Something Seems Off...

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

After handing out the gifts, dinner went smoothly. And after a couple of hours gorging themselves on cuts of dragon meat, everyone was more than satisfied. Instead, the surprise came after the meal. While everyone was eating, somehow, no one noticed the veil that fell over the mansion. So, when they were done eating, they were more than surprised to see an even bigger and taller mansion standing where the old one used to be.

"Merry Christmas." Venelana and Zeoticus said in unison when they saw the dumbfounded expression on James' face.

"Yeah, I can see why cooking on the roof would have made it hard to give me your gift." James said absent mindedly.

In response, Zeoticus laughed hardily while patting James on the back. Then, Venelana approached and gave him a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek that was a bit too sensual.

Naturally, James' mind blanked for a moment when he received this kiss. When he regained his wits, he looked at Zeotius questioningly. In response, Zeoticus simply shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. A moment later, James felt Rias glaring at him and her mother. So, he quickly distanced himself from Venelana. A moment later, Rias stormed forward towards her mother and grabbed her by the arm.

"Mother, wha... what are you doing." Rias asked in a fluster.

"We can talk about that tomorrow." Venelana said with a smile. "From what I've heard, you have something to prepare for tonight, right?"

Although she was not happy that her mother was putting off something this important, Rias reluctantly agreed with what Venelana said. Then, Rias along with the other nine girls who were in an official relationship with James made their way back into the new rendition of their home.

Although he was thoroughly confused by Venelana's actions, James felt like something good would happen tonight after seeing all his girlfriends and fiancées disappear into the house together. However, what was decidedly less good was that even though he did most of the cooking, he was somehow picked to do the dishes as well.

"What kinda bullshit is this?" James asked no one in particular while he stood in the newly renovated kitchen, scrubbing away at the plates and silverware everyone used during dinner.

Although he was more than a little upset at having to cook and clean up after such a large meal, James was also quite surprised when he arrived in the new kitchen. First of all, the kitchen was much bigger in size. Secondly, there were several grill tops that he could use and not have to go outside to cook. What made it even better was that there were state of the art venting systems connected to the grill tops, so smoke would not accumulate in the house.

"Even if everything in this kitchen is amazing, there's still no reason to make me clean up after all this." James said with a pout.

After washing dishes for an hour, Grayfia and Zest both entered the kitchen. When they did, they took over the task of washing dishes. However, instead of washing by hand, they simply put the dishes in the dishwashing machine, something that James was told he was forbidden to do.

"What the hell?" James exclaimed in exasperation.

Ignoring James' exclamation, Grayfia and Zest both bowed politely.

Young Master James, Today has been a busy one for you." Both maids said in unison. "Might we suggest you head down to the baths to relax?"

'These two have been glaring at each other all day.' James thought to himself as he glanced at the maids suspiciously. 'But now they are in perfect sync. Something fishy is going on.'

Shrugging his shoulders indifferently, James decided to take Grayfia and Zest's advice. A nice hot bath would be nice, regardless of the situation.

"Fine, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." James said with a smile.

Then, James made his way out of the kitchen. Before he could leave completely, though, Grayfia spoke up once more.

"I would suggest going to bed early, as well." Grayfia said in her usual tone. "You have to take Miss Tiamat out shopping tomorrow."

"Ugh... I know." James replied without turning around.

With no more interruptions, James made it down to the basement floor where the large bath was housed in only a few minutes. However, when James entered the bathing area, he noticed something that was not present before.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

"What is that smell?" James asked himself with a slight frown on his face. "Is that... Sulfur?"

After identifying the scent, James walked closer to the bathing pool. When he saw that the water was a bit murky and the sulfurous smell increased in potency, he was thoroughly surprised.

"Now there's a hot spring in my fucking house?" James asked with his eyes wide open.

In the next instant, James rushed over to the showers and washed himself thoroughly. Then, he returned to the bathing pool. Testing the water temperature, James slowly dipped his foot into the water.

"Oh, shit!" James exclaimed when his entire foot was in the water. "This hot spring is magical."

Although it sounded like James was overexaggerating with his hyperbole, James was, in fact, on the money with his statement. The hot spring that was being pumped into the Alaverus Estate was actually being teleported from the Underworld. It was connected to a natural hot spring that was found in the new Alaverus, formerly the Lucifuge, Territory, and had the attribute of quickly recovering fatigue and demonic power.

Although cooking and doing dishes did not leave James all that fatigued. It is a fact that he did not get much sleep last night after returning from the Devil Council building. On top of that, he sparred with Tatsuya twice this afternoon. So, James spent about half an hour soaking in his new hot spring bath.

Then, after his relaxing soak, James walked out of the bathing area back into the changing room and dried himself off. Instead of the clothing he left in a basket, he found a red Santa themed robe with furry white trim in their place.

"Well, considering today is Christmas, it's quite fitting." James said as he slipped on the robe.

