The Date Was Interrupted

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

A week has passed since the first meeting of the pact members took place. Since then, not much has happened. Even though Ravel was asked to add Leonardo, the wielder of [Annihilation Maker], to her peerage, she had yet to reincarnate him. The reason? Because his mental stability is terrible. Thanks to all the brainwashing and torture, his mind was far too broken. So, Leonardo was still in the care of the Grigori, undergoing extensive mental rehabilitation.

James, on the other hand, has had a couple of intense sparring sessions with Scathach so that he could get used to the new weights of the swords he received from Muramasa. Also, during that week, Irene had taught James and Ddraig the basics of [Dragon Slayer Magic]. To her surprise, they both took to it like fish to water. In only two days, James became history's first [Inferno dragon Slayer]. Like Igneel, the deceased Fire Dragon King, Ddraig also specialized in fire-based attacks originally. However, Ddraig's flames were hotter and more destructive than Igneel's. Thus, Irene felt it was more suitable to call James an [Inferno Dragon Slayer] rather than a [Fire Dragon Slayer].

"[Inferno Dragon's Scorching Fist]." James called out as a magic circle appeared around his right fist.

Then, James slammed his fist into a magically reinforced training dummy. However, the magical reinforcements did nothing to stop the destructive flames on James' fist from turning it to ash. Hovever, James continued to attack the training dummies he was surrounding him.

"[Inferno Dragon's Talon]." James called as he threw a roundhouse kick with the same destructive flames covering his foot at the nearest dummy. Then, he balanced himself on both hands immediately afterward. Once again, he covered his feet with flames, then, he spun with his feet extended. "[Inferno Dragon's Tail Whip]."

While James performed move after move from his [Dragon Slayer] skillset, Scathach, Irene, Genkai, and Yusuke watched. While Scathach wore an expression that said: "As expected of my disciple," Irene wore a shocked expression while Genkai watched with a twitching eyebrow as she occasionally glanced at her own disciple.

'This kid is a freak.' Irene thought to herself. 'It's only been a week... No, six days since I started teaching him about [Dragon Slayer Magic]. And it only took him two days to learn how to convert his dragon aspect into Ddraig's flames and integrate them with his demonic power. And I thought my five years to do the same was worthy of the term genius. Am I really just average?'

While Irene was going through an existential crisis, Genkai was lost in her own thoughts as well.

'This boy, James, why can't this dimwit standing next to me work half... No, even aquarter as hard.' Genkai thought as her eyebrow twitched once again. 'If he did, then I wouldn't have to worry about him so damn much. At least Master Scathach doesn't put up with his crap. Either way, if he doesn't get his head out of his ass, Toguro will kill him.'

Unlike Genkai, Yusuke looked at James' display with shock.

'Is he really only three or so years older than me?' Yusuke thought to himself 'How is he that strong? On top of that, I watched his spar with that guy who seemed like his emotions were messed up. His skill in fighting is so high, how is that possible?'

Coincidentally, Scathach happened to glance at Yusuke while he was contemplating. Immediately, she realized what was going through his mind.

"Like you, Urameshi Yusuke, James was born with exceptional fighting talent. Scathach said calmly while watching James. "However, unlike you, he never thought that his talent was enough. Instead, he pushed himself as hard and as far as he could."

Seeing that she had not only Yusuke's attention, but that she also had the attentions of Irene and Genkai, Scathach continued.

"Granted, you only heard about the world of the supernatural recently." Scathach said. "But even if you did not know about the supernatural, you could have attempted to take your fighting ability to the next level. Instead, you were content with brawling with those who were clearly inferior to yourself. James, on the other hand searched for ways to increase his fighting skills by searching for instructors and fighting with strong opponents."

For the first time, Yusuke stopped to think about what someone told him about putting his talents to use. He had never seen an example from the same age range as himself, so he never considered what the adults around him had been telling him with any importance.

'*Sigh* It's a shame that Kuwabara boy wasn't strong enough for the dimwit to take seriously.' Genkai lamented. 'Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to worry about this crap at my age.'

While the observers were either talking to each other or lost in their own thoughts, James finally finished his move practice. Then, after taking a deep breath to cool down, James looked at the four spectators with a smile.

"Master, that's all for today, right?" James asked as he walked toward a bench near the former circle of training dummies.

"Correct." Scathach replied with a nod. "For the rest of the day, I will be helping Master Genkai train her disciple."

Even though Yusuke had trained with the group, until now, he had never trained alone with Scathach. Just the thought made him shudder.

'Shit!' Yusuke thought to himself with panic. 'Is today the day I die... Again?'

"Cool. Then I'll go wash up." James replied with an even wider smile. "I have a date this afternoon, after all."

With that, James hurried toward the elevator. At the same time, Scathach watched him leave with a fond smile on her face.

Meanwhile, James' date, Shuna, was standing in her bedroom surrounded by several piles of clothing, most of which were of her own design. However, she was quite panicked at the moment.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Shuna asked frantically as she looked through the piles of clothing. "I've been trying to figure out what I should wear all morning. If I don't hurry, I'm gonna be late for my date with James-Sama."

As those words left her mouth, Shuna blushed and smiled in a goofy way. However, she quickly snapped back into the moment.

"You don't have time to start day dreaming." Shuna said, scolding herself. "I Refuse to be late for my first date!"

Like that, Shuna continued to sift through all of her clothing options while James cleaned up after training.

An hour and a half later, James was waiting in front of the fountain in the park. Already, he had been waiting for forty-five minutes. And the meeting time with Shuna had passe half an hour ago.

"*Sigh* At this point I'm not even surprised anymore." James said as he slid his smartphone into his pocket. Other than Sona, all the other girls are late for our dates. Even Master."

