in their eyes, they approached James, who was hitting a heavy bag to Scathach's direction.

Seeing Scathach, the girls stopped, their determination wavering. Instead of approaching boldly like they had planned, they stood and waited for Scathach to leave.

Unfortunately for them, there was no way that Scathach would leave in the middle of a training session, regardless of whomever it might be waiting for James' attention. So, instead of stopping her instructions, Scathach continued to bark out combinations while turning to glare at the girls.

Scared by the intensity of the glare, the girls shuddered in place. A moment later, the most determined of the girls took a step forward and placed the box of chocolate she was carrying on the floor near the heavy bag before running away.

Seeing that particular girl's bravery, the rest of the girls were enlightened and followed the first girl's example. They also left their packages of chocolate near the heavy bag before going to do their own morning training.

Meanwhile, Flora watched this exchange with a smile on her face. And when she saw James' eyebrows twitching because of the chocolate's scent, she had to hold back laughter.

A while later, the morning training was over, and James was holding a large bag filled with chocolate as the group left the training hall.

"I don't know why I even agreed to come to morning training." James said with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"At least they didn't ask you to try the chocolate." Maria said. "I can imagine that would not have ended well."

"I would have probably hurt some feelings." James said. "There's no way I'm willingly eating chocolate."

A few minutes later, as they continued to chat, the group made it inside the school building and to the shoe lockers. When James opened his shoe locker, another pile of chocolates fell out, causing his eyebrow to twitch much more violently than before.

"*Sigh* I hate Valentine's Day." James said while looking at the chocolate on the floor with lifeless eyes.

"If the boys who don't' get any chocolate heard you, they would curse you to death." Rias said, coming along with Akeno, Sona, Tsubaki, and Reya.

Meaning, nothing would change." James said with a shrug and a smile. "They already curse me for hanging out with all the hottest girls in school, right?"

Hearing that, Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Flora began to smile brightly. Even Tsubaki and Reya smiled at James' compliment. There are no girls that don't like to be told they are beautiful, after all.

After changing shoes, the group of seven said their goodbyes to their underclassmen and made their way to their classroom. Naturally, when they entered, they drew a lot of attention. While the boys stared at the girls in the group hopefully, they glared at James, perceiving him to be a winner at life, which he was.

The girls, on the other hand, stared at James with such intensity that he might be set ablaze if he was not careful. And as he moved toward his desk, so did their gazes.

Eventually, when he reached his desk, James noticed that his desk was filled with more chocolate, causing him to groan internally. Naturally, Flora found this both interesting and hilarious. But everyone else felt a little sorry for James' plight.

After transferring the chocolate in his desk into the bag he was carrying, James took a seat at his desk, looking visibly tired. Before James could get himself together again, however, he felt his smartphone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, James noticed that he had received a text.

"From Mio?" James asked himself after seeing the sender. "We just separated a few minutes ago, though."

Opening the text, James read the message and was surprised.

Mio: Can we have lunch together today?

'Is she finally going to make her move?' James thought to himself.

With the message read and smiling gently, James began to type his reply.

James: Sure. I don't mind.

Mio: Okay, I'll wait for you on the roof.

James: Okay, see you at lunch.

Mio: If you're late, I'll kill you a hundred times.

Seeing Mio's last message, James' smile widened. Then, he put his phone back in his pocket after setting it to vibrate. A moment later, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom to start class.

A few hours later, after a few relaxed classes, the bell signifying the beginning of the lunch break rang. Picking up his lunch, James made his way toward the classroom's exit.

"Where are you going?" Rias asked curiously.

"He's probably going to see Mio." Flora said with a smile. "She's probably gonna finally make her move."

Hearing that, Rias felt a bit complicated. At first, she had no issue with Mio pursuing James. However, after Venelana started pursuing him, she felt a bit uncomfortable with her cousin doing the same. However, there really was nothing she could do about it. If James accepted her, she either had to deal with it or break up with him. And there was no way the latter was even considered.

"Flora's right." James said with a smile. "She texted me and asked me to have lunch with her on the roof today."

With that, James exited the classroom and made his way to the rooftop. When he arrived, he noticed that there were a few couples having lunch together. But it was clear that they were not paying anyone around them any mind.

After scanning the roof for a few seconds, James found Mio, sitting in the corner, alone. Naturally, after spotting her, James made his way over to her.

"I'm not late, am I?" James asked as he neared Mio.

"Lucky for you, you're not." Mio replied with a smile, before looking away with a blush on her face.