A few moments later, the elevator doors were closing in front of him after he hit the button to the second floor.

'I still feel like something is off.' James thought to himself. 'First, all my girls disappeared right after dinner. Then, I was forced to do the dishes without the dishwasher for an hour. Next, Grayfia and Zest were perfectly in sync. Finally, I was told to take a bath and then go straight to bed. There's definitely something up.'

Instead of an expression filled with suspicion, however, James' face adopted a lecherous expression. Then, he looked down at his robe, the Santa themed one, and smiled even wider.

"Haha! Looks like tonight is gonna be fun." James said to himself.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened. Then, he walked toward his bedroom with a smile on his face and some extra pep in his step. After reaching his bedroom door, James stopped for a second. Then, after taking a deep breath, James opened the door. And what he saw did not disappoint him.

Sitting at the foot of the bed, facing the bedroom door were, from right to left, Rias, Scathach, Yasaka, and Sona. All of them were sitting with their legs crossed. With Rias and Scathach crossing their right leg over their left. While Yasaka and Sona sat with their left crossed over their right. On top of that, they were all wearing black, thigh high stockings and no shoes. Also, they were all wearing Sexy Santa suits. Though, there were some slight differences among them.

First, Rias and Sona wore short skirts. Paired with the thigh high stockings, the white absolute territory that was created was breath taking. Scathach and Yasaka, on the other hand, wore ankle length skirts. Though they both had a slit that started from the hip and ran the full length of the skirt, with Scathach's slit showing off her right leg and Yasaka's showing off her left leg.

All of their tops were sleeveless and held closed with a shiny black leather belt with a gold buckle. Their tops were also all open in a way that showed off as much cleavage as possible.

Seated next to Rias and Sona in seiza, with the fingertips of their index, middle, and ring fingers pressed on the mattress, were Akeno and Shuna, respectively. Their costumes were also different. They both wore short-sleeved, short kimono style Santa costumes with black thigh high stockings. The kimonos hung loosely off their shoulders and were tied shut with a black obi. Like the previous four, they also showed as much cleavage as they could without showing off any of their naughty bits.

The last four, Ayame, Moka, Flora, and Mizore, knelt behind Rias, Scathach, Yasaka, and Sona, respectively. Unlike the ladies in front of them, who wore tops and skirts, the four in the back row wore Santa-styled dresses with shiny, black leather belts that highlighted their slim waists. Each dress had a v-cut neckline that went down to their upper abdomen, showing off a substantial amount of their breasts and cleavage, and were sleeveless.

Each dress also had a slit, or two. Ayame's slit was on the left. Mizore's was on the right. Meanwhile, Moka and Flora had slits on both sides. Also, while kneeling behind the other four, they leaned forward, calling extra attention to their breasts.

Naturally, after seeing such a splendid sight, James was gob smacked. So, he stood in place with awe in his eyes while they roamed over all the women who were currently occupying his bed.

At the same time, the ladies were enjoying the enraptured gaze that James was giving them. However, they knew that this could not go on forever. They had people to do and things to see, after all.

"Merry Christmas, James~." The ladies said in unison.

That call pulled James out of his entranced state. Then, a lecherous smile replaced the shock he was wearing when he first opened the door. A moment later, he took a couple of steps forward. Then, he closed and locked the door behind him. After that, he snapped his fingers, causing a silencing barrier to cover the room.

"My disciple, it seems you've grown quite impatient in a rather short time." Scathach said with a smile.

"Can you blame me?" James asked with the lust in his eyes visible to every girl in the room. "If I didn't get all riled up after seeing all of you like this, what kind of man would I be?"

As he spoke, James approached the bed. Then, when he was standing right at the foot of his bed, he reached out his arms to pull Yasaka and Scathach into his embrace. However, each of the ladies grabbed one of his wrists, then they placed a hand on his chest to stop his advances.

"Huh?" James exclaimed in confusion with an abandoned puppy look on his face.

"Now, now. Don't look at us like that." Yasaka said with a giggle.

"She is right." Scathach added. "This is our Christmas gift to you. So, let us pamper you, tonight."

With that, Scathach and Yasaka stood from their spots on the bed. Then, they stepped to either side of James and turned him around. Next, they sat him down at the foot of the bed. At the same time, Moka and Flora, who were kneeling behind Scathach and Yasaka, moved backward toward the headboard. Once the space was freed up, Scathach and Yasaka gently pushed James back so that he would be lying down on his bed. And finally, all the girls grabbed onto him and pulled his whole body onto the bed.

Now, laying in the middle of the bed, surrounded by his women, James looked around at all of them once again. And as he expected, seeing them from a different angle was just as amazing as his initial view.

"All of you are absolutely gorgeous." James said with sincerity.

They all smiled happily at James' complement. Then, twenty hands descended on James' body.

"In this situation, flattery will get you everywhere." Sona said seductively.