I Only Have One Question

Human World, Japan, Kyoto.

The next morning, James opened his eyes and stared at the hotel room's ceiling. As he looked blankly at the ceiling, he was unable to remember what happened for a good part of the night before. What he could remember was talking with Serafall in her suite while Scathach accompanied him. He remembered Serafall offering both him and Scathach wine and discussing a little about what they could expect from the negotiations that would take place between Yasaka and Serafall. After that, nothing. Nothing at all.

"What the hell happened last night?" James murmured to himself as he attempted to wipe his eyes with his right arm.

Unfortunately, James was unable to move his right arm. Confused by the anomaly, James looked toward his right. What he saw was a head of long black hair nuzzled against his right shoulder, while the rest of his arm was being hugged between a pair of slender arms and sandwiched between a pair of disproportionately large breasts. Also, the slender legs that were attached to that figure were wrapped around his right leg.

"Serafall?" James said in a confused tone as he stared blankly at the woman he was lying in bed with. "Seriously, what the hell happened last night?"

After yet another question that was born from James' confusion, he heard a giggle from his left. Slowly turning his head in the opposite direction, James eventually caught sight of Scathach, who was laying on her right side and supporting her head with her right palm while watching James' current situation with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, my disciple." Scathach said softly. "It seems this Scathach has something else she must teach you. Your capacity for alcohol is less than optimal."

James could only shake his head at Scathach's teasing comment. He knew that he did not know how to handle his alcohol. In fact, he had no intention of drinking as much as he did last night. But it is really hard to say no to a super energetic Serafall when your mind is already muddled by alcohol.

"Good morning, Master." James replied in a tired tone. "How are you this morning?"

"I am fine." Scathach said with a smile. "I must admit, watching you and Lady Leviathan's antics due to the alcohol was more than a little amusing."

"*Sigh* What did we do exactly?" James asked. "Since you're here, I would imagine, we did not make any mistakes that we can't take back, right?"

"If you mean having sex, then you are correct, my disciple." Scathach replied. "In fact, you did not do much of anything last night. But watching the two of you act out your favorite scenes from what you call anime and manga was quite the entertainment."

Hearing that, James wanted to face palm. However, like his right arm, his left arm was also immobilized. At the moment, for some reason, it was wedged between Scathach's legs while she lay next to him.

"*Sigh* What time is it?" James asked, slightly embarrassed that he had allowed Scathach to see him like that, last night.

"It should be just after dawn." Scathach replied. "It would be prudent to wake Lady Leviathan so that both of you can prepare for the day."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." James replied. Then, he turned his attention back to Serafall. "Hey, Sera-Tan, it's time to wake up."

"Five more minutes..." Serafall said without opening her eyes.

In fact, Serafall had woken up a moment after James first tried to move his right arm. However, she pretended to be asleep due to her embarrassment.

"Did I really sleep with Jay-Kun last night?' Serafall thought to herself. 'I mean I know we didn't do anything that we shouldn't, other than sleep in the same bed, but he's So-Tan's fiancé. What will she think if she finds out? Will she hate me? But then again, maybe we could share a husband. Then I could always be with So-Tan.'

Serafall's thoughts were spinning at a mile a minute while she kept her eyes shut. James and Scathach had noticed the moment when Serafall woke up. However, they did not feel that it was necessary to wake her immediately. On top of that, James could somehow understand what she was thinking. He was unsure of how he should explain this to Sona as well. But he knew that he needed to and would do it without hesitation.

"Sera-Tan, if you don't get up, your Sailor Soldier uniform is going to be even more wrinkled than it already is." James said softly.

Immediately, Serafall's eyes shot open, and she leapt out of bed. Then, she seriously looked over every inch of her outfit to find any wrinkles. After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief when she did not find any wrinkles as James suggested.

By the time Serafall was done checking herself for wrinkles, James and Scathach had also risen from the bed. Scathach, as if nothing were any different, stood next to James who was stretching his arms and back. Thanks to them being immobilized for the majority of the night, his arms and shoulders were a bit stiff.

"Anyway, we should start getting ready for our appointment with Azazel." James said after he finished his stretches. "You and he need to iron out the details for the alliance with Yasaka, right?"

Serafall nodded her head without making eye contact with James. Then, she hurried into the bathroom to escape the awkward situation. James and Scathach smiled at the usually energetic Satan before they took their leave and returned to James' room.

About an hour later, James, Scathach, and Serafall met up once again in the hotel's lobby. Serafall was back to her usually bubbly personality and acted as if nothing had happened.

"Well, although it is customary for a [Queen] to accompany their [King] to meetings like this, I would rather Scathach stay with Yasaka and Kunou for the time being." James said. "I doubt that the Hero Faction has given up on securing the two of them."

"I don't mind, Jay-Kun." Serafall said with a smile. "I'll text the address of where we will be meeting with Azazel. Make sure you are there by noon, okay?"

"I also think that is the best plan of action." Scathach said from James' side. "I would also like to meet this Yasaka. As well as your stepdaughter."

James smiled in response. Then, after a bit more small talk, James, Scathach, and Serafall exited the hotel and left toward their own destinations. After about half an hour of walking, James and Scathach appeared in front of the torii that served as the gate to the Youkai Sub-Dimension. James then contacted Yasaka and made his arrival known. A few moments later, Yasaka and Kunou exited the Sub-Dimension.

