The Shopping Demon Lord

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

Today is the day that both James and Scathach have been waiting for all week. They would have their first date today. Right now, in the afternoon, James is standing in front of the fountain in the park near the shopping district. Just for the sake of it, James and Scathach agreed to meet here instead of walking together from James' house. While waiting, James was having a conversation with Ddraig.

"Man, Master sure doesn't hold back." James said quietly since there were other people nearby.

"[Tell me about it.]" Ddraig replied. "[It was funny to see the looks of the Gremory Princess and her peerage's faces, though.]"

James shook his head at his partner's habit of enjoying the suffering of others. However, he could not hide the smile that was making its way onto his face.

"Yeah, even though Rias has started training in the last few years, I know for a fact she has never trained as hard as she did today." James said with a smile. "I could see the regret growing in real time as the training went on."

"[Yes, it really is a pity that someone with that much talent is so lazy.]" Ddraig said with a tone of lament.

"Whether Ri Ri is lazy or not no longer matters now, though." James said with a wry smile. "Now that she has agreed to Master's training, she has no way of getting away from it anymore."

What James and Ddraig were discussing was the first day of the joint training between James, Rias, and Sona's peerages. And after the first day of training, which Scathach claimed was just a light exercise to get a feel for everyone's level, it was easy to tell which member of which peerage was training seriously before today.

Naturally, Rias and her peerage, with the exception of Issei, were in the worst shape after the morning's training session. As a matter of fact, no one other than Issei could even stand for the first twenty minutes after the training session ended. Issei was the exception for a simple reason, however. He had been through many of James' hell mode training sessions, which were equal to this warm-up from Scathach.

When Issei heard that, a lot of his hostility for James disappeared. He was still seriously jealous of James' luck with women, though.

Naturally, Sona and her peerage, with the exception of Rossweisse, fared better than Rias and her peerage. That was a perfectly natural result, as well. Since everyone other than Rossweisse had been through Scathach's training for nearly a month over the summer break. Rossweisse on the other hand was in over her head. As a talented mage, she had spent very little time training her body. Because of that, she was in worse shape than everyone in Rias' peerage. Though, on another note, Scathach had taken quite the liking for Rossweisse due to her magical talent.

Then, there was James and his peerage. Somehow, Scathach had made their training much more difficult while paying attention to Rias and Sona's training simultaneously. However, even with the high intensity, they were all ready to tackle the rest of their day after only a few minutes of rest.

"[True.]" Ddraig replied. "[Still, the looks that the Gremory peerage gave you and your peerage after you all stood up like nothing was wrong after a few minutes was priceless.]"

James could not hold in his own chuckle after thinking about the expressions Rias' peerage showed when he and his peerage shook off the training fatigue like it was nothing.

"Well, when they get used to the training difficulty, they'll be able to do it too." James said. Then, he turned his head to the entrance of the park. AS he did, he checked his white button-down short-sleeved shirt, dark red t-shirt that he wore under the open button-down, and blue denim jeans for wrinkles. When he made sure that everything was in order, he began walking toward the entrance.

When he arrived, he saw Scathach, who was wearing a magenta wide collar t-shirt that she allowed to fall from her left shoulder, tight stretch denim blue jeans and a pair of high heeled sandals that matched her shirt in color. When James saw her, he was both amazed and confused. Amazed at how good Scathach looked in her outfit. Confused at where those clothes came from. Even with these conflicting feelings, James continued to approach his master.

"Mast..." James began to speak; however, he was suddenly stopped.

"We are on a date, correct?" Scathach said as she placed a finger on his lips to stop his term of address. "Today, we are not master and disciple. Today we are just a man and a woman. Understood?"

Hearing that, James could only smile. Then, he moved Scathach's finger from his lips and held her hand gently.

"Scathach, you look incredible in that outfit." James said with a smile. "With that said, I'm still confused about it."

Scathach also smiled at the compliment as she gazed at James' hand that was now wrapped gently around her own. Then, she made eye contact with James again and spoke once more.

"I would guess you are curious to know where these clothes came from, correct?" Scathach asked with a smile. "It was Shuna who prepared them for me. Apparently, she sewed them herself."

With Scathach's comment, James remembered one of the plans he had when he first gave Shuna the three-month trial period.

'I think it's about time to branch out into another field of business.' James thought to himself as his eyes lit up for a moment.

Scathach watched James and saw his eyes lighting up. She knew that he had an idea that he wanted to implement. She was also curious how long it would take him to come out of his contemplations, this time.

To Scathach's credit, she had beaten that bad habit out of James when he was only twelve. Because of that, he did not space out while thinking for too long like he used to when he was younger. After only about two seconds, James snapped back to the here and now. Then, he gripped Scathach's hand a little tighter.

"Are you ready for our first date?" James asked with a smile.

"I will give you a passing mark." Scathach said with a smile. "Had you taken too long in your thoughts you would have not liked the consequences."