"I'm so~~~ sorry!" Shuna shouted as she approached the fountain in a dead sprint by human standards.

Seeing Shuna approaching frantically, James smiled brightly. Though it did not bother him all that much that Shuna was late, when he laid his eyes on her, he could understand why she was late. In short, she looked breath taking. Wearing a black turtle neck embroidered with pink snowflakes that match the color of her hair, dark blue jeans, black high heeled boots and a dark grey thigh length coat over all of that.

"Wow..." James said with his mouth left ajar. "You look great, Shuna."

Smiling bashfully with a blush on her face, Shuna found herself happier than she had been for the last few weeks after James agreed to take her on a date.

'Although I was late, it was totally worth it!' Shuna exclaimed to herself mentally.

"A... Anyway, you just finished training, right?" Shuna asked, trying to draw attention away from her undoubtedly silly smile. "Does that mean you haven't eaten yet?"

"Yeah, I haven't eaten since breakfast." James replied.

"Then, why don't we get a bite to eat first." Shuna said, grabbing James hand and beginning to pull him toward a nearby restaurant. "I heard this place has really good Indian cuisine."

Smiling at Shuna's enthusiasm, James allowed himself to be pulled along toward the restaurant. After a few minutes, the two were seated. About forty minutes after that, they had finished the meal and James paid the bill. Then, they left the restaurant.

"You were right, Shuna." James said while rubbing his stomach as he and Shuna exited the restaurant. "That really was good."

"It really was." Shuna replied with a smile. "I will definitely be coming back."

"So will I." James said.

Like that, James and Shuna walked and talked until they reached their next destination, a fabric shop. Knowing that Shuna enjoyed creating clothes, James had planned to begin a business with Shuna. However, until today, he had never worked with her on anything clothing related. And even though he had no intention of talking business on their date, James did want to show his interest in something she enjoyed. Even if his talent in creating clothing was nonexistent, he did have a decent sense of style and his ideas may come in handy when Shuna begins her creation process.

'Her smiles are always pretty, but when she's talking about clothing, her smile and eyes light up like nothing I've ever seen before.' James thought as he continued to talk about clothing creation and the matching of colors, textures, and patterns with Shuna.

And for the next two and a half hours, James and Shuna took their time comparing and appraising the materials in the store. After that, James took Shuna on a walk around the town, just to talk and enjoy each other's company. And like that, the sun began to set. Being early December, the days were naturally short.

Just as the couple decided that it was time to head home, James snapped his head in a certain direction with a solemn expression on his face.

"James-Sama, is everything okay?" Shuna asked after seeing the change in James expression

"Shuna, you need to go back on your own." James said in a solemn tone. "Tell Master to keep everyone at the mansion safe."

"Huh?" Shuna exclaimed in confusion.

"There's no time to explain." James said more sternly. "Just go back and tell Master what I said."

"... Okay." Shuna said, clearly unwilling to leave James on his own. "Please, be careful."

Then, Shuna stepped forward, placed her hands on James' chest, stood on her tip toes, and kissed him on the cheek. Then, with her face flushed, she turned around and ran back toward the mansion.

"[That was cute.]" Ddraig spoke up from inside of James.

"Exceedingly so." James replied with a smile. "Anyway, that's a dragon aura, right?"

"[It is.]" Ddraig replied. "[And it feels familiar, but I can't quite place it.]"

"Ddraig, you gotta give me more to work with." James said while shaking his head. "But then again, I guess it doesn't matter who it is. For disturbing my date, it looks like I'm gonna be doing a little dragon slaying."

"[Your date was pretty much over though.]" Ddraig pointed out.

"And this is why you were single until the day you died." James said smugly.

"[What does this have to do with that?]" Ddraig questioned in annoyance, feeling the urge to smack James upside the head like Leona does when he curses.

"You should know, for future reference." James replied in that same smug tone. "The date isn't over until she gets back home, remember that."

During that short round of bickering, James sped through the town using his [Flash Step]. Eventually, when he made it to the town's outskirts, James was able to see the source of the gigantic draconic aura. Calmly walking towards Kuoh was a tall, handsome man with black and gold hair, pointy ears, and heterochromatic eyes. His right eye shining gold while his left eye was black as night.

"So, now that we're closer, are you still drawing a blank, Ddraig?" James asked as he made eye contact with the approaching man.

"[Sorry, partner.]" Ddraig replied. "[It's been a long time, I just can't remember.]"

"Well, then I guess I'll ask." James said with a shrug. "You are approaching the territory of the Gremory and Sitri Houses, please state your name and affiliation, or I'll be forced to assume that you are hostile."

"That could be fun." The tall man said with a smile. "Even still, I don't mind introducing myself. It will make the upcoming fight more entertaining."

"A battle junkie dragon." James groaned. "Looks like a fight is inevitable."

"[You'd be surprised how many dragons are like this.]" Ddraig said.

"No, I wouldn't." James replied. "Dragons are either concerned with their treasures and/or proving they are the strongest. Those like Skiadrum are the exceptions to this rule."

"[I... Can't deny that.]" Ddraig said in a resigned tone.

"Are you done talking to Ddraig, yet?" The tall man asked.

"More or less." James replied with a shrug. As he did, his sword belt appeared around his waist with Sixth Sense and Carnage strapped to it. "It seems that you know who I am, but Ddraig doesn't seem to remember you."

"That doesn't surprise me." The tall man said with a shrug. "When the Dragon of Domination fell, I was not strong enough to gain his notice. Now, however, I have finally reached the same stage as the Twin Heavenly Dragons."

"Ugh... A super strong battle junkie dragon." James muttered to himself.

"Ddraig, Perhaps you will remember this name. I am known as the Crescent Circle Dragon, Crom Cruach." Crom Cruach said in a powerful tone.