41 We Were Off Singing Karaoke

Human World, Japan, Kuoh, Alaverus estate.

After returning home from school the day the exam results were posted, James gave everyone an invitation to join him and the girls from class for karaoke on the last day of the term. Without hesitation, Mizore, Moka, and Kunou cheered in excitement. Cu Chulainn tried to act like he did not care either way, but it was clear that he was looking forward to spending time with Tsubaki. The only one in the house who was not happy would have to be Leona.

"Why am I the only one who's not invited to karaoke?" Leona whined childishly. "I like singing, too. Plus, I'm really good at it."

Listening to his mother's complaints, James shuddered violently. It may be true that Leona likes to sing. But her claim to be good at it? That could not be any further from the truth. Leona is criminally tone deaf. There is just no better way to put it.

James was not the only one to shudder either. Everyone present, even Kunou, had suffered due to Leona's love for musical expression.

Luckily, James had already come up with an excuse. He had expected his mother to want to join them well in advance.

"But Mom." James said in the same tone he used to coax Kunou on the night she arrived. "Wouldn't everyone feel uncomfortable if you were there?"

Leona began to frown immediately after hearing James' words. But before she could complain any further, James continued.

"I mean think back to when you were our age." James said in that same coaxing tone. "How would you have felt if someone's parent decided to come to one of the gatherings you were having with your friends?"

Hearing that, Leona pouted to show her discontent. Eventually she relented. But James was not finished with his machinations.

"Why don't you invite Auntie Venelana, Auntie Rhea, Grayfia, Sera-Tan, Pop and the other guys?" I'm sure it would be nice to have an evening out with everyone. Wouldn't it?" James suggested with a sincere smile.

At the same time, Mizore, Cu Chulainn, and Moka were all thinking the same thing.

'He's what a Satan should be, isn't he?"

===Two days later===

Human World, Japan, Kuoh, Kuoh Academy.

After averting that crisis, the next two days flew by. After the last bell rang, James, Rias, Sona, Akeno, Tsubaki, Reya, and Flora all made their way to the front gate.

"So, this is how we'll do this." James said, addressing the group. "Everyone will head home first. Once we all get changed, we'll come pick up Ria, Akeno, and Reya. Then we'll walk to the karaoke bar. Sound good?"

At James' suggestion, everyone nodded in agreement. Then, they separated, knowing they would be meeting again in about an hour. Also, although, it was not previously mentioned, Reya also lives in the student dormitory. That will change during summer break, though. The plan is to have Reya move into Sona's Estate. It was bought to house her peerage, in the first place.

After twenty minutes, James, Sona, Tsubaki, and Flora arrived at their upscale neighborhood. After walking for a few more minutes, Flora separated from the other three to reach her own house.

"See you soon." Flora said, waving her hand as she walked toward her house. "I'll see you in about half an hour."

"We'll be waiting." James said with a smile. He then turned to Sona and Tsubaki and continued. "Alright, let's get going, we need to change, too."

Sona and Tsubaki simply nodded in response then headed into Sona's estate to change.

James also entered his own home and made his way up to his bedroom to change out of his school uniform. As he walked through the house, he greeted his mother, who was also prepared to go out for the evening. Not so coincidentally, she would also be going out for karaoke with the family friends in the Underworld.

By the time he had arrived at his bedroom, James had also greeted Mizore, Cu Chulainn, and Kunou. He had yet to see Moka, though. Once he reached his bedroom door, he stopped wondering where she was anymore. James could feel Moka's presence in his bedroom, though he did not know why she was there. Instead of puzzling over it, James decided to just open the door and ask. But when he saw what Moka was doing, he was surprised, to say the least.

In just her underwear, a matching set of white bra and panties with violet lace accents, Moka was fast asleep in James' bed. From his spot in the doorway, James ran his eyes over her voluptuous figure. At the same time, James was wondering what she was doing in here. Not that he was complaining, though.

