Rossweisse's Dilemma

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

Not long after Sona left the underground training room, she arrived in front of Rossweisse's bedroom door.

*Knock!* *Knock!*

"Just a moment, please." Rossweisse said in response to the knocking.

A few moments later, the door was opened, and Rossweisse found Sona standing there. Seeing the excitement in her [King's] eyes, it did not take much for Rossweisse to realize that Sona was in a good mood.

"Lady Sona, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Rossweisse asked in a polite tone.

"*Sigh* Rossweisse, how many times do I have to tell you that it's okay to drop the formalities?" Sona asked in an exasperated tone before shaking her head. "Never mind that, do you have a moment?"

"Of course." Rossweisse said, opening the door wide and gesturing for Sona to enter. "Please, come in."

Nodding in response, Sona entered the room. Then, Rossweisse closed the door behind her and led Sona to the chair at her desk.

"Please, have a seat." Rossweisse said, offering Sona the chair.

"Thank you." Sona said, not wasting her [Rook's] good intentions.

After taking a seat, Sona scanned the bedroom for a moment. Though this was not the first time she had entered Rossweisse's room, she was always amazed at how practical it seemed. There were no extravagances present in the room. Another thing she took note of was that everything looked like it came from a 100 yen shop.

'Every time I come in here, I think that I'm not paying her enough.' Sona thought to herself as she looked at how plain Rossweisse's room was.

"So, is there anything I can do for you, Lady Sona?" Rossweisse asked curiously, snapping Sona out of her thoughts.

"No, not really." Sona replied with a gentle shake of her head. "Actually, I came to inform you that the [Rating Game] School has finally been approved. Also, I wanted to know if you're still interested in teaching magic there."

"That's wonderful news." Rossweisse replied with a smile. "Congratulations, Lady Sona. And yes, I'm still interested.'

"Thank you." Sona said with a smile. "And I'm glad to hear it. In that case, I have a surprise for you."

Hearing that Sona had a surprise for her, Rossweisse tilted her head in confusion.

"Your grandmother, Gondul, will be a special guest lecturer for runic magic from time to time. And she'll be there this weekend for the open house."

"What!?" Rossweisse shrieked in surprise. "Granny's comin' this weekend?"

Shocked by Rossweisse's extreme reaction, Sona was even further baffled when Rossweisse dropped her proper speech and began speaking in some sort of dialect that she had never heard before. However, Rossweisse, in her panic, did not notice Sona's reaction.

'Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!' Rossweisse exclaimed in her head. 'Last time I talked to Granny, I told her that I had a boyfriend who I was considering for marriage, so she'd stop asking me about it! That was only three days ago! If she shows up this weekend, she's going to want to meet him! What do I do!? What do I do!?"

As she continued to think about her lie, Rossweisse clutched at her beautiful silver hair and paced around the room. Meanwhile, Sona could only stare at her with confusion written all over her face.

'Does she not get along with her grandmother?' Sona thought to herself as she watched the former Valkyrie panic. However, when Rossweisse stopped and stood up straight with an expression of fierce determination on her face after a few moments, Sona was even more confused.

"Thank you for letting me know, Lady Sona." Rossweisse said after turning toward Sona and bowing. "I have a great many preparations to make before Granny arrives. So, if you'll excuse me."

Like that, Rossweisse rushed out of the room without giving Sona a chance to react. Sona, left sitting in Rossweisse's room, had her confusion reach heights that they had never experienced before.

"Uh... Sure, if you need anything, just let me know..." Sona muttered to herself with the depths of her confusion on full display.

Meanwhile, Rossweisse had already made it into the elevator. Without hesitation, she smashed her finger into the button corresponding to the underground training room. Then, after a few moments, the elevator arrived.

"James!" Rossweisse shouted as she rushed out of the elevator towards James, who was once again sparring with Cu Chulainn.

Separating from Cu Chulainn, James turned. When he did, he saw Rossweisse, already mid-air, flying toward himself.

'I'm getting a serious case of déjà vu...' James thought to himself as he opened his arms and caught Rossweisse.

"Rose, what's got you so excited?" James asked with a smile.

'Seriously, the déjà vu is strong.' James thought to himself while chuckling inwardly.

"James, I need your help!" Rossweisse shouted with a blush on her face. "I really, really, need your help!"

'Okay, now this is different.' James thought as his expression turned more serious.

"Calm down, Rose." James said in a soothing tone. "Take a deep breath, then you can tell me what you need my help with."

Just as James said, Rossweisse began taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn was standing off to the side using a training spear to prop himself up.

'I don't know what's going on with her.' Cu Chulainn thought while trying to regulate his breathing. 'And it sounds pretty serious. But I'm glad it happened. I think James was really trying to beat me to death.'

Eventually, Rossweisse calmed down enough to tell James what happened. And when he and Cu Chulainn heard the explanation, they could only stare at Rossweisse in surprise.

Embarrassed by the two boys' stares, Rossweisse face reddened. On top of that now that she was calm, her face reddened even more after she remembered how she leapt into James' arms.

'What did I just do?' Rossweisse asked herself. 'How could I act like that just because I was flustered. What if James thinks I'm a fast woman. Will he not like me? But then again, we are on a first name basis, not to mention, he calls me by my nickname. Not that I'm sure why he does that.'

Once again, Rossweisse began to drift off into her thoughts. However, before she could get lost in them, James brought her back to reality.

"I understand the situation." James replied with a wry smile. "But what do you want me to do? Pretend to be this boyfriend you told your grandma about?"

Hearing James' questions, Rossweisse face flushed even more than it already was, a feat James did not think was possible. Then, in a voice so small that James, a peak minor god-ranked being, had to strain his ears to hear, Rossweisse replied while lowering her head.

