High School DxD: Scattered Cherry Blossoms

Human World, Romania, Bucharest.

In a suite, in the city's most luxurious hotel, an adult and four teenagers were seated on the two sofas present in the suites living room.

"Well, like I said before." James began the conversation. "Now that that's taken care of, want to tell us what's going on, Miss?"

Still in shock that three teenagers around her age were able to dispose of an experienced group of vampires specialized in hunting escapees, the beautiful, red eyed, vampire girl with long, straight silver hair and a voluptuous figure began to introduce herself.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you for saving me." the vampire girl said while bowing her head in gratitude. "My name is Moka Akashiya, and like I said before, I'm an escapee from the Tepes faction of vampires."

The vampires have been warring internally for centuries, thus the need for "factions." The two factions, the Tepes and the Carmilla, are descendants of Vladmir Tepes and Carmilla, respectively. The Tepes vampires are patriarchal, and believe in complete male supremacy, while the Carmilla are the exact opposite. With their viewpoints on extreme opposite sides of the spectrum, civil war among the vampires was inevitable.

"Must have been rough living with such extreme male chauvinists." James said sympathetically, with Mizore nodding in agreement.

"Miss Akashiya, what is this you mentioned about reviving the vampire progenitor?" Okita Souji asked with a solemn expression.

"Yes, I'll explain." Moka said as she gathered her thoughts. "I don't know all the details, but what I do know is... Alucard, the progenitor of all vampires, has been revived. Even if in an extremely weakened state."

"Wait." Cu Chulainn cut in. "When you approached us, didn't you say they wanted to sacrifice you to revive the progenitor?"

*Smack!*

Out of nowhere, James swatted Cu Chulainn in the back of the head.

"Damn it, James!" Cu Chulainn roared in protest. "What the hell did you hit me for?"

"I was thinking, since your brain isn't working, it might start if I hit it a few times." James said nonchalantly, with Mizore nodding in agreement.

"My brain is not an old TV set." Cu Chulainn said in annoyance.

Seeing the trio's antics, Okita could only shake his head with a smile. Moka, on the other hand, looked at them with envy in her gaze.

'Having friends like that must be nice.' She thought to herself.

"Anyway," casually dismissing Cu Chulainn's complaints, James continued, "if this Alucard, or whatever his name is, has already been revived, then that means they want to sacrifice Miss Akashiiya here to restore his strength. Or something like that."

Moka's eyes opened in amazement. She was truly impressed at how quickly James was able to deduce the truth.

"Your analytical ability and deductive reasoning are truly impressive." Moka said with genuine praise in her tone.

"If you read enough manga, you could see the pattern from a mile away." James replied while waving dismissively.

Hearing James response, Moka's eyebrow twitched, while Okita face palmed.

"We're getting off topic." Mizore reminded everyone gently.

Nodding his head in agreement, James spoke, once again.

"I have a question that I hope you can answer." James said, making eye contact with Moka. "For this Alucard to regain his strength, do a bunch of vampires need to be sacrificed, like, to fill the numbers? Or does the sacrifice have to be you, specifically?"

Biting her lower lip, Moka was clearly hesitating to answer. Eventually, she replied.

"They need me specifically." She said as she lowered her head.

"As I expected." James said while nodding his head. "The next question, what will you do now?"

That was a question Moka Dreaded. She knew going back to Vampire Territory was impossible. Even if she tried to defect to the Carmilla Faction, she would more than likely be treated as a slave or servant, at best.

Seeing the struggle in the girl's expression, Mizore tugged on James' sleeve and asked in a cutesy tone.

"Can't she come with us."

Hearing Mizore's question, Moka opened her eyes wide.

In response to Mizore's question, James smiled and patted her head. Mizore's eyes narrowed in pleasure as James replied.

"As much as I'd like to take her with us, there are two conditions that would have to be fulfilled."

Moka's eyes opened even wider, her mouth, now, hanging open as well.

"First, she'd have to be willing to join my peerage." James began to explain, then continued. "And second, I'd have to know what kind of trouble I was picking up. If it's too heavy, I can't be expected to carry it, can I?"

Mizore took a moment to consider James' response, then nodded her head in understanding, which earned her more head pats. Meanwhile, Okita Souji nodded his head as well, impressed by James' breadth of mind.

"If those conditions sound good to you, I'm willing to at least discuss." Sid James as he shifted his attention to Moka.

Once again, Moka was hesitant. She understood where James was coming from. However, she was afraid that he would hear her circumstances then give up on her. At worst, he could sell her out to the vampires.

Seemingly seeing through Moka's thoughts, James made a suggestion.

"Since it seems you're having trouble trusting me. Which is completely understandable." James said, pausing briefly before continuing. "We can sign a devil contract that states: You tell me your situation and in return, I keep it secret as long as I don't accept you into my peerage."

"Devil contract?" Moka asked in confusion.

"Well, I'm a half devil." James replied. "By the way, our guard, Sir Okita, is a devil, Mizore is a yuki-onna, and, Lancer is an idiot."

"Damn it, James!" Cu Chulainn shouted indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." James said dismissively. "We'll fight when we get back home."