Shortly after James entered his bedroom, Moka's eyelashes began to flutter. James considered leaving the room and closing the door again before she woke up. But then he thought to himself.

'This is my room. Why should I leave? She's not even supposed to be in here.'

After a few seconds, Moka woke up. After getting her bearings, she noticed James standing in the doorway. She then noticed the fire in his eyes. She was quite sure that was the flame of desire, and when she looked down it was verified. At the moment, James was pitching quite the tent in his uniform pants. However, once he realized she was awake, he spoke.

"Although I'm thankful for the gift, I really don't want to be the reason we're late." James said in a serious tone. "I mean do you really want to hear Riri whining about having to wait?"

Moka was planning to tease James a bit before getting dressed and watching James change clothes. Even she thought the plan was a bit bold. But once she heard James mention Rias' whining, she shot up and put her clothes on.

"I'll wait for you downstairs." Moka said as she rushed past James and went to sit with everyone else.

James could only shake his head at her antics. He then, also, quickly changed out of his uniform into a loose white button-down shirt and blue denim shorts. After checking himself in the mirror, James made his way downstairs.

Once he finished descending the stairs, a little missile with fox ears shot off in his direction. James effortlessly caught the adorable projectile and asked.

"Kunou, are you excited about going to karaoke?"

With a big smile on her face and her tails waving, Kunou nodded her head excitedly. Seeing how happy she was, James also smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it." James said with heightened tension. "We're gonna have all the fun we can tonight!"

"Yeah!" Kunou shouted while raising her hands as high as she could.

After hearing Kunou's shout, Mizore, Cu Chulainn, and Moka made their way over to Kunou and James. Once they were all gathered, the kids bid Leona goodbye and left the house. Once outside, they did not have to wait long for Sona and Tsubaki to step outside. After the two groups joined together, they started walking to where they separated with Flora.

"Kunou, make sure to keep your ears and tails hidden." James reminded Kunou as he looked down at the little girl whose hand he was holding.

Flushing in embarrassment, Kunou quickly hid her ears and tails. Not long after that, the group saw Flora waiting at their meeting place.

"You're here earlier than expected." Sona said when the group had just combined.

"I don't wanna be the one to make Rias wait." Flora said with a wry smile. "You know what she's like when she starts whining."

Simultaneously, everyone, except Kunou, nodded their heads in agreement.

Around twenty-five minutes later, the group arrived outside the girls' dormitory. Standing waiting for them were Rias, Akeno, and Reya. Shortly after meeting up, they left for the karaoke bar.

Walking next to James, Akeno whispered in his ear.

"I'm glad you were on time." Akeno said, making sure that Rias could not hear her. "We had been standing out there for only two minutes. And she was complaining the entire time."

Hearing that, James could feel a cold sweat forming on his back. James then decided to change the subject. They were going out to celebrate. He should have happy thoughts.

"Me, too." James replied with a smile before leaning down to whisper into her ear. "But I gotta say, you really look nice today."

Akeno was dressed in a maroon, knee-length dress with white sleeves and brown shoes. Hearing James' compliment, Akeno flushed slightly. But the smile of happiness could not be hidden. Once the other girls noticed Akeno's expression, they began asking her what happened. Akeno decided to keep James' compliment to herself. She did, however, cause the girls interested in him to cast suspicious looks in James' direction. Especially with the shy smile and all the stolen glances.

After a fifteen-minute walk, the group made it to the karaoke bar. James paid for a room large enough to accommodate everyone present for the next three hours. He probably would have paid for longer if Kunou was not with them. They could not keep her out too late. Especially considering that they were supposed to be guarding her.

After making payment, a member of the karaoke bar's staff led them to their room and took their orders for drinks and snacks. After that, everyone agreed that James would be the first to sing. James tried to decline at first, but due to everyone's insistance he picked up the microphone and chose a song.