"Yes..."

Meanwhile, seeing how red Rossweisse was and the way that she lowered her head in embarrassment, Cu Chulainn could guess how she answered James' questions.

'What the hell, how does this bastard always have girls throwing themselves at him?' Cu Chulainn asked himself internally, unable to utter a word because he was still trying to catch his breath. 'Why doesn't any of that luck with women come my way?'

What Cu Chulainn did not know, however, was that he just received the luck of a lifetime. Because of his shortness of breath and the inability to speak, Sona and Tsubaki, who had just come off the elevator looking for Rossweisse because Sona was worried about the state she was in, did not hear the statement he would have undoubtedly said aloud.

"Rossweisse, is everything okay?" Sona asked with concern as she approached.

Hearing Sona's voice, everyone turned their heads toward the source and saw that Sona and Tsubaki were approaching with worry in their expressions. While James smiled and Rossweisse lowered her head in embarrassment, Cu Chulainn felt cold sweat dripping down his back.

'Holy fucking shit!' Cu Chulainn exclaimed in absolute terror in his head. 'If I weren't so exhausted, I would have definitely said that out loud. And if I did, Tsubaki would have heard me and I'd be in a world of hurt. Does that mean I should thank James for the beating I just received? But why does that sound so wrong?'

Unaware of Cu Chulainn's internal struggle, Sona and Tsubaki continued to approach James and Rossweisse.

"James, what's wrong with Rossweisse?" Sona asked with concern in her tone.

In response, James wanted to laugh, to laugh uproariously. However, he knew that would hurt Rossweisse. So, instead he could only smile with his upper lip twitching heavily.

Seeing that it looked like she would not be getting an answer from James, Sona turned her attention to Rossweisse, who remained silent with her head lowered and her face as red as Rias and Mio's hair.

Meanwhile, Tsubaki took a glance at Cu Chulainn, whose exposed skin was completely covered in bruises.

"*Sigh* You said something you shouldn't have again, didn't you?" Tsubaki asked, which caused Sona to blush and James to begin glaring at Cu Chulainn again.

In response, Cu Chulainn could only smile wryly and apologize with his eyes.

"*Sigh* What am I gonna do with you?" Tsubaki said in an exasperated tone with a loving smile on her face.

Seeing that smile, James decided to let Cu Chulainn off for now.

'At least he's doing something right.' James thought to himself after seeing the love that Tsubaki has for Cu Chulainn in her eyes. 'She deserves to be happy, especially the way she was isolated by the Shinra Clan. Lancer, if you fuck things up with her, I'll shove Gáe Bolg up your ass.'

At that moment, Cu Chulainn suddenly shivered and clinched his butthole. Then, he began to look around frantically. Tsubaki, who was looking at him, began to show confusion in her expression. She knew how good Cu Chulainn's senses were, so she didn't doubt that he felt something. However, she had no idea how he could feel a sense of danger inside the mansion that was surrounded with Scathach's defenses.

Eventually, with the blush still present on her face, Rossweisse regained enough composure to tell Sona what was wrong. Hearing Sona's explanation, Sona began to smile wryly. From the way that Rossweisse began to panic, she thought it was something more serious. At the same time, she could understand why Rossweisse panicked so much. Especially after the thought of being caught in a lie by her grandmother, who she respected immensely, was wracking her with guilt.

"So, she came to ask for your help, right?" Sona asked James whose wry smile was still on his face.

"That's right." James replied with a shrug.

"And I'm guessing she asked you to act as her fake boyfriend, right?" Sona asked.

"Right again." James replied with a nod.

Nodding her head at the fact that her assumptions were correct, Sona turned to Rossweisse.

"So, why didn't you just ask him to be your boyfriend?" Sona asked in confusion.

"Huh? But I did." Rossweisse replied in confusion.

"No, you asked him to be your fake boyfriend." Sona pointed out.

With that, Rossweisse froze completely. She did not know what to say. She knew she liked James, but she was not ready to tell him, yet.

"I mean, it's obvious to everyone living here, even the new arrivals. Except for Yusuke-Kun, maybe." Sona said. "And everyone knows that James is quite fond of you as well."

James simply nodded without saying anything. Rossweisse on the other hand, felt as if a bomb had gone off in her head.

'Was I that obvious? What did I do that was so obvious?' Rossweisse asked herself, beginning to analyze her behavior over the months. 'Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! James is fond of me, too? How? When? Why didn't I know that?" Why didn't he say anything?'

"You're probably wondering why he didn't say anything, right?" Sona asked with a smile.

'Can she read minds?' Rossweisse thought with a bit of astonishment making its way into her expression.

"No, I can't read minds." Sona said, answering Rossweisse's un asked question. "But this happened with Shuna, too. In fact, James has never taken the initiative to pursue any of the girls in his harem. He always waits for them to approach him so that he's sure that they're okay with being in a harem."

Rossweisse was a dumbfounded. She had been okay with being a part of James harem ever since she met him during Odin's visit. However, she had only wanted him because he was strong and set for life in terms of finances. However, after living near him for a while, she began to see his other good points, and began to truly like him. Unfortunately, she had been waiting for him to make the first move.

"Are you... Serious?" Rossweisse asked, visibly deflating.

"Pretty much." Sona replied with a nod. "All you had to do was tell him you like him, and he would have become much more proactive."

"Wait, but what about with Shion?" Rossweisse asked, new found confusion in her eyes. "I mean, it's obvious that he's fond of her too. And she stated it in front of everyone that she likes him, right? Then why do you avoid her like the plague, James?"

James could only smile wryly, with fear swirling in the depths of his eyes.

"*Gulp!* Because she wants to personally cook dinner for me for our first date." James said while shivering in terror.