Huffing in annoyance, Cu Chulainn clarified. "I'm a human."

James then chimed in. "He didn't deny being an idiot, though."

"Gahh!"

As Cu Chulainn roared in frustration, Mizore and Moka could not help but giggle.

Once the excitement died down, Moka spoke.

"I'll agree to the contract." She said with a bit less apprehension in her expression.

"Great." James responded with a smile. "Then, if you would follow me."

James then stood and relocated to one of the suite's bedrooms.

Moka followed without hesitation. And the rest of James group waited in the living room.

Once they were alone, James and Moka signed a devil contract with the conditions James mentioned earlier. Once the contract was in place, James set up a silencing barrier around the room.

James then explained the [Evil Piece] system and what it means to be in a peerage. He also explained the advantages and disadvantages of accepting the offer. He also explained that the only things he really expected from his peerage were striving for self-improvement and unity.

He does not even expect his peerage to all like each other, but they must be able to put their differences aside when necessary.

After James' explanation, Moka agreed, without hesitation. Then realized it was her turn to spill the beans, if you will.

Taking a deep breath, Moka organized her thoughts. Then began to explain.

"Have you ever heard the term Shinso Vampire?" Moka asked?

James simply shook his head in response.

"Well, there are only two real differences between a Shinso Vampire and a regular vampire." Moka said beginning her explanation. "The first is the limit to growth. Alucard in his prime was at main tier god-rank. Whereas regular vampires seem to cap at low tier god-rank, Vladmir Tepes and Carmilla were no exception."

Expecting something similar, James nodded his head signaling Moka to continue.

"The second major difference is that a Shinso Vampire isn't affected by sunlight, at all."

James finally showed a shocked expression. And when he did, Moka continued.

"And... Though I'm not sure about my strength limit, but I am sure that I have no issue walking under the sun."

Hearing that, James' mouth and eyes opened to a comical degree. Seeing James facial expression, Moka wanted to laugh, but held back. The effort caused her to tremble violently.

Noticing Moka's expression and body language, James snapped out of his stupor. He then stopped to think, weighing his options. Finally, he made his decision.

"Starting at the conclusion, I'm willing to accept you into my peerage." James began to explain. But before Moka could get too excited, he continued. "We'll have to get you trained up, though. I'm sure the Tepes Faction won't give up on you that easy. We'll need to get you strong enough to protect yourself, at least long enough for help to arrive. Since there will be times when you are alone, even if they're not very often."

Taking a bit of time to process what James just said, Moka found it reasonable. It is true that she would find herself alone from time to time. Like if she went out to a convenience store, or something. After wrapping her mind around everything, she rose to her feet and clasped her hands in front of her chest.

"Thank you... Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Moka exclaimed in jubilation with a beautiful smile on her face. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't willing to take me in."

"Don't worry about it." James said with a chuckle, noting mentally that her genuine, happy smile was breathtaking. "Although it's not official yet, we'll all be family from now on."

After taking some time to calm down, Moka's expression returned to normal, which is an expression of pride.

Once the negotiations were done with, James removed the silencing barrier. Then both he and Moka made their way back into the living room.

Hearing the sound of the door James and Moka were using for their discussion opening, Okita, Mizore, and Cu Chulainn turned their attention in that direction. The first to speak, was naturally Cu Chulainn.

"So, what's the word?" Cu Chulainn asked as if he was unconcerned.

Rolling his eyes at Cu Chulainn's act because he could see the curiosity in his eyes, James spoke straight to the point.

"Well, it looks like are growing family just got a new member." James said as he stepped aside and pointed at Moka.

Standing up excitedly, Mizore cheered.

"Yay! Now I will not be outnumbered by the boys."

'That was probably her real reason for asking Me/James to take her/me in, huh?' The rest of the room's occupants thought at the same time.

"Well, because we got ourselves a new companion, it looks like our trip will be cut short." James said, but before he could continue, he was interrupted.

"Huh, wait... Why?" Mizore asked in a fluster.

"Because that's how it's always been?" James said with a tilt of his head. Unsure what the issue was.

Hearing James' answer, Mizore squatted down and began drawing circles with her finger on the floor, while muttering some pretty ominous words.

Deciding that can of worms was not worth opening, James turned his attention to Okita.

"Sir Okita, I'll have to trouble you to set up a trip to the underworld through the official channels." James asked with the tone of making a formal request.

Although this is the first time it is being mentioned, those visiting the Underworld for the first time must enter through a certain route. Otherwise, they will be treated as intruders and hunted down like fugitives.

"It's no trouble at all," Okita said casually. "The preparations should be complete in three days."

Hearing Okita's timeframe, James made an executive decision.

"Well, if that's the case. We'll end the training here and spend the next three days sightseeing like regular tourists." James said with a smile. "And Moka, The Tepes shouldn't be back before then, right?"

"Uh... I don't think so..." Moka said, uncertainty clear in her tone.

Hearing that, James just shrugged. "Whatever, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, let's go out and have some fun."

Mizore, Cu Chulainn, and Moka cheered in excitement.

At the same time, Okita thought to himself, 'Kids will be kids, after all.'