Although they asked James to sing first, most of the people in attendance were scared. After hearing Leona sing in the past, they were not sure if her... "Talents" could be inherited from generation to generation. Cu Chulainn was even sporting a mocking smile. Even though he had never heard James singing before, he was almost certain that James was just as tone deaf as his mother, if not more. In fact, it was his idea to let James sing first, just so he could see him embarrass himself.

Unaware of what the others were thinking, James looked through the karaoke bar's song catalogue, until he found the perfect song. One of his favorite ballads from the 90's. Once he chose the song, he took a deep breath and waited for the background music to start.

[Boyz II Men -- "On Bended Knee"]

By the time the song was over, the group was in shock. Even though Rias and Sona had heard him sing before, it had been more than ten years since the last time. James wowed the crowd with his smooth tenner vocals that captured the emotions of the song. His performance caused the girl's eyes to sparkle from beginning to end. Cu Chulainn, however, was not happy. He could admit that James was talented. But that is not what he wanted to see.

"Is there anything this guy can't do!?" Cu Chulainn shouted in an agonized tone.

Cu Chulainn's shout pulled everyone out of their revelry. Then, they all bombarded James with compliments and encore requests. James agreed to sing more, but not until everyone else had a chance to sing first. After the girls calmed down, everyone cued up a song to sing, and then they had as much fun as they could for the next few hours.

===Two and a half hours later===

As Cu Chulainn finished the song he was singing, he passed the microphone to Moka, who was sitting next to James. Instead of moving back to Tsubaki's side like he usually did after finishing his turn, Cu Chulainn decided to sit next to James.

"James, outside I detect..." Cu Chulainn began to report.

"I know." James said nonchalantly.

"What do we do?" Cu Chulainn asked while glancing at Kunou.

"Nothing." James said while watching Moka sing. "If they don't move, neither do we."

"And what if they do?" Cu Chulainn asked, then he frowned as he felt that was a stupid question.

Even still, James answered his question.

"We make them wish they hadn't." James said in a frigid tone.

After singing for a half an hour longer, the group's time was up. Once they were reminded about the time and asked if they wished to extend it, they decided to leave. So, they walked to the entrance and stepped through the doors.

"Tch! Couldn't leave well enough alone, could they?" James said disdainfully, he then began giving orders. "Mizore, Lancer, Moka. There are four high-ranks in this isolation barrier. Put them down. Leave the ultimate-rank to me. if he's dumb enough to move, that is. Rias, Sona, Akeno, and Tsubaki. Let us handle this. It's what we're here for in the first place."

After giving those orders, James' tone softened as his attention turned to Kunou.

"Kunou, I need you to hold hands with Big Sister Rias and Big Sister Sona until we finish with these troublemakers, okay?" James asked with a gentle smile.

Kunou nodded her head in acknowledgement. She knew things were serious right now. She then walked over to Rias and Sona and grabbed their hands tightly.

Before James took charge of the situation, everyone felt something was wrong. Even though they were in the town's downtown area, there were no people on the street. Also, everything had an eerie purple tint to it. Although everyone was shocked, the only one who was scared was Flora. As the only one in the group unaware of the supernatural world, she did not know what to think or what was going on.

Seeing Flora's confusion and fear, James thought to himself.

'I guess we'll be having that conversation sooner than I was expecting.'

"Flora!" James raised his voice to get Flora's attention.

As he intended, He managed to grasp Flora's attention. Though it pained him to see the terror in her eyes.

"I'll explain everything to you later." James said sternly. "But right now, I need you to stay with Akeno and Tsubaki until this is over, okay?"

Without responding to James' question, Flora simply moved between Akeno and Tsubaki and grabbed their hands.

Seeing her actions, James nodded in approval. Then he addressed his peerage once again.

"Now that everyone is ready, Take the enemies down. I want them alive, if possible, though. I've got a few questions."

At the same time, Reya was thinking to herself.

'I feel like James-Kun forgot about me.'