From there, introduced Scathach to both Yasaka and Kunou. Then, he apologized to Yasaka for not coming to find her last night for a date. He also told her what happened and why he could not make the time.

"So, you drank for the first time and ended up drunk with Lady Leviathan, huh?" Yasaka said with a smile. "I would have loved to see that."

"Since my disciple wished for me to protect both you and your daughter, I would be more than happy to tell you about it, in detail." Scathach said with a mischievous smile as she glanced at James.

Naturally, James and Yasaka reacted differently to this proposal. James smiled wryly at how willing Scathach was to tell others about his embarrassing moments. At the same time, Yasaka's eyes lit up with excitement. She liked hearing all manner of stories about James. And unfortunately for James, the embarrassing stories were her favorites.

Eventually, James, after talking with Scathach, Yasaka, and Kunou for about half an hour, headed for where he was supposed to meet up with Serafall and Azazel. And apparently, Rossweisse was with them as well. So, after walking for another half hour, James finally arrived at a traditional Japanese restaurant. When he entered, he was guided to the room that Serafall and Azazel booked. Inside, he found Serafall, wearing a violet kimono, Azazel, sloppily wearing a suit, and Rossweisse, wearing a skirt and blouse, seated at a table.

'She definitely wasn't dressed like that when we left the hotel.' James thought as his eyes scanned the trio and noticed what Serafall was wearing. 'And why are there so many empty bottles of Sake in front of Rossweisse? Seriously, it's not even noon yet.'

"Rossweisse..." James said with concern lacing his tone.

"Rose!" Rossweisse exclaimed.

"Huh?" James questioned in confusion.

"Call me Rose!" Rossweisse said forcefully.

"Uh, sure." James said unsurely as he took a seat at the table. "So, Rose, why are you drinking so much in the morning?"

Rossweisse fell silent for a moment. Then, she exploded.

"It's because of that damned Hyoudou!" Rossweisse shouted angrily. "First, he doesn't bathe with the other boys when it's their turn. Instead, he was planning on how he could spy on the girls. Then, for the entire time when the girls were bathing, I had to fight with him to keep him from the perfect peeping spot he found."

"*Sigh* That Ise, he never learns, huh?" James said with a slightly dark look in his eyes.

Seeing the look in James' eyes, Serafall and Azazel felt sorry for what Issei would experience in the near future. Rossweisse, on the other hand, in her drunkenness felt as if James was empathizing with her. And this feeling led to a growth in her interest in James.

"It kinda feels like I'm summoning Ise to hell by doing this." Azazel said with a wry smile on his lips. "But we need to let the rest of the supernatural kids know that they need to be on the lookout for attacks form the Hero Faction."

"I agree." Serafall said in a rare serious tone.

Like that, Azazel contacted all the second-year supernatural students and told them to come to the restaurant. After about twenty minutes, three groups of four students that made up the entire group of supernatural second years arrived. Then, after James beat up Issei for a while, James, Serafall, and Azazel explained what the other students needed to know about the attack on Yasaka and Kunou the day before. Naturally, the girls from James' peerage were angered when they heard it. Yuuto was also unhappy about what he heard as well. They had all spent quite a bit of time around Kunou and were very fond of the little bundle of cuteness. On top of that, Mizore and Moka saw Yasaka as one of their sisters. So, they were angered beyond measure.

At that moment, they all felt a barrier being raised around the restaurant and the area surrounding it. Then, the presence of all those normal people in the area disappeared from their perception.

"What's going on?" Issei asked after feeling the abnormalities.

"This is... Does that mean they're in possession of..." Azazel said with disbelief in his tone.

"Stop playing mysterious and spit it out, Azazel." James said impatiently.

"They have [Dimension Lost], one of the thirteen Longinus." Azazel said in a solemn tone.

"[Dimension Lost], huh?" James replied. "That's the one that can create dimensions at will, right?"

"That's it, more or less." Azazel responded with a nod of his head. "I guess they plan to trap you here while they try to kidnap Yasaka again."

"Well, they're gonna be in for a surprise." James said with a vicious grin on his face. "Anyway, let's go see who's coming to die so eagerly."

Hearing James words and tone, the members of Rias and Sona's peerages that joined after entering Kuoh Academy were surprised. They had only known James as a cheerful and mischievous upper classman in the year and a half or so that they had met him.

Mizore, Moka, Yuuto, and Shuna on the other hand felt bad for whoever it was that had pissed off James this much.

A few moments later, the group from Kuoh, except Rossweisse who had passed out from drinking too much, had exited the restaurant. When they did, they found six young people standing in the street in front of them. Although they did not know who they were, five of these young people were the leaders of the Hero Faction of the Khaos Brigade.

"So, we finally meet, James Alaverus." Cao Cao said when he saw James. "You've messed up our plans and obstructed our goal..."

"I don't care." James said coldly. "I'll ask one question, and you'll answer that question. Whether you want to or not. Are you the ones that ordered the attack on Yasaka and Kunou?"

Cao Cao and the rest of the young people, with the exception of one boy who looked much younger than the rest frowned when they heard James cut off Cao Cao. The youngest boy among them did not show any kind of reaction at all to anything around him. His eyes were completely empty.

"We did." Cao Cao replied even though he was unhappy that he had been cut off.

"Then, you've saved me the trouble of looking for you." James said with a bloodthirsty smile on his face. "You're going to die for what you tried to do to them."