Smiling at the younger girl, James sat down next to Mio and opened his lunch box. After seeing James ready to eat, Mio also opened her own lunch box.

Taking a peek at James' lunch, Mio did not know what to think of what she saw.

"Are those mini-burritos?" Mio asked in confusion.

"Yeah." James replied with a wry smile on his face. Then, with a shrug, he continued. "Mom felt like making my lunch today. And this is what she came up with?"

"I see." Mio said. "Auntie Leona can be a bit random."

"Haha... Yeah..." James said, not wanting to talk bad about his mother.

With that, the two fell into silence. Luckily, this silence was not awkward. Instead, it was rather comfortable. However, this is not what Mio wanted when she asked James to the rooftop. Unfortunately, due to her personality, she found it hard to honestly tell people how she felt.

Meanwhile, peeking through the roof's entrance, Koneko, Ravel, Maria, and Kokoa were spying on the two's little lunch date.

"Hey, alley cat." Ravel said while watching James and Mio eat together in silence.

"What is it, fried chicken girl?" Koneko snapped back.

"Aren't you jealous that Mio will get to be with James before you?" Ravel asked curiously.

"Not really." Koneko said, shaking her head. "He already said he would accept me. But he wanted me to focus on getting used to my powers. But that should be done soon, I can feel it."

"Hey, be quiet." Maria said, I think Mio's gonna make her move."

With that, Koneko and Ravel's conversation came to an end as all four girls watched James and Mio with laser focus.

Back with Jas and Mio, Mio had finally decided to do something, since she did not want to miss this opportunity. So, she put down her chop sticks and reached down beside her. Out of James' view, there was a small gift bag. And inside that bag was the caramel covered cream puffs she decided to buy yesterday.

Naturally, this drew James' attention to the bag as well. But before he could say anything about it, Mio shoved the bag in his face.

"Take it." Mio said with her face red and looking away from James.

"You bought this for me?" James asked with a smile.

"No, I just bought too many and I didn't want..." Mio began to say before she interrupted herself.

*Smack!*

Before she could finish her usual tsundere act, Mio smacked both her cheeks with force, drawing attention from everyone on the roof.

"That's not it." Mio said, shaking her head back and forth. "I did buy it for you."

Surprised that Mio did not just avoid the question like she usually does, James eyes opened wide for a moment. However, he began to smile shortly after. Then, he looked at the little bag with curiosity.

"Can I open it." James asked.

"Yes." Mio replied.

James then wasted no time opening the bag. When he did, he saw half a dozen cream puffs drizzled with caramel.

"They look great." James said before picking one up with his fingers and popping it in his mouth. "They taste good, too. Thanks, Mio."

At the genuine gratitude, Mio blushed while trying not to look away. After a few moments of silence, Mio took a deep breath and looked into James' eyes.

"That isn't just a friendship gift." Mio said with her face turning as red as her hair. "I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is love. But I know that after taking me and Maria in and giving us a home, not to mention protecting us from the one who killed our father, I... I mean, I..."

James remained silent while Mio put her words in order. Meanwhile, Mio did not know how to say what she wanted to say. Because of that, she began getting frustrated and impatient. Then, after a few more moments struggling with her words, she snapped.

"I can't imagine living my life without you anymore!" Mio shouted, not minding her surroundings due to her frustration. "So, I want to be your girlfriend!"

Immediately, the whole roof fell silent. Even James, who was expecting this to happen, was caught off guard by the fact that Mio shouted her confession in public. However, before he could respond to her, someone on the roof spoke up.

"Say Yes!" One of the girls on the roof shouted.

"Yeah, accept her!" Another girl shouted.

After that, not only the girls but even the boys began encouraging James to accept Mio's confession. And Mio, after realizing that everyone heard her, tried her best to blush even harder as she hugged James and buried her face in his chest.

At this point, Mio was so embarrassed that she wanted to run away. However, before she could implement that idea, she felt a hand on the top of her head. Then, that hand, one she was quite familiar with, began patting her head, calming her down in the process.

"I'd be happy to have you as my girlfriend, Mio." James said softly.

Hearing James reply, Mio raised her head, her face still red. When she looked at James' face, she saw him smiling brightly, causing her to smile subconsciously, as well.

'Just having him smile at me like that makes me smile too.' Mio thought to herself. 'I guess I really am in love. Not that I'd tell him that, though. I mean, he should be the one to say it first, right?'