Hearing that, James shuddered internally. He remembered the beatings he used to receive for getting lost in thought back then.

"Anyway, why don't we do a little of what we came out here to do, go shopping." James said, doing his best to change the subject.

Scathach could only chuckle after seeing the nervous expression on James' face after remembering those beatings.

"I would like that." Scathach said as she wrapped her free arm around the arm that James was holding her hand with.

Like that, James and Scathach made their way toward the shopping district. Immediately after entering the first store, James proved his own hypothesis. Scathach was the Shopping Demon Lord. If it came in her size, she tried it on. Then, she asked for James' opinion on each article. And if James did not answer with full sincerity, Scathach would not let up until he gave an in-depth review of every piece of clothing, outfit, and ensemble she tried on.

And that is how the afternoon went. James spent four hours as a fashion critic. By the end, he had lost count of how many outfits Scathach had tried on, let alone articles of clothing. In the end, James was carrying so many bags that he could barely walk straight. And holding Scathach's hand was definitely out of the question. That does not even take into account all the shoe boxes that had to be delivered to the Alaverus mansion.

Seeing the lifeless look in James' eyes, Scathach could not help but giggle. She had heard how much James hated shopping with women. She had also heard the story of how Leona and Sona had traumatized him when he was eleven. Because of that, she was more than a little touched by how far James was willing to go for her.

"Thank you, James." Scathach said with a smile. "I have enjoyed myself immensely today."

Hearing that, James' eyes regained their light. Then, he turned his head to Scathach who was walking next to him and smiled.

"Hearing that made it all worth it." James said with a smile. "How 'bout we take a break and grab a bite to eat? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty hungry."

Scathach nodded in agreement. Not that she was hungry, but a bite to eat would not hurt either. And from there, James and Scathach went to a restaurant with a nice atmosphere that was not too upscale, since neither were dressed for it. Then, they enjoyed a nice meal and chatted about casual topics.

After eating, neither James nor Scathach, especially James, were in the mood for any more shopping. And since James was saddled with so many shopping bags, they really could not do much else. So, they decided to call it a day and return home. As they walked, they continued to talk about whatever topics came to mind. Eventually, their topic moved on to training methods and things of the sort. Which no one would find surprising if anyone had been there to hear them.

When James and Scathach arrived near the mansion, they noticed that Tsubaki was leaving Sona's residence. A moment later, Tsubaki also noticed James and Scathach. When she did, she was amazed at the number of shopping bags James was carrying. However, it did not take long for her eyes to light up.

'I should get Setanta to come shopping with me next weekend, too.' Tsubaki thought as she greeted James and Scathach.

"Good evening, James, Master Scathach." Tsubaki said politely. "I guess you're coming back from your date. I hope the two of you enjoyed yourselves."

To that, James smiled wryly. He could not in good conscience say that he enjoyed the shopping. However, he did enjoy his time with Scathach. Scathach, on the other hand, smiled brightly, which dazed Tsubaki for a moment. She had never been much for shopping, in her era. But this era's selection of clothes and shoes gave her a different feeling.

"Indeed." Scathach said with a nod. "My wardrobe will be quite robust once the rest of the purchases arrive."

After hearing that, Tsubaki was amazed. She glanced at James, who had more shopping bags draped over him than a man should realistically be able to carry no matter how strong they are. Then, she returned her gaze to Scathach. For a moment, she felt bad for James, especially knowing how much he hates shopping with women.

"But what was even better was the company I had throughout the trip." Scathach said with a gentle smile on her face. "I can only describe it as wonderful."

As she spoke her last sentence, Scathach shifted her gentle gaze toward James. James returned her smile with a bright smile of his own.

"I'm just glad you enjoyed yourself." James said in response.

Once again, Tsubaki was amazed. She would have never guessed that they cared that much about each other if she had only seen them during training. But she had to admit that she found this couple quite sweet.

"Well, if you'll excuse me." Tsubaki said politely. "I have a date with Setanta, so I'll be going."

Like James and Scathach had done earlier, Tsubaki and Cu Chulainn usually meet away from their houses. To both of them, it feels more like a date that way.

"Alright, have fun." James said with a smile as he tried to wave at Tsubaki. Then, he smiled wryly when he felt the massive number of bags he was holding.

"I hope you two enjoy yourselves." Scathach said.

Then, Tsubaki made her way toward the entrance of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, James and Scathach made their way toward James' house. Then, before they opened the door, Scathach turned toward James.

"This date was truly wonderful." Scathach said. "Thank you for the wonderful experience."

Then, Scathach took a step forward, stood on her toes, and pressed her lips on James' lips. After a moment, she pulled away. Then, in a seductive tone she spoke once again.

"I think I'll need you to help me bring these bags to my bed chamber." Scathach said with a seductive wink.

After that, Scathach turned around and opened the front door to the house, leaving James standing there